Ja’Marr Chase called Bengals’ offense out via fiery halftime speech

The Cincinnati Bengals entered halftime of Sunday’s game at the rival Baltimore Ravens trailing 13-0. 

While the Ravens were starting backup quarterback Tyler Huntley because Lamar Jackson was out with an ankle injury, key members of the Cincinnati offense such as wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase produced little of note before the game’s break. As shared by ESPN’s Ben Baby, Chase revealed after Sunday’s contest what he said to his teammates inside the locker room at halftime.

Ja’Marr Chase called Bengals offense out

“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.”

Those words seemingly served as a needed spark for the Bengals, as Cincinnati scored 35 unanswered points in the game’s second half to earn an impressive 35-13 victory that improved Cincinnati to 4-2. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow tossed four touchdown passes over the contest’s final two quarters, one of which was caught by Chase. 

“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.”

Ja’Marr Chase’s words encouraged Bengals to earn comeback victory

The win over Baltimore helped Cincinnati avoid falling further behind the 5-2 Cleveland Browns and the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers in the battle for first place in the AFC North division standings. Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. made it known that he and his defensive teammates were motivated to pitch a shutout in the game’s second half after Chase spoke.

“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.”

Chase likely hopes he won’t have to make a similar speech when the Bengals host the 1-6 Tennessee Titans on Nov. 1. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Cincinnati as a massive 10.5-point favorite for that game.