Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase Turns in Gusty Performance for the Ages in Loss to Houston

For nearly three quarters Sunday, Cincinnati Bengals fans were seeing something they had hoped wouldn’t be before their eyes until years down the road:

An offense without Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Since Chase arrived in 2021, the Bengals have never had a game where neither receiver played. Higgins was ruled out Friday with a hamstring injury, and while Chase proved enough in a pregame workout to be active despite a painful back injury, he hardly was a factor with two catches on two targets for 21 yards through the first 44-plus minutes of the 30-27 loss to the Texans.

It wasn’t Chase’s back that limited him as much as it was a Houston defense that was able to center all of its attention on him with Higgins out.

“I got doubled every play,” Chase said.

Ja’Marr Chase Turns in One of His Most Impressive Performances Yet

But still, the pain Chase was fighting through played a big role as well. He said earlier in the week it was the worst pain he’s ever felt, resulting from a play in last Sunday’s game against Buffalo when he leapt and landed on his back without breaking the fall whatsoever.

He wasn’t moving like he usually does in that pregame warmup, or through the first 44 minutes.

But with 29 seconds left in the third quarter, Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow beat the double team with their secret weapon — the scramble drill.

Burrow extended the play by rolling out to his left before throwing across his body to hit Chase for a 64-yard touchdown that got the Bengals within 20-17, sparking a furious rally that led to them tying the game at 27-27 with 1:33 remaining.

MORE: NFL Offense Rankings 2023

“He did a great job there,” Burrow said. “The scramble drill turns into big plays, big touchdowns for us. He does a great job of that every time.

“He was grinding it out,” Burrow added. “If he feels like he’s good enough to go, he’s going to go. That’s the kind of guy he is. Not much else to say.”

"F it. Ja'Marr is down there somewhere"#HOUvsCIN | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/0PsOq4vYZY

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 12, 2023

Chase was asked what percent of full health he was on Sunday.

“I don’t know. I was just out there,” he said. “I’m not 100. Everyone knows I’m not 100.”

Whatever the number was, it got worse after his first catch, a third-down slant that came up short of the first down due to a hard hit from Houston linebacker Blake Cashman on the third play of the second quarter.

“I thought they was gonna call (a personal foul). He hit me right in the damn head,” Chase said. “But I’m alive, so it’s good.”

Chase said he didn’t have to sell the training staff or head coach Zac Taylor on playing after his pregame workout.

“They were just asking me what do I want to do,” Chase said. “They let me choose on my decision.”

Sunday marked the first time since his rookie year that Chase didn’t have a target in the first quarter. He obviously noticed, but so did the Texans.

“The defense kept talking and asking me, ‘Are you hurt? Are you hurt?’ So my first mind was to go to Zac and say ‘give me the ball, and I’ll show them that I’m hurt but I still can play football.'”

By the time the game ended, there was no sign of injury in the box score. Chase finished with five catches for a team-high 124 yards and a touchdown.

Chase’s fifth and final reception was a 16-yarder with four minutes left in the game. He again took a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit at the end of it. This time, there was a flag as the officials penalized Houston linebacker Denzel Perryman for unnecessary roughness.

That fifth catch extended Chase’s streak of games with at least five to 15. It’s a Bengals franchise record and is tied for the 15th-longest streak in NFL history.

It should also hold a spot as one of the gutsiest performances in Bengals history despite the disappointing way the game ended.

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