If it felt like Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow could do no wrong against the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium, it’s because that was pretty accurate. Just like Burrow himself. While Pittsburgh’s defense did well to keep the ball in front of them and settled down after a turbulent first quarter, Burrow still finished with a record day.
By game’s end, Burrow had completed 37-of-46 passes against the Steelers. His 80.4-percent completion rate is the highest of any quarterback to attempt 40 passes in a game against Pittsburgh. He tops the previous high mark set by Drew Brees’ 77.3 percent in 2010, the Saints QB finishing 34-of-44 that day. Here’s the leaderboard.
Highest Completion Percentage Against Steelers (min. 40 attempts)
1. Joe Burrow: 80.4 percent (2024)
2. Drew Brees: 77.3 percent (2010)
3. Tom Brady: 75.6 percent (2005)
4. Boomer Esiason: 74.4 percent (1991)
5. Johnny Manziel: 73.3 percent (2015)
Yeah, I don’t know how Manziel is on this list either.
Burrow’s completion percentage ties the NFL’s best mark of any passer with 40 attempts this year, matching the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa in Week 13.
To put the pool of players in perspective, there have been 140 previous instances of quarterbacks throwing at least times against the Steelers. Burrow is 141 and his percentage sits at the very top. If you’re curious about the lowest, it’s your friend and mine Terry Nofsinger, who completed only 32.6 percent of his throws in a 1966 loss, finishing 15-of-46.
Even expanding to the now 508 games of quarterbacks attempting 30 or more passes against the Steelers, Burrow ranks fourth. He only trails Dan Marino and Dave Krieg at 80.6 percent and, funny enough, Russell Wilson at 82.9 percent as a member of the Seattle Seahawks in 2019.
Burrow came out electric, completing his first 12 passes before his first attempt hit the ground, a slightly inaccurate throw behind and off WR Andrei Iosivas’ hands midway through the second quarter. His longest completion of the game was just 19 yards as Pittsburgh attempted to play a looser coverage, which helped Burrow efficiently work underneath.
Without injured RB Chase Brown, the Bengals put the game in Burrow’s hands even more than usual. He responded by racing Cincinnati out to a 10-0 start, leading a nine-play, 73-yard drive he capped by hitting Chase in the end zone on the Bengals’ first drive.
In two games against the Steelers this season, Burrow completed 65-of-84 passes. That’s 77.4 percent.
Pittsburgh’s defense tightened down in the red zone and the Steelers got a fair amount of pressure on Burrow, sacking him four times just as they did in Week 11. But their defense was unable to take the football away like the two turnovers they created off Burrow in their 44-38 win on Dec. 1, the latter returned for a touchdown by LB Payton Wilson. Pittsburgh’s lone turnover came off special teams, TE Connor Heyward jumping on a punt after it kicked off an unsuspecting Bengals player.
The Steelers at least got a fourth-down stop, DT Cam Heyward batting down one of three passes against Burrow that accounted for three of his nine incompletions.
