Skip to main content
Advertising

What to Watch For | Cardinals vs Bengals Week 17

The Bengals aim for their second straight win when they host the Arizona Cardinals at Paycor Stadium on Sunday. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. on FOX (Cincinnati’s channel 19).

Here is what to watch for:

Uno Nears Historic Company

Ja’Marr Chase enters Sunday's contest with 6,681 career receiving yards in 76 regular-season games played. With 17 yards against the Cardinals, he would tie Cris Collinsworth (6,698) for the fifth-most in Bengals history. Should he register 62 yards, he would match Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss (6,743) for the fourth-most in a player's first five seasons in NFL history. He also is 103 yards away from former Rams receiver Torry Holt (6,784) for third on that list.

Chase, who has 26 games with 100 or more receiving yards in his career, can tie Holt (27) for the fourth-most such games in a player's first five seasons in the Super Bowl era.

Chase additionally has 505 receptions in his career, and needs just two more to equal T.J. Houshmandzadeh (507) for fifth on Cincinnati's all-time list. He is five catches shy of tying former Saints wideout Michael Thomas (510) for the second-most in a player's first five seasons.

On the season, Chase ranks second in the NFL in receptions (110) and fifth in receiving yards (1,256). With three catches on Sunday, he would surpass Houshmandzadeh (112 in 2007) for the second-most in a single season in team history, trailing only his own Bengals record of 127 grabs last year.

Burrow Climbs Record Books

After becoming the third-fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach 150 career touchdown passes and the fifth-fastest to 20,000 passing yards last week at Miami, Joe Burrow once again has notable statistics to shoot for on Sunday. He currently has 152 passing touchdowns, and with two more he would tie Carson Palmer (154) for the fourth-most in Bengals history. Burrow has thrown for multiple TDs in three of his past four games.

Burrow's Week 16 performance in Miami was his ninth career game with at least four passing touchdowns. With another such performance, he would tie Josh Allen and Brett Favre (10 each) for the third-most games with four scoring passes in a player's first six seasons in NFL history.

Burrow additionally has 27 career games with 300 or more passing yards. If he hits that number on Sunday, he would tie Andy Dalton (28) for the most 300-yard passing games in Bengals history, and also would surpass Matthew Stafford and Jameis Winston for the fifth-most such games in a player's first six years. Burrow eclipsed 300 yards for the first time this season with 309 in the win over the Dolphins.

Touchdown Tee

Tee Higgins' 10 receiving touchdowns this season match his career high from 2024 and are tied for the third-most in the NFL this year, trailing only Rams receiver Davante Adams (14) and Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (11). Higgins and St. Brown are the only two players in the league with double-digit touchdown catches in each of the past two seasons.

With two more scoring receptions, Higgins would tie Carl Pickens (12 in 1996) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (12 in 2007) for the fifth-most in a season in Bengals history. He already is the third player in team history to record at least 10 touchdown catches in consecutive seasons, joining Pickens (1994-96) and A.J. Green (2012-13).

Brown Racking Up Scrimmage Yards

Chase Brown leads the Bengals this season with 846 rushing yards on 197 carries, while also contributing 379 receiving yards on 62 catches. His 1,225 yards from scrimmage rank 15th among all NFL running backs this season and are 125 shy of his career-high 1,350 recorded in 2024.

Brown has posted 100 or more scrimmage yards in seven games this season, including a team-record streak of six consecutive contests from Weeks 7-13. His season-high is 130 yards in Week 12 against New England.

Brown has 2,910 scrimmage yards in his career, 90 shy of 3,000. His 62 receptions this year are the most in a single season by a running back in Bengals history, surpassing Joe Mixon's 60 catches in 2022.

Takeaway Time

The Bengals' defense has shown noteworthy improvement in several metrics since the Week 10 bye, but perhaps the most apparent is the rising number of takeaways. From Weeks 12-16, Cincinnati has forced 11 turnovers, which are the most in the NFL in that span ahead of Jacksonville (10), Seattle (nine), the L.A. Chargers (nine), Houston (nine) and Chicago (nine). That total includes five interceptions, five fumble recoveries and one forced fumble that went through the end zone for a touchback.

The Bengals have at least one takeaway in each of the last five games. The last time Cincinnati forced a turnover in six straight contests was the end of last season, when it closed out the schedule with a seven-game streak in Weeks 11-18.

Cincinnati's defense has held the opposing offense to under 20 points in three of the past five games, limiting New England's offense to 19 in Week 12, and Baltimore's to 14 in Week 13 followed by 17 in Week 15. The Bengals also gave up just 14 points to Miami last week, prior to a late Dolphins touchdown when the game was already in hand

Extra Points

  • Evan McPherson has 118 made field goals in his career, two shy of tying former kicker Horst Muhlmann (120) for the fifth-most in Bengals history.
  • McPherson also has 200 made PATs in his career, one shy of tying Doug Pelfrey (201) for the fourth-most in Bengals history.
  • Guard Dalton Risner is set to play in his 100th career regular-season game on Sunday. Risner has suited up for 12 contests with nine starts so far in his first season with Cincinnati.
  • Ryan Rehkow currently leads the NFL in gross punting average with 51.3 yards per punt (minimum 40 punts). He is tied for sixth in the league in net average (43.0).

View some of the top shots from Bengals practice at Kettering Health Practice Fields, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.

Check out the Bengals 2025 Schedule.

Advertising