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Bengals Booth Podcast: One More Last Chance · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The Gimmages one more last chance addition, as the Bengals
0:14
Speaker 2: hope that everything falls just right on the final weekend
0:18
Speaker 2: of the season, beginning with a win over Pittsburgh on
0:22
Speaker 2: Saturday night. Coming up, I'll talk to Boomer about Burrow.
0:27
Speaker 2: My one on one player interview is with Ted Krris
0:29
Speaker 2: and in this week's Know the Faux Conversation, we'll get
0:32
Speaker 2: an in depth look at the Steelers from the radio
0:35
Speaker 2: voice Rob King. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to
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0:57
Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
0:58
Speaker 2: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
1:00
Speaker 2: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
1:04
Speaker 2: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:09
Speaker 2: the greatest thing since Second Win. The Boomer and Gunner
1:14
Speaker 2: assiasin story that's the name of a film. The debut
1:17
Speaker 2: on Christmas Eve on ESPN and can now be seen
1:21
Speaker 2: on ESPN Plus. The film is beautiful, moving, joyous, and inspirational,
1:29
Speaker 2: and it's one of the things I discussed with my
1:32
Speaker 2: first guest on this episode. With all of this Joe
1:36
Speaker 2: Burrow MVP talk, it is the perfect time to catch
1:39
Speaker 2: up with the bengals last most Valuable Player, Boomer Assiasin Boomer,
1:44
Speaker 2: your MVP season was your fifth year in the NFL.
1:47
Speaker 2: This is Joe Burrow's fifth year in the NFL. What
1:50
Speaker 2: do you find remarkable about what he's been doing this year?
1:54
Speaker 3: Seems like he's been around a hell of a lot
1:56
Speaker 3: longer than five years.
1:57
Speaker 4: I can tell you that.
1:58
Speaker 3: He's already jem packed in an entire career into those
2:01
Speaker 3: five years. You know, I think his growth, his leadership.
2:06
Speaker 3: You know, he's kind of an odd duck a little bit,
2:09
Speaker 3: which I like, he's his own person, But you know,
2:12
Speaker 3: you can't deny the historical things that he is doing
2:16
Speaker 3: and he's accomplishing. I mean, he's on the cusp of
2:19
Speaker 3: doing something only Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have done,
2:22
Speaker 3: and that's forty five hundred yards forty touchdowns in less
2:25
Speaker 3: than ten interceptions in a season, and I would say
2:29
Speaker 3: to you, in a normal season, that would be the
2:32
Speaker 3: runaway MVP numbers, and nobody would have a problem voting
2:35
Speaker 3: for them. Unfortunately for them, because they're not in the playoffs,
2:39
Speaker 3: because they're not winning their division, because they have to
2:41
Speaker 3: hang on here at the end, he's probably going to
2:44
Speaker 3: get less votes because of that. I think there will
2:47
Speaker 3: be some people that do vote for him. I no
2:49
Speaker 3: longer have a vote, by the way, I gave that
2:51
Speaker 3: up this year. I would say that Lamar Jackson and
2:55
Speaker 3: Josh Allen right now have to be one A and
2:58
Speaker 3: one B, and depending on what happens here the last
3:01
Speaker 3: week of the season, maybe Lamar there was something even
3:03
Speaker 3: more historical and throws for over four thousand or uns
3:06
Speaker 3: for over eight hundred yards, which is just insane, and
3:09
Speaker 3: also throws for over forty touchdowns and has less than
3:13
Speaker 3: five the interceptions.
3:15
Speaker 1: I'm a broadcaster.
3:16
Speaker 2: I've got a healthy ego, like a lot of people
3:18
Speaker 2: in the business, but they're a handful of broadcasters boom
3:21
Speaker 2: or where. I say, you know what, I'm good, but
3:23
Speaker 2: I'm not that good.
3:25
Speaker 1: You had a phenomenal fourteen year NFL career.
3:28
Speaker 2: But is there anything about Joe where you say, man,
3:31
Speaker 2: I could have never done that or I didn't have that.
3:35
Speaker 3: Well, you know, first of all, they play in a
3:36
Speaker 3: different euro and the rules are different. So the one
3:39
Speaker 3: thing or the three things, I'll say that I didn't
3:41
Speaker 3: really have the benefit of or defensive holding, illegal contact,
3:45
Speaker 3: and protecting the quarterback. So I didn't have those things
3:48
Speaker 3: going for me back in the day. And the game
3:50
Speaker 3: has changed, but nonetheless it's still extremely physical. You've got
3:55
Speaker 3: to be cerebraled, you got to be a leader, you
3:57
Speaker 3: got to stand tall.
3:59
Speaker 1: You know.
4:00
Speaker 3: Actually, I wish that Joe had a top ten defense,
4:03
Speaker 3: I really do. I mean, Patrick Mahomes has had that,
4:07
Speaker 3: and you could see that they can win without having
4:09
Speaker 3: to score thirty points or more a game. So the
4:12
Speaker 3: thing that's remarkable to me is this run that Joe
4:14
Speaker 3: is on. It's unprecedented when you think about it, when
4:17
Speaker 3: you're talking about the amount of yards, the amount of touchdowns.
4:21
Speaker 3: Now all of a sudden, the winning is starting to happen.
4:24
Speaker 3: You know, I just think that there are things that
4:27
Speaker 3: he does on the field that nobody else in the
4:29
Speaker 3: NFL is capable of doing. But you can't match numbers
4:33
Speaker 3: when it comes to just statistics when you're talking about
4:35
Speaker 3: things like that. But he does more than numbers, and
4:38
Speaker 3: you know his ability to spread it around. I know
4:40
Speaker 3: that Jamar is his favorite, but you know he does
4:42
Speaker 3: not mind getting everybody else involved. And you know you
4:46
Speaker 3: can see on this Hard Knocks AFC North how in
4:50
Speaker 3: control of the team is, how he is the leader,
4:52
Speaker 3: how everybody loves poking fun at him. He pokes fun
4:54
Speaker 3: at everybody else. So you know, those are all the
4:57
Speaker 3: great things that I see. And those are the things,
4:59
Speaker 3: by the way, Dan, that I expected five years ago
5:02
Speaker 3: before they drafted him, And I think you and I
5:04
Speaker 3: probably had a discussion about whether or not he was
5:06
Speaker 3: going to be the number one overall pick. I remember
5:09
Speaker 3: telling Jeff Hopson, I mean, look, how could he not
5:11
Speaker 3: be the number one overall pick? And he should go
5:14
Speaker 3: on to have a Hall of Fame career, And those
5:16
Speaker 3: were the expectations that I had for him five years ago.
5:19
Speaker 3: I can imagine that Mike Brown and everybody in Bengaledon
5:23
Speaker 3: probably had the same feelings that I did.
