Brilliant but beaten: the historical, searing misfortune of Joe Burrow | Cincinnati Bengals

It’s official: Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals is without doubt one of the unluckiest quarterbacks we’ve ever seen. The Bengals lost 41-38 to the Baltimore Ravens in additional time on Sunday, sending Cincinnati to 1-4 on the season. It actually hasn’t been Burrow’s fault – by means of the primary 5 video games of the season, Burrow has accomplished 125 of 173 passes (a 72.3% completion charge) for 1,370 yards (7.9 yards per try), 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and an impressive passer ranking of 113.6 (his QBR of 73.6 is the second-best in the league).

However that hasn’t been sufficient to cease the Bengals slipping out of the playoff race – “We’re not a championship-level workforce proper now,” was Burrow’s brutal conclusion after Sunday’s loss. Most of Cincinnati’s points focus on a protection that has been particularly terrible in opposition to the run, and has pressured Burrow to make as many huge performs as doable simply to maintain his workforce in video games – which he’s actually able to doing.

On Sunday, Burrow accomplished 30 of 39 passes for 392 yards, 5 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer ranking of 137.0. It was the most effective quarterback performances of the season, and it helped the Bengals to leads of 24-14 within the third quarter, and 38-28 within the fourth. However the Bengals’ protection grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory as soon as once more, permitting Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry to do their collective issues late in regulation and into additional time.

It additionally didn’t assist that when Jackson fumbled the ball to the Bengals with 6:37 left in additional time, the choice was made to run the ball three straight instances for a complete of three yards, which led to a missed 53-yard discipline objective try – on a nasty maintain – by kicker Evan McPherson. One play later, the Ravens put the boot in (we’ll get to the specifics in only a minute), and as soon as once more, Burrow’s excellent efficiency was for nothing. He grew to become the tenth quarterback in NFL historical past with greater than 390 passing yards, at the least 5 landing passes, and a completion share greater than 75%, and none of it meant something.

Burrow isn’t excellent – he threw a killer interception with 3:05 left within the fourth quarter that allowed the Ravens to tie the sport in regulation. However the Bengals’ 4 losses have been by a complete margin of 15 factors. All is just not misplaced right here, however it’s robust to inform anyone on the workforce that.

“It was simply profitable a whole lot of our one-on-one coverages,” Bengals receiver Tee Higgins stated after the loss. “We knew that was going to be huge for this recreation. We knew that was our mentality, to come back in and win these one-on-ones. It simply wasn’t sufficient.”

How uncommon is Burrow’s unhealthy luck? In the event you extrapolate it out to a full season, it’s almost not possible to have issues go this dramatically in opposition to you once you’re taking part in this effectively. In professional soccer historical past, there’s been precisely one quarterback to begin at the least 10 video games, have a passer ranking of at the least 100.0, and to be concerned in 4 or fewer wins: Deshaun Watson of the 2020 Houston Texans. Consider it or not, Watson performed at a MVP stage for a 4-12 Texans workforce that fired head coach Invoice O’Brien after an 0-4 begin, and maintained mediocrity with interim head coach Romeo Crennel.

After all, we do not anticipate issues to crumble for Burrow as they subsequently have for Watson, for all the plain doable causes.

MVP of the week

Derrick Henry, operating again, Baltimore Ravens. It was fairly a day for Mr Henry, who reached 10,000 profession speeding yards and 100 profession scrimmage touchdowns within the Ravens’ win. As to how Henry put the boot in, that occurred one play after the Bengals’ three-ill-fated speeding makes an attempt and missed discipline objective in additional time. Henry took the ball on the Baltimore 43-yard line, and rumbled 51 yards to the Cincinnati six-yard line. That arrange Justin Tucker for the game-winning discipline objective.

When will we see one other operating again exceed 10,000 speeding yards and 100 speeding touchdowns? It could be fairly some time. Most groups don’t lean on their operating backs because the Tennessee Titans did with Henry when he was with them from 2016 to 2023, or because the Ravens do now.

Video of the week

What referee Clay Martin did within the first quarter of Sunday’s recreation between the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Payments had lots of people shaking their heads. Martin was making an attempt to make clear a non-fumble, however he obtained his sports activities confused for a second.

To be truthful, Martin has been fairly completed as a basketball man. From his Wikipedia:

Exterior of his NFL duties, Martin works as a highschool basketball coach at Jenks Excessive College in Jenks, Oklahoma. He additionally attended Oklahoma Baptist College the place he performed basketball for the Bison. Not solely is he within the OBU Corridor of Fame for his basketball accomplishments, he’s additionally within the Tulsa Public Colleges Corridor of Fame for a similar causes.

Stat of the week

Three minutes, 26 seconds. That’s how lengthy the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings have trailed in all the 2024 season. And that occurred within the first quarter of their first recreation. Their opponent on Sunday, the New York Jets, did make it attention-grabbing by preventing again from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit – the second time in two video games that Minnesota have allowed a bunch of factors within the second half – however the Vikings still ran out 23-17 winners.

