Chase learning patience as defenses adjust to rookie star
Teams have been CINCINNATI — playing Ja’Marr Chase a little differently the last few weeks and effectively taken away the deep ball, but the Cincinnati Bengals still have found ways to put up points at times when those opportunities that sparked the offense earlier in the year haven’t been available.
The Bengals have scored 31 points or more in two of their last three games when Chase hasn’t had a completion for more than 17 yards, including the win Sunday at Las Vegas to bounce back from consecutive losses before the bye.
Cincinnati would be wise to assume the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a better plan for defending Chase this Sunday after he scored two touchdowns against them in the Week 3 matchup in Pittsburgh. The key for Chase is just to stay ready for his opportunities.
“It’s frustrating because, of course, you want to receive and you what you want to be a deepball threat,” Chase said. “But patience is the virtue, and man, NFL games go a lot faster than you really think, especially when you are playing in them. So, I’m always trying to be patient. I’m never on the sideline complaining about wanting the ball.”
Chase said defenses have been playing moretwo-safety cloud coverage on him the last few weeks. Through the first seven weeks of the season, the Bengals were mostly seeing man coverage and Chase was punishing opponents for not doingmore to try to take him out of the picture. He’s still managed touchdowns in two of the last three games, but the deep balls haven’t been clicking.
‘It’s frustrating because, of course, you want to receive and you what you want to be a deep-ball threat. But patience is the virtue, and man, NFL games go a lot faster than you really think, especially when you are playing in them. So, I’m always trying to be patient. I’m never on the sideline complaining about wanting the ball.’ Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals receiver
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said it’s not that the offense has gone away from attempt- i ng those deep passes, though.
“It’s not that it’s there every single play,” Taylor said. “Sometimes you’ve got to have the right call in the moment, sometimes the quarterback’s got to see it and get to it. We have taken those opportunities down the field. I think me, Burrow, Ja’Marr, we’d all say there were some opportunities that we put down there that we didn’t come up with it.
“So, they haven’t shown up in the statistics maybe. Even the one that we threw and the safety made the play over the top against (Las Vegas) last week, just some- times pushing the ball down the field and taking those opportunities softens the coverage on the next play. It makes them think, ‘OK, they just took a shot on us. It may be coming again.’ And so even when you don’t hit them, you just want to get the ball to a premier playmaker down the field, give him an opportunity in a 50/50 situation to make a huge play. If he doesn’t, it stillmatters. It still matters to the defense. It still matters to the defensive coordinator. So all those things add up, and those are all things that we factor in as we play and as we call plays over the course of the game.”
At Pittsburgh in Week 3, the Bengals stunned a traditionally good Steelers defense with several big plays, most notably right before halftime when Burrow connected with Chase on a 34-yard pass to break a 7-7 tie and put the Bengals up for good. They then came out with a scoring drive to open the second half, and after Logan Wilson inter- cepted Ben Roethlisberger on the next possession, Cin- cinnati took advantage in the red zone with another Chase touchdown.
Asked what he learned from that first matchup in
Pittsburgh, Chase said it was just a matter of taking what the defense was giving. The Bengals will have to the same Sunday, even if the defense is not providing the same kinds of opportunities.
“We’ve just got to take what they are giving us, be patient on offense, take what they are giving us, run the ball, throw the ball,” Chase said. “Just execute when we need to execute, take advantage of the mis-matchups we have and if they bring any disguises we don’t really see, we have to learn how to adjust to that.”
One big difference for Pittsburgh will be the return of T.J. Watt to the pass rush, which was not a factor in the first matchup. The Bengals offensive line kept Burrow on his feet in Week 3, as the Steelers’ streak of 10 straight games with sacks came to an end.
Watt suffered hip and knee injuries in the Week 10 tie against Detroit but was expected to return to practice Wednesday. He missed the first game against Cincinnati because of a groin injury.
“They didn’t have TJ Watt, that’ll definitely (make an impact),” Burrow said. “You’ve always got to be aware of him. It’ll be a different game.”
Watt has 12.5 sacks in eight games this season. Taylor said it’s not just Watt the Bengals have to worry about, but also Cam Heyward (4.5 sacks), Alex Highsmith (3.0 sacks) and other guys who have been stepping up in the pass rush for Pittsburgh.
Burrow is cognizant he needs to get the ball out quickly Sunday.
“(It’s) just understanding what you’re looking at and where you have to go with the ball depending on the defensive look,” Burrow said. “If you’re confused, you’re not going to get the ball out on time. It comes with preparation and in this division, every team has every single week we’re talking about pass rushers. In this division, you’ve got to get the ball out quickly to have a chance.”