Ken Anderson is known as the greatest quarterback in Cincinnati Bengals history.
The 1981 NFL MVP was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Terry Bradshaw and Dan Fouts. Anderson led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance during that season and led the NFL in passer rating on four occasions, completion percentage in three seasons and passing yards twice.
Fast forward to today and Bengals fans are seeing a similar type of greatness from their current franchise quarterback, Joe Burrow. Burrow led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in his second season and has led the league in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage.
The issue for the Bengals in recent years have been their injuries — which have happened to Burrow — and their lack of defensive play. It appears they’ve improved their defensive unit drastically this season with the additions of Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Bengals rank a respectable 13th, which is a huge improvement from their ranking of 30th last season.”
“I think it’s the best team that they’ve had in a while, the most well-rounded team,” said Anderson in a one-on-one interview with Heavy sports. “The Bengals kind of changed their stripes last off season, and the way that they operated, and trading the 10th pick in the draft for Dexter Lawrence, a veteran player, which is a great move. They spent a lot of money on defense signing veteran players, which I think is going to make a big difference.”
Ken Anderson Compliments Joe Burrows, Call Him ‘Best’ Quarterback in NFL
Anderson compliments his fellow quarterback, Burrow, heavily. He calls him the “best” quarterback in the league.
“They kept the offensive line intact, which I think has been paying off for them as well,” said Anderson. “We’ve got our two top receivers signed long term, and we got a quarterback that’s the best in the business. So I think the future is very bright this year.”
The Bengals are currently 2-1 and coming off of a tight loss against their division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, they’ve already defeated a playoff team from last season in the Houston Texans and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad that has annually been a playoff team.
Cincinnati will be tested once again on where they rank in the AFC hierarchy when they play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars have won 10 of their past 12 games.
Ken Anderson Partnering With Heartflow for Cardiovascular Disease Awareness
Anderson is teaming up with Heartflow’s GAMEFILM registry for cardiovascular disease awareness. Up to one in three football players die from cardiovascular disease and the Bengals great — who is 77 years old — has taken a proactive approach for his health.
“I kind of became aware of it after we had a National Football League Players Association meeting here in Cincinnati for retired guys, and they were in to talk about it,” said Anderson. “The thing that stuck out to me was that one in three retired NFL players die of heart disease, and I said that is really kind of alarming to me. I got together and followed up, you know with Heartflow, and through a Cincinnati doctor, arranged for me to have a non-invasive CAT scan, and then they’ve got a procedure where they take AI and they can see 3D images of your heart and your arteries, determine if there’s blockage.
“The thing for me is they can determine what kind of plaque you have, how much of it you have, and where it’s located at,” Anderson continued. “After going through all this and then meeting with the doctor, it was determined that I have soft plaque, which too much of that can cause blockage, but catching it early enough that we could control it with medication. That was important to me, and so much of heart disease doesn’t have any symptoms, and you don’t know about it until it’s too late. So it’s nice to be able to kind of get ahead of the game with Heartflow.”
Bengals Great Ken Anderson on Where Joe Burrow Ranks Among Top Quarterbacks