How Zac Taylor showed great trust in Joe Burrow in win over Vikings

Former LSU football quarterback Joe Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to a huge overtime win against Minnesota Vikings in his first game back from the ACL injury he suffered as a rookie in 2020.

Burrow, who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Bengals in the 2020 NFL Draft, didn’t miss a beat in his return, passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Part of the reason the Bengals won the game was because of a huge fourth-down conversion where Burrow connected with C.J. Uzomah for a 32-yard gain.

The pass to Uzomah set up the game-winning 33-yard field goal by rookie Evan McPherson.

Zac Taylor showed great trust in Joe Burrow

The fourth-down pass to Uzomah that essentially won the game for the Bengals happened because of a decision by Burrow.

The former LSU standout checked to a pass play at the line — obviously making the right decision.

After the game, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed that Burrow had two plays to choose from in that situation.

Burrow was asked by reporters what the other play was that had been called.

“We’ll keep that to ourselves,” said a laughing Burrow (via Bengals.com).

Burrow, however, did explain why he chose that play.

From Bengals.com:

"Burrow: “We ran a QB sneaker earlier in the game, so they put a guy over center and then set two shading over the guards. It was going to be tough to run the ball up the middle, so we had a second play called, and that’s what I got to. We’ve run that play multiple times over the last couple of years, and I don’t think we’ve thrown it to C.J. one time. He was ready for it, and I think over the last few years we’ve hit everybody on that play. It’s a good play for us.”"

It’s pretty incredible that Taylor showed that type of trust in such a big moment in Burrow, a quarterback who has less than a full season of games under his belt.

It just goes to show that Taylor and the Bengals truly view Burrow as an advanced quarterback who can lead this offense for years to come.

This is only one game, but that moment told us a lot about Burrow — he isn’t the least bit rusty after his ACL injury, and he sees the field the way only an elite quarterback sees the field.