For Joe Burrow and the Bengals, reaching the AFC Championship Game is not enough. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Many players are eager to embrace an underdog narrative when it applies to their team. Joe Burrow is not one of them.

The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was asked after Saturday’s win if his team was the “Cinderella” of the NFL playoffs. Burrow was not into that narrative, arguing that the Bengals deserve more credit than that.

“No, I’m tired of the underdog narrative,” Burrow said, via Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports. “We’re a really, really good team. We’re here to make noise, and teams are going to have to pay attention to us. We’re, like I said, a really good team with really good players and coaches and we’re coming for it all.”

Credit Burrow for this mentality, as he clearly does not want the Bengals feeling happy just to be in the AFC Championship Game. Yes, their win over Tennessee represented an upset, but the quarterback refuses to look at this as a big surprise.

Burrow’s mentality has clearly spread to his teammates as well. That level of self-belief will only make them more dangerous going forward.

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