At the top of the list: Here’s a look at where the Bengals rank —
both individually and in team categories — among the top 10 in the NFL.
BENGALS OFFENSE
● Second in fourth-down percentage (87.5; 14 of 16).
● Tied for 10th in first downs per game (23.2).
JOE BURROW
● Second in pass attempts (370).
● Third in pass completions (242).
● Seventh in lowest percentage of passes intercepted (1.4).
● Ninth in passing yards (2485).
TYLER BOYD
● Tied for sixth in receptions that convert first downs (37).
● Tied for seventh in receptions on third down (15).
● Eighth in receptions (60).
● Tied for eighth in first downs (38).
BENGALS DEFENSE
● Tied for sixth in fewest passes allowed of at least 40 yards (three).
● Seventh in lowest opponent completion percentage (62.8).
● Tied for ninth in interceptions (eight).
● Ninth in fourth down percentage (42.9; three of seven).
JESSIE BATES III
● Fourth in passes defensed (12).
BENGALS SPECIAL TEAMS
● Fifth in average drive start on offense (26.2-yard line).
BRANDON WILSON
● Second in kickoff returns of at least 40 yards (four).
● Eighth in average yards per kickoff return (24.1).
ALEX ERICKSON
● Tied for sixth in average yards per punt return (8.8).
KEVIN HUBER
● Tied for fourth in punts (38).
RANDY BULLOCK
● Tied for sixth in touchbacks on kickoffs (37).
● Tenth in points among kickers (78).
Burrow already making history: Not only has Bengals rookie
QB Joe Burrow turned heads with his playmaking ability so far this season, his stats rank among the best ever by a first-time starting QB. His 242 completions and 370 pass attempts both are the most in NFL history by any QB through the first nine games of their career. His 2485 passing yards are fourth in that same category.
Burrow ranks second in the NFL in pass attempts, third in completions and
ninth in passing yards. Additionally, he has just five INTs, meaning just 1.4
percent of his attempts have been intercepted (seventh-best in the NFL).
Burrow in Offensive ROTY conversation: Bengals QB Joe Burrow is widely considered to be among the frontrunners for this season’s
NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award. The award has been won by a
quarterback nine times, including eight times since 2004. But when examining both the production and league rankings of each of those QBs during their rookie seasons, Burrow compares quite favorably.
Here’s a look at Burrow’s statistics this season (through nine games), as well
as the final passing totals for each of the last eight QBs to win NFL Offensive
Rookie of the Year (league rankings are in parentheses):
YEAR/PLAYER/GAMES ATT COMP PCT YDS TD RAT
2020/Joe Burrow/9 ……………….. 370(2) 242(3) 65.4 (24) 2485 (9) 12 (21t) 89.8(25)
Burrow’s 300-yard games make history: Bengals rookie
QB Joe Burrow has five 300-yard passing games so far this season, tied for
second-most ever among NFL rookies, and just one shy of the rookie record (six, by Colts QB Andrew Luck in 2012). Burrow started the season by passing for 300 yards in five of his first seven games, a feat only 14 other QBs in league history have pulled off at any point of their career. He’s also the only rookie ever to do it.
Burrow’s five 300-yard passing games have already tied the Bengals singleseason record, set by Boomer Esiason (strike-shortened 1987 season), Carson Palmer (2007) and Andy Dalton (2013). Dalton also holds the team record for most consecutive 300-yard passing games, with four (Games 6-9 in 2013).
Earlier this season, Burrow became the first rookie QB in NFL history to ever throw for 300 yards in three consecutive games, when he hit the mark in Game 2 at Cleveland (316), Game 3 at Philadelphia (312) and Game 4 vs. Jacksonville (300).
Burrow’s 400-yard day: In Game 7 vs. Cleveland, Bengals QB
Joe Burrow completed 35 of 47 passes (74.5 percent), for 406 yards, three TDs and one INT (112.5 rating). He also added a rushing TD. With that performance, he became the first QB in NFL history to record 400 passing yards, three passing TDs and one rushing TD in a game. Burrow was also effective at spreading the ball around, as the game was the first in team history in which six different players recorded at least 50 receiving yards. Additionally, Burrow led seven drives into the red zone, the most by the Bengals since Sept. 30, 2012 at Jacksonville (seven).
Burrow’s performance marked just the 11th 400-yard passing game in
Bengals history, and the sixth such game ever by an NFL rookie. And it should be noted that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had a hand in one of the previous five instances. Taylor was assistant QBs coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2012, when Ryan Tannehill threw for 431 yards in an overtime loss at Arizona.
