Zac Taylor still haunted by Bill Belichick, Tom Brady reactions

Zac Taylor has been part of a Super Bowl before, and it did not go well for the Cincinnati Bengals head coach. The memories he brings with him into Sunday are still on his mind three years later.

Taylor was the quarterbacks coach for the 2018 Los Angeles Rams team that faced off against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. The Patriots won that game 13-3, shutting down a powerful Rams offense in what was considered a Bill Belichick coaching masterclass.

Taylor wound up becoming the Bengals’ head coach immediately after that game, which he admitted ruined any effort to process that loss. On Thursday, he admitted to carrying one enduring memory from that game: the sight of Belichick and Tom Brady in the hallway afterward.

Zac Taylor says he never properly processed the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots because he was on a flight to Cincinnati the next day.

"Still remember passing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the hallway and the smiles on their faces. It was crushing. I've never forgotten that."

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) February 10, 2022

The good news for Taylor is he will not have to contend with either Belichick or Brady on Sunday. He will have to deal with his former boss Sean McVay and a number of players he will know well.

McVay probably has similar memories. Based on what he said after that Super Bowl, if anything, his might be even more visceral. One of these two coaches will start to vanquish those memories on Sunday, while the other will have to live with being on the wrong side of two Super Bowls in four years.

Photo: Jan 2, 2022; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor paces the sideline in the first quarter during a Week 17 NFL game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-USA TODAY Sports