At the 2020 NFL Combine, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor got only 18 minutes to meet with quarterback Joe Burrow.
In the only in-person meeting between Taylor and his future quarterback before the NFL draft, Taylor pulled up video from Burrow’s college career. Burrow didn’t have any idea which plays Taylor was going to cue up. But Burrow responded without hesitation to each one and shared the down, the game situation and the result of the play on the screen.
It was one of the final moments when the Bengals solidified their decision to draft Burrow. From the moment the Bengals coaches met him, they saw in Burrow the football IQ and the talent to be one of the best.
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On Sunday, Burrow will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. The Bengals are here because Burrow has exceeded expectations.
“We never take it for granted, but there are a lot of impressive things (Burrow) does that aren’t as impressive to us anymore because we’ve gotten used to it,” Taylor said. “His standard is greatness. We need to step back and appreciate what we’ve got there at the quarterback position.”
As unlikely as this season might have sounded at the start of the year, there’s one reason that stands above the rest for why these are the last two teams standing in the AFC.
The Chiefs will be playing in their fourth straight AFC title game as they continue a run where Mahomes has been the best quarterback in the sport. Burrow’s run is just starting, but he led the Bengals out of a 6-25-1 stretch by playing at an MVP level.
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“If you want to do the things that we want to do, (the Chiefs are) a team that you're going to have to beat every single year,” Burrow said. “The AFC has run through them for four straight years. So, you know, we're excited about the opportunity. We're gonna have a great week of practice, and we'll be ready to go.”
Over the course of his career, Burrow will get compared with a lot of quarterbacks. He’ll compete with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the AFC North. He’ll compete with Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who was in Burrow’s draft class. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Mahomes each carry their own ties with Burrow.
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For nearly 20 years, the AFC was defined by Peyton Manning’s rivalry with Tom Brady. In this era, there are too many great quarterbacks to sustain that level of success for that long. The talent level at quarterback in the AFC sets the bar for what a team will need to make it to this point, as long as Burrow’s generation of quarterbacks is playing.
Last week, in the Divisional Round, the Chiefs and the Bills offenses spent the entire fourth quarter trading blows. The game went to overtime because Mahomes was able to set up a game-winning field goal in 13 seconds.
Over that entire game, Mahomes needed a unique combination of receiving threats, his one-of-a-kind arm strength and his elusiveness. That level of quarterbacking is the standard Mahomes has set in the conference.
"(Mahomes) sees the field as well as anybody,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “Unfortunately for defenses, he sees the field so well and he has the arm to get it to most places on the field, too … You add all the God-given ability and talent that he has, that's a couple of reasons why he's so special."
The success of Mahomes has changed the way NFL teams view the quarterback position. When NFL executives are projecting a path to the Super Bowl, they’re planning for what they’d need to do to get past these elite offenses in the playoffs.
It’s the reason the Los Angeles Rams mortgaged their future to trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford. It’s the reason the Cleveland Browns quarterback position is unsettled with Baker Mayfield, and it’s the reason the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback position is up in the air with Derek Carr.
Even the San Francisco 49ers, who advanced to the NFC Championship Game behind one of the most balanced rosters in the NFL, traded multiple draft picks to add a first round quarterback last offseason.
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To burst down the door in the postseason, the expectation is that you have to go through a quarterback like Mahomes, Allen or Brady. The Bengals have their star in Burrow, who has been compared to Brady, Manning, Drew Brees, Joe Montana and Mahomes at different points of the season by the Bengals coaches.
“He has a very clear vision of what he expects as a leader and what he wants the football team to look like,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “When he has a chance to show those messages, guys take it to heart. When you have the quarterback saying he’s not satisfied, that tends to permeate to the rest of the team. It’s a good reminder that he has won a championship and knows what it takes.”
Last week, the Bengals beat the Titans, in short, because Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw three interceptions and because Burrow made an incredible throw in the final minute to Chase. When the margins are thin, the better quarterback and the better offense usually wins.
With Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins on long-term deals, the Bengals have earned a seat at the table with any offense in the NFL.
When the Bengals hired Taylor in 2019, he had a specific vision for a spread-out offense. When they drafted Burrow in 2020, he had an easier adjustment as a rookie because the Bengals were already running some of LSU’s concepts.
Taylor demonstrated his vision for the offense when he drafted Higgins, who at the time was the third receiver on the depth chart, in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. Then in 2021, Taylor doubled down and picked Chase instead of an offensive lineman.
Few quarterbacks could bounce back from nine sacks, or lead a scoring drive on the field once his headset went out. Burrow did both against the Titans to get to the AFC Championship Game.
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The Bengals are here because of Burrow, and he gives the team their best chance to play past this week. When adversity hits on Sunday or when the Chiefs show the Bengals a look they weren’t expecting, the Bengals offense has planned to put Burrow in position to make the play that could get the team into the Super Bowl.
“He’s rare,” Taylor said. “It’s impossible to put into words why he is why he is.”
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