Zac Taylor Criticized For His Timeout Usage Late In The First Half

Zac Taylor's game management skills have been put in question after the Cincinnati Bengals head coach called a questionable timeout during the last drive of the first half of the AFC Championship on Sunday.

With 39 seconds left in the half, Taylor called a timeout after Bengals running back Joe Mixon ran for three yards and the first down, which stopped the clock. Instead of burning a timeout, Taylor could've had a play ready to go and saved that timeout for a more dire situation.

"Didn't love the second Bengals timeout, after the run for the first down," Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde said. "That play only gained a few yards, seemingly would have been easy to get to the line of scrimmage quickly and run another play and save that T.O. for later in the drive. But Bengals still in it at half."

The Bengals ended the drive and the half with a field goal to pull within a touchdown of the Kansas City Chiefs. Then in the third quarter, Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins connected for a 27-yard touchdown to tie the game at 13.

The Super Bowl lineup is one quarter away from being finalized.