Joe Burrow ‘Trying to Manifest’ A Super Bowl

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is trying to manifest a Super Bowl.

After deep playoff runs in 2021 and 2022, the Bengals have struggled to get back to the playoffs. Burrow said at a press conference Thursday that he thinks a tight-knit team and a sense of urgency are the key to realizing their goals.

“I think we have to step up and make something happen this year. We’re working really hard for it,” he said.

“The urgency is very high in the locker room. You can feel it. It’s palpable. … Our standard is so high, but it’s so high because of what we’ve done and what we can do, and so I’m going to continue to push that, and we’re going to keep getting better and see where we’re at week one. But I’m so excited for it.”

What the Bengals have done is make it to the Super Bowl in Burrow’s second season. Burrow, 2020 Draft classmate Tee Higgins, and Burrow’s LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase helped elevate the Bengals to an AFC North title and an appearance in Super Bowl LVI in 2021. The Bengals were 13th in offensive yards per game and seventh in points per game that season. On defense, they were 18th in yardage allowed per game and 17th in points allowed per game.

They did even better in the regular season in 2022. They improved on their 10-7 record from 2021, going 12-4 and winning the North again. They returned to the conference championship, but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. That squad ranked eighth in offensive yards per game and seventh in points; on defense, they were 16th in yards allowed per game and sixth in points allowed.

Since then, the Bengals have struggled. They went 9–8 and missed the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, then went 6–11 last season. Defense, in particular, has been the Achilles’ heel for the team in that time. The Bengals had the NFL’s 31st-ranked defense in yardage and 21st in scoring in 2023; in 2024, they ranked 25th in both yardage and scoring; in 2025, they ranked 31st in yardage and 30th in scoring.

The Bengals hoped to fix that in the offseason by overhauling their defensive personnel. They let edge rushers Trey Hendrickson, Joseph Ossai, and Cam Sample walk in free agency, along with safeties Geno Stone and Tycen Anderson and cornerbacks Cam Taylor-Britt and Marco Wilson.

They signed edge rusher Boye Mafe away from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, safety Bryan Cook from the Kansas City Chiefs, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen from the Minnesota Vikings, safety Kyle Dugger from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor from the New York Jets. Just before the NFL Draft, they traded the 10th overall pick to the New York Giants for DT Dexter Lawrence.

They drafted edge rusher Cashius Howell, cornerback Tacario Davis, and defensive tackle Landon Robinson in the 2026 Draft.

On offense, they have retained their entire starting lineup and only made a few additions, including backup quarterback Josh Johnson and draft picks: wideout Colbie Young, guard Brian Parker II, and center Connor Lew.

Burrow—who made a state championship appearance in high school, won a national championship in college at LSU, and made two deep playoff runs— said that it takes more than talent to win.

“You’ve got to have a team that wants to go to war for each other and fight for each other and wants to hang out off the field, wants to play games in the locker room and wants to sit with each other at lunch and have deep conversations. And you have to have great players and great coaches obviously … a lot of teams have great players and great coaches. That’s not necessarily what does it.”

Burrow said the leaders on the team have tried to instill a sense of urgency. Veteran corner Dax Hill and Allen have spoken about it in front of the team, and Burrow said he is trying to lead by example.

Burrow previously compared this year’s Bengals squad to his championship LSU team. That bold comparison is actually his way of speaking it into existence.

“I’m trying to put it out into the world,” he said. “I’m trying to manifest it. I’m trying to show our guys the urgency that I have and that I want us to have as an organization, to go and make it happen. You can keep pushing it down the road, or you can talk about it now and say, ‘this is the year.’ I’m tired of saying ‘next year,’ ‘next year,’ ‘next year.’ This is it. Your life is too short to keep pushing things down the road, and I’m trying to instill some urgency and some intensity in everybody to go and be great every day and try to go make it happen.”