Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Can't Quit You Baby

Transcript

Bengals Booth Podcast: Can't Quit You Baby · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horne and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Podcast The I Can't Quit You Babe. Addition, as the
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Bengals fall to four and eight losing a shootout to
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers forty four to thirty eight, coming up
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: radio replays, locker room comments and postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: in this week's fun Facts Conversation, you'll get to know
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: a Bengals scout who is briefly a Steelers quarterback. The
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: thing since easy crossword Puzzles. About once a year, for
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: no apparent reason, we get a people magazine delivered to
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: our house. I suppose the publisher's hope is that the
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: freebie will inspire us to subscribe. That's not going to happen.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: But when we get our random annual edition of People.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I love doing the crossword puzzle because it's ridiculously easy,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: and therefore I feel smart. I'll give you a few
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: examples from the current puzzle. Sixteen across Jake from state blank.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: How about fifty two across blank tac toe. Yes, I
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: was able to complete the People puzzler, and now I'll
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: try to get to the bottom of why People magazine
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: has never named me the sexiest man alive. As you
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: ponder that mystery, let's get to the radio replays from
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Sunday's AFC North Battle in the Jungle. It is December first,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: and winter has arrived in Cincinnati. The game time temperature
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: is twenty five degrees. With the wind chill, it feels
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: like if nineteen degrees. In other words AFC North weather.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: As we get set for a bare knuckle brawl between
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: the Bengals and the dreaded, hated but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: and it is time for the pig skin to fly.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Here at pay Corp Stadium.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Wilson in the gun, the thirty six year old QB
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: nine time Pro bowler in his first year in a
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Steelers uniform. He's back to pass.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: His throat better accepted running you back is Cam Taylor Britt.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: He's at the thirty five the thirty get to the.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Field block, get the five to the goal line, touchdown.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Bengals.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Cam Taylor Brent with a pick six to put Cincinnati
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: on the scoreboard. It is second down and two in
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the red zone at the Cincinnati seventeen. Russell Wilson catches
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: the shotgun snap wide receiver screen caught by pickins down
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: the song into the five into the end zone.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Touchdown. Pittsburgh.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Burrow will be under center with Chase Brown lining up
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: behind him. Back at the eight yard line. The Bengals
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: have multiple tight ends in They're on the right side,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: overloaded to the right. Burrow takes the snap, gives it
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: to Chase Brown. He goes low and he gets into
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: the end zone for the Bengals.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Touchdown.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Second down and eight for the Steelers at the Cincinnati
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: twenty three. Two receivers go out to the left, make
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: that three. Wilson back to throw looking left, throwing in.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: It is caught in the end zone by Austin for
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh touchdown by Hilton in coverage.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Calvin Austen with the catch.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Man Russell Wilson has his second touchdown pass of the game.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Burrow yelling out, kill kill so he is changing the
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: play from one play to the other, chases out to
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: the right. Higgins and Yosi vosh out to the left.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Shotguns snap Burrow the throw. He's back at the fourteen.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: He's in trouble. Begins scrambling a jump pass caught by
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Chase in the back of the end zone. Burrow went airborne,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: got enough on the throw and Jamar Chase is waiting
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: for the touchdown.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Pass first and goal from the ten.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: After the penalty on Mike Hilton, Wilson and the gun
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: with Harris to his left, fall's in the middle of
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: the field. Here's a toss sweep to the left. Najie
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Harris cuts it back toward the middle and walks into
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: the end zone for the Pittsburgh touchdown.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: First and ten.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati at the thirty three yard line of Pittsburgh. Two
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: receivers left, two out to the right. Chase goes out
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: wider to the left. Burrow catches a low snap, fakes
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: a hand off to Chase Brown, begins scrambling behind TJ.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Watt knock the ball away. Pittsburgh recovers at the thirty
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: nine yard line. This is a fifty yard try. Looks
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: like it's headed right down the middle and the gick
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: is good, So the Steelers have the lead for the
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: first time today. They take advantage of the fumble that
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: was forced by TJ. Watt, and Pittsburgh is in front
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: twenty four to twenty one with three point thirty one
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: left in the half. This will be a forty two
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: yard field goal attempt from the left hash for Chris Boswell,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: looking for his third field goal of the game. The
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: snap and the hold are perfect. The kick block nice
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Joseph oh Si blocking Chris Boswell's forty two yard field
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: goal attempt, and maybe that will swing the momentum in
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: this game. This will be a forty eight I'll make
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: that thirty eight yard field goal try for Evan McPherson
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: from the left HASH out of the hold of punter
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Ryan Rico. The snap is perfect, the right footed kick
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: looks good, oh yeah, and it is good.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: It was hooking slightly.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: It was not before it went through the uprights and
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: the Bengals pull within three for down to thirty five
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: seconds to go. Here in the third quarter, Pittsburgh leading
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: by three. Wilson stomps the right foot, catches the shotgun
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: snap short drop intro gets away from Hubbard throws bought
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: by Friarmouth, touchdown Pittsburgh. He caught it at the seven,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: nobody nearby, turned around and ran into the end zone
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: for another Pittsburgh score. Bengals send three receivers out to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: the right, one out to the left. As Burrow waits
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: for the shotgun snap, Yo se Vosh goes in motion.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Burrow catches against a five ho rush. He gets hit
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: from behind. The ball is out, scooped up by the Steelers,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: run back to the ten to five and into the
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: end zone for a touchdown.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Nick Herbig punched it out.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Peyton Wilson, the rookie out of NC State, scooped it
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: up and Pittsburgh is running away and hiding with a
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: forty to twenty four lead. Now, Brown moves to Burrow's left.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Joe catches the shotgun staff he's back to throw, gets
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: rid of it before the rush arrives, and he completes
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: it to t Higgins in the middle of the end
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: zone for the Bengals touchdown.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: He beat Cam Sutton.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Great job by Burrow to throw the ball just as
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: the pass rush was about to arrive, and Joe.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Has his second touchdown. Pass of the game.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Second in goal from the three yard line. Burrow in
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: the gun, Chase Brown Andrew Sample in the backfield. Joe
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: catches the shotgun, snap retreats, looks throws.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Any of the end zone. It is caught.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: There's a penalty flag down andre Yosi vash with the catch.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: The penalty flag is at the goal line and it
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: looks like it's on Joey Porter again hands to the
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: face in defense number twenty four. His penalty has decline
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: a result of the players a touchdown. Russell Wilson takes
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: the snap, takes a knee, and the celebration begins for
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers. They've come into pay Court Stadium. They
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: have scored forty four points and for the fourth time
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: this year, let me repeat, the fourth time this year,
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: the Bengals have scored thirty three or more points and lost.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Here are the gory details. In September, it was a
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: thirty eight to thirty three loss to Washington. In October
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: forty one to thirty eight in overtime to Baltimore, in
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: November thirty five, thirty four at Baltimore, and today on
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: the first of December forty four thirty eight to Pittsburgh.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: It's happened once a month and three times at home,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: the Bengals scoring thirty three or more and not coming
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: away with a win. Joe Burrow threw for three hundred
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: nine yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw an
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: interception and lost a pair of fumbles, including one that
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: was returned for a touchdown. Here are some of the
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: most interesting things Joe had to say after the game.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Try to get better. Whatever you put on tape is
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: is out there forever, whether it's effort or execution or
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: playmaking ability. You know, when gms and in scouts go
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: and look at the tape in the offseason, when they're
