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Bengals Booth Podcast: Wildest Dreams · 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 Wold His Dreams Uh. Addition,
0:14
Speaker 1: as the Bengals look to extend their playoff hopes to
0:17
Speaker 1: the final week of the regular season with a win
0:19
Speaker 1: over the Denver Broncos. Coming up, I'll talk to Mike
0:22
Speaker 1: Hilton about his stellar play of late and the possibility
0:26
Speaker 1: of returning to the Bengals next year. Robert Weintraub writes
0:30
Speaker 1: about the Bengals for Cincinnati Magazine and other outlets. Discusses
0:34
Speaker 1: the good, the bad, and the ugly from twenty twenty four,
0:37
Speaker 1: and in this week's Know the Foux Conversation, we'll get
0:40
Speaker 1: an in depth look at the Broncos from Beat reporter
0:43
Speaker 1: Mike Cliss. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 1: by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR
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Speaker 1: and by kettering health the best care for the the
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Speaker 1: best fans, Cattering Health is the official healthcare provider of
1:03
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can
1:06
Speaker 1: have the latest edition of this podcast delivered. Write to
1:10
Speaker 1: your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get
1:13
Speaker 1: your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Hall of Fame
1:18
Speaker 1: recognition for an all time Bengals great. In twenty twenty two,
1:23
Speaker 1: the Pro Football Hall of Fame established the Awards of
1:26
Speaker 1: Excellence to recognize significant contributors to the game in behind
1:31
Speaker 1: the scenes roles, such as assistant coaches, equipment managers, and
1:35
Speaker 1: PR directors. This year's class includes former Bengals offensive line
1:40
Speaker 1: coach Jim McNally. Jim held that role in Cincinnati from
1:43
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty to nineteen ninety four, meaning he was the
1:47
Speaker 1: O line coach for the bengals first two Super Bowl
1:49
Speaker 1: teams and the only O line coach that Anthony Munoz
1:53
Speaker 1: had in the NFL. He later returned to the Bengals
1:57
Speaker 1: as a consultant before retiring last year. This year's class
2:01
Speaker 1: will be honored at a luncheon in Canton next June. Now,
2:06
Speaker 1: let's get to my first guest. One of my biggest
2:09
Speaker 1: pet peeves is when the national media says the Bengals
2:12
Speaker 1: aren't willing to spend money in free agency. In the
2:15
Speaker 1: last five years, alone, Cincinnati has signed d J. Reeder,
2:19
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson, Chitdebeya, Wouje, Ted Karris, Alex Kappa, Orlando Brown Junior,
2:25
Speaker 1: and Mike Kasiki, among others, And when it comes to
2:28
Speaker 1: bang for the buck, it would be hard to top
2:31
Speaker 1: the signing of Mike Hilton, who's given the Bengals four
2:34
Speaker 1: great seasons for an average of six million dollars a year.
2:38
Speaker 1: I caught up with the Bengals five foot nine, one
2:42
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty four pounds slot corner this week. Mike,
2:47
Speaker 1: You've got five tackles for loss in the last two weeks.
2:51
Speaker 1: Are you doing anything differently?
2:53
Speaker 2: No, I'm just being myself, you know what I mean.
2:55
Speaker 3: Louis utilizing me a lot more lately in when then
2:58
Speaker 3: when I had the opportunity to make the play, you know,
2:59
Speaker 3: once I get back there, that's all that's all I
3:01
Speaker 3: think about, is making that play.
3:03
Speaker 1: For the season. You're up to twelve tackles for loss.
3:07
Speaker 1: That's tied for fifteenth in the league. The fourteen guys
3:10
Speaker 1: ahead of you are all defensive linemen or edge players.
3:14
Speaker 1: How significant is that stat to you?
3:17
Speaker 2: That's big.
3:18
Speaker 3: I bring a different, different type of play to the position,
3:22
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. Not a lot of guys
3:24
Speaker 3: my size can do what I do. And when I
3:26
Speaker 3: go out there, I just try to be a playmaker.
3:28
Speaker 3: And obviously having that type of stats, that's a good
3:30
Speaker 3: sign and I'm just trying to, you know, keep building.
3:32
Speaker 1: My broadcast partner Dave Lapham says the TfL should be
3:36
Speaker 1: treated like sacks. It's a loss of down, it's a
3:39
Speaker 1: loss of yardage. They don't seem to get the same publicity, should.
3:43
Speaker 2: They, I would believe so.
3:45
Speaker 3: Obviously, you know, it's the difference between a handoff and
3:47
Speaker 3: the drop back. But if you're tackling the quarterback before
3:50
Speaker 3: you even hands the hands the ball out to the
3:51
Speaker 3: running back, I feel like should be considered a sack.
3:53
Speaker 2: But you know, either way, I'm just happy to make
3:55
Speaker 2: the play.
3:56
Speaker 1: The team gave up a season low six points last week.
3:59
Speaker 1: You made a reference after the game in the locker
4:01
Speaker 1: room that lou Ariromo has simplified things a little bit
4:04
Speaker 1: in what ways really just keeping.
4:07
Speaker 3: Us out of multiple calls. I mean, officers are gonna
4:09
Speaker 3: move and we have to adjust. But sometimes he's just
4:12
Speaker 3: letting us play this one call where we're lining up
4:14
Speaker 3: playing fast and doing what we do, so it kind
4:16
Speaker 3: of slows everybody's thinking down and just let them react
4:19
Speaker 3: more and you know, putting themselves in position to make plays.
4:22
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Mike Hilton. The defensive player of the
4:24
Speaker 1: game was the fifth play of the game, Von Bell
4:27
Speaker 1: forcing and recovering that fumble inside the one. Von was
4:31
Speaker 1: recently taken out of the starting lineup. He's playing on
4:34
Speaker 1: special teams now, kick coverage, punt return, doing what he
4:37
Speaker 1: can to contribute. What's your respect level for Von Bell?
4:41
Speaker 3: I have a lot of straight of Vine. You know,
4:42
Speaker 3: he's a pros pro. He's always one of the first
4:44
Speaker 3: guys in here, one of the last leave. Obviously his
4:47
Speaker 3: roles diminished, but he hasn't had little whether who he
4:50
Speaker 3: is as a player. You know, he goes out there
4:52
Speaker 3: and competes, and obviously on Sunday he's still able to
4:55
Speaker 3: make big plays and game changing plays.
4:57
Speaker 1: Gino Stone has an interception now in three straight. What
5:01
Speaker 1: stands out about his.
5:01
Speaker 2: Play his range. Obviously he's able to go sideline.
5:05
Speaker 3: And sideline the way he's able to track the ball
5:07
Speaker 3: and make plays on the ball. So he's been playing
5:09
Speaker 3: wells of late, you know, and as a corner where
5:11
Speaker 3: you got to a post safety like that, you feel
5:13
Speaker 3: a lot more comfortable.
