The Cincinnati Bengals trounced the Las Vegas Raiders, 41-24, as Joe Burrow tossed five touchdown passes, but the Pro Bowl quarterback wasn't in a mood Sunday to celebrate a victory that pulled the club to 4-5 on the season.
"How this season has gone, knowing what's ahead of us, knowing what we're going to have to do to get back into this, one win isn't going to make or break our season," Burrow said, . "I'm going to strive for perfection every day and every game.
"So, until that happens, what's there to be happy about?"
Sunday's win marked the Bengals' first home victory of the season after an 0-4 start at Paycor Stadium. Cincy scored on its first five possessions, building a 31-10 lead midway through the third quarter before a few mistakes piled up, including an interception from Burrow.
The five-touchdown performance matched Burrow's five-TD day in Week 5. Sandwiched between, he'd thrown three total passing TDs from Week 6-8. The roller-coaster season seemed to color Burrow's mood.
"I'm not just going to ignore the bad and dwell on the great that we did today," Burrow said. "I don't think that's a recipe for improvement. I don't think that's a recipe for getting better."
The Bengals handed Vegas its fifth consecutive loss, which led to the Raiders firing offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and other assistants. Burrow was asked whether he thought, hypothetically, the performance was good enough to beat a better team. He took a beat to respond, then said:
"I don't know about that. It was good enough today."
The slow start to the season put the Bengals in a spot where they need to stack wins in a hurry. At 4-5, they're currently ninth in the AFC, a game back of the final wild-card spot. In the muddled middle of the conference, Cincinnati is certainly not out of the race.
But Burrow knows the Bengals can't afford any more paw stubs, starting Thursday night against Baltimore.
