Here’s a fun detail about the Cincinnati Bengals’ 31-20 upset of the Tennessee Titans over the weekend — fans never had any doubt Joe Burrow would repeatedly put the team in a position to win.
Burrow had done so time and again over his last few games, looking like a seasoned vet late in games, only for his defense to blow it.
Not Sunday.
And Bengals players knew it too.
“Joe Burrow, he goes in the locker room like, ‘Hey, they can’t stop us,’” safety Jessie Bates said, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “He just has that swagger about himself.”
More from Bates, according to Dehner:
“It’s pretty cool when you got a young quarterback that has that swagger, like I said. That knows he’s going to make a play. Crazy stuff. I can’t really explain it right now. But like I said, he’s going to be the face of this franchise for a long time.”
Why doubt Burrow now? It’s clear things are slowing down for him — and that’s terrible news for opposing defenses.
He’s playing backyard football out there with seasoned pros:
Joe Burrow REFUSES to go down.
📺: #TENvsCIN on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/J6oAb5WnGm pic.twitter.com/10SCMMjf31— NFL (@NFL) November 1, 2020
And faking pocket movement just to manipulate defenders:
Burrow and Boyd have a different kind of connection. 👀 #SeizeTheDEY @JoeyB
📺: #TENvsCIN on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/J6oAb5WnGm pic.twitter.com/qXiP22uRPx— NFL (@NFL) November 1, 2020
Notice these are from the official NFL account. It isn’t often the Bengals get the attention of the big guys –but that seems to be changing.
Swagger indeed — check Burrow’s celebration post with the smooth hashtag:
To say the Bengals needed this is a dramatic understatement. Faith in a star player who backs up his talk with walk is something many locker rooms don’t get.
And it’s true for the fanbase, too. The win total isn’t nice right now but the rudderless feeling is gone and every game is must-see stuff. Every national outlet seems to be leading with Burrow highlights instead of ignoring the team and the general vibe is that when the team improves the roster around Burrow, the Bengals are going to be a problem.
The best kind of problem, of course, after fixing the worst kind of problem with Burrow.
