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Bengals Booth Podcast: Old Man Rivers · 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 Woman Rivers addition, As We
0:15
Speaker 1: Die set to tough loss in Indianapolis as the Bengals
0:18
Speaker 1: jumped out to a twenty one nothing second quarter lead
0:21
Speaker 1: before thirty eight year old Philip Rivers rallied the Colts
0:25
Speaker 1: to a thirty one twenty seven win. Coming up, you'll
0:28
Speaker 1: hear radio replays, postgame comments from players and coaches, and
0:32
Speaker 1: in depth analysis from Dave Lappo. And this week's fun
0:35
Speaker 1: Fact segment is with defensive tackle Christian Covington as he
0:39
Speaker 1: discusses growing up in Vancouver as the son of a
0:43
Speaker 1: Canadian Football League legend. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented
0:47
Speaker 1: by bud Light. Seltzer refreshed the Game and here's a
0:51
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
0:54
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
0:57
Speaker 1: by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean.
1:03
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since the Java Whip. One of
1:08
Speaker 1: my favorite guilty pleasures is sold at the Old Milford
1:12
Speaker 1: Parlor Coffee and ice cream shop on Main Street in Milford.
1:17
Speaker 1: It's called the Java Whip. It's an espresso milkshake made
1:21
Speaker 1: with locally roasted espresso and vanilla soft serve ice cream.
1:26
Speaker 1: I'm here to tell you that if God enjoys milkshakes,
1:30
Speaker 1: then this is the one that he or she orders.
1:34
Speaker 1: Needless to say, it's not low calorie, but it's well
1:38
Speaker 1: worth the occasional splurge. Get yourself a Java Whip at
1:43
Speaker 1: the Old Milford Parlor. Now, let's get to Sunday's game,
1:48
Speaker 1: a battle between the kid Joe Burrow and a quarterback
1:52
Speaker 1: with nine kids, Philip Rivers. He's fifteen years older than
1:56
Speaker 1: Burrow and seventeen months older than Bengal's head coach Zach Taylor.
2:01
Speaker 1: But the day didn't start well for Rivers. His second
2:04
Speaker 1: pass of the game was fumbled without contact by veteran
2:08
Speaker 1: tight end Jack Doyle and Bengals newcomer Xavier Williams recovered
2:12
Speaker 1: at the colts forty three yard line. Seven plays later,
2:16
Speaker 1: the Bengals found the end zone. It is third down
2:19
Speaker 1: in goal from the two yard line. Burrow and the shotgun.
2:21
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernard is checked in at running back. Higgins motions
2:24
Speaker 1: toward the formation. Burrow catches the shotgun snap, gives it
2:27
Speaker 1: to Giovanni. Bernard Gio goes into the end zone standing up,
2:31
Speaker 1: and the Bengals have scored on their opening drive. Nice
2:35
Speaker 1: push inside Trey Hopkins Michael Jordan take a foul. That
2:40
Speaker 1: was the first opening drive touchdown allowed by the Colts
2:43
Speaker 1: in their last eighteen games, ending the longest active streak
2:46
Speaker 1: in the NFL. But the Bengals were just getting started
2:50
Speaker 1: as they rolled the dice to score again on their
2:52
Speaker 1: second drive. Looks like the Bengals are going to go
2:55
Speaker 1: for it, so they're going to pass up the chip
2:57
Speaker 1: shot field goal and go for it on fourth and
3:00
Speaker 1: one from the Indianapolis two yard line. Samaj p Ryan
3:05
Speaker 1: checks in and lines up like a fullback. Burrow, We'll
3:09
Speaker 1: run a quarterback sneak and he's got the first down
3:12
Speaker 1: and he might make it into the end zone. He's
3:15
Speaker 1: gonna be mad. Yes, they giving them touchdown signals. So
3:18
Speaker 1: the Bengals go for it on fourth and one from
3:20
Speaker 1: the two and Joe Burrow, quarterback sneaks into the end zone.
3:25
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan keep coming off the football, my man, Trey Hopkins,
3:29
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan control that line of scrimmage. Nothing fancy, just
3:32
Speaker 1: snuggle up behind your center and your left guard and
3:35
Speaker 1: just hammered up in there. Two drives, two touchdowns. Why
3:39
Speaker 1: stop there? Nicolts send a blitz from the edge. Burrow
3:42
Speaker 1: throws deep down field. It is Higgins streaking down the
3:47
Speaker 1: sideline twenty ten five and tackled at the two yard line.
3:52
Speaker 1: On third and nine, Burrow throws a perfect spiral down
3:56
Speaker 1: the sideline to fellow rookie t Higgins. The throw went
4:00
Speaker 1: twenty nine yards down the field, and Higgins ran for
4:03
Speaker 1: thirty eight yards after the catch for a sixty seven
4:06
Speaker 1: yard game on the final play of an impeccable first quarter.
4:10
Speaker 1: On the first play of the second quarter, the Bengals
4:13
Speaker 1: took a twenty one point lead first and goal from
4:16
Speaker 1: the seven. After the five yard penalty, Burrow catches the
4:19
Speaker 1: shotgun staff sticks it in the gut of Joe Mixon
4:22
Speaker 1: charging down toward the goal line, waiting for the signal,
4:25
Speaker 1: and he is stopped just short. No, that's the touchdown
4:30
Speaker 1: sign The far side official did not give it to him.
4:33
Speaker 1: The near side official eventually did. It's a seven yard
4:38
Speaker 1: touchdown run by Joe Mixon. It obviously will be reviewed.
4:42
Speaker 1: This is dominant in every possible way. At that point,
4:46
Speaker 1: Burrow had one hundred and fifty three passing yards to
4:49
Speaker 1: only thirty three for Rivers, and the Bengals had nine
4:52
Speaker 1: first downs to the Colts one. Here's t Higgins. You know,
4:56
Speaker 1: we came in with the mentality we gotta go out
4:58
Speaker 1: here and you know, dominant, and you know, you guys
5:01
Speaker 1: saw that at the first quarter. We just I don't
5:05
Speaker 1: know what happened in the second, you know, I guess
5:07
Speaker 1: we just let off the gas and we can't do that.
5:08
Speaker 1: We gotta stay full throttle the whole game and you know,
5:11
Speaker 1: finish it up. The Colts comeback started with an eighty
5:14
Speaker 1: seven yard touchdown drive. Rivers hit Marcus Johnson for a
5:18
Speaker 1: fifty five yard gain down to the one yard line,
5:21
Speaker 1: and Indy scored two plays later. And they're going to
5:24
Speaker 1: line up in a wildcat type formation and it is
5:28
Speaker 1: a run into the end zone for the score by
5:31
Speaker 1: Trey Burton. You remember Trey Burton, the tight end who
5:35
Speaker 1: threw the Philly Special touchdown pass and the Super Bowl
5:38
Speaker 1: to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. He'll never have to pay
5:42
Speaker 1: for a beer in Philadelphia for the rest of his life.
5:44
Speaker 1: His one yard run made it twenty one to seven.
5:47
Speaker 1: The Bengals answered with their fourth scored as many drives
5:50
Speaker 1: as Randy Bullocks forty seven yard field goal made it
5:53
Speaker 1: twenty four to seven, but Rivers and Burton struck again.
