Joe Burrow Rates NFL Debut As Cincinnati Bengals Drop Opener Against Los Angeles Chargers

Joe Burrow is far from satisfied with his performance in his NFL debut on Sunday as the Cincinnati Bengals drop their opening game against the Los Angeles Chargers, 16-13, at the Paul Brown Stadium.

Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, rated himself with a “D” after a relatively shaky first game with the Bengals, whose spirited comeback bid was stalled down the stretch.

"At the end of the day, I made too many mistakes for us to win the game and we didn't make enough plays," said Burrow after the game, via ESPN.

Perhaps it was rookie jitters that got the better of the 23-year-old as it denied him of becoming the first quarterback since David Carr in 2002 to capture a win in Week 1 of his first year as a pro.

Burrow was actually off to a fine start as he gave Cincinnati an early 7-0 edge after going up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

But despite being just the third QB in franchise history to rush for a TD in his first game, the former LSU standout was still hard on himself, especially after muffing a late throw to a wide-open A.J. Green in the end zone that could have turned the fortunes for the Bengals.

"I can't miss that one to A.J.," Burrow said. "A high-schooler can make that throw."

The potential game-winner was nullified after Green was assessed with a pass interference penalty as he was found pushing off Chargers corner Casey Hayward while both were fighting for position.

The Bengals had the chance to force overtime with less than 10 ticks left, but Randy Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal as time expired.

Burrow rued the missed chance to seize a victory in his debut but refused to put the blame on the missed field goal.

"I thought we played well enough on that particular drive to put it in the end zone and then they made the call," the No. 1 overall pick said, per NFL.com. "Not sure what happened on the kick but it doesn't matter what happened on the kick, we should've put 'em away a lot of times before that. … A lot of different plays affected the game."

Burrow was 23-of-36 passing for 193 yards, had one rushing touchdown, and one interception in his first game. But while he felt he could have done better, his teammates are not concerned as they believe the top rookie played well enough to impress despite the loss.

"That guy doesn't flinch," Green said. "The way he handled himself in that last drive was unbelievable. I haven't seen any rookie the way he handled it after adversity. We got a special one on Joe."