The Cincinnati Bengals gave Ja'Marr Chase the biggest contract ever given to a wide receiver. He'll get $161 million from the extension.
On Sunday, you wouldn't have known Chase was their leading man.
He ended up with just two catches for 26 yards in a barnburner 17-16 win over the lowly Cleveland Browns.
How is that possible?
"Getting more out of (Chase) is the only way to justify the team's $161 million investment," ESPN's Ben Baby wrote.
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Joe Burrow was busy throwing to the running backs and tight ends more than Chase and Tee Higgins.
"Coming into the 2025 season, the expectation was for the offense to be one of the best in the NFL. Despite a win and a full preseason and training camp workload, that did not exactly come to fruition," Baby wrote. "... While the Browns are always a tough matchup because of defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward, Cincinnati has taken great pride in finding ways to get Chase the ball. But that didn't happen."
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The reality is this: The Bengals always struggle to start the season. It's pretty inexplicable, but it's real.
Eventually, their offense gets cooking. Eventually, Burrow starts finding Chase for those huge gains and touchdowns.
That'll probably be the case again this season.
But for now, it's quite the rough start. The Bengals are just lucky the Browns missed kicks and allowed them to escape with a win.
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