5:58
Speaker 1: Shotgun Staff. Rivers looking throws it towards the left side
6:02
Speaker 1: of the end zone and that is caught by Trey
6:04
Speaker 1: Burton for the Colts touchdown. It was twenty four to fourteen.
6:08
Speaker 1: The Bengals still appeared to be in good shape, but
6:10
Speaker 1: they failed to get a first down on their next drive,
6:13
Speaker 1: giving Rivers the ball back with two fifty eight left
6:16
Speaker 1: in the half, plenty of time for a seventy five
6:20
Speaker 1: yard drive. Rivers catches the shotgun Staff, steps up in
6:23
Speaker 1: the pocket, floats it into the end zone, caught by
6:26
Speaker 1: Pascal for an Indianapolis touchdown with fifteen seconds left in
6:30
Speaker 1: the half. After a slow start, Philip Rivers passed for
6:33
Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty four yards in the second quarter
6:36
Speaker 1: to cut the Bengals twenty one point lead down to three.
6:40
Speaker 1: Here's Jesse Bates. Philip Rivers is the Hall of Fame quarterback.
6:44
Speaker 1: I mean, I know he's a little odor now, but
6:47
Speaker 1: he's a Hall of Fame quarterback and I feel like
6:51
Speaker 1: the whole game he knew exactly what we were in.
6:53
Speaker 1: Every ball that he threw was almost out of bounce
6:57
Speaker 1: and only where the receivers can catch it. So props
7:00
Speaker 1: the Philip Rivers, I think, you know, for us as
7:04
Speaker 1: a defense, I mean, we got to take that as
7:06
Speaker 1: a challenge. Our offense takes lead. Twenty one points should
7:10
Speaker 1: be enough in this league. The only point scored in
7:12
Speaker 1: the third quarter were scored by the Bengals, thanks in
7:15
Speaker 1: large part to a seven time pro bowler who had
7:18
Speaker 1: his best game in nearly two years. Third down play
7:21
Speaker 1: coming up third and seven burrow catches the shotgun staff
7:24
Speaker 1: short drop quick slamp caught by H Green for another
7:28
Speaker 1: first down, had a ten yard games J Green starting
7:32
Speaker 1: to look like J Green. AJ Green finished with eight
7:35
Speaker 1: catches for ninety six yards, and they were big catches,
7:38
Speaker 1: giving the Bengals first downs on second and nine, second
7:42
Speaker 1: and eleven, third and eight, third and six, third and ten,
7:46
Speaker 1: and fourth and nine. But he was upset that he
7:49
Speaker 1: failed to haul in a potential forty four yard touchdown
7:52
Speaker 1: pass in the third quarter. Still got some plays out
7:55
Speaker 1: there that I should have made the gobaf I should
7:59
Speaker 1: have just went up over the top of him. We
8:01
Speaker 1: try to get the past and the fantish shot U
8:03
Speaker 1: instead of trying to like lay hands it. Um. Um.
8:06
Speaker 1: But I felt good. Um it's probably the best you know,
8:10
Speaker 1: my body felt, you know, just get my confidence back
8:14
Speaker 1: and playing like my whole solf T Higgins, who had
8:17
Speaker 1: six catches for one hundred and twenty five yards, was
8:20
Speaker 1: excited to see his favorite receiver go to work. You know,
8:23
Speaker 1: Aja was Aja today, you know, I mean it looked
8:25
Speaker 1: I was glad to see him get you know, as
8:27
Speaker 1: many targ as he did and see him produce, you know,
8:30
Speaker 1: you know, getting his confidence back, you know from the
8:33
Speaker 1: past two season though he's on injury, and you know,
8:35
Speaker 1: just seeing him go out there and just work today
8:38
Speaker 1: it felt good. A fifty five yard field goal by
8:41
Speaker 1: Randy Bullock gave Cincinnati a twenty seven twenty one lead
8:44
Speaker 1: going to the fourth quarter, the fourth time in six
8:47
Speaker 1: games that the Bengals have had a fourth quarter lead,
8:51
Speaker 1: but in this case, it only lasted for a few seconds.
8:54
Speaker 1: First play of the fourth quarter, the Colts habit in
8:57
Speaker 1: the red zone at the fourteen yard line, rivers back
8:59
Speaker 1: to throw a play if time is fast into the
9:01
Speaker 1: end zone. Doyle reaches out, extends the arms, makes the
9:05
Speaker 1: catch and ties the game, with the Colts having the
9:08
Speaker 1: opportunity to take the lead for the first time. On
9:10
Speaker 1: the extra point, the pat made a twenty eight twenty
9:14
Speaker 1: seven Indie. Here's Jesse Bates on surrendering the big lead.
9:18
Speaker 1: It is frustrating, man. We play very well, I mean
9:23
Speaker 1: that first quarter and I don't think they got a
9:25
Speaker 1: first down, and then you know, we kind of fall apart,
9:29
Speaker 1: you know when the game matters. So it's the same
9:31
Speaker 1: thing I've been saying all years. We got to be consistent.
9:34
Speaker 1: We got to be consistent and everything we do. The
9:36
Speaker 1: Bengals still had chances to win. After an interception by Bates,
9:40
Speaker 1: the Bengals drove to the Colts thirty, where Sama JP
9:44
Speaker 1: Ryan was stopped on third and one on his first
9:47
Speaker 1: carry of the season, in fact, his first carry in
9:51
Speaker 1: twelve games in a Bengals uniform. Down by one with
9:55
Speaker 1: eight minutes to go, the Bengals chose not to go
9:57
Speaker 1: for it on fourth and one and call Randy Bullock
10:01
Speaker 1: a pressure kick for Randy Bullock a forty eight yard
10:04
Speaker 1: attempt to try to give Cincinnati the lead. Harris ready
10:07
Speaker 1: to snap it back. Huber catches puts it down. Bullocks
10:10
Speaker 1: kick is up and it is no good. It hit
10:14
Speaker 1: the right, upright and bounced to the right. So, with
10:17
Speaker 1: a chance to give Cincinnati a fourth quarter lead, Randy
10:20
Speaker 1: Bullock misses for just the second time all year. His
10:24
Speaker 1: forty eight yard attempt is no good. Bullock is fifteen
10:29
Speaker 1: for seventeen this season. But man, have the two misses
10:32
Speaker 1: been costly. A forty yard field goal by Colts rookie
10:36
Speaker 1: Rodrigo Blankenship gave into a four point lead with four
10:39
Speaker 1: minutes to go, meaning the Bengals needed a touchdown on
10:42
Speaker 1: their final drive to win. Joe Burrow drove them into
10:46
Speaker 1: Colts territory with forty nine seconds to go. Third down
10:50
Speaker 1: in five at the thirty five of Indie. Burrow ready
10:54
Speaker 1: for the shotgun snap, Joe has the ball, throws over
10:57
Speaker 1: the middle. It is intercepted, picked off at twenty yard
11:00
Speaker 1: line by Julian Blackman, and that'll wrap it up for Indianapolis.
11:05
Speaker 1: Yes it will. Here's Burrow on the pick and his performance.
11:10
Speaker 1: So can you take us through that last play? What
11:12
Speaker 1: did you see on that interception? Oh, they're blitzen and
11:17
Speaker 1: you know they're playing palms, which is basically quarters, and
11:25
Speaker 1: we saw something I just gotta make make a better play,
11:29
Speaker 1: make a better decision. Tough one. Did you see Blackman
11:32
Speaker 1: Joe on the interception at the end, No, I did not.
