Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins have been joined at the hip since the 2020 NFL Draft.
However, their connection began three months before that year's college player acquisition event.
At the conclusion of their matchup in the 2020 National Championship Game, when Burrow's LSU faced Higgins' alma mater, the former Tigers wideout was the first Clemson player to congratulate Burrow on his title. Even before the QB on the other sideline, Trevor Lawrence, had the chance to.
Little did Burrow and Higgins know at the time that they would be teammates in the professional ranks just a few months later.
Six years beyond that 2020 draft weekend, it would appear that the connection they made on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome field in New Orleans would become unstoppable halfway through the 2026 NFL season.
Title-game rivals to one of the best QB-WR combos in franchise history
It looked like the next Carson Palmer-to-Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson combination, with the numbers 9 and 85 included. It also looked like a QB-WR combo inspired by the Andy Dalton-AJ Green 2011 draft, when the front office found its franchise QB and WR1 in the first and second rounds.
The two rookies hit it off famously in their first season together. Higgins recorded 43 receptions, 629 yards, and four touchdowns with Burrow throwing him the ball in their rookie season.
However, Burrow exited his rookie season with a knee injury, cutting that connection short.
Then, in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bengals took Higgins’ another former National Championship adversary-turned-Bengals teammate, Ja’Marr Chase, with the 5th-overall pick.
Since then, the focal point of Cincinnati’s passing game has been Chase, to the point that he earned the Triple Crown in 2024, leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.
Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped Higgins from showing the NFL world he was one of the best receivers in the league, which led many teams outside Cincinnati to hope he would become their favorite team’s No. 1 wideout if he hit free agency.
Alas, Duke Tobin made good on his word, telling other franchises that they would need to find their own receiver.
Higgins eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in 2021 and 2022. He would have easily done it again in 2024 and 2025 if it were not for injuries that cost him and Burrow several games over that span.
Higgins has also become one of the most prolific receivers in Bengals history in very short order, in part due to Burrow’s pinpoint accuracy. He is now seventh in receptions and yards for a Bengals franchise with several magnificent receivers in its history.
Two No. 1 receivers better than one
In their 72 games played together, Burrow and Higgins have connected 359 times for 5,074 yards and 38 touchdowns.
When the Bengals re-signed Higgins and Chase, there were a lot of people, mainly the national media, saying that was a mistake. As it turns out, it wasn't.
Not only was it the right thing to do at the time, with the recent explosion of WR contracts, but it also looks more and more like a great deal with every passing market-setting deal and every George Pickens trade and franchise tag.
This season, Higgins has put to rest any No. 2 receiver talk that anyone has ever foolishly uttered. In doing so, the star wideout has confirmed what so many of us already knew ever since Chase joined the team. That is, the Bengals have two No. 1 receivers.
If you do not believe us, go back and listen to what all the national media naysayers had to say when they went from the Bengals are 'too cheap to sign both' to 'why would they do that?' All the hallmarks of those in the national media who continue to believe that the Cincinnati Bengals do not deserve nice things.
Nonetheless, through seven games this season, Higgins has 43 catches, 726 yards, and four touchdowns. He is on pace to have a career-high 1,763 receiving yards and 104 receptions this year. All of which came off the arm of Joe Burrow.
Meanwhile, the connection between Burrow and Higgins has grown even stronger.
That chemistry was crucial to the Bengals overcoming a deficit with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans and forcing overtime on Sunday, when Burrow found Higgins for the game-tying touchdown.
Next, they must take the success they are having this season on the road. Just a bit farther away than usual this time.
Burrow-Higgins connection required abroad and beyond
Hopefully, whatever led to those two Tigers meeting in that College Football Championship Game will ultimately lead to both winning a title with the Bengals. Sooner rather than later would be nice.
A win over the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday would be a step closer to that goal.
With their next game in Madrid, Spain, as part of the NFL’s International Series, hopefully the connection between Higgins and Burrow travels well. Better than some international roaming plans, anyway.
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