A little AFC North divisional news to pass along this morning. Not that there was much doubt given his participation in the first preseason game, but Joe Burrow officially confirmed he will be opening the season healthy and ready for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“When Game 1 comes, I’ll be ready,” Burrow said in a video posted on the Bengals’ website.
He looked great in his first game action since the season-ending wrist injury he suffered in the middle of the 2023 regular season. He only attempted seven passes but completed five of them for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Jake Browning filled in admirably for Burrow last season with a 70.4 completion percentage and a 4-3 record, but the Bengals still sputtered to the finish line with a 4-3 record over their final seven games. The Pittsburgh Steelers were two of those three losses. The Bengals were the lone AFC North team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
Burrow has had two of his four seasons cut short by injury in his young career. But for the two seasons he was healthy, the Bengals had a combined 22-10 record in the regular season and a 5-2 record in the postseason. That included a trip to the Super Bowl in 2021 and an AFC Championship Game appearance in 2022. Burrow has made the Bengals one of the best teams in the NFL when healthy.
This should make the AFC North more competitive than ever in 2024. The Baltimore Ravens are still among the top teams in the NFL. The Browns should still be in the mix with that defense, and they added more weapons around Deshaun Watson. And the Steelers have a new offensive system and two new quarterbacks to make them a more complete team than in 2023.
Every AFC North team had a winning record in 2023 and three went to the playoffs. That is a lofty bar to clear, but the division looks better on paper. HBO’s Hard Knocks will cover the final six weeks in what should be a dramatic finish to one of the best divisions in football. Any team is capable of finishing first or last.
