Joe Burrow talking to Bengals DC should tell fans exactly who's to blame for wasted season

If it weren't for the lack of success and likely missing out on a playoff spot at this point, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow would be the best clear challenger to Bills signal-caller Josh Allen in the NFL MVP race. But alas, even after a Week 15 win over the Titans, the Bengals are a mere 6-8 and wasting a truly prodigious season from their quarterback.

For the lip readers out there, that was clearly evident late during the win over the Titans.

The FOX cameras, with just over a minute remaining and with the Bengals holding a 37-21 lead over struggling Tennessee, cut to a clearly perturbed Burrow on the sidelines. It appeared that the former No. 1 overall pick called the team's performance "f---ing embarrassing" before lamenting their record and continuing to stew in his frustration.

Of course, you'd probably feel the same if you were leading the NFL in passing yards (3,977), passing touchdowns (36) and had only eight interceptions on the year but were still manning the offense of a six-win team. We've known for most of the season now that Burrow and the Bengals are being undercut almost weekly but one of the worst defenses in the league.

So when practice video came out on Wednesday of Burrow chatting with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, it was hard not to take notice.

Joe Burrow chatting with Bengals DC Lou Anarumo shows who's to blame in Cincinnati

The brief conversation before Burrow started taking some light passing reps at the indoor practice was pretty telling if you know how to read between the lines.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that practice facility — or, you know, to just have audio of what Burrow was saying there.

As a body language doctor and without the audio, though, it's clear that Burrow is all smiles talking to Anarumo and the frustration seen on Sunday looks like a distant memory. In truth, that says everything about the Bengals. Anarumo, who was considered a rising star and potential head coaching candidate prior to this year, isn't the porblem, even if his unit is.

When you look at the history of the Bengals front office, they've largely been notoriously cheap. That has bitten them catastrophically this season when it comes to the defense. Trey Hendrickson is leading the NFL in sacks but, really, that's about where the good vibes stop. It's a personnel issue — Cincinnati doesn't have the talent for Anarumo to be able to make it work. Burrow's frustration isn't at the DC but, rather, at the construction of the roster (and maybe with head coach Zac Taylor, though that's merely speculation).

That has to be infuriating for Bengals fans, though. Burrow is delivering an MVP-caliber season, Tee Higgins might be lost in free agency, Ja'Marr Chase still doesn't have a new deal, and it feels inevitable that the defense won't have money spent on it, especially if Chase does get paid. This is an ownership and front office management problem that is getting under the quarterback's skin.

We can only hope that changes but, the next time a Bengals fan is as frustrated as Burrow was in Week 15 (likely in Week 16 based on history this season), don't blame Anarumo. Burrow clearly doesn't based on how he's interacting with him at practice.