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Bengals Booth Podcast: Last Dance · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Happy New Year, everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for
0:06
Speaker 1: downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Last Dance, Last Chance,
0:13
Speaker 1: Full Love addition, as the Bengals play their final game
0:20
Speaker 1: of the twenty twenty season and try to end it
0:22
Speaker 1: with a three game winning streak as they host the
0:25
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens. Coming up, Dave Lapham joins me to discuss
0:29
Speaker 1: the latest Bengals news and the possibility that A. J.
0:32
Speaker 1: Green is about to play his final game in a
0:35
Speaker 1: Bengals uniform. One on one player interview this week is
0:38
Speaker 1: actually with a former player, Chris Collinsworth, as the Sunday
0:42
Speaker 1: Night Football analyst discusses t Higgins, Joe Burrow and what
0:46
Speaker 1: the Bengal should prioritize in the off season. And in
0:50
Speaker 1: our Know the Faux segment, we'll discuss the Ravens with
0:53
Speaker 1: a former Baltimore linebacker who also played football and basketball
0:57
Speaker 1: at UC, Brad Jackson. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented
1:02
Speaker 1: by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game and here's a
1:06
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
1:08
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
1:12
Speaker 1: by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
1:18
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since The Queen's Gambit. Back in
1:24
Speaker 1: mid November, after the Bengals bye week, Joe Burrow was
1:27
Speaker 1: asked what he did with his time off, and Joe
1:29
Speaker 1: said that he relaxed and watched a lot of TV,
1:31
Speaker 1: including The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. Well, my wife and
1:36
Speaker 1: I started watching it last week, and Joe Burrow has
1:39
Speaker 1: good taste. It's excellent. We've seen five of the seven
1:43
Speaker 1: episodes and who knew that the story of a female
1:46
Speaker 1: chess prodigy could be so suspenseful. But don't take my
1:50
Speaker 1: word for it. Trust Joe Burrow and check out The
1:54
Speaker 1: Queen's Gambit. Now, let's get to football, beginning with my
1:58
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave Lapham, as we begin by taking care
2:02
Speaker 1: of something that was missing at the end of last
2:04
Speaker 1: week's win in Houston. Lap After last week's victory in Houston,
2:10
Speaker 1: I realized we forgot something. We need to do it
2:14
Speaker 1: right now. Are you ready? Let's do it all right?
2:16
Speaker 1: Here it goes. Sam Hubbard forces the fumble, Marcus Hunt recovers,
2:21
Speaker 1: and that should be coffin nails. Bam Bam. Courtesy is Sam.
2:28
Speaker 1: That's good. You know, Marty Brennaman occasionally forgot to say
2:32
Speaker 1: and this one belongs to the Reds over the years,
2:34
Speaker 1: so I don't feel too bad about it. Was great
2:36
Speaker 1: to see the Bengals finally win a road game for
2:38
Speaker 1: the first time in a couple of years. They are
2:41
Speaker 1: four ten and one. They're trying to end the season
2:43
Speaker 1: with a three game winning streak as they host the
2:46
Speaker 1: Ravens this Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. Let's hear from
2:49
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates, te Higgins, and Zach Taylor on the importance
2:54
Speaker 1: of finishing strong. It's been really cool to see how
2:57
Speaker 1: we all have came together in the last you know, weeks.
3:01
Speaker 1: A lot of teams don't do this. Um, a lot
3:04
Speaker 1: of teams, you know, check out at this point and
3:07
Speaker 1: we're We're not the team that's that's doing it. No,
3:09
Speaker 1: it's important at the end of the day simply because
3:11
Speaker 1: you know, he feels good. Nobody wants to lose at
3:15
Speaker 1: the end of the day, and you know winning is
3:17
Speaker 1: his bills, your confidence. Hopefully we can keep it going
3:20
Speaker 1: into the next season. You know, they need that result.
3:23
Speaker 1: You feel differently on Sunday evening and Monday morning. Um,
3:27
Speaker 1: you need that feeling because that that feeling is kind
3:30
Speaker 1: of what U get you through the grind of the season.
