As long as someone named Joe throws the pigskin for Cincinnati, Ja’Marr Chase will eat.
In Thursday night’s 33-31 win over Pittsburgh, the Bengals wide receiver celebrated like it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth of July and Cinco De Mayo all rolled into one. Chase had 16 catches on 23 targets for 161 yards and a touchdown. The production set the Bengals single-game record for targets and catches.
It was Chase’s 13th game with 125-plus receiving yards and 1-plus TD catch, tied for fourth in a player’s first five seasons, according to NFL Research. Only Lance Alworth (16), Randy Moss (14) and Justin Jefferson (14) have more.
Chase’s 23 targets were tied for third-most in a game since the league began tracking them in 1978 – Brandon Marshall, 28 in Week 14, 2009 and Chris Chambers, 26 in Week 13, 2005.
The star wide receiver repeatedly won on a light note and did his best Michael Thomas “slat boy” for most of the night.
“They did exactly what we expected and hoped they would do,” Chase said. “Man (coverage). We knew they were going to put Joey (Porter Jr.) on Tee (Higgins) and put Jalen (Ramsey) on me. We knew we were ready for it. We knew we were going to take advantage of those opportunities.”
No matter what angle the Steelers put on Chase, he caved. Bengals receiver Jalen Ramsey had three catches on five carries for 29 yards and a touchdown (18 carries). He had Darius Slay for four catches on six carries for 38 yards. He beat Joey Porter Jr. for four catches on four carries for 51 yards.
In his first two games with Flacco, Chase has 10-plus catches in each contest. It’s the first time he’s hit double figures in back-to-back games. The 26 catches over the past two weeks are the most in a two-game span of his career.
“Last week it looked like we finally figured out how Flacco and the offensive line was going to be. And today we showed what we’re capable of,” Chase said.
Joe Burrow once said, “F— that, Ja’Marr is down there somewhere.” Flacco currently uses a 40-year-old version of that phrase. It’s not the deep shot, but every single play that needs to be made, Flacco is looking for Chase.
As evidenced by Thursday’s performance, this is a brilliant plan.