CINCINNATI — It’s very rare that one game can say so much about a franchise and its future.
Saturday’s 30-24 overtime win over the Denver Broncos demonstrated two things in bright neon lights.
Joe Burrow should be the 2024 NFL MVP and Tee Higgins needs to return to the Bengals on a long-term deal.
Let’s start with Burrow, and specifically, his latest eye-popping stats in the win that kept Cincinnati’s playoff hopes alive.
Burrow was 39-for-49 for 412 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions and a quarterback rating of 112.9. Burrow was able to accomplish this while being sacked seven times and hit on eight other occasions.
Burrow has thrown at least three touchdown passes in eight straight games, two shy of Tom Brady’s NFL record in 2007. In those eight games, he has thrown for at least 250 yards, extending his NFL mark, two better than Brady’s record. He has directed an offense that has scored at least 24 points in eight straight games, a franchise record.
Burrow is the singular reason the Bengals still have a heartbeat in the AFC wildcard chase. He makes plays look easy under the highest pressure situations possible. The Bengals had the ball second-and-10 from the Denver 34 with 74 seconds left to salvage any hope for making Week 18 in Pittsburgh relevant.
He tosses a perfect dime to Higgins down the left sideline and Higgins demonstrates body control fitting of a world class ballet dancer, keeping both feet in contact with the turf, extending his hands and grabbing the ball before falling out of bounds at the Denver 3.
Burrow has made life a joyride for Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins because he knows how to keep them both happy and fully engaged in the Bengals offense. Neither one has ever shown frustration in not being fed the ball because they know their quarterback is risking life and limb, under great duress in the pocket to stand and deliver them the ball.
“I don’t know how anybody can stand on the field and watch Joe Burrow and not say he’s the best player in the world,” Zac Taylor declared after the game. “You can transfer that argument to Ja’Marr Chase as well and you can argue those two to death. But the clearest thing I can say is I would not trade Joe Burrow for any player in the universe. To me, that’s MVP to me.”
Taylor is right. Burrow is playing the quarterback position at level higher than anyone in the NFL this season. The Bengals head coach is not alone. Take it from two players who went up against him to start this four-game heater – edge linebacker Micah Parsons and corner Trevon Diggs.
“If Joe Burrow takes this team to the playoffs, I don’t even think it should be in question who’s MVP!! Best in the world right now!” Parsons tweeted.
On his podcast “The Edge with Micah Parsons” Diggs said. “You know who I think should get some MVP love? Joe Shiesty. He’s amazing bro.”
“When I played Joe Burrow this last time, this was a whole different Joe Burrow,” Parsons said. “The anticipation, his IQ, pre-snap awareness, scrambling. This version of Joe Burrow is the best quarterback in the NFL … He’s the best quarterback in the NFL.”
I just throw it where the defense tells me to,” Burrow said after Saturday’s thriller. “If they’re going to double Ja’Marr, I’m going to throw it to Tee. If Ja’Marr is going to get a one-on-one, I’m going to throw it to him. I think he had over 100 yards, so it wasn’t like we weren’t throwing it at him. Everybody stepped up big. Mike (Gesicki) stepped up big for us. Andrei (Iosivas) had a couple big plays. Obviously, Tee and Ja’Marr. When Chase (Brown) goes down, Khalil (Herbert) goes in and has some big runs for us. It was nice to see all those guys step up and make big plays for us.”
Tom Brady would always say his favorite receiver is the open receiver. Burrow is no different.
Consider: When Tom Brady led the Patriots to a 16-0 regular season record in 2007, Brady – the unanimous MVP that year – led the NFL in completion percentage (68.9), pass yards, (4,806), touchdown passes (50) and yards per attempt (8.3). Burrow through 16 games this season is completing passes at a high percentage (69.8), trails Brady by just 165 yards has the same number of interceptions and is just behind Brady at 7.7 yards per attempt.
Burrow leads in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns, all the while taking 44 sacks in 16 games. Brady was sacked just 21 times in ’07 while Burrow has been sacked 44 times this year.
No player has been more valuable to his team than Joe Burrow has been to the 8-8 Bengals, and Burrow has the numbers to back it up. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have obviously won more this season, and both are right there with their touchdown numbers. Burrow is 359 yards shy of becoming the first 5,000-yard passer in franchise history and tenth in NFL history. Burrow’s idol – Drew Brees – did it a record five times in his career with the Saints.
Saquon Barkley is the best running back in the NFL this season, but this is still a quarterback-dominated league. And no quarterback has dominated his team’s success rate better or more often than Burrow. Four times this season, the Bengals have scored 33 points or more and lost.
Now, about Tee Higgins. Burrow is a skilled driver behind the wheel of a Ferrari. You don’t put spare parts on a high-performance vehicle. The Bengals will likely re-sign Ja’Marr Chase to an extension. The other part of that equation is Tee Higgins. He’s a another high-performance part of the machine that – as Burrow acknowledged – is critical in making sure teams can’t just worry about one player.
Tee Higgins was big when the Bengals needed him most Saturday. Last year in a Saturday game against the Vikings, Higgins made the acrobatic move of the year, reaching around for the pylon against the Vikings, forcing overtime in a 27-24 win. Saturday, he caught the 31-yard pass down the left sideline that set up the game-winner.
“Everybody can see what kind of player he is. He elevates us to a different level when he’s playing like that. Lucky to be a part of what we have going on right now,” Burrow said. “We’ve played games without Tee this year, so we’ve found ways to still move the ball and create big plays. But obviously, we’re at a different level when Tee’s out there.”
Burrow knows the stats as well as anyone. Higgins caught 11 passes on 12 targets for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Yes, he has an injury history. But when he’s on the field, he is a genuine difference-maker in an offense perfectly suited for him. The Dolphins kept Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle for Tua Tagovailoa. The Eagles kept A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith for Jalen Hurts.
In Burrow, Chase and Higgins, the Bengals have it better than both of those teams. One more thing is on the Bengals side and is the best argument for signing Chase and Higgins – youth. Chase is 24. Higgins is 25. Burrow is 28. The opportunity to have all three together into the late 2020s will extend the Bengals window long enough for the Bengals to rebuild and re-tool the defense.
It’s going to take a commitment of well over $200 million to keep both. But Burrow has already demonstrated he’s worth the $275 million, and he knows another $200 million for his two best and most productive weapons would be money well-spent.
Saturday was yet another reminder of the potential this team has in its “Big 3” and what could be if they are kept together beyond 2024. Joe Burrow has made it clear he expects Tee Higgins to return as a Bengal in 2025 and if that’s the case, then maybe, just maybe Saturday wasn’t the Paycor farewell after all.
