When Joe Burrow went down with a turf toe injury, football fans wondered how Ja'Marr Chase's production would be impacted. Burrow is slated to miss at least three months, which is a long time for a receiver to be without his QB. However, Chase has been here before.
Unfortunately, Burrow has suffered multiple significant injuries in his career, which has led Chase to catch passes from several backups. After several underwhelming performances from Jake Browning, the Bengals acquired veteran QB Joe Flacco to step in during Burrow's absence. The early results for Chase have been strong. After hauling in 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown in Flacco's Cincinnati debut against the Packers last week, Chase put together a record-breaking performance on Thursday night against the Steelers.
Chase breaks records with monster Thursday night performance
On Thursday night, Chase set a Bengals franchise record for most catches in a single game with 16. He racked up 161 yards on the night, helping lead the Bengals to a 33-31 upset victory over their division rivals. It's the second time this season that Chase has exceeded the 160-yard mark.
With his monster performance, Chase is now just the third receiver in NFL history to collect 6,000+ receiving yards and 50+ receiving touchdowns in the first 5 seasons of his career. The other two receivers in that exclusive club are Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. That's not bad company.
The chemistry between Flacco and Chase seems to already be clicking. Through two games with Flacco at the helm, it's clear that Chase remains in a league of his own. Flacco is almost force-feeding Chase targets, as he's targeted the former LSU wideout 35 times in two games, which includes a whopping 23 targets in Thursday night's contest. Chase has delivered, bringing in 26 catches for 255 yards and two touchdowns over the last two weeks.
The Bengals are one of the most pass-happy offenses in the NFL, which means that Chase should continue to see plenty of opportunity the rest of the season. Chase and company are back in action next Sunday, Oct. 26 with a home tilt against the Jets.