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Bengals Booth Podcast: The Final Fight · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Happy New Year, everybody on Dan Horton thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast the All One. It was the
0:12
Speaker 1: final five addition as the Bengals look to end the
0:16
Speaker 1: season with a three game winning streak as they host
0:19
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns coming up. Zach Taylor gave rave reviews
0:23
Speaker 1: to the offensive line this week, but do the folks
0:26
Speaker 1: at Pro Football Focus feel the same way? I'll talk
0:30
Speaker 1: to a PFF analyst by one on one player interviewers
0:33
Speaker 1: with Mike Kasicki, who tells us why it doesn't bother
0:36
Speaker 1: him that quarterbacks don't get Christmas presents for their tight ends.
0:40
Speaker 1: And in our Know the Faux segment, we'll ask the
0:43
Speaker 1: voice of the Browns, Andrew Ceciliano, if Cleveland has found
0:46
Speaker 1: its quarterback in Shador Sanders. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
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Speaker 1: brought to you by pay Corp. Proud to be the
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Speaker 1: Bengals Official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber, future proof
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Speaker 1: Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community
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Speaker 1: to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best
1:04
Speaker 1: care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
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Speaker 1: healthcare provider.
1:08
Speaker 2: Of the Bengals.
1:09
Speaker 1: Now Here's a quick reminder that you can have the
1:12
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
1:16
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:20
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since. Gene Deckerhoff, one of the NFL's
1:26
Speaker 1: most popular radio broadcasters, announced on Wednesday that he's going
1:30
Speaker 1: to retire at the end of this season at the
1:32
Speaker 1: age of eighty. Tampa Bay's Gene Deckerhoff Jean's been the
1:37
Speaker 1: voice of the Buccaneers for thirty seven years, and until
1:40
Speaker 1: four years ago, was also the voice of Florida State
1:45
Speaker 1: football and basketball. He was an inspiration to me when
1:49
Speaker 1: I got the opportunity to do the Bengals and Bearcats combo.
1:53
Speaker 1: Gene is a colorful broadcaster with a very distinctive voice,
1:57
Speaker 1: and one of his signature calls is to fire the
2:00
Speaker 1: cannons after Tampa Bay touchdowns and wins. Here's Gene after
2:06
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers beat Kansas City in Super Bowl fifty five.
2:10
Speaker 3: I want to hear cannons for sure, and I think
2:13
Speaker 3: we are going to hear cannons if I got to
2:15
Speaker 3: do the boom boom boom myself. Bucks win, Bucks Win,
2:20
Speaker 3: Bucks Win the Super Bowl fifty five Tom Brady engineers
2:24
Speaker 3: the offense, the Buccaneers score late in the first half,
2:29
Speaker 3: earlier the second half, and that a cannon's cannon fire them,
2:33
Speaker 3: keep on firing them, keep on firing them. How about
2:38
Speaker 3: the Buccaneers huh seven and five after November. Now there's
2:43
Speaker 3: our eighth consecutive win franchise records. Celebrate Buccaneer Fares poist
2:49
Speaker 3: that Lombardi.
2:50
Speaker 1: Gene called both of Tampa Bay's Super Bowl wins and
2:54
Speaker 1: three Florida state national championships. Congrats to my friend mean
3:00
Speaker 1: Geen Deckerhoff on a remarkable broadcasting career. Now let's get
3:05
Speaker 1: to my first guest this week, Zach Taylor said that
3:08
Speaker 1: the offensive line is playing the best it ever has
3:12
Speaker 1: since he's been Cincinnati's head coach. In recent weeks, we've
3:17
Speaker 1: also heard defensive coordinator Al Golden sing the praises of
3:20
Speaker 1: some of his young players on defense. That got me thinking,
3:25
Speaker 1: do the tape watching gurus at Pro Football Focus agree?
3:29
Speaker 1: I caught up this week with PFF analyst Dalton Wasserman. Dalton,
3:35
Speaker 1: I think most Bengals fans feel like the offensive line
3:38
Speaker 1: has been playing better of late, but you guys have
3:40
Speaker 1: the data and you shared some this week on the
3:43
Speaker 1: PFF NFL Show that I found really interesting share with
3:47
Speaker 1: my audience how the Bengals offensive line has played over
3:50
Speaker 1: the past five games.
3:52
Speaker 4: They've really turned it around. And we have our grading
3:55
Speaker 4: system right in every debate in every facet of offense
3:57
Speaker 4: and defense as well. And when you look at our
3:59
Speaker 4: past playing grades over the last five weeks, nobody has
4:03
Speaker 4: had a better pass blocking grade than the Cincinnati Bengals.
4:06
Speaker 4: And at first glance, you know, my thought was, Okay,
4:08
Speaker 4: Joe Burrow must be getting rid of the ball in
4:10
Speaker 4: like a second and a half, right and just helping
4:11
Speaker 4: these guys out a bit. But his average time to
4:14
Speaker 4: throw is sat around two point seven two point eight seconds,
4:17
Speaker 4: which is kind of middle of the road. So when
4:19
Speaker 4: you talk about Burrow actually being protected in the pocket,
4:22
Speaker 4: it's working lately, and we know as well as anybody,
4:24
Speaker 4: if Joe Burrow is protected, he can be the best
4:26
Speaker 4: quarterback in football on any given day.
4:29
Speaker 1: Let's talk about some of the specific offensive lineman who
4:32
Speaker 1: has graded out the best, and how has rookie left
4:35
Speaker 1: guard Dylan Fairchild performed this year.
4:38
Speaker 4: So recently, when you look at the entire unit's been
4:41
Speaker 4: really good. Especially Orlando Brown at left tackle, and he's
4:44
Speaker 4: going to be in the spotlight this week against the
4:46
Speaker 4: Browns with Miles Garrett chasing that sack record, and he's
4:48
Speaker 4: going to be lined up over Brown the most often.
