Why is Ja'Marr Chase not playing tonight vs Browns?

The Cincinnati Bengals will take on fellow AFC franchise the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. However, they will be without number one receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

The speedy receiver is currently on the sidelines as he is dealing with a hip injury that will keep him out for the next few weeks.

He is expected to miss between four and six weeks, which is a huge blow to Joe Burrow and the Bengals' offense. Chase will now be sidelined as the Bengals look to top the Baltimore Ravens, who currently occupy the number one seed in the AFC North.

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Can the Bengals cope without Ja'Marr Chase?

Atlanta Falcons v Cincinnati Bengals

We will find out over the next four to six weeks. With the Bengals currently sitting at 4-3, they need to start recording wins if they want to make a deep playoff run.

They start against the Browns, and looking at their schedule while Chase is out, they could still perform quite well without him. After Cleveland, Cincinnati will face the Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans and then the Kansas City Chiefs. They could potentially win three of those, but that is if the receiver only misses four games.

Not having their number one receiver is a blow, but there are others who are more than capable of picking up the slack. The likes of Tyler Boyd (8 rec, 155 yards, 1 TD last week) and Tee Higgins (5 rec, 93 yards last week) will be the two Joe Burrow calls on the most. Let's not forget the running game with Joe Mixon either.

Cincinnati is still perfectly placed to cope without the 22-year-old wideout. If they can manage to keep winning with him not in the lineup, the offense will explode once he returns.

Easier said than done, but thankfully the Bengals' entire offense doesn't revolve around the star receiver. There are other weapons that are more than capable of taking over games.