ARLINGTON, Texas _ Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who turns 28 Tuesday, is getting to be a certain age.
As in, some of the guys he's got in his huddle Monday night here at AT&T Stadium were college kids making sure they watched him whenever the Bengals were on primetime.
"I was definitely a fan of his," says rookie tight end Cam Grandy. "How he plays and how he competes. Whenever the Bengals were on, I tuned in and watched just to see how electric their offense is and all the players they had on that side of the ball."
Burrow will be glad to hear that. He wants to be a ratings bonanza.
"I want to win, but I want to be fun to watch. I always want to be fun to watch," Burrow said last week. "I want people to see my command of the offense and accuracy and playmaking ability and everything that I bring to the table. But I want people to tune in to the Bengals and want to watch us. And I think people do. I take pride in the fact that we're exciting. I'm exciting to watch. That's something that I take pride in."
It wasn't too long ago Burrow was that kid who wanted to watch the best in television when it came to quarterbacks.
"I always wanted to watch Aaron Rodgers. I was always tuning in when he was playing. Tom Brady, obviously. Peyton Manning. I watched Drew Brees," Burrow said. "Those caliber of players are usually the types of players that get the most primetime games … We've had (five), so that usually means that people want to watch you. That's usually a good thing."
Burrow has been in a dozen primetime games in his 64-game career, and he's well on his way to being a Rodgers-Manning-Brees-Brady of his era. So much so he's averaging more primetime yards than three of the greats he watched.
According to Pro Football Reference, Burrow has lit it up in games they classify as "late," averaging 286 yards passing for 23 touchdowns, just three interceptions, and a passer rating of 99.6.
In 85 late games, Brady had a 95.0 rating while averaging 282 yards with 160 touchdowns and 61 interceptions. Rodgers has 77 late games with a 105.0 passer rating while averaging 249 yards with 160 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. Manning had a 101 rating while averaging 275 yards with 144 touchdowns and 56 interceptions. Brees, Burrow's fellow New Orleans legend, has him beat on all counts in his 58 prime-time games with a 288-yard average on a 105.5 rating with 129 touchdowns and 41 interceptions.
Give Burrow the average number of the primetime games of those four (72) and he'll be right there with 138 TDs and 18 picks.
GRANDIOSE DREAMS
Grandy, who comes from Benson, Illinois, population 412, is playing in his fourth NFL game and third in primetime as a backup primarily used as a blocker. But it's business as usual for an undrafted rookie who figures the biggest crowd he ever played in front of before his NFL debut last month in Baltimore on Thursday night was about 10,000 in the final game of his college career for Illinois State at North Dakota. That was the biggest TV audience too, he figures. ESPN-Plus. On Monday, it's ESPN and the only plusses are Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
"I play with confidence. I study hard. I know my assignments pretty well," Grandy said. "It's a dream come true. Football is all I wanted to do. I had no Plan B."
You can't make this stuff up. Grandy's dad is from Texas, moved to his wife's home state of Illinois, and his son grew up a Cowboys fan. He loved Jason Witten, but he always had his eyes locked on tight ends.
"I remember watching Tyler Eifert when he was playing for the Bengals. About 2016," Grandy said.
USO ON USO
The Bengals look across the field Monday night and see one of the greatest players in their history in the person of Cowboys assistant defensive line coach Domata Peko. Most of Peko's 11 seasons in Cincinnati, from 2006-16, came as defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's nose tackle, where he anchored four top-ten defenses. Zimmer, now the Cowboys coordinator, is breaking him into coaching.
"Love it. Love it. I think it's something I want to keep doing," said Peko on the field before the game.
He just turned 40 with a full beard that has gray peeking out. Asked if he could go two series, he laughed.
"At fullback," said Peko, who took a few snaps there.
Talk about big thrills from a guy you watched playing. Fellow Samoan Jay Tufele, the Bengals backup defensive tackle, calls Peko, "The Big Uso." Uso is the Samoan word for brother.
"I've looked up to that man since I was a little kid. It would mean so much to play a great game in front of the Uso," says Tufele, who has a texting and Instagram relationship with Peko. "He tells me to keep living the dream and representing our people and culture."
Tufele has been on and off the practice squad the past few seasons, but he has played about an average of 30 snaps the last three games with B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins banged up. Hill seems to be healthier, but with Rankins out Monday with an illness for the third straight week, Tufele is expected to get something around 30 snaps again against a Dallas offense the Bengals expect tries to get its 27th-ranked run game healthy against the Bengals' 31st-ranked run defense.
"It's going to be won in the trenches," Tufele said. "We have to stop the run and let the edge rushers eat."
No matter what happens, Tufele knows he'll give his No. 97 jersey to Peko after the game even though the coach doesn't have one to trade.
"I'll just give him mine," Tufele said.
SLANTS AND SCREENS
For the first time this season, Cowboys Pro Bowl cornerbacks Trevon Diggs (knee) and DaRon Bland were active ...
Wide receiver Charlie Jones (groin) missed his fourth straight game Monday, meaning rookie wide receiver isaiah Williams gets another shot at punt return ...
Interesting move by Bengals head coach Zac Taylor when he sent out Burrow and wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as the game captains even though Chase and Higgins don't have the Cs on their uniforms ...,