11:36
Speaker 1: I knew he was over there somewhere. I didn't know
11:38
Speaker 1: he was that type. The first thing you said after
11:40
Speaker 1: last week's game in Baltimore was you weren't very good
11:42
Speaker 1: with your eyes today. Do you feel like you're a
11:44
Speaker 1: lot better with your eyes today? Yeah? I mean I
11:46
Speaker 1: played really well for three quarters and fourteen minutes and
11:52
Speaker 1: then one bad play and I wasn't named to convert.
11:55
Speaker 1: Burrow finished with three hundred thirteen passing yards his four
11:59
Speaker 1: three hundred yard game, but Rivers finished with three hundred
12:02
Speaker 1: and seventy one yards and three touchdown passes and a
12:05
Speaker 1: thirty one, twenty seven come from behind win. Here are
12:09
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor and AJ Green on a twenty one point
12:12
Speaker 1: lead that didn't last. It's a tough one to swall
12:14
Speaker 1: for sure, you know, and again we didn't earn it,
12:16
Speaker 1: and just you got to challenge the team. It's it's
12:19
Speaker 1: everybody could have done one more thing to help us
12:21
Speaker 1: get this win, and that's all of us. That's the coaches,
12:24
Speaker 1: the players, and everyone's got to be accountable to that. Um,
12:27
Speaker 1: we put ourselves in a tough position here, you know,
12:29
Speaker 1: with just one win, and it doesn't matter if you
12:32
Speaker 1: feel like you've done better than that, that that doesn't matter.
12:34
Speaker 1: Your record is what you say, it is what it
12:35
Speaker 1: says that you are. And uh, we got to going
12:38
Speaker 1: these wins, man, And it's tough to beat good teams
12:40
Speaker 1: on the road. Felt like we certainly had some opportunities
12:44
Speaker 1: and we just didn't do enough to make it happen.
12:46
Speaker 1: They didn't mess the bottom line and get their hats
12:47
Speaker 1: off to them. What is the difference between teams that
12:51
Speaker 1: win a lot and teams that don't beyond the obvious?
12:56
Speaker 1: And I think the teams that want a lot to
12:57
Speaker 1: do the little things right. And you know, we still
13:00
Speaker 1: got to clean up some stuff. You know, Like I said,
13:02
Speaker 1: I had to play that. You know, I should have
13:05
Speaker 1: made good teams try to make that play. So for me,
13:08
Speaker 1: I just gotta continue to get trying to make every play.
13:11
Speaker 1: Then go from there. The Bengals are one four and one,
13:14
Speaker 1: including two losses in a tie that could have been
13:17
Speaker 1: probably should have been wins. Up next a home game
13:22
Speaker 1: against the Browns, who got blown out in Pittsburgh thirty
13:25
Speaker 1: eight to seven. Baker Mayfield left that game in the
13:28
Speaker 1: third quarter with sore ribs. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
13:32
Speaker 1: presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with
13:36
Speaker 1: a hint of fruit flavor. Now, let's get some postgame
13:40
Speaker 1: analysis from my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham lap I am
13:44
Speaker 1: going to start with a bad memory. September of nineteen
13:49
Speaker 1: seventy nine, second quarter Bengals twenty four Houston Nothing Oilers
13:55
Speaker 1: came back to win thirty to twenty seven inot That's
13:58
Speaker 1: the only time in Bengals history that they've squandered a
14:01
Speaker 1: bigger lead than twenty one points. Twenty One's happened a
14:04
Speaker 1: few times. That game was twenty four. Do you remember
14:07
Speaker 1: how sickening you felt after that game? That was like, yeah,
14:11
Speaker 1: that was like a gut punch, a kick below the gut, kick,
14:15
Speaker 1: a kick anywhere that you know it would hurt the most.
14:19
Speaker 1: It was. It was a disgusting feeling, you know, and
14:22
Speaker 1: you know it is like like you say, when it
14:25
Speaker 1: happens to you, that's the NFL. I mean, that's what
14:28
Speaker 1: can happen in the National Football League. I thought the
14:30
Speaker 1: Colts came out thinking that they could just roll their
14:33
Speaker 1: helmets out in the football field. I think that they
14:35
Speaker 1: felt like this was going to be an easy day.
14:37
Speaker 1: And the Bengals came out energized, I mean, ready to play,
14:41
Speaker 1: and took advantage of an early turnover score right away,
14:44
Speaker 1: and then boom, all of a sudden, it's twenty one nothing,
14:46
Speaker 1: and the Colts are like they're they're getting pushed around.
14:50
Speaker 1: I mean, their defensive front is getting man handled and
14:53
Speaker 1: they can't run the football at all and get down
14:55
Speaker 1: twenty one nothing. It's probably the worst thing to happen
14:57
Speaker 1: because then Reich looks at Philip River and says, hey,
15:01
Speaker 1: it's time. And I was stunned because my feeling watching
15:06
Speaker 1: him in prior games, I thought they him throw the
15:08
Speaker 1: ball outside. He threw dimes outside, He threw outside roust
15:12
Speaker 1: that were in such a like Jesse Bates was talking
15:15
Speaker 1: about in the postgame show. He threw it, it was
15:18
Speaker 1: out of bounds. The only guy that could make a
15:20
Speaker 1: play on the ball, the Anglity threw it and the
15:22
Speaker 1: feathery touched me through. It was his receiver. Defensive backs
15:25
Speaker 1: had no opportunity. I mean he threw the ball with
15:28
Speaker 1: the anticipation and accuracy and aggressiveness. He was like Philip Rivers,
15:32
Speaker 1: you know, rewind a few a few years. He was unbelievable.
15:37
Speaker 1: And that's him in a competitive situation. Man, that dude
15:40
Speaker 1: steps up and he single handedly picked up his football team,
15:45
Speaker 1: put him on his collective shoulders and said, let's wake up,
15:48
Speaker 1: let's start playing football. This isn't good enough for me.
15:52
Speaker 1: Let's go. I'm ready, let's go. And I mean Philip
15:54
Speaker 1: Rivers basically said we're not going to lose this football game.
15:58
Speaker 1: And they didn't. There have been six games in Bengals
16:01
Speaker 1: history where they led by twenty one or more and lost.
16:06
Speaker 1: Five times the deficit was twenty one. That other game
16:08
Speaker 1: that I mentioned nineteen seventy nine, the deficit was twenty four.
16:11
Speaker 1: So of those six games, Philip Rivers is responsible for
16:15
Speaker 1: two of the comebacks. Two thousand and six, down by
16:18
Speaker 1: twenty one at halftime, leads the Chargers, the team he
16:21
Speaker 1: was playing for, then to forty two second half points
16:24
Speaker 1: and they come back and win. And if you don't
16:27
Speaker 1: get more pressure on that guy than the Bengals were
16:31
Speaker 1: able to get today, he is eventually going to carve
16:34
Speaker 1: you up. He is. I mean, you have to get
16:36
Speaker 1: him off his spot. You can't let him get comfortable.
