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Bengals Booth Podcast: Come With Me Now · 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 WHOA Come with Me Now. Addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as the Bengals look to pick up where they left
0:15
Speaker 1: off before the bye and begin the second half of
0:18
Speaker 1: the season with a road win in Pittsburgh coming up,
0:22
Speaker 1: I'll talk to Jesse Bates about how important a bye
0:25
Speaker 1: week really is to an NFL player's physical and emotional
0:29
Speaker 1: well being. I'll also talk to two NFL experts, Field
0:33
Speaker 1: Yates from ESPN and Tyler Dunn from golongtd dot com
0:38
Speaker 1: about the bengals chances of making a second half run. Then,
0:42
Speaker 1: and this week's Know the Faux Segment, Steelers pregame host
0:45
Speaker 1: Tim Bens tells us all about Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback Kenny Pickt.
0:50
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,
0:54
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
0:58
Speaker 1: one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,
1:02
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
1:06
Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now, here's a
1:10
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you could have the latest edition of
1:12
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:16
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
1:21
Speaker 1: thing since a gas fireplace. This is a rare repeat edition,
1:28
Speaker 1: but it immediately came to mind with a return of
1:30
Speaker 1: winter weather to Cincinnati. When we moved into our home,
1:33
Speaker 1: the family room included a gas fireplace, and when it
1:37
Speaker 1: gets cold, it's fantastic. With the flick of a button,
1:41
Speaker 1: it heats up the room in a matter of minutes
1:44
Speaker 1: and looks great with orange yellow flames that dance around
1:48
Speaker 1: realistic looking logs. And that's with minimal clean up, no smoke,
1:53
Speaker 1: and no need for firewood. So here's to having a
1:57
Speaker 1: gas fireplace, especially when it with the house. Now let's
2:03
Speaker 1: get to football, beginning with my conversation with fifth year
2:07
Speaker 1: safety Jesse Bates. Jesse, the NFL season is an absolute grind.
2:13
Speaker 1: You get here early in the morning. There are hours
2:16
Speaker 1: worth of meetings that walk throughs the practices all leading
2:19
Speaker 1: up to that car wreck that you play in every Sunday.
2:22
Speaker 1: You get five days off during the bye. What to
2:25
Speaker 1: do for your mind and body? It kind of less.
2:28
Speaker 1: You take a deep breath, can focus a little bit
2:32
Speaker 1: on your personal side of your life. I mean, we
2:35
Speaker 1: are human beings. Even though we work hours and hours
2:38
Speaker 1: of playing a game of football, there's still a lot
2:42
Speaker 1: of personal stuff that guys go through. Unfortunately, the you know,
2:46
Speaker 1: the NFL season, it just jumps on you. I mean
2:49
Speaker 1: weekend and week out. You go getting a car wreck
2:52
Speaker 1: on Sunday and then you turn around on Monday, have
2:55
Speaker 1: to watch the film review and flush everything and then restart.
2:59
Speaker 1: So I think it's really good, um that we had
3:02
Speaker 1: it back to back years um, in the middle of
3:04
Speaker 1: the season, just to refresh our minds, um, and come
3:08
Speaker 1: back get ready for a long season in the second half.
3:13
Speaker 1: So we're excited for Can you turn your brain off
3:16
Speaker 1: from NFL football? Are you constantly drifting thinking of the
3:19
Speaker 1: next game, thinking of the previous game, etc. Yeah? Um,
3:22
Speaker 1: something that I do I always do, like a pre
3:26
Speaker 1: like a mid season review. UM. I asked a bunch
3:30
Speaker 1: of my you know, former coaches and stuff just to
3:32
Speaker 1: give me a review of my first couple first weeks
3:36
Speaker 1: of the season and then kind of review that. Like
3:39
Speaker 1: I said, you can't really turn it off. Um, it's
3:42
Speaker 1: hard to turn it off and then not really turn
3:44
Speaker 1: it off. So I stay tuned in. UM. I was
3:47
Speaker 1: able to watch some football as well this weekend, which
3:50
Speaker 1: is nice to see what other guys are doing around
3:52
Speaker 1: the league. So, UM, yeah, you turn it off, but
3:55
Speaker 1: at the same time, you don't. We're visiting the Jesse
3:58
Speaker 1: Bates for the second straight year. The team's five and
4:00
Speaker 1: four with eight games to go. Does it feel the
4:02
Speaker 1: same or different? Um? It feels very similar, just in
4:06
Speaker 1: terms of the standings. UM. How everybody's kind of it
4:10
Speaker 1: seems like you're you're out. People are kind of hanging
4:13
Speaker 1: around around week ten and then people separate in that
4:16
Speaker 1: second half of the season. UM. Like I've been repeating,
4:20
Speaker 1: you know, anytime you play and playing in football, like
4:22
Speaker 1: my high schools in Semi State right now, you know
4:25
Speaker 1: college is starting to getting ready for those bowl games,
4:28
Speaker 1: conference games and stuff like that. You want to be
4:30
Speaker 1: able to play your best football, UM on every level.
4:33
Speaker 1: UM in the second half of the season November December
4:36
Speaker 1: for us, it's all the way up until February. So UM.
4:39
Speaker 1: One thing is good is that we had a lot
4:41
Speaker 1: of the core guys back from last year, so that
4:43
Speaker 1: they've had a lot of experience, and even the guys
4:46
Speaker 1: that we've brought in they know what a playoff run
4:48
Speaker 1: it feels like. So, UM, I think we play our
4:50
Speaker 1: best ball when you know when it really matters. UM,
4:52
Speaker 1: I know, I sure do. Unfortunately, one core guy that
4:56
Speaker 1: you won't have for the rest of this year is
4:57
Speaker 1: Chittabay Wog. You can't run replace him. You can't find
5:01
Speaker 1: a top five corner on the street in the secondary room.
5:05
Speaker 1: What do you guys say about how you overcome the
5:08
Speaker 1: loss of Chittabay Wuge. Yeah, I think the biggest part is, um,
5:12
Speaker 1: when you when you lose a key player like that,
5:15
Speaker 1: you don't only lose them physically out there on the field,
5:18
Speaker 1: but as far as just him asking questions in the
5:21
Speaker 1: in the meeting rooms. UM, I think every rookie sits
5:24
Speaker 1: in the front row, um, in our meeting room, so
5:26
Speaker 1: they're able to, you know, get some of those answers
5:29
Speaker 1: that they're may be scared to ask. Um. But Cheeto
5:31
Speaker 1: has done an outstanding job of just getting those guys
5:34
Speaker 1: up to speed. So I think the main thing is,
5:36
Speaker 1: like I said, you can't really replace them physically, UM,
5:39
Speaker 1: But I think the preparation part of it. UM. It
5:42
Speaker 1: kind of leans on me and Van Mike Hilton as
5:45
Speaker 1: well to kind of get those guys settled down and um,
5:48
Speaker 1: let them know that we're still playing football. We got
5:50
Speaker 1: we got their back, just like if Cheeto was in there.
5:53
Speaker 1: So um, but yeah, it's hard to talk about Cheeto
5:56
Speaker 1: because I know how hard he works, how much he
5:59
Speaker 1: puts into this game, and for him to have that
6:01
Speaker 1: unfortunate injury kind of sucks. But um, it's it's part
6:05
Speaker 1: of the gain. Your lockers are next to each other.
6:08
Speaker 1: How tight is that bond? Yeah, we're me and Cheetoh uh,
6:12
Speaker 1: it's way beyond football. Um, you know, we're locker mates.
6:16
Speaker 1: I've known them before he even got here a little bit.
6:18
Speaker 1: One of my best friends play with him in Dallas. So, um,
6:21
Speaker 1: you know, I've been able to experience what a real
6:25
Speaker 1: vet looks like in the locker room. And I always
6:28
Speaker 1: brag about Cheeto, like maybe it's just a couple of
6:30
Speaker 1: days where I don't want to talk to anybody, but
6:32
Speaker 1: cheetos the same guy every single day, and it's just
6:36
Speaker 1: talks a lot about just who he is, where he
6:38
Speaker 1: comes from, his foundation. Um, I guess I got emotional
6:42
Speaker 1: just seeing him out there just laying down. I mean,
6:44
Speaker 1: he wouldn't even lay down on the field, I'm like, Cheetah,
6:46
Speaker 1: lay down on the ground. You're you know, you're hurt. Um,
6:48
Speaker 1: he just jumped off and you know, jumping off on
6:51
Speaker 1: one knee with a torn a cel. You don't see
6:53
Speaker 1: that lot. So it just says a lot about him.
6:56
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Jesse Bates. Louianna Rumo has gained a reputation,
7:00
Speaker 1: shouldn't for being a mad scientist for some of his
7:02
Speaker 1: defensive schemes. None of it works if you and Von
7:05
Speaker 1: don't communicate the way that you do. Can you describe
7:08
Speaker 1: the relationship between Lou, you and Vin. Yeah, Um, Coach
7:13
Speaker 1: Lou has a really open relationship with me Von. We're
7:17
Speaker 1: able to talk about some funny things, you know, off
7:20
Speaker 1: the field, outside of the locker room. Um, and then
7:22
Speaker 1: when we talk about, you know, game specific stuff. I
7:25
Speaker 1: think he has a lot of confidence and U two
7:28
Speaker 1: really smart safeties, two safeties that have seen a lot, Um,
7:32
Speaker 1: and then the bond with me and Vaughn. It helps
7:34
Speaker 1: as well, just having that chemistry, being able to be
7:37
Speaker 1: on the same page as coach Lou. When he's calling
7:39
Speaker 1: a call, why is he calling it? Make sure you
7:42
Speaker 1: get the young guys lined up? Stuff like that. So, Um,
7:45
Speaker 1: me and Von have have grown together. I watched him
7:49
Speaker 1: go to work every day in the morning and it
7:52
Speaker 1: drives not just me, but the whole team may be better.
7:54
Speaker 1: So our relationship is very unique, I think, um, and
7:59
Speaker 1: it's maybe it doesn't show on the stat sheet all
8:02
Speaker 1: the time, but just being on the same level at
8:05
Speaker 1: all times it's really good for our defense. He faced
8:09
Speaker 1: the Steelers this week, a rematch of the season opener,
8:12
Speaker 1: tough loss. The team had a minus five turnover ratio
8:15
Speaker 1: and lound up losing in overtime. Does that one still sting? Yeah,
8:19
Speaker 1: that one. I don't think people understood how I'm important
8:23
Speaker 1: that those first games are in this season. And then
8:27
Speaker 1: it was a divisional game as well, so I think
8:29
Speaker 1: we're olling three in our division. So this one would
8:31
Speaker 1: be huge, kind of set the tone for who we're
8:35
Speaker 1: going to be in the second half of the season.
