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Bengals Booth Podcast: The Underdog · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The this goes out to the underdog addition, as the
0:12
Speaker 2: Bengals look to knock off one of the hottest teams
0:15
Speaker 2: in the NFL and end the Patriots eight game winning streak.
0:19
Speaker 2: Coming up, my one on one conversation with t Higgins,
0:22
Speaker 2: who tells us why he's thrilled to be a Bengal
0:25
Speaker 2: for years to come.
0:26
Speaker 1: Former NFL quarterback Trent Green.
0:28
Speaker 2: Will be in the booth for CBS this week and
0:31
Speaker 2: shares his thoughts on the Jos, Joe Flacco and Joe Burrow.
0:35
Speaker 2: And in this week's Know the Faux segment, we'll hear
0:37
Speaker 2: from the voice of the Patriots, Bob soci The Bengals
0:41
Speaker 2: Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corp, Proud
0:44
Speaker 2: to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta
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Speaker 2: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business,
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Speaker 2: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
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Speaker 2: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
0:58
Speaker 2: the official healthcare of the Bengals. Now here's a quick
1:02
Speaker 2: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
1:05
Speaker 2: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
1:09
Speaker 2: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
1:13
Speaker 2: since Dorothy Lane Market. On Wednesday, Dave Lapplman and I
1:19
Speaker 2: did a live broadcast to the Bengals game Plan Show
1:22
Speaker 2: from Dorothy Lane Market in Mason, the official gourmet grocer
1:26
Speaker 2: of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's a family business that started
1:30
Speaker 2: in the Dayton area in nineteen forty eight and recently
1:34
Speaker 2: opened its first location in the Cincinnati area on Mason
1:38
Speaker 2: Montgomery Road. I'm here to tell you it is the
1:41
Speaker 2: nicest grocery store I have ever been to. Dorothy Lane
1:46
Speaker 2: Market is a place for people that love food and
1:49
Speaker 2: you can eat while you're there burgers, pizza, sushi, steak,
1:54
Speaker 2: and much more. Plus there's a wine bar and a
1:57
Speaker 2: craft beer bar, and with Christmas approach, they have great
2:01
Speaker 2: food gifts for the holidays. We'll be back there in
2:04
Speaker 2: a few weeks for another edition of the game Plan
2:06
Speaker 2: Show and our special guest will be Anthony Muno's So
2:11
Speaker 2: come out and join us at the Dorothy Lane Market
2:13
Speaker 2: in Mason on Wednesday night, December tenth, and whatever you do,
2:18
Speaker 2: be sure to bring your appetite. As you probably know
2:22
Speaker 2: by now, the Bengals will not have Jamar Chase for
2:24
Speaker 2: Sunday's game against New England. He's been suspended for one
2:28
Speaker 2: game for spitting at Pittsburgh's Jalen Ramsey, a notorious agitator.
2:34
Speaker 2: Nobody condones what Jamar did, but Zach Taylor was quick
2:37
Speaker 2: to defend the character of his all Pro receiver.
2:41
Speaker 3: I think Jamar Chase will go down as one of
2:44
Speaker 3: my favorite all time players and favorite all time leaders
2:45
Speaker 3: and everything he's about. So I keep hearing this. It's
2:48
Speaker 3: like we're trying to make something out of the situation
2:50
Speaker 3: that it's the only thing that's kind of upset me
2:52
Speaker 3: as I'm sitting in here, because for a guy that
2:56
Speaker 3: has done everything we can to build our organization around,
2:59
Speaker 3: he's been off not perfect. I'm not perfect, I trust me.
3:02
Speaker 3: I made plenty of mistakes yesterday people don't see on camera.
3:05
Speaker 3: Unfortunately his what was and so he's gonna have to
3:07
Speaker 3: wun up for that and that will be part of
3:08
Speaker 3: his journey. He's still in some ways he's a veteran.
3:11
Speaker 3: He's still I think he's going to play a long time.
3:13
Speaker 3: And so when you look at the overall part of
3:15
Speaker 3: his career. This will be the beginning of his career.
3:17
Speaker 3: In a lot of words, well a lot of ways.
3:19
Speaker 3: I hope you understand my position on this, because he's
3:22
Speaker 3: a guy who's done everything he could possibly could to
3:24
Speaker 3: help us win and do things the right way.
3:26
Speaker 2: Jamar has missed five previous games in his career due
3:29
Speaker 2: to injury, and the Bengals have managed to go three
3:31
Speaker 2: and two, scoring an average of twenty four point six points.
3:36
Speaker 2: To win on Sunday, the team's other offensive weapons are
3:39
Speaker 2: going to have to come through. Here's offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher.
3:44
Speaker 4: You know that was a message to them this morning
3:45
Speaker 4: when we talked to the team, is you know when
3:49
Speaker 4: you don't have Jamar available. I mean, everybody has eyes
3:51
Speaker 4: in their head. They can see how big of a
3:53
Speaker 4: piece he is to what we try to do week
3:55
Speaker 4: in and week out. So we can look at that
3:59
Speaker 4: and sorry for ourselves, or you know, there should be
4:03
Speaker 4: seven or eight guys walking around this building with some
4:06
Speaker 4: energy today knowing that those opportunities got to go somewhere.
4:09
Speaker 4: There will be a lot of guys with chances to
4:11
Speaker 4: make an impact on this game.
4:13
Speaker 2: Of course, the number one guy is t Higgins, who's
4:15
Speaker 2: caught touchdown passes in nine straight home games and has
4:19
Speaker 2: played well in Jamar's absence before. We discussed that and
4:24
Speaker 2: much more in this one on one conversation. Tee, You
4:29
Speaker 2: are not going to have your guy, Jamar Chase out
4:31
Speaker 2: there with you on Sunday.
4:32
Speaker 1: How does that affect you?
4:35
Speaker 5: I don't feel like it affects me too much. You know,
4:37
Speaker 5: at the end of the day, I said, I gotta
4:38
Speaker 5: go out there and do my job. So whether he's
4:41
Speaker 5: out there or not.
4:42
Speaker 2: In the games he's missed in the past, you've averaged
4:44
Speaker 2: one hundred and two receiving yards. I know he's your
4:48
Speaker 2: guy and you want him out there, but is there
4:50
Speaker 2: a tiny part of you that looks forward to the
4:53
Speaker 2: challenge of when he's not.
4:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's always a tone when he's not there, obviously,
4:57
Speaker 5: but you know, I just look forward to help my
5:00
Speaker 5: team get a win at the end of the day.
5:02
Speaker 5: That's that's the overall goal here, and not necessarily you know,
5:06
Speaker 5: looking for you know, the opportunities because he's not there
5:10
Speaker 5: for myself. But you know, obviously they're gonna be there
5:12
Speaker 5: and the opportunity is not gonna just be there for me.
5:15
Speaker 5: They're gonna be there for Andre Mitchell, Charlie Mike, you know,
5:20
Speaker 5: all the other guys that's that's past catchers, even Chase Brown.
5:23
Speaker 5: So you know, we just gotta take a uh, take
5:26
Speaker 5: advantage of those opportunities that we that we got this weekend,
5:29
Speaker 5: you know, and try to come out with.
