Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow may not be in line to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award this year, but it’s hard to argue that anyone in the league is playing at a higher level.
In Sunday afternoon’s victory over the Cleveland Browns, Burrow completed 23 of 30 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns, including a 32-yard scoring pass to Ja’Marr Chase in the game’s final two minutes.
With this performance, Burrow became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 250 yards and three touchdowns in seven consecutive games.
His streak of three-touchdown games now trails only Peyton Manning (8) and Tom Brady (10) for the longest in NFL history.
Burrow has now thrown for 4,230 yards this season, with 39 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
This marks his third career season with at least 4,000 passing yards (2021, 2022, 2024), the most in Bengals history. Carson Palmer (2006, 2007) and Andy Dalton (2013, 2016) each had two such seasons.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft has also become just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in three of his first five seasons, joining Dan Marino, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen.
But on Sunday, none of those accomplishments took precedence.
“This is a big win for us,” Burrow told NFL after the game. “That’s a team that’s had our number, and we came out and played well. … Now, we’ve put ourselves in a good position for next week.”
The Bengals’ victory keeps them in contention for the final AFC playoff spot. However, Cincinnati will need to win its final two games of the season and get some outside help. The road ahead is clear, though complicated, and there will be time to address that later.
“I’m gonna enjoy this one first,” Burrow said. “Spend some time with the family tonight… Merry Christmas, everybody.”
Then, all attention will shift to Denver, who will visit next week. “It’s a big week for us,” Burrow said. “We’ll get back to work, but we’ll enjoy tonight.”
