Joe Burrow rewrites the narrative with playoff win vs. Titans
By Kristen Wong
One. Win. Away. The Cincinnati Bengals are one win away from reaching the Super Bowl in 2021. Was that on your Bingo card??!
Joe Burrow helped his team defeat the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, standing front and center of each of Cincinnati’s history-making performances so far this season.
He didn’t disappoint on Saturday, but he also got a lot of help, especially from one certain rookie.
Compared to his stoic reactions last week, Burrow was PUMPED UP after his team’s win against the top-seeded Titans.
The Bengals eked by to a 19-16 victory in a game where Burrow didn’t throw a single touchdown. Instead, rookie Evan McPherson sealed the Bengals’ fate with his game-winning 52-yard field goal in a deafening Nissan Stadium.
This was Cincy’s first road playoff win ever, and the team will be heading to its first AFC title game since 1988. When asked about the surmounting pressure of the playoffs, Burrow responded as coolly as possible:
Bengals QB Joe Burrow on why the moment doesn't seem too big for a young team that doesn't have playoff experience: "We don't know what we don't know. We're out there playing football with our friends. That's what it's like."
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) January 23, 2022
Bengals QB Joe Burrow: I'm tired of the underdog narrative. We're a really, really good team. We're here to make noise.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) January 23, 2022
It’s fair to say the league has finally taken notice.
Joe Burrow and his “friends” are out here trying to change the narrative, and after Saturday’s triumph over Tennessee, they’re one (or two!) wins away from the best Cinderella story ever told.
Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow is one win away from his first Super Bowl appearance
Burrow was sacked nine times by the Titans, tied for the most in a playoff game since the 1970 merger. Apparently, he still feels “great.”
Winning the game probably had something to do with that.
While Burrow didn’t throw the game-winning score (or any touchdown for that matter), he completed a a crucial 19-yard pass to Ja’Marr Chase to get the Bengals in field goal territory late in the fourth quarter.
Joe Burrow’s a fuckin guy.
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 22, 2022
Joe Burrow after all the hits, all the pressure ... just an incredible, game-winning type of throw to Chase.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 23, 2022
The rest was McPherson history.
Burrow threw for 348 yards and recorded one interception, which aren’t terrible numbers considering his nine total sacks.
His partner-in-crime, Ja’Marr Chase, became the youngest player in NFL playoff history with multiple 100-yard receiving games and delivered when his team needed him the most.
Burrow, Chase, McPherson — they’re as clutch as they come.
So it came down to, perhaps predictably, that Joe Burrow made one big late throw that Ryan Tannehill could not. Congratulations, Bengals.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 23, 2022
Next. 3 takeaways from Bengals’ first-ever road playoff win vs. Titans. dark
Next season, the top priority on the Bengals’ agenda should be upgrading their offensive line. For now, though, Cincy has only one thing on its mind: the Super Bowl.
Opposing teams can keep sacking, but Joey B just keeps on winning.