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Film Breakdown: Analyzing Joe Burrow's Return and What Made His Performance Special in Bengals' Win Over Ravens

Joe Burrow was not afforded much time to be rusty, and he's back to form just in time to push for an improbable season salvation.
Max Toscano|
Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) reacts against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) reacts against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

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Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow's return, if possible, was never going to be optional. It's not optional for him, it's not optional for the franchise, and it's not optional for the game. When you're a pro athlete, there's no such thing as a "meaningless" game.

Sure, if you have everything clinched, the game becomes "meaningless," but that meaninglessness only exists because of the meaning of the games that immediately follow. Joe Flacco has said it all year; you only get so many opportunities to suit up and play professional football. As it turns out, there's also a reminder in there about why you never quit.

The Bengals are back in contention for this division, and with Burrow in pads, they're probably the best of the three teams in that conversation despite the head start of their opponents. With the assistance of some turnovers and a truly dreadful Lamar Jackson performance, of which there have been many this season, the Bengals wrecked Baltimore in their stadium.

Burrow wasn't fully himself, as nobody would be (Burrow in particular rusts like an old bike in absence due to the precise nature of his game), but he showed why he is so valuable and unique among the NFL's elite QBs (excluding Mahomes, who has mastered the following even more). Unlike Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, he can and will move the football ugly through the air.

Those guys can go out and throw eight scoreless with 15 strikeouts too, but they don't have the same 6-inning, 2-earned, 5k grindball outing you often need when operating with few openings. Baltimore made it difficult in coverage, and despite some success on the ground, the Bengals weren't gashing them or anything, and they certainly couldn't sit back and lean on it.

Burrow was asked to be Burrow, as he always is. Sometimes that means dicing a team for 400 yards and four touchdowns, but often it means squeezing blood from a stone, taking care of the football, and grinding out offense with 50 difficult dropbacks. It means laboring for six yards per attempt, a touchdown or two. It means no bad turnovers, no bad sacks on first or second down, and stringing together singles. The Bengals (and Chiefs) cannot rely on the run game to save them, and they certainly can't gash teams with it enough to force them to turn their numbers away from their passing games like Baltimore (and Buffalo) can. The stat sheet and data charts hate these kinds of games, but the W/L column loves them. They require elite operation and adaptability, both at the line of scrimmage and after the snap. Burrow delivered, even if it was imperfect early on.

Let's take a look at the film:

Knocking off the Rust

Obviously, there was going to be a lack of crispness. Burrow's accuracy early on was touch-and-go, as it often is after an absence, as was the timing. His game is built around weaving balls around defenders into closing windows consistently, which is why he struggles (relatively) after time off in a more pronounced way. It takes a few reps for his head and body to speed fully back up, which is also why he is so much quicker to check the ball down when he's not playing his best (unlike other QBs).

Tom Brady and company were like this as well, though as they got more experience, the impact of time off lessened. The second clip, in particular, is where you see Burrow be the elite version of himself from a procedural perspective, just a hair too slow. He comes off the frontside slant/flat later than he normally would, as he initially misses the WLB going into the flat and has to react to it instead of being able to assume it and skip that option. He does a good job catching the S shallow and knows that Mike Gesicki is 1v1 to the backline.

He reads the defender's leverage correctly with his back turned and hips pointed a bit outward, smartly putting the ball up and in. It's all just too late, and the little gather before the throw fully killed it. Even with the slight delay frontside, he has this if he throws when he hits his base after flipping the eyes instead of hitching again into the throw. Fine margins!

Moving Around

The concerns about Burrow's mobility with a plate in his shoe ended up fairly overstated. He looked fine navigating tight spaces (which is 80% processing and feel anyway), and created a little out of structure. The above was a highlight-reel type of play that football Twitter would drool over if not for the PI. The anticipation of the soft areas, early movement, and short-area maneuverability that make Burrow a great pocket manager showed up, plate or not.

Meat and Potatoes

As always, Burrow made his money doing the hardest, most sustainable things from the pocket. Windows like this are constantly left on the field by QBs in the modern game, even other elite ones like Jackson and Allen. Arms are as strong as ever, but it's really about how early you see the opening and how quickly you can tie it into a throw. Nobody in the league is more aggressive with flashing windows like this while simultaneously almost never putting the ball in harm's way in the process. Burrow is reading the opening of the Mike (0) here, and when he stays pat, creates a narrow window for the slant to Chase.

Once he doubles back on it, most QBs will not have registered the opening in time, so they'd work off that down to Fant over the ball, but that takes more time and is a less good option. Ja'Marr Chase's own spidey-senses kick in with him coming back to the ball so he can make Roquan Smith miss before even catching it. These two are elite in ways fans simply don't even understand.

Pre-snap, Baltimore could be running anything, but they spin to Cover-6 (quarter-quarter-half), which means the nickel is going to be there to cut the out-breaker from 3 (Gesicki). Pre-snap I think Burrow was looking at man coverage with the SS aligned over Gesicki, the CBs near the LOS, and the MLB mugged up, but he picks up the disguise, sees the nickel in the window, works backside, feels the pocket in front of him, and anticipates the soft spot, works into it, and gets the ball checked down. It gains no yards, but for most QBs this is either a blind INT or a panic sack when it all speeds up out of control with the primary taken unexpectedly.

And this was just vintage Burrow. The Ravens show 2-man and switch it up with a 1-robber (man across the board with one S free deep middle and the other coming down to free play the low middle). Burrow works from 1 in the progression (Chase) to 2 (Iosivas), and with the S working inside and the nickel running with the slot, the window for the dig backside opens, so he works to 3. Stand and deliver. Elite. Welcome back to the *real* Joe...You have a division to win.

Published
Max Toscano
MAX TOSCANO

Max Toscano breaks down football strategy. Prior to joining Bengals On SI, he interned with the coaching staff at the University of Connecticut, assisting the defensive staff in opponent scouting as well as assisting the Head Coach and GM with analytics on gameday. Max's areas of specific expertise include Quarterbacks and Tight Ends, including also hosting a publication dedicated to the tight end position. He also writes for "And The Valley Shook" on SB Nation.

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