Taylor Lewan blames Zac Taylor, not Joe Burrow, for Bengals’ struggles

Outside of the Cincinnati Bengals, there is a lot of finger-pointing going on related to the 1-3 start.

Criticisms of head coach Zac Taylor and the coaching staff are prominent, both for actual gameplans and offensive scheme as well as for trotting an injured Joe Burrow out there in the first place.

Count former NFL lineman Taylor Lewan as one pointing the finger at Taylor, something he explained during a sitdown with Kay Adams.

“I think it’s the play-calling,” Lewan said. “If you watch the Titans game, they ran the ball effectively and they could have done that the entire game if they wanted to…If Joe’s not 100 percent, take it out of his hands.”

With the season at 1-3, questions about the Bengals will only intensify over the course of the two games left before the bye week. But Lewan isn’t alone in wanting to see the coaching staff not struggle with such a talented cast of weapons.

Adams brings up a good point at the end too — what does it say about the Bengals and Taylor if they can’t beat the struggling Arizona Cardinals without Burrow next week?

For his part, while announcing Burrow will play in Week 5 against the Cardinals, Taylor was adamant the play-calling needs to be better, too.

appreciated this convo with @TaylorLewan77 on the bengals.

Playcalling. Backup QB. What to do, what to do.. pic.twitter.com/meOrBMDYYp

— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) October 2, 2023