Officially, Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow earns the unfortunate title of being one of the most unlucky quarterbacks we’ve observed. Despite a 72.3% pass completion rate, making 125 successful passes out of 173, the Bengals suffered a 41-38 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens in an overtime match last Sunday. This defeat pegs their season record to 1-4, showcasing a poor start to the season. However, the blame can hardly fall on Burrow, who has shown stellar performance with 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a high passer rating of 113.6 in the first five games.
Despite his impressive performance, the Bengals have slipped away from the playoff contention. The grim reality, in Burrow’s words, is that “We are not presently a championship-calibre team.” This downfall is mainly attributed to the poor Bengals’ defence which struggles against the run, imposing added pressure on Burrow to perform miracles and save his team- a feat he has successfully managed.
In the Sunday match, Burrow was the epitome of skill, successfully completing 30 out of 39 passes, accumulating 392 yards, and achieving five touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 137.0. His performance temporarily put his team in the lead during the third and fourth quarters. Unfortunately, the Bengals’ defence once again failed to deliver, surrendering to the prowess of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry late in the game and into overtime.
Adding insult to injury, Jackson’s fumble, which brought the ball into the Bengals’ possession, was squandered due to some poor tactics. In the final 6:37 in overtime, they decided to run the ball straight three times. This only culminated in a distance of three yards and a missed 53-yard field goal attempt attributed to a faulty hold by the kicker Evan McPherson. Moments later, the Ravens sealed their victory. Burrow’s commendable effort, thereby, went in vain. He entered the hallowed records as the 10th NFL quarterback with over 390 passing yards, a minimum of five touchdown passes, and a completion percentage over 75%. Unfortunately, none of these accolades changed the unfortunate outcome of the match.
In the gaming universe, Blunty McBluntface is skyrocketing in popularity, garnering a tremendous number of likes for James Blunt. United, under the stewardship of Ten Hag, appears to mirror Liverpool in their years of under-performance, except their current situation is noticeably more dire. Undertaking a running trip around Ireland when turning half a century old might raise eyebrows, but one fearless runner managed to complete it without even a petty blister.
When it comes to the Bengals’ performance, their fortunes seem to be dicing with fate. Their four losses have occurred within a narrow margin of 15 points. Taking it in stride, Tee Higgins, a Bengal’s receiver, reflected on their individual performances following the defeat. But shortcomings remain to be addressed, he emphasised.
Burrow’s misfortune appears to be of an uncommon nature, especially given his consistent performance. In the annals of professional football, it is unusual for a quarterback with a passer rating of 100.0 to have started 10 games or more and won less than 5 games. Deshaun Watson of the 2020 Houston Texans is the sole exception, warranting recognition for his MVP-level performance despite the Texans’ mediocre 4-12 record and changes in coaching staff.
Yet, one should not hastily anticipate a degeneration of Burrow’s fortune as Watson’s did, and for pretty clear reasons at that.
The MVP of the week, Derrick Henry, a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, had an impressive run, attaining 10,000 career rushing yards and 100 career scrimmage touchdowns. Henry’s defining moment emerged when he charged from the Baltimore 43-yard line to the Cincinnati six-yard line over 51 yards, paving the path for Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal.
It might be some time before we witness another running back surpass the marker of 10,000 yards and 100 rushing touchdowns. The reliance on running backs as seen with Tennessee Titans’ usage of Henry from 2016 to 2023 or with the active Ravens is not a common practice in most teams.
Video Highlight of the week
During the first quarter of the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills match, referee Clay Martin’s actions led to quite a churn amongst the spectators. His attempt to elucidate a non-fumble led to a moment of confusion between sports.
However, it’s noteworthy that Clay Martin has had an impressive history with basketball. His wiki reveals that besides his involvement with the NFL, he coaches high school basketball at Jenks High School, Oklahoma. His sporting journey began with playing basketball during his university years in Oklahoma Baptist University for the Bison. His basketball achievements have earned him a place in the OBU and Tulsa Public Schools Hall of Fame.
Stat highlight of the week
The Minnesota Vikings, boasting a spotless 5-0 record, have lagged for only three minutes and twenty-six seconds in the total duration of the 2024 season. This slight setback took place in the first quarter of game one. Despite the New York Jets managing to score a comeback from a 17-0 second-quarter shortfall, the Vikings still went on to claim victory with a 23-17 scoreline.
Other League updates
Currently, athletes exhibit better fitness levels, allowing them to maintain peak performance well into their 30s. Hence, when the Green Bay Packers let go of Aaron Rodgers in favour of the Jets in April 2023, despite him being 39, it didn’t create much of a stir. In his peak, Rodgers was arguably the premier thrower in the game’s history, and even in his concluding season with the Packers, he showcased remarkable adequacy. It was, therefore, a practical move for the Jets to recruit him to break their enduring quarterback famine.
