David Kull
The Cincinnati Bengals, battling for an AFC playoff berth, will have to play without their best offensive player, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, when they go on the road to play a critical game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals’ leading receiver, suffered a shoulder injury last Saturday. He caught four passes for 64 yards before exiting the game and watching the end of the Bengals’ 27-24 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings in street clothes on the sidelines.
With Chase out of the game, the Bengals (8-6) received big games from Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to pull out their third consecutive victory.
No Ja’Marr Chase, but Cincinnati Bengals must win
Without Ja’Marr Chase, Higgins and Boyd need to step up once against for the Bengals, who have the biggest must-win game of Week 16 among the AFC teams in terms of playoff implications.
The Bengals, currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC, currently have a 47-percent chance of making the playoffs, based on the NFL’s playoff probabilities.
They can improve their chances to 66 percent with a victory, or see their chances fall to 20 percent with a loss — a 46-point swing that is second-largest behind the Los Angeles Rams’ 58-point swing among all NFL teams.
The Bengals, who lost franchise quarterback Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury, haven’t missed a beat with backup Jake Browning, who’s been on fire, putting up some of the best numbers in the league among quarterbacks.
Cincinnati Bengals need Ja’Marr Chase back soon
But not having Ja’Marr Chase is a huge loss. Chase, who’s made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons, has a career-high 93 receptions and 1,156 receiving yards (both seventh-best in the NFL) to go with seven touchdowns.
The fifth overall pick in the 2021, Chase paired with Burrow, his former LSU teammate, to instantly become one of the best receivers in the game, earning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award with a 13-touchdown rookie season.
The Bengals might be able to overcome the struggling Steelers (7-7) without Ja’Marr Chase, but they will certainly need him back for their final two games against a pair of playoff-bound teams — at Kansas City in Week 17 and at home against Cleveland in Week 18.
