TNF advance: Cowherd thinks Joe Burrow’s frustration due to Bengals ownership

Joe Burrow came off the field after his fifth touchdown pass in last week’s win and looked a tad frustrated. He certainly didn’t look like he was having fun. The fifth-year veteran, on pace for a career-high 38 touchdown passes, said after the game he didn’t feel his offense had met his high standards.

The quarterback’s facial expression was still a subject on Tuesday, when reporters followed up in advance of the Thursday Night Football showdown (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) between the Bengals (4-5) and Ravens (6-3).

“Maybe I could’ve not let my emotions show quite as much,” said Burrow, who’s on pace for a career-high 38 touchdown passes, “but it’s also something that I’ve tried to do more and I know people in the locker room have wanted me to do a little more, whether good or bad. But you can’t, I don’t think, at least I can’t show my emotions positively, and then when things don’t go well, not let that be known as well.”

What is known is that Burrow passed for 392 yards and five touchdowns in a heartbreaking Week 5 loss to Baltimore. With last week’s five-touchdown performance against the Raiders, Burrow became the first player since Tom Brady in 2021 to throw for five touchdowns twice over a five-game stretch. Ja’Marr Chase, who had 10 catches for 193 yards and two of those touchdowns against the Ravens, leads the NFL with seven touchdown receptions, ranks second with 717 receiving yards and is tied for third with 55 receptions.

And while the Bengals have played well on offense despite adversity earlier in the season, Cincinnati’s defense has struggled. The Bengals rank in the bottom 10 of several defensive categories, including points allowed per game (25.2, 24th). FOX commentator Colin Cowherd said Wednesday he thinks Burrow’s emotions are a product of his team’s ownership and decisions related to allowing key players to go elsewhere.

“He’s the only great quarterback in the league that has a second-tier roster, and I think he knows it,” Cowherd said on Wednesday’s edition of The Herd. “He knows it every time he goes to the sideline and watches an offense march down the field against the Bengals, who got rid of defensive players and Joe Mixon before they had to. It’s the cheapest ownership in the league, and I think he knows it.

“I think Joe Burrow knows, ‘It’s me and Ja’Marr Chase and a cheap ownership group.’ They don’t take any risks in free agency. They’ve never taken big risks in the draft. They’re the opposite of the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Cowherd said he appreciates the authenticity Burrow showed and considers him the best quarterback the Bengals have ever had.

In fairness to the Bengals, while Mixon is having a solid year in Houston and Cincinnati allowed Jessie Bates to sign with Atlanta via free agency, the team did sign a premier pass-rusher in NFL sacks leader Trey Hendrickson, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, and on Tuesday acquired running back Khalil Herbert in a trade with the Bears.

Something has to give: Baltimore and Cincinnati played the NFL’s highest-scoring game this season, the Ravens’ 41-38 overtime victory in Week 5. This week, Baltimore enters with a three-game home winning streak. The Bengals, meanwhile, have won thee straight on the road.

Highest attainable mark: Lamar Jackson last week accounted for 403 offensive yards (348 passing, 55 rushing) and threw four touchdown passes, but his most impressive accomplishment was the fourth perfect passer rating (158.3) of his career. With a minimum of 15 pass attempts in each game, that’s the most perfect-rating games in NFL history. Jackson enters Week 10 leading the NFL with a 120.7 passer rating. Burrow (108.1) ranks third, behind Jared Goff (115.0). Both Jackson and Burrow have 20 touchdown passes, tied for second in the league behind Baker Mayfield (23).

For more information on the Bengals and Ravens, visit the Cincinnati and Baltimore team pages on ProFootballPost.com.