Four teams in 34 years. That’s how many have rebounded from 0-3 starts to make the playoffs since the NFL expanded the postseason in 1990. Joe Burrow and the Bengals are bidding to become No. 5.
During that span, only the 1992 San Diego Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions, 1998 Buffalo Bills, 2018 Houston Texans have managed to punctuate such dismal starts with the postseason.
Cincinnati (3-4) can take another step on that ladder by beating Philadelphia (4-2) on Sunday at Paycor Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS). And they can take that step by taking the top off the Eagles’ defense, exploiting what figures to be the key matchup on Sunday: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins against Philadelphia cornerbacks Darius Slay and rookie Quinyon Mitchell.
While Cincinnati will surely take its deep shots, expect the Bengals to devote most of their focus to moving the sticks. Burrow, who ranks third in the NFL with a 110.1 passer rating, told Geoff Hobson this week that the passing statistic that most demands his attention is completion percentage.
“If you can just find completions, get the ball in your guys’ hands, then you’re going to give them more opportunities to go make plays after the ball, go score touchdowns, get the ball in your playmakers’ hands,” said Burrow, whose 70.4 completion percentage is fourth in the league. “It’s not always going to be the coverage that you expect versus the concept that you call it for. It’s can you still get a positive gain?
“Some of the best plays turn out to be 2, 3, 4-yard gains, but maybe you got pressure and you had to slide in the pocket. You get hit, but you find the back just trying to keep the ball in your guys’ hands, let them give them more opportunities to make plays.”
For those who like plays, Sunday figures to be must-see television. In addition to Burrow, Chase entered the week first in the league with 620 receiving yards and, when the Eagles have the ball, reigning NFC Player of the Week Saquon Barkley – fresh off a monster effort last week — is third in the NFL with 658 rushing yards.
But ultimately, this feels like a game that will boil down to what Burrow can do with the ball in his hands. The quarterback, who ranks fourth in the league with 14 touchdown passes and already has 111 in his five-year career, will play his 60th NFL game on Sunday. He needs just one touchdown toss to eclipse Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas (111) as well as Andrew Luck (111) and Deshaun Watson (111) for the fourth most by a player in his first 60 games in NFL annals. Only Hall of Famer Dan Marino (145), Patrick Mahomes (144) and Justin Herbert (114) had more.
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