As a feeling-himself Joe Burrow swaggered to the sidelines after connecting with Cincinnati Bengals teammate Hayden Hurst for a touchdown in the first half of Cincy’s playoff win over the Bills, NFL Network caught a fun exchange between the star quarterback and Bengals corner Mike Hilton.
“I’m HIM!” Burrow yelled as Hilton went to congratulate him.
Of course, he’s right. But Burrow is also more than that.
The reality is Burrow is well on his way to not just the Super Bowl, but also Canton.
Is Joe Burrow on a Glide Path to the Hall of Fame?
Burrow, on Sunday, has the chance to accomplish something that all-time greats like Peyton Manning, John Elway, and Terry Bradshaw could only dream of:
Win six of his first seven playoff starts, and reach the Super Bowl in each of his first two tries.
All that stands between Burrow and the rarest of airs? Beating a diminished Kansas City Chiefs with their hobbled star quarterback Patrick Mahomes — whom Burrow would join on that very short list of superachievers.
Mahomes and Burrow are two of 17 players in NFL history who have won five of their first six postseason starts.
With a victory on Sunday — in a game in which Burrow’s Bengals are road favorites — the new Joe Cool would join Mahomes and seven other quarterbacks in a club of those who have gone 6-1 in their first seven playoff games.
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That esteemed group includes three current Hall of Famers (Bart Starr, Joe Montana, and Troy Aikman) and three guaranteed or likely Hall of Famers (Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Russell Wilson).
The two others? Jim Plunkett and Joe Theismann: right-place, right-time guys who, as starters, had seven winning records combined in their careers.
Burrow should come close to that by his 30th birthday.
He raised eyebrows earlier this month by saying the Bengals’ window is “[his] whole career.” But just because he’s cocky, doesn’t mean he’s inaccurate.
Just three seasons into what should be a long career, Burrow is probably the best quarterback in franchise history.
Joe Burrow Is Rewriting Bengals’ Record Books
Burrow, according to the Bengals, in just three seasons, has:
- Broken the single-season team record in touchdowns (35), completions (414), and pass attempts (606).
- Put together the fifth-most games with 300 or more passing yards in franchise history (16).
- Set franchise records in postseason passing attempts (210), completions (143), completion percentage (68.1), passing yards (1556), and passer rating (98.4). He’s one touchdown shy of tying that record as well.
And as a reminder: He’s just 26 years old.
If he stays healthy and hungry enough to play well into his 40s, Burrow has a chance to not only obliterate every franchise record but make a run at Brady’s long list of benchmarks.
And as a reminder: Burrow doesn’t need to be the best quarterback of all time to make the Hall of Fame. He just needs to be one of the best 40, which seems more and more likely by the week.
But there’s no need to look too far ahead to celebrate Burrow’s greatness. What he’s doing in the here and now is nearly unprecedented.
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The Bengals — a team that started playing football in 1968 — had lost 14 of their 19 playoff games before taking Burrow at No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
That means, thanks in large part to their QB1, the Bengals have won as many postseason games in the last two years as they did in the previous 53.
And if Burrow can win both this week and then again in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12, he will become the first player ever to win seven playoff games in his first three career seasons.
There’s an argument to be made that he’s had the best start of any quarterback — ever.
While it’s unfair to expect him to sustain this pace, there’s also been little evidence to suggest he cannot.
And even if just his next five seasons are anything like his first three, Burrow will someday be fitted for a gold jacket.