As expected, the numbers for Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase have regressed over his last three outings.
Expected, because defenses were always going to adjust — something Chase knows all too well.
“They’ve been moving to two-high (safeties) lately,” Chase said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I’ve been seeing that a lot lately, playing a little cloud towards me, trying to get me to have a lot of under routes now.”
Chase was the outright league leader in yardage to start the year and on pace to flirt with Randy Moss rookie levels of production. He had the best seven-game start to a career of any wide receiver in history.
But over Chase’s last three outings, while he’s scored two touchdowns, he hasn’t mustered more than 49 yards and there have been a couple of critical drops in there, too.
Not that Chase cares:
“I’m always trying to be patient, I’m never on the sideline complaining about the ball. TB went off last game. I’m right on side TB, cheering TB on cause if TB keeps eating, TB is going to keep us in the game.”
Chase says he’d still like to hit a couple of his rookie-year goals that he stated before the year began — 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s on pace for 1,474 yards, which would shatter the 1,440 set by Chad Johnson in 2007. He’s got eight scores, with nine being the Bengals team record set by Issac Curtis.
Provided he and Joe Burrow adjust to counter the changes made by opposing defenses, there isn’t much to suggest he can’t reach both of those goals.
