Who would have thought that after going scoreless and dormant in the first half, the Bengals would make a solid comeback against the Ravens? The team trailed 13-0 at halftime, but steamrolled Baltimore with 35 points. Ja’Marr Chase’s halftime speech might have helped spark some life into the team.

“Well, I was pretty angry coming into halftime,” Ja’Marr Chase said in the locker room during halftime. “I didn’t like how we played, you know what I’m saying? We had 15 plays, maybe two or three possessions, and it didn’t go our way at all. We had opportunities to get the ball out of our hands. Joe was getting too much pressure.

“I came in here screaming, saying we got somebody got to make a play for us. … And I told our offense, we can’t look at our defense the whole time. We got to step this s–t up and make some work. … I’ve done it before, and I cried last time. But I didn’t cry this time. … I was very pissed [off].”

The Ravens already tallied 258 offensive yards to Cincinnati’s 59 in the first half, ESPN reports. That is more than enough to show how sluggish Cincinnati was in that half. Joe Burrow completed only six of his 12 passes for 43 yards.

But his speech really did wonders for the team. 35 points in one half alone is no joke, coming from zero in the first half. The Bengals scored on five of their six drives in the second half, with Burrow throwing four touchdowns.

The QB threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki and then a 13-yard touchdown pass to Higgins. Those two scores helped the Bengals take a 14–13 lead and completely changed the momentum of the game. A badly called 4th-down play by the Ravens helped Cincinnati maintain the lead and extend it further.

Joe Burrow finished the game with 292 yards, completing 22 of 30 passes. Even Tee Higgins gave a solid performance by catching six passes for 148 yards and one touchdown on seven targets. He averaged 24.7 yards per reception, with his longest catch covering 44 yards.

Chase, the fuel behind the fire, posted five catches for 62 yards and one touchdown.

“Ja’Marr’s speech really fired us up, man,” Cincinnati offensive tackle Amarius Mims told FOX 19 Now’s Joe Danneman. “I saw it in his eyes, man. We were not gonna leave here without winning. … I’ve always said, when No. 1 talks, he gets that fire in front of him, everybody needs to shut up and listen.

“He is not only the best receiver in the NFL, but probably one of the best players in the NFL, in my opinion. So, when a guy like that talks, you shut up and you listen. Because it’s very important, and we all need to hear it. … It worked.”

Ja’Marr Chase has been very successful against the Baltimore Ravens throughout his career. According to NBC Sports research, he averaged 117.1 receiving yards per game against them entering this clash. This is the highest average in NFL history for any player facing the same opponent at least 10 times.

For now, he is still waiting to record his first 100-yard game of the season, but he has scored five touchdowns and gained at least 60 receiving yards in four of the Bengals’ six games after the Baltimore win.

The Ravens became only the third team in NFL history to lead by at least 13 points at halftime and still lose by 20 or more points, according to ESPN Research. At first, Baltimore looked ready for another big win over Cincinnati, especially after beating the Bengals 24–0 last year.

However, Chase’s speech and the team’s dedication changed their entire dynamics.

The post “I Was Pretty Angry”: Ja’Marr Chase Details Fiery HalfTime Speech That Sparked Bengals’ Comeback Win Over Ravens appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.