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Bengals Booth Podcast: Our House · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The house is a very very
0:12
Speaker 1: very fine house. Addition, as the Bengals play a home
0:17
Speaker 1: game for just the second time in six weeks as
0:19
Speaker 1: they host the Atlanta Falcons, coming up, Sirius XM NFL
0:24
Speaker 1: radio host Solomon Wilcots joins me to discuss the state
0:27
Speaker 1: of the Bengals after six games. Dave Lapham ways in
0:31
Speaker 1: on why the Bengals scored a season high thirty points
0:34
Speaker 1: last week. I'll chat with defensive tackle j to Fell
0:38
Speaker 1: who is going to play an important role, with DJ
0:41
Speaker 1: Reader and Josh Tupo out with injuries, and in our
0:44
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment, we'll get the latest down the
0:46
Speaker 1: Falcons from their longtime radio voice, West Durham. The Bengals
0:51
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the
0:53
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one
0:57
Speaker 1: hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering
1:01
Speaker 1: Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
1:05
Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now here's a
1:08
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
1:11
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:14
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
1:18
Speaker 1: thing since This week's Rulers of the Jungle on Sunday
1:23
Speaker 1: at pay Course Stadium. The pregame Hoo Day Chant will
1:26
Speaker 1: be led by former Bengal Devin Still and his daughter Leia.
1:31
Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, when Devon was in his third season
1:34
Speaker 1: with the Bengals, Leah was diagnosed with a rare form
1:37
Speaker 1: of cancer. She was just four years old at the time.
1:41
Speaker 1: She's twelve now and cancer free, and it is going
1:44
Speaker 1: to be awesome to see Devin and Leia on the
1:47
Speaker 1: throne in the Jungle this Sunday. Now, let's look ahead
1:51
Speaker 1: to this week's game, beginning with a former Bengal turned
1:54
Speaker 1: Emmy Award winning broadcaster. It is always great to catch
1:59
Speaker 1: up with former Angle Super Bowl safety Solomon Wilcot's the
2:02
Speaker 1: host of the opening drive on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Sally.
2:07
Speaker 1: It's been a bit of a bumpy ride so far
2:09
Speaker 1: from the Bengals, but they find themselves tied for first
2:11
Speaker 1: in the AFC North at three and three. Assess the
2:14
Speaker 1: team through the first six games of the season. Well, look,
2:18
Speaker 1: it was a bumpy start, There's no doubt about it.
2:20
Speaker 1: You get off to the O two start and you
2:22
Speaker 1: get even at two and two. I think it's clear
2:25
Speaker 1: that in this league, if you get into a two
2:28
Speaker 1: or three game hole, man, it's tough to work your
2:30
Speaker 1: way out of it because you've got to spend so
2:33
Speaker 1: much energy just getting back to five hundred, and then
2:36
Speaker 1: you lose the next game, and then next thing you know,
2:38
Speaker 1: we're two and three. But we were fortunate. I thought
2:41
Speaker 1: the game against the New Orleans Saints it was the
2:43
Speaker 1: best we played on offense anyway, in terms of just
2:47
Speaker 1: having good balance, ran the ball very good with Joe Mixon,
2:51
Speaker 1: and then obviously forcing them to come out of the
2:53
Speaker 1: double coverage that Jamar Chase had been getting for the
2:56
Speaker 1: first month of the season. Once he gets single coverage,
3:00
Speaker 1: he's as good as open all day. And so I
3:05
Speaker 1: really do think the Saints game was not our best
3:08
Speaker 1: game as a football team, but it was certainly the
3:11
Speaker 1: best game for the offense. I thought we played very
3:13
Speaker 1: well in the Thursday night game against Miami was probably
3:17
Speaker 1: our most complete game offensively and defensively. Sally, we knew
3:22
Speaker 1: it might take a while for the offensive line to gel.
3:24
Speaker 1: Do you see that happening? Yeah, but we still have
3:28
Speaker 1: ways to go. You know. That goes to show you
3:31
Speaker 1: that in this game, practice matters. Time spent together, playing
3:35
Speaker 1: within a system for coaches, that matters, And yeah, you
3:41
Speaker 1: can go spend the money, But just because you throw
3:44
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys together with really good names on
3:46
Speaker 1: the back of their jerseys, as Dick lebou would say,
3:49
Speaker 1: it doesn't make you a good football team. The ability
3:52
Speaker 1: to play together and have that chemistry and even the
3:56
Speaker 1: non verbal communication goes such a long way into helping
4:00
Speaker 1: and be able to perform at a high level. And
4:02
Speaker 1: that's why you see the Buffalo Bills sort of in
4:04
Speaker 1: their position. These are players that have been on the team.
4:07
Speaker 1: They did add a von Miller to help the younger
4:10
Speaker 1: guys to improve, but these are players that have been
4:12
Speaker 1: playing together for a while in the same system offensively
4:16
Speaker 1: and on defense, that they've kept it intact and you
4:19
Speaker 1: see them playing at a very high level. Now we
4:22
Speaker 1: are visiting a former Bengal safety, Solomon Wilcots. You are
4:25
Speaker 1: part of one of the great secondaries in franchise history,
4:28
Speaker 1: the Swat team, the current group has adopted the nickname
4:31
Speaker 1: the Cleanup Crew. What stands out when you watch this
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Speaker 1: group play chitterbay Ewoozier. He's just consistent in coverage and
4:42
Speaker 1: a very good tackler when asked to right. And I
4:47
Speaker 1: think our safety tandem of Jesse Bates and von Belle there,
4:51
Speaker 1: I mean, just a really good all around group. Great
4:54
Speaker 1: in coverage, great against the run. They're not afraid to
4:57
Speaker 1: lay their pads on people, which seemed to be something
5:01
Speaker 1: that we don't ask players to do a whole lot
5:03
Speaker 1: in today's NFL. But these guys are very willing tacklers.
5:08
Speaker 1: They understand and embrace the physical part of the game.
