Since the Cincinnati Bengals selected him first overall in the 2020 draft following a remarkable career at LSU, Joe Burrow has put up a lot of great NFL performances. Those include leading the team to an appearance in February’s Super Bowl LVI (where they fell 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams).
On the individual side, Burrow has racked up quite a few remarkable showings, including spectacular plays and eye-popping totals. The latter include a team-record 525 passing yards (fourth-most in NFL history) last December against the Baltimore Ravens. Well, Burrow didn’t quite hit that Sunday in a 35-17 win over the 3-3 Atlanta Falcons, but he still threw for 481 yards, the second-highest total of his NFL career.
Burrow’s performance Sunday came with 34 completions on 42 attempts (81.0 percent) for 481 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran three times for 20 yards and a touchdown. That put this specific combination of stats in a class all its own:
Players in recorded NFL History with 450+ Passing Yards, 3+ Pass TD, 80+ Completion %, & a rushing TD in the same game:
Joe Burrow – Today
That’s it. pic.twitter.com/BEP8KLnbez
— Greg Harvey (@BetweenTheNums) October 23, 2022
Here are Burrow’s touchdown passes from Sunday’s game:
BURROW TO BOYD FOR A 60-YARD TD.
📺: #ATLvsCIN on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/CArnZv4iDN pic.twitter.com/9egDcqPk9m— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
Joe Burrow is on one today.
This time to Ja'Marr Chase for a 32-yard TD!
📺: #ATLvsCIN on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/CArnZv4iDN pic.twitter.com/KxW2RKGWn4— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/lowdarkhell/status/1584247512478908416
Those latter two touchdowns were both to Chase. The top one (in the middle of the three clips above) comes with some additional notable stats. Next Gen Stats had it as the least probable completion Burrow (seen above in the second half of this game) has thrown this season, and the least probable reception of Chase’s career:
Joe Burrow & Ja'Marr Chase (32-yd TD)
The touchdown pass had a 19.9% completion probability, the most improbable reception of Chase's career, and Burrow's most improbable completion this season.
🔹 Air Distance: 42.2 yds
🔹 Target Separation: 0.7 yds@Bengals | #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/yFSvkayKPa— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 23, 2022
On the season, Burrow has now completed 186 of 270 passing attempts (68.9 per cent) for 2,097 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. He’s also rushed 30 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns. And he has the Bengals at 4-3. We’ll see where he takes them from here.
[StatMuse; photo from Katie Stratman/USA Today Sports]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.