Bengals: Joe Burrow reveals the secret sauce to Ja'Marr Chase's success
Ja'Marr Chase gave the Cincinnati Bengals their first score of the game on Sunday with a fantastic 15-yard touchdown catch. Lined up across cornerback Denzel Ward, Chase had the perfect release at the line of scrimmage and was quickly in a position to make a play. But the really impressive thing is that once the […]
Ja'Marr Chase gave the Cincinnati Bengals their first score of the game on Sunday with a fantastic 15-yard touchdown catch.
Lined up across cornerback Denzel Ward, Chase had the perfect release at the line of scrimmage and was quickly in a position to make a play.
But the really impressive thing is that once the Bengals wide receiver got out of his break and as he turned his head to catch a deadly accurate Joe Burrow pass, Chase caught the ball almost without looking at it.
He just knew right where he had to be while the Bengals' superstar quarterback had the ability to deliver it perfectly.
I couldn't stop thinking about that play during Joe Burrow's guest appearance on ESPN's famous "Manningcast." In the segment, the Bengals' face of the franchise was asked by Peyton Manning about what made Ja'Marr Chase so special.
Burrow's answer didn't focus on how athletic Chase is or even how reliable his hands are. Instead, he talked about an underrated aspect of Cincinnati's wide receiver.
"First off, he's really smart," said Burrow. "We had some injuries on Sunday and we had some spots in which guys have gone down. If you're smart enough you can move him in the slot, move him to the field, to the boundary and make it hard for defenses to really key on him."
It was fun to hear the Bengals quarterback point out his intelligence before anything else
"That opens up opportunities for him to get the ball in a lot of different situations," added Burrow.
Perhaps there's no better way to exemplify that than Sunday's game by Chase. With Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd sustaining injuries, Ja'Marr led the Bengals with 10 catches in 15 targets for 119 yards.
As Burrow suggests, Chase's catches came from all around the field on the Bengals' win over the Browns. He gives the offense consistent, varied answers to different looks.
That starts with his football IQ, not with his great physical attributes.
Featured image via Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