5:26
Speaker 2: Boomer, you were never shy about expressing your opinion in
5:29
Speaker 2: your playing days, and Joe has been a little more
5:32
Speaker 2: direct recently, expressing some of the things he would like
5:35
Speaker 2: to see going forward.
5:36
Speaker 1: Do you like that when you hear.
5:37
Speaker 3: It, I just be careful about it. I mean, I
5:40
Speaker 3: want him to be the quarterback that he is. You know,
5:43
Speaker 3: they need help, and they need help on defense in
5:45
Speaker 3: the offseason. Regardless of what happens this year, maybe somehow
5:49
Speaker 3: they get in. Maybe the Dolphins lose to the Jets,
5:51
Speaker 3: maybe the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, both probably playing
5:55
Speaker 3: backup quarterback. So the likely scenario is that that's not
5:58
Speaker 3: going to happen. That the Bengals won't make it, unfortunately.
6:02
Speaker 3: But this offseason, when I look at it, it's not
6:04
Speaker 3: about offense. It's never been about offense since he got there.
6:08
Speaker 3: Maybe about the offensive line early on, and didn't play
6:11
Speaker 3: with a great offensive line in the Super Bowl against
6:13
Speaker 3: the Rams and almost won the game despite that, but
6:16
Speaker 3: then at the end it came to fruition where Aaron
6:19
Speaker 3: Donalds won the game for the Rams late in that game.
6:21
Speaker 3: But I just think that if they could somehow get
6:24
Speaker 3: in the top ten defensively like the Chiefs are, then
6:28
Speaker 3: Joe may not be putting up these gaudy numbers as much,
6:31
Speaker 3: but he won't be asked to do so much, and
6:32
Speaker 3: maybe he'll last a hell of a lot longer. So
6:36
Speaker 3: I just I hope for him that the team becomes
6:39
Speaker 3: more balanced and somehow, some way he can win a
6:43
Speaker 3: game twenty one to nineteen or seventeen to fourteen, if
6:47
Speaker 3: it ever came down to that.
6:49
Speaker 2: Does that make you reluctant to extend both wide receivers.
6:54
Speaker 3: I don't see how you can. Your quarterback's making fifty
6:56
Speaker 3: five million dollars a year, Jamar Chase will be the
6:59
Speaker 3: highest paid wide receiver in football. So he will eclipse
7:03
Speaker 3: Justin Jefferson, and he deserves to. I mean, you know,
7:06
Speaker 3: I see a lot of stuff on X and I
7:09
Speaker 3: see a lot of people posting, and every now and
7:11
Speaker 3: then I'll get involved and people get mad at me
7:13
Speaker 3: because you know, they want T Higgins or Jamar Chase
7:15
Speaker 3: to take less money and try to keep everybody together.
7:19
Speaker 3: I mean, in this day and age, in the cap
7:21
Speaker 3: and the amount of money that is being spent, you
7:23
Speaker 3: can't do it that way anymore. So you got to
7:26
Speaker 3: be really judicious about who you're paying, how much you're
7:30
Speaker 3: paying them, what you're paying them. In signing bonuses. You know,
7:33
Speaker 3: the Browns are dealing with Deshaun Watson and maybe the
7:36
Speaker 3: dumbest move in the history of the NFL. I think
7:39
Speaker 3: t Higgins deserves to be paid. I think he's a
7:41
Speaker 3: number one receiver. I think there are a number teams
7:44
Speaker 3: out there that would love to give him a four year,
7:47
Speaker 3: probably thirty to maybe thirty one hundred and twenty million
7:50
Speaker 3: dollar contract with about sixty million guaranteed. And why should
7:54
Speaker 3: he expect less or take less because nobody else is
7:58
Speaker 3: And quite frankly, if if you're a part of the NFLPA,
8:02
Speaker 3: which they all are, their job is to eclipse the
8:05
Speaker 3: guy that's in front of them when they are worthy
8:07
Speaker 3: of it. And that's exactly what Jamar Chase's situation is
8:10
Speaker 3: right now. So ninety million dollars to a quarterback wide
8:14
Speaker 3: receiver tandem, that's a lot of money when it comes
8:17
Speaker 3: to the salary cap in the NFL these days.
8:20
Speaker 2: Let's specifically talk about Jamar. He hasn't even turned twenty
8:23
Speaker 2: five yet he's having a historically great season. Of the
8:26
Speaker 2: guys that you threw to and you've watched since, what's
8:29
Speaker 2: unique about Jamar.
8:31
Speaker 3: His length, first and foremost combined with his speed, so
8:35
Speaker 3: he also has an awareness on the football field. So
8:38
Speaker 3: the closest guy I had was Eddie Brown. Eddie Brown
8:41
Speaker 3: was not nearly as big as Jamar is, but he
8:44
Speaker 3: had an innate ability to understand where he was on
8:47
Speaker 3: the field, and no matter where you threw the ball,
8:49
Speaker 3: there was always the thought that he was going to
8:51
Speaker 3: take it to the house. So those are the little
8:53
Speaker 3: intangible things that you know. You don't know until you
8:55
Speaker 3: start playing and seeing a guy up close and personal,
8:58
Speaker 3: you know what kind of player they are are. You know,
9:01
Speaker 3: Chris and Tim McGee, Chris Comsworth and Tim McGee, they
9:04
Speaker 3: were straight line runners, great route runners. They could separate
9:07
Speaker 3: at the top of their routes. Jamar can do that.
9:10
Speaker 3: But Jamar is a freak athlete and he's got enormous hands,
9:14
Speaker 3: so he very rarely ever drops the ball. That's why
9:17
Speaker 3: when he drops the ball, you're like, oh my god,
9:19
Speaker 3: I can't believe he just dropped the ball. So and
9:21
Speaker 3: the combination and you know, the collection of playmakers that
9:25
Speaker 3: they have on the offense being orchestrated by Joe, it's
9:29
Speaker 3: just it's fun to watch.
9:30
Speaker 4: I mean, Paul.
9:31
Speaker 3: Brown Stadium, all the orange and black the way it looks,
9:34
Speaker 3: the way the uniforms look, the helmet looks. It's great
9:37
Speaker 3: to watch it up close and personal. It's just a
9:40
Speaker 3: shame that I don't I just unfortunately, I don't think
9:42
Speaker 3: they're going to make the playoffs.
9:43
Speaker 2: Man, Well, let's talk about the first thing they need
9:46
Speaker 2: to do, and that is beat Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
9:48
Speaker 2: The Steelers won the first meeting forty four to thirty eight.
9:51
Speaker 2: The Bengals haven't lost the game since. What do they
9:53
Speaker 2: have to do to beat them in Pittsburgh on Saturday?
