Is it just me, or is Joe Burrow playing angry? There seems to be a defiance in the quarterback’s late-season surge — as there was when he spoke candidly earlier this season about his need to play perfectly for the Bengals (7-8) to have any chance to win or now when he details the team’s need to retain top wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Burrow’s Bengals have won three in a row while he keeps on playing at perhaps the highest level of his career to date. During this, the defense has enjoyed a mini-resurgence, in part due to easy opponents and in part due to the coaches changing things up.