4:51
Speaker 4: But when you look at it, Amarius Mims is actually
4:53
Speaker 4: their highest graded start Actually, I should say Dalton Reisner
4:56
Speaker 4: is their highest graded starting offensive lineman. Amarius Mims is
4:59
Speaker 4: right behind him. Lately, everybody's performed well in pass protection,
5:02
Speaker 4: and Dylan Fairchild, after a rough maybe first four or
5:05
Speaker 4: five games of the season, he's really turned it on.
5:07
Speaker 4: Of Lady was a really good pass blocker at Georgia,
5:10
Speaker 4: just needed some time to adjust to NFL life. But
5:12
Speaker 4: he's been solid lately, getting better down the stretch of
5:15
Speaker 4: the season. And as we know, that interior has been
5:17
Speaker 4: a concern for several years. So if a guy like
5:19
Speaker 4: Dylan Fairchild can really lock down one of those guard
5:21
Speaker 4: spots long term, that's a big benefit to Burrow in
5:24
Speaker 4: this offense.
5:24
Speaker 1: We are chatting with PFF analyst, writer and podcaster Dalton Wasserman.
5:29
Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit about Joe Burrow.
5:30
Speaker 1: The last couple of weeks, he's completed seventy eight percent
5:33
Speaker 1: of his passes, six touchdowns, no picks, passer rating of
5:36
Speaker 1: nearly one point forty give us an interesting nugget about
5:41
Speaker 1: Joe for the season from some of the things that
5:43
Speaker 1: PFF analyzes when it comes to quarterback play.
5:47
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, it's funny because just it feels
5:49
Speaker 4: like when he's healthy and protected, everything about Joe Burrow
5:52
Speaker 4: is interesting, right, And I don't know that there's one
5:54
Speaker 4: number that necessarily, you know, in a specific department that
5:57
Speaker 4: really encapsulates that. It's really more to me that you know,
6:00
Speaker 4: in our passing grade, just in generals encapsulates every throw
6:03
Speaker 4: that he's made this year. He's still second in the
6:05
Speaker 4: NFL behind Matthew Stafford.
6:07
Speaker 5: Who might win the MVP.
6:08
Speaker 4: Right, Joe Burrow is still an MVP candidate if he
6:10
Speaker 4: could get through seventeen healthy games behind a good offensive line,
6:14
Speaker 4: and of course, when Jamar Chase and t Higgins are
6:16
Speaker 4: both healthy, this offense is darn near unstoppable, even with
6:19
Speaker 4: some of the flaws that it does have. So I
6:21
Speaker 4: think that's really what tells me, you know, Joe Burrows
6:23
Speaker 4: still an elite guy. Fourteen big time throws this year,
6:26
Speaker 4: only four turnover wheth he plays less than one percent
6:29
Speaker 4: of the time that he really puts the ball in danger.
6:31
Speaker 5: Joe Burrows as elite as ever.
6:33
Speaker 4: They just have to, you know, find a way to
6:35
Speaker 4: disallowed points on defense a little more often and then
6:37
Speaker 4: keep those guys on the outside healthy.
6:40
Speaker 1: Speaking of the defense, it's been a year of slow
6:42
Speaker 1: but steady progress. I would say for some of the
6:45
Speaker 1: younger guys that the Bengals have been playing this year,
6:47
Speaker 1: let's specifically look at their cornerbacks, and by that I
6:50
Speaker 1: mean they're outside cornerbacks. DJ Turner, who's a Pro Bowl alternate,
6:54
Speaker 1: and Dax Hill, who really seems to be thriving since
6:57
Speaker 1: moving from the slot to the outside courback spot. Tell
7:01
Speaker 1: us how those two guys have been performing. By PFF metrics.
7:05
Speaker 4: Turner has been spectacular all year, and he's well deserving
7:08
Speaker 4: if he gets into the Pro Bowl, or even as
7:10
Speaker 4: an alternate there, he's well deserving of that bid. He's
7:12
Speaker 4: been hovering around the top ten and coverage grade for
7:15
Speaker 4: US all season and among the league leaders in pass breakups.
7:18
Speaker 4: Really a ballhawk who Al Golden can trust in man
7:21
Speaker 4: to man coverage, and he runs a man heavy system,
7:23
Speaker 4: maybe not quite as heavy as he did at Notre
7:25
Speaker 4: Dame last season, but still pretty heavy with the man coverage.
7:27
Speaker 4: And then Dak Sail, like you mentioned, the adjustment to
7:30
Speaker 4: the outside has really been something that's helped him. He's
7:32
Speaker 4: a lot more comfortable out there. And then the Bengals
7:34
Speaker 4: in the offseason can find a new nickel corner to
7:37
Speaker 4: play in the slot. But Hill since Week eleven is
7:40
Speaker 4: tenth in the league in our PFF coverage grades. Right,
7:43
Speaker 4: so you've got two really good corners on the outside,
7:45
Speaker 4: and these cornerbacks have really been the best, most consistent
7:48
Speaker 4: part of this defense this year.
7:50
Speaker 1: Dalton, Should we be encouraged by the play of Miles Murphy,
7:54
Speaker 1: I think so.