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: looking to go and get guys, they're not gonna care
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: what the score is. They're gonna care how hard you play.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: They're gonna care how execute and how many plays you make.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: And so for me, I'm just going to try keep
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: trying to be as consistent as I can and try
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: to put us in good spots playoffs. I mean, furthest
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: thing from my mind. You know, you never know what
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: can happen. So like I said, I'm just going to
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: keep putting one foot for the other, try to be
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: the best player that I can be for the rest
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: of this season, and weekend and week out, day in
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: and day out, trying to be the best that I
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: can be. This is a tough season, and you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: the cornerstones of this organization are going to be remembered
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: by more than just this season, and we will be
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: remembered by how we handle this. And you know, it's
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: still an exciting opportunity to go out and play for
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: this city and for this team every week, weekend, and
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: week out. That's something that I don't take for granted,
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: especially with my injury history. You know, I've been on
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: the sidelines and that's not a fun feeling. So I
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: love being out there for the guys, for the for
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: the city, for the for the team, for ownership, and uh,
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: you know, I love playing.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Burrow leads the NFL with thirty touchdown passes. That's only
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: five away from his single season team record, and the
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Bengals are averaging twenty seven point nine points a game,
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: that would be number two in team history, behind the
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: eighty eight Super Bowl team that averaged twenty eight a game. Furthermore,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: the Bengals have had eight previous teams that averaged at
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: least twenty six points a game. Seven of the eight
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: one Division titles, three went to the Super Bowl, So
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: it's hard to pin much blame on the offense. I
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: talked to Ted Karras after the game. Ted, It's a
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: team game, I know, but it's got to be hard
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: to fathom that you guys have scored thirty three or
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: more four times and haven't been able to find a
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: way to get a win in those games.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: You know, that's it is a team game, and you know,
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: I think our QB is playing really good ball, and
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: I think a lot of guys have been stepping up.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: And you know, it really doesn't mean anything if you
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: don't get to win.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: When you make a mistake, which is inevitable. It happens
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: to everybody in every game. But does it feel bigger
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: because of the way this season has gone.
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: I think that if you start to get exasperated you'll
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: tend to make more mistakes. So I think, you know,
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: from our unit perspective, I think we've done a good
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: job of flush and stuff and getting and moving on
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: to the next.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: But you know, can't make too many Cam's picked six
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: gave you a seven nothing lead early in the game.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: The defense hasn't had too many moments like that this year.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Did that give you a feeling early on that this
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: was going to be our day?
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: I always think it's going to be our day, and
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: you know, Cam made some unreal plays today. I think,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: you know, again as we were sitting here again in
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: December now saying, you know, we just didn't do enough
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: to win the game, and that's what it was. You know,
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: we lost by uh once, one possession. Yet again that
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: sucks and you know we gotta find a way to
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: beat the Dallas Cowboys.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Do you have an explanation in your own mind for
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: why this season just is gone away?
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: It had?
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: I think the line of the there's a thin line,
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: Marja Bear in the NFL. And you know, if you
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: you know, look at look at our games, look back
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: at our games to a self scout, I mean everyone
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: can pick one or two plays that if we've done
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: a little bit differently. You know that one score game
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: flips in our favors, So this team's got to learn, uh,
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: to find a way to win.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Was there a turning point and your view today?
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think we had, you know, towards the
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: end of the game, you know, a couple couple of
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: mishaps that kind of turned against us, you know, late
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: late game errors. So I'm not gonna sit here and
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: and I haven't watched it yet, so I'll have a
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: better better view monday.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: You've been around a while.
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: What do you do to hold a team together at
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: this point?
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Right now?
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: Hey, show up ready to work. I think that you know,
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: the way I was raising this league is, you know,
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: talking about leadership really does nothing. You got to show
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: up and bring the energy every single day and prepare
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: for the next game and until we don't have any
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: games left. That's one of the privileges of football is
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: that you get to restart and do it all again.
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: And playing for pride is helper them playing for a
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: playoff spot or not.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: I approach every single game the same way. We're going
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: out there to win. We're going out there to do
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: my job and win.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: As a loss feel different when you score thirty eight
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: and lose and now it's at the fourth time, or
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: sure he doesn't score thirty and loss, as opposed to
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: maybe going out there and not being able to do
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: anything at all offensively and not winning the game.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I think just in the flow of
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: the game, when you're scoring points, it feels better. We
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: had some momentum, but you.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Know, a loss is a loss no matter how it.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: Comes, so you know it's disappointing. Four to eight started December.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: We got a month to get ourselves right, and we will.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: The forty four points allowed on Sunday were the most
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: given up by Cincinnati this year, and Pittsburgh's five hundred
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: and twenty yards of offense match the season high set
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: by Baltimore in that Week five overtime game. Russell Wilson
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: threw for four fourteen of that five twenty, the second
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: highest total of his two hundred and ten games in
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: the NFL. Here's my conversation with Bengals defensive tackle bj Hill.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: PJ.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: I know it's gotta be tough at this point. How
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: do you come to grips with the way this season
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: is gone?
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: Came on fighting every day, come and work, put your
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: best before it all you got, let's keep playing.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Things started well on defense today with the pick six,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: and then after that it seemed like Russell Wilson had
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: a lot of success kind of diming his way down
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: the field.
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: Uh, Nickle and Diamond, we just gotta figure out way
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: just got out the field, get stops. That's all I
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: come down to. We just gotta be better on defense
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: all the way around.
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Is it difficult as a defensive player to see the
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: number of points that the Bengals have scored and not
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: come away with wins in some of those games?
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: For sure, especially when you know what kind of guys
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: you got in the building, especially in your room, the
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: defense room, de Lion room, whatever. Knowing what kind of
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: guys you got in there, it sucks h for sure.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: I see the look on your face when you sat
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: down in your locker, just kind of staring into space.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: It seemed like you were really just trying to process
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: how could this season have spiraled the way that it has.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: Yeah, man, it's the stuff, especially when you come to
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: work each and every day, put your best foot forward
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: each and every day, having good practice practices each and
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: every day, like you never coming in here we're having
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: bad days of practice. Now we actually come in here
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: even though our record is not as where we wanted
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: to be, but we come in here each and every day,
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: put our best foot for literally every single day. And
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: it sucks when you don't get the out come that
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: you want.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Was there a point in this game where you really
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: felt that the momentum swum, whether it was a turnover,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: something in particular, in this game, we.