5:30
Speaker 2: A w We're chatting to T Higgins. We're having this conversation.
5:33
Speaker 2: On the Wednesday of the Patriots game. Nine days ago,
5:36
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow returned to practice. Were you legitimately surprised to
5:40
Speaker 2: see him out there?
5:41
Speaker 6: Yeah? I was surprised to hell.
5:43
Speaker 5: You know, I didn't even know that he was even practicing.
5:46
Speaker 5: And Jamar came up to him, was like, non practicing.
5:50
Speaker 6: I said, what what you mean.
5:52
Speaker 5: He's like, yeah, you wanna see because I ain't see
5:53
Speaker 5: him in the locker room and everybody already walked out,
5:56
Speaker 5: and I'm just like, all right, so I walk out there,
5:57
Speaker 5: I'm like, oh not.
5:59
Speaker 6: But it was good to see him out there. Man.
6:01
Speaker 2: He clearly wants to play, regardless of the Bengals record
6:05
Speaker 2: going forward.
6:06
Speaker 1: How do you feel about that?
6:07
Speaker 6: I mean, this is this type of competitor that he is.
6:09
Speaker 5: You know, nobody wants to sit out and just you know,
6:12
Speaker 5: watch their team play and keep competing when you're an
6:16
Speaker 5: ultimate competitor yourself, you know what I mean. So I'm
6:19
Speaker 5: pretty sure he's been eating him alive ever since he
6:20
Speaker 5: got hurt that you know, he can't be out there
6:22
Speaker 5: with his guys, you know, grinding through all the hard
6:25
Speaker 5: practices and then you know, running games and stuff like that.
6:28
Speaker 2: So yeah, since Joe's been out, Joe Flacco has done
6:32
Speaker 2: a remarkable job. You guys almost have the same birthday,
6:35
Speaker 2: although his is fourteen years earlier. But what have you
6:39
Speaker 2: grown to admire and respect about Joe Flacco?
6:42
Speaker 6: Oh?
6:43
Speaker 5: Yeah, man, you know I admire his hard work, you know,
6:46
Speaker 5: because I mean he doesn't have to, you know, be
6:48
Speaker 5: out here at a at his age. You know, he
6:51
Speaker 5: loves the game, man, you could tell. You know, he
6:54
Speaker 5: came in with you know, with his head high, you know,
6:58
Speaker 5: not down because you got traded anything like that. He
7:01
Speaker 5: came in with his head high, and you know, been
7:02
Speaker 5: playing elite quarterback you know, since he got here.
7:05
Speaker 6: So you know, you know, I look up to him.
7:09
Speaker 5: You know, if I have any you know, questions and
7:11
Speaker 5: need advice, you know, I go to him because he's
7:13
Speaker 5: been here and done it.
7:14
Speaker 6: So yeah, man, he's a great guy. He's coming along.
7:16
Speaker 5: At first, you know, he was a little quiet, but
7:19
Speaker 5: now he's opened up a little bit, you know, getting
7:20
Speaker 5: a tho his teammates a little bit more.
7:21
Speaker 6: So pretty cool.
7:23
Speaker 1: We're chatting with t Higgins.
7:24
Speaker 2: He's throwing you five touchdown passes over the last four games.
7:27
Speaker 2: How quickly did you feel like the two of you
7:29
Speaker 2: had good feel and chemistry for each other?
7:34
Speaker 6: Really? Just in practice?
7:35
Speaker 5: Man, you know the balls that he was just giving
7:36
Speaker 5: me and Jamar you know, all the receivers, so you know,
7:39
Speaker 5: it was just like man.
7:40
Speaker 6: Jim and Jamar even talked about it.
7:42
Speaker 5: Man, we're just like, man, this guy can really put
7:44
Speaker 5: the ball in the right places where we needed to be.
7:46
Speaker 5: So and he makes sure he puts the ball where
7:50
Speaker 5: he wants us to be, you know what I mean. So,
7:53
Speaker 5: and then you know, once the ball's in there, after that,
7:55
Speaker 5: you know, the job is on us to come down
7:57
Speaker 5: with it. And you know we've been able to do
7:59
Speaker 5: that a little bit lately, so you know, it's been good.
8:02
Speaker 2: The last time we sat down for one of these
8:04
Speaker 2: one on one pregame show interviews, it was late last year,
8:07
Speaker 2: and it almost felt like a bit of a goodbye.
8:09
Speaker 2: We didn't know about your contract situation at the time.
8:12
Speaker 2: For most of last year, did you play with the
8:14
Speaker 2: assumption that you wouldn't be back?
8:17
Speaker 6: Oh for sure, Yeah I did.
8:19
Speaker 5: If I've being honest, I did, because obviously, you know,
8:22
Speaker 5: previous years me trying to get a contract extension just
8:26
Speaker 5: wasn't happening to them. The tag, you know, I just
8:28
Speaker 5: didn't see it, didn't see fit. I thought, you know,
8:33
Speaker 5: for sure that you know, me and the organization was
8:36
Speaker 5: going to see, you know, be on different levels instead
8:40
Speaker 5: of seeing eye the eye. But you know, I was
8:41
Speaker 5: able to make it work. And man, I'm happy, you
8:44
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying. I'm happy to be here. I
8:46
Speaker 5: always wanted to be here, so, you know, being here
8:49
Speaker 5: with my guys, came in with Joe, it's just been
8:51
Speaker 5: It's been one hell of a ride.
8:52
Speaker 6: For sure.
8:53
Speaker 2: After the final game last year, when guys emptied out
8:55
Speaker 2: your locker, emptied out their lockers, did you say goodbyes
8:58
Speaker 2: just in case?
8:59
Speaker 6: Oh? Yeah, yeah, man, I said. I said a few
9:01
Speaker 6: goodbyes to a few people.
9:03
Speaker 5: You know, I took up a lot of my cliques
9:06
Speaker 5: and in person of the longest you know, so just
9:10
Speaker 5: just being prepared to you know, just because anything can
9:13
Speaker 5: happen in this league. You know, you never know, like
9:15
Speaker 5: the situation with Joe, you know, he's a captain in Cleveland,
9:19
Speaker 5: ended up playing.
9:20
Speaker 6: With us, you know what I mean, So you never know.
9:23
Speaker 5: But definitely said Michael Bye's and then when I came back,
9:26
Speaker 5: I said my hellos again.
9:29
Speaker 2: In handshake lines after games last year, did guys quietly
9:33
Speaker 2: say to you, dude, we need you over here next year?
9:36
Speaker 7: Oh?
9:36
Speaker 5: It was few, you know, you know, you get that
9:38
Speaker 5: a little bit when when when guys know your situation.
9:41
Speaker 5: But yeah, man, it was good. You know, I guess
9:44
Speaker 5: to know that other guys wants you on the team.
9:47
Speaker 2: So I think another sports team like baseball, for example,
9:52
Speaker 2: if your team is having a rough year, it's still
9:54
Speaker 2: easy to do your job. You go out there, there's
9:56
Speaker 2: no pain involved. But football is such a hard physical game.
