Ja'Marr Chase has career 1st half in Madrid and gets crowd going with matador touchdown celebration

MADRID (AP) — On his way to a career-best first half, Ja'Marr Chase tried to get the crowd going at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium as the Cincinnati Bengals played the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid on Sunday.

After catching a 47-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow in the first quarter of the Bengals' 34-17 win , Chase teamed up with Tee Higgins to celebrate in bullfighting style.

“A friend of mine told me what was going on,” Chase said. “So he was telling me, the crowd will go ‘Ole’ if I was to do it. So I think that was the biggest part, of me trying to get the crowd involved.”

While Higgins mimicked a bull by putting his hands on his head, Chase played the matador, wielding an imaginary cape.

“The fans liked it. So when we did it, I heard them say, ‘Ole,’” said Higgins, who had two touchdowns as the Bengals offense continued to roll.

Chase went on to finish with a career-high 142 receiving yards for a first half, and 155 yards on 10 receptions for the game.

The eight first-half catches tied for his most receptions in a first half, the Bengals said.

“It was one of my best performances," Chase said. "I just was getting good looks all day, honestly. I can say that. Joe was just believing in me on those one-on-one matchups and every time he got the opportunity, he was just feeding me."

Chase's first-half yardage total surpassed his previous career high of 112 yards, which also came against Atlanta in 2022, the Bengals said.

Chase’s 142 receiving yards were the fourth most by any player in the first half of a game this season, the team said. It marked the 12th time in his career that he went for 100 or more yards in a half.

Chase was particularly impressive in the Bengals’ drive that put the team up 21-10 in the second quarter, when he caught five passes.

“When he’s playing like that, you just got to throw him the ball and let him go and make plays and just try to get it in his hands,” Burrow said of Chase. “You know, there’s been a lot of good ones, but I’m going to have a hard time putting anybody above No. 1.”

Chase said his connection with Burrow, who also had a rushing touchdown Sunday, is only getting better. The two were teammates at LSU before reuniting in Cincinnati in 2021.

“We’ve been playing together for as long as I can remember since 2019,” Chase said of Burrow. “We go back that far and the longer we’ve been playing the more chemistry has been building and getting better.”

It was the fourth win in a row for the Bengals as they improved to 6-2.

“The sky’s the limit for us, we have so much potential with this team and the sky is the limit and you got to take it one step at a time," Chase said.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here