Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's fourth season in the NFL is already over after undergoing surgery to repair a wrist injury. That means plenty of things for Cincinnati. Without Burrow, the ceiling of their offense — and practically of the entire team — has become drastically lower.

Bengals' Joe Burrow-Zac Taylor Super Bowl window getting smaller

Bengals QB Joe Burrow

Also, Burrow's injury also likely means that this is not going to be the year the Bengals will win the Super Bowl, leaving his tandem with Zac Taylor one more year to beat an unfavorable NFL trend for long-term QB-head coach combos, per analyst Joe Goodberry.

“For those that want Zac Taylor fired, you've got one more year before the heat really gets turned up. There has NEVER been a HC and QB combo that won a Super Bowl after their 5th year together. 2024 is Joe Burrow and Zac Taylor's 5th year together.”

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The last such QB-head coach partnership to win the Super Bowl in their fifth year together was the Baltimore Ravens' duo of Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh in the 2012 NFL campaign. Peyton Manning and Tony Dungee did that in 2006, Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren in 1996, and Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll in 1974. That's the end of the list. Those are the only times that a QB-head coach combo has ever won a Super Bowl in the fifth season — or beyond — on the same team.

Although that doesn't sound ideal for the Bengals, they should still feel confident about their chances once Burrow makes a complete recovery. It was not that long ago when Burrow led Cincinnati to just a win away from winning the Super Bowl back in the 2021 NFL season.