It wasn’t the first win of Joe Burrow’s career against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, but it certainly was his favorite one.
After throwing for 355 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-30 win over the Steelers, Burrow was on Cloud 9 Sunday night after the win, telling reporters that the win over the Steelers in AFC North football — the first divisional game win of the season for the Bengals — was his favorite one since he took over as the starting quarterback for the Bengals.
Eighteen wins in his career in the regular season to date, and Sunday’s win is his favorite. Pouring salt into the wound.
“That was awesome, that was awesome. One of my favorite wins since I’ve been here,” Burrow stated to reporters after the win, according to the official transcript provided by the team. “A lot of adversity. AFC North game. Bad weather, cold, windy. We fought through. We found a way to win.”
On a frigid night missing his top receiver in Ja’Marr Chase and eventually star running back Joe Mixon, Burrow and the Bengals stared down adversity — along with two costly turnovers that gave the Steelers a short field — and came out on top, improving to 6-4 on the season.
That about sums up how the Steelers’ season has gone to this point.
Even when things should favor the black and gold, players on the other team make big plays in key situations and have left Acrisure Stadium riding a wave of jubilation.
Quite honestly, that’s how Burrow should feel coming out of Sunday’s win over the Steelers. It’s the second straight year the Bengals have come into Pittsburgh and thoroughly dominated them to pick up a win in AFC North action. Add in the fact that, even without Chase and Mixon, the Bengals still put up 37 points against the highest-paid defense in the league, it’s a great win for the Bengals, who improve to 6-4 and move into the No. 7 spot in the AFC playoff picture.
Though he’s had some big wins as the face of the Bengals in the two and half years he’s been in Cincinnati, it’s not hard to understand why he was so fired up after the win over the Steelers on the road Sunday night, especially considering how the first matchup of the season went for Burrow against the black and gold.
