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Arguably the main reason the Cincinnati Bengals were even in the postseason race to begin with last season in spite of their putrid defense was the play of quarterback Joe Burrow, who had the best season of his NFL career in 2024. Burrow has established himself as one of the elite quarterbacks of his generation over the last several years, leading the Bengals on multiple deep playoff runs, a magic that they're currently trying to recapture.
Recently, The Athletic listed its quarterback tiers, and Burrow was understandably listed in the top group.
“He is the closest thing to Joe Montana that I have seen,” one opposing head coach said, per Mike Sando of The Athletic. “That is about as big a compliment I can give you as a quarterback.”
Another compared where Burrow stands in the NFL in regards to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“To me, it's Mahomes and then Burrow if I had to rank them,” said the coach. “Burrow could be a 1 with a red cross on him. They don't protect him, and he gets the s— knocked out of him constantly.”
One defensive coach noted how Burrow's talented wide receiver room has helped him out during his career thus far.
“He's a stud, particularly with those freaks he has out there at receiver,” said the coach. “I respect the arm talent, don't get me wrong, but you have to be able to fool him presnap, and you have to be able to rush with four and get there.”
Indeed, having Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins makes life easier.
Can the Bengals bounce back?
As previously mentioned, the Bengals missed the playoffs for the second straight season in 2024 after their defense was unable to do much of anything.
Cincinnati hasn't exactly taken great strides to improve that unit so far this offseason, but they'd certainly behoove themselves to bring back star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, with whom they're currently in a contract standoff.
In any case, the Bengals' 2025 season is slated to begin on September 7 vs the Cleveland Browns in an early AFC North matchup from Cleveland.
