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Bengals Booth Podcast: Whatever It Takes · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi and everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Boots podcast. The I do whatever it takes. Addition,
0:13
Speaker 1: as the Bengals begin practicing in California for Sunday's Super
0:17
Speaker 1: Bowl matchup against the Rams. Coming up, I'll talk to
0:20
Speaker 1: Chris Collinsworth. He'll call the game with Al Michaels on
0:23
Speaker 1: NBC and shares his thoughts on Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase
0:28
Speaker 1: and the biggest keys to Sunday's game. Then I'll be
0:32
Speaker 1: joined by my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham to discuss a
0:35
Speaker 1: variety of topics, including one of the biggest challenges on Sunday,
0:39
Speaker 1: trying to block Aaron Donald. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
0:43
Speaker 1: presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next Level
0:47
Speaker 1: Fantasy Football game, downloaded now from the app Store and
0:50
Speaker 1: Google Play, and by on Location, the official hospitality partner
0:55
Speaker 1: of the NFL. Visit on Location exp dot com or
1:00
Speaker 1: exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL all
1:04
Speaker 1: season long, including Sunday Super Bowl. Here's a quick reminder
1:08
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
1:11
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
1:14
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since
1:20
Speaker 1: getting a police escort. I called a UC basketball game
1:24
Speaker 1: on Wednesday night in Tampa and the team got a
1:27
Speaker 1: police escort from the hotel to the arena before the game.
1:31
Speaker 1: The rush hour traffic was brutal, but the team bus
1:34
Speaker 1: was able to swerve and slalom down the interstate like
1:37
Speaker 1: a Formula One race car. In fact, when we got
1:40
Speaker 1: to the arena, one member of the traveling party said
1:44
Speaker 1: he needed dramamine for motion sickness. It's easy to get
1:48
Speaker 1: spoiled when you travel with a professional or major college
1:51
Speaker 1: sports team, and the police escort is one of the
1:54
Speaker 1: nicest perks. Now, let's get to my guests, beginning with
1:59
Speaker 1: the premier TV analyst in the NFL, has evidenced by
2:03
Speaker 1: his sixteen Sports Emmy Awards. He played in both of
2:08
Speaker 1: the Bengals previous Super Bowls, and he'll be on the
2:10
Speaker 1: broadcast team this Sunday for NBC. It is great to
2:13
Speaker 1: visit with Chris Collinsworth. Chris, you are fond of calling
2:17
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow that cigar smoking son of a gun. What
2:21
Speaker 1: are some of the things you like most about the
2:23
Speaker 1: Bengals quarterback. I wish I were as cool as he is,
2:28
Speaker 1: you know, don't you. I Mean, every once in a
2:30
Speaker 1: while you meet somebody and you go, I've been living
2:33
Speaker 1: for sixty three years. That kids twinever twenty five years old,
2:38
Speaker 1: and he is a hundred times cooler. But I am like,
2:41
Speaker 1: how do you get that way after twenty five years
2:46
Speaker 1: of your life? You know? And the first time I
2:49
Speaker 1: saw him wearing some of those outfits and the rose
2:52
Speaker 1: colored glasses and all, and now I'm like, I want
2:56
Speaker 1: to go buy a pair of If he wins this game,
2:58
Speaker 1: I'm taking off my by NBC blazer and I'm going
3:01
Speaker 1: to go down and grab that jacket and wear it
3:04
Speaker 1: off the air and say see you guys next season.
3:08
Speaker 1: He's special, right, he is? And I think that I'm
3:12
Speaker 1: trying to make a comparison and maybe Pete Rose, you know,
3:15
Speaker 1: some home browne talent that comes in here and is
3:21
Speaker 1: the superstar of the favorite franchise, And there just isn't
3:28
Speaker 1: a comparison that I can And it's hard to describe
3:31
Speaker 1: what he means to Cincinnati. But I don't know that
3:34
Speaker 1: there's been a football player on the Cincinnati Bengals team
3:39
Speaker 1: in its history maybe Greg Cook. I wasn't around for that,
3:43
Speaker 1: but in its history that would mean more than what
3:47
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow means to this community. When did you start
3:51
Speaker 1: to think this team could compete with the elite teams
3:54
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Yeah, right after Evan McPherson made that
3:58
Speaker 1: kick against Kansas Fitting. You know, I think that all
4:02
Speaker 1: along there was is this really happening thing, right And
4:09
Speaker 1: when they played the Chiefs. I think the first time
4:12
Speaker 1: I really felt that was when they beat Baltimore in Baltimore.
4:17
Speaker 1: You know that I went, hey, hey, this is this
4:21
Speaker 1: is a little different, because that is a team that
4:24
Speaker 1: could torment the Bengals. I know the Bengals involved also
4:28
Speaker 1: tormented them some in the past, but I think some
4:32
Speaker 1: of those plays that Chase made, the catch and run
4:36
Speaker 1: plays when they were down fourteen to nothing and looked
4:40
Speaker 1: like they could be out of games against Kansas City
4:43
Speaker 1: and against Baltimore, that slant that he caught and broke
4:46
Speaker 1: three tackles and spun out of there, and I was like,
4:50
Speaker 1: and these guys are just different. They're good. And I
4:53
Speaker 1: thought te Higgins stepping up in the in the championship
4:57
Speaker 1: game when they really kind of took away Jamar and
5:00
Speaker 1: really one of my favorite players on this team is
5:02
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. I think Tyler Boyd is a street fighter
5:06
Speaker 1: from some other lifetime somewhere that just always has a
5:11
Speaker 1: knack for the biggest moments and those big third downs
5:14
Speaker 1: when it's third and four and everybody in the building
5:17
Speaker 1: knows where the ball is going to go, and yet
5:19
Speaker 1: he still makes that play and converts it. There's just
5:23
Speaker 1: a lot to really like about this football team. Taking
5:26
Speaker 1: Chase instead of pinas Sewell was obviously somewhat controversial at
5:30
Speaker 1: the time. Did we learn something from the success the
5:34
Speaker 1: Bengals have had in that pick? I do think that's true.
5:38
Speaker 1: And as you look around, the game of football is evolving,
5:42
Speaker 1: and you know that it's what is it now? Well,
5:46
Speaker 1: right now, offensive linemen are allowed to legally hold like
5:49
Speaker 1: you would have been arrested. Anthony Munos would have been
5:52
Speaker 1: arrested when I played if he wrapped both arms around
5:55
Speaker 1: the shoulder pad. So these guys and yet it's okay now,
5:59
Speaker 1: And I think that's a decent rule because what's the
6:02
Speaker 1: most important thing in the world. I gotta let's protect
6:04
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks because football is not nearly as much fun
6:08
Speaker 1: when those guys are out of the game at the
6:10
Speaker 1: end of the year and all that sort of stuff.
6:12
Speaker 1: So but if you're going to do it that way,
6:15
Speaker 1: then those receivers are you know, you've got to have
6:19
Speaker 1: those next, and then you have to have people that
6:21
Speaker 1: can block for him and pass Russian. But I think
6:26
Speaker 1: the three of these receivers are so complimentary. You know,
6:31
Speaker 1: the big body outside with te Higgins, the shiftiness of
6:35
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd inside and the clutch play. And then this
6:39
Speaker 1: is the greatness of Jamar Chase. And I'm hoping that
6:42
Speaker 1: c j Uzama can play in this game because so
6:45
Speaker 1: many times that he baked those sort of breakout plays
6:48
Speaker 1: during the course of the season. So yeah, I'm very exciting.
