Bengals-chargers clash features two of best young QB’S in league
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said he was well aware of Justin Herbert throughout his time in college, as the former Oregon quarterback was often talked about as “the next No. 1 overall draft pick.”
Burrow, after being “an unknown backup for three years,” never expected he would actually be the one picked first in the 2020 NFL Draft. Herbert went to the L.A. Chargers with the No. 6 pick, and now the two will be facing off for the first time in their careers.
The Bengals (7-4) host the Chargers (6-5) on Sunday at Paul Brown
Maurice Douglass rarely mentions his years at Trotwood-madison in discussions with his Springfield High School football players. Recently, however, he did remind them of the first state championship he won 10 years ago.
On Dec. 2, 2011, Trotwood-madison beat Avon 42-28 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon to win the Division II state championship. The victory had special significance for Douglass.
“I was the first black head coach to win (a state title) in Ohio in football,” Douglass said Tuesday during a teleconference featuring all 14 coaches from the state finalists. “Now 10 years later, it’s an opportunity this year on our 10-year anniversary to be the first Division I African-american head coach to be able to win a state championship.”
That’s something Douglass has talked about to inspire his team ahead of the state championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday. No. 5 Springfield (13-1) plays fourtime state champion Lakewood St. Edward (14-1) at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Springfield will try to add Clark County to the list of 46 Ohio counties that have won a state championship in football.
Douglass tell his players, “Hey, it’s possible. It happened 10 years ago. Why can’t you do it this year?”
Douglass also reminds his players they lost 12-10 in the state semifinals last year to Cincinnati St. Xavier, which won the state championship a week later by beating Pickerington Central 44-3. Those scores proved to Springfield last year they belong among the state championship contenders, and they’vecontinued to prove that this year.
Stadium in a highly anticipated battle of top young quarterbacks. Herbert ranks as the league’s fourth best passer through 11 games, throwing for 3,230 yards and 24 touchdowns with 10 interceptions, while Burrow, in a comeback season after an ACL tear last year, has 2,835 yards and 22 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
“Everybody likes to talk about the quarterback matchups, but we’re playing on offense against their defense and their defensive coach,” Burrow said Wednesday. “I’m excited to watch him play, he’s a fun player, but we’re going to go out and execute.”
Burrow and Herbert met at the NFL Combine in 2020 but didn’t stay in touch. Burrow said he has kept up with how Herbert has been playing and has been impressed by his performances, noting Herbert’s “strong arm.”
Herbert was the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, a competition that got a little easier to win once Burrow suffered his season-ending knee injury in Week 11. Burrow said he* had his sights set on winning that award going into 2020 and was disappointed he didn’t get a chance to finish the season and achieve that goal.
While he doesn’t try to compare himself to Herbert, Burrow is still out to prove himself worthy of his draft status and the position he holds with his team.
“I’m trying to prove myself everyday whether I was the No. 1 pick or a sixth-round pick or a third-round pick,” Burrow said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m out here trying to prove myself to my coaches and teammates and to the world every single day. That’s my mindset going into every week.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor stands by the decision to go with Burrow, a choice they made without ever seeing Burrow throw live since he did not participate in workouts at the combine. The Bengals spent a week with
Herbert at the Senior Bowl but it was easy to lock in on Burrow even without that extended time around him.
Taylor said the information the Bengals had gathered on Burrow was “overwhelming” he needed to be the No. 1 pick.
“Really, overall, it became more about Joe Burrow and less about the other guys,” Taylor said. “We evaluated everybody. We made sure we had a clear understanding of what everybody brought to the table. But just the more you learned about Joe Burrow, the more that that became our decision. It wasn’t anything that these other guys did wrong. It was just, this is the right fit for us and that’s the decision we went with. Certainly if Joe Burrow hadn’t been there, Justin Herbert would have been a great selection because he’s a tremendous player. He impressed us in every area. And obviously he’s done a really good job with Los Angeles.”
Taylor recalls Herbert preparing himself “the right way” over the course of the week at the Senior Bowl and the attributes that stood out then still stand.
“What I saw from him was a big guy who’s a tremendous athlete for his size; really strong arm, could make all the throws effortlessly; really smart,” Taylor said. “He mastered all of the things that Oregon wanted him to do, and then when you had him at the Senior Bowl it’s a different offense. … You could tell he spent a lot of time at night in his hotel room calling the plays out loud and being able to get guys lined up and telling them what routes they had. I was really impressed with overall his poise and preparation over the course of the week to get him ready for that game on Saturday. He didn’t play a lot, but he did a nice job when he was in there. I was just really overall impressed with him, and it’s no surprise to see that he really started off on a fast start in these first two years in the league.”
Burrow and Herbert could have faced each other last year when the Chargers came to Cincinnati for the opener, but Herbert didn’t start until Week 2. The Bengals lost that game 16-13, and Burrow didn’t have the greatest debut, throwing for 193 yards with one interception, but he is more comfortable in his role 15 months later.
Los Angeles brings a much different team to PBS this time with Brandon Staley now the head coach.
“They’re very different,” Burrow said of the Chargers this year. “A whole new coaching staff, a whole new scheme and all that. Just looking back at that game, it was my first game. I didn’t play great. I think I got a lot better since then.”