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Bengals Booth Podcast: Every Storm · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horden. Thanks for downloading The
0:06
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The every storm Runs Runs out of rain, addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as a strong second half by Joe Flacco allows the
0:16
Speaker 1: Bengals to go toe to toe with Green Bay before
0:19
Speaker 1: the Packers pulled out a win at Lambeau twenty seven
0:22
Speaker 1: to eighteen. Coming up, radio replays locker room comments and
0:26
Speaker 1: postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's Fun
0:30
Speaker 1: Facts Conversation, you'll get to know rookie long snapper Will Wagner.
0:35
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
0:38
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Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
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Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
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Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
0:52
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
0:56
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
0:58
Speaker 1: this podcast deliver right to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:02
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
1:06
Speaker 1: thing since the Yearly Postcard. When my son Sam was born,
1:12
Speaker 1: I decided to put him on the Packers season ticket
1:15
Speaker 1: waiting list. I've never been a Packers fan, and we
1:18
Speaker 1: were living in Boston at the time, so I mostly
1:21
Speaker 1: did it for the fun of it, but I also figured,
1:24
Speaker 1: what the heck, by the time his number comes up,
1:27
Speaker 1: he might actually want them. Well, Sam is nineteen years
1:31
Speaker 1: old and a mirror eighty eight thousand, one hundred and
1:35
Speaker 1: twenty four spots away. We get a postcard every year
1:39
Speaker 1: that updates his status, and in the last year he
1:42
Speaker 1: moved up one thousand, seven hundred and seventy three spots.
1:46
Speaker 1: At that pace, he's still nearly fifty years away, so
1:51
Speaker 1: I don't think he'll get the Golden Ticket in my lifetime,
1:55
Speaker 1: but it is fun getting the annual postcard. Now, let's
2:00
Speaker 1: get to the radio replays from Joe Flacco's debut in
2:03
Speaker 1: a Bengals uniform. In the fifty eight year history of
2:08
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals, no quarterback has ever attempted what Joe
2:12
Speaker 1: Flacco will try to do today. Join the team on Tuesday,
2:17
Speaker 1: take partners first practice on Wednesday, win a game on Sunday.
2:23
Speaker 1: That's the mission for the former Super Bowl MVP. Has
2:27
Speaker 1: the Bengals face the green Bay Packers, and it is
2:31
Speaker 1: time for the pig skin to fly here at Lambeau Field.
2:37
Speaker 1: So another opportunity for the Bengals defense to force a
2:40
Speaker 1: field goal. Try here at his third down and five
2:43
Speaker 1: for green Bay shotgun snap rush coming up the middle.
2:46
Speaker 1: Love begins scrambling right. They can't get him down yet.
2:49
Speaker 1: Now he throws and it is intercepted, deflected and picked off.
2:54
Speaker 1: The Bengals are running it back. It's Gino Stone. He's
2:57
Speaker 1: out of bounds at the thirty seven yard line.
3:00
Speaker 2: I think it might have been Dj Turner to tip.
3:03
Speaker 1: It first and goal from the three. Love in the gun.
3:06
Speaker 1: Now Jacob's motions behind. The quarterback lines up to his right.
3:10
Speaker 1: They give it to Jacobs and he runs into the
3:12
Speaker 1: end zone for the first touchdown of the day. Evan
3:15
Speaker 1: McPherson trying to make NFL history from sixty seven yards away.
3:21
Speaker 1: Rookie Will Wagner will snap. Ryan Rico, the punter will
3:25
Speaker 1: hold running. Mack paces off his steps. He's ready one
3:30
Speaker 1: second left in the half, from sixty seven yards out
3:34
Speaker 1: to snap. The placement the swing of the right leg.
3:37
Speaker 1: The kick is on its way. This one will be
3:39
Speaker 1: caught in the middle. Of the end zone and the
3:41
Speaker 1: Packers can run it out to the twenty to twenty
3:44
Speaker 1: five it's Nixon. Nixon is tackled by a Marius Mimms
3:49
Speaker 1: at the thirty two yard line, so it is halftime
3:52
Speaker 1: in green Bay. The score the Packers ten, the Bengals nothing.
3:56
Speaker 1: Fourth down in goal, the Bengals line up to go
3:59
Speaker 1: for it more than two yards away. Higgins and Yosi
4:02
Speaker 1: bosh out to the right, Hudson and Chase out to
4:05
Speaker 1: the left. He ran in the backfield. Flacco catches the
4:08
Speaker 1: shotgun snap Pump fakes throws into the end zone, caught
4:12
Speaker 1: in the back of the end zone under the goal
4:14
Speaker 1: post by Tanner, Hudson and the Bengals gamble and win.
4:19
Speaker 1: Going forward on fourth down and getting the touchdown, Hudson
4:23
Speaker 1: does a Lambeau leap. He finds two Bengals fans in
4:27
Speaker 1: the first row and the Bengals are back in the game.
4:30
Speaker 1: We head to the fourth quarter. Green Bay leads ten
4:33
Speaker 1: to seven. The Packers have the ball in the red zone.
4:35
Speaker 1: Second down and seven at the Cincinnati fourteen yard line.
4:39
Speaker 1: Love is under center, Jacobs lined up behind him. They
4:42
Speaker 1: give it to Jacob's gigantic hole up the metal and
4:46
Speaker 1: he goes into the end zone standing up. This will
4:49
Speaker 1: be a forty five yard field goal try for Evan McPherson,
4:52
Speaker 1: who missed from sixty seven on the final play of
4:55
Speaker 1: the first half. It would have been an NFL record.
4:58
Speaker 1: Here comes his right footed kick. It is on its
5:00
Speaker 1: way and it is absolutely perfect. So the Bengals are
5:05
Speaker 1: back within a score. They're down by seven with ten
5:09
Speaker 1: forty three to go. Love fakes two. Jacobs throws a
5:12
Speaker 1: short pass caught by Craft. He's at the ten. The
5:15
Speaker 1: five dives for the pylon and it's a Green Bay touchdown.
