Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown looked like one of the biggest, likeliest breakouts of the 2025 NFL season.
Instead, Brown has been one of the biggest flops compared to expectations in recent memory…and he’s only partially to blame.
Rather than take the proverbial next step as a lead back, over three games, Brown has rushed for 93 yards…on 47 attempts. He’s averaging an even 2.0 yards per carry and has minus-54 yards before contact.
As ESPN’s Ben Baby pointed out, Brown’s numbers create the worst kind of history:
“Against the Vikings, Brown had 10 carries for three yards. Per ESPN Research, that is the fewest by any running back with that many attempts since Saquon Barkley had one yard on 13 carries for the New York Giants in 2019.”
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Then there’s this, via Baby: “As of Sunday afternoon, Brown had the lowest success rate (25.5%) of any running back with at least 15 carries this season, NFL Next Gen Stats showed.”
Or this:
Going back to 2000, Chase Brown has the FEWEST rushing yards through 3 games of ANY RB to see 45+ carries https://t.co/ndFKv1VyRJpic.twitter.com/N2zmh5LiCx
— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) September 22, 2025
Brown didn’t suddenly forget how to play football. The Bengals’ running game scheme and execution are so poor, the line play so horrid, that it’s almost a miracle if he gets the handoff without fumbling.
This happened with Joe Burrow under center, too, so it positions Brown as perhaps the greatest example of all when it comes to just how bad the Bengals offense is right now.
Brown, of course, will say the right things about needing to break more tackles, see the field better, etc. But when the offensive line is three games in and talking about needing to be more physical, the problem isn’t on the back. Almost any running back could be back there struggling.
There’s no easy fix, either. How and why the Bengals came out of the summer with this mess of a running game will be a deep dive for another day. Burrow being gone makes the task even harder. But the team just showing up with a better plan and willingness to get physical would be a start.
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: The Bengals and Zac Taylor are failing Chase Brown
