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Bengals Booth Podcast: All I Want For Christmas · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, Gain everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The All I Want for Christmas addition,
0:14
Speaker 1: as the Bengals look to extend their winning streak to
0:16
Speaker 1: seven and remain alone in first place in the AFC
0:19
Speaker 1: North with a Christmas Eve victory in New England. Coming up,
0:23
Speaker 1: I'll talk to Joe Mixon about how our running back's
0:26
Speaker 1: body feels in Game fifteen and about his friendship with
0:30
Speaker 1: samaj p Ryan. NFL insider Tom Pellicero from the NFL
0:34
Speaker 1: Network joins me to discuss where the Bengals stand with
0:37
Speaker 1: the playoffs approaching, and this week's Know the Faux segment,
0:40
Speaker 1: we'll spend a few minutes with the voice of the
0:42
Speaker 1: New England Patriots, Bob Socie. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
0:46
Speaker 1: brought to you by Paycorps. More than twenty nine thousand
0:49
Speaker 1: customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and
0:54
Speaker 1: retain employees. Learn more at paycorps dot com. Now here's
0:58
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
1:01
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or
1:04
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the
1:09
Speaker 1: greatest thing since the Post Office fed x ups and
1:14
Speaker 1: anybody that delivers packages. My Christmas shopping started on Monday, Yes,
1:21
Speaker 1: this Monday, as in December nineteenth. Between the Bengals, you
1:25
Speaker 1: see football and you see basketball. It's an especially busy
1:28
Speaker 1: time of the year and it's difficult to go shopping. Thankfully,
1:32
Speaker 1: between the Internet and the various delivery options, the gifts
1:36
Speaker 1: will be under the tree in time. It brings to
1:39
Speaker 1: mind the old Postal creed. Neither snow nor rain, nor heat,
1:44
Speaker 1: nor gloom of night, nor broadcasters who put off their
1:48
Speaker 1: shopping until the last minute stays these couriers from the
1:51
Speaker 1: swift completion of their appointed rounds now. Let's look ahead
1:56
Speaker 1: to Sunday's game between the ten and four Bengals and
1:59
Speaker 1: the seven seven Patriots. Cincinnati's offense is cooking. The Bengals
2:04
Speaker 1: are tied for fifth in the league and scoring at
2:06
Speaker 1: twenty six point four points a game, but we're facing
2:10
Speaker 1: New England defense that's tied for seventh in fewest points
2:13
Speaker 1: allowed at nineteen point four. This week, I caught up
2:18
Speaker 1: with Joe Mixon, who leads the team with one thousand
2:21
Speaker 1: and seventy nine yards from scrimmage. Jars speaking to Mike
2:25
Speaker 1: Brown the other day, and he brought up his respect
2:28
Speaker 1: for running backs. He pointed out that you guys get
2:31
Speaker 1: hit by multiple people about every time he carry the
2:34
Speaker 1: ball and bounce up like it's nothing. Here's my question,
2:38
Speaker 1: how do you feel the day after? I mean, it's
2:42
Speaker 1: not too bad as bad as people think, you know,
2:45
Speaker 1: especially being used to that type of pounding. I mean,
2:49
Speaker 1: that's pretty much why are we train the way we
2:51
Speaker 1: do specifically in the offseason. I mean, is definitely not
2:54
Speaker 1: a fun feeling, you know what I'm saying, but as
2:57
Speaker 1: definitely something that has not as bad as people think.
3:01
Speaker 1: But it can take a toll on you depending on
3:03
Speaker 1: what type of hits you take. You've been known to
3:06
Speaker 1: deliver the punishment as much as take it. Can you
3:09
Speaker 1: tell when a guy doesn't want to tackle you anymore? Yeah,
3:11
Speaker 1: pretty much. I mean you just see they start really
3:14
Speaker 1: diving at the floor, just diving that air, and sometimes
3:18
Speaker 1: they're just really hoping to get lucky depending on Most
3:21
Speaker 1: of the time, with the space and opportunity at that point,
3:25
Speaker 1: you just try to do whatever you can and make
3:27
Speaker 1: them miss or basically make them indecisive on what they
3:32
Speaker 1: really want to do. I mean, obviously, most likely they're
3:34
Speaker 1: going to try to dive at our legs or our
3:37
Speaker 1: knees or ankles. But well, most of the time, too
3:40
Speaker 1: many it's not too many dvs that's really going to
3:43
Speaker 1: sit there and hit you up top. I know you
3:46
Speaker 1: hate to miss games. You recently had to miss about
3:49
Speaker 1: two and a half games in retrospect, which is a
3:52
Speaker 1: good thing to get a break at this time of
3:55
Speaker 1: the year. Like you said, as much as you hate
3:57
Speaker 1: to miss him, it was definitely good for the long
4:02
Speaker 1: run the body. And I think that the guys did
4:06
Speaker 1: a great job, especially p Run and Trey and Chris
4:10
Speaker 1: them guys did a great job coming in and filling
4:13
Speaker 1: in and just picking up where we left off. And
4:16
Speaker 1: I think they did a hell of a job. And
4:18
Speaker 1: I hang my hat and I'm just, you know, proud
4:20
Speaker 1: of how they came out and responded. I mean, in
4:24
Speaker 1: terms of life for me, it was it was tough,
4:27
Speaker 1: but at the same time, like I said, it was
4:28
Speaker 1: definitely good enough for other parts in my body to
4:33
Speaker 1: heal up, So it was definitely good. So following up
4:36
Speaker 1: on that, the Bengals have this running back. I'm not
4:38
Speaker 1: sure if his name is Joe P. Ryan or Sam J. Mixon,
4:43
Speaker 1: but he's rushed for a thousand and ninety five yards
4:45
Speaker 1: this year. In what ways are two guys better than one?
4:49
Speaker 1: Sometimes when you have that compliment back, it keeps it
4:54
Speaker 1: keeps the other one fresh and really keeps both of
4:57
Speaker 1: them fresh. And I think that there's definitely some it's
5:00
Speaker 1: cool sometimes to be able to have that change of
5:03
Speaker 1: pace back, whether it's a thumper or whether it's a
5:06
Speaker 1: you know, a guy that's gonna make somebody miss all
5:09
Speaker 1: the time. Like sometimes that could definitely be very beneficial
5:13
Speaker 1: to both guys. So I think that's, um, you know,
5:17
Speaker 1: pretty much the biggest thing that you really can get
5:20
Speaker 1: from that you guys your teammates at Oklahoma Matt on
5:23
Speaker 1: a recruiting trip NFL teammates now for several years. Do
5:27
Speaker 1: you remember your first impressions of some ij when you
5:29
Speaker 1: met way back in Norman. Yeah, I mean I remember
5:32
Speaker 1: he thinks about eighteen years old, and I just remember
5:36
Speaker 1: us both at the spring game and then I'm like, man, like,
5:40
Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, who is this? And all of a
5:42
Speaker 1: sudden it was like, okay, that's the other running back.
5:44
Speaker 1: I'm like Okay, that's what's up. But then when I
5:46
Speaker 1: see him, like Dan looked like a grown ass man
5:49
Speaker 1: right there, and you know, he just had a big
5:51
Speaker 1: ass beard and just really looked like he's somebody dad
5:55
Speaker 1: or somebody uncle. And literally, like, you know, he's been
5:58
Speaker 1: he's been my teammate ever since, and you know, I
6:00
Speaker 1: just loved having that relationship with him. And hasn't nothing changed,
6:04
Speaker 1: you know, since we've known each other literally since day one.
6:07
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Joe Mixon. Here comes a tough question
6:10
Speaker 1: for you. In your first year together at Oklahoma, he
6:13
Speaker 1: set the NCAA single game rushing record four hundred and
6:16
Speaker 1: twenty seven yards against Kansas. Two years later, you had
6:20
Speaker 1: a game with two hundred and sixty three rushing yards
6:22
Speaker 1: and two touchdowns and one hundred fourteen receiving yards and
6:25
Speaker 1: three touchdowns. Who had the better individual performance? I mean,
6:31
Speaker 1: I don't know, man. I mean it's it's kind of
6:34
Speaker 1: hard to penn point out which individual effort was better.
