Ja'Marr Chase says Bengals, not Chiefs, are the 'team to beat in the AFC'

The Kansas City Chiefs are the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champions, but that doesn't stop Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase from holding his team to a higher standard.

"We are the team to beat in the AFC," Chase said Thursday ahead of Cincinnati's Week 2 road game in Kansas City. "We know it, and we gotta play like it, too." 

Chase added that he's "not worried" about the outside noise after the Bengals' surprising loss at home to New England in Week 1. In that loss, Chase led the Bengals with six receptions for 62 yards. 

In the months — and hours — leading up to the regular season, Chase was holding in for an extension, but the two sides failed to reach a deal. Chase, a Pro Bowler in each of his three full seasons in the NFL, has two seasons remaining on his rookie contract. Meanwhile, fellow receiver Tee Higgins — who totaled 1,000-plus receiving yards in both 2021 and 2022 — is playing on a revised one-year deal after the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him in February.

The Bengals are coming off a 9-8 season in which they missed the playoffs, in large part due to star QB Joe Burrow's season-ending wrist injury in November. 

As for its Week 2 opponent, Cincinnati and Kansas City have frequently crossed paths of late, with the Bengals a combined 3-2 in head-to-head matchups (2-1 in the regular season, 1-1 in the postseason) since 2021; the Bengals' Week 17 loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium this past season came with Burrow sidelined.

Furthermore, Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt expressed earlier this week that he was underwhelmed by Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy — who had two combined touchdowns in Kansas City's Week 1 victory over Baltimore — saying he can merely "run straight."

Chase feels that the rivalry between the two teams is genuine. "The energy's there [on] both sides," he said. "I'm sure they know we don't like them. They know they don't like us. So the energy's already there. 

"There's not really much we got to say now to this point. It's been four years now, so everyone gets it."

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