The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Washington Commanders in the team's second preseason game on Monday night. Despite the result, coach Zac Taylor justified the decision to play his starting quarterback during the preseason.

Joe Burrow started his second straight preseason game and took the field for the team's first three possessions. During Cincinnati's second possession Burrow was taken down with a horse-collar tackle and sacked. ESPN's Marcus Spears called out Taylor during halftime for putting his quarterback in harm's way.

This morning on First Take, Stephen A. Smith went off on Taylor for the same thing while also calling out Burrow for not throwing the ball away and the defense for being generally horrible.

"I have a problem with Zac Taylor period," said Smith. "I have a problem with him coaching in the offseason. I have a problem with him never having his team prepared to play in September. I certainly have a problem with him leaving Joe Burrow in that game for as long as he did. There was a couple of plays where he was running for his life. I don't know why he didn't just go down. It's a preseason game. Why are you taking those hits unnecessarily? You've been in the league long enough, Joe Burrow, to know better than that. Still in all, you're Zac Taylor. You get on the field and you walk his ass off the field if you have to. I mean, you gotta be kidding me. It makes no sense whatsoever and when you consider how God awful their defense is. I mean awful."

Smith went on to say that the Bengals defense should have to fly commercial because they're so bad before turning his attention back to the decision to leave Burrow in, calling it "stupid."

Of course, the entire reason Burrow has been playing in the preseason games is to avoid a slow start in September, which Smith also has a problem with. It seems Taylor and the Bengals might just be fighting a losing battle here as they are playing a sport that is literally too dangerous to practice without being criticized.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith Has a Problem With the Bengals Coach, Quarterback and Defense.