Why Bengals should still make playoffs if Burrow gets hurt | Williams

Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and comments from his inbox and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com
doomed if Joe Burrow misses games?

Message: Here we go again. Joe Burrow has back issues, and it makes me wonder if he’ll end up having to miss games because of that or another injury. Let’s say Burrow does have to miss a game(s). Do you think the Bengals could still make the playoffs with Joe Flacco and the improved defense?

Answer: Absolutely. With Burrow, the Bengals are a deep-run playoff team, potentially a Super Bowl contender. With Flacco, they’re still a one-and-done playoff team. Bottom line, just get in – and Bengals player personnel director Duke Tobin did a nice job this offseason of making that a top priority.

To be clear, Burrow is expected to play Sunday against Houston after being limited in practice this week with back stiffness.

Meanwhile, re-signing Flacco was understandably overshadowed by all the big offseason acquisitions on defense. But it should be on the list of good moves that Tobin made heading into the 2026 season. Backup quarterback is a critical role on a team that has an injury-riddled starter, and it was nice that the Bengals didn’t cut corners.

Flacco signed a one-year, $6 million contract, putting him in the top third of highest-paid backup quarterbacks this season. He effectively is an insurance policy that allows Bengals to maintain hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

For years, the Bengals had gone cheap on the backup quarterback. Jake Browning entered last season as the backup, making around $1 million.

<

The Bengals went just 1-5 with Flacco as the starter after he was acquired in a trade with Cleveland. But the Bengals should’ve been no worse than 3-3 during that stretch – and probably 4-2 – if not for the woeful defense.

The defense clearly cost the Bengals in disastrous back-to-back home losses to New York Jets by one point and the Chicago Bears by five points.

Flacco, a former Super Bowl MVP, threw for 693 yards and six touchdowns combined in those two games.

Even an average defense would’ve helped the Bengals stay in playoff contention during Burrow’s nine-game absence last season. The Bengals appear to at least have that now after picking up veterans Dexter Lawrence, Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen in the offseason.

That rebuilt defense forced four fumbles, did a good job pressuring the quarterback and showed signs of improved tackling in the Week 1 win over Tampa Bay.

So hopefully, it won’t be doomsday around here if Burrow has to miss games.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Bengals should still make playoffs if Burrow gets hurt | Williams