5:14
Speaker 1: You guys have kept your playoff chances alive by winning
5:17
Speaker 1: three straight games. As I look back over the season,
5:21
Speaker 1: I could pick out five plays that are really the
5:23
Speaker 1: difference between competing for the number one seed and being
5:26
Speaker 1: where you are right now. Is there a little bit
5:29
Speaker 1: of a what if in the back of your mind?
5:31
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, definitely.
5:32
Speaker 3: We know it's a field goal here, a stop here,
5:36
Speaker 3: one more drive by the offense there. It's little things
5:38
Speaker 3: that we know if we make that play, you know,
5:40
Speaker 3: our records totally different.
5:42
Speaker 2: But the thing about it, we can't. We can't do
5:43
Speaker 2: it on it. We are where we are right.
5:45
Speaker 3: Now and we're giving ourselves a chance, so things obviously
5:48
Speaker 3: have to fall our way. But if we go out
5:49
Speaker 3: and execute and do our job, you know, who knows
5:51
Speaker 3: what can happen.
5:52
Speaker 1: What's Denver doing well on offense.
5:55
Speaker 3: Running the ball or obviously running the ball well, putting
5:57
Speaker 3: bow nicks in good situations, second and short, third in
6:00
Speaker 3: short just make him, you know, play within hisself, not
6:03
Speaker 3: trying to not try to do too much.
6:04
Speaker 2: So we're gonna have a good game plan for him.
6:06
Speaker 2: This weekend. We're gonna make a difficult for him.
6:08
Speaker 1: Several weeks ago, Joe Burrow has asked about quarterbacks that
6:11
Speaker 1: he's been watching this year, and he brought up Bonet,
6:14
Speaker 1: which kind of surprised me. I didn't expect that to
6:16
Speaker 1: be somebody he would mention, what is it about Bonix
6:19
Speaker 1: that's impressed people around the league?
6:20
Speaker 3: Oh, he's playing well in the Champagne system. He's moving
6:23
Speaker 3: outside the pocket. He's a better athlete than giving credit for,
6:26
Speaker 3: so he's extended plays, he's not turned over the ball,
6:29
Speaker 3: which is obviously a plus, and he's just keeping their
6:31
Speaker 3: offense in rhythm. So he's playing well and it's gonna
6:34
Speaker 3: be a good challenge for Saturday.
6:36
Speaker 1: Visiting with Mike Hilton. This is the final year of
6:39
Speaker 1: the four year deal that you signed back in twenty
6:41
Speaker 1: twenty one. It's going to go down as one of
6:43
Speaker 1: the great free agent signings in Bengals history. What's next
6:47
Speaker 1: for you? Do you definitely want to keep playing?
6:49
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely, I would. I actually love to be here.
6:51
Speaker 3: You know, I obviously know the nature of the business,
6:53
Speaker 3: so you never know. But I feel like I still
6:55
Speaker 3: have so much left in me and I can bring
6:57
Speaker 3: a lot of value to different teams. So we'll see
6:59
Speaker 3: how I'll season comes when that time arrives. But right now,
7:02
Speaker 3: focused on these guys and trying to get this win Saturday.
7:04
Speaker 1: You're thirty, you're eight years in. You've accomplished a ton
7:09
Speaker 1: for playoff teams, a trip to the Super Bowl. Has
7:12
Speaker 1: reality exceeded your dreams?
7:14
Speaker 2: Yeah? It has obviously.
7:15
Speaker 3: Being undrafted, how far I've come, how hard I've worked
7:20
Speaker 3: to see myself reach this point.
7:23
Speaker 2: It's a blessing.
7:23
Speaker 3: And then to realize I'm still not done yet and
7:25
Speaker 3: I got a lot more ahead of me. It's the
7:28
Speaker 3: best thing in the world.
7:29
Speaker 2: Man. I'm just trying to embrace it day by day.
7:31
Speaker 1: Do you see football being in your future for many
7:34
Speaker 1: years to come? You strike me as somebody that could
7:35
Speaker 1: be a great coach.
7:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
7:37
Speaker 3: You know, I definitely want to get into it after football.
7:39
Speaker 3: Obviously things change once I'm actually done, but you know,
7:42
Speaker 3: my plan is to get in the coach and then
7:43
Speaker 3: go from there.
7:45
Speaker 1: Congratulations on great play of late, best of luck against
7:47
Speaker 1: the Broncos.
7:48
Speaker 2: Thank you appreciate it.
7:50
Speaker 1: Mike has fifth onund the team in tackles and second
7:53
Speaker 1: in tackles for loss three behind Trey Hendrick said. One
7:57
Speaker 1: of the best writers covering the Bengals so from his
8:00
Speaker 1: home near Atlanta. His name is Robert Weintraub, and he
8:04
Speaker 1: writes an excellent weekly column about the team for Cincinnati
8:08
Speaker 1: Magazine dot com. You can read it for free. Robert
8:11
Speaker 1: was in the Cincinnati area on business last week, so
8:14
Speaker 1: he took the opportunity to cover the game in person,
8:17
Speaker 1: and a few days later we caught up to discuss
8:21
Speaker 1: this season and beyond. Robert, of the many things that
8:26
Speaker 1: have been written and said about Joe Burrow over the years,
8:29
Speaker 1: you are responsible for my all time favorite line. When
8:33
Speaker 1: he was drafted, you said that Joe has awesomeness oozing
8:37
Speaker 1: out of every poor He has obviously been awesome this year.
8:41
Speaker 1: Is Joe Burrow worthy of MVP consideration?
8:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, somehow he's found a few more pores to be
8:48
Speaker 4: awesome out of. I didn't think that was possible. But
8:51
Speaker 4: he's got some kind of cleanser going on or skincare
8:55
Speaker 4: regimen that's obviously working. Yeah, I mean obviously, first and foremost.
9:00
Speaker 4: When MVP voters think to themselves, who's going to get
9:04
Speaker 4: it this year, they look to a one win loss
9:06
Speaker 4: record and that's you know, obviously what is working against Joe.
9:10
Speaker 4: But I mean, given the fact of what he's been
9:13
Speaker 4: having to work with, and the offensive line and the
9:16
Speaker 4: defense and so many other conditions around him, it's hard
9:21
Speaker 4: for me to say he hasn't had an MVP level season.
9:24
Speaker 4: He's not going to win it. But I mean, if
9:26
Speaker 4: you put up his numbers, they're right alongside, you know,
9:29
Speaker 4: the Josh Allens and Lamar Jackson Jackson's and even the
9:33
Speaker 4: possibility of a dare i say, a running back or
9:36
Speaker 4: some other non quarterback position winning a Saquon Barkley. Perhaps
9:40
Speaker 4: Burrows numbers are certainly in the same stratosphere. And just
9:43
Speaker 4: from a degree of difficulty standpoint, you know, it's funny.