5:19
Speaker 1: The Bengals are going to have any chance of pulling
5:21
Speaker 1: off a miracle finish, they need to convert on fourth
5:25
Speaker 1: down and four in the red zone. Flacco in the gun,
5:27
Speaker 1: three receivers left, one right. He ran in the backfield
5:30
Speaker 1: to five man rush. Flacco throwing and the pass is
5:35
Speaker 1: cau Oh my goodness, how in God's name to Jamar
5:41
Speaker 1: Chase catch that ball? Now he's doing the gritty in
5:45
Speaker 1: the end zone. The Bengals get a nineteen yard touchdown
5:49
Speaker 1: pass to Jamar Chase when he wasn't open. Unbelievable. Bo's
5:54
Speaker 1: placed at the two yard line, going for two to
5:58
Speaker 1: try to pull within six. Flacco catches a shotgun snap,
6:02
Speaker 1: retreats to the twelve pump, fakes, moves up in the pocket,
6:05
Speaker 1: throws caught in the end zone. Chase Brown with the catch,
6:10
Speaker 1: He flings the football into the crowd and the Cincinnati
6:13
Speaker 1: Bengals are down by six with four to eleven to go.
6:18
Speaker 1: They've scored on three straight drives in the second half,
6:21
Speaker 1: and Joe Flacco is getting pounded on the shoulders by
6:25
Speaker 1: his teammates as he comes to the sideline. Thirty nine
6:28
Speaker 1: yard try. It's not automatic for a guy that just
6:31
Speaker 1: joined the team. Cincinnati down by six, one fifty six
6:35
Speaker 1: to go. Here comes the kick and it is good.
6:38
Speaker 1: Haver Sick delivers. This will be a fifty six yard try.
6:42
Speaker 1: His career long is fifty nine, krying to pull the
6:46
Speaker 1: Bengals back to within one score. The snap, the placement,
6:49
Speaker 1: McPherson's kick. It has the distance. It is olgard wide right,
6:55
Speaker 1: no good, and the Green Bay Packers will survive at
6:59
Speaker 1: home to beat the Bengals by the final score, up
7:02
Speaker 1: twenty seven to eighteen. After only throwing for forty yards
7:08
Speaker 1: in the first half, Joe Flacco clearly grew more comfortable
7:11
Speaker 1: in the second half and looked terrific, throwing for one
7:14
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy nine yards with two touchdowns. His passer
7:17
Speaker 1: rating in the second half was one oh seven point five.
7:21
Speaker 1: Here are a few of the more interesting things Joe
7:23
Speaker 1: had to say in his postgame news conference.
7:26
Speaker 3: Well, I thought as an offense, we settled in, you know,
7:29
Speaker 3: probably sometime in the second quarter. Not that we were
7:31
Speaker 3: able to get over the hump in that quarter, but
7:33
Speaker 3: we came out and played a good second half. You know,
7:38
Speaker 3: but usually against a good football team, it's playing one
7:41
Speaker 3: good half isn't going to be good enough. But we
7:42
Speaker 3: gave ourselves a chance down the end, and I think
7:45
Speaker 3: we did some good things, but just not enough. Early on,
7:48
Speaker 3: after the two point conversion, I was pretty pumped up,
7:51
Speaker 3: But in the moment, you're just trying to keep it simple,
7:55
Speaker 3: take it for what it played, one play at a time.
7:58
Speaker 1: You know.
7:59
Speaker 3: I kind of kept telling myself that on the sideline today,
8:01
Speaker 3: you know, don't get don't get too high in this environment,
8:04
Speaker 3: no matter what the scoreboard says and what's going on.
8:07
Speaker 3: Just remember to continue to play each play. And look,
8:10
Speaker 3: I mean, there's a league if you if you're able
8:12
Speaker 3: to do that consistently, then you're gonna put yourself in it.
8:14
Speaker 3: Down the stretch. I came over the sideline a couple
8:17
Speaker 3: of times. It was telling Jake like just the way
8:19
Speaker 3: they plucked the ball out of the air like I
8:21
Speaker 3: threw a I threw like a quick out route to
8:25
Speaker 3: Jamar and I didn't get the ball great and it
8:28
Speaker 3: was like an awful spiral and he still just caught
8:32
Speaker 3: it like with both hands. And then the one one
8:34
Speaker 3: that I can think about to Tea, we hit him
8:37
Speaker 3: on a little like inside slant route for a third down,
8:41
Speaker 3: I think on that first drive of the second half,
8:43
Speaker 3: and a lot of guys would go down and kind
8:44
Speaker 3: of catch it with their body and slide, and he
8:46
Speaker 3: just plucked it right out of the air.
8:48
Speaker 4: This is a long.
8:49
Speaker 3: Season, and I know it's easy to be down on
8:51
Speaker 3: yourself in hard times, but you know, playing with confidence shows.
8:56
Speaker 3: So we got to find a way to kind of
8:58
Speaker 3: get some of that back. But I think we do
9:00
Speaker 3: have the ability to do that. Listen, we got a
9:02
Speaker 3: big week coming up, and you know these division games
9:06
Speaker 3: are always good matchups, and going in and playing a
9:09
Speaker 3: good game this upcoming week could help a lot with that.
9:12
Speaker 3: I think today probably helped a little bit, but you know,
9:14
Speaker 3: you still want to win the game.
