After it was over, and one of the local Madrid reporters asked Joe Burrow if he had a message for the audience in Spanish, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was finally stumped on Sunday.
“I don’t have anything for you,” Burrow offered red-faced.
No problem, because Burrow made a different kind of statement at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium: He put the NFL on notice he’s the MVP favorite.
Burrow threw three touchdown passes and ran for another touchdown in a convincing 34-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Burrow missed on only five passes while throwing for 271 yards. And that was more than solid. But context is everything and as this season goes, the context is much more impressive.
Because Burrow is on fire.
He has accounted for 18 touchdowns in his last four games.
He’s thrown for 1,215 yards in those four games.
His passer rating is 132.0 in those four combined games.
“I loved putting on a show for the people of Spain and was happy to be here,” Burrow said afterward in English.
The show in Spain is just one of 17 acts Burrow and the Bengals must perform this regular season and if one starts mathing what has happened with how that projects over a 17-game season, the MVP talk gets quite loud.
At his current eight-game pace, Burrow would project over 17 games to:
- 465-of-629 passing — 74.0%
- 5,070 passing yards.
- 49 passing touchdowns.
- 13 interceptions.
- 114.8 passer rating.
- 49 carries for 164 yards.
- 6 rushing touchdowns.
- 55 total touchdowns.
And, no, this is not a prediction of what is about to happen. The Bengals are about to find themselves in some very difficult matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and probably the Carolina Panthers.
But they’ve done some significant damage already this season and the passing attack that includes Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins is the most complete in the NFL.
“We’ve just played together for so long now,” Burrow said. “We’re coming up on 10 years playing together. So, you know, when you do that, you develop that connection mentally that nothing needs to be said.”
This needs to be said: The only thing we believe can contain Burrow and that Cincinnati offense is an injury to the quarterback.
We say this because that’s what history has said unequivocally. That history is something Bengals fans hate to recall.
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But it is there, including in two of the last three seasons.
- 2020 — Torn left ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus: In Week 11 of his rookie season, Burrow’s knee buckled after he was hit while throwing against Washington. He underwent surgery and missed the final six games.
- 2023 — Right calf strain and torn wrist ligament: A calf strain limited him during the early part of the season, but he did not miss a game. In Week 11, he tore a ligament in his right wrist while throwing against Baltimore, required surgery and missed the final seven games.
- 2025 — Grade 3 turf toe: Burrow injured his toe during a Week 2 win over Jacksonville, underwent surgery and missed nine games before returning late in the season.
You can open your eyes again, Who Dey, folks. None of this is meant to slime Burrow or predict something terrible.
It is, however, predicting that if Burrow can stay healthy, he’s got that MVP award within reach. That’s how it definitely sounded after Sunday’s dismantling of the Falcons’ defense.
“We didn’t score on every single possession,” Burrow said. “So ,there’s plenty to improve on.”
