Well, hello, Joe.
After a grisly first half in Baltimore on Sunday, Burrow lit Maryland on fire to the tune of 16-of-18 passing for 249 yards and four (FOUR!) touchdowns for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. The performance reminded everyone how explosive this Bengals offense can be when Burrow is kept clean — 15 of 19 passes for 173 yards for the game from a clean pocket, per Next Gen Stats.
Through the first six games of the season, Burrow got the ball out quickly, averaging 2.57 seconds to throw, tied for second-fastest among QBs with at least 100 attempts, and 7.4 air yards per attempt. In Week 7, he was at 3.06 seconds to throw, per NGS, with an 8.8 air-YPA. When Burrow has time and can let things develop, with the weapons at his disposal, the Bengals’ offense is as deadly as any in the league.
Cincy entered the year attempting to tweak its approach, using more under-center work and play action. I’m not suggesting they should scrap that plan, but it’s notable that in the second half on Sunday, he was under center for a single pass play — 16-yard red-zone TD to Drew Sample — when he lit up the Ravens.
Burrow has been ripping accurate passes from the pocket all season, leading in completion percentage but trailing other MVP candidates in advanced metrics (sixth in EPA/DB, seventh in success rate, fifth in CPOE). But if Sunday’s outing was more than just him skewering a defense that has had issues, look out.