Ja’Marr Chase just keeps chasing the Bengals and NFL records

All-Pro honors and the NFL record for receiving yards are among those on Chase’s to-do list.

Cincinnati Bengals’ all-world receiver Ja’Marr Chase had a goal. Actually, he had a lot of goals. He’s just not talking about all of them.

One he is talking about is the Bengals’ single-season record for most receiving yards in a season, and that’s mainly because he accomplished it in Sunday’s victory over the Browns.

Chase entered the day needing 43 yards to surpass his own record of 1,455, and he hit that number on his fourth catch midway through the second quarter. He ended up with six receptions for 97 yards, giving him 1,510 on the year and making him the 57th player in NFL history to record 1,500 receiving yards in a season.

“It feels good,” Chase said after the game. “It’s something I wanted to do. Me being competitive, I want to compete with myself, so it was a good thing I did that. It was a goal for me.”

His final catch of the day was a 32-yard touchdown reception with the game winding down, and it almost did not happen, as Chase wanted to see rookie Jermaine Burton get playing time instead.

“There were two minutes left on the clock, and I told Troy (Walters), ‘I’m good. Get Jermaine (Burton) in and let him get like a little (playing time),’” Chase said. “I was looking out for Jermaine. He was like, ‘The second play is ‘Whiskey,’ so you might want to take this play,’ and I was like, ‘Alright, fine.’

“So, I went out there, and it was just nothing but God at that point that it got called.”

It’s been a challenging year for Burton, so Chase’s willingness to give up reps for his teammate is something Bengals fans will love to see.

Nobody outside of the team seems to be quite sure what a “Whiskey” is, but whatever it is, it worked.

“It’s a blessing, man,” Chase continued. “Honestly, it’s a blessing. To sit here and say that I didn’t want to go in on that last play and that one catch got me to 1,500. So, it’s nothing but a blessing, and I couldn’t have been happier, but thank God at that point.”

In addition to going over the 1,500-yard mark, Chase now has 108 receptions and 16 touchdowns on the season. He is the third player ever with at least 100 receptions, 1,500 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in the first 15 games of a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Randy Moss (2003) and Jerry Rice (1995).

Chase now leads the league in catches, yards, and touchdowns. He’s on track to become just the 12th player in the history of the NFL to win the receiving triple crown. He has made the Pro Bowl every year since he was drafted with the 5^th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, but that was never one of his goals.

“That’s expected for me now,” he said, “but I’ve got All-Pro up there. Pro (Bowl) was never up there. It was always All-Pro.”

Oh, and there is one more goal Chase is willing to talk about. How about the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season, currently held by Calvin Johnson with 1,964 yards?

“Yeah, I mean, when that happens, I’ll get to that,” he said, “but right now, I have to stay in the moment and take it one game at a time. I’m just living in the moment, man. Enjoying this process.”

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