T
he Cincinnati Bengals are in scramble mode. Starting the 2025 season off 2-0, the Bengals have since come up short in their last two games, losing to the Minnesota Vikings in week three before losing to the Denver Broncos on the road 28-3 in week four, falling to 2-2 on the season. The absence of star quarterback, Joe Burrow, has been the team’s biggest issue this season, but the team’s most recent loss on Monday Night Football still caused frustration within the locker room.
Wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, who had a disagreement with head coach Zac Taylor mid-game that was caught on video, spoke to the media after the Bengals‘ loss and expressed his frustration with the game’s result.
Chase’s Frustration
Since backup quarterback Jake Browning took over following Burrow’s injury, the Bengals offense has had major issues. Against the Broncos especially, nothing seemed to work for the Bengals, from penalties piling up, the offense not finding a rhythm and the defense giving up big plays. But according to Chase, the team’s biggest issue was something entirely different.
“Urgency is there, man, it’s just you gotta want it,” Chase said. “At the end of the day, we gotta want it. Today, it didn’t look like we wanted it.”
Chase’s comments are very eye opening, considering his superstar status with the team. Last season, despite the Bengals struggling on defense and missing the playoffs, the offense was one of the league’s best, with Burrow putting up MVP-caliber numbers and Chase ending the year as the leader in every major receiving category. But the Bengals have struggled since Burrow went down and if they want to stay in the playoff race when he comes back, they will need to figure something out quickly.
The Game
The Bengals committed a total of 11 penalties for 65 yards– not counting a couple of penalties that the Broncos declined. What made matters worse for Chase was how many offensive drives ended quickly for the Bengals and how the Bengals were unable to capitalize after going up 3-0– punting on their final eight possessions. Overall, the Bengals finished with only 159 offensive yards for the game– the first time since the 2009 Raiders that a team finished with 200 or fewer offensive yards in the first three out of four games.
But the moment that described the Bengals‘ frustrations was Chase’s interaction with Taylor in the second half– signifying just how lost the Bengals look on the field.
“We were just talking about the possession,” Chase said on the interaction. “We were just talking about what plays we can run and how can we attack certain coverages and get our playmakers the ball.”
Since his arrival in 2021, Chase has been pivotal to the Bengals and even though he got in his coach’s face, Taylor did not take it personally and instead saw it as someone with extreme competitiveness.
“It comes across as emotional, but that’s just a captain that works his tail off,” Taylor said. “All he wants to do is win the game. All he wants to do is affect the game. Often times, he feels like, ‘If I have the ball in my hand, I can do that.’ And I don’t disagree with him.”
Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase Frustrated After Team’s Latest Loss