Elsewhere across the league

For probably the most half, athletes are higher conditioned than ever, permitting them to play effectively into their 30s … and typically past. So, when the Inexperienced Bay Packers traded Aaron Rodgers to the Jets in April 2023, even though he was 39, few folks gave it a second thought. Rodgers in his prime might have been the very best pure thrower in soccer historical past, and he was nonetheless greater than sufficient in his remaining season with the Inexperienced Bay Packers, so why shouldn’t the Jets attempt to finish their decades-long quarterback drought?

It seems that we now know why not. On Sunday, Rodgers had three picks and a passer ranking of 54.9 – his fifth-worst career passer rating in a recreation the place he’s tried at the least 20 passes. For the reason that 2022 season, Rodgers has one recreation with three landing passes, and two video games with three interceptions.

Not that it’s all Rodgers’s fault. The Jets are poor virtually in every single place, from offensive teaching to the offensive line to the talent place gamers, however there are NFL quarterbacks greater than able to transcending these damaging components, and Rodgers was once certainly one of them.

The one quarterback who has given Father Time an actual run for his cash is Tom Brady, who by some means threw more touchdown passes in his 40s (193) than he did in his 20s (147). Exterior Brady, there are a whole lot of guys who ought to have gone into broadcasting or philanthropy ahead of they did. It could be that Rogers is certainly one of them.

After all, in the event you’re Joe Flacco, you’re advancing on Father Time with an impish grin in your face. After his efficiency in a 37-34 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday – he accomplished 33 of 44 passes for 359 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions – the 39-year-old leads the NFL in passer ranking at 115.6. Not unhealthy for a man who was signed as much as be Anthony Richardson’s backup in Indianapolis. Which has turn out to be useful, because the injury-prone Richardson has been out the final two video games.

Flacco can also be the oldest participant in NFL historical past to file 5 consecutive begins with at the least 300 passing yards and two landing passes. So, who is aware of? Perhaps Flacco would be the subsequent one to beat the age curse, and wouldn’t that be surprising?

Coming into Week 5, Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams have been having very tough begins. Lawrence, chosen with the primary general choose within the 2021 draft, had a passer ranking of 78.9 (eighth-worst within the NFL), and a Passing EPA per dropback of -0.19 (seventh-worst within the league). Williams, chosen first general within the 2024 draft, had a passer ranking of 72.0 (fourth-worst within the NFL), and a Passing EPA per dropback of -0.28 (tied for fourth-worst within the NFL).

However on Sunday, each males obtained a reprieve from their troubles. Within the Jags’ win over the Colts, which took Jacksonville to their first win of the season, Lawrence accomplished 28 of 34 passes for 374 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer ranking of 119.5. Lawrence, whose throwing mechanics had been disastrous this season, regarded way more composed and in management right here.

And in a 36-10 thrashing of the Carolina Panthers, Williams accomplished 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer ranking of 126.2. Williams was in charge of the passing recreation, and much much less frenetic within the pocket than he had been behind Chicago’s leaky offensive line.

The Bears recreation was so out of hand in Chicago’s favor that Panthers backup quarterback Bryce Younger, chosen with the primary general choose within the 2023 draft, really obtained some rubbish time to work on the problems that obtained him benched in favor of Andy Dalton three weeks in the past.

A fairly good week for first general picks then, aside from Burrow.

Teaching is a troublesome job, and even probably the most underqualified coach is aware of an amazing deal extra about soccer than your common analyst, this one included. So, we aren’t typically within the behavior of questioning (or outright bashing) selections except they’re significantly egregious, and value groups video games.

Which takes us to what Buffalo Payments head coach Sean McDermott did late within the recreation in opposition to the Houston Texans. With the rating tied 20-20, the Texans downed a punt on the Buffalo three-yard line. Houston had all three of their timeouts left, and the right factor to do was to run the ball 3 times, drive the Texans to make use of these timeouts, and punt the ball away. Particularly with simply 32 seconds remaining.

As an alternative, the Payments referred to as three passes from Josh Allen, who had an unusually unhealthy recreation, and appeared to suffer a head injury earlier within the fourth quarter. Allen, who accomplished simply 9 passes in 30 makes an attempt within the recreation, threw three straight misses. With 16 seconds left, the Payments punted the ball away, and the Texans had time to run one play – a move from CJ Stroud to operating again Dare Ogunbowale, which put Ka’imi Fairbairn in place to kick the game-winning 59-yard discipline objective … which, in fact, he did.

While you possess the ball for simply 16 seconds when it’s essential to place your opponent in a time crunch, you have got dedicated teaching malpractice.

Scott Hanson, the excellent host of the NFL’s indispensable Purple Zone channel, spoke for many of us.

“It’s on me, the tip of recreation scenario on offense,” McDermott stated. “They’re holding three timeouts, they usually’ve obtained … kicker. We wanted to run the clock and transfer the chains, and that’s on me. We didn’t do this there, and that’s my fault.”

No argument right here, Coach.

Lastly, we noticed professional soccer historical past on Sunday, when two completely different defensive gamers, every carrying the No 2 jersey, had landing returns of 100 or extra yards on the identical day. That had never happened before.

There was Seattle security Rayshawn Jenkins recovering and returning this fumble for a 102-yard landing (the Seahawks later corrected their tweet relating to the yardage) …

… and there was Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II returning this move by Las Vegas’s Gardner Minshew 100 yards within the different path.

That’s a whole lot of twos, and two very huge performs on the day.