Joe Burrow ready to add missing ingredient to his Bengals show

Joe Burrow is feeling nothing but confident going into the 2025 season.

After a disappointing 2024 that saw the Bengals miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year, Burrow is out to prove everyone wrong — that he is above the rest and can deliver a championship to Cincinnati.

“I’m not sure I would say anyone is playing the position better than I am right now,” Burrow told Sports Illustrated. “I’m pretty confident in my ability to go out and do that every Sunday. Now, it’s just showing that consistency, showing it year in and year out. I think what separates the legends is being able to do it year in, year out for five, 10 years at a time.

“So, trying to be able to find that consistency in my discipline and my process, doing the easy stuff in my sleep and then making the hard stuff look easy, then making a couple of great plays here and there, that’s what I am trying to do every week.”

Consistency has been difficult for the quarterback to find in his five-year career.

His rookie season in 2020 was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and a torn ACL. The year after, Burrow had a dislocated pinky finger and in the waning moments of the Super Bowl, an MCL sprain.

In 2023 a right calf sprain kept the two-time Pro Bowler out in the beginning of the season. He went on to play 10 games.

Last year, he was wrapped up with a wrist injury, but still managed a big year, leading the NFL on the stat sheet with 4,918 passing yards for 43 touchdowns. He also came in third in passer rating (108.5) and fourth in completion percentage (70.6).

Those injury run-ins have brought inconsistent results to Cincinnati. They lost the Super Bowl in 2021 to the Rams and fell in the AFC Championship the following year.

However, Burrow is determined to reach the high standards he puts on himself as well as the Bengals’ offense.

“We want to be the best offense in the NFL,” Burrow said. 

With that goal in mind, Burrow has talked with other successful sports stars, such as 15-time All-Star and two-time NBA champ Kevin Durant.

He has asked Durant about how he maintains consistency while getting the best from his teammates around him.

“He’s been a nice resource for me,” Burrow said.

The 2024 Bengals were 9-8 and narrowly missed out on the playoffs.

If Burrow is able to put on the same dominant performance without any injury worries, what he declared at training camp could ring true by February.