At the start of the season, the Bengals' success before the end of the first half was a result of Burrow’s connection with wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. During the first seven weeks of the season, Chase had 233 receiving yards in this stretch of 14 minutes.
He caught a 50-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings, a 34-yard touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a 70-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers and he made three first down catches versus the Baltimore Ravens.
Like clockwork, Burrow would drop back and find Chase on a go route down the right sideline.
Since Week 7, Chase has only one catch for 15 yards in the last two minutes of the first half. In this part of the game, defenses are double-teaming him even more than usual. Nevertheless, that coverage hasn’t had much of an impact on the Bengals offense in the last two minutes.
The Bengals scored more often in the last two minutes of the first half in games during the second half of the season than they did in the first half of the season. As wide receiver Tee Higgins made his midseason leap to become one of the NFL’s best young receivers, he filled Chase’s role as the biggest Bengals receiving threat at the end of the first half.
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