The Cincinnati Bengals headed into the halftime locker room down 13-0 to the Baltimore Ravens. Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense looked stunned, and the defense was holding on for dear life, but also giving up big plays to backup quarterback Tyler Huntley.
Then, Ja’Marr Chase addressed the team at the half, and things changed. The Bengals scored 35 unanswered points to dominate the Ravens. According to multiple Bengals players, the speech by Chase was the catalyst.
Cincinnati Bengals Win Inspired by WR Ja’Marr Chase
Quarterback Joe Burrow confirmed that Chase got after his teammates in the locker room in his post-game interview with Tracy Wolfson.
“Ja’Marr went in there and got after everybody a little bit,” said Burrow. “Got everybody fired up, and that certainly played a part, but at the end of the day we just executed.”
Burrow downplayed it a touch, but his teammates were more open.
Right tackle Armarius Mims noted that when he saw the look in Chase’s eyes at halftime, he knew the Bengals would win.
“Ja’Marr’s speech in there really fired us up, man,” admitted Mims. “I’ve alwyas siad when 1 talks and he gets that fire from him, everybody needs to shut up and listen.”
Mims added that Chase can give a speech like that every week because of how much it fired his team up.
Chase admitted that he came into the locker room.
“I said somebody has got to make a play for us,” Chase admitted, quoting what he screamed. “I told the offense we can’t lean on our defense the whole time. We had to step our shit up and it worked.”
What gives Chase the authority to make those statements at halftime is that he walks it as much as he talks. Chase was one of the big leaders in the second half on the field as well as in the locker room.
Chase Leads Bengals to Win over Baltimore Ravens
The Bengals ran 15 plays in the first half but scored 35 points in the game. Chase had five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown in the win. The first play of the second half was a seven-yard reception to Chase. Chase had a two-yard touchdown reception later in the game.
While Chase stepped up, it was Tee Higgins who won the game in the second half. Higgins had six receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown, with almost all of it coming in the second half.
The Bengals hope is that it does not come down to halftime speeches and comebacks every week. However, they have to feel good knowing they have that in them coming out of the half. Now, the Bengals sit at 4-2. They will face the 1-6 Tennessee Titans at home next week with a strong chance of moving to 5-2.
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