3:33
Speaker 1: And Okay, we want all the things we did let
3:35
Speaker 1: us to a win, and so let's go pay grand
3:37
Speaker 1: scheme to things. We want to win the division. We
3:39
Speaker 1: want to go to the playoffs and win playoff games
3:41
Speaker 1: to play for super Bowls. And when you're a team
3:44
Speaker 1: that's in that position, winning two games in a row
3:47
Speaker 1: is not going to be a big deal for us.
3:48
Speaker 1: You know, you're going to be wanting to win five,
3:50
Speaker 1: six games in a row to create that momentum. But
3:52
Speaker 1: right now, for where we're at as a team for
3:54
Speaker 1: this season, winning two games row is important. And again
3:57
Speaker 1: we got to continue to build on the momentum going
3:58
Speaker 1: in this weekend. All right, is it really important to
4:03
Speaker 1: finish strong when you're having a lousy year. It is,
4:06
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. I Mean, I remember starting
4:10
Speaker 1: eight worst season I or experienced as a player, and
4:13
Speaker 1: eight start and when we went four and four, I
4:17
Speaker 1: felt like we'd accomplished something. It was like two seasons.
4:21
Speaker 1: The first one you just wanted to bury it as
4:24
Speaker 1: deep as you could, in the deepest graves you could find.
4:27
Speaker 1: And then when you ended up respectable with a four
4:30
Speaker 1: and four mark to finish it off, you know you
4:32
Speaker 1: felt like at least you didn't quit, You didn't wallow
4:36
Speaker 1: in your pity. You know, you did something about it.
4:38
Speaker 1: You pulled yourself up by the bootstraps. And you know,
4:41
Speaker 1: and I know fans they're all they want to do
4:43
Speaker 1: is talk about, you know, as high pick as you
4:45
Speaker 1: can get. But players and coaches, you're fighting for your
4:48
Speaker 1: professional life. I remember coming home and staying to my
4:51
Speaker 1: wife and eight, I got to make sure that I
4:55
Speaker 1: put do everything I possibly can to put as good
4:57
Speaker 1: a tape as I possibly can. I'll there because I
5:01
Speaker 1: want to play longer. I want to stay in this
5:03
Speaker 1: league as long as I can. And that's what players
5:05
Speaker 1: are doing. You're fighting for your life. One percent of
5:07
Speaker 1: the population you know plays in the National Football League.
5:11
Speaker 1: It's it's a it's not a right, it's a it's
5:14
Speaker 1: a total privilege. And man, you want to do it
5:16
Speaker 1: as long as you can. You're gonna fight with everything
5:18
Speaker 1: You've got to do it as long as you possibly can.
5:20
Speaker 1: When you're a player in a coach. So this idea
5:23
Speaker 1: of tanking, this idea of let's lose to get you
5:26
Speaker 1: it is so foreign. I mean, you're gonna be out
5:28
Speaker 1: in the street if you're part of that quicker than
5:30
Speaker 1: you can say whatever. So surrender for Sewell or putrid
5:36
Speaker 1: for Pinay is not do it for you. It's not
5:40
Speaker 1: gonna cut it, you know. And and as great as
5:42
Speaker 1: that player may be and Sewel may be great, and
5:45
Speaker 1: we got a great one in Anthony Muneo's in my opinion,
5:47
Speaker 1: the best to play both Super Bowl appearance appearances. He
5:50
Speaker 1: was the anchor at left tackle, also had the other
5:53
Speaker 1: member of the Mexican connection to and there at guard
5:55
Speaker 1: as well though, Max Montoya. So it's not just one
5:57
Speaker 1: guy in the offensive line. One guy makes a huge difference.
6:01
Speaker 1: But like Mike Brown always you say during contract negotiations,
6:06
Speaker 1: we don't have any numbers for you, touchdowns, catches, we
6:09
Speaker 1: don't have any stats. You know, We're just evaluating you
6:13
Speaker 1: on the overall performance of how you're playing with the
6:15
Speaker 1: other guys up front. And that's the that's the reality
6:18
Speaker 1: of it, that's the nature of the Beast. And you
6:20
Speaker 1: draft accordingly, you know. So, I mean, one one offensive
6:24
Speaker 1: tackle does not a team make and honestly, I think
6:28
Speaker 1: we're in the same school. I would even if it
6:30
Speaker 1: is the third pick in the draft, I would explore
6:33
Speaker 1: trading back and seeing you know how far back you
6:36
Speaker 1: would have to go, and to accumulate another real strong
6:39
Speaker 1: option to make yourself better with multiple choices in the draft.