5:11
Speaker 1: And so I love the depth and versatility that they
5:15
Speaker 1: have in this secondary and they're just going to continue
5:18
Speaker 1: to get better. What was your reaction last Sunday when
5:21
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow walked into the Superdome wearing a game used
5:25
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase lsu Jersey. You know I said this on
5:29
Speaker 1: our podcast to Believe in Bigger Podcasts with Adam pac
5:32
Speaker 1: Man Jones. I said, this was like, you know, Babe Ruth,
5:36
Speaker 1: we all know it's kind of folk lower where Babe
5:39
Speaker 1: Ruth He pointed to left field with his bat. Next thing,
5:42
Speaker 1: you know, he knocks it out of the park and
5:44
Speaker 1: he hits it to left field, and as you will know,
5:48
Speaker 1: being the trite and true professional broadcaster that you are,
5:52
Speaker 1: that's called calling your shot, right. It's sort of a
5:57
Speaker 1: nonverbal communication saying here's what I'm about to do, and
6:01
Speaker 1: then you do it. So that was Joe Burrow saying,
6:05
Speaker 1: we're getting ready to have a big day, and here's
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Speaker 1: the guy that I'm gonna be throwing the ball too.
6:11
Speaker 1: Here's the guy that's gonna like gonna beat you all day.
6:15
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened. Fifteen yard tests down past
6:18
Speaker 1: the Jamar Chase, and then the sixty yard game winner
6:21
Speaker 1: to break it all open. I know they didn't have
6:24
Speaker 1: a cigar after this one, but they could have. They
6:28
Speaker 1: could have. Sally, you're part of the Super Bowl team
6:31
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty eight. It obviously took a while for
6:34
Speaker 1: the Bengals to get back. How competent are you that
6:37
Speaker 1: the Bengals will return to the Super Bowl in the
6:39
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow era. I'm confident of that, but it's not
6:44
Speaker 1: gonna be easy. Right. The AFC is loaded, the other
6:47
Speaker 1: teams have good quarterbacks, too. They understand the metrics of
6:52
Speaker 1: you've got to be good at the quarterback position. You
6:54
Speaker 1: gotta be good on the back end of your defense.
6:57
Speaker 1: Defenses today and our NFL are built from the back
7:00
Speaker 1: to the front. Bill Belichick understands that. Sean McDermott and
7:05
Speaker 1: Buffalo understands that. The Eagles in Philadelphia understand it. And
7:11
Speaker 1: so you've got to be able to keep people from
7:14
Speaker 1: throwing the ball over your head, and when they do try,
7:17
Speaker 1: you got to be able to pick it off and
7:18
Speaker 1: you better have a good pass rush. And I think
7:21
Speaker 1: the Rams showed us that. I think von Miller jumping
7:24
Speaker 1: over to the Buffalo Bills, I think speaks to more
7:26
Speaker 1: of that. And so no, I think we got to
7:29
Speaker 1: continue to build around Joe. But he is I think
7:33
Speaker 1: he's invested not just improving his game, but making this
7:37
Speaker 1: one of the model franchises. And as we've seen, people
7:40
Speaker 1: want to play with him. So he's the fourth multiplier
7:43
Speaker 1: and you've got to have one of those. That's what
7:46
Speaker 1: Indianapolis had in a Peyton Manning, That's what the Patriots had,
7:49
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady and the Packers have had so long
7:52
Speaker 1: with Brett Farve and Aaron Rodgers, and we like to
7:55
Speaker 1: believe that we have that same thing at quarterback in
7:58
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. So the Falcon come to town this Sunday.
8:01
Speaker 1: Atlanta's rushed for at least one hundred and fifty yards
8:03
Speaker 1: in five out of six games. Is stopping the run
8:07
Speaker 1: is holding the Falcons to a reasonable number the biggest
8:10
Speaker 1: key on Sunday. Yeah. I mean, here's a couple of things.
8:14
Speaker 1: You got to keep them under a buck fifty because
8:16
Speaker 1: they've been over one hundred and fifty each of the
8:18
Speaker 1: last three games. I mean, when they got one hundred
8:21
Speaker 1: and fifty plush yards on Tampa, I was really impressed.
8:25
Speaker 1: And they did that two weeks ago. Three weeks ago
8:27
Speaker 1: they went for two hundred against Cleveland, and then last
8:30
Speaker 1: week against the really good forty nine or defense, I
8:33
Speaker 1: think they had one hundred and sixty eight yards rushing
8:36
Speaker 1: the football. And they have the fewest three and outs
8:40
Speaker 1: of any offense international Football League, So they know how
8:44
Speaker 1: to stay on the field on third down. So that's
8:46
Speaker 1: what we have to do. Defensively. We're gonna have to
8:48
Speaker 1: hold up against their run game, but we got to
8:51
Speaker 1: get them off the field when they get to third down.
8:54
Speaker 1: More importantly, our offense can help with this. Right if
8:57
Speaker 1: in Joe Burrow I think alluded to that your offense
9:00
Speaker 1: can get a ten point lead and keep and stay
9:04
Speaker 1: ahead on the scoreboard. Arthur Smith is not going to
9:07
Speaker 1: stick with that run game. There's no NFL offense that's
9:10
Speaker 1: gonna keep looking at that scoreboard. You down by two scores,
9:13
Speaker 1: and you're gonna call yourself running your way back into
9:16
Speaker 1: the ball game. You're gonna have to start throwing it
9:19
Speaker 1: right now. The Atlanta Falcons only average about twenty three
9:23
Speaker 1: pass attempts per game, one of the lowest in the league,
9:27
Speaker 1: so they clearly don't want Marcus Mariota throwing the ball.
9:31
Speaker 1: They'd rather have him running the ball. And not just
9:34
Speaker 1: our defense, but our offense can play a role in
9:38
Speaker 1: forcing them to do the things they don't want to do,
9:40
Speaker 1: and that's have to throw the football. Let me follow
9:43
Speaker 1: up by Marcus Mariota. I'll be honest. I thought Desmond
9:46
Speaker 1: Ritter would be starting for the Falcons by week seven
9:48
Speaker 1: of the season, but Mariotta has played well. He completed
9:51
Speaker 1: thirteen passes in a row last week in that win
9:53
Speaker 1: over the forty nine ers. What do you think of
9:55
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota at this stage of his career, he's serviceable.
