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          Bengals' Joe Burrow hits Ja'Marr Chase for 64-yard touchdown strike

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterNov 12, 2023, 03:29 PM ET
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- An injury to one of the Cincinnati Bengals' top players didn't stop them from starting strong against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

          Wide receiver Trenton Irwin, who started in place of the injured Tee Higgins, went down the right sideline and hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to put the Bengals on the board with 9:43 remaining in the first quarter.

          Burrow squeezed a ball in to Irwin against Houston's zone defense for the touchdown.

          It was Cincinnati's fifth straight game with a touchdown on its opening drive. It's a big boost for an offense that lost Higgins in the middle of the week to a hamstring injury.

          Later, Burrow hooked up with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase to give the Bengals a much-needed spark in the third quarter.

          With Cincinnati trailing 20-10, Burrow rolled to his left and found Chase streaking down the field for a 64-yard touchdown pass.

          It energized a Paycor Stadium that had grown restless on a day when Cincinnati's offense had struggled to that point.

          The touchdown also gave Cincinnati points on back-to-back drives after the Bengals punted on five straight drives. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that matched the longest drought with Burrow at quarterback since he joined the team in 2020.