Wasn’t the Thursday Night Football game between the Bengals and the Ravens a nail-biter? Some of us were on the edge, not knowing what would happen. Others might be feeling bad for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, who did so much, but still couldn’t walk out of the M&T Bank Stadium with a smile on their faces.

To a certain degree, it feels like the Bengals got robbed of their win. A couple of roughing the passer calls and holding calls on the defense just slipped under the refs’ radars. There were at least two penalties that should have been called on that two-point try. But despite that, Ja’Marr Chase thinks the Cincy QB should have passed him the ball.

Ja’Marr Chase thought he could do it but…

Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer took to X and shared a snippet of her conversation with Ja’Marr Chase post-game. The caption on her post read, “Ja’Marr Chase says he of course wanted the ball to win the game but sometimes Joe doesn’t see it. He said it was open.” Joe Burrow not being aware of Chase’s whereabouts doesn’t seem believable.

But the Cincy receiver was confident that if Burrow threw him the ball, the Bengals would have won the game. Conway further noted Chase saying “I’m always open” to her. It’s rare to see a receiver have a 264-yard, three-touchdown game. So yes, Chase might not have been exaggerating when he said that he’s always open. He became the first player in NFL history to have multiple 250+ yard games with more than two touchdowns. He was on a roll!

The WR had a 67-yard and a 70-yard touchdown for crying out loud. Burrow tried throwing the game-winning pass to Tanner Hudson and missed. Hudson should have gotten the benefit of the doubt. That was a blatant defensive holding. The call should have been against Ar’Darius Washington, but this isn’t the first time a horrible officiating has ruined a team’s playoff hopes.

In the same play, Burrow was roughed by Marlon Humphrey, who came from behind and tackled him after he got rid of the pigskin. The QB was perplexed but Cincinnati had time constraints and didn’t challenge the play. The LSU alum’s left hand and knee hurt while he got up.

Let’s see what Joe Burrow had to say after the game.

Is just a blame game for Joe Burrow and the Bengals

Honestly, the TNF loss wasn’t on Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, or the offense. However, the QB did throw some hasty passes from the get-go. He threw a couple of deep passes on 3rd-and-two and also on 4-and-two. There were no WRs in sight. There was an instance where the Ravens player who was rushing Burrow, tripped on another player, and tried to stop the pass, but hit the QB in his face. Burrow was confused when he got down.

A reporter in the press conference asked Burrow whether he saw Mike Gesicki “get held” and asked about the hit on his face. The QBs reply felt a bit laid back, but the disdain for the refs was hidden in his answer. “Yeah, you’re not getting those calls in that situation for the most part,” Burrow said in the post-game conference.

The reporter confronted Burrow about Ja’Marr Chase’s statement about him being open. But as the QB sees it, Chase was “on the backside” and he “didn’t get to him [Chase].” Burrow jumped the gun and acted on his “first read.” With this loss, Cincy has slipped to 4-6 and has lost two games to the Ravens this season. It’s surprising how having a 428-yard, 4TD stellar game isn’t enough to beat the opposite team because of the heinous officiating.

Is the Bengals’ playoff chase over? What do you think?