CINCINNATI — 1. Just complete devastation. It doesn’t even feel real. It feels like a living nightmare. Every time I have woken up today, I have questioned if this was even real. It feels like this happened to one of my best friends or, even worse, a family member.
2. I have read and heard from many different sources that this felt inevitable. And while that might be an inescapable truth, the last few weeks I certainly wasn’t thinking about Burrow getting injured. The offensive line, the subject of heavy criticism all season, had performed at an adequate level for a majority of the Bengals four games prior to Sunday at Washington. But if you don’t protect your investment, in this case Joe Burrow, it will catch up to you.
3. That said, every time I have watched the play since it happened I still think it’s borderline between it being the offensive line’s fault and it just being a freak play, a football play. Burrow wasn’t sacked on the play. He was hit right after he released the ball- which was actually a nicely-thrown ball.
4. The offensive lineman responsible for Burrow being hit first was Michael Jordan, the team’s starting left guard. Why was he playing? Why was he starting at left guard when Quentin Spain held up well against Tennessee just three weeks prior at the same position. He was at right guard. Alex Redmond should have been there, and Alex Redmond has shown at least a game’s worth of promise. Spain should have been at left guard. You know what that comes back to? Roster personnel. And who oversees the personnel that is run out onto the field on a weekly basis? The coaching staff. Funny how coaching matters. And who hired Zac Taylor? Yup, you guessed it. Mike Brown.
5. I found this tweet from 700WLW and ESPN1530’s Lance McAlister really telling. Here it is below:
Look, you’re not getting any support from me for Mike Brown and the Bengals front office, and rightfully so. But I do feel for them because Lance is right. This wouldn’t be how it is with most other, if not all other, organizations around the league. That’s a very big layer to what makes being a Bengals fan very hard.
6. I can’t help but feel a sense of hopelessness today. This team already wasn’t going to the playoffs. But at least Burrow made watching this team fun every Sunday, a feeling I haven’t had watching this team in years. But now that Burrow is out for the year, what hope is there? Ryan Finley? Barf.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 