Joe Burrow's performance early in 2026 should scare the rest of the NFL

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has not been exceptional through two weeks, but his average performance is still of note.

Throughout his NFL career, Burrow has consistently managed to start slow. Whether he's been nagged by injuries or he just takes a while to get back into the groove of the season, Burrow has been below average to start every season of his career. Without fail, Burrow's production then proceeds to ramp up, which results in him playing some of his best football during the most important time of the season.

This year, Burrow has managed to play more towards the middle of the road despite dealing with back soreness that resulted in practice limitations leading up to the matchup with one of the most intimidating defenses in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said it himself

Following a 20-6 win over the Houston Texans, Burrow explained how he thought he played in an article from WLWT.

"I was incredibly average today," said Burrow. "You know, we're going to keep getting better. But it was a great win. We did some good things, but a lot to learn from it."

Burrow threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns en route to an 80.6 grade from Pro Football Focus. Five quarterbacks in Week 2 had a grade higher than 90 on PFF, showing that Burrow was far from elite. Quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins of the Las Vegas Raiders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns were among the signal callers who finished Week 2 with a higher grade.

Burrow's grade pushed his composite PFF grade through two weeks to 75.7. While it may seem pedestrian, it is this statistic that should scare the rest of the league. This is the highest Burrow's grade has ever been through two weeks. He has never had a grade above 70 through the first two weeks and was even graded as low as 57.2 in 2023.

If Burrow stays healthy and continues to improve as the season goes on, like he has every other healthy year of his career, he could be poised to find himself playing some of the best football in his career.

In the Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Burrow threw for 254 yards and a touchdown, but a costly pick-six almost single-handedly kept the Buccaneers within striking distance. One of the issues with Burrow's Week 1 performance was his failure to target wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who finished with just two receptions.

Burrow realized that was an issue and fixed it, leading to an improvement in the matchup with the Texans. Chase finished with the Bengals' only two touchdowns and had one of the early contenders for catch of the year.

Burrow also got wide receiver Tee Higgins involved against the Texans, allowing him to finish with five receptions and just under 100 yards. In the same article from WLWT, Burrow explained that Chase's involvement was key.

"I'm going to trust my guys against anyone in the league," said Burrow. "Doesn't matter who's out there. Especially when it's number 1."

The Texans may very well be one of the best defenses the Bengals will face during the regular season. If Burrow continues to find his two best targets in Chase and Higgins while playing against worse competition, he could have a career-defining season.

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