The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a fairly disappointing season.
Joe Burrow’s injury pretty much killed their Super Bowl aspirations.
But now that he’s back to full strength, they’re once again expected to perform at the highest level.
That’s why Michael Irvin believes it’s time they start backing up all the talk on the field.
In his latest appearance on FOX’s Speak, the legendary wide receiver gave the Bengals’ stars a bit of a pep talk.
He remembered how Joe Burrow claimed that his Super Bowl window would be open for his entire career and how Ja’Marr Chase believes he should be the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
With that in mind, Irvin thinks they have to walk the walk after talking the talk.
He let them know that their journey to winning a championship started on Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champions, so they need to be at their best.
A championship has to be earned, not given, and Irvin wants to see them at their best when they play against the best.
The Bengals were the most disappointing team in the first week of the season.
Despite being favored by more than a touchdown and being at home, they could barely get anything going on offense and lost to the New England Patriots in Jerod Mayo’s head coaching debut.
Needless to say, they cannot afford to have the same effort on the field against the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, especially if they want to be considered serious Super Bowl contenders.