Here’s a look at the only 400-yard passing games by rookies in NFL history:
ROOKIE QB DATE/OPPONENT PASSING YARDS
Andrew Luck 11-4-12 vs. Miami ………………………………………………….. 433
Cam Newton 9-18-11 vs. Green Bay …………………………………………… 432
Ryan Tannehill 9-30-12 at Arizona ………………………………………….. 431 (OT)
Matthew Stafford 11-22-09 vs. Cleveland ………………………………………….. 422
Cam Newton 9-11-11 at Arizona …………………………………………………. 422
Joe Burrow 10-25-20 vs. Cleveland ………………………………………….. 406
Burrow chasing NFL rookie records: Through nine games
this season, Bengals rookie QB Joe Burrow has 242 completions, 370 pass
attempts, a 65.4 completion percentage, 2485 passing yards, 12 TDs, five INTs and an 89.8 passer rating.
Over a full 16-game season, those totals project out to 430 completions, 657
attempts, a 65.4 completion percentage, 4417 passing yards, 21 passing TDs
and eight INTs (89.8 rating). That puts him on pace to top many of the Bengals’ single-season passing records, let alone the team’s rookie passing records.
Andy Dalton, who was a rookie in 2011, holds nearly every Bengals rookie
passing record, including completions (300), attempts (516), completion
percentage (58.1), passing yards (3398) and passing TDs (20). Greg Cook set
the rookie passer rating record (88.3) in 1969.
The Bengals’ single-season passing records are 373 completions (Palmer in
’07), 586 passing attempts (Carson Palmer in 2010), a 70.55 completion
percentage (Ken Anderson in 1982), 4293 passing yards (Andy Dalton in ’13), 33 TD passes (Dalton in ’13), and a 106.3 passer rating (Dalton in ’15).
Burrow’s pace, though, has him on track to challenge many of the NFL’s
rookie passing records. Here’s a look at those rookie records, along with where the Bengals’ signal-caller projects out to over a full 16-game season.
CATEGORY CURRENT RECORD BURROW CURRENT/PROJECTED
Attempts Andrew Luck / 627 ………………………………………………. 370 / 657
Completions Carson Wentz / 379 …………………………………………….. 242 / 430
Yards Andrew Luck / 4374 …………………………………………. 2485 / 4417
Pass TDs Baker Mayfield / 27 …………………………………………………. 12 / 21
Fewest INTs* Derek Carr, Kyler Murray / 12 ………………………………………. 5 / 8
Completion % Dak Prescott / 67.8 …………………………………………….. 65.4 / 65.4
Rating Dak Prescott / 104.9 …………………………………………… 89.8 / 89.8
*NOTE: Minimum 500 passing attempts.
Burrow’s supporting cast unmatched: Bengals QB Joe
Burrow this season has one of the most statistically accomplished supporting casts of any rookie QB ever. Burrow is only the fifth rookie QB in NFL history, and just the second first-rounder, to start a single game and have with him on the roster at least one player with multiple 1000-yard rushing seasons and two players with multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons. Burrow this season has suited up alongside HB Joe Mixon (two career 1000-yard rushing seasons), WR A.J. Green (six 1000-yard receiving seasons) and WR Tyler Boyd (two 1000-yard receiving seasons).
The only other rookie first-round QB was the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger
(11th overall pick in 2004), who had RBs Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis, along with WRs Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress.
There were three instances of it happening with rookie QBs selected outside
the first round. In 2001, Dallas’ Quincy Carter (second-round pick) had RB
Emmitt Smith, and WRs Joey Galloway and Raghib Ismail. In 2005, St. Louis’
Ryan Fitzpatrick (seventh rounder) had RB Marshall Faulk, and WRs Isaac
Bruce and Torry Holt. And in 2016, Dallas’ Dak Prescott (fourth rounder) had RBs Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris, along with TE Jason Witten and WR Dez Bryant.
Burrow looks to buck first-pick trends: Prior to this
season, 23 of the 24 QBs selected No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era went on to start at least one game as a rookie. The only exception, ironically, was
Cincinnati’s No. 1 overall pick in 2003, QB Carson Palmer.
Those 24 QBs finished their rookie seasons a combined 83-171-1 as
starters, good for a .327 win percentage, or about a 5-11 rate for a full season. Burrow has started every Bengals game so far this season, and is 2-6-1.
The record for most wins by a rookie QB selected No. 1 overall is 11, by
Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck in 2012.
Last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Arizona QB Kyler Murray, went 5-10-1 as a
rookie starter. The year before, Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield went 6-7.
Bengals rookie QBs as starters: Joe Burrow this season has
become just the 14th rookie QB to start a game for the Bengals. Only two of the previous 13, though, have started more than four games — Greg Cook in 1969 (4-6-1 record) and Andy Dalton in 2011 (9-7 record). Dalton in 2011 earned a Pro Bowl nomination and famously led the Bengals to a Wild Card Playoff berth,
despite the team being widely predicted before that season to be among the
worst in the NFL.
Other Bengal QBs of note to start as rookies include Ken Anderson in 1971
(0-4) and Boomer Esiason in ’84 (3-1). Burrow’s fellow No. 1 overall pick, Carson Palmer, did not take over the starting role until his second season.
Burrow has started every game so far this season, and is 2-6-1.
COURTESY BENGALS MEDIA RELATIONS
