Canadian running back Chase Brown suffered an injury while keeping the Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes alive on Saturday night against the Denver Broncos.
The native of London, Ont. set his team up on the goal line with 1:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, electing to slide down at the one-yard line rather than score in order to milk the clock. However, his ankle appeared to twist awkwardly underneath him on the way down and the runner was unable to walk it off, forcing an injury timeout.
The Bengals scored on the very next play to take the lead but the Broncos responded by tying the game with eight seconds remaining. Brown was forced to watch from the sideline with a towel over his head in overtime as his teammates battled to a walk-off 30-24 win.
It remains unclear if Brown will be forced to miss the team’s regular-season finale due to the sprained ankle, but an absence could influence several major historical milestones. After finishing the game with 20 carries for 67 yards, the five-foot-nine, 209-pound back needs just 10 more to become the third Canadian player to ever surpass 1,000 yards on the ground, joining Rueben Mayes (1986) and Chuba Hubbard (2024).
The Bengals’ star back also needs one more touchdown to set a new single-season Canadian NFL record. With 11 combined majors, he currently sits in a tie for the top spot with receivers Nate Burleson (2007) and Chase Claypool (2021). Fellow running back Hubbard also matched that mark this year but will not get the chance to surpass it after being placed on injured reserve, leaving Brown as the last remaining player with a shot at the crown.
Through 16 games, Brown has carried the ball 239 times for 990 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 54 receptions for 360 yards and four scores. With 1,350 combined yards from scrimmage, he is one of just four Canadians to go over 1,000 total yards in a season and needs just 100 more to pass Mayes’ all-time record of 1,449 set in 1986.
Brown was selected by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft after an outstanding collegiate career at the University of Illinois which saw him win the Jon Cornish Trophy in 2022 as the top Canadian in the NCAA. He rushed 44 times for 179 yards as a rookie last season, adding 14 catches for 156 yards and one touchdown. His identical twin brother, Sydney, plays safety for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Bengals (8-8) will wrap up their season on Sunday, January 5 when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6). They need to win that game and have the Broncos, Colts and Dolphins all lose another contest in order to qualify for the postseason.
