Joe Burrow was "having fun" again Sunday as he and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals rolled in a 45-21 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Burrow threw for four touchdowns and surpassed 20,000 career passing yards in 75 games, making him the fifth fastest to cross that mark in NFL history.
Since coming back from a turf toe injury that sidelined him for nine games this season, Cincinnati's Pro Bowl quarterback hasn't been shy about expressing his feelings amid a season that has been disappointing both personally and for the team.
But Sunday was filled with good vibes.
"I'm having fun playing football," Burrow said. "Not playing football is not fun. Sitting in the locker room rehabbing all day, that's not why you do it. This is why you do it right here."
Sunday was so good that Burrow didn't have to step onto the field for most of the fourth quarter. He was 25-of-32 passing for 309 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. By the time he exited the game, Cincinnati had a 31-point lead, which allowed Burrow to stand on the sideline while Joe Flacco finished the contest.
And even though Cincinnati (5-10) entered the weekend already eliminated from playoff contention, Bengals coach Zac Taylor wanted to make sure the team finished the Dolphins (6-9) to snap a two-game skid.
"For our sake, for our identity moving forward, we need to have a killer instinct," Taylor said. "Keep throwing the football and keep finding ways to finish drives and not let them try to get any hope and creep back in the game. I thought our guys did a great job of that."
Cincinnati's defense made the most of its chances against Miami rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers, who was making his first NFL start. In the third quarter, the Bengals forced three turnovers and also got a fourth-down stop that ended a Miami drive. Cincinnati converted each of those defensive stops into touchdowns.
The Bengals' inability to play well simultaneously on offense and defense is a major reason Cincinnati will miss the playoffs for the third straight year. After last week's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Burrow said that's a trait of bad football teams.
That wasn't the case against the Dolphins on Sunday.
"This is all we can control this week -- what our response was in the building to a lot of people [who] are after us right now," Taylor said. "The response was tremendous by our guys. To put together such a complete game, I thought, was really impressive."
Cincinnati also received big performances from wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (nine catches, 109 yards) and running back Chase Brown (109 scrimmage yards, three total touchdowns). Wide receiver Tee Higgins also returned from concussion protocol to have three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, one that Burrow said established the tone early in the contest.
Higgins told reporters in Miami that he was aware of those who questioned whether he should be playing after two stints in concussion protocol in less than a month.
"I see everything everybody's saying; I see all that, trust me," Higgins said. "But I went to see a specialist and the specialist said that it was OK for me to go back out there and play my game, and that's what I did."
And though the Bengals know their season will end after two more games, the remainder of the 2025 slate is about establishing good vibes for the future, particularly around Burrow.
Two weeks ago, Burrow said if he keeps playing, he wants to have fun doing it. Then earlier this week, Burrow said he "thinks about a lot of things" when asked about playing for a different team one day.
Even though Burrow was not asked and didn't specify when that day might be, speculation has swirled around Burrow's contentment in Cincinnati. The franchise's postseason drought comes after a Super Bowl appearance in 2021 and a loss in the AFC Championship Game in 2022.
But on Sunday, there was no angst about the future after a win that showcased what the Bengals could look like at their best.
"That's how it's supposed to look like," Burrow said. "That's what it's supposed to feel like. So, we've got to keep that feeling going the next couple of weeks and build some momentum."