Postgame Notes and Quotes: Commanders at Bengals

Joe Burrow capped off the Bengals’ six-play opening drive with a 41-yard bomb to Ja’Marr Chase that put Cincinnati in front just 3:23 into the game. It marked the Bengals’ quickest touchdown scored since Week 16 of the 2022 season at New England, when Tee Higgins found the end zone 2:36 into the first quarter.

The play marked Burrow’s 100th career touchdown pass in his 55th regular-season game, tying him for the seventh-fastest quarterback in NFL history to reach the century mark. It also was his 20th career touchdown pass of 40 or more yards, the most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2020.

For Chase, it was his 12th career touchdown catch of 40-plus yards, the second-most leaguewide since his 2021 NFL debut (Kansas City/Miami WR Tyreek Hill has 13). It also marked Chase’s first 40-plus-yard reception of any kind since his 76-yard touchdown in Week 13 of last season at Jacksonville.

Burrow found Chase down the right sideline for a 31-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to pull the Bengals within five. It gave Chase his seventh career game with multiple receiving touchdowns, the third-most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2021.

Chase finished the game with six catches for a season-high 118 yards. He now has 15 career games with 100-plus receiving yards, the eighth-most leaguewide since 2021.

Burrow connected with second-year receiver Andrei Iosivas on fourth-and-goal late in the third quarter, and the Princeton product reached the ball just over the goal line to cut Cincinnati’s deficit to one possession. It marked Iosivas’ third touchdown of the season, and the seventh of his career on just 25 total receptions.

Evan McPherson’s 28-yard field goal midway through the second quarter marked his 100th career field goal attempt. His 84 made field goals are the third-most in team history through any kicker’s first 100 attempts, trailing Shayne Graham and Randy Bullock (87 each).

Linebacker Duo Fills Tackle Column Again

Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt combined for 18 tackles, as each player finished with nine to tie for the team lead. Combining Wilson’s total tonight with his 12 stops in each of the first two weeks, he became the first Bengals player since linebacker Nick Vigil in 2018 to post nine or more tackles in three straight games to open a season.

Pratt and Wilson have 33 total tackles apiece this season, which are tied for the most over the first three weeks of a season by any Bengals player since at least 1987. They also are two of the four Bengals ever to total 30-plus stops through the team’s first three games, joining Vigil (32 in 2018) and linebacker Dhani Jones (32 in 2008).

The Bengals came away with points on six of their seven offensive drives, with the one outlier being a missed field goal try in the second quarter. Washington, meanwhile, scored on each of its six true possessions (two kneel-downs at end of the first half and end of game). It marked the first NFL game since 1940 in which neither team punted or committed a turnover.