Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth as the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-17 on Sunday at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
Burrow completed all but five of his passes and finished with 271 yards through the air. Over his last four games, he has accounted for 18 touchdowns, thrown for 1,215 yards and posted a combined passer rating of 132.0.
After the game, a Madrid reporter asked Burrow for a message to the Spanish audience in Spanish. He couldn’t deliver one. “I don’t have anything for you,” he said, visibly embarrassed. In English, he had plenty to say instead: “I loved putting on a show for the people of Spain and was happy to be here.”
Burrow credited his chemistry with receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for the hot stretch. “We’ve just played together for so long now,” he said. “We’re coming up on 10 years playing together. So, you know, when you do that, you develop that connection mentally that nothing needs to be said.”
At his current eight-game pace, Burrow’s production would project to MVP-caliber numbers over a full 17-game season. The Bengals still face difficult matchups ahead against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and likely the Carolina Panthers. Cincinnati’s offense has also been hit by injuries to its quarterback in two of the past three seasons, a history that looms over any MVP discussion.
Burrow wasn’t satisfied despite the lopsided win. “We didn’t score on every single possession,” he said. “So, there’s plenty to improve on.”
