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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterDec 22, 2024, 07:34 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI – Ja’Marr Chase didn’t even want to be in the game for the play that would take him to new heights.
Initially, the Cincinnati Bengals star receiver wanted rookie Jermaine Burton to go late in Sunday’s 24-6 win over the Cleveland Browns to get a little extra playing time. But then Bengals assistant coach Troy Walters said the play, which Chase said was called “whiskey,” might be of interest to him.
Sure enough, it was. After drawing Cleveland’s defense offside for a free play, quarterback Joe Burrow hit Chase for 32-yard touchdown pass that put the finishing touch on Cincinnati’s third straight win.
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It also capped another historic day for one of the best wideouts in the league. Earlier in the game, Chase broke his own franchise record for the most receiving yards in Bengals history. The late touchdown gave him 1,510 receiving yards on the season, well past his mark of 1,455 from his rookie year in 2021 that was the previous franchise high.
This year has been Chase’s best to date, which is notable given Pro Bowl nods in each of his first three seasons. When the Bengals drafted him, Chase said he wanted to break all of the franchise’s records. Sunday was the latest example of him living up to those words.
“That’s just the person I am,” Chase said. “I walk with that swag like that. I just love to compete and the guys around me know that I love to compete.”
With two games remaining, Chase is within striking distance of a couple more franchise records. He is one touchdown shy of matching Carl Pickens’ 17-touchdown season in 1995. Chase also needs five receptions to break T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s mark of 112, set in 2007.
If Chase can get those marks next week against the Denver Broncos, he will accomplish the feats in 16 games, which was the length of the regular season until 2021, when the league added an extra game to the calendar. His efforts could also help the Bengals (7-8) stay in the playoff hunt, which seemed unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Burrow, who played with Chase at LSU, was the one who revealed that Chase didn’t want to be out there for his touchdown catch against Cleveland (3-12). But the pair produced a play they have repeated over the years.
Burrow distracted the safety for as long as possible before throwing a ball to Chase’s back shoulder, which has been a go-to throw in several situations over the last three years. Chase adjusted and hauled in the 32-yarder with 1:44 on the clock.
On the day he was drafted, Ja’Marr Chase said he wanted to rewrite the Bengals’ recordbooks. He’s fulfilling that mission. Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
After the game, Burrow pointed to Chase’s consistency when asked what has been most impressive about his teammate.
“That’s why he’s so great — because of how he practices and how he works and his discipline,” Burrow said. “He’s a great guy for young guys to come into this building and watch him go to work every single day and learn from him and take a lot from him.”
Chase has always been bashful about revealing his ambitions. However, he has always referenced a mirror at home that holds sticky notes with all of his goals scribbled on them.
With his outing against the Browns, Chase will get to take one of those notes down. But with two games left, there is still plenty for him to accomplish, including his first All-Pro selection.
That’s why Chase didn’t even flinch when describing his ambitions from the moment he entered the league.
“I just love football, bro,” Chase said. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”
