Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will be under a lot of pressure to lift his team to the playoffs this season, make no mistake about it.
Earlier this week, The Athletic unveiled their "Quarterback Tiers" for the 2026 season. They had a panel of 50 coaches and executives rank every starter in the league. Despite missing an extended period of time last year, Burrow managed to make Tier 1 along with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford.
"He’s so talented at throwing the ball, and he sees it so well," an offensive coach told The Athletic. "Everyone would want to have him, 10 times out of 10, no matter how much money he asked for."
Even though Burrow has been incredibly productive in Cincinnati (20,810 career passing yards and 157 touchdowns), NFL fans believe it's absurd that he's in Tier 1 while Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson is in Tier 2.
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"Joe Burrow exists in a time distorted bubble where it is perpetually the morning of February 13th, 2022," one fan said.
"How Burrow is ranked so high on these lists are insane to me. 3 years no playoffs after an impressive SB run and loss in the AFC ship," a second fan commented.
"Burrow's reputation has exceeded his resume," a third fan replied.
"What has Joe done that Hurts hasn’t…..credibility gone. Stop saying what you want to be true, please….this is embarrassing," another fan wrote on X.
The heat is on for Burrow.
The Bengals haven't been to the playoffs since the 2022 season. Even when Burrow had 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns in 2024, the Bengals failed to make the postseason due to their lackluster defense.
If the Bengals are going to make it back to the postseason, they'll need to be more efficient on defense. That's something Burrow mentioned in January.
“That’s of paramount importance,” Burrow said. “You have to identify where you’re weak and figure out a way to be strong in that area. That’s the NFL year in and year out. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. You have to attack that period with intent to get better.”
The Bengals will begin their 2026 campaign on Sept. 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
