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

Someone's feeling feisty ahead of their Week 2 NFL matchup. That someone is Cincinnati Bengals superstar wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who made quite a statement on Thursday.

Speaking with reporters following practice, Chase threw down the gauntlet with a statement that will likely become bulletin-board material for the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Everybody knows that. It's not no 'if,' we are the team to beat in the AFC," Chase said.

The truth is that the Bengals have had the Chiefs' number a few times recently. They won three straight games against Kansas City, including a pivotal AFC Championship victory in January of 2022.

However, more recently it's been all Chiefs. Kansas City avenged their AFC title game loss with a win in January of last year. Then the Chiefs followed it up with 25-17 win in December en route to their second-straight Super Bowl victory.

With all that in mind, perhaps it was not wise for Chase to poke the bear. We'll find out soon enough. The Chiefs are hosting the Bengals on Sunday in the late-afternoon window.