Zac Taylor vs. Brian Flores: Revisiting coaches' involvement in 2020 Bengals-Dolphins brawl

Edward Sutelan

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Zac Taylor vs. Brian Flores: Revisiting coaches' involvement in 2020 Bengals-Dolphins brawl image

Bengals coach Zac Taylor is normally plenty vocal about heaping praise on opposing coaches. That wasn't the case with Brian Flores.

The Vikings defensive coordinator has coached one of the best units in the NFL, particularly striking given its turnaround from a season ago. In a year in which Minnesota is down to its fourth quarterback to start a game, Flores' defense has been the biggest reason the Vikings remain in the playoff chase.

But leading up to the Bengals' Saturday game against Minnesota, Taylor has reportedly been brief when discussing Flores. And this incident in 2020 might have a little something to do with it, as ProFootballNetwork's Jay Morrison pointed out on X.

Back then, Flores was the head coach of the Dolphins, who were playing against the Bengals. After a controversial play, Flores came across the field during the game to confront Taylor.

The conflict might have been three years ago, but it appears likely Taylor has not forgotten about the incident. Here's what you need to know about it.

Revisiting 2020 Bengals-Dolphins brawl

In a Week 13 2020 contest between the Bengals and Dolphins, Bengals receiver Michael Thomas, the gunner on a punt, raced toward Miami returner Jakeem Grant, who was waiting for the ball. Before Grant had a chance to catch it after calling for a fair catch, however, Thomas leveled him, slamming into his chest and drawing an immediate flag.

It was the second time in the game Thomas had been flagged for an illegal hit on Grant, and the fact it was his second of the day — and was more egregious — led to a benches-clearing incident between the teams.

And Flores and Taylor found themselves in the middle of it. The Dolphins sideline made its way across the field to confront the Bengals, led by Flores, who pointed at Taylor and wound up having to be held back by players and assistant coaches.

Several players were ejected, including Bengals safety Shawn Williams and Dolphins receivers DeVante Parker and Mack Hollins. Earlier in the game, Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd and Dolphins corner Xavien Howard were also thrown out for another scuffle.

After the game, Taylor was asked about his players losing their cool and whether he felt officials had lost control of the game. He deferred to another question, but did wind up briefly answering a question on talking with Flores after the game.

"We'll keep that between us, but, yeah, we're good," Taylor said after the game.

Flores was much more open after the game about the altercation.

"We've got to do a better job of keeping our poise. That starts with me. I've got to do a better job of keeping my poise. But, look, I'm going to stick up for my players," Flores said at the time. "They're going to stick up for each other without getting penalties, without hurting the team, but we've got to do a better job of keeping our poise as a team. 

"I'm just going to be honest, these are like my kids. The first time, yeah. The second time I got a little upset about it, but still I've got to do a better job. I have to. I can't do anything to hurt the team. My emotions got the best of me there. But again, you see somebody you care about get hit like that twice ... But I have to do a better job. I've got to keep my poise better. We have to do a better job of that as a team."

And his players admired Flores for standing up for his players, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa saying that "he's not just a coach out there" and that Flores won't let go injuries to players and will stand up for his guys.

"I think it speaks a lot to Flo's character – how much it means to him that, you know, his player got hit, and it wasn't the first time. It was the second time. It just means a lot," Tagovailoa said. "You got to see, not just him, but other guys going in there trying to defend Jakeem and whatnot. But I think it's a testament – although it happened the way it did, it's also a testament to how close we are as a team."

The two coaches have not seen much of each other since. Flores was the linebackers coach with the Steelers in 2022 and faced the Bengals twice, but he also worked largely in the booth as a coach. But they'll be coaching directly against one another on Saturday, with Taylor calling the offensive plays for the Bengals and Flores calling the defensive plays for the Vikings.

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.