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: Still had a chance with them, It made a one
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: and more big play at the end of the game.
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: Perhaps with them they did what they had to do,
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: But I never I never gave up. Never. I'm another
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: type of guy. I'm gonna fight to them.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Know you're playing hurt. I think we all appreciate you
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: doing it. Thanks for the time.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: So the Bengals are four and eight. Their slim chance
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: of making the playoffs goes like this. They win their
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: last five, which would automatically include a win over Denver,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: and the seven and five Broncos only win two or
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: fewer remaining five games, then both teams would be nine
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: to eight and the Bengals would win the head to
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: head tiebreaker. Things become more complicated though, if the six
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: and seven Colts or five and seven Dolphins also get
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: to nine wins. Now, let's hear what Zach Taylor had
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: to say. Is he spent a few minutes with Dave
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Lapham after the game.
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: Coach, I mean, what can you say. Offensively, put thirty
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: eight points on the board against this defensive football team
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: is one hell of a performance. But obviously when you
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: give up forty four, it's not good enough.
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: There's things everybody can do better to help us win
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: the game, you know, So we just got to be
• 17:36
  Speaker 7: accountable in every area for things that we got to
• 17:39
  Speaker 7: improve on. It's unfortunate that I sit here and say
• 17:42
  Speaker 7: that every week, you know, for the last three weeks,
• 17:44
  Speaker 7: and we've got enough talent to win these games. And
• 17:48
  Speaker 7: so again it's we got to get back to work.
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: We're primetime next week, Monday Night Football. It's a tremendous
• 17:53
  Speaker 7: opportunity for guys. We got a lot of pride, We
• 17:57
  Speaker 7: got the right people in the locker room. We got
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: to stick together and find a way to get win.
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: You mentioned that the Pittsburgh Steels defensive line, and Joe
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: Borrow mentioned as well. You know, it's like they don't
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: give you a whole lot of time to hold onto
• 18:09
  Speaker 6: the football. They're playmakers, they make plays. All of them
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: were involved in every turnover. I mean a deflected pass
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: that's deflected for an interception. Quarterback sacks, strip sack, I
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: mean all those guys, TJ Wat the same way, Cam Heyward,
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: you know, strip sacks. They're just tough to handle, aren't they.
• 18:28
  Speaker 7: I mean, they got two Hall of Famers over there,
• 18:30
  Speaker 7: and then those guys make players and about every game
• 18:32
  Speaker 7: they play in, and so you're doing everything you can
• 18:34
  Speaker 7: try to minimize their effect on the game, and they
• 18:37
  Speaker 7: still find a way. But we've got to overcome that
• 18:40
  Speaker 7: and do our best to minimize their ability to do that.
• 18:43
  Speaker 7: I thought our guys made some great plays today to
• 18:47
  Speaker 7: get some momentum going and try to find a way
• 18:49
  Speaker 7: to help us win. And you know, feel like, if
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: you get one more possession, we're going to find a
• 18:54
  Speaker 7: way to go score and win the game. And just
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: came up short today.
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: You have aged six point six yards per play, a
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: six point six problems again, they aver aged seven point nine,
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: which is like, you know, almost mind boggling. But the
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: offensive efficiency even even with you know, the turnovers, that
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: lost the turnover battle, that didn't want to do that
• 19:14
  Speaker 6: against this football team. Obviously can they came in plus thirteen.
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: That's a big factor in their in their success. But
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: games decided by eight points or less. Now the Bengals
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: this year one and seven, they're six and three. I mean,
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: that's the difference in having a playoff type season or
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: not those winning those close games.
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: Right, it's as simple as that. You know, you got
• 19:33
  Speaker 7: to every in this league. Most games come down to
• 19:35
  Speaker 7: one score and you've got to be on the positive
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: side of the outcomes there. And this year we just
• 19:40
  Speaker 7: again we're accountable for that. We haven't done the things
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: that winning teams do and closing out games as part
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: of what winning teams do. Control in the middle of
• 19:48
  Speaker 7: the game is what winning teams do, and we just
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: this year have not done that. This year's not over.
• 19:53
  Speaker 7: You know, a tremendous opportunity to go in primetime next
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: week and right or wrong here and we'll get our
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: guys fired up and we'll get our best.
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: They only give up ninety yards a game rushing. Chase
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: Brown had forty on one burst. I mean he had
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: a couple hit back to back carriages there in that
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: drive that were just amazing. How explosive he is. How
• 20:14
  Speaker 6: well is Chase Brown played for it. He did a
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: great job.
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: I thought the guy's up front did an excellent job
• 20:18
  Speaker 7: breaking him, and he's got the burst to hit it
• 20:20
  Speaker 7: through that next level and get those big plays. And
• 20:23
  Speaker 7: I thought the first half we had some great efficiency there.
• 20:25
  Speaker 7: Second half we didn't get an opportunity really to keep
• 20:27
  Speaker 7: coming back to it. We had some decent runs in there,
• 20:30
  Speaker 7: but just the way that the game flowed at that point,
• 20:33
  Speaker 7: you could tell we need to put the ball in
• 20:34
  Speaker 7: the air and go score some points. And they get
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: a chance to get the same opportunitys we in the
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: first half.
• 20:38
  Speaker 6: Joseph Asi blocks a field goal. I mean they've got
• 20:41
  Speaker 6: three blocks and they had one nullified by penalty. I
• 20:44
  Speaker 6: mean they lead the league, but to turn the tables
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: get one on them, that was big, wasn't it.
• 20:48
  Speaker 7: Yeah, there's moments like that again that you're proud of
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: the guys. Joseph worked hard at it. You know, Darren's
• 20:52
  Speaker 7: done a great job putting him in a position and
• 20:54
  Speaker 7: Joseph spot in and he goes and gets one there.
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: He's been so close over the years at getne these
• 20:58
  Speaker 7: and so he finally got one, and that's that needs
• 21:00
  Speaker 7: to be a turning point in the game, you know.
• 21:02
  Speaker 7: I think that was what first drive of the second half,
• 21:04
  Speaker 7: and offense went down there and got three points. But
• 21:07
  Speaker 7: you know, those moments you got to jump on and
• 21:09
  Speaker 7: really change the momentum the game.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: You start the game with a defensive score, you know that,
• 21:15
  Speaker 6: that's that's obviously a big deal. You take a seven
• 21:17
  Speaker 6: oh lead, you have the block field goal to start
• 21:20
  Speaker 6: the second half. I mean, so you come out to
• 21:22
  Speaker 6: start the game and to start the second half with
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: big plays.
