It had been a long time since the Cleveland Browns won a Week 1 matchup at home -- since 2004 to be exact. But Kevin Stefanski's unit made quite the statement on Sunday against their division rivals, blowing out the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-3.
Bengals star wideout Ja'Marr Chase made headlines earlier this week after almost referring to the Browns as "Elves" due to their mascot, Brownie the Elf. Chase is clearly not a fan of the mascot, which just added on to the loss he took on Sunday.
"It's frustrating because I called they ass elves and we just lost to some elves so I'm pissed on my part," Chase said, via WLWT "I'm pissed on that end. Like I said, we missed opportunities, we didn't capitalize on that shit and we lost."
The Browns had some fun with Chase's comments as well, posting this on social media following their win.
don't mess with the elf pic.twitter.com/V8LOAEZBdB
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 10, 2023
Chase caught five passes for 39 yards, as the Browns defense had the Bengals' number on Sunday. Cleveland held Cincinnati to 2.6 yards per play and just six first downs while the Bengals went 2 of 15 on third downs.
Star quarterback Joe Burrow is now 1-5 vs. the Browns, and has been sacked 20 times in those matchups. In this meeting, he recorded career worsts in completion percentage (45.2%), passing yards (82), yards per attempt (2.6) and tied his career worst in team points (3).
If Week 1 was any indication of how 2023 could go for Cleveland, these elves may be dangerous.
