On Saturday night the Cincinnati Bengals were riding high after keeping their playoff hopes alive with a 19-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With a fifth straight win after opening the season with a 4-8 record, the Bengals needed just two things to happen in order to have a shot at the Super Bowl: wins by the Kansas City Chiefs over the Denver Broncos and New York Jets over the Miami Dolphins.
Kansas City didn’t appear to be in a hurry to let the Bengals squeak into the playoffs, though, as the team suffered a 38-0 blowout loss against the Broncos while resting most of their key starters.
With a win on Sunday afternoon the Broncos secured the final playoff spot in the AFC, eliminating both the Bengals and Dolphins from playoff contention.
While the Bengals can’t compete next weekend, they’re not going away quietly. On Monday morning the NFL announced Ja’Marr Chase won the triple crown as the wide receiver with the most receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns on the season.
Chase finished the season with 127 receptions for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns to become just the fifth wide receiver since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to accomplish the feat. He joined the likes of Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992), Steve Smith (2005) and Cooper Kupp (2021).
“This is the first year that I just know (it) for a fact,” Chase told reporters about being the best wide receiver in the league. “The confidence that I had was just like, I knew it already.”
Chase enters the 2025 season on the final year of his rookie contract and is in line for a massive pay raise.
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