Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are a team on the rise in the NFL. They made a surprising run to the Super Bowl and look like a team poised to contend for years to come.
The Bengals have done a great job building their roster up in recent years as they have talent on both sides of the ball. The most important thing for an NFL team to build a sustainable winner is having a great quarterback. Cincinnati found one with the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft in Joe Burrow.
Burrow has been excellent in two seasons with the Bengals. A knee injury cut his rookie season short, but he came back looking even better during his sophomore campaign. He led the Bengals to a 10-win season, winning the AFC North in the process.
In 16 games, Burrow threw for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. He led the league with a completion percentage of 70.4, completing 366 out of 520 pass attempts. That performance landed him on a very prestigious list.
According to NFL Stats on Twitter, Burrow became only the fifth quarterback in NFL history to average 8.5 yards per attempt and complete at least 70 percent of their passes. The other players to accomplish this feat were Deshaun Watson in 2020, Drew Brees in 2009, Steve Young in 1994 and Joe Montana in 1989.
What makes that performance even more impressive for Burrow is the fact that he did it behind such a poor offensive line. He was sacked a league-high 51 times for a loss of 370 yards during the 2021 regular season, as he took a beating every week.
That is a troubling trend for the Bengals that they need to figure out. Joe Burrow absorbed 32 sacks in 10 games as a rookie and during their playoff run endured 19 more in four games. Fixing the offensive line is a must if Cincinnati wants to keep Burrow standing upright and producing.
Imagine what he could accomplish behind an offensive line that could block? He will likely be garnering some MVP consideration if he can get consistent time in the pocket to find his star-studded group of pass-catchers in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