6:40
Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the day, they were
6:42
Speaker 1: both record setting numbers. But at the same time, it's
6:46
Speaker 1: just you know, depending on what you like, it's all opinionated,
6:50
Speaker 1: you know, depending on what you like as a as
6:53
Speaker 1: a runner or do you like, you know, mix of
6:56
Speaker 1: both or receiving, Like it's just I just think it depends.
7:00
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, I'm definitely I'm a firm believer.
7:03
Speaker 1: Like if you break a record that's never been done
7:06
Speaker 1: before or that's you know, been locked in for years,
7:11
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll give it to him. You know, having
7:14
Speaker 1: a four twenty seven like that was definitely an incredible
7:18
Speaker 1: moment for him. Like I definitely felt like that was
7:22
Speaker 1: definitely special. The correct answer was, that's a stupid question.
7:25
Speaker 1: They were both awesome performances. All Right, you face the
7:28
Speaker 1: Patriots on Saturday. That's a salty defense top ten against
7:32
Speaker 1: the run and against the pass. Does anything or anyone
7:36
Speaker 1: jump out when you watch that defense? Mainly obviously, I
7:40
Speaker 1: mean you have to go with Matt judonh He's been
7:43
Speaker 1: a monster since he's since day when he entered the league.
7:47
Speaker 1: And I remember him in his Baltimore days and I
7:49
Speaker 1: just remember the front that they had. It's like they
7:52
Speaker 1: got all of these all pros, like Zadarius Smith went
7:55
Speaker 1: to Green Bay, like I mean, as they had a
7:58
Speaker 1: lot of guys that really was very stout and that
8:01
Speaker 1: you know, they went separate ways and Matt Judon he
8:05
Speaker 1: went to New England and ever since he went to
8:07
Speaker 1: New England, like he was even crazy than what he
8:10
Speaker 1: was at Baltimore. So um, he's definitely number one that
8:13
Speaker 1: jumps out on the list. But they have they have
8:16
Speaker 1: a very solid defense. Like you say, they're top ten
8:20
Speaker 1: and every individual or every stat you know with regarding
8:24
Speaker 1: the run and past. So I think that's gonna be
8:28
Speaker 1: m We got our work cut off for us for sure,
8:31
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, they do too.
8:33
Speaker 1: So we just got to do whatever we can go
8:35
Speaker 1: out there and execute. And that's that's the number one
8:38
Speaker 1: you know thing that's going out there executing and winning
8:41
Speaker 1: the game. That's just what it is. Last week, can
8:44
Speaker 1: tap by the temperature was in the mid sixties, probably
8:46
Speaker 1: the last time you'll play in warm weather unless you
8:49
Speaker 1: make it for the Super Bowl in Arizona. Does the
8:52
Speaker 1: running game gain importance in cold weather games late in
8:56
Speaker 1: the year, Oh yeah, for sure. I think more so
9:00
Speaker 1: because sometimes teams get up for the past. So I
9:03
Speaker 1: think most of the time that the teams that make
9:06
Speaker 1: that run and you know, to stretch down in the
9:09
Speaker 1: playoffs tend to be able to run the ball and
9:12
Speaker 1: run it effectively. And you know, coach Kyle Lahan, he
9:15
Speaker 1: tries to make an emphasis on, you know, be very
9:18
Speaker 1: efficient in a run game. And we've I think we've
9:21
Speaker 1: been doing a great job leading up to last week.
9:24
Speaker 1: I think we've done a great job of that. And
9:27
Speaker 1: you know, just try to keep continuing to build and
9:29
Speaker 1: get better because at some point that they're gonna have
9:31
Speaker 1: to be leading on and I feel like at any
9:34
Speaker 1: moment we'll be ready for that moment for sure. Last
9:37
Speaker 1: question for Joe Mixon. I saved some old interviews that
9:40
Speaker 1: I find interesting sometimes I can use them again and
9:43
Speaker 1: the various things that I do. I have one of
9:45
Speaker 1: you from the final game of the year a few
9:48
Speaker 1: years ago when the team is really struggling and you
9:51
Speaker 1: said the following, I promise you we ain't gonna be
9:54
Speaker 1: in this for long and that's a fact. Did you
9:58
Speaker 1: believe it or were you trying to convince yourself that
10:02
Speaker 1: that would be the case. It was a little bit
10:04
Speaker 1: of both. And I because the thing about me, I
10:08
Speaker 1: felt like we definitely had the talent, we just have
10:11
Speaker 1: to figure out and find ways to win. And when
10:14
Speaker 1: we got a lot of them guys from winning football teams.
10:17
Speaker 1: I mean, it just made it like it turned the page.
10:20
Speaker 1: And from that point when we got them guys from
10:23
Speaker 1: winning organizations and guys that's dying to do whatever, you know,
10:27
Speaker 1: to you know, do their all to get the job done,
10:32
Speaker 1: that's that's just it's that's that changed the tempo. And
10:35
Speaker 1: I felt like at that point when we got them
10:38
Speaker 1: high character guys and built that chemistry with each other
10:41
Speaker 1: in the locker room hunting off the field, I thought
10:44
Speaker 1: that was a game changer. Man. So when we got
10:46
Speaker 1: them guys, that turned everything around, and um, you know
10:50
Speaker 1: what I said, that's that's still true, and you know,
10:52
Speaker 1: we just got to do whatever we can to obviously
10:55
Speaker 1: keep building. But I mean the number one ultimate goals to,
10:58
Speaker 1: you know, win that super and I feel like we
11:01
Speaker 1: were set up and we're in prime position to make
11:04
Speaker 1: that run. I'll tell everybody, we've been there and we
11:07
Speaker 1: know how to get there, and we know what it's
11:09
Speaker 1: going to take. And that's the best thing about these
11:11
Speaker 1: guys in the locker owner are willing to do whatever
11:13
Speaker 1: it takes, man. So we just got to play it
11:16
Speaker 1: out one week at a time. Every game is a
11:18
Speaker 1: playoff game from here on. Out and you know, may
11:21
Speaker 1: all the cars fall in place and we end up
11:24
Speaker 1: there and win him. Always great to spend a few
11:27
Speaker 1: minutes with you. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, best of luck
11:30
Speaker 1: the rest of the way, Yes Sah saying to you
11:32
Speaker 1: and a family for sure. Joe needs to average about
11:36
Speaker 1: ninety three yards a game over the final three to
11:39
Speaker 1: reach one thousand yards rushing for the fourth time in
11:42
Speaker 1: his career. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
11:45
Speaker 1: by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play
11:50
Speaker 1: with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both
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Speaker 1: inside the Bengals app and by Alta Fiber future proof
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Speaker 1: fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to
12:02
Speaker 1: take your home, business, and community to a new level.
12:05
Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with all to Fiber. The Bengals will
12:10
Speaker 1: not have Sam Hubbard this week. He injured his left
12:13
Speaker 1: calf last Sunday at Tampa Bay and Tom Pella Sero
12:16
Speaker 1: from the NFL Network was the first report that Sam
12:19
Speaker 1: is likely to miss a few weeks, but the Bengals
12:22
Speaker 1: are hopeful to have him back in time for the playoffs.
12:26
Speaker 1: I spoke to Tom Pelli Sero about that and much
12:28
Speaker 1: more this week. Tom. The Bengals are on a roll.
12:31
Speaker 1: They've won sixth straight, They've climbed into sole possession of
12:34
Speaker 1: first place in the AFC North. What stands out to
12:37
Speaker 1: you when you watch the Bengals right now, Well, I
12:39
Speaker 1: think it's just the fact that once again, this team
12:42
Speaker 1: is improving as the season goes on. They went through
12:44
Speaker 1: that patch there where they're a little bit beat up
12:47
Speaker 1: a wide receiver, obviously Jamar Chase was not playing for
12:50
Speaker 1: a stretch here. But now that you're getting a lot
12:52
Speaker 1: healthier here, and you've got Joe Mixon back after you
12:54
Speaker 1: miss time with the concussion, you got chased back, and
12:58
Speaker 1: that defense just continues to play and better. That might
13:00
Speaker 1: be the biggest thing. We know, all the weapons that
13:03
Speaker 1: the Bengals have on offense with Jason Mixon and of
13:06
Speaker 1: course Joe Burrow distributing the football, but it's what that
13:09
Speaker 1: defense that probably doesn't have a lot of names that
13:11
Speaker 1: we talk about on a regular basis on NFL Network,
13:14
Speaker 1: and one of the big names, Trey Hendrickson being out
13:17
Speaker 1: right now with a risk injury. The fact that they
13:19
Speaker 1: continue to find ways they're so good in terms of
13:23
Speaker 1: halftime adjustments. Lu On A. Rumo deserves a ton of
13:25
Speaker 1: credit for what he's doing with that unit right now.
