NFL Power Rankings, Week 8: Packers bounce back, Seahawks stumble
By Randy Gurzi
Previous: 26th. Cincinnati Bengals. 27. team. 56. .
Joe Burrow continues to prove he’s going to be the face of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise. That’s not an easy thing to do when your team is 1-5-1, but Burrow has managed to look fantastic in those seven games. He’s the sole reason that they aren’t 0-7 right now as he’s been covering up for a lot of shortcomings. And for the second time this season, he battled the Cleveland Browns down to the wire.
In Week 2, it was a Thursday Night Football game that ended 35-30 in favor of Cleveland. The Browns had that one well in control but Burrow fought back in his first prime time game and made it close in the end. This time, he had Cincinnati in the lead early, and then took the lead back in the fourth quarter after Cleveland went on top.
Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown to go up 31-27 with just under five minutes to go and Burrow responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Giovanni Bernard. With just 1:06 to play, and no timeouts for the Browns, that should have been a game-winner for the rookie.
Instead, he had to sit back and watch as Mayfield went 75-yards and hit Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 24-yard touchdown. It was a tough loss but Burrow had 406 yards and four total touchdowns. He’s not going to be a star. He already is.