Bengals make key decision on Joe Burrow ahead of Titans matchup© Getty via AFP
Joe Burrow’s week got better on Wednesday, when the NFL named him AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this season. The honor covers a 35-13 win over the Baltimore Ravens in which Burrow threw four touchdowns without a turnover. It is his second straight game with four scoring passes, and he now has 15 through six games. The Bengals sit at 4-2 and host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. For a team that trailed 13-0 at halftime, the award says as much about the comeback as it does about the quarterback.
Joe Burrow’s award shifts the focus to his MVP push before the Titans game
The timing suits a season that keeps getting louder. Burrow completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards and posted a 142.6 passer rating, and he did not turn the ball over once. Fifteen touchdowns in six games keeps him in the MVP conversation.
The team’s own reaction was short. “None like 9,” the Bengals posted.
Tennessee visits Sunday. Cincinnati will want all four quarters to look like its second half against Baltimore.
Chase’s halftime message and Burrow’s calm view of the game
The first half was ugly. Baltimore led 13-0, and the Bengals had little offense to point to. Then Ja’Marr Chase gave a fiery halftime speech, the coaches fixed a few clear problems, and Cincinnati scored on every drive after the break. Five possessions, five touchdowns, 35 unanswered points.
Burrow said the team leans on its best players.
“We know who we are, we know who we have to be, and we let our big-time players go and make big-time plays,” Burrow said postgame.
He then described the mood in the locker room and where he thinks it starts.
“Your players can bring the fire. And you don’t have to calm each other down despite a coaching staff that might overreact to certain things. That goes with not riding the roller coaster of the emotions of the NFL that I talk to you guys about all the time,” Burrow added. “That really starts with the head coach and permeates down through the rest of the locker room. And that’s how I think it should be.”
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