10:00
Speaker 2: How challenging is it when your playoff odds aren't good?
10:04
Speaker 6: Uh, it's very tough. Obviously we played the game, win
10:07
Speaker 6: and go to the super Bowl. Let's let's the ultimate
10:10
Speaker 6: goal here, mister winning go to the super Bowl.
10:13
Speaker 5: Obviously, when that's not happening, Yes, it's challenging because we
10:17
Speaker 5: are putting our bodies on the line each and every
10:19
Speaker 5: single day, and yeah, we're gonna get banged up, knocked
10:24
Speaker 5: up and stuff like that. So yeah, I feel like
10:26
Speaker 5: it's it's it's it's pretty tough, you know, mentally and physically.
10:29
Speaker 5: But you know, but you just got to look past
10:31
Speaker 5: that and and if you love the game and you
10:34
Speaker 5: just gonna go out there anyway. So, I mean a
10:36
Speaker 5: lot of the guys love the games, so especially though
10:38
Speaker 5: you know, obviously we didn't make the playoffs past few years,
10:40
Speaker 5: but you know, all the guys still played with grit
10:43
Speaker 5: and dedication. So I mean, we saw it at the
10:46
Speaker 5: end of the season last year. We got that win
10:47
Speaker 5: the last game.
10:48
Speaker 2: So you face the Patriots this week. They've got nine
10:51
Speaker 2: wins in the last two years combined. They had eight
10:55
Speaker 2: in your rookie year. The Bengals won four games. The
10:57
Speaker 2: next year you went to the Super Bowl. Because it
11:00
Speaker 2: give you the hope and optimism that things can turn
11:02
Speaker 2: around very quickly and you can be right back in
11:05
Speaker 2: the thick of things.
11:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, man, you never know, man, because obviously, like like
11:09
Speaker 5: like you said, my second year, we ended up turning
11:12
Speaker 5: things around.
11:12
Speaker 6: Ended up going to the super Bowl, So, I mean
11:15
Speaker 6: the division.
11:16
Speaker 5: Obviously, we felt a little bit, you know, losing that
11:19
Speaker 5: last week game. But man, I mean we just got
11:22
Speaker 5: to keep playing hard and go out there and and
11:24
Speaker 5: try to get away each and every single week, and
11:27
Speaker 5: I feel like we being we'd be all right.
11:29
Speaker 2: Good luck catching a touchdown pass at home for the
11:32
Speaker 2: tenth consecutive game.
11:34
Speaker 1: That would tie an NFL record. It's pretty cool.
11:37
Speaker 6: Whether tie it or break it.
11:38
Speaker 2: I'm under the impression it would tie it with Chris
11:41
Speaker 2: Carter and Bob Hayes each caught touchdown passes in ten
11:45
Speaker 2: straight home games.
11:46
Speaker 5: Okay, yeah, that'd be pretty cool, you know, being the
11:49
Speaker 5: you know in the category with those guys. Obviously, that's
11:51
Speaker 5: those two guys are are you know, great receivers. But
11:57
Speaker 5: I just want to go out there just just me
12:00
Speaker 5: and just try to help my team get a W
12:02
Speaker 5: at the end of the day. You know, if I
12:03
Speaker 5: do get that touchdown, well, Jamar probably made it a
12:06
Speaker 5: little harder this week. But yeah, man, I'm just gonna
12:11
Speaker 5: go out there and do what I do, do what
12:13
Speaker 5: I do best, and just chatting in that box.
12:15
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time, Thanks to you, Thank you, now time
12:18
Speaker 2: for an update on Joe Squared, Flacco and Burrow. Joe
12:23
Speaker 2: Flacco is still dealing with a shoulder injury. In recent weeks,
12:27
Speaker 2: He's rested his arm on Wednesday, practiced on Thursday, and
12:30
Speaker 2: rested again on Friday. It looks like that's the protocol
12:34
Speaker 2: again this week. Some of the snaps that he didn't
12:37
Speaker 2: take on Wednesday went to Joe Burrow, the first time
12:40
Speaker 2: that Burrow has taken part in eleven on eleven work
12:43
Speaker 2: since returning from his toe injury on a limited basis
12:46
Speaker 2: last week. The Bengals aren't saying when or even if
12:50
Speaker 2: Burrow will return to action, but it is abundantly clear
12:54
Speaker 2: that he wants to. In the meantime, Flacco has done
12:58
Speaker 2: a remarkable job of filling in, particularly in home games.
13:02
Speaker 2: The Bengals are averaging thirty seven point two points in
13:06
Speaker 2: Flatco's three starts at pay Corpse Stadium. Cincinnati is Joe's
13:10
Speaker 2: sixth NFL home in eighteen seasons. And I asked him
13:14
Speaker 2: about playing here.
13:15
Speaker 8: Being in Ohio, like, and you can just tell you
13:19
Speaker 8: know how much football, you know, means to people in
13:23
Speaker 8: this part of the country, and you know from the
13:26
Speaker 8: time they're probably young. So everybody has that good knowledge
13:29
Speaker 8: of football, and you can tell they care about it
13:32
Speaker 8: a lot, and they have those expectations and they get
13:36
Speaker 8: themselves excited to come in and cheer for us in
13:39
Speaker 8: those games. I've played here a good amount, and honestly,
13:43
Speaker 8: I probably missed that part of it a little bit,
13:46
Speaker 8: you don't, you know. But when when you're here and
13:48
Speaker 8: you know, you kind of walk around the city and
13:52
Speaker 8: you know, you get to see people from here, you
13:54
Speaker 8: can tell how into it they are, just with the
13:57
Speaker 8: little who days on, you know, on the side of
13:59
Speaker 8: the road and things like that. I'm not quite sure
14:03
Speaker 8: how to respond yet, I still feel a little funny
14:06
Speaker 8: saying it that I'm getting there.
14:09
Speaker 2: If he wants to stick around next year as Burrows
14:12
Speaker 2: backup at age forty one, I suspect the Bengals will
14:15
Speaker 2: be interested. Now let's get to another quarterback who will
14:20
Speaker 2: be in the booth for CBS this week to call
14:22
Speaker 2: the Bengals game for the second week in a row.
14:26
Speaker 2: We are joined by two time Pro Bowl quarterback Trent Green.
14:29
Speaker 2: The proud dad of a University of Cincinnati women's volleyball player.
14:34
Speaker 2: Is your daughter enjoying being a bear Cat.
14:38
Speaker 7: She is. Yeah, she is.
14:39
Speaker 9: She's in her second year. She red shirted her first year,
14:42
Speaker 9: so she's a redshirt freshman. She's a setter, and she's
14:46
Speaker 9: really enjoyed the campus, enjoyed the girls on the.
14:49
Speaker 7: Team, the whole U.
14:51
Speaker 9: SEE experiences has been good for She's found a great
14:54
Speaker 9: group of friends both on and off the court, and yeah,
14:58
Speaker 9: where it's worked out well for enjoyed it.
15:00
Speaker 1: Great to hear. Let's talk football.