9:57
Speaker 3: So Joe's throwing fourteen interceptions against this defense. They were
10:01
Speaker 3: a pain in the ass when I played. They're a
10:03
Speaker 3: pain in the ass to Lamar Jackson, and they seem
10:06
Speaker 3: to be a pain in the ass that Joe Burrow.
10:08
Speaker 3: But the last couple of times he's throwing for over
10:09
Speaker 3: three hundred yards against them. I would suspect it's going
10:12
Speaker 3: to be that type of game again. But unfortunately for
10:15
Speaker 3: the Steelers, you know, they've lost three in a row now,
10:18
Speaker 3: or maybe even four in a row. I mean, they
10:19
Speaker 3: are going off a cliff. I expect another probably twenty
10:23
Speaker 3: seven to twenty four, thirty twenty seven type of game.
10:27
Speaker 3: I would think the team that has the ball last
10:30
Speaker 3: is going to have a chance to kick a game
10:31
Speaker 3: winning field goal. And I would remind Zach Taylor, do
10:35
Speaker 3: not give the other team an opportunity at the end
10:37
Speaker 3: of the first the end of the game regulation to
10:40
Speaker 3: beat your defense because you have to protect them because
10:43
Speaker 3: they need protecting. So you know, managing the clock will
10:46
Speaker 3: be important once again, as it always is in every
10:48
Speaker 3: game when it's close late in late in the game.
10:52
Speaker 2: If the Bengals win on Saturday, they can kick back
10:55
Speaker 2: on Sunday afternoon and hope for help from Kansas City
10:59
Speaker 2: and from the Jets. Give me a scenario where those
11:02
Speaker 2: two upsets happen.
11:03
Speaker 3: I think both maybe playing with backup quarterbacks. Tyler Huntley
11:06
Speaker 3: could be going for Miami. They're saying Tool wants to play,
11:10
Speaker 3: but you know he's got the hip injury, so I
11:12
Speaker 3: don't know if they're going to put him out there
11:13
Speaker 3: in a meaning well, it's not meaningless for that. Of course,
11:16
Speaker 3: the Jets are a basket case. They were awful last
11:19
Speaker 3: week in Buffalo, but this is the NFL. That doesn't
11:22
Speaker 3: mean anything. You know, Aaron Rodgers wants this five hundred
11:25
Speaker 3: touchdown pass he'd like to throw to Devonte Adams. They
11:28
Speaker 3: would like nothing better than to ruin the Miami Dolphins
11:32
Speaker 3: hopes for a playoff themselves, which I don't think is
11:35
Speaker 3: going to happen because I maybe Carson Wentz beats Denver
11:38
Speaker 3: in Denver, I'm not sure that could happen, I guess,
11:40
Speaker 3: and I know Carson is auditioning for other teams for
11:43
Speaker 3: next year. So I think it would have to take
11:46
Speaker 3: a great performance by Carson Wentz in Kansas City to
11:50
Speaker 3: beat Denver. And then I think it would also have
11:52
Speaker 3: to take a big performance by Aaron Rodgers thinking maybe
11:57
Speaker 3: this is my last game of my career and I
11:59
Speaker 3: want to while winning a meaningless game. So I think
12:02
Speaker 3: that's what it would take. It reminds me in nineteen
12:04
Speaker 3: eighty six, we won our final game. We got the
12:07
Speaker 3: ten and six, and I think we needed the Dolphins
12:10
Speaker 3: to beat the Patriots or the Patriots to beat the Dolphins.
12:13
Speaker 3: One of those two teams had to win on Monday
12:14
Speaker 3: Night football, And I remember me and Chris sitting at
12:17
Speaker 3: the waterfront. We were on Monday Night Football sitting there
12:21
Speaker 3: watching this game and unfortunately and ended in disappointment for us.
12:25
Speaker 3: But we did have a good year, and it spring
12:27
Speaker 3: It was a springboard that ultimately got us to the
12:30
Speaker 3: super Bowl in eighty eight.
12:32
Speaker 2: Boomer on Christmas Eve, ESPN aired a film named Second Wind,
12:37
Speaker 2: the Boomer and Gunner asiasin story. I was floored. I
12:41
Speaker 2: was literally moved to tears. That is your family's life
12:45
Speaker 2: story up on the screen. How did you feel about
12:48
Speaker 2: the way it turned out?
12:50
Speaker 3: It was amazing. I had a sneak preview, so I
12:53
Speaker 3: was ready for it when they played it. And what
12:56
Speaker 3: I'm glad about is that it really told Gunner's story
12:59
Speaker 3: and how he has grown into a young man who's
13:02
Speaker 3: a bother and a husband himself. He's remarkable, he's got
13:06
Speaker 3: his own job, he's doing exceptionally well, and his whole
13:09
Speaker 3: life turned around with a miracle drug in twenty and eighteen.
13:12
Speaker 3: I have been praying ever since he was diagnosed that somehow, someway,
13:17
Speaker 3: we could be a part of something really, really special.
13:19
Speaker 3: And in twenty and eighteen it happened. And from twenty
13:22
Speaker 3: and eighteen to twenty twenty four, he's gotten married, he's
13:26
Speaker 3: gotten two MBAs, he's got a job up in Boston,
13:29
Speaker 3: he's got two kids. There are his kids. He's the
13:32
Speaker 3: biological father. They went through IVF. He went through the
13:35
Speaker 3: needle to the testicle's root, because that's the way you
13:38
Speaker 3: have to go if you are a CF father. And
13:42
Speaker 3: I have a grandson and a granddaughter. So it's my miracle,
13:45
Speaker 3: it's my super Bowl. It's everything that I could have
13:48
Speaker 3: hoped and prayed for. And I think they did such
13:51
Speaker 3: a good job of capturing who Gunner is as a person,
13:54
Speaker 3: and then watching his wife Darcy speak about Gunner aid
14:00
Speaker 3: me chills. So I had the same feelings most people had,
14:03
Speaker 3: but even more impactful. If you can imagine that.
14:07
Speaker 2: I thought I knew Gunner's story, but honestly, I didn't
14:10
Speaker 2: realize how dire his health had become in his early
14:14
Speaker 2: twenties until the discovery of the drug that you described.
14:18
Speaker 2: How concerned were you during those years that he might
14:21
Speaker 2: not make it much longer?
14:23
Speaker 3: You know, it's the physical part of it was apparent us,
14:26
Speaker 3: you could see it. The mental part is the scary part,
14:30
Speaker 3: because you don't see all the things that he's going through.