8:37
Speaker 1: And it wouldn't be no better beating up on the
8:39
Speaker 1: Steelers again on their home field. So I wish it
8:42
Speaker 1: was on primetime, but the four twenty five game will
8:45
Speaker 1: be just perfect. Pittsburgh's changed quarterbacks rookie Kenny pick at
8:49
Speaker 1: his in first quarterback taken in this year's draft. His
8:52
Speaker 1: stats aren't very good so far too touchdowns, eight picks,
8:55
Speaker 1: But clearly there's talent there or he wouldn't have been
8:57
Speaker 1: a first round draft pick. Is he just making rookie mistakes?
9:01
Speaker 1: Is that what explains those numbers? Um? Yeah, I would.
9:03
Speaker 1: I would say there's not a lot of opportunities at
9:07
Speaker 1: times for him, But yeah, he tries to force it
9:08
Speaker 1: a little bit. Um. You know, I kind of down
9:12
Speaker 1: talk him a little bit. He did the fake slide
9:13
Speaker 1: on Wake Forest Um and the ACC Championship, so I
9:17
Speaker 1: gotta get him back at some point for that. But yeah,
9:20
Speaker 1: I think that he's a young quarterback, has a lot
9:23
Speaker 1: of talent. He's a playmaker. Um. I think a lot
9:26
Speaker 1: of his success comes from when he gets outside the
9:28
Speaker 1: pocket and he starts scrambling and stuff like that. But
9:31
Speaker 1: you can see that there's some type of chemistry between
9:34
Speaker 1: him and fourteen, him and eighty eight UM and even eighteen.
9:37
Speaker 1: He tries to get them the ball. And just certain matchups,
9:40
Speaker 1: you know, single high, he'll see eighteen or whether that's
9:44
Speaker 1: fourteen UM opened up and that's I feel like that's
9:46
Speaker 1: where a lot of his success comes from. M So
9:48
Speaker 1: it'll be good for us to you know, mix up
9:51
Speaker 1: some coverages, disguise some things, and hopefully we can force
9:55
Speaker 1: him into some more mistakes. I forgot that the fake
9:58
Speaker 1: slide was against wake Forest. They changed the rules because
10:00
Speaker 1: of the fake slide. Last thing, there's a story on
10:04
Speaker 1: ESPN today looking at the top twenty five free agents
10:08
Speaker 1: in next year's class. Naturally, you are on the list.
10:11
Speaker 1: When you're drafted, you don't get to pick your team.
10:14
Speaker 1: Are you looking forward to being courted, having the opportunity
10:18
Speaker 1: to see what's out there? You know, I always have
10:22
Speaker 1: to remind myself. My family kind of reminds me all
10:24
Speaker 1: the time that you know, you're in the NFL. I
10:27
Speaker 1: remember watching you know, Philip Rivers. The Charges were always
10:30
Speaker 1: my favorite team just because of who I played for
10:33
Speaker 1: during Pop Warners. So just being able to have that
10:38
Speaker 1: open market that would be pretty cool. But right now,
10:41
Speaker 1: I'm just focused on the present, focus on having as
10:45
Speaker 1: much impact as I can where I'm at right now,
10:47
Speaker 1: where my feet are, and enjoying this locker room because
10:50
Speaker 1: I know there's not a lot of other places that
10:53
Speaker 1: are like this locker room, like this city. So um yeah,
10:57
Speaker 1: I'm excited for you know that but you know, I
10:59
Speaker 1: take here to now and the rest of that will
11:02
Speaker 1: fall into place. So, like you said, it's open marketing
11:06
Speaker 1: and being able to see what other teams think about you.
11:09
Speaker 1: I think that's always pretty cool. Whether I'm leaving here,
11:12
Speaker 1: whether I'm staying, I think it's pretty cool. You've been
11:15
Speaker 1: a great Bengal. We will savor every game that you
11:18
Speaker 1: are wearing orange and black. Trust me, best of luck
11:21
Speaker 1: this Sunday. Thanks you Toime. Absolutely, thank you the Bengals.
11:24
Speaker 1: Both podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More
11:27
Speaker 1: than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage,
11:34
Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycor dot com. At
11:38
Speaker 1: five and four, The Bengals are currently on the playoff
11:41
Speaker 1: bubble in the AFC, where only one team has fewer
11:45
Speaker 1: than three losses. That's Kansas City. At seven and two.
11:49
Speaker 1: The Dolphins, Titans, Ravens, Jets, and Bills have three losses.
11:54
Speaker 1: The Patriots, Chargers, and Bengals have four. It looks like
11:58
Speaker 1: it's going to be a wild race to the finish
12:01
Speaker 1: and I talked about the bengals chances this week with
12:03
Speaker 1: an ESPN analyst who used to be an NFL scout
12:07
Speaker 1: with the Patriots and Chiefs. We are joined by NFL
12:11
Speaker 1: Insider Field, the Eights from ESPN Field. Let's start big picture.
12:15
Speaker 1: The Bengals are five and four after they started this
12:17
Speaker 1: season oh and two. Do you see them making a
12:20
Speaker 1: run in the second half? I sure do. And I
12:23
Speaker 1: know that five and four may not have been where
12:26
Speaker 1: we forecasted this team when they went into their buy
12:28
Speaker 1: when we were making our predictions when the schedule came
12:31
Speaker 1: out all the way back in May. But the Bengals
12:35
Speaker 1: probably know this better than most teams. Football and the
12:38
Speaker 1: NFL is about how you are playing as you get
12:41
Speaker 1: into the cold weather seasons when you can start making
12:44
Speaker 1: your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday plans. And Cincinnati showed that
12:48
Speaker 1: last year as they got better and better and better
12:50
Speaker 1: literally all the way through the playoffs. And if you
12:53
Speaker 1: look at the AFC right now, well, I do believe
12:56
Speaker 1: there are a few excellent teams. I don't think the
13:00
Speaker 1: depth of the AFC is nearly what we expected it
13:03
Speaker 1: to be coming into the season. As you've got teams
13:06
Speaker 1: amongst others like Denver, like Las Vegas, like Indianapolis that
13:11
Speaker 1: as of this moment do not project to be a
13:14
Speaker 1: part of the playoff picture coming into this season. I
13:17
Speaker 1: think all three of those teams thought they could win
13:19
Speaker 1: their own divisions. So the last time out, Joe Mixon
13:22
Speaker 1: had a monster game for Cincinnati two hundred and twenty
13:24
Speaker 1: one yards five touchdowns. You tweeted that it was the
13:27
Speaker 1: eighth greatest Fantasy performance of all time. How important do
13:31
Speaker 1: you think it is for Joe to produce, maybe not
13:35
Speaker 1: that well, but to produce more significantly than he had
13:37
Speaker 1: been for the rest of the season. Yeah, I think
13:40
Speaker 1: you take twenty percent of his touchdown production every single
13:43
Speaker 1: week going forward and be pretty happy about it. Right,
13:46
Speaker 1: But it was important for a handful of reasons. First
13:48
Speaker 1: of all, Joe up to that point of the season
13:51
Speaker 1: had not had a super efficient year on the ground.
13:54
Speaker 1: And as we know, the running game is a byproduct
13:57
Speaker 1: not just the running back, but also the offensive line scheme.
14:01
Speaker 1: You know, the quarterback involves as well. The way that
14:03
Speaker 1: you are able to attack an opposing offense is due
14:07
Speaker 1: to who the quarterback is or is not. So I
14:10
Speaker 1: don't know that it's just Joe's issue that led to
14:12
Speaker 1: the inefficient rushing prior to that game, but it was
14:15
Speaker 1: good to see him in the entire offense get going
14:17
Speaker 1: in a major way leading into the buy. You would
14:20
Speaker 1: think that Joe probably feels much better physically coming out
14:22
Speaker 1: of the bye as well, with an extra week to
14:25
Speaker 1: rest up. And you know, there are coaches and there
14:28
Speaker 1: are numbers that would tell you that balance is not
14:31
Speaker 1: important in football. And I think that there are teams
14:33
Speaker 1: that are good enough in one phase or the other,
14:35
Speaker 1: and it's usually a team that's good enough passing the
14:37
Speaker 1: football they don't have to worry as much about running
14:40
Speaker 1: the ball. But I do think when you can achieve balance,
14:43
Speaker 1: it does have some things that it does unlock. And
14:46
Speaker 1: for Cincinnati, while you have a mobile quarterback, you don't
14:49
Speaker 1: have a Lamar Jackson type athlete and Joe burrowback there
14:53
Speaker 1: where you know if an effective play action passing game
14:56
Speaker 1: is rooted in part from a team respecting that. So
15:00
Speaker 1: I think there's something to be said for being able
15:02
Speaker 1: to run the football the way they did, not quite
15:05
Speaker 1: like they did in Week nine, but at least closer
15:08
Speaker 1: to where things were in Week nine as opposed to
15:10
Speaker 1: the first eight weeks of the season. Let me follow
15:13
Speaker 1: up on Joe Burrow. He started poorly after his appen
15:15
Speaker 1: deck to me. But now he's up to fourth and
15:17
Speaker 1: passer rating fifth in passing yards per game. Where do
15:21
Speaker 1: you consider Joe Burrow to be among the hierarchy of
15:24
Speaker 1: the great quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah, it's funny I've
15:27
Speaker 1: gotten In the world of fantasy football, which is a
15:29
Speaker 1: big part of my world at ESPN, one of the
15:32
Speaker 1: most popular topics is weekly rankings. You know, where are
15:35
Speaker 1: you ranking this player at this position for the week ahead?
15:39
Speaker 1: And I've always believed that sometimes those rankings can be
15:42
Speaker 1: a bit excessive, as we might be better suited to
15:45
Speaker 1: put players into tiers. And I think that applies to
15:48
Speaker 1: quarterback rankings as well. Because there's a group of quarterbacks.
