Matt’s Take: Burrow expects perfection and nothing less

By Matthew McAdow
HCP columnist

Even after a 5-touchdown performance and a 17-point victory, Joe Burrow was visually frustrated on the sidelines Sunday, and that is simply because he demands perfection.  

While he had one of the most impressive games of his career, the pick-six, dropped passes from Ja’Marr, and some miscommunication on the line turned into Burrow frustrated on the sideline.  

That should make everyone reading this ecstatic, as they have a leader who wants to win, wants to play the right way, and demands excellence from everyone on the field. Wins are hard to come by in the NFL, though, so let’s enjoy this victory for now before the Bengals take on the Ravens in an absolute must-win game on Thursday.  

Positives

• The leader in sacks in the NFL is Cincinnati’s own, Trey Hendrickson (11). He had 4 sacks, 7 quarterback hits, and a fumble on Sunday against the Raiders. Imagine if they had someone else alongside him who could give pressure from the opposite end.  
    
• 5 passing touchdowns for the second time this season for Joe Burrow. Somehow, none of those on Sunday were to Ja’Marr Chase, which is even more impressive. No other quarterback in the NFL has 5 passing touchdowns in a game this season.  

• Logan Wilson had 2 fumble recoveries, 9 total tackles, and was all over the field as usual for Cincinnati.
    
• A career day for Chase Brown, as he racked up 120 rush yards, 37 receiving yards, and a touchdown. It’s safe to say that he should be RB1 moving forward. 
    
• Mike Gesicki had himself a day. The gritty came to life, as he reeled in 5 receptions for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns.  With Higgins out, Gesicki fills in quite nicely.  

Negatives
    
• With Charlie Jones out, it was rough watching Pryor and Irwin try to return the ball. That won’t work going forward.
    
• I’m ready for Cincinnati to cut Jermaine Burton now. You show up in pajamas after missing the walk-through the day before? He’s not salvageable. He’ll be without a job in the near future with that attitude. This isn’t college, he is a grown man. Time to treat him as such and get rid of him. 
    
• Iosivas missed a few catches and missed a crucial block that resulted in a pick-6. When Higgins is out, we are in desperate need of a true fill-in WR2.  
    
• Injuries to All Jr., Higgins, Hill, Brown Jr., Jones, Moss, and Tufele are all detrimental to this team. Cincinnati needs to get healthy fast before heading to Baltimore.

Trade?

Want to show the fans you’re serious about contending right now? Make a trade.  

Go find a cornerback and an edge rusher. Who am I kidding, though? The Bengals have only made 2 in-season trades in 52 years. That’s baffling.  

Maybe Joe Burrow has changed the mindset of this front office and maybe they realize that he isn’t getting any younger. If they would fire off a couple trades and try to make a run for it, I think we would be able to hear the tears from Carson Palmer hitting the floor all the way in Adams County. I won’t pretend to know what we would offer, and I won’t even put together a mock trade, but I do hope to see Cincinnati do something, as this defense is not currently a Super Bowl caliber defense.  

Go beat the Ravens and get the city excited again, Who Dey!