Football is a competitive game that's played and coached by passionate players who are often doing everything they can to win, and when things don't go right, that can boil over into altercations, verbal and physical.
Last season, we saw Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and quarterback Joe Burrow have a heated exchange on the sideline during the team's 37-27 win over the Tennessee Titans in December.
In the fourth quarter, the Bengals were called for a false start, the team's 14th accepted penalty in the game, and FOX's cameras caught Burrow and Taylor getting into it before the Titans took the field for the final time.
While neither party commented on the discussion at the time, it was included in Netflix's "Quarterback" docuseries that followed a handful of NFL quarterbacks throughout the 2024 season, including Burrow.
In the docuseries, Burrow is seen reacting rather harshly to the false start penalty. When Taylor came over to calm down his quarterback, Burrow continued to harp on the team's mental mistakes that were frequently prevalent throughout the contest.
The following clip from Netflix's "Quarterback" is NSFW:
Joe Burrow had an animated conversation with Zac Taylor after a win over the #Titans last season, which many people wondered about.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 8, 2025
It’s covered in Quarterback on Netflix.
Burrow — despite the win — was upset with the team’s “embarrassing” performance.pic.twitter.com/LTtr5Z0CeA
Honestly, this is exactly what you want from both the head coach and the quarterback of your team. Burrow demands more from himself and his teammates, while Taylor is able to support his guy and let him know that they did a good job.
It's that balance that can make a team successful, and if the Bengals can just avoid a slow start in 2025, they should be fighting for a playoff spot again.
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