Joe Burrow does not use the word “inevitable” loosely

Joe Burrow (Getty Images)

He used it once before, back in the summer of 2019 at LSU, when something in the building told him that team was going to do something special. Cincinnati, he believes, is built to make a serious run at the Super Bowl in 2026. Now we have nine or 10 guys that we feel good about putting out there in five-down sets. A freak wrist injury in 2023, a defense that had aged past its prime in 2024, and turf toe that cost him nine games last year.

Joe Burrow does not use the word “inevitable” loosely. Now, seven years on and sitting in an office off the Bengals’ locker room during training camp, Burrow said the word again. “The vibe of the defense is really good right now,” Burrow said. “I had to tailor my game to that,” he said. “It’s just feeling like, if the run game is as good or better than it’s ever been and the protections are as good or better than they’ve ever been, that allows you as the quarterback maybe to not feel like every down is do or die,” Pitcher said. “I think that’s so arbitrary,” he said. “I just didn’t play good enough,” he said.

It did. Fifteen wins, a national championship, and a Heisman Trophy later, that gut feeling had a name. “Our defensive line is so deep this year. Coach Zac Taylor has watched the offseason additions change the mood inside the facility. When a player of Burrow’s caliber, with his experience and track record, publicly declares a team capable of winning it all, Taylor is not bothered by the pressure that comes with it. Joe Burrow has missed significant playing time in three of his six NFL seasons. Each absence left a mark. But each one also taught him something about his own game that he could not have learned staying healthy. “Not being able to move around, I can mitigate risk early in the game until it’s needed. “Every Sunday, there’s going to be a different best player in the league, depending on who you’re playing. I really want to win games. I want to be playing when it matters, January, February. That’s why you do it. “Not good enough to win a Super Bowl against Matt Stafford. As far as my game now, it’s so much more evolved, and I’m such a better player than I was at the time.”

The depth of that unit was a weak point last year.