Washington Football Team: Five bold predictions vs. Bengals in Week 11
1. Chase Young records career-high in sacks, tackles
Chase Young will always be inextricably linked to Joe Burrow given that they were the top two picks in the 2020 NFL Draft class. So far this season, Burrow has gotten a lot of attention for his strong play, but Young hasn’t gotten the same recognition.
Perhaps it’s because Young only has 3.5 sacks on the season. Perhaps it’s because many took notice of his crucial roughing the passer penalty that allowed the Lions to move the ball downfield last week and earn a late victory. Either way, there has been criticism of Young in recent weeks, right or wrong, and he’ll want to step up and prove his doubters wrong against Burrow and the Bengals.
The Bengals figure to be a good matchup for Young. Their offensive line is the clear weak point of the offense and will have trouble containing the likes of Young, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen on Sunday.
That said, Young needs to look to be productive. He has to get pressure early. He needs to make some plays to help keep Washington close. Burrow’s worst games of the season have come when he has been pressured relentlessly, so Young should see that and make it his personal goal to get after the only man picked ahead of him in the 2020 draft.
Young should be motivated for this one and even if he’s double-teamed, the Bengals simply don’t have the personnel to block him throughout the game. Young should be able to set a new career-high in sacks — his current high is 1.5 — and he should total at least six tackles which would be a new career-high in that category.
Next. Reality checks for Washington vs. Bengals Week 11. dark
If Young can do that, it would quell some of the recent, asinine talk about him being a bust and show fans that he is just scratching the surface of his sky-high potential.