14:33
Speaker 3: And you know, as a twenty two year old man
14:37
Speaker 3: graduating from college and watching all of his friends go
14:39
Speaker 3: off and live their lives, get their jobs, of their dreams,
14:42
Speaker 3: and become successful young men themselves. It had to be
14:46
Speaker 3: weighing on Gunner extremely heavily. And that was the thing
14:50
Speaker 3: that I saw the most of You know, we could
14:53
Speaker 3: deal with the physical stuff, but the mental stuff I
14:55
Speaker 3: was scared about. And then when he met his girlfriend,
14:58
Speaker 3: then his wife, now his whole life changed because she
15:03
Speaker 3: graduated from college in the mental health space and has
15:07
Speaker 3: worked in the mental health space as a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
15:11
Speaker 3: So she was the perfect person. Was like she was
15:13
Speaker 3: sent from heaven. That's why I described her as the
15:16
Speaker 3: angel that she is, because she got him out of
15:19
Speaker 3: his doldrums, out of his depressed state, and gave him
15:23
Speaker 3: a reason to live. And then when twenty and eighteen
15:26
Speaker 3: came two years after I think it was two years
15:28
Speaker 3: after they met, it was like, Okay, it's a rocket
15:30
Speaker 3: ship blasting off, and we're going to do all of
15:33
Speaker 3: this stuff and so much in such a quick period
15:36
Speaker 3: of time that none of us really had a chance
15:38
Speaker 3: to digest what was happening in front of our eyes.
15:42
Speaker 3: And then when you sit down and you take stock
15:44
Speaker 3: of all of it, you realize that later on in life,
15:47
Speaker 3: she became the ultimate hero to who he has now become,
15:51
Speaker 3: and they make an unbelievable pair of parents and Gunner
15:55
Speaker 3: as a remarkable young man who is living his life
15:58
Speaker 3: to the fullest.
15:58
Speaker 2: Now, I don't know a lot of people who have
16:01
Speaker 2: changed the course of history. You have through the Boomer
16:05
Speaker 2: Assiasin Foundation. The money you raise toward research helped the
16:09
Speaker 2: discovery of Trikafta, which has changed the lives of tens
16:14
Speaker 2: of thousands of people. And fortunately it doesn't work for
16:16
Speaker 2: every CF patient. Do you believe now, Boomer, that a
16:21
Speaker 2: cure for CF will be discovered?
16:25
Speaker 3: I think it's on the horizon for sure. And let
16:28
Speaker 3: me just say this, This journey oft ourge started thirty
16:31
Speaker 3: years ago. I had just become a New York Jet
16:34
Speaker 3: and I think you over their shoulder you could see
16:36
Speaker 3: the Sports Illustrated cover where it all started. And here
16:39
Speaker 3: we are thirty years later. Gunner's thirty three. I'm sixty three.
16:43
Speaker 3: Do you know how many people I asked to be
16:45
Speaker 3: a part of our foundation? I mean thousands, from my
16:48
Speaker 3: former teammates Chris Collinsworth and Stanford Jennings and my offensive
16:54
Speaker 3: lines over the years, the coaches Sam Weisch, Bruce Cosled,
16:58
Speaker 3: I can go on and on, companies like Cincinnati Bell
17:01
Speaker 3: and my friend Jack Cassidy, Jeff Ruby from Ruby Steakhouse.
17:05
Speaker 3: All these people gave a little bit, then they gave
17:09
Speaker 3: some more, and then some more added up, and then
17:12
Speaker 3: over the years, it's been about two hundred million dollars
17:14
Speaker 3: of people that believed in the cause that I was
17:17
Speaker 3: trying to sell them. And I felt like like a
17:19
Speaker 3: college football coach dealing with boosters, you know, like, where's
17:24
Speaker 3: the When are we going to win the national championship?
17:26
Speaker 3: All right, we're getting there. We're getting there. Don't worry,
17:27
Speaker 3: but just give me some more money. I need some
17:29
Speaker 3: more money. And when we finally hit it in twenty
17:33
Speaker 3: and eighteen, you know, I sent out an email plass
17:36
Speaker 3: thanking everybody that I possibly could that has been a
17:39
Speaker 3: part of this incredible journey, including the families that went
17:43
Speaker 3: before us that lost their loved ones assistic bibrosis, whose
17:47
Speaker 3: parents are still involved in raising money from all over
17:50
Speaker 3: the country, and people that still use Cincinnati's Children's Pediatric
17:54
Speaker 3: Center that is named after Gunner, to the adult center
17:58
Speaker 3: here at Columbia Presbyteria that's also named after Gunner. All
18:02
Speaker 3: these institutions gave us the platform to be able to
18:05
Speaker 3: really expand the patient base and make sure that we
18:09
Speaker 3: had everything that we needed as we were going through
18:12
Speaker 3: the investigated process, the research process, and I can't there's
18:16
Speaker 3: not enough time in one day, or one year or
18:19
Speaker 3: the rest of my life to thank all the people
18:21
Speaker 3: that supported this fight. So I may be the face
18:24
Speaker 3: of it. Gunner is a patient who has basically benefited
18:27
Speaker 3: from it, but all those other people that were a
18:29
Speaker 3: part of this long running saga that was cystic fibrosis
18:34
Speaker 3: deserve a bow and deserve to take a thank you
18:37
Speaker 3: for me and from all the parents that have had
18:39
Speaker 3: their lives changed.
18:41
Speaker 1: The film is Second Win.
18:43
Speaker 2: If you missed it on Christmas Eve, you can check
18:45
Speaker 2: it out on ESPN Plus and I strongly encourage you
18:49
Speaker 2: to do so.
18:49
Speaker 1: It is an amazing story. Boomer.
18:52
Speaker 2: We always appreciate your time. Happy New Year, enjoy the grandkids,
18:57
Speaker 2: and we'll keep our fingers crossed that we're all watching
18:59
Speaker 2: Bang playoff football in another week.
19:02
Speaker 3: Wouldn't it be great if the Bengals had a second
19:04
Speaker 3: win and made it to the playoffs this year. That
19:06
Speaker 3: would be something that I could buy into. That would
19:09
Speaker 3: be great.
19:10
Speaker 2: Thanks Dan the boomerasiasin Foundation is raised somewhere in the
19:14
Speaker 2: vicinity of two hundred million dollars to help people with
19:19
Speaker 2: cystic fibrosis and to try to find a cure. As
19:23
Speaker 2: Boomer states in the film, money buys Science and science
19:28
Speaker 2: buys life. If you would like to help, go to
19:32
Speaker 2: asiasin dot Org. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to
19:36
Speaker 2: you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official
19:39
Speaker 2: hr software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet
19:44
Speaker 2: designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a
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Speaker 2: new level, and by Kettering Health the best Care for
19:50
Speaker 2: the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider.
19:54
Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
19:56
Speaker 2: Over the years, I have frequently referred to this week's
19:58
Speaker 2: opponent as the dreaded, hated, but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers.
