Ja'Marr Jamming Again
As the NFL lurches into the halfway point with the Monday night Chiefs-Commanders game, Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is running away with the NFL receptions title. His 70 catches lead 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey by 14. No one with the Chiefs or Commanders is in the top 29.
In his bid for back-to-back Triple Crowns, Chase's 720 yards trail only Seattle's Jaxson Smith-Njigba, but by 99 yards. He's tied for third place with five touchdown catches, two behind Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.
Players Only
The Bengals defense heard Taylor's call for leadership to step up after it surrendered 23 fourth-quarter points Sunday to the Jets while allowing 254 yards on the ground, their most in six years. Rookie starting linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., said they had a defense-only team meeting after Taylor held his weekly Monday meeting.
"We know who the leaders are on defense. I believe he knows that, too. "He's just looking for the leaders to step up," Knight said. "They took it to heart. It was hard for them to sleep. They came in and challenged us, and they took accountability in everything, just like we all take accountability for everything we put on film.
"It was the captains and a lot of guys that play a lot. Guys that aren't even captains standing up and talking."
Knight said he's not quite there yet as he learns on the job, but he says he talks on the practice field when they've been out there for a while and the energy gets low. He said the speakers on Monday talked mainly about sticking together.
"That was pretty much the whole purpose of that room," Knight said. "We love each other, so we have to be accountable, and we're going to get it fixed. The only way we can do that is together."
The meeting didn't surprise Taylor.
"I think we've got good people in that room and they're into holding each other accountable. That's the biggest thing. It's little things," Taylor said. "It's not always a big thing. It's just giving up an extra three yards. Sometimes on a run or a perimeter play. It's being a step hesitant, and so maybe you're not missing a tackle, but you are missing a tackle because of the little hesitancy there.
"Those are things that I think we're seeing as a unit, as a team that we've got to clean up and be better at. And there aren't wholesale changes to be made with that stuff. Fundamentally, we've got to be better."