13:28
Speaker 1: They just look very dangerous right now in all three phases. Tom,
13:31
Speaker 1: you were the first report that Sam Hubbard is likely
13:34
Speaker 1: to miss a few weeks with the injury that he
13:36
Speaker 1: suffered to his calf on the defensive ent specifically, are
13:40
Speaker 1: those injuries starting to mount? There's no question that they're
13:44
Speaker 1: starting to mount. I mean, you take away your top
13:46
Speaker 1: two edge rushers. That's going to impact any team. Again,
13:50
Speaker 1: I would have faith in Lou that he's going to
13:52
Speaker 1: be able to dial some things up and account for
13:54
Speaker 1: some of that. You know, the good news is it
13:56
Speaker 1: does sound like Hubbard should be back for the playoffs,
13:59
Speaker 1: and the hope is that Trey Henderson is also back.
14:02
Speaker 1: So you just got to kind of weather the storm
14:04
Speaker 1: here in the short term and hope you can get
14:07
Speaker 1: after Mac Jones coming up this weekend. You were here
14:09
Speaker 1: in training camps. You got a first hand look at
14:12
Speaker 1: the Bengals going into the season. What was your reaction
14:14
Speaker 1: when they started owing two and had trouble protecting Joe Burrow?
14:19
Speaker 1: You always, I think when you talk about the team
14:21
Speaker 1: that played in the super Bowl the prior year. You
14:23
Speaker 1: always worry about the super Bowl hangover. There's a long history.
14:26
Speaker 1: I think people are familiar with the stats about the
14:28
Speaker 1: team that goes to the super Bowl and doesn't win
14:31
Speaker 1: and kind of what happens to them after that. But
14:34
Speaker 1: you know, again, credit to this coaching staff for being
14:36
Speaker 1: able to turn things around. I don't think that there
14:38
Speaker 1: was any panic at any point. You know, Joe Burrows
14:41
Speaker 1: too good for one thing. Let's start there. Joe Burrows
14:44
Speaker 1: one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He's an
14:46
Speaker 1: MVP candidate in my mind this year. You know that
14:50
Speaker 1: he's going to find a way to kind of right
14:52
Speaker 1: the ship, and he should only be getting better here
14:54
Speaker 1: for years to come. So, you know, just the fact
14:57
Speaker 1: that they kind of found their identity. I think that
15:00
Speaker 1: anytime that you don't play and correct me if I'm wrong,
15:02
Speaker 1: I don't think that they played their starters much of
15:04
Speaker 1: at all in the preseason. You know, anytime that you
15:07
Speaker 1: don't don't get those reps, there's you kind of use
15:09
Speaker 1: those first couple of games as the preseason. So the
15:11
Speaker 1: Bengals did that. They got out of that stretch and
15:14
Speaker 1: they look as dangerous as anybody right now, Tom Pellisiero
15:17
Speaker 1: from the NFL Network is our guest. Let me follow
15:19
Speaker 1: up on Joe Burrow. You did an in depth look
15:22
Speaker 1: at the quarterback class of twenty twenty prior to that draft,
15:25
Speaker 1: and it turned out to be an excellent class with
15:27
Speaker 1: Burrow and Herbert and Tongo Vyloa and Jalen Hurts and others.
15:31
Speaker 1: An NFL coach told you back then quote, Joe Burrow
15:34
Speaker 1: is not a natural thrower and would be a high
15:37
Speaker 1: risk pick at number one. I'm not going to ask
15:40
Speaker 1: you to divulge who that NFL NFC coach was. But
15:45
Speaker 1: when you talk to people around the league now about
15:48
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, what do they say. Well, I think they're
15:50
Speaker 1: going back to that piece. And I did that every year,
15:52
Speaker 1: and I write the good end bad of everything that
15:54
Speaker 1: coaches and scouts say. So there were plenty of more
15:56
Speaker 1: positive quotes about Joe Burrow in that story as well.
15:59
Speaker 1: But here was the thing. Joe Burrow, going into his
16:01
Speaker 1: last year at LSU was not regarded as the number
16:04
Speaker 1: one pick. He wasn't regarded as a first dround pick.
16:06
Speaker 1: A lot of people had him as a Day three
16:09
Speaker 1: pick and that's just because of what they evaluated in
16:12
Speaker 1: terms of the traits, and you're looking at, you know,
16:14
Speaker 1: the way that he throws the football. You're looking at
16:17
Speaker 1: the fact that the productivity was not nearly where it
16:19
Speaker 1: was before his final year with the Tigers, when he
16:22
Speaker 1: threw fifty touchdown passes and had NFL players everywhere around
16:25
Speaker 1: him and took him to the National title Game. So
16:28
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people who, you know, we're looking
16:30
Speaker 1: at their original evaluations and thinking, Okay, are we being
16:33
Speaker 1: swayed by the fact that this guy just had this
16:35
Speaker 1: amazing season with literally NFL players started at almost every
16:39
Speaker 1: spot on that offense. And those are always the things
16:42
Speaker 1: that that teams have to judge, you know, a scouts,
16:44
Speaker 1: you're looking for traits. When you're coaches, you're looking at
16:47
Speaker 1: the mechanics, and you're looking at how somebody throws the football.
16:50
Speaker 1: I think that you know, in that particular year, you
16:53
Speaker 1: did have some other guys who could have had a
16:55
Speaker 1: claim to being the number one pick. I mean, justin
16:57
Speaker 1: Herbert his tape, he was not nearly as productive, but
16:59
Speaker 1: he also in a terrible offense at Oregon where they
17:02
Speaker 1: you know, in big games, they just basically turned him
17:04
Speaker 1: into a running quarterback. They didn't let him throw, and so,
17:07
Speaker 1: you know, you had people who really believed in Herbert
17:09
Speaker 1: and his ability, you know, in terms of the total package,
17:12
Speaker 1: in terms of how he's built and the height and
17:14
Speaker 1: the arm strength and all those things. And then Tua
17:17
Speaker 1: didn't check those physical boxes because he's a shorter quarterback,
17:20
Speaker 1: he's left handed. You know, he'd been injured a lot.
17:24
Speaker 1: But people, you know, if you were running a certain
17:26
Speaker 1: style of offense, some people were really really like that tape.
17:29
Speaker 1: So I think that was as much it as anything,
17:31
Speaker 1: was the fact that you know, it was Burrow far
17:33
Speaker 1: and away in terms of physical traits the guy no.