7:54
Speaker 4: I'd like to see him put it together one more
7:56
Speaker 4: time against Cleveland, who's had arguably the worst offensive line
7:59
Speaker 4: in football this year. But he and Shamar Stewart really
8:02
Speaker 4: have opportunities to make one lasting impression going into the offseason. Now,
8:05
Speaker 4: it's kind of assumed that the Bengals are gonna need
8:07
Speaker 4: pass rush help anyway on the defensive line, whether that's
8:10
Speaker 4: inside or outside, but especially when you look at the
8:12
Speaker 4: way that Murphy's played in run defense the last couple
8:15
Speaker 4: of weeks, He's been outstanding he's got multiple pressures as
8:18
Speaker 4: a pass rusher in eight straight games. So as long
8:20
Speaker 4: as you know he can be, he can prove to
8:22
Speaker 4: be at least a regular contributor or even if he's
8:25
Speaker 4: not a superstar pass rusher, that goes a long way,
8:27
Speaker 4: because nowadays, with the NFL and these offenses loading up
8:30
Speaker 4: with tight ends and the way they're running offense, you
8:31
Speaker 4: need those big muscular defensive ends like Murphy, like Shamar
8:35
Speaker 4: Stewart to help stop the run on early downs.
8:37
Speaker 5: Then if he adds anything as a pass rusher, then
8:39
Speaker 5: that's outstanding right there.
8:41
Speaker 1: Don Wasserman from PFF is our guest. Let's talk about
8:44
Speaker 1: this week's opponent, the Cleveland Browns, led by rookie quarterback
8:48
Speaker 1: Shador Sanders. This will be NFL start number seven. How's
8:51
Speaker 1: he done when he.
8:53
Speaker 4: Has been clean, which hasn't been that often in the
8:56
Speaker 4: pocket because the Browns pass protection is the worse than
8:58
Speaker 4: football this year. When he's been clean, he's been pretty good,
9:01
Speaker 4: especially when you talk about him throwing to the rookie
9:03
Speaker 4: tight end Harold Fan and Junior, and we know the
9:05
Speaker 4: Bengals have struggled to cover tight ends all year.
9:07
Speaker 5: When he's clean, he's good. When he's under pressure.
9:09
Speaker 4: He makes a lot of bad decisions, drifting backwards in
9:12
Speaker 4: the pocket, taking unnecessary sacks. You know, throws into tight
9:15
Speaker 4: coverage late in the place. So I would be curious
9:18
Speaker 4: to see, because he struggled a bit against the Blitz
9:20
Speaker 4: this year too, I'd be curious to see if Al
9:21
Speaker 4: Golden turns up the heat a little bit to make
9:23
Speaker 4: schadur work quicker in the pocket, or make him make
9:26
Speaker 4: quicker decisions back there, because when he's under pressure, that's
9:29
Speaker 4: when he's really struggled.
9:30
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett is one sack away from the single season
9:34
Speaker 1: NFL record. Has anybody at any position played better than
9:38
Speaker 1: Miles Garrett has this year?
9:41
Speaker 6: No?
9:41
Speaker 4: And I know obviously the MVP race is going to
9:44
Speaker 4: come down to a quarterback. And we've had some great
9:46
Speaker 4: performances from running backs James Cook and Christian McCaffrey, Bejon Robinson,
9:50
Speaker 4: guys like that, Pooka Nakua and Jackson Smith and Jigot Receiver.
9:53
Speaker 4: But Miles Garrett is just he's on another planet.
9:56
Speaker 6: Right.
9:57
Speaker 4: You talk about a guy twenty two sacks, what is it?
9:59
Speaker 4: First player ever with six straight years of twelve sacks?
10:02
Speaker 4: I mean we have them as the highest graded defensive
10:04
Speaker 4: player in football. I just don't think this. I don't
10:07
Speaker 4: know that you could argue there's a better football player
10:09
Speaker 4: in the league right now than him. When you talk
10:11
Speaker 4: about even like the example last week that Aaron Rodgers
10:13
Speaker 4: and the Steelers were talking about that you have to
10:16
Speaker 4: form your entire game plan off of avoiding this one
10:19
Speaker 4: guy on the line of scrimmage or you won't score
10:22
Speaker 4: any points. That's the ultimate sign of respect, Garrett. I
10:25
Speaker 4: think you can make an easy arguments the best player
10:26
Speaker 4: in football right now.
10:28
Speaker 1: After the game on Sunday, we will begin turning our
10:30
Speaker 1: attention to the NFL Draft. The Bengals are going to
10:33
Speaker 1: pick somewhere between number eight and number thirteen. You did
10:37
Speaker 1: a mock draft this week with the Bengals at number ten.
10:39
Speaker 1: You had them taking Texas tech edge rusher David Bailey.
10:44
Speaker 2: Why Bailey? And give me a.
10:46
Speaker 1: Few other possibilities in that range of eight to thirteen.
10:50
Speaker 4: So for me, you look at the Bengals trying to
10:53
Speaker 4: improve their front seven in this draft, whether it's on
10:55
Speaker 4: the defensive line or linebackers. So there's some really fun candidates.
10:58
Speaker 4: You could get a guy in the interior, Peter Woods
11:00
Speaker 4: from Clemson. You could get somebody like a linebacker from
11:03
Speaker 4: Ohio State Sunny Styles could be in that range. But Bailey,
11:06
Speaker 4: to me, is the most direct replacement for Trey Hendrickson
11:10
Speaker 4: as a pass rusher.
11:11
Speaker 6: Right.
11:11
Speaker 4: He might be just an average run defender, a little
11:13
Speaker 4: bit undersize in the NFL, but he's leading the nation
11:16
Speaker 4: in pressures and sacks. He's been the best pass rusher
11:19
Speaker 4: in the country. You're going to see him in the
11:20
Speaker 4: College Football Playoff this week against an outstanding offensive line
11:23
Speaker 4: in Oregon. It's gonna be a lot of fun. But
11:25
Speaker 4: I think the Bengals need that true, just known pass rusher,
11:29
Speaker 4: that legitimate pass rusher. I love Shamar Stewart and Miles
11:32
Speaker 4: Murphy for the run defense and what they can give
11:34
Speaker 4: you on early downs, but when you talk about just
11:36
Speaker 4: an explosive guy you could rack up double digit sacks
11:38
Speaker 4: every year, David Bailey from Texas Tech could be that
11:41
Speaker 4: guy for them, and I do think he's a very
11:42
Speaker 4: direct replacement for Trey Hendrickson if you lose him this offseason.