20:05
Speaker 2: Let's face it, we wouldn't hate them if not for
20:08
Speaker 2: their historical success with six Super Bowl titles and their
20:12
Speaker 2: head to head success against the Bengals. Pittsburgh has won
20:16
Speaker 2: nearly sixty five percent of the one hundred and ten
20:20
Speaker 2: previous meetings, including the last three. I caught up with
20:25
Speaker 2: Ted Karras this week to discuss the game how Joe
20:28
Speaker 2: Burrows season compares to another MVP he blocked for and
20:33
Speaker 2: what he plans to do with the Samurai sword he
20:36
Speaker 2: got from his quarterback for Christmas? Ted, how has the
20:41
Speaker 2: last month and this four game winning streak impacted how
20:44
Speaker 2: you feel about this season as a whole.
20:46
Speaker 5: Well, I think we have a chance to get in
20:47
Speaker 5: the dance.
20:48
Speaker 6: Play Saturday night and so you know, no fates are
20:51
Speaker 6: sealed until Sunday, but that's going in that game.
20:54
Speaker 5: Everyone's gonna be fired up.
20:55
Speaker 2: Since you play on Saturday, and Denver and Miami don't
20:59
Speaker 2: play until day there's no point in scoreboard watching or
21:02
Speaker 2: anything like that.
21:03
Speaker 1: Those other teams won't be an action. Is that helpful
21:06
Speaker 1: to lock in on Pittsburgh?
21:08
Speaker 5: I think so. I think it just kind of takes
21:10
Speaker 5: some of that anxiety away. Or are we done or
21:12
Speaker 5: are we not? We don't know. We have one goal
21:13
Speaker 5: in this to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
21:15
Speaker 1: Let's talk o line.
21:17
Speaker 2: Last week against Denver, the Broncos had seven sacks and
21:21
Speaker 2: fifteen quarterback hits. When asked about it earlier this week,
21:24
Speaker 2: Dan Pitcher said, as often as we throw it and
21:27
Speaker 2: as long as Joe holds the ball. I thought that
21:30
Speaker 2: the offensive line protected. Well, how do you guys evaluate it?
21:34
Speaker 6: I mean, obviously you never want to see that those numbers,
21:37
Speaker 6: but you know, I think it was a good front
21:38
Speaker 6: out there.
21:39
Speaker 5: You know we are a pass first offense and didn
21:41
Speaker 5: 'ten have to win the game.
21:43
Speaker 2: One of the film study guys I respect. Joe Goodberry
21:46
Speaker 2: tweeted recently, Ted Karris deserves Pro Bowl consideration.
21:50
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus has you.
21:51
Speaker 2: Graded as the fourth best pass protecting center in the NFL.
21:56
Speaker 2: Do you feel this is as well as you played?
21:58
Speaker 6: I think we've had, you know, a lot of good games.
22:00
Speaker 6: I think we have a solid unit up front. Thanks
22:02
Speaker 6: Joe for the shout out, But you know, the ultimate
22:05
Speaker 6: stat that matters is are what are you doing to
22:06
Speaker 6: help the team win? And we've strung four in a row.
22:10
Speaker 6: Let's make it a fifth and make it interesting on
22:11
Speaker 6: Sunday for everybody.
22:13
Speaker 2: I want to mention something else that Dan Pitcher said recently.
22:16
Speaker 2: He was talking about Joe Burrow's ability to draw teams
22:19
Speaker 2: off side with the cadence this year, and Dan said,
22:22
Speaker 2: it's Joe and Ted Karras who have worked on that
22:25
Speaker 2: a lot. Explain your role in getting teams to jump.
22:29
Speaker 6: Well, there's a lot of posturing, I guess of you know,
22:32
Speaker 6: making real calls and making it se micro about to
22:35
Speaker 6: run a real play. And then there's certain mechanisms that
22:38
Speaker 6: if they jump on snapping and certain that they jump
22:40
Speaker 6: that we're just touching them. So we got to be
22:42
Speaker 6: locked in on that and deliver a good ball and
22:44
Speaker 6: then block the play. I think that's what a lot
22:46
Speaker 6: of guys, you know, it's a big emphasis here is
22:48
Speaker 6: once the ball stats, we're live, so we got to
22:50
Speaker 6: go so we don't get unobated to the quarterback.
22:53
Speaker 2: In twenty seventeen, you played with an MVP Tom Brady.
22:56
Speaker 2: How does Joe Burrow in twenty twenty four compare to
22:59
Speaker 2: that MVP season.
23:01
Speaker 5: In twenty seventeen.
23:02
Speaker 6: I mean, I think the biggest I mean, they're throwing
23:04
Speaker 6: a lot of a lot of good balls, throwing a
23:07
Speaker 6: lot of touchdowns, obviously the best player on their respective teams.
23:10
Speaker 5: I think the biggest difference, you know, it would be
23:12
Speaker 5: that we were.
23:13
Speaker 6: Fourteen to two and we're eight and eight right now.
23:16
Speaker 6: So you know, I think that kind of holds Joe
23:17
Speaker 6: back from getting the MVP. But you know, I think
23:21
Speaker 6: he should win it. I understand why he might not,
23:24
Speaker 6: because usually you know that goes to someone who's a
23:27
Speaker 6: higher seed. But if you're really looking at who's the
23:30
Speaker 6: most valuable for their team, I think there's no doubt
23:32
Speaker 6: it's Joe Burrow.
23:33
Speaker 2: You're gonna be trying to block a future Hall of
23:35
Speaker 2: Famer on Saturday night in Cam Hayward. What qualities does
23:39
Speaker 2: he have that other great interior guys in the NFL don't.
23:44
Speaker 6: He's stronger. He's one of the strongest guys you'll ever
23:47
Speaker 6: match up with. I have a ton of respect for
23:48
Speaker 6: Cam Hayward. You're fourteen putting together some of the film
23:52
Speaker 6: that he has, the effort that he plays with.
23:53
Speaker 5: I mean that whole front seven can't say.
23:55
Speaker 6: Enough good about him. You know, we're going into Pittsburgh
23:57
Speaker 6: in a night game. It's gonna be a battle.
23:59
Speaker 2: From a communic cation standpoint, How hard is a primetime
24:03
Speaker 2: road game in Pittsburgh.
24:06
Speaker 5: It's hard, i'd put it. I don't know.
24:08
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna rank it, but it's it's hard up there.
24:11
Speaker 6: You know one of my it's one of my favorite stadiums, Hinesfield.
24:14
Speaker 6: I don't know it's akature now, but you know one
24:18
Speaker 6: of my favorite stadiums. You know, with all the history
24:21
Speaker 6: of the NFL that's been there, I wish to catch
24:22
Speaker 6: a bottle is still there. But I think Renegade's also
24:25
Speaker 6: an awesome tradition, So we need to go up and
24:28
Speaker 6: get a win. Hopefully we're up when Renegade place.
