“Losing is Unacceptable”: Joe Burrow Reacts to Bengals’ 30-35 Loss to the Browns

First overall pick Joe Burrow has had a rocky start to his professional career. Here’s what he had to say after the Bengals lost to Cleveland on TNF.

The former national champion is clearly not accustomed to losing football games, claiming that this may be the first time he’s ever lost 2 in row.

You can tell he has the mentality the Bengals so direly require. When asked about starting the season 0-2, Burrow said, “Losing is unacceptable.”

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Joe Burrow Had a Historic Night Despite Loss

For the second time since Sunday, Joe Burrow gave fans an idea of why he was the No.1 overall pick. He threw for 316 yards and 3TDs, almost leading the Bengals to a 4th quarter comeback.

However, the most eye popping stat was Burrow’s 61 pass attempts without an interception. The Bengals trailed for nearly the whole night meaning that they relied heavily on the passing game.

His 61 pass attempts is the 2nd highest ever for a rookie, and his 37 completions is all-time record for NFL rookies. These tweets from ESPN Stats and NFL Research sum it up.

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Can the Bengals Turn it Around in 2020?

Pass protection. In 2 simple words, pass protection is what the Bengals desperately need if they want to give Burrow a chance to succeed.

On many, many occasions during the game, Burrow had to escape the rush and make difficult throws. It’s no coincidence that he had just one completion for 20+ yards.

We know that he can throw the deep balls, but he just didn’t have the time. Take a look at this:

To be blunt, no one expected the Bengals to have much success this season. However, they have been competitive in their first 2 games, only losing by an average margin of 4 points.

Keep in mind, key defensive players Geno Atkins and Mike Daniels were missing. If they can address certain areas of the team, prioritizing the o-line, they might pull something off late season.