The Joe Burrow Bracket: Day 30

Still no upsets in the Tiger King region of the Joe Burrow bracket. Not terribly surprising, the top four seeds in all the regions advanced to the Round of 32. We’ve only got three more votes before the Round of 32 begins—can you believe we’ve been at this for an entire month?—let’s see if you, our dear readers, pull the biggest upset yet.

No. 5: Ja’Marr Chase’s 51-yard go route vs. Ole Miss

The context:

This play is awfully similar to Chase’s first touchdown of the Ole Miss game. Burrow gets flushed out of the pocket and Chase, seeing Burrow’s scrambling, goes where the defense isn’t. Burrow, who has shown time and time again he’s lethal on the run, drops another dime right into Chase’s hands who goes in for his second score of the night. Also this drive went 73 yards and Chase was responsible for all 73 of them.

No. 12: Terrace Marshall’s 14-yard slant vs. Northwestern State

The context:

After the epic 3rd and 17 touchdown against Texas it felt like any and all third down attempt was reasonable. The Tigers had the quarterback, the receivers and the play callers to make any third down not an obstacle, but a formality.

This is a 3rd and 12 against the Demons. The stakes aren’t quite as high as the previous week’s third and long, but still the odds are long. Marshall runs a lethal slant and Burrow hits him in the end zone.

HOWEVER...was Burrow aiming for Marshall? It sure seems like the pass was intended for Stephen Sullivan, but Marshall’s route took him to the direction of the ball. What’s that adage? Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good? Well in 2019 Joe Burrow was so lucky that he literally threw one touchdown pass to two different receivers.