Joe Burrow: I Didn’t Have ‘Full Toolbox’ In First Ravens Matchup
When the Cincinnati Bengals took on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2 of this season, quarterback Joe Burrow was still recovering from a calf strain he sustained not too long before.
That injury made Burrow play like a below-average quarterback, throwing just two touchdowns in four weeks with a 57.7 completion percentage. However, since Week 5, we’ve got the old Joe Shiesty back.
Burrow leads the NFL in completion percentage since then, with 12 touchdowns to just four interceptions and a 106.1 passer rating. The Bengals have gone 3-1 during that stretch and sit right outside of the AFC playoff picture as the current No. 8 seed.
In Week 2, Cincinnati trailed 20-10 in the second half before Baltimore made it 27-17 early in the fourth quarter. Burrow threw a touchdown to Tee Higgins with 3:28 left in the game, but the Ravens ran a successful four-minute drill and didn’t give the ball back to win.
Burrow finished that contest 27-of-41 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
“I didn’t quite have my full toolbox in there,” Burrow said, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “I thought we did some good things in the second half. The first half we didn’t have a ton of plays. They did a good job.”
The Ravens enter Week 11 leading the AFC North at 7-3; they possess a defense that’s No. 1 in points allowed and No. 2 in yards allowed. They also have the top rushing offense leaguewide too.
The Bengals had seven possessions in Week 2 against the Ravens. When they played them last year in Baltimore, they had nine; in their Wild Card matchup, they had eight. Cincinnati knows they will have limited opportunity to put points on the board. However, Burrow says this won’t make him be overly aggressive early in the game.
“You’ve just got to feel the game out and see what it calls for,” Burrow said before Tuesday’s practice. “Every game calls for something different from the quarterback. We’ll see how it plays out.
“We found some explosives in the second half [of the first matchup],” Burrow added. “That’s what we have to try to do. They do a great job of limiting those explosive plays and you have to try to find them, because they’re going to do a really good job on offense keeping the ball, running it, and scoring points. We’re going to have to do the same.”
The Bengals are coming off a tough 30-27 loss against rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. It was a perfectly drawn up sandwich game, with the Buffalo Bills on the schedule the previous week and the Ravens a week ahead.
Off that loss, the team has a short week to prepare for a tough division rival.
“You just have to put it behind you quickly,” Burrow said. “There’s no time to really sit and reflect too much because coaches are starting to gameplan right after the game. And then Monday, we’re right into it. Monday’s a Thursday. Today’s a Friday. You just have to put it behind you fast and move on.”
***
SUBSCRIBE to the Vendetta YouTube Channel!
SHOP for Vendetta Merch!
SUPPORT Vendetta on Patreon!
CHECK OUT our Vendetta NFL Content Here
