Ja'Marr Chase's postgame comments after loss to Ravens were the blatant truth

The way Thursday Night Football ended was that of a complete gut punch for the Cincinnati Bengals. An up-and-down game full of big plays on both sides ended in dramatic fashion, with the Bengals' two-point conversion attempt coming up short and Cincy losing by a single point to the division rival Baltimore Ravens.

This one really was an instant classic, only it would have been a whole lot better had the Bengals pulled out the victory. On the opposite side of Ravens fans feeling high and mighty, Bengals fans are still trying to swallow this pill of a loss.

One of the positives in this game, though (and it's key to focus on these positives after such a draining loss) was the performance put on between quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

The two of them were pure magic all night long, connecting for a total of 11 times on 17 targets for 64 yards and a whopping three touchdowns. Chase made his hay by dancing circles around the Baltimore secondary. It could be argued as the best performance of his career, coming up just two yards short of his career-best 266 in a single-game.

Despite the incredible night by Chase and Burrow (428 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions) the Bengals did, indeed, lose the game. This dropped them to 4-6 on the year with some major work to do going forward.

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After the game, Chase spoke to the media and kept it as real as he could.

"I would never in a million years expect me to play this well and he (Burrow) play this well and we still have a record like this," Chase said.

Did Ja'Marr Chase passively defer blame after Bengals loss to Ravens?

In 10 games this year, Chase has 55 receptions for 717 yards and seven touchdowns. That puts him on pace for over 1,200 receiving yards and roughly 13 touchdowns on the year. Burrow, meanwhile, is playing at an MVP-type level, having thrown for over 2400 yards, 24 touchdowns and only four picks this season.

Yet, the Bengals are 4-6. Chase is right. The way these two are playing, right now, you'd think they might be the team to beat in the AFC, but that's unfortunately not the case.

Chase could have been referring to a multitude of different things, or he could have just been frustrated. If he was hinting at some blame being put on the refs for this loss, specifically, he wouldn't be wrong.

But, for their record as a whole? That goes much deeper. He might be pointing the finger at the defense which is giving up the seventh-most points in the NFL to this point, or he could be hinting elsewhere.

Regardless, Chase is frustrated, and at the same time he's playing like he deserves to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the game. This is not a good combination for Cincinnati.