The Cincinnati Bengals survived an overtime thriller 43-36 on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. No one expected the game to be that close, but that’s life in the NFL. If you start slow, you’re usually in a dogfight for the rest of the day. That’s something the Bengals keep doing.
There has been a lot of chatter about a trade for a returner, particularly Jonathan Taylor. While Taylor is a great back, I don’t believe he needs to lift this team that much. For a guy that will cost premium draft capital to acquire, he’ll be joining a Bengals team that will always be pass-first.
When you pass the ball a lot, you need a player who is a high-level pass protector and can catch the ball out of the backfield. To me, they already have that guy in Chase Brown.
Brown caught eight passes for 46 yards on Sunday. He had a spectacular touchdown reception, but it was called back due to a holding call on Dylan Fairchild. Brown is a reliable target as a pass catcher, and that’s something the Bengals will need to continue to lean on as an extension of the running game this season.
The thing that Brown has improved the most since his time in the NFL is his pass protection. He has established himself as one of the best pass defenders in the league this season. He has a 78.2 pass-blocking grade and has continued to shine by taking blitzes all season. For a team that likes to throw the ball, it’s important to have guys like Brown and Perine who boast great blocking for Joe Burrow and the offense.
While it wasn’t a hugely productive rushing performance for Brown on Sunday, it felt good. Brown had 12 carries for 55 rushing yards. That amounts to 4.6 yards per carry in the game. I thought he looked more elusive, hit the hole quickly, and ran his best of the season the past two weeks.
If Chase Brown is the #1 running back for the rest of the season, you have to hope that this is the start of him coming in for the rest of the season. He’s been a player who’s gotten off to a pretty slow start statistically in the past. Just last season, he didn’t have a rushing game of over 50 yards until Week 7. He still finished the season with over 1,000 rushing yards.
If the Bengals want to contend in the playoffs, they will need more balance in the running game. Chase Brown starting to heat up will go a long way toward doing that.