9:15
Speaker 1: The loss drop the Bengals to two and four, But
9:17
Speaker 1: if Flacco plays the way he did in the second half,
9:21
Speaker 1: or gets better as he grows more comfortable in the offense,
9:24
Speaker 1: the team can certainly remain in the hunt. In the
9:27
Speaker 1: AFC North, where only Pittsburgh has a winning record, The
9:31
Speaker 1: Steelers are four and one with games remaining against the Packers, Colts, Chargers, Bills,
9:38
Speaker 1: and Lions, among others. Those five teams are twenty seven
9:43
Speaker 1: and one. Flacco's performance certainly boosts the bengals chances of
9:47
Speaker 1: beating Pittsburgh This Thursday night at pay Corps and I
9:50
Speaker 1: talked about his debut with Orlando Brown Junior. What did
9:55
Speaker 1: Joe show you in the second half?
9:57
Speaker 4: Just who he's been for the last say ten years
9:59
Speaker 4: of player that's gonna stay. Of course, you know that's
10:02
Speaker 4: who he is. And and uh, you know he just
10:05
Speaker 4: got here a week ago, you know, I mean barely that,
10:07
Speaker 4: I guess. And it's be able to come out here
10:09
Speaker 4: and call the game like he did and show up
10:11
Speaker 4: when we needed the most. I mean, hass off to him.
10:14
Speaker 1: It looked like his comfort level grew as the game
10:17
Speaker 1: went along. Was it like that in the huddle?
10:19
Speaker 2: Yeah?
10:20
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And you know, to be honest, I feel like
10:22
Speaker 4: he was comfortable early. Uh, just just getting settled down
10:25
Speaker 4: in being himself. And you know, as he gets more
10:28
Speaker 4: time with you know, coach Pitch and coach Taylor. I mean,
10:32
Speaker 4: Scot's a limit.
10:33
Speaker 1: The way the offense performed in the second half, does
10:35
Speaker 1: it give you growing confidence that going home for three
10:38
Speaker 1: straight home games, you guys can go on a run?
10:40
Speaker 2: Yeah?
10:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, man, I mean we we're close. We're not
10:43
Speaker 4: close enough who we are close? And you know, we
10:45
Speaker 4: got to figure out a way to start faster and
10:48
Speaker 4: be a more effective early man. And a lot of
10:51
Speaker 4: these games that we've been in, it won't be dogfights
10:53
Speaker 4: in the fourth quarter will be we'll be playing four
10:55
Speaker 4: minute offense.
10:56
Speaker 1: Is there something you can put your finger on for
10:58
Speaker 1: the first half and and why the first half struggles
11:00
Speaker 1: have happened?
11:01
Speaker 4: To watch the film, but you know it always comes
11:03
Speaker 4: down to finish an execution.
11:05
Speaker 1: Man.
11:05
Speaker 4: You know it's on us as players to do that.
11:09
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase ten catches an incredible touchdown catch at the
11:13
Speaker 1: end of the game, t had five catches as well.
11:15
Speaker 1: It looked like Joe did a great job of saying,
11:17
Speaker 1: all right, we've got two of the best in the league.
11:19
Speaker 1: Let's get him the ball.
11:20
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, for sure. And I mean, honestly, if I
11:22
Speaker 4: was at quarterback, I'll take the samlpros.
11:24
Speaker 1: So, all right, what are your feelings with a quick
11:27
Speaker 1: turnaround and a huge game coming up against the division
11:29
Speaker 1: rival on Thursday?
11:31
Speaker 4: Excited to be home? You know, so you got a
11:33
Speaker 4: divisional opponent. Let's take care of business.
11:35
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, thanks Orlanto. Orlando mentioned the need to start
11:40
Speaker 1: faster on offense. The Bengals have not scored a first
11:43
Speaker 1: half touchdown in the four games they've played since Joe
11:46
Speaker 1: Burrow hurt his toe, and they've been down by double
11:49
Speaker 1: digits at the break in all four. That will be
11:53
Speaker 1: a major point of emphasis for Zach Taylor this week,
11:56
Speaker 1: and he spent a few minutes after Sunday's game with
11:58
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham.
12:00
Speaker 2: I thought that your quarterback, he's a special obviously forty
12:06
Speaker 2: year old guy, eighteen years in a league to still
12:08
Speaker 2: be competing the way he competes, He's obviously a special guy.
12:10
Speaker 2: In a lot of ways, what did he give you today? Yeah,
12:13
Speaker 2: he gave us a lot of confidence. I mean he
12:15
Speaker 2: made some big time throws, tight windows, able to lead
12:19
Speaker 2: us on several scoring drives there at the end of
12:21
Speaker 2: the half, potentially piggybacked into the second half, got us
12:25
Speaker 2: in scoring zones all ever drive, and I think that
12:28
Speaker 2: really lifted the team up. And again, it's unfortunate. We're
12:31
Speaker 2: all looking for constellations or silver linings, but the truth
12:33
Speaker 2: of it is he got here five days ago and
12:35
Speaker 2: to play like that on the road, silent cadence, all
12:38
Speaker 2: the noise, great pass rushers. You know, that's something we're
12:42
Speaker 2: going to continue to piggyback on and it'll pay dippendence
12:44
Speaker 2: for us. Yeah, you just went through a good laundry
12:47
Speaker 2: list of what he was facing. It is remarkable how
12:51
Speaker 2: well he did play to go on a scoring drive
12:54
Speaker 2: every drive in the second half of this football game
12:56
Speaker 2: against that defense, very solid unit. They have players everye
13:00
Speaker 2: and the fans making all the noise that are making.
13:03
Speaker 2: You know, like you said, I had to go silent
13:04
Speaker 2: snapcount of what does this say about him?
13:06
Speaker 1: This says a lot.
13:07
Speaker 5: I mean, he's he worked to put himself in that position.
13:09
Speaker 5: He didn't come in here and assume he was gonna
13:12
Speaker 5: know it all. He really worked and you could see,
13:14
Speaker 5: even the stuff behind the scenes, how much he had
13:17
Speaker 5: to have done. Because when he walked into a meeting,
13:19
Speaker 5: he walked into a huddle, he was prepared. He gave
13:21
Speaker 5: the guest confidence. He said it all cleanly. And when
13:23
Speaker 5: he got a quarterback that just walks in and says
13:25
Speaker 5: it as clean as he does, it gives us guy's
13:26
Speaker 5: confidence holdability. This guy knows what he's doing, and he
13:29
Speaker 5: showed that, you know, and we'll continue to capitalize on that.
