It’s the reason he’s solidified his status as a top-10 quarterback and rising, and it’s the biggest reason the Bengals are one win away from making the playoffs.
“You have to work hard to develop that,” said Pitcher, the quarterbacks coach. “You’re born with traits that allow you to process information quickly, but it’s on you to hone those traits and put the work in and study. He’s obviously very gifted, but he has worked harder than anyone I’ve been around. It’s on him that he put himself in this spot.”
During the season, Burrow has identified three goals. He said he wanted to improve his arm strength, cut down on turnovers and improve against the blitz. Burrow has turned all three of those areas into strengths.
Burrow’s quality that the Bengals coaching staff didn’t yet fully appreciate before the draft is his recall. Over the last two years, they’ve learned that Burrow “puts every rep in the bank” and is able to refer back to it weeks or months later.
That skill helped Burrow reach one of his early season goals, improving versus the blitz. Last week, Burrow played so well against the Ravens pressure that one of the most blitz-heavy NFL teams stopped blitzing him.
On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, Burrow recognized the defensive looks on all but one of the Ravens' disguised blitzes. When the Ravens blitzed a slot corner, Burrow knew to get rid of the ball to the receiver they had left wide open.
“For guys like Joe that can instantly put himself back in a situation and say, ‘I’ve been here before,’ he can make a decision a split second faster and have the confidence building,” Pitcher said.
Burrow’s biggest goal at the bye week was cutting down on turnovers. Even though nearly half of Burrow’s interceptions this season were a result of deflected passes and bad luck, Burrow changed his mindset in the pocket.
Over the last three weeks, Burrow hasn’t thrown a pick.
"I'm being smarter with the football,” Burrow said. “I'm not trying to be a hero on every play. We've kind of turned our luck in that situation.”
The last step for Burrow this season was his comfort and his confidence outside of the pocket. After an ACL surgery, Burrow was reluctant to scramble during the first half of the year. But over the last month, Burrow has made as many impressive, off-schedule throws on extended plays as any NFL quarterback.
There was the deep ball to Tee Higgins against the Pittsburgh Steelers. There was the scramble drill touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase against the San Francisco 49ers. There were two similar throws to Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon against the Ravens.
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“(Patrick) Mahomes and (Aaron) Rodgers are probably the two most talented throwers in the NFL,” Callahan said. “But Joe's got an uncanny ability to place the ball accurately on the move anywhere on the field. It doesn't look the same as those guys, but it's definitely just as effective, and it's pretty cool to watch”
On Sunday, Burrow will match up against Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is another quarterback who quickly met expectations and continued to elevate his game. In the process, Mahomes invented a signature throw.
When Mahomes scrambles outside the pocket, he’s able to fling the ball 50 yards down the field with a low arm angle. He makes deep passes look effortless, and Bengals defenders have referred to “Mahomes type throws” throughout the season when discussing other quarterbacks.
Burrow is beginning to demonstrate his elite traits that other quarterbacks could try to emulate down the road. Burrow's combination of picking up the blitz and his accuracy outside the pocket is what’s making him one of the most difficult quarterbacks to defend.
Burrow has already shown enough to live up to his pre-draft evaluation. Beginning on Sunday, as Burrow attempts to lead the Bengals on a playoff run, he’ll get his opportunity to become a top-8 quarterback, a top-5 quarterback or higher.
“We were confident he was going to be that player when he got here,” Pitcher said.
“You get good in those situations by being good in those situations. He was presented with them in college over and over again, and he answered the bell every time. That allows you to build the confidence to do it again.”
The Bengals believed they would get this version of Burrow when they made him the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. They prioritized removing the roadblocks that could prevent Burrow from reaching this exact point.
Now’s the beginning of the fun part of Burrow’s career. The Bengals get to learn how much more Burrow can grow.
“We just need to maintain this momentum from the last few weeks,” Burrow said. “We've got a good groove running and throwing the football, so we've just got to maintain this momentum, have a great week of practice and come out ready to go on Sunday."