9:47
Speaker 4: I think if they had just flipped the results of
9:50
Speaker 4: the two Ravens games and pin one of those losses
9:53
Speaker 4: on Lamar's fumble there in overtime, and the Bengals just
9:56
Speaker 4: win those two, you know, the Bengals wouldn't be you know,
10:00
Speaker 4: dominating or having a huge win loss record season necessarily
10:05
Speaker 4: thirteen to four or whatever, but it would look just
10:07
Speaker 4: good enough, I think to maybe get Burrel a few
10:11
Speaker 4: extra votes there, and possibly even sneak out. The ward
10:13
Speaker 4: not going to happen, but he's certainly deserving in such
10:15
Speaker 4: a shame. He had such a great season this year
10:18
Speaker 4: and the rest of the team really didn't live up
10:19
Speaker 4: to it.
10:21
Speaker 1: They might not have an MVP winner, but they could
10:24
Speaker 1: have a Triple Crown winner. Jamar Chase leads the so
10:27
Speaker 1: called triple Crown categories as a receiver, catches, yards, and touchdowns.
10:32
Speaker 1: It's only been done four times since nineteen seventy. Is
10:35
Speaker 1: there anything in particular about his season that impresses you?
10:40
Speaker 4: Well, First and foremost, you think back to how it started,
10:42
Speaker 4: with the whole contract, you know, Concher Tommes, and the
10:46
Speaker 4: fact he only had what ten catches for ninety seven
10:49
Speaker 4: yards over the first two weeks of the season pedestrian numbers.
10:53
Speaker 4: Maybe he was distracted, Maybe it's just the way the
10:55
Speaker 4: games went. It's hard to really get into his head necessarily.
10:58
Speaker 4: But given the fact that he's had, he has this
11:00
Speaker 4: all world season going on, and that the numbers are
11:03
Speaker 4: so staggering when you kind of divided on a per
11:07
Speaker 4: game basis by thirteen instead of fifteen where we are now,
11:11
Speaker 4: they look even more impressive. He's just been so consistent
11:14
Speaker 4: after those first two weeks. So you know, just this
11:17
Speaker 4: past game against Cleveland, when he didn't really do a
11:20
Speaker 4: ton through most of the game, and yet he pops
11:23
Speaker 4: up right at the end for a touchdown catch a
11:25
Speaker 4: long one just kind of puts the icing on the cake.
11:28
Speaker 4: He's really just you know, put everything together as everything
11:32
Speaker 4: we knew that he was capable of and has shown
11:35
Speaker 4: already as a pro. I mean, hard to find a
11:38
Speaker 4: more finished product coming out of college ready to step
11:41
Speaker 4: onto an NFL field than Jamar Chase was, and yet
11:44
Speaker 4: he's still somehow almost exceeded expectations in that way. You know,
11:50
Speaker 4: when t Higgins has been out and missed a few games,
11:52
Speaker 4: they haven't lost a step offensively. Everybody knows that they're
11:56
Speaker 4: trying to get the ball to Chase at all times.
11:58
Speaker 4: And still you know, he puts up such staggering numbers,
12:01
Speaker 4: and not only that, but you know, makes huge plays
12:05
Speaker 4: at huge times, as we saw against Dallas for example.
12:08
Speaker 4: You know, it's really just you know, we talked about
12:11
Speaker 4: how Burrow has also beness out of every pore. Not
12:14
Speaker 4: too far behind is Jamar Chase, and there's a reason
12:16
Speaker 4: the two of them have been you know, sort of
12:18
Speaker 4: connected in the mind's eye ever since their LSU days.
12:20
Speaker 4: They work so well together, and it's just it's a
12:23
Speaker 4: joy to watch. Even in a season that's been disappointing
12:25
Speaker 4: in a lot of ways, you always get to watch
12:27
Speaker 4: Burrow to Chase and that's something special.
12:30
Speaker 1: Despite the fact that he missed five games, t Higgins
12:33
Speaker 1: is putting up big numbers. He's tied his career high
12:35
Speaker 1: for touchdown catches this year. Joe has been vocal recently
12:39
Speaker 1: about expressing hope that Tea can be resigned after this season.
12:43
Speaker 1: It can be done. My question for you is should
12:46
Speaker 1: it be done?
12:48
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I'm of two minds, and the reason
12:50
Speaker 4: why this is a fascinating sort of debate is that
12:53
Speaker 4: you can go either way with it and not be wrong.
12:56
Speaker 4: You know, obviously the team has a lot of needs,
12:59
Speaker 4: so you think to yourself, well, why spend more money
13:01
Speaker 4: on another receiver when you're going to obviously already spending
13:04
Speaker 4: a ton on Joe and you're gonna have to pay
13:06
Speaker 4: Jamar especially even more now after the season he's put up.
13:10
Speaker 4: At the same time, though, you know, first of all,
13:12
Speaker 4: if you look at the free agent lists, you know
13:14
Speaker 4: it's tough to keep just trying to trying to buy
13:17
Speaker 4: a team out of the store. A. B. Higgins is
13:21
Speaker 4: by far the most you know, highly thought of free
13:24
Speaker 4: agent out there. It's not like there's a ton of
13:26
Speaker 4: guys who are necessarily going to help the Bengals. They'll
13:28
Speaker 4: sign a few guys and they will certainly help, but
13:31
Speaker 4: they're all sort of you know, B two C plus
13:33
Speaker 4: players except for Tea out there really And another thing
13:37
Speaker 4: is that, first of all, Tea appears obviously to want
13:40
Speaker 4: to stay. He fired his agent, David Mulgetta, who's had
13:44
Speaker 4: a lot of difficult relations with the Bengals front office
13:47
Speaker 4: in the past, and you know, he's maing a lot
13:49
Speaker 4: of noises about, you know, wanted to stay with his
13:52
Speaker 4: with his buddies, with his friends Burrow and Chase. And
13:55
Speaker 4: you know, there's a lot of guys around the league
13:57
Speaker 4: who can't wait to step up, get the big money
13:59
Speaker 4: and be the number one guy, you know, And I
14:03
Speaker 4: don't know if he's built like that. Maybe he doesn't
14:05
Speaker 4: want to go and you know, try and catch passes
14:07
Speaker 4: from Drake may or whoever and be you know, under
14:10
Speaker 4: the spotlight constantly because of a huge contract. Maybe he's
14:13
Speaker 4: really happy playing with his buddies a little in the
14:16
Speaker 4: shadow of Jamar perhaps, but you know, there's nothing wrong
14:19
Speaker 4: with being in the shadow of such a great player
14:21
Speaker 4: like that, and he obviously they compliment each other so well.
14:24
Speaker 4: As you say, it's not like they can't resign them.
