Despite the struggles of the Bengals and the Chiefs, the NFL left their Week 17 meeting as the premier late afternoon Sunday game over the Dolphins-Ravens. The Bengals and Chiefs have created one of the NFL’s best rivalries in recent seasons.
The teams have traded trash talk on the field and off, and that continued Thursday in the Bengals locker room.
Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase dissed the Chiefs defense when asked an innocuous question about what stands out about them.
“I’ll be honest, nothing,” Chase said, via video from Mike Petraglia of Jungle Roar Pod. “They just know how to play us. They know the leverages. . . . They know what we’re going to do, certain movements. They throw a little double-doubles at us to stop the two best players on the outside. That’s all they do. It’s not really like they got a Jalen Ramsey on their squad. So, not much [stands out].”
Chase set a franchise record against the Chiefs in Week 17 of the 2021 season, with 266 receiving yards, and in two postseason games, he totaled 12 catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.
He said he loves playing the Chiefs because “they talk the most shit,” and added he is unconcerned about adding “fire to the fuel.”
“They can take it how they want it. I don’t care,” Chase said. “At the end of the day, there’s only so much I can do myself. It’s not like I’m Ironman. I can’t throw the football to myself. It’s a team sport. I know what I see on paper. I know what I see in game. That’s why they double everybody, because they can’t do it one-on-one. The best player on their team is [L’Jarius] Sneed. That’s a fact. Everybody knows that. That’s why they double-double everything they see.”
Chase, whose right shoulder injury kept him out of last week’s game, is moving in the right direction toward a return after getting limited work Thursday. He said his status for Sunday remains up in the air, but if he plays, the Chiefs know what to expect.
“They know I’m good. They know how to play us,” Chase said. “That’s what it is. But it’s not like they got a superstar on their defense.”
He challenged the Chiefs to take his comments and “run with it.”
“Hope they put it in their locker,” he said.
Chase has 93 receptions for 1,156 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games this season.