13:33
Speaker 2: When did you as a coaching staff realize that, I mean,
13:36
Speaker 2: obviously he's special, but when did you realize you had
13:38
Speaker 2: something that was pretty darn unique to work with?
13:40
Speaker 5: Well, I think you just watched him throw. You watch
13:42
Speaker 5: them other football. He's capable of doing it all. And
13:46
Speaker 5: so again you get a chance to attack all parts
13:48
Speaker 5: of the field. And I thought our protection for the
13:51
Speaker 5: most part, did a good job giving him some opportunities.
13:53
Speaker 5: He got the bottle of his hand what he needed
13:54
Speaker 5: to to avoid some some pressure looks. I mean, these
13:57
Speaker 5: people have teed off on people now and put a
13:59
Speaker 5: lot of pressure in quarterback, and I thought our line
14:01
Speaker 5: given him a chance to make the decisions he.
14:03
Speaker 2: Needed Tobate Parsons, Gary, no sacks, You had no turnovers,
14:08
Speaker 2: no interceptions, no fumbles. This has a lot to come
14:11
Speaker 2: on the road a place like this with the crowd,
14:13
Speaker 2: noise and everything you're dealing with.
14:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, three penalties as well, you know, And I think
14:17
Speaker 5: the field position, when you look at the field position
14:19
Speaker 5: battle and really assess it, I don't think we did
14:21
Speaker 5: well enough there. And then that's the key is you're
14:23
Speaker 5: going to reflect back on how much of a difference
14:25
Speaker 5: that might have made for us if we've done a
14:27
Speaker 5: better job there. But we took care of the football.
14:30
Speaker 5: We're always trying to be plus two in that battle.
14:32
Speaker 5: So we only got one off of them three penalties.
14:34
Speaker 5: So I thought our guys were disciplined on the road
14:36
Speaker 5: in a tough environment. And so again there's things to
14:40
Speaker 5: build on. But we don't expect to come in anywhere
14:42
Speaker 5: and lose, and we're going to continue to find ways
14:45
Speaker 5: to get in that winning callum, build some confidence, build
14:48
Speaker 5: some momentum. We're right in the thick of the division
14:50
Speaker 5: right now, with a perfect opportunity lane right in front
14:52
Speaker 5: of us. This Thursday, night against Pittsburgh.
14:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Bengals can beat the Steelers on Thursday, they
14:57
Speaker 1: would be three and four overall, two and zero in
15:00
Speaker 1: the division, with a head to head win in their
15:03
Speaker 1: pocket against Pittsburgh. It is a huge game for Week
15:08
Speaker 1: seven of the season. Now, time for the radio guys
15:11
Speaker 1: recap lapped. Joe Flacco finished with two hundred and nineteen
15:16
Speaker 1: passing yards two touchdowns, both in the second half. The
15:18
Speaker 1: Bengals scored on every drive in the second half until
15:21
Speaker 1: that long missed field goal at the end. Did we
15:24
Speaker 1: see a guy in the second half that has given
15:27
Speaker 1: this entire team confidence going forward?
15:29
Speaker 2: I think so based on the reactions that I saw
15:32
Speaker 2: in the locker room. Talk to Joe, and he seemed
15:35
Speaker 2: very confident in what he was doing, particularly in the
15:37
Speaker 2: second half, and they could give him a big shot
15:39
Speaker 2: of confidence, big shot in the arm. And he said
15:43
Speaker 2: he could see his teammates in their eyes. He could
15:47
Speaker 2: see it, you know, their shoulders lifted up, everything, you know,
15:51
Speaker 2: was operating in a much more proficient level, a lot
15:54
Speaker 2: more smoothly. And I just I give the guy a
15:57
Speaker 2: ton of credit. I mean to come in five days
16:00
Speaker 2: ago and play on a game in the National Football
16:04
Speaker 2: League on sunny on the road in Green Bay, against
16:07
Speaker 2: that noise in that crowd, and that's a good football team,
16:11
Speaker 2: good solid football team. I tell you, it's pretty remarkable
16:14
Speaker 2: what he's able to get done.
16:16
Speaker 1: He got better during the course of the game. I
16:17
Speaker 1: thought the protection got better during the course of the game.
16:20
Speaker 1: That probably goes hand in hand. What did you think?
16:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you. I think you know, one
16:25
Speaker 2: plus one equals to there. You know, I thought that
16:30
Speaker 2: the protection was pretty spotty to start the football game,
16:33
Speaker 2: and I think he felt that. I mean, any human
16:36
Speaker 2: being would you know you got a bunch of behemos
16:39
Speaker 2: in your face. You know, credit everybody. They didn't throw
16:43
Speaker 2: in the towel. You know, everybody just kept sawing wood.
16:46
Speaker 2: And you know, I made a commitment to have a
16:50
Speaker 2: better performance in the second half, and that's exactly what
16:52
Speaker 2: they did.
16:53
Speaker 1: How can they avoid slow starts offensively, because it's been
16:56
Speaker 1: crippling them since the Joe Burrow injury.
16:59
Speaker 2: No question, I mean, it's been been unbelievable. I mean,
17:03
Speaker 2: when you you don't get any first hounds, you know,
17:07
Speaker 2: for a long stretch of time, that's that's just grinds
17:11
Speaker 2: on you. Grinds on you as an offensive football player,
17:14
Speaker 2: grinds on the defense. You know, the defense looks at
17:17
Speaker 2: you like, geez, when you're gonna give me a break?
