Bengals QB Joe Burrow Impressed with Giants Defense

Burrow showered praise on Giants defense after 17-7 win in primetime.

The Giants sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) in East Rutherford during the first quarter, Sunday, October 13, 2024. / Kevin Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New York Giants came out on the short end of the stick in their game against the Cincinnati Bengals, losing 17-7, which wasn’t that impressive by primetime standards.

But as far as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was concerned, the Giants defense absolutely was ready for primetime.

“Yeah, they lead the league in sacks (26),” Burrow said after the game when asked how hard the Giants defense was to deal with. 

“They’re the real deal, and they didn’t have one of their guys (outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux) today. They’ve got good players. They made it tough on us, and their secondary was sticking coverage all day. It’s a good defense.

Although Burrow and the Bengals emerged with the win, the Bengals signal caller admitted that the Giants' defensive game plan, as orchestrated by defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and executed by the players, tinkered with his own play-making ability in the passing game.

“I felt like I let the pressure get to me a little bit,” Burrow admitted. “I was able to settle down there in the second half and find a rhythm, but in the first half, I didn’t feel like I was in rhythm at all.”

To Burrow’s point, he was under pressure on 40% of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, with the Giants blitzing on 17.1% of those pressure packages. Burrow, on 14 dropbacks on which he was under pressure, completed three of nine pass attempts for 45 yards and no scores and was sacked four times as a result of the Giant's pressure packages.

At the half, Burrow was 9 of 15 for 87 yards and had absorbed three of the four sacks against him.

“I was feeling like I was getting happy feet in the pocket. It just didn’t feel like anything was going the right way,” he said. 

This season, the Giants have blitzed opposing quarterbacks 24.6% of the time, 11th in the NFL, and their blitz success rate is 21%. 

The Giants have also converted 55.3% of their total pressures (47) into sacks (26) and are ranked fourth per ESPN’s team pass-rush win rate, with outside linebacker Brian Burns ranked fifth among individual players with a 28% PRWR off the edge. 

“They did a good job up front,’’ Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said of the Giants. “They bring pressure. They can win some one-on-ones. They’ve really invested in that front, and it shows. They did a good job on the back, just mixing it up.’’ 

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