Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and his locker room had a rather subdued reaction to their drought-ending playoff win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night.
Joe Burrow, during the NBC broadcast’s postgame interview, summed it up well enough — they’re on to the next game, with the goal being a championship.
That subdued locker room saw Bengals head coach Zac Taylor hand out two game balls. While they’d normally go to players with notable in-game performances or feats, Taylor sent a bigger message on Saturday night.
He gave one game ball to Bengals president Mike Brown and the other to the city of Cincinnati.
Zac Taylor awarded two game balls today:
One went to Mike Brown. "There's nobody who's more passionate about this team and organization."
The second went to the city of Cincinnati. "We want to start new traditions with playoff wins."
— Marisa Contipelli (@BengalsMarisa) January 16, 2022
While the Bengals might be playing calm, cool and collected because the ultimate goal is to win a championship, it’s an admission the team understands just how important ending the 31-year drought was to both the Brown family and the city as a whole.
