Joe Burrow Unimpressed by Near-Perfect Preseason Debut Against Eagles

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are looking to the new season with a mission to make the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

Joe Burrow Unimpressed by Near-Perfect Preseason Debut Against Eagles

Joe Burrow (Image via Bustle)

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The Cincinnati Bengals opened their preseason campaign on Thursday against the defending champions Philadelphia Eagles. The Bengals dropped the game 34-27 despite noteworthy performance from quarterback Joe Burrow and other offensive starters in one quarter of play.

The quarterback started for the Bengals along with star wideout Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow linked up with Chase three times for 41 yards in the opening series of the game. He later hit tight end Tanner Hudson on a 12-yard touchdown to give the Bengals the first lead.

Burrow wasn’t finished. He hit Chase once again for a catch and spring up the sideline to give the Bengals a 14-7 lead. Burrow was replaced by backup quarterback Jake Browning for the rest of the game. The Iowan finished with 9-10 passing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The numbers are more than good enough for one quarter. However, Burrow doesn’t think so. He told Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

Today was average. Today was average. But overall, I’m happy with where I’m at. Next week I’d like to be a little better.

The area of concern for the quarterback was the part where he missed the first pass. Burrow went on to add:

I think for myself I could have been better. I missed the first throw. I put all the other ones where I wanted to put them. I would’ve liked to have spun it a little better consistently today. But we had scored two touchdowns, so go learn from a couple reps and get better.

There’s a ton of pressure on Joe Burrow in the new season

Joe Burrow, who’s in his sixth year, is in a do-or-die season of his NFL career. After famously ending the Bengals’ postseason drought in 2021, Burrow has made the playoffs only once. He has missed the postseason twice in a row, despite a league-leading performance last season.

Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow (Image via IMAGO)

The Bengals finished third in the division, and a miracle didn’t happen in Week 18 to nudge them through to the playoffs. Joe Burrow led the league in passing yards (4918), passing attempts (652), completions (460), and touchdowns (43). This is the first time a quarterback has posted more than 4500 yards and 40 touchdowns with less than ten interceptions and not won the league MVP.

However, the performance is measured in the championship and postseason success. And he knows that the mounting pressure’s only going to get worse with the season starting. The quarterback is also pitching in to help the defense, where the Bengals faltered the most in 2024.

Although the Bengals posted the sixth-highest scoring average in the league at 27.8 points per game, they also allowed the eighth-most points, giving up 25.5 per contest. Those defensive lapses contributed to Cincinnati going just .500 (4-4) in games where they put up 30 points or more.

On Tuesday, head coach Zac Taylor told Kay Adams that Burrow has been spending time in training camp working with Cincinnati’s young defenders. Adams noted that Burrow had been “talking through what to do” with linebacker Demetrius Knight. The 2025 second-round pick later intercepted Burrow in practice with some assistance from the quarterback, of course.

Taylor admitted that he is confident Burrow will do whatever it takes to lead the Bengals back to the Super Bowl, including changing up his preseason approach. Over the past two years, Burrow, along with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, saw minimal preseason action.

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