Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been labeled the new “Joe Cool” given his self-confidence and effortless swagger, but even the coolest of cool don’t always get to be calm and collected in the pocket.
That’s because Burrow is working behind an offensive line that allowed more sacks than any team in the league this year (51). The second-year quarterback was sacked nine (!) times during Cincinnati’s AFC divisional-round victory against the top-seeded Tennessee Titans and now will have an incredibly tough task going up against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.
The Rams, according to the advanced stats at SportRadar, averaged a sack on 7.4% of their defensive snaps during the regular season while the Titans registered a sack on 6.4%. Los Angeles ranked fifth in the league in the category while Tennessee ranked 13th, and the Bengals had no answer for the latter.
Still, Burrow expressed a positive outlook on the Cincinnati group set to face All-Pro Aaron Donald, edge rusher Von Miller and others.
“They’re a very good defensive front,” Burrow said Monday during Super Bowl LVI Opening Night, per NFL.com. “It’s going to be a challenge for our guys, but they’ve worked really hard to put themselves in this position. And I know that our coaching staff has a great plan for them that they’re going to be able to go out and execute. But obviously, guys like Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, Von Miller are guys that are going to get pressure.”
The Rams obviously make it tough on quarterbacks, but what makes it all the more difficult is that Los Angeles doesn’t need to send extra bodies in order to get pressure. The Rams ranked 11th in defensive blitz percentage, sending five or more rushers 27.8% of the time. While that number has jumped up a tick in the postseason (33.1%) it’s still distant from the teams who send extra blitzers the most.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for reference, far exceeded that number while sending five or more defenders on 42.6% of snaps. It’s fair to note that during the postseason LA has nearly doubled the blitz rate of Cincinnati (17.5%).
Burrow, however, doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of experience dealing with blitzes. He was blitzed 22.2% of the time this season, which ranked 54th among all signal-callers to play a snap this season. But despite seeing a somewhat infrequent blitz, Burrow was higher on the chart, ranking QB31 in regards to pressure percentage (24.9%). It shows how other teams were able to get pressure with their defensive front this season.
“It’s going to be how, one, I handle the pressure — how I’m able to get the ball out of my hands and get it to my playmakers in space,” Burrow said. “And two, how we’re going to be able to handle them up front. I have the utmost confidence in our offensive line to make it happen.”
Burrow’s passing yards prop is set at over/under 273.5 for the Bengals, who are a four-point underdog. Cincinnati’s ability to stop the defensive front for the Rams will go a long way in Burrow hitting the over, the Bengals covering the spread and the organization winning the Super Bowl.
NESN’s big game coverage is presented by Berkshire Bank.
