The Cincinnati Bengals looked lost on “Monday Night Football.”
At the end of the third quarter in a 28-3 loss to the Denver Broncos, star receiver Ja’Marr Chase got into what appeared to be a heated confrontation with his head coach, Zac Taylor, after failing to convert on third down for the seventh time.
The Bengals ended the game with eight straight punts after an opening-drive field goal.
Chase was seen waving his hands and speaking to Taylor, who took off his headset and grabbed Chase by the hip to talk to him, as the Bengals were in the midst of a blowout loss.
“I play with passion,” Chase said in an X post after the game. “Man yall better leave me alone man.”
The 2-2 Bengals have dropped two straight since losing star QB Joe Burrow to a turf toe injury that is expected to keep him out for at least two more months.
Chase criticized the team for lacking urgency after the game.
“It’s not good ever losing so we have to learn from it,” Chase told reporters. “We just got to get better at getting first down. I’m always frustrated if I’m losing. Part of the game, man. Sometimes the emotions take over. Sometimes it looks like what it’s not supposed to, but it happens. We were just talking about the possession. What plays we can run, and how are we going to attack certain coverages … Urgency is there, man we just got to want it. Today, it didn’t look like we wanted it.”
Cincinnati had hoped to be in playoff contention at least this season, but backup quarterback Jake Browning has not yet been able to fill Burrow’s prodigious cleats.
Browning ended the game 14-for-25 with 125 passing yards.
Chase had just 23 yards on five catches.
It’s quite the fall from the Bengals, with Taylor facing pressure to make the postseason after missing out one year ago.
