Ja'Marr Chase has left a permanent scar on the Ravens' secondary throughout his career, and one of Baltimore's starting corners, Marlon Humphrey, is already dreading the challenge ahead.
Humphrey gave an honest answer about facing Chase.
“It would be cool if I didn’t match up with him so much,” Humphrey said. "He's obviously one of the best in the game, Tee is right up there with him in the top ten I think of this league."
Over Chase's career, he has caught 61 passes for 1,036 yards and seven touchdowns against the Ravens. Humphrey has been on the field for most of those performances. This could force Ravens coach Kevin Minter to pit third-year corner Nate Wiggins against Chase more often.
Wiggins has certainly improved since entering the league, but neither player has been able to stop Chase.
Another possible matchup against Chase, instead of Humphrey, is former teammate Chidobe Awuzie. He has had success covering Chase in the past largely due to their familiarity with each other. Awuzie has not played much for the Ravens this season so far with 82 total snaps.
Winning Downfield is Key
During his weekly press conference, Chase said the key to beating the Ravens' secondary is winning downfield catches. He added that while the Ravens' defense is solid, it faces a bigger challenge against the Bengals' offense.
"Winning downfield catches, that's the key," Chase said. "They're a well-rounded defense at the end of the day, but they gotta play us."
Chase has consistently torched the Ravens, and he has had success against a Jesse Minter defense before. In 2024, Chase had seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers and Minter's defense.
While the Bengals must build momentum in the run game against Baltimore, Chase should remain the focal point of the Bengals' offensive game plan on Sunday. One area they can dial up more looks for Chase should come from lining him up outside more than they have so far this season.
"They're not going to give up anything easy," Burrow said. "And we have guys that can make contested plays on the outside, and we can make plays outside the pocket, outside the structure. These guys make everything so hard.
"And if you don't make contested plays, you're going to have a long day because they're going to stop the run and they're going to make you throw it deep. They're going to play everything down from shallow to deep. And if you don't make those contested plays down the field, it's going to be a long day."
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