F or the first time ever we have a Super Bowl #1 pick of the draft off at quarterback with Joe Burrow vs Matt Stafford. Burrow makes the Super Bowl in just his second season while Stafford brakes through in year 13 after spending his first 12 years with the Lions. I’m not sure which one is more impressive.

Seriously though, the fact that Joe Burrow made a Super Bowl in his second year as a #1 overall draft pick is impressive due to the fact that any #1 overall pick is naturally going to a complete shit show of a team. And no #1 overall quarterback has gotten to a Super Bowl as a starter quicker than Burrow:

The Bengals were so bad the year before drafting Burrow, they beat out the fabled 2019 Miami Lolphins for the #1 pick after winning just two games. Two years later: they won 10 games. Only ten other two-win teams won 10+ games two years afterwards since the 1970 merger. This includes Joe Montana’s 49ers who went from 2-14 his rookie year on the bench to 13-3 in his first full season as starter in 1981. Crazy enough, Joe Burrow’s Super Bowl counterpart Matt Stafford also makes this short list. Drafted #1 overall following the Lions 0-16 season, the Lions went 2-14 his 2009 rookie year and he somehow brought the Lions to the playoffs…

… with a 10-6 record by 2011. Taking any Lions team to the playoffs is Nobel Prize winning territory but the knock on Stafford has always been the interceptions. He tied Trevor Lawrence with the most picks (17) in 2021 and led the league with pick-sixes in each of the last two years. But Burrow wasn’t exactly conservative either this year either throwing 14 picks (tied 6th most) on the season and two pick-sixes (tied 4th most). But this shouldn’t really indicate bad play. Look at all QBs with at least two pick-sixes in the regular season this year:

Let’s play a game: which one of these QBs doesn’t belong? Hint: He’s the one that requires turtleneck dress shirts. Literally every QB who threw two or more pick sixes this year made the playoffs except Mike Glennon. This isn’t to say throwing a pick-six is good in of itself, but maybe, just maybe, it indicates the confidence and gunslinger mentality that a QB needs to have to be one of the best. Mike Glennon is just a random outlier. I think this is a sound, valid theory.

Counterpoint:

OK, perhaps talent is still a thing too. Whatever. Joe Burrow and Matt Stafford are natural gunslingers with plenty of talent. Both topped the league in 30-yard completions in 2021: Stafford with 28. Burrow with 27. For perspective, Peyton Manning (2013) and Patrick Mahomes (2018) led all QBs since 1999 with 33. In his first season with the Rams, Stafford holds the franchise record in touchdowns (tie with Kurt Warner), completions and yards. Burrow holds the Bengals record for yards, touchdowns and passer rating. Safe to say both QBs facing off next week are bona fide talented gunslingers.

So who has the edge here? So far, I’m calling it a wash. But the following stat is what I think sets them apart. Burrow’s 52 regular season sacks is 16th most since my data goes back (1999). Only five other QBs in the top-30 sacked QBs listed below (Watson, Prescott, Cutler, Rodgers, Wilson) made the playoffs after enduring a season of beatdowns. Joe Burrow is the only one to make it to the Super Bowl:

Side note: David Carr never had a ice cream cone’s chance in hell of surviving in the NFL. He could have been Tom Brady for all we know. He makes the top-30 most sacked season three times including the top two. Just brutal.

Here’s the thing that really makes Joe Burrow stand out though. Some say sacks are a QB stat. But these some people have never watched a Bengals game. Burrow averaged 2.69 seconds per throw in 2021 which is 8th quickest out of 33 QBs with at least 200 attempts. Who needs offensive lineman anyway?

Shout out Ben Roethlisberger who holds the third quickest release time per throw since they began recording it in 2016. He also holds the #1 quickest release at 2.30 seconds in 2020. Definitely a relateable stat. Pour one out for second-read Pittsburgh Steeler route runners.

Bottom line is this: Joe Cool Burrow is a legend in the making. Bet against this guy at your own peril. Down 18 on the road in the second half against Pat Mahomes in his prime? No problem. Face a QB in the Super Bowl who was 12 years worth of PTSD inducing trauma?

Bengals by a Billion.