"Kind of in no man's land" - NFL analyst believes Joe Burrow's Bengals will have most to prove despite Super Bowl run 

Joe Burrow's rise to superstardom in the 2021-22 NFL season was nothing short of remarkable. In just his second season off a torn ACL, he led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl. The question that's been asked about the Bengals since they lost in the big game is whether or not they can return the following year.

NFL analyst Shaun O'Hara believes Joe Burrow faces more pressure than any AFC quarterback due to his recent success. On Monday's Good Morning Football, O'Hara explained why Burrow is under pressure to repeat last season's success. He said:

“I’m gonna go with another young gun in the AFC; I'm gonna go [with] Joe Burrow here. You made it to the Super Bowl. And one of the hardest things to do is to get to a Super Bowl. Do you know what’s even harder? [It] is getting back there next year. But yet everybody remembers that you were the Super Bowl representative for the AFC. So now for Joe Burrow, it’s just his second year accomplishing that, comes into your three, all right. How do we get back to that game? Now for them, if they don't make the Super Bowl this year? ...It's like ‘Oh man, what happened?’ ...We're disappointed."

O'Hara elaborated his take by addressing the Bengals' most troublesome weakness that cost them last season: their offensive line. The Bengals overhauled their offensive line in free agency, which O'Hara acknowledged:

"So I think the expectations right now on Joe Burrow and that guy Ja’Marr Chase is... how do you guys follow that season? How can you guys do better? Well, guess what? The story after the Super Bowl was... man, if the Bengals had a better offensive line, they would’ve won. Well, now you upgrade the offensive line, you’re probably going to draft another guy this year. So now you're gonna be a better team next year."

With a better offensive line across the board, Burrow will theoretically be much better protected. However, O'Hara notes that the offensive line won't be a scapegoat if the Bengals disappoint in the 2022-23 season due to the better personnel. O'Hara concluded by saying:

"Well, if you aren’t in the dance, guess who they're blaming? They're gonna blame the quarterback, they're gonna blame the coach. They're not gonna blame the offensive line if they fixed that problem. So I think for Joe Burrow and then the Bengals, they're kind of in no-man’s-land here. The last time they won the Division was 2015 or 16 I think. The next year, they went 6-10, and they've kind of fallen off ever since. So it's ‘all right, you won the division. You represented in the Super Bowl. Now you got to back it up.’ Now everybody's gunning for you. Joe Burrow, I think he’ll be able to handle it.”

Joe Burrow must prove last season wasn't a fluke

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow

Burrow gained a lot of respect and admiration from fans and analysts last season for his confidence, swagger, and on-field talent. Nobody expected him and Ja'Marr Chase to be the AFC representatives against the Los Angeles Rams. That made Burrow's successful season even more astonishing.

However, with a few exceptions, making it to the Super Bowl in consecutive years is rare. Due to the AFC receiving a massive influx of talent throughout the offseason, doubts have already crept into mind regarding the Bengals' odds of returning to the big game.

Burrow isn't one to be shaken by doubters. His career has seen him win on the biggest stages in college and the pros. If anyone can shake off the naysayers and lead their team back to the Super Bowl, it's Burrow.