Emmanuel Acho Pushes Back on Joe Burrow’s 2019 LSU Comparison for Current Bengals Team

The Bengals offense is one of the best, but according to Joe Burrow, the business the Bengals have done in the offseason, has improved the team exponentially.

Emmanuel Acho Pushes Back on Joe Burrow’s 2019 LSU Comparison for Current Bengals Team

Joe Burrow and Emmanuel Acho (Image via IMAGO/X)

Emmanuel Acho doesn’t see any similarities between the 2026 Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow’s legendary 2019 LSU Tigers team. Acho argued LSU had better players.

The Bengals boast one of the better receiver groups in the NFL, led by Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase was also Burrow’s teammate at LSU alongside Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr., and a few others.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 16 rushing touchdowns that year. In defense, they had NFL regulars, Grant Delpit, Derek Stingley Jr., Patrick Queen, and K’Lavon Chaisson.

The Bengals are a lopsided team. Their offense, led by Burrow, Chase, and Higgins, is top class, but the defense ranks near the bottom of the pile year after year. Even after they acquired All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, Super Bowl winners, edge Boye Mafe, and safety Bryan Cook, Acho refuses to acknowledge that the current Bengals roster is nowhere near the level of the 2019 LSU team. Acho said on a recent segment of the Speakeasy YouTube show:

Hell no. Not a chance. Not close… That LSU squad, compared to the field, is light-years better than the [2026] Bengals squad.

Ever since the Bengals landed Lawrence, Burrow has been raving about his team. According to him, this roster is the best group of players he has ever been part of since entering the NFL. Burrow said:

I know we have kind of people that wanna be in that spot [on media’s radar]. I want everybody to talk about the Bengals… Talking about what I am saying in the press conferences… 2019 season at LSU—I feel similarly about this team. I am so excited to get started.

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Emmanuel Acho made a concerning prediction about Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ future

The Bengals last played in the Super Bowl back in the 2021-22 season. After defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, they set up a big showdown against the Los Angeles Rams. However, the NFC West franchise came out victorious on that occasion.

Emmanuel Acho Pushes Back on Joe Burrow's 2019 LSU Comparison for Current Bengals Team
Joe Burrow (Image via IMAGO)

In the following four years, the Bengals played postseason football just once (in 2022-23). Multiple injuries restricted Burrow from playing a full season. And when he did, he led the league in pass completion (460), yards (4918), and touchdowns (43). However, on that occasion, the defense couldn’t stop a fly from sneaking in.

Burrow is slowly getting back to full fitness, and the Bengals need him to be at his best to stand any chance of making it out of a tough AFC North division. Acho said:

The Bengals are hopefully an eight or nine-win team. Respectfully. From a roster’s perspective, they are probably the second, maybe third-best roster in their division and in the conference, maybe the 10th best roster… If Burrow plays healthy, [the Bengals] will win eleven… The Bengals are good team, [an] okay team

Vegas has a different opinion. According to NBC Sports and Yahoo Sports, the Bengals are favored in 15 of their 17 regular-season games. They are underdogs only in Week 2 (+2.5, at the Houston Texans) and Week 7 (+3.5, at the Baltimore Ravens).

It’s entirely possible for the Bengals to win 15 games. They will play on the third-easiest schedule. The combined win rate (in 2025) of their opponents is 0.450 or 130-159-0.

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