• 21:26
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's what we challenge our guys to do during
• 21:28
  Speaker 7: the week is Yeah, the focus has been on how
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: we finish, but we got to start fast and so
• 21:33
  Speaker 7: I thought it was outstanding that we got that seven
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: to zero lead because the defense and then offense is
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: able to get it on track after that. So yeah,
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: those are things we asked to do.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: We did it.
• 21:42
  Speaker 7: It's just the media game wasn't good enough.
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: So what do you do. I mean, you had won
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: three in a row after the buye. You were in
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: position to get this one, but but come up a
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: little bit short. Obviously, what you did during the bye week,
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: guys responded to particularly offensively.
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, we we just gotta we got to pay close
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: attention to everything and make.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Sure we're we're.
• 22:06
  Speaker 7: Giving ourselves a chance here, you know, And I think
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: that's that's what we're got to look at right now.
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: When you're four and eight, you got to be realistic
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: with you know, there's got to be ways that we
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: can we can find as a coaching staff to close
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: these games out and keep getting our guys in the
• 22:18
  Speaker 7: best position possible and keep everyone believing, committing. And again
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: what I said of the team after locker room, we
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: have the right guys. We have the right guys that
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: are about the right things. And so that's what we're
• 22:28
  Speaker 7: gonna be sticking with and counting on as we get
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: down in the stretch here.
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: I appreciate you taking time with us as always. I know,
• 22:33
  Speaker 6: these uh, these games are tough. They rip your heart out,
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: There's no doubt. I mean, your team gives effort. It's
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: not like they're not they're not given effort out there.
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: It's just not making enough plays. I mean they're not
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: making you know, a big play, avoiding a big mistake.
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: I guess when you need.
• 22:48
  Speaker 7: To Yeah, I mean Pittsburgh's a big game for a team,
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: it's a big game for a city. We understand that,
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: we understand how how heavy dis weighs on us, and
• 22:55
  Speaker 7: so we got to find ways to win, you know,
• 22:57
  Speaker 7: to to win back the confidence of everybody. And I'm
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: very confident we got the guys to be able to
• 23:01
  Speaker 7: do that, and we got the opportunity this season to
• 23:03
  Speaker 7: do that, and that's what we'll continue to strive for.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: Up next Monday Night Football at Dallas. The Cowboys are
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: five and seven with a two game winning streak, and
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: this may surprise you, but the Bengals open as a
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: five and a half point favorite. The Bengals Booth Podcast
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: is brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: proof Fiber Internet design to elevate your home, business and
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time for the
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: radio guys recap.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Lab.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Football is the ultimate team sport. But this is a year, unfortunately,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: where one side of the Bengals is performing well and
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: the other side just isn't. It's been a rough year
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: for the defense, and this marks the fourth time the
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Bengals have scored thirty three or more and lost. It's
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: hard to believe.
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: Is It's mind boggling? Really? I mean, it's the most
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: points scored by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the most points allowed
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals have been in eight games,
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: they're one in seven in games decided by eight points
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: or less, one in seven. Steelers are six and three.
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: That's the difference in having a season where you're playoff
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: bound and one where you're sitting back and waiting to
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: be a spoiler for somebody that might be playoff bound.
• 24:30
  Speaker 6: How do you average six point six yards per play
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: and be worse by one point three yards than the
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: other team Pittsburgh everage seven to nine a play. That's
• 24:40
  Speaker 6: that's ludicrous. That's almost impossible to do five and twenty
• 24:44
  Speaker 6: yards on sixty six snaps. It's it really is amazing.
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: I mean, there are so many stats you can look
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: at in this football game and scratch your head and say,
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: you know, is it I was asking guys in the
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: locker room, is it mental? Is it physical? Is it
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: a combination? They just look at me like, you know,
• 25:07
  Speaker 6: I guess it's a combination. You know, we got to
• 25:09
  Speaker 6: look at the tape man.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: It just.
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: Hot knife through butter. I mean, every time they got
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: the football, it was just a question of how long
• 25:18
  Speaker 6: it was going to take them to score. That's what
• 25:20
  Speaker 6: it seemed like. It seemed like it was inevitable, but
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: how long was it going to take them?
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: I think in some ways we're all looking for complicated
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: answers to simple questions, And to me, this game underscores
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: why the Steelers are on the verge of going back
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs and the Bengals are on the verge
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: of being eliminated. Pittsburgh has guys on defense that make
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: impact plays, even in a game where their defense surrendered
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: thirty one points plus the pick six. TJ. Watt makes
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: a play, Nick Herbig makes a play. Cameron Hayward gets
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: in the backfield and makes sacks. The Bengals did have
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: a pick six in this game, but they have not
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: consistently made those one or two defensive plays that swing games.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: They don't have those guys on defense right now.
• 26:05
  Speaker 6: The Bengals have one guy in their defensive front that
• 26:09
  Speaker 6: people have to say, oh, Trey Hendrickson. Today, Pittsburgh had
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: three different guys in their defensive front make plays. Two
• 26:17
  Speaker 6: of them going to the Hall of Fame, T J.
• 26:18
  Speaker 6: Watt and Cam Hayward. They're going to the Hall of Fame.
• 26:20
  Speaker 6: Cam Hayward has a sack. Cam Hayward has a deflection
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: that T. Higgins has to adjust to and and deflex
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: it again and it's picked off. Her Big has a
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: strip sack. You know, they just they three different guys
• 26:34
  Speaker 6: in their front. Three out of the four guys on
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: their front made game changing plays. The Bengals have one guy,
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: I mean a defensive touchdown for sure, Cam Taylor Bred
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: I think you might have gotten away with a little something.
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: They're knocking them to the ground. But bottom line is
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: wasn't called And off to the races they go, Yeah,
• 26:54
  Speaker 6: I don't have enough playmakers in this league the way
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: offenses are have to have defensive playmakers to curb the
• 27:03
  Speaker 6: tide there a little bit. You know, it's if you don't,
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: it can be you know, an avalanche, wave after wave
• 27:10
  Speaker 6: after wave, and that's what happened to the Cincinnati Bengals today.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Defensively, if you go back to the Super Bowl season
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one, they had a handful of players
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: on defense that were among the best at their position
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: in the NFL that year. Trey Hendrickson, obviously, DJ Reider,
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Shildebao Wouje played as well as any corner in the
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: league that year. Jesse Bates was up there among the safeties.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: That's what they need to get back to being a
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl contending team. They need a handful, not eleven,
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: a handful of players on defense that are among the
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: better players at their position in the league. That's going
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: to be the challenge going forward, whether it's through free
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: agency or the draft. They need to get defensive players
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: that are among the best in their position in the league.
