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The Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the league’s biggest surprises this season, with stellar rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase pushing forth to post historic numbers in his first season. Chase has been a major reason for the team's success in the passing game.
Bengals rookie Ja'Marr Chase joins elite company
The LSU product recorded six catches for 159 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers. It pushes him to 23 receptions for 456 receiving yards, tied for second with five touchdowns, and for third with 19.8 yards per catch. He has now joined Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only other player to record at least 400 receiving yards and five touchdowns in first five career games.
Chase is on pace to notch 74 catches for 1,459 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. He is also the fourth player in the Super Bowl era to record at least 50 receiving yards in each of his first five games, joining Terry Glenn, Terry McLaurin and CeeDee Lamb. The Dallas Cowboys’ second-year wideout holds the all-time rookie mark, which he extended to six games last season.
Chase has quickly become a big-play factor that has found strong chemistry playing with second-year quarterback Joe Burrow. The two anchor the Bengals’ passing game as Burrow continues to showcase why he’s one of the game’s brightest young stars.
He received plenty of criticism during the preseason due to his lack of production as he had one reception with four dropped passes. However, he’s completely put that rough start behind him with his impressive showing in the regular season.
The Bengals’ success this year will be linked through their offense as Burrow has picked up where he left off in his rookie campaign before tearing his ACL. Cincinnati possess a strong group of young talent around their quarterback with wide receivers Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins along with running back Joe Mixon.
The front office has worked to put together a young nucleus that can build toward something special over the next several years.
The franchise is in an upward direction with their young core group leading the charge. Meanwhile, Chase will have every opportunity to build on his strong start to his rookie campaign.
Beyond that, the Bengals hold the chance to make a serious push for playoff contention and potentially vie for the AFC North division title.
