Let’s skip the small talk this week, as I talked for an hour and a half on the Sit/Start Podcast on Wednesday night.
Was the selection for Joe Burrow to be on the cover of The List a homer pick by me this week? Absolutely. Is he even that great of a fantasy player? No, he’s solid if unspectacular.
But on Thursday Night Football last week, against a miserable Jaguars team, the Bengals looked like the Bengals of old, wilting in primetime against a team that they should beat. And then the second half happened, and Burrow put the team on his back like a ten-year veteran that wasn’t coming off of a career-threatening knee injury. And for at least one week, Bengals fans everywhere got to bask in the knowledge that they have one of the most intelligent, gutsy young quarterbacks in the NFL.
I’ll be in the Jungle this weekend watching my first Bengals game in person in years, as Aaron Rodgers comes to town with a superior Packers’ squad. Will the Bengals beat the Packers? Probably not. But for the first time in quite a while, I’m intrigued to see if Cincinnati has a quarterback that can erase all of their faults and ghosts and lead them beyond a first-round playoff exit.
Hey, we all need hope, after all.
Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)