BURROW-CHASE PART II: There were many reasons the Bengals opted for the wide receiver over the left tackle with the fifth pick in the draft. One of the big ones is that Chase would be in his third season with Burrow, not his first, and they were banking on the chemistry still bubbling.
They got that more than right and never was it more on display than Sunday in Baltimore, where Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey took away the long ball and Chase still bobbed and weaved for 201 yards on a slant that went for 82 yards, a come-back route for nine yards on fourth-and-one and a couple of almost mystical back-shoulder throws. The back-shoulder throws require reps and reps of practice because both the quarterback and the receiver have to know exactly when the ball is going to be underthrown so the receiver can break off his route.
This is how Burrow explained it Wednesday:
"It's all about number of reps, communication, it's all a timing thing," Burrow said. "If they don't get their eyes around by a certain yard line, you won't be able to make that throw because it's such a timing throw. So you always have to be ready for it. But you don't expect it at the same time. And so, if a DB is playing high, you want to get your eyes around by 10 or 12 yards so you can make that back shoulder box. If he's not looking, it's just going to look like I threw the ball way out of bounds and then he has to do a great job of adjusting to it and not expecting the ball. So it just takes a lot of reps.
"You can't just walk in one day with the receiver and start throwing back shoulder fades. That's not the way it works, it takes a lot of reps to accumulate and feel comfortable throwing it. Just because we've done it so many times. It's not a thing that you do expect, at the same time. It's just a look that the defense gives you that you have to be ready for."
How about this? Chase leads the world in everything, but is tied for fourth place on Pro Football Focus' grades for pass routes. He's tied with the man he replaced, former Bengal-turned-Cardinal A.J. Green. Both are giving their teams what they needed. With those 754 yards, Chase is well past Green's 2020 total of 523. With 406 yards in Arizona, Green is going to go well past last year's numbers and has a shot at his first 1,000-yard season in four years.
LARRY O: Ogunjobi has been an immense pickup up front, as they all have been. He's one of the four Bengals defensive tackles all graded in the NFL top 73 by Pro Football Focus, led by nose tackle D.J. Reader at No. 4. Even after Ogunjobi had 11 sacks at mainly his natural spot at the three technique in 2018-19, the Browns kept moving him around and put him pretty much at nose tackle last year, where he had 2.5 sacks. Now back at his old spot, he's already got 2.5.
"Playing (my) natural position, the 3-technique fits my role, my body-type, my skillset a lot better," Ogunjobi said. "But (also) just the guys, the coaches, the atmosphere, the energy, I feel like this is just a great team to be around, very unselfish team. Guys just playing for each other. I think that's really important. Allows everybody to play really fast and really well. So, we feed off each other's energy and that's the most important thing. My success is through my teammates, and vice versa."
His last sack was a huge one, the first of five against Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and it set the tone ending Baltimore's first drive. Off a three-man rush, no less.
"He likes to make plays with this feet, be able to stay active in the pocket," Ogunjobi said. "We were just trying to have enough awareness to know where he's at and where he's trying to go. You know the guys, me, Trey (Hendrickson), Sam (Hubbard), working together with the rush, trying to find a way to get him down."
Here's another area where Ogunjobi's experience comes in. He knows the division and went through two tough losses to the Ravens last year, one in a blowout and one by five points. He knows exactly what Sunday's win means.
"Especially to get a win on the road in their stadium. I think it just helps with momentum of the team and kind of a testament with what we're trying to build here and the culture we're trying to establish," Ogunjobi said. "Just to get a win in their stadium, a win like that is paramount. We're going to continue to build, continue to move forward. Now we're onto the Jets. That's the main focus but it was going to get that win in the bank."
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