Bengals RB Chase Brown will have a chance at reaching the milestone he barely missed last season
Chase Brown is on the doorstep of redemption from last year.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown was so close in 2024. His final carry of the season got him 990 yards in the penultimate game of the year. It also resulted in an ankle sprain, causing him to miss the season finale a week later.
Falling 10 yards short of 1,000 yards was a bummer. Brown had proved to be an ascending player for Cincinnati, and he’s stayed the course in his third year this season. He’s up to 947 yards through the same number of games he played last year.
But there’s no ankle sprain in the way now. Brown will play in Sunday’s Week 18 matchup against the Cleveland Browns, and he’s got a real shot at crossing 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.
Chase Brown can put a cherry on top of his third season with Bengals
At his current average of 4.3 yards per carry, Brown would be expected to cross the 1,000-yard threshold with 13 carries, and he’s averaging 13.69 carries a game. The stars are aligning for him to reach the milestone for the first time.
4.3 yards/carry was also Brown’s average in 2024, and it’s not the only similarity when looking at his production from the past two years.
Brown has been shockingly consistent in terms of both volume and efficiency carrying the ball, and catching it out of the backfield.
Despite Cincinnati’s run game as a whole improving from 19th to seventh in EPA/rush and 25th to sixth in rushing success rate, Brown has been largely the same ballcarrier.
The same durable ballcarrier, more specifically.
Brown’s ankle sprain from almost exactly a year ago has been the only injury that’s caused him to miss a game since his rookie season. He’s amassed well over 400 rushes as the Bengals’ lead back and maintained good health throughout his increased workload.
It’s only fitting he caps this year off with a new benchmark for success and a clean bill of health. Allow me to knock on wood for you as I type this sentence out.
Brown has played four games against Cleveland in his career, but has only exceeded 50 yards once when he rushed for 91 in Week 16 last year. He logged two 43-yard outings and ran for 44 in the other.
All he needs is 53 to put an exclamation point on his third year, and become the 12th RB in franchise history to join the 1,00o-yard club.
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