Bengals Receiver Ja'Marr Chase Uses Big Game, 7-Eleven to Prove His Point

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase might, in fact, always be open.

The two-time Pro Bowler reminded everyone of that during, and following, one of the best performances of his young NFL career. A week after Chase passionately pointed out that he is "always [expletive] open," the 23-year-old receiver caught a career-high 15 passes in a 34-20 Bengals win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Chase tallied 192 yards and tied a personal best with three touchdown receptions.

In a call-back to his Week 4 comments, Chase shared a photo of a 7-Eleven to his X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts after Sunday's game. It, apparently like Chase, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"It felt fun, let me say that," Chase said of his performance postgame, via the team website. "It didn't feel normal. It felt fun. It's fun when you're having fun."

Chase's "fun" on Sunday comes a week after a bit of misery. The Bengals were held to just three points in a Week 4 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Cincinnati mustered only 211 yards of offense and fell to 1-3. But Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow may finally be healthy, his connection with Chase is thriving again, and Cincinnati is suddenly only one game out of the AFC North lead.

Let's take a closer look at Chase's performance and where the Bengals go from here.

Chase Finally Has Big Game

Cincinnati's top wide receiver hadn't scored a touchdown this season entering Week 5. The same couldn't be said after the Bengals' first offensive drive Sunday.

Burrow wrapped up an 11-play scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Chase in the first quarter. Chase would familiarize himself with Arizona's end zones throughout the day. No QB had thrown more 40-plus-yard touchdowns over the last two years than Burrow, according to the Bengals, but the deep passing game had been missing from Cincinnati's offense through the first month of the season. It wasn't on Sunday.

Burrow dropped back, stepped up and launched a 63-yard touchdown pass to Chase early in the third quarter. The ball traveled 58 yards in the air, making it the longest pass Burrow had thrown in his four-year NFL career.

"Outstanding throw," Chase said. "Joe told me after the play, 'I didn't overthrow you that time.'"

Chase scored his third and final TD midway through the fourth quarter to give the Bengals a double-digit lead. Burrow scrambled around the pocket, despite being hobbled by a calf injury since training camp, before finding an open Chase in the back of the end zone.

"I can't tell you how many times on the headset we said throw the ball away on his touchdown to Ja'Marr there on the goal line. We said it a lot," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "Those two just found a way to make a play and the line held the guys off of him. It was good to see him move around today."

The former Offensive Rookie of the Year broke out the Deion Sanders celebration after touchdown No. 3 of the day. Chase set a Bengals record for receptions in a single game and recorded the third-most yards in any contest during his NFL career. The Cardinals' defense ranks 27th in the NFL in points allowed and 26th in passing yards given up through five weeks. But the Bengals offense will take what it can get as it finds its stride.

"We definitely needed this win," Chase said. "...I just want to say we're making the right steps forward right now. Just keep pushing and moving forward."

Burrow Feeling Healthy

Burrow set season highs in passing completions, yards and touchdowns on Sunday. The Pro Bowl QB pointed out this third TD to Chase as a play he wouldn't have been healthy enough to make earlier in the season because of his calf injury.

"I was able to slide right, plant my leg, throw back across my body, and after that I felt like I was pretty good," Burrow said. "Obviously there have been a lot of moments where I thought it was good and it turned out not to be, so I have got to keep getting healthier, keep working on it, keep working on my body and it'll be good."

Good health news surrounding Burrow might be essential for the Bengals if they want to keep pace in the AFC North. The next month isn't going to be an easy one for Cincinnati. The Bengals play the Seattle Seahawks (3-1), San Francisco 49ers (5-0) and Buffalo Bills (3-2) in their next three games, with a bye in the mix during Week 7.

Those are three of the top six scoring teams in the NFL.

Cincinnati had averaged just 11.5 points per game ahead of Week 5, and Burrow had been failing to live up to his record five-year, $275 million contract extension. If the Bengals want to see offensive outputs similar to what happened in Week 5, they may need to remember that Chase, as he says, is always open.