Joe Burrow never exceeded 50 pass attempts in a college game, though he threw more than most quarterbacks. In fact, he led the entire SEC with 527 pass attempts in 2019, capped off by a career-high 49 throws in the CFB Championship against Clemson.
Fun fact: Jay Cutler is the record holder for most passing attempts in an SEC game (since 2000, which is when the data goes back to) with 66 in a 2005 game.
On Thursday night, Burrow almost hit Cutler's SEC-record figure in just his second career NFL start. Playing from behind against the Cleveland Browns for most of the contest, the game script dictated that Burrow would be throwing the ball a ton, and head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan were more than willing to let their No. 1 overall draft pick assume that responsibility.
Burrow attempted a whopping 61 passes, the highest amount a quarterback has ever attempted within his first two career starts, which is three more than the next closest name on the list. The top ten is as follows (via Pro Football Reference).
It was the second most attempts ever from a rookie quarterback, trailing only Chris Weinke, who threw the ball 63 times in a 2001 start.
Those pass attempts didn't go completely unanswered. He set another NFL record with 37 completions, the most in a single game not only within a quarterback's first two starts but by any rookie quarterback, breaking the old record of 36 completions that was co-held by the aforementioned Weinke, Marc Bulger and Carson Wentz.
Here's the top ten (via Pro Football Reference).
Unfortunately for Burrow, those 61 throws didn't come as part of a win, as the Bengals defense struggled to contain the unstoppable duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in the Browns' backfield, allowing 215 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
It's part of a rude awakening for Burrow, who is now 0-2 in his NFL career after dominating the entire college football landscape with LSU.
It wasn't entirely his fault, though. In fact, it wasn't his fault for the most part. His offensive line is largely to blame, as Burrow was hit a ton and didn't have much time to react. Speaking of another rude awakening...
A guy who probably feels the same way? Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who will be Burrow's next opponent when the two teams face off on September 27 in Week 3.
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