Joe Burrow’s first seven games have him stacked up with some of the biggest quarterback explosions the NFL has ever seen.
The Bengals star has thrown 20 touchdown passes already, the most any Cincinnati quarterback has ever had through seven games and the sixth-highest total in league history at that point. That kind of start has Burrow tracking toward the 50-touchdown mark he called “doable” back in May.
The numbers are eye-popping even by Burrow’s own standards. He already holds the top three touchdown seasons in Bengals history - 43 in 2024, 35 in 2022 and 34 in 2021 - and the franchise’s three best passing-yard totals as well, with 4,918 in 2024, 4,611 in 2021 and 4,475 in 2022. On his current pace, he’d finish with 53 touchdown passes and 5,136 passing yards, which would push both of those franchise records even higher.
That kind of pace naturally drags Manning’s name into the conversation. Peyton Manning’s 55-touchdown season in 2013 remains the NFL record, and Burrow’s current trajectory puts him in striking distance of it. But Manning was even hotter through seven games that year, when he had 25 touchdowns and only three interceptions while helping the Broncos to a 6-1 record.
There are only two other 50-touchdown seasons in NFL history: Tom Brady in 2007 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018. All three of those seasons came in 16-game schedules, while Burrow will have 17 games available to him.
Through seven games, Burrow’s 20 touchdown passes also blow past the Bengals’ previous benchmark. Before him, the franchise record for that span was 17, set by Boomer Esiason in 1988 and matched by Burrow in 2021. Both of those seasons ended with Super Bowl trips.
Burrow’s recent run has been even more explosive. He has 13 touchdown passes over his last three games, with four against the Miami Dolphins, four against the Baltimore Ravens and five in Sunday’s 43-36 overtime win over the Tennessee Titans. Those three straight games with at least four touchdown passes are a franchise first; no Bengals player had ever thrown four touchdowns in consecutive games before.
Burrow has done it before in bursts, too. He had back-to-back four-touchdown games in 2021, when he threw four against the Ravens and four against the Chiefs in Weeks 16 and 17, and again in 2024, when he threw five against the Raiders and four at the Ravens in Weeks 9 and 10.
In Other News...
Tee Higgins Had The Perfect Reaction After A Wild Bengals Moment
Tee Higgins spent Sunday doing what he has become so good at for Cincinnati, making big plays in a high-stakes game. The Bengals outlasted Tennessee 43-36 in overtime to move to 5-2, and Higgins was central to the win with 10 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns, including an 18-yard grab late in regulation that helped keep the offense on schedule when it mattered most.
Before any of that, though, Higgins found himself at the center of a very different kind of moment during pregame introductions. A ball struck him in the head, the clip spread quickly online, and the scene had the kind of strange, viral energy that tends to follow players around the internet long after the game ends. Higgins' reaction to the whole thing only added to the buzz, turning an odd pregame mishap into one more memorable Bengals moment from a wild afternoon. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Defense Just Made The Trade Deadline Feel Urgent
The overtime win over Tennessee bought the Bengals a little breathing room in the standings, but it did not do much to quiet the concern around their defense. Cincinnati gave up 36 points and 440 total yards in Week 8, and the issues that have lingered all season showed up again in the secondary, where pass coverage has been a recurring problem rather than a one-game blip.
With the trade deadline approaching, that kind of performance only sharpens the focus on cornerback help. The Bengals have bodies on the roster, but the mix has not been enough to steady the back end, and the market for upgrades is not especially friendly. If Cincinnati is serious about making a move, it will have to navigate both the cost of available corners and the reality that help may be harder to land than the need is to see. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Win Came With One Big Catch Fans Cant Ignore
The Bengals win over the Titans came with one of their best all-around Pro Football Focus showings of the season, a 87.6 overall grade that reflected how well Cincinnati played on both sides of the ball. Joe Burrow was the engine again, earning a 93.1 offensive grade while piling up more than 450 total yards and six touchdowns in a performance that kept the offense humming for much of the afternoon.
On the other side of the ball, the grades told a more complicated story. DJ Turner II turned in the games top defensive mark before leaving with a lower-body injury, a development that could matter just as much as the result itself for a defense that has leaned on his emergence. Several other Bengals also graded well, but Turners exit is the kind of detail that can linger long after a strong team performance. [Read more 🡒]