17:18
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm killing myself and you feel horrible. You
17:22
Speaker 2: feel like you're letting the whole team down. And you know,
17:25
Speaker 2: defensive players especially, you know, you work hard at practice
17:29
Speaker 2: all week to go out and play a complete football game.
17:34
Speaker 2: You know, a game whereas complimentary football being played between offense, defense,
17:38
Speaker 2: and special teams. I mean, that's what you strive for
17:41
Speaker 2: every week, That's what your practice for, that's what you
17:43
Speaker 2: play the games for, and right now, it's just not
17:45
Speaker 2: happening often enough.
17:47
Speaker 1: I don't know if the stats will bear this out.
17:49
Speaker 1: I'm saying this based on my memory of the game
17:52
Speaker 1: and how it felt. But it seemed like the Bengals
17:53
Speaker 1: got the Packers into some third and long situations and
17:57
Speaker 1: gave up back breaking type plays of forty five yard
18:00
Speaker 1: pass on one I think at thirty two yard pass
18:03
Speaker 1: on the other. If the defense gets those third long stops,
18:06
Speaker 1: Cincinnati might walk out of here with a win.
18:08
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, if you can control the explosives, you know,
18:11
Speaker 2: there were so many explosives in that football game at
18:14
Speaker 2: the wrong time. I mean, they can never come at
18:16
Speaker 2: the right time. Explosives are something that you know, every
18:21
Speaker 2: team strives for and and when you don't get them,
18:24
Speaker 2: you know, you notice a big difference. Uh, you know,
18:27
Speaker 2: it's it's now now, all of a sudden, they can't
18:30
Speaker 2: hit us deep. I'm gonna we're gonna We're gonna crowd everything.
18:33
Speaker 2: We're gonna bring people up to the line of scrimmage.
18:35
Speaker 2: We're gonna blitz. We're bringing linebackers up tight, We're bringing
18:38
Speaker 2: safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. You know, we're
18:40
Speaker 2: you don't know who's gonna blitz. We're gonna run his
18:42
Speaker 2: own blitzes at you. You know, we're gonna do everything
18:45
Speaker 2: there is under the sun that we have in our
18:47
Speaker 2: in our game plan and our playbook to to make
18:49
Speaker 2: it as tough as as possible for you to throw
18:51
Speaker 2: the football, particularly if you're not running it well enough.
18:54
Speaker 2: And right now, Dan, they're not running it well enough.
18:57
Speaker 1: Five pass breakups are DJ Turner today. That's hard to
19:00
Speaker 1: do in a single game. And it wasn't like, you know,
19:03
Speaker 1: he gave up ten catches and had five pass breakups
19:06
Speaker 1: because they were throwing it at him a million times.
19:08
Speaker 1: It seems like when he was targeted he made a
19:10
Speaker 1: good play.
19:11
Speaker 2: He stuffed up, man, he stuffed up big time. I
19:13
Speaker 2: agree with you. And the thing, the other thing that
19:14
Speaker 2: caught my eyes, man, he was hitting people. Now, I
19:17
Speaker 2: mean he's a physical kid. He was tackling and in
19:20
Speaker 2: the open field where you know, it's noticeable if you
19:22
Speaker 2: make the tackling, very noticeable if you don't, and he
19:25
Speaker 2: was making them. He made a high, high percentage of him.
19:27
Speaker 2: And I think the Bengals are glad they have a
19:31
Speaker 2: guy like DJ Turner back there.
19:32
Speaker 1: For sure. Thursday looms large. The Steelers are four and one.
19:37
Speaker 1: They don't necessarily have a great win yet, although New
19:40
Speaker 1: England's looking like the Patriots might be a pretty good team.
19:44
Speaker 1: But if you can beat the Steelers at home, get
19:47
Speaker 1: to two in on the division, hand them a division loss,
19:50
Speaker 1: suddenly you're thinking, all right, we're still very much a lot.
19:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a must. I mean, you know, every once
19:55
Speaker 2: in a while you come up on must wins, must
19:58
Speaker 2: win situations and scenarios. This is one of them. I mean,
20:01
Speaker 2: every guy in that locker room, I don't care if
20:04
Speaker 2: you're a rookie year, if you're you know, a ten
20:05
Speaker 2: year veteran, you got to prepare for this football game
20:08
Speaker 2: like it's the most important football game you ever played in.
20:11
Speaker 2: It's the biggest game of your life because you are
20:14
Speaker 2: you're fighting to stay alive. And like you said, there's
20:17
Speaker 2: a lot of season left and nobody's running away with it.
20:21
Speaker 2: You know. It's Pittsburgh's playing well, but they don't seem
20:25
Speaker 2: to be world beaters. I mean, they're squeaking by, you know,
20:28
Speaker 2: so it's not like they're they're crushing everybody and destroying people.
20:32
Speaker 2: So Bengals are very much alive, very much in the
20:34
Speaker 2: thick of it.
20:36
Speaker 1: Beat the Steelers at home, beat the Jets, beat the Bears,
20:39
Speaker 1: all at pay corps, get to five and four, going
20:41
Speaker 1: to your bye week with Joe Flacca leading the way.
20:44
Speaker 1: That's the scenario, right, I'd be perfect.
20:46
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's a that's a nice little story,
20:49
Speaker 2: short story there day. And I like that, you know,
20:52
Speaker 2: and I think the Bengal fans would definitely like it
20:55
Speaker 2: as well. You got to string some together, get some
20:58
Speaker 2: get some victories on top of each other, pile them
21:00
Speaker 2: up a little bit, stack them one by one, first thing,
21:03
Speaker 2: No beat the Steelers. Don't just beat them smoke. The
21:06
Speaker 2: Steelers kicked the dog crap out of the Steelers.
21:11
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
21:13
Speaker 1: Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
21:17
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
21:21
Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
21:24
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
21:27
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. One final note
21:32
Speaker 1: from Sunday's game, The Bengals took a shot at history,
21:35
Speaker 1: giving Evan McPherson a crack at a sixty seven yard
21:38
Speaker 1: field goal, one yard longer than Justin Tucker's NFL record.
