Cut to the chase - Zac not playing starters in preseason was a big cause of the loss

[Joelist]

I do think that when you get behind Burrow's picks and the blocking issues and the other miscues a big culprit sure looks like it is Zac Taylor not playing his offensive starters at all in live preseason action (as in full speed football). In particular an OL with four new starters NEEDED the full speed reps to get into some kind of sync with each other and Burrow needed them to get into some kind of internal rhythm.

Yes the appendectomy caused Burrow to miss a lot of practices but really both he and the entire offense should have played in Preseason Game 3 for at least a half to get the gelling process started and get some kind of rhythm established. Had we done that I suspect we would not have turned the ball over 4 times, the line would have been in a bit better sync and we would have won.