CINCINNATI — When all else fails to work, you go back to what you know.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow went to his former LSU teammate and ‘Who Dey’ playmaker Ja’Marr Chase all night long.

The result was a 19-16 must-win victory over the Los Angeles Rams at a “whiteout” Paycor Stadium on Monday Night Football.

“Ja’Marr had a great game,” Burrow said after the win. “He showed why he’s one of the best.”

The wide receiver from LSU had 12 catches for 141 yards, one catch shy of Carl Pickens’ team record of 13 catches in 1996.

“Today was a good day overall,” Chase said. “We got back on track. Just getting the ball in my hands and making plays is why I’m here.”

The Bengals are now 1-2, and looked like the offense fans have come to expect with a few exceptions.

After a good week, Burrow made the decision before the game to play — and told Chase he was going to get a lot of targets in the game.

And he did – 15 to be exact.

“Coming into this game, I was going to feed my guy,” Burrow said. “He was due for one. I knew he was going to have a big game. Just the way he was talking all week, he was excited to play this one. He showed up big for us.”

For Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, he was not surprised.

“… I have a high standard for Ja’Marr,” he said. “We’re trying to find as many ways as we can to get him the ball, that’s not new. He stepped up to the challenge and made some big plays.”

Now that most of the offense is clicking, the coaching staff must find out what is wrong with Tee Higgins.

He’s in the final year of a contract, but was invisible on offense in the spotlight of Monday Night Football.

Higgins was targeted eight times and had two catches for 21 yards, but had two drops.

In Week 1, he had no catches.

And it wasn’t just him.

Three times the offense had a third-down and makable, only to have to punt because of false starts.

“It was three different people on three different snaps,” Taylor said. “We can’t have that because it affected our cadence going forward for a few possessions. They timed up their pressure after that. We have to rectify that, and it’s not been us. We’ve been a disciplined team that wins the penalty battles.”

The Bengals started out lethargic — even though the electric crowd of 65,158 was pumped to learn Burrow was in the starting lineup after tweaking his fragile calf in last week’s disappointing loss to Baltimore.

The Bengals played in the first half like they did when Marvin Lewis was on the sidelines.

Oh yeah, he was in fact in The Jungle to watch Chad (Ochocinco) Johnson get inducted into the Bengals’ Ring of Honor, along with legendary quarterback Boomer Esiason.

Coincidence?

Linebacker Logan Wilson came up big with two interceptions, while defensive end Trey Hendrickson harassed Rams’ QB Matthew Stafford most of the second half.

And Burrow was laser sharp in the second half.

He was determined to get rid of the ball quicker than usual, and was NOT going to scramble at all.

It worked.

Burrow finished with 259 yards in the air, and completed 26 of 49 attempts.

He even changed a play on the field that gave the team and the fans a big jolt of excitement.

On 3rd-down-and-10, and with the Bengals trailing 9-6 in the third and with the ball at the LA 44-yard line, Burrow audibled at the line.

He fired a back-shoulder pass in the middle of the field to Chase — for a 13-yard gain and a first down.

Running back Joe Mixon soon capped the drive off with a 14-yard TD run.

It was the Joe and Ja’Marr of old.

“Joe changed the play,” Chase said. “He threw a back-shoulder, so I didn’t get hit. He was helping me not to collide from the safety coming down. That’s a good ball.”

The monkey is off the back, and it feels good.

“You have to get that first win,” Taylor said. “It changes the week, the momentum. You hear them get a chance to sing the song in the locker room is good. It creates positive energy for the week, which we haven’t had.”

The Bengals have a short week to prepare for the Titans in Tennessee on Sunday.

But now, they have that ‘W’ to keep them motivated to get win number-two.

“It’s going to be a better week than last week,” Burrow said. “We have a short week, so it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to put in the work to be ready for Sunday.”