6:52
Speaker 1: But maybe the thing I'm most excited about is the
6:55
Speaker 1: way this defense seems to be coming together too. I Mean,
6:58
Speaker 1: these guys came. They were basically kicked out of a
7:01
Speaker 1: lot of different places, right, I mean they were they
7:04
Speaker 1: were unwanted where they were, or at least unwanted at
7:07
Speaker 1: the price that they the Bengals were willing to pay.
7:11
Speaker 1: And to see the second half that they put together
7:13
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs pretty remarkable. Chris, you became the first
7:16
Speaker 1: person to ever use Anthony Munos and arrested in the
7:20
Speaker 1: same sentence. By the way, I should just just point
7:22
Speaker 1: that out. So let's talk about the current Bengals offensive
7:26
Speaker 1: line trying to block Aaron Donald, Von Miller, etc. Is
7:29
Speaker 1: that the key matchup of this Super Bowl? Yeah, no
7:33
Speaker 1: question about it, it really is. And um, you know,
7:36
Speaker 1: we've seen other defenses have weak spots on them, and
7:43
Speaker 1: when you get that, you're gonna see Aaron Donald over
7:46
Speaker 1: you a lot. Um. And so I think that Aaron
7:50
Speaker 1: Donald one of two things. I mean, they love that
7:53
Speaker 1: overload rush. They're gonna put Greg Gaines and Von Miller
7:57
Speaker 1: and Aaron Donald all on the same side, which is
8:01
Speaker 1: going to force you to block Aaron Donald one on one.
8:06
Speaker 1: It's going to be literally impossible to bring that far
8:09
Speaker 1: side guard across to help because if you do, then
8:13
Speaker 1: you still have to deal with Leonard Floyd or a
8:15
Speaker 1: blitzing Troy Reader coming down that line. So it's a
8:19
Speaker 1: very difficult thing. You'll see them lined up extremely why
8:23
Speaker 1: bond Miller maybe five yards outside the tackle, Aaron Donald
8:27
Speaker 1: maybe a yard outside the tackle, and Greg Gaines in
8:31
Speaker 1: there on the center to keep the center from going
8:33
Speaker 1: out and helping, And then here comes Aaron Donald with
8:37
Speaker 1: about a five yard running start at either Quentin Spain
8:40
Speaker 1: or Achemandenagy or Jackson Carmen or whoever it may be
8:46
Speaker 1: inside and von Miller the same on your tackle. And
8:50
Speaker 1: so Joe Burrow has to either get it out or
8:54
Speaker 1: rely on those angels that seem to tell him when
8:57
Speaker 1: danger's coming in some ways, try and make another one
9:01
Speaker 1: of those magical escapes other side of the ball. What
9:05
Speaker 1: are some key things the Bengals have to do to
9:07
Speaker 1: slow down Stafford and company. I've got to tell you,
9:10
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed watching this secondary play. You know, chitabey
9:16
Speaker 1: Auge was supposed to be the answer when in Dallas
9:19
Speaker 1: when he was drafted. Eli Apple was supposed to be
9:22
Speaker 1: the answer. In New York. Mike Hilton made plays forever
9:27
Speaker 1: with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Von Bell with the Saints. And
9:31
Speaker 1: yet somehow, when they put this whole thing together with
9:34
Speaker 1: the homegrown Jesse Bates, the hole has been better than
9:38
Speaker 1: the sum of the parts, you know, or better than
9:41
Speaker 1: the parts, I should say. And and that's fun to
9:44
Speaker 1: see in football because it does happen. Trey Hendrickson with
9:49
Speaker 1: New Orleans basically as a phenomenal year. It always the
9:52
Speaker 1: a thirteen sacks something like that down there, you know,
9:56
Speaker 1: we really we're okay. If you leave, we're okay. And
10:00
Speaker 1: and he's wearing that. Sam Hubbard out of Mueller High
10:03
Speaker 1: School comes into this thing. Logan Wilson, the green dot,
10:06
Speaker 1: the guy who's running the show. And you think of
10:09
Speaker 1: all these teams, and every game has come down to
10:13
Speaker 1: an interception to turn the tide, you know, every single
10:16
Speaker 1: one of them. Logan whistling off the tip ball by
10:19
Speaker 1: Eli Apple. You know, in the last game, you've got
10:22
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates and Von Bell with that one, just every
10:27
Speaker 1: single one of these, and then the one before that,
10:29
Speaker 1: of course, Jermaine Pratt with the interception on the goal
10:31
Speaker 1: line against the Raiders. And it's been a defensive phenomenal
10:38
Speaker 1: play that has turned the tide. And it's unexpected, you know.
10:43
Speaker 1: I think that's the unexpected part of what Lowe has
10:47
Speaker 1: been able to do with this defense is they've just
10:50
Speaker 1: galvanized together and made it work. The city has gone
10:54
Speaker 1: crazy for this team, as you might expect for a
10:56
Speaker 1: team going to the Super Bowl. Does it bring back
10:58
Speaker 1: memories of the Super Bowl trips in the eighties. Oh
11:01
Speaker 1: my gosh, you know, probably for me, especially eighty one,
11:06
Speaker 1: because I was their age. I was younger than Joe
11:09
Speaker 1: Burrow and Jamaar Chase. I was twenty two and had
11:13
Speaker 1: no idea I had. I think the most number of
11:16
Speaker 1: football games I'd ever played my life in one season
11:19
Speaker 1: was twelve, and I played twenty four that year. But
11:24
Speaker 1: it seemed so easy, you know, we got we were
11:27
Speaker 1: the number one seed. We were we had to win
11:30
Speaker 1: two home playoff games, one of them in the coldest
11:34
Speaker 1: temperature I've ever been experienced in my entire life. But
11:38
Speaker 1: we were in the Super Bowl. We won two home games,
11:40
Speaker 1: and we're in the Super Bowl. Whereas this team is different.
11:44
Speaker 1: You know, both the Super Bowl teams that I was on,
11:47
Speaker 1: an eighty one and eighty eight, were both number one seeds.
11:50
Speaker 1: This was a number four seed. This was a team
11:53
Speaker 1: that had to beat the Raiders to win their first
11:55
Speaker 1: playoff game in thirty one years. They had to go
11:58
Speaker 1: to the home of the number one seed Tennessee Titans
12:00
Speaker 1: and knocked them all, and to go to the home
12:03
Speaker 1: of the Kansas City Chiefs, the presumptive Super Bowl favorite.
12:07
Speaker 1: Going into this whole thing despite their seed and now
12:10
Speaker 1: they've got to go to the home of the La
12:12
Speaker 1: Rams and try and do it one more time. And
12:15
Speaker 1: every part of you wants to say that's asking too much.
12:19
Speaker 1: I don't know, but you look at these guys and
12:23
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and he's gonna go why not. Why isn't
12:27
Speaker 1: it gonna have? You know? And so why not? I
12:29
Speaker 1: don't know, Maybe it will. You obviously have to be neutral.
12:33
Speaker 1: I'm the telecast. That's understood. But have you thought about
12:36
Speaker 1: what it would mean to see Mike Brown next to
12:39
Speaker 1: Roger Goodell holding the Lombardi Trophy. It was bizarre enough
12:44
Speaker 1: for me to watch him in the championship game, and
12:47
Speaker 1: he did a great job with the speech, always gracious
12:50
Speaker 1: as always, but for me it would be really special.