16:39
Speaker 1: And comfortable wasn't the word. I mean. He was seeing
16:42
Speaker 1: the field. He knew exactly what coverages the Bengals were in,
16:46
Speaker 1: he knew exactly what route was going to beat that coverage,
16:49
Speaker 1: and he had time to sit there and put it
16:53
Speaker 1: in a perfect spot and never got him off his spot.
16:56
Speaker 1: And the thing that I've always admired about him for
16:58
Speaker 1: a lot of years, and he did out of it
17:00
Speaker 1: today when he climbs the pocket and he's running forward,
17:03
Speaker 1: he'll throw off the most awkward footwork and still feather
17:07
Speaker 1: it and put it in a perfect spot. Touch Wise,
17:10
Speaker 1: I will say, though, there were a myriad of times
17:13
Speaker 1: where receivers were so open. It's like, what, how can
17:16
Speaker 1: they be that open? How can they be five yards
17:18
Speaker 1: open in any one direction? And it's remarkable when you're
17:22
Speaker 1: all eleven and one in games that were decided by
17:25
Speaker 1: eight points or less, something lets you down that you
17:28
Speaker 1: may not have anticipated. Bengals pass defense was rated in
17:32
Speaker 1: the top ten and a bunch of categories going into
17:33
Speaker 1: this football game, and it got diced up. I mean,
17:37
Speaker 1: the Colts just said we can't run the football, and
17:40
Speaker 1: we don't know. If we run the football, we're our
17:42
Speaker 1: own worst enemy because we're eating clock. We're down three
17:45
Speaker 1: scores so quickly. We have to try to get back
17:47
Speaker 1: in this football game right away. Let's abandon the running game,
17:50
Speaker 1: see if we can throw it. And I thought, man,
17:52
Speaker 1: this is going to be good for the Bengals. They've
17:53
Speaker 1: shown themselves pretty well in the past against the past,
17:57
Speaker 1: not today. So it's it's like, you know, the guy
18:00
Speaker 1: that's trying to put his finger in the holes in
18:02
Speaker 1: the dike, You know you got a couple of them
18:04
Speaker 1: plugged up a third one, man, you start running out
18:06
Speaker 1: of fingers and there's too many holes too far apart
18:09
Speaker 1: to plug. It's it's incredible how one phase will step
18:13
Speaker 1: up and one that's has stepped up before regresses back
18:16
Speaker 1: and vice versa. It's just unbelievable. They cannot play complimentary football,
18:22
Speaker 1: even within the same side of the ball. One game
18:25
Speaker 1: they rush it well, they can't throw it. One game
18:26
Speaker 1: they throw it great. They can't rush it on the
18:28
Speaker 1: flip side. Stop the run can't stop the pass. Stop
18:32
Speaker 1: the pass can't stop the run. I mean, it's just
18:35
Speaker 1: it's just unbelievable. And the pieces keep moving, you know,
18:38
Speaker 1: on the chessboard, they don't stay in the same spot.
18:40
Speaker 1: It's like, if you're a coach, you don't know what
18:43
Speaker 1: to believe in. What what can we do well enough?
18:45
Speaker 1: What's what's something that we do well every week that
18:48
Speaker 1: we can rely on to game plan around. I'm not
18:51
Speaker 1: sure what you can come up with. Joe Mixon finished
18:54
Speaker 1: with fifty four rushing yards. I don't have a breakdown
18:57
Speaker 1: in front of me for the quarter by quarter, but
18:59
Speaker 1: I'm guess saying forty came in the first quarter and
19:01
Speaker 1: very little after that, I would agree. I mean, the
19:04
Speaker 1: offensive line, my gosh, man, they're running quarterback sneaks from
19:08
Speaker 1: the one yard line, they're running a touchdown from the
19:11
Speaker 1: eight yard line, right up the gut. It was just
19:12
Speaker 1: like a big human wedge. They just I mean, they
19:15
Speaker 1: were just knocking them backwards. I mean, it wasn't even
19:18
Speaker 1: a contest they were. There was so much adrenaline flow
19:22
Speaker 1: and they're on such a high and the Colts were
19:24
Speaker 1: as flat, flat as a pancake. And then it turned.
19:28
Speaker 1: And once it started to turn, you know, Buckinger was
19:31
Speaker 1: getting slapped around. Then Buckner all of a sudden, here
19:33
Speaker 1: he was rushing the pastor looking like this big long
19:35
Speaker 1: freak azoid that he is, and you know he's getting
19:37
Speaker 1: his sack and doing his thing, and then they're making
19:40
Speaker 1: players in the back end defensively. It's you know, it
19:43
Speaker 1: was it was. It was crazy. It wasn't a tale
19:47
Speaker 1: of two halves as such. It was a tale of
19:50
Speaker 1: one quarter and three quarters. I mean it was. But
19:54
Speaker 1: still the Bengals. The Bengals didn't, you know, give away
19:57
Speaker 1: the lead until the fourth quarter of the football game.
20:00
Speaker 1: The fourth quarter of the football game. But when you
20:02
Speaker 1: have a twenty one point lead and they keep creeping, creeping, creeping,
20:05
Speaker 1: and then eventually take a lead on you, it's like
20:08
Speaker 1: you feel like even worse than if you're you know,
20:11
Speaker 1: if you're down twenty points. I mean, that's a bad
20:14
Speaker 1: feeling too. It's like here they come, Oh man, here
20:16
Speaker 1: they come, here they come. And when you're you know, now,
20:20
Speaker 1: oh eleven and one in close football games, and they
20:22
Speaker 1: take the lead on you, and then they take a
20:24
Speaker 1: field goal. To take four point lead, you have to
20:26
Speaker 1: score a touchdown. You know, the dynamic becomes so much
20:29
Speaker 1: different because of a missfield goal by a kicker that's
20:32
Speaker 1: had a pretty good year overall, but two critical misses. Man,
20:35
Speaker 1: this is game six. The Bengals have had fourth quarter
20:38
Speaker 1: leads in four out of six. Led thirteen to six
20:42
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter in Week one, lost to the Chargers,
20:45
Speaker 1: led seventeen sixteen going to the fourth quarter. In Week three,
20:49
Speaker 1: wound up an overtime tie with Philadelphia. Obviously they led
20:53
Speaker 1: and one against Jacksonville, so there's nothing negative about that.
20:57
Speaker 1: But today on top twenty twenty one going to the
21:01
Speaker 1: fourth couldn't hold on sad It really is. It's a
21:04
Speaker 1: it's a sad commentary, you know. And that's that's what
21:08
Speaker 1: the NFL is all about. As we say, every single
21:11
Speaker 1: week the NFL, half the games are decided by a
21:14
Speaker 1: touchdown or less. A quarter of the games are decided
21:16
Speaker 1: by a field goal or less. So it comes down
21:18
Speaker 1: to the fourth quarter. And in the fourth quarter you
21:21
Speaker 1: have to make plays in critical times of the football
21:23
Speaker 1: game and have to avoid mistakes in critical times of
21:27
Speaker 1: the football game. And the Bengals just can't seem to
21:30
Speaker 1: get over the hump there. That's what it boils down to.
21:33
Speaker 1: That's why they're oz ten and one. In games decided
21:35
Speaker 1: by eight points or less, the loss is discouraging, but
21:39
Speaker 1: I'm really happy that AJ Green had a good game.
