Joe Burrow leading Bengals back into playoffs contention with win over Seahawks leaves NFL fans surprised - “Got the Brady devil magic”

Joe Burrow has struggled to live up to his $275 million contract extension since he became the NFL's highest-paid player entering the 2023 season. In the first four games, he and his Cincinnati Bengals struggled, going a measly 1-3.

But since then, he has been slowly working his way back to elite form, spearheading consecutive wins against NFC West teams. On Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, Burrow threw for two touchdowns against an interception as the Bengals win 17-13.

This return to .500 has had fans comparing him to Tom Brady in terms of steeliness:

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Joe Burrow's lackluster performance in win vs. Seahawks, explained

Joe Burrow's tribulations continued against the Seattle Seahawks, as he had just 185 passing yards, his fewest ever at home. In addition, he once again had a game of two halves.

In the first 30 minutes, he was dominant, completing 18 of 22 attempts - 15 of them consecutively - and finding the endzone twice. But after that he regressed to 6 of 13 and an interception.

After the game, Burrow said of the anemic offensive effort:

"Not where we want to be. We've had moments, but we just got to put it all together. So we'll evaluate this week and go from there.

"A win's a win. Like I said, I'll never apologize for a win. But win or loss, there's always room to improve."

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Defense helps Bengals against Seahawks amidst Joe Burrow's lackluster performance

But if there was one thing that helped the Cincinnati Bengals, it was the defense, which had four sacks and two interceptions on Geno Smith. In fact, the Seahawks' only touchdown was a rush by Kenneth Walker.

Head coach Zac Taylor praised the defensive effort his team showed despite their offensive struggles:

“It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty. That’s the first thing that hit me when I walked off the field. At times it felt ugly, especially on offense, but again our defense stepped up and made some big plays for us that allowed us to get out of there.”

Next up for the Bengals is their bye week. They then conclude their run of four NFC West opponents in five games against the San Francisco 49ers on October 29.