12:53
Speaker 1: I mean, Mike Brown. I signed a contract with the
12:57
Speaker 1: USFL and that didn't go so well. The league was
13:03
Speaker 1: sort of falling apart by the time I left, and
13:05
Speaker 1: he welcomed me back with open arms and eighty eight.
13:08
Speaker 1: Mike Brown allowed me to at the end of my career,
13:11
Speaker 1: clearly at the end of my career, allowed me to
13:15
Speaker 1: go to law school classes instead of meetings, which was
13:18
Speaker 1: unheard of. I'm guessing still nobody's ever been allowed to
13:22
Speaker 1: do that. And then I go down to practice the
13:25
Speaker 1: other day, could not be more gracious and his whole family,
13:28
Speaker 1: and I'm thrilled for them, regardless of what the outcome
13:32
Speaker 1: of this game is, I really am. But I'm mostly
13:35
Speaker 1: thrilled for Cincinnati, you know, to get that galvanizing force
13:41
Speaker 1: going one more time again in this city. And now, yes,
13:44
Speaker 1: everything politically is nuts these days, but for at least
13:48
Speaker 1: a little while, we get a chance to come together
13:51
Speaker 1: behind the Cincinnati Bengals, and it's really a special time
13:54
Speaker 1: to be here. Nothing galvanize is a city like a
13:57
Speaker 1: contending NFL team. Chris, I really appreciate your time. Have
14:01
Speaker 1: a great call on Super Bowl Sunday, and we look
14:04
Speaker 1: forward to hopefully seeing you at a Bengal celebration. Thank
14:08
Speaker 1: to you, Dan, good luck. Chris, by the way, has
14:11
Speaker 1: never gone back and watched the two Super Bowls he
14:13
Speaker 1: played in those losses to the forty nine Ers, still sting.
14:18
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the
14:21
Speaker 1: free to play fantasy football game. This year, Ultimate Bengals
14:25
Speaker 1: awarded a weekly winner during the course of the season
14:28
Speaker 1: with tickets, autograph merchandise and money can't buy experiences all
14:32
Speaker 1: up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store
14:35
Speaker 1: and Google Play and buy on Location, the official hospitality
14:40
Speaker 1: partner of the NFL. Visit on location exp dot com
14:45
Speaker 1: for exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL,
14:48
Speaker 1: including Sunday Super Bowl. Like Chris Collinsworth, Dave Lapham was
14:54
Speaker 1: involved in both of the bengals previous Super Bowl appearances,
14:57
Speaker 1: as a player in Super Bowl sixty and as a
15:01
Speaker 1: broadcaster in Super Bowl twenty three. We discussed Super Bowl
15:05
Speaker 1: fifty six on Wednesday. Lap You are a contemporary of
15:10
Speaker 1: Joe Namaths. He played against him in his final game
15:13
Speaker 1: in a Jets uniform. People have been comparing Joe Burrow
15:16
Speaker 1: to Joe Montana, but with Burrows fashion sense and swag
15:21
Speaker 1: and effortless cool. I'm wondering if they've been comparing him
15:25
Speaker 1: to the wrong jel. What do you think? I think
15:28
Speaker 1: that's a that's a very valid point. I mean, he
15:31
Speaker 1: does have the fashion sense and Joe Namath people Joe
15:38
Speaker 1: namis cockey. No, Joe Namath was a great dude. It
15:42
Speaker 1: is a great dude. I mean he's he's incredible, He's
15:46
Speaker 1: got an earned confidence obviously because he's so physically gifted
15:50
Speaker 1: at and played quarterback at the highest level. So well,
15:53
Speaker 1: I mean he just when he guaranteed the win, he
15:57
Speaker 1: was confident. He edit an earned confidence about him as
15:59
Speaker 1: team makes everybody else that that's Joe Barrow, you know.
16:02
Speaker 1: And then yeah, some of the some of the fashion
16:04
Speaker 1: statements are pretty impressive. So yeah, he's a blend of Joe's.
16:08
Speaker 1: Joe's a bunch of other Jews, isn't he. It's it's
16:11
Speaker 1: it's pretty interesting. And the one, the one common denominator
16:15
Speaker 1: is man, these guys were all sharp, you know. I
16:17
Speaker 1: mean the memory of Joe Burrow to take in all
16:20
Speaker 1: the information he takes in during the week from you know,
16:23
Speaker 1: Dan Pitcher, Brian Callahan, Zach Taylor, and then all the
16:27
Speaker 1: tape he watches, he just stores all that stuff. He
16:29
Speaker 1: doesn't really take notes, you know, just stores it and
16:32
Speaker 1: then can pull it out, you know, just when he
16:34
Speaker 1: needs to to diagnose and to solve the problem with
16:36
Speaker 1: defense has given him. It's really astounding. In a quick
16:39
Speaker 1: Joe name a story. I know I've shared this with
16:42
Speaker 1: you before, Dan, but he came, he came to do
16:44
Speaker 1: a game, um and we've gotten to be decent friends.
16:48
Speaker 1: I did some NBC NFL work and Joe just for
16:51
Speaker 1: some reason, you know, took me around in New York
16:54
Speaker 1: and introduced me to some of his fans. Everywhere we went,
16:57
Speaker 1: it took like half an hour to walk five because
17:00
Speaker 1: Joe nameth, you know, all over the streets. But this
17:03
Speaker 1: guy knew everybody's name, everybody's name. He put names with faces,
17:07
Speaker 1: you know, and uh, and he just it was amazing.
17:10
Speaker 1: So um, I take him. He comes to Cincinnati to
17:14
Speaker 1: do a preseason game and I take him around and
17:17
Speaker 1: then we get something to eat in the cafeteria. There
17:19
Speaker 1: were a sertain food up in the cafeteria and this
17:22
Speaker 1: lady named Leslie was the server. And I said, Joe,
17:25
Speaker 1: this is Leslie, you know, and she's all God, God
17:27
Speaker 1: because it's joe name. He comes back two years later
17:31
Speaker 1: for a regular season game. Two years later, we're going
17:34
Speaker 1: to get something to eat again. Say gal, Leslie, how
17:38
Speaker 1: you've been. I haven't seen you in a while. She
17:40
Speaker 1: almost dropped her teeth, so did I. I'm like, we
17:42
Speaker 1: sit down and said, Joe, how the heck did you
17:44
Speaker 1: remember her name? Because I just have a gift for
17:47
Speaker 1: that man. And you know, the memories on some of
17:49
Speaker 1: these guys is just unbelievable. Their mind is, their brain
17:54
Speaker 1: is just constructed differently. Man. That's a great anecdote. And
17:58
Speaker 1: I wonder if that's true with Joe Burrow. I wonder
18:01
Speaker 1: if he's one of those people that if he sees you,
18:04
Speaker 1: meets you, learns your name, if he could go a
18:06
Speaker 1: couple of years without seeing you and remember it, it
18:10
Speaker 1: could very well be. It could very well be the case.
18:12
Speaker 1: And that's the thing about Joe Namath two and asked
18:15
Speaker 1: him about certain games that he played. He could go
18:19
Speaker 1: through an entire play by play off every single snap.
18:23
Speaker 1: They did this. Yeah, then they thought they'd be cute
18:25
Speaker 1: and we you back my head coach said, Joe, what
18:28
Speaker 1: are you gonna do? Damas says, well, here's what I'm thinking.