• 27:53
  Speaker 6: And that's what Pittsburgh has done. You know the Hall
• 27:56
  Speaker 6: of famers they have, They've retained them, they're paying them.
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: Cam Hayward and TJ. Watt. You know Herberd can play.
• 28:04
  Speaker 6: Heismith didn't even play today. He's another guy at the edge.
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: It can give you a headache. I mean, they're stacked
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: up front. That's a good place to be stacked. It
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: starts there and they can come after you with They
• 28:16
  Speaker 6: can substitute players I mean, they come after you with
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: so many people. You know, they got a competent players,
• 28:22
  Speaker 6: players at the linebacker position, and they've got you know,
• 28:25
  Speaker 6: Pro bowlers on the back end. If they don't have
• 28:27
  Speaker 6: six penalties in a game. I mean, Joey Porter Junior
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: was ridiculous today what he was trying to get away with.
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: And I thought that officiating crew was pretty liberal, and
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: I don't think they called everything they could have. And
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: even with that said, and he got flagged six times
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: or whatever it was for holding. But I'll tell you, boy,
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: they missed a big one under three minutes between two
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: and a half and three minutes to play in the
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: first half, neutraz on infraction and Kapa moves to make
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: sure that it stays that way, and they don't call it.
• 28:55
  Speaker 6: They call Kappa. I mean that was huge because you know,
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: they score a field goal off of that, the Bengals
• 29:00
  Speaker 6: are in a position if they get a first down
• 29:03
  Speaker 6: they may kick a field goal that that penalty ends
• 29:05
  Speaker 6: up being a potential six points win if the Bengals
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: could have scored, just like the block field goal by
• 29:11
  Speaker 6: OUTSI so, you know, both teams had a defensive touchdown
• 29:15
  Speaker 6: that neutralized you know, the the infraction that that you
• 29:21
  Speaker 6: have there with the non penalty call basically negates the
• 29:25
  Speaker 6: block field goal. I mean that was a field you know,
• 29:28
  Speaker 6: field goal for each team in that regard potentially, So
• 29:32
  Speaker 6: you know, then then it comes down to who's better
• 29:34
  Speaker 6: on a snap by snap basis at the line of scrimmage.
• 29:37
  Speaker 6: The Bengals are going against a much better defensive football team,
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: but they played valiantly offensively. And Russell Wilson, I mean
• 29:46
  Speaker 6: he has a pick six to start the game off,
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: and then he throws up ridiculous numbers. I mean, he's
• 29:53
  Speaker 6: a good player, but twenty nine to thirty eight four
• 29:56
  Speaker 6: and fourteen yards three touchdowns in the interception almost matched him.
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: He goes twenty eight to thirty eight one completion less,
• 30:04
  Speaker 6: but you know, one hundred and five yards less because
• 30:06
  Speaker 6: the Bengals couldn't tackle, they couldn't cover. And Joe's you know,
• 30:10
  Speaker 6: finding holes and finding his throws off platform today were incredible, incredible.
• 30:18
  Speaker 6: One time he's on a forty five degree angle as
• 30:20
  Speaker 6: he's going to the ground and throws a strike. I
• 30:22
  Speaker 6: mean he played his ass off again as he normally does.
• 30:27
  Speaker 6: He has three touchdowns interception as well, I mean it
• 30:29
  Speaker 6: was basically a wash as such at the at the
• 30:32
  Speaker 6: quarterback position. It's just bottom line is one defense made
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: more plays than the other in Pittsburgh. They're star players,
• 30:44
  Speaker 6: they're better players, made plays that made a difference in
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: this football game that they were better defensively.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Talked to three offensive players after the game, t Higgins,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Jamar Chase and Ted Karris. We were both in on
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Joe Burrow's postgame news conference. I didn't hear a negative
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: word said about the defense, which is what I would expect.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: This is a close team.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: Uh, they don't throw each other under the bus, certainly
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: not publicly. But you've been in situations like this before.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: What's it like, really in a locker room when one
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: side of the team is performing well and the other
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: side is really struggling.
• 31:19
  Speaker 6: Creates a tremendous amount of pressure and it's just one's
• 31:22
  Speaker 6: the top gonna blow off Because offensively, you're standing there
• 31:26
  Speaker 6: on the sideline looking at each other like, guys, we
• 31:28
  Speaker 6: got to score every damn possession. Forget three and out.
• 31:31
  Speaker 6: We can't punt the football. I mean, you know that's
• 31:34
  Speaker 6: went on today. Each punter just punt of the ball
• 31:36
  Speaker 6: one time It's like, you know, we we have to
• 31:39
  Speaker 6: do something every single possession. That that is a tremendous
• 31:44
  Speaker 6: amount of pressure on a on a week to week basis.
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: There's there's no question. That's why I thought, boy pick
• 31:49
  Speaker 6: six a defensive touchdown? Are you kidding me? I thought,
• 31:52
  Speaker 6: man off the off to the races potentially, But it
• 31:56
  Speaker 6: was it was such a track meet for Wilson and
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: the offensive football team. I mean, you know, Naji Harris
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: looked like Jim Brown.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: It was.
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: It was. It was incredible out there and initially were
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: referenced a bunch of times in the first half, little
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: checkdowns to Nasei, you know, out of the backfield. I mean,
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: you called, you were talking about it, Dan. I mean
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: in the first half, Naji Harris for the game ends
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: up with six catches hit him all in the first half,
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: six catches, fifty four yards. In those checkdowns, a little
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: three or four yard checks down, he picked up five
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: or six more. You know, he averaged nine yards per
• 32:37
  Speaker 6: per checkdown. Warren four for fifty five his would be
• 32:39
  Speaker 6: like three or four yards. He go for ten, you know,
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: yards after catch. It's unbelievable. They had twenty five and
• 32:46
  Speaker 6: twenty nine yard plays off of those checkdowns, so they're
• 32:50
  Speaker 6: normally catching it can't get him on the ground, you know.
• 32:53
  Speaker 6: It's like man, between those two guys, their two longest
• 32:56
  Speaker 6: catches of the game, it was over half a football field.
• 33:00
  Speaker 6: That that's the thing. I mean, the miss tackles, the
• 33:03
  Speaker 6: hidden yards there with miss tackles is crazy. I mean,
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: it's phenomenal. There's not a whole lot of hidden yards
• 33:10
  Speaker 6: going over on because neither team's putting the football, and
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: in today's rules and the kickoff, there's not really a
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: whole lot you can do from a hidden yard standpoint
• 33:17
  Speaker 6: there unless you bust you know, a kickoff return basically.