15:02
Speaker 2: You played in the NFL until you were thirty eight,
15:05
Speaker 2: so I'm sure you can identify with Joe Flacco, who's
15:08
Speaker 2: doing this at age forty. What impresses you most about
15:12
Speaker 2: what Flacco has done in his first five games with
15:15
Speaker 2: the Bengals.
15:16
Speaker 9: Well, I think the biggest thing is how quickly he's
15:18
Speaker 9: picked up the offense. You know, I know he's been
15:21
Speaker 9: at it for a long time, and the terminology is different,
15:23
Speaker 9: and anytime you start with a new system, new team,
15:25
Speaker 9: it's being able to pick up the terminology and even
15:28
Speaker 9: calling the plays in the huddle. So that's the first
15:30
Speaker 9: thing that jumps out, is how quickly he was able
15:33
Speaker 9: to adapt to that. The second thing is, you know,
15:36
Speaker 9: just getting connected with your receivers, getting connected on the
15:39
Speaker 9: timing of your cadence, the rhythm of play calling and
15:44
Speaker 9: getting the snap count before you know the play clock
15:47
Speaker 9: runs out. There's so many intricacies to playing the position
15:51
Speaker 9: and all of those small details.
15:53
Speaker 7: Joe's been very good at.
15:55
Speaker 9: The other part is at that age, I know what
15:57
Speaker 9: I felt like at thirty eight play nearly as much
16:01
Speaker 9: as what Joe's doing at age forty. So being able
16:04
Speaker 9: to recover, that's that's a hard part. We all learn
16:07
Speaker 9: that as we get older and the bumps and bruises
16:10
Speaker 9: take a little longer to heal up. So the fact
16:13
Speaker 9: that he's been able to stay healthy and play play
16:16
Speaker 9: the way he has is impressive at any age, let
16:20
Speaker 9: alone at forty and over.
16:22
Speaker 2: Then there's the other Joe, Joe Burrow, who took part
16:25
Speaker 2: in eleven on eleven practice drills for the first time
16:28
Speaker 2: since coming back on a limited basis from his toe
16:30
Speaker 2: injury last week. What do you think of the possibility
16:33
Speaker 2: of Joe Burrow returning to action this year.
16:37
Speaker 7: Well, here's the thing.
16:38
Speaker 9: It's it's one thing as a player, it's another thing
16:40
Speaker 9: as a coach. It's another thing as an owner. It's
16:42
Speaker 9: another thing as an organization. There's so many different things,
16:45
Speaker 9: and the doctors obviously have the finals say so, as
16:49
Speaker 9: a competitor and as someone that's dealt with many injuries
16:52
Speaker 9: throughout his career, I was always get me back on
16:55
Speaker 9: the field as soon as I can. I wanted to
16:57
Speaker 9: be out there. I want to be with my teammates.
16:59
Speaker 9: I don't care what the rect is, what the score is.
17:01
Speaker 9: This is what I do. This is my job. So
17:03
Speaker 9: I can understand, you know, how Joe Burrow's looking at
17:06
Speaker 9: this is Hey, I'm just this is this is my career,
17:09
Speaker 9: this is what I do. This is what I that
17:11
Speaker 9: I that I want to do, and and so he's
17:14
Speaker 9: doing everything he can from a rehab standpoint, a recovery standpoint,
17:17
Speaker 9: and I know talking to to Zach last week, he
17:20
Speaker 9: was fired up about the way seven on seven looked
17:22
Speaker 9: and the way the ball was coming out of Joe's hands,
17:24
Speaker 9: and he felt really good about that. I know, as
17:27
Speaker 9: you mentioned, he was able to get some teamwork and
17:30
Speaker 9: felt pretty good about that. I just think there's so
17:33
Speaker 9: many factors. I understand where Joe Burrow is coming from
17:36
Speaker 9: on this. I think there's so many factors though, that
17:38
Speaker 9: have to go into it as an organization, as a
17:41
Speaker 9: head coach, as doctors. You know, there's there's so many
17:45
Speaker 9: things that need to be answered before you all of
17:47
Speaker 9: a sudden, you know, put it back in there. Uh,
17:50
Speaker 9: sometimes you have to protect players from themselves because as
17:54
Speaker 9: I many times over the years, I had coaches telling me, yeah,
17:58
Speaker 9: I know you think you can, but we're going to
18:01
Speaker 9: have to protect you know, And I was upset about it,
18:03
Speaker 9: like I would, I would get mad about it, and
18:05
Speaker 9: I have, you know, some some heartfelt conversations, whether it
18:08
Speaker 9: be with the trainers, the doctors, the coaches, whoever it
18:10
Speaker 9: may be. But so I definitely can understand where Burrow's
18:14
Speaker 9: coming from. But I do know that from an organizational standpoint,
18:18
Speaker 9: there's got to be some balance to that as well.
18:20
Speaker 7: So if he plays this league.
18:22
Speaker 9: That is great for us, you know as a broadcast team,
18:25
Speaker 9: that that adds a lot of juice to the game
18:27
Speaker 9: having Joe Burrow on the field. But there's a lot
18:30
Speaker 9: of things that need to be answered over the next
18:31
Speaker 9: few days.
18:32
Speaker 2: If the doctor gives Joe the greenlight to return and
18:36
Speaker 2: the organization is comfortable with it, do you think it
18:38
Speaker 2: would give the team an emotional boost?
18:41
Speaker 7: One hundred percent. One hundred percent.
18:44
Speaker 9: I remember we had the game game right after Joe
18:48
Speaker 9: Flacco was traded here, and just in those three four
18:51
Speaker 9: days that he was here. I remember talking to Al Golden,
18:54
Speaker 9: I remember talking to some of the defensive players. I
18:56
Speaker 9: remember talking to the offensive players and staff. There was
18:59
Speaker 9: just a burst of energy right when Flacco came out
19:02
Speaker 9: on the field, the way the ball's coming out of
19:03
Speaker 9: his hands, the energy that it brought. It didn't translate
19:06
Speaker 9: to winds, obviously, It's translated to the offense playing a
19:10
Speaker 9: lot better, a lot more points.
19:11
Speaker 7: Going up, a lot more yards going up.
19:13
Speaker 9: But I remember talking to the team at that time
19:15
Speaker 9: after just a few days, the difference of him walking
19:17
Speaker 9: out on the field and the energy that it brought. Now,
19:20
Speaker 9: all of a sudden, you take it another step and
19:22
Speaker 9: it's Joe Burrow, a guy that's accomplished so much here
19:26
Speaker 9: in St. Ccinnati and for the Bengals what he's been
19:29
Speaker 9: able to accomplish, and a guy that you thought was
19:32
Speaker 9: done for the year. All of a sudden, he walks
19:34
Speaker 9: back in the locker room, walks back in the huddle,
19:36
Speaker 9: takes the field. It would be a huge boost, not
19:40
Speaker 9: only to the offense, but I think it's to the
19:42
Speaker 9: defense and the team and the city and the fan
19:45
Speaker 9: base as well.
19:46
Speaker 2: We're visiting the former Pro Bowl quarterback Trent Green from CBS.