11:46
Speaker 2: Dalton, I always love picking your brain.
11:48
Speaker 1: Appreciate the time, Happy New Year, and thanks so much
11:50
Speaker 1: for joining us.
11:51
Speaker 5: Appreciate you as always, Dan, thank you Happy New Year.
11:54
Speaker 1: Here's an interesting PFF stat that did not come up
11:57
Speaker 1: in my conversation with Dalton last week. While holding Miles
12:02
Speaker 1: Garrett without a sack, the Pittsburgh Steelers chipped him with
12:05
Speaker 1: a back or tight end twenty seven times. After the game,
12:10
Speaker 1: Miles said that the Steelers were more concerned about preventing
12:14
Speaker 1: him from getting the sack record than winning the game,
12:17
Speaker 1: a notion that Zach Taylor isn't buying.
12:20
Speaker 7: You know, I've heard that a couple times about Pittsburgh
12:22
Speaker 7: was trying to win the game, and the way to
12:24
Speaker 7: do that is you have to limit Malgarret's effectiveness. And
12:26
Speaker 7: you watch every other tape that's been on all season.
12:28
Speaker 7: Teams are doing everything they can to limit his effectiveness.
12:31
Speaker 7: Every run, every pass, every screen, every naked it all
12:36
Speaker 7: has ninety five in mind. And our point has never
12:38
Speaker 7: been any differently. You want to limit his effectiveness. And
12:43
Speaker 7: he makes as much of an impact on a game
12:45
Speaker 7: as any player in the NFL period, and you think
12:48
Speaker 7: about ninety five in your head every second of every
12:51
Speaker 7: week you're playing the Cleveland Browns. He is you got
12:54
Speaker 7: to be ready.
12:55
Speaker 1: For Garrett had two sacks in Week one against the Bengals,
12:58
Speaker 1: It has a total of fifteen in thirteen career games
13:02
Speaker 1: against Cincinnati. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
13:23
Speaker 1: Now time for this week's one on one player interview,
13:26
Speaker 1: as I caught up with tight end Mike Asiki as
13:29
Speaker 1: he nears the end of his eighth NFL season. Mike,
13:33
Speaker 1: over the last couple of games, when Joe Burrow has
13:36
Speaker 1: been on the field, the offense has been on an
13:38
Speaker 1: absolute tear. Sixteen possessions, You've scored eleven touchdowns and kicked
13:43
Speaker 1: two field goals.
13:44
Speaker 2: How would you.
13:44
Speaker 1: Describe the way the Bengals offense is functioning right now?
13:47
Speaker 8: I would say it's operating a very high level. It's efficient.
13:51
Speaker 8: I think it starts with the coaches and the plan
13:53
Speaker 8: that they put together, and then obviously you know then
13:56
Speaker 8: that trickles down to you know, the players and the
13:58
Speaker 8: guys out there making plays. Obviously, you know this thing
14:01
Speaker 8: goes with with with Joe and uh, you know, the
14:05
Speaker 8: last two weeks I think have been exactly how how
14:09
Speaker 8: it's supposed to look.
14:10
Speaker 1: Is it a little bit or sweet to be clicking
14:12
Speaker 1: to that extent and not have a game to look
14:14
Speaker 1: forward to next week?
14:15
Speaker 8: I think you just got to kind of look at
14:17
Speaker 8: the process to you know, one week at a time.
14:20
Speaker 9: And you know, this is what this is what we
14:21
Speaker 9: have left in this season.
14:23
Speaker 8: Take advantage of that opportunity and then get ready, you know,
14:26
Speaker 8: to attack the off season and you know, move forward
14:28
Speaker 8: in that.
14:29
Speaker 9: In that direction, you're wrapping up your eighth year.
14:31
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, you have not had great luck where the playoffs
14:34
Speaker 1: have been concerned. You did get there once as a
14:36
Speaker 1: member of the Miami Dolphins. Does that gnaw at you
14:39
Speaker 1: a little bit at this stage of your career?
14:41
Speaker 9: Yeah?
14:42
Speaker 8: I mean, you know, I'm sitting there mid season, you know,
14:45
Speaker 8: when I was dealing with the peck and I'm already
14:47
Speaker 8: looking at Okay, well, if we win this, we win that,
14:49
Speaker 8: you know, because.
14:50
Speaker 9: Just because you know, it's just it's why I wanted
14:52
Speaker 9: to come here.
14:52
Speaker 8: I want to play in big games, and you know,
14:55
Speaker 8: and I think that you know, there's definitely you know,
14:58
Speaker 8: a plan in place for that to.
14:59
Speaker 9: Happen here in the very near future.
15:01
Speaker 8: But uh, you know, obviously some things didn't work out
15:03
Speaker 8: this year, but you know, excited for you know, the
15:06
Speaker 8: future of this organization and you know the you know,
15:09
Speaker 8: the people that you know are gonna you know be
15:12
Speaker 8: here to you know, help us, you know, take that
15:14
Speaker 8: take that next step.
15:15
Speaker 1: You've been really durable during your NFL career. This is
15:18
Speaker 1: the first time you will play fewer than fifteen games.
15:21
Speaker 1: You're still going to play thirteen, so it's not like
15:23
Speaker 1: you missed a huge chunk of this season. Describe exactly
15:26
Speaker 1: what happened in that Green Bay game.
15:28
Speaker 8: Uh, yeah, it's just, uh, we want to go insert
15:31
Speaker 8: and and block the linebacker. The ball end up hitting
15:34
Speaker 8: you know, away from me. So the the backer ended
15:37
Speaker 8: up running and I went to go almost grab him,
15:39
Speaker 8: my arm kind of got just held up and just
15:42
Speaker 8: kind of felt my my peck and you know, go there.
