On the Bengals’ last play of Super Bowl LVI, receiver Ja’Marr Chase was open.
He was open enough streaking down the right sideline on fourth-and-1 that he likely would’ve had a touchdown if the ball had been delivered to him.
But as we all know, it wasn’t. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald made sure of that, spinning down quarterback Joe Burrow to force an incompletion that sealed the Rams’ victory.
Adding to the drama, L.A. defensive back Jalen Ramsey had fallen just about at the same point that Donald reached Burrow — making Chase that much more open.
As it turns out, that wasn’t quite the play that was called.
“I checked to that go route. I was anticipating throwing it and just didn’t quite have the time,” Burrow said Tuesday, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “Like I said, we’ve put that behind us. We lost. We had a great year. We’re going forward.”
After the incompletion, Chase threw his helmet to the turf in frustration.
“It was tough. It was tough. I was in my second championship [game] and I really wanted it bad,” Chase said. “Anger shows when you love the game that much. The emotions.”
While the play didn’t work, Burrow’s instinct to lean on his connection with Chase was right. If the duo doesn’t have to deal with Donald the next time a situation like that comes up, they’ll probably complete the pass.