19:49
Speaker 2: The Bengals are not going to have Jamar Chase this week.
19:53
Speaker 2: In your playing days, how did you approach it when
19:55
Speaker 2: you went into a game and didn't have one of
19:58
Speaker 2: your best weapons.
20:00
Speaker 9: That was always a problem. And generally when you're missing someone,
20:03
Speaker 9: it's it's because of an injury related thing. And knowing
20:06
Speaker 9: that this was self inflicted that makes it frustrating. Especially
20:11
Speaker 9: doesn't matter which Joe's going to be quarterback, you want
20:14
Speaker 9: Jamar Chase on the field. I mean, that's just the
20:16
Speaker 9: simple truth about it is he's you can argue that
20:19
Speaker 9: he's the best in the league. He won the Triple
20:22
Speaker 9: Crown last year. I mean, what he's able to do.
20:24
Speaker 7: So you've just got to have other guys step up.
20:27
Speaker 7: You know.
20:27
Speaker 9: You hear that mentality from coaches, you hear that mentality
20:30
Speaker 9: from players all the time, and next man up, next
20:33
Speaker 9: man up, next man up.
20:34
Speaker 7: And it's hard to replace a guy like Jamar Chase.
20:38
Speaker 9: Just because of how talented he is and what he's
20:40
Speaker 9: accomplished up until this point. But what it does is
20:44
Speaker 9: it creates an opportunity for someone else to be that playmaker,
20:48
Speaker 9: to be not Jamar Chase, but to be the best
20:51
Speaker 9: version of themselves and all of a sudden give themselves
20:54
Speaker 9: an opportunity to showcase their talent in those tough situations
20:59
Speaker 9: that we're so accustomed to seeing Chase handle those things.
21:02
Speaker 2: It's obviously been a challenging year for the Bengals on defense.
21:05
Speaker 2: You did the game last week in Pittsburgh. The defense
21:08
Speaker 2: only allowed twenty points in that game. Did you see
21:12
Speaker 2: any improvement?
21:13
Speaker 9: I did see improvement. I thought the tackling was better.
21:15
Speaker 9: I know that's been a big issue during the season,
21:17
Speaker 9: is misstackles. There were some, but not nearly at least
21:21
Speaker 9: in my mind, not nearly as many mistackles as in
21:25
Speaker 9: previous years or in previous games. I thought another issue
21:29
Speaker 9: that had been with some of those explosive big runs.
21:32
Speaker 9: The Steelers did have a couple of those, but I
21:34
Speaker 9: thought for the most part kept those in check. As
21:38
Speaker 9: far as like big pass plays, those kinds of things,
21:40
Speaker 9: I thought there were less big plays, less mistackles. I
21:45
Speaker 9: love you didn't see, or at least I didn't see.
21:51
Speaker 9: I guess I wasn't sure what to expect right, because
21:54
Speaker 9: this has been a frustrating thing, especially especially with the
21:56
Speaker 9: defensive side of the ball. There was great energy on
21:59
Speaker 9: that side. Saw guys flying to the ball, The effort
22:02
Speaker 9: was there, There was excitement when big plays were made.
22:06
Speaker 9: You see team You see teammates rallying and excited for
22:08
Speaker 9: one another. Those are all things you can keep the
22:11
Speaker 9: tabs on, or what I did as a player and
22:13
Speaker 9: now as a broadcaster kind of you kind of get
22:16
Speaker 9: the personnel or the vibe of the team based on
22:20
Speaker 9: the energy level that guys are bringing. You can pick
22:22
Speaker 9: it up right away and warm up. She can pick
22:24
Speaker 9: it up on special teams. You can pick it up
22:27
Speaker 9: on the way the bench responds when a big play happens.
22:30
Speaker 9: You know, there's lots of things that you can tell
22:33
Speaker 9: about a team, and I saw all those things last week.
22:36
Speaker 9: Even though it was a frustrating outcome and I know
22:38
Speaker 9: the defense wasn't happy with what they did, I did
22:41
Speaker 9: see some improvement on that side.
22:42
Speaker 2: The Patriots come to town with an eight game winning streak.
22:46
Speaker 2: They won a total of eight games in the last
22:49
Speaker 2: two years combined. Are you mildly surprised or stunned?
22:53
Speaker 7: I'm gonna say surprised.
22:55
Speaker 9: I don't know if I would say stunned, because I
22:58
Speaker 9: have a lot of faith in Mike Rabel and what
22:59
Speaker 9: he was able to do in Tennessee. I believe in
23:02
Speaker 9: Josh McDaniel and what he's done in terms of developing quarterbacks.
23:06
Speaker 9: You know, I go back to Mac Jones his rookie year.
23:09
Speaker 9: His best year was his rookie year and that was
23:11
Speaker 9: with Josh McDaniels prior to him leaving to go to
23:14
Speaker 9: the Raiders. So he does a great job of developing quarterbacks.
23:17
Speaker 9: I think he's done a good job of developing Drake May,
23:20
Speaker 9: putting him in positive positions. And then what I think
23:23
Speaker 9: people forget is the amount of money. You know, it
23:26
Speaker 9: wasn't a very New England Patriot kind of off season.
23:28
Speaker 9: This was they put a lot of money into both
23:31
Speaker 9: sides of the football, bringing in personnel, spending money over
23:34
Speaker 9: the last couple of seasons, but especially this year, so
23:37
Speaker 9: bringing in the coaching staff, bringing in the personnel they have,
23:40
Speaker 9: and then the direction that Mike Rabel as a leader
23:43
Speaker 9: as a head coach. So surprised a little bit, but
23:47
Speaker 9: not like completely stunned. No, it's and then you also,
23:51
Speaker 9: I know a lot of people have brought up the
23:52
Speaker 9: fact that who their opponents have been, like the strength
23:55
Speaker 9: of schedule and some of the teams that they've played.
23:58
Speaker 7: I had a head coach.
23:59
Speaker 9: They used to say, listen, you play who you play, whoever,
24:01
Speaker 9: whoever the NFL puts on the rout or that's who
24:04
Speaker 9: you're playing. It could be, you know, you may be
24:05
Speaker 9: playing all team or a bunch of teams with winning records.
24:08
Speaker 9: You may be playing only a couple. So never make
24:11
Speaker 9: an excuse from a schedule standpoint. Played the guys on
24:14
Speaker 9: your schedule and attack it, and that's what the Patriots
24:18
Speaker 9: have done.
24:18
Speaker 2: Drake May is one of the leading candidates for NFL MVP.
24:22
Speaker 2: What's jumped out about his play in year two?
24:24
Speaker 9: Wow, there's a bunch his completion percentages jumped I gave
24:28
Speaker 9: once again, I give a lot of this to Josh McDaniels.
24:30
Speaker 7: I think putting him in good position.
