Frankie: You know who to blame for yesterday’s loss. But will you actually blame him?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Joe Burrow is to blame for yesterday’s loss.

There’s no other way around it. If you pay a quarterback $275 million, you expect him to perform better than the way Joe Burrow did yesterday.

Look, I get it. Losses the Bengals have suffered in the past have not been because of Burrow. He’s so good that it’s always something else that’s the reason the Bengals lose, whether it’s the offensive line, play-calling, in-game coaching decisions, whatever it is. Burrow has been given the benefit of the doubt.

But I’m sorry. Completing just 14 of 31 passes for only 82 yards, and you want to say Burrow is not the reason why the Bengals lost yesterday?

For as bad as the Bengals played, that game was winnable into the fourth quarter. And in the third quarter, it looked like the Bengals were going to assert themselves.

But the big throw from Burrow was never made. The “I’m going to put this team on my back” mentality wasn’t there. How many throws from Burrow were just “off?” And not only that, some throws were just uncharacteristically bad. How may throws that Burrow normally makes did he not complete yesterday? And what’s worse, the farthest the Bengals reached was the Browns 24-yard line.

I say all of this because last year we saw Burrow lift and elevate this team. Against all odds, in every game, he gave the Bengals a chance. He threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back from an appendectomy, in a game the Bengals should have won. He guided the Bengals to a 3-1 record without Ja’Marr Chase, the last of those wins also coming without Joe Mixon. He led the Bengals, in his only win against the Browns in his career so far, without Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. In the Playoffs, he overcame three offensive linemen being out, led the Bengals to a 17-point win at snowy Buffalo and very nearly, for a second straight year, led the Bengals to the Super Bowl.

That’s why yesterday was so uncharacteristically bad from Burrow, but you can’t sugarcoat his performance. Not one time did he ignite this offense. It was Joe Mixon that did on the Bengals best drive. That’s what’s frustrating. Nothing good the Bengals did, and it wasn’t much, was because of Joe Burrow.

This is only the second time in Burrow’s career the Bengals have been held without a touchdown in a game started by the now highest paid player in NFL history. His career has been one of overcoming. Whether it be injuries, slow starts, etc. That’s why I’m confident he will bounce back from this, and so too will the Bengals. But given what we have seen Burrow do under adverse circumstances, yesterday was a letdown. Had he played better, the Bengals could have won the game. Or at least had a chance to win the game. Burrow is to blame for yesterday’s loss, whether you’re willing to blame him or not.