Lost amid the hype of Joe Burrow dominating the Baltimore Ravens in historical fashion is a bit of newish usage for star wideout Ja’Marr Chase.
Chase fell behind Tee Higgins during the 41-21 blowout of the Ravens. He caught seven passes for 125 yards. Higgins was unstoppable, catching 12 passes for 194 yards and two scores.
But it’s Chase who broke a bit of a dry spell, at least in part thanks to some savvy coaching.
A few weeks removed from suggesting he’d like more usage out of the slot and to move around more on the field, Bengals coaches granted him that wish.
As PFF’s Andrew Russell pointed out, Chase got to work out of the slot more than usual and it worked to great effect:
Ja'Marr Chase only had 80 slot snaps coming into this game (5.3 snaps per game) with 12 targets (less than 1 per game).
In week 16, he had 12 slot snaps, was 3-3 with 57 yards. He averaged 14.3 yards after the catch per reception on a 4.7 aDOT. A nightmare in space.
— Andrew Russell (@PFF_AndrewR) December 27, 2021
Generally speaking, Chase hasn’t been in the slot much since Tyler Boyd is one of the NFL’s best slot wideouts. But it’s clear Bengals coaches aren’t opposed to mixing it up and giving defenses new looks — especially late in the season when games matter the most.
Here’s a look at the full snap counts from Sunday’s win, which featured Bengals starters staying in late while up by 20 — and they’re not sorry about it.
