Joe Burrow brings a 5-2 Cincinnati Bengals team and an MVP-calibre first half of the season to the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday, where the Atlanta Falcons await in the NFL’s return to Spain, live on Sky Sports. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor called his quarterback “arguably the best passer in the world right now” at Friday’s press conference, Sky Sports reported.
The numbers back the claim. Burrow leads the league in completion percentage at 73, has thrown a league-high 20 touchdowns against six interceptions, and averages 302.1 passing yards per game — also the best in football. His 2,115 passing yards have come behind the top passing attack in the NFL, one built around two genuine No 1 receivers in Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.
The Spain edition. pic.twitter.com/njOrJGUCxX
Here is what makes that pairing so hard to plan for: Higgins ranks second in the league with 726 receiving yards, Chase has 492, and both have drawn exactly 61 targets. Two No 1s on the same roster, each commanding double-coverage looks, is a luxury few offenses can price.
Burrow targets Falcons defense
- Burrow remains the QB1 play of the week: a league-leading 20 touchdowns and 302.1 yards per game against a Falcons defense whose identity is built on stopping the run, not the pass.
- Higgins and Chase are both startable: identical 61-target volume means neither is merely the beneficiary of the other’s coverage, though single-high shells typically free one of them.
- Bijan Robinson’s 100-yard streak matters for futures: Atlanta’s lead back tops the NFL with 780 rushing yards but has not cleared 100 in his last four games — a trend worth checking before touching any Falcons-related props.
Two No 1s, one field, and a defense trying to catch up
Taylor’s tactical problem is the good kind. “To have them both on the same team is pretty luxurious for us,” he told Sky Sports. “And to be able to put them on the same side, different sides — if defenses are gonna single one of them, usually there’s great opportunities there for those guys behind them.” Motioning Higgins and Chase across formations, he said, is possible because “they both have great attention to detail.”
We'd be starstruck too! 😅 Jude Bellingham paid a surprise visit to the Atlanta Falcons during their training session in Madrid 🤝 pic.twitter.com/9kbmWjbmuA
But the tape tells a different story on the other side of the ball. Cincinnati’s defense has hindered its Championship credentials in recent seasons, and the front office moved in the offseason to address it, trading for former New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
“We got a lot of guys up front that are really talented, Dexter certainly helps us lead the play there,” Taylor said. “He can defend the run and the pass. Teams really have to have a great plan for him in the run and pass game, so he’s been a great addition for a lot of things.”
Bijan Robinson leads the NFL with 780 rushing yards and is the foundation of everything Atlanta wants its offense to be — the play action, the naked bootlegs, the screens all branch off his production.
“He’s arguably the best one in the league. You gotta have a great plan,” Taylor said of Robinson. “He can go off real quick and then all the things they build off that, the play action, the naked bootlegs, the screens. Great on defense, quarterback is great. They do a really good job on that scheme, playing together. And it’s gonna make it difficult.”
Burrow’s museum tour and the growth of the global game
The game means something personal to the man at the center of it. “This is Year 7 for me, and I haven’t been overseas yet and we keep adding more and more games to try and build the NFL globally,” Burrow told reporters. “I think it’s worked over the last five years and hoping to add more and continue to build. I love being a part of that and want to help grow the game.”
“This is somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and so to be able to do it while doing what I love, playing football, really is a dream come true,” he said. Burrow spent Wednesday at the Museo del Prado, with another museum or two and an art gallery planned before kickoff.
Incognito, though, is relative. “I ran into some students studying abroad from the United States the other day when I was walking around, that was certainly surprising,” he said. “I usually expect to go pretty incognito and not have anybody recognise me, it’s a little more than that. But I love being out here because I can feel like a normal person a little bit.”
The crossover moments have already reached the Falcons’ side of the fixture. Higgins said it will be “dope” to see Kylian Mbappé at the game, and the Real Madrid star joined Robinson for a series of NFL drills and kit try-ons in the build-up — with the football superstar reportedly stunned by how tight the gear was.
What Sunday decides
The contrast at the heart of this fixture is stark: the league’s best passing attack against the run-first offense Robinson anchors, with a 5-2 Bengals team trying to prove its rebuilt interior can carry a Championship-caliber season. For Atlanta, four games without a 100-yard outing from their star back is the number that frames the upset case.
The wider context is the league’s international push, which Burrow says has “worked over the last five years.” The season runs through to Super Bowl LXI on Sunday, February 14, 2027, with every minute of the playoffs live on Sky Sports.
| Player | 2026 season stat | League rank |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Burrow | 73% completions | 1st |
| Joe Burrow | 302.1 passing yards per game | 1st |
| Tee Higgins | 726 receiving yards (61 targets) | 2nd |
| Ja’Marr Chase | 492 receiving yards (61 targets) | — |
| Bijan Robinson | 780 rushing yards | 1st |
One number puts Burrow’s season in proportion: six interceptions across seven games against twenty touchdowns, on the league’s best completion rate, in a year his own coach rates as the best passing in the world.
Disclaimer: The fantasy and market insights provided are for informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute financial or betting advice.