On Sunday, Rodgers’s performance was far from exemplary, with three interceptions and a markedly low passer rating of 54.9 – his fifth worst when attempting a minimum of 20 passes. Since the commencement of the 2022 season, Rodgers has had only one match with three touchdown passes, and a total of two games with three interceptions.
However, it would be unfair to attribute all blame to Rodgers. Indeed, the Jets have deficiencies throughout their roster including their offensive coaching, their offensive line, and their player skills positions. Despite these drawbacks, there exist other NFL quarterbacks who are able to thrive and Rodgers was once one of them.
Tom Brady is the unique exception having outperformed himself in his 40s, throwing 193 touchdown passes compared to the 147 of his 20s. The majority of players do not follow his trajectory, with many finding it beneficial to switch to broadcasting or philanthropic endeavours earlier in their career. Rodgers may well be a candidate for this transition.
Joe Flacco, on the other hand, seems to be defying the odds with a young-at-heart approach. His recent performance resulted in a 37-34 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars, however, he successfully threw 33 of 44 passes for 359 yards, with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Now at 39, Flacco leads the NFL in passer ratings with 115.6, which, considering his initial signing as Anthony Richardson’s back-up in Indianapolis, is impressive. Moreover, his ability to fill in during Richardson’s absence through injury in the past two games has proven invaluable.
Flacco has notably become the oldest player in NFL history to complete five successive matches with a minimum of 300 passing yards and two touchdown passes. unexpectedly, perhaps Flacco will be the next to conquer the age barrier.
As Week 5 commenced, Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams had been facing a rather difficult season. Lawrence, whom the first overall pick of the 2021 draft selected, ranked eighth-worst in the NFL with a passer rating of 78.9, and seventh-worst in the league when considering a Passing EPA per dropback of -0.19. Williams, chosen first overall in the 2024 draft, had a passer rating of 72.0 making him fourth-worst in the NFL, and he tied for fourth-worst in the NFL with a Passing EPA per dropback of -0.28.
However, Sunday marked a turnaround for the two players. Lawrence shone in the Jaguars’ victory over the Colts which procured Jacksonville its first win of the season, completing 28 out of 34 passes for 374 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and achieving a passer rating of 119.5. His performance portrayed seemingly improved control compared to the disastrous nature of his throwing mechanics throughout the season.
Equally, Williams’ feat in the 36-10 routing of the Carolina Panthers was remarkable. He completed 20 out of 29 passes, resulting in 304 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and attained a passer rating of 126.2. Williams managed the passing game impressively and was notably more settled than his previous frenzied interactions with Chicago’s precarious offensive line.
The Bears game was so one-sided in favour of Chicago that Bryce Young, the Panthers backup quarterback and first overall pick in the 2023 draft, got a chance to tackle the problems that led to him being sidelined in preference to Andy Dalton a few weeks earlier.
The week turned out fairly well then, for these first overall picks, except for Burrow.
Arguably, coaching is a demanding role, and even the least experienced coach typically possesses a deeper understanding of football than the typical analyst, including me. Thus, we tend not to question or outright criticise decisions unless they turn out to be extremely inappropriate and cost teams their games.
A controversial choice was made by Sean McDermott, the head coach of Buffalo Bills, in the game’s crucial moments when playing against the Houston Texans. With a 20-20 stalemate on the scoreboard and the Texans holding all three timeouts, the wise option would’ve been to run three times to drain the Texans’ timeouts before punting with a mere 32 seconds on the clock. But that wasn’t the course McDermott chose.
Rather than this, Josh Allen was directed to throw three passes, despite struggling throughout the game and even encountering a head injury during the fourth quarter. Allen, who only connected nine out of his 30 attempts in that match, missed all three passes, leading Bills to punt with only 16 seconds left. The Texans then executed one play – a pass from CJ Stroud to Dare Ogunbowale that put Ka’imi Fairbairn in the right spot to secure the winning 59-yard field goal.
Making the opposition struggle for time is fundamental, and failing that, with possession of just 16 seconds, is tantamount to coaching blunder. Scott Hanson, NFL’s Red Zone channel esteemed host agrees. Unarguably, the failure to run down the clock and achieve a first down lies squarely on McDermott, as he himself confessed later.
This Sunday also saw an unprecedented event—with two separate defensive players wearing the No 2 jersey making touchdown returns of 100 yards or more in a single day. This included Rayshawn Jenkins of Seattle safeguarding a fumble recovery and converting this into a 102-yard touchdown (Seahawks later made an amendment on the actual yardage).
The other was Patrick Surtain II, a cornerback from Denver Broncos, intercepting a pass from Gardner Minshew of Las Vegas and returning it 100 yards in the opposite direction. Agreed, quite a number of twos and two massive plays in a day!