Ja’Marr Chase didn’t just produce on the field Sunday in Baltimore. He helped jolt the Bengals awake in the middle of the game.
Cincinnati walked into halftime down 13-0 after managing its fewest first-half yards since 2018. Then the offense turned the whole thing around, piling up nearly 300 yards in the next 30 minutes on the way to a 35-13 win over the Ravens.
The spark came from inside the locker room. Chase, the Bengals captain, came in fired up and made it clear the offense had to respond.
“We had 15 plays, maybe two or three possessions, and it didn't go our way at all,” Chase said about the speech reasoning at his locker. “We had opportunities to get the ball out of our hands.
Joe was putting up with too much pressure, and I came in here screaming, saying somebody got to make a play. Somebody got to make a play, and I told the offense we can't look at our defense the whole time.
We got to step this s*** up and make something work.”
Amarius Mims said the message landed loud and clear.
“Really fired us up, man. I saw it in his eyes, man,” Mims said to FOX 19 and more at his locker.
“We were not gonna leave here without going in. And I've always said when One talks and he gets that fire in front of him, everybody needs to shut up and listen.
Because, as I said, he is not only the best receiver in the NFL, but probably one of the best players in the NFL, in my opinion.
“So when a guy like that talks, you shut up, and you listen, because it's very important. And we all did hear it, and we all shut up, and we heard it.
And it worked, we came back and scored 35 straight points, and they scored zero. So that was definitely a speech that I don't mind him giving every week.
If that's the case, if we're gonna do that, we need to give it every week.”
The Bengals needed the reset, and they got one. Joe Burrow was sacked just one time, with Mims helping anchor what was described as arguably the best pass-blocking right tackle in the NFL this season.
Chase backed up the speech with production, finishing with five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Tee Higgins stayed efficient as well, catching six passes for 128 yards and scoring his own touchdown.
Burrow said Chase’s words had an impact, even if the team still had to finish the job.
“Yeah, Ja’Marr went in there and got after everybody a little bit and got everybody fired up. That certainly plays a part, but at the end of the day, we just executed,” Burrow noted.
The win moved Cincinnati up to seventh in the AFC and kept the team right in step with the rest of the AFC North race. The Bengals now turn their attention to Tennessee at home this week, with the whole locker room wanting a faster start next time around.
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