24:30
Speaker 2: A couple more questions for Ted Karras. At one of
24:33
Speaker 2: our radio shows recently, a guy was wearing the Christmas
24:37
Speaker 2: edition of the Sincy Hat, the green hat with the
24:40
Speaker 2: Santa cap over the first sea. I was very jealous.
24:44
Speaker 2: Who comes up with this stuff? Who is the designer
24:48
Speaker 2: of the Sincy hat gear?
24:49
Speaker 6: I came up with that one. There's one right behind you,
24:51
Speaker 6: right there. But Imperial has a great art department, so
24:56
Speaker 6: we kind of just tell them my ideas and then
24:58
Speaker 6: they put it into practice.
24:59
Speaker 5: I didn't draw it or anything. I just requested a
25:01
Speaker 5: Santa hat over the sea.
25:03
Speaker 1: You nailed it.
25:03
Speaker 2: What are some of the things that the Sinsi Hat
25:05
Speaker 2: Foundation has in store for twenty twenty five.
25:08
Speaker 6: Well, we have a big, uh big project coming in Harrison,
25:11
Speaker 6: Ohio for building with adults with intellectual disabilities.
25:14
Speaker 5: We do the scholarships that you.
25:16
Speaker 6: See we have, We're gonna have a lot of things.
25:18
Speaker 6: It's gonna be kind of the year of the non hat.
25:19
Speaker 6: So we're gonna come out with all sorts of new
25:21
Speaker 6: cool gear and golf stuff and all that sort, and really,
25:26
Speaker 6: you know, gonna fulfill our mission of housing these people
25:29
Speaker 6: with intellectual disabilities. So we got a big twenty twenty
25:31
Speaker 6: five ahead.
25:32
Speaker 2: Final question, I appreciate your time. What are you going
25:35
Speaker 2: to do with a samurai sort?
25:37
Speaker 5: I'm gonna get a customed glass box and put it
25:40
Speaker 5: on the wall. Everyone keeps asking me to pull it out.
25:42
Speaker 5: I don't want to pull it out. It's serious. Oh
25:44
Speaker 5: he'll chop your arm off.
25:46
Speaker 2: Make sure that that thing can't be open. Yeah, I
25:48
Speaker 2: will that best of a lot. I appreciate your time.
25:50
Speaker 5: Thanks man.
25:51
Speaker 2: The Steelers are two and a half point favorites, and
25:54
Speaker 2: we'll have to keep our fingers crossed on some Bengals
25:57
Speaker 2: injuries as Chase Brown, T Higgins, a Marius Drew, Sample
26:01
Speaker 2: and Cam Taylor Britt are all listed as questionable, although
26:05
Speaker 2: I would expect most of those guys to play. Pittsburgh's
26:10
Speaker 2: best cover corner, Joey Porter, will be back after missing
26:14
Speaker 2: last week's game with a knee injury. For more on
26:17
Speaker 2: the Steelers. The radio voice Rob King joined Dave Lapham
26:20
Speaker 2: and me for this week's Know the Faux segment. Rob
26:25
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the stakes for the Steelers. It sounds
26:28
Speaker 2: like Mike Tomlin has pretty much squelched any thought that
26:33
Speaker 2: the Steelers are going to be resting key players on
26:35
Speaker 2: Saturday Night.
26:37
Speaker 4: Yeah.
26:37
Speaker 7: I wouldn't expect him to do that, especially in light
26:41
Speaker 7: of how the team's played over the last three games.
26:43
Speaker 7: You know, they just did not put their best foot forward.
26:46
Speaker 7: I don't think anybody wants to go into the playoffs.
26:49
Speaker 7: You know, if you don't put your best foot forward
26:51
Speaker 7: against Cincinnati, it's going to be hard to beat Joe
26:54
Speaker 7: Burrow and company, even with everybody healthy and everybody going.
26:58
Speaker 4: You don't want to enter the playoffs on a four
27:00
Speaker 4: game losing streak. So I think you want to go in.
27:03
Speaker 7: You want to play good football and you know, hopefully
27:06
Speaker 7: win the game and hopefully get that feeling back that
27:09
Speaker 7: you had when you were ten and three and not
27:11
Speaker 7: the feeling that you've gotten the last three games and
27:13
Speaker 7: you've dropped the ten and six.
27:15
Speaker 8: The thing that is unbelievable jumped out at me and
27:18
Speaker 8: hit me right in the face. Again, I remember when
27:20
Speaker 8: the first game looking at the scoring by quarter and
27:25
Speaker 8: Pittsburgh had only given up sixteen points at that point
27:27
Speaker 8: in the season. Well, here it is a month later.
27:29
Speaker 8: The don't give up twenty nine one point eight points
27:33
Speaker 8: per game in the third quarter, one hundred and two
27:35
Speaker 8: in the first quarter, eighty one in the second quarter,
27:38
Speaker 8: one hundred and sixteen in the fourth quarter, and only
27:40
Speaker 8: twenty nine in the third quarter. It's such a huge disparity.
27:44
Speaker 8: What is it just coincidental or is there anything to it?
27:48
Speaker 4: Well, I think there's a couple of things.
27:49
Speaker 7: I mean, certainly the Steelers, you know, they always, like
27:51
Speaker 7: you almost always liked to defer, and so that means
27:54
Speaker 7: they're getting the ball to begin the third quarter. I
27:57
Speaker 7: think there's probably a little something in that. I I
28:00
Speaker 7: don't know Dave specifically how many times they've been on
28:03
Speaker 7: defense and beginning the third quarter, how many times they've
28:05
Speaker 7: been on offense. Right, I think when you talk about
28:08
Speaker 7: the team, you know what they want to do. They
28:10
Speaker 7: want to run the football. Generally, you begin to.
28:12
Speaker 4: See that take shape in the third and fourth quarter.
28:16
Speaker 7: You know a lot of times fans will wonder, hey,
28:18
Speaker 7: why are you running the ball? And you know, those
28:20
Speaker 7: are body blows, to use a boxing analogy, you know,
28:23
Speaker 7: those are things that wear down your opponent and are
28:25
Speaker 7: more effective as you move on in the game. So
28:28
Speaker 7: I think that those are those are some of the reasons.
28:31
Speaker 7: And I think you know, a good coaching staff making
28:34
Speaker 7: halftime adjustment. So I think those three things are probably
28:38
Speaker 7: the leading factors as to why that's the case.
28:41
Speaker 2: We are chatting with the voice of the Steelers, Rob
28:43
Speaker 2: King after Pittsburgh's most recent loss to Kansas City.
28:46
Speaker 1: Rob.
