Bengals Beat: Why Joe Burrow Believes He’ll Have To Be ‘Damn-Near Perfect’ To Beat Ravens

CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow was in a mood when he arrived in the media conference room Wednesay to speak about Sunday’s showdown with the Ravens.

Greeted with the typical pleasantries and told it’s a nice day, Burrow quipped, “I suppose,” and then proceeded to thoroughly answer each and every question asked of him over 14 minutes.

Burrow wasn’t rude. He was just sending the message that he’s all about business this weekend in a game the Bengals need to win to have a realistic shot of competing for the AFC North title in 2024.

“Gotta be aggressive out the gate,” Burrow said matter-of-factly. “(We) can’t let the game come to you because your possessions are gonna be so limited, I’m gonna have to play damn-near perfect. That’s how I’m preparing. So it’s an exciting opportunity.”

Why the apparent intensity this week?

“It’s big game. We know what our record is,” Burrow said. “We know the opportunities we have going forward, but it’s our first divisional opponent, we’re 1-3. We need to get this one, it’s a big game for the Bengals.”

Joe Burrow hasn’t beaten the Ravens since the 2022 AFC wild-card game and then the week before that at Paycor. Burrow is 4-4 against Baltimore in his career, including the playoff win. The four wins against the Ravens is more than any other quarterback against Baltimore since 2021.

“We’re confident in our group. We’re rolling on offense right now,” Burrow said. “We’ve still left some points out there, which when you score 33, 34 back to back and you feel like you’ve left points on the board, that’s a good spot to be as an offense. We’re gonna continue to chase perfection, try to score on every drive.

“It’s a big opportunity. We thrive in these moments. We’re excited about it in front of our fans that we’re gonna need on Sunday. I hope they’re excited, too. We’re putting in the work this week to go out and put our best foot forward.”

In the last two games, the Bengals have punted just three times, all coming in the win over Carolina. Burrow is 51-for-69 with five touchdowns and one interception, his first of the season. With Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase on the field together, with the tight ends contributing in the pass and run game and with Chase Brown and Zack Brown combining to average 4.6 yards a carry, the Bengals offense looks like it’s hit its stride.

Of course, the other part of the equation for the Bengals is the defense. The defense did come up with a goal-line stand and an interception in the first half against Carolina and they forced a three-and-out deep in Carolina territory last week in the second half.

They also allowed Chuba Hubbard to run for 104 yards and average 5.4 yards per carry. That’s Chuba Hubbard. Derrick Henry is coming off a 199-yard performance, including an 87-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage.

“Obviously, he’s one of the all-time greats,” Burrow said. “He’s going to be able to control the clock. They’re going to give it to him a lot. That’s his game, that’s the Ravens’ way to play football. So like I said, we got to take advantage of all the opportunities that we have because there’s not going to be a ton.

“They obviously have really good players. That’s obvious, if you have ever watched a Baltimore Ravens football game, but the best teams complement their really good players with really good scheme and I would say, that’s what they do.”

The 1-5 division record from 2023 hangs over Burrow and the Bengals. Sunday is the first chance to change that narrative.

“We need to play better against everybody, in general,” Burrow added. “I would say we haven’t played our best ball yet. We have to continue to get better throughout the week. We have to get better week to week, and (not) stay the same then you’re getting worse because everybody else is getting better. So we have to continue to get better no matter what.

“We’re just worried about getting the win. I’m not really worried about what what the win says to the outside world or what would it symbolize. I’m just trying to get the win.”