Joe Burrow didn't look like the NFL's highest paid player in the season opener. More like an average quarterback.
Two days after Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension with the Bengals, the star QB struggled in slippery weather conditions against a rebuilt Cleveland defensive front that didn’t afford him much time and made everything hard.
Burrow finished 14 of 31 with a long completion of 12 yards — a very un-Burrow-like stat line. He didn’t throw an interception or a touchdown pass, and his 82 yards were his fewest since passing for 148 in 2021 against the Las Vegas Raiders. “That happens in Week 1,” he said. “Obviously, those things happen when your quarterback doesn’t perform in training camp. That was something obviously I would have liked to have done, but there’s no excuses. Obviously, not very good today. We have to be better.”
The bigger issue for the Bengals was that Cincinnati got dominated up front by Cleveland’s defensive line. Led by All-Pro end Myles Garrett and unleashed by new coordinator Jim Schwartz, the Brows teed off on the Bengals’ blockers.