21:42
Speaker 1: He needed it, team needed it. I don't think it's
21:45
Speaker 1: a huge exaggeration to say the city almost needed it
21:48
Speaker 1: for the way that people feel about AJ Green. To
21:51
Speaker 1: see him struggling the way he has this year and
21:53
Speaker 1: giving up on that interception against Baltimore, not trying to
21:56
Speaker 1: tackle the guy. It was just ugly and he was
22:00
Speaker 1: maybe not the old AJ Green in this game, but
22:02
Speaker 1: he was pretty darn good. Eight catches, ninety six yards,
22:06
Speaker 1: upset with himself about a deep ball that he thought
22:08
Speaker 1: he could have played differently, a lot of third down,
22:11
Speaker 1: fourth down type catches when they absolutely had it, had
22:14
Speaker 1: to have it. He got open and made the play.
22:16
Speaker 1: And AJ Green here in the last week has done
22:22
Speaker 1: things that have made me respect him even more now. Obviously,
22:25
Speaker 1: the play that he made against the Ravens that we're
22:28
Speaker 1: talking about on the interception, you know, that wasn't something
22:31
Speaker 1: that you know would would be Oh yeah, that's I'm
22:34
Speaker 1: going to respect you know, him more for that. But
22:36
Speaker 1: he called himself out. That's what I respect he has
22:39
Speaker 1: as you know, a presser on Wednesday and says, I
22:42
Speaker 1: loafed and I can't do that. That's not me. My
22:45
Speaker 1: football teammates don't expect that out of me. I can't
22:48
Speaker 1: do that. That's not me. There's not a whole lot
22:50
Speaker 1: of guys that are a superstar like he is in
22:53
Speaker 1: his profession that would have almost a confessional like that,
22:57
Speaker 1: you know, on Wednesday, and he cleansed himself, you know,
23:01
Speaker 1: by doing that, I think a little bit. And then
23:04
Speaker 1: he played better. He played better today. But then in
23:07
Speaker 1: the presser, you know, the zoom call after the game,
23:10
Speaker 1: he chastised himself for not making a play on the
23:13
Speaker 1: deep ball. Now, could the deep ball have been a
23:15
Speaker 1: little deeper where he wouldn't have had to maybe choke
23:17
Speaker 1: it down slightly. Yeah, But he didn't say anything about that.
23:20
Speaker 1: All he said was I have to go up and
23:21
Speaker 1: attack the ball instead of trying to you know, late,
23:23
Speaker 1: show my hands late, like you know, I saw him
23:25
Speaker 1: happen in the game. He tried to show him late
23:27
Speaker 1: and it didn't work out. If he went up and
23:29
Speaker 1: attacked it. He felt like he could have got a
23:31
Speaker 1: pass interference or a catch of the football or whatever
23:34
Speaker 1: the case may be. So to have him in that
23:39
Speaker 1: mindset to be that self critical when he's achieved what
23:43
Speaker 1: he's achieved and he's been on the stages that he's
23:45
Speaker 1: been on, I think, you know, to me, gives me
23:49
Speaker 1: a lot more respect for the guy. And I think
23:50
Speaker 1: his teammates, particularly the young teammate's going to be like, Wow,
23:53
Speaker 1: he works harder than anybody and he's so hard on himself,
23:57
Speaker 1: and that's what you have to do to be successful
23:59
Speaker 1: in this NFL. I think he said another great example
24:02
Speaker 1: for younger players in the league by what he's done
24:04
Speaker 1: this last week. So the seven time Pro bowler was
24:07
Speaker 1: back in this game. The eight time Pro bowler, on
24:09
Speaker 1: the other hand, Geno Atkins was not, as far as
24:13
Speaker 1: I can tell. Zach Taylor was asked if Gino played
24:16
Speaker 1: after the game, he said, yes, he was used in
24:18
Speaker 1: third down passing situations. Well, we never called his name
24:21
Speaker 1: during the game. No tackles, no assists, no quarterback hits,
24:26
Speaker 1: nothing like that for Geno Atkins. I don't know how
24:29
Speaker 1: many snaps he got, but he does not show up
24:32
Speaker 1: in any way, shape or form on the stat sheet. Yeah,
24:34
Speaker 1: if it's third down, it might have been less than
24:36
Speaker 1: the nineteen snaps he had the week before, which were
24:39
Speaker 1: on third down because the on third down let's see defense,
24:46
Speaker 1: they allowed seven conversions on eleven opportunities. So if he
24:51
Speaker 1: was only in on third down snaps, he played less
24:54
Speaker 1: than nineteen snaps. So yeah, he didn't He didn't have
25:00
Speaker 1: impact on the football game whatsoever. There's no question about it.
25:03
Speaker 1: And that's that's just, you know, disappointing as well. You
25:06
Speaker 1: have guys out there, like you know, Covington and Xavier
25:09
Speaker 1: Williams just you know, playing snap after snap, giving everything
25:12
Speaker 1: they've got, and how can you be mad at them?
25:15
Speaker 1: You know they are, they are who they are, they
25:17
Speaker 1: are what they are. You're paying a lot of money
25:19
Speaker 1: to Geno Atkins and can't get them on the football
25:21
Speaker 1: field because of I guess to shoulder problem. And that's
25:24
Speaker 1: that's tough. That's a tough dynamic because he was needed today.
25:28
Speaker 1: That when a quarterback is immobile and he's setting up seven, five,
25:34
Speaker 1: seven or nine yards behind the line of scrimmage, the
25:36
Speaker 1: interior pressure is even more significant because they're not rolling
25:40
Speaker 1: them out, they're not naked bootlegs, they're not you know,
25:43
Speaker 1: anything and sprint outs anything like that. So when you
25:46
Speaker 1: have a stationary object. If you can get a push
25:50
Speaker 1: by bullrush or whatever in the middle of the pocket,
25:52
Speaker 1: that's massive. Not today. In addition to the Steelers win
25:58
Speaker 1: over the Browns, the Ravens beat Phil thirty to twenty eight.
26:01
Speaker 1: So in the AFC, North Pittsburgh is five and oh
26:05
Speaker 1: Baltimore is five and one, the Browns are four and two,
26:08
Speaker 1: and the Bengals are one four and one. Now time
26:12
Speaker 1: for something a little merrier. It's this week's fun Facts segment,
26:16
Speaker 1: where you get to know the person under the pads.
26:20
Speaker 1: Time for some fun facts with Bengals defensive lineman Christian
26:23
Speaker 1: Covington from one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Vancouver,
26:27
Speaker 1: British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, just north
26:30
Speaker 1: of Seattle. For somebody that's never been described Vancouver, Oh
26:35
Speaker 1: my goodness, beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. Honestly, I'm kind of biased.
26:41
Speaker 1: I think everybody is with regards of their hometowns. But
26:45
Speaker 1: I think the proof is in the pudding. Really, once
26:47
Speaker 1: you actually are able to step foot in the city
26:50
Speaker 1: called Vancouver, you mean, whatever the case may be, whether
26:54
Speaker 1: you're you know, a family person trying to see whatever,
26:58
Speaker 1: whatever it be mountain, ocean, water, wine country. It's one
27:03
Speaker 1: of those places that truly has everything, so it's it's
27:05
Speaker 1: kind of amazing. I grew up near Buffalo, and when
27:08
Speaker 1: I was a kid, I was devastated when our NBA franchise,
27:12
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Braves, moved west and became the Clippers. Were
27:16
Speaker 1: you heartbroken when the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis? Very
27:21
Speaker 1: I'm still I can't lie to you. I'm still a
27:23
Speaker 1: little bitter about it right now. Especially when the NBA
27:26
Speaker 1: brought back those retro jerseys this year. I was just like, oh,
27:31
Speaker 1: why are you Like, why are you doing that to me?
