Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow needed just one word to describe the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024 season after thy failed to qualify for postseason play for the second year in a row: Failure.
Joe Burrow describes Cincinnati's 2024 season as a 'failure'
"Anytime you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure," Burrow said. "That's what you're aiming for every year. That's why you work so hard is to be at your best in the end. These last five weeks we have been. We just weren't able to find an extra win there early in the season that would put us in a better spot."
Burrow is completely correct in labeling the season as a failure for Cincinnati, especially considering how well he played personally over the course of the campaign. Burrow turned in one of the best seasons from a quarterback in recent memory as he threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes. Had the Bengals been better as a team, Burrow would have received some serious MVP consideration. He might have even won the award.
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The star quarterback is also correct in saying that the Bengals were doomed by their inability to come away with wins early in the season. The Bengals started the season 0-3, and they sat at 4-8 before winning their final five games to finish at 9-8.
In hindsight, Cincinnati's Week 1 loss to the lowly New England Patriots was especially egregious. The Patriots won just four total games on the year, and their head coach was relieved of his duties immediately after their season came to an end. It was a game that the Bengals should have won, and if they had, they probably wouldn't be on the outside of the playoff picture.
This is new territory for Burrow, as it's the first time in his five-year career that the Bengals have failed to qualify for postseason play when he was healthy for the entire season. The previous two times that the team missed the playoffs, Burrow had suffered a season-ending injury.
Now, the pressure is squarely on Cincinnati's front office to improve the roster around their franchise quarterback. They simply can't afford to squander another season of Burrow's prime, especially since he expects to be even better in 2025.
"I threw it well this year," Burrow said. "I still think I can throw it way better. Early in the season, you're still getting a feel for how that wrist is feeling. You're breaking up scar tissue. You're doing a lot of different things to help it, and it gets better as the season goes. So I expect next year to be better."