6:43
Speaker 1: If you can increase your odds of pick two tackles,
6:48
Speaker 1: if you can increase your odds of finding one, I'm
6:50
Speaker 1: all for that, as long as they're not named Oboehean Fisher. Yeah,
6:54
Speaker 1: I hear you. I'm glad you brought this up though,
6:56
Speaker 1: because I had a thought this week about the draft,
6:59
Speaker 1: because right now the Bengals have fallen to the fifth spot.
7:02
Speaker 1: They could drop as low as ten if they went
7:04
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Think back to last year. If the Bengals
7:09
Speaker 1: had won that overtime game in Miami, next to last
7:12
Speaker 1: game of the regular season, they would have probably fallen
7:15
Speaker 1: out of the top spot and would not have wound
7:18
Speaker 1: up with Joe Burrow, and fans would have been marching
7:21
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown's stadium with torches and pitchforks, and we
7:24
Speaker 1: would have been upset about it. I mean, we had
7:26
Speaker 1: our heart set on Joe Burrow. Well, had that happened,
7:30
Speaker 1: they would have drafted Justin Herbert. Absolutely, And I prefer
7:34
Speaker 1: Burrow partly for his leadership, partly because I think long
7:39
Speaker 1: term he will be the better of the two. But
7:41
Speaker 1: had they wound up with Justin Herbert, that would have
7:45
Speaker 1: been okay. As it turns out, he's been tremendous. He
7:47
Speaker 1: has been and you just you know, you just you
7:50
Speaker 1: never do, really know. And I mean, you know, when
7:53
Speaker 1: the Bengals in twenty eleven, with the fourth pick of
7:56
Speaker 1: the draft, they took aj Green, they didn't take any Dalton,
8:00
Speaker 1: they took him in the second round and he turned
8:03
Speaker 1: out fine. It's certainly not an exact science. It's not like,
8:07
Speaker 1: you know, where you're dealing with computers and this computer
8:11
Speaker 1: has more gigabytes or whatever, and you're gonna, you know,
8:13
Speaker 1: rank them accordingly. There's all kinds of variables. It's the
8:18
Speaker 1: it's human beings, it's the brain, it's the it's the
8:22
Speaker 1: human body. I mean, there's all kinds of variables. So
8:25
Speaker 1: the draft is the most inexact science there is in
8:29
Speaker 1: the world. And then when a guy gets drafted, the
8:33
Speaker 1: development of him, what's the mix, Like, Okay, is it
8:36
Speaker 1: a good is it a good situation? I mean, Kenny
8:39
Speaker 1: Anderson often says, if I've been drafted by the Atlanta Falcons,
8:43
Speaker 1: I may not have made it. Ever, I may not
8:46
Speaker 1: have made it coming out of Augustana. I get drafted
8:48
Speaker 1: by the Cincinnati Bengals that have Paul Brown as the
8:51
Speaker 1: head coach and Bill Walsh is my position coach. You
8:54
Speaker 1: kidding me? Two Hall of Fame guys that are brilliant.
8:58
Speaker 1: So that gave me more than a layer leg up.
9:00
Speaker 1: And so it is. It's all about the whole circumstance,
9:04
Speaker 1: you know, getting the right guy to fit your system properly.
9:09
Speaker 1: Is he going to be developed properly. There's a million
9:12
Speaker 1: things to go into it, but having talent obviously his
9:15
Speaker 1: first and foremost. With his first catch on Sunday, t
9:19
Speaker 1: Higgins will set a new Bengals rookie record with sixty
9:23
Speaker 1: eight receptions, breaking the mark he shares with Chris Collinsworth.
9:27
Speaker 1: And if he has ninety two receiving yards against the Ravens,
9:30
Speaker 1: he will join Chris and Aj Green as the only
9:33
Speaker 1: Bengals rookies to reach one thousand yards. Here's offensive coordinator
9:38
Speaker 1: Brian Callahan. He's run some really good routes against some
9:41
Speaker 1: really good corners, and that's really that's an encouraging thing
9:45
Speaker 1: for a young player. He's had a success against good
9:47
Speaker 1: corners too. There's some things he's got to keep continue
9:50
Speaker 1: to get better at. He's got to continue to get stronger.
