Growing up in Athens, Ohio, Joe Burrow found himself literally smack in the middle of an NFL football rivalry.

Cincinnati was 130 miles away to the west. Pittsburgh loomed 135 miles to the northeast.

“There were definitely more Steelers fans than Bengals fans growing up,” Burrow said this week. “That was always a fun game, hearing all the trash talking in the schools. It was fun.”

Burrow rooted for neither team, adopting another AFC North franchise — the Cleveland Browns — and the New Orleans Saints as his favorites.

These days, there are no questions about Burrow’s allegiances. Eight games into his NFL career, the No. 1 overall draft pick from LSU is firmly entrenched as the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, and he undoubtedly will sway some fans in Athens to his side of the rivalry if he can lead a victory against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

With Burrow under center, the Bengals reached the midpoint of the season still occupying their familiar last-place perch in the division with a 2-5-1 record. But before the Bengals headed into their bye, Burrow led them to a 31-20 victory against the then 5-1 Tennessee Titans.

“I love his poise in the pocket, the way he fights for extra yards on plays,” Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “He’s a competitor. He can throw the ball. He’s a good leader. He wants to win. I know their record doesn’t reflect it, but the dude comes out and competes every time he’s on the field.”

Burrow has completed 67% of his passes for 2,272 yards, the fifth-most in the NFL. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes and just five interceptions in his eight starts. He also has run for three scores.

In his past two games, which included a 37-34 loss to the Browns, Burrow has thrown five touchdowns and one interception while posting his highest two passer rating totals of the season.

Such improvement has come as no surprise to Bengals second-year coach Zac Taylor.

“I think the first month we met with him over the offseason program you had a sense that he was further ahead than most rookies would be, and he would be able to handle this,” Taylor said. “You don’t really know until you coach him in a game and he gets a chance to play in this division. He’s handled it really well.

“It doesn’t feel like you’re coaching a rookie or talking to a rookie. It feels like you’re talking to a quarterback who has been in this game for several years.”

Keeping Burrow upright was an issue for the Bengals early in the season. He was sacked eight times in Week 3 against Philadelphia, and the Baltimore Ravens piled up seven sacks two weeks later.

Now, he gets to face the Steelers, who lead the NFL with 32 sacks.

“I’m sure they are going to watch that tape (of the Ravens) and think they can beat me up and expect me to make mistakes when I get pressured,” Burrow said. “That’s something I can’t do.”

For the season, Burrow has been sacked 28 times, more than any quarterback aside from the Eagles’ Carson Wentz. Since the Ravens game, however, Burrow has been dropped just six times in three games, and he remained clean against the Titans.

“He’s getting more comfortable week to week playing against some of these teams,” Taylor said. “That’s what you see good offenses do. The quarterbacks have to move around sometimes and create plays. The receivers are getting in sync with him, and that has helped our protection, as well.”

Burrow’s quick release also has limited the pressure. He has thrown 208 passes this year when holding the ball less than 2.5 seconds, per Pro Football Focus. Only the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, with 212, has attempted more passes in that abbreviated time span.

“He tries to get to his pre-snap reads and keys. If he does, he gets the ball out,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “If he doesn’t, that’s when we need to get to him. The guys in the secondary know what they need to do. We have to cloud up the reads for him.”

Although the game against the Steelers will be Burrow’s first, Taylor thinks his young quarterback can handle playing in a rivalry that was one of the NFL’s most intense during the last decade.

“Just outside this series, he’s learning the physicality of this league in general,” Taylor said. “We played some really good fronts and defenses early in the season. He’s from Ohio. He understands the history with the Steelers very well.

“He’ll be ready to go.”

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