Ja’Marr Chase, Pat Surtain II set for Bengals-Broncos battle

Cincinnati Bengals assistant quarterbacks coach Fredi Knighten keeps the same routine every Monday morning.

First, he’ll drop off his dog, a German shepherd named Vera, at day care. Then he’ll arrive at the team’s headquarters at Paycor Stadium around 6:30 a.m. and start accumulating game tape for the upcoming week. He’ll look at the opposing team’s cornerbacks and study the intricacies of their craft — which hand they use to jam receivers, how they play releases off the line of scrimmage, any small detail that can tip a matchup in Cincinnati’s favor.

The process is the same each week. But all the information will be especially valuable on Monday night.

When the Bengals face the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), it will feature one of the best matchups in the sport — Bengals wide receiver Ja’arrr chase against Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II. Last season, Chase became the fifth player since the AFL-NFL merger to win the receiving triple crown by leading the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving TDs (17). Surtain became the third cornerback this century to be named Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year after picking off four passes.

Before last season, when Chase and Surtain squared off in a Bengals win, one had to go back to 1993 to find a similar battle. Jerry Rice and Rod Woodson met at the beginning of that season en route to being named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.

“I think [Chase and Surtain] cherish the moment,” Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Walters said. “They know it’s best against best. They know that, ‘If I can win that battle, that’s going to even raise my level up, my name and whatever else.'”

The winner of last year’s battle is in the eye of the beholder. In a 30-24 overtime win in Cincinnati, Chase finished with nine catches for 102 yards. However, when Surtain was lined up as the nearest defender, Chase had only three catches on six targets for 27 yards. But the rivalry really dates back to college. In 2019, Chase caught six passes for 140 yards and a touchdown to lead LSU past Surtain’s Alabama team 46-41. Fourteen months later, the Bengals drafted Chase fifth overall in 2021, and Surtain went four spots later to Denver.

Bengals reserve quarterback Mike Whitewho grew up near Surtain in South Florida, said it’s impressive to see two players like Chase and Surtain live up to their reputation as All-Pros, from college to the NFL.

“You see countless first-round picks that have all the tools in the world; they get to the league and they just can’t pick it up,” White said. “[With] these guys, that is not the case.”

IT’S EASY TO point at measurables to explain why Surtain is such a tough defender to shake. His 78½-inch wingspan attached to a nimble 6-foot-2 frame makes him hard to get around. That was a big reason why nobody wanted to throw in his direction in his final season at Alabama (48 targets in 13 games).

He also has an NFL family background. His father, Patrick Sr., played defensive back in the NFL from 1998-2008 and was a three-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro in 2002.

But it’s not that simple to explain why Patrick II is so good.

Heading into their senior year at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, fellow cornerback Marco Wilson remembered the daily post-practice routine. Each day, they cosplayed the role of wide receiver-cornerback, working on releases down the field. Three-receiver releases each, switching every five yards for 100 yards.

“That just always showed me that he was real serious about his craft and just wanting to be the best,” said Wilson, now a cornerback for the Bengals.

Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph didn’t temper his praise of Surtain.

“I’ve never coached, or seen, a player that’s had his physical traits, combined with his football IQ and the work ethic,” Joseph said. “He’s a savant playing the position with the rarest of physical traits.”

Surtain said the role of a cornerback isn’t to make highlight reels, but he did smile when asked what would be his perfect game.

“Maybe like three picks and three touchdowns or something like that,” he said. “A crazy stat line. It’s crazy because I feel like great corners you don’t often see them fill a stat sheet up.”

Surtain is looking for his first interception this season, although he has defensed three passes. He’s the leader of a defense that was tabbed as the best in the league entering the season. But the Broncos have lost their past two games and the defense is closer to the middle of the pack in the NFL as far as EPA (ninth, 5.70), efficiency (12th, 61.25), scoring (16th, 21.3 points per game) and yards allowed (19th, 327.6 per game) goes.

