Joe

Burrow

The Bengals roared back from a 27-6 deficit early in the third quarter to tie the game at 27 after three straight touchdowns with over 12 minutes to play. They would ultimately come up short after trading defensive blows with the Chargers throughout the remainder of the fourth quarter before a 29-yard rushing score from J.K. Dobbins broke the tie with only 18 seconds remaining. Burrow actually had the team in position for a Hail Mary following a long completion to Andre Iosivas, a pass that fell incomplete after Tee Higgins couldn’t secure the ball in the end zone. The Bengals fall to 4-7 with the loss and now find their backs against the wall as they prepare to face the Steelers in Week 12.

The good news is Burrow is a righty. He also has more than a week to let whatever bruising subside before Week 11’s game against the Chargers. Taylor didn’t seem overly concerned about Burrow’s injury at Friday’s news conference, so we wouldn’t expect there to be anything of concern here by next week.

Burrow is up to nine touchdown passes over the past five days, and finishes the regular season 64-of-95 (67.3) for 820 yards (8.6 YPA), nine scores and one interception in two games against the Ravens. The problem for Burrow, of course, is that the Bengals have no defense and are 0-2 against Baltimore in that timespan. Football justice, apparently in short supply these days. Playing perfect games in losing efforts has been far too common for Burrow this season, but he’s playing at an MVP level. Ja’Marr Chase made it easy to look like an MVP tonight, housing scores of 67 and 70 yards. Burrow is doing his part for both fantasy managers and the Bengals, though the Chargers are a more difficult Week 11 matchup than the Ravens and Raiders were these past two weeks.

The Bengals offense continued its ho-hum ways, with Burrow completing his first 15 passes, nearly all thrown less than 10 yards downfield. With Tee Higgins out, the game plan continues to be screen passes to Ja’Marr Chase with short-yardage tosses to tight ends and running backs and the occasional deep shot. It all clicked against a weak Raiders defense as Burrow threw five touchdowns to four different receivers. His sole interception was in the second half, on a screen play to Chase that Raiders DB Jack Jones returned for a touchdown. A 47-yard touchdown to a wide-open Mike Gesicki inflated Burrow’s yardage totals as fantasy managers can expect tight ends and short throws to be a big part of Burrow’s game while Higgins is out. He will have more chances to throw the ball downfield on a short turnaround Thursday game against a weak Ravens defense.

Burrow also added three carries for 15 yards. The Bengals’ offense got off to a fast start with a score on the first drive, but faltered later on. With no Tee Higgins, Burrow was looking to Ja’Marr Chase and Mike Gesicki often. He connected with Chase on a two-yard score in the first quarter, completing 11 of his first 12 passes. In the second half, Burrow threw an interception looking for Chase, but the pass was deflected by Isaiah Rodgers and picked off by C.J. Gardner-Johnson to keep momentum in the Eagles’ favor. Burrow continues to string together fine performances, though fine was not good enough against the explosive Eagles. For fantasy purposes, he is a back-end QB1 against the Raiders for Week 9.

Burrow and the Bengals’ offensive performance was lost in the shuffle of their Ohio divisional counterparts’ quarterback situation. A Charlie Jones kick return touchdown got things started, but the Bengals’ six first half possessions ended in five punts and a turnover on downs. Burrow was sacked three times on the day, but finally strung together a pair of scoring drives in the second half. He found Ja’Marr Chase for an 18-yard touchdown, then found Tee Higgins for a 25-yard touchdown later in the third quarter. Outside of that, it was a pedestrian day for Burrow, enough to clinch the victory. Burrow is a back-end fantasy QB1 against the Eagles for Week 8.

Burrow got the scoring started with a 47-yard touchdown scamper on third-and-18 on the opening possession of the game but added very little the rest of the way in the face of consistent pressure from the ferocious Giants pass rush. Even without Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Giants managed four sacks and were consistently harassing Burrow in the backfield, leading to six total punts in addition to a lost fumble by Zack Moss. Still, the Bengals managed to escape New York with their second win as they attempt to salvage a season that did not start as the team had hoped. Another difficult test awaits in Week 7 when the Bengals travel to Cleveland to take on the stout defense of the Browns.

The first five-touchdown performance of Burrow’s career somehow wasn’t enough in the Bengals’ latest one-score loss. There was nothing more Burrow could have done, save for not throwing a fourth quarter pick where Marlon Humphrey ran Ja’Marr Chase’s route for him. Before that, Burrow had found each of Chase and Tee Higgins for multiple scores, with Chase contributing 41- and 70-yarders. Chase and Burrow keep hooking up for monster plays this season in a way they hadn’t the past few years. Burrow also found role players Andrei Iosivas and Mike Gesicki for a few chunk gains, with Iosivas at one point setting the Bengals up at the Ravens’ two-yard line. Burrow has put the team on his back, but the defense — and kicker Evan McPherson — keep breaking. Burrow will nevertheless be an elite QB1 for Week 6 against the Giants.

There wasn’t much happening down the field for Burrow today. His longest pass, a 63-yarder to Ja’Marr Chase, was a 20-yard pass that Chase turned into a longer play by breaking four tackles and racing down the sideline. Burrow was flushed from the pocket numerous times and was able to make some spectacular conversions on those broken plays but also threw a terrible interception that kept the Panthers in the game late. The Bengals had a comfortable lead for much of the game, so they were able to lean on the running game, but this passing offense just doesn’t look as explosive as it has in years past. Perhaps they will get going with time, but they need to get better in a hurry with a game against the Ravens next week.

Burrow and the Bengals offense struggled in the red zone against an opponent largely incapable of keeping opposition out of the paint. Even with the struggles in the red zone, the loss can be attributed to a missed field goal and a failed two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, which makes up the five-point margin of defeat. Burrow looked sharp with his full supporting cast of skill position players, but was largely held down by inefficient play calling from head coach Zac Taylor, particularly in the red zone. The 0-3 Bengals have not experienced the start to the season they had hoped, especially with losses to the Commanders and Patriots, two teams expected to be in the bottom five coming into the season. That trend continues in Week 4 when the Bengals travel to Carolina to face the Panthers.