The NFL's Coach of the Year award candidates were all very deserving. Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, a worthy honoree, took home the hardware at Thursday's NFL Honors ceremony. While each of Vrabel, Green Bay Packers' Matt LaFleur, ex-Las Vegas Raiders' Rick Bisaccia, and New England Patriots' Bill Belichick could all have a case made for them as the Coach of the Year, one candidate in particular was robbed. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor's effort with the Bengals was arguably the most impressive of any head coach, as he has his team in Super Bowl 56 after an incredible playoff run. Here's why Taylor deserved to win the NFL's Coach of the Year award after leading the Bengals to Super Bowl 56.

Heading into the season, the Bengals were looked at as an exciting team. Cincinnati had Joe Burrow, who was coming back from a serious injury, talented running back Joe Mixon, who had the makings of a bell cow, and rookie wideout Ja'Marr Chase, who was expected to be a great talent at the next level. Exciting, yes. Super Bowl 56 worthy? Not a chance.

Yet, that is where the season has taken the Bengals- to the doorstep of Super Bowl 56 against the Los Angeles Rams. And they never could have done it without head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor deserved Coach of the Year-type credit for not only overseeing one of the deadliest offenses in the NFL but also for building a great culture in Cincinnati's locker room. The Bengals are one of the more close-knit teams in the league and Taylor deserves credit for overseeing and helping to create such a culture. Not only that, but Taylor deserves credit for not buying into the noise that the Bengals weren't quite ready for Super Bowl 56 and the title of legitimate contenders.

All year long the Bengals' slogan was “Why Not Us?” When the team improbably advanced through the AFC playoffs and made it to Super Bowl 56, the slogan then became “It Is Us.” That slogan can be applied to Taylor's snub at the NFL honors ceremony. Why not Bengals HC Zac Taylor as Coach of the Year?