Chase Brown Hyped to Welcome Joe Burrow Back Amidst Newfound 'Tempo' in Bengals Run Game

CINCINNATI — The Bengals' season is basically over at 3-8, needing to win out and get major help from the Steelers and Ravens to make the playoffs, but Chase Brown's rushing efficiency has been a big bright spot for the team this fall (second among all NFL teams in rushing EPA/ third in rushing success rate).

Scott Peters' offensive line is making serious progress compared to other years in the Zac Taylor era, and Brown is excited to see what it can look like as Joe Burrow gets ready to take over the starting quarterback position.

"Everybody's thinking about it. He's kind of at that time of his recovery where, you know, it could be any week now," Brown told the media on Monday. "So that's really up to him, and you know the training staff. People that have been working closely with him throughout his recovery process. But I mean, it could be any week he's been out of practice. He's taken a lot of reps with us in team periods. So it could really be any week."

Brown has heated up in the past month and a half. The Bengals are 1-5 in that stretch, but not because of dynamo RB (80 carries for 5.8 yards per carry and one touchdown).

He's found a nice "tempo" to lean on, and it's helped complement some great blocking from his O-line.

"I found a tempo that I wasn't really using at the start this season," Brown said about the surge. "It's allowing the O-line to really dominate and get their blocks set and get up to the second level, and especially on the tape, you kind of see the linebackers second-guessing themselves. They're jumping one way, and we're going the other. And feels really good. But it's not all me, it's the O-line playing at a really high level, and they're winning their one-on-ones and allowing me to find run lanes behind them."

The Ravens are pretty average against the run this year (18th in EPA allowed, 14th in success rate), so there's plenty of reason to think Brown's hot streak could continue, especially as a way to take pressure off of Burrow in his first game back.

The star running back will be a key factor on Thursday night. The action kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET.

“Everybody’s thinking about it.” Chase Brown on the return this week of Joe Burrow as QB1. pic.twitter.com/pJbVG99Sa2
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 24, 2025

“I think we’ve just gotta stick together.” Chase Brown says the offense needs to be sticking the ball in the end zone more to reward the defense. pic.twitter.com/nTTzIyEHJZ
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 24, 2025

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