The Cincinnati Bengals have had a rough season. Until snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, the Bengals had lost three games in a row and fallen to 4-8, leaving them very little chance of making a run at the playoffs. For a team that came into the season with hopes of contention, it's been an incredibly disappointing year.
But for the most part, the issues have been confined to one side of the ball. The Bengals have arguably the NFL's worst defense. They rank inside the bottom five in pretty much every category, and teams of varying quality have essentially moved the ball on them at will throughout the season.
The Joe Burrow-led offense, though, has been pretty damn good. So good, in fact, that his former offensive coordinator says he'd vote for Burrow for MVP, if given the opportunity.
"I think Joe's playing the position as good as anybody in the NFL right now. If I had a vote, he'd be my MVP," Titans head coach Brian Callahan said, via SI.com. "I can't see anyone playing quarterback playing better than he is right now."
Burrow is leading the NFL in completions, pass attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns. His passer rating and QBR are the highest marks of his career. His touchdown rate, interception rate, sack rate and passing success rate are career-high marks as well. He's fourth in the NFL in expected points added per pass attempt, via Tru Media, and fifth in completion percentage over expectation, via NFL.com's NextGen Stats.
He is, indeed, playing at as high a level as any quarterback in football. You just wouldn't know it, because the Bengals keep losing anyway. And even in those Bengals losses, Burrow has been incredible: He's 213 of 323 (67.8%) for 2,465 yards (7.6 per attempt, with 21 touchdowns against just 3 interceptions. His 108.2 passer rating is actually slightly better than the 107.4 mark he's posted in Cincy's wins.
Obviously, he will not be getting very many MVP votes, if any. He might not even get many down-ballot votes. But his former coach is right about how well he's played this year.