CINCINNATI -- First, Ja'Marr Chase wanted to burn a fellow Louisiana and LSU football legend. Then, he wanted to celebrate in a way that was going to cost him.
In the type of play that has defined his run with the Cincinnati Bengals, the second-year receiver caught a short pass, ran past New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu and jaunted into the end zone to seal a game-winning 30-26 win. Upon scoring, Chase tried to punt the ball into the stands of the Caesars Superdome ... but he shanked it.
“I just wanted to do it, I ain’t gonna lie,” said Chase, who admitted he was trying to earn a fine from the NFL with the boot. “I always wanted to do that.”
Instead, he’ll have to settle for a dramatic homecoming win. In their first game back at the Superdome since they helped LSU win a national championship, Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow provided the spark that might have finally ignited an offense that has struggled in 2022.
“That’s what this league’s about,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “You gotta have great players. You can give them all the playcalls you want, but in these big moments, you need your guys to step up. And our guys stepped up.”
Chase had seven catches on 10 targets for two touchdowns and a season-high 132 yards. Burrow had his best game of the season, too. The third-year quarterback was 28-of-37 passing for 300 yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing score.
Cincinnati (3-3) was staring at four losses in its first six games before one of the league’s most potent connections struck. Chase's catch-and-run touchdown -- which included a broken tackle -- came with less than two minutes left and the Bengals down 26-24.
“I’m never surprised with that guy anymore,” Burrow said, who said the second he saw the defensive look, he knew the ball was going to Chase.
Since Chase entered the league in 2021, he and Burrow have connected for 11 touchdowns of 15 yards or more, according to ESPN Stats & Information, the most of any duo of that span.
With several variations of Burrow jerseys inside the Superdome, ranging from his LSU No. 9 to ones with custom “Burreaux” nameplates on the back, the 2019 Heisman winner had his best performance of the season.
One of Burrow’s best plays came on a third-down attempt in the fourth quarter when he slipped out of a sack, scrambled for 33.1 yards, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and found wide receiver Tyler Boyd for a completion.
It embodied what Burrow, in his finest moments, has provided to the franchise since it drafted him with the first overall pick in 2020.
“Sometimes when it looks like things are really bleak and dead, Joe finds a way, kind of out of the mess,” Taylor said. “You don’t know how he does it. He just does it. It’s special to see when that happens.”
Cincinnati used a quick passing game to get Burrow in a rhythm early. Of Burrow’s 31 pass attempts, 24 were delivered within 2.5 seconds or less, according to NFL Next Gen. That was also the same number of throws that were between zero and nine air yards.
Through the first five games of the season, Cincinnati’s offense had underperformed compared to its preseason expectations. Taylor, the team’s offensive playcaller, took heat following last week’s 19-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens as the unit ranked next to last in yards per play entering Week 6.
But once the offense found a rhythm in New Orleans, everything started rolling. A day that featured offensive progress was capped by another touchdown from Burrow to Chase, their fourth inside the Superdome.
Bengals cornerback Eli Apple said Burrow told the team at halftime if the offense got the ball back, they weren’t going to be stopped. The Bengals scored on all three of their possessions in the second half -- including the game-winning touchdown that sealed a homecoming win.
“We’ve been waiting for those games from Ja’Marr and Joe,” Apple said. “They came through clutch.”