18:31
Speaker 1: That's a good idea. Joe wanted to do that unbelievable,
18:34
Speaker 1: could remember every single detail of almost every game the
18:39
Speaker 1: guy played in it. I mean, that's a gift. Boys,
18:42
Speaker 1: that's a tremendous gift that'll serve you well in any
18:45
Speaker 1: walk of life you get into. And I bet that's
18:47
Speaker 1: true with Joe Burrow. I bet he could go back
18:49
Speaker 1: to his junior year at LSU Week five and do
18:53
Speaker 1: the play by play. Agreed, Agreed. I mean things just
18:58
Speaker 1: they burn into his memory bank. I mean they're just
19:01
Speaker 1: they're there. And uh, it's incredible the amount of information
19:06
Speaker 1: that that guy can digest and comprehend, digest, and then
19:12
Speaker 1: regurgitate when need be. It's unreal total recall. So Rob
19:18
Speaker 1: Gronkowski did an interview this week. He got asked the
19:20
Speaker 1: following question, now that Tom Brady has retired, who would
19:24
Speaker 1: you want to be your quarterback right now? And he
19:27
Speaker 1: laughed and he said, I kind of like this young buck.
19:30
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow Grock is going to be a free agent
19:32
Speaker 1: at the end of this year. I don't see the
19:34
Speaker 1: Bengals signing him. But is this the proof of something
19:38
Speaker 1: you've been talking about that free agents are going to
19:41
Speaker 1: want to flock to Cincinnati because of the Borough factor?
19:44
Speaker 1: I think so, Dan, I mean, you know that wasn't
19:48
Speaker 1: the case there. There wasn't total free agency. There wasn't
19:50
Speaker 1: movement of players like there is now. When Joe Montana,
19:54
Speaker 1: you know, particularly when he in the early stages when
19:57
Speaker 1: he beat us in Super Bowl sixteen, but you could
19:59
Speaker 1: se that he was special and that they were going
20:03
Speaker 1: to be really good for a long time. Um plus
20:05
Speaker 1: you know San Francisco. Who doesn't want to go to
20:07
Speaker 1: San Francisco. But I do think the first there are
20:11
Speaker 1: two elements. Number one is money talks. You know it's
20:14
Speaker 1: gonna the finance just have to be there. But with
20:17
Speaker 1: all all things being equal, there Joe burrow Is is
20:21
Speaker 1: about a big, bigger tipebreaker has risen the national football
20:24
Speaker 1: He's right there. He's right there with every other you know,
20:27
Speaker 1: big time quarterback. Because of his youth. You know, it's
20:31
Speaker 1: like if I go there, it's not you know, we're
20:34
Speaker 1: just not going to be a contender for next year.
20:35
Speaker 1: We're going to be a contender for a while. I
20:37
Speaker 1: mean this this kid's just he's just starting his path, man,
20:41
Speaker 1: and uh and he's still and he's playing at such
20:43
Speaker 1: a high level. So I think I think that there
20:47
Speaker 1: are going to be the Bengals are going to be
20:49
Speaker 1: on Big Time Free Agent's top five list that two
20:53
Speaker 1: years ago it would there wouldn't even be consideration. I
20:57
Speaker 1: mean it'd be a they'd be laughing if people said,
21:00
Speaker 1: what are the Bengals on your list? No, now they're
21:04
Speaker 1: right there, They are right there. And again, you know,
21:08
Speaker 1: economics are a big factor. But when you're in the
21:11
Speaker 1: place the franchise was in the early stage, is that
21:14
Speaker 1: rebuild process. There's not enough money in the entire world,
21:18
Speaker 1: probably to entice certain guys to go come to Cincinnati.
21:22
Speaker 1: So all of the assistant coaches from the two teams
21:24
Speaker 1: that news conferences on Tuesday, including Bengals offensive line coach
21:27
Speaker 1: Frank Pollack, and he knew what was coming. Essentially, how
21:30
Speaker 1: the heck is your line, which has struggled mightily at
21:33
Speaker 1: times going to block Aaron Donald and Von Miller? Is
21:36
Speaker 1: the challenge mostly the greatness of the individuals for the
21:41
Speaker 1: Rams or is it hard to handle their scheme? You know, Dan,
21:45
Speaker 1: I think, like with a lot of great defenses, it
21:48
Speaker 1: is a combination, you know, I think I think that
21:50
Speaker 1: they've done a great job. Raheem Morris has done a
21:54
Speaker 1: great job of taking We've talked about earlier in the week.
21:58
Speaker 1: It's the Vic Fangio print Spals. You know, because Staley
22:02
Speaker 1: was there before you got the head coaching job with
22:04
Speaker 1: the Chargers and they led the league in defense. You know,
22:08
Speaker 1: that's why you got the head coaching job. They were
22:10
Speaker 1: number one, and so the organization, and the MCVAS said
22:14
Speaker 1: the Raheem Morris, look, you know you can. We'd love
22:18
Speaker 1: you to be our coordinate, but we want to run
22:19
Speaker 1: what we're running here. So I think I think they
22:23
Speaker 1: built the personnel and schematic to kind of lay hands.
22:27
Speaker 1: Fit's the glove deal, you know. I mean, it's a
22:29
Speaker 1: it's one of those sorts of situations. And and they're
22:32
Speaker 1: they're they're impressive. I mean, you know, the talent level
22:37
Speaker 1: is unquestioned. Von Miller has more sacks than any active
22:41
Speaker 1: player in the National Football League. Aaron Donald is maybe
22:45
Speaker 1: the best player in the National Football League. Floyd has
22:48
Speaker 1: got nine and a half sacks himself. I mean, you
22:51
Speaker 1: look at Jalen Ramsey in the back end, but honestly, Dan,
22:54
Speaker 1: besides Jalen Ramsey, I think the Bengals match up favorably.
22:59
Speaker 1: I think there's mismatches on the back end the Bengals
23:01
Speaker 1: could take advantage of if they can somehow find a
23:05
Speaker 1: way to give Joe Barrow an opportunity. And I'm maintaining
23:09
Speaker 1: all week long that we've been talking about since a
23:12
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. I guess if you have to use
23:14
Speaker 1: six in protection, use six. If you have to use
23:16
Speaker 1: seven U seven, keep a tight end in if you
23:18
Speaker 1: need to ship with a back, that would be the
23:21
Speaker 1: seventh and give him out in the route. And also
23:24
Speaker 1: not just a regular tight end. But Jackson Carman in there,
23:27
Speaker 1: I mean the guards are they're they're splitting time. So
23:30
Speaker 1: when I d energy is in the football game of guard,
23:33
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen go out there. You know, if you've got
23:36
Speaker 1: to play, he has to check in ineligible. He has
23:38
Speaker 1: to be he's wearing an ineligible number and he has
23:42
Speaker 1: to check in as eligible. But I mean back in
23:44
Speaker 1: the day, I don't check the rule book. I don't
23:46
Speaker 1: even know. If he put on like an eighties number,
23:48
Speaker 1: you know, over his jersey and went running out there
23:51
Speaker 1: as a tight end and they used him in past protection,
23:55
Speaker 1: he wouldn't have to check ineligible. I think I think
23:58
Speaker 1: they've kind of moved on from that. But back in
24:00
Speaker 1: the day they had that vest. You know that you
24:02
Speaker 1: can pull on and and and go out there and
24:05
Speaker 1: have an eligible number on your on your chest. But
24:08
Speaker 1: I mean if you if you can, haven't. I mean,
24:10
Speaker 1: he's done short yardage goal line stuff like that. Isaiah
24:13
Speaker 1: Prince did it before he kicked in there at the
24:16
Speaker 1: starting tackle position. Um Deante could do it. Deante Smith
24:21
Speaker 1: could do it. I mean, there's there's multiple guys they
24:24
Speaker 1: could use as a sixth offensive lineman at a couple
24:28
Speaker 1: of them. Report else books, you can put seven offensive
24:31
Speaker 1: linemen out there. Whatever it takes to get those guys
24:34
Speaker 1: blocked up is definitely a prerequisite. There's no doubt. Do
24:39
Speaker 1: you have to use two guys on Aaron Donald on
24:41
Speaker 1: almost every play? I think so. Two helmets and four hands,
24:46
Speaker 1: that's my model. You know, you gotta have two people
24:49
Speaker 1: on them. Man. Uh, you know it's good to have
24:52
Speaker 1: four eyeballs and four hands working against this guy because
24:56
Speaker 1: his talent, his physical talent is so stream it's equivalent
25:01
Speaker 1: to two people. I mean, it's the thing about him, damn.
