Indeed, the Bengals got off to an 0-2 start last season before rebounding to repeat as AFC North champions and advance to a second straight AFC Championship Game. However, losing to the Browns is also a spot Burrow and Co. are familiar with.
Joey Franchise is now 1-5 against the Browns franchise and dropped to 0-3 in Cleveland, where the Bengals haven’t won since 2017.
Sunday’s loss came days after Chase said playing in Cleveland was just a normal game.
“It don’t feel no different,” Chase said Thursday. “It’s just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns. I was about to call them the elves, but yeah.”
Those elves stood tall Sunday, shrinking the Bengals down to 142 yards of offense.
A clearly dismayed Chase didn’t let his squad’s three-point showing dissuade him from piling on the elf talk, though.
“It’s frustrating because I called they ass elves and we just lost to some elves,” said Chase of the Browns, who have a mascot named Brownie the Elf. “So I’m pissed on my part, I’m pissed on that end.
“We got missed opportunities, we didn’t capitalize … and we lost.”