Joe Burrow’s late-game résumé has one number that jumps out: one comeback win in 35 tries when trailing with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. On the surface, that sounds like a quarterback who doesn’t finish. The fuller picture says something different.
Burrow has already changed the Bengals’ entire trajectory. He’s pushed the franchise back to a Super Bowl, and the expectation is that he’ll have them in the postseason again in 2026.
If there’s been a real issue, it’s been keeping him on the field. Durability, not late-game nerve, is the obvious concern.
The late-game stat can be misleading because of the way so many Bengals games have gone. Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and the rest of that offense have put up points in bunches, only to watch the other side answer. And in the biggest moments, Burrow has often had to work under heavy pressure.
The numbers back that up. When Cincinnati is trailing in the final five minutes, Burrow has thrown a touchdown on 10.3% of his pass attempts. That’s about one score every 10 throws, and according to Warren Sharp, it’s the highest touchdown rate for any NFL quarterback in that situation since at least 2000, among passers with at least 30 attempts.
So while the Bengals haven’t piled up comeback wins in those spots, it’s tough to lay that at Burrow’s feet. When he has had a chance to make something happen late, he’s usually done it.
Sunday against the Steelers was another example. Burrow went 28 of 37 for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t turn it over until the final drive, and he did everything he could to put Cincinnati in position to move to 3-0.
But the Bengals’ special teams gave the game away in chunks. A roughing-the-kicker penalty on Cedric Johnson handed Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers a fresh set of downs, and that drive ended with seven points.
Later, Ke’Shawn Williams muffed a punt in the fourth quarter, and Pittsburgh recovered it in the red zone. That mistake became three more points.
Burrow wasn’t perfect, but that wasn’t the story. When special teams gifts the other team 10 points, winning on the road gets a lot harder, especially in a division game. Spotting Pittsburgh that kind of edge is usually too much to overcome.
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