14:27
Speaker 4: You can argue whether it's you know, a proper roster
14:30
Speaker 4: building to put all your eggs in that basket so speak.
14:34
Speaker 4: But the Bengals have an identity. They have a you know,
14:37
Speaker 4: explosive passing game that other teams fear and always have
14:39
Speaker 4: to prepare for. And even then they're putting up tons
14:42
Speaker 4: of points every week. As we're seeing in this capacity,
14:46
Speaker 4: you're going away from one of your best year, letting
14:48
Speaker 4: one of your best players walk out the door for
14:50
Speaker 4: basically nothing. You're sending a message to the locker room
14:53
Speaker 4: again that a player you've drafted and developed and have
14:56
Speaker 4: seen emerged as one of the top players in the
14:58
Speaker 4: league is not going to be kept out. The team
15:01
Speaker 4: is in that sense not valued. And these things have
15:04
Speaker 4: a knock on effect. And I think in that sense
15:06
Speaker 4: it's because of everything that's going around behind the scenes
15:10
Speaker 4: with Burrows comments and the way everybody's been talking and
15:12
Speaker 4: the agent switch, and everything seems like it's all aligne
15:15
Speaker 4: that everybody wants him to stay here. It makes a
15:18
Speaker 4: lot of sense, and the team is so built and
15:22
Speaker 4: identified around that triumvirate one five nine, so to speak,
15:26
Speaker 4: that you really have to think long and hard before
15:29
Speaker 4: you let a guy like that walk out the door.
15:31
Speaker 1: There are some other free agents to be b J. Hill,
15:35
Speaker 1: Mike Hilton, Mike Kasicki, Joseph Osai and some others. Is
15:39
Speaker 1: there anybody on that list that you would like to
15:41
Speaker 1: see the Bengals bring back?
15:44
Speaker 4: Well? I certainly think Mike Kasecki's proven himself to be
15:46
Speaker 4: an interesting combination player with the aforementioned Chase and Higgins,
15:51
Speaker 4: and he gives them a lot. He's not a blocking
15:53
Speaker 4: tight end in any capacity. He's really the slot receiver
15:56
Speaker 4: that they lost when Tyler Boyd left in a lot
15:58
Speaker 4: of ways, and I think he's only really scratch the
16:00
Speaker 4: surface in some ways. With the amount of you know,
16:04
Speaker 4: attention you have to pay to the two wideouts, I
16:08
Speaker 4: think they can really build it even more of an
16:10
Speaker 4: offense using him down the seam and in certain you know,
16:14
Speaker 4: root combinations that they haven't really had a chance to do.
16:18
Speaker 4: Part of that is because of the offensive line play,
16:21
Speaker 4: various other rationales that we won't really dive into now necessarily,
16:25
Speaker 4: but I think he's been worth, you know, coming back,
16:27
Speaker 4: and I think he wants to come back. And who
16:29
Speaker 4: wouldn't want to play with Joe Burrow after all, And
16:32
Speaker 4: I think that's certainly a guy that I think Cincinnati
16:34
Speaker 4: would like to bring back and and use in feature,
16:39
Speaker 4: even in different ways than they have already as one year. Obviously,
16:42
Speaker 4: Mike Hilton, He's been here a long time. He's a
16:44
Speaker 4: valuable player. He's one of the few guys you can
16:47
Speaker 4: point to and say, you know, he may have had
16:49
Speaker 4: some issues this year along with the entire defense, but
16:52
Speaker 4: he hasn't really been at a position too much. He's
16:54
Speaker 4: been still a guy who is one of the few
16:57
Speaker 4: who can make splash plays, as they say, you know,
17:00
Speaker 4: around the pig skin circle, you know, tackles for losses
17:03
Speaker 4: in a good blitzer. I think it'd be hard to
17:06
Speaker 4: let him leave. He might want to go play in Tennessee,
17:08
Speaker 4: given the success he always seems to have against the Titans,
17:10
Speaker 4: But I think in general, there's another guy who you know,
17:15
Speaker 4: would be similar to when they let Von Bell leave
17:17
Speaker 4: a couple of years ago and rude the day because
17:20
Speaker 4: of what he brought to the team, not just on
17:22
Speaker 4: the field, but just institutional knowledge. You know, BJ Hill
17:26
Speaker 4: is a case is interesting. You can certainly make a
17:28
Speaker 4: case either way. It would sort of depend on what
17:30
Speaker 4: they could get him back in the fold. For I
17:32
Speaker 4: think they'd like to try and keep them. Obviously, the
17:35
Speaker 4: young players have only started to step forward at that position,
17:38
Speaker 4: and they still have a void there. You know, it's
17:41
Speaker 4: the kind of case where even if you look to
17:43
Speaker 4: next year and say, all right, Chris Jenkins is ready
17:45
Speaker 4: to step forward and you have a good run stuffer
17:48
Speaker 4: and McKinley Jackson, who are you know, rookies who are
17:51
Speaker 4: just sort of getting their feet into the deep end
17:54
Speaker 4: of the pool. Now, if you let Hill leave, that
17:57
Speaker 4: still leaves you with a void there, and depending on
17:59
Speaker 4: who you bring in replaced him, that's gonna be tight.
18:01
Speaker 4: So I think in those cases, I think all three
18:05
Speaker 4: of those guys they would be interested in bringing back.
18:07
Speaker 4: I think the Bengals fandom would like to see them
18:10
Speaker 4: all back in stripes as well. Oh Si, you know
18:14
Speaker 4: comes Comsa again. You know he has never lived up
18:17
Speaker 4: to the billing. That what he was drafted and what
18:19
Speaker 4: we thought we were getting. He's had moments and flashes. Unfortunately,
18:23
Speaker 4: it does seem like he'll always be remembered for that
18:25
Speaker 4: one penalty against Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship game,
18:30
Speaker 4: and it's it's a shame.
18:31
Speaker 5: For the kid.
18:31
Speaker 4: You feel bad for him, but he never really put
18:33
Speaker 4: that behind him in any way on the field. So again,
18:36
Speaker 4: you know, a lot of that depends on what other
18:38
Speaker 4: offers these guys will get. You know, we never thought
18:41
Speaker 4: Jermaine Pratt, for example, would come back to Cincinnati, and
18:44
Speaker 4: he wound up coming back, so for better or worse.
18:47
Speaker 4: Uh So we'll see if some of these guys who
18:50
Speaker 4: we think are headed out the door actually wind up
18:52
Speaker 4: getting offers elsewhere.
18:54
Speaker 1: Robert, the Bengals have won three in a row. You
18:56
Speaker 1: were in attendance at Peyk Horse Stadium last week when
18:58
Speaker 1: they beat the Cleveland Browns. You've seen some positive signs
19:01
Speaker 1: on defense during this three game winning stream.
19:05
Speaker 5: Yeah.
