CINCINNATI — The facts are out there for all to see.
The Bengals have dropped six straight games in Cleveland, dating to their last win, 31-7, on Oct. 1, 2017.
Joe Burrow was still enrolled at Ohio State. Ja’Marr Chase was in his senior year at Archbishop Rummel in Metarie, Louisiana and Tee Higgins was a freshman at Clemson.
Ja’Marr Chase once called the Browns “The Elves” before the 2023 season opener in Cleveland. That turned out to be a 24-3 embarrassment.
The Bengals haven’t scored in the first half of a game there since the meaningless Week 18 game in 2021 when the Bengals already had a division title in their pocket when they entered the building.
Unbelievably, they haven’t scored a first quarter touchdown there since 2016. No wonder Chase is eschewing pregame trash talk for when it matters – on the field, presuming the Bengals can actually generate a first-half lead, something they haven’t had since 2020.
“I’m just tired of being the villain on social media,” Chase said. “I still do it, I’m just tired of seeing myself on Twitter every day. I just don’t do it anymore. I do it on the field. Right now, it’s not for y’all because I have to be professional right now. On the field, I can be a little gritty.”
“I’m still trying to put a finger on it,” Higgins said. “I was thinking about it Monday. I haven’t won there since I’ve been in the league. Just can’t figure out what it is. We just got to put a complete game together and play complementary football.”
You know what Chase and the Bengals are really tired of? Answering questions about why they can’t win in Cleveland.
“I think Cleveland, when I did the Elves thing last year, I think Cleveland (put) like a paper or something like that… in the locker room or something like that. The only reason — well, I’m not going to say it, the camera’s on.”
Obviously, what Chase is suggesting is that they had to fire up their team because on paper they didn’t have the talent to match the Bengals, so a little extra juice fired up an already stout defense. This year, Chase isn’t providing the ammo.
“No. I won’t say anything. But I’ll say it on the field to the guys I just played against. Not to y’all.”
“If y’all can see it then I see it,” Higgins said of his chatter on the field. “Personally, if you ask me, I don’t think he’s been talking that much trash this year. He’s been leaving it on the field like he said through his play. That’s been the big difference.”
Zac Taylor apparently got it across to Chase that trading barbs in the media won’t help Joe Burrow put points up on the board.
“Zac told me like twice that ‘you don’t have to say so much.’ That’s what he told me, ‘You don’t have to say so much.’ He was just saying, ‘Keep the words at a minimum.’ Let my play do the talking, and that’s respectful. I can understand that,” Chase said.
What he did do is what he did last year, heap praise on the likes of Denzel Ward and a very talented Cleveland secondary, part of a defense built to stop offenses like Cincinnati.
“He’s one of the best corners in the game,” Chase said of Ward. “Everybody knows it. I just love the matchup because he always keeps me at my best. He always brings his ‘A’ game, he has (among) the best feet from any DB I’ve faced. He’s just a smooth person that plays DB.”