24:33
Speaker 9: His completion percentage is over seventy percent, maybe even seventy
24:35
Speaker 9: one and a half percent. His yards per game is
24:38
Speaker 9: up nearly seventy seventy five yards. He's already got more
24:41
Speaker 9: touchdown passes and half the interceptions that he had a
24:45
Speaker 9: year ago where he only started twelve games as a rookie,
24:48
Speaker 9: so and here he is going into his twelfth game
24:49
Speaker 9: this year. So I think the thing probably the biggest
24:52
Speaker 9: thing that's jumped out. He's been smart with the football,
24:56
Speaker 9: hasn't turned it over for a young player. That's always
24:59
Speaker 9: difficult to do, especially with someone with an arm like his.
25:02
Speaker 9: You feel like you can make any throw. You're young
25:05
Speaker 9: enough to where you think he can make any throw.
25:06
Speaker 9: But sometimes it's making the right decision that helps your
25:10
Speaker 9: team the best. So protecting the football, his accuracy has
25:13
Speaker 9: jumped out. He has the ability to make big plays,
25:16
Speaker 9: but doesn't force it when those opportunities comes in makes
25:20
Speaker 9: he makes sure that he's mindful of the football.
25:23
Speaker 1: Final question for Trent Green.
25:25
Speaker 2: You've called games with Kevin Harlan now for the past
25:27
Speaker 2: several years on CBS. I am the president of the
25:31
Speaker 2: Kevin Harlan Fan Club, actually co president with my son Sam.
25:35
Speaker 2: Do you have a favorite Harlanism or a call that
25:40
Speaker 2: Kevin Harlan has made since you two guys have been together.
25:43
Speaker 9: Oh my gosh, there are so many, and probably the
25:48
Speaker 9: most memorable year for me, and I know it wasn't
25:51
Speaker 9: for everyone.
25:52
Speaker 7: The COVID year.
25:55
Speaker 9: Where there were majority of the time there were no
25:57
Speaker 9: fans in the stands. Some of the stadiums allowed a
25:59
Speaker 9: few fans in there. His energy, it didn't matter if
26:03
Speaker 9: there were fans in the stands or not. His energy
26:06
Speaker 9: level and what he was able to bring, he brings
26:08
Speaker 9: it every single broadcast.
26:11
Speaker 7: Uh. It's just a true joy to work with with Kevin.
26:14
Speaker 7: He's the best.
26:15
Speaker 9: As you said, you know, he's phenomenal, whether whether he's
26:19
Speaker 9: called on TV or radio. Uh, it's it's pretty phenomenal.
26:22
Speaker 9: So my my best one, just because it's the most
26:24
Speaker 9: current one and I hate to do it to the
26:26
Speaker 9: Bengals defense, is the the one this week with Washington,
26:31
Speaker 9: the mat on the windshog, Like, what did you just say,
26:33
Speaker 9: you know, when he when he said that this week
26:35
Speaker 9: about Washington, Uh, you know, rumbling down on the sideline.
26:41
Speaker 7: I just it's some of the some of the times
26:43
Speaker 7: in the booth, I'll just kind of shake my head
26:45
Speaker 7: and and chuckle a little bit. And sometimes that chuckle.
26:48
Speaker 9: Goes out over air when it's not necessarily supposed to.
26:52
Speaker 6: Uh.
26:53
Speaker 9: But but yeah, he's always uh he's always coming up
26:56
Speaker 9: with the one liners and the perfect quote, whether it's
27:00
Speaker 9: detailing two games at once, whether it's detailing a squirrel
27:03
Speaker 9: that's out on the field or something something going on
27:06
Speaker 9: in the stands, or a player, you know, having a
27:09
Speaker 9: phenomenal play. So now he's been I've been blessed. I've
27:13
Speaker 9: worked with with Greg Gumbel for six years and you know,
27:17
Speaker 9: and now I've had six seasons with Kevin Harlan, So
27:22
Speaker 9: truly some not only great announcers, but great people as well.
27:25
Speaker 1: Try this has been fun. I really appreciate your time.
27:28
Speaker 2: Best of luck to your daughter and the University of
27:30
Speaker 2: Cincinnati women's volleyball team.
27:32
Speaker 7: I appreciate it. Dan, good talking with you.
27:34
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
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27:48
Speaker 2: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
27:51
Speaker 2: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. The New
27:55
Speaker 2: England Patriots come to town on Sunday, a team that's
27:58
Speaker 2: already won more games this year year than the last
28:01
Speaker 2: two combined. After back to back four and thirteen seasons.
28:05
Speaker 2: The Patriots are nine and two with an eight game
28:08
Speaker 2: winning streak under first year head coach Mike Rabel. The
28:12
Speaker 2: voice of the Patriots, Bob Socy, joined Dave Laphaman and
28:15
Speaker 2: me on the Bengals Game Plan Show this week, and
28:17
Speaker 2: I asked Bob if he expected something close to this,
28:21
Speaker 2: if he's mildly surprised, or if he shocked yet.
28:26
Speaker 10: I'm somewhere between mildley surprised and out and out shocked,
28:29
Speaker 10: especially after a one and two start for the Pats,
28:32
Speaker 10: losing to Pittsburgh for example, in Week three, turning the
28:34
Speaker 10: ball over five times, losing the opener to Las Vegas
28:38
Speaker 10: as well, and we've seen how poorly the Raiders have
28:41
Speaker 10: played since that Week one game. I thought the Patriots
28:45
Speaker 10: would be much improved Mike Rabel taking over coaching staff,
28:49
Speaker 10: with a lot of cohesiveness and chemistry and experience you
28:52
Speaker 10: could see in training camp. But the Patriots were headed
28:55
Speaker 10: for a much more competent and competitive season. Drake may
29:00
Speaker 10: certainly looked like he was poised to improve, not as
29:04
Speaker 10: much as I believe today is as he has. I
29:08
Speaker 10: think you know his rapid growth in Josh McDaniel's system
29:11
Speaker 10: has been really startling in a lot of respects, and
29:15
Speaker 10: they certainly upgraded the roster considerably. The free agent class
29:18
Speaker 10: that they brought in certainly added a lot of talent
29:22
Speaker 10: in spots where they last year were barren, and I
29:27
Speaker 10: think the draft class you could see that there was
29:29
Speaker 10: some athleticism there with Trey van Anderson for example, in
29:32
Speaker 10: the preseason that they've been lacking a potential playmaker. But
29:35
Speaker 10: the way this season has gone from that one and
29:38
Speaker 10: two start to beating the Bills on Sunday night in
29:41
Speaker 10: Buffalo and the bounce they got from that game, and
29:44
Speaker 10: the way they have consistently competed, and that's a big thing.
29:48
Speaker 10: This is a team that's where it's at because they
29:50
Speaker 10: continued to compete. The defense gives up an opening drive
29:53
Speaker 10: score with regularity, but then they find a way to
29:56
Speaker 10: turn things around. Drake May for the most part, is
29:59
Speaker 10: taking care of the foot. They haven't beaten themselves. They've
30:02
Speaker 10: taken advantage of bad football, and they've made a lot
30:05
Speaker 10: of big plays, something that was not existing in recent years.
30:10
Speaker 10: I've joked with people around here for the last few
30:12
Speaker 10: weeks that we've had more offensive highlights you know in
30:15
Speaker 10: week ten, in Week nine and week eight than we
30:18
Speaker 10: had in two seasons combined for the Patriots in twenty
30:21
Speaker 10: twenty three, twenty four. So the variety of ways in
30:24
Speaker 10: which they've done.