19:05
Speaker 4: I like to think the pregame pep talk I gave
19:07
Speaker 4: to the guys beforehand was a key element to it.
19:10
Speaker 4: I always wanted to jump in that circle and just
19:12
Speaker 4: hype everybody up. You know who doesn't want to do that.
19:14
Speaker 4: I don't want to get hit though, so it's a problem. Yeah,
19:18
Speaker 4: I mean it, certainly they've played better. I think you'd
19:21
Speaker 4: be inarguably, they say that they've played some pretty poor
19:24
Speaker 4: quarterbacks and offenses as well. Cooper rushed the best of them,
19:28
Speaker 4: and you know, while he's had some success, let's not
19:31
Speaker 4: put him in the Peyton Manning category just yet. And obviously,
19:35
Speaker 4: you know dtr on this past Sunday was was pretty laughable,
19:38
Speaker 4: unfortunately for the kids. So you know that helps. But
19:41
Speaker 4: I do think that they're playing much freer. Even lou
19:44
Speaker 4: An or Rumos talked about simplifying matters, and the players
19:48
Speaker 4: themselves have said it's a lot easier for us to
19:51
Speaker 4: comprehend our assignments. At the moment, you could be safe
19:54
Speaker 4: in asking why that wasn't the case maybe earlier in
19:57
Speaker 4: the season, especially with so many young players. I think
20:01
Speaker 4: there's a case to be made that lou An Arumo
20:05
Speaker 4: kind of brought in his very complicated style that he
20:08
Speaker 4: saw a lot of veteran players play very effectively over
20:11
Speaker 4: the last past couple of years and assumed or thought
20:16
Speaker 4: that some of the young guys would just step right
20:18
Speaker 4: in and learn it as well, and that proved not
20:19
Speaker 4: to be the case. There was just so much hesitation,
20:22
Speaker 4: so many guys who were a step behind, bad angles, communications, breakdowns,
20:26
Speaker 4: things like that that are you know, not a real
20:30
Speaker 4: slight on a player's ability to play the position, but
20:33
Speaker 4: just you know, how you play as a team, and
20:36
Speaker 4: you know, so the Bengals never really had a bunch
20:38
Speaker 4: of superstar defensive players outside of Trey Hendrickson even when
20:41
Speaker 4: they were at their best and Jesse Bates. But what
20:45
Speaker 4: they did was play together extremely well. Everybody knew their
20:48
Speaker 4: assignment and carried it out. And you really saw that
20:51
Speaker 4: fall off over the past you know, year and a
20:54
Speaker 4: half and I think they've gotten back to playing much
20:56
Speaker 4: more in that capacity over the past few weeks, and
20:59
Speaker 4: the young kids have stepped forward and played well. Chris
21:01
Speaker 4: jenkinses we talked about, seems like he's getting his feet
21:04
Speaker 4: really underneath them. Jordan Battle, who you know, flashed a
21:08
Speaker 4: lot last year and then you know, was in the
21:10
Speaker 4: doghouse at the beginning of the year, but now is
21:12
Speaker 4: really showing again why they thought so highly of him.
21:14
Speaker 4: And even a player like Josh Newton who has you know,
21:17
Speaker 4: had to play because of injuries, and he's been you know,
21:20
Speaker 4: he's had his ups and downs like all young players,
21:22
Speaker 4: but he's played pretty well. Certainly the last couple of
21:24
Speaker 4: weeks he's been much more sticky in coverage than he
21:26
Speaker 4: was in his first few games. So you know, there
21:29
Speaker 4: are some definite positives. It's just you think to yourself,
21:32
Speaker 4: if only this could have happened a little earlier in
21:34
Speaker 4: the season, things might be so much.
21:36
Speaker 1: Different going forward. What are some of the priorities for
21:40
Speaker 1: being back in Super Bowl contention as soon as possible.
21:44
Speaker 4: Well, I mean some of the things that we talked
21:46
Speaker 4: about obviously already is you know, prioritizing the money where
21:50
Speaker 4: you're going to spend next year's free agent dollars. They
21:54
Speaker 4: have to improve the pass rush to me first and
21:56
Speaker 4: foremost so much we talk about what we said about
22:00
Speaker 4: guys being you know, a step slow or out of
22:02
Speaker 4: position or not communicating. Well, a lot of that stuff
22:05
Speaker 4: gets erased when you have a good pass rush, and
22:08
Speaker 4: we saw that just on Sunday against Cleveland. How you know,
22:11
Speaker 4: it didn't really even matter half the time who was
22:13
Speaker 4: breaking open deep down the field because Thompson Robinson just
22:17
Speaker 4: had no time to throw the ball half on half
22:19
Speaker 4: of his dropbacks, and that that really is a magic
22:21
Speaker 4: eraser in so many ways, and so much of this
22:25
Speaker 4: season has been lost because of the fact that other
22:28
Speaker 4: than Hendrickson, they're just not getting any rush on the
22:31
Speaker 4: quarterback consistently. So, you know, that would certainly be a
22:35
Speaker 4: priority one A for me. The guard play on the
22:38
Speaker 4: offensive line obviously has to improve. They may want to
22:42
Speaker 4: move around and see what else they can find, both
22:45
Speaker 4: in the draft and the free agent market, but I
22:46
Speaker 4: think the interior of the offensive line and obviously the
22:48
Speaker 4: pass rush are you know, again on the line of scrimmage.
22:53
Speaker 4: We talked about it last offseasons to the point where
22:55
Speaker 4: it just got to be a cliche. They had to
22:57
Speaker 4: fix the trenches. They still got to fix the trenches,
22:59
Speaker 4: and you know, until that gets sorted out, they're probably
23:03
Speaker 4: not going to be able to get back to that
23:05
Speaker 4: championship level.
23:07
Speaker 1: The Bengals can keep their playoff hopes alive if they
23:10
Speaker 1: beat the Denver Broncos on Saturday. What are going to
23:12
Speaker 1: be some keys to coming away with a victory in
23:15
Speaker 1: that game.
23:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's an interesting case because you have a team
23:18
Speaker 4: in Denver that likes to play defense, likes to run
23:24
Speaker 4: the ball, and when they don't do those things well,
23:26
Speaker 4: especially run the ball, they they've had some struggles. They're actually,
23:30
Speaker 4: surprisingly enough, given the Bengals struggles in one score games,
23:32
Speaker 4: Denver is only one in five in one score games,
23:35
Speaker 4: I believe, So you know, it's a situation where they
23:37
Speaker 4: have a rookie quarterback they can only win in a
23:40
Speaker 4: certain circumscribed way, and their defensive pressure upfront they lead
23:45
Speaker 4: the NFL in sacks, and you know what they can
23:48
Speaker 4: get in the back end. They have obviously an outstanding
23:52
Speaker 4: number one cornerback, Patrick Setan, but surprisingly enough, they are
23:56
Speaker 4: very low in terms of guarding the enemy number one
23:59
Speaker 4: wide receiver, both in DVOA the efficiency stat that were
24:02
Speaker 4: known for at FTN, and also in yards per game.
