Brilliant but beaten: the historical, searing misfortune of Joe Burrow

The Bengals QB has 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season. Yet his team find themselves scraping the barrel

It's official: Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals is one of the unluckiest quarterbacks we've ever seen. The Bengals lost 41-38 to the Baltimore Ravens in overtime on Sunday, sending Cincinnati to 1-4 on the season. It certainly hasn't been Burrow's fault - through the first five games of the season, Burrow has completed 125 of 173 passes (a 72.3% completion rate) for 1,370 yards (7.9 yards per attempt), 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and an outstanding passer rating of 113.6 (his QBR of 73.6 is the second-best in the league).

But that hasn't been enough to stop the Bengals slipping out of the playoff race - We're not a championship-level team right now," was Burrow's brutal conclusion after Sunday's loss. Most of Cincinnati's issues center around a defense that has been especially awful against the run, and has forced Burrow to make as many big plays as possible just to keep his team in games - which he is certainly capable of doing.