10:00
Speaker 1: I've always liked Marcus, even when he was in in Tennessee.
10:03
Speaker 1: I thought put in the right offense. The guy is
10:06
Speaker 1: a He's just a really fine young man. He does
10:10
Speaker 1: all the right things. His teammates love him, they really do.
10:14
Speaker 1: And Arthur Smith understood it. That's why he went and
10:16
Speaker 1: traded for him. You know, even though Marcus Mariota went
10:19
Speaker 1: to the Raiders, but when Arthur Smith had been the
10:22
Speaker 1: offensive coordinated with the Titans, he had had Marcus Mariota
10:25
Speaker 1: there with him. And since he became the head coach
10:28
Speaker 1: over in Atlanta, he felt that Marcus would be a
10:31
Speaker 1: low cost assembly to this offense. And it's worked out. Listen,
10:37
Speaker 1: he's saving the team money. I'm talking about the head
10:39
Speaker 1: coach now. He improved the quarterback position with where the
10:43
Speaker 1: team is today and also lower the cost for what
10:48
Speaker 1: they have to pay for a quarterback. That to me,
10:50
Speaker 1: that's what good coaches do. They find a way to
10:53
Speaker 1: make the team better without having to break the owner's
10:57
Speaker 1: wallet to do it. And that's why Arthur Smith, he
11:00
Speaker 1: has his team tied for first place in the NFC
11:02
Speaker 1: North excuse me. In the NFC South Division, last thing
11:06
Speaker 1: for Solomon Wilcot's j readers out. He's missed three games.
11:10
Speaker 1: Josh Tupo is going to be out this week. Logan
11:12
Speaker 1: Wilson is questionable with a shoulder injury. How big of
11:16
Speaker 1: an issue is that for a defense when the spine
11:18
Speaker 1: the guys in the middle are out or might be out. Look,
11:22
Speaker 1: I said, this is the game that we need dj Ripper.
11:25
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, if he's back in this game,
11:28
Speaker 1: I'm very confident they're not going to be able to
11:30
Speaker 1: run the ball on this Now you take Josh Tupo out,
11:33
Speaker 1: man makes it really tough. I mean, you've got to
11:35
Speaker 1: be able to hold up at the point in the
11:38
Speaker 1: middle of your defense, and particularly against teams like this
11:40
Speaker 1: that are gonna run at thirty close to almost forty
11:44
Speaker 1: times in a ball game, and you need to have
11:46
Speaker 1: the rotation on your defensive line. I think the rookie,
11:51
Speaker 1: you know, Zach Carter, I think he'll hold up well.
11:53
Speaker 1: He's a durable, very versatile guy, but he is a rookie.
11:57
Speaker 1: He can play both the run and penetrate and get
12:01
Speaker 1: a pressure on the quarterback equally as well. It's a
12:04
Speaker 1: big spot for him, but it is more than just
12:06
Speaker 1: about him. I think it's going to be about the
12:08
Speaker 1: rotation of those guys on the interior. Let's see how
12:11
Speaker 1: we do. It's going to be a real challenge. Sally.
12:15
Speaker 1: Always appreciate your time and your insight. Keep up the
12:18
Speaker 1: great work and thanks again, Thanks Dere greatly appreciate you.
12:21
Speaker 1: Thanks for having The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by
12:25
Speaker 1: Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with
12:29
Speaker 1: tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside
12:33
Speaker 1: the Bengals app. Solomon Wilcots called last week's game against
12:37
Speaker 1: the Saints the bengals best offensive performance of the season.
12:41
Speaker 1: The numbers back it up, as the Bengals scored thirty
12:44
Speaker 1: or more points for the first time in eleven games
12:47
Speaker 1: going back to last year. Joe Burrow had a season
12:50
Speaker 1: high passer rating of one twenty six. Jamar Chase had
12:53
Speaker 1: a season high one hundred thirty two receiving yards, and
12:56
Speaker 1: while the Bengals only ran the ball fourteen times, those
12:59
Speaker 1: rhymes averaged five point four yards. So has the offense
13:05
Speaker 1: turned a corner? Here's my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham an
13:10
Speaker 1: identity standpoint, what they found out is accentuate the positive
13:17
Speaker 1: and stay away from things they're not doing quite as
13:19
Speaker 1: well they were trying to. I thought I thought forced
13:22
Speaker 1: the issue a little bit with the stretch running game.
13:25
Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to get that ball outside outside
13:27
Speaker 1: zone stretch game, and they had mixed results with it.
13:32
Speaker 1: What they're doing now, I really like gap stuff. You know,
13:36
Speaker 1: you seal seal the edge, pull a lineman, power, gap
13:41
Speaker 1: blocking power, getting one more player at the point of
13:45
Speaker 1: attack than they have on the defensive side of it.
13:48
Speaker 1: Double teaming coming off at the linebacker level in between
13:52
Speaker 1: the tackles, just hammering the ball. Let you'll mix and square,
13:55
Speaker 1: shoulder pads up and go downhill. I think that's their
13:59
Speaker 1: run game entity. I think they've found that to be
14:02
Speaker 1: the case. The other one, you know, it should be
14:05
Speaker 1: instead of the power inside running game being an appetizer
14:10
Speaker 1: to the main course of the stretch reverse it. Let
14:13
Speaker 1: the let the full meal be that power running game
14:17
Speaker 1: and the appetizer be the outside game. You know, just
14:20
Speaker 1: don't don't try to force you to do things that
14:23
Speaker 1: you're not able to get done. As as a football team,
14:26
Speaker 1: accentuate your strengths and minimize your weaknesses, you know, And
14:31
Speaker 1: I think that's a big factor. The other thing that
14:35
Speaker 1: our APO that run pass option game now, I think
14:39
Speaker 1: that they found out that they're a team that fits
14:43
Speaker 1: from a personnel standpoint with the big powerful guys they
14:46
Speaker 1: have inside running the ball from the shotgun and then RPO.
