Joe Burrow gives Bengals fans plenty of hope with latest comments after 0-3 start

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals dropped to 0-3 after an embarrassing loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. Burrow and the offense did their part, putting up 436 yards of total offense and scoring 33 points. Normally, it feels like both of those stats would be enough to get a win but not on Monday night.

The Commanders never punted or had a turnover and did whatever they wanted against the Bengals' defense. A near-perfect game from Burrow and the rest of the offense was wasted because the defense couldn't stop a rookie quarterback making just his third start.

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Burrow, of course, wasn't thrilled by the 0-3 start but he isn't waving the white flag just yet.

“There’s going to be some big games down the stretch that we’re going to have to step up for. We haven’t played any division opponents yet. The Steelers are 3-0, other teams are 1-2, we’re 0-3. We play all six of those games coming up. We’re by no means out of it. Playoffs and winning the division is the furthest thing from my mind. We have got to get better this week.”

Joe Burrow: "We're by no means out of it."

While the Bengals do have an easy schedule, they've dropped two games to teams they should have beaten. Week 4's match-up against the once floundering Panthers now looks tricky, as Burrow's predecessor Andy Dalton led Carolina to a blowout victory against the Raiders this past weekend.

The Bengals haven't won a game and have yet to play against anyone in their division, which they won just one game against a season ago with a better defense. As he noted, the Steelers are unbeaten and the other two teams are 1-2, which means the Bengals aren't left for dead in the AFC North just yet, but the odds don't look good for them.

Only one team has made the playoffs after an 0-3 start since the turn of the century and that was the 2018 Texans. While Burrow's optimism is what fans need to hear from their quarterback, the defense has to turn things around immediately if this team wants to have any chance of sniffing the postseason. If the defense can't force turnovers or punts, it's going to be hard for the Bengals to win any games.