Joe Burrow has 1 career comeback win when trailing with 8 minutes left, but that doesn’t tell the whole story

Posted by Admin October 1, 2026 NFL

There’s no question that Joe Burrow is among the top-ranked quarterbacks in the league. He’s totally transformed the entire Cincinnati Bengals franchise, brought them back to a Super Bowl, and will hopefully lead them back to the postseason in 2026.

If he were going to have a major flaw, it’s likely his durability, as he’s struggled to stay healthy throughout his career so far.

Still, it’s surprising to learn that Burrow has come back to win a game just one time (out of 35 attempts) when the Bengals were trailing their opponent with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

This isn’t exactly his fault, of course. Think how many times over the past few years Burrow, along with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and others, put on an offensive clinic, scoring 30 or more points, just to watch the opposing offense score even more. How many times has he been sacked or pressured during a key moment?

Throughout his career, when the Bengals are trailing in the final five minutes of a game, Burrow has thrown a touchdown on 10.3% of his pass attempts. That’s roughly one touchdown every 10 passes, and it’s the highest touchdown rate for any NFL quarterback in that situation since at least 2000, among quarterbacks with a minimum of 30 attempts, according to Warren Sharp.

So, while the Bengals may not have won many games when trailing late in the fourth quarter, it’s pretty difficult to pin that on Burrow. When he’s been given the opportunity to make something happen late, he’s been remarkably good at doing exactly that.

Sunday’s game against the Steelers was another example. Burrow completed 28/37 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t turn the ball over until the final drive and did everything he could to make sure the Bengals would go 3-0.

Special teams had different ideas, though. The punt return team gave Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers a fresh set of downs after Cedric Johnson was called for a very obvious roughing-the-kicker penalty. That turned into seven points.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Ke’Shawn Williams muffed a punt, which was recovered by the Steelers in the red zone. That fumble turned into three points.

Could Burrow have played better? Sure—he wasn’t perfect—but it’s hard to win when special teams’ mistakes turn into 10 points. Winning on the road, especially in a division game, is hard. Spotting a team 10 points isn’t how you get it done.