14:51
Speaker 1: It's like the play action look from the shotgun, and
14:54
Speaker 1: I'm telling you're looking at tape. Joe Mixon could rush
14:57
Speaker 1: for over a hundred yards. They were a huge gain
15:01
Speaker 1: gaps in there in there in the defensive front for
15:04
Speaker 1: the Saints. I mean they were gashing them, and Joe
15:06
Speaker 1: would pull it out of there and throw it because
15:08
Speaker 1: he was gashing them in the passing game. So when
15:10
Speaker 1: you're in a situation where you look at it after
15:12
Speaker 1: the fact and could have run it for good yards
15:15
Speaker 1: and throw it for good yards, you got the linebackers
15:18
Speaker 1: saying what do I do? And that's exactly what happened.
15:21
Speaker 1: The linebackers were frozen. I mean the linebackers didn't know
15:24
Speaker 1: what to do. And when you can when you can
15:28
Speaker 1: take control of it that way, and you're punching and
15:31
Speaker 1: making them CounterPunch, and they don't know what to do
15:34
Speaker 1: to CounterPunch. You're gonna score thirty points like they did.
15:36
Speaker 1: So I think we're gonna see them accentuate. They found
15:40
Speaker 1: out who they are. Accentuate those positives and don't try
15:43
Speaker 1: to force feed things that you know you've found out
15:46
Speaker 1: you can't really do. But you're gonna have to be
15:49
Speaker 1: able to do it at some point because somebody's gonna
15:52
Speaker 1: come up with a defensive game plan. It's it's all
15:54
Speaker 1: in the NFL. It's all about adjustments, and they're gonna
15:57
Speaker 1: they're gonna face somebody who is gonna say, all right,
16:00
Speaker 1: I've come up both the way to take away this
16:03
Speaker 1: RPO stuff in the inside running game, where do you
16:05
Speaker 1: got So it's the NFL. You're always evolving and that's
16:10
Speaker 1: that's the key to success in this league. The Bengals
16:13
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber future proof fiber
16:17
Speaker 1: Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take
16:21
Speaker 1: your home, business, and community to a new level elevates
16:24
Speaker 1: your connection with all too fiber. In the first three
16:27
Speaker 1: games of the season, when the Bengals still had DJ
16:30
Speaker 1: reader in the middle of their defense, Cincinnati was allowing
16:33
Speaker 1: eighty six rushing yards per game and three point seven
16:36
Speaker 1: yards per carry, both top ten in the NFL. In
16:41
Speaker 1: three games without DJ, they're allowing one hundred and fifty
16:44
Speaker 1: six rushing yards per game and five point six per carry.
16:48
Speaker 1: The Saints had a whopping two hundred twenty eight yards
16:52
Speaker 1: on the ground last week. Now they face an Atlanta
16:55
Speaker 1: team that runs seventy percent of the time on first down,
17:00
Speaker 1: the highest percentage in the league. With reader Josh Tupo
17:04
Speaker 1: and Jeff Gunter all unavailable on the d line and
17:07
Speaker 1: linebacker Logan Wilson questionable with his shoulder injury, one of
17:11
Speaker 1: the guys who will be counted on to play a
17:12
Speaker 1: bigger role is defensive tackle Jay two fell A, who
17:16
Speaker 1: has claimed off waivers from Jacksonville at the end of
17:18
Speaker 1: training camp. I spoke with him this week. Jay major
17:23
Speaker 1: Bengal's debut last week and played a big role in
17:26
Speaker 1: the win. Six tackles, and that was in just twenty
17:29
Speaker 1: three defensive snaps. Describe what it meant to you to
17:31
Speaker 1: get your first opportunity to contribute and to play well
17:34
Speaker 1: in a win. Man, I'm very grateful, very grateful. First off,
17:38
Speaker 1: I just want to you know, glory goes to them,
17:41
Speaker 1: you know, the most high guy. I'm always put in first.
17:45
Speaker 1: But for me, the most part, it was just you know,
17:47
Speaker 1: I wanted to, you know, make sure that I could
17:50
Speaker 1: help my brothers and you know, step up and be
17:53
Speaker 1: able to make the plays and you know, be able
17:55
Speaker 1: to come out with this one. So you know, it
17:57
Speaker 1: was a big team effort. I was just playing my part,
18:01
Speaker 1: doing my role, and uh, you know, I'm really grateful
18:03
Speaker 1: that you know, they was counting on me, and you know,
18:06
Speaker 1: I don't want to let my my teammates down. That's
18:08
Speaker 1: that's the biggest thing for me. So I was very grateful.
18:11
Speaker 1: We're chatting with JA two fell a. DJ Reader has
18:14
Speaker 1: been out for a few weeks. Josh Tupo heard his
18:16
Speaker 1: calf last week. They are both excellent against the run.
18:20
Speaker 1: Do you consider that to be your strength? Uh? Yeah,
18:24
Speaker 1: I mean I've I've always been uh you know, been
18:26
Speaker 1: able to play the run. Uh really well, you know
18:29
Speaker 1: throughout high school and college and uh, for me, you know,
18:34
Speaker 1: it was just being able to watch those guys in
18:36
Speaker 1: front of me, uh DJ and Big Tupo, and uh,
18:39
Speaker 1: you know, watch how they play and then you know
18:41
Speaker 1: just uh piggyback off of that, and you know, try
18:45
Speaker 1: try to do my best to to correlate you know,
18:48
Speaker 1: what the what they what they do. Obviously I can't
18:50
Speaker 1: you know that those guys are health players. Uh you know,
18:53
Speaker 1: they're they're beasts in their own right. So for me,
18:55
Speaker 1: you know, it was it was just really awesome to
18:58
Speaker 1: you know, come in there and be able to you know,
19:00
Speaker 1: be uh counted on and and uh know that you
19:03
Speaker 1: know we're gonna stop the run and it's just the
19:05
Speaker 1: next man up. So it was really awesome. You had
19:08
Speaker 1: a broken hand last year in your rookie season with
19:11
Speaker 1: Jacksonville and missed part of the season. How eager are
19:14
Speaker 1: you to show what you can do giving regular playing
19:17
Speaker 1: time in the NFL. Oh man, I'm I'm really uh
19:21
Speaker 1: you know, I'm really excited. I'm really here, uh you know,
19:24
Speaker 1: just to prove myself, uh to show you know, my teammates,
19:28
Speaker 1: uh that you know, I'm here to win games. And
19:31
Speaker 1: then I'm here. You know, I'm all in uh for
19:34
Speaker 1: this team, and you know I'm gonna give it, you know,
19:36
Speaker 1: my heart and soul and and uh, you know everything.
