Browns, Elves Shut Down Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals
After Ja'Marr Chase almost referred to the Cleveland Browns as Elves, the Browns defense had an answer on Sunday, only giving up 39 yards to Chase and 3 points to the Bengals as they won the battle of I-71, 24-3.
"It feels like a regular game to me," said Chase according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. "It don't feel no different. It's just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland Browns. I was about to call them the elves, but yeah."
Myles Garrett had a response in his media availability on Friday.
Garrett along with the rest of the Browns defense, perhaps with help of some Elven magic and a little help from Mother Nature, dominated the Bengals offense. Garrett's sack on Joe Burrow on 4th-and-4 closed out the game for the Browns.
Burrow struggled with the rain, often pouring sideways throughout the game. He tried going barehanded as well as putting on a glove, but he never found any rhythm. Some of that was because the Browns pass rush was consistently generating pressure throughout the game and putting body blows on Burrow.
Chase did lead the Bengals in receiving, but it was just five receptions for 39 yards on eight targets. Burrow finished the day 14 of 31 for 82 yards, but the team's passing drops to 67 yards due to two sacks.
Chase did mention his comments in his postgame press conference.
Tee Higgins fared no better as he was completely erased from the game; 0 catches on 8 targets. Unquestionably, the rain and wind played a role in the Bengals performance, as it also hindered the Deshaun Watson-led Browns offense, but the Browns defense contested everything.
The only open looks the Bengals were getting in the game were underneath passes that the Browns rallied to and tackled, often short of the sticks. Along with only surrendering 143 total yards on 14 drives, the Bengals only had 6 first downs compared to 10 punts.
For the Bengals, this is likely a temporary setback, but the Browns needed this type of performance from their defense. They needed every stop to ensure the victory, but they needed to justify all of the investments they've made to the roster and coaching staff this year . It's an added bonus that it comes against their instate rival who happens to be the reigning AFC North division champions.
Burrow's record against the Browns drops to 1-5 over his career. That's the most losses he has to a single team in his career and the Browns defense in particular has had success against him. Burrow will have to wait until the final game of the season for a chance at revenge, which may come with significant playoff implications.
The Browns defense looked great against one of the better offenses in the league and the team gets a sizable pelt on their wall. They look as advertised, but will need to keep it up for the Browns to continue to have success this year and compete for the AFC North.