“That kid wants to be great, and I’ve always said a lot of people say they want to be great but they don’t actually do what it takes to be great,” Broncos Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey said. “He does it on every snap.

“Doesn’t mean as a corner you’re not going to give up catches or big plays — the league is too good — but that young man wants to be great every day and actually works every single day to do that. And with the gifts he has, that’s the rarest combination of all. I love to watch every snap he plays.”

WITH CHASE, JUST start with the basics, the foundation. Chase has rare traits at the position by any metric.

Chase measured in at a little over 6-foot and weighed 201 pounds at the 2021 combine. He ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at LSU’s pro day while excelling in the shuttle, broad jump and vertical jump drills.

“The challenge is a bigger receiver, like [Chase]they’re obviously strong, they can get physical and the combination with speed with that physicality, the bigger frame, that can become a nightmare,” Surtain said. “Because they can create space and they have the physicality to keep you away from the ball and then run away from you if they get it.”

The fifth-year Broncos cornerback said he can see the differences in players like Chase and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson — teammates at LSU — as NFL receivers.

“In college when I saw them they were probably leaning on their athletic ability most of the time,” Surtain said. “Me too, in some ways, but I think as a younger player in college, you’re just more likely to lean in on your athletic abilities. Now I see both of them with so much technical skill in what they do, they know how to use their athletic abilities. They’ve grown.

“Crisp routes, times when they have to get off the line, they know how to get the release, vary their approach … so strong at catch point, how they show late hands, just all the things to create any space and opportunity that go beyond just being athletic.”

For Chase that has also meant what he called “more trust” from the Bengals coaches to do more things as the seasons have gone on, to present a far bigger portfolio of things defenses have to study and consider.

As an NFC personnel executive put it: “If [Chase] just stayed at the X [outside receiver, away from the tight end] his whole career, he would have been very, very productive. Too much size, too much speed, built for the position. But he has broadened his game, they use him in more places, whether slot, move him around. … That’s a tough collection of things to deal with defensively.”

THE BIGGEST X factor on Monday night will be who’s throwing to Chase. Quarterback Joe Burrowan MVP finalist last season, suffered a turf toe injury in the first half of a Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and underwent surgery that is expected to sideline him a minimum of three months.

Jake Browning came on in relief in the second half and has had mixed results since. In six quarters, he has thrown three touchdown passes and five interceptions while completing 67.8% of his throws. He has been sacked four times.

Another big X factor will be how the Broncos match Surtain on Chase — especially with Tee Higgins‘ 131-yard, three-touchdown night in the Bengals’ win over the Broncos last December. Burrow did virtually all of the damage throwing to whichever receiver Surtain was not covering.

“I think if it’s a receiver who’s dominant and he’s primary 85% of the time and they’re moving him around, you have to find a way to get Pat on him,” Joseph said. “And that’s where Pat has grown, anywhere a receiver can go, Pat can match him.”

Riley Mosswhom Burrow targeted plenty in last season’s matchup in what was Moss’ first game back from a knee injury, is the cornerback opposite Surtain, while Ja’quan McMillian and rookie Jahdae Barron are in for nickel and dime looks.

“It’s about studying a guy’s skill set and seeing, ‘How can I exploit weaknesses?'” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said of Chase’s preparation for a player like Surtain. “The player studies that, we study that.

“Are there things we want to run to one side of the field we don’t want to run to another side of the field? Are there specific types of routes we like and specific types of routes we don’t like?”

But by the time Monday night’s game is over, Surtain believes the issue will have been decided by space. Did the Broncos’ defensive backs prevent Chase and the other Bengals’ pass catchers from creating it, from benefitting from it?

“It’s all about closing the distance,” Surtain said. “If you ask any receiver, they don’t like it when there’s hands on them, when there is another physical presence around them, in front of them. You have to try to close that space, do all you can to eliminate the easy throws. But know they’re going to make tough catches, but just don’t make it easy …

“Don’t ever make it easy.”