The Cincinnati Bengals suffered a tough 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears. This was perhaps the final straw for some Bengals players, including wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. He had a brief emotional outburst as he headed to the locker room after the game. “One f—— stop,” he was seen mouthing the words. Later, he appeared more composed while speaking to reporters.

“I’ve never been in this situation,” he said, speaking about the issues with the defense. “I don’t know how to handle it. Trying to stay positive. It’s not fun when you’re losing.”

Chase was visibly upset answering the questions about their second straight defeat.

“I’m going to stay in my lane,” he added, “I don’t want no defensive players coming chew me out about what the f— I’m doing.”

The Bengals’ wide receiver’s frustration wasn’t surprising after the disappointing mistakes on the defense. They missed 15 tackles, allowing the Bears to gain an extra 133 yards. Apart from these, there were glaring mistakes, such as the one in the final few moments of the game.

The Bengals secured an incredible fourth-quarter comeback. And they were close to wrapping up the game with a win. However, the defense gave up a 58-yard touchdown to tight end Colston Loveland, which ended up turning the game in another direction.

Now, this isn’t the first time that the WR voiced his issues on defense.

“I’m always frustrated if I’m losing,” he said after their 28-3 loss to the Denver Broncos. “You know what I’m saying. But it’s part of the game, man. Sometimes emotions take over. Sometimes it looks like what it’s not supposed to. But, yeah, it happens.”

His emotions were evident after the game. Now, with a 3-6 record, the team’s playoff hopes are slipping away. Equally frustrated as the players, head coach Zac Taylor stressed the need for the defense to step up and improve.

“We’ve got to find a way to get them fixed,” coach Taylor, who had a tough time accepting the loss. “We are working like crazy. We’re trying to do everything we can to get it done. And so again, that’s all. It’s not because of a lack of work, like trying to uncover every single stone to get it done, but it is tough.”

Ja’Marr Chase may have controlled his emotions, but the same thing can’t be said about running back Chase Brown.

Chase Brown calls out the issues with defense

Brown didn’t mince his words while addressing the issues with the defense.

“We put the ball in the end zone, and go up a point at the end,” Brown said about the defense issues. “Finish the f***ing game. Just end it. That’s it. That’s what we need to do, just end the f—— game.”

His anger is understandable. With QB Flacco, the offense was impressive. He’s definitely brought some energy to the team after Joe Burrow went down with an injury. The Bengals have been putting up solid numbers, averaging 29.7 points and 378.7 yards a game in his three starts.

In Week 9, they scored 42 points to lead the Bengals to a win, only for the defense to falter at crucial moments. The Bengals are just 1-2 with Flacco. They held the second spot in the AFC North behind the 4-3 Steelers. And this was a must-win game.

But after the loss to the Bears, they’ve dropped to third place. It looks like the players-only meeting after the Bengals’ loss in Week 8 didn’t have much of an impact. In their 39-38 loss to the New York Jets, the defense gave up a shocking 502 yards and let a 15-point lead vanish in the fourth quarter.

As coach Taylor said, the defense needs to improve before it’s too late.