15:45
Speaker 9: So it was it was an interesting.
15:48
Speaker 8: You know feeling and then kind of getting a couple
15:51
Speaker 8: of different reports and you know, the diagnosis and all
15:53
Speaker 8: that kind of stuff, had a couple of different options
15:57
Speaker 8: and had to weigh those, and you know, I could
15:59
Speaker 8: have went the surgery route, and then they said that
16:02
Speaker 8: you know, that would have obviously ended my season. And
16:04
Speaker 8: then uh had an option to see if it would
16:07
Speaker 8: heal on its own and be able to strengthen you know,
16:08
Speaker 8: the muscles around it and all that kind of stuff,
16:10
Speaker 8: and that would give me an opportunity to play. And uh,
16:13
Speaker 8: you know, I'm very grateful for our training staff and
16:16
Speaker 8: strength staff and all the people that helped me because
16:19
Speaker 8: I love playing football.
16:20
Speaker 9: And for for me to you know, not lose the
16:22
Speaker 9: entire season and just lose those four weeks was it was.
16:25
Speaker 8: A small win in for me in that entire situation.
16:29
Speaker 1: Anything needed in the off season going forward where that injury.
16:32
Speaker 8: Is concerned, no, I think, Uh, you know, just attack
16:34
Speaker 8: the off season and you know, be ready to you know,
16:37
Speaker 8: make sure that you know, year nine is you know,
16:39
Speaker 8: the best year physically that I've felt, and be ready
16:42
Speaker 8: to attack it because I do have, you know, really
16:45
Speaker 8: high expectations for you know, this team's organization and for myself.
16:48
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Mike Kasicki. You were rehabbing at the
16:51
Speaker 1: same time as Joe Burrow. Were you rehabbing together.
16:55
Speaker 8: In specific situations, Yeah, uh, you know when he was
16:58
Speaker 8: coming back and I was coming back and able to
17:00
Speaker 8: you know, finally run around that kind of stuff, was
17:02
Speaker 8: running routes and you know working with him and doing
17:06
Speaker 8: that kind of stuff. Uh, so, you know, just accumulating
17:11
Speaker 8: more reps and all that.
17:12
Speaker 9: So it was, uh, it was.
17:14
Speaker 8: You know, in that stage, it's just something to look
17:16
Speaker 8: forward to rather than you know, just being the training
17:18
Speaker 8: room and doing these exercises, you know, just getting out
17:20
Speaker 8: in the field and uh, you know, getting these real reps.
17:23
Speaker 8: So it felt you know, it felt separate from you know,
17:26
Speaker 8: the recovery stage of what we were doing indoors.
17:29
Speaker 9: So it felt nice to get out there and get
17:30
Speaker 9: to work.
17:30
Speaker 1: Did you observe anything about him during that time period
17:33
Speaker 1: that you didn't already know.
17:35
Speaker 9: That I didn't already know. Absolutely not.
17:38
Speaker 8: I think you know, he's, uh, he's obviously a special player,
17:41
Speaker 8: but you know, a special person in the way that
17:44
Speaker 8: he you know carries himself, in the way that he
17:48
Speaker 8: goes about his business. You know, had probably every you
17:53
Speaker 8: know reason in the world with the injury that he
17:55
Speaker 8: had that probably would have just been it for the season,
17:57
Speaker 8: you know, get healthy for next year. But it didn't
18:01
Speaker 8: you know, change his plan or his process, and he
18:04
Speaker 8: attacked it and came back even earlier than anybody ever expected.
18:08
Speaker 8: So it's a credit to him, and it's a credit
18:10
Speaker 8: to you know, Nick, who he worked with, you know,
18:13
Speaker 8: day in and day out to heal his tals tow
18:17
Speaker 8: and get back out there.
18:18
Speaker 6: Mike.
18:19
Speaker 1: The five tight ends on the roster have combined for
18:21
Speaker 1: ninety two catches for more than eight hundred yards and
18:24
Speaker 1: eight touchdowns. That's pretty productive as a group. What stands
18:27
Speaker 1: out to you about the tight end room as a whole.
18:29
Speaker 9: I think it starts with James Casey.
18:31
Speaker 8: James does a phenomenal job of allowing us to play
18:36
Speaker 8: and not over coach, but also coaching and giving us
18:40
Speaker 8: all the information that we need to go out there
18:41
Speaker 8: and be you know, effective in our roles. This offense
18:46
Speaker 8: is great because they allow us all to each kind
18:48
Speaker 8: of have our own role and then go out and
18:50
Speaker 8: execute it. And like I said, man, it's just a
18:53
Speaker 8: credit to James and the coaches, Zach and Pitch and
18:56
Speaker 8: those guys to allow us all to just go out
18:59
Speaker 8: there and do what we do and you know, help
19:02
Speaker 8: be another you know, puzzle piece in our offense.
19:05
Speaker 1: I think if James case He ever writes a book,
19:07
Speaker 1: it might be a best seller. The guy's had an
19:09
Speaker 1: amazing life. Is he one of the more interesting people
19:13
Speaker 1: that you've ever played for?
19:14
Speaker 8: James is without a doubt. That's definitely a great way
19:19
Speaker 8: to describe him. But then the more that you get
19:21
Speaker 8: to know him, he's so intelligent and the way that
19:25
Speaker 8: he is able to you know, interact with everybody and
19:30
Speaker 8: understands how to coach everybody in a in a different
19:33
Speaker 8: way to you know, to get.
19:34
Speaker 9: The best out of them.