25:05
Speaker 1: That's most impressive to me is you know he can run.
25:08
Speaker 1: He runs UB four seven at his size. But he's
25:11
Speaker 1: also got the burst, the first step quickness. I mean,
25:14
Speaker 1: his first move off the line of scrimmage is lightening quick.
25:17
Speaker 1: I mean it is unbelievable, the explosiveness. And he gets
25:21
Speaker 1: to your shoulder so quickly. You know, he lines up
25:23
Speaker 1: and then way outside of your shoulder or even in
25:27
Speaker 1: just on the inside of the offensive tackle, so he's
25:30
Speaker 1: like almost on the other side of the gap close
25:33
Speaker 1: to the tackle than he used to you at guard
25:35
Speaker 1: and me I would I was always big with Jim McNally.
25:38
Speaker 1: I would always do horizontal and vertical splits. Horizontal splits
25:42
Speaker 1: from you know, center to guard, you know, two feet
25:44
Speaker 1: or whatever. But then you can you can go all
25:47
Speaker 1: the way up on the line of scrimmage is closer
25:49
Speaker 1: you can get, or you can move back vertically from
25:52
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, move up or move back, and
25:55
Speaker 1: you can move back to where if you get into
25:57
Speaker 1: three point stanch, your helmet has to be at the
25:59
Speaker 1: number at the center. You can't, you know, go way
26:02
Speaker 1: back or they'll flag you for illegal formation. But I
26:05
Speaker 1: would get back as far as I could against this
26:09
Speaker 1: guy because he is so explosive, gets on that shoulder
26:12
Speaker 1: so quickly. Man. I would make sure that I would
26:14
Speaker 1: buy as much space as possibly put. I'd even get
26:17
Speaker 1: in a two point stance and not give him a
26:20
Speaker 1: closer target. I get in a two point stance, stay
26:22
Speaker 1: back and make him beat up as much space with
26:27
Speaker 1: that explosive explosive as possible, and give myself a chance
26:31
Speaker 1: in the freezer ball against big hands Johnson, I did
26:34
Speaker 1: just the opposite. Jim McNally said, this guy's got you know,
26:37
Speaker 1: massive hands and all that, but he's got some quick moves,
26:40
Speaker 1: but everything's in place. You know, he's not advancing to
26:43
Speaker 1: the quarterback. So he said, get up on the line
26:45
Speaker 1: of scrimmage and jam them. Get your hands on him
26:48
Speaker 1: before you can get his hands on you. Do it,
26:49
Speaker 1: you know, right away. So I literally I was on
26:53
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage to the point where I was
26:55
Speaker 1: almost off size. I had to lean back to make
26:58
Speaker 1: sure my face masks wasn't hanging over the back edge
27:00
Speaker 1: of the ball, you know, because you're you're in the
27:03
Speaker 1: neutral zone. And I took every centimeter I could of
27:06
Speaker 1: space to get us close to the line of scrimmage
27:09
Speaker 1: and on our first pass protection, I was in that
27:11
Speaker 1: two point stance and waiting my phone. Jam them and
27:13
Speaker 1: shock him. I mean, he's totally stunned him. And I
27:16
Speaker 1: remember going to the sideline and saying, Jimmy, he's stunned me.
27:19
Speaker 1: I don't think nobody's ever done this to him before
27:21
Speaker 1: he goes, well, keep doing it, let's do it, let's
27:23
Speaker 1: do it. It was great, but I play when you're
27:27
Speaker 1: going against really good players like that. Play with the splits,
27:31
Speaker 1: horizontal verticals, play with everything you possibly can play with
27:34
Speaker 1: your technique. You know, maybe you want to instead of kickstep,
27:38
Speaker 1: maybe you want to attack him with a step and
27:41
Speaker 1: jam them to get him off. You know, if you
27:43
Speaker 1: can get him to stop and restart a guy like him,
27:46
Speaker 1: I think that's the biggest thing, because if you let
27:49
Speaker 1: him come off and you don't, it's almost like jam
27:52
Speaker 1: and a tight end off the line of scrimage. You
27:53
Speaker 1: don't give him a free release, let him run into
27:55
Speaker 1: his route. Don't let this guy get a free release
27:58
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage on you as a pass rusher.
28:00
Speaker 1: Try to try to reroute him, try to jam him.
28:02
Speaker 1: In my opinion, you know, almost as quickly as it
28:05
Speaker 1: can with a good angle. And that's where the horizontal,
28:08
Speaker 1: you know, split comes into play. He's he's an interesting guy, though,
28:12
Speaker 1: I'd almost like say, all right, if it's not von
28:15
Speaker 1: Miller offensive tackle. Whoever, if you're working against somebody that
28:18
Speaker 1: if you could jam, if he's weighing outside to the
28:21
Speaker 1: point he's just inside of you, you try to hit
28:23
Speaker 1: him with one arm as you're setting to the other
28:25
Speaker 1: other player, you know, almost try to be busier than
28:28
Speaker 1: a one armed paper hanger. You know, you use both
28:30
Speaker 1: your hands on both linemen. I try to come up
28:33
Speaker 1: with as many as many ways as I possibly can
28:36
Speaker 1: to slow that pass rush down because, as we know, Dan,
28:39
Speaker 1: that's the key to the game. It really is. Well,
28:42
Speaker 1: one more thought on that topic. So in the Tennessee game,
28:44
Speaker 1: the Bengals gave up nine sacks and three additional quarterback
28:47
Speaker 1: hits plus two sacks that didn't count. Then against the Chiefs,
28:51
Speaker 1: one sack, three quarterback hits. So obviously they bounce back
28:55
Speaker 1: after being lamb basted for a week following the Tennessee game,
28:59
Speaker 1: did nice job up against Kansas City. Does that bode
29:02
Speaker 1: well the fact that they were resilient and bounce back
29:04
Speaker 1: strong against the Chiefs. Yeah, My only My only thought
29:08
Speaker 1: on that is the Titans had three really good pass rushers,
29:14
Speaker 1: and so did the sort of the Rams. In my mind,
29:18
Speaker 1: the only guy that was at the level of these
29:20
Speaker 1: other pass rushers for the Chiefs was Jones. The others
29:23
Speaker 1: were good, but not to the level I mean. I
29:26
Speaker 1: think I think the Rams are number one and they've
29:29
Speaker 1: shown it their number one in UH win rate. As
29:33
Speaker 1: pass rushers by Pro Football focused and the Bengals thirtieth
29:36
Speaker 1: in the NFL and and pass protection win rate. So
29:40
Speaker 1: the Bengals are, you know, a couple from the bottom
29:43
Speaker 1: and the Rams are right at the top, so that
29:45
Speaker 1: that you know, matchup just comes blaring at you, and
29:49
Speaker 1: that that's the problem is having multiple guys. So I
29:53
Speaker 1: think I think the one thing is that the Chiefs
29:56
Speaker 1: pass rush was good, but not quite as good as
29:59
Speaker 1: as ten season, not quite as good as the Rams.
