Bengals tout Burrow after beating Mahomes, K.C.

CINCINNATI -- Bengals manager Zac Taylor didn't hesitate erstwhile asked whether backmost Joe Burrow should beryllium successful contention to triumph the NFL's Most Valuable Player award.

"Absolutely," Taylor said.

Burrow added to his increasing database of credentials successful a connection 27-24 triumph implicit the Kansas City Chiefs connected Sunday. Burrow became the archetypal backmost to bushed K.C. counterpart Patrick Mahomes successful 3 consecutive games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Tom Brady is the lone different backmost to person that galore victories versus Mahomes, the 2018 MVP.

Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase firmly agreed with his manager astir Burrow's MVP candidacy.

"He's 1 of the champion quarterbacks successful this league," Chase said. "Everybody knows that. He should beryllium successful the MVP race. If he's not successful it, helium should be. Number 1 backmost successful the race."

Burrow was 25-of-31 passing for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns connected Sunday.

Cincinnati (8-4) entered the 4th fourth trailing Kansas City (9-3) by a touchdown earlier things turned successful the Bengals' favor. After linebacker Germaine Pratt stripped the shot retired of Kansas City choky extremity Travis Kelce's grip and recovered the fumble, Burrow and the discourtesy went to work.

With the Bengals trailing 24-20 astatine that point, Cincinnati went connected a 10-play thrust capped by an 8-yard touchdown walk from Burrow to moving backmost Chris Evans. That was Burrow's ninth passing people successful the 4th quarter, the astir by immoderate backmost successful the NFL this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Taylor was speedy to praise Burrow's walk extortion connected Sunday. Burrow was not pressured connected 27 of his walk attempts, per NFL Next Gen Stats, and was sacked conscionable once.

But the third-year subordinate proved slippery passim the day. He had a career-high 11 carries for 46 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. He present has 5 rushing touchdowns, matching Jack Thompson's 1979 grounds for the astir by a Bengals backmost successful a azygous season.

"He has large size and elusiveness," Kansas City antiaircraft extremity Frank Clark said. "People don't truly enactment a batch of respect connected his sanction erstwhile it comes to however elusive helium is successful the pouch and his pouch presence."

Taylor, the team's playcaller, enactment the shot successful Burrow's hands to seal the crippled and extremity Kansas City's streak of 14 consecutive victories successful the period of December, a agelong that dates backmost to Mahomes' archetypal twelvemonth arsenic a starter successful 2018.

On third-and-11, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins said helium and Tyler Boyd thought Cincinnati was going to tally the shot to chew up immoderate clock. Higgins said the receivers looked astatine Burrow successful the huddle and asked him a elemental question: tally oregon pass?

"He said, 'Pass,'" Higgins said. "We each looked astatine each other. He said, 'Let's get it done.'"

Burrow and the Bengals did conscionable that. He recovered Higgins for a 14-yard completion that efficaciously ended the game.

Both of Cincinnati's victories against Kansas City past play came connected winning tract goals arsenic clip expired. Against the AFC's apical squad truthful acold successful 2022, the winning borderline was bigger.

Burrow shrugged disconnected the MVP treatment from Taylor and his teammates.

"I don't play the crippled for those kinds of accolades," Burrow said. "I play the crippled for those guys successful the locker room. What it takes from maine each Sunday, that's what I'll do. If I person to manus the shot disconnected 72 times and travel retired with a win, I'll beryllium happy."

Entering Sunday, Burrow ranked 3rd successful the NFL successful fourth-quarter QBR, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

When Cincinnati needed large plays against 1 of the NFL's champion teams and quarterbacks, Burrow delivered.

"He's playing astatine the level we request for him to pb us, to beryllium assured that we tin triumph each crippled we play," Taylor said, adding that there's nary uncertainty astir Burrow's lasting successful the MVP conversation. "I've said it before. I wouldn't commercialized him for anybody successful the world."

ESPN's Adam Teicher contributed to this report.