28:46
Speaker 2: We all saw some comments coming out of the locker
28:48
Speaker 2: room the kind of suggested that maybe ten guys are
28:50
Speaker 2: on one page and and one guy wasn't. Can you
28:52
Speaker 2: shed some light on what's going on there with the defense?
28:56
Speaker 7: You know, it's a great question, Dan, because you know
28:59
Speaker 7: a lot of times you'll hear that as an explanation,
29:03
Speaker 7: and it's a different person every time, right, you know, like, well,
29:06
Speaker 7: ten of us did their job and one didn't, and
29:08
Speaker 7: if we could just all get on the same page.
29:10
Speaker 7: It doesn't it's usually not a finger pointed at one guy.
29:14
Speaker 7: I feel like, I don't know whether this is different
29:17
Speaker 7: or not. It feels like maybe some guys in the
29:20
Speaker 7: secondary are maybe trying to do more than they should,
29:23
Speaker 7: or maybe there's some communication issues. Mike Tommlin was asked
29:26
Speaker 7: about that, and he said, look over the last three weeks,
29:29
Speaker 7: you know, and you know, he didn't use this as
29:31
Speaker 7: an excuse because it can't be a total excuse. But again,
29:35
Speaker 7: if you're looking for a partial reason, you know, for
29:38
Speaker 7: a couple of weeks you're without Deshaun Elliotto has been
29:41
Speaker 7: a terrific player and kind of really captains what happens
29:45
Speaker 7: in the secondary. He was out for two or three games.
29:48
Speaker 7: Dante Jackson, one of your starting corners, is out for
29:50
Speaker 7: two or three games. And then Joey Porter Junior, the
29:54
Speaker 7: starting corner, missed this last game after the other two
29:56
Speaker 7: guys came back. So how much of it is just
29:58
Speaker 7: communication out there? I think that could be part of it.
30:01
Speaker 7: Are guys trying to do too much, you know, quote
30:04
Speaker 7: unquote hero ball, trying to be the guy that makes
30:07
Speaker 7: the play.
30:08
Speaker 4: I mean, on the one hand, you want guys that
30:10
Speaker 4: want to make the play. On the other hand, you
30:12
Speaker 4: have to do that within the structure of what you're
30:14
Speaker 4: doing as a team.
30:15
Speaker 7: Because you know, Kansas City found that and they're so
30:19
Speaker 7: good man, they're so good it has is Joe Burrow.
30:21
Speaker 7: You make that one mistake, Mahomes or Burrow's gonna find it.
30:24
Speaker 7: You cannot live that way when you're going against elite quarterbacks.
30:29
Speaker 8: So the old turnover scenario, it's important in football robs,
30:33
Speaker 8: you know, at any level. Obviously in Pittsburgh, I remember
30:36
Speaker 8: in the first game. Going into the game, Pittsburgh was
30:38
Speaker 8: plus thirteen. They went plus two and Cincinnati against Cincinnati,
30:41
Speaker 8: so they were plus fifteen. Here it is a month later,
30:44
Speaker 8: there's still plus fifteen. So they've been even on the
30:47
Speaker 8: turnover ratio in their stretch where they struggled the Bengals
30:52
Speaker 8: just the opposite. They were minus one going to the game.
30:55
Speaker 8: Now they're minus three after the Pittsburgh game, and here
30:58
Speaker 8: they are plus four, So they're plus seven in the
31:00
Speaker 8: turnover ratio since that Pittsburgh game. I mean, turnovers are
31:04
Speaker 8: always a big deal. Do you think it's that simple.
31:07
Speaker 7: I think it's a big part of it, Dave, I
31:09
Speaker 7: really do you know. And there were four footballs on
31:14
Speaker 7: the ground, three of them in Baltimore and one at
31:18
Speaker 7: the beginning of the game in Kansas City, any of
31:20
Speaker 7: which could have turned the momentum. Now I don't think
31:24
Speaker 7: you can exclusively say that. You know, as a as
31:27
Speaker 7: a fan, as a broadcaster, I'd have felt more comfortable
31:32
Speaker 7: in Philadelphia, for example, if you made a stop, you
31:36
Speaker 7: know what I mean. So they're they're marching in late
31:39
Speaker 7: in the third quarter, down a touchdown, and they pitched
31:42
Speaker 7: to Naji Harris, who never never fumbles, took his.
31:46
Speaker 4: Eye off the pitch. You lose the ball deep in
31:49
Speaker 4: Philadelphia territory.
31:50
Speaker 7: You lose a chance to tie. And I understand you
31:53
Speaker 7: had five to three and outs to begin the game.
31:55
Speaker 7: You talk about body blows, right, that was they run
31:57
Speaker 7: the receiving end of those body blows. The defenses exhausted.
32:00
Speaker 7: It goes out there. But boy, you know, make one stop,
32:04
Speaker 7: get one more opportunity for your offense, and they just
32:07
Speaker 7: couldn't do it. So and then you know Baltimore is
32:10
Speaker 7: very similar. It's a seven to seven game. Russell Wilson
32:14
Speaker 7: is trying.
32:15
Speaker 4: To make a play. He gets it, you know, a twenty.
32:16
Speaker 7: Yard scramble, gets inside the five fumbles the ball. Very
32:19
Speaker 7: uncharacteristic of him. Baltimore recovers. Prior to that, there's been
32:22
Speaker 7: two footballs on the ground in Steelers territory right in
32:27
Speaker 7: the cusp of field goal range, so good field position.
32:30
Speaker 4: If you recover the fumbles.
32:31
Speaker 7: The Steelers don't recover those fumbles, then there's a special
32:34
Speaker 7: teams play that gives you the ball deep in Kansas
32:37
Speaker 7: City territory. You don't recover that fumble. So a little
32:40
Speaker 7: bit of it has been some bad luck. On the
32:42
Speaker 7: other hand, I think if you so, if you want
32:45
Speaker 7: to look at it as a glass half full, you say, okay, yeah,
32:49
Speaker 7: they just haven't gotten any breaks in the turnover department.
32:52
Speaker 7: I mean, you know, if there's four footballs on the
32:54
Speaker 7: ground and you recover two of them, do you win
32:56
Speaker 7: one of those games?
32:57
Speaker 4: I don't know.
32:57
Speaker 7: I don't know the answer to that, but I think
33:00
Speaker 7: you know, you would have also liked to have seen that.
33:02
Speaker 7: You know, if you want to go glass half empty,
33:05
Speaker 7: you didn't like to have seen the team rise up
33:07
Speaker 7: and make a stop here or there. Understandable why you didn't,
33:12
Speaker 7: you know, as you you know, look game by game.
33:14
Speaker 4: Why those things didn't happen.
