How a 'delusional' backup quarterback helped the Bengals stun the Jaguars after Joe Burrow's injury

CINCINNATI -- Sometimes, it's good to be delusional, and if you need proof, just ask Jake Browning. The Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback was forced to play on Sunday after Joe Burrow was knocked out of the game in the first due to a toe injury. 

When Burrow went down, the air got sucked right out of Paycor Stadium. When you're in a building that's holding 65,871 people, you don't ever expect to hear silence, but that's how quiet it was after the Bengals watched their franchise QB go to the ground after taking a hit to the leg from Jacksonville's Arik Armstead. 

At the time of the injury, the Jaguars were leading 14-7 and if the Bengals were going to pull off a win, it was going to be up to Browning, who didn't inspire a lot of confidence at first after throwing an interception on his second possession of the game. And then there was another interception. And then, in the fourth quarter, there was a third interception that the Jaguars ended up returning to Cincinnati's 12-yard line. At that point, several hundred Bengals fans had decided that they had seen enough, so they decided to start heading for the exits. 

Bengals coach Zac Taylor watched those fans leave, and he wasn't even upset about it. 

"I did see people leaving, thinking it was over," Taylor said. "I don't blame them, we just threw a pick on the [12]-yard line." 

A funny thing happened, though: The Jaguars squandered the interception and came away with zero points after the Bengals held them to a four-and-out (The Jags went for it on fourth-and-5 from the Bengals' seven instead of attempting a field goal that would have put them up 30-24 with just under four minutes left to play). 

After the fourth down failure, Browning and the Bengals offense trotted out on to the field knowing that a 92-yard drive would win the game. How do you overcome three interceptions? Well, you start by giving yourself a short pep talk and that's what Browning did before the drive.  

"Be delusional," Browning said when asked what he was thinking heading into the final drive. "I think I had thrown three picks, and I was like 'Somehow, we still have a chance to win the game.' It sounds bad, but you can't be afraid of the fourth [interception] in that situation because you have a chance to win it."

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During the game-winning drive, the Bengals' delusional backup quarterback was nearly perfect, going 9 of 11 for 62 yards while also scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard QB sneak. 

Taylor had so much confidence in his backup quarterback that he admitted after the game that after the Bengals drove down inside of Jacksonville's 10-yard line in the final minute, they were playing for the win. There would be no game-tying field goal attempt. 

"When he got down in there, it turned into four down territory for us to go get the win," Taylor said. 

It's one thing to have that kind of confidence in Burrow, but it's another thing to believe in your backup QB, who had already thrown three interceptions in the game. 

On that final drive, one of the biggest plays for Browning came when he completed a 13-yard pass to Chase Brown on fourth-and-3 to keep the possession alive. The Bengals also got the benefit of a pass interference against Jacksonville's Travis Hunter that came on a fourth-and-5 from their own 33. 

With the game on the line, Browning actually changed the route on the play for receiver Andrei Iosivas, who ended up drawing a 25-yard penalty on the rookie two-way player. 

"He changed the route on fourth down to [Iosivas] to give him a shot and we got the DPI," Taylor said. "He just went out there cool, calm and collected, ready to do his job."

That was the theme of the day: The "delusional" Browning never showed any fear. In the third quarter, Browning had thrown a 13-yard pass to Mitchell Tinsley after calling an audible in a situation where even Taylor had to admit, "We don't always do that."

"That was a run play that Jake just threw the ball to him. We don't always do that," Taylor said."That's just shows Jake, he looks out there, he sees Mitch, and he says, 'I like that matchup and I'm going to go to him.' And that's what happened."

The touchdown by Tinsley tied the game up at 17 in the third quarter. Browning said he didn't think twice once he saw the man-to-man matchup with Jacksonville's Jarrian Jones. 

"It was one-on-one and if you're wearing a Bengals uniform on Sunday and you're one-on-one, I'm going down swinging," Browning said "I'm going to give him a chance. Good things happen when I just throw it up to Mitch, so I just did it and he made an unbelievable play." 

For the game, Browning finished 21 of 32 for 241 yards with three total touchdowns (one rushing) along with those three pesky interceptions. The good news for Browning is that being delusional paid off, and based on how well it worked for him, more backup quarterbacks out there might want to embrace that mindset. 

"You think you're going to be sitting on the sideline and then you get thrown in and that can kind of create an emotional jump and you try to ride that wave and operate," Browning said. 

Browning has won games for the Bengals before, he went 4-3 as a starter while Burrow was out in 2023, and now, he'll be getting a chance to a win a few with Burrow more than likely set to miss a game or two with turf toe. Browning pulled off the kind of comeback that can win over a locker room, and based on what starting center Ted Karras had to say after the game, the Bengals are confident they can win games with Browning as their quarterback. 

"100% confidence [in him]," Karras said. "We love Jake."