30:24
Speaker 11: It, Yeah, Bob, I look at the eighty five plus
30:29
Speaker 11: eighty five point differential you kidding me in the second
30:32
Speaker 11: quarters plus plus fifty three. Yeah, in the third quarter,
30:36
Speaker 11: it's what is it plus thirty five or something like that.
30:40
Speaker 11: It's it's crazy over plus over one hundred in the
30:44
Speaker 11: second and third quarter. What's the reason for that? What's
30:48
Speaker 11: what's the turnaround?
30:49
Speaker 10: How?
30:50
Speaker 11: What do you attribute it to? Is it coaching? Is
30:53
Speaker 11: it players, you know, responding to the to the great coaching?
30:56
Speaker 11: Is it a combination? What do you think?
30:59
Speaker 10: Yeah, Dave, I think you do start with the coaching,
31:01
Speaker 10: and certainly, you know, the players ultimately are the ones
31:04
Speaker 10: who are responsible for the performance on the field. And
31:06
Speaker 10: when people ask about Drake May and the difference that
31:09
Speaker 10: Josh McDaniels has made as the offensive coordinator and play caller,
31:13
Speaker 10: and the difference that Mike Rabel has made in ways
31:16
Speaker 10: that he's challenged him, I think you still go to
31:19
Speaker 10: Drake May's ability and his coach ability, and I think
31:23
Speaker 10: that's the case for the entire team. I mentioned competence
31:27
Speaker 10: and confidence and cohesiveness for the Patriots coaching staff during
31:34
Speaker 10: training camp that it was evident, and I think that
31:36
Speaker 10: carried over to their players. I think this is a
31:39
Speaker 10: team that was fully bought in when the season started,
31:42
Speaker 10: and their faith wasn't shaken after that one and to start,
31:46
Speaker 10: and as I mentioned the defense, you know they're they're
31:49
Speaker 10: not exactly you know, a team that racks up a
31:52
Speaker 10: lot of impressive numbers, yet they've given up a fair
31:54
Speaker 10: number of big plays. They haven't gotten to the quarterback
31:58
Speaker 10: as often as we think they would, they haven't turned
32:02
Speaker 10: the ball over in the last two games, and they
32:04
Speaker 10: give up opening drive touchdowns or field goals in almost
32:08
Speaker 10: every game. And yet you know they have guys out
32:12
Speaker 10: there that are competing effort and finish. You watch the
32:15
Speaker 10: effort to the football on just about every play, and
32:18
Speaker 10: I think that's kind of a sign of this team
32:20
Speaker 10: as a whole. Offensively, you can get the ability to
32:25
Speaker 10: distribute the football what Drake may has done in terms
32:28
Speaker 10: of his past distribution to players. The first quarter might
32:31
Speaker 10: be Stefan Diggs who gets them going by the third quarter,
32:34
Speaker 10: it's Mac Collins who spent the first half blocking for them.
32:38
Speaker 10: It's just seems like there's a you know, with each series,
32:41
Speaker 10: which with each quarter there is a different guy that
32:44
Speaker 10: is playing a pivotal role in terms of taking control
32:49
Speaker 10: of these games. But I do think you start with Rabel,
32:51
Speaker 10: the culture he's built, the confidence that he's still He's
32:53
Speaker 10: been very careful in terms of always handled this team,
32:56
Speaker 10: including a guy like Romadarie Stevenson, just a quick acidey
33:00
Speaker 10: who hasn't played the last few weeks because of an injury.
33:02
Speaker 10: You remember the fumble he had on Christmas Eve a
33:04
Speaker 10: few years ago, and those problems have persisted the last
33:07
Speaker 10: couple of years for him. Talent is back, but the
33:09
Speaker 10: inability to hold onto the ball at fumbling issues earlier
33:12
Speaker 10: this season, Rabel stuck with him. Rabel didn't bury him,
33:16
Speaker 10: and I think that's the way Mike has coached these
33:18
Speaker 10: guys as at hole and they've responded very well to it.
33:21
Speaker 2: The voice of the Patriots, Bob Socie, is our guest.
33:23
Speaker 2: The Patriots have done something this year that the Bengals
33:28
Speaker 2: need to do next year. They fixed their defense in
33:33
Speaker 2: one year, because last year these two teams gave up
33:36
Speaker 2: nearly the same amount of points. The Bengals gave up
33:38
Speaker 2: four to thirty four. The Patriots gave up four to seventeen.
33:41
Speaker 2: This year, the Bengals defense has gotten worse. The Patriots
33:44
Speaker 2: are fifth in the NFL and points allowed. How did
33:47
Speaker 2: New England fix the defense in one year?
33:52
Speaker 10: Well, Dan, you look at a couple of things, and
33:54
Speaker 10: I mentioned the free agent class and you start right there,
33:56
Speaker 10: including the big ticket item that they got in free
33:59
Speaker 10: agency and Williams. And you won't see him this weekend.
34:02
Speaker 10: Of course, he's on injured reserve now. But he's been
34:05
Speaker 10: a guy that came in coming off a Super Bowl
34:08
Speaker 10: and the performance he had against the Chiefs, a contract
34:11
Speaker 10: paying him an excess of ninety seven million dollars, playing
34:16
Speaker 10: in training camp with something to prove the way he worked,
34:20
Speaker 10: a guy that has been able to double his staff
34:22
Speaker 10: count from Philadelphia when he was in that rotation that
34:25
Speaker 10: the Eagles had up front as talented and as deep
34:28
Speaker 10: as they are, and they were with him in that
34:31
Speaker 10: defensive line. He's become an instant leader for this team.
34:34
Speaker 10: And he's going to be missed this week. I think
34:36
Speaker 10: he's been interested to see how they respond these next
34:37
Speaker 10: few weeks without Milton Williams. Harold Landry known commodity for
34:41
Speaker 10: my verbel former Titan calevon chase On has been a
34:44
Speaker 10: bit of a revelation. Former number one pick has been
34:47
Speaker 10: a bit of a journeyman the last few years, already
34:49
Speaker 10: with a career high in sacks, and he's played with
34:52
Speaker 10: really a great motor that's shown up on special teams
34:54
Speaker 10: as well. That's what Rabel points to when he talks
34:57
Speaker 10: about him. And you look at the linebackers, Robert splaying
35:01
Speaker 10: former Titan Steeler, gritty Guy Jack Gibbons another former Titan,
35:07
Speaker 10: undrafted player, but he's come up big for them the
35:10
Speaker 10: last couple of weeks with some high volume tackle games
35:13
Speaker 10: in the secondary. Carlton Davis another free agent signee along
35:17
Speaker 10: with Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez I think is one of the
35:20
Speaker 10: best cornerbacks in the NFL. The numbers may not reflect that.
35:24
Speaker 10: He's not one of those guys that gets a lot
35:25
Speaker 10: of interceptions, kind of like the outfielder with the good
35:28
Speaker 10: arm and baseball that people don't run on it teams.
