Penalties aside, when talking about Burrow's throw itself, everyone keeps saying "the pass was high."

First off, Burrow gets off an excellent throw because he sees Cappa getting annihilated, and Madubuike's hand about to block his throwing lane. If his arm angle were a bit lower, Madubuike may have batted the pass. The pass had to be from a higher arm angle. Burrow processes this in a split second.

BUT HE STILL THROWS A VERY CATCHABLE BALL.

Check out the still photo of Hudson as he tries to catch the pass. https://www.cincyjungle.com/2024/11/8/24291109/bengals-news-painful-loss-ravens

Notice anything about Hudson' feet and the relative location of the defender? Burrow HAD to throw it a bit high and away from the defender, but Hudson does not leap off the ground by even an inch... and the pass still hits his hand.

Why does Hudson not even leave his feet with even a slight jump? Theories:

- Maybe he's just not athletic enough to leap right after making the outside cut.

- Maybe he feels the guy on his back and thinks he won't be able to jump.

- Maybe he thinks if he leaves his feet, because he is so close to the goal line, the defender will tackle him short of the goal line.

Personally, I think it's mostly that. Because he didn't get quite enough depth on the route, he's afraid if he leaps to catch the pass, he'll be pushed by the defender back out of the endzone. So he cements his feet to the ground in order to hopefully catch it and turn the ball upfield over the goal line.

Whatever the case, the pass was absolutely not too high. That is a catchable ball thrown under complete duress, that any 6-foot+ receiver should be able to reach easily.