Joe Burrow added a wild new line to his résumé on Sunday, and it came in one of those games that had just about everything.
The Bengals outlasted the Tennessee Titans 43-36 in overtime, and Burrow was at the center of it from start to finish. He threw for 462 yards, piled up five touchdown passes, added a rushing score and still had to work through three interceptions along the way.
That kind of stat line is almost impossible to find in NFL history. Burrow became just the second quarterback since 1951 to post at least 450 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in a single game. The only other one to do it was Pro Football Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin, who did it in 1951 and set the NFL single-game passing record with 554 yards.
Burrow’s performance also pushed Cincinnati to 5-2. He finished 38 of 48 through the air, and his 9-yard rushing touchdown in overtime delivered the winning points.
It was another reminder of how Burrow can turn chaos into production. The former LSU star, who led the Tigers to the 2019 national championship, has now thrown 20 touchdown passes this season and has two rushing touchdowns. On Sunday, he became the first quarterback in 75 years to match that rare Van Brocklin feat, even while absorbing three interceptions in the process.
For a Bengals team that invested the first overall pick in the 2020 draft in Burrow, it was the kind of day that showed exactly why.
In Other News...
LSUs Top 10 Standing Looks Different After A Chaotic AP Shakeup
Week 9 brought a jolt to the AP Top 25, and the ripple effects around the country made LSUs place in the top 10 look a little different by the end of the weekend. Ohio State slipped after a quarterback injury and a rougher stretch of play, Florida and SMU took hits, and other ranked teams such as Arizona and Northwestern either lost or survived in unimpressive fashion, leaving voters with plenty to sort through.
Utahs convincing win over Cincinnati pushed it into the top five, while BYU and Indiana both escaped with victories that did not exactly strengthen their cases. For LSU, the broader shakeup matters because the Tigers are sitting in a poll picture that feels less settled than it did a week ago, with the teams around them wobbling and the path through the rankings getting harder to read. [Read more 🡒]
LSU's Ranking Suddenly Carries More Weight Before A Massive Showdown
A chaotic week around the AP Top 25 has only sharpened the significance of LSUs place in the rankings heading into a massive showdown. Seven ranked teams lost, and the ripple effects were felt across the country, including a notable Ohio State loss to USC that changed the shape of the College Football Playoff conversation in the Big Ten.
For LSU, the timing matters because every shift around the Tigers can change how their own rsum is viewed before the next big test. Teams moved up and down after the weekends results, and a few others are now knocking on the door with votes to crack the Top 25, which only raises the stakes for where LSU sits when the new poll settles in. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs 2027 Outlook Suddenly Hinges On A Very Different Roster Plan
LSUs offseason has already been a study in churn, with 38 players leaving and 42 transfers coming in as the roster was reshaped around a new reality. But the bigger story may be what comes next, because Lane Kiffin has signaled that the Tigers are approaching 2027 with a different kind of plan, one built less on constant turnover and more on keeping the right pieces in place.
That shift matters because LSU still has several key players with eligibility left who could be back, even as others are expected to be moving toward the 2027 NFL Draft. For a program that has leaned hard on roster movement, the next phase could be about stability as much as talent acquisition, with the staff now trying to identify transfers who can help immediately and still fit into a longer runway. [Read more 🡒]