The last time Zac Taylor was coaching in a conference championship game he was a member of Sean McVay’s staff as the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterbacks coach.
The Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints in the 2018 NFC Championship game to advance to Super Bowl LIII. Three years later as the lead man in charge, Taylor has the Cincinnati Bengals playing in the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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If the Bengals and Rams both win their games, McVay and Taylor will be facing one another in Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. But to get there, the Bengals will have to play their best game of the postseason to knock off the reigning AFC Champions.
“It’s awesome … Zac is a great coach,” McVay said on Friday. “I think the resilience, the mental toughness the things they’ve gone through to get to this point is great. I think it’s such a credit to his leadership.
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"I love Zac Taylor, I’m so happy for him. I think that team plays with a swagger and confidence similar to the way Zac carries himself. He’s so steady, he’s always so neutral. You look at the way (Joe) Burrow plays, he never flinches, he’s always confident in his ability to respond and I think they thrive off that, they’ve got great players and I’m so happy for Zac.”
McVay, known for his offensive mind in the coaching ranks, hired Taylor in 2017 as the assistant wide receivers coach after Taylor spent the 2016 season as the offensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati.
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The following season, McVay promoted Taylor to quarterbacks coach where he worked directly with current Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. A year later, the Bengals hired Taylor to become their next head coach.
When asked what McVay likes most about what Cincinnati has done offensively this season, McVay didn’t limit his answer to one area. The Bengals and Rams finished the 2021 regular season tied for seventh in the NFL in points per game (27.1).
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“And what they’ve done offensively, they’ve done a great job really putting their players in a position to have their best traits and characteristics come to life,” McVay said. “They do an excellent job of putting a lot of stress on people, (to) be able to throw it.
"I think they’ve done a great job of being able to utilize (Joe) Mixon and the run game and in the screens. I’m so happy for Zac, he and Brian Callahan have done a great job with that offense.”
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