24:06
Speaker 4: So Jamar chase is the Ears are pricking up, no
24:09
Speaker 4: doubt about that. It's not a case obviously, where the
24:12
Speaker 4: teams don't just put their number one corner on the
24:15
Speaker 4: other team's number one wide out. It's not quite that simple.
24:18
Speaker 4: But they do have good success against tight ends and
24:21
Speaker 4: the rest of the guys, but against wideouts and running
24:24
Speaker 4: backs they struggle. So the two chases Jamar and Brown
24:29
Speaker 4: should be part of the focal part of the offense.
24:32
Speaker 4: But the game will come down in a lot of
24:33
Speaker 4: ways to which team can establish themselves on the ground.
24:36
Speaker 4: I think the Broncos have come under a lot of
24:39
Speaker 4: fire locally in Denver for not staying with the run
24:42
Speaker 4: and blowing leads in that way. You saw that against
24:45
Speaker 4: the Chargers especially, and obviously Cincinnati. You know they found
24:50
Speaker 4: some success with Chase Brown. It's inconsistent. It's not a
24:53
Speaker 4: dominant part of their game and never will be. But
24:56
Speaker 4: against the top run defense, can they squeeze out enough
24:59
Speaker 4: yards to not have a scenario where Denver's playing just
25:03
Speaker 4: come totally against the pass and that you know, there's
25:06
Speaker 4: a possible weather factor as well there in Cincinnati, with
25:09
Speaker 4: rain and wind expected not necessarily known how severe it's
25:13
Speaker 4: going to be, But you can't expect to be able
25:16
Speaker 4: to just throw for you know, the three hundred and
25:18
Speaker 4: fifty yards and three touchdowns like we come to expect
25:20
Speaker 4: from Joe necessarily in this game. So as much of
25:24
Speaker 4: the ground attack can be worked out against Denver's tough
25:27
Speaker 4: run defense, that'll be an important part of the game.
25:31
Speaker 1: Robert, I want to wrap things up by mentioning something
25:34
Speaker 1: that I look forward to receiving in my email inbox
25:37
Speaker 1: on a regular basis. It's called the NYC one thousand.
25:42
Speaker 1: For people who have no idea what I'm talking about,
25:44
Speaker 1: explain the NYC one thousand.
25:48
Speaker 4: Uh, it's my tilting at Windmills. I guess you'd probably
25:51
Speaker 4: say it's a substack that I have which I am
25:55
Speaker 4: counting down the top one thousand sporting events in NYC
26:00
Speaker 4: New York City history. And that's the conceit of it is.
26:04
Speaker 4: It had to have happened in New York. And it's
26:07
Speaker 4: everything from football and basketball and baseball to tennis your favorite,
26:12
Speaker 4: and boxing and track and field and even the bicycle
26:17
Speaker 4: race from the nineteenth century thrown in there as well.
26:20
Speaker 4: And it's just a way of, you know, kind of
26:22
Speaker 4: charting sports history which is so tied into New York
26:26
Speaker 4: obviously the capital sports for many many moons, if not
26:29
Speaker 4: necessarily at the present, and also just a way to
26:32
Speaker 4: throw in the rise and fall and rise again of
26:36
Speaker 4: so much of the city and so much of the
26:38
Speaker 4: country as well, and going to give a little history
26:41
Speaker 4: lesson alongside the sports stuff, which you know is certainly
26:44
Speaker 4: the way to get people in. But I try and
26:46
Speaker 4: tuck in the occasional history lesson in other ways as well,
26:50
Speaker 4: And it's really just a it's a fun little project
26:52
Speaker 4: that's been going on for a while.
26:54
Speaker 1: Now.
26:54
Speaker 4: We're only up to about seven hundred and something. I think,
26:57
Speaker 4: you know, about a quarter of the way through. Not
26:59
Speaker 4: quite there yet, but you know, it's been going on
27:02
Speaker 4: for a while. But it's easy thing to catch up on.
27:04
Speaker 4: So yeah, you can just google NYC one thousand or
27:08
Speaker 4: Robert Wantrum and it'll come up, and you know, subscribe
27:12
Speaker 4: and you'll get it in your inbox. I try and
27:14
Speaker 4: make it once a week Christmas in Milli Year's Eve,
27:16
Speaker 4: we may take a break, but otherwise it's a pretty
27:20
Speaker 4: steady thing two a week and you find out what
27:23
Speaker 4: kind of interesting games and boxing matches and tennis matches
27:27
Speaker 4: have been going on in NYC history, in which ones
27:30
Speaker 4: idem are the best?
27:32
Speaker 1: And I improved that you do not have to be
27:34
Speaker 1: from New York City to enjoy the NYC one thousand.
27:37
Speaker 1: If you like great writing and great storytelling, check it
27:41
Speaker 1: out the NYC one thousand. Robert always great to catch up.
27:44
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time and happy holidays.
27:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, Happy holladays to you, Dan, to everybody out there.
27:49
Speaker 4: Thanks so much.
27:51
Speaker 1: You can check out the NYC one thousand for free.
27:54
Speaker 1: Just search for NYC one thousand substack. The Bengals Booth
28:00
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Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. The Denver Broncos
28:20
Speaker 1: were Super Bowl champs in twenty fifteen, Peyton Manning's final season.
28:25
Speaker 1: They haven't made it to the playoffs in the eight
28:27
Speaker 1: years since, but at nine and six, the Broncos are
28:31
Speaker 1: on the verge of ending that drought, needing to win
28:34
Speaker 1: just one of their final two games to get in
28:37
Speaker 1: either at Cincinnati this week or at home against the
28:41
Speaker 1: Chiefs next week, and they've done it behind rookie quarterback
28:45
Speaker 1: Bo Nix, the twelfth pick in this year's draft. In
28:48
Speaker 1: this week's No The Faux Segment, I spoke to long
28:51
Speaker 1: time Broncos reporter Mike Cliss. Mike, you've written this week
28:57
Speaker 1: about the Broncos making sure that they have proper prepared
29:00
Speaker 1: footballs for this game and the event of rain. Explain
29:03
Speaker 1: why that is newsworthy in Denver, Well.
29:06
Speaker 6: Because they had a game in the rain against the
29:09
Speaker 6: Jets in the Meadowlands in Week four. It was the
29:12
Speaker 6: remnants of Hurricane Helene, and bow Knicks.
29:16
Speaker 5: Could not grip the ball. It was so wet. It
29:19
Speaker 5: was it was It wasn't a rain. It was an
29:22
Speaker 5: in game rain. In other words, it wasn't before and
29:25
Speaker 5: left it soggy.
