Ja'Marr Chase sets Bengals records for catches and targets in win over Steelers

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2025-10-17

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Apparently, as long as someone named Joe is tossing the pigskin for Cincinnati, Ja’Marr Chase will eat.

In Thursday night’s 33-31 win over Pittsburgh, the Bengals wide receiver feasted like it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July and Cinco De Mayo rolled into one. Chase gobbled up 16 catches on 23 targets for 161 yards and a touchdown. The output set a Bengals single-game record for targets and catches.

It marked Chase’s 13th game with at least 125 receiving yards and a TD catch, tied for fourth-most in a player’s first five seasons, per NFL Research. Only Lance Alworth (16), Randy Moss (14) and Justin Jefferson (14) have more.

Chase’s 23 targets were tied for the third-most in a game since the league began tracking them in 1978 — Brandon Marshall, 28 in Week 14, 2009; Chris Chambers, 26 in Week 13, 2005.

The star receiver repeatedly won off the line of scrimmage with ease, doing his best Michael Thomas “slant boy” impression for most of the night.

“They did exactly what we were expecting and hoping they’d do,” Chase said. “Man (coverage). We knew they were going to put Joey (Porter Jr.) on Tee (Higgins) and put Jalen (Ramsey) on me. We knew that we were ready for it. We knew that we were going to take advantage of those opportunities.”

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It didn’t matter which corner the Steelers put on Chase, he indulged. The Bengals receiver beat Ramsey for three catches on five targets for 29 yards and his touchdown (18 routes). He got Darius Slay for four catches on six targets for 38 yards. He beat up Porter for four catches on four targets for 51 yards.

In his first two games with Flacco, Chase has generated 10-plus catches each contest. It’s the first time he’s hit double digits in back-to-back games. The 26 catches over the last two weeks are the most in any two-game span of his career.

“Last week, it seemed we had finally figured out how it was going to be with Flacco and the offensive line. And today we showed what we’re capable of,” Chase said.

Joe Burrow famously once said, “F— it, Ja’Marr’s down there somewhere.” Flacco is currently employing the 40-year-old version of that phrase. It’s not the deep shot, but every play that needs making, Flacco is looking for Chase.

As evidenced by Thursday’s performance, it’s a brilliant plan.