Ja'Marr Chase confused by seemingly special treatment from defenses across NFL

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase took to his podcast, Chasing No. 1, to express his confusion about the way defenses play against him.

Chase was referencing a play from Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba while talking to his guest, legendary Bengals wide receiver Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson. Chase asked Johnson why Smith-Njigba isn't getting double-teamed the way he is.

"Why he ain't gettin' doubled yet? That's what I be trying to figure out," Chase said. "I got doubled on 2nd and 10 by a linebacker and a corner. I really thought I was confused."

Smith-Njigba finished the game against the Arizona Cardinals with nine receptions for 155 receiving yards and three touchdowns. While Chase's two-touchdown bounce-back game was seen as a success by Bengals fans, the 75 receiving yards and seven receptions don't quite match up.

Is Ja'Marr Chase right about Smith-Njigba facing less double-teams than him?

Smith-Njigba won the Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2025 en route to a Super Bowl victory, two things that have eluded Chase's grasp thus far, so it would stand to reason that Smith-Njigba would get plenty of respect from opposing defenses.

Regardless, Smith-Njigba has seen nearly double the targets and has nearly double the receptions of Chase at this point in the 2026 season. While basic box score statistics don't exactly tell the whole story, defining double-coverage rate isn't cut and dry. Statistics regarding double coverage are hard to find and are often unreliable.

For example, what exactly is considered double coverage? Does there have to be two designated defenders in man coverage specifically targeting a receiver, or can a cornerback with a safety bracketing over the top also count as double coverage?

It's also impossible to define what the intention of the defense is on any given play. It could appear like a receiver shook a defender out of their shoes, when in reality their responsibility was to cover the flat and stay within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Smith-Njigba's big touchdown against the Cardinals in Week 2 is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Some fans say his route left Cardinals defensive back Will Johnson in the dust, while others say Johnson was playing perfect Cover 2 defense.

With all that being said, there are images from Chase's Week 2 game against the Houston Texans that make it clear that one of the most intimidating defenses in the NFL was doing everything it could to stop him. Chase even posted an example of this on social media.

One more concrete stat that might indicate double coverage is targets per route run. Assuming double coverage tends to work more often than not, a higher number of targets per route run might indicate less double coverage. So far in 2026, Smith-Njigba has 0.44 targets per route run, while Chase has 0.18.

When using this stat to determine potential double coverage, a minimum number of targets and/or receptions is necessary to weed out wide receiver threes and fours that simply don't see as many targets due to their role in the offense. The only receiver with fewer targets per route run than Chase, with a minimum of eight receptions on the season, is New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele, whose low targets per route run can be attributed to his absurd league-leading 94 routes run on the season. Fellow Saints receiver Chris Olave is second in the league with 92.

While this can provide a good estimate, it still doesn't account for things like an offensive game plan, having a wide receiver as good as Tee Higgins on the other side of the field, quarterback play/dependency on the team's top wide receiver or simply beating double-coverage situations. Even if Chase's assessment is correct, it is hard to believe that it will continue to be correct as Smith-Njigba continues to make waves across the NFL.

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