“Joe Burrow wasted a great season” - Ex-NFL WR blames $275,000,000 QB for failing to lead Bengals in 3 games

Former NFL wide receiver James Jones says some blame has to go on Joe Burrow for the Cincinnati Bengals' disappointing year. The Bengals are on the outside looking in for the playoffs heading into Week 18.

Although Burrow is playing as well as anyone, the Bengals need to win in Week 18 and need the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins to lose to make the playoffs.

With that, Jones thinks blame should go to Burrow for how he started the season, losing to the New England Patriots which resulted in Cincinnati likely missing the playoffs.

“Joe Burrow wasted a great season," Jones said. "The main reason why I say that is because I’m never gonna lose the sight of the fact of why Joe Burrow is so great. I’m always going to go off of winning for Joe Burrow. He’s an extremely talented quarterback but he came in this league as the number one pick. That means he came to the worst team in the National Football League and he took them to the Super Bowl a year later.

“Joe Burrow is a winner. This year he has had a phenomenal season. Nobody is denying that. But three games this year he lost the game for them by not making a play. He lost the Kansas City game. The first game of the season against the Patriots. You could say both Ravens games," Jones added.

In Week 1, the Bengals were stunned by the Patriots. Burrow went 21-for-29 for 164 yards and didn't throw a touchdown pass. It was a stunning result and that game could be the difference in Cincinnati making the playoffs or not.

However, outside of that game, Burrow has been dominant but it's the Bengals' defense that has been an issue as Cincinnati has scored 25+ points in six of its eight losses.

Burrow is in the second year of his five-year $275,000,000 deal.

Joe Burrow's Bengals focused on winning Week 18

Cincinnati is in a must-win spot and will go on the road to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18.

The Bengals won't know their playoff future until Sunday afternoon should they win on Saturday. Although Cincinnati is in a standalone game, Bengals coach Zac Taylor says they are just focused on their own game anyway.

"I don't think that's the worst thing. There's no distractions there," Taylor said, via A to Z Sports. "We're all human, and so I understand the things that could happen if they were all at the same time. And so I do think that's probably a positive for us that we're just going to play by ourselves and focus on Pittsburgh, and that's all we can do."

The Bengals are 2-point favorites to defeat Pittsburgh on Saturday.