27:33
Speaker 1: Why are you doing this to me? Just reminded me
27:35
Speaker 1: of the heartbreak. But you know what they I think,
27:37
Speaker 1: you know, basketball is going to be able to make
27:39
Speaker 1: a return to the Pacific Northwest, whether it be you know, Vancouver,
27:42
Speaker 1: whether it be Seattle. I think basketball has to make
27:44
Speaker 1: a return. We're doing fun facts with Christian Covington. Your dad,
27:48
Speaker 1: Grover is a Canadian Football League Hall of Famer. You
27:52
Speaker 1: were born after he retired from pro football, so he
27:55
Speaker 1: didn't get to see him in action. But what have
27:57
Speaker 1: you learned about his pro career that he was a
27:59
Speaker 1: bad man. Uh, he was, No, Honestly, my dad, he's
28:05
Speaker 1: He's instilled a lot uh in me with regards to
28:08
Speaker 1: my approach to the game. You know, he m to
28:10
Speaker 1: be able to have a man of his caliber, you know,
28:13
Speaker 1: be by my side ever since I started playing this
28:15
Speaker 1: game at a young age. You know, he's been my
28:16
Speaker 1: coach ever since the eighth grade. So to have him
28:20
Speaker 1: by my side, to be able to you know and
28:22
Speaker 1: honestly just learned from other people what he was about,
28:26
Speaker 1: his approach to the game, his approach to you know,
28:28
Speaker 1: how he handled himself as a professional athlete. Um, it's huge,
28:31
Speaker 1: you know, like you know, he was, you know, a
28:33
Speaker 1: great man on it off the field, but you know,
28:36
Speaker 1: once he was able to, you know, take one step on,
28:38
Speaker 1: he was able to find find that switch and just
28:40
Speaker 1: become a monster. So I love I love hearing about
28:43
Speaker 1: that because you know, everybody calls him a general giant.
28:45
Speaker 1: So that's what I tried to be. A couple of
28:47
Speaker 1: years ago, you gave him a Corvette as a birthday present.
28:50
Speaker 1: What was the backstory behind that gift? Man? Corvettes are
28:56
Speaker 1: my dad. They were my dad's favorite cars growing up.
28:58
Speaker 1: You know, he grew up in North Carolina and he's
29:01
Speaker 1: wonder one ever since he was a kid. He was
29:03
Speaker 1: able to he was able to buy himself one when
29:05
Speaker 1: he got me, when he you know, established himself in
29:07
Speaker 1: the CFL and he met my mom and you know,
29:11
Speaker 1: they had myself and my and once my once my
29:15
Speaker 1: middle sister came around it. You know, it was looking like,
29:18
Speaker 1: you know, we had to kind of go towards, you know,
29:20
Speaker 1: the minivan section of shopping, so he had to get
29:22
Speaker 1: away with it. He had to get rid of his
29:24
Speaker 1: you know, his toy car um. You know, that was
29:27
Speaker 1: just me, you know, making the gesture a couple of
29:28
Speaker 1: years ago, you know, with all the sacrifices that he's made,
29:30
Speaker 1: you know, for my for my two sisters and my mom,
29:33
Speaker 1: for our you know, for our family, you know, that
29:35
Speaker 1: was a little gesture that we wanted to do to
29:37
Speaker 1: be able to surprise him on his birthday. And you know,
29:40
Speaker 1: the reaction we got out of him was just great. So, yeah,
29:43
Speaker 1: he was I've never seen my dad's speechless, and we
29:46
Speaker 1: actually caught him. He was basically speechless the entire day.
29:50
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Christian Covington. Any athlete that grows up
29:53
Speaker 1: in Canada gets the did you play hockey? Question? But
29:57
Speaker 1: I read that at your size, skates were the problem.
30:01
Speaker 1: Oh okay, you've done your research. Yes, um no, I
30:06
Speaker 1: love skating. I loved hockey. I'm you know, I'm still
30:08
Speaker 1: a huge Vancouver Canucks fan. So hockeys. I mean it's
30:12
Speaker 1: it's it's true what they say. Hockey's in the blood
30:14
Speaker 1: of every Canadian. And unfortunately, yeah, never really got to
30:18
Speaker 1: truly lace up and actually play competitive hockey. Um, you know,
30:22
Speaker 1: skating was one thing, but it got to that point where, yeah,
30:24
Speaker 1: just my shoes, my shoe side slash skate size was
30:28
Speaker 1: just too big. In high school, I wear size seventeen,
30:31
Speaker 1: and I would I've been a size seven. I've had
30:34
Speaker 1: a size seventeen shoes since high school. So it's been
30:37
Speaker 1: you know, it's been quite rough to find shoes, let
30:39
Speaker 1: alone skates. So I kind of had to give up
30:41
Speaker 1: all those dreams. And I traded in the skates for
30:43
Speaker 1: the for the cleats. So I think I made the
30:45
Speaker 1: right choice. It obviously worked out well. After an excellent
30:48
Speaker 1: high school career in Canada, you went to Rice University
30:52
Speaker 1: in Houston, which isn't a football powerhouse, but it is
30:55
Speaker 1: an academic powerhouse. What other offers did you have and
30:58
Speaker 1: why did you choose Rice? Yeah, recruiting of Canada was
31:02
Speaker 1: you know, different, to say the least, So I had
31:05
Speaker 1: to kind of take take advantage of every opportunity that
31:08
Speaker 1: came my way. I know, I was recruited first and
31:11
Speaker 1: first by Eastern Washington University did one double a school
31:15
Speaker 1: up in up in Washington, and Rice was my first
31:18
Speaker 1: Division one offer, and then Arizona State kind of came
31:21
Speaker 1: in late. But for me, it was either, Um, it
31:25
Speaker 1: really just came down to being able to go where
31:27
Speaker 1: I was wanted. I know when Rice found out, you know,
31:29
Speaker 1: when Rice found out about me and they were able
31:31
Speaker 1: to get my tape. It came out late just because
31:34
Speaker 1: you know, you know how you know, for some reason,
31:37
Speaker 1: we're in Canada. We're somewhat behind the ball when it
31:39
Speaker 1: comes to the recruiting. We have to get better at
31:41
Speaker 1: that because there's a lot of we have a lot
31:43
Speaker 1: of great talent there, a lot of great talent as
31:45
Speaker 1: far as football is concerned. So, um, that really just
31:49
Speaker 1: came down to being able to go to a place
31:50
Speaker 1: that truly wanted me. And then from the academic standpoint,
31:53
Speaker 1: that was huge from my parents, my mom. My mom
31:55
Speaker 1: was one of my biggest advocates with regards education growing up.
31:59
Speaker 1: You know, I wasn't allowed to play ball in high
32:00
Speaker 1: school unless I made honorable. So that was the agreement
32:03
Speaker 1: that we all made as a family, especially with my sisters.
