Burrow was carted off with a left knee injury suffered when he got caught between two pass rushers after releasing an incomplete pass on third-and-two early in the third quarter. Defensive end Montez Sweat came at him from the right side and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen fell back on him from the left while being blocked by Michael Jordan, and Burrow’s leg bent awkwardly. He tweeted after the game “see ya next year,” and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the initial diagnosis is a torn ACL with possible other damage.
“It was tough, but that’s no excuse,” Green said after the game. “We are all NFL players so we have to rally behind Ryan, but it was tough you see a guy like Joe and you see the energy he brings to our team, to our offense. We’ve just got to go rally around Ryan and we’ll be ready next week.”
The Bengals were leading 9-7 at the time of the injury, thanks to Green’s first touchdown catch since 2018 and a Randy Bullock 53-yard field goal, after the ninth-year kicker had missed the PAT and hit the upright on a 34-yard field goal attempt the first drive of the game. Bullock also hit the upright on a 58-yard try at the end of the first half after Jessie Bates intercepted Alex Smith to give the offense the ball back for one last drive.
After Burrow’s injury, the Bengals punted and Smith – who was starting his second game since his own horrific leg injury that nearly ended his career two years ago -- led the Washington offense down the field for the go-ahead score on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Steven Sims Jr with 9:04 left in the third quarter.
Finley came on for his first meaningful action since replacing Andy Dalton for three games in 2019, and Cincinnati went three-and-out his first series. He finished the game completing just 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards while taking four sacks and throwing a late interception. Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins tacked on a pair of field goals to seal the game.
“I think guys were a little shook, to be honest,” Finley said. “But we gotta roll. We have the Giants next week.”
Burrow completed 22 of 34 passes for 203 yards and wasn’t sacked, but even his touchdown to Green came while he was being taken to the ground – a common occurrence this season. His 72 hits through nine games was a league-high, and the Bengals’ 32 sacks allowed ranked second most in the league.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said it’s tough losing Burrow but he continued to defend the offensive line, though, even after seeing a collapsing pocket lead to his franchise quarterback’s gruesome injury, a hit even CBS wouldn’t replay. Asked if he felt like he was rolling the dice with Burrow, Taylor said he never felt like that was the case. Burrow was playing behind a patchwork line that has seen 11 different starters and several position changes this season.
“It’s hard for me because all we can do is make progress as the season goes,” Taylor said when asked if there is more he could have done to protect Burrow. “We gave up a lot of pressure early in the season, and these last couple weeks, our guys have done a great job of keeping people off Joe. He’s had a great pocket. He did not have a sack in the first half, and the hit as I saw it wasn’t when he had the ball in his hand. So, people keep talking about the offensive line without seemingly watching the film from the last four weeks. It’s been a revolving door of players and those guys have done a great job.”
Defensive end Carl Lawson said the team was a bit deflated after losing Burrow. The entire team circled around him as he was getting helped onto the cart.
“He’s the heart and soul of this team,” Lawson said. “The morale was bad, but it’s not really an excuse. Especially when you’re in the heat of battle, if you’re wounded your partner does not care.”
Smith, who also plays behind an offensive line that gives up a lot of sacks, collected his first win in his second start, completing 17 of 25 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
The Bengals, who have yet to win a road game under second-year coach Taylor, are home next week against the New York Giants.
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