There’s bad blood, and then there’s whatever that was between Jalen Ramsey and Ja’Marr Chase on Sunday. In the final quarter of what should’ve been a routine 34-12 blowout by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Cincinnati Bengals, things took a sharp turn toward the WWE. Helmets stayed on, but fists and, allegedly, spit did not.
With just over 12 minutes left in the game, Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey was ejected for throwing a punch at Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase. And this wasn’t some friendly face mask shove. Ramsey, never one to shy away from jawing, came unglued after — according to him — Chase spit on him. Yes, spit.
“He spit on me,” Ramsey said in his postgame comments, and let’s just say he wasn’t exactly using Sunday School language. “I don’t give a [expletive] about football after that, respectfully,” Ramsey told reporters, sounding more like a guy who just got into a bar fight than an NFL vet. “We were talking [trash], which I’m cool with … And then as soon as he spit, it was [forget] that.”
Field-level view of the second altercation between Ja’Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey. Chase said “I didn’t spit on nobody.”
The video clearly shows he did.#Bengals @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/ooGzInoPdS
— Austin Briski (@austin_briski) November 16, 2025
Here’s the thing: he may have a point. A field-level video captured by FOX 19 WXIX-TV appears to show — in high definition — a clear projectile exiting Chase’s mouth right before Ramsey winds up. Now, the NFL might need their fancy review booths to determine if it was “intentional,” but in normal-people language? That looked like spit.
Ja’Marr Chase spitting on Jalen Ramsey zoomed and slowed @jalenramsey #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/Gi08znoH8x
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) November 16, 2025
And that’s where this gets messy. Because despite the video, Ja’Marr Chase stood in front of cameras after the game and said, “I ain’t ever opened my mouth to that guy. I didn’t spit on nobody.”
“I didn’t spit on nobody.”
Here is what Ja’Marr Chase had to say about his altercation with Jalen Ramsey: pic.twitter.com/PRRnqWt4kw
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) November 16, 2025
Okay. So let’s just break this down. On one side, we’ve got a veteran defensive back who says he got spit on, and we’ve got video that, well, seems to show spit. On the other side, we’ve got a wide receiver insisting it never happened… despite said video. The NFL is going to “investigate,” but let’s not act like this requires the Zapruder film treatment. This isn’t exactly a grassy knoll scenario.
What’s more curious is how the league will handle this. Ramsey got tossed for throwing the punch — fair enough, rules are rules. But if the spitting is confirmed (and let’s be real, it probably already is), the NFL’s got a choice to make. Do they pretend nothing happened and let Chase slide? Or do they hold players to the same “respect the game” standard they love to preach when it’s time to fine someone for a sock being slightly too low?
You can’t talk about “player conduct” and “protecting the integrity of the game” and then turn a blind eye when a dude hawks a loogie mid-play like he’s in a bad prison movie.
Of course, if roles were reversed — if a Steelers wide receiver had allegedly spit on a Bengals corner and then got punched? We all know the headlines would be different. There’d be cries of sportsmanship, calls for multi-game suspensions, and a few dramatic panel discussions on ESPN about how “violence is never the answer.”
But here? Crickets — or worse, sympathy for the guy who may have started it.
This isn’t just a rivalry game gone wild. It’s a reminder that the NFL loves optics more than consistency. And right now, the optics say one guy may have been disrespected in the most disgusting way possible, reacted like most grown men would, and got tossed — while the other guy’s walking off the field, acting like it never happened.
Maybe it’s time the league stops pretending they’re running a Sunday etiquette class and deals with what’s actually playing out on the field. And if they want to settle it for real?
Go ahead and schedule that boxing match. Pay-per-view would print money.