• 33:20
  Speaker 6: But I mean, I'm not sure what the uh the
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: average drive start number was, but it had to be
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: in from it was dead heat, dead heat. The Bengal
• 33:30
  Speaker 6: Pittsburgh has eleven possessions and the last one was you know,
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: basically end the game possession. They eleven possessions, they start
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: in the thirty their own thirty yard line, the Bengals
• 33:40
  Speaker 6: ten possessions starting their own thirty yard line, So it
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: was pretty even steven there because neither team punt of
• 33:45
  Speaker 6: the football, you know, I mean, turnovers kind of offset,
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: you know, the one for uh pick six for a touchdown,
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: it's huge, and then and then turnovers. The Bengals have
• 33:54
  Speaker 6: gave gave the Steelers, you know, a good field position,
• 33:57
  Speaker 6: but bottom line is on a on a snap by
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: snap basis, the Steelers played a more complete football game.
• 34:09
  Speaker 6: You know, if one phase is struggling a little bit,
• 34:12
  Speaker 6: the other phase picks it up. The defense is struggling
• 34:15
  Speaker 6: so badly though, I mean in the Bengals thirty eight
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: points can't pick them up. They did everything they could, really,
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: I mean, you know, and I know all the offensive
• 34:24
  Speaker 6: players and say, you know what, you know, we could
• 34:25
  Speaker 6: have done more. Yeah, could have done more. I guess
• 34:27
  Speaker 6: you know, theoretically you could have scored fifty. But this
• 34:31
  Speaker 6: is a good NFL defensive football team. I mean, thirty
• 34:34
  Speaker 6: eight points. In the yards you put up, your quarterback
• 34:36
  Speaker 6: throws for over three hundred, you end up with three
• 34:41
  Speaker 6: hundred and seventy five total net yards six point six
• 34:44
  Speaker 6: yards of play. That's gotta win you a ton of
• 34:48
  Speaker 6: football games. But it's not. It's not they're one in
• 34:52
  Speaker 6: seven and one score games or it's crazy.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Last thing.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: Joe Burrow's birthday is December tenth. He'll be twenty eight
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: years old. This is his fifth NFL season. He signed
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: through twenty twenty nine. He's not going away anytime soon.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: But it really hurts to have Joe Burrow stay healthy,
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: put up great numbers and be four games under five hundred.
• 35:16
  Speaker 6: It is, it's crazy. And you look at it today,
• 35:19
  Speaker 6: you know, the numbers Joe's putting up and the numbers
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: that Jamar's putting up on the season are, you know,
• 35:26
  Speaker 6: astronomically ridiculous. And he had a solid football game today.
• 35:31
  Speaker 6: Six catches for eighty six yards, another touchdown. He had
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: a forty nine yard reception. T Higgins supported that five
• 35:37
  Speaker 6: catches for sixty nine yards. Eleven catches for one hundred
• 35:41
  Speaker 6: and fifty five yards between the two of them, and
• 35:43
  Speaker 6: two touchdowns. You know, and get sick. He sees the
• 35:45
  Speaker 6: middle of the field's open some with what they're doing
• 35:47
  Speaker 6: on the perimeter with those two wideouts, and he supports
• 35:50
  Speaker 6: it with five for fifty three. I mean, to waste
• 35:53
  Speaker 6: the season that Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase having is
• 35:58
  Speaker 6: almost football crime. It's it's almost criminal, it really is.
• 36:02
  Speaker 6: I mean. And then Chase Brown, he's another one, you know,
• 36:06
  Speaker 6: when you're spreading the field and attack on the field
• 36:08
  Speaker 6: like Joe Burrows with his passing weapons. I mean thirteen
• 36:12
  Speaker 6: rushes seventy yards five point eight. That forty yard are
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: obviously was massive. You know, the other twelve rushes only
• 36:18
  Speaker 6: went for thirty but I think he had another one
• 36:21
  Speaker 6: for double digit rushes like fourteen yards or something. So
• 36:24
  Speaker 6: I mean two carries you had fifty four yards, so
• 36:26
  Speaker 6: it evaporated quickly. But he is a guy that can
• 36:30
  Speaker 6: hurt people in the middle of the football field when
• 36:32
  Speaker 6: you spread them out offensive with the weapons they have,
• 36:35
  Speaker 6: particularly defenses that are lesser caliber than the Pittsburgh Steelers
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: down the road.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: So it's off to Dallas next week for Monday Night football.
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: There's going to be an alternate telecast of that game,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: a Simpsons themed telecast. I will wrap this up by
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: quoting Bart Simpson. Here's what Bart would have said after
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: the game today. I karumba. That's about all that can
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: be said.
• 36:55
  Speaker 6: I corumba. And you know what, lou An Rumo may
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: try to recruit some of those Simpsons to maybe go
• 37:00
  Speaker 6: out and line up against the Dallas Cowboys. I mean,
• 37:02
  Speaker 6: I'll tell you, man, defense has to show up and
• 37:07
  Speaker 6: it's going to happen quickly. Offensively, I don't think you
• 37:12
  Speaker 6: can ask for much more. But defensively, oh yeah, you
• 37:15
  Speaker 6: can ask for more.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: That puts a rap on the Steelers game.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: Now it's time for this week's Fun Fact segment, introducing
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: you this week to a member of the Bengals scouting staff.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Time for some fun facts with Bengals scouting director Mike Potts.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: You are from Middletown, but not Middletown, Ohio. Middletown, Delaware,
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: which is basically in the middle of Baltimore and Philadelphia.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's why it has the name,
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: but describe Middletown, Delaware and what you liked about growing
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: up there.
• 37:45
  Speaker 8: Yeah, Middletown was a great place to grow up. High
• 37:48
  Speaker 8: school football is very important. There's not a whole lot
• 37:52
  Speaker 8: going on there. It was kind of an old farm
• 37:54
  Speaker 8: town probably when I first moved there, when I was
• 37:56
  Speaker 8: in second grade. You know, it's it's actually blown up
• 38:01
  Speaker 8: a lot now with with restaurants and businesses popping up
• 38:04
  Speaker 8: every time that I'm that I'm back there. But it
• 38:06
  Speaker 8: was a great place to grow up, pretty pretty low
• 38:08
  Speaker 8: key upbringing. I just remember playing every sport imaginable. They're
• 38:13
  Speaker 8: growing up and you know, have have friends that will
• 38:15
  Speaker 8: that will last a lifetime and uh, you know, just
• 38:18
  Speaker 8: nothing but positive of memories of growing up there, and it's,
• 38:21
  Speaker 8: you know, a great place to raise a family.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Do you find that people in this part of the
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: country or other parts of the country have no idea
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: where Delaware is?
• 38:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah, it's it's not the not the easiest place for
• 38:33
  Speaker 8: people to pick out on a map, but there's there's
• 38:36
  Speaker 8: a lot of positives about it as well.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: We're visiting the Bengal scouting director Mike Potts. You were
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: a quarterback. You played college football at William and Mary,
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: which is in Williamsburg, Virginia. How did you wind up there?
