also: the sticks · sticks coverage · stick route
The chains, a coverage that aligns on them, and a route concept that has nothing to do with either.
3 meanings, all below. Jump to the one you heard.
The first-down markers themselves. Move the sticks means gain a first down, and past the sticks means past the line to gain.
the chains, the markersA coverage approach where the secondary aligns at or near the line to gain rather than at a fixed depth, so the defenders are already where the throw has to go. A situational call rather than a base one, and the give is everything beyond it.
sticks coverage, aligning on the sticksthe stick routeThe stick route and the concept named after it: an inside receiver pushing vertically and settling back inside at about six yards, paired with a flat route to put one defender in a bind. Unrelated to the chains, though it is often thrown on third down, which makes the collision worse rather than better.
stick, stick conceptsticks coverage, the chains