9:53
Speaker 1: But he's going to be a fortunate This league going
9:55
Speaker 1: to be reckoned with and and I never viewed him
9:58
Speaker 1: as a rookie. Has strange us. It was never a
10:00
Speaker 1: moment where he felt like a rookie to me. You know,
10:03
Speaker 1: after we got to training camp, I was like, all right, guys,
10:05
Speaker 1: ready to go, and he's going to play a lot
10:07
Speaker 1: for us. And you know, hopefully he gets a handful
10:10
Speaker 1: more catches in yards and he can be up there
10:12
Speaker 1: as the best rook receiver the Bangles have had. That'd
10:15
Speaker 1: be pretty cool, pretty cool honor for him to come
10:18
Speaker 1: out of the gates as a rookie like that. Ninety
10:20
Speaker 1: two receiving yards might be tough against Baltimore to get
10:22
Speaker 1: to a thousand, but you know, knock on wood unless
10:25
Speaker 1: something awful happens, and it won't, he will get the
10:28
Speaker 1: catch to break the receptions record he shares with Chris Collinsworth.
10:32
Speaker 1: What's impressed you most about Tea his rookie year. You know,
10:35
Speaker 1: quickly on some of his numbers, he leads the AFC
10:38
Speaker 1: as a rookie receiver and catches in yards and his
10:40
Speaker 1: six touchdowns are are up there as well, but overall
10:45
Speaker 1: third and catches second in yards amongst rookies, which is
10:49
Speaker 1: pretty impressive. The thing that impresses me overall Dan is
10:53
Speaker 1: the thing that Brian Callahan talks about. She's looking at
10:56
Speaker 1: me six four two fifteen plus. You think a big
10:59
Speaker 1: guy like that not going to really be a good
11:01
Speaker 1: route runner. Man. He sinks his hips, gets in and
11:03
Speaker 1: out of cuts, gets separation, he's got a little wiggle.
11:06
Speaker 1: I mean, he turned a couple of good cornerbacks around
11:10
Speaker 1: when he's in the slot and he's running down the field.
11:12
Speaker 1: They don't know if he's going to run a post
11:14
Speaker 1: or a flag route, and he just he's turned hips.
11:17
Speaker 1: He's turned those guys around, and they're good cornerbacks. So
11:19
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, man, this dude, he's got some physical ability.
11:23
Speaker 1: And then he's so big at six four two fifteen plus,
11:26
Speaker 1: broad shoulders, long arms, so he's got you know, the
11:29
Speaker 1: contested catch, the big catch radius where he'll go up
11:33
Speaker 1: and battle people's strong hands. He's got a lot going on.
11:36
Speaker 1: And the other big thing that impresses me is his
11:39
Speaker 1: football IQ because, like we talked about, three different quarterbacks
11:43
Speaker 1: have won games for the Bengals, So he's had three
11:44
Speaker 1: different guys thrown to him as rookie, and every one
11:47
Speaker 1: of them he's gotten on the same page with very
11:49
Speaker 1: quickly because they all know that he is a stickler
11:54
Speaker 1: for detail on his assignments. He knows him cold, he
11:57
Speaker 1: understands why he's doing what he's doing in the big
12:00
Speaker 1: picture of everything else. And they know where he's supposed
12:03
Speaker 1: to be. They know he'll be where you're supposed to
12:05
Speaker 1: be when he's supposed to be there, and how he
12:07
Speaker 1: gets there's going to be right. And they have trust
12:09
Speaker 1: and confidence, and those are the two big things between
12:11
Speaker 1: quarterback and receiver. Like any relationship, you have to have
12:15
Speaker 1: confidence the other person and primarily you have to trust
12:17
Speaker 1: the other person. And that's what's going on with T
12:20
Speaker 1: Higgins and his quarterbacks. His favorite athlete as a kid
12:23
Speaker 1: was Aj Green. Chances are this will be AJ's final
12:26
Speaker 1: game in a Bengals uniform, which saddens me greatly. I'm
12:30
Speaker 1: surprised that AJ did not have a big year too.