19:36
Speaker 8: He obviously played for seven years and so he knows,
19:38
Speaker 8: you know, how to go about the business and then uh,
19:42
Speaker 8: you know, off the field stuff just as as a
19:44
Speaker 8: person as as a guy. Awesome human being, very intelligent,
19:49
Speaker 8: and I've learned, you know, a ton on the field
19:52
Speaker 8: and a ton off the field from James Casey.
19:54
Speaker 1: We're catching up with MIKEASICKI. You were miked up in
19:56
Speaker 1: the Miami game and when you kind of touchdown pass
19:59
Speaker 1: it sounded extremely satisfying. Was that one personal?
20:03
Speaker 8: It was just you know, I played there for five years,
20:05
Speaker 8: had a lot of memories there and Uh, So it
20:09
Speaker 8: was cool to kind of go back to where it
20:10
Speaker 8: all started and then you know, make that play to
20:13
Speaker 8: kind of put the final nail on the coffin in
20:15
Speaker 8: that game.
20:16
Speaker 9: So that was cool.
20:17
Speaker 8: Uh, definitely something that you know, I had envisioned going
20:19
Speaker 8: into it and then to finally you know, see it
20:21
Speaker 8: come to fruition.
20:22
Speaker 9: Was was a lot of fun.
20:23
Speaker 1: He faced the Browns this week and one of the
20:25
Speaker 1: NFL's top defenses number two and fewest yards allowed, number
20:29
Speaker 1: three in sacks. Is it complicated or just really talented?
20:34
Speaker 8: I think, you know, the the Browns do what they
20:37
Speaker 8: do and they do it at a really high level.
20:38
Speaker 8: They have a lot of talent and all in all,
20:40
Speaker 8: in all three levels, you know, so there's there's definitely,
20:45
Speaker 8: you know, they present a lot of challenges, but uh,
20:48
Speaker 8: I think, like, you know what, what you were just
20:50
Speaker 8: kind of getting that right there is you know, it's
20:52
Speaker 8: not overly complicated, but it's a lot of talent and
20:55
Speaker 8: a lot of guys doing their job at a really
20:56
Speaker 8: high level.
20:57
Speaker 1: Describe what ending the season with a three game winning stream.
21:00
Speaker 2: Would mean to you.
21:01
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it, you know, it would mean a
21:02
Speaker 8: lot because it just shows that, you know, the the
21:05
Speaker 8: locker room's bought in. It shows that, you know, guys,
21:08
Speaker 8: even when playoffs are out of reach, that you know,
21:11
Speaker 8: we're still coming to practice every single day. And it
21:12
Speaker 8: starts with Zach and you know, the way that he
21:15
Speaker 8: coaches this team and the way.
21:16
Speaker 9: That the message that that he gets across to the guys.
21:19
Speaker 8: You know, the locker room loves him and he was
21:21
Speaker 8: willing to go out there and play you know, hard
21:23
Speaker 8: for him day in and day out. So you know,
21:25
Speaker 8: it shows a lot about everybody's character. And you know, obviously,
21:29
Speaker 8: you know when you sign that contract, you know there's
21:30
Speaker 8: seventeen games that you're you're you know, guaranteed to go
21:33
Speaker 8: out there and do so this is the seventeenth and
21:36
Speaker 8: I'm excited.
21:36
Speaker 1: For final question for you. It's become customary over the
21:40
Speaker 1: last ten, twenty years whatever for quarterbacks to give their
21:43
Speaker 1: offensive lineman christmas gifts tight end spend a lot of
21:47
Speaker 1: time blocking. Are you guys included around the league?
21:51
Speaker 8: No, but I think that you know there's I'll take
21:53
Speaker 8: all my gifts on Sundays and and that that is
21:56
Speaker 8: how that is how I view it, and that's the
21:58
Speaker 8: only way I want it, because there's a lot of
22:01
Speaker 8: a lot of things that a lot of good things
22:03
Speaker 8: that come with all those gifts on Sunday. So I'll
22:05
Speaker 8: take as many of them, you know, starting in September
22:08
Speaker 8: and going all the way through the rest of the season,
22:10
Speaker 8: not just round Christmas time.
22:11
Speaker 1: Fossils are nice, but throw me touchdown passes.
22:14
Speaker 9: That's it. I couldn't agree more.
22:16
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time, have a great offseason, and the best
22:19
Speaker 1: of look going forward.
22:19
Speaker 9: Appreciate it. Thanks so much.
22:21
Speaker 1: Finally, it's time for this week's Know the Faux segment.
22:25
Speaker 1: The Bengals and Browns have a couple of things in common.
22:28
Speaker 1: Number one, Paul Brown as a founder and number two
22:32
Speaker 1: a mutual hatred of the Pittsburgh Steelers. So even though
22:36
Speaker 1: it's been another rough year in Cleveland, the home schedule
22:40
Speaker 1: ended on a positive note with last week's thirteen to
22:43
Speaker 1: six win over Pittsburgh that prevented the Steelers from clinching
22:48
Speaker 1: the AFC North, and if Pittsburgh loses this week to Baltimore,
22:52
Speaker 1: the Steelers won't even make the playoffs. The voice of
22:55
Speaker 1: the Browns, Andrew Ciciliano, joined Dave Lapham and me on
22:59
Speaker 1: the Bengals game show this week and we started our
23:02
Speaker 1: conversation with that upset win last Sunday.
23:06
Speaker 6: I'll be honestly, I'm not surprised by the outcome. I
23:09
Speaker 6: know that's very easy to say after the fact. I
23:12
Speaker 6: am kind of surprised the way the game went. Aaron
23:16
Speaker 6: did not want to get sacked by Miles. Now he
23:18
Speaker 6: has never wanted to get sacked by Miles. In Week six,
23:20
Speaker 6: they did a lot of the same things, getting the
23:22
Speaker 6: ball out quickly, double teaming, sometimes triple teaming, using six
23:26
Speaker 6: offensive linemen, always having a tight end, sometimes two tight
23:29
Speaker 6: ends over on Miles side. But there was such an
23:33
Speaker 6: odd game. I mean, the Browns had fifty two yards
23:36
Speaker 6: of offense and two first downs in the second half.
