Joe Burrow is already changing narrative of Bengals in primetime

Before Joe Burrow got to town, the Cincinnati Bengals froze up whenever primetime games arrived on the schedule. It didn’t matter what the situation was — If the Bengals were under the bright lights of primetime, they weren’t playing well for whatever reason.

Fortunately, that narrative is seemingly changing with Burrow at the helm.

Since Burrow was taken No. 1 overall last year, the Bengals have played in three primetime games. Now, before I go into further detail, Burrow missed the Monday night game against the Steelers late last year so he’s only been in two, with both of them coming on Thursday night.

Last year, the Bengals faced their in-state rival Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football and it came down to the wire. People didn’t give the Bengals much of a chance in that one but they gave Cleveland everything they had. Burrow tossed for 316 yards and three touchdowns off of a whopping 61 pass attempts (!!!!!). He was sacked three times but didn’t throw an interception.

Recently, as we all know, Burrow took down the Jaguars on Thursday Night Football and did so in impressive fashion. His Bengals fell behind 14-0 by halftime and fans were once again thinking back to how badly this team performs in primetime.

Joe Burrow is making the Bengals a fun team to watch in primetime games.

This time around, Burrow put his team on his back, throwing for 348 yards and two touchdowns in the 24-21 victory. Even more impressive than his numbers is the fact that Burrow had the stones to make a gutsy audible with the game on the line.

The fact that Burrow, who has played in just 14 NFL games and is only 24 years old, knew all about Joe Cullen and what kind of defensive scheme he might dial up on this play shows how damn smart the kid is.

Bengals fans were already excited about the possibilities with Burrow at the helm but he’s showing week in and week out what kind of quarterback he can be, even in the most stressful of times.

After the game wrapped up, Burrow joined the crew from NFL Network and listening to him talk about his team got me amped for what’s to come. He said point-blank that he knew the Jaguars defense wouldn’t be able to stop his team on that final drive and, well — He was right. I love the confidence from him.

Primetime games used to scare Bengals fans but Joe Burrow is showing that he can lead this team to victory when they play under the lights. He’s the right man for the job in the Queen City and he’s already shown that.