The Cincinnati Bengals have the best quarterback and wide receiver in the NFL this year – according to the stats, at least.
Joe Burrow on Sunday became the first QB to pass for 3,000 yards in 2024, and he also leads the league in touchdowns thrown with 27.
His star wideout, Ja’Marr Chase, also hit a landmark by becoming the NFL’s first 1,000-yard receiver this season.
The 24-year-old has also caught the most TDs so far, with an impressive haul of 12.
With Burrow and Chase leading the league, you would expect the Bengals to be flying.
Instead, they have a 4-7 record through 11 weeks of the season – losing another tight game against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday – and are in danger of missing the playoffs.
That’s because, as impressive as Burrow and Chase have been, football is a team sport.
If the Bengals want to put together a Super Bowl run before their window closes, then 51 other players will have to raise their level to one that matches their two standout stars.
Individual stats and awards are great, but lifting the Lombardi Trophy in February after a hard-fought season would feel even better.
And that’s something Tom Brady knows all too well.
The iconic quarterback won the Super Bowl seven times – more than anyone else in history – and he will be the first to tell you that he couldn’t have done it all by himself.
Brady played on some legendary teams, with a legendary coach in Bill Belichick for six of those triumphs, that dominated every aspect of the NFL en-route to glory.
He’s not one to be swept up by individual storylines, and suggested the idea of reading into stats too much is ‘worse now than it ever was’.
“You’re looking at a lot of individual statistics and we love individual statistics, but out of all the sports that I watch, football is the ultimate team sport,” Brady told the Let’s Go! podcast.
“There’s no one individual in football – not one coach or player – that can get a team to win against a team that has 53 guys acting together.
“Whether that’s special teams – I’ve seen a couple of games in the last few weeks come down to a blocked field goal – if you’re on that field goal protection unit, you don’t know how valuable you are until the game comes down to one play.
“I loved throwing for 300 plus yards. I love receivers that can go for 125, 150. But I also love guys that can block in field goal protection too. And I counted on those guys.
“This is the ultimate team sport… I hate when people try to make this about every individual, I think it’s worse now that it ever is.”
Brady, of course, was far from carried during his legendary career.
He retired with the most career passing yards, completions and touchdown passes to his name.
But he was often surrounded by a roster that demanded the best, and matched his level on a weekly basis.
Right now, the Bengals aren’t doing that for Burrow and Chase.
They have a bye week to try and right the ship but their chances of making the playoffs this season are slim – and that will certainly sting for those starring on offense.
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