The JB Room.
The good news is that the Cincinnati Bengals signed Joe Burrow to a record-setting extension prior to the season. He’s not going anywhere.
The bad news is that he couldn’t manage to stay healthy this season.
Key Players
- Joe Burrow
- Jake Browning
2023 Review
Just prior to the kickoff of the 2023 season, good ole Mike “Money Bags” Brown made Joe Burrow the highest-paid player in NFL history. Haters who called the franchise cheap did not respond to requests for a comment, or if they did, I didn’t notice because I make it a policy not to respond to mail that is written in crayon.
Unfortunately, the five-year, $275 million-dollar deal for Joey Franchise was not the story of the season for the Bengals’ quarterback. Instead, it was a tail of injury, and there were two sides, the upside and the downside. The downside came at the beginning of camp when Burrow strained his calf rolling out on a non-contact practice rep. The upside came in Week 11 when Burrow landed on his wrist after throwing a touchdown pass to Joe Mixon to take the lead over the Baltimore Ravens.
That was it for Burrow this season, but shockingly, it didn’t doom the Bengals. From the depths of the despair deep down in the Ohio River emerged an unexpected hero named Jake. Many fans opined all offseason that the Bengals needed to have a better backup quarterback, a chorus which crescendoed as Burrow went down. Who would have known that Jake Browning would lead them to a 4-3 record as a starter, and the team would just barely miss the playoffs?
2024 Outlook
Browning demonstrated in his extended stint as the starter, that he is a suitable backup who can keep the team afloat. That’s good, but I prefer him with a headset and a baseball cap,
Burrow is with the team long-term. Now can the guy get a normal offseason and a little injury luck?
Burrow won a National Championship in New Orleans. Next year’s Super Bowl is in New Orleans. He is the guy who will lead this team to their first Super Bowl win.
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