• 38:46
  Speaker 8: Had a pretty good high school career playing quarterback, you know,
• 38:49
  Speaker 8: had a handful of offers. No, no real you know,
• 38:52
  Speaker 8: big time, big time type of offers. The Ohio State,
• 38:55
  Speaker 8: Florida State, Florida's of the of the world weren't knocking
• 38:58
  Speaker 8: down my door in Middletown, Delaware. So just kind of
• 39:01
  Speaker 8: went through all of the offers that I had and
• 39:04
  Speaker 8: all the teams that were recruiting me, and I just
• 39:06
  Speaker 8: kind of thought that was the best fit for me.
• 39:09
  Speaker 8: Phenomenal academic school and the ability to get a degree
• 39:12
  Speaker 8: from there was a huge thing, you know, just in
• 39:15
  Speaker 8: terms of setting myself up for life after football. I
• 39:18
  Speaker 8: obviously thought I was going to have a long, fifteen
• 39:21
  Speaker 8: twenty year career playing in the NFL. I did get
• 39:25
  Speaker 8: a chance to get into the league a little bit
• 39:27
  Speaker 8: for a cup of coffee, but you know, it didn't
• 39:29
  Speaker 8: work out that way. But I'm glad to get that degree.
• 39:33
  Speaker 8: And you know, also football wise, it was a great
• 39:35
  Speaker 8: fit for me. I liked the offense and a lot
• 39:38
  Speaker 8: of things they were doing there, so ended up to
• 39:40
  Speaker 8: be a great decision.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: As you noted, you went to an NFL training camp
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger was the quarterback at
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: the time. He was beginning his fifth NFL season. Describe
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: your experience in Mike Tomlins training camp.
• 39:54
  Speaker 8: Oh, it was awesome. Like I said about how much
• 39:57
  Speaker 8: football I learned in college, you know, you you maximize
• 40:00
  Speaker 8: as that or multiply that, you know, times one hundred
• 40:03
  Speaker 8: at that level. Kenny Anderson actually was my quarterback coach.
• 40:07
  Speaker 8: Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator. They actually ended up
• 40:11
  Speaker 8: winning the Super Bowl that year. After the year that
• 40:13
  Speaker 8: I was in training camp with them in two thousand
• 40:15
  Speaker 8: and eight, So just to get a chance to go
• 40:17
  Speaker 8: against some of those big time guys. I'm running the
• 40:19
  Speaker 8: scout team offense a lot and go against that great defense.
• 40:24
  Speaker 8: Learning under guys like Mike Tomlin, you know x's and
• 40:26
  Speaker 8: o's wise, but also life skills wise, leadership, and just
• 40:30
  Speaker 8: being around that program, and you know, the way things
• 40:33
  Speaker 8: were done are things that I'll take with me the
• 40:35
  Speaker 8: rest of my life.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: We're visiting with Mike Potts. You did play professional football
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: for several years in the Arena League. Were you playing
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: for the love of the game or were you hoping
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: to be the next Kurt Warner and parlay that into
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: another NFL opportunity A.
• 40:49
  Speaker 8: Little bit of both for sure.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 40:51
  Speaker 8: I got a chance to play a little bit in
• 40:53
  Speaker 8: the preseason there with the Steelers and then got released
• 40:56
  Speaker 8: there at the end of camp, had a chance to
• 40:58
  Speaker 8: work out for a couple of teams, and it was
• 41:00
  Speaker 8: a bad time to come out of college. They had
• 41:03
  Speaker 8: just getting gotten rid of the NFL Europe the year
• 41:06
  Speaker 8: before that, and then the year that I came out,
• 41:09
  Speaker 8: they the Arena Football League as we formerly knew it
• 41:13
  Speaker 8: actually folded that year, so there was limited options. It
• 41:18
  Speaker 8: was Arena two where I first got my shot there
• 41:22
  Speaker 8: in the Arena League to play, because there was no
• 41:24
  Speaker 8: other options at the time other than I believe the
• 41:27
  Speaker 8: Canadian Football League was playing. So yeah, I absolutely love football,
• 41:31
  Speaker 8: you know, that's something that I wanted to keep playing
• 41:34
  Speaker 8: as long as I possibly could. And you always have
• 41:36
  Speaker 8: those hopes and dreams of getting back into the NFL
• 41:39
  Speaker 8: at some point as a player. But you know, I
• 41:42
  Speaker 8: always thought I would be that guy that we played
• 41:44
  Speaker 8: until I'm forty years old and try to, you know,
• 41:47
  Speaker 8: take every every possible chance that I could get to play,
• 41:50
  Speaker 8: just because I love playing the game. But when opportunities
• 41:53
  Speaker 8: came up to get into scouting and when I broke
• 41:56
  Speaker 8: in broke in with the Atlanta Falcons, it was kind
• 41:58
  Speaker 8: of an opportunity that I didn't know if that would
• 42:01
  Speaker 8: come up again, so I didn't think I could I
• 42:03
  Speaker 8: could turn that down or that would be the smartest
• 42:05
  Speaker 8: thing to do to continue playing in the Arena League
• 42:07
  Speaker 8: at that point.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: What was the pay like in Arena League two.
• 42:11
  Speaker 8: Oh, it was not a lot of money. I believe
• 42:13
  Speaker 8: if the pay scale changed a few times over my
• 42:16
  Speaker 8: handful of years playing. But I believe they paid you
• 42:20
  Speaker 8: something like two hundred dollars a game, and then you
• 42:22
  Speaker 8: got a fifty dollars bonus if you won the game
• 42:24
  Speaker 8: that week. So yeah, it wasn't wasn't a lot of money.
• 42:27
  Speaker 8: You're definitely playing for the love of the game. They
• 42:29
  Speaker 8: would set you up with housing and meals and you know,
• 42:32
  Speaker 8: a gym membership to work out, and you know a
• 42:35
  Speaker 8: lot of good memories from that as well. But you're
• 42:37
  Speaker 8: definitely not doing it for the to make a living
• 42:40
  Speaker 8: or make a ton of money off of it.
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: How'd you get that first scouting opportunity with the Falcons?
• 42:46
  Speaker 8: And Uncle la Mine Tim Stack It was an executive
• 42:50
  Speaker 8: in the Atlanta area and knew some people with the
• 42:54
  Speaker 8: Atlanta Falcons. Like I said, I still wanted to play
• 42:57
  Speaker 8: as long as I could. He ended up getting my
• 42:59
  Speaker 8: name cross to Rich McKay Thomas de Mitrof, who was
• 43:03
  Speaker 8: the GM at the time there in Atlanta, and and
• 43:07
  Speaker 8: you know, I ended up just getting a call from
• 43:09
  Speaker 8: Thomas one day out of the blue, and you know,
• 43:12
  Speaker 8: told me that they had an unpaid internship available. They're
• 43:16
  Speaker 8: also coming out out of the lockout. I believe that
• 43:19
  Speaker 8: was twenty eleven was the year, so they're coming out
• 43:21
  Speaker 8: of the lockout. There's a lot of uncertainty at the time.
