Joe Burrow on Cincinnati Bengals' Win Over Tennessee Titans

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

00:00Obviously, you're happy with the win, but can you just explain kind of the rollercoaster

00:07of the game that was for you guys as a team?

00:09We had too many self-inflicted wounds. I had too many turnovers. We had too many penalties,

00:15but defense stepped up, had some big turnovers for us, and we got a good win.

00:19Have you ever been a part of a game like that? I think there were 26 penalties and turnovers

00:25between the two teams.

00:27It's tough to say if I ever have. I'm not sure. It was obviously a sloppy one.

00:34The first touchdown to Chase Brown, I think you had to think for 10 seconds.

00:39What's going through your mind there? Is that things breaking down?

00:43Just trying to make a play, make guys miss. Chase does a great job in those situations

00:48of getting open, understanding when's the right time to start moving.

00:54That was a great play by him.

00:56How long have you been talking to Sam about the possibility of throwing him a touchdown pass?

01:00How'd that bubble up for you this week?

01:02We had been putting him in down there all year to hopefully get a good look for it.

01:08That was a great play by him.

01:10What kind of challenge?

01:12He said you guys had been practicing it during the week and he was working on it.

01:16Obviously, it was a harder catch than it probably was in practice.

01:19How would you rate his receiving skills there?

01:22That was great. I'm sure he could have been a tight end if that's what he decided to do.

01:26You didn't hesitate. It looked like you were going-

01:29Yeah, I was going to Sam.

01:31You just wanted him to get it?

01:34That was the play. We had other options, but you're calling it because you want Sam to get a touchdown.

01:40When you guys were at Ohio State and he was playing tight end, you were playing quarterback.

01:43How good of a tight end was he?

01:45That was before I got there. That was his true freshman year and I came in the year after.

01:50I never saw him play that.

01:51You tried the ball down for him. Were you watching for that once he spiked it?

01:54Your first thought was, I've got to go get that ball.

01:56Yeah, I was trying to find it.

01:58That's a big play. That's 3rd and 2. You're down 14-7. That's actually the game's turning point.

02:06Yeah, it was a big play in the game. I had faith in Sam to go make that play.

02:10He's got good hands and it's a play we've talked about.

02:13I think that was a four-down situation. That's why we ended up going with that one.

02:18It felt good.

02:19With Cody Ford down, Joe, how good of a job did Devin do in the rest of the offensive line given that situation?

02:24Yeah, I thought Dev really stepped up big.

02:27He had a couple in the first two drives and then after that he really settled in and I thought he played great.

02:33Joe, on 3rd down in the first half, he was 7 for 8 and two of your touchdown passes were on 3rd down.

02:39Was it something that you guys felt comfortable that they were doing or was it just really good execution?

02:45We just executed well in that half.

02:47I don't know how many times we had the ball in the second half, two or three,

02:52but first half, 3rd down execution was really good.

02:58Speaking of Sam, obviously we don't know what the extent of his knee injury is,

03:02but can you just talk a little bit about what he's meant to you in your football career?

03:07Obviously everybody knows you have really good friends off the field,

03:10but going back to your Ohio State days now, how influential has he been on you?

03:15Yeah, I stayed in Sam's dorm on one of my first visits to Ohio State.

03:20He's been part of my life for a long time.

03:22He's been a great friend and really a guy that you can look up to when you're young

03:29because he does things the right way.

03:31He works really hard. He's about the right things.

03:35When you get into the league, he helps you with your process.

03:38All the off-field stuff that I do, a lot of it I got from Sam.

03:45He's just a pro's pro, has been for a long time, works really hard at it,

03:49plays great when he's in there.

03:51You just can't say enough good things about him.

03:55Touchdown to T. You didn't see it until you were just flat on your back.

04:01I think Dev said he kind of got caught on a stunt or something like that,

04:05but you hung with him. Can you go through that play?

04:08Yeah, we had a post outside and the field safety stepped down,

04:13so I knew I had a good look for T.

04:16The corner was playing outside leverage,

04:18and I knew if I just could hang in there for an extra second,

04:22I was going to have T down the field.

04:25I threw it inside a little bit to keep him away from the corner,

04:29and then he made a great play and showed his toughness

04:32with the safety coming over. It was a great play by him.

04:34How was the view from down there when you looked like you?

04:37I was just hoping it got there. I was just hoping it got there.

04:41The broadcast cameras caught you looking pretty irate

04:44talking to Zach after the last touchdown. What was the issue there?

04:47I was just frustrated in the day that we had on offense.

04:51It was too sloppy. We had too many penalties,

04:54too many procedural penalties. I had too many turnovers.

05:00It was just a frustrating day on offense.

05:03But it's a win, and you guys have been able to string together

05:05a couple wins now and keep those hopes faint as they are alive.

05:09To win in December, that still matters, right?

05:12Absolutely. We're not out of it yet.

05:15We've got to play better than we did today going forward,

05:18but we need a lot of help from across the league,

05:21teams beating teams that need to lose for us to get in.

05:24As long as we keep controlling what we can control and keep winning,

05:27give ourselves a chance.

05:29Is that a meaningful carrot to dangle out in front of yourselves,

05:33the fact that playoffs are still a remote possibility?

05:38I know earlier this week you were saying you weren't thinking about it.

05:42Yeah. It's always in the back of your mind until you're out of it,

05:47but we know the chances are very slim.

05:50What I'm focused on right now is playing as good as we can play,

05:54myself playing up to my standard.

05:57That's why I was so frustrated because I didn't feel like we did that today.

06:00It's a little chaotic in the fourth quarter,

06:02but Chase Brown seemed to kind of settle things down for you.

06:05I mean, what he's done in the last month,

06:07I mean, I think a fourth straight with 100 plus in the scrimmage.

06:10Yeah.

06:11I mean, what's he meant to you?

06:12He's been unbelievable. He really has.

06:15It's exciting to see him come along like that.

06:17He's going to play here for a long time.

06:20He's going to be a great player for us for a long time.

06:22That last drive, O-line came off on the ball.

06:26We ran it really well on that drive.

06:28He ran it really hard.

06:30That was a great way to finish it off.

06:32You spent a decent amount of your time pre-game playing with Brian.

06:35It was good to see him.

06:36Yeah, it was great to see him.

06:37He's meant a lot to me in my career.

06:39Great to see him get that opportunity.

06:42I know he's going to continue to put himself and them

06:46in a great position to go and win.

06:49When he gets that thing going, I have a lot of confidence in him.

06:52A road win in the NFL is nothing to take for granted, back-to-back road wins.

06:56I mean, it's something to hang your hat on.

06:58You've got two at home in a row now.

07:00You can build on it a little bit.

07:01Yeah, it's nice wins, back-to-back.

07:04We haven't felt that feeling a lot this year,

07:08so try not to take it for granted and enjoy them.

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