Emmanuel Acho Has Bold Joe Burrow Take Before 2026 NFL Season

One of the teams with the most pressure going into the 2026 NFL season is none other than the Cincinnati Bengals. After back-to-back AFC Championship appearances, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2021, they have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. Several factors have influenced this recent lack of success, but the most significant include the lackluster defense and offensive line, as well as the durability of superstar quarterback Joe Burrow. 

2024 was the most polarizing year for Bengals fans due to the outrageous individual success that somehow didn’t lead to team success. This includes Burrow (NFL Passing Yards Leader), Ja’Marr Chase (Triple Crown Winner [NFL Receiving Yards, Receptions, and Receiving Touchdowns Leader]), and Trey Hendrickson (NFL Sack Leader). In the other two of the last three years, the former No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft failed to play in double-digit games because of major injuries. 

Although he has yet to win the MVP award, Burrow has been slotted in the conversation for one of the top quarterbacks in the league for several years now. While he is not the only candidate without advanced team success, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have yet to make a Super Bowl appearance, the former LSU Tiger’s reputation is on the line if the Bengals continue to drastically fail year in and year out. 

Fans and analysts all have their own opinions of Burrow and the Bengals because of how interesting a team they have been for years. Some praise the team despite their struggles, and others trash the team despite their extreme individual success and potential. 

Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho gave his opinion of Burrow on his YouTube channel and podcast, “Speakeasy.” 

“It’s Joe Burrow’s last year to prove himself to be taken seriously,” said Acho. “[The Bengals] have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, let’s keep it a bean, bro. The days of the Bengals in the playoff hunt [were] years and years and years ago. The days of Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are great playoff matchups, bro, that’s years ago.”

While his take immediately seems controversial, there is validity in his point. Relevance in professional team sports comes from team success, for the most part. Burrow exploded on the NFL scene because of his ability to shine and take his team deep into the playoffs early in his pro career. Since then, his absence in the playoffs takes away from his greatness because it doesn’t get to be displayed on the biggest stage. 

It may be inaccurate to claim this is Burrow’s last season to prove whether he should be taken seriously or not. At the end of the day there are two sides of the football, and Burrow has backed up his incredible player when he is healthy, but the full team has not been able to match his level consistently enough. What is true is that if Burrow and the Bengals fail to make the playoffs again this season, there will be real consequences for important names in the franchise next offseason.