We learned (or re-learned) several things about what it takes to become a Super Bowl champion over the weekend, when the Rams came from behind to beat the Bengals. You need a stout defense, a top-shelf QB and reliable blocking up front. They’re three central pillars of football you can trace to three of the last four champs, and if you’re missing just one of the elements it will be hard to overcome. But if you’re missing the offensive line component for an extended period of time, you may end up ruining your quarterback in the process.
On “Get Up” on Tuesday morning, Dan Orlovsky cautioned that’s what will happen with the Bengals and Joe Burrow if they don’t get him some help up front soon.
"The Bengals should win multiple Super Bowls with Joe Burrow,” Orlovsky said on “Get Up.” “If they don't get it fixed this offseason, he's on the track to become the next Andrew Luck."
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Luck was a superstar quarterback for the Colts for only six seasons, as multiple injuries prompted him to retire when he was just 29 years old. He looked like he was set to have a Hall of Fame caliber career, but was constantly under pressure behind a porous offensive line. Luck was sacked over 40 times in a season twice over his career, and missed many games一 including the entire 2017 season一 due to numerous injuries. Then, ahead of the 2019 season, Luck shocked the world by announcing his retirement due to constantly cycling between rehabbing old injuries and sustaining new ones.
It’s a cautionary tale, not just for Burrow, but any young quarterback that’s already developed an injury history. Justin Fields included.
Fields and Luck are obviously different people, but they’re similar in many ways too. Both men showed incredible upside coming out of college, and each man put that on display to a degree in the NFL (Luck admittedly moreso than Fields). Luck and Fields were also each hit a lot as rookies. Luck was dropped 2.6 times per game in 2012. Fields surpassed that. Subtracting Week 1 since Fields only played five snaps, he was sacked 3.3 times per game. In the short term, that stunted his rookie season, since numerous injuries kept him from playing in five games in the second half of the year. In the long term could those hits compound and lead to more injuries?
Honestly, we don’t know. It’s also unfair to say that Fields will react to a lengthy injury history like Luck did. But for the good of both Fields and the franchise, the Bears probably don’t want to find out how Fields will respond to a career under pressure.
