National Football League

With Bengals in playoffs, fans forgive Joe Burrow's nightlife comments

Updated Jan. 13, 2022 5:25 p.m. ET

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

There is virtually nothing Joe Burrow could do right now to make the citizens of Cincinnati waver in their love for him, so even his pouring scorn on the city’s apparently less-than-glamorous nightlife scene passed without a shred of backlash.

Three weeks ago, Burrow was asked about how the Bengals managed to be one of the NFL’s least-affected teams in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he cheekily quipped that it was because of the Queen City’s supposed lack of entertainment options.

"Fortunately, there’s not a ton to do in Cincinnati," Burrow told reporters. "Nobody is getting out to bars and clubs and getting COVID every weekend. We’ve been healthy."

Cincy natives bristled a little at the suggestion that their fine town is Boringsville, Ohio. The local police department offered to give Burrow a tour of the sights. The regional tourist board swiftly pointed out that Travel and Leisure magazine listed Cincinnati as a top destination and, predictably, a glut of Bengals fans offered to show their beloved QB some seasonal hospitality.

Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase excelling as a duo

Joel Klatt, Ed Orgeron, and TJ Houshmandzadeh talk about how quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase propelled the Cincinnati Bengals to an AFC North title.

Any lingering hard feelings were swiftly washed away when Burrow destroyed the Baltimore Ravens on the back of 525 passing yards, then sparked a late comeback to end the Kansas City Chiefs’ long win streak and helped the Bengals clinch the AFC North.

"Joe Burrow was wrong that there’s nothing to do in Cincinnati," said Amie Hunsche, a lifelong Bengals fan and general manager of Champions Grille, a popular neighborhood sports bar on the city’s west side. "But he’s been right about pretty much everything else, so we’ll forgive him."

On Saturday, the Bengals will take on the Las Vegas Raiders and bid for the franchise’s first postseason win since Jan. 6, 1991. Back then, the team defeated the Houston Oilers 41-14, then lost to the Los Angeles Raiders a week later in a game in which Bo Jackson’s career ended in injury.

There has been nothing for the Bengals since. Seven trips to the postseason, seven defeats. It is the longest such drought across all the major American pro sports. Needless to say, the potential for some fresh history has the city buzzing.

Perhaps Burrow should be excused for his missed take on Cincy’s social scene, as it seems that the most fun time of the week to be out and about is while he’s doing his thing on the football field.

"The city comes alive for Bengals games," Hunsche said. "There are so many things to do and great places to enjoy yourself. But whenever the Bengals play, it has a special feel about it, and everyone is excited."

This weekend, Hunsche’s establishment is ready for its 16 tables to fill up — first come, first served — almost immediately after opening. She is prepared, with a fully staffed roster and a maximum order of alcoholic product. If the Bengals win and book a place in the divisional round, there might be no amount of liquor that would adequately satisfy the party.

The Raiders are coming off a thrilling but surely exhausting season finale in which it looked like they might tie the Los Angeles Chargers to send both teams to the postseason until they kicked a walk-off field goal to secure the AFC's 5-seed.

Cincinnati is a 5-point favorite and priced at -250 on the money line, having completed the regular season with a 10-7 record to outlast the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Ravens to win the division with a week to spare.

In the postseason, they will, as usual, go as Burrow goes. On that front, FOX Sports NFL analyst Mark Sanchez insisted they are in safe hands.

"I remember the first time I interviewed him," Sanchez said. "I remember asking him, ‘If there was a pie chart, and you had to put football into one category and other things, like video games, family, etc., in other parts of that chart, how much of it would be football?’

"He’s all football, all the time."

"Burrow is legit," Sanchez added. "And I knew after talking with him and listening to him and watching him, there’s just that moment when you’re done talking to the guy that you say to yourself, ‘OK, I see it now. This guy is the real deal.’"

Burrow’s development and the nature of this team, with an offensive mindset and bold talents such as running back Joe Mixon and the dynamic receiving trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, have lifted fan morale.

"One thing Cincinnati has never lacked is passionate support," season-ticket holder Ron Hamilton told me. "Now there is a genuine sense of pride. This is a good team. They’re not perfect, but they’re strong and talented and play with tenacity. When the Bengals are doing well, you can feel it in the city. Everyone walks a little bit taller."

The Bengals' reputation as pushovers, with just 25 wins in the previous five seasons, has most certainly been shed, a fact not lost on Mixon.

"Everybody used to laugh at us on the schedule and be like, ‘Oh, we [have to] play the Bengals. It's just a stat week,'" Mixon told reporters. "Now it ain't no laughing, ain't no playing and joking no more. They know what's going on. They know how we coming."

There is an air of confidence in Cincinnati that hasn’t been felt for a long time. This is a fan base burned by past experience but hopeful that the long-awaited brighter future is here. Cue, perhaps, the kind of party not seen for a while.

"It has been so long since we won a playoff game that at times it has felt like it would never end," Hamilton said. "If it ends this weekend? Well, let’s just say you’ll see how good Cincinnati nightlife can get."

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.