But this week as the playoffs begin, the mood in Cincinnati is not one of dismay but rather anticipation. The Taylor-led Bengals (10-7) will host host the Las Vegas Raiders (10-7) in a Wild Card game Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium and will try to win the organization’s first playoff game since 1991.
“It wasn’t easy, and there was daily hard work and a lot of things that are difficult, uncomfortable, but it’s all part of the process,” Taylor said Monday. “We didn’t skip any steps, we didn’t make any drastic free agency decisions. We didn’t do anything crazy in the draft. We just really leaned on the experience of (Director of Player Personnel) Duke Tobin and others in the building that have been in those positions, combined with the experience that we have as a coaching staff and I think it’s put us in a really good position here three years later.”
Taylor came to Cincinnati in 2019 as a first-time head coach, fresh off a Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams, where he served as a quarterbacks coach and wide receivers assistant for two seasons. He had never been a coordinator in the NFL outside of interim experience with Miami, but the Bengals made him their head coach and offensive play-caller after 16 years with veteran Marvin Lewis produced no playoff wins.
Cincinnati missed the playoffs each of Lewis’ last three seasons, and the Bengals were even worse in Taylor’s first two years. But they stayed with the plan. Taylor got his chance to groom his own quarterback when the team drafted Joe Burrow first overall in 2020, and the addition of 2021 first-round pick Ja’Marr Chase gave Burrow another explosive weapon that has taken the offense to another level.
Coordinator Lou Anarumo continued rebuilding the defense through free agency and made noticeable improvements this year as well.
“It’s never going to be perfect, but getting everyone to believe and seeing the gradual progress that we were making -- I’m talking about everybody in the organization and the players and the coaches, so that everyone stays on board,” Taylor said. “And just being genuine, not changing our approach just because we struggled our first year and we struggled a little bit our second year as well, and all of a sudden changing your personality and changing your approach with the players, they would see right through that. I like to think that that has helped us with that consistency.
“The players that have been here have hopefully seen that and helped them get to where they’re at. It’s the only way I know how to do it. It’s the only way I believe in doing it. Fortunately we’re where we’re at in our third year with a lot of hay still to be made. We still feel like we’ve got a long ways to go and a lot of potential here and we haven’t even reached it yet.”
"Our belief in him comes from his belief in us."
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 13, 2022
That's our coach. pic.twitter.com/7cg1gIAvxw
Burrow remembers his first meeting with Taylor as they were going through draft prep. He could see then Taylor was someone for whom he wanted to play.
“He knew exactly the vision that he expected to have for the team and the organization,” Burrow said. “He had it really nailed down, understood what he wanted out of me as a quarterback and out of everybody else on the team and knew it was going to be a hard road. Just the way he talked, I understood that it just felt like it was fact, what he was saying.”
Taylor, who tight end C.J. Uzomah and others refer to as “a player’s coach,” had preached building a culture around high-character, hard-working individuals who love the game and wanted to be part of the project. It took some time to weed out individuals who didn’t fit that, while also making the difficult decision to move on from some who did but that couldn’t produce to the level Taylor needed.
Some thought Taylor was too inexperienced to turn things around, but his players believed. Defensive end Sam Hubbard, a 2018 draft pick, said Taylor deserves “an incredible amount of credit” for getting the team to this point.
“Anytime something goes wrong or there’s an issue, it seems like people are calling for Zac’s job or whatever,” Hubbard said. “He’s done nothing but be a great leader and consistent force in this whole turnaround, and I really love Zac as a coach, and I’m thankful that he’s here. Like you said, he was young. We’re all young, we all grow and learn, and we all just wanted to be better, and it’s just a consistent effort to be better for this team. It’s what we’ve all done -- and done together.”
Long-time Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said Taylor has grown most in his team management over the past three years.
“You’ve got to go through certain situations and you learn from them,” Simmons said. “So, he was certainly green behind the ears when he got here and all that stuff started, but now we’ve been through a lot of stuff over the course of the last three years. He’s done a hell of a job this year. He really has.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Raiders at Bengals, 4:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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