21:43
Speaker 1: A split second before the snap, Green Bay head coach
21:46
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur called a time out. Money Mack went ahead
21:49
Speaker 1: and kicked and made it as the ball hit the
21:52
Speaker 1: crossbar and bounced over, But his second try, the one
21:56
Speaker 1: that ultimately counted, came up a few yards short. Having
22:01
Speaker 1: we've talked many times about your desire to have a
22:04
Speaker 1: chance to kick one from sixty plus well turned out
22:07
Speaker 1: to be an NFL record attempt that had you made
22:10
Speaker 1: it of sixty seven yards? First, what did you think
22:12
Speaker 1: when they called on you from that distance?
22:15
Speaker 6: Me and Darren had a conversation, I feel like before
22:19
Speaker 6: the drive started, and I was just like, if you
22:21
Speaker 6: give me to the fifty, I feel confident that there's
22:25
Speaker 6: a good chance it's going to go in. So we
22:27
Speaker 6: had a good idea of like what the offense was
22:29
Speaker 6: trying to do and get to, and so as soon
22:32
Speaker 6: as I saw skip past fifty, I was like, all right,
22:35
Speaker 6: good to go. It's a lot of excitement. You don't
22:39
Speaker 6: get those opportunities often, And to be honest, it's like
22:44
Speaker 6: I didn't hit the first one great. I kind of
22:47
Speaker 6: towed it a little bit, and that thing just took
22:49
Speaker 6: off and it carried and I was honestly surprised that
22:52
Speaker 6: it got there. And then the second one, maybe a
22:55
Speaker 6: little bit of adrenaline pushed off a little bit harder
22:58
Speaker 6: and just got under it a little bit. You know.
23:02
Speaker 6: I feel like in that situation and the win that
23:06
Speaker 6: we had today is you're not gonna get that often,
23:08
Speaker 6: because I, honestly, I feel like that was just kind
23:11
Speaker 6: of a gift of a kick, like perfect scenario to
23:17
Speaker 6: break the NFL record. I just got under it just
23:21
Speaker 6: to touch. It was cool to see the first one
23:24
Speaker 6: go in, but I wish the second one would have.
23:28
Speaker 6: But uh, I guess it'll have to wait.
23:32
Speaker 1: Were you thinking, were you cognizant of the fact, all right,
23:35
Speaker 1: this is an NFL record potentially? Oh?
23:38
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean you definitely understand the kick that you're
23:42
Speaker 6: going out there to hit. And I realized, you know,
23:47
Speaker 6: as soon as we got out there, you know there
23:48
Speaker 6: it's sixty seven yards. Just put a good a hit
23:50
Speaker 6: on it and should have a good chance of going in.
23:55
Speaker 1: When you saw the first one hit the crossbar and
23:57
Speaker 1: bounce over, are you thinking, right, I know I can
24:01
Speaker 1: do this.
24:01
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely with I feel like with how poor I
24:04
Speaker 6: hit it, I thought for sure. I was like, oh,
24:08
Speaker 6: I just have to get this sing up in the
24:10
Speaker 6: air and then it'll go in. So super confident going
24:13
Speaker 6: into the second one. Like I said, it's just it's
24:16
Speaker 6: just pretty tough to make two sixty seven yarders back
24:20
Speaker 6: to back, But definitely capable of doing it, and we'll
24:25
Speaker 6: get the next time.
24:25
Speaker 1: I hope you get another shot.
24:27
Speaker 6: Yeah, thank you.
24:28
Speaker 1: Bengals are now zero for three from sixty plus in
24:31
Speaker 1: their history. Doug Pelfrey missed a sixty three yarder and
24:35
Speaker 1: Shane Graham missed from sixty two. Now time for this
24:39
Speaker 1: week's fun fact segment as we get to know one
24:42
Speaker 1: of the guys involved in sundays sixty seven yard attempt.
24:48
Speaker 1: Time for some fun facts with rookie long snapper Will
24:50
Speaker 1: Wagner from Alfaretta, Georgia, near Atlanta. How did you get
24:54
Speaker 1: your start as a long snapper?
24:57
Speaker 7: I played center like from sixth grade or actually not
25:02
Speaker 7: like fourth grade till I was a senior in high school.
25:06
Speaker 7: And like, my brother played at Mercer University and he
25:10
Speaker 7: was a linebacker. And one of the things is like
25:14
Speaker 7: I want to play college ball because just watching him
25:17
Speaker 7: play every Saturday, I was like, this is something I
25:19
Speaker 7: want to do. And like he was an all state
25:23
Speaker 7: linebacker in Georgia, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps.
25:27
Speaker 7: I knew I wasn't gonna be like six', four so
25:30
Speaker 7: like being a center would be really hard for. Me
25:34
Speaker 7: SO i was like a long snap, too how ABOUT
25:38
Speaker 7: i go to some of these camps and, uh that's
25:42
Speaker 7: that's really HOW i started BECAUSE i wanted to play college.
25:45
Speaker 1: Ball aside from long snapping at football. Practices did you
25:49
Speaker 1: do it on your? Own did you have a target
25:52
Speaker 1: in the backyard or anything like. That?
25:54
Speaker 7: Oh, Yeah LIKE i had a target in our side
25:57
Speaker 7: yard And i'd go out there almost like every other
26:01
Speaker 7: day and go snap like twenty balls into it and then,
26:05
Speaker 7: yeah and then also at practice as, Well so, yeah
26:09
Speaker 7: almost every other Day i'd be.
26:10
Speaker 1: Snapping if you go on, YouTube there are a bunch
26:13
Speaker 1: of long snap trick shot type videos where guys are
26:16
Speaker 1: snapping through the window of a moving car or you,
26:19
Speaker 1: know trying to hit some sort of tiny target a
26:21
Speaker 1: long distance. Away have you tried anything along those.
