Joe Burrow Sends Clear Message Following 5-2 Start
Joe Burrow entered the NFL after putting together one of the most celebrated single seasons in college football history, with one of its all-time great offenses in 2019 LSU. He’s off to a tremendous start in year two with the Cincinnati Bengals, but it’s no surprise that he’s not settling for a nice seven-game stretch.
The Bengals are 5-2, after Sunday’s surprising 41-17 domination of the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow put together a huge game, throwing for 416 yards (10.95 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns. He had one interception on the day.
For the season, Burrow’s taken a big second-year leap. He has 1,956 yards in seven games, good for just under 280 per game. He’s completing 68.9-percent of his throws for a robust 9.2 yards per attempt, up from 6.7 last season, with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. As he’s looked to make more plays, his interception rate is up quite a bit, but his touchdown rate jumped from 3.2-percent to an even 8-percent. Only Jameis Winston has a higher mark.
“We’re in a place that we haven’t been in a while but we’re not satisfied with where we are,” Burrow said during his Wednesday press conference. “We’ve got to go out to practice every day, keep getting better, because other teams are going to keep getting better as well.”
“We’ve got bigger aspirations than 5-2. So we’ve got to keep getting better every day, go out to practice, get through our reps, come back in and watch the film — just keep grinding,” he continued.
He didn’t want to downplay the “big win” against Baltimore, but acknowledges it’ll be treated like a blip if the team lets up now.
“It was a big win, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t go out there and win this week and win the week after that and continue to stack these wins and keep getting better and better.
“If we go 0-10 [to finish the year], nobody’s going to care we beat Baltimore in Week Seven.”
The AFC North looks like one of the toughest divisions in football, but the Bengals are in the driver’s seat with early-season wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens. If Joe Burrow keeps playing at this high a level, the sky’s the limit.
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