23:40
Speaker 6: The Steelers had seven of their ten drive end in
23:45
Speaker 6: Brown's territory, including glass one the turnover run downs, yet
23:48
Speaker 6: they came away. It was only six points a lot
23:51
Speaker 6: of the second half. Honestly, I follows if the Browns
23:53
Speaker 6: were losing, and yet at the end they held on
23:58
Speaker 6: and won. And yes, I love beating the Steelers, and
24:01
Speaker 6: so does Mike Tomlin. I'm sorry, so does Kevin Stefanski
24:04
Speaker 6: at home. He is now five and one at home
24:09
Speaker 6: against the Steelers. Including four in a row, and the
24:15
Speaker 6: two teams have split the season series in six of
24:19
Speaker 6: the last seven years. The last time the Steelers one
24:23
Speaker 6: in Cleveland with a quarterback other than Ben Roethlisberger was
24:28
Speaker 6: Week twelve of two thousand and three.
24:31
Speaker 10: Unbelievable. It's a certain it is it's it's craziness, total,
24:35
Speaker 10: total absurdity. Okay, the national story is going to be
24:41
Speaker 10: Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett when coming into Cincinnatis are going
24:45
Speaker 10: to be able to get that quarterback sack and in
24:48
Speaker 10: set a new record. What type of a teammate is
24:51
Speaker 10: Miles Garrett.
24:53
Speaker 6: I think he's a great teammate, and I think he's
24:55
Speaker 6: an even greater teammate this year. And I want to
24:58
Speaker 6: be carefully, I'm not suggesting it was a bad teammate
25:00
Speaker 6: in years in any way at all, but I do
25:03
Speaker 6: think that he has been an exceptional leader this year
25:09
Speaker 6: for a very young team. Mason Graham is a baby.
25:14
Speaker 6: Carson Schwessinger is a baby. There are rookies all over
25:19
Speaker 6: this locker room. Shardor Sanders and Harold Fannin and Dylan Sampson. Guys.
25:23
Speaker 6: When Dylan Samson scored a touchdown Week two, in Baltimore.
25:28
Speaker 6: He did so on his twenty first birthday. He played
25:30
Speaker 6: Week one against you, guys at twenty years old. So
25:34
Speaker 6: this is a team full of babies here, and I
25:37
Speaker 6: think Miles has been an exceptional leader. Now I don't
25:41
Speaker 6: know that this was the way he thought the season
25:43
Speaker 6: would go, with hitting a jet on your two veteran
25:46
Speaker 6: quarterbacks by the time you get to week five, I
25:49
Speaker 6: don't think he saw that coming. And it would be
25:51
Speaker 6: curious to hear, you know, how he unpacks the season
25:56
Speaker 6: next week, next Monday, because Miles hasn't taken a deep
26:01
Speaker 6: introspective dive about the season, you know, and about the
26:05
Speaker 6: way things transpired, So that'll be interesting to hear. But
26:09
Speaker 6: he's been fantastic.
26:10
Speaker 1: The radio voice of the Browns, Andrew Ciciliano, is our guest.
26:13
Speaker 1: This is going to be starting number seven for Shador Sanders.
26:17
Speaker 1: The stats aren't great. Describe what he's done well and
26:20
Speaker 1: what he's done poorly.
26:22
Speaker 6: So the last two weeks, guys, the first quarter, the
26:26
Speaker 6: stuff that's scripted, he's decisive. He's hitting, I mean he
26:32
Speaker 6: has seen it and ripping it and they're marching up
26:34
Speaker 6: and down the field. They've had two beautiful touchdown drives
26:39
Speaker 6: in the first quarter in each of these last two games.
26:42
Speaker 6: In the second half, when defense has changed the picture
26:45
Speaker 6: a little bit, it gets a little money or he
26:47
Speaker 6: is very much a rookie quarterback. When he is on
26:50
Speaker 6: time and in rhythm, he's pretty good. And he's got
26:55
Speaker 6: great touch on the football as well, especially on the
26:58
Speaker 6: downfield throws he has in I don't lazy's the wrong word.
27:03
Speaker 6: He's a little slow in his processing sometimes with some
27:07
Speaker 6: balls over the middle. He's gotten a lot of passes
27:09
Speaker 6: knocked down the last few weeks, leading the interceptions. One
27:12
Speaker 6: of them was yesterday. Get two of them like that
27:14
Speaker 6: two weeks ago. So on the short stuff, especially over
27:18
Speaker 6: the middle, he's got to be more decisive. And you
27:21
Speaker 6: know the old quarterback thing you got you gotta put
27:24
Speaker 6: that arm up high twelve o'clock. Make sure you're getting that,
27:26
Speaker 6: you know, take taking that change off the top shelf
27:29
Speaker 6: or whatever the old analogy is. Like the coaches like
27:32
Speaker 6: to tell you you got to get that arm up there,
27:34
Speaker 6: because that right now has been an issue. Shador is
27:37
Speaker 6: a charming kid. He's a bit aloof and I mean
27:41
Speaker 6: that in an endearing way. I really hadn't met him
27:45
Speaker 6: because like on Sundays when I worked at Edical Network,
27:49
Speaker 6: I was always at Direct TV and in at the
27:50
Speaker 6: Red Zone channel. I was when Tiana was in the studio,
27:52
Speaker 6: and if anyone brought their families rund it was always
27:54
Speaker 6: on Sunday. So I introduced myself to Shador after they
27:56
Speaker 6: drafted them, and I did a sit down with them
27:59
Speaker 6: for Cleveland Browns, and then you know, we connected the
28:01
Speaker 6: dots and hey, I used to work with Dad and
28:03
Speaker 6: all of that. I had no idea what to expect.