17:36
Speaker 1: But I think the other things that you see in
17:37
Speaker 1: that story looking back was he's extremely accurate, he's an
17:41
Speaker 1: extremely fast processor. Leadership traits are off the charts. All
17:45
Speaker 1: those things can make up for what a Peyton Manning
17:48
Speaker 1: or a Tom Brady or other guys might lack. And
17:50
Speaker 1: whether you're Peyton going number one or you're Brady going
17:52
Speaker 1: in the sixth round, you know, those guys tend to
17:55
Speaker 1: find a way to rise to the top. And Joe
17:57
Speaker 1: Burrow's doing exactly that. Tom. You're always in involved heavily
18:01
Speaker 1: with coverage of the combine and of the draft. Do
18:04
Speaker 1: you think Duke Tobin and his staff get enough credit
18:07
Speaker 1: nationally for the job they've done in building this roster. No,
18:10
Speaker 1: I don't, and I think that Duke is, you know,
18:12
Speaker 1: obviously one of the underrated people. It's a unique set up,
18:14
Speaker 1: of course in Cincinnati, because Mike Brown is very involved,
18:17
Speaker 1: the family's very involved in personnel. But you know, Duke
18:20
Speaker 1: functions on kind of a day to day basis as
18:23
Speaker 1: a general manager type of a role. You know, they've
18:26
Speaker 1: got a it's not the biggest scouting staff. The Bengals
18:29
Speaker 1: send their coaches out as much as anybody, probably more
18:31
Speaker 1: than any team in the NFL on scouting trips to
18:34
Speaker 1: kind of fill in some of those gaps. But they've
18:36
Speaker 1: always had a unique eye for players. They've been willing
18:40
Speaker 1: to dig in and frankly take some chances at times
18:43
Speaker 1: with players and other teams were not going to touch
18:45
Speaker 1: for a variety of reasons. But they've assembled a really,
18:48
Speaker 1: really good roster. I always think it's also, you know,
18:51
Speaker 1: there is a little bit of luck through the draft process,
18:54
Speaker 1: and that's not to attribute the way the Bengals are
18:55
Speaker 1: built to luck. But you know the fact that you
18:57
Speaker 1: happen to have the number one pick when a job
19:00
Speaker 1: burrow comes out the fact that somehow Jamar Chase is
19:02
Speaker 1: not one of the top four picks in the draft
19:04
Speaker 1: and you're able to get them where they were. You know,
19:07
Speaker 1: those are the things that you just you never know.
19:09
Speaker 1: I mean, there's other teams look around the league. The
19:11
Speaker 1: Vikings got Justin Jefferson at number you know, Jamar's former
19:14
Speaker 1: college teammate, at like number eighteen or something in the draft,
19:17
Speaker 1: and now if you redrafted that, you go, the guy
19:19
Speaker 1: should be one of the top picks. But that's just
19:21
Speaker 1: kind of there's the same draft. That's just kind of
19:23
Speaker 1: how the thing goes. But in terms of, yeah, the
19:26
Speaker 1: talent that they've assembled, and I think also making some
19:28
Speaker 1: shrewd pickups in free agency, that's maybe the undersoul part.
19:32
Speaker 1: I think people always look at the Bengals as well,
19:34
Speaker 1: they don't they don't spend money in free agency and
19:36
Speaker 1: they're not going to make trades. Well, when they do
19:38
Speaker 1: spend money, they get von Bell and they get Trey
19:41
Speaker 1: Hendrickson and they fill in those really important pieces. Or
19:44
Speaker 1: this year bringing in the offensive alignment, you mentioned that
19:47
Speaker 1: group struggled out of the gate. Well, there's five guys
19:49
Speaker 1: who've never played with each other before, so they're starting
19:52
Speaker 1: to gel. They're getting better burrows, getting a rhythm with them,
19:55
Speaker 1: which is a big thing for quarterbacks as well. It
19:58
Speaker 1: all adds up to a team that, you know, a
20:00
Speaker 1: really tough AFC, because let's remember, you got to get
20:02
Speaker 1: through the Chiefs and you got to get through the Bills.
20:04
Speaker 1: But other teams should be looking and saying, we got
20:06
Speaker 1: to get through the Bengals too. Tom Pela Sero from
20:08
Speaker 1: the NFL Network is our guests going back to training camp.
20:11
Speaker 1: He did a lengthy interview with Brian Callahan. Do you
20:14
Speaker 1: expect Brian and lou Anna Rumo to be among the
20:17
Speaker 1: leading candidates and the coaching cycle this offseason? I certainly
20:21
Speaker 1: think so. I think that, you know, if you're just
20:23
Speaker 1: talking macro, every team is going to have, you know,
20:26
Speaker 1: different qualities they're looking for. Everyone's gonna have different criteria.
20:30
Speaker 1: There's gonna be you know, the Sean Payton's, you know,
20:33
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn, Jim Harboff. He decides he wants to coach
20:36
Speaker 1: some of those types of unique situations. But in terms
20:38
Speaker 1: of the first time head coaches. Brian Callahan absolutely is
20:42
Speaker 1: going to be there. You know, you look at his
20:44
Speaker 1: track record. He's been fortunate to be around a lot
20:46
Speaker 1: of really good quarterbacks, from Matthew Stafford to Peyton Manning too.
20:50
Speaker 1: Obviously now with Joe Burrow. He was with Derek Carr
20:54
Speaker 1: out in uh whe wherever they were Oakland at that
20:57
Speaker 1: time with the Raiders as well. But he's also he's
21:00
Speaker 1: a very steady personality. He's got a big role in
21:02
Speaker 1: terms of the game planning process. He interviewed with the
21:04
Speaker 1: Broncos last year. I know that they really liked him.
21:07
Speaker 1: Obviously they went another direction, but he should be in
21:10
Speaker 1: the mix. And then Lou you know, had an interview
21:12
Speaker 1: last year with the Giants. You know, he's he's older
21:15
Speaker 1: than Callahan obviously at this point. He comes from a
21:17
Speaker 1: defensive background, which is not going to be for everyone.
21:20
Speaker 1: But if you're looking for leaders of men, people who
21:23
Speaker 1: have set a culture, Zach Taylor deserves a huge amount
21:26
Speaker 1: of credit for what's happened in Cincinnati. But you know,
21:28
Speaker 1: lu on A. Rumo has done that too. I mean,
21:30
Speaker 1: he's been a big part of what they're building again
21:32
Speaker 1: with a bunch of guys who if you asked the
21:34
Speaker 1: average fan, even if it's a fan elsewhere in the
21:36
Speaker 1: AFC North, the name as many Bengals defensive players as
21:40
Speaker 1: you can. I don't know that you have people get
21:43
Speaker 1: very far past Jesse Bates and maybe Trey Hendrickson and
21:46
Speaker 1: then just go, I don't know who these guys are.
21:48
Speaker 1: They've got good players. But you know the way that
21:50
Speaker 1: Louis brought that group together, the way that he varies
21:53
Speaker 1: the game plan from week to week, the way he
21:54
Speaker 1: challenges different styles of quarterbacks, you know, and again the
21:57
Speaker 1: way that he's set that culture. Those should all be positives.
22:00
Speaker 1: He's going to need a plan for what he does
22:02
Speaker 1: with the offense. About fully anticipated. We'll have that. So
22:05
Speaker 1: last week was insane in the NFL. The Bengals rally
22:08
Speaker 1: from seventeen rally from seventeen down against Tom Brady, and
22:11
Speaker 1: that's like fifth on the list of wild things that happened.
22:14
Speaker 1: You were at the craziest game of all thirty three
22:17
Speaker 1: nothing at halftime, the Colts lead the Vikings, and Minnesota
22:20
Speaker 1: comes back to win in overtime. Describe what it was
22:23
Speaker 1: like to be in the stadium as that comeback happened.
22:28
Speaker 1: You know, I was the sideline reporter a NFL network
22:30
Speaker 1: for that game, and you kind of go in in
22:32
Speaker 1: those situations with a bunch of stories you want to
22:35
Speaker 1: tell and the things that I was on the Viking sideline,
22:37
Speaker 1: Lindsay Zarniak was on the Colts sideline, different things you
22:40
Speaker 1: want to tell about how they game plan through the week, adjustments,
22:43
Speaker 1: They're making fun little stories some of the players have
22:46
Speaker 1: told you, and then all of a sudden, the Vikings
22:47
Speaker 1: are just getting their doors blown offense, like, well, everything
22:50
Speaker 1: on my notepad, this is all out. I'm not gonna
22:51
Speaker 1: able to talk about any of this. Thirty three to nothing.