29:27
Speaker 6: It drizzled and rained the whole game except for a
29:31
Speaker 6: period in the third quarter, and as it so happened,
29:34
Speaker 6: NICKX led the team out a touchdown drive and they
29:37
Speaker 6: won it ten to nine.
29:39
Speaker 5: But otherwise he couldn't grip it.
29:41
Speaker 6: He was minus seven yards passing in the first half.
29:45
Speaker 6: And so they later determined that the ball, you know,
29:49
Speaker 6: the balls were so wet they had they didn't scuff
29:53
Speaker 6: them up properly. They didn't think it was going to
29:56
Speaker 6: rain during the game, so they didn't have the right
29:58
Speaker 6: type of football in there.
29:59
Speaker 5: They didn't have the right type of leather polish. So
30:03
Speaker 5: they're preparing for rain during the game this time.
30:08
Speaker 6: They I know, at least two practices they had wet
30:12
Speaker 6: ball drills and so ball security is going to be
30:16
Speaker 6: real big and bowl ability to play in bad weather.
30:21
Speaker 6: He came from Oregon, so you would think he knows
30:23
Speaker 6: how to play in the rain. But he didn't play
30:27
Speaker 6: well that game. That was probably his worst game. But
30:32
Speaker 6: they think they rectify that by giving them better footballs
30:35
Speaker 6: this week.
30:36
Speaker 1: Well, hopefully, now that they prepared for it, we won't
30:39
Speaker 1: get any rain. It'll turn out to be a nice
30:41
Speaker 1: afternoon here in Cincinnati. Let me follow up on bow Knicks, Mike.
30:44
Speaker 1: He was the sixth quarterback taking in the draft, but
30:47
Speaker 1: he's right up there with Jayden Daniels as a candidate
30:50
Speaker 1: for offensive Rookie of the year. What have you found
30:53
Speaker 1: most impressive about bow Knicks's play as a rookie?
30:57
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would say Bowl the last few weeks has
30:59
Speaker 6: fallen behind Jayden Daniels got the big start there.
31:02
Speaker 5: Jayden Daniels is going to be the rookie of the year.
31:04
Speaker 6: I think uh Bowers, the tight end from the Raiders,
31:08
Speaker 6: probably finished second. Nicks will probably finish third. But what
31:13
Speaker 6: impresses you? Uh? Jeff Hopson wrote about it there for
31:16
Speaker 6: Bengals dot Com. He he talked to a coach that
31:20
Speaker 6: had him in Oregon last last year. Just so smart,
31:23
Speaker 6: gets rid of the ball so quick reach defenses. I mean,
31:27
Speaker 6: he's like a veteran out there. He's got Peyton Manning's mind.
31:32
Speaker 6: Maybe not Peyton Manning's accuracy, but he's got his mind.
31:37
Speaker 6: And it doesn't have Peyton's ability to to anticipate to
31:43
Speaker 6: throw it open that Peyton did so well. But Bau
31:46
Speaker 6: has the mental, the cerebral part of the game down.
31:49
Speaker 6: You know, he's a coaches kid. He's very serious about it.
31:54
Speaker 6: He's uh, you know, he doesn't goo for around. He's
31:57
Speaker 6: not a goof around guy. He's all in, uh on
32:01
Speaker 6: football and preparing and watching film and knowing tendencies and
32:06
Speaker 6: attacking tendencies. Uh So that's that's the part.
32:10
Speaker 5: Of the game.
32:11
Speaker 6: And then on top of that, he's a lot faster
32:14
Speaker 6: than anyone thought coming out of college. Didn't hear that
32:19
Speaker 6: and all from all the draft necks how fast he is.
32:22
Speaker 6: But he is fast, and so he runs the ball
32:25
Speaker 6: well and some and and a lot of times his
32:29
Speaker 6: arm strength will surprise you. There are some times where
32:31
Speaker 6: it looks like he lacks arm strength. I don't know
32:34
Speaker 6: if that's footwork or or you know, probably the fundamentals
32:38
Speaker 6: of setting up that affects that. But there are times
32:41
Speaker 6: when he really rips it. So uh, he's been good overall.
32:46
Speaker 6: His rook hadn't been perfect, but he's been a little
32:51
Speaker 6: I would he had. He had high expectations coming in
32:55
Speaker 6: because you knew he was going to start day one,
32:58
Speaker 6: but he's been a little better in that well.
33:01
Speaker 1: Chatting with Mike Cliss, who covers the Broncos for nine
33:03
Speaker 1: News in Denver, let's talk about a couple of defensive topics.
33:07
Speaker 1: Beginning with cornerback Riley Moss. Looks like he's back after
33:11
Speaker 1: missing three games. How significant would that be for the Broncos.
33:15
Speaker 5: I'd be pretty significant because he'll allow them to play
33:19
Speaker 5: more Manda Man.
33:20
Speaker 6: And if you trust your Manda Man coverage, you can
33:22
Speaker 6: blitz more.
33:24
Speaker 5: And against Joe Burrow.
33:25
Speaker 6: Putting on pressure, putting on heat I think is paramount.
33:30
Speaker 6: It seems like, you know, you give Joe all day
33:33
Speaker 6: to throw, I mean your toast. And if you put
33:37
Speaker 6: heat on him though, and he's not the most elusive
33:40
Speaker 6: of quarterbacks in the pocket, if you put the heat
33:43
Speaker 6: on him, you know, he can Like any quarterback. He
33:48
Speaker 6: you know he's not an All Pro when there's someone
33:51
Speaker 6: in his face. And so that's what the Broncos, that's
33:54
Speaker 6: the key to the game is the Broncos have to
33:56
Speaker 6: get pressure and having a second cornerback like Riley Moss
34:02
Speaker 6: who's not as good as Pat Sir Tam, but is
34:04
Speaker 6: more aggressive and plays with a fun, infectious.
34:09
Speaker 5: Aggressive style of defense.
34:11
Speaker 6: And so that's why I think one player can make
34:15
Speaker 6: a big difference here because they have not played well
34:17
Speaker 6: in his absence, giving up over twenty six points a
34:21
Speaker 6: game and ranking thirty first in the last in the
34:25
Speaker 6: NFL in yards allowed the last three games. So they
34:31
Speaker 6: put it this way, they better hope he's the difference.
34:34
Speaker 1: Patrick Tartan is obviously well known, but there are a
34:36
Speaker 1: couple of guys having big years on the Denver defense
34:39
Speaker 1: that are not household names. Tell us a little bit
34:41
Speaker 1: about Nick Benito and Zach Allen.
34:45
Speaker 5: Yep, you picked the right too. Benito is a third
34:48
Speaker 5: year guy from Oklahoma. The Broncos. By the way, George Payton,
34:52
Speaker 5: who got a lot.
