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NFL Madrid: Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor on Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Bijan Robinson
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor speaks to Sky Sports NFL as his side prepare to take on the Atlanta Falcons at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, live on Sky Sports NFL from 2pm on Sunday.
Friday 6 November 2026 18:41, UK
The 'best passer in the world' might be coming to a Madrid museum near you this weekend. That, of course, is according to Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
Joe Burrow arrives in Spain as an MVP frontrunner across the first half of the season as his 5-2 Bengals prepare to face the Atlanta Falcons at the Santiago Bernanbeu on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Burrow holds a league-high completion percentage of 73 while throwing for 2,115 yards and a league-leading 20 touchdowns to just six interceptions, his 302.1 yards per game also topping all quarterbacks in the NFL.
Cincinnati's poster boy comes into Europe playing some of the football of his life.
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"His consistency, and he never wastes a second trying to get himself better," said Taylor, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, of what makes Burrow special.
"Whether it's his footwork, his placement, reading the body language of the receiver, studying the defense he's going against. He's unbelievable, and he's playing at a high level this year. We're hoping to get that going again on Sunday."
Taylor added in Friday's press conference that Burrow was "arguably the best passer in the world right now".
Between Burrow and a wide receiver tandem of Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase, the Bengals threaten a three-headed monster rivalled by few in the league.
Higgins ranks second in the NFL with 726 receiving yards while Chase has 492 yards, both from 61 targets apiece as two No 1 receivers thriving on the same offense. Together they spearhead the top passing attack in football.
"To have them both on the same team is pretty luxurious for us," said Taylor. "And to be able to put them on the same side, different sides, if defenses are gonna single one of them usually there's great opportunities there for those guys behind them.
"They both have great attention to detail, so we're able to move them around."
On the other side of the ball the Bengals are seeking improvement to a defense that has hindered their Championship credentials in recent seasons.
They sought to addressing as much during the offseason by trading for former New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
"We got a lot of guys up front that are really talented, Dexter certainly helps us lead the play there," Taylor said.
"He can defend the run and the pass. Teams really have to have a great plan for him in the run and pass game, so he's been a great addition for a lot of things."
Among his prime tasks on Sunday will be slowing down Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who leads the NFL with 780 rushing yards this season but is without a 100-yard game in Atlanta's last four matchups.
Slowing Robinson is half the battle, such is the foundation he forms for everything Kevin Stefanski wants his offense to be.
"The running back (Robinson) stands out," said Taylor. "He's arguably the best one in the league. You gotta have a great plan. He can go off real quick and then all the things they build off that, the play action, the naked bootlegs, the screens.
"Great on defense, quarterback is great. They do a really good job on that scheme, playing together. And it's gonna make it difficult."
Burrow enjoying Madrid
Bengals quarterback Burrow championed the opportunity to play abroad as he explained how this Sunday's game was helping him fulfil a long-term travel dream.
"It means a lot to me that we're here. This is Year 7 for me, and I haven't been overseas yet and we keep adding more and more games to try and build the NFL globally. I think it's worked over the last five years and hoping to add more and continue to build. I love being a part of that and want to help grow the game."
"This is somewhere I've always wanted to go, and so to be able to do it while doing what I love, playing football, really is a dream come true," Burrow said.
Burrow told reporters how he spent time visiting Museo del Prado on Wednesday, with a view to seeing another museum or two and an art gallery before Sunday's game.
Such is the way of an NFL superstar, however, that flying in the radar tends not to be easy, even on European soil
"I ran into some students studying abroad from the United States the other day when I was walking around, that was certainly surprising," Burrow said.
"It's often a little more than I expect when I'm in a different country, I usually expect to go pretty incognito and not have anybody recognise me, it's a little more than that. But I love being out here because I can feel like a normal person a little bit."
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