Leading up to the NFL’s second-ever game in Madrid, Spain, the main attraction sounded more like an American diplomat than a quarterback. Joe Burrow fully embraced his role in globalizing the sport. He said he hoped to play a small part in Europe getting a team of its own one day — “that would mean a lot to me” — and added that flag football is the perfect way to ease the barrier of entry.
He knew many of Bernabéu’s 78,000+ spectators would base their opinion on the NFL off this game.
The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback wasn’t shy. He called his offense “explosive” and “dynamic” and promised “to put on a show.”
Then, he delivered.
Burrow scored four touchdowns in all, imitating soccer star Neymar by flapping his hands at the side of his head after running one in. His deep shots were straight out of a video game. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins never break stride 30, 40, 50 yards downfield.
Cincinnati crushed the Atlanta Falcons, 34-17.
In his last 10 quarters, Burrow has now completed 82 percent of his passes for 982 yards with 12 TDs and three picks. Something clicked at halftime in Baltimore. So there he was in his postgame interview — striped shirt, tan sport coat, swaying back and forth — exuding a level of arrogance that should frighten any defense the Bengals face the rest of the season.
“I wanted to come out and put on a show for everybody and show what the excitement of the NFL can be,” Burrow said. “The NFL is really all about the stars and players making big-time plays. You saw Ja’Marr Chase. You saw me. You saw Tee Higgins. You saw a lot of great players out there doing great things, and hopefully people took notice.”
The arrival of Tuesday’s trade deadline serves as a reality check for all 32 organizations.
Are you a contender? Or are you already plotting for 2027?
How do you win on offense? How do you win on defense?
You better be honest with yourself as a GM or head coach, too.
Going all-in can backfire (Hello, Sauce Gardner) or nudge your team over the top (Hey, Von Miller). Doing nothing in November can also serve as a pellet of rat poison in January. Those in charge must have full command of their roster’s present and future health. Several deals have already been struck.
Week 9 in the NFL panned a magnifying glass over two teams that know exactly what they do best. There’s no guesswork. No quarterback alarm bells ringing like you’ll hear in Minneapolis.
In Madrid, Burrow announced to the world he’s back and healthy and better than ever.
In Foxborough, Jordan Love unleashed his own barrage of grenades through a 45-27 win.
All of us have been conditioned to think a contending football team absolutely MUST be able to run the football in the winter months. Perhaps that’s still true — time will tell. But it also makes zero sense to repeatedly bash your cranium against a cement wall. With devastating precision, Love and Burrow are currently making a mockery of the age-old axiom.
The Bengals and Packers may simply throw… and throw… and throw… their way right to the Super Bowl.
Both quarterbacks are playing out of their respective minds.