Entering Week 18, Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase leads the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. QB Joe Burrow wants to ensure that it stays that way, earning his good friend a rare receiving “Triple Crown”. While there is no official recognition, it is still an honor for a player to lead the league in all major statistical categories at his position.
Asked about where Chase stands toward that end, Burrow told reporters that the Bengals will “make sure he gets it”, via the team’s website. While he may not have meant that in the “at all costs” sense, it’s not as though Cincinnati has nothing to play for. They are still in the playoff mix, even if they are longshots.
As Burrow pointed out, though, Chase is a virtual shoo-in to earn the receiving Triple Crown, anyway, so it shouldn’t take much doing to keep him ahead. His 117 receptions are eight more than second-place Amon-Ra St. Brown. He also has a 16-to-12 touchdown lead over St. Brown and Terry McLaurin. And on top of that, he leads his college teammate, Justin Jefferson, in receiving yards, 1,612 to 1,479.
Now, is it possible that some other player sneaks up with a huge game in Week 18 and passes Chase? Is it possible that he has a bad game, or even suffers an early injury and is unable to put up more stats? Absolutely. But he has made it this far, and the odds are he will take it to the finish line.
Ja’Marr Chase is a consistent producer, with 80-plus receptions for 1,000-plus yards and at least seven touchdowns in each of his four NFL seasons. For his career, he is up to 385 catches for 5,329 yards and 45 touchdowns. While he isn’t breaking any NFL records, there aren’t many skill players you would even consider starting a franchise with over him.
And Chase has had some good games against the Steelers over the course of his career, which doesn’t hurt. Over five career games, he has 27 receptions for 400 yards and four touchdowns. In the Bengals game against the Steelers earlier this season, he caught six passes for 86 yards and one touchdown.
The last player to win the receiving Triple Crown was not long ago at all. The Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp achieved the feat in 2021, with more impressive numbers. That season, he caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase has matched him in scores, which is most important. But he has virtually no chance of approaching the other figures.
If the Steelers can take pride in anything, they did at least hold Chase slightly below his season’s pace on Dec. 1. This year, he is averaging 7.3 catches per game for 100.8 yards and 1 touchdown. They did let him get his one touchdown, but he fell basically one catch shy of the other benchmarks. That doesn’t mean he won’t hit them on Saturday in an effort to secure his place in history. In doing so, he will join a list of names that includes Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, and Calvin Johnson.
