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Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor would appear to have one of the hottest seats in the NFL entering the 2021 season.
Going 6-25-1 (.203) over two seasons has a way of doing that for a coach.
Over at CBS Sports, Jason La Canfora recently ranked the hottest seats leaguewide and addressed Taylor:
“Watching the first-overall pick and 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion QB Joe Burrow go down midway through his rookie season is the kind of thing that tends to create a visceral reaction among owners. And while Mike Brown tends to be very loyal with coaches, it’s clear that people are on notice in Cincy that things need to improve in Year Three for this staff. The AFC North is no joke and this team has some serious talent issues on the defensive side of the ball that Taylor’s offense will have to try to overcome.”
Only Detroit’s Dan Campbell and Houston’s David Culley ranked worse.
And at this point it’s a totally fair thing for Taylor. He’s had some brutal injury luck and taking over and reshaping a roster and culture that was the same for more than a decade is no easy feat. But it’s fair to argue he still needs to win more games anyway (as he’ll tell anyone).
Interestingly, a bad start to 2021 over the first six or so games would see most head coaches fired in Taylor’s position. Not necessarily true in Cincinnati — so we’ll have to wait and see how the organization acts if things implode again.
Either way, Taylor appears to be on his final chance now that he’s had two years to rebuild the roster around a possible generational passer.
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