The Bengals may need to save Joe Burrow from himself
When Joe Burrow got hurt, it felt like the Cincinnati Bengals’ season might be over. Now that he’s healthy, it actually is. However, Burrow is still set to return while the Bengals languished to 3-8 in his absence. Missing the playoffs isn’t a 100% certainty, but it’s a high probability that makes Burrow’s return likely not worth the risk. He doesn’t want to remain out even in a lost season, but that may not be the smartest path forward.
Bengals should probably keep Joe Burrow out
While just three games separate the 3-8 Bengals and the 6-5 Baltimore Ravens, there are only six weeks left. That’s a nearly insurmountable gap to make up, even if a Pro Bowl quarterback like Joe Burrow is coming back. For that reason, he probably shouldn’t come back. The Athletic’s playoff predictor gives them a less than 1% chance to make it. Is that worth risking Burrow’s health more?
Durability has always been a question for Burrow, though much of it stems from bad protection. Still, he’s had injury issues, including this season, so why should they trot him back out there to lose more games and risk an injury that hurts him next season and maybe even beyond that?
"I'm not ever going to go to somebody and say, 'Yeah, I'm healthy, but I don't think I should go out there and play,'" Burrow said before his return on Thursday against the Ravens via Yahoo! Sports. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I'm not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening."
Teams don’t ever do this, but the Bengals should keep Burrow out. As long as he’s healthy and the team isn’t totally eliminated, he will play, but he probably shouldn’t. "Yeah, I've had injuries," Burrow added. "There's not a lot I can do about that. I worked really hard to have that not happen." Unfortunately, things do happen, and they happen to Burrow fairly often, and if the Bengals want any chance in 2026, they need him healthy.
In the past, the Bengals have been able to salvage Burrow’s absences by getting good play from Jake Browning. The offensive system, thanks to having Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to throw to, is very QB-friendly, and Browning looked good at times.
He was awful, though, this season. The Browns then attempted to salvage their season by trading for super backup Joe Flacco, who has played pretty well in Burrow’s absence. A horrible, unreliable defense has kept them from winning games, though, which is why Burrow isn’t likely to save them right now.
Flacco gave the Bengals a late lead in a game in which he threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns. The offense as a whole scored 42 points, and they still lost. Nothing he did mattered much, and while Burrow can certainly do more than Flacco, can he do enough to offset the league’s worst scoring defense?
They allow 32.7 points per game, more than four full points ahead of the next-worst unit. For reference, the Indianapolis Colts have the league’s best offense at 31 points per game, and they’d still be losing more often than not with the Bengals’ defense.
Burrow is often superhuman under center, but he’s not invulnerable. He’s been hurt, and this offensive line still isn’t terribly strong. He’s going to go back out there, but he’s probably not going to be able to save the Bengals even while potentially hurting their draft spot. Is it worth all that? Probably not, but the Bengals won’t save Burrow from himself this time.
