Bengals: Joe Burrow's offseason work paid off with crazy highlight play vs. 49ers
Watching the Cincinnati Bengals when Joe Burrow is fully healthy is night and day different compared to when he's limited. Burrow had arguably the most efficient game of his career against the San Francisco 49ers, throwing for three touchdowns and completing passes 17.6% over expectation in a crucial 31-17 win. And in patented Burrow fashion, he […]
Watching the Cincinnati Bengals when Joe Burrow is fully healthy is night and day different compared to when he's limited.
Burrow had arguably the most efficient game of his career against the San Francisco 49ers, throwing for three touchdowns and completing passes 17.6% over expectation in a crucial 31-17 win.
And in patented Burrow fashion, he brought the magic in the pocket early.
Cincinnati's first third down of the afternoon saw the pocket collapse around Burrow and two would-be sackers in red jerseys swarmed No. 9 in white. Burrow shrugged off both, one of them being his good friend Nick Bosa, and extended the play to his right where he would find Tee Higgins at the chains for the first down.
Burrow's career highlight reel is already filled with plays like these, but this one meant a little more to him. After spending months playing through a recovering calf injury, Burrow said this play was the result of specific work he put in from the offseason.
Now with the injury behind him, it became possible for his hard work to produce results.
"It just kinda happened," Burrow said. "That was athleticism, acceleration. Explosiveness was really a big focus of mine in the offseason, I just haven't really been able to show that too much. So it was nice to have that hard work pay off."
Call it humility or a short memory, because Burrow has made multiple plays like this in the past few weeks. He showcased his standard scrambling ability against both the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, providing several examples of his mobility having returned.
If there was any doubt that was the case, this play erased all of it.
When Burrow is capable of making these game-changing plays, the entire dynamic of the Bengals changes too. It will not be the last time we see this kind of highlight this season.
Bengals found added motivation to end 49ers’ home win streak
A message well received.
