Four straight wins, 16 touchdown passes and a Tom Brady comparison: Joe Burrow has Cincinnati rolling and the MVP race tilting his way.
Joe Burrow is playing like a man with a trophy in his sights. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has powered his team to four consecutive wins, and the numbers he is posting have put him in rare company as the MVP conversation heats up.
Cincinnati now sits at 6-2 after a 34-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. It is a long way from the recent lean years. Between 2023 and 2025, injuries to Burrow, a shaky offensive line and one of the league's weakest defenses left the Bengals with a combined 24-27 regular-season record and no playoff appearances. That slump followed back-to-back heartbreaks, a three-point loss to the Rams in Super Bowl LVI and a 23-20 defeat to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
The form of the past month has been historic. Burrow has thrown 16 touchdown passes over four weeks, the most in any four-game stretch in Bengals history, a record book that stretches back to 1968. He is also only the second quarterback in pro football history to throw for 16 or more touchdowns and run for two or more in a four-game span. The other is Tom Brady, who did it in 2007 while leading a New England Patriots offense that averaged 36.8 points per game.
Part of the story is protection. Burrow has faced pressure on just 30.2% of his dropbacks this season, down from 33.8% in 2025 and 34.2% in 2024. A cleaner pocket has given him time to pick defenses apart, and he has taken full advantage.
If the Bengals keep winning and Burrow keeps producing at this level, the MVP award looks like his to lose.
