Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase spoke to FanSided's Stacking the Box about everything from the Bengals-Chiefs rivalry to his personal NFL top-five.
With the 2023 NFL season just a stone's throw away, why not pick the brain of one of the best wide receivers in the league?
Cincinnati Bengals star Ja'Marr Chase recently spoke with Sterling Holmes from FanSided's Stacking the Box and gave his thoughts on the hottest storylines ahead of the regular season.
Chase talked a bit about his pre-college days, when he had to choose between committing to LSU or Kansas, and about his resilient mindset when returning from injury this past season. The story that keeps fans on the edge of their seats, however, is the growing AFC rivalry between two dominant, in-their-prime teams: the Bengals and the Chiefs.
On one side, the underdogs no more: the Bengals. Cincy has defeated Kansas City three out of their last four meetings, playoffs included. On the other, the reigning Super Bowl champs.
This heated rivalry contains everything from social media disses to town mayors getting involved to the infamous nickname for Arrowhead Stadium, Burrowhead, and according to Chase, it's only getting bigger.
The 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year provided a brief insight into the Bengals-Chiefs showdown from his point of view:
"It becomes a bigger rivalry every year. It's always such a crunch time game at the end of the year, so I think that's the biggest reason why people think it's a rivalry."
Ja'Marr Chase talks Bengals-Chiefs rivalry, his NFL top-five list
The Bengals-Chiefs matchups do tend to take place toward the end of the year, usually in December, and 2023 is no exception. Chase's Bengals and the Chiefs will face off on December 31 this year in one of the most highly anticipated games of the regular season.
Months ahead of the game, each team has no shortage of bulletin board material to use as motivation. As much as each team may trash-talk the other, there is nonetheless an unspoken wave of respect and admiration felt across the battlefield.
Chase gave Stacking the Box his personal NFL top-five list, the players he thinks are the absolute best in the league right now.
Chase's choice of players is less interesting than the order he names them in:
- Joe Burrow
- Himself
- Aaron Donald
- Travis Kelce
- And… Sure, "we could put Pat in there. Let's juice it up a little bit."
Despite the notorious Bengals-Chiefs rivalry, Chase includes two Chiefs player in his NFL top-five list, Kelce and Mahomes. He adds Mahomes, the 2022 MVP, to the list almost like an afterthought, but he still includes him.
When egged on about what circled games the Bengals might have on their 2023 calendar, Chase stayed mum, not wanting to spill the beans.
But he also implied those circled games were fairly obvious, so much so that "I don't even need to say them out loud right now."
Say no more, Chase. The rivalry will speak for itself this upcoming season.
Ja'Marr Chase spoke to FanSided on behalf of Sleep Number, the Official Sleep + Wellness Partner of the NFL. Sleep Number has just announced a partnership with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ja'Marr Chase teamed up with his friend and competitor Justin Jefferson for Sleep Number's newest NFL campaign. The new spots, which launched August 15, show how the two players have a friendly competition on and off the field.
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