My NFL Performance of The Week for week 8 goes to the Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow. Undoubtedly, this was the easiest pick in both of my weekly award series up until this point in the season. When you have not only a great day, but a historic one, it makes the choice much less stressful. After a less than stellar start to the season, both individually and as a team, the Bengals sat at 2-3 overall & faced an unspeakable amount of pressure. Particularly on offense. They’ve responded in a major way over the last two weeks and especially in the 35-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Coming off a Super Bowl appearance, re-tooling your offensive line through free agency and returning arguably the best skill group in all of football, the expectations were higher than ever for Joe Burrow. Some pundits believe he’s already proven to be amongst the NFL’s elites. Others, such as myself, definitely feel like he has much more to prove. Some fans feel that he would benefit from a different system and coaching staff (Bigger subject for another day). Regardless, the strides being made this year are clear.

If you asked me two weeks ago how I felt about him, surprisingly my answer wouldn’t be much different at all. He’s among the ten best quarterbacks and is searching for that consistency that puts him truly amongst the NFL’s top tier. After that aforementioned slow start, he’s put together two incredible performances back to back. The Bengals now sit at 4-3 & have risen amongst every notable “power ranking”. No coincidence that once Burrow’s level rose, the team started winning again.

Did the falcons have an incredibly banged up secondary & defense as a whole going into game? No question. Did they lose All-Pro CB AJ Terrell mid game? Yes. However, it’s still the NFL. These are the best athletes in the world and we’ve seen guys come in and make the most of their opportunities. This situation should be looked at not differently. Now for game play. Especially early on, Burrow was nearly flawless.

He finished the first half with a stat line of 21/25 for 344 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.  His second half mostly followed the same trajectory. He finished the game 34/42 for 481 passing yards 3 touchdowns. Oh yeah, he added 3 rushes for 20 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well. He became the only player in NFL history with multiple 500 yard 4 touchdown games. Also, he broke the NFL record for most 400+ yard games for a player in their first three seasons. At present day, he hits at 2nd in total passing yards, 3rd in passing touchdowns & 4th in completion percentage.

Now that we’ve gotten the (impressive) numbers out of the way, we can talk about, in my opinion, what actually makes him special. That’s his poise and command. His ball placement & decision making are spectacular. He even made some throws he routinely struggles with like the intermediate crossers and backside digs. But what truly separates him is his demeanor. It’s almost funny how equally stoic and passionate he comes off. Truly the perfect balance for any player, but especially your franchise quarterback. For better or for worse, he’s always in control. Always leading. Always poised. You can go to war with that any day. Joe Burrow, take a bow.