19:38
Speaker 1: I got into this game here because I love it
19:40
Speaker 1: and I just want to prove to my teammates and uh,
19:42
Speaker 1: you know everybody else in the league that you know,
19:45
Speaker 1: I'm uh, I'm here to be great and uh you know, um,
19:50
Speaker 1: I'm just really blessed to be here in this organization
19:52
Speaker 1: and be with the Bengals. So it's awesome. We're chatting
19:56
Speaker 1: with j two fl a Bengals defensive lineman. You went
19:59
Speaker 1: through training camp with j Axonville. I assume they were
20:01
Speaker 1: planning to put you on the practice squad after the
20:05
Speaker 1: end of training camp, but the Bengals swooped in and
20:08
Speaker 1: I claimed you off waivers, and I know they were
20:10
Speaker 1: really happy to bring you into this organization. I imagine
20:13
Speaker 1: that's kind of a whirlwind, though, when you're going through
20:15
Speaker 1: that as a player. What was that like for you?
20:17
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie it was. It was a world win,
20:20
Speaker 1: really really tough, you know, uh, thinking that you know
20:25
Speaker 1: you're you're going to be in uh in one place,
20:27
Speaker 1: and the next thing you know, your whole world gets
20:30
Speaker 1: flipped over. But for me, you know, I'm I'm used
20:35
Speaker 1: to you know, I'm used I'm used to be putting
20:37
Speaker 1: into like awkward situations, and you know, for me, it's
20:41
Speaker 1: just putting my best foot forward and going to work,
20:44
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, the opportunity came and Cincinnati called,
20:48
Speaker 1: and I was all for it. You know, I was
20:51
Speaker 1: for me. I was going to give them, uh, you know,
20:53
Speaker 1: my heart and soul and show them that, you know,
20:55
Speaker 1: I desire to be in this league and uh you
20:57
Speaker 1: know why they picked me, and uh for that, it
21:01
Speaker 1: was it was really hard, you know to leave my
21:03
Speaker 1: teammates out and Jackson I had, you know, good friends, Uh,
21:06
Speaker 1: good good guys. But you know, it's a business at
21:09
Speaker 1: the end of the day. And I'm really grateful that
21:11
Speaker 1: I'm here in this organization. And oh and we're able
21:15
Speaker 1: to play some really good football and to learn some
21:17
Speaker 1: from some really good, uh, really good players on my team.
21:20
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm blessed in that way. You've been here
21:23
Speaker 1: now for about a month and a half. What stands
21:25
Speaker 1: out about your coaches and teammates here? Oh? Man, I
21:29
Speaker 1: mean from the first day I walked in, Uh, it
21:31
Speaker 1: was it was all off. Um everybody. Uh you know,
21:35
Speaker 1: I can tell that everybody, uh is always there's no
21:39
Speaker 1: one ever, you know, left out. They always want everybody
21:41
Speaker 1: included and everything and and we you know, we do
21:45
Speaker 1: everything together, and uh, we're able to just feed off
21:48
Speaker 1: each other. And I think that's the biggest thing, you know,
21:51
Speaker 1: is uh, you know offense. You know, when defensive guys
21:54
Speaker 1: are out there making plays, you know, the offense starts
21:56
Speaker 1: feeding off of that, and then we start feeding off
21:58
Speaker 1: of them, and uh, you know next thing, you know that,
22:01
Speaker 1: you know, the wheels start rolling and we don't stop.
22:03
Speaker 1: So you face the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. They are
22:07
Speaker 1: number three in the NFL and rushing yards per game,
22:09
Speaker 1: they average four point nine yards per carry. They've got
22:12
Speaker 1: eight rushing touchdowns, that's third best in the league. They
22:15
Speaker 1: run the ball fifty seven percent of the time, that's
22:18
Speaker 1: number two in the league. So when I give all
22:20
Speaker 1: of those numbers, it seems pretty obvious to me that
22:23
Speaker 1: stopping the run is going to be a major key
22:25
Speaker 1: to winning. Do you agree? Oh yeah, I mean every week,
22:28
Speaker 1: you know, that's a that's the number one thing that
22:31
Speaker 1: you know, we part of selves just you know, being
22:32
Speaker 1: able to stop the run. And uh, you know this
22:35
Speaker 1: week isn't any different. We're gonna you know, that's the
22:38
Speaker 1: number one priority is to be able to stop the run,
22:40
Speaker 1: and then uh, let the guys go get after them
22:43
Speaker 1: and and have some fun on on you know, pass
22:47
Speaker 1: rushing and uh getting Mariota down. But yeah, I mean
22:51
Speaker 1: that's the plan, is to stop the run. And uh,
22:53
Speaker 1: we're gonna we have a lot of guys you know
22:56
Speaker 1: that are eager to just show up and proved to
23:00
Speaker 1: uh proved to you know everybody every week that you know,
23:03
Speaker 1: we're we're health of defense and uh you know we're
23:06
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna keep on getting better every week. Final
23:09
Speaker 1: question for J two fel A Domata Pecola is here
23:12
Speaker 1: for eleven years. You're Simoen Domata Simoen. He used to
23:17
Speaker 1: call everybody a uso, which I believe is the Simoan
23:19
Speaker 1: term for brother. He was one of the great leaders
23:22
Speaker 1: Enfranchise history. How has your Simone background impacted you as
23:26
Speaker 1: a football player and as a person. Oh man, it's
23:29
Speaker 1: a big peco man. I look up to that guy
23:32
Speaker 1: since I was I was a little kid being able
23:34
Speaker 1: to watch uh you know NFL and and I'd always
23:37
Speaker 1: see big Peckle And for me, it means everything. Uh
23:41
Speaker 1: my culture is everything. That's who I am and uh
23:44
Speaker 1: you know I where everything I do is is uh
23:49
Speaker 1: is you know it, it shows it reflects off of
23:52
Speaker 1: you know, just my my people, the small people, and uh,
23:56
Speaker 1: you know I carry them wherever I go, So you know,
23:59
Speaker 1: being able to the big whistle, you know, being here
24:03
Speaker 1: and you know being able to just know that you know,
24:06
Speaker 1: he was, he was, He did what he did here,
24:08
Speaker 1: you know it was great and uh, it's just it's
24:11
Speaker 1: a blessing to know that my culture has really helped
24:17
Speaker 1: me shape me to who he was a fan favorite
24:20
Speaker 1: here for a decade. It's great to have you on
24:22
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Best of luck this week, and I appreciate
24:24
Speaker 1: your time, sir. I appreciate you. Thank you who Day.
