The Bears don’t run into Bengals star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase often, but they’ll likely hear his name all game Sunday.
Chase is right there with the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson as the best at his position, and the Bengals have tilted their passing attack heavily toward him. Regardless of whether it’s Joe Flacco or Jake Browning at quarterback, they’ll constantly look for Chase.
Flacco went to him on 42 of his 81 passes the last two weeks, which is more targets than any Bears receiver but Rome Odunze (56) has for the season. Chase leads the NFL with 99 targets (12.4 per game) and 70 catches and is second with 720 yards. No receiver is close in targets or catches.
He’s the highest paid receiver of all time — $161 million over four years — for a reason.
“It’s all hands on deck to try to slow him down,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said.
Trouble is, not all hands are available.
Cornerback was the strength of the roster going into training camp, but injuries swung it to a deficiency. The Bears are so depleted that they signed volatile free agent C.J. Gardner-Johnson this week to play nickel corner.
Johnson called Chase “a complete problem.” Normally the solution would be sticking two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson on him, but he’s on injured reserve — just like Kyler Gordon and Terell Smith.
The Bears’ best option is Tyrique Stevenson, who missed the last game with a shoulder injury, but practiced in full Friday and will play Sunday. Their other starter on the outside is Nahshon Wright, and Gardner-Johnson probably wouldn’t have signed if he wasn’t going to start.
Chase is headed toward his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection to begin his career. He was an All-Pro last season and finished eighth in MVP voting as he caught 127 passes for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Given his talent and the Bears’ injuries, it’s hard to calibrate what a successful performance against Chase would be.
“Everybody doing their job, affect the quarterback and hopefully he doesn’t touch the ball,” safety Jaquan Brisker said.
Chase is definitely going to touch the ball. It’s a matter of how often and how much damage he does. While targeting him on more than half their passes isn’t balanced, it is profitable.
“There’s two dudes draped all over him, and they’re still throwing the ball to him,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said.
Chase caught 16 for 161 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals’ 33-31 win over the Steelers two weeks ago and 12 for 91 and no scores last week in a loss to the Jets. The latter would be fine, and the former might even be tolerable if the Bears keep fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins and a surging Bengals ground game under control.
The only other time they faced Chase was in 2021, when he had two catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in the second game of his career.
The Bears haven’t been burned by star receivers other than Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams going off in the Lions’ blowout win in Week 2.
They managed Jefferson in the opener, allowing four catches for 44 yards, though Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy struggled most of that game. They dodged the Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb and the Commanders’ Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin because of injuries.
Historically, elite receivers getting a ton of opportunities has been disastrous for the Bears. The Eagles’ A.J. Brown in 2022 was the last to get 15-plus targets against them and caught nine passes for 181 yards.
Terrell Owens, then with the 49ers, got 22 targets against the Bears in 2000 and scorched them for 283 yards — the most they’ve ever allowed — and a touchdown on 20 catches.
The realistic goal is to hold Chase to a good game and prevent a great one. Just keep him from being a monster.