Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and comments from his inbox and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com
Subject: Cincinnati Bengals look bad for keeping Zac Taylor amid NFL firings
Message: John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl in Baltimore. He won eight road playoff games over 18 seasons there, something no other coach has done. He still got fired.
Sean McDermott made Buffalo a regular contender in the AFC, at one point going six straight seasons of winning at least one playoff game. He still got fired.
And yet Zac Taylor remains the Bengals’ head coach after missing the playoffs three straight years. Don’t you think all these firings of top coaches makes the Bengals look even worse for keeping Zac?
Reply: Guess it depends on the audience. It looks bad to the national media, which can’t accept that the Bengals aren’t like everyone else in how they operate. Here at home, we’re conditioned to accept Bengals mediocrity and so most people don’t think it looks all that bad.
Big picture, the moves in Baltimore and Buffalo highlight that the Bengals’ standards aren’t congruent with the AFC’s elite franchises. You already knew that, but it’s just another reminder that some teams have a whole other level of expectations – a level that’s hard to comprehend around here.
Baltimore and Buffalo are legitimately trying to win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Bengals ownership is happy if the team is competitive and finishes with a winning record. Did you notice that Bengals owner Mike Brown pointed out the “four straight winning seasons” in the first sentence of his statement early this month? Well, two of those ended with no playoff berth.
That said, I’m glad Taylor didn’t get fired. The team’s failures aren’t his fault. Taylor can only do so much with the inadequate players that ownership and the front office keep giving him.
And there is something to be said about being patient with a coach. It’s a tough balancing act, but Taylor did oversee the best two-year stretch in team history – and it wasn’t that long ago.
The notion of firing a coach after one bad season is crazy, like the Ravens did with Harbaugh. On one hand, you like the message that mediocrity won’t cut it. On the other, though, it’s a cautionary tale to be careful what you wish for. It’ll be incredibly difficult for new Baltimore coach Jesse Minter to match Harbaugh’s success, let alone top it.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Baltimore, Buffalo go for Super Bowl excellence as Bengals stay same