26:24
Speaker 7: Lines, Yeah i've done the bottle. CAP i did. THAT
26:27
Speaker 7: i did that one was a freshman in. College people
26:31
Speaker 7: saw it and there's, like why can you do? THAT
26:33
Speaker 7: i was, like, yeah it's like like show us and
26:36
Speaker 7: it took me like three, tries and we're using like
26:40
Speaker 7: like a regular water, bottle so there's a small bottle
26:42
Speaker 7: cap and they're, like oh my. God so that's pretty
26:47
Speaker 7: much the only One i've. Done i've seen people like
26:50
Speaker 7: snap it off of the stadium into a trash. CAN
26:52
Speaker 7: i haven't really done.
26:53
Speaker 1: That we'll have to do the open window moving car. Sometimes.
26:57
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, Yeah i'll. Volunteer my car's twenty fourteen to
27:02
Speaker 7: coma things almost beating.
27:04
Speaker 1: It, well it's about the same as. Mine we're visiting
27:08
Speaker 1: with long Snapper Will. Wagner did you play any other
27:10
Speaker 1: sports other than being a center for the high school football.
27:13
Speaker 7: Team, YEAH i played. LACROSSE i also played flag. Football
27:18
Speaker 7: it was some of my soccer. BUDDIES i played in mule,
27:21
Speaker 7: basketball but those are pretty much the only other SPORTS i.
27:24
Speaker 1: Played, so as you, said the dream was to play college,
27:27
Speaker 1: football and you did for six years At. Michigan Long
27:30
Speaker 1: snappers typically don't get a scholarship to begin. With if
27:34
Speaker 1: you go to the school and you turn out to
27:36
Speaker 1: be the, guy you get. One how did that process
27:38
Speaker 1: go for?
27:38
Speaker 7: You SO i got there in twenty, NINETEEN i didn't
27:41
Speaker 7: start until twenty, twenty and then after the twenty twenty,
27:44
Speaker 7: SEASON i didn't get put on. Scholarship, so but then
27:48
Speaker 7: after the twenty twenty one that, SPRING i got put on.
27:50
Speaker 7: Scholarship SO i started for two seasons BEFORE i got
27:54
Speaker 7: put on, scholarship and THEN i was on scholarship the
27:56
Speaker 7: rest of the.
27:56
Speaker 1: Time michigan's not.
27:58
Speaker 7: Cheap, oh it's not cheap at. All, no my dad
28:01
Speaker 7: helped me very, much so with the.
28:05
Speaker 1: Loans how excited was he when you got the news
28:09
Speaker 1: that you were going on scholarship and how excited were? You,
28:11
Speaker 1: oh he was so.
28:12
Speaker 7: Excited it's, like, oh thank, GOD i can retire.
28:15
Speaker 1: Early now we're doing fun. Facts we Have bengals long
28:19
Speaker 1: Snapper Will. Wagner you had a red shirt year and
28:22
Speaker 1: then THE covid exception. Year, so AS i, mentioned you
28:24
Speaker 1: got to split spend six years with The. Wolverine you
28:28
Speaker 1: played in fifty three. Games you were part of a
28:30
Speaker 1: national championship. Team describe what it means to have been
28:33
Speaker 1: part of a fifteen AND o team that won it.
28:35
Speaker 7: ALL i, mean it's a. BLESSING i mean that whole
28:38
Speaker 7: that whole season just felt like a. Dream like you,
28:43
Speaker 7: going like we were going into Like Oha state, game
28:45
Speaker 7: And i'm, like we're winning this. One like you just
28:49
Speaker 7: kind of knew that just because because of the culture
28:53
Speaker 7: THAT i was, there and, like you, know you got
28:55
Speaker 7: some dogs on the team in your, cycle they're gonna pall,
28:59
Speaker 7: out they're gonna bowl. Out SO i, mean it was
29:02
Speaker 7: just a pleasure to be on that, team be a
29:05
Speaker 7: part of.
29:05
Speaker 1: History you Beat Ohio state the last four times you
29:09
Speaker 1: played The. Buckeyes how obnoxious are you when you are
29:12
Speaker 1: Around Ohio state?
29:13
Speaker 7: People how obnoxious AM? I i don't rub it, IN
29:17
Speaker 7: i caress. It Then i'm not too. Obnoxious but if
29:23
Speaker 7: they throw something at, Me i'll throw it.
29:25
Speaker 1: Back i'm going to remember THAT i caress it. In
29:28
Speaker 1: that's a good. One your head coach was the famously
29:32
Speaker 1: Quirky Jim. Harbaugh what's your Best harbass?
29:36
Speaker 7: Story so there's like one practice where we HAD i
29:42
Speaker 7: think we had like two people like break a wrist
29:45
Speaker 7: in like one practice and then like the team meeting
29:48
Speaker 7: the next. Morning sometimes he just goes on these tangents
29:51
Speaker 7: and he's just like he's, like, GUYS i don't know
29:54
Speaker 7: what to. Say we had two people break the risk.
29:58
Speaker 7: Yesterday there's only there's only one way to prevent.
30:02
Speaker 1: That.
30:03
Speaker 7: Milk you gotta drink your. MILK i have a cup every.
30:07
Speaker 7: Day and then he brought in his sign that was
30:12
Speaker 7: LIKE i got milk sign and he put it over
30:15
Speaker 7: like the milk dispenser in the in the eating.
30:18
Speaker 1: Room did you drink milk as a?
30:21
Speaker 7: Result oh, yeah, yeah but milk is nature.
30:26
Speaker 1: STEROID i didn't realize it was a miracle. Drug we're
30:31
Speaker 1: visiting With Will. Wagner you graduated with a degree in mechanical,
30:34
Speaker 1: engineering and in a scouting report on nfl dot com
30:37
Speaker 1: before the draft that, says quote engineering background fuels a thoughtful.