15:52
Speaker 1: Let's let's divvy this up, or divide a line between
15:55
Speaker 1: the guys that are young, en up and coming still
15:57
Speaker 1: like twenty eight, twenty nine and younger versus the guys
16:00
Speaker 1: that are in the latter stages of their career. Because
16:02
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and Joe Burrow are going to probably you know,
16:05
Speaker 1: they might meet once more for the rest of their career.
16:07
Speaker 1: Who knows Brady might be done after this season, We
16:10
Speaker 1: don't know. But if you look at the guys that
16:12
Speaker 1: are twenty eight or twenty nine and younger. I think
16:15
Speaker 1: Joe fits into that category of and this applies to
16:18
Speaker 1: this year by the way of guys that are like
16:20
Speaker 1: no doubt about its centerpiece of your franchise haven't quite
16:25
Speaker 1: won either the highest individual accolade of an MVP or
16:29
Speaker 1: the highest team accolade of a Super Bowl. But obviously
16:32
Speaker 1: Joe is what nine months removed from having played in
16:35
Speaker 1: Los Angeles at the Super Bowl, so my view on
16:38
Speaker 1: him hasn't changed at all. I think that probably what
16:41
Speaker 1: has been reinforced this year is that when times are tough,
16:45
Speaker 1: and this is a league of parody, ask any team.
16:48
Speaker 1: We saw it on Monday night when the final undefeated
16:51
Speaker 1: team went down in the Philadelphia Eagles, that when times
16:54
Speaker 1: are tough, you don't have to worry about Joe and
16:56
Speaker 1: how he is going to be able to lead the
16:58
Speaker 1: entire franchise is It certainly strikes me that while there
17:01
Speaker 1: are lots of guys that have been there for longer
17:03
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball, this team goes as
17:06
Speaker 1: far as Joe Burrow goes, and his demeanor has continued
17:09
Speaker 1: to impress me. It makes him one of the most
17:12
Speaker 1: unique players in all of sports. We're visiting the field.
17:14
Speaker 1: Yates from ESPN DJ reader is about to come back
17:18
Speaker 1: from injury for the Bengals. Jamar Chase could be back
17:20
Speaker 1: after one more game on the sidelines. Should have a
17:23
Speaker 1: awoojah in the other hand out for the rest of
17:26
Speaker 1: the year. Are these injuries the big variable for Cincinnati
17:29
Speaker 1: going forward? I think that's a huge part of it
17:32
Speaker 1: for sure. And you know, I think in the secondary,
17:35
Speaker 1: like the Bengals are probably not going to unearth some
17:38
Speaker 1: you know, they're not going to find the next great
17:42
Speaker 1: cornerback just out of nowhere on the street right now,
17:44
Speaker 1: Like you kind of have what you have. There might
17:46
Speaker 1: be some practice squad elevations or guys that have just
17:49
Speaker 1: been thrust into larger roles. But my sense is that,
17:53
Speaker 1: like the secondary is going to be a lot of
17:55
Speaker 1: the players that you've been hearing from throughout the season
17:57
Speaker 1: so far, and a veteran safe group certainly helps. And
18:01
Speaker 1: I think one of the realities of the NFL is
18:03
Speaker 1: that no great secondary is great without a great pass rush,
18:06
Speaker 1: and very few great pass rushes look as great as
18:08
Speaker 1: they do without good coverage in the back end. So well,
18:11
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the cornerbacks and the responsibility
18:14
Speaker 1: of various players in the back end. I think that
18:18
Speaker 1: a lot of the work can be offset if Trey
18:21
Speaker 1: Hendrickson continues to play at a borderline all pro level.
18:23
Speaker 1: And while DJ obviously makes the vast majority of his
18:26
Speaker 1: money being one of the best run defenders in the NFL,
18:29
Speaker 1: he can certainly impact the integrity of the interior pocket
18:32
Speaker 1: and other players up front that have given the Bengals
18:34
Speaker 1: coop snaps. I mean, Sam Hubbard continues to be And
18:37
Speaker 1: I don't like to use this word too often because
18:39
Speaker 1: I think it gets overused, but under appreciated or underrated
18:43
Speaker 1: players in the NFL pretty much does everything well and
18:46
Speaker 1: that includes rush in the pastor all right, since you
18:48
Speaker 1: don't like that word, underappreciated or underrated, I'm going to
18:53
Speaker 1: use that word anyway. In another question. Before you got
18:56
Speaker 1: into broadcasting, you had a background in scouting. Is do
19:00
Speaker 1: Tobin underappreciated or underrated for the job he's done in
19:04
Speaker 1: building this roster? I think so, And you know you
19:07
Speaker 1: have the Super Bowl run last year that helps validate that.
19:10
Speaker 1: And you know it's funny you sometimes don't get enough
19:13
Speaker 1: credit when you're making picks near the top of the
19:16
Speaker 1: board because people say, like, what else were you supposed
19:18
Speaker 1: to do? Are you supposed to give credit to the
19:21
Speaker 1: individual who took this generation of prospect, whether it was
19:24
Speaker 1: you know, any number of guys that have been tabbed
19:26
Speaker 1: the next great thing. And well, I think that certainly
19:29
Speaker 1: being closer to the top of the board tends to
19:32
Speaker 1: lead to you know, that just the potential of those
19:35
Speaker 1: players is higher, so you should be nailing those picks
19:38
Speaker 1: a little more frequently. I think that the Bengals have
19:41
Speaker 1: done a good job of finding depth. I think they've
19:43
Speaker 1: done a good job of finding players in not first
19:46
Speaker 1: round structure that have been major contributors for them. And
19:50
Speaker 1: you know one thing about Duke and you know, I don't.
19:53
Speaker 1: I don't want to speak for him, but my guess
19:55
Speaker 1: is that part of what influences our perception of people
20:00
Speaker 1: in sports, coaches, players, executives is just how much we
20:03
Speaker 1: see of them publicly. And as far as nanimity is concerned,
20:07
Speaker 1: Duke probably is in that top class of general managers
20:10
Speaker 1: or personnel executives. And that's not a bad thing, by
20:13
Speaker 1: the way, that's just how he and how the Bengals
20:15
Speaker 1: go about their business. So my feeling is that you know,
20:18
Speaker 1: there are coaches that can have you a drinking the
20:21
Speaker 1: kool aid a little bit because you see him in
20:23
Speaker 1: front of the camera and you start to gravitate towards words. Ultimately,
20:26
Speaker 1: I believe in results, and I think that Cincinnati's results
20:29
Speaker 1: largely speak for themselves. And this is a franchise has
20:32
Speaker 1: had to reshape itself over the past handful of years.
20:35
Speaker 1: And while a lot of the offensive pieces that are
20:37
Speaker 1: so so great, we're high picks, none more so than
20:40
Speaker 1: Joe and Jamar, you know, defensively, that makeover over the
20:43
Speaker 1: past couple of years has been this really unique blend
20:46
Speaker 1: of not just some really good homegrown talents, but find
20:50
Speaker 1: a free agent pickup that if you were to redo it,
20:53
Speaker 1: you would say, no, I'm not even considering it. Von
20:55
Speaker 1: Bell is kind of an afterthought and free agency hanging
20:58
Speaker 1: out for a while, signed a three year heel, has
21:00
Speaker 1: been an outstanding player and a team leader. And then
21:03
Speaker 1: you know Jenobe before he gets hurt. That was a huge,
21:05
Speaker 1: huge signing. It looked like it was going to end
21:07
Speaker 1: up being one of the best value signings again in
21:09
Speaker 1: the NFL this year. We already talked about Trey Hendrickson.
21:12
Speaker 1: Even DJ Reader when he got I think it was
21:14
Speaker 1: four years and fifty four million dollars, people were saying,
21:17
Speaker 1: who's this guy. Well, it took about a year for
21:20
Speaker 1: that contract to look like one of the better values
21:22
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So I think that stuff deserves a
21:25
Speaker 1: lot of credit. It's not just the home runs you
21:27
Speaker 1: hit at the top of the draft board, but also
21:28
Speaker 1: finding the right value in free agency, because there is
21:31
Speaker 1: a lot of fool's gold in free agency. Every single
21:34
Speaker 1: year we see teams undoe mistakes after just one season.
21:37
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for field Yates from ESPN. The
21:41
Speaker 1: Bengals head to Pittsburgh this Sunday. What do you see
21:43
Speaker 1: as a couple of keys to the matchup? I'd say
21:46
Speaker 1: that turnovers. And I'm not trying to be obvious, but
21:48
Speaker 1: you know, obviously week one that was what undid them.
21:50
Speaker 1: Was it five turnovers in the first half? Was it?
21:53
Speaker 1: I have five turnovers in total? I know, and it
21:54
Speaker 1: was obviously just felt like every play was hitting the
21:57
Speaker 1: ball back to Pittsburgh. But that to me is about
22:00
Speaker 1: as important as he gets for keys. This Sunday, le
22:02
Speaker 1: should take care of the football because the Steelers are
22:05
Speaker 1: very very good on defensive t J. Watt is healthy.
22:07
Speaker 1: He is healthy, obviously played last week, made a difference.
22:11
Speaker 1: They're not dominant like they have been in years past,
22:13
Speaker 1: but they have multiple good pass rushers. Alex Highsmith very
22:16
Speaker 1: good as well. An offense, though no team has to
22:19
Speaker 1: work harder to score than Pittsburgh. This is kind of
22:22
Speaker 1: amazing to me. The Steelers have yet to score a
22:25
Speaker 1: touchdown of ten yards this season. Every single touchdown they've
22:29
Speaker 1: scored has come within the ten yard line. And I
22:32
Speaker 1: mean you call like at least one vertical shot. It
22:35
Speaker 1: feels like per quarter in Cincinnati when you're on the
22:38
Speaker 1: game call. And that's not this kind of offense here.
