Joe Burrow report card from devastating loss in Super Bowl LVI

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ loss in Super Bowl LVI doesn’t feel like the right ending. Joe Burrow and this team went on a magical run just two years into the young quarterback’s career and it felt like it should have ended with Burrow hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

Sadly, it ended with Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp hoisting the Trophy with Kupp winning MVP honors. Meanwhile, Burrow and the Bengals could only watch as the blue and yellow confetti fell from the stadium. So close.

Had the Bengals won the game, Burrow probably wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl MVP honors. They supposedly pick the MVP before the 2:00 warning so even if Burrow had some crazy play to get the stripes the win, Tee Higgins or Joe Mixon probably would have already been crowned MVP.

That’s not something we have to think about though, as Burrow was the losing quarterback and said this was one of the worst days of his life during his postgame presser.

What grade does Joe Burrow deserve for his Super Bowl LVI performance?

The Bengals signal-caller went 22-of-33 for 263 yards and one touchdown in his first-ever Super Bowl appearance.

The numbers are fine.

Could Burrow have done more?

Sure.

On the other side of the coin, though, Burrow didn’t turn the ball over and made sure his squad won the turnover battle. More often than not, when the stripes won the turnover battle, they won the game, but the offensive line was to blame for the offense not scoring on their final five drives.

Burrow was kept upright in the first half but it felt like as soon as the Rams pass rush got warmed up that it wasn’t going to end well for Cincinnati’s offense. The quarterback was sacked seven times and the fact of the matter is that on the final play of the game, Burrow had Ja’Marr Chase wide open but he couldn’t get the ball to him because Aaron Donald was closing in on him. That was the ball game right there.

With how bad the offensive line was, it’s hard to really dock Burrow on the scorecard too much. He was constantly getting pressured by the Rams’ defensive front and we all knew this was a problem from the very first week of the season.

I heard Ross Tucker say this on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday morning and it was that Burrow didn’t do anything wrong but he needed to elevate his game and that never happened. Of course, that’s hard to do when the Rams pass rush is smashing through the o-line and in your face on every play.

I’ll give Burrow a grade of a B. He didn’t turn the ball over and that was huge because the end result could have been worse had he turned it over even one time. On the other hand, Burrow’s numbers weren’t eye-popping. He made a few key throws and ran for a couple of critical first downs but the huge play that the team always depended on to win games never happened.

What grade would you give Burrow for his performance in Super Bowl LVI?