Stephen A. Smith still wants to see Bengals' Zac Taylor on hot seat

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor might’ve just picked up his 50th win while Joe Burrow saved the team’s season and playoff chances, sure.

But not everyone is ready to take a fire extinguisher to Taylor’s seat.

Stephen A. Smith, for example, still wants to see Taylor held accountable for the Bengals’ massive struggles while Burrow was out recovering from an injury.

“Joe Burrow was out,” Smith said. “But we still had Chase. We still had Higgins. We plucked Joe Flacco from the Browns…but we acted like we didn’t know how to play collective football…he looks at it as a plus because they won the game. I look at it as an indictment against him because you could’ve found a way to win a couple of those games.”

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On one hand, not many teams go out and play amazing ball when the franchise quarterback, who happens to be in the top three at the position, misses time with an injury. Who knew?

Yet, on the other hand, there’s some fairness in Smith’s analysis. While the Bengals stumbled inexplicably against the likes of the Jets, the defense was on pace to be the worst of all time in metrics like DVOA. There were players who clearly were not bought in, especially on that unit.

But this is also Cincinnati, where the head coach is alone on an island defending the decisions of the organization all season, which includes a drafting group that has done a poor job in recent years and a front office that has whiffed on player retention in key moments.

The conclusion? It’s complicated. But Taylor himself would probably agree he needed to do a better job of finding wins with Burrow out. Had he, the Bengals would likely be running away with the AFC North right now.

RELATED: Bengals’ win vs. Ravens spotlights Hendrickson, Higgins injury watch

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Stephen A. Smith still wants to see Bengals' Zac Taylor on hot seat