Slow starts and the Cincinnati Bengals have become synonymous during the Zac Taylor era. The Bengals boast a 1-5 record in Week 1 since Taylor took the head coach job and have a combined 2-7 record in the first three weeks over the last three seasons.
In the ultra-competitive AFC North with a crowded AFC playoff picture, the Bengals cannot afford another season with a slow start. If the Bengals had just won one game in the first three weeks of the season last year, they would have usurped the Denver Broncos and made the NFL Playoffs.
To combat this, the Bengals are trying something new in 2025. Taylor told reporters at training camp that the plan is to play Burrow more "than we ever have" in the preseason. While it will be nice to see Burrow in action earlier than September this year, this also opens the door for a doomsday scenario that would likely cost Taylor his job.
Zac Taylor's Bengals days will be numbered if Joe Burrow gets hurt during the preseason
NFL players can get hurt at any time; that goes without saying. However, it's a lot easier to swallow if a player gets hurt while making a Super Bowl push than it is if a player gets hurt during a meaningless exhibition.
Taylor is playing with fire by playing Burrow more in the preseason when he really doesn't have to. The desire to combat the slow starts is well-placed, but the solution Taylor has come up with does not actually fix the issue.
Burrow has struggled, for his standards, in Week 1 the last two seasons. However, we all know he is an elite quarterback with a legitimate MVP ceiling. The slow offensive start probably has more to do with Taylor and how he has prepared his team, not so much the quarterback needing a long runway to "get ready".
Is Zac Taylor's risk with Joe Burrow worth it for the Bengals?
Cincinnati also has a much easier start to the season than in years past. The Bengals open the season on the road against the Cleveland Browns before coming home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Taylor shouldn't need Burrow to play more in the preseason for the Bengals to win one of those two games.
But alas, the Bengals' slow starts have become a storyline that is following Taylor as a head coach. He is obviously desperate enough to risk his own job to shake this narrative, even if he is going about it the wrong way.
Taylor better hope that this risky decision with Burrow in the preseason ends up just being that: a risky decision. If anything serious actually happens to the star quarterback, then Bengals fans are going to run him out of Cincy before the season even begins.