The Cincinnati Bengals have found a way to rack up some key wins over the last three weeks despite playing without star quarterback Joe Burrow, who suffered a season-ending injury in their Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Cincinnati aims to continue that strong stretch — which has featured a pair of overtime wins — Saturday when it takes on the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, they’ll have to do so not only without Burrow but also star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Ja’Marr Chase Out With Shoulder Injury
Chase had already been dealing with an injury heading into Saturday’s Week 15 game against the Minnesota Vikings, but he sustained another one early in the fourth quarter of the contest.
He appeared to suffer the injury on a tackle from Minnesota’s Ivan Pace Jr. after making a catch for a first down.
Ja'Marr Chase is out of the game and headed back to the locker room. It looked as though he was injured on this play.#PFN365 pic.twitter.com/0MOCtX9I9N
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) December 16, 2023
Chase was initially ruled questionable to return to the game by the Bengals, but NFL Network cameras captured him standing on the sideline in a sweatshirt with a sling apparently on his arm during overtime.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor did not have an update on his status after the game.
Fast forward to Monday, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Chase would miss Cincinnati’s Week 16 bout with the Steelers due to what he called an AC joint sprain, suffered during the win over the Vikings. Rapoport also reported that Chase could miss time beyond Week 16 with the injury.
Taylor remained mum on Chase’s status Tuesday and was not yet willing to rule him out at that point. He did, however, officially rule Chase out for Saturday’s game when he talked with reporters on Thursday.
Missing Chase for any amount of time is a tough blow to the Bengals’ offense. He is Cincinnati’s leading receiver with 93 receptions for 1,156 yards and seven touchdowns on the season in 14 games played.
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The next closest receiver to him is Tyler Boyd with 59 catches for 575 yards and two touchdowns.
Nevertheless, Cincinnati (8-6) will look to find a way to win without Chase in Saturday’s key divisional bout with the Steelers (7-7).
Both teams could certainly use a win for their playoff hopes and come in on exactly opposite trajectories. The Bengals have won each of their last three games entering the contest, while Pittsburgh has lost each of its last three and four of its last five overall to tail off from a torrid start.
Cincinnati will look to pick up another short-handed win Saturday and further secure its spot in the playoff pecking order without both its star quarterback and star receiver.
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