Dehner Jr.: Attacks on Zac Taylor’s Joe Burrow-less record excessive, overblown

CINCINNATI — There’s a line I use often upon opening social media or listening to talk radio after a loss when witnessing a tone of emotional rage among the fans.

Like most moments in life, it’s a “Seinfeld” quote that fits perfectly.

“The sea was angry that day, my friends,” said George Costanza, his famous line kicking off the story of his day saving a whale while he pretended to be a marine biologist.

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Unlike Seinfeld, the rage emanating from Bengals fans isn’t about nothing.

Joe Burrow’s wrist went pop, the Pittsburgh Steelers went pow and this season of high expectations went poof.

Now comes the airing of grievances. Of which there are many, with Cincinnati sitting at 5-6 entering Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The vast majority revolve around head coach Zac Taylor and his offensive staff.

I’ll pluck maybe the kindest two as a jumping-off point.

@Bengals_Mane: Zac Taylor’s record without Joe Burrow is (4-20). To me, it’s obvious Joe covers Zac’s flaws. But does the team/front office see it that way?

@zjwhitey: Next year will be year five for the Burrow/Taylor combo. Should Zac Taylor be on the hot seat to start the season next year?

People love to trot out the record without Burrow to hold against Taylor. Would you prefer it was better? Sure. Anybody would. There’s room for improvement everywhere.

There are few numbers I think matter less.

The Bengals are built around Burrow. For Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, their relationship with Burrow, their scheme, personnel and basically every decision made comes with augmenting his strengths in mind. Because that’s how this franchise can win the most games and its first championship.

All due respect to Jake Browning, or whomever you see as the best backup quarterback in football, but that’s true for every head coach.

Since the start of 2021 in games with a fully healthy Burrow starting and finishing, Taylor has gone 13-7, 14-5 and 4-1 for a total of 31-13. Oh yeah, that includes 5-2 in the postseason for a franchise that had not won a single playoff game in three decades. Those are the records that matter.

Of course Burrow covers up shortcomings. That’s why he makes $275 million.

The offense ranked fifth in EPA/drive last season and ranked fourth during Burrow’s five fully healthy weeks this year.

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Give Burrow all the credit if you must, but putting together a plan that works for him and surrounding those skills with the rest of the culture is the job of the head coach and his staff.

If you want to talk about records with backup quarterbacks, that’s fine.

Do you know Kyle Shanahan’s record without Jimmy Garoppolo and Brock Purdy (who clearly is not a backup-level QB for anyone paying an ounce of attention)? He’s 9-29.

Sean McVay, the legendary offensive guru whose coaching tree has changed the face of offense in the NFL, went 2-7 without Matthew Stafford the last two years.

Everyone’s favorite, Mike McDaniel, went 1-3 when Tua Tagovailoa didn’t start for Miami last year.

The Ravens are 49-21 with Lamar Jackson since the start of 2019 and 4-8 without him. Fire John Harbaugh, I suppose.

Mike Tomlin’s never had a losing record, of course, but in Pittsburgh, fans have called for his ouster for zero playoff wins in the last six years once the magic of Ben Roethlisberger aged out.

Remember when Bill Belichick was a genius, winner of six titles and the greatest coach of all time? Without Tom Brady, apparently he is a dunce and has no clue how to coach.

Here’s a look at the record of every team in a game started by a player who was not projected to be the starting quarterback at the beginning of this season.

Backup QBs in starts this year

That’s 20-40 for a .333 winning percentage.

The Nick Foles miracle in Philadelphia might be one of the most impressive feats of our time, but also an extreme outlier. Nobody is winning anything of significance in this league without a real quarterback. Tell me about those days with one, not how they coach without one.

This isn’t withdrawing blame on the coaching staff for the failures of the season. Specifically, the struggles to adequately adapt the first four weeks of the year to Burrow’s limited mobility were costly. The plan against Pittsburgh left plenty to be desired. Even when things were cooking with Burrow healthy, the midgame lulls left everyone to wonder what was going on.

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And yes, if you are going to give Taylor credit for assembling a talented, versatile staff, including the side of the ball led by coordinator Lou Anarumo, the issues happening on defense all year fall under his purview, as well.

This staff, with all this continuity and influence on a deep roster, has disappointed considering the expectations this season. It’s noted on the ledger, without question.

But hot seat? For the head coach? Hitting the restart button on the culture created?

I’ll go back to 31-13, 5-2 with a fully healthy Burrow.

There is nothing automatic about plugging a great quarterback under center and instantly getting results to the level of, let’s just say hypothetically, a trip to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game in consecutive seasons.

The head coach, his staff and personnel department must properly work together to create a winning environment around the quarterback — specifically in this unique setup in Cincinnati.

How’s all that going for Justin Herbert in Los Angeles? How’d Trevor Lawrence do under the inspiring leadership of Urban Meyer? For local context, Carson Palmer’s story goes beyond one hit to his knee by Kimo Von Oelhoffen to wonder why a man of his immense talent and paycheck made the playoffs in only two of six seasons as the full-time starter, losing both. It wasn’t all his fault, as much as a sect of fans love to eat up that narrative.

How many first-round quarterbacks have we discussed being ruined by their first head coaches and early situations?

People hold Burrow’s greatness against the coaches surrounding him. Is that fair or unfair? I don’t know. It shouldn’t particularly matter. The bottom line is Burrow is the franchise, has expressed his love for Taylor and this staff openly, on repeat, throughout his time here. His pairing with Taylor and this staff has produced the best run of football the organization has seen, on and off the field.

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They’ve been viewed as one of the premier, enviable franchises in the league.

Then, with all that said, remember this was a front office that plucked Taylor in 2019 while acknowledging his lack of experience but believing it would be an ideal hire for the long haul in a division where the best franchises are defined by patience. They stood by Taylor when he was 6-25-1 and hadn’t proved anything in this league after two seasons. He paid it off with the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Do you think there will be pressure mounting against him in the building when they are still enjoying their most profitable, successful era?

Marvin Lewis lasted 16 years and never won a playoff game with the fan base calling for his job as a seemingly annual rite of winter.

Mike Brown got within inches of achieving his lifetime football goal thanks to the pairing of Burrow and Taylor. He’s not breaking that up as long as he’s around owning the final say. No matter how angry the sea gets.

(Top photo: Ian Johnson / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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