The Cincinnati Bengals have been the subject of a wide array of contingency plans over their canceled Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills. The Bengals keep rendering those contingencies irrelevant, much to the delight of coach Zac Taylor.
The Bills and Kansas City Chiefs would have met in Atlanta next week in the AFC Championship had Buffalo won Sunday in the divisional round, but the Bengals scored a comfortable 27-10 victory instead. That meant they would travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs instead.
Taylor was asked if he had used the NFL’s decision to sell tickets for a possible neutral site game as a way to motivate his players. He responded with a sarcastic mock-apology to the league for screwing up all their logistical work.
Zac Taylor has a heartfelt apology for screwing up everyone’s plans for Atlanta. 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/256CjryrvM
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 22, 2023
“We had our minds set to go play in Kansas City,” Taylor said. “It is tough, because they have to formulate the plans for coin tosses, they gotta formulate the plans for neutral site games, and we just keep screwing it up for everybody. I hate that for people to have to endure all those logistical issues. We just keep screwing it up. Sorry.”
The coin flip Taylor referenced is a nod to the NFL’s decision to settle a potential AFC North tiebreaker with a coin toss while simultaneously crowning the Bengals as division champions. The Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 to render that scenario irrelevant, but players were still incensed by the possibility of playing a road wild card game as a division champion. Bengals players also took issue with the league selling tickets to a possible neutral site championship game that would have taken place in Atlanta had the Bills beaten the Bengals on Sunday.
The Bengals are playing with a chip on their shoulder thanks to the perceived slights by the league. Joe Burrow made that clear in his postgame interview, and Taylor went even further here. So far, it seems to be working for them.