22:42
Speaker 1: They are a grinded out offense, but they are not
22:44
Speaker 1: a particularly efficient running game. Nag Harris has not been
22:47
Speaker 1: nearly as impactful in the passing game this year as
22:49
Speaker 1: he was last season. So this is not the kind
22:52
Speaker 1: of game that if you hang thirty, it's not going
22:56
Speaker 1: to be a thirty one, thirty one thirty or thirty
22:59
Speaker 1: one twenty eight type game. If since he scores thirty
23:02
Speaker 1: one on Sunday, it's probably because they've end up winning
23:05
Speaker 1: the game by two touchdowns. That was an amazing stat
23:08
Speaker 1: final thing for field Yates, the Bengals will break out
23:11
Speaker 1: their white Bengal uniforms for the second time. What do
23:15
Speaker 1: you think? Love them? Love everything about them. I think
23:18
Speaker 1: they're tremendous. I've always felt like they make guys look
23:20
Speaker 1: a little bit sleeker, faster, which I know it doesn't
23:24
Speaker 1: actually make a difference, but I love them, and I
23:26
Speaker 1: will say this is I think the NFL has been
23:28
Speaker 1: smart to embrace some of the alternate uniforms this season.
23:31
Speaker 1: I think about some of the great uniforms that we
23:33
Speaker 1: have seen so far, not just since He's but you know,
23:36
Speaker 1: I've seen this for nine ers and the Patriots go
23:38
Speaker 1: back to their pat patriot. We've seen the Jets breakout
23:42
Speaker 1: and all black helmet, the Panthers break out the all
23:44
Speaker 1: black helmet. Some of those that I think are really
23:47
Speaker 1: really sharp looks that, you know, if nothing else, at
23:51
Speaker 1: least give us up a talk about for the beginning
23:52
Speaker 1: portion of a game. Field. This has been great. I
23:55
Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Keep up the great work. Thank
23:58
Speaker 1: you so much for having me. I'll utch again soon.
24:01
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Speaker 1: the site and additional material if you choose to subscribe.
24:29
Speaker 1: Tyler Dunn is the man who runs golongtd dot com
24:33
Speaker 1: and I caught up with him this week about his
24:36
Speaker 1: latest Bengals related story. Tyler, you have written some great
24:41
Speaker 1: profiles about Bengals of players in recent months, including Eli Apple,
24:44
Speaker 1: should be a Wouge and Tyler Boyd. Now you have
24:47
Speaker 1: turned your attention to a Bengals coach and it's nod
24:50
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. It is not one of the coordinators. It
24:54
Speaker 1: is a guy that very few NFL fans have even
24:57
Speaker 1: heard of. Tell us who and why you chose him?
25:02
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, great to be back, Dan, Thanks so much
25:04
Speaker 1: for having me. Dan Pitcher quarterbacks coach. This is really
25:09
Speaker 1: a coach I feel like we'll be talking about for
25:11
Speaker 1: a long time. And you know, it's always hard to
25:14
Speaker 1: figure out. So you have an elite quarterback in the NFL,
25:18
Speaker 1: and Joe Burrow and I covered Aaron Rodgers. Josh Allen
25:22
Speaker 1: is here in Buffalo. It's always hard to figure out
25:23
Speaker 1: how much is the coach really giving this elite talent, right,
25:27
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers got a lot of people, a lot of jobs.
25:30
Speaker 1: You can run down the list if you wanted to.
25:32
Speaker 1: Some are better than others. So I've been fired. But
25:35
Speaker 1: over time you kind of you kind of see, okay,
25:38
Speaker 1: like what did that coach really give that quarterback? Yet
25:40
Speaker 1: a lot of times I think that quarterback coach is
25:43
Speaker 1: exactly what that quarterback needs at that time. And Dan
25:47
Speaker 1: picture really strikes me as that as that coach. This
25:49
Speaker 1: is somebody who has such a unique upbringing with where
25:52
Speaker 1: he came from in Courtland, New York, and in a
25:54
Speaker 1: lot of ways is kind of a kindred, kindred spirit
25:57
Speaker 1: to Joe Burrow, where they both have just been immersed
26:00
Speaker 1: in the x's and knows at a different level. I
26:03
Speaker 1: think everybody loves football, that's that's in football, but it's
26:06
Speaker 1: different for these two. And I think at this time,
26:09
Speaker 1: at this point of the season, year three, when a
26:12
Speaker 1: lot of defenses are playing them a certain way, when
26:15
Speaker 1: you're off of a Super Bowl loss, and not just
26:17
Speaker 1: any super Bowl loss, but one where you're an audible
26:20
Speaker 1: away from being a legend, you know, immortalized forever. I
26:24
Speaker 1: think that that tandem is really core to what Cincinnati
26:27
Speaker 1: does this season. Ian Rappaport from the NFL Network was
26:31
Speaker 1: here in training camp and he told me one of
26:32
Speaker 1: the things that he wanted to do while he was
26:34
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati was sit down with Dan Pitcher because his
26:38
Speaker 1: name was popping up as a future coordinator or even
26:42
Speaker 1: a possible future NFL head coach. Have you heard any
26:46
Speaker 1: similar things, Yeah, definitely. I think some scouts here and there,
26:52
Speaker 1: some coaches here and there, because he has experience in both, right,
26:55
Speaker 1: I mean he worked in personnel that that type of
26:58
Speaker 1: experience is uncommon and for a quarterbacks coach, let alone
27:01
Speaker 1: any position coach. But I really like his his background
27:05
Speaker 1: all the way to Courtland, New York, and you know,
27:08
Speaker 1: maybe there's some some bias there in terms of my
27:11
Speaker 1: brother went to Courtland. I went to Syracuston. You know,
27:14
Speaker 1: let's just say the weekends were even a little better
27:16
Speaker 1: in Courtland than they were in Syracuse. Dan. I found
27:19
Speaker 1: myself going to see Austin from time to but it's
27:22
Speaker 1: a great area up state. But you know, he lost
27:26
Speaker 1: football twice. So when he when he comes in, you know,
27:30
Speaker 1: he goes to Colgate, Rex's shoulder transfers to Courtland. He's
27:34
Speaker 1: out of football for that fall. You know, the first
27:37
Speaker 1: time that somebody who loves the game has the game
27:40
Speaker 1: stripped from him. And instead of just kind of rehabbing
27:44
Speaker 1: and doing his own thing, he went back and called
27:47
Speaker 1: plays first high school right there in Courtland. And I
27:50
Speaker 1: think that that helped him realize early on, this is
27:53
Speaker 1: something I want to do later in life. Yeah, I'm
27:55
Speaker 1: gonna play as long as I can play, but I
27:58
Speaker 1: love calling plays, I love devising game planning. It kept
28:01
Speaker 1: him in, it kept him rejuvenated. And then obviously he's
28:04
Speaker 1: at Courtland and is the best D three football in
28:08
Speaker 1: the nation by the end there. And a big reason
28:10
Speaker 1: why was he get a lot of his schoolwork done
28:13
Speaker 1: and he was kind of a half coach half player
28:16
Speaker 1: that last year where he gets capstone stuff done for
28:19
Speaker 1: his Masters and that was it. No no, no classes.
28:22
Speaker 1: He could be a coach in the morning and he
28:24
Speaker 1: could go over the game plan, he could drop the cards,
28:26
Speaker 1: he could be in all those meetings and then the
28:28
Speaker 1: afternoon would hit and he's a player again. And I
28:31
Speaker 1: think that that is such a unique I don't care
28:33
Speaker 1: D one, D two, D three, that's rare. That's different.
28:37
Speaker 1: And he knew then again that this is something I
28:39
Speaker 1: can really take with me throughout my life. And you
28:44
Speaker 1: know this Dan being around the game, I don't think
28:46
Speaker 1: people realize like Division three is what you make of it.
28:50
Speaker 1: I think xs and knows wise, and the game itself
28:53
Speaker 1: is no different than D one. Everybody just runs a
28:55
Speaker 1: four six instead of a four three or is a
28:58
Speaker 1: little less you know, talented in the weight room, and
29:01
Speaker 1: you know, throw in throwing the dumbells around. But I
29:05
Speaker 1: think he was thinking the game at an elite level,
29:07
Speaker 1: similar to Joe Burrow Right. He grew up the son
29:10
Speaker 1: of a college football coach watching the film as far
29:12
Speaker 1: back as he can remember. They're gonna find ways to
29:14
Speaker 1: really push each other at every twist and turn of
29:17
Speaker 1: an NFL season. And in Joe's case, his dad for
29:21
Speaker 1: most of his childhood is at the MAC level very
29:23
Speaker 1: good college football, but not the SEC. Just a slight
29:26
Speaker 1: tip below in terms of the forty times of these guys,
29:30
Speaker 1: the size and strength of the lineman So it's in
29:34
Speaker 1: between the Dan Pitcher college level and the level that
29:38
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow ultimately played at. Absolutely and there's probably an
29:42
Speaker 1: advantage to that where you're you're seeing the game of
29:46
Speaker 1: football through a schematic lens and you're you're thinking through
29:50
Speaker 1: it as a coach. You're you're not just thinking, Okay,
29:54
Speaker 1: this guy can run a four to three. He's gonna
29:57
Speaker 1: beat your corner one on one, and that's that. Like,
30:00
Speaker 1: I think there was some next level stuff going on,
30:02
Speaker 1: and then you have the personnel background on top of
30:04
Speaker 1: it with Dan picture where you're with the Colts and
30:06
Speaker 1: you're trying to identify talent that can translate to the NFL.
30:11
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals have a good one. You know,
30:13
Speaker 1: they'll probably have them for a little longer. You know
30:15
Speaker 1: how this progression works, right, your quarterbacks coach to an
30:18
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator to a head coach. But I think if
30:21
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow stays on this trajectory, and I'm sure we'll
30:25
Speaker 1: get into it, I think that this team is about
30:26
Speaker 1: to get really hot, right when they need to get
30:29
Speaker 1: really hot, He'll be a name that we talk about.
30:32
Speaker 1: You know, come January, you yearn and year out, all Right,
30:35
Speaker 1: so if you you've wet my appetite, I don't want
30:37
Speaker 1: to spoil the story, but we have that to look
30:39
Speaker 1: forward to with a Dan picture story coming up on
30:42
Speaker 1: golongtd dot com. Our guest is Tyler Donne. Let me
30:45
Speaker 1: follow up on what you were just saying, because you
30:47
Speaker 1: were very bullish on the Bengals when we spoke in August,
30:50
Speaker 1: and clearly you still are, despite the fact that they're
30:53
Speaker 1: five and four coming out of their by Yeah, I
30:57
Speaker 1: think you know, I promise It's not like I'm just
31:00
Speaker 1: sitting on a hill and prepared to die on this hill.
