NFL
By Jalen Willingham
The Cincinnati Bengals entered the 2023 NFL season as Super Bowl contenders. Today, it seems like the world is ending with yet another injury for Joe Burrow. Now in year four, he is still yet to have a fully normal training camp and entirely healthy season. After injuring his calf in training camp, the entire offense has looked like a shell of itself when compared to the last two seasons.
Through four weeks, Burrow has thrown for 728 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions with a rating of 69.1 and a completion percentage of 57.6%. To put into perspective of just how bad Burrow has looked while playing with the calf injury, his rating of 69.1 is the worst mark in the league among qualified passers while his 57.6 completion percentage ranks 32nd among 34 quarterbacks. The Bengals offense is also ranked 31st in the league as well.
Opposing fanbases have taken the opportunity to use this down moment for an obviously injure Joe Burrow to try to create false narratives saying that Burrow was never that good to begin with and that he should’ve never been in the discussion of being a top quarterback in the NFL. They are clearly not watching Bengals games.
Joe Burrow, since injuring his calf, has been a complete statue in the pocket. He quite literally cannot throw the ball downfield. Burrow is averaging less than 5 yards an attempt which ranks near the bottom of the NFL. It also doesn’t help that he’s pretty much getting beat up in the pocket either. Teams are not afraid to pressure Burrow given that he can’t move or push the ball downfield to his targets. It’s become so much of an issue that star receiver Ja’Marr Chase took to the media to express his frustrations in the offense.
"I'm open. I'm always f*cking open." – Ja'Marr Chase.@CalebNoeTV @WCPO pic.twitter.com/UqSzPASjaX
— Marshall Kramsky (@marshallkramsky) October 1, 2023
The only good things that has come up out of this situation is that it is finally putting a larger spotlight on what one of the biggest problems that the Bengals offense have faced outside of the offensive line, play-calling and overall scheme. Even while having a top wide receiver trio in the league, the Bengals offense have been extremely predictable making the job of opposing defenses much easier than anticipated. It has exposed head coach Zac Taylor as an ineffective play-caller and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as someone who just isn’t right for the job. How do you have an offense that features Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd and not be able to consistently scheme them open?
One could argue that Zac Taylors job depends on just how good Burrow looks out there. Burrow is a floor raiser and is a quarterback that can mask problems all around him on the team. We’ve seen this with an offensive line that gave up 70 total sacks during a Super Bowl run. Now that Burrow can’t perform at a superstar level, everything is being brought to the light.
Ja’Marr Chase was right. The Bengals should’ve kept him out of the first few regular season games to start the year. Burrow in this current state is simply not helping his team. It doesn’t matter how much Burrow says he wants to play. Cincinnati from here on out needs to tread very carefully. Besides, what’s the point of having multiple quarterbacks on your team if you can’t trust any of them for a few games to keep a contending team with loads of talent afloat while your franchise quarterback gets back healthy?
Joe Burrow is playing Week 1, right?@Real10jayy__ on @nflnetwork:
“I told him, that with all honesty, I don’t want him there.” pic.twitter.com/0YbX8KHKTL
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) August 4, 2023
According to reports, Joe Burrow has continued to heal. When interviewed, Burrow said “This is the best I’ve felt after a game. So I am optimistic.” I will believe it when I see it. Can he move around in the pocket? Can he extend plays and make things happen off script? These are questions everyone should be asking since reports are saying that Burrow is feeling better. Time will tell when the Bengals face the Arizona Cardinals.
Joe Burrow: “This is the best I’ve felt after a game. So I am optimistic.”
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) October 4, 2023