30:02
Speaker 1: And I think the Bengals made some adjustments. They got
30:06
Speaker 1: the ball out of Joe's hand faster. They utilize the
30:09
Speaker 1: screen pass very well. P Ryan forty one yard touched
30:11
Speaker 1: down on a screen. They get the ball out to
30:14
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon either on the perimeter in space or he
30:19
Speaker 1: would check down over the middle for short pass squares,
30:21
Speaker 1: pads up and run for yards after catch. They did
30:25
Speaker 1: a lot of good things. And you know, I'm thinking too,
30:28
Speaker 1: another way to slow a pass rush down screens draws,
30:32
Speaker 1: draw play and you know, intentionally get Joe Barrow out
30:36
Speaker 1: of pocket. You know, I would if Aaron Donald and
30:39
Speaker 1: Von Miller line up over the left guard and left
30:42
Speaker 1: tackle roll Joe by design to the right, roll them
30:46
Speaker 1: away from that stuff, you know, get him out of
30:47
Speaker 1: pocket by design, not improvisationally like he can do, which
30:51
Speaker 1: he's going to do anyway, but by design. Now that
30:54
Speaker 1: you know, the downside to that is you're taking away
30:58
Speaker 1: a third of the football field. You know, he's not
30:59
Speaker 1: going to be throwing to that backside, and defensive players
31:03
Speaker 1: can shrink you know, that field down from a coverage
31:06
Speaker 1: standpoint to two thirds instead of the entire football field
31:09
Speaker 1: the width of it. But you know, there's there's pros
31:12
Speaker 1: and times, give and take to everything. But I think
31:15
Speaker 1: you know, there's a bunch of ways you can, um,
31:17
Speaker 1: you know, slow down. You're not going to defeat the
31:20
Speaker 1: pass rush. They're too damn good, but you can slow
31:23
Speaker 1: it down and control it a little bit um by
31:26
Speaker 1: adopting a lot of things. And I think I think
31:28
Speaker 1: we're going to see a lot of that in the
31:30
Speaker 1: Bengals game plan, a lot of different things. The one
31:32
Speaker 1: thing that whenever we played a group that we're really
31:36
Speaker 1: significant pass rushes, particularly on the edge, hit them as
31:40
Speaker 1: many different ways as you can. If your tackle setting
31:44
Speaker 1: on them, slam the tight end into his side, nothing
31:47
Speaker 1: aggravates the defensive end more than that as the tight
31:51
Speaker 1: ends going out past, slam them in release and h
31:54
Speaker 1: and then if you're uncovered as a guard, slam them
31:57
Speaker 1: from the inside, you know, and then and then check
31:59
Speaker 1: your line responsibility. They hate that. They hate that. So
32:04
Speaker 1: now it's like which way, which way are they going
32:06
Speaker 1: to attack me? From them? And it slows them down?
32:08
Speaker 1: You know, it's they're not going to just pin their
32:11
Speaker 1: ears back and pass rush with reckless abandon. So I
32:14
Speaker 1: think with these really a good pass rushers, if you
32:18
Speaker 1: can figure out ways to attack them, is it going
32:20
Speaker 1: to be from my outside? Is going to be from
32:22
Speaker 1: my inside? Where's the hell coming from? Man? These suckers
32:25
Speaker 1: are everywhere. How many guys are on the field, They're
32:27
Speaker 1: attacking me from everywhere. I mean, that's that's something that
32:30
Speaker 1: can be a fact from the football game as well,
32:32
Speaker 1: because Dan, like you said, man, if you just pass
32:36
Speaker 1: that and take on Aaron Donald and Von Miller one
32:38
Speaker 1: on one and yeah, I'm better than you, You're not
32:41
Speaker 1: better than me, that's not going to work out. Let's
32:45
Speaker 1: talk about the Aaron Donald on the other side of
32:48
Speaker 1: the ball for the Rams, and that is Cooper Cup.
32:50
Speaker 1: So looking over his season, the Rams have played twenty games,
32:54
Speaker 1: including the playoffs, He's had one hundred plus receiving yards
32:57
Speaker 1: in thirteen out of twenty. So that's amazing. But here's
33:00
Speaker 1: what amazed me even more. He has five other games
33:03
Speaker 1: where he had between ninety two and ninety nine yards.
33:06
Speaker 1: So in eighteen out of twenty games he has had
33:09
Speaker 1: at least ninety two yards. The only other time he's
33:13
Speaker 1: ever faced the Bengals, he had two twenty in London.
33:17
Speaker 1: How did the Bengals cover Cooper Cup again? You know,
33:21
Speaker 1: you have to have four eyes and four hands on him.
33:24
Speaker 1: I think too. I mean he's worthy of definitely double team.
33:28
Speaker 1: And like the great Bill Belichick does, he makes you
33:31
Speaker 1: play left handed. I mean they go to Cooper Cups
33:34
Speaker 1: so much. Higbee's second leading receiver. He may not be
33:38
Speaker 1: in the football game. I mean, it's Cooper Cup, Cooper Cup,
33:41
Speaker 1: Cooper Cup, and you know staff It will say, oh,
33:43
Speaker 1: you know, I throw where coverage takes. It doesn't seem
33:45
Speaker 1: like I get you know. I mean, it appears that
33:47
Speaker 1: you're gonna find Cooper Cup, and rightfully so. And the
33:50
Speaker 1: thing about Cooper Cup is he is so slick, he
33:54
Speaker 1: is so clever. He'll give you five moves in a
33:58
Speaker 1: three yard space. That's like, which what is he What's
34:01
Speaker 1: he going to do? I mean, he has got all
34:03
Speaker 1: kinds of short space quickness, and all he's doing is
34:07
Speaker 1: trying to make you declare your leverage. That's this whole deal.
34:10
Speaker 1: This whole deal is I'm working off leverage and I'm
34:13
Speaker 1: going to make you declare what you're going to commit
34:15
Speaker 1: from a leverage standpoint to me. And it's like he's
34:18
Speaker 1: playing cat and mouse with and he wins every damn time.
34:21
Speaker 1: He's patient and he's a tremendous route runner and he
34:25
Speaker 1: always figures out the leverage at a very opportune time,
34:29
Speaker 1: get separation and boom, Stafford's waiting for it and puts
34:32
Speaker 1: it right on him. Those two guys have a have
34:35
Speaker 1: a nice chemistry. And the other thing about Cooper Cup
34:38
Speaker 1: is he's fearless. He won't he won't run out of bounds.
34:41
Speaker 1: You know, He's like the Bengals played some great tight
34:44
Speaker 1: ends this season, and the one characteristic they all had,
34:47
Speaker 1: you know, Kelsey Andrews. The list goes on, I'm not
34:51
Speaker 1: just going to catch the football. I'm going to score
34:53
Speaker 1: on you. I'm taking this to the house. I want
34:56
Speaker 1: to make a not just an explosive play. I want
34:59
Speaker 1: to break your back and put points on the board.
