CINCINNATI — Bengali Coach Zac Taylor did not hesitate to be asked if he would play in midfield Joe Burrow should compete for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
“Sure,” Taylor said.
Burrow added to his growing list of credentials in a statement 27-24 win Chief of Kansas City on Sunday. Burrow becomes first midfielder to beat rival KC Patrick Mahomes in three consecutive games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ brave cat is the only other midfielder to have so many wins against Mahomes, 2018 MVP.
Wide receiver Bengals Ja’Marr Chase firmly agreed with his coach on Burrow’s MVP candidacy.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in this league,” Chase said. “Everybody knows that. He should be in the MVP race. If he’s not in, he should be in too. The number one quarterback in the race.”
Burrow was 25/31 passes in 286 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.
Cincinnati (8-4) entered the fourth half behind Kansas City (9-3) with a goal before things went in favor of the Bengals. After linebacker Germaine Pratt Take the ball out of a tight corner of Kansas City Travis Kelce‘ and found the fumbling again, Burrow and the offense succeeded.
With the Bengals leading 24-20 at the time, Cincinnati made a 10-time play capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to run back. Chris Evans. That was Burrow’s ninth pass in the fourth quarter, the most of any quarterback in the NFL this season, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
Taylor was quick to praise Burrow’s ability to defend the pass on Sunday. Burrow was unpressurized in his 27 passing attempts, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and was fired only once.
But the third-year player appeared to be slippery throughout the day. He had 11 career-high shots in 46 yards and one rush touchdown. He currently has five hasty touchdowns, matching Jack Thompson’s 1979 record for most touches by a Bengal midfielder in a season.
“He’s big and elusive,” Kansas City’s defensive end Frank Clark speak. “People don’t really respect his name when it comes to how elusive he is in his pocket and presence in his pocket.”
Taylor, the team’s caller, put the ball in Burrow’s hand to close the game and end Kansas City’s 14-win streak in December, a period that began in Mahomes’ first year in the game in December. 2018.
On Tuesday and 11, the Bengals . wide receiver hooded t-shirt he said and Tyler Boyd thought Cincinnati would run the ball to chew some clocks. Higgins said recipients looked at Burrow in the group chat and asked him a simple question: run or pass?
“He said, ‘Pass,'” Higgins said. “We all looked at each other. He said, ‘Let’s get it done.'”
Burrow and the Bengali did it. He found Higgins to complete the 14-yard finish effectively ending the game.
Both of Cincinnati’s wins over Kansas City last season were due to on-field goals at the end of time. Against the top team of AFC so far in 2022, bigger win rate.
Burrow declined discussion of MVP from Taylor and his teammates.
“I don’t play games for those kinds of prizes,” Burrow said. “I play games for those guys in the locker room. Whatever I need every Sunday, that’s what I’m going to do. If I have to serve 72 times and win, I’ll be happy.”
Entering Sunday, Burrow placed third in the NFL in the fourth-quarter QBR, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
When Cincinnati needed big games against one of the NFL’s best teams and quarterbacks, Burrow delivered.
“He’s playing at the level we need for him to lead us, to be confident that we can win every game we play,” Taylor said, adding that there was no doubt. no doubt about Burrow’s place in the MVP conversation. “I’ve said it before. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world.”
ESPN’s Adam Teicher contributed to this report.
