The Cincinnati Bengals are finally in the news lately for something other than contract disputes. In the sixth episode of the Netflix documentary series “Quarterback,” quarterback Joe Burrow gets into a heated exchange with head coach Zac Taylor during a win against the Tennessee Titans back in December of 2024.
One of the more frustrating plays in the game was when safety Jordan Battle fumbled the ball all by himself as he got close to the goal line. It’s the kind of maddening play that can really set a superstar quarterback off when he’s playing at an MVP level and so much of the rest of the team is doing stuff like this.
“That’s an embarrassing performance by us,” Burrow says. “F—— embarrassing.”
“I know. We’ll address it,” Taylor replied. “But at the same time, let’s enjoy some of these wins.”
The Bengals ended up winning the game 37-27, but Burrow was still heated.
“F— that. F— that,” Burrow says. “We sucked today. That was embarrassing. We jumped offsides f—— eight times.”
“I know that. I know that,” Taylor says.
Burrow and Taylor addressed the exchange after the game
Both Burrow and Taylor talked about the situation after the game. It sounds like people wanted to jump on the fact that there was some kind of fight, but it was just the emotion of the game.
“I understand that we won the game, and we want to be happy that we won the game,” Burrow said. “But at the same time, when things aren’t good enough, I’m not gonna act like they were.”
Isn’t that the attitude that you want from your superstar? As opposed to, say, Vince Young after the Philadelphia Eagles got thumped by the New England Patriots in 2011 saying “I thought I played okay.” Really, Vince? You just lost by 18.
Taylor also talked about the on-field kerfuffle following the win.
“Sometimes I walk into an emotional moment, and I know I’m walking into an emotional moment,” Taylor said. “And it becomes a really emotional moment. And they may be viewed as conflict. It’s really just passion for the game.”
Burrow agreed to do the series because of Peyton Manning
Former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is an executive producer of “Quarterback.” He’s the main reason that Burrow even agreed to do the show in the first place.
“I think a big part was Peyton (Manning) being involved in it, too,” Burrow said. “I have a lot of respect for him, obviously. What he did, does, is as a person, when that guy reaches out to you and asks you to do something, then … most of the time I’m not going to say no.”
With Manning in charge, Burrow didn’t see a down side to participating in the documentary.
“Only positive things could come out of it,” Burrow said. “He’s going to protect me, protect our team, protect our organization. I have trust in him for saying that and trust that he’s going to do that. I probably wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t involved, but I have a lot of trust and faith in him to not do anything that would hurt me or the team.”
The second season of “Quarterback” is now available on Netflix.
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