Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals suffered through a rough all-around 2024 NFL season. There were many close losses that could have changed their season had they found ways to win them. In Week 1 of the 2025 season against the Cleveland Browns, the Bengals found themselves in another close game.

Despite their lack of success in those games last year, Cincinnati started things off this season the right way.

When all was said and done, the Bengals pulled off a close 17-16 win over the Browns. It wasn’t pretty and Cincinnati should have won by a larger margin, but the team found a way to get the job done.

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After missing the playoffs last season, the Bengals are hungry. Burrow is even hungrier.

Following the hard-fought win that included a little bit of luck, Burrow spoke out with a strong and short message about his team.

“We didn’t win any of these games last year,” he said.

Being able to win close games is essential for teams who want to be Super Bowl contenders. Making the playoffs can come down to winning or losing just one game. Burrow knows that and he’s clearly proud of his team for finding a way to win.

Throughout the course of the game against Cleveland, Burrow struggled to get things going. He completed 14 of his 23 pass attempts for 113 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.

Obviously, that isn’t a stat line Cincinnati will want to see very often. The Bengals can’t expect to win too many games with the offense struggling so much.

While there are things that need to be improved quickly, Cincinnati is still 1-0. An ugly win is still a win at the end of the day.

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Fans should expect to see Burrow get back on track quickly. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Assuming that happens, the defense continues playing at a high level, and the team around Burrow keeps doing its job, the Bengals are going to be just fine.

Looking ahead to Week 2, Cincinnati will have a home matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. That game offers a huge opportunity for the Bengals and Burrow to improve to 2-0 and get off to a very strong start towards a playoff appearance.

Hopefully, the ugly Week 1 win is a confidence booster and gets them into a much better rhythm for next week’s game.

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