Bengals QB Joe Burrow explains poor performance in Week 1 loss vs. Browns
Similar themes are reverberating after the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 1 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Another bad defeat to their in-state rival, and another lackluster outing to start the season all rolled into one game. It's something quarterback Joe Burrow has seen before as the leader of the team and, more specifically, the offense. He […]
Similar themes are reverberating after the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 1 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Another bad defeat to their in-state rival, and another lackluster outing to start the season all rolled into one game.
It's something quarterback Joe Burrow has seen before as the leader of the team and, more specifically, the offense. He threw four interceptions exactly a year ago in a Week 1 loss. He didn't panic after that game, and he isn't now."
Yeah, nobody's panicking," Burrow said. "Week 1 doesn't define anybody's season. Obviously, not very good out there, but anybody that watched saw that. We've been in the spot before, we've come back stronger and had a great year. So that's what we're going to do."
A myriad of issues plagued the Bengals' inept offensive attack. They produced exactly one explosive play, five first downs not from penalties, and averaged 2.6 yards per play.
The weather wasn't ideal, but the Browns had to play in it as well. The difference was clear communication issues from Burrow and the Bengals. The entire passing game was out of whack.
It's not uncommon for teams to experience these issues in early September, but Burrow did admit missing practice time in training camp didn't help.
"Yeah, that happens in Week 1," Burrow said. "Obviously, those things happen when the quarterback doesn't perform in training camp. That was obviously something that I would have liked to have done, but there's no excuses."
Burrow's calf strain took him out of practice for essentially five weeks, more than the amount of time he missed last year after having an appendectomy. He returned to practice fully for the first time less than a week ago.
While he knows that this isn't an excuse for a career-worst performance against a divisional rival, Burrow looking rusty and not on the same page with his receivers isn't too surprising after missing all that time.
The Bengals can only hope it gets fixed before taking the field next week.
Rough weather, Browns’ defense too much for Bengals in 24-3 loss
It was a total offensive failure for Joe Burrow and Cincinnati.
Featured image via © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