32:06
Speaker 1: You know, they were track and field. They played collegiately
32:07
Speaker 1: down in the U in the US as well, so
32:09
Speaker 1: that was a rule, no sports unless you made honorable.
32:12
Speaker 1: So that was kind of a big decision. And again
32:14
Speaker 1: it really didn't work out because I mean, yeah, Rice,
32:17
Speaker 1: we're not a powerhouse. But the years that I was there,
32:19
Speaker 1: you know, we we we won games, won bull games.
32:21
Speaker 1: We want to conference championship. I mean, shoot, I think
32:24
Speaker 1: we have like a round ten guys in the league
32:25
Speaker 1: right now. So they find you, they can find talent.
32:29
Speaker 1: How does your RICE degree compare to any of your
32:32
Speaker 1: other accomplishments. It was just, you know, to calm myself,
32:36
Speaker 1: to calm myself. A Rice alone, That's that's incredible, It
32:39
Speaker 1: really is. You know, it's a it's an amazing um.
32:42
Speaker 1: It's an amazing institution. You know, they called the Harvard
32:44
Speaker 1: of the South for good reason. You know, I've met
32:46
Speaker 1: a lot of bright, bright men and women down there,
32:50
Speaker 1: and to be able to, you know, have gone to
32:52
Speaker 1: a prestigius school like Rice. It's you know, it's definitely
32:55
Speaker 1: something that I take pride of. I take pride in,
32:58
Speaker 1: and I want to be able to, you know, definitely
33:01
Speaker 1: instill that same feeling with regards to education with my
33:06
Speaker 1: future families and with regards of my future family, that's
33:09
Speaker 1: gonna be huge. So if I can get my family
33:11
Speaker 1: to go to Rice one day, that'll be a great
33:12
Speaker 1: accomplishment for me as well, hopefully on scholarship because I
33:16
Speaker 1: know it's expensive. Absolutely Christian. After four years at Rice,
33:21
Speaker 1: you are drafted by the Houston Texans that's about five
33:24
Speaker 1: miles down the road from Rice. Was that a dream scenario?
33:27
Speaker 1: It really was. It really was to be able to literally,
33:32
Speaker 1: as you said, move down the street. I moved down
33:34
Speaker 1: Main Street. That was a great situation for me to
33:38
Speaker 1: be able to have somewhat a familiarity with the city,
33:42
Speaker 1: especially coming in as an NFL rookie. That's a lot
33:44
Speaker 1: of guy. That's something that a lot of NFL rookies
33:47
Speaker 1: have to go through. Was that transition period to a
33:49
Speaker 1: completely new city, completely new environment, and for me to
33:52
Speaker 1: be able to have that familiarity to you know, have
33:55
Speaker 1: a group of people that I already know with regards
33:58
Speaker 1: to my former teammates, to have a uh established sense
34:02
Speaker 1: of community with people that I knew down there, that
34:05
Speaker 1: was huge with regards to my transition to the pro. So,
34:08
Speaker 1: oh yeah, it was a amazing, amazing opportunity. Grateful to
34:11
Speaker 1: be able to, you know, get my and Chris starter
34:14
Speaker 1: with Houston. Your rookie year was twenty and fifteen when J. J.
34:17
Speaker 1: Watt was still at the peak of his powers. That
34:20
Speaker 1: was his third year as the NFL Defensive Player of
34:22
Speaker 1: the Year. Describe your former teammate, Oh, man, what you
34:27
Speaker 1: see is what you get. He is a pros pro.
34:29
Speaker 1: He's he's able to take everybody. You know, if you
34:31
Speaker 1: if you come in to the organization and you're willing
34:34
Speaker 1: to work and you're willing to put in the time
34:36
Speaker 1: to be able to be a true pro, he's gonna
34:38
Speaker 1: put he's gonna take you under his wing and he's
34:40
Speaker 1: I mean, he's done that with a lot of He's
34:42
Speaker 1: done that with a lot of guys that have you know,
34:43
Speaker 1: been able to blossom and with that front with that franchise.
34:46
Speaker 1: So great guy, humble guy, hard worker, blessing to have
34:51
Speaker 1: a guy like that, you know, represent the league. Your
34:53
Speaker 1: first NFL sack came that year, your rookie year. The
34:57
Speaker 1: victim was Andy dolfon Monday Night Football. The Bengals were
35:01
Speaker 1: eight and oh at the time at Paul Brown Stadium.
35:04
Speaker 1: The Texans knocked him off that night. What stands out
35:07
Speaker 1: about that night for you? I mean, what a stage
35:09
Speaker 1: to be able to, you know, get my first SECT.
35:11
Speaker 1: I mean Monday Night Football. As you said, it was
35:13
Speaker 1: kind of a dream come true. I wear this symbol
35:16
Speaker 1: proud now. I wear the symbol proud to be a
35:19
Speaker 1: Bengal right now. But yeah, it was kind of a yeah,
35:21
Speaker 1: it was a great night, you know, something that I
35:23
Speaker 1: definitely will never forget. Obviously a huge, huge moment in
35:26
Speaker 1: my career. We're doing fun facts with Christian Covington. You
35:29
Speaker 1: were in Houston in twenty seventeen when Hurricane Harvey hit,
35:33
Speaker 1: one of the worst natural disasters in US history. How
35:37
Speaker 1: are you affected, really, just emotionally to be able to
35:41
Speaker 1: have lived in the city of Houston for you know,
35:43
Speaker 1: during my time in college, during my up until that
35:47
Speaker 1: time as a pro. It's truly it truly became Houston,
35:50
Speaker 1: truly became my home away from home. And so for
35:54
Speaker 1: something like Hurricane Harvey to affect the amount of people
35:57
Speaker 1: it did, to affect the city the way it did,
35:59
Speaker 1: and this around the communities, it truly was heartbreaking. Honestly,
36:03
Speaker 1: I had at the time when when I was with
36:05
Speaker 1: the Texans, we felt really kind of helpless because we were,
36:07
Speaker 1: you know, it was we were in the middle of preseason.
36:10
Speaker 1: We were kind of were we had just played a
36:12
Speaker 1: game in New Orleans and we were kind of stuck,
36:14
Speaker 1: and we were caught in limbo really because we were
36:16
Speaker 1: just like, Okay, we can't travel back to Houston. We're
36:18
Speaker 1: supposed to have our fourth preseason game against the Cowboys
36:21
Speaker 1: that year, and so we had to kind of make
36:23
Speaker 1: an emergency trip to Dallas and they switched the game
36:27
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, we found out the
36:28
Speaker 1: game got canceled because they found a way home. And
36:31
Speaker 1: it was really just I just remember coming back making
36:35
Speaker 1: the drive from Dallas to Houston, and you just see this,
36:37
Speaker 1: You just see the devastation. You see you know how
36:40
Speaker 1: lives have literally just been turned upside down from an
36:43
Speaker 1: event like this. It's just got wrenching. It's heartbreaking, and
36:47
Speaker 1: we a lot of us felt helpless because we had families.
36:50
Speaker 1: We had our families in Houston. My family was in
36:52
Speaker 1: Houston kind of caught in the middle of it. They
36:54
Speaker 1: were kind of stranded out in the outskirts of Houston.
