Joe Burrow believes not all sacks are created equal, and he’s right

This is a great point.

Joe Burrow has played two seasons in the NFL. He’s had a competent offensive line in none of them.

His 2020 rookie campaign ended after 10 games and 32 sacks thanks to multiple torn knee ligaments. While he flourished in 2021, his situation behind the line of scrimmage got even worse. His 51 sacks led the league. His 8.9 percent sack rate was fifth-worst among qualified starting quarterbacks. He was sacked 19 more times in four playoff games, including seven in Super Bowl 56.

But Burrow doesn’t think those numbers tell the whole story. Some sacks, according to the man who absorbed them, aren’t necessarily bad things. Instead, they’re a function of trying to wring every inch out of a given drive.

And, per his logic, he’s got a point. Here’s what he said on the Full Send Podcast earlier this week.

“There’s good sacks and bad sacks, right? You look at the sacks, yeah, I got sacked a lot. But look at when they happened.

“Third down sacks? Who cares about third down sacks. I’m gonna try to extend the play as long as I can on third down to get the first down unless I’m in field goal range [and] it’s gonna back me up, I’ll throw the ball away and get some points.”

Taking a sack on third down cedes some field position but ultimately doesn’t change the outcome of a drive vs. a throwaway. A fourth down punt is coming either way. Those negative yards didn’t significantly affect his opponent’s field position, either. Teams playing against Cincinnati started their drives at an average spot of their own 29.1 yard line, 18th-best in the league.

But Burrow was still sacked plenty early in drives. Six of his nine sacks in last year’s Divisional Round win over the Tennessee Titans came on first or second down. One was a loss of 12 yards on third-and-14 in Titan territory that forced Evan McPherson to kick a 54-yard field goal instead of one in the low 40-yard range. On the other hand, three of the seven sacks he took in Super Bowl 56 were on third down, which lends some credence to his theory.

The third-year passer is working overtime here to help prop up his offensive line, which is even more impressive when you consider most of those guys have been replaced in 2022. The Bengals signed La’el Collins, Alex Cappa, and Ted Karras to overhaul a unit Pro Football Focus ranked 20th last season. That unit is capable of keeping a quarterback upright no matter what down it is.

When given the opportunity, Burrow could have thrown his blockers under the bus. Instead, he put the onus on his shoulders and explained why some of the league-worst 51 sacks he took last season were by his own design. That’s the kind of quarterback free agents will want to play with and offensive lineman will want to block for. It may only be spring, but Burrow has kept the Bengals’ momentum rolling through the spring and toward the 2022 regular season.

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