31:03
Speaker 1: Though maybe maybe some ego works its way into that take,
31:06
Speaker 1: but as as it does us all um, it's just
31:10
Speaker 1: that first game was was wacky, right, I mean, Joe
31:13
Speaker 1: Burrow is not going to throw four interceptions again in
31:15
Speaker 1: his life. Probably that was that was strange, and he's
31:18
Speaker 1: he'd never admitted. Maybe he came back from the burst
31:21
Speaker 1: appendix a little soon. He had to get his weight
31:23
Speaker 1: back and his strength back, So you know, yeah, that game,
31:26
Speaker 1: I think I think Dallas's defense ended up being a
31:28
Speaker 1: lot better than any of us thought it would be.
31:31
Speaker 1: And then since then, this offense has gradually kind of
31:34
Speaker 1: figured figured itself out, and I think most importantly is
31:39
Speaker 1: willing to react to what these defenses are are doing.
31:42
Speaker 1: And Dan Pitcher gets into this in our story as well,
31:45
Speaker 1: where I mean, they're sitting back there with those two
31:48
Speaker 1: safeties right, it's going to be a cover two in
31:50
Speaker 1: quarters and just daring the Bengals to piece together at ten, eleven, twelve,
31:56
Speaker 1: thirteen play drive to take away the vertical passing game. Jamarrow.
32:01
Speaker 1: Chase will be back eventually, and he may be the
32:03
Speaker 1: best wide receiver in football. So I think that Cincinnati
32:07
Speaker 1: showing that willingness to just run the ball against Carolina.
32:10
Speaker 1: Granted it's Carolina, but they just beat them to Smithens
32:13
Speaker 1: and Joe Mixon is running for a buck fifty and
32:16
Speaker 1: four touchdowns and they're running for I think like two
32:18
Speaker 1: forty one. As a team, you're you're gonna force teams
32:22
Speaker 1: out of that look, like you're gonna punish them for
32:24
Speaker 1: being in that look and say, all right, get out
32:27
Speaker 1: of that, play a normal defense here, and then when
32:30
Speaker 1: they do, Joe Burrow is smart enough to realize it
32:33
Speaker 1: in the moment and go up top. I think we
32:35
Speaker 1: saw that, we saw that in the Super Bowl. I mean,
32:38
Speaker 1: if they block a split second longer. I'm not telling
32:40
Speaker 1: your listeners anything they don't know. I mean, it's a
32:42
Speaker 1: it's an iconic sports moment. I mean, Jayalen Ramsey falls
32:46
Speaker 1: down and we're talking about a quarterback with the cojones
32:50
Speaker 1: to call that audible at the line and to go deep,
32:53
Speaker 1: it's it's legendary. He's gonna know, he's gonna know when
32:56
Speaker 1: that moment arrives because he's he's so smart. And that's that.
33:00
Speaker 1: Joe made a great point in its press conference this week,
33:03
Speaker 1: actually where this second half of the season, teams aren't
33:06
Speaker 1: going to surprise you much anymore. You kind of know schematically,
33:09
Speaker 1: you know what they're doing, who they are offensively and defensively.
33:12
Speaker 1: You kind of settle in to your identity. So I
33:15
Speaker 1: think that's when he really shines. I think that's when
33:17
Speaker 1: his brains really kind of kick in and Cincinnati's going
33:20
Speaker 1: to be able to outscore anybody, you know. I know
33:23
Speaker 1: we talked a lot about the secondary before the season.
33:25
Speaker 1: That would worry me a little bit to lose a
33:27
Speaker 1: shutdown corner like Chitubey Woozier is as tough as your replaceable.
33:32
Speaker 1: But then I look around the AFC, and I mean
33:35
Speaker 1: the Bills are down to second third stringers throughout their secondary.
33:38
Speaker 1: It's it's not anything other teams aren't dealing with, so
33:41
Speaker 1: I think they'll find a way. We're chatting with Tyler
33:44
Speaker 1: Dunne from golong tv dot com. You've dealt with nearly
33:48
Speaker 1: every coaching staff in the NFL. I assume what stands
33:50
Speaker 1: out to you about Zach Taylor in this group? Good question.
33:55
Speaker 1: I think that what stands out is that they seem
34:01
Speaker 1: to stay a step ahead schematically. There doesn't really seem
34:04
Speaker 1: to be a lot of staleness and stagnation, and I
34:08
Speaker 1: think the root of that is a healthy relationship between
34:12
Speaker 1: the quarterback and the coaching staff. It does seem like
34:14
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is willing to buy into what's gonna work
34:18
Speaker 1: right if if he if he has to run the
34:20
Speaker 1: ball a lot in that particular game, they're just gonna
34:23
Speaker 1: do it. And he might have gotten into this a
34:25
Speaker 1: little bit at his press conference as well this weekend,
34:28
Speaker 1: just treating each game individually and not just being like
34:31
Speaker 1: a stock offense with a stock game plan, and like
34:34
Speaker 1: this is what we this is what we're gonna do
34:36
Speaker 1: weekend and weekend. Every game is so different. Every defense
34:39
Speaker 1: is going to play you differently, and sometimes, yeah, you're
34:43
Speaker 1: probably gonna have to swallow your ego and not throw
34:46
Speaker 1: the ball five fifty times. And like I said, as
34:50
Speaker 1: somebody who cover at Aaron Rodgers, that can be a
34:52
Speaker 1: problem for other teams as we as we see my God,
34:55
Speaker 1: I mean Green Bay. If they run the ball against
34:57
Speaker 1: the Giants, the Jets, the Commanders, they probably win all
35:00
Speaker 1: three of those games. Yet the quarterback doesn't want to.
35:02
Speaker 1: He's got autonomy at the line of scrimmage. He's change it,
35:05
Speaker 1: runs the passes. He's screaming at Matt Laflora on the sideline.
35:10
Speaker 1: He's telling Aaron Andrews before this last game he wants
35:12
Speaker 1: to go down swinging, throwing the ball. It's like, it's
35:16
Speaker 1: so obvious and great, sorry, I'm getting my high horse.
35:19
Speaker 1: It's just so obvious to run with a j Dillon
35:21
Speaker 1: and Aaron Jones. Work off of that with a Christian
35:25
Speaker 1: Watson and his speed one on one, and then you
35:28
Speaker 1: can beat the Dallas Cowboys in your seasons still alive.
35:32
Speaker 1: So he did that, and of course he still screamed
35:34
Speaker 1: at Laflora along the way. But to bring back the
35:36
Speaker 1: Cincinnati I mean, you don't see those issues with a
35:39
Speaker 1: team like the Bengals. It just seems like Joe Burrow,
35:42
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor, everybody's just on in page. Everybody's just gonna
35:46
Speaker 1: do what it takes to win. And in a game
35:49
Speaker 1: full of egos all over the place, that's really hard
35:52
Speaker 1: to find, it really is. So that tells me they're
35:54
Speaker 1: set up to win for a long time. I want
35:58
Speaker 1: to transition from the Bengals to former Bengal because here
36:01
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati we love Mike Zimmer. He was a great
36:04
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. He was kind of a lovable curmudgeon of
36:07
Speaker 1: a personality while he was here. That was not the
36:10
Speaker 1: case in Minnesota, at least at the end of his tenure.
36:13
Speaker 1: That may have been the way it was early on,
36:15
Speaker 1: but it wasn't at the finish. And as far as
36:17
Speaker 1: I know, you were really the first person to report
36:20
Speaker 1: this and describe how bad it had become in Minnesota
36:26
Speaker 1: at the end. How did you learn about that dysfunction
36:29
Speaker 1: in Minnesota? Yeah, there were definitely were a lot of
36:34
Speaker 1: whispers and a lot of comments from players, from coaches
36:40
Speaker 1: on staff, and I had reported on it here and
36:44
Speaker 1: there since I launched Go Along, but definitely had the
36:46
Speaker 1: series on the Minnesota Vikings ahead of this year. I
36:49
Speaker 1: think maybe encapsulated all of the issues in you know,
36:52
Speaker 1: an organized fashion where yeah, right now with Kevin O'Connell,
36:56
Speaker 1: you hear culture, culture, culture, culture, and there's that tene
37:00
Speaker 1: just want to roll your eyes and say, oh my god,
37:02
Speaker 1: I've heard this before. This is every first year head
37:04
Speaker 1: coach is going to try to fumigate the building and
37:07
Speaker 1: get everybody happy and excited to go to work. But
37:11
Speaker 1: when you really start talking to these players for the Vikings,
37:14
Speaker 1: you see it. It has substance. It's real. They needed
37:17
Speaker 1: to wake up and be excited to go to work
37:19
Speaker 1: because they weren't under Mike Zimmer. I think that you're right.
37:22
Speaker 1: Early on it was great. They needed him, Mike Zimmer.
37:26
Speaker 1: They needed the discipline. I think schematically he's brilliant defensively
37:31
Speaker 1: with the way he can devise a game plan and
37:33
Speaker 1: shut down on Aaron Rodgers at times where he can
37:36
Speaker 1: make that elite quarterback hesitate and be confused. But I
37:40
Speaker 1: just think he beat guys down physically, you know, at practice,
37:43
Speaker 1: just making guys kind of play hurt, play through injuries
37:46
Speaker 1: when they really should be arresting. There's that element. But
37:48
Speaker 1: even when his job security started to get a little
37:51
Speaker 1: shaky and his people are calling for his jobs in
37:53
Speaker 1: the medium, and he would tell his other coaches how
37:56
Speaker 1: much it just drove him nuts. Terrence S. Newman talked
37:59
Speaker 1: about this at length. And here's a Zim guy quote
38:02
Speaker 1: unquote who played for him Dallas since Minnesota, coached with
38:07
Speaker 1: him in Minnesota. So what he's coaching with him? And
38:09
Speaker 1: he's here in Zimmer I rate and upset about his
38:14
Speaker 1: job security. He's thinking as a player, like, what the
38:17
Speaker 1: hell are you so worried about? Man? Like, you got
38:19
Speaker 1: guaranteed contract. If they fire you, you're good. You can
38:22
Speaker 1: just chill, go on vacation for a year or two.
38:24
Speaker 1: These players, if you when you cut them, what you
38:27
Speaker 1: have done, their lives are uprooted. And I think that
38:30
Speaker 1: that really took him aback. And also dbs within his
38:35
Speaker 1: scheme are asked to do a lot, and I think
38:37
Speaker 1: that they got to a point, especially when you know
38:40
Speaker 1: that first group kind of got older and left and
38:42
Speaker 1: they kind of had to go to some younger dbs.
