It starts with the quarterback when it comes to building a successful football team. Well, the Cincinnati Bengals are in as good of a shape as anyone franchise with Joe Burrow under center.
In addition to his God-given ability to be accurate with the football and make smart decisions, the Bengals have surrounded Burrow with a smorgasbord of weapons.
As every great quarterback does, Burrow has used them to his advantage, and he performed well in one area specifically last season. Next Gen Stats compiled a formula using expected completion percentage, completion percentage above expectation, and passing score for who were the best deep ball throwers in 2022.
Burrow was ranked, ironically, No.9 on the list.
Deep attempts: 19-of-48, 668 yards, 8:1 TD-INT, 118.1 passer rating
Deep comp: 39.6%
Deep xComp: 30.3%
Deep CPOE: +9.3%
PASSING SCORE (on deep attempts): 96
“One surprise from Burrow’s production in 2022: the player he threw to most downfield. Many might expect that to be Ja’Marr Chase, who led the Bengals in overall targets in each of the past two seasons, but it was actually Tee Higgins.”
“Burrow and Higgins connected on 50 percent of their 18 deep attempts, accounting for 328 of Burrow’s 668 deep passing yards and nearly half of Burrow’s deep passing touchdowns.”
They were a dynamite duo, producing a passer rating of 135.4 and a CPOE of +19.5% on deep throws. In case you didn’t already know, the Bengals’ passing game is about more than just Burrow and Chase.”-Nick Shook, NFL.com
It certainly is. In addition to Chase and Higgins, Burrow has Tyler Boyd, one of the NFL’s top slot receivers. Running backs Joe Mixon and rookie Chase Brown each have pass-catching ability out of the backfield and tight end Irv Smith Jr. can make some plays as well as long as he stays healthy.
So, unless something unforeseen happens, Burrow will be getting chunks of yards downfield once again in 2023.
