Five Takeaways From What Joe Burrow Said About Animated Sideline Exchange With Zac Taylor

Burrow was frustrated at the end of Sunday's 37-27 win over the Titans.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) walks for the locker room after the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 13 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. The Steelers won 44-38. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — There's been plenty of discussion about Joe Burrow's animated conversation with Zac Taylor late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 37-27 win over the Titans.

Burrow addressed countless questions about his sideline demeanor, his leadership, what the conversation meant and more during his 21-minute press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Here are the five most interesting things he said about exchange with Taylor:

Hopes Teammates Take Notice

Burrow is hoping his teammates noticed his frustration.

"I hope so. I haven’t had any of those direct discussions like that. But I always just try to display a championship mindset," Burrow said. "When things are good and good enough, to do what we want to do, then I try to verbalize that. When things aren’t up to standard, in my opinion, I try to verbalize that as well."

He made it clear that Sunday's 37-27 win wasn't up to their standards. The Bengals were called for 15 penalties and had four turnovers in the game.

"I just hold myself and I hold our team to a high standard. I expect greatness out of us," Burrow said. "When it’s not that, I get frustrated. When it’s not that from myself, when it’s not that from everybody, I get frustrated."

Not Directed at Taylor

Burrow was yelling at Taylor, but his message wasn't for the sixth-year head coach. He was frustrated with the entire game and team—starting with himself.

"It wasn’t directed at Zac. It was just a frustrating, just a display of frustration of the day that I had, that we had as an offense in how sloppy it was," Burrow said. "We’ve had those discussions in-house and talked about what needs to be better."

Taylor's Message

"He was just trying to tell me to be happy with the win," Burrow said. "I appreciate that about him because I can get lost—just like everybody can—you get lost in the adversity of the season and you can't take winning for granted."

Burrow completed 26-of-37 passes for 271 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble.

"It's tough for me sometimes. I want to be great. I want us to be great," Burrow said. "On offense I want us to be perfect, and if we're not, that gets frustrating for me. I do need to be better at just if we win, be happy about it. It's hard to win in this league. And I can do a better job of maybe showing that side of me on a Monday and enjoying the win right after, rather than letting that boil over on the sideline." 

Time of Game Mattered

The Bengals were called for multiple penalties on their final offensive possession. That didn't sit well with Burrow.

Ultimately, Cincinnati scored a touchdown to take a 37-21 lead and put the game away, but Burrow was frustrated with the penalties.

"I think there were a lot of different things that went into it. If that's a close game, in it till the end, that's not how I'm reacting in that situation," Burrow said. "Usually what happens when I get that frustrated, I'm frustrated with my own mistakes to start and then we have control of the game against a team that If feel we're better than. If we're not playing up to my standard against a team like that, you have the luxury of being a little emotional on the sideline in that situation because the game's out of reach. You don't have to go back out there to make a play to win the game."

Burrow doubled down on the timing of his outburst. If the game was close, he would've been focused on winning. Once the game was won, it was easier to focus on the mistake-filled game.

"I don't often get that frustrated because usually the game's close, and you've got to stay in it," Burrow said. "You can't let your emotions get the best of you in that situation. At that point there was maybe a minute left on the clock. I knew my day was done and our day was done on offense. So that's when you start to reflect on how the day went, and in the moment I was just focusing on all the negative things that I did, that we did. It was frustrating to me in that moment. Like I said, a lot of things go into it. 

Burrow Not Alone

Earlier this week I compared Burrow's rant to what we've seen from Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the past. High-end quarterbacks tend to be animated when things aren't going well. They have high standards.

Burrow mentioned that duo and threw Drew Brees in the mix. He has a few things in common with that trio, including the ability to go on a sideline rant.

"They did it the right way, handled their careers the right way. Never threw anybody under the bus. Always have the demeanor that you want to see from a quarterback," Burrow said. "Those guys get heated on the sideline, too. That's part of the game. You can go see clips of all those guys getting frustrated. We put a lot into this. We work really hard to go out and play well on Sunday's, and put our bodies in a great position to go out and perform, and, you know, when you don't feel like things are up to the standard, that gets frustrating because we put so much work into this. Emotions run high. It's an emotional game."

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