If Burrow is causing so many of these sacks...

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(02-18-2022, 08:41 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Finley isn't even in the league anymore because he wasn't even an NFL-caliber backup. He's just bad at (NFL level) football. As for Brandon Allen and Andy Dalton, rather than do all that math you only needed a couple numbers...

Andy Dalton Bengals Sack%: 6.6  (that's from 2016-2019 only, it was 5.3 from 2011-2015)
Brandon Allen Bengals Sack%: 5.9
Joe Burrow Bengals Sack%: 8.2

That's a significant different, Shake. One that can't be easily waved away from there just being one source of problem.

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Andrew Luck's mentality led the Colts to the playoffs his first 3 years in the league, including to the AFC Championship game... it doesn't change the fact that it ended his career. Burrow's had a completely rebuilt knee in year 1 and now an MCL sprain in the other that's taken him down screaming in pain multiple times that he had to play on for 2 months in year 2.

Keep his mentality if you're fine with only 5 years of Joe Burrow. Change his mentality at least some if you actually want 15-20 years of Joe Burrow.

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...and this is coming from a guy who's been among the loudest for years about needing to fix the OL, so you know this isn't me scapegoating Burrow or anything Shake. These two matters of the OL being awful and Burrow needing to change aren't mutually exclusive.

That's what I'd say as well. Too many free rushers is definitely a big issue. The only caveat is that you don't want to change his killer instinct and calculated risks he takes for the big play. I think it's fair to say he needs to be a bit more calculated so he doesn't take hits his porous oline doesn't cause. 

Fix the oline. When he does have time if it's capable, he needs to learn to make a bit of a safer play to avoid unnecessary hits. My opinion is that he'll be looking at film and catching that. He'll be better next year. Look how well he improved his deep ball this year with an off-season rehabbing a knee. This guy's a student. He can save a few John Wayne plays to prolong his career. I WANT to see 10 years of Joe Burrow in stripes.