When Bengals franchise quarterback Joe Burrow was lost for the season with a wrist injury, it appeared that it was over for Cincinnati: The Bengals were 5-5, and surely they’d be worse than that for the remainder of the season with the little-known backup Jake Browning at quarterback, right?
Wrong. Browning has been excellent since taking over as the Bengals’ starting quarterback, and they’re now 8-6 and currently at No. 6 in the AFC playoff picture. Beat the Steelers today, and the Bengals will be in excellent position to be a wild card team in the AFC.
Shockingly, Browning’s stats are even better than Burrow’s this season:
Browning is averaging 8.7 yards per pass this season. Burrow averaged 6.3 yards per pass this year before his season-ending injury.
Browning has a 73.6 percent completion rate. Burrow had a 66.8 percent completion rate.
Browning has thrown touchdowns on 4.9 percent of his passes. Burrow threw touchdowns on 4.1 percent of his passes.
Browning has a 107.1 passer rating. Burrow had a 91.0 passer rating.
The Bengals are 3-1 and have scored 25.0 points per game in the games Browning started. The Bengals were 5-5 and scored 20.7 points per game in the games Burrow started.
There’s no question that Burrow is the Bengals’ starting quarterback in 2024. But Browning is keeping their 2023 season alive. And making a case that he ought to be a starting quarterback, somewhere.