28:04
Speaker 6: I was blown away by him. I was back in
28:06
Speaker 6: April beyond charming. Obviously there's been a lot of ups
28:10
Speaker 6: and downs since then. He's still got that million dollar
28:13
Speaker 6: smile and he's still a charming kid. It is just
28:16
Speaker 6: going through the ups and downs of being a rookie quarterback.
28:20
Speaker 6: Jackson Darts when he first got on the field, I mean,
28:22
Speaker 6: he was the savior, he was a franchise. He could
28:24
Speaker 6: have run from Mayor and obviously now you see the
28:28
Speaker 6: ups and downs of all of that. So he's going
28:30
Speaker 6: through the same things.
28:31
Speaker 1: All right, Andrew. That leads to this question. Right now,
28:34
Speaker 1: the Browns have the sixth pick in the draft. They
28:36
Speaker 1: also have Jacksonville's first round pick, number twenty eight overall.
28:40
Speaker 1: Will they take will they take a quarterback?
28:43
Speaker 6: Next year?
28:43
Speaker 2: What do you think?
28:45
Speaker 6: No clue? And here's here's why I have truly no clue,
28:50
Speaker 6: because as we sit here, let's be pragmatic. What's the
28:55
Speaker 6: decision making process going to look like? You know, there
29:00
Speaker 6: are things that are very much up in the air.
29:03
Speaker 6: Jimmy Haslam said last August during training camp that hey,
29:07
Speaker 6: you got to see both rooky quarterbacks, but we got
29:09
Speaker 6: to win more than three games. Okay, well now they've
29:11
Speaker 6: won four. Obviously, you guys here the coaching carousel and
29:16
Speaker 6: all the rumors and who knows what's going to happen,
29:19
Speaker 6: So I don't know what next year will look like.
29:22
Speaker 6: That is not rooting for any moves to be made.
29:25
Speaker 6: I think Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Barry are both exceptional,
29:29
Speaker 6: and I would bring them both back. That's just me.
29:31
Speaker 6: But who knows what's going to happen. And I don't
29:33
Speaker 6: think you can truly make any kind of projection on
29:38
Speaker 6: Shador until you know who's making those decisions.
29:42
Speaker 10: Kevin Stefanski is probably you know then Ice. I guess
29:47
Speaker 10: a lot of fans. You know, you hear fans saying
29:50
Speaker 10: they don't want any part of him returning to the
29:52
Speaker 10: Cleveland Browns or whatever. If Kevin Stefanski were to move on,
29:57
Speaker 10: would Jim Schwartz be a viable candidate to be a
30:00
Speaker 10: head coach? And what do you think his coaching can
30:02
Speaker 10: build me and his ability to connect with players?
30:07
Speaker 6: You know, it's a great question, and I don't know.
30:10
Speaker 6: My gut tells me Jim Schwartz would would certainly welcome
30:13
Speaker 6: the opportunity to be a head coach. Again. I know
30:16
Speaker 6: his defense loves him. I know everyone in the building, Yeah,
30:18
Speaker 6: loves him. He's had an exceptional job. This defense has
30:21
Speaker 6: since he got here been near the top of the league,
30:23
Speaker 6: and in twenty twenty three was the number one defense
30:26
Speaker 6: in the NFL, and they rode that defense into the postseason.
30:29
Speaker 6: I support Kevin and Jim Schwartz and Andrew Berry as
30:32
Speaker 6: the best draft class period period This year in the NFL.
30:36
Speaker 6: Carson Squassinger will be defensive Rookie of the Year. Quinn
30:39
Speaker 6: Shawn Judkins was heading to a one thousand yard season
30:41
Speaker 6: before the injury. Jilan Samson has made plays. Mason Graham,
30:45
Speaker 6: I mean it's a defensive tackle. The stats don't show it,
30:47
Speaker 6: but he's played exceptionally well as well. I am for
30:52
Speaker 6: keeping the band together, but Jim Schwartz deserves his phone
30:57
Speaker 6: to ring certainly.
30:59
Speaker 1: Here's a quick invitation to join Lapan Wayne box Miller
31:02
Speaker 1: for the Bengals pep Rally show this week. They'll be
31:05
Speaker 1: at the on the Rhine Eatery the food hall on
31:07
Speaker 1: the second floor above the downtown Kroger on Friday from
31:10
Speaker 1: three to six, and their scheduled guest in the final
31:13
Speaker 1: hour will be the guy who gave us this memorable
31:17
Speaker 1: moment last Sunday. Cody Ford lines up as a wide
31:21
Speaker 1: receiver outside the numerals at about three hundred and fifty pounds.
31:25
Speaker 11: Burrow throws Cody Ford catches. He's down to the fifty
31:30
Speaker 11: and the ten the five. He tackled around the three
31:36
Speaker 11: yard line, almost a big man TD for the all
31:42
Speaker 11: time highlight reel as Burrow threw it to Cody Ford
31:47
Speaker 11: and the Wooly Mammoth began running down the near sideline.
31:51
Speaker 12: I love it, Wooly Mammoth. I'm telling you, man, it's
31:55
Speaker 12: a big, big player out there at the wide receiver
31:58
Speaker 12: position that might be the biggest pipe receiver ever in
32:02
Speaker 12: the history of football.
32:04
Speaker 2: That's right.
32:04
Speaker 1: Offensive lineman slash wide receiver Cody Ford will be Friday
32:09
Speaker 1: special guest from five to six. That's going to do
32:13
Speaker 1: it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought
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32:33
Speaker 2: Of the Bengals. If you haven't done so.
32:35
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32:41
Speaker 1: that helps more Bengals fans find us. Happy New Year
32:45
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