Newest laughable Joe Burrow narrative is already taking root after Steelers loss

There's that line in The Hangover that goes, "You are literally too stupid to insult." That's how I feel about people who try to say Joe Burrow is not an elite quarterback.

The Cincinnati Bengals did lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday by a score of 30-27. Can't tell you how many times in Burrow's career he's been on the business end of those types of high-scoring affairs. A lot, though. And yes, Burrow fumbled the ball away on Cincinnati's last drive.

But uhh...brace yourselves for this stat and the idiotic discourse sure to follow.

Burrow is anti-clutch according to one stat the national media is sure to run with

And here. We. Go. Longtime sportswriter and forever Bill Belichick Covering His Eyes X/Twitter Avatar Guy Scott Kacsmar, dropping the reductive bomb that will dominate sports talk shows in the fallout of Week 3's Bengals wreckage:

Joe Burrow has lost 34 of 35 times when trailing in the final eight minutes as a professional.

What this, again, to reiterate the word, reductive stat proves more than almost anything else is the fact that Burrow has, in fact, come up huge in plenty of clutch situations. He's just had to watch helplessly as his defense blows it once he takes a late lead.

I mean sure, let's blame Burrow for his ball security on that decisive play. Can't take a sack in field goal range when you can force overtime, never mind lose the ball in the final minute. Joe knows that. He'll be better going forward.

But let's not pretend like, you know, Burrow didn't do more than enough to position the Bengals for victory. He completed 28 of 37 passes for 282 yards, three TDs, and a 123.9 passer rating, plus 13 rushing yards on two carries.

And yes, when the Bengals were trailing in the fourth quarter, he drilled a 4th and 2 TD toss to Mike Gesicki:

Oh but it was outside of that inside eight-minute strike zone, so Burrow must be terrible! It must be his fault that the Bengals lost. All the great QBs overcome and execute comebacks, right!?

Yeah. If their special teams doesn't poop the bed by getting a roughing the kicker penalty on punt coverage. Or if they don't muff a punt to set up the opponent in the red zone.

Both those things happened in Sunday's game. Totally out of Burrow's control. It wouldn't have been close otherwise.

And yet...because the ball was in his hands last after the defense, once again, couldn't stop a nosebleed as they failed to in years past, Burrow had no margin for error. He made one mistake. Ballgame. Woof.

Anyone remember the Daijahn Anthony 4th and 16 defensive pass interference play that cost the Bengals a victory at Kansas City in Week 2, 2024? And ultimately cost them a playoff berth? That was fun. Totally Burrow's fault, too.

Shout out to Locked On Bengals' Jake Liscow for the convenient rebuttal here. Anyone got a mic to drop?

I'm sure there are countless examples of instances like the Anthony penalty across Burrow's history but I don't need to tell the fans that. The data above supports such an assertion. The insufferable national media types will nevertheless run with this. Should be a long week. Can't wait.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow