Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow walks back the huddle after an incomplete pass in the fourth quarter of a Week 2 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Kareem Elgazzar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bart Scott: Joe Burrow partly to blame for Bengals' 0-2 start

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 9/22/22

The defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals began the 2022 NFL season with narrow three-point losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys that count all the same in the standings. A consensus opinion shared by individuals such as Dadio Makdook of Cincy Jungle is that the Bengals' offensive line hasn't done enough to protect quarterback Joe Burrow this month, and ESPN stats show that Burrow took a league-high 13 sacks over the campaign's first two games.

Former defensive player and current analyst Bart Scott offered a different take during Thursday's edition of the ESPN "Get Up" program.

"I think he's trying to go to the well too often," Scott said of Burrow. "He's trying to get the big play. He's featuring (2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year) Ja'Marr Chase too much...Ja'Marr Chase has 25 targets and everybody else has 63.

"You have to understand, when you go to the Super Bowl, they watch the film about how you got defended in the Super Bowl, especially when you lose."

Jason La Canfora offered additional numbers for a Washington Post piece.

"Burrow is being sacked on 12.7 percent of his dropbacks, according to TruMedia data, the worst rate in the NFL and double the NFL average," La Canfora wrote. "That’s way up from the already-poor 8.9 percent sack rate he endured in 2021. Burrow is the most-hit QB in the NFL, contacted an already-alarming 20 times; last season he was hit 102 times, fourth-most in the league and an average of 6.4 times per game. (Burrow played 16 games last season.)"

La Canfora added that head coach Zac Taylor could help Burrow's cause by featuring "running backs on screens and high-percentage passes a little earlier in games," but ESPN's Ben Baby noted Burrow isn't free of blame regarding the offense's underwhelming play.

"When Burrow wasn’t pressured in 2021, he was second in the NFL in completion percentage over expectation (CPOE), according to ESPN Stats and Information," Baby said. "In a small sample size in 2022, Burrow is 25th. On throws of 15 air yards or more without pressure, the difference in Burrow’s CPOE from last year to this year is 23.1%."

The Bengals averaged just 18.5 points over their first two losses but will look to improve on that when they play at the 1-1 New York Jets this Sunday.

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