35:31
Speaker 10: But when you look at, you know, the free agent
35:33
Speaker 10: players they've acquired. I mentioned several of them there up front, Williams,
35:37
Speaker 10: Chase on Henry or Landry, and you look at the
35:42
Speaker 10: cornerback Davis. They haven't had many misses, if any at
35:45
Speaker 10: all in free agency this year and that's really a
35:47
Speaker 10: rare thing. And the other point that has to be
35:50
Speaker 10: made to the schedule. We thought going into this season,
35:55
Speaker 10: you know, in terms of media circles here, that the
35:58
Speaker 10: Patriots would have a soft schedule. The numbers bear that out.
36:01
Speaker 10: Now it's been a very favorable schedule for them to
36:04
Speaker 10: turn things around. When you look at the caliber of
36:06
Speaker 10: the quarterbacks they faced on the timing of some of
36:09
Speaker 10: the games today, this defense hasn't really gone up against,
36:13
Speaker 10: you know, really a frontline player in you know, the
36:19
Speaker 10: opposing team's offense since Josh Allen in Week five. When
36:22
Speaker 10: you really look at who they faced over the last weeks,
36:24
Speaker 10: they've gone up against some good running backs, but they've
36:26
Speaker 10: been able to shut them down in one dimensional offense
36:29
Speaker 10: and the run defense has been very good for them.
36:32
Speaker 11: When you look at it, it all starts with the
36:35
Speaker 11: owner in Robert Craft. Robert Craft is a winner. Robert
36:40
Speaker 11: Craft doesn't accept anything other than winning in your best
36:44
Speaker 11: performance and so doing and you know, he had a
36:49
Speaker 11: great head coach that he teamed up with in Bill Belichick,
36:53
Speaker 11: that made beautiful music together in the in the Boston,
36:56
Speaker 11: New England area, and fans, I think, get a little
37:00
Speaker 11: bit spoiled, you know, with the success year after year
37:03
Speaker 11: after year that they were able to achieve. How difficult
37:09
Speaker 11: is how tough was the task for able to turn
37:14
Speaker 11: the worm, so to speak, to flip the switch, to
37:17
Speaker 11: get this team turned around in such a short period
37:20
Speaker 11: of time.
37:22
Speaker 10: You know, David, it's really interesting when Rabel came to
37:24
Speaker 10: New England a couple of years ago when he was
37:26
Speaker 10: still the head coach of the Titans, and you may
37:28
Speaker 10: or may not remember this, he was inducted into the
37:31
Speaker 10: Patriots Hall of Fame during a bye week for the Titans,
37:35
Speaker 10: and it was at a point in time where if
37:37
Speaker 10: the writing wasn't on the wall in Nashville, then it
37:41
Speaker 10: was about to be. And Mike Rabel gave a halftime
37:45
Speaker 10: speech at Jillette Stadium and he said, I believe the
37:48
Speaker 10: words were, We've got a game to win. Belichick was
37:52
Speaker 10: the head coach then Rabel was about to be fired
37:55
Speaker 10: at seasons and by the Titans, Torod Mayo was why
38:00
Speaker 10: it was, you know, in line for the Patriots job.
38:03
Speaker 10: It was in his contracts as the heir apparent for
38:06
Speaker 10: Belichick to Belichick, and you know, it was at that
38:12
Speaker 10: weekend in Foxborough when it seemed like Mike Brabel made
38:17
Speaker 10: his his his desires clear. And you know, when things
38:22
Speaker 10: didn't work out with Gerrod Meyo last year, and it
38:24
Speaker 10: was it was very apparent by season's end, you know,
38:27
Speaker 10: well before the season came to close, that the Patriots
38:30
Speaker 10: really were in a situation that they had ill advisedly
38:36
Speaker 10: put themselves in. Not only would the head coach is inexperience,
38:40
Speaker 10: he didn't have any coordinating experience. Really, he was somebody
38:44
Speaker 10: who hadn't coached outs or hadn't built up a rolodex
38:47
Speaker 10: so to speak of coaching candidates to build a staff.
38:51
Speaker 10: So from the start last season, it was kind of
38:54
Speaker 10: learning on the fly and it was building a staff
38:56
Speaker 10: on the fly. And then they didn't spend any money
38:58
Speaker 10: really in free agency. The draft picks, including a second
39:02
Speaker 10: rounder is no longer with the organization. Jalen Folk, outside
39:05
Speaker 10: of the selection of Drake May really didn't work out
39:08
Speaker 10: for them. So things right from the start of twenty
39:11
Speaker 10: twenty four for the Patriots put the organization in the
39:15
Speaker 10: situation where by season's end, I think Robert Kraft came
39:18
Speaker 10: to realization that he had to make drastic changes. And
39:22
Speaker 10: was interesting because when Belichick left in twenty and twenty
39:27
Speaker 10: four at the end of that season, the Patriots kind
39:29
Speaker 10: of changed their mo in terms of how they ran
39:32
Speaker 10: the organization from a football standpoint and more collaborative. Belichick
39:36
Speaker 10: was all powerful when it came to football. He was
39:39
Speaker 10: the decision maker at the top of the pyramid in
39:41
Speaker 10: football operations, and I think after he left, with Jewrod
39:45
Speaker 10: Mail the ownership, they wanted their football team back. But
39:48
Speaker 10: when they went through that experience with girod Mayl, I
39:51
Speaker 10: think it convinced Robert Craft to go out and get
39:54
Speaker 10: Mike Rabel and to put more power in his lap.
39:57
Speaker 10: Not to the extent that Belichick had, but certainly with
40:01
Speaker 10: a lot more influence over decisions. Mike was able to
40:04
Speaker 10: bring in some people who had full trust in confidence
40:07
Speaker 10: who were with him in Tennessee Ryan Cowden, John Stryker,
40:10
Speaker 10: an Ohio State guy who's going to be a future GM.
40:13
Speaker 10: When you hear about his resume and his credentials with
40:18
Speaker 10: people around the league. So I think the experience of
40:20
Speaker 10: twenty twenty four and the failure and really right from
40:24
Speaker 10: the outset a season that was doomed for them put
40:28
Speaker 10: them in position because of robber Craft's desire not to
40:32
Speaker 10: relive that experience, but also to make the right changes
40:35
Speaker 10: and get the right guy. And my variable made it
40:38
Speaker 10: clear a couple of years ago this was a job
40:41
Speaker 10: that he coveted, and the Patriots got him. They're very
40:44
Speaker 10: fortunate to get.
40:45
Speaker 2: Him, all right, thanks to Bob soci And here's a
40:48
Speaker 2: quick invitation to join Lapp and Wayne box Miller for
40:51
Speaker 2: the Bengals pep Rally show this week. They'll be at
40:54
Speaker 2: the on the Ryane Eatery the food hall on the
40:56
Speaker 2: second floor above the downtown Kroger on Friday afternoon from
41:00
Speaker 2: two thirty to five thirty and their special guest in
41:04
Speaker 2: the final hour will be Bengals tight end Eric All.
41:08
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
41:10
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Speaker 2: Dan Hord, and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth
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