The Week 11 showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals delivered all the drama you’d expect from a divisional matchup. In the second half, things exploded when Pittsburgh safety Jalen Ramsey was ejected after leveling Ja’Marr Chase. And immediately after the game, Ramsey claimed he had a reason for snapping. According to him, Chase spat on him.

“He spit on me, so, it’s up,” Ramsey said. “It don’t give a f–k about football after that. Respectfully.”

But now Chase is pushing back. The Bengals receiver shared his side of the story and flat-out denied doing anything of the sort.

“I ain’t never opened my mouth to that guy,” Chase said when asked directly about spitting on Ramsey. When pressed on what might’ve set Ramsey off, Chase hinted their trash talk had been building all game. “You don’t like some of the stories I told him. We’ve been going back and forth the whole time, so I’m sure something got under his skin.”

It’s the same script we’ve seen before in the 2025 NFL season. And once again, social media is flooding with clips that appear to show a spray coming from Chase’s mouth, enough to spark the debate all over again. Which naturally leads to the question: Did Chase really spit on Ramsey? NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, while sharing a clip via his ‘X’ handle, noted that Ramsey wasn’t lying.

Per Garafolo, it looked like Ja’Marr Chase indeed spat on Ramsey. And if the league determines Chase really did spit, he could be staring at a suspension for Week 12 against the New England Patriots. Yes, the same punishment Jalen Carter received earlier this season after he was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott in the opener.

Amid Ja’Marr Chase’s controversial actions, the Bengals’ offense came out flat

The Bengals traveled to Pittsburgh with a bit of optimism after crunching the numbers. They knew the path was simple: win out, starting with the Steelers in Week 11. But instead of keeping their playoff hopes alive, Cincinnati watched Pittsburgh flip the script and avenge their earlier loss this season, rolling to a 34–12 win.

There were plenty of reasons for the loss, but the biggest ones were hard to miss. The Bengals’ offense came out completely flat when the game was on the line, finishing with just 297 total yards, tallying 192 through the air and 105 on the ground.

Chase Brown did his part, carrying the rushing attack with 99 yards on 18 attempts, but the passing game never found any rhythm. Joe Flacco went 23-of-40 for 199 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while the receiving duo of Tee Higgins (3 for 63 and a TD) and Ja’Marr Chase (3 for 30) couldn’t even combine for 100 yards against Pittsburgh.

And although Cincinnati’s defense looked strong and forced three straight punts and held the Steelers to just 10 points in the first half, the momentum didn’t last. As the offense stalled again and again, the cracks finally showed. For the first time since Flacco took over, the entire unit completely sputtered.