CINCINNATI — 1. That’s how you make a statement against a team who had beaten you by a combined 119-14 in the last three meetings; beat them by 24 in their own stadium. Talk about a complete 180.
2. The stars were out today for the Bengals. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were simply incredible. Burrow set a career high with 416 passing yards and Ja’Marr Chase had 201 yards receiving on eight receptions. Chase is now the only rookie in NFL history with 700 or more receiving yards through his first seven games.
3. Ja’Marr Chase through his first seven games has 35 receptions, 754 yards and six touchdowns. He’s on pace for 95 receptions, 1,831 yards and 15 touchdowns… as a rookie. That 1,831 receiving yards quantity would be the fifth-most receiving yards in a single season in NFL history. Wow!
4. The conversation of Chase being the front-runner for offensive rookie of the year has been present for several weeks, but I think it’s time to start another conversation: Joe Burrow in the race for NFL MVP. This is not an overreaction. Burrow has back-to-back three-touchdown pass games, and today led the Bengals to become only the second team to throw for 400 yards and score 40 points against Baltimore. Think about that for a minute. And Burrow is now the only quarterback in the NFL this season with at least two touchdown passes in every game this season.
5. For all the talk that and national attention Justin Herbert has gotten this season, Burrow had the complete opposite performance against the Ravens than Herbert had last week. Both are really good and will have great careers, but maybe it’s time Burrow gets the national recognition that Herbert has already received.
6. For all the concern of how the Bengals offensive line would handle the Ravens blitzes today, Burrow was only sacked one time. And the Bengals only had one offensive penalty the entire game.
7. There was also talk of how the Bengals defense would be able to contain Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Bengals defense sacked him five times, the most number of times Jackson has been sacked in a game in his career. The free agent signings along the Bengals defensive line the last two seasons are paying massive dividends. Jackson had over 300 total yards today, but he still had a frustrating afternoon against the Bengals completely revamped defense completing less than 50 percent of his passes.
8. I’m really happy for CJ Uzomah. With all the attention on Chase, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon, it was easy to forget about Uzomah especially with him coming off a season where he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in just week two. He’s made some huge plays this season, and now has three touchdowns in his last two games and two games this season with multiple touchdowns. A great weapon in the middle of the field that defenses have to be cognizant of.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 