Ja’Marr Chase's Pro Bowl backflip took years off Bengals backers' lives

The Cincinnati Bengals were well represented at the Pro Bowl this week, with Joe Burrow, Joe Flacco, Tee Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase participating.

However, one of Cincinnati’s stars made the play of the game and gave fans one of the biggest scares imaginable in the process. 

Late in the first quarter of the exhibition game, Bengals’ receiver Ja’Marr Chase showed off his typical ball-catching skills. The only thing about it this time was that he did so while playing defense. 

A pick-six and near disaster for Ja'Marr Chase

Chase intercepted a pass from Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff and returned it for a touchdown. 

Much to the dismay of Bengals’ fans, instead of casually ‘Griddying’ into the endzone, Chase stopped an inch short of the goal line, turned around, and did a backflip to punctuate his touchdown. 

But Chase’s celebration was not a simple filp. It was more of a backflip with a mid-air rotation.  

To put it bluntly, Chase did not land the landing. It would have garnered a 6.5 from the Olympic floor routine judges. 5.5 from the French judge.

Coming up short on his landing, Chase landed awkwardly and ultimately finished on his backside. That caused at least one of us to hold our breath until Chase eventually got up and sprinted away to join his teammates. 

Watching it live looked a lot worse than it did after watching the slow-motion replay. Nevertheless, it took our hearts about five minutes to cease palpitating. 

Perhaps we still remember another Bengals player being seriously injured at the Pro Bowl a decade ago. 

Never forget Tyler Eifert

Speaking of France, the Bengals had an exceptional first-round talent at the tight end position, affectionately nicknamed ‘The Eifert Tower’ in Tyler Eifert. 

After a promising rookie season, Eifert only appeared in the 2014 season opener due to an elbow injury that abruptly ended his sophomore season. 

Eifert bounced back well enough in 2015 to earn Pro Bowl honors. However, during the 2016 event, the tight end suffered an injury that led him to declare he would never participate in another Pro Bowl. 

Eifert would go on to play in 14 games over the next three seasons due to an assortment of injuries. He did finish his final two seasons in 2019 and 2020, playing in 16 and 15 games, respectively. 

The Pro Bowl is fun until it isn’t

The NFL has done a decent job of limiting injury risk while keeping the event part of the Super Bowl lead-in. 

We are a long way from the days of safety, Sean Taylor hunting punters on fake punts. 

However, if the players take things into their own hands with over-the-top play or, in this case, extravagant celebrations, that could add unnecessary risks that some fans, such as this fan, do not want to see from their favorite and franchise-altering players. 

Still and yet, that was a great play and catch from Chase, as safety. Maybe the Bengals don’t need to target Caleb Downs after all.