It was fair enough to think after the wild success of the last two seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals that head coach Zac Taylor and quarterback Joe Burrow would get a little recognition via votes for the year’s biggest awards.
But that wasn’t the case at the NFL Honors.
In Coach of the Year voting, Taylor got zero votes. Despite the Super Bowl trip last year, overcoming an 0-2 start this year to win 12 games and make the playoffs again, winning eight games in a row to close the season and 10 in a row to reach the conference title game, Taylor didn’t even get a third-place vote.
And while the award typically slants in favor of major turnaround jobs, even the likes of the Super Bowl coaches this year got votes while Taylor’s name didn’t appear at all:
AP NFL Coach of the Year voting breakdown:
5 points for 1; 3 points for 2; 1 point for 3.
First-place votes:
1. Brian Daboll – 16
2. Kyle Shanahan – 12
3. Doug Pederson – 5
4. Sean McDermott – 7
5. Nick Sirianni – 6
6. Kevin O'Connell – 1
7. Dan Campbell – 1
8. Andy Reid – 2 pic.twitter.com/iA6bkO9d8g— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 10, 2023
It’s a mostly similar story for Burrow, whose MVP-like year until right at the end didn’t earn him a first-place vote. Patrick Mahomes winning the award was inevitable, but it was still odd to see Josh Allen get more first-place votes while Burrow finished fourth overall:
AP NFL MVP voting breakdown:
10 points for 1; 5 points for 2; 3 for 3; 2 for 4; 1 for 5.
First-place votes:
1. Patrick Mahomes – 48
2. Jalen Hurts – 1
3. Josh Allen – 1 pic.twitter.com/agBtDW2XGr— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 10, 2023
Burrow did win another award on the night, but in an award measuring the most valuable players in the NFL it’s fair game to think Burrow should have received more recognition.
If nothing else, the Bengals got a major win with Ken Riley becoming the second former player in franchise history to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
