A Healthy Joe Burrow Would Have Changed Everything in the AFC This Year

Joe Burrow returned to the field on Thanksgiving night for the Cincinnati Bengals after missing every game since Week 2 with a turf toe injury and despite the long layoff, he looked sharp in the second half, leading Cincinnati to an upset win over their AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens.

His performance didn’t just bring excitement to the NFL happy to see Burrow back out on the field, but it made me think of a “what if” scenario that Bengals fans themselves might be thinking about all off-season.

The Bengals now sit at 4–8, well outside the playoff picture. But watching Burrow operate on Thursday had me thinking how much of a threat could the Bengals have been this season had their franchise quarterback been on the field this whole time?

The AFC has been shockingly mediocre in 2025 with teams like the Ravens and Chiefs sitting at 6-6 fighting for their playoff lives and the Buffalo Bills currently with a record at 7-4 and looking like they are destined to be going on the road as wildcard team this January despite being the betting favourites to come out of the AFC this summer.

The two teams that are seem like they will be the 1 and 2 seed in the conference are the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots who are two teams much of the public doesn’t trust.

In a year where no team has separated themselves from the pack, the door was wide open for anyone in the AFC to cement themselves, and the version of the Bengals we saw last night very well could have done something special.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Joe Burrow is that he always starts slow. While that’s generally been the case, 2025 was different. In games he started this year, Cincinnati is 3–0. They were 2–0 before Burrow went down, and they’ve completely fallen out of contention since.

This wasn’t one of those slow-burn seasons where Burrow needed time to warm up. They were already winning. And based on his history, once November and December roll around, Burrow tends to look like the best quarterback on the planet. Add in the fact that he has shown the ability to go on the road and win playoff games en route to a Super Bowl appearance, which makes the regret become even heavier.