This is four straight games now and I think it's here to stay.

Every single time Joe Burrow lets go of that ball, before the camera moves or the receiver is shown, I have faith that that ball is headed towards a player who is either open or at an advantage to be the one to come down with the ball.

Like, the camera is on Burrow. He is in the pocket, he moves around, he cocks his arm. Before he lets go, my first thought is "Nice, we're about to have a gain here." He's just so accurate and so keyed in. And, if he doesn't throw it and instead decides to run or duck and weave or whatever, you can be confident that he didn't overlook an open receiver. He doesn't throw "prayer balls" and he still hasn't really thrown an interception (the first was just a little rookie thing and the second was on Sample for not coming down with a ball that hit him in the face).

This is in direct contrast to how I've felt for my entire NFL watching life. With our previous QBs, my first thought was more often than not "Oh God, I hope he isn't throwing into triple coverage."

I've been a Bengals (and NFL) fan for 15 years and this is the very first year I've had this much faith in our QB. It is a feeling I've never had before and it's truly astonishing.

When I first started watching, Carson Palmer was our QB. He was fantastic in 2005, but I was a new fan, so I didn't even really follow the games or the players all that closely. I was just happy to be there. So I didn't have any concerns or hopes for my team or its players. Consequently, I couldn't fully enjoy Carson's elite years of 2005 and 2006.

Then, around 2007 when I was really getting deeper into knowing the players and everything is when Carson started to go downhill. Throwing more interceptions, being more erratic with his accuracy (especially when it came to throwing over his receivers' heads) and overall being a bit unpredictable as far as how open his receiver actually was when he threw them the ball.

This continued through 2010 when Carson was a genuinely bad QB. And then, in 2011 he left and we were forced to play a rookie in Andy Dalton.

That off season was shortened and the media was already saying we were going to have the #1 overall pick in 2012 and Andrew Luck was guaranteed to be a Bengal.

Of course, Andy did better than expected and we had more success than was anticipated, but he was still erratic. Early in his career, he was an interception machine and his completion percentage floated around 60 to 62% for essentially his entire career.  He had some good years but what he was known for was "Bad Andy" and choking under pressure. He had a fixation on Green so you never really knew if the receiver was open whenever he let go of the ball.

These last 4 games have been the most enjoyable 4 games of Bengals football I've watched since our winning streak to start 2015 and, even then, this feels more fun because I know the QB is legit, whereas even in 2015 Andy's performance felt like a mirage just waiting to evaporate (and, of course, it did in 2016 and on).

I guess my point is, I love Joe Burrow. He has revived my love for the Bengals and I can't wait for Sunday each and every week (whereas with Carson and especially Andy, I often dreaded the game actually starting). Every gameday, we have the opportunity to beat any team. And that's all because of Joe.

Kudos...I think we are all kinda feeling it. Young & old alike.

Every time we go out on offense it feels like a TD is possible/probable. Haven’t experienced that in a long time.

Joe sure does seem to be the real deal. Lets hope they will build the team around him instead of what's happened in the past.

He isn’t completely dialed in yet. There have been some throws that should have went to another player who was more open, but through the first 4 games I’ve never thought he was making the completely wrong decision with the ball. He goes through his progressions about as well as any QB in the league and he is a rookie.

I’m anticipating his deep ball placement will improve when tge offensive line performs better and the play action passing game becomes more effective.

Joe Burrow is the perfect QB for this kind of offense. He needs better line play and more experience to put everything together.

(10-05-2020, 10:35 AM)Gdale_Bengal Wrote: He isn’t completely dialed in yet. There have been some throws that should have went to another player who was more open, but through the first 4 games I’ve never thought he was making the completely wrong decision with the ball. He goes through his progressions about as well as any QB in the league and he is a rookie.

I’m anticipating his deep ball placement will improve when tge offensive line performs better and the play action passing game becomes more effective.

Joe Burrow is the perfect QB for this kind of offense. He needs better line play and more experience to put everything together.

Oh, yea. I didn't mean to imply that every decision he's made has been perfect or his placement is perfect. I'm just saying when he lets go of that ball, my first thought isn't of concern or worry about whether or not he made the right decision but rather hope and belief that he most likely did.

(10-05-2020, 09:58 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: This is four straight games now and I think it's here to stay.

Every single time Joe Burrow lets go of that ball, before the camera moves or the receiver is shown, I have faith that that ball is headed towards a player who is either open or at an advantage to be the one to come down with the ball.

Like, the camera is on Burrow. He is in the pocket, he moves around, he cocks his arm. Before he lets go, my first thought is "Nice, we're about to have a gain here." He's just so accurate and so keyed in. And, if he doesn't throw it and instead decides to run or duck and weave or whatever, you can be confident that he didn't overlook an open receiver. He doesn't throw "prayer balls" and he still hasn't really thrown an interception (the first was just a little rookie thing and the second was on Sample for not coming down with a ball that hit him in the face).

