Stephen A. Smith Lashes out at Zac Taylor Despite Bengals’ Win over Ravens in Joe Burrow’s Return Game

Stephen A. Smith blamed Zac Taylor for the Bengals bad season in Joe Burrow's absence.

Stephen A. Smith Lashes out at Zac Taylor Despite Bengals’ Win over Ravens in Joe Burrow’s Return Game

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and Stephen A. Smith in circle (Image via IMAGO/X)

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Zac Taylor came mighty close to meeting the same fate as Brian Callahan—fired by the Tennessee Titans after winning just one game. Maybe it was the couple of extra wins, or the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals spent two-thirds of the season without star quarterback Joe Burrow, that kept Taylor in charge as the top man in Ohio.

Nevertheless, the Bengals suffered their eighth loss of the season against the New England Patriots in Week 12. Burrow returned to the starting lineup after finishing a 75-day rehab.

The Bengals looked like a completely different team with Burrow calling the shots from under center. Most notably, the Bengals’ defense, ranked near the bottom of every metric prior to facing the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, racked up 2 sacks, forced three fumbles, and restricted Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson from throwing any passing touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Burrow threw 24 completions for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bengals won the game 32-14 and improved to a 4-8 record from 12 games. It’s slim, but if the Bengals win out their remaining games and a few results go in their favor around the league, then the AFC North franchise could still qualify for the playoffs—the first time since 2022.

Taylor may survive as long as the Bengals don’t lose any more games. However, Stephen A. Smith is opposed to the Bengals keeping Taylor as their head coach.

Smith noted that the Bengals still had Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown when Burrow was injured, they brought in Joe Flacco from the Browns, which “ticked off” Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, and still lost games.

Flacco-led Bengals offense scored 38 and 42 points against the Jets and the Bears, and still lost, while the same team under Burrow’s command defended a 32-point total against the Ravens. This infuriated Smith. He blamed Taylor for the losses.

We acted like we did not know how to play collective football, but all of a sudden Joe Burrow is back, and all is well. To me, he [Zac Taylor] looks at [the win against the Ravens] as a plus, because they [the Bengals] won the game. I look at it as an indictment against him, because you could have found a win a couple of those games, that Joe Burrow was out over three months. So, you could be in on the damn playoff hunt.

Stephen A. Smith ranted on ESPN’s First Take

Zac Taylor stopped Joe Burrow from an early return

Before the big Thanksgiving game in Baltimore, Burrow revealed that he was ready to play against the Patriots. However, Taylor advised him to complete his rehab.

Stephen A. Smith Lashes out at Zac Taylor Despite Bengals' Win over Ravens in Joe Burrow's Return Game
Joe Burrow (Image via IMAGO)

I’m a football player. I get paid a lot of money to go and play a game with my friends, and we work really hard. It’s intense, and there’s jobs on the line, but at the end of the day, it’s a game, and I’ve worked hard to put myself in this position and get as healthy as I can be… [However], at the end of the day, it was the head coach’s call.

Joe Burrow said (H/T: Sports Illustrated)

Next week, the Bengals play the 7-4 Buffalo Bills. As per Vegas odds, the Bills are overwhelming favorites to defeat their AFC counterpart.

It’s all square between the Bengals and the Bills with 17 wins each from 34 meetings. However, the Bengals have won 6 of the last 10 games. In Week 9 of the 2023 season, Burrow threw 2 touchdowns as the Bengals won 24-19 at Paycor Stadium.

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