• 43:24
  Speaker 8: But he told me they had an unpaid internship for
• 43:26
  Speaker 8: training camp, and like I said, you kind of weigh
• 43:29
  Speaker 8: the positives and negatives of taking that opportunity or continuing
• 43:32
  Speaker 8: to play football. And obviously I took that opportunity. Ended
• 43:36
  Speaker 8: up being like a month long interview, so to speak,
• 43:39
  Speaker 8: there in Atlanta, and I was fortunate enough that they
• 43:42
  Speaker 8: decided to keep me on for the rest of that year,
• 43:46
  Speaker 8: and then you know, I just kind of built my
• 43:47
  Speaker 8: career from there.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: How do you learn how to scout? It's tough.
• 43:52
  Speaker 8: There's a lot of a lot of good mentors that
• 43:54
  Speaker 8: I've had along the line. You think, as a player,
• 43:56
  Speaker 8: you think you know probably way more than you really
• 43:59
  Speaker 8: do coming into it, but a lot of you know, older,
• 44:03
  Speaker 8: more experienced scouts and executives general managers that I worked
• 44:07
  Speaker 8: with along the line, and also just learning from your
• 44:10
  Speaker 8: own mistakes and your own experiences, and you just watch
• 44:13
  Speaker 8: a ton of tape and take the advice and have
• 44:16
  Speaker 8: be a good listener, be very open minded to critiques
• 44:20
  Speaker 8: and ideas that different people are willing to give you
• 44:23
  Speaker 8: in terms of feedback, and you just kind of develop
• 44:25
  Speaker 8: your own style from there.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: We're visiting with Mike Potts. In twenty twenty, the Bengals
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: had the number one overall pick in the draft and
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: obviously selected Joe Burrow. Did you have an Aha moment
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: in the scouting process where you said that's the guy.
• 44:40
  Speaker 8: I think it built up over time. You know, things
• 44:44
  Speaker 8: weren't going great for us on the field that year.
• 44:48
  Speaker 8: You know, there was there was a chance that we
• 44:49
  Speaker 8: knew we would have a top five, top ten type
• 44:53
  Speaker 8: of pick, you know, probably about midway through the season.
• 44:56
  Speaker 8: But I saw a number of Joe's games that year live.
• 45:00
  Speaker 8: I do remember, if you boiled it down to one moment,
• 45:03
  Speaker 8: I do remember being at that LSU Alabama game that year,
• 45:06
  Speaker 8: and he had a phenomenal game. It was an awesome
• 45:09
  Speaker 8: game to be at. And I remember seeing that live
• 45:12
  Speaker 8: and then driving back to the airport after scouting that game,
• 45:15
  Speaker 8: and that was probably if you could boil it down
• 45:19
  Speaker 8: to one moment, that was probably where I was like, hey,
• 45:21
  Speaker 8: you know, if we're picking up hie and we have
• 45:23
  Speaker 8: a chance to get this guy, he'd probably be a
• 45:26
  Speaker 8: really hard guy.
• 45:26
  Speaker 6: To pass on.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: All Right, a few wild card topics now for Bengal
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: scouting director Mike Potts. Who is your all time favorite
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: athlete in any sport and why?
• 45:38
  Speaker 8: That's a good question. The first guy that comes to
• 45:41
  Speaker 8: mind is actually Shack Shaquille O'Neill, and the reason is
• 45:46
  Speaker 8: probably I want to say his rookie year was like
• 45:49
  Speaker 8: the ninety two to ninety three season, which I was
• 45:51
  Speaker 8: born in eighty five, so you know, I'm seven eight
• 45:53
  Speaker 8: years old at the time, so that's when I'm really
• 45:55
  Speaker 8: getting huge into sports at that age, and you know,
• 45:59
  Speaker 8: just his huge, huge presence, big personality, dominant game on
• 46:04
  Speaker 8: the hardwood. And then I also found out he had
• 46:06
  Speaker 8: the same birthday as me, so that that kind of
• 46:08
  Speaker 8: sealed it from there, So he was kind of kind
• 46:11
  Speaker 8: of growing up. That was for whatever reason that that
• 46:14
  Speaker 8: was the first big athlete that I kind of took
• 46:17
  Speaker 8: a liking to.
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: If not football, what do you think you would have done.
• 46:22
  Speaker 8: Man, That's that's a hard question. I would have had
• 46:23
  Speaker 8: to do something with sports. Football was always my number
• 46:27
  Speaker 8: one love. I got my degree from William and Mary
• 46:31
  Speaker 8: in kinesiology, which is a lot of sciences, the study
• 46:34
  Speaker 8: of human movement, you know, biomechanics, physiology, anatomy, things like that.
• 46:39
  Speaker 8: So maybe I would have tried to do something in
• 46:41
  Speaker 8: that realm. But like like I said, I was going
• 46:43
  Speaker 8: to try to exhaust every possible angle with football, whether
• 46:46
  Speaker 8: it was scouting, coaching, or obviously my plan A was
• 46:49
  Speaker 8: to play as long as I possibly could, but you know,
• 46:51
  Speaker 8: the opportunity in scouting came up, and I'm very fortunate
• 46:54
  Speaker 8: that it did.
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: Final question, and this one's kind of deep. If you
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: could meet anybody in history, living or deceased, who would
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: that person be.
• 47:05
  Speaker 8: That's another great question. My mom's father passed away when
• 47:09
  Speaker 8: she was really young, I think seven months old, so
• 47:13
  Speaker 8: that would have been awesome just to get to meet him.
• 47:15
  Speaker 8: You know, I've been told by my grandmother and a
• 47:18
  Speaker 8: lot of people that I reminded them of him and
• 47:22
  Speaker 8: looked like him, and a lot of things like that,
• 47:24
  Speaker 8: So it would have been great to just you know,
• 47:25
  Speaker 8: have a moment with him, have a conversation, be able
• 47:28
  Speaker 8: to be around him and meet him, and just learn
• 47:30
  Speaker 8: about more about my family and their history and everything
• 47:33
  Speaker 8: like that. So that would definitely be the answer to
• 47:36
  Speaker 8: that question that comes to mind.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: Mike. Thanks so much for your time.
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: Best of luck the rest of the year.
• 47:40
  Speaker 8: Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it.
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by pay Corps. Proud
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: to be the Bengals Official HR software provider, by Alta
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: Fiber future proof fiber Internet design to elevate your home,
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: business and community to a new level, and by kettering
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: health the best Care for the best Fans. Health is
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the Bengals Boot Podcast.