Sarcasm? Joe Burrow Blames Himself for Bengals Missing Playoffs Last Year

Joe Burrow blames himself for the Bengals losing out on playoffs in 2024 despite leading the league in pass completions, yards, and touchdowns.

Sarcasm? Joe Burrow Blames Himself for Bengals Missing Playoffs Last Year

Joe Burrow (Image via IMAGO)

Fans and analysts quickly singled out the defense as the main culprit for the Cincinnati Bengals’ missing out on playoff football. Joe Burrow views the situation differently.

Burrow put the 2023 season’s disappointment away and returned to the Bengals squad, ready for retribution. He fulfilled his end of the bargain by leading the league in pass completions (460), passing yards (4918), and passing touchdowns (43).

While some give Burrow’s receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, more credit, it’s impossible to blame the 28-year-old for the Bengals missing the playoffs. Pro Football Focus’ second-best quarterback in the NFL thinks otherwise.

Following the Bengals’ first round of OTAs, Burrow blamed himself for the Bengals finishing just outside of playoff qualification.

If I had played even better, we wouldn’t be in that spot that we were in. I just focus on getting better myself, and I feel like everyone in the locker room feels the same way. If I go out there and play better than I did last year, then it doesn’t matter what goes on anywhere else.

Joe Burrow said via the Bengals’ official transcript

The Bengals are wasting Joe Burrow’s best years

Burrow did his part by shouldering some of the blame. It does little to solve the Bengals’ actual problem, and it is their putrid offensive line.

Sarcasm? Joe Burrow Blames Himself for Bengals Missing Playoffs Last Year
Joe Burrow (Image via IMAGO)

Even senior football analyst Warren Sharp couldn’t believe how bad the Bengals’ O-line was, not only during the last campaign but for the last four seasons.

The Bengals’ philosophy differs from that of the Philadelphia Eagles, who have won two Super Bowls this century. The Eagles’ coaching staff emphasizes building a strong offensive line before selecting their quarterback. It has been like that since Andy Reid took over in 1999. Nick Sirianni deserves a lot of credit for continuing the same trend.

Bengals Swiss cheese O-line allowed 48 sacks on Burrow, causing 11 fumbles and 5 losses of possession.

It further affected the Bengals’ run game. Chase Brown is a very serviceable running back who recorded 990 yards and 7 touchdowns for a 4.3 yards per carry. It’s not bad, but the stat would be far better if he had better blockers in front of him to shield him and Burrow.

The Bengals didn’t splash the cash on fixing the line in the free agency and waited until the third round in the draft to select Georgia guard Dylan Fairchild.

However, the biggest issue, and in all fairness, the Bengals and Burrow’s Achilles heel, is the 25th-ranked defense. On top of it, they risk losing All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. The former Saints player recorded 17.5 sacks in consecutive years in Cincinnati and wants to be paid double his current $16 million salary.

This is a bad look for the Bengals, who narrowly missed out on winning the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl in 2021. If they don’t get their act together, then they’re basically wasting Joe Burrow’s best years by winning nothing while he’s repaying every bit of his $55 million per year contract.

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