How the Bengals schemed Ja’Marr Chase to fluster the Bills - The Athletic

CINCINNATI — Standing at his locker last week, a few days removed from his team’s 24-17 wild-card victory against the Ravens, Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was lauding coach Zac Taylor for a game plan that moved him around in various formations and led to nine catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

Mostly he’d start in the slot and jet into an orbit motion behind quarterback Joe Burrow and whichever running back was in the game at the time, forcing the defense into difficult adjustments, which usually were flawed and occasionally fatal.

But Burrow hits Tyler Boyd, who runs a switch release with Tee Higgins, for a 23-yard gain on a corner route, putting the Bengals in Buffalo territory.

Burrow steps up in the pocket when he feels pressure off the left edge, and two Buffalo defenders anticipate a checkdown to Hurst.

Chase turns and sprints up the middle of the field and is wide open when he catches the ball at the 9 before splitting the safeties to find the end zone for the game’s first points.

It’s a reminder of why Taylor and the rest of the staff waited so long to lean more heavily on using Chase in the backfield after starting to tinker with it last season.