30:43
Speaker 1: Approach how do you use engineering and snapping of?
30:47
Speaker 7: FOOTBALL i feel, like especially with, engineers it's not like
30:52
Speaker 7: you like mindfully like that's gonna. Happen it's more like
30:56
Speaker 7: you mindlessly, like oh, damn that snap was Highs LIKE
31:00
Speaker 7: i THINK i extended my hips and, like but it
31:04
Speaker 7: wasn't really the. Hips it was that your hips extended
31:06
Speaker 7: early and your follow through came. High so it's more
31:09
Speaker 7: of like kind of knowing how motion happens and like
31:13
Speaker 7: what happens when something else. Happens it's an engineering. School
31:18
Speaker 7: we did a ton of like, linkages and that's all
31:21
Speaker 7: long snapping. Is it's just. Linkages SO i actually did
31:25
Speaker 7: a report on. It i'm like a dynamic of report
31:30
Speaker 7: among long, snapping and LIKE i calculated the power that
31:33
Speaker 7: i'd like produce from it from throwing the ball between my,
31:37
Speaker 7: legs and it was LIKE i think it was two
31:40
Speaker 7: kill watts or something like that of your.
31:41
Speaker 8: POWER i hope your professor was. Impressed they gave me
31:45
Speaker 8: a be all, right a few wild card topics to
31:50
Speaker 8: wrap this up, With Will, Wagner are you a science? Nerd?
31:54
Speaker 7: Yes very much.
31:56
Speaker 1: So.
31:56
Speaker 7: YEAH i love just like learning new things because it's
32:00
Speaker 7: with like.
32:00
Speaker 1: Science who's your all time favorite athlete in any?
32:04
Speaker 7: Sport Probably Michael, Phelps and the reason is that there's
32:10
Speaker 7: a there's a story to. It SO i was getting
32:14
Speaker 7: TREATMENT i tore MY acl twenty twenty, two AND i
32:17
Speaker 7: was getting treatment AND i fell asleep in the training
32:21
Speaker 7: room And Michael phelps was coming to Our Penn state.
32:24
Speaker 7: Game he was gonna be honorary, captain And i'm passed
32:29
Speaker 7: out on the training. Table i'm getting like stem and,
32:32
Speaker 7: ice and my my, buddy who actually tore his ac
32:37
Speaker 7: on the same, play was, Like, wax get, Up, wax
32:41
Speaker 7: get up right. Now And i'm, like, no why DO
32:44
Speaker 7: i need to do? That and he's like and then
32:47
Speaker 7: he brings out his dad. Voice he Goes wax getting,
32:52
Speaker 7: up AND i go all, right AND i look up
32:56
Speaker 7: and It's Michael phelps and he's got his hand out for,
32:58
Speaker 7: me And i'm just, like oh my, god how's it
33:03
Speaker 7: going to My? Phelps, yeah it's just, like and he's
33:07
Speaker 7: definitely probably one of the most of the athletes it's ever,
33:09
Speaker 7: met Like, ben no, Doubt SO i think you'd definitely
33:12
Speaker 7: be one of them.
33:13
Speaker 1: Wags get up was good. Advice When Darren simmons contacted
33:17
Speaker 1: you to let you know that you won the long snapper,
33:20
Speaker 1: job he initially SAID i need you to bring your
33:23
Speaker 1: iPad to my, office making it sound like you were
33:26
Speaker 1: possibly getting. Cut did your heart sink before you got
33:30
Speaker 1: the good.
33:30
Speaker 7: News it's actually kind of a funny story to that.
33:33
Speaker 7: Too SO i actually Saw cal the previous song snapper
33:37
Speaker 7: that was battling with right before, that AND i was,
33:40
Speaker 7: like oh my, gosh have you heard? Anything and he
33:44
Speaker 7: goes it's like you've won the, job AND i was,
33:46
Speaker 7: like oh. DAMN i talk for five minutes to, him, like,
33:51
Speaker 7: hey you're a great Snap you're gonna end up, somewhere
33:53
Speaker 7: which he ended up on The, Eagles so we. TALKED
33:59
Speaker 7: i talked to him for five. MINUTES i was, like oh,
34:01
Speaker 7: gosh and THEN i WENT i want to go to my.
34:06
Speaker 7: Locker and THEN i get a call From darren and
34:09
Speaker 7: he says that And i'm just LIKE.
34:12
Speaker 1: I was.
34:12
Speaker 7: THINKING i was, like did he lie to me, like
34:16
Speaker 7: Did gal lie to me and then he goes to
34:20
Speaker 7: go over The cleveland scouting. ORFO i was, like, oh thank.
34:22
Speaker 7: God it was a ton of. Emotion one he told
34:27
Speaker 7: ME i had the.
34:28
Speaker 1: JOB i bet all. Right final fun fact For Will,
34:31
Speaker 1: Wagner this one's kind of. Deep if you could meet
34:34
Speaker 1: anybody in, history living or, deceased who would that person.
34:38
Speaker 1: Be i'd have to.
34:40
Speaker 7: See Jesus christ is definitely one of. Them but IF i,
34:43
Speaker 7: had like the choice of three, Is i'd Go Jesus
34:47
Speaker 7: christ and then both my. Grandfathers i've never met my,
34:54
Speaker 7: grandfathers so that would definitely be.
34:56
Speaker 1: IT i think they'd be very proud of where you
34:59
Speaker 1: are right.
34:59
Speaker 7: Now, YEAH i think so.
35:01
Speaker 1: Too, well this has been. Fun really appreciate your. Time
35:03
Speaker 1: best of luck the rest of the.
35:04
Speaker 7: Year thank.
35:05
Speaker 1: You here's an invitation to Join Dave lapham and me
35:09
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35:18
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