22:54
Speaker 1: At halftime, I go back to our green room just
22:56
Speaker 1: to eat something quickly. I'm going, I can't believe that
22:59
Speaker 1: this is this bad out of a game. Then you'd
23:01
Speaker 1: come out and it's just completely the opposite. A lot
23:04
Speaker 1: of things went wrong. You know, it doesn't a matter
23:05
Speaker 1: of the Vikings were being physically manhandled or anything. In
23:08
Speaker 1: the first half. It was just you know, Dalvin Cook
23:10
Speaker 1: had a fumble, they had two breakdowns in the return game,
23:13
Speaker 1: gave up long returns. They obviously had to pick six
23:16
Speaker 1: in there, and they had a defensive touchdown overturned because
23:19
Speaker 1: of forward progress had been called, so you know, thirty
23:23
Speaker 1: three to nothing. Kirk Cousins told me later that Patrick
23:26
Speaker 1: Peterson told him in the locker room, you know, all
23:27
Speaker 1: we need is five touchdowns, and Kirk said, I thought
23:30
Speaker 1: he was being sarcastic. But they come out, they score
23:33
Speaker 1: early in the second half. Then they cut it. It It was,
23:36
Speaker 1: I believe thirty six to fourteen in the third quarter,
23:39
Speaker 1: and I turned to Scotland he who was my spotter,
23:42
Speaker 1: and just said, they're gonna win this game. He's like,
23:44
Speaker 1: what I'm like, just look at the energy. You could
23:47
Speaker 1: feel it in the stadium. You could see it on
23:49
Speaker 1: the Colts players. You can see it on the Vikings sideline. Though,
23:51
Speaker 1: there was frustration and there were some players who were
23:54
Speaker 1: not happy at various points because it wasn't like they
23:55
Speaker 1: played a perfect second half. I mean, they did give
23:58
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, had to pump the ball back
23:59
Speaker 1: a couple of times and got stopped a couple of times.
24:02
Speaker 1: But you could just see they had a path forward there,
24:06
Speaker 1: and sure enough, it gets closer and closer ends up
24:09
Speaker 1: being the greatest or the biggest comeback in NFL history.
24:13
Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like it. You know, talking to
24:16
Speaker 1: Kirk after the game and I was telling him and
24:18
Speaker 1: he was learning in real time from me. It's like
24:20
Speaker 1: in NFL history. In NFL history, Okay, I need a second.
24:24
Speaker 1: It was a special, cool thing to be a part of,
24:27
Speaker 1: especially when you know you look around the stadium where
24:30
Speaker 1: it had been completely dead. I think the biggest cheer
24:32
Speaker 1: in the first two hours there was the Mascots versus
24:35
Speaker 1: fifth graders game that they had on the field, and
24:37
Speaker 1: then you're watching it. I thought it might be half
24:39
Speaker 1: empty because the game was so bad, but you look
24:41
Speaker 1: up there and the whole crowd was doing the skull
24:43
Speaker 1: chant when they got it down to one score, and
24:45
Speaker 1: it is just rocking in there, and you watch the
24:48
Speaker 1: sideline and you could see it in Guy's eyes. It
24:50
Speaker 1: was just really cool to have that up close view.
24:52
Speaker 1: And I don't know that I'll ever see a game
24:54
Speaker 1: quite like that. Again. It's the Bengals and Patriots Saturday,
24:58
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. The Bengals try to stay on the hunt
25:00
Speaker 1: for the number one playoff seed in the AFC. What
25:03
Speaker 1: are a couple of keys to the matchup this Saturday
25:05
Speaker 1: in Foxborough. Well, in my mind, it's just don't let
25:08
Speaker 1: Romandra Stevenson get going. We've seen that he's the he's
25:11
Speaker 1: the guy who can make things happen in that Patriots offense.
25:14
Speaker 1: There's obviously a lot of frustration right now in the
25:16
Speaker 1: passing game. They rely heavily on the you know, the
25:19
Speaker 1: quick game and you know short passes and Mac Jones
25:22
Speaker 1: if you're an amateur lip readers expressed from frustration about
25:25
Speaker 1: that at times. But they're not a team that's going
25:28
Speaker 1: to threaten you a whole bunch vertically. So I would
25:30
Speaker 1: I would anticipate and lose a lot smarter than I am,
25:33
Speaker 1: but I would anticipate you're loading up and just making
25:35
Speaker 1: sure don't let the run game beat you, let Mac
25:37
Speaker 1: Jones try to beat you going over the top. And
25:39
Speaker 1: then on the flip side of that, this is a really,
25:41
Speaker 1: really good Patriots defense. I don't know, I haven't looked
25:44
Speaker 1: at the rankings for Week fifteen, but they're one of
25:46
Speaker 1: the top ranked defenses in the NFL. You're just gonna
25:50
Speaker 1: need to let your best players be the best players.
25:52
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick. Always in every game plan, it always starts
25:55
Speaker 1: with how do we keep their best player from being
25:58
Speaker 1: the one who beats us? Mate, we're gonna make you
26:00
Speaker 1: win left handed. Well. Luckily for the Bengals, they've got
26:03
Speaker 1: so many different playmakers, you know, not just Mar Chase,
26:06
Speaker 1: Pete Higgins and Tyler Boyd and I don't know if
26:09
Speaker 1: kaiden Hurst's back or not, but Joe Mixon. There's a
26:11
Speaker 1: lot of different things that they can do. So it's
26:13
Speaker 1: going to be one of those games where you use
26:15
Speaker 1: the cliche, you know, take what the defense gives you.
26:18
Speaker 1: I would anticipate, you know, between Zach and Brian Callahan,
26:20
Speaker 1: they're going to be looking at this. How are the
26:22
Speaker 1: Bengals going to play us? I would think they're gonna
26:24
Speaker 1: play to not let Jamar Chase beat you. Maybe it's
26:27
Speaker 1: a big Joe Mixon bay. We'll see how it plays
26:29
Speaker 1: out coming up this weekend. Tom. I know your schedule
26:33
Speaker 1: is crazy. I really appreciate you doing this. Happy holidays
26:36
Speaker 1: and thanks for the time you gotta thank you. The
26:39
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,
26:42
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
26:45
Speaker 1: one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,
26:49
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
26:53
Speaker 1: Visit Kettering health dot org to learn more. Last week,
26:57
Speaker 1: the Bengals beat Brady. This week they'll try to eat Belichick.
27:01
Speaker 1: Bill's all time record against Cincinnati is sixteen and four,
27:04
Speaker 1: and believe it or not, his record against the Bengals
27:06
Speaker 1: his identical. At his two coaching stops, he was eight
27:10
Speaker 1: and two as the head coach of the Browns, and
27:12
Speaker 1: he's eight and two his head coach of the Patriots.
27:15
Speaker 1: But this year's team, for lack of a better term,
27:17
Speaker 1: does not look belichick Ian. The Patriots have made an
27:22
Speaker 1: unusually high number of mistakes, culminating with the final play
27:27
Speaker 1: of last week's game at Las Vegas. Now at a
27:30
Speaker 1: third and ten three seconds left, Jones will give it
27:32
Speaker 1: to Steven Sandy started rod. He runs it up the middle,
27:34
Speaker 1: hit by Chandler Jones, slips and head across the forty
27:36
Speaker 1: five for the stiff arm off a tackle on the forty.
27:38
Speaker 1: He lost the football and Jacoby Byers picks it up.
27:41
Speaker 1: He circles back and he throws it across the field trickle,
27:43
Speaker 1: Oh my god, just picked up by Chanler Jones. He
27:45
Speaker 1: breaks away to the thirty, He runs to the twenty.
27:48
Speaker 1: He runs to the ten he one to the end
27:51
Speaker 1: zone three touchdowns raters tonight. This might be one of
28:01
Speaker 1: the dumbest teams I've ever seen. And of victory for
28:07
Speaker 1: Las Vegas. That outstanding play by play call on the
28:13
Speaker 1: Patriots Radio network was courtesy of my longtime friend Bob Socy.
28:17
Speaker 1: We are both former announcers for the Patucket Red Sox
28:20
Speaker 1: Minor League baseball team, and I caught up with Bob
28:23
Speaker 1: this week in our know the faux segment, Bob. Last
28:27
Speaker 1: week's loss was obviously an all timer. I'm sure fans
28:31
Speaker 1: and media have been playing the blame game ever since.
28:34
Speaker 1: Who has been the primary target of their ire Well,
28:38
Speaker 1: you know, Dan, you might think it would be the
28:40
Speaker 1: two players who lateral on the last possession, Ramadre Stevenson
28:45
Speaker 1: and Jacobe Myers. But I think and it's not just
28:48
Speaker 1: that particular game that's led to I think the criticism
28:52
Speaker 1: for the coaching staff and in particular head coach Bill Belichick.
