Two people are the happiest with the much-awaited return of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow: 1. Joe Burrow and 2. Zac Taylor.
Burrow made his coach's life much less stressful on Thursday as he led the Bengals to an upset against the Baltimore Ravens, 32-14, at M&T Bank Stadium. While Taylor tried to look indifferent from the bench, he was probably leaping with joy inside.
The Bengals struggled in the long absence of Burrow, who suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While backup quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Jake Browning had their good moments, simply put, Cincinnati is better with Burrow under center.
Taylor kept it simple when asked about Burrow's morale-boosting return.
“It's a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football,” said the 42-year-old coach, as reported by Sports Illustrated's Jay Morrison.
The 28-year-old Burrow surely had fun on the field, going 24-of-46 for 261 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
He said he was glad to be back in action, although he acknowledged that he had to shake off some of his rust in the first half.
Burrow looked like the underdog on Thanksgiving Day: Coming from a long layoff, playing on the road, battling two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, and the Ravens having momentum from a five-game winning streak. But the two-time Pro Bowler refused to fold and powered through.
The Bengals ended their four-game losing streak and improved to 4-8. But they still have a lot of catching up to do to give them a chance to squeeze into the playoffs.
Another tough test is ahead as they take on the Buffalo Bills on December 7.
