BALTIMORE — Let’s worry about the Cincinnati Bengals’ record some other time.
Joe Burrow just returned from a turf toe injury that required surgery, and he made it back onto the field about a month ahead of schedule. His heroic return took place on the road against the Bengals’ biggest division rival in a difficult primetime environment where the road team rarely wins and on the massive stage in front of a Thanksgiving audience.
Burrow was asked to be the spark for a Bengals’ team with a 3-8 record on a night where Cincinnati didn’t have Tee Higgins and were facing a first-place team with an imposing defense. Burrow had a short week of practice to get ready to go.
Nights like this are why you watch football. Nights like this are why you play football.
Burrow didn’t win a trophy tonight. Just a turkey.
But this 32-14 win over the Ravens is still one of the coolest things that Burrow has ever done.
“He told me he was going to do this back when (the injury) happened,” left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. said. “That’s who this guy is. He has the instincts of a killer. He loves it. He loves the game. He loves his teammates. He’s the best at what he does.”
Now’s not time to worry about a playoff race that looks bleak for a Bengals’ team that has a 4-8 record. Take tonight to just appreciate this accomplishment from Joey Franchise.
“There’s no better feeling than that,” Burrow said “Putting in work for a long time and going out and it paying off. There’s no feeling like going out in front of the world with a good group of guys who work really hard to go try and win games and going out and putting on a good performance winning that game.”
Even though the Bengals’ red zone offense wasn’t consistent enough, Burrow showed some rust and he missed some throws that he typically makes, the offense scored 32 points against a Ravens’ defense that had been allowing 14 points per game over the previous six weeks.
If it weren’t for a fumble from Samaje Perine, the Bengals would have scored 35.
If Zac Taylor had opted to taking the points instead of going for it on a fourth down near the goal line early in the game, the Bengals would have scored 38.
Outside of the red zone, the offense was unstoppable on Thursday night.
“It’s a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football,” Zac Taylor said. “You could feel him get into a rhythm. Statistically, it’s not the best game we’ve ever had as an offense. But you could feel the rhythm he was in and the confidence. You could see him move around — that was good for everyone to see.”
The first few series from the Bengals’ offense weren’t pretty. Taylor called some safe passing plays as well as some conservative runs. Ja’Marr Chase dropped a pass on a screen to end the first drive. On the following drive, Burrow missed a fade to an open Chase down the sideline. Things were a bit clunky.
The game changed when Burrow teleported a 43-yard moon ball to Chase down the sideline.
“As soon as 9 and 1 got clicking like that, it opens everything up,” Brown said. “Defenses know that. Defensive coaches know that. Once that play was made, momentum began to shift.”
There was one more hurdle that Burrow had to cross. Against the Ravens, to score in the red zone against their very sticky secondary, you need your quarterback to be able to create off-script plays. In the first half, the Ravens won most of the 50-50 plays instead of the end zone when Burrow tried to fire quick strikes.
The Bengals had to settle for four field goals in the first half, taking a 12-7 lead into the break.
“The whole first half, my feet were a little antsy back there,” Burrow said.
According to a few players, the message from the coaches this week was that players not named Ja’Marr Chase would have to make clutch plays. The Bengals expected the Ravens to have a very sound plan to limit Chase in the red zone, and Baltimore executed that plan on Thursday.
To give the Bengals their counter move, Taylor dialed up two plays that the Bengals had been saving all year.
The first was a wheel route to Tanner Hudson in the back corner of the end zone. Burrow, who found himself more mobile than he expected to be in his frist game back, threw off-platform with his momentum crashing to his right. He perfectly placed the ball around Kyle Hamilton for Hudson to make a one-handed catch.
“It definitely was in the back corner,” Hudson said. “Joe threw a ball that only I could catch. It was definitely a small window. I was trying to get to the back corner and give Joe the chance to put the ball there.”
Hudson’s 14-yard touchdown gave the Bengals a 19-7 lead in the third quarter.
Seven minutes later, Taylor called a seam ball to Andrei Iosivas. Burrow squeezed the ball into a precise window between the linebacker and the safety for a 29-yard touchdown that gave the Bengals a 26-14 lead. Burrow smiled postgame and said that he felt pretty good about that one.
Even though he wasn’t at the complete peak of his powers for the entire game, the two touchdown passes were as impressive as you’ll see from Burrow.
“It was back like he never left,” Mike Gesicki said.
After each touchdown, he had a celebration that met the moment, including fist pumps, chest pounds and helmet slaps. This game clearly meant a lot to him.
“(It) certainly hasn’t been easy on me through six years from a lot of different angles,” Burrow said. “But I’ve worked really hard to put myself in position to be back out there. And a lot of people around me have done the same. A lot has gone into this. I’m proud to be back”
On the surface, Burrow was his normal self. He carried himself like this was just another game. According to Iosivas, Burrow walked into the huddle for the first time and just said, “What’s up guys?”
“He’s the same guy if it’s the best day of his life or the worst day of his life,” Gesicki said. “There was no sense that this (game) was bigger than anything else or that he had it circled on his calendar.”
Gesicki overlapped with Burrow on IR, and they rehabbed together. Seeing Burrow fight to get back as quickly as possible was an experience that is going to stick with Gesicki.
“The way he attacked it, that’s the reason why he is who he is,” Gesicki said. “It’s the reason he has the success that he has. He’s the definition of a competitor and a leader.”
Burrow’s return lifted the entire team. It’s no coincidence that the defense had its best performance of the year. A hampered Lamar Jackson was thrown off by Bengals’ blitzes, Bengals’ defenders left and right where making some of their best plays of the season and Cincinnati forced five turnovers.
More than anything else, the defense hustled on Thursday night.
“With (Burrow’s) energy and his presence, we were all buying in,” Dax Hill said. “You want to have his back. When you have him in the locker room, it changes everything about the vibe.”
Myles Murphy said, “It was a confidence boost.”
At some point over the next week, the Bengals will have to settle back into the reality that they’re still 2.5 games back of a playoff spot. The Bengals’ only semblance of hope toward getting a playoff spot is running the table (including upcoming games against the Bills and Ravens) and getting a lot of help from Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
This Bengals’ season will probably still mostly be remembered for Burrow’s injury, for going 1-8 in games without the franchise quarterback and for the defense playing like the worst in NFL history for most of the season (the defense still had its share of coverage busts and frightening moments in Baltimore on Thursday).
The Bengals still have so much work to do.
But on Thursday night, they got to celebrate in the road locker room at M&T Bank Stadium for the first time since 2021. They got to gather around a turkey for a postgame interview on NBC and snack on Thanksgiving food. For every Thanksgiving that these guys can remember, they’ve watched football. Tonight, they got to be a part of it. And they shined.
The Bengals had fun on Thursday night.
As much as it meant to everyone, it looked like it meant a little bit more to Burrow.
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