In the aftermath of Super Bowl LVI, we broke down why the Cincinnati Bengals need to fix the offensive line in front of Joe Burrow right now, not later — no excuses.
And besides the obvious talking points, there’s one other thing that really helps paint the picture:
The Andrew Luck comparison.
Burrow was just sacked 70 times, the third-most in a season ever. Only David Carr in 2002 (76) and Randall Cunningham in 1986 (72) were sacked more in a season.
As fans might recall, Luck, on a Hall of Fame pace, hung up the cleats prematurely by modern football standards because of the beating his body had taken for an Indianapolis Colts organization that simply didn’t do enough to protect him.
So now, the comparison. Over their first 30 games, the two quarterbacks registered the following sack totals:
- Andrew Luck: 73 sacks
- Joe Burrow: 102 sacks
There are a lot of things that go into these numbers. It’s not all strictly on the offensive line. Backs, tight ends, offensive calls and schemes and Burrow himself play a part, too.
Doesn’t matter, though. Point is, the Bengals can’t afford to flirt with this sort of pace. Burrow already suffered the knee injury last year and another in the Super Bowl. It’s 100 percent clear he’s got top-five upside for the remainder of his career, and with that likely comes more Super Bowl appearances.
But he’s got to be on the field for that to become a reality.