28:55
Speaker 1: But I think it's you know all, it's something that
28:58
Speaker 1: dates back to the summer and the decision after Josh
29:01
Speaker 1: McDaniels was hired to be the head coach of the
29:03
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Raiders, replacing the offensive staff essentially with Matt
29:08
Speaker 1: Patricia and Joe Judge, a former defensive coordinator and special
29:12
Speaker 1: teams coordinator for the Patriots, of course, both of whom
29:15
Speaker 1: were back in New England. Has failed head coaches and
29:18
Speaker 1: it has been topic a from spring through summer and
29:23
Speaker 1: now as we approach winter, and last week's game was
29:27
Speaker 1: really one that I think pointed out not only you know,
29:30
Speaker 1: the problems of Patriots have faced as a team of late,
29:35
Speaker 1: but really all year long in terms of coaching situational football,
29:40
Speaker 1: the kind of procedural mistakes they've made, the mental errors
29:45
Speaker 1: that are uncharacteristic of what we have become accustomed to
29:49
Speaker 1: with Bill Belichick. So, you know, to try to make
29:53
Speaker 1: sense of something that's almost inexplicable, people say, you know,
29:56
Speaker 1: it falls on the head coach, and that's where the
29:59
Speaker 1: criticism has and directed, and it has been swelling, and
30:02
Speaker 1: it's been consistent of late, especially as you know, as
30:06
Speaker 1: harsh as the Boston media can be on sports radio
30:09
Speaker 1: here locally, help us understand why Bill Belichick would choose
30:13
Speaker 1: Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense, considering
30:16
Speaker 1: their backgrounds were not on the offensive side of the ball.
30:19
Speaker 1: You know, it goes back I think to Bill's days
30:22
Speaker 1: in Cleveland. When you look back at his early career
30:24
Speaker 1: with the Browns, he had a similar offensive coordination by
30:29
Speaker 1: committee elliott I believe it was Gary Tranquil who was
30:33
Speaker 1: the offensive coinator entitled, but it was really a buy
30:36
Speaker 1: committee approach to calling plays and Bill had a strong
30:39
Speaker 1: had him, had a strong voice in making the play calls.
30:43
Speaker 1: And it was a system that for you know, for
30:46
Speaker 1: all intensive purposes failed. It was an offense that was
30:50
Speaker 1: really one of the worst in the league. And over
30:52
Speaker 1: the course of time, as Bill hired Charlie Wise and
30:55
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniel's. Bill O'Brien of course, was here in between
30:58
Speaker 1: McDaniel's two stints, the offense was kind of its own entity,
31:03
Speaker 1: and it had developed under McDaniels to become his offense
31:07
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady's offense. And I think Bill looked at
31:10
Speaker 1: things in a couple of different ways what he wanted
31:12
Speaker 1: to streamline what was a very complicated system for newcomers
31:17
Speaker 1: to pick up rookies, veteran free agents, trade acquisitions. It's
31:22
Speaker 1: been well known, well established, in no better example than
31:25
Speaker 1: Chadojo Sinko, for example, the former Bengal who came to
31:28
Speaker 1: New England and never really adapted to the Patriot offensive scheme.
31:32
Speaker 1: It's been an offense that was very complex and very
31:35
Speaker 1: difficult to adjust to for a lot of players, again,
31:38
Speaker 1: whether novices in the NFL or veterans. So Bill wanted
31:41
Speaker 1: to condense things. He wanted to streamline it, make it
31:44
Speaker 1: more simplified. And then on the other hand, he'd been
31:47
Speaker 1: losing this succession of young offensive minds to other jobs.
31:52
Speaker 1: You know, you look at the Patriots coaching staff in
31:54
Speaker 1: recent years, I mean as recently as the last Super
31:56
Speaker 1: Bowl champion in two and eighteen, and then compare it
31:59
Speaker 1: to today or even if you want to take this
32:01
Speaker 1: step or two further back in time, he had Brian
32:03
Speaker 1: Dable on the same staff as Josh McDaniels on the
32:06
Speaker 1: two thousand and sixteen Patriots that won Super Bowl fifty one,
32:09
Speaker 1: and now Dabile of course, after a great stint in
32:12
Speaker 1: Buffalo as the head coach of the New York Giants.
32:14
Speaker 1: So there's some thought that Bill wanted to kind of
32:17
Speaker 1: guard against, you know, that next young offensive bright mind
32:20
Speaker 1: moving on. It maintained some continuity in that he's got
32:25
Speaker 1: these long time lieutenants, guys that are very loyal to
32:28
Speaker 1: him on the staff calling offense. But of course, at
32:32
Speaker 1: the same time, you know, there's this disconnect, and you know,
32:36
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, it's a mind boggling, you know, situation,
32:40
Speaker 1: and it's been that way since day one. So, you know,
32:43
Speaker 1: I think that Bill also believes that a good football
32:45
Speaker 1: coach is a good football coach, and Bill has had
32:48
Speaker 1: a strong say. You could see it in the goal
32:49
Speaker 1: line situation last week we're leading the game against Las Vegas.
32:51
Speaker 1: Bill still has a say. Now the offense is run,
32:54
Speaker 1: and we've seen him more involved with the offense going
32:56
Speaker 1: back to training camp this year compared to years past
32:59
Speaker 1: when he would be more involved on the defensive side.
33:02
Speaker 1: During training camp. We're chatting in the voice of the
33:05
Speaker 1: Patriots Bob soci mac Jones had a tremendous rookie year.
33:08
Speaker 1: He took the Patriots to the playoffs. He led him
33:11
Speaker 1: to ten wins, he earned a Pro Bowl nod. It
33:13
Speaker 1: obviously has not gone as well this year. What have
33:16
Speaker 1: been his biggest issues, you know, Dan, I think it
33:19
Speaker 1: starts with what we're talking about with regards to the
33:21
Speaker 1: Patriots staff. A lack of trust dissonance from the start.
33:26
Speaker 1: There had been frankly, you know, especially in New England circles,
33:29
Speaker 1: and kind of shocking statements sometimes veiled references to the
33:34
Speaker 1: offense or the lack of input from the quarterback and
33:38
Speaker 1: the players back in the summer, and it's continued during
33:41
Speaker 1: the course of the season. You've seen his frustrations, his
33:43
Speaker 1: body language the last few weeks as you've watched the
33:46
Speaker 1: Patriots even casually let h one closely, and it's been
33:49
Speaker 1: a bad situation. He has regressed, and I think what's
33:52
Speaker 1: transpired is that, you know, early on, a lot of
33:56
Speaker 1: Mac's strengths were diminished, his his capacity to process his
34:03
Speaker 1: intelligence because with the simplified system, a lot was taken
34:06
Speaker 1: out of his hands, and rather than advancing progressing the offense,
34:11
Speaker 1: they kind of scaled it back. They were a conservative
34:14
Speaker 1: last year under McDaniels. They really took him along slowly.
34:17
Speaker 1: But then as the season got started this year and
34:20
Speaker 1: rather than going forward and building on that, they went
34:22
Speaker 1: backwards in his sentence, and then he started to play
34:25
Speaker 1: poorly and turned the ball over a lot. They also,
34:27
Speaker 1: at the same time, while they wanted to simplify and
34:32
Speaker 1: you reduce the playbook. They wanted to have more of
34:35
Speaker 1: a downfield threat, and they wanted more production on deep throws.
34:41
Speaker 1: And so, you know, an offense that had long been
34:43
Speaker 1: predicated on taking what the defense gave them, you know,
34:47
Speaker 1: death by a million paper cuts, danking doink in the
34:51
Speaker 1: middle of the field between the hash marks, did Julian Edelman,
34:53
Speaker 1: West Welker, etc. Now they throwing the ball downfield. For
34:56
Speaker 1: those fifty fifty balls to Davante Parker and what he
34:59
Speaker 1: said going to be eighty twenty balls in his favor
35:03
Speaker 1: have been more like twenty eighty if that, and you know,
35:07
Speaker 1: tilting towards the defense, and that I think just started
35:10
Speaker 1: a spiral effect. Max mechanics got out of whack mind games.
35:14
Speaker 1: He gets hurt against the Ravens, even playing well in
35:16
Speaker 1: that game, and then turn the ball over several times later.
