Joe Burrow and his Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes three times in a row. They failed to make it four in 2022 in the AFC Championship Game, and in doing so enabled Mahomes to claim his second Super Bowl title before Burrow got his first. And that’s where it stands, according to the Bengals’ star quarterback.
“I don’t think there is any argument now, it’s Pat”, he told reporters yesterday, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website, when asked about who the best quarterback in the league was today. “Until somebody has a better year than he’s had. He’s the one to knock off”.
He’s not wrong, of course. If any active player today even has a shot of ever making a run at the title of the greatest to ever play the game, it would be Mahomes, a perennial All-Pro and two-time league MVP, two-time Super Bowl champion in just five seasons as a starter.
In five years (plus one game as a rookie), he has thrown for 24,241 yards with 192 touchdowns to just 49 interceptions. He has two 5,000-yard passing seasons under his belt and has twice led the league in touchdown passes. He also has over 1,500 rushing yards with 12 more touchdowns. In the postseason, he holds an 11-3 record with 4,084 more passing yards and 35 touchdowns to seven interceptions. Guy’s good.
But he’s not without challengers in any given year for the distinction of being the league’s top passer. And Burrow is certainly up there with any of them, including Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.
And he’s coming for Mahomes’ position at the top. “I think that’s always been my goal”, he said, “being the best in the world”.
Burrow is no slouch himself just three years into his career. Over the past two seasons, he has thrown for 9,084 yards with 69 touchdowns to 26 interceptions. His teams have gone 22-10 in that time during the regular season. He’s also posted a 5-2 postseason record (1-1 versus Mahomes) with another 1,826 passing yards and nine touchdowns to four interceptions.
And now he has Mahomes’ left tackle as well, after Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. opted to sign with the Bengals as an unrestricted free agent this offseason. That should be an instant upgrade over the man who has protected his blindside since coming into the league, Jonah Williams, who is now projected to slide over to the right side.
As long as Mahomes is healthy, the Chiefs figure to be perennial championship contenders. The same could be said for Burrow and the Bengals. While they’ve not yet made it over the hump, they’ve gotten close. Cincinnati was just a minute away from its first-ever Super Bowl title in 2021 if not for the defense slipping at the end of the game.
