Joe Burrow is having the best season of his career, but his team could still miss the playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals are 8-8 on the season and have won their last four games game to keep their playoff hopes alive heading into Week 18.
The Bengals’ defense has been the biggest reason for their lack of success this year. However, James Jones believes Burrow also deserves some blame for the team’s current predicament.
James Jones Explains Joe Burrow’s Shortcomings
In a recent segment on Fox Sports’ “The Facility,” Jones talked about why the Bengals quarterback is part of the reason why the team has come up short this year.
“I think Joe Burrow has wasted a great season,” Jones said. “The main reason why I say that is because I’m never going to lose sight of the fact of why Joe Burrow is so great. I’m always going to go off of winning for Joe Burrow. [He’s] an extremely talented quarterback, [he] came in this league, and he was the No. 1 pick.”
“Joe Burrow has wasted a great season.” 👀
— @89JonesNTAF pic.twitter.com/FOAXwUO07w
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) January 1, 2025
The former Green Bay Packers wide receiver further added that Burrow is a winner as he took the Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second year in the league and the AFC Championship Game in the next year. He argued that Burrow has had a phenomenal season, but he lost his team three games this season.
Jones mentioned the Week 1 loss against the New England Patriots, his late turnover against the Baltimore Ravens, and the failure to close out the game against the Kansas City Chiefs as reasons to blame the Bengals quarterback.
“All I’m saying is Joe Burrow has played great, but when the game was on the line in certain games, Joe Burrow did not deliver, and they lost the game,” Jones said. “… Two more wins, your team is in the playoffs.”
It’s true that had Cincinnati won two of those three games, especially in Week 1 against the lowly Patriots, it would have already made the playoffs. Since both Burrow and the Bengals started slow, they now depend on the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins to lose in Week 18 to have any shot at playoff contention.
Things Could Get Tougher for Burrow in 2025
In 16 games this season, Burrow has thrown for 4,641 yards, 42 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, averaging a league-high 290.1 passing yards per game with a passer rating of 109.8. Burrow ranks fourth in PFN’s QB+ proprietary metric — his 92.1 grade (an A-) ranks just behind MVP front-runner Josh Allen and moderately ahead of Jalen Hurts.
From PFN analyst Ben Rolfe: “The numbers for the season are impressive as Burrow’s A- grade and score over 90 suggest, but none of them stand out as dominant. Consistency across all categories has been more his calling card. He is seventh in overall EPA/DB (0.17) and inside the top 10 in EPA/DB from a clean pocket (0.31) or when pressured (-0.10).
“Burrow’s best attributes on the season have been a 46.9% third-down conversion rate (third) and a 5.3 TD/INT rate (third).”
Burrow’s success can partly be attributed to his supporting cast. Few, if any, quarterbacks have the kind of firepower Burrow does on the boundary. The duo of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase is arguably the best in the league, making a life lot easier for Burrow as he works out of structure and stretches the field.
Higgins will be a free agent after this season, and he could potentially play his last game for Cincinnati in Week 18. If he leaves in free agency, defenses have one less star to be afraid of, and can thus spend more resources trying to limit Chase’s All-World talents.
The Bengals’ main goal for the offseason will likely be to improve its defense via the NFL Draft and free agency. A massive Higgins contract could preclude that. Andrei Iosivas has shown glimpses of brilliance, expecting Higgins-like production is ambitious for nearly anyone stepping into his role.
Burrow may need another MVP campaign in 2025 for Cincinnati to make the playoffs, but he can’t afford to cost his team games in the opening weeks of the season.