National Football League

Can Joe Burrow lead the Bengals back to the Super Bowl?

Published Feb. 14, 2022 2:48 p.m. ET

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals were exceptionally close to firing up their celebratory cigars and exclaiming "we're going to Disney World" at the close of Super Bowl LVI.

Burrow & Co. did their due diligence to attain Super Bowl hardware — at least until the game's closing stages.

A dropped pass, a slew of defensive penalties, the one-man wrecking ball that is Cooper Kupp, and some guy named Aaron Donald trampled on Cincinnati's hopes of a Super Bowl parade as the game's final seconds ticked away.

Still, while the result was a 23-20 L.A. victory, the Bengals gave the Rams all they could handle and established themselves as worthy title contenders in the process.

For some, Cincy's respectable showing was a sign of impending greatness to come for the Bengals. For others, the team's Super Bowl run mirrored that of a top-ranked basketball prospect's college tenure: one and done.

Chris Broussard placed the Bengals in the former category in his assessment on "First Things First".

"Burrow's taking the right approach," Broussard said regarding the QB1's post-game comments.

Burrow maintained a cool demeanor throughout his press conference, telling reporters he believed his troupe would be back in the big show, but that it would take a collective effort on both sides of the football.

"I think that's the message you send to your teammates: ‘It’s going to take even harder work to get back here again in the next few years. Over the next decade, will there be a few years where they may not make the playoffs? Sure. Big Ben didn't make the playoffs every year with Pittsburgh, but they're a perennial playoff team for the most part. I think that's what we have in Cincinnati under Joe Burrow."

Joe Burrow, Bengals "are here to stay"

Chris Broussard breaks down why he believes that if the Bengals focus on building up the offensive line in the offseason, they will be a perennial playoff team.

Broussard added that he was impressed with Burrow's Super Bowl moxie.

"They were within four points of winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history. If [Burrow] had even a modicum of protection yesterday in that second half, they may win the Super Bowl! If they don't spend the entire offseason building up that offensive line, then the entire front office should be fired. That's all they need to work on now. Look at that division. They [only] have Baltimore to contend with. So yeah, they're here to stay."

Nick Wright, though, believes Broussard couldn't be more wrong.

"Everyone's like ‘they have all this cap space,’" Wright stated.

"Luckily, they are a famous free agent destination, and they have an owner in Mike Brown who's known for being the cheapest in all of professional sports. It took all three of the quarterbacks in their division to get injured. They had multiple times in each game during their playoff run with a 20% chance to win. I don't love their defense, and hate their offensive line. I love Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and their weapons. That's it. You're in a brutal division, and you have the worst coach [Zac Taylor] in it."

Though he wasn't able to fully realize his goals, Burrow has accomplished feats no other man in Bengals history has.

He's already the Bengals' franchise leader in single-season passing yards (4,611) passing TDs (34), single-game passing yards (525), postseason completions (97), and postseason passing yards (1,105). All of those marks were set this past season.

He's already tied with Boomer Esiason for the most career playoff wins (three), and was the first-ever QB selected No. 1 overall to reach a Super Bowl within his first two seasons.

The one thing that's certain about the Bengals' future is Burrow's presence in it, but will that be enough to take them back to the big game?