33:15
Speaker 7: But as a whole, if you step back, it would
33:17
Speaker 7: have been more encouraging for fans. I think if somewhere
33:20
Speaker 7: along the stretch of those three games, you would have
33:22
Speaker 7: done something to stem the tide of momentum.
33:25
Speaker 1: Rob, here's my final question. During this three game losing streak.
33:28
Speaker 2: They've lost at Philly, at Baltimore home to the fifteen
33:32
Speaker 2: and one Chiefs. No shame there, right, but the margins
33:36
Speaker 2: have been fourteen, seventeen, and nineteen.
33:38
Speaker 1: Is that a big concern?
33:41
Speaker 4: Well?
33:41
Speaker 7: I think it all wraps up to this conversation Dan,
33:43
Speaker 7: and I think it's it's what makes Saturday's game, I
33:47
Speaker 7: think really important for the Steelers.
33:49
Speaker 4: So again, if.
33:51
Speaker 7: You're in Philadelphia, you get off to that sluggish start.
33:53
Speaker 7: You know, Dave talked about the third quarter points. Now
33:57
Speaker 7: maybe you take that drive in and you tie the game.
34:00
Speaker 7: Maybe there's forty five seconds left in the third quarter.
34:03
Speaker 7: Now your defense has gotten a break, right because you've
34:05
Speaker 7: run five more plays to get it into the end zone.
34:08
Speaker 4: Is that fourth quarter different? I don't know. If Russell
34:11
Speaker 4: Wilson goes in.
34:13
Speaker 7: For a touchdown and you go up fourteen to seven,
34:16
Speaker 7: is that a different outcome?
34:17
Speaker 4: I don't know.
34:18
Speaker 7: In Kansas City, against Kansas City, you had a touchdown
34:21
Speaker 7: call back on a rather dubious holding call that gives
34:24
Speaker 7: you the lead.
34:24
Speaker 4: In that game.
34:25
Speaker 7: You go into the halftime, probably with the lead in
34:27
Speaker 7: that game instead of a deficit, so things unraveled. Then
34:30
Speaker 7: you can't do that against good teams. So that's again
34:33
Speaker 7: part of what you know, what we've been talking about
34:35
Speaker 7: with Dave asked about. That's part of the explanation of
34:38
Speaker 7: what's been going on. Quality opponents, mistakes that you can't make.
34:42
Speaker 7: But then again, you still have to look at the
34:44
Speaker 7: scoreboard and say, just what you said, Dan, those have
34:47
Speaker 7: been big figures that you wound up losing by. So
34:50
Speaker 7: to me, this is a Cincinnati team that's beginning to
34:53
Speaker 7: resemble the team everybody thought they could be going into
34:56
Speaker 7: the end of the season, which is a legitimate playoff content,
35:00
Speaker 7: maybe more than that. So I think, you know, to
35:03
Speaker 7: quell the nerves a little bit, this feels like an
35:05
Speaker 7: important game. Hey, let's get out there and play a good,
35:08
Speaker 7: solid football game and get.
35:09
Speaker 4: Ourselves ready for the playoffs.
35:11
Speaker 7: So you know, I hope I've answered your question, but
35:15
Speaker 7: that again, to me, that's why Saturday.
35:17
Speaker 4: Nights game is important because of what you just mentioned.
35:20
Speaker 8: Final question. And certainly do appreciate your carving the time
35:23
Speaker 8: you always do. Rob, You're outstanding. Terol Austin the excellent
35:27
Speaker 8: defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jamar Chase has had cornerbacks,
35:32
Speaker 8: outstanding cornerbacks the last couple of weeks, you know, shadowing
35:35
Speaker 8: him some. Joey Porter Junior. I know he's a little
35:39
Speaker 8: beaten up. I'm sure he'll make the dance in this one.
35:41
Speaker 8: It's so important. But people were like, Okay, it'll be
35:44
Speaker 8: Joey Porter Junior shadowing Jamar Chase. Well, in the last game,
35:48
Speaker 8: Joey Porter Junior shadow t Higgins and then Ta committed
35:53
Speaker 8: resources to Jamar Chase, you know, doubling him in different
35:56
Speaker 8: ways and all that sort of thing. So he has
36:00
Speaker 8: had him trail Jamarrow. Now he's had him trail Higgins.
36:03
Speaker 8: Any feel for he might do or will he come
36:05
Speaker 8: up with something totally different?
36:07
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great question, Dave.
36:09
Speaker 7: You know, I think that you know, if you looked
36:12
Speaker 7: at it on paper, So I think that the Stevens
36:16
Speaker 7: coach matchups a lot, you know, and they and they
36:19
Speaker 7: gain coach a lot. So what do you need what
36:21
Speaker 7: is required to win this game? As opposed to saying, oh,
36:26
Speaker 7: this is what we do and so this is our
36:27
Speaker 7: style of football and we're blindly going to do this.
36:29
Speaker 7: I think there's some adjustability that's commendable within the coaching staff.
36:34
Speaker 7: And I think that if you look at you know,
36:35
Speaker 7: T Higgins is a big man Chase, isn't I had
36:41
Speaker 7: Jamar Chase. I love, I mean, I love watching the
36:43
Speaker 7: guy plays unbelievable. T Higgins is a huge, physical guy.
36:47
Speaker 7: Joey Porter is by far the bigger of the two
36:50
Speaker 7: corners that they have that they're starting, and so that
36:54
Speaker 7: makes sense to have because you to have your bigger
36:58
Speaker 7: guy on the bigger guy, they can both kill you.
37:01
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it's an interesting question. I was
37:04
Speaker 4: asked on a.
37:04
Speaker 7: Pittsburgh show, you know yesterday, you know, T Higgins, I
37:08
Speaker 7: guess said something like, Hey, if this is my last
37:10
Speaker 7: game in Cincinnati, you know, someone's probably gonna pay him
37:14
Speaker 7: like a one.
37:14
Speaker 4: I think it's an intriguing question. Is he a one?
37:17
Speaker 7: Do you have two ones there? Well, if you have
37:19
Speaker 7: two ones, you know, then you've got to go match up.
37:23
Speaker 7: You know, Joey Porter Junior has shadowed number one receivers
37:27
Speaker 7: throughout the course of the season. But I think that
37:30
Speaker 7: the view is that Cincinnati's got two number ones, Let's
37:33
Speaker 7: match up the best way physically, that we can with
37:36
Speaker 7: those guys and hope we can do. Listen, I think
37:39
Speaker 7: Steelers fans would sign up for what happened in Cincinnati
37:42
Speaker 7: for those guys with their receiving yards. Very respectable days,
37:46
Speaker 7: but it wasn't two hundred and fifty yards and three
37:49
Speaker 7: touchdowns we've seen from both of these guys.
37:52
Speaker 2: At some point, you know that's going to do it
37:54
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