24:27
Speaker 1: The Bengals Beat podcast is brought to you by pay Corps.
24:30
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay core to
24:34
Speaker 1: help them recruit, pay engage, and retain employees. Learn more
24:39
Speaker 1: at paycorps dot com. The Bengals are three and three
24:43
Speaker 1: and tied for first in the AFC North. The Falcons
24:46
Speaker 1: are three and three and tied for first in the
24:48
Speaker 1: NFC South with Tampa Bay. Now time for this week's
24:52
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment. As the voice of the Falcons,
24:55
Speaker 1: West Durham joined Lap and Wayne box Miller on the
24:59
Speaker 1: Bengals game plan show refreshing to watch. Arthur Smith and
25:04
Speaker 1: Terry Fott knows the GM and their second year kind
25:06
Speaker 1: of built this thing a little bit. And I've used
25:09
Speaker 1: the term I think Falcon fans are probably tired of
25:12
Speaker 1: hearing me use the phrase layering. But Atlanta has done
25:15
Speaker 1: a really good job of finding a way to get
25:19
Speaker 1: the right guys to do the right job in certain areas,
25:22
Speaker 1: even to the quarterback. I think Marcus Mariota. You know,
25:26
Speaker 1: obviously it didn't end well in Nashville. He was a
25:28
Speaker 1: backup in Vegas, but he's come to Atlanta and he's
25:30
Speaker 1: he's done a really nice job of following the face
25:33
Speaker 1: of the franchise and arguably the greatest player in team history.
25:36
Speaker 1: And Matt Ryan, and he's an example of probably anywhere
25:40
Speaker 1: from eight to twelve guys who probably showed up to
25:43
Speaker 1: play for this team this year Wayne with a chip
25:45
Speaker 1: on their shoulder, and they're handful of them. And lap
25:49
Speaker 1: you you know who I'm talking about. You can identify
25:51
Speaker 1: him as well as anybody in this league. And Arthur
25:53
Speaker 1: has has spun that into a productive, hard playing, kind
25:59
Speaker 1: of grindedball team and they've been uh They've never they're
26:03
Speaker 1: never out of a game. I mean, you got to
26:05
Speaker 1: remember Sunday's two touchdown win was Arthur Smith's first victory
26:09
Speaker 1: that was not one score as the Falcons head coach. Wow,
26:12
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's it's been that way since
26:15
Speaker 1: he took over here. So, you know, I'm excited about
26:18
Speaker 1: where they're going. But at the same time, I'm also
26:21
Speaker 1: cognizant that there's a building process going on here and
26:24
Speaker 1: every Sunday can be different in this league. We all
26:26
Speaker 1: know that, right, yes, and it'll be a heck of
26:28
Speaker 1: a test on Sunday for sure. You know, when you
26:31
Speaker 1: look at it West, it's the Bengals and the Falcons
26:35
Speaker 1: have tracked identically to get to the three and three mark.
26:38
Speaker 1: Lose their first two, win their next two, lose one,
26:41
Speaker 1: win one, and and the Bengals are one in three
26:44
Speaker 1: in one score games. Um now, they've they've won two
26:48
Speaker 1: games by two scores and the Falcons have won one
26:52
Speaker 1: game by two scores. That's the only difference in the
26:54
Speaker 1: way that their seasons have unfolded. So both teams have
26:58
Speaker 1: experienced the same thing. You know, it comes to who's
27:01
Speaker 1: going to make the one play and avoid the one
27:03
Speaker 1: mistake to win the football game, and both teams have
27:05
Speaker 1: seen a lot of that this year, there's no question.
27:08
Speaker 1: And you know, it's interesting because obviously you guys had
27:11
Speaker 1: a great run last year to the Super Bowl, and
27:14
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of those principles back of a
27:16
Speaker 1: very very talented team. You go through the free agency
27:19
Speaker 1: that everybody does when you have success and that type thing.
27:22
Speaker 1: But they may be at similar spots in the road.
27:25
Speaker 1: I think Zach Taylor's done a terrific job as the
27:28
Speaker 1: Bengals coach. I think what Arthur Smith's done here is admirable.
