Joe Burrow — Week 9: 24 of 29, No Interceptions

Joe Burrow was close to perfect before halftime against the Falcons: 24 of 29 for 271 yards and three touchdowns, no interceptions, sacked twice, plus a 1-yard touchdown run, in a 34-17 win. His 31 dropbacks were worth +16.3 expected points added (EPA), what a play was worth given down, distance and field position, +0.53 each, and his completion percentage over expected (CPOE), how often he completed passes against what their difficulty predicted, was +16.5.

The throw that turned it came down 7-0 with 8:55 left in the first quarter. Third and 2 at the Atlanta 47, he went deep right to Ja'Marr Chase for a 47-yard touchdown, +4.9 EPA and 13.3 points of win probability, the estimate of each side's chance to win. From there Cincinnati scored on its next three drives. He ran in the go-ahead score on second and goal from the 1, threw 4 yards to Tee Higgins to cap an 88-yard drive, and with 57 seconds left in the half hit Dohnte Meyers deep left for 42 yards to set up a 57-yard field goal.

The first half carried it: his 22 dropbacks before the break were worth +17.5, his 9 after it -1.2. Up 31-17 in the fourth, third and 1 at his own 37, LaCale London sacked him for 6 yards and Cincinnati punted.

It was more than double his season rate. Through Week 8, in seven games, he had completed 195 of 267 for 2,115 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, +68.0 EPA on 280 dropbacks, +0.24 each. The clean sheet came a week after three interceptions against Tennessee.

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_Data via nflverse._