The Cincinnati Bengals will open their 2023 season against the rival Cleveland Browns. Joe Burrow is cleared for takeoff and, after agreeing to a record-setting contract extension, is ready to get to work with fellow superstar Ja'Marr Chase and a high-powered Cincinnati squad.

The Bengals should defeat the Browns but Cleveland is far from a pushover. With a talented roster featuring perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett, Pro Bowl-caliber skill players in Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper and a strong offensive line protecting Deshaun Watson, they could give the Bengals a game, especially since Cincy will be on the road.

Nonetheless, Chase is confident in the Bengals. He doesn’t see this bout with the Browns as anything other than a typical contest. He does, however, almost forget their team name when discussing it.

“It feel like a regular game to me. It don’t feel no different,” Chase said on Wednesday when asked if playing in Cleveland means something different compared to other places. “I mean, it’s just the hooping and hollering about the Cleveland, um…Browns. I was about to call them the elves. But, yeah.”

Chase has been in the Browns' division for two years not but almost calls the team a totally different name. It’s not totally out of left field, though, as Cleveland does have an elf for an alternate logo. Named Brownie after the mischievous creatures from English and Scottish folklore, the elf is the mascot of the team and the midfield logo on the field at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Using the elf mascot to trash-talk the Browns would be an incredible bit, though. It's a creative way to dish them a self-own and call them feeble and puny. In this case, though, the Bengals star just forgets his opponent’s team name — which can still be seen as a slight in some regard.

The Browns don’t need a ton of extra motivation for this game but Chase may have inadvertently given them some. The Bengals, meanwhile, certainly want to start off their season with a win and avoid the 0-2 start they got off to last season.