This is in direct contrast to how I've felt for my entire NFL watching life. With our previous QBs, my first thought was more often than not "Oh God, I hope he isn't throwing into triple coverage."

I've been a Bengals (and NFL) fan for 15 years and this is the very first year I've had this much faith in our QB. It is a feeling I've never had before and it's truly astonishing.

When I first started watching, Carson Palmer was our QB. He was fantastic in 2005, but I was a new fan, so I didn't even really follow the games or the players all that closely. I was just happy to be there. So I didn't have any concerns or hopes for my team or its players. Consequently, I couldn't fully enjoy Carson's elite years of 2005 and 2006.

Then, around 2007 when I was really getting deeper into knowing the players and everything is when Carson started to go downhill. Throwing more interceptions, being more erratic with his accuracy (especially when it came to throwing over his receivers' heads) and overall being a bit unpredictable as far as how open his receiver actually was when he threw them the ball.

This continued through 2010 when Carson was a genuinely bad QB. And then, in 2011 he left and we were forced to play a rookie in Andy Dalton.

That off season was shortened and the media was already saying we were going to have the #1 overall pick in 2012 and Andrew Luck was guaranteed to be a Bengal.

Of course, Andy did better than expected and we had more success than was anticipated, but he was still erratic. Early in his career, he was an interception machine and his completion percentage floated around 60 to 62% for essentially his entire career.  He had some good years but what he was known for was "Bad Andy" and choking under pressure. He had a fixation on Green so you never really knew if the receiver was open whenever he let go of the ball.

These last 4 games have been the most enjoyable 4 games of Bengals football I've watched since our winning streak to start 2015 and, even then, this feels more fun because I know the QB is legit, whereas even in 2015 Andy's performance felt like a mirage just waiting to evaporate (and, of course, it did in 2016 and on).

I guess my point is, I love Joe Burrow. He has revived my love for the Bengals and I can't wait for Sunday each and every week (whereas with Carson and especially Andy, I often dreaded the game actually starting). Every gameday, we have the opportunity to beat any team. And that's all because of Joe.

If only he could throw the deep ball.......

The fact he is throwing nearly 66% on the second most passing attempts in the NFL is simply astounding to me, that is even before you note he is just a rookie. Some people look at his lack of deep passing production as a major issue, which I think when you look at missed oppurtunities things average out over time, but I personally look at that in context to what he has done as making his season so far even more impressive. He has gotten his stats "the hard way", not relying on recievers making a bunch of YAC, or bombing it deep and reaping all the yards, he is doing it with an abundance of accurate passes while under pressre.

When you go back and watch his tape you see a guy who works throguh his reads quickly. This is just absolutley insane for a rookie in general, but with the other noted challenges of this season it really is unbelievable. Getting through your reads quickly comes down to studying, you already can check off one or two pre snap because of coverage, but then you have to quickly confirm coverage at the snap and get to the next few reads. There are multiple cases where you see him get to his 3rd or 4th option and this is often done while under pressure.

I can not tell you how happy watching tape on this guy makes me. Knowing you essentially got to skip the learning year and get straight into instant production on his rookie year should bode well for the teams future success.

One thing I'll say about Joe (that maybe hasn't been said yet outside of the GameDay thread yesterday) is that he doesn't need an elite receiver. He's shown a penchant for throwing to different receivers. I'm at the point that I don't think we need to bring AJ Green back after this season.

(10-05-2020, 10:53 AM)PhilHos Wrote: I'm at the point that I don't think we need to bring AJ Green back after this season.

I'm at the point we don't need to see AJ on the field more than 20-25 snaps a game.

My number one hope for this season (even more so than wins and losses) was that Burrow would look like a veteran QB at the end of the season.

Well, he already does. I'm sure he's going to have his ups and downs this year, but when I watch him he seems like a 5 year veteran. He stands in the pocket with no fear and he is a threat when he gets out of the pocket. I think it's safe to say that there is no doubt that we have the most important piece to build around.

Leadership is important. Something Andy had given up long ago.

Burrow is legit. No question.

Our #1, #2, and #3 priorities in the off-season should be upgrading the OL.

Williams looks a keeper, but it is early days. XSF got hurt. Hopkins, Hart, and Jordan are backup level players. Price & Johnson are not NFL level players at this point.

What I don't miss is the throws that Dalton would make and you just swear you could hear the receiver's bones break. Or those high, underthrown lobs to AJ Green that he'd come down with, but pay a huge price for making.

Personally, I believe Dalton shortened Green's career plenty and I think AJ would've been a certain HOFer had Dalton been able to hit him in stride more often.

Concerning Burrow, his ball placement seems very good and I think the deep throws will come when he gets a WR1 that isn't hurt and more opportunities in a clean pocket.