35:19
Speaker 1: He gets hit on the final pass attempt of the
35:22
Speaker 1: game for the Patriots class Campbell comes down on his
35:25
Speaker 1: legs high ankle sprain. There's a lot of back and
35:28
Speaker 1: forth behind the scenes between difference of opinion his camp,
35:32
Speaker 1: so to speak, and the coaches with the Patriots wanted
35:35
Speaker 1: as an organization comes back starts against the Bears, it's awful. Bailey.
35:40
Speaker 1: Zappy had started for the Patriots one back to back games,
35:42
Speaker 1: one road, one home, and Mac Jones takes the field
35:45
Speaker 1: against the Bears, struggle, stows an interception, and he exits
35:49
Speaker 1: to fans chanting Zap Zappy, And it's just it's they've
35:54
Speaker 1: never been able to get on the same page. They've
35:57
Speaker 1: never been able to kind of regroup in his and
36:01
Speaker 1: collect themselves and move forward. Since Zappy played well in
36:06
Speaker 1: those two games, is there much talk about let's give
36:09
Speaker 1: Mac a break, puts Bailey back in there and let
36:12
Speaker 1: him reset, anything along those lines. Oh, yeah, there's there.
36:16
Speaker 1: There is quite a bit. I think it's interesting in
36:18
Speaker 1: the consensus on Mac Jones as the future of the Patriots.
36:22
Speaker 1: I think last year there were some detractors, but overall,
36:24
Speaker 1: I think the consensus was a whole promising quarterback. This
36:30
Speaker 1: could be your franchise quarterback. Someone would go so far
36:32
Speaker 1: as stay quarterback for the next ten years or cbs,
36:35
Speaker 1: as Charles Davis say that on a telecast early this season.
36:38
Speaker 1: And after the offense struggles, Smack turns the ball over
36:41
Speaker 1: and Zappy comes in and in an even more simplified attack,
36:45
Speaker 1: frankly against two beat up defenses at the time, and
36:47
Speaker 1: the lines were the worst defense. But they were also
36:49
Speaker 1: down several players in their secondary. And they go to
36:52
Speaker 1: Cleveland and the Browns were without Denzel Warden, jadeveon Cloudy
36:56
Speaker 1: and Zappy plays well. Taking nothing away from him. There's
37:00
Speaker 1: an innocence about him. Kid who played at a small school,
37:04
Speaker 1: Houston Baptist and then one year at Western Kentucky, wide eyed,
37:08
Speaker 1: big smile, you know, shorter than your average NFL quarterback,
37:12
Speaker 1: and he comes in and he plays great. After this
37:15
Speaker 1: kid from Alabama who in the offseason started to make
37:18
Speaker 1: a lot more appearances and started showing up on your
37:21
Speaker 1: television a lot more. And you know, you go back
37:25
Speaker 1: to the discord that was evident in the summer. People
37:28
Speaker 1: started to sour on Mac frankly, particularly in the media
37:32
Speaker 1: here and in Boston. Once the conversation starts, particularly between
37:36
Speaker 1: the hours of two and six at the least station
37:39
Speaker 1: in town, you know, everybody takes their keys from that.
37:42
Speaker 1: And so when Zappy comes in, he plays well. Then
37:44
Speaker 1: Mac comes comes back from his injury, you know, turns
37:47
Speaker 1: it over against the Bears. You know, the chance get louder.
37:51
Speaker 1: I think Belichick a couple of weeks later kind of
37:53
Speaker 1: quieted the talk. Mac played better, the Patriots won some games,
37:57
Speaker 1: but now there's I think a lot more conjecture again,
38:00
Speaker 1: end should they turn to Zappi? I think people have
38:02
Speaker 1: watched Max's demonstrative nature on the field, and we're as
38:07
Speaker 1: I think there was a sympathetic audience for him Dan frankly,
38:10
Speaker 1: because people recognize, you know, the false in the whole approach,
38:17
Speaker 1: the whole operation of the offense. Now they're saying, and
38:21
Speaker 1: I'm kind of subscribe to this as well. Look, you
38:23
Speaker 1: got to go out and play and enough. You can't
38:26
Speaker 1: show up your coaches, You can't constantly gesticulate on the field.
38:30
Speaker 1: The way he has been of late has become more noticeable.
38:33
Speaker 1: Certainly the cameras around him all the time. We're chatting
38:36
Speaker 1: with the voice of the Patriots, Bob Socie. I'll admit
38:39
Speaker 1: I didn't know that much about second year running back.
38:41
Speaker 1: Remind Gray Stevenson. He's closing in a thousand yards, he
38:44
Speaker 1: leads to Patriots and catches with sixty. How good is Stevenson.
38:50
Speaker 1: He's very good. Yeah, he's very good. It's the first
38:52
Speaker 1: time I think that the Patriots have really had a
38:54
Speaker 1: featured back since the former Bengal Corey Dillon, where you
38:57
Speaker 1: could say this is their bell cow, this is the
38:59
Speaker 1: guy is going to be out there for the bulk
39:01
Speaker 1: of the staffs, And it wasn't designed that way, it
39:03
Speaker 1: wasn't planned that way. Damian Harris has been beat up.
39:06
Speaker 1: He was their leading rusher from a year ago where
39:08
Speaker 1: Guy's had twenty career touchdowns, fifteen of them last season
39:11
Speaker 1: to tie a franchise record, a second in the league.
39:14
Speaker 1: But Harris banged up. Stevenson more of a presence. Also,
39:18
Speaker 1: James White retired after a hip injury last year, tried
39:22
Speaker 1: to come back, retired before the season started, and so
39:25
Speaker 1: Stevenson not only winds up being your primary ball carry
39:29
Speaker 1: and almost exclusive ball carry because behind him and Harris
39:33
Speaker 1: you had two rookies, one of whom from the FCS
39:36
Speaker 1: level who weren't ready, the other of whom had a
39:38
Speaker 1: fumbling issue in the preseason, so they didn't trust him.
39:41
Speaker 1: He was on the practice squad. So Romantis not only
39:43
Speaker 1: carrying the ball most of the time, now he becomes
39:46
Speaker 1: your top running back option in the passing game. And
39:48
Speaker 1: as you might have heard, advanced Joseph the defensive coordinator
39:51
Speaker 1: for the Arizona car And I'll say last week, the
39:55
Speaker 1: offense has called a lot like a defensive coach would
39:57
Speaker 1: call it a lot of screen passes. And against his Cardinals,
40:01
Speaker 1: the Patriots called a dozen screens. So that's involved sequence
40:04
Speaker 1: in a lot in the passing game. He's a terrific player.
40:06
Speaker 1: Great fine for them, I think in the draft. I
40:09
Speaker 1: won't say that he's going to be the best Oklahoma
40:11
Speaker 1: running back on the field on Saturday, but I think
40:15
Speaker 1: it's going to be a lot closer than most people
40:17
Speaker 1: would have ever expected. So the offense has struggled. The
40:21
Speaker 1: defense is excellent. Top ten against the pass, top ten
40:24
Speaker 1: against the run, seventh and fewest points allowed. Let's start
40:28
Speaker 1: up front, Matthew, Judeon and josh Oocha. Is that as
40:33
Speaker 1: good as any pass rushing duo in the NFL? Well, statistically,
40:38
Speaker 1: you know, they were the first two pass rushers to
40:40
Speaker 1: reach double figures in sacks on the same team, and
40:43
Speaker 1: which is really come on of late. Now there's a qualifier, Dan,
40:47
Speaker 1: A lot of the defense is statistics. Frankly were inflated
40:51
Speaker 1: against Frankly bad quarterback play Sam Ellinger. For example, for
40:56
Speaker 1: the Colts, Zach Wilson for the Jets before they turn
41:00
Speaker 1: things over to Mike White. So in context, I think
41:04
Speaker 1: people have to keep that in mind. Judon went quiet
41:07
Speaker 1: late last year. He had twelve and a half sacks
41:10
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl season, no production in the last four games,
41:13
Speaker 1: and he didn't show up on the stat sheet fifty
41:16
Speaker 1: plus snaps against the Raiders. So it's gonna be interesting
41:19
Speaker 1: to see how he plays this week against a much
41:22
Speaker 1: better offensive line, a far better offense, frankly, and they're
41:27
Speaker 1: going to need him to stay at a chance, I
41:29
Speaker 1: think in this game against the Bengals. Lucha is a
41:31
Speaker 1: terrific athlete and explosive player. He was utilized by Don
41:35
Speaker 1: Brown as the defensive coordinator in Michigan. That's strictly a
41:38
Speaker 1: pass rusher, situational guy. Came into the NFL and the
41:42
Speaker 1: Patriots his first year played him off the ball. Didn't
41:45
Speaker 1: have a chance where they just to put his hand
41:47
Speaker 1: down and rush the quarterback. That's not what a Patriots
41:50
Speaker 1: defensive end typically does. You've got to be able to
41:53
Speaker 1: do all the facets of their defensive scheme. Set the
41:57
Speaker 1: edge play against the run, cover in the flat, drop
42:00
Speaker 1: in coverage, and he struggled with that and then he
42:02
Speaker 1: got hurt in a second year. This season, he's been healthy.
