Joe Burrow just suffered the first shutout of his career when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24-0 on Sunday. In the process, the Bengals are now officially out of the playoff race for the third straight year. Naturally, the result sparked questions about whether quarterback Burrow still trusts the front office and coaching staff who built this roster. When asked about the same in the postgame scrum, he didn’t hesitate.

“A lot of confidence,” Burrow said. “Because I know how hard people work at it. We got the right people. Starts with players playing better, and today it was me. This is a team effort. At the end of the day, players got to play better on the field. Today was me. I got to be better.”

The Bengals’ loss on Sunday pushed analysts to wonder whether changes are needed. And when you look at the numbers, it’s not hard to see where the biggest fixes are needed. The Bengals currently rank dead last in the NFL in three major defensive categories. We’re talking about points allowed per game (31.2), total yards allowed (403.8), and run defense (157.9).

That alone makes a defensive overhaul feel inevitable. Cincinnati is clearly heading toward a roster retooling this offseason, especially on that side of the ball. But despite all of that, Burrow’s public backing of Zac Taylor, the coaching staff, and the front office sends a clear message: the Bengals are planning to move forward with the same leadership and focus their changes on personnel, not the people in charge.

Burrow’s comments were especially notable given the context of what he had said just days earlier during his much-discussed Wednesday press conference. In that session, the Bengals signal-caller explained that enjoying the game is essential for him to keep going. The quarterback openly reflected on the physical and mental toll football has taken and why playing without joy wouldn’t make sense after everything he’s been through.

However, once those comments went public, speculation took off, with some wondering if Burrow was trying to distance himself from Cincinnati. But the 29-year-old shut that down quickly.

“My comments had nothing to do with Cincinnati. My comments had everything to do with me and my mindset in football.”

He also made it clear that the noise from Wednesday had nothing to do with how Sunday played out. Against Baltimore, Burrow finished 25-of-39 for 225 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, including a pick-six, and took a costly 15-yard sack on third down early. It was a rough outing, but not one he tied to the off-field chatter, and especially not the one that stumbled his confidence in his team.

That said, Burrow has now missed the playoffs in each season since the Bengals’ AFC Championship run in 2022.

Joe Burrow joins the Chiefs and the Vikings in an unwanted fate

Joe Burrow and the Bengals officially joined the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings, who were shut down by the Ravens, on the list of teams eliminated from the playoff race. The early exit stings even more when you consider Cincinnati opened the season 2–0 for the first time under Zac Taylor. That contrast explains why the head coach sounded visibly frustrated after the loss, especially with three games still left on the schedule.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. This is a team that I thought was a talented team that was going to have a chance to do big things this year,” Taylor said when asked about the team’s elimination.

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The reason behind the Bengals’ elimination isn’t hard to trace. Injuries, inconsistency, and costly mistakes in key moments slowly knocked Cincinnati off course, with Burrow’s injury earlier in the season playing a massive role. The Bengals opened 2–0, but once Burrow went down, everything unraveled.

Cincinnati went 1–8 during that stretch, even after trading for Joe Flacco in hopes of stabilizing things. Now, with three games still left on the schedule but little left at stake, the focus shifts forward. For the Bengals, it’s about getting through the season and laying the groundwork for a much-needed offseason rebuild.