There was plenty of concern from fans of the Cincinnati Bengals when news of Joe Burrow's season-ending wrist injury broke. After all, the Bengals will now have to turn over the controls of the offense to Jake Browning, the 27-year old career backup who, prior to Burrow's injury, had only played in a total of four snaps. But it seems like the Bengals have unearthed a hidden gem in Browning, with the QB2 putting up a superstar-level performance in leading Cincinnati to a 34-31 overtime victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.

Browning was simply on point; he completed 32 of his 37 pass attempts, with one of his many completions being a 75-yard touchdown connection with Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, and as the cherry on top of it all, he also scored a rushing touchdown. But beyond his eye-popping surface stats, Browning's underlying metrics also showed that he was in a class of his own against the Jaguars.

According to Next Gen Stats on Twitter (X), “Jake Browning completed every one of his 7 pass attempts over 10 air yards on the night, the most downfield completions without an incompletion since Week 16, 2021.” This just means that every downfield pass the Bengals QB2 lofted over the Jaguars defense connected, which is both a testament to Browning's ability to find his receivers and make the pinpoint pass and the offense's ability to get the best out of Browning.

And to hammer the point that Browning was simply elite on Monday night even further, “excluding 2 throwaways, Browning had more of his intended passes dropped (2) than true incompletions (1)”, according to Next Gen Stats. It may have been what Browning ate earlier today or it may have been the air in EverBank Stadium that fueled this performance, as the Bengals quarterback looked like a bonafide star who's been performing at that level for 10+ years against the Jaguars.

This kind of performance was exactly what the Bengals needed from Jake Browning, as they'll have plenty of confidence moving forward that they can still threaten for a spot in the playoffs even after Joe Burrow's season-ending injury. Fans will be hoping that the 27-year old can carry over this performance when they take on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.