Cam Taylor-Britt followed Ja’Marr Chase’s lead and the Cincinnati Bengals are the NFL’s surprise 0-3 starters.

After Chase’s offseason prediction of being Super Bowl contenders, Taylor-Britt spent the last two weeks calling out the Chiefs Xavier Worthy and Washington’s ‘college offense’ – the Bengals lost both games.

No stranger to trash talk, Chase refused to acknowledge Mahomes as the best player in the NFLX@NFL

After a Week 1 shock against the New England Patriots, the Bengals can rightly claims to have been in each of their last two games – but for a team with Lombardi ambitions, losing three straight won’t do.

In general, playing in the NFL – a league populated by 300-pound men who are paid absorbent sums to wreck you – requires a fair amount of confidence.

How else are you supposed to prepare yourself to run a crossing route, or dress like this at a postgame press conference?

Whether it’s through elaborate rituals, some light physical abuse, or just good old fashioned trash talk, NFL players have always found ways to keep their confidence sky high; and more often than not, they play on the field reflects that.

But occasionally, all that bluster can backfire … with disastrous results.

The most recent example of that misplaced confidence occurred just this week, when Cincinnati Bengals cornerback, Cam Taylor-Britt, fresh off backing up his previous smack against Xavier Worthy with his highlight-reel one-handed interception off Patrick Mahomes, once again talked his talk.

Taylor-Britt was feeling himself. Except this time, it went horribly wrong.

Here’s what Taylor-Britt said about the Commanders, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Jayden Daniels ahead of their Monday Night Football clash.

“They don’t make him do a lot,” Taylor-Britt said Thursday.

“They keep it really simple for him. Nice college offense, (Kliff) Kingsbury, the OC, so they love to move guys around here and there, but just keep it real simple for him.

“I heard his pass percentage is very high, but he’s only throwing short routes, some intermediate stuff, and quick throws.”

254 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown  and a single-game rookie record with a completion rate of 91.3% later, it was Daniels and the Commanders who had the last laugh.

Daniels had the breakout performance of the season so far, in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football, defeating the Bengals 38-33. It was only his third career start, but felt like his 300th.

Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor wasn’t pleased with what Taylor-Britt had to say leading up to the game.

“That’s not what we do,” Taylor said.

“We praise our own team. Praise the other team. We don’t need to take shots like that. That team hasn’t punted in two weeks.

“They’ve scored on every single possession the last two weeks. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for what they’re doing over there.”

Taylor-Britt on the other hand stood tall after the game and doubled down on his previous comments.

“I do not regret it,” Taylor-Britt said. “I didn’t mean anything malicious out of the comment. It was just made bigger than it was.

“Yes, I can eat my words. Most definitely,” he added. “We did take an L today. As a team, it was sort of a college offense — very quick throws. He’s very athletic and extends plays. That’s how the game went. They stuck to their plan.”

Stuck to their plan they did. And that plan left Taylor-Britt and the Bengals defense look absolutely helpless all night long.

Star WR Ja’Marr Chase – fresh off the team’s listless loss to the underdog New England Patriots – was asked about the team’s Week 2 matchup with their rivals, the two-time defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

And despite the result against New England, and the Bengals’ 9-8 finish last season, Chase let it be known that the road to the Super Bowl apparently still runs through Cincinnati.

“We are the team to beat in the AFC. And we know it. And we gotta play like it, too,” Chase told reporters.

“The energy’s there [on] both sides. It’s been four years now, so everyone gets it.”

We couldn’t help but chalk Chase’s words up as a case of unfounded confidence. And, really, there’s a pretty rich history of that in the NFL, too. Here are some examples.

Hasselbeck lived to regret his comments

Matt Hasselbeck

Perhaps the NFL’s single greatest example of trash talk gone awry. After leading a last-minute drive to send the 2003 Wild Card tilt between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers to overtime, Seattle QB Hasselbeck was feeling ultra confident – and he let everyone know it.

Upon winning the coin toss to start overtime, Hasselbeck proclaimed “We want the ball, and we’re gonna score!”

Unfortunately, this was picked up by a referee’s microphone, so the thousands of fans in the stands (and the millions at home) heard him say it – which was made even more embarrassing by what happened next:

Six plays into Seattle’s second possession of overtime, Hasselbeck tossed a pick six to the Packers’ Al Harris, sending Seattle home for the postseason.

McKelvin could not back up his trash talk

Leodis McKelvin

Bills cornerback Leodis McKelvin was feeling pretty confident heading into his team’s 2014 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, and he had every right to.

After all, Buffalo had beaten Miami in three straight, by a combined score of 71-31.

But when he proclaimed his team would “beat that ass,” the Dolphins took notice. Not only did they bash Buffalo 22-9, they basically made McKelvin an afterthought … his lone “highlight” in the game was a play where he fractured his ankle, an injury which caused him to miss the rest of the season.

Ochocinco’s prophecy is yet to come true

 Chad Ochocinco

In the first game of the 2007 NFL season, the brash Bengals wide receiver – then going by Chad Johnson – hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass, dashed to the sidelines, and donned a replica Hall of Fame gold jacket emblazoned with the message “FUTURE HOF 20??”

The football gods definitely noticed this act of sheer hubris, because while Ochocinco would go on to set a Bengals record for receiving yards that season, he followed that up by posting career lows in both receiving yards and touchdowns the next year, and was out of the NFL entirely by 2012.

And he has yet to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Brady had plenty to shout about in his playing daysGetty

Tom Brady

Even the G.O.A.T. could get a bit cocky. With his undefeated New England Patriots’ – set to face off against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, Brady responded to a reporter’s question about a prediction Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress had made.

That the Giants would not only shock the world, they’d hold the Pats’ prolific offense to a paltry (and oddly specific) 17 points.

Brady laughed off the trash talk – “We’re only going to score 17 points? OK. Does Plax play defense?”

Several Giants players chafed at his chuckling, and, rankled by the perceived disrespect, they went out and shut down the Patriots, pulling off one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history.

And to Burress’ credit, New England only scored 14 points.

Hill came up short against his former teamGetty

Tyreek Hill

After six super-productive seasons in Kansas City, the speedy wide receiver was dealt to the Miami Dolphins in 2022.

It didn’t take long for him to set his sights on his former team, who he’d play in the upcoming season.

“Chiefs Kingdom, when the Miami Dolphins come to Arrowhead Stadium, guess what we’re gonna do?” Hill said during an appearance on a Miami radio station.

“I hate to throw up the peace sign against y’all … but guess what? I’m gonna be y’all’s worst enemy that day.”

Needless to say, the Chiefs took that personally, stifling the usually dynamic Hill (8 catches for 62 yards) and the entire Dolphins offense in a 21-14 victory.

To make matters worse, on one series, Chiefs defensive back Trent McDuffie – who Hill was calling out during the game – not only stuffed Hill after he made a reception, he stripped him of the ball, which was scooped up and returned by KC’s defense for a touchdown that made the score 21-0.

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