Burrow knows comparisons are being made between him and Brady ahead of Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay. Not surprisingly, he brushes off the hype — just like two weeks ago ahead of a matchup with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It’s our 14th game of the season,” Burrow said, when asked why he considers this just another game. “You know, obviously, the greatest quarterback ever is on the other side, but we got a job to do too and our job is to go and win, get to 10-4 and move on.”
Despite an almost 20-year age gap, the parallels between the 45-year-old Brady and 26-year-old Burrow have a lot to do with football IQ and ability to read the field — aspects of Brady’s career, along with his discipline in taking care of his body, that Burrow said he admires. Burrow said every memory he has of the NFL growing up involved Brady, who came into the league as the Patriots’ sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan in 2000 when Burrow was 4 years old.
Burrow said he doesn’t pay much attention to the comparisons between him and Brady because “he’s Tom, and I’m Joe.”
“I really just think that I play the game my own way,” Burrow said when asked why he doesn’t like being compared to other quarterbacks. “I kind of have a little bit of everybody. I wouldn’t say there’s one thing I do the best, but I would say that I do everything with the best of them. I wouldn’t say I really have a glaring weakness and so I like to be my own player, my own person.”
Burrow is one of the three quarterbacks to reach 10,000 passing yards in the fewest games, and after a Comeback Player of the Year campaign last season, he has Cincinnati playing at a high level again in 2022. The Bengals offense remains among the best in the league, scoring 25.8 points per game while averaging 371.7 net yards and 268.1 passing yards. They rank fourth in touchdown percentage in red-zone chances, scoring on 30 of 45 trips.
Burrow, of course, is focused on progress over the last four weeks of the season, and the Bucs are the next challenge.
“I just think there’s another level we can find,” Burrow said.
The Bengals beat the Browns on Sunday without Tee Higgins (hamstring), Tyler Boyd (dislocated finger) and Hayden Hurst (calf), but Higgins and Boyd both practiced Wednesday and remain “day-to-day.” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Hurst remains doubtful.
Tampa Bay has suffered several injuries on defense this season, including losing linebackers Shaquil Barrett (Achilles) and Cam Gill (foot) to the injured reserve list. However, the Bucs remain among the top 10 in the league in scoring defense, net defense and passing defense, while allowing 19.5 points per game, 320.7 net yards per game and 195.3 passing yards per game.
Callahan said the Bengals are mindful of Tampa Bay’s passing game — even with Brady only throwing 17 touchdowns — and the importance of an aggressive approach early.
“We’re always aware of what’s across from us on the other side because that’s the name of the game,” Callahan said. “Complementary football. You have to be able to play together knowing the style of game it’s going to be, knowing what they are capable of doing on offense, where you can help that part of it.”
The Bucs’ secondary also is banged up with safeties Antoine Winfield and Mike Edwards and cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting all dealing with ailments.
If the Bengals can take advantage of that with a certain matchup that looks promising, “that’s great,” Callahan said, but Tampa Bay has a “Super Bowl defense” when fully healthy. That starts down the spine of the defense with linebackers Devin White and Lavonte David and nose tackle Vita Vea, who suffered a calf injury Sunday in a loss to the 49ers.
“In the middle of their defense, they’re still really, really good, and whether Vita makes the game or not, you just plan on him playing until he doesn’t,” Callahan said. “But that middle of their defense is really impressive. … And so, they’ve had some things not go their way with injuries, I’ve got a ton of respect for what they do and how they do it. They’ve still got plenty of good players that have stepped up in the last couple of weeks, just like we’ve had. It’s a good defense.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Buccaneers, 4:25 p.m., Ch. 7, 12; 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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