Joe Burrow has a strong case for NFL MVP.
Joe Burrow is in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career in which he may be the most valuable player to his team in the NFL right now. It’s a tight race in which he’s a rightful candidate.
But there is just one little thing in the way that Burrow has talked about publicly in the past. That’s the fact that league MVP usually goes to a quarterback who is not only performing at an elite level but whose team is also performing at an equally elite level.
And with that being said, he will have to get past Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
It’s no secret the Bengals struggled through the regular season despite bright spots like wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Burrow, who left Saturday’s contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers having completed just over 70 percent of his passes for 4,918 yards with 43 touchdowns. And, if anything, Burrow has had one of the most remarkably smooth transitions from the college level to the NFL level in history.
Joe Burrow deserves to be strongly considered, if not given, the MVP Award even with his team does not make the postseason.
Joe Burrow is doing a lot with a little
The Bengals now hold a 9-8 record following their 19-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Burrow was candid about how he was being affected by some of the shortcomings of those around him and being on a team that has struggled to find success game-in and game-out in a recent interview with Cam Netwon on ESPN.
“I’m proud of the season that I’ve had,” Burrow said to Newton. “I’d love to win an MVP at some point in my career. This year is probably not that year just because of how the season has gone for us. I think I’m deserving of it, but the MVP award usually goes to the quarterback of the best team, and that’s not us this year.”
He’s proud of his own personal performance, though.
“This year, I would say I didn’t start off slow,” Burrow said in the interview. “I felt like I came out ready to go and playing well and we just weren’t able to find those wins early in the year. Lot of close games that didn’t go our way, and that’s just the year that it was.”
While Burrow has had some strong supporting skill players like Chase around him with other skill players that have played their part, the offensive line has been particularly bad and has hindered the offense’s progress. And, as cliche as it sounds, everything does start up front. Without a solid offensive line, one cannot have a solid run game or passing game.
Ben Rolfe of Pro Football Network named the Bengals as having the third-worst offensive line in the NFL, giving them a 60.2 overall D- grade.
“Joe Burrow didn’t have much support in 2024, whether from his defense or his offensive line,” Rolfe wrote. “It seems crazy to think that this line looked terrible, and yet Burrow might have actually been mitigating this group’s damage by getting the ball out early when he could (2.71-second time to throw).”
The unit was also 19th in pressure rate (41.3 percent) and 25th in sack rate (10.3 percent). Simply put, Burrow is almost constantly under duress with who the team has up front, and it needs to be a point of emphasis in fixing during the offseason.