Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow turned in his best game of the season Sunday, and it nearly was the most accurate game in franchise history. It was a performance that earned Burrow Pro Football Network’s Offensive Player of Week 8 award.
In a 31-17 road upset of the San Francisco 49ers, Burrow completed 28 of 32 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for a season-high 43 yards, a mark that was four shy of his career high.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow Named PFN Offensive Player of the Week
After starting the game two for four, Burrow completed his next 19 passes in the first half, leaving him one shy of Ken Anderson’s franchise record of 20 consecutive completions, which was set Jan. 3, 1983, at Houston. Burrow was six shy of Nick Foles’ and Philip Rivers’ NFL record of 25 straight completions.
Burrow’s first pass of the second half was incomplete, but he went seven of eight the rest of the way to finish with a completion percentage of .875. It’s the highest single-game completion percentage in the league this year among quarterbacks with at least 30 attempts and the best mark since Patrick Mahomes went 36 of 41 (.878) against the Houston Texans in Week 15 last year.
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The addition of more under-center plays helped spark Burrow and the Bengals offense. Excluding kneel-downs, the Bengals had run eight plays from under center through the first six weeks. Sunday in San Francisco, they ran 13, which accounted for 58 yards.
Burrow threw out of the formation on the first three snaps — then the Bengals ran the next 10 times. Burrow is already the most accurate passer in NFL history, and when the Bengals are able to marry the run game and the play-action element with his elite ball placement, the offense is hard to stop.
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