27:31
Speaker 1: But they're both probably you know, they may have their
27:33
Speaker 1: best football ahead of them. You're ahead of the game
27:36
Speaker 1: in respect that Burrow is a proven commodity, Chase is
27:39
Speaker 1: a proven commodity, You're running it well with Nixon, and
27:42
Speaker 1: your defense was kind of already there. Now you've lost
27:44
Speaker 1: some of those guys. But at the same time, I
27:47
Speaker 1: think I see a lot of similarities in who the
27:48
Speaker 1: Bengals and who the Falcons are. For sure. You know,
27:52
Speaker 1: you guys had a big road win in Seattle. What
27:55
Speaker 1: does this team do well on the road and what
27:58
Speaker 1: do they need to do well again Cincinnati. Well, I'd
28:01
Speaker 1: say they probably need to start well Sunday because it
28:05
Speaker 1: looks like on paper Cincinnati starts well, right, you know, Atlanta,
28:10
Speaker 1: I see that big scoring differential in the second half,
28:12
Speaker 1: and if Atlanta doesn't start well that I know the
28:14
Speaker 1: Bengals can close. I just see the numbers on paper here,
28:18
Speaker 1: So it's gonna get interesting. I think Atlanta has to
28:21
Speaker 1: keep the game in front of him Wayne and that
28:23
Speaker 1: sounds like real coach speaker and then for a radio
28:25
Speaker 1: announcer to say that, but I think that I think
28:28
Speaker 1: there's a lot of truth in it. Atlanta has to
28:30
Speaker 1: come out and run the ball. They don't have Cordarrel Patterson.
28:34
Speaker 1: They are now running it by committee. Mariota doesn't get
28:37
Speaker 1: himself typically in trouble. He moves around in the pocket.
28:40
Speaker 1: The defense made some plays the other day to force turnovers.
28:43
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be a big part of what
28:45
Speaker 1: Sunday is too. If they can create a turnover or two,
28:48
Speaker 1: I think they give themselves a chance. Yeah, they're plus
28:51
Speaker 1: two in the turnover ratio, which is tied for seven's
28:54
Speaker 1: best in the NFL, and you always have a chance
28:57
Speaker 1: if you are in that plus category ten peas the
29:00
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. I remember when he was at Baltimore that
29:04
Speaker 1: stimulated pressure, his own blitz combination package that he has
29:08
Speaker 1: where he got a guy, a lot of guys in
29:10
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. You don't know which ones are coming,
29:12
Speaker 1: but some of them are coming, you know, and you
29:15
Speaker 1: might drop a defensive end and blitz a linebacker, a
29:17
Speaker 1: blitz a safety or a slock corner or whatever, and
29:20
Speaker 1: then he mixes up his coverages in the back end.
29:22
Speaker 1: At least he did in Baltimore. Is he doing the
29:24
Speaker 1: same type of thing in Atlanta? Is he given given
29:26
Speaker 1: those kind of looks, he sure is? They even the
29:29
Speaker 1: other thing too. Atlanta one Sunday with their their most
29:32
Speaker 1: productive tackler at least one of them, Sideline and Michael Walker,
29:36
Speaker 1: and they had a rookie Troy Anderson respond in a
29:40
Speaker 1: in a very fine way. So I would even say that,
29:43
Speaker 1: you know, they've even developed some depth behind that blitzing
29:45
Speaker 1: package that that he's done so well. For sure. You
29:49
Speaker 1: know one player I wanted to ask you about. He
29:51
Speaker 1: just has seemed to anchor himself as an Atlanta Falcon
29:55
Speaker 1: as Grady Jarrett, and just continues to play well thirty
29:58
Speaker 1: career Sacks. I believe what about him impresses you the most? Oh, guy, Wayne,
30:05
Speaker 1: I think you know the one thing I'll tell you
30:07
Speaker 1: about Grady Jared is he's learned to be a pro.
30:09
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he is absolutely with Ryan Gone, He's
30:13
Speaker 1: the face of the franchise. There's no question in my
30:15
Speaker 1: mind about that. He's the guy that's taking the leadership
30:18
Speaker 1: role in the community. Has been the leadership guy in
30:20
Speaker 1: the community for for a couple of years. But Grady's
30:23
Speaker 1: one of those guys who I think the future of
30:25
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons is going to revolve around how good
30:27
Speaker 1: ninety seven ends. And you know what, he kind of
30:31
Speaker 1: It's funny he arrived a year ahead of Aaron Donald
30:34
Speaker 1: in the league, and when you think about it, he
30:36
Speaker 1: and Aaron Donald even though Donald's obviously won a Super
30:38
Speaker 1: Bowl and been an MVP, Grady Jarrett's like Tom Brady
30:41
Speaker 1: three times in Super Bowl fifty one. Right, m you're
30:44
Speaker 1: talking about a guy who he and Donald, in my opinion,
30:47
Speaker 1: to kind of laugh, redefine that, you know, undersized. The
30:51
Speaker 1: guys perceive to be undersized defensive tackles, right and H
30:55
Speaker 1: and they're the two guys that come to mind with
30:57
Speaker 1: me when when we talk about that position in the NFL.
30:59
Speaker 1: For sure. Yeah, currently I agree. The guy who reminds
31:03
Speaker 1: me of a little bit in Bengals history, Geno Atkins,
31:06
Speaker 1: kind of the undersized, you know, real explosive, um just
31:09
Speaker 1: you know, just unbelievably unblockable with the six feet tall,
31:14
Speaker 1: three hundred pound kind of guy you know that has
31:17
Speaker 1: got that that upfield quickness and the first step and
31:20
Speaker 1: all those sort of things. I mean, he's kind of
31:22
Speaker 1: in that in that uh, in that neighborhood with me
31:25
Speaker 1: when I watch him. I mean, two time Pro bowler,
31:27
Speaker 1: that's just a game wrecker at defensive tackle. Usually there
31:31
Speaker 1: are more so you know outside at the edge position,
31:34
Speaker 1: he's a game wrecker inside like Aaron Donald, I agree
31:36
Speaker 1: with you. Yeah, it's it's interesting to watch and those
31:40
Speaker 1: guys has certainly developed well and you know, but it's
31:42
Speaker 1: it's got to be a package deal for for Atlanta
31:44
Speaker 1: to be successful. I mean, they have to, they have
31:47
Speaker 1: to play complimentary football. They've they've been pretty successful, you know,
31:50
Speaker 1: Bradley Pinion, the punters having his best year, Young Way
31:53
Speaker 1: Coups and all the top kickers in the league, and
31:55
Speaker 1: you know, even Avery Williams is leading the league in
31:59
Speaker 1: punt return yardage. So they've got to play all three
32:01
Speaker 1: phases in order to be successful. And certainly I'll have
32:04
Speaker 1: to do that on Sunday because that's a great environment.