If this kid can't take us to the promised land in the near future, I'd be very surprised.

(10-05-2020, 11:17 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Burrow is legit. No question.

Our #1, #2, and #3 priorities in the off-season should be upgrading the OL.

Williams looks a keeper, but it is early days. XSF got hurt. Hopkins, Hart, and Jordan are backup level players. Price & Johnson are not NFL level players at this point.

Agree, except Hopkins is not a backup level player.  He's a midlevel starter.  I wouldn't be rushing out to replace him.

(10-05-2020, 10:50 AM)Au165 Wrote: The fact he is throwing nearly 66% on the second most passing attempts in the NFL is simply astounding to me, that is even before you note he is just a rookie. Some people look at his lack of deep passing production as a major issue, which I think when you look at missed oppurtunities things average out over time, but I personally look at that in context to what he has done as making his season so far even more impressive. He has gotten his stats "the hard way", not relying on recievers making a bunch of YAC, or bombing it deep and reaping all the yards, he is doing it with an abundance of accurate passes while under pressre.

When you go back and watch his tape you see a guy who works throguh his reads quickly. This is just absolutley insane for a rookie in general, but with the other noted challenges of this season it really is unbelievable. Getting through your reads quickly comes down to studying, you already can check off one or two pre snap because of coverage, but then you have to quickly confirm coverage at the snap and get to the next few reads. There are multiple cases where you see him get to his 3rd or 4th option and this is often done while under pressure.

I can not tell you how happy watching tape on this guy makes me. Knowing you essentially got to skip the learning year and get straight into instant production on his rookie year should bode well for the teams future success.

I haven't seen a young QB throw the ball like Joe Burrow in a long time. Not only does he understand placement but he throws catchable balls that just look soft hitting the receivers hands like he granny pitching to everyone.

I felt that way with Ken Anderson. His accuracy and completion percentages were sick.

(10-05-2020, 09:58 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I guess my point is, I love Joe Burrow. He has revived my love for the Bengals and I can't wait for Sunday each and every week (whereas with Carson and especially Andy, I often dreaded the game actually starting). Every gameday, we have the opportunity to beat any team. And that's all because of Joe.

Burrow has looked very good so far.  I think he will be a very good QB, possibly one of the best in the league some day.  But right now you sound a little delusional.  Joe is the 22nd ranked QB in the league, and his only NFL win came in a game where we had over 200 rushing yards.

I am not going to say anything to bash Burrow, but that fact is that in 2005 Palmer led the entire league in completion percentage and passing tds.  He finished 2nd in passer rating and won 11 games.  In 2015 Dalton was second in the league in passer rating and was 10-3 as a starter.

(10-05-2020, 01:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Burrow has looked very good so far.  I think he will be a very good QB, possibly one of the best in the league some day.  But right now you sound a little delusional.  Joe is the 22nd ranked QB in the league, and his only NFL win came in a game where we had over 200 rushing yards.

I am not going to say anything to bash Burrow, but that fact is that in 2005 Palmer led the entire league in completion percentage and passing tds.  He finished 2nd in passer rating and won 11 games.  In 2015 Dalton was second in the league in passer rating and was 10-3 as a starter.

Absolutely!  Carson Palmer in 2005 and Andy Dalton in 2015 featured two of the all time best Cincinnati Bengal quarterback performances.  Let's be fair:  Palmer in 2005 and Dalton in 2015 had far deeper talent at every offensive position -- especially up front -- than Joe Burrow has now.  What Burrow has done with very little talent around him is indeed impressive.  With a better offensive line Joe will be approaching GOAT-ness.

(10-05-2020, 01:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Burrow has looked very good so far.  I think he will be a very good QB, possibly one of the best in the league some day.  But right now you sound a little delusional.  Joe is the 22nd ranked QB in the league, and his only NFL win came in a game where we had over 200 rushing yards.

I am not going to say anything to bash Burrow, but that fact is that in 2005 Palmer led the entire league in completion percentage and passing tds.  He finished 2nd in passer rating and won 11 games.  In 2015 Dalton was second in the league in passer rating and was 10-3 as a starter.

I addressed both cases in my original post.

Quote:When I first started watching, Carson Palmer was our QB. He was fantastic in 2005, but I was a new fan, so I didn't even really follow the games or the players all that closely. I was just happy to be there. So I didn't have any concerns or hopes for my team or its players. Consequently, I couldn't fully enjoy Carson's elite years of 2005 and 2006.

Quote:These last 4 games have been the most enjoyable 4 games of Bengals football I've watched since our winning streak to start 2015 and, even then, this feels more fun because I know the QB is legit, whereas even in 2015 Andy's performance felt like a mirage just waiting to evaporate (and, of course, it did in 2016 and on).

So my only question for you is, did you even read my post or are you just intentionally trying to be a contrarian downer?