42:06
Speaker 1: Like I said, I think that atheticism has showed up
42:08
Speaker 1: of late, and they've been helped out too, frankly by
42:11
Speaker 1: Devon Godchaw. It's been good for them. As a defensive tackle,
42:14
Speaker 1: teams have definitely made an effort to double team him.
42:17
Speaker 1: Christian Barmore just came back from a prolonged absence because
42:20
Speaker 1: of injury. I think he's a very promising, young explosive
42:23
Speaker 1: player as well. Year after year, it seems to me
42:27
Speaker 1: the Patriots lose good cornerbacks and safeties to free agency
42:31
Speaker 1: but remain great in the secondary. Is that true? And
42:35
Speaker 1: if so, why, well? I think they're good. Yeah, certainly.
42:39
Speaker 1: Jonathan Jones has been a good cornerback this year, and
42:42
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it, Dan Frankly, is schematics
42:45
Speaker 1: what they do sometimes to confuse quarterbacks with their coverages,
42:49
Speaker 1: and you know, the marriage of their fronts and coverage
42:53
Speaker 1: is now. I think the secondary has been a lot
42:56
Speaker 1: better than people anticipated. At the cornerback position, Jalen Mills
43:00
Speaker 1: has been hurt and that's been costly for them. I
43:02
Speaker 1: think these last couple of weeks dealing with a Gwen injury.
43:05
Speaker 1: Jack Jones is a cornerback that they took a guy
43:08
Speaker 1: with some red flags coming out of college who was
43:10
Speaker 1: a USC first then in Arizona State. The Patriots got
43:13
Speaker 1: him as a mid round pick and he's gotten off
43:16
Speaker 1: to a good start. He missed last week's game because
43:18
Speaker 1: of anee injury. Marcus Jones, who is one of the
43:22
Speaker 1: most dynamic players that I've seen in a Patriots uniform
43:25
Speaker 1: in my ten years in terms of his overall athletic ability.
43:29
Speaker 1: He's a triple threat. We've seen him return up punk
43:31
Speaker 1: to win a game against the Jets. We have seen
43:33
Speaker 1: him on offense against the Bills take a pass forty
43:37
Speaker 1: eight yards with his first NFL NFL his first pro
43:40
Speaker 1: touch for a score. And then defensively the last couple
43:43
Speaker 1: of weeks, he's played very very well against some very
43:46
Speaker 1: very good receivers, including Davante Adams and the Raiders. Very
43:50
Speaker 1: good at the safety position, that's the deepest position, in
43:53
Speaker 1: the most experienced position. I think Kyle Dugger as a
43:56
Speaker 1: young player that you know, there's a lot to like about.
43:59
Speaker 1: He's a foundation piece for them. Maybe not as good
44:02
Speaker 1: in coverage as some of the other contemporaries around the
44:05
Speaker 1: league that he has, but in terms of physicality and
44:09
Speaker 1: just a knack for making plays, and he's really had
44:12
Speaker 1: a good season for them. And then there's Devin mcquartery
44:14
Speaker 1: of quarterbacks at all, and I think that's a big
44:16
Speaker 1: key that easily gets overlooked because he doesn't show up
44:19
Speaker 1: as much on the stat sheet as well, even though
44:22
Speaker 1: he's got thirty plus interceptions over his long career. But
44:25
Speaker 1: he's a guy that directs things and I think keeps
44:27
Speaker 1: everybody on the same page. Back there final thing for
44:30
Speaker 1: Bob Socie. I think a lot of us are wondering
44:32
Speaker 1: how the Patriots are going to bounce back. If they're
44:35
Speaker 1: going to bounce back from what happened last week. It
44:37
Speaker 1: seems like it could go one of two ways. Either
44:39
Speaker 1: you spiral after a loss of that nature and that magnitude,
44:43
Speaker 1: or you rally. You're embarrassed, you're still in the playoff hunt,
44:47
Speaker 1: you come back strong. Do you have a feeling for
44:49
Speaker 1: what the Patriots are going to look like on Sunday
44:52
Speaker 1: or Saturday? I should say, yeah, Dan, you know I
44:54
Speaker 1: don't have a feeling. I have a fear. I would
44:57
Speaker 1: say a concern about how this team is going to
45:00
Speaker 1: bounce back. You know, it's funny. I found the infamy of,
45:03
Speaker 1: as I understand it, calling the two walk off plays
45:06
Speaker 1: in NFL history that involved multiple multiple laterals to win
45:12
Speaker 1: or lose the game. One was in Miami in twenty eighteen,
45:14
Speaker 1: and the hook and lateral play by the Dolphins to
45:17
Speaker 1: beat the Patriots in Miami, and then of course last
45:18
Speaker 1: week's play. Well, the twenty eighteen team was led by
45:21
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and a number of other veteran players, and
45:24
Speaker 1: they bounced back, and they won the Super Bowl with
45:26
Speaker 1: Rob Grunkowski and Julian Edelman and a very very good
45:29
Speaker 1: defense led by Stefan Gilmour, as you know, one of
45:33
Speaker 1: the top defensive players in the league at that time,
45:36
Speaker 1: a year before he became Defensive Player of the Year. Well,
45:38
Speaker 1: they shut down the Rams, they win the Super Bowl.
45:40
Speaker 1: They bounced back very nicely. This team, it's not the
45:44
Speaker 1: same old Patriots. You got a lot of new guys
45:46
Speaker 1: on this team. As I alluded to or even you know,
45:50
Speaker 1: described directly a bit earlier than conversation, there's been a
45:53
Speaker 1: lot of grousing. There's been some disconnect and you know,
45:56
Speaker 1: some would say dissension. I mean, you had offensive players
45:59
Speaker 1: opening questioning the openly questioning the coaching staff after the
46:03
Speaker 1: Bills game a couple of weeks ago, So that doesn't
46:05
Speaker 1: pourt ten very well for a strong rebound for the Patriots.
46:09
Speaker 1: They have three games left, all against very good teams,
46:13
Speaker 1: Miami at home and then Buffalo. Their playoff chances are
46:18
Speaker 1: still alive, but it's it's between slim and none, let's
46:21
Speaker 1: face it, you know, for them to win all three
46:23
Speaker 1: of those games and really stand a legitimate chance of
46:27
Speaker 1: doing anything in the postseason. So you know, it's a
46:30
Speaker 1: game they have to have. I think there's so many
46:32
Speaker 1: questions about them going into the offseason, and these next
46:35
Speaker 1: three weeks are going to determine whether, you know, the
46:38
Speaker 1: questions increase, or some of them are answered, or the
46:42
Speaker 1: you know, the chorus gets louder. Here. That distinction of
46:46
Speaker 1: calling the two game ending plays featuring multi laterals is
46:50
Speaker 1: an interesting one, and you called them both great, as
46:54
Speaker 1: I told you in a text that can't imagine somebody
46:57
Speaker 1: calling last week's finish any better than you did, So
47:00
Speaker 1: kudos on that, and I am looking forward to our
47:03
Speaker 1: Patucket Red Sox reunion on Saturday in Foxborough, Oh I
47:07
Speaker 1: really appreciate that because you call everything great as well. Dan,
47:12
Speaker 1: thanks so much. That's going to do it. For this
47:14
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47:47
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals
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Speaker 1: Booth Podcast