36:57
Speaker 1: You know, our neighborhoods were flooding. You know, we had
36:59
Speaker 1: a lot of damage of the to our homes. Um
37:01
Speaker 1: it was kind of just um yeah, as you as
37:04
Speaker 1: I said, is it truly as heartbreaking. So to be
37:06
Speaker 1: able to you know, give back during that time and
37:09
Speaker 1: to help out with what we did as a team
37:11
Speaker 1: and as an organization, that was huge because it's a
37:14
Speaker 1: great city, uh, filled with great people that you know,
37:17
Speaker 1: they deserve all the help that could they could get
37:19
Speaker 1: with regards to you know, the situation that they were given.
37:23
Speaker 1: And you know we've been I mean, yeah, Houston's been
37:25
Speaker 1: rebuilding and h they've you know, we've come, these cities
37:29
Speaker 1: come along way from that time, and you know we have,
37:31
Speaker 1: but I mean, yeah, there's still work to be done. Honestly,
37:33
Speaker 1: I still try to do whatever I can because I
37:35
Speaker 1: know I still know some people who are you know,
37:38
Speaker 1: years later, they're still feeling the effects of the events. Christian.
37:41
Speaker 1: Prior to this year, you signed as a free agent
37:44
Speaker 1: with the Denver Broncoes, and just as you're getting ready
37:46
Speaker 1: to spend your first year in Denver, about a week
37:48
Speaker 1: before the season, you got traded to Cincinnati. Was it
37:51
Speaker 1: a shock a little bit? Yes, Um, yeah, first time
37:56
Speaker 1: ever going through something like that. Um, kind of just
37:59
Speaker 1: had to compose myself and kind of just you know,
38:01
Speaker 1: collect my thoughts and collect myself to be able to understand, like, Okay, yeah, uh,
38:05
Speaker 1: in six hours time, I'm on a plane to sinc
38:07
Speaker 1: Let's let's get the ball rolling. Sou Honestly, though, it's
38:11
Speaker 1: everything happens for a reason. I'm I'm thankful, I'm grateful.
38:14
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, I'm truly thankful to God. So, um, if
38:17
Speaker 1: this is where, if this is where my destination was
38:19
Speaker 1: supposed to take me, so be it. Honestly, I'm happy
38:22
Speaker 1: to be in this situation. I'm in happy to be
38:24
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. I'm happy to be at Bengal. Honestly, it's
38:26
Speaker 1: a great city, great fans, great people to have. You know,
38:30
Speaker 1: obviously a couple of guys on this team that I've
38:32
Speaker 1: I've had, you know, prior you know, playing relationships with
38:36
Speaker 1: you know, with regards. You know, you have guys like
38:38
Speaker 1: you know, DJ Reader who I played with many years
38:40
Speaker 1: in Houston, Zavisulphilo who I played with in Houston and
38:43
Speaker 1: in Dallas, uh and then and then Randy Bullock, you know,
38:47
Speaker 1: you know, to me, I was just like, you know,
38:49
Speaker 1: this is great. You know I already have some established
38:51
Speaker 1: connections right here, and I was just time to go
38:52
Speaker 1: to work. So I'm you know, I'm blessed to be here.
38:55
Speaker 1: A couple more fun facts for Christian Covington. What Canadian
38:59
Speaker 1: delic see do you miss? Oh? Canadian dollar? All right,
39:03
Speaker 1: so you've never had maple syrup unless you've had Canadian
39:06
Speaker 1: maple syrup. But as I wouldn't say delicacy, but I
39:10
Speaker 1: will say the number one the number one thing I
39:13
Speaker 1: do miss about Canada and just about being home is
39:16
Speaker 1: going into importance. That's like, that is just huge. Starbucks
39:20
Speaker 1: and Dunkin Donuts don't do it for you, No, they don't.
39:23
Speaker 1: They really don't. You have to. And if you know,
39:27
Speaker 1: if you know, you know, it's something about something about
39:30
Speaker 1: going to a Timmy's. Man, It's just like it, whether
39:32
Speaker 1: it be the ice caps, whether it's just be It's
39:34
Speaker 1: just that you walk into it and just have that
39:36
Speaker 1: friendly It's like it's kind of like, you know, Chick
39:38
Speaker 1: fil A down here, It's like you know, people under
39:41
Speaker 1: people get like it's like a certain feeling that you
39:43
Speaker 1: know you're about to embrace walking into a Chick fil A.
39:45
Speaker 1: It's the same thing with Tim Hortons in Canada. You
39:48
Speaker 1: know exactly the kind of Canadian hospitality that you're about
39:51
Speaker 1: to receive with some good home with some good you know,
39:54
Speaker 1: Canadian home style meals. That's it is what it is.
39:57
Speaker 1: Final fun fact for Christian Covington a couple of years ago,
40:01
Speaker 1: the Madden NFL video game did you no Favors? And
40:06
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about your rating, I'm talking about your likeness?
40:10
Speaker 1: What was up with that? And hasn't gotten any better? Oh? Man?
40:17
Speaker 1: You guys dig okay? Oh yeah, that was funny. That
40:20
Speaker 1: was a funny, funny time in my life. My cousin,
40:23
Speaker 1: one of my my cousin texted me a picture of
40:27
Speaker 1: my avatar and he's just like, Christian, they just did
40:31
Speaker 1: you wrong. And I'm just like, what are you? What
40:32
Speaker 1: are you talking about it? And then he sent me
40:33
Speaker 1: to send me the photo. I'm just like, I look
40:36
Speaker 1: like a thumb. Okay, this is um It's humbling, to
40:41
Speaker 1: say the least. Very it was a very humbling time,
40:43
Speaker 1: and so I just you know, I mean, I was
40:45
Speaker 1: I felt I thought it was just funny. So I
40:46
Speaker 1: just put up on Twitter. It's like, yeah, why why
40:49
Speaker 1: do you have to do me like this? Apparently, and
40:51
Speaker 1: then you know, it blew up. I didn't did not
40:53
Speaker 1: expect it to blow up the way it did, and yeah,
40:57
Speaker 1: they were able to change it, thankfully. And but honestly,
41:00
Speaker 1: I've kind of I'm at that point of my career
41:03
Speaker 1: too where I'm just like, every time Madden comes out,
41:05
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I'm just gonna play. I'm not checking.
41:09
Speaker 1: I don't I'm good. I don't want any more controversies.
41:12
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna be humbly accept whatever my avatar looks
41:16
Speaker 1: like and just play the game. The good news is
41:21
Speaker 1: you do not look like a thumb. Thank you, thank you.
41:26
Speaker 1: This has been fun. I appreciate your time. You're off
41:28
Speaker 1: the hot seat. Best of luck for the rest of
41:30
Speaker 1: the year. Awesome, Thank you so much. Hi thanks to
41:34
Speaker 1: rookie Christian Covington. And here's a quick reminder to join
41:37
Speaker 1: Lap and Lance McAllister for Bengals Line Monday night from
41:40
Speaker 1: six to nine on seven hundred WLW. That on Wednesday night,
41:45
Speaker 1: I'll join Lap for the Bengals Game Plan Show from
41:48
Speaker 1: six to eight on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to
41:52
Speaker 1: do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast,
41:54
Speaker 1: brought to you by bud Light, Seltzer refreshed the game.
41:58
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if
42:01
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Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
42:08
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to the
42:10
Speaker 1: Bengals Boot Podcast