Joe Burrow needs to throw for an unreasonable amount of touchdowns in the Cincinnati Bengals' season finale to make an extremely late and unorthodox ascent to NFL MVP. He also needs some help elsewhere to secure a spot in the playoffs, where everyone agrees no opposing team would like to see him very much. But the fact that he's even being included in these neverneding premature debates is as good an indication as anything else that he's been spectacular. Consider that just a month ago he was the pilot of a floundering 4-8 club, putting up big numbers but falling short on the scoreboard far more often than winning.

The unusual circumstances have cooked up quite a take stew. From Shannon Sharpe breaking Dan Orlovsky's brain back in December by saying Burrow should shoulder responsibility for the 4-8 mark, to Troy Aikman going on record last Monday night that he'd vote for Burrow as the MVP—opinions have been all over the map.

Four Bengals wins later and one would think that we could all operate on the same page that if Cincinnati misses the playoffs it will be the downright terrible defense that wastes a sensational individual campaign from Burrow. That thinking would be wrong, though, as The Facility's James Jones explored new ground on Wednesday in saying that it's actually Joe Burrow who has wasted Joe Burrow's season.

Here's his reasoning.

That's Chase Daniel playing the role of skeptic in the clip, going so far as to ask his desk mate if his take is really his take—a telltale sign that the take is coming from another dimension.

It's true that Burrow has not delivered every single time the game has been on the line. It's true you can pin a few losses on his back and demand ownership. It's true that he is human and there have been a few mistakes mixed into what by all accounts is a historic, MVP-caliber season.

Credit to Jones for finding a unique angle. But it's worth asking: what type of standard is this? If a person who is having one of the best years of anyone in the league does not get any leeway, then how harsh should the criticisms of the replacement-level quarterback be? By this metric... pretty much all players have wasted all the good things they've done.

More of the Latest Around the NFL


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fox Sports Personality Boldly Claims Joe Burrow Has Wasted His Own Great Season.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate