Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

“I Have a Problem With Zac Taylor” – Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Bengals HC Zac Taylor, Lists Several Reasons Why He Takes Issue With Taylor’s Approach

Zac Taylor receives criticism for questionable decision during preseason game

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Ever since the Cincinnati Bengals landed quarterback Joe Burrow with the number one overall pick from the 2020 NFL draft, a new level of hope and optimism has filled the air. Burrow has since been joined by Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, arguably the best wide receiver duo in the game right now.

It has not all been smooth sailing. Burrow’s rookie year was horrendous as the Bengals finished 2−7−1 in the 10 games he started. But a Super Bowl appearance just a year later rekindled the hopes of an entire fan base. However, since then, the Bengals have struggled, and at the heart of that struggle is none other than head coach Zac Taylor.

Stephen A. Smith Lashes Out at Zac Taylor

NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith was brutally honest with his assessment of how he felt about the Bengals’ head coach, Zac Taylor. When asked on ESPN’s ‘First Take’ if he had any issues with Taylor keeping quarterback Joe Burrow on the field longer than necessary during the team’s recent preseason game against the Commanders, Smith was quick to raise the point that he had a number of issues with Taylor’s decisions.

Joe Burrow is the most accurate QB we have ever seen.

This throw was simply impossible 🤯👀pic.twitter.com/MfNTxLxJ90
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 19, 2025

Smith started by listing out various reasons why Taylor’s coaching bothers him. The Bengals’ head coach is often criticized by experts for his coaching decisions during the offseason, to which Smith himself is not an exception.

The analyst also listed Taylor’s inability to get his teams ready for the start of the regular season as a problem area. This has led to his team’s unnecessary slow starts to the season, putting a lot of pressure on the back end of the regular season.

But, it was the fact that Taylor kept Burrow on for an extended period of gametime in last week’s preseason game that was the main talking point.

“I certainly have a problem with him leaving Joe Burrow in that game for as long as he did,” said Smith. “There were a couple of plays where he’s running for his life, I don’t know why he didn’t just go down. It’s a preseason game. Why you taking those hits unnecessarily?”

Smith then proceeded to describe how it made no sense to allow Burrow to take that punishment, especially considering how awful the Bengals’ defense is.

"It makes no sense whatsoever and when you consider how God awful their defense is … it just elevates the necessity of Joe Burrow."@stephenasmith goes off on HC Zac Taylor for leaving Joe Burrow out for three series in the preseason 😳 pic.twitter.com/1vEkaX87Nw
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 19, 2025

Burrow’s Importance to the Bengals

It is quite evident by now for all those who have been following the Bengals over the last few seasons that Cincinnati’s season depends almost entirely on Joe Burrow staying healthy. Back in 2023, when Burrow got injured and missed seven games, the writing was on the wall.

As Smith also mentioned, the former LSU quarterback has exceptional weapons in the receiver room with Chase and Higgins, but there is nothing those two can do if Burrow is not on the field throwing to them.

It's only preseason and the Bengals O-line already has Joe Burrow in hell

pic.twitter.com/5yhogDQKap
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 19, 2025

Another point that is equally worth accepting is that the Cincinnati defense is just terrible. It was the same case last season, and despite the Bengals putting up multiple 30-plus and 40-plus point games, the defense wasn’t able to do its job.

Looking ahead at the 2025 season, the expectation from the defense remains the same, and to further complicate matters, the league leader in sacks from last season, Trey Hendrickson, is still holding in due to contract issues.

That means, at the end of the day, everything the Bengals hope to achieve eventually boils down to Joe Burrow being healthy under center. And for Taylor to take such risks in preseason, it just defies all logic.

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow

NFL

Stephen A Smith

Zac Taylor

Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!