34:53
Speaker 6: Of guff from the general manager here, got a lot
34:55
Speaker 6: of guff because of the Russell Wilson trade, and rightly,
35:00
Speaker 6: oh you know, they gave up so many draft picks,
35:02
Speaker 6: first and second round draft picks for him and it
35:04
Speaker 6: didn't work out. But while he was handicapped in the draft,
35:08
Speaker 6: in the last a last pick of the second round
35:12
Speaker 6: in twenty twenty two, he got Nick Benito out of Oklahoma,
35:17
Speaker 6: and in twenty twenty three, the last pick in the
35:19
Speaker 6: second round he got Marvin Bimms. They're a really good
35:24
Speaker 6: returner and a fine receiver who's now been playing some halfbacks.
35:28
Speaker 6: So those are two real good picks with the last
35:30
Speaker 6: pick in the second round twenty two and twenty three.
35:35
Speaker 5: And Benito's just just speed.
35:37
Speaker 6: He's a speed guy with some bend, so he's you know,
35:42
Speaker 6: it depends on the matchup. Last week, the Chargers had
35:45
Speaker 6: two fine offensive tackles and.
35:47
Speaker 5: They locked them up.
35:49
Speaker 6: Strengthwise, he can lock them up, but if he gets
35:52
Speaker 6: a little bit of a head start, watch out. And
35:55
Speaker 6: Zach Gallen has been tremendous as a three four defensive
35:59
Speaker 6: end time.
36:00
Speaker 5: He plays a three technique a lot too. He's just
36:04
Speaker 5: been real stout.
36:04
Speaker 6: He's one of those relentless motor guys kind of like
36:08
Speaker 6: Hendrickson on the inside as far as smarts and.
36:13
Speaker 5: And can kind of read weaknesses.
36:15
Speaker 6: He watches a lot of film, he knows how to
36:17
Speaker 6: attack certain blockers, and got a relentless motor and strong,
36:23
Speaker 6: and so he's been very good this year.
36:27
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for Mike Cliss, who covers the
36:29
Speaker 1: Broncos for nine News in Denver. The Chiefs one on
36:32
Speaker 1: Christmas to clinch the number one seed. That gives Kansas
36:35
Speaker 1: City the ability to rest starters next week as they
36:39
Speaker 1: played the Broncos. Is that what Denver expects? Do they
36:43
Speaker 1: expect Kansas City to rest guys based on Kansas City's history?
36:47
Speaker 1: And if so, does that lessen the pressure on Saturday
36:50
Speaker 1: against Cincinnati.
36:52
Speaker 5: Well, I don't know what the mindset will be against Cincinnati.
36:56
Speaker 5: I think first things first, you.
36:58
Speaker 6: Gotta attack it like this is a winning in playoff
37:01
Speaker 6: game against the Bengals and give it all you got.
37:04
Speaker 5: But yes, Andy Reid, I mean he's he's a.
37:09
Speaker 6: Heck of a coach, and he's not gonna play Patrick
37:11
Speaker 6: Mahomes or Travis Kelcey or Chris Jones who has a
37:14
Speaker 6: calf strain anyway, probably wasn't gonna play anyway, those three
37:19
Speaker 6: guys they're not at would not anticipate those guys playing
37:23
Speaker 6: in the finals, so a little bit of breathing room
37:26
Speaker 6: does He's a little bit of pressure, but you got
37:28
Speaker 6: to be careful about that.
37:31
Speaker 5: It's not like the.
37:32
Speaker 6: Preseason, the final preseason game where you rest your top
37:35
Speaker 6: twenty five guys because you got a ninety man roster.
37:39
Speaker 6: You know, you can only there's only fifty three guys
37:44
Speaker 6: and you got to uh so, so you're still gonna
37:48
Speaker 6: have fifteen of the twenty two starters play.
37:51
Speaker 5: And Carson Wentz by the way, you know, I know.
37:56
Speaker 6: His finer days were several several years ago, but the
38:00
Speaker 6: last time I checked, he was still capable.
38:03
Speaker 5: So first thing first, you got to give it.
38:05
Speaker 6: You got to sell out against the Bengals, and if
38:07
Speaker 6: that doesn't work out, it should work out against the Chiefs.
38:10
Speaker 6: But sometimes that's a dangerous proposition. I tell you, Dan,
38:15
Speaker 6: I covered that two thousand and eight Bronco team. It's
38:18
Speaker 6: the only team in history that's had a three game
38:20
Speaker 6: lead with three to go and.
38:22
Speaker 5: Didn't make the playoffs.
38:23
Speaker 6: And the Bronco at this current Bronco team had the
38:28
Speaker 6: same position, the same situation.
38:30
Speaker 5: A week ago and one down, you know, the loss
38:33
Speaker 5: of the Chargers.
38:34
Speaker 6: Now, let's see what happens to the Bengals, so you
38:37
Speaker 6: have to treat it like a must win.
38:41
Speaker 1: Last thing, Mike, you mentioned the need to put pressure
38:43
Speaker 1: on Burrow. Are there any other big keys from Denver's
38:46
Speaker 1: perspective in your opinion?
38:49
Speaker 5: Well, with the weather and with the weather, I would say, you.
38:55
Speaker 6: Know, turnovers, ball security, bow had he only had two.
39:01
Speaker 5: Picks through ten games.
39:03
Speaker 6: From from game three to game twelve, he threw only
39:07
Speaker 6: two interceptions, ten touchdowns.
39:09
Speaker 5: He was really good.
39:10
Speaker 6: Then all of a sudden, there's there are two games
39:13
Speaker 6: there where he threw five through two and one game
39:16
Speaker 6: three in another and then last week they had Sean
39:20
Speaker 6: Payton really rained him in. As far as the it
39:24
Speaker 6: was a very conservative passing game, so you've got to
39:28
Speaker 6: open it up a little.
39:29
Speaker 5: But you still can't turn the ball over.
39:32
Speaker 6: It's kind of a fine line there. We'll see what
39:35
Speaker 6: Sean Payton does. You can't be too cautious in this
39:38
Speaker 6: game either, so you know the whole turnover, who can protect,
39:44
Speaker 6: who can hang on to the wet ball estimate. The
39:47
Speaker 6: rookie running backs had a little bit of fumble problems
39:49
Speaker 6: early in the season. Courtland Sutton has fumble problems once
39:54
Speaker 6: in a while, their top receiver.
39:57
Speaker 5: Those guys got to hang on to the ball.
40:00
Speaker 1: Week and a holiday week. I know you're busy. We
40:02
Speaker 1: really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us.
40:05
Speaker 5: You got it.
40:07
Speaker 1: The Bengals are a three and a half point favorite
40:09
Speaker 1: as they try to even their record at eight and
40:11
Speaker 1: eight and keep hope alive heading into the regular season
40:14
Speaker 1: finale at Pittsburgh. That's going to do it for this
40:18
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