One of the worst things to come out of Sunday’s loss at Pittsburgh is that the conversation about Joe Burrow not being clutch is likely going to be reignited.
With a chance to lead a game-winning drive, or at the very least a game-tying drive, Joe Burrow fumbled with less than a minute remaining, with the Bengals in field-goal range. The Bengals had a 1st & 10 at the Steelers’ 38-yard line with 53 seconds left. Burrow was trying to make a play while being pressured, but Steelers defensive tackle Derrick
Harmon got a hold of him. Harmon not only sacked him, but Burrow lost the ball, and Steelers defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered it to seal the game.
After the game, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins vehemently defended his quarterback after another instance where he had a chance to lead the Bengals to a game-winning or game-tying drive but didn’t.
The conversation about Burrow being clutch has been around for several years. In 2021, he absolutely was, with five game-winning drives. In 2022, he led several game-winning and game-sealing drives as the Bengals won 10 straight games en route to the AFC Championship Game.
Over the last three years, Burrow has had opportunities to lead game-winning, game-tying, or game-sealing drives. At times he has. Other times, he has not.
Is it all on Burrow? No. Sunday, the Steelers’ defensive line finally got to Burrow on the final drive. Burrow was terrific on Sunday before that fumble, completing 28/37 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two carries for 13 yards.
Perhaps if the Bengals had been buttoned up in all three phases of the game and better prepared for the two-minute drill, Burrow would have led them on that game-winning drive. Again, it’s not all on Burrow. 2021 proved what he can do in clutch situations.
The Bengals were gifted chances to get the ball back with the lead and potentially put the Steelers behind by two scores. Both times, they had a roughing-the-kicker penalty and muffed a punt. The Steelers scored 10 points off of those mistakes.
So, while there may be conversation about Joe Burrow not being clutch, it’s worth considering that the Bengals should never have been in that position in the first place if they’d done their job on special teams.
We’ve seen Burrow excel in clutch situations before. When all three phases of the game are in sync for the Bengals, that’s when Burrow is at his best.
For what it’s worth, Burrow looked like he was trying to make a play on the sack-fumble. Tee defended him, and I will too.
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