Ja’Marr Chase already had a pretty good idea where Sunday’s first touchdown catch against Houston belongs in his personal highlight reel.
For the Bengals’ top receiver, it lands second all-time in his career, trailing only a grab from Cincinnati’s Super Bowl appearance. In his own words, it’s his best regular-season catch, and it came at the perfect moment as Joe Burrow put the ball in a spot only Chase could make use of. The play opened the scoring for Cincinnati and gave fans one of those instant-replay catches that tends to stick around for a long time.
Chase said he had to watch the video before fully processing what happened.
"Literally don't know what I did. Like I couldn't see the ball for a second, and I was just fighting, trying to get in position. But by the time I saw the ball, it was like in the light, and it came real fast," Chase said to the media.
He also used the moment to talk about the role he wants to play for this team. Chase said he’s trying to lead, stay accountable, and help Cincinnati in whatever way he can, especially when things aren’t going his way.
"I'm trying to be a team leader. Being captain, be on myself.
I'm trying to end the day. The most I can do is try to provide for my team.
You know what I'm saying? I'm not gonna benefit and fight about it when I'm not playing well.
You know what I'm saying? We got weapons on this team at the end of the day, so I'm gonna just hold myself accountable.
I'm trying to do whatever I can to make the team win."
Burrow had his own view of the play, and it sounded like even he was ready to move on to a penalty argument before Chase bailed him out. Instead, the quarterback watched his receiver stay alive, twist his body, and get both feet down.
"I thought he was falling," Burrow said. "I was about to argue for a pass interference, and then somehow he stayed up and contorted his body and got two feet in. It was incredible.
"We're gonna keep getting better. Get back, watch the film, see where we can improve.
We shot ourselves in the foot a lot today. A lot of penalties early on that set us behind the sticks."
The Bengals are 2-0, but Burrow made it clear that’s not the finish line. The focus now shifts to Pittsburgh, with Cincinnati carrying a win and plenty of room to clean things up.
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Houston knows that problem well enough to talk about it before the matchup arrives. Texans general manager Nick Caserio praised Lawrences athleticism and compared him to former Patriots All-Pro Vince Wilfork, a reminder of just how rare a player like this can be when he starts commanding so much attention. For Cincinnati, the next question is not whether Lawrence can draw a crowd in the middle. It is how much more disruptive the defense can become when opponents have to build their entire plan around him. [Read more 🡒]