[autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] is a winner.
His throws aren’t as splashy as Patrick Mahomes’ or as strong as Josh Allen’s, yet he’s 3-0 in his last three meetings with Mahomes.
He led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in just his second year and one probably needs little reminding of what he did at LSU. In high school, he was Ohio’s Mr. Football.
Wherever Burrow has been, he has succeeded.
The Bengals will host Josh Allen and the Bills on Monday night in what is a meeting of two of the NFL’s top teams. Based on Super Bowl odds, these squads are squarely in the league’s top five.
Burrow is used to this spot by now — a high-stakes game on a national stage. A win for the Bengals keeps them hunting for the AFC’s top seed and depending on Sunday’s results, could even clinch the division.
With a loss, Cincinnati could find itself sitting in second place in the AFC North heading into Week 18.
The Bengals are where they are now because of Burrow. He’s behind an offensive line that’s just 29th in PFF’s pass-blocking grade and his top target, [autotag]Ja’Marr Chase[/autotag], missed a significant portion of the year with an injury.
On top of that, the scheme he operates within has its faults. Zac Taylor has drawn his fair share of criticism over the last couple of years in spite of the Bengals success. All of this makes what Burrow is doing even more impressive.
He’s a top-three quarterback in the NFL right now. I’d put Mahomes and Allen in front of him, and that’s it. That’s why a win on Monday would be a big deal. Burrow has already beaten Mahomes, not once, not even twice, but three times. All in big spots, too.
If Burrow and the Bengals were to win on Monday, I think we have to put Burrow in that conversation with Mahomes and Allen.
I’m not always a big proponent of using wins as a QB stat. The game is much more nuanced than that, but it gets to a point where a guy just keeps finding a way to win so frequently that it can’t be ignored.
The best QBs find a way to control games and Burrow does that as well as anyone. The numbers and ratings back it up. Burrow ranks first in PFF’s passing grade and is top 10 in most other areas too.
Burrow and the Bengals came up just short in last year’s Super Bowl and again, the odds will be stacked against them. An injury to right tackle [autotag]La’el Collins[/autotag] complicates it even further, but the Bengals remain loaded at the skill positions.
The postseason in sports is all about who gets hot at the right time and the Bengals are hot, but Monday night will be their toughest test yet.
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