Ja’Marr Chase did not sugarcoat the Cincinnati Bengals’ first-half mess in Baltimore.
Down 13-0 at halftime against the rival Ravens on Sunday, with Cincinnati’s offense stuck in the mud and Chase among the players who had done little before the break, the star receiver let his teammates hear it. After the game, Chase detailed the message he delivered inside the locker room, and it was blunt from the jump.
"I came in here screaming, saying, 'Somebody's got to make a play for us, somebody got to make a play,'" Chase explained. "And I told our offense [that] we can't look at our defense the whole time. We've got to step this s--- up and make something work."
The message landed. Cincinnati came out of halftime and ripped off 35 unanswered points on the way to a 35-13 win, a surge powered by Joe Burrow, who threw four touchdown passes over the final two quarters. One of those scores went to Chase.
Chase was just as direct when asked about the Bengals’ opening 30 minutes.
"I didn't like how we played," Chase added about the Bengals' first-half performance in Baltimore. "We had [19] plays, maybe two or three possessions.
And it didn't go our way at all. We had opportunities to get the ball out of our hands, and Joe was getting too much pressure."
The comeback moved Cincinnati to 4-2 and kept the Bengals from slipping further behind the 5-2 Cleveland Browns and the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North race.
Chase’s halftime words also seemed to hit home on the other side of the ball. Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. said the defense took the receiver’s challenge as fuel, especially once a prominent offensive voice stepped up.
"That's a guy who loves to compete at the highest level -- he wants to win," Knight said about Chase. "I believe once you hear a guy like that, who's a leader on this team, speak up on the offense side of the ball, that just encourages you."
The Bengals now turn to a home game against the 1-6 Tennessee Titans on Nov. 1, and Chase probably would prefer a quieter halftime the next time around. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Cincinnati as a 10.5-point favorite.
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