The contest was effectively over after Chelsea struck twice inside the opening 20 minutes with Frank Lampard and Juliano Belletti grabbing the goals.
Wigan did show more fight in the second period but the decision to operate with just Marcus Bent up front left the Latics short on fire-power when they faced an uphill battle to get back into the game. The defeat saw them slip into the bottom three for the first time this season.
Steve Bennett was in charge of a Wigan game for the first time since the infamous match at Newcastle which led to the Latics being fined £20,000 over the behaviour of their players.
And he hardly endeared himself to the Wigan fans with some decisions which included turning down two penalty appeals and booking Denny Landzaat.
The first came early on when lone striker Bent went down in the box but the referee was unimpressed by claims for a penalty.
Petr Cech was in action keeping out a long-range strike from Landzaat before Chelsea snatched the lead.
Shaun Wright-Phillips ghosted past two defenders with embarrassing ease and laid the ball on a plate for Lampard who gleefully accepted the gift to net his fourth of the season.
The Latics were punished again when Brazilian defender Belletti was allowed to race clear before smashing in a wonder goal from around 25 yards.
Wigan claimed the ball had gone out of play in the build-up but that was not backed up by replay evidence.
Chelsea threatened again when Wright-Phillips robbed Jason Koumas but Chris Kirkland held the shot and another chance went begging when Florent Malouda failed to find a finish from close range after Belletti had picked him out with a superb cross.
They were a whisker away from number three when Didier Drogba hammered a free-kick inches over the bar just before half-time.
Wigan showed more purpose in the second period and Bent again appealed in vain for a spot-kick when he went down under the challenge of Ricardo Carvalho.
Michael Brown had a crack but the goalbound shot was blocked by Alex as Wigan opted to get stuck in. There were only nine minutes left when Bent finally got some company with Antoine Sibierski replacing Landzaat, but it was too late for the Frenchman to make any difference.