38:44
Speaker 1: These younger dbs, he just really wasn't willing to work
38:47
Speaker 1: with them. I mean, Cameron Dancer told me that when
38:49
Speaker 1: he was hurt, Zimmer was basically like, you know, he
38:52
Speaker 1: brings in somebody else and you're dead to me in
38:54
Speaker 1: so many words. And then on the field, they're just
38:57
Speaker 1: scared of their own shadow. They're they're afraid to operate
39:00
Speaker 1: off of feel and off of instincts and just seaball
39:03
Speaker 1: getball because they know, come that film session on Monday,
39:07
Speaker 1: there's going to be hell to pay, and Zimmer is
39:09
Speaker 1: just going to undress them and embarrass them and humiliate
39:12
Speaker 1: them in front of the team. So that just absolutely
39:14
Speaker 1: zaps spot in eighty which there is no coincidence that
39:18
Speaker 1: this Minnesota Vikings team loses I think seven one score
39:23
Speaker 1: games last year, maybe eight, and this year they've like
39:27
Speaker 1: they're right there with just a few teams in NFL
39:30
Speaker 1: history who have won this many one score games. I
39:32
Speaker 1: think since the O nine Colts, the on and Culture
39:35
Speaker 1: the last team to win this many one score games
39:38
Speaker 1: at this point of the season. Obviously they got to
39:39
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. I think it is culture, right. It
39:42
Speaker 1: is just being willing to operate off of instincts and
39:45
Speaker 1: feel in the fourth quarter, and that's everything. Kevin O'Connell
39:48
Speaker 1: had to change in Minnesota. Anybody that reads Go alongtd
39:52
Speaker 1: dot com knew the Vikings are going to be better
39:54
Speaker 1: this year after the series of stories you wrote at
39:57
Speaker 1: the beginning of the season, Tyler, you are based in
40:00
Speaker 1: the Buffalo area. The Bills are clearly still among the
40:02
Speaker 1: best teams in the NFL, but they are not the
40:04
Speaker 1: juggernaut that many expected. Who do you like at this
40:08
Speaker 1: point as the teams to beat? You're right, they've hit
40:11
Speaker 1: a rut. I think the Bills they had to handle
40:14
Speaker 1: some pretty unprecedented Super Bowl expectations, not not just in
40:18
Speaker 1: Buffalo but beyond. There's never been a Super Bowl favorite
40:21
Speaker 1: to that degree in Vegas, as the Bills weren't it
40:23
Speaker 1: this season. Inevitably, you're gonna hit a rut. I think
40:26
Speaker 1: they'll work through it. Josh Allen's too good to be
40:29
Speaker 1: making the mistakes he's making. At the same time, like
40:34
Speaker 1: you worry about coaching in them in that playoff moment.
40:39
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott has kind of come up shore here now
40:41
Speaker 1: a few years in a row, so it's been about
40:43
Speaker 1: January all along for the Bills, so we'll see how
40:46
Speaker 1: he steps up in that moment. I know I said
40:50
Speaker 1: it last time. It sounds like I'm pandering. I really
40:52
Speaker 1: believe that the Bengals, the Bengals with Joe Burrow and
40:57
Speaker 1: a healthy Jamar Chase and T Higgins and Tyler Boyd
41:00
Speaker 1: and Joe Mixon and the line that's gonna be better
41:03
Speaker 1: than the line they had last year. Give give me that.
41:06
Speaker 1: In this AFC, I just feel like they'll be able
41:09
Speaker 1: to keep up with any team offensively. And they're not
41:11
Speaker 1: going to be afraid of the Chiefs. I mean, they're
41:14
Speaker 1: gonna play the Chiefs anywhere. Arrowhead, you know, right there
41:18
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, pay courts, pay court State pays all right,
41:22
Speaker 1: play him anywhere. I mean, they're gonna be confident that
41:24
Speaker 1: they can beat that team. So I think Kansas City,
41:27
Speaker 1: I think Cincinnati. I love Lamar Jackson, but so far
41:32
Speaker 1: he's kind of plateaued. He you know, we haven't seen
41:35
Speaker 1: him dominate at the level you need to dominate in
41:38
Speaker 1: the postseason when you have to take your layups, work
41:41
Speaker 1: the ball down the field, be accurate, and then Joe
41:45
Speaker 1: Burrows the most accurate quarterback in the NFL. I would
41:48
Speaker 1: still put Cincinnati ahead of Baltimore. I think Buffalo be
41:52
Speaker 1: in the mix. I'll tell you what one team that
41:54
Speaker 1: I'll have a series on next week, particularly the quarterback Miami.
41:58
Speaker 1: I think that too a tongue of Bio and Mike
42:00
Speaker 1: McDaniel Tyree killing Jaylen Waddle. It's just been a perfect
42:04
Speaker 1: storm where when they get going on offense, man, it's
42:08
Speaker 1: it's like watching NBA jam on a football field. It's
42:11
Speaker 1: like they're on fire and they cannot be stopped. And yeah,
42:13
Speaker 1: they've got deficiencies on defense, but I think that that
42:17
Speaker 1: would scare me if I'm any team in the AFC.
42:19
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, to give you three Kansas City since
42:22
Speaker 1: the Miami, I wouldn't surprise any of any of those
42:24
Speaker 1: three teams with the distance. I'm with you on Miami.
42:27
Speaker 1: I think they are trending up. They remind me of
42:30
Speaker 1: the Bengals last year quite honestly. All Right, so we
42:36
Speaker 1: have the dam pitcher Joe Burrows story to look forward to. Additionally,
42:40
Speaker 1: you have written a book, The Blood and Guts How
42:43
Speaker 1: tight Ends Save Football. What made you want to write
42:48
Speaker 1: about the tight end position and some of the greats
42:50
Speaker 1: that have played it? Gotch I've always wanted to write
42:53
Speaker 1: a book, you know, being a long form guy and
42:56
Speaker 1: wanting to throw myself into it, into a topic. I
43:00
Speaker 1: just didn't know what it was going to be, right.
43:01
Speaker 1: I didn't really want to write specifically about one team
43:04
Speaker 1: or one player. Nothing was kind of inspiring me down
43:07
Speaker 1: those lines. But you know, I've grown up in football,
43:09
Speaker 1: havn't played it and covered it my whole life. I
43:12
Speaker 1: love the sport, the real sport, real football, not this
43:15
Speaker 1: overly sanitized version, not this utopian middle ground the NFL's
43:20
Speaker 1: trying to find. I guess that's kind of what got
43:22
Speaker 1: me thinking about this Dan where we're sitting at home
43:24
Speaker 1: watching a game. The flags are flying, you know, the
43:27
Speaker 1: Chris jones Is and Grady Jareds of the world this year.
43:30
Speaker 1: I mean, they tackle the quarterback and they're just taking
43:33
Speaker 1: away in cuffs. It just drives me insane. I feel
43:35
Speaker 1: like the NFL is just in this everlasting pursuit of
43:41
Speaker 1: convincing moms across America that football is safe. They're trying
43:45
Speaker 1: to find a middle ground that doesn't exist. Look, there's
43:48
Speaker 1: an inherent risk, there's an inherent violence to the sport,
43:51
Speaker 1: and that's okay. I think that once the NFL could
43:53
Speaker 1: just own it and no, this is what we are,
43:57
Speaker 1: and it would eliminate a lot of problems because the
43:59
Speaker 1: players know what they're getting into, especially now with awareness
44:02
Speaker 1: of concussions at an all time high. So I was
44:05
Speaker 1: trying to figure out love the game, a little concerned
44:08
Speaker 1: about where the game's going, what can preserve real football?
44:11
Speaker 1: And the more I really thought about it, it's that
44:13
Speaker 1: tight end position because you have to do everything right.
44:16
Speaker 1: You're in the trenches, you're getting bruised and bloodied, and
44:20
Speaker 1: you're doing all the stuff that alignment has to do.
44:22
Speaker 1: Yet you still have the glitz and glamor outside. You
44:24
Speaker 1: still gotta make a play down the field with eighty
44:27
Speaker 1: thousand screaming fans and the world watching, and that combination
44:31
Speaker 1: I think really kind of encapsulates everything that we love
44:35
Speaker 1: about football. But honestly, you know, the more I really
44:39
Speaker 1: started working on this book and traveling around the country,
44:41
Speaker 1: hanging out with Mike Dicka, Tony Gonzalez, Ben Coats, Jeremy Shockey,
44:46
Speaker 1: Grant Kittle, all these guys, I think it became a
44:49
Speaker 1: book as much about the human condition and life, and
44:53
Speaker 1: you know, they'll have you kind of staring through your
44:54
Speaker 1: own soul, trying to trying to figure out why why
44:57
Speaker 1: we're on this planet. So it was awesome. I mean
45:00
Speaker 1: it became such a labor love, a passion project. I
45:04
Speaker 1: didn't want it to end, Honestly, I had deadlines I
45:06
Speaker 1: had to meet and stuff. I feel like I could
45:08
Speaker 1: have been talking to these tight ends for the next
45:09
Speaker 1: ten years. They were just an absolute riot. I think
45:12
Speaker 1: what people will learn too is, you know, outside of Gronk,
45:16
Speaker 1: who idolized Jeremy Shockey, you know, living like there's no tomorrow,
45:20
Speaker 1: partying like there's no tomorrow, he wanted that rock star life.
45:23
Speaker 1: He wanted to be a tight end. For the most part,
45:25
Speaker 1: the position chooses you like you have a set of
45:29
Speaker 1: characteristics as a human being, your you know, your Dallas Clark,
45:33
Speaker 1: a walk on at Iowa, mowing the field at Kinnocks Stadium,
45:37
Speaker 1: selling the campus newspaper, serving as a dummy for psychology
45:42
Speaker 1: students and Dennis students just to make an extra twenty bucks,
45:46
Speaker 1: scratching and clawn and eventually Kirk Ferren says, you're You're
45:49
Speaker 1: not a linebacker, You're a terrible linebacker. You're a tight end.
45:52
Speaker 1: And it's like all of these indomitable traits inside, like
45:55
Speaker 1: Dalla's cluck just shine, and he is exactly what Peyton man.
