Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase joined elite company among top receivers throughout the franchise's history with his remarkable 266-yard, three-touchdown effort during Sunday's Week 17 34-31 win in come-from-behind fashion against the Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium.
Chase's 266 yards are the most in a game by a rookie in NFL history.
Chase entered Sunday with 1,163 receiving yards. After a pair of first-half touchdown receptions, he scored his third TD of the game - on a 69-yard catch and run from quarterback Joe Burrow - early in the third quarter, giving him 180 receiving yards on the day and 1,343 for the season.
Chase reached 1,429 yards for the season - third most in Bengals' history - with his 11th catch of the game, during the fourth quarter.
Only one player - Chad Johnson (1,440 in 2007, 1,432 in 2005) - has had more receiving yards in a season as a Bengal.
Chase also broke Justin Jefferson's NFL rookie record for receiving yards in a season. Jefferson had 1,400 yards in 2020. (Bill Groman had 1,473 in his rookie season for the 1960 Houston Oilers before the AFL-NFL merger.)
Chase also became just the third Bengals player - joining Carl Pickens (17 in 1995) and Tyler Eifert (13 in 2015) - with 13 receiving touchdowns in a season.
Chase scored his 11th touchdown of the season during the first quarter of Sunday's game on a 72-yard catch and run from Burrow. He added an 18-yard TD catch - his 12th - during the second quarter.
Burrow set a new Bengals' record for single-season passing yardage during the first half. He tied Andy Dalton's single-season record for passing touchdowns with his third TD pass of the game to Chase.
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