35:01
Speaker 1: That's him. He won't run out of bounds. Cooper Cup
35:05
Speaker 1: wants to score every time he catches the football. So
35:08
Speaker 1: his run after catch, you know he's got. When you
35:11
Speaker 1: look at him, you think, oh man, you know what,
35:15
Speaker 1: how can he run like? He doesn't look that strong,
35:17
Speaker 1: but he is a strong runner after catch of the football.
35:21
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's got Jamar Chases type of lower
35:24
Speaker 1: body strength and all that, but he has definitely got
35:27
Speaker 1: some strength to him. And if you're one on one
35:30
Speaker 1: with them, God, God bless your good luck. You know.
35:33
Speaker 1: I mean, he's not gonna let you take him down one.
35:36
Speaker 1: You got have to run some bodies to him. People
35:38
Speaker 1: have to run to the football and they're gonna have
35:40
Speaker 1: to rally around Cooper Cup and get him on the ground.
35:43
Speaker 1: We are recording this conversation on Wednesday. On Monday, we
35:47
Speaker 1: witnessed a pro wrestling move by c j Uzama where
35:51
Speaker 1: he theatrically ripped off the kneebres and tossed it away
35:54
Speaker 1: in front of thirty thousand fans at the Pepper Rally
35:57
Speaker 1: at Paul Brown Stadium at this point. What you think
36:00
Speaker 1: do you think c j Uzama will be able to
36:02
Speaker 1: answer to answer the bell after hurting his MCL in
36:06
Speaker 1: the AFC Championship game. I really do. I think that
36:10
Speaker 1: WWE move like he described that was that was his statement,
36:14
Speaker 1: like I'm done with the albatross around my knee. I'm
36:19
Speaker 1: gonna play. I think that was his uh, his visual statement,
36:23
Speaker 1: you know. And uh he said in the pressor in
36:26
Speaker 1: the zoom during the day that I'm not going to
36:28
Speaker 1: miss the most important game in my life. I'm going
36:30
Speaker 1: to participate. I'm gonna I'm gonna be there, I'm gonna
36:32
Speaker 1: get it done. Um it's gonna be interesting to see
36:35
Speaker 1: today how much he practices it at all. But they're
36:39
Speaker 1: gonna have to find out. If he doesn't practice today,
36:42
Speaker 1: you'd think he would have to practice tomorrow at some point.
36:45
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to test it. And I mean watching
36:48
Speaker 1: him when he came out with the brace and jogging
36:51
Speaker 1: out there doing three sixties, you know, doing all this
36:53
Speaker 1: all this movement stuff, and um, yeah, it would not
36:57
Speaker 1: surprise me. I think that he is rehab maniac. I
37:01
Speaker 1: think he's driven. He knows what rehabs about after having
37:05
Speaker 1: the Achilles experience and he rehabed the heck out of
37:08
Speaker 1: an honesty, Dan, I think he was very fortunate in
37:10
Speaker 1: that his MCL sprain. There's first, second, third degree, and
37:14
Speaker 1: then total tear. But I think he was somewhere between
37:17
Speaker 1: one and two, you know, and a first degree sprain
37:22
Speaker 1: you can almost play the following the week. If he's
37:25
Speaker 1: just a slight tick over that. It would not shock
37:28
Speaker 1: me in a two week time frame for him to
37:31
Speaker 1: go out and give them some snaps in the Super Bowl.
37:34
Speaker 1: Like we talked about Dan, the Swiss army knife aspect
37:38
Speaker 1: of him. He is an answer for if people are
37:42
Speaker 1: trying to substitute here. You know, if they run their
37:46
Speaker 1: Niel and Dime, their sub packages in there and CJ
37:49
Speaker 1: zamas in the game. Okay, get the end of the line,
37:52
Speaker 1: screaming front of your big boy pads. We're running at
37:54
Speaker 1: these little bodies. We're gonna pound him. If they play
37:57
Speaker 1: their bass defense and he's got a linebacker matchup, it's
38:00
Speaker 1: detached CJ. And that's okay, linebacker, you take the one
38:04
Speaker 1: on one, so you know, it's like you're punching and
38:07
Speaker 1: making them count a punch instead of the other way around.
38:10
Speaker 1: And that's an interesting thing about the Rams too, dan Is.
38:14
Speaker 1: They go up temple a lot and they try to
38:18
Speaker 1: it's it's it's interesting. It's going to be against the
38:20
Speaker 1: Bengals in the super Bowl. It's like sam Weiss with
38:23
Speaker 1: the no huddle in eighty eight, and here it is.
38:25
Speaker 1: You know, all these years later, the La Rams are
38:28
Speaker 1: doing exactly what what sam Weiss did, going up tempo,
38:33
Speaker 1: making you hesitant to substitute. They'll quick snap you. They're
38:36
Speaker 1: trying to get favorable matchups on the football field. And
38:40
Speaker 1: it's interesting how then all these years later, the late
38:43
Speaker 1: rates sam Weiss's concept is still being utilized in the
38:47
Speaker 1: National Football League and you knew it was going to
38:49
Speaker 1: be a revolutionary thing, and it's it has stood the
38:51
Speaker 1: test of time very interestingly. Um and it's going to
38:55
Speaker 1: be interesting to see the position versatility that the sense
39:00
Speaker 1: Bengals have that lou Aroumo has been looking for. It
39:02
Speaker 1: helps when you're in that situation and you have guys
39:06
Speaker 1: that can do different things. If you get caught with
39:09
Speaker 1: a defensive personnel group you really would prefer not to
39:12
Speaker 1: have on the field. If you've got some guys that
39:14
Speaker 1: can do multiple things that makes the pain more tolerable,
39:19
Speaker 1: that's for sure. If I run into c. J Uzama
39:22
Speaker 1: before kickoff on Sunday, I'm going to remind him that
39:25
Speaker 1: Jack Youngblood played in Super Bowl fourteen with a broken leg.
39:28
Speaker 1: Remember that exactly, No doubt, no doubt. Man, you talked
39:34
Speaker 1: about a tough dude. Now that's that's pure toughness right there. Boy.
39:41
Speaker 1: So I've been to five Super Bowls, You've been to
39:43
Speaker 1: twenty plus. It is a corporate event. Maybe one third
39:48
Speaker 1: of the fans on Sunday are going to be Avid
39:50
Speaker 1: Bengals and Rams fans. Does that negate the home field
39:54
Speaker 1: advantage for the Rams? Yeah? I mean my understanding was
39:58
Speaker 1: in the in the championshi Ship Game, the forty nine
40:01
Speaker 1: are fans outnumber the Rams fans, buy a bunch. The
40:05
Speaker 1: Rams had to go silent count in their own place
40:08
Speaker 1: because there were more you know, Scarlet and Gold. You know,
40:12
Speaker 1: the Rams fans weren't there. The forty nine er fans
40:14
Speaker 1: showed up in big numbers. So yeah, I think I
40:18
Speaker 1: think that it's going to be a plus for the
40:20
Speaker 1: Bengals that they're not going to have to deal with
40:22
Speaker 1: the crowd noise. They dealt with in Tennessee in Kansas City.
40:25
Speaker 1: That's for sure. They're going to be able to operate normally.