45:58
Speaker 1: He needs to just take that offense to other level,
46:00
Speaker 1: or you're Jimmy Graham instead of a group home, fearing
46:03
Speaker 1: for your life, fighting kids on a daily basis, feeling
46:06
Speaker 1: your face break. In one instance, specifically that he gets
46:10
Speaker 1: into where he feels like he's gonna die to survive
46:12
Speaker 1: that world, he naturally, organically was just going to become
46:16
Speaker 1: a tight end and changed the position in his own way.
46:20
Speaker 1: It was it was a riot. It was so much fun.
46:22
Speaker 1: I'm just glad that people can kind of hear the
46:24
Speaker 1: stories that I heard this past year. Sounds like great stuff.
46:29
Speaker 1: Tyler Dunn writes about the NFL and podcast about the
46:32
Speaker 1: NFL at golongtd dot com. I am a subscriber. I
46:36
Speaker 1: am proudly rocking my golonghoodie as we speak. For folks
46:41
Speaker 1: not familiar with what you do, share a little bit
46:43
Speaker 1: more about golongtd dot com. Absolutely appreciate it. You know,
46:48
Speaker 1: I just really want to cover the game through a
46:50
Speaker 1: long form lens. I really feel like year to year,
46:54
Speaker 1: season to season, the game is really it's covered more
46:59
Speaker 1: than ever before, right, I Mean, there's all sorts of
47:02
Speaker 1: ways you can consume the NFL, but a lot of
47:04
Speaker 1: it is fast food. A lot of it's takes and
47:06
Speaker 1: memes and gifts and tweets and takes, and it's in
47:09
Speaker 1: real time, right. We're just kind of absorbing it throughout
47:12
Speaker 1: the day, and we're not really getting the substance. We're
47:14
Speaker 1: not really taking a deep breath and learning the how
47:16
Speaker 1: and the why behind what we see on Sundays. So
47:19
Speaker 1: I really want to just create a home for long
47:22
Speaker 1: form journalism that will just kind of last forever, where
47:26
Speaker 1: we get to know the players and the coaches and
47:29
Speaker 1: the teams on a deeper level and really explain the
47:32
Speaker 1: game in a deeper way. So yeah, golong tv dot com.
47:35
Speaker 1: You can sign up for free if you'd like, or
47:38
Speaker 1: you can just get a full subscription eight a month
47:41
Speaker 1: fifty a year to get all the features and all
47:43
Speaker 1: the podcasts. I do a podcast as well with Isaiah
47:45
Speaker 1: McKenzie for The Bills. We meet up at a at
47:48
Speaker 1: a bar here in Western New York and he breaks
47:50
Speaker 1: the game down at a different level. And my podcast
47:53
Speaker 1: co host, Jim Otis was a longtime NFL scout as well,
47:57
Speaker 1: And obviously the bread and butter are these long form stories.
47:59
Speaker 1: So last time I was on your podcast, Dan, the
48:02
Speaker 1: Bengal fans were unbelievable and subscribe in droves and I
48:06
Speaker 1: cannot thank everybody out there enough. So if anybody out
48:10
Speaker 1: there would like to subscribe annually, you're right. If you
48:13
Speaker 1: want to go bigger, go home right, hit that annual
48:16
Speaker 1: subscription and we will send you a copy of the
48:19
Speaker 1: Blood and Guts and go along. So it would love
48:22
Speaker 1: it if people want to do that, and I'll just
48:24
Speaker 1: personally sign a copy and you know, get a two
48:27
Speaker 1: for one special. You got a market a little bit right.
48:29
Speaker 1: That's the whole world that's been new to me. The
48:31
Speaker 1: marketing of your product is as a work in progress,
48:34
Speaker 1: but the Bengal fans were so amazing that I'd be
48:38
Speaker 1: dumb to not offer something here. Well, I'm sure they
48:41
Speaker 1: appreciate it. And I can virtually guarantee that anybody that
48:45
Speaker 1: subscribed previously after hearing you on this podcast is happy
48:48
Speaker 1: that they did because the content is phenomenal. I enjoy
48:52
Speaker 1: getting those notifications in my inbox and it's always great
48:57
Speaker 1: to chat Tyler. Thanks for the time. Really look forward
48:59
Speaker 1: to the Dan picture Joe Purrow's story. They no thank you, Dan,
49:03
Speaker 1: really appreciate the kind words and it's always great coming on.
49:06
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. Bengals Boot Podcast is presented by
49:10
Speaker 1: Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with
49:13
Speaker 1: tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside
49:18
Speaker 1: the Bengals app. The Bengals are a four point favorite
49:21
Speaker 1: this week because they head to Pittsburgh to take on
49:23
Speaker 1: the three and six Steelers. The Steelers have changed quarterbacks
49:27
Speaker 1: since their three point overtime win over the Bengals in
49:30
Speaker 1: Week one. Mitch Drubiski is out. First ground draft pick,
49:34
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett out of the University of Pittsburgh is in.
49:38
Speaker 1: That's where I began this week's No The Faux segment
49:40
Speaker 1: with the pregame host of the Steelers Radio Network, Tim Bens. Tim,
49:46
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett's stats are bad, but that can be deceiving.
49:49
Speaker 1: How is he played and is he getting better? He's
49:52
Speaker 1: showing progress in terms of the very basic things like
50:00
Speaker 1: getting everybody lined up. He's taking care of the ball better.
50:04
Speaker 1: At least he did against the Saints. No turnovers, no interceptions,
50:07
Speaker 1: that was a first for him. They got a couple
50:10
Speaker 1: of red zone touchdowns. They were able to stay on
50:13
Speaker 1: the field, and they converted ten I believe, third plus
50:19
Speaker 1: fourth down conversions, So he's getting better there by all accounts,
50:24
Speaker 1: he's getting better for his role in executing the run game,
50:29
Speaker 1: like real basic stuff. And when Tomlin was asked about
50:33
Speaker 1: that this week, because the past game seemed to be
50:36
Speaker 1: the thing that's lagging the most still with the Steelers,
50:40
Speaker 1: he really complimented pick Up and really sold hard what
50:44
Speaker 1: he's doing. And I think that was as much dan
50:48
Speaker 1: strategic as it was of valuatives, if that makes any sense. Like,
50:53
Speaker 1: I think that was as much about giving him confidence
50:57
Speaker 1: and giving the fan base confidence that this is the
51:00
Speaker 1: right guy. He's getting better as opposed to Tomlin's truest
51:05
Speaker 1: assessment of what his play is. In other words, I
51:09
Speaker 1: do think there's some grading on a curve going on here.
51:12
Speaker 1: Salesmanship is part of the job, no question about that.
51:15
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Steelers pregame host Tim Bens. The Bengals
51:18
Speaker 1: could not protect Joe Burrow back in Week one. T J.
51:22
Speaker 1: Watt got injured in that game, but he's back now.
51:25
Speaker 1: Does everybody have trouble protecting their quarterback when t J.
51:29
Speaker 1: Watt is part of the Steelers defense. Yes, yeah, I
51:33
Speaker 1: mean the record indicates that. I do think there's a
51:36
Speaker 1: bit of a correlation with how good the quarterbacks and
51:40
Speaker 1: the lines have been. When TJ has been healthy, He's
51:43
Speaker 1: really exploited some of those things. Offensive lines that aren't
51:47
Speaker 1: so great, quarterbacks who are on the severe downside or
51:51
Speaker 1: very early in their careers, things like that. But the
51:54
Speaker 1: bottom line answer your question is everybody has a problem
51:57
Speaker 1: with Watt and everybody else, and the Steelers defense gets
52:01
Speaker 1: better when he's in there. I mean, look at Alex Highsmith.
52:04
Speaker 1: He's got eight and a half sacks, and I think
52:05
Speaker 1: five and a half have come in the two games
52:07
Speaker 1: where Wat's been healthy that he's gotten three and all
52:10
Speaker 1: the others. I think a lot of his sacks are
52:13
Speaker 1: product of offensive lines, offensive coordinators paying attention to where
52:19
Speaker 1: Watt is, and then Highsmith good enough to win one
52:21
Speaker 1: on one battles against some tackles like to see more
52:25
Speaker 1: when Watt isn't on the field, for sure, but that
52:28
Speaker 1: manifested nicely against the Saints, and I thought TJ was
52:32
Speaker 1: real good in the run game against the Saints. He
52:34
Speaker 1: was still disruptive. They still had a hard time with him.
52:37
Speaker 1: Even though he didn't have a gaudy stat line as
52:41
Speaker 1: he normally does. High Smith was dominant against the Bengals,
52:44
Speaker 1: no question about that with t J. Watt on the field.
52:47
Speaker 1: Speaking of dominant, Minka Fitzpatrick had one of the best
52:50
Speaker 1: games of his career in Week one to pick six
52:52
Speaker 1: on the Bengals opening drive. He blocked the pat to
52:54
Speaker 1: force ot he missed last week after having an appendeck
52:58
Speaker 1: tomy to ex becked him to be out on Sunday.
53:02
Speaker 1: Boy Tomlin was sure trying to sell that. That might
53:05
Speaker 1: be more of your salesman talk there, and that might
53:07
Speaker 1: be something that he's trying to sell because the Bengals
53:10
Speaker 1: would likely have to prepare a lot for Minca being
53:13
Speaker 1: back there. But you know, if they're coming up with
53:16
Speaker 1: a Plan A and a Plan B with or without Fitzpatrick,
53:19
Speaker 1: that would have been a heck of a lot easier
53:21
Speaker 1: to do. Before Demante Kyz became eligible to come off
53:25
Speaker 1: of injury reserve and after getting past that NFL suspension
53:29
Speaker 1: that he was on. Was coincided because he was real good.
53:33
Speaker 1: I thought against New Orleans. I thought he was real
53:35
Speaker 1: good during the preseason two and there are a lot
53:38
Speaker 1: of folks myself included that we're excited to see what
53:41
Speaker 1: he and Fitzpatrick could be together, and we still haven't
53:45
Speaker 1: seen that and may not see that this week against
53:47
Speaker 1: since if Fitzpatrick doesn't get medical clearance. But I think
53:52
Speaker 1: since Minka has gotten here, Kaz is the closest fac
53:56
Speaker 1: similarly to replace Minka when he's not on the field.
