Bengals' Chase Brown continues ascent by lighting up Patriots run defense

With as much love as we show Cincinnati Bengals starting running back around these parts, we would understand if you consider this a Chase Brown Stan account.

Fortunately, for us, and despite several calls to the contrary, Brown continues to prove us correct. Unfortunately, he did so in a losing effort against the New England Patriots.

Nevertheless, Brown was one of the winners of the week 12 matchup, as he continues to show why we should consider him among the top running backs in the NFL.

Chase Brown shreds New England's No. 1 rushing defense 

Brown had another excellent game on Sunday versus New England. It just so happens that the Patriots came into the match-up with the league’s best rushing defense.

In fact, they are on pace to have one of the best season performances against the run in NFL history.

After Sunday's performance, the Patriots are now second in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game with 87.7.

Brown totaled 19 carries for 107yards against New England, along with two receptions for 23 yards. He had 12 rushes for 76 yards in the first half alone. 

While it is understandable that the Bengals would throw the ball more when attempting a comeback, it is still disappointing that Brown had a mere seven carries in the second half after such a productive first two quarters.

However, the former Fighting Illini touched the ball enough to show off his talents as a starting NFL running back.

Quieting rumblings of doubt

Some within the fan base were beginning to question if Chase Brown was, in fact, a starting-caliber running back. Hopefully, after doing what he did against the defense that was giving up the least amount of rushing yards per game, those rumblings will subside.

In fact, what Brown has shown us over the past five weeks, regardless of various performance grades and fantasy points, is evidence that rumblings about his ability as a starting running back were unfounded. 

But those rumblings were just part of a larger, grasping-at-straws effort happening within the fan base and the organization as everyone searched for answers to what was a season running off the rails, disappointingly and spectacularly.

Another reason for doubt came not from fans, but from fantasy football players. 

We don't know who needs to hear this, but fantasy football is not real. Insert your favorite GIF of someone's head exploding here. We've lamented in the past the reductiveness of football cosplay as chess strategy books.

The Patriots left the game against the Bengals ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards per game surrendered after Brown increased their average to 87.7.

Brown left the matchup showing what he can do with a competent offensive line and good scheme against a top-ranked rushing defense.

False narratives about Chase Brown & Bengals likely to continue

Still, despite his production against the number one rushing defense, falsehoods and faux-narratives will more than likely continue around Cincinnati’s most beloved Canadian since Joey Votto.

One such falsehood is that Brown isn't a suitable bell cow running back despite finishing second in carries and fourth in rushing yards in his final year at Illinois.

Another is that Brown is an inefficient pass blocker despite being one of the toughest and best at doing it in college. His film against Wisconsin Nick Herbig should have been all you needed to know. That is, unless you listen to the scouts who only watch highlights on Twitter, correction, X. 

And for his part, Brown has continued to show that he is a capable pass blocker in the NFL when called upon to do so.

Furthermore, people who continue to consider fantasy point numbers as reliable as PFF scores in determining who is good and who is not will always try to reduce players to numbers and put them on spreadsheets. 

Chase Brown emerges as recent draft steal

During a season in which the flames have reached heights and temperatures never before seen around the director of player personnel and de facto GM, Duke Tobin, Chase Brown is a recent Day-3 pick he can point to as a fainting symbol of competence.

The Bengals drafted Brown in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. It was a great pick by the front office, but we should acknowledge that the Bengals were lucky to get him when they did.

Brown was not worthy of a fifth-round grade. He should've gone much higher than he did in that draft. Nevertheless, to their credit, when the opportunity came to grab him with the 163rd overall pick, they did.

So in the world of Shemar Stewart’s, Miles Murphy’s, Germaine Burton’s, or whoever you would consider a bad decision by the scouting department, at least they selected a top-end, starting running back in the fifth round. 

RB1 excluded from plethora of issues to address

Now that the Bengals are essentially out of the playoff hunt with a 3-8 record, many fans will turn their attention to the 2026 season and how the team will improve its roster. 

With questions swirling about coaches, executives, the offensive line, and the entire defense, it is excellent to know that, like the starting quarterback, there won't be a need to spend draft capital or an overpriced contract commensurate with a free-agent starting running back. 

Chase Brown has that role filled, and the Bengals will be better off in 2026 because of it.

The only possible question concerning Brown and the Bengals next season should be what his second contract will look like.

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