40:28
Speaker 1: I think I don't think it's going to be an
40:30
Speaker 1: issue whatsoever. You know. The issue is the Rams have
40:34
Speaker 1: the players who stayed in their homes all week. They've
40:37
Speaker 1: had home cooking from their wife all week long. They
40:40
Speaker 1: slept in the bed that they sleep in there on
40:43
Speaker 1: a day to day basis all week long. They're going
40:45
Speaker 1: to go to a hotel the night before the game
40:47
Speaker 1: Saturday night. They've gone to it every home game during
40:50
Speaker 1: the course of the season. It's business as usual, you know,
40:53
Speaker 1: for the Rams having that having the Super Bowl in
40:56
Speaker 1: their place, and it was for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
40:59
Speaker 1: last year, and you want it, and I think I
41:01
Speaker 1: think it's a big advantage. And I think the commissioner
41:04
Speaker 1: asked to think about that one a little bit long
41:06
Speaker 1: and hard, um, you know. And then you don't have
41:08
Speaker 1: to worry about the logistics of you know, flying your family.
41:12
Speaker 1: You know, some some family members. You know, you're still
41:14
Speaker 1: gonna have to worry about flights. But they come to
41:18
Speaker 1: LA It's like, yeah, I can put you and you
41:20
Speaker 1: and you up. My neighbor can put you up. My
41:22
Speaker 1: good friend over here can put you up. You don't
41:23
Speaker 1: have to worry about all that hotel craft. You know,
41:25
Speaker 1: it's it's just it alleviates all of those issues that
41:29
Speaker 1: the Bengals have to deal with. All the logistic problems
41:32
Speaker 1: are much much diminished, obviously to the L A. Rams
41:36
Speaker 1: as opposed to what the Bengals players and organization are
41:39
Speaker 1: going through. One more question, I'll let you go. You
41:42
Speaker 1: asked Tony Dungee a question when we talk to him
41:45
Speaker 1: the other day that I'm going to paraphrase and ask
41:47
Speaker 1: you if you had the opportunity to talk to these
41:50
Speaker 1: guys the night before the game, what would your message be?
41:54
Speaker 1: And boy, wasn't he great? Dan, He was great. Oh
41:57
Speaker 1: my god, that was awesome. Man. That is just Hall
42:01
Speaker 1: of Famer for a reason, multiple reasons. But man, here
42:04
Speaker 1: is something I would basically, I would say, look, guys,
42:11
Speaker 1: relax r E l a X take on the Aaron
42:16
Speaker 1: Rodgers mentality. Relaxed because it's when the ball is in
42:21
Speaker 1: the air, it's just a football game like you played
42:24
Speaker 1: in high school and college and in the NFL. But
42:27
Speaker 1: all of that fanfare and everything leading up to it
42:30
Speaker 1: has just kind of puts your mind in a place
42:33
Speaker 1: where maybe it shouldn't be. It's just it's about football.
42:36
Speaker 1: It's all about football. Relax, have fun, go out and
42:40
Speaker 1: enjoy it. Enjoy it, you know. And and honestly, Dan,
42:44
Speaker 1: I remember there was a there was a stat and
42:47
Speaker 1: playing in super Bowl sixteen because you know, I'm kind
42:50
Speaker 1: of nerdy about doing prap even when I was playing,
42:53
Speaker 1: and I'm watching all these shows and everything. It's like, oh,
42:55
Speaker 1: the team that turns the ball over first has lost
42:58
Speaker 1: fourteen out of the fifteen super Bow And I'll be
43:00
Speaker 1: a son of a gun if when that first turnover
43:03
Speaker 1: happened for us, I thought, oh, get that out of
43:05
Speaker 1: your mind. You know, you don't want to be thinking
43:07
Speaker 1: about those kind of things. But then another turnover, another
43:11
Speaker 1: turn another turn So bottom line is, guys, take care
43:15
Speaker 1: of the football. Go out and have fun, play play loose,
43:19
Speaker 1: enjoy it, but secure the football. I mean turnovers they know.
43:25
Speaker 1: I mean they were even during the season, but shoot,
43:27
Speaker 1: they're like plus five now in three in three playoff games.
43:30
Speaker 1: That's that's been a huge deal. They have six interceptions
43:33
Speaker 1: and buy six different players in three football games. That's unbelievable, unbelievable.
43:37
Speaker 1: If they can continue along those lines, they got a
43:41
Speaker 1: great chance to win the football game. I mean takeaways.
43:44
Speaker 1: Against Tennessee Titans negated nine sacks. First time in the
43:48
Speaker 1: NFL history a team gave up nine sacks and won
43:50
Speaker 1: the game. Why they won the turnover battle. Turnover battle
43:54
Speaker 1: erases a lot of bad blemishes. Man. You know, it
43:57
Speaker 1: puts puts the makeup on and is up. So you
44:01
Speaker 1: win that battle, you know you're you're in You're in
44:04
Speaker 1: much better shape. So. Um. But and then the thing
44:09
Speaker 1: about the Super Bowl, guys, Um, when you go out
44:13
Speaker 1: there to warm up. I remember sitting there on the
44:15
Speaker 1: bench with some of my offensive line buddies and everything,
44:17
Speaker 1: and looking around and the stadium was already full. It's
44:19
Speaker 1: like an hour and a half foot kickoff. I'm like,
44:21
Speaker 1: oh my god. They were going nuts chairing about warm
44:25
Speaker 1: up stuff. Guys. How how guys were stretching they go.
44:28
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my god. So you start to get
44:31
Speaker 1: this adrenaline rush way too early, you know. So it's
44:34
Speaker 1: like handle warm ups. Don't do too much in warmups.
44:37
Speaker 1: Do exactly what you've done all season long. You are
44:42
Speaker 1: now you have a protocol as such, do you go
44:45
Speaker 1: through to get ready for the football game. Do not
44:47
Speaker 1: change it. Don't do anything differently for the Super Bowl,
44:50
Speaker 1: even if it's a longer period of time, you know,
44:52
Speaker 1: pregames longer, more commercials, all that kind of stuff. Just
44:56
Speaker 1: do what you do. Don't do more, you know, and
45:00
Speaker 1: handle the long pree halftime ban forever. Oh the halftime
45:05
Speaker 1: when do we broadcast Super Bowl? The halftime show is ridiculous.
45:10
Speaker 1: Look as we all the commercials they need to get in,
45:12
Speaker 1: so we have to adjust to it too, But the
45:14
Speaker 1: players have to adjust a lot more. I mean, it's
45:18
Speaker 1: it's like it seems like you're in there forever compared
45:21
Speaker 1: to a regular season game or even a playoff game
45:24
Speaker 1: leading up to it. So there's just things like that
45:27
Speaker 1: that maybe, you know, guys need to be aware of
45:30
Speaker 1: and just don't don't don't don't let it affect you,
45:34
Speaker 1: you know, just handle it, move on, get through it.
45:38
Speaker 1: Whatever it is, what it is, there's nothing you can
45:40
Speaker 1: do about it. I'll do one more podcast to preview
45:43
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, and my guests will include Bengals president
45:47
Speaker 1: Mike Brown. If you are heading to Los Angeles for
45:51
Speaker 1: the game, here's an invitation to join lapping me for
45:53
Speaker 1: the Bengals Pepper Rally Show on location this Friday at
45:57
Speaker 1: Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica. We'll do the show from
46:02
Speaker 1: one to four local time, meaning you can listen in
46:05
Speaker 1: Cincinnati from four to seven on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's
46:10
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the Bengals
46:11
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast, brought to you by Ultimate Bengals, the Freedom
46:14
Speaker 1: Play Next Level Fantasy Football Game, and by on Location,
46:19
Speaker 1: the official hospitality partner of the NFL. If you haven't
46:23
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
46:26
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
46:28
Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
46:33
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth
46:36
Speaker 1: Podcast