54:01
Speaker 1: So if they go at the free safety position test
54:04
Speaker 1: the free safety position deep like other teams have when
54:07
Speaker 1: Minka has not been available due to COVID or injury
54:11
Speaker 1: or what have you, in some games, it might be
54:13
Speaker 1: harder to pull off because I think Casey's a pretty
54:16
Speaker 1: good player that can do some MINCA light minca like
54:20
Speaker 1: things that others that have been on the roster cannot.
54:25
Speaker 1: The Steelers traded for our old friend Will Jackson, and
54:28
Speaker 1: then he almost immediately went injured on injured reserves, so
54:30
Speaker 1: we won't play against the Bengals. But what was the
54:32
Speaker 1: reaction to Pittsburgh picking up Will Jackson in that trade
54:35
Speaker 1: from Washington. I think the reaction was, well, do we
54:40
Speaker 1: all get to go back to twenty sixteen and seventeen
54:42
Speaker 1: and maybe replace some of the playoff games that happened
54:45
Speaker 1: in those years because it sort of felt like they
54:47
Speaker 1: were chasing a ghost, you know, like that's the first
54:50
Speaker 1: reaction that I had, because I don't think Jackson turned
54:53
Speaker 1: into what thee the Steelers thought he would be. Certainly
54:57
Speaker 1: already Burns did not the guy that they got when
54:59
Speaker 1: the Bengals scooped up Jackson the draft and the Steelers
55:01
Speaker 1: wanted him. You know, there was a lot of talking
55:05
Speaker 1: the city into while it was a bad fit in Washington,
55:08
Speaker 1: and his back is fine and YadA YadA, and then
55:11
Speaker 1: he gets here in the back is such a problem
55:13
Speaker 1: that they can't even play him much more than one practice.
55:16
Speaker 1: So you know, this might be what they try to
55:20
Speaker 1: do with the Kelley Witherspoon, pick him up kind of midseason,
55:23
Speaker 1: incubate him, get him to learn the system, and then
55:26
Speaker 1: see what you have to start the next season. And
55:29
Speaker 1: hopefully they get more mileage out of Jackson to start
55:32
Speaker 1: next season than they did with Witherspoon this year, whereas
55:35
Speaker 1: Witherspoon gave him a little bit more towards the end
55:37
Speaker 1: of last year. Our guest the Steelers pregame host Tim Bens.
55:41
Speaker 1: This game has been flexed out of Sunday Night Football,
55:44
Speaker 1: and while NBC would never say it. The reason is
55:46
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh is three and six. How did the team and
55:50
Speaker 1: Steelers fans react to this game? Being flexed a little
55:55
Speaker 1: surprised because I think that even understanding that this Steelers
56:00
Speaker 1: are three and six, even understanding that it was the
56:03
Speaker 1: Chiefs and Chargers that went in, the thinking was well,
56:06
Speaker 1: gosh and still Bengal Steelers. And even though they might
56:09
Speaker 1: not be as bad blood oriented as they were, say
56:12
Speaker 1: five years ago, they still tend to play crazy, goofy,
56:16
Speaker 1: wild games, just like Week one of this year. I mean,
56:20
Speaker 1: you didn't have the Porter versus pac Man, Juju versus
56:24
Speaker 1: Burfix stuff in that first game, but it was still
56:26
Speaker 1: a nutty game. And crazy things tend to happen when
56:30
Speaker 1: the Steelers and Bengals playing. The games stay close, and
56:32
Speaker 1: that's good for ratings. The Steelers still have a good
56:36
Speaker 1: national fan base that watches. You know, it's still a
56:39
Speaker 1: good crowd here last week against the Saints, even though
56:42
Speaker 1: the Steelers are out of it. And you know, I know,
56:44
Speaker 1: the Bengals aren't looking like a Super Bowl repeat team
56:49
Speaker 1: out of the AFC either. They're maybe not as touted
56:52
Speaker 1: as they were towards the end of last season. But
56:55
Speaker 1: I still think they've got a little bit. It's not
56:59
Speaker 1: as much juice close as much juice as the Chargers do.
57:01
Speaker 1: So yeah, I was surprised. I think some people, you
57:04
Speaker 1: know people, if you could move a Monday night game,
57:06
Speaker 1: and folks said, well, we're not gonna have him play
57:08
Speaker 1: on Monday night against the Colts. I don't think anybody
57:10
Speaker 1: would have batted an eye. But because it was the Bengals,
57:13
Speaker 1: because there's so much fun history there, meat on the
57:16
Speaker 1: bone there for the networks, it was surprising that this
57:19
Speaker 1: game was flexed. Yes, the Steelers ran for more than
57:23
Speaker 1: two hundred yards last week and the win over the Saints,
57:25
Speaker 1: they had four runs of twenty or more. Just a
57:29
Speaker 1: good week or something that's been building. Good question, I
57:34
Speaker 1: think it's been building a little bit. I would love
57:37
Speaker 1: to say that it's just the offensive line has totally
57:41
Speaker 1: gelled and come together. But then the pass blocking, which
57:43
Speaker 1: it looked pretty decent in previous weeks, has taken a
57:46
Speaker 1: step back the last two and they've allowed six sacks.
57:49
Speaker 1: But I could put a lot of that in the
57:50
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback as well. I think it was a good
57:53
Speaker 1: match up against the Saints the records of teams when
57:56
Speaker 1: they played Baltimore than Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh and Baltimore a
57:59
Speaker 1: lousy let alone going on the road after a Monday
58:02
Speaker 1: night game. I think that had something to do with it.
58:04
Speaker 1: I do not expect them to push around the front
58:07
Speaker 1: of the Bengals the same way they did the Saints.
58:10
Speaker 1: I don't expect them to have the ball for nearly
58:12
Speaker 1: thirty nine minutes. Again, just the occasional pop of a
58:15
Speaker 1: big run like you talked about before, that has been
58:18
Speaker 1: absent from this team. Big plays in general have been
58:21
Speaker 1: absent from this team. So even to get a few
58:24
Speaker 1: of those to maintain drives move the sticks without having
58:28
Speaker 1: to do everything right ten eleven, twelve plays at a time,
58:33
Speaker 1: and a drive to get a chunk like that on
58:36
Speaker 1: the ground once or twice against Cincinnati, that would be
58:39
Speaker 1: good enough for me to feel like there is still
58:41
Speaker 1: some progress being made off the Saints game, even if
58:44
Speaker 1: the numbers aren't as gaudy as the ones that you
58:46
Speaker 1: and I have been pointing to here. Final question for
58:49
Speaker 1: Steelers pregame host Tim Benns Mike Tomlin famously has this
58:53
Speaker 1: streak of no losing seasons. It's at fifteen years and counting,
58:56
Speaker 1: it's obviously in jeopardy this year. The Steelers are three
58:59
Speaker 1: and six right now, Pittsburgh would have the tenth pick
59:02
Speaker 1: in the draft. Based on your interaction with Steelers fans,
59:07
Speaker 1: would they rather rally to extend the streak or climb
59:11
Speaker 1: the draft board. I don't think that they care about
59:15
Speaker 1: the streak. I think that some I'll say many Steelers
59:20
Speaker 1: fans are a bit frustrated by the streak because it's
59:24
Speaker 1: great to talk about when you brag about your organization.
59:29
Speaker 1: They don't like to do it to defend Tomlin when
59:32
Speaker 1: he has had a playoff win in six years, you know,
59:35
Speaker 1: like they tend to bludgeon people with that streak when
59:39
Speaker 1: they're talking about the emblem. But when it comes to
59:42
Speaker 1: evaluating Tomlin, people don't like to hear about the streak
59:44
Speaker 1: because it's been a while since they've had a playoff win.
59:46
Speaker 1: So I think the analysis of where the Steelers are,
59:51
Speaker 1: I think Monday through Saturday people are like, well, I
59:54
Speaker 1: don't care if they went. If they lose, so what
59:56
Speaker 1: they'll be up in the draft. Maybe they'll be close
59:58
Speaker 1: to top ten pick and maybe they can get a
1:00:00
Speaker 1: I like bet again, on defense, or the guy like
1:00:02
Speaker 1: Ben again on the offensive line, or maybe they can
1:00:04
Speaker 1: just get another Ben and get rid of Picket, Like
1:00:06
Speaker 1: you know, you've heard every theory under the sun already
1:00:08
Speaker 1: of what they would do with that top ten pick, right,
1:00:11
Speaker 1: But then Sunday rolls around, they beat the snot out
1:00:15
Speaker 1: of the Saints, and everybody's joyous that they finally got
1:00:17
Speaker 1: to win again. So you know, I just I think
1:00:20
Speaker 1: the tanking is not in the blood of the fan
1:00:22
Speaker 1: base here. They kind of talk about it during the week.
1:00:25
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be better if they're in the top ten?
1:00:27
Speaker 1: And then one o'clock rolls around, the lots are full
1:00:30
Speaker 1: oft Hinesfield and renegade plays and they're waving terrible towels
1:00:33
Speaker 1: and TJ's back out there, and it's, you know, if
1:00:35
Speaker 1: they lose the game in their math, that they lose.
1:00:37
Speaker 1: So I think that's kind of where the where the
1:00:39
Speaker 1: fan base is on it. Tim, great stuff as always,
1:00:42
Speaker 1: much appreciated. See you Sunday at Acqushuer Stadium. I am
1:00:46
Speaker 1: one for one and getting the stadium's name right this week.
1:00:49
Speaker 1: So my consecutive accuser streak ended at week eight for
1:00:55
Speaker 1: a week eight and much like a no hitter. I
1:00:57
Speaker 1: bragged about it in one segment of the Free Game Show,
1:01:00
Speaker 1: and then I blew it in the next hour, So
1:01:02
Speaker 1: I'm now a victim of my own broadcaster's cursed. Yeah. Well,
1:01:08
Speaker 1: since I just bragged about being one for one, I'm
1:01:10
Speaker 1: guaranteed to botch it on Sunday. It's the historical references
1:01:15
Speaker 1: that get you. You catch yourself by saying Heinesfield when
1:01:18
Speaker 1: you're talking about a game in like twenty seventeen, So
1:01:21
Speaker 1: you have to add the caveat of what it was
1:01:23
Speaker 1: called what used to be formally known as Heinz Field.
1:01:27
Speaker 1: You gotta weave that in and get used to it.
1:01:30
Speaker 1: That's going to do it. For this episode of the
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Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan
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Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast