The Comeback Player of the Year award wasn’t the prize Joe Burrow wanted. He wanted to be in the Super Bowl once again but all he got was a slow start, missed chances, poor defense, and early vacations as the Bengals missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Advertisement
Things would have been different if he had more help from his weapons. But Ja’Marr Chase struggled to find a rhythm with Burrow early on after missing training camp, while Tee Higgins once again battled injuries, sidelining him for key games at the start of the season.
” We have to find a way to play better in September. We didn’t have Ja’Marr for training camp, we didn’t have Tee for training camp for most of it. That’s not an excuse. We got to play better early on and whatever it takes to do that- whether it’s preseason reps, joining practices, or guys taking off-season a little more seriously.”
So why did Tee and Chase miss the training camp? Well, the LSU Alum missed the off-season practices because of a contract dispute, holding out for an extension which he still didn’t get. Higgins too was in a contract dispute early on but he missed practices because of lingering hamstring injury problems.
Burrow believes in having honest conversations with his teammates about why they had so many slow starts and couldn’t find rhythm early on. They need to group to solve this glaring problem, doing whatever it takes to get over it.
However, he pointed out that the Bengals did find their rhythm in the passing game early on, thanks to the chemistry of the guys who have played together for quite some time now. The offense started to gel together and even the receivers besides, Chase and Higgins stepped up in the 2nd half of the season.
The @Bengals were on a hot streak in the second half of the 2024 season. @JoeyB is looking to leverage that momentum and continue to grow as we head into next season. pic.twitter.com/GY2EGwQVoA
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) February 8, 2025
He played only 12 games this season, starting only nine but caught some big passes toward the end, including 10 TD passes. This benefitted Burrow who had the best season of his career.
Joe Burrow wins the Comeback Player of the Year
The Bengals did find they had to rely on the passing game early on and made it work for them. The whole offense went through Burrow and his favorite receivers. Joe carried the offense and it reflected on his numbers this season.
In 17 games this season, he led the league in pass attempts, completions, passing yards, and TDs. He threw for an astonishing 4918 yards to go with 43 TDs and turned the ball over only nine times. Burrow boasted a passer rating of 108.9 while having a pass completion percentage of 70.6. We also saw him move better and be more mobile, adding 200 rushing yards and 2 scores off the ground.
His numbers made him an undisputed Comeback Player of the Year for the 2nd time. But despite such a great season, the Bengals couldn’t make the playoffs and now the LSU Alum has to sit in the stands or on his couch to see which team wins the Super Bowl. So what are his predictions for the big game?
Well, he is taking the Chiefs and believes they will do a three-peat. His reason- is their run defense which doesn’t give up yards which has been the Eagles’ strength this season.
