The confidence and swagger of Joe Burrow knows no bounds.
Fresh off Sunday's 27-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, a cigar-toting Burrow was seen celebrating with his Bengals teammates after their regular-season finale. It's a scene not too unfamiliar for the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, who brought LSU a National Championship before becoming the Bengals No. 1 overall pick in 2020 and leading them to Super Bowl LVI.
As the reigning AFC champions entering the 2022 playoffs, the Bengals quarterback furthered that self-assurance when asked about the importance of taking advantage of the Bengals' window to win a Super Bowl.
"The window's my whole career," Burrow told reporters on Sunday. "And everybody we have in that locker room, all the coaches we have, things are gonna change year to year, but our window is always open."
For as much confidence as Burrow exudes year in and year out, the 26-year-old will give a sensible assessment of his performance on a weekly basis. Completing 25 of 42 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, Burrow wasn't particularly thrilled with his afternoon but saw the bigger picture of getting a win in order to rightfully celebrate.
"If we didn't win this one, I guess technically we would've won the division, but it wouldn't have felt like it," said Burrow, whose 35 TDs on the season set a new franchise record. "So, it's good to get this one. Gonna have to play better next week to get the win."
Sunday's victory brought the Bengals to the 12-win mark for just the fourth time in the franchise's history. On two of those occasions in 1981 and 1988, Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl.
Of course, the Bengals have yet to win a Super Bowl in three total tries. Cincinnati has also yet to win postseason games in back-to-back seasons, but for a team that just won consecutive division titles for the first time, locker room celebrations are quickly becoming familiar scenes by virtue of the Bengals' star QB.
"That's our standard now," Burrow said. "We're going to celebrate it every single time we do it. We're going to smoke our cigars, wear our T-shirts and hats. We expect that every year."
Winners of eight straight, the Bengals are set to host the Ravens in an immediate rematch during Super Wild Card Weekend.
