Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase did not hold back about Joe Burrow during 2-point try
In the dying embers of the Cincinnati Bengals ' 35-34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football, star quarterback Joe Burrow went from hero to zero real quick — wasting one of the greatest games of Ja'Marr Chase's career in defeat. Deciding to go for the lead with 38 seconds to go on the clock by trying for the two-point conversion, Burrow's throw sailed over the head of tight end Tanner Hudson — much to the delight of Ravens fans.
It's important to note that there may have been some penalties that the officials simply neglected to call that prevented the Bengals from executing on the play that could have given them the win. But Chase would have wanted the Bengals to not have taken that chance in throwing the ball to the other direction. Instead, he believes that Burrow should have thrown the ball towards him on the left side, believing that he was "open" , as per Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
"Yeah. I'm always open," Chase said in his postgame presser , via Chatterbox Sports on X, formerly Twitter.
Perhaps trusting one of the best wide receivers in the game to make a play in such a crucial moment could have paid off for the Bengals. Indeed, it looked as though Chase was able to dust off Brandon Stephens on the route. But Burrow had to make a play with the Ravens' pass rush closing him down, and it's not quite clear if Chase was already open like he said at the time of the Bengals QB's throw.
Maybe the Bengals simply overthought the play and felt as though the Ravens were going to sell out to defend Chase after his incredible night. But Baltimore played solid defense on the two-point conversion try, and Burrow was not given enough time by the Bengals' O-line to make a better decision than the one he made when he threw towards Hudson, who had two Ravens defenders on him waiting to pounce.
The Bengals have fallen to 4-6 as a result of this defeat, and frustrations are mounting for Chase and company as they fall even further in the playoff race.
Bengals encounter similar late-game issues against the Ravens
The Bengals and Ravens have faced off twice this season, and both times, Cincinnati was pretty much in a position to win late in the game. Back on October 6, the Bengals were leading 38-28 after a Joe Burrow-Ja'Marr Chase touchdown connection, and yet after that drive, their offense completely stalled out, failing to score from that point onwards as they sustained a 41-38 defeat in overtime .
Tonight, the Bengals quickly relinquished a 21-14 lead heading into the fourth by allowing the Ravens to score two touchdowns on consecutive drives while failing to answer with at least one of their own. Chase did his best by scoring two more touchdowns from Burrow passes in the fourth quarter, but in the end, it was the Burrow's decision to not find Chase that proved to be their undoing.
Chase has had enough of these late-game execution woes, and he implored his team to get their crunch-time execution together.
"Every loss we had we didn't finish. We just have to find some type of way to finish," Chase said, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.
