“I honestly never really loved coming here and playing. That was unbelievable tonight. Cincinnati would kind of put it on us,” Flacco said. “I didn’t necessarily love here, but now I get to have a new perspective, at least for tonight. And the fans. Even just around town, they’ve been great, saying, ‘What’s up,’ or whatever. So, they’re obviously very quick to forget and happy that we’re going through this, and so am I.”
There is revisionist history, and then there is pure history, which Chase seems to be committing every week now. In this game, he became the third wide receiver in NFL history to have 6,000 receiving yards and 50 touchdowns in their first five seasons. The others are Pro Football Hall of Famers Randy Moss and Jerry Rice.
“I would never know what that is until you all tell me at the end of the day,” Chase said. “It’s a cool opportunity hearing it, but I’ve still got a long way to go. That’s the goal, to go get a Super Bowl and a gold jacket.”
Chase went for 161 yards. WR Tee Higgins, topping off his season-high 96 yards, won it with a 28-yard catch down the left sideline, scalding Jalen Ramsey one last time when he alertly hit the deck and didn’t score.
“I knew I had a conversion to him and there was a chance to basically end the game,” Flacco said of that irresistible man coverage. “I feel like they were kind of playing back-shoulder, so the one adjustment he made there with me and (I) just (threw) it up a little bit more and let him kind of bend into it. I think he got a good release, so I could kind of see that throw happening as I was doing it.”
It’s what Chase said he saw back in March when he and Higgins signed the biggest receiver deals in the NFL this season on the same day. Big plays. Big wins. A ton of yards. Flacco joked, “800.”
“This was supposed to happen, exactly,” Chase said.
What he saw in the future is now that part of history known as Bengals-Steelers lore.