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Bengals Film Breakdown: Gravity And The Effect Of Having An Elite Wide Receiver Like Ja'Marr Chase

Ja'Marr Chase is impacting opposing defenses, even when he isn't catching passes from Joe Burrow.

Mike Santagata

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There is a certain effect that great wide receivers have on the football field. It's comparable to elite shooters in basketball. Elite shooters are actively sought after—not only because they can hit 3-pointers, but because of the reaction of the defense. While it’s not discussed as often, this is similar to the impact of elite wide receivers in the NFL. They are also able to create openings for their teammates by shifting the defense.

Gravity In Basketball

In 2015, the Golden State Warriors brought about a revolution in the NBA. It started with Steph Curry’s uncanny ability to shoot 3-pointers. He was shooting 10 or more per game and at an insane percentage of 40% or better. Defenses had to react to this somehow whether that was a conscious effort or subconscious just knowing that he could shoot the ball from anywhere on the court. The result of this reaction to his shooting is what is known in basketball as gravity.

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Despite the former MVP, Kevin Durant, driving right at the hoop, multiple defenders move toward Curry to take away his shooting. This lets Durant head right to the basket for an uncontested dunk. If that’s pretty much anyone else at the three point line, then the defense is going to pick up Durant and try to force the pass, but because Curry shoots at such an elite level, the defense is pulled towards him.

This gravity opens things up for his teammates without Curry having to do anything. This was displayed really well statistically here:

Just the presence of an elite shooter in basketball causes a reaction in the opposing team. 

"If teams are going to throw the kitchen sink at Steph, they're going to pay,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said.

Those words rang true for the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

The Gravity of an Elite Wide Receiver

Tee Higgins is on pace to finish with 1,340 receiving yards, despite leaving a game in the first half due to a concussion. If we just use the full games he’s played, then he'd be on pace for 1,630 yards this season. That’s an incredible start to the year for him and would make him an All-Pro statistically.

But what about Ja’Marr Chase? Fans have noticed that Chase has less than 300 yards in four games, despite being healthy in all of them. Is this regression from him? Is he just in a slump? I’m sure you can guess the answer: There is no slump. 

The gravity that Chase has on the field is partially responsible for these two different starts to the season. The defense is being pulled towards Chase has allowed Higgins to dominate 1-on-1 coverage. The most egregious example came on Higgins’ 59-yard touchdown against the Dolphins.

On a play with a 4-man rush, Higgins is on an island with Xavien Howard. There isn't even a post safety anywhere near him as half of the defense moves towards Chase on the snap. This is a conscious response to what Chase does on the field. The design of the defense is to make sure Chase does nothing on the play, while letting their best defender go against Higgins. 

The issue for the Dolphins is that Higgins might be the best No. 2 wide receiver in the NFL. He’s too talented to be covered by even the best corners of most teams without help. 

Playing defense can be thought of as resource management. On any given play, there are 11 defenders to utilize. When in man coverage, five of those defenders are responsible for the five eligible receivers. Most commonly there is a four-man pass rush to go with that. That leaves two defenders as free pieces in a man-to-man defense. The Dolphins spent all of their extra resources on Chase here and paid for it.

The gravity is even more noticeable on single-high concepts.

Generally on single high concepts, the post safety is going to play somewhere on or in-between the hashes depending on the placement of the ball. The safety should backpedal on top of the hash [at most], but that’s not how the Dolphins were playing single-high coverage in this game.

This is the first play of the game and the Dolphins were pulled in by Chase’s gravity.

Chase gravity 1

The safety starts pre-snap a full yard outside of the hash. Then, after a kick outside, he takes a 45 degree scoot towards Chase.

vlcsnap-2022-10-03-18h03m35s723

None of those are within the general rules of playing single-high coverage for the safety, but Chase is such an electric deep threat that the defense is just going to be pulled and shifted towards him.

For those of you who may be giving some type of excuse and doubt as to why the safety is shading towards Chase, the gravity was evident throughout the game.

All of these plays have the safety shifted towards Chase to different degrees. It’s not due to the passing strength, the placement of the ball, Joe Burrow’s eyes, the releases, etc. There are a plethora of examples of the post safety cheating to Chase from single high coverage. Even after the long Higgins touchdown, this was how the Dolphins played single high:

This is the first time that the Dolphins played single-high against the Bengals in the second half and once again the safety is shifted towards Chase. Despite this defense putting them in a bad spot, the Dolphins still thought it was the best way to attack the Bengals' offense. 

At this point, Chase only had eight yards on the day, but eventually, the Dolphins did cave in and try to play their single-high coverage without cheating, which led to Chase’s biggest play of the game.

They still cheat him over Chase pre-snap, but then have gotten sick of getting beat by everyone else. The idea is to deter Burrow from going to Chase pre-snap with the alignment and then to get in position to play either side of the field. Burrow is not fooled by this and once he sees the safety vacate Chase’s side to play the middle of the field, he uncorks one to his star wide receiver.

Despite trying their hardest to stop Chase, he still went for 81 yards in this game while opening everything up for his teammates. The second that the Dolphins tried to play a normal defense, Chase made them pay with an explosive play.

What Can Cincinnati Do To Get Chase More Involved?

The Bengals don't have to do anything when they get this type of game plan from the opponent. They can simply take what the defense gives them and allow Higgins to keep feasting. Eventually, teams will respect Higgins as a receiver enough that the defense will lighten up on how they’re playing Chase. However, Chase probably wants to see more targets and it could benefit their offense to keep getting him involved, despite the gravity he is pulling towards himself.

The Bengals have utilized Chase in the backfield previously and this is a way to get him involved and with lighter coverage.

This ends up being a negative play for the offense, but that has nothing to do with the design of the play. The Bengals get Chase in space and the ball in his hands. Even though he’s one of the best in the league at working down the field, he combines that by being one of the best YAC receivers as well. Working Chase on choice routes and other plays from the backfield can get him some touches to keep him happy while still working as a positive for the offense.

These jailbreak screens to the perimeter are also a way to get Chase the ball early and create good offense. The Bengals don’t run their screens particularly well in general, but Chase would be fantastic at them on the receiving end.

These work really well as even just access RPOs for when the defense plays far off of him. If Chase is on his own against a corner in space, I like his chances of winning that battle like in the example above.

The gravity that Chase has on the field is not measurable by statistics and he’s not having a slow start to his season. Nearly every play on film is an example of Chase’s gravity. When considering the gravity and effect he has on the defense, Chase has started the year pretty well. While the gravity should relax as Higgins keeps up this All-Pro pace, the Bengals can work him creatively and underneath to get him more involved. However, if teams want to keep throwing the kitchen sink at Chase, they’re going to pay.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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