32:06
Speaker 1: You guys are you guys are fourtune. You've got one
32:08
Speaker 1: of the great venues in the NFL. And you know
32:10
Speaker 1: it's a program that's in a franchise that's been successful. Um,
32:14
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be quite a challenge for Atlanta. Tell
32:17
Speaker 1: me about Avery Williams. He converted converted from from running
32:22
Speaker 1: back to why a defensive back to wide receiver. You know,
32:25
Speaker 1: he's a he's a factor there. But I mean as
32:27
Speaker 1: a punt returner number one in the NFL seventeen point
32:30
Speaker 1: eight per per return, twenty four point three kick return.
32:34
Speaker 1: If you had enough returns to be in the top
32:36
Speaker 1: five there as well, this guy must be ah, you know,
32:39
Speaker 1: just slippery in space. Huh. Yeah. It's player development and
32:43
Speaker 1: Marquise Williams does a great job with teams too. I mean,
32:46
Speaker 1: they've got a plan in that phase of the game,
32:48
Speaker 1: and you know last year they kind of struggled with it,
32:50
Speaker 1: to be honest, and this year. You seem like the
32:53
Speaker 1: maturation of some of these younger guys that you'll see
32:55
Speaker 1: carry of the ball on Sunday. I would throw Avery
32:58
Speaker 1: Williams into that maturation. And you know, it's a hell
33:01
Speaker 1: of a gamble. Now, you take a guy who was
33:03
Speaker 1: a dB in college. You know, he showed up out
33:06
Speaker 1: of Jay Sarah, California in high school. He had played
33:09
Speaker 1: running back in high school, but he did not he
33:11
Speaker 1: did not have an offensive carry day as a Boise
33:15
Speaker 1: State player. For four years, he never touched the ball
33:17
Speaker 1: as a running back. And after a year or so
33:20
Speaker 1: in the league, they decided they're going to move into
33:22
Speaker 1: running back there in the OTA's And the first time
33:24
Speaker 1: I saw him in kind of those one on one
33:26
Speaker 1: drills as a running back, I thought, well, you know,
33:28
Speaker 1: they wouldn't be doing this unless they had a plan.
33:31
Speaker 1: And sure enough, they've had a plan and he's played
33:33
Speaker 1: a little bit of running back and now with the
33:35
Speaker 1: Patterson injury, quite frankly, they've needed it. Talk about Kyle
33:39
Speaker 1: Pittsbour's second of a guy a great year last year.
33:42
Speaker 1: I mean, is he as advertised? Yeah, Jay, he is.
33:46
Speaker 1: And the problem is is that you know, every other
33:48
Speaker 1: time he'd been in the red zone in his professional career.
33:50
Speaker 1: There have been two guys, and then Kyle Shanahan. I
33:53
Speaker 1: guess he and Demiko Ryan figured out they didn't need
33:55
Speaker 1: to double team in the other day and he saw
33:57
Speaker 1: what happened, right, So, I mean, you know, he gets
34:00
Speaker 1: his first touchdown on us soil is only other touchdown
34:03
Speaker 1: Cats have been against the Jets in London as a rookie.
34:05
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's a terrific player. But he's also benefited
34:09
Speaker 1: from Drake London being there too, Wayne, don't make don't
34:11
Speaker 1: get that part twisted. Now, remember they did not have
34:14
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley after the first four games last year. Cal
34:17
Speaker 1: Fitz had to kind of go it alone and it
34:20
Speaker 1: really took away a lot of what Atlanta was going
34:22
Speaker 1: to do in the throw game. But now with Drake
34:24
Speaker 1: London and Lamasa's the keyst developing the way he is,
34:28
Speaker 1: I think Atlanta's they're ascending in terms of throwing the
34:31
Speaker 1: football for sure. A lot of people listening to the
34:35
Speaker 1: show right now, are you see Bearcat fans. Desmond Hutter
34:39
Speaker 1: is the backup quarterback to Marcus Mariota. Desmond Ritter is
34:43
Speaker 1: a legend at University of Cincinnati. How's it gone for
34:47
Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter? What's his what's his future look like with
34:51
Speaker 1: the organization? You know what? The night the day they
34:54
Speaker 1: drafted in Lap I called Dan, I just black called him.
34:57
Speaker 1: I said, okay, what's the story? And he he wrote,
35:00
Speaker 1: he texted me back, he said, great kid in the winner.
35:03
Speaker 1: And I can verify that he is a great kid
35:06
Speaker 1: and a winner. And every Bearcad fan in the in
35:08
Speaker 1: the Queen City ought to be thrilled. Desmond's gonna get
35:11
Speaker 1: an opportunity at some point. I think the quarterback to team,
35:13
Speaker 1: I just don't know that it's going to be this year.
35:16
Speaker 1: And I think he's okay with it, and I think
35:18
Speaker 1: the franchise is you know Marcus. Marcus is kind of
35:22
Speaker 1: that placeholder a little bit, and he's doing a nice job.
35:25
Speaker 1: But I can see where they're excited about Desmond Ritter.
35:28
Speaker 1: We saw him in the preseason. He did some really
35:30
Speaker 1: good things. He had those rookie orientation moments like all
35:34
Speaker 1: of them. But at the same time, there's no mistaking
35:37
Speaker 1: why he was so successful that you see there's no
35:40
Speaker 1: you can't you cannot see it. I mean, he is
35:43
Speaker 1: so good and so smooth when he plays, and he's
35:46
Speaker 1: got that poise that you look for in guys who
35:48
Speaker 1: can play a long time in the league. Thanks to
35:51
Speaker 1: West durah Man, here's an invitation to join Lapping Box
35:55
Speaker 1: at the Wings and Rings location and Union, Kentucky for
35:57
Speaker 1: the Bengals pep Rally Show this Friday from three to six.
36:01
Speaker 1: Their special guests will be Doug Pelfrey and Stanley Morgan.
36:05
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
36:07
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare
36:10
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
36:14
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Speaker 1: Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.