12:33
Speaker 1: I thought for sure he was going to be healthy
12:36
Speaker 1: and he was going to be the AJ Green that
12:38
Speaker 1: we were accustomed to see prior to two years ago. Yeah,
12:42
Speaker 1: me too, I really, I really am. And I think
12:45
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I don't know if he
12:46
Speaker 1: got in his own head. I don't know if physically,
12:49
Speaker 1: you know, it just he never could, you know, just
12:53
Speaker 1: turn the engine over quite the same. It just it
12:57
Speaker 1: looked like he lost some of his quickness and explode.
13:00
Speaker 1: And this is in a suddenness, and that's going to
13:02
Speaker 1: come with age. And you compound the age with the
13:05
Speaker 1: fact that a lot he sat out so long at
13:08
Speaker 1: a late stage of his career. I think that you
13:11
Speaker 1: know that that compounded the problems in the issue there
13:14
Speaker 1: a little bit, and I think, you know, frustration started
13:17
Speaker 1: to set in for him some and his body language
13:20
Speaker 1: showed that, you know, quite a bit. Yeah. It's the
13:25
Speaker 1: thing is, though, when you talk to any of the
13:27
Speaker 1: teammates or of his coach, is still the first thing
13:30
Speaker 1: to ell say is, man, he works so hard and
13:32
Speaker 1: he done every single practice. AJ empties the effort bucket,
13:35
Speaker 1: never mind games. So it is it's sad, sad to
13:39
Speaker 1: see that it's maybe unfolding, you know, the way that
13:42
Speaker 1: it is to the conclusion of his career here in Cincinnati,
13:46
Speaker 1: because it was brilliant, not just good, it was brilliant.
13:50
Speaker 1: In last week's game at Houston, Texans quarterback Deshan Watson
13:53
Speaker 1: was incredible, but SOA's Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen. He completed
13:57
Speaker 1: seventy eight percent of his passes, room for three hundred
14:00
Speaker 1: and seventy one yards and had a passer rating of
14:03
Speaker 1: one twenty six point five. The Bengals also scored a
14:06
Speaker 1: season high thirty seven points. Here are Jesse Bates and
14:10
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on the Bengals current starting quarterback.
14:16
Speaker 1: Very impressed just the way how poised he always is,
14:20
Speaker 1: you know, throughout the locker room. I don't think I've
14:23
Speaker 1: ever seen him say a word until he became the
14:26
Speaker 1: starting quarterback. So, you know, I just I just kind
14:29
Speaker 1: of like the way he goes about his work. Doesn't
14:31
Speaker 1: really say much, but you can count on him to
14:34
Speaker 1: make a play. He's very tough. Then he's playing with
14:37
Speaker 1: the hurt leg or something like that right now. And
14:40
Speaker 1: then he took a shot in the game. But he
14:42
Speaker 1: continues to fight and put you know, his front foot
14:45
Speaker 1: for um, you know, always giving us. I'm a Vanders
14:48
Speaker 1: to win a football game. He's just gotten his way
14:50
Speaker 1: about him. He's a football player. He understands it. He
14:54
Speaker 1: knows what it's supposed to look like. He knows how
14:56
Speaker 1: to prepare. He knows how to take things from the
14:58
Speaker 1: meeting room to the field. He knows his weaknesses as well,
15:01
Speaker 1: and he knows how to how to account for those.
15:03
Speaker 1: And the more he's gotten to play, the more that
15:06
Speaker 1: those those skills have been sharpened. I think every week
15:09
Speaker 1: he goes out there, he's got better, just like most
15:11
Speaker 1: players do that haven't played a lot, but in particular
15:15
Speaker 1: for a quarterback, you don't get a lot of opportunities,
15:17
Speaker 1: and so when you do, you usually get better in
15:19
Speaker 1: a hurry. And I think that he's done that. Brandon
15:23
Speaker 1: Allen made himself some money last week, I would think,
15:26
Speaker 1: And if he plays well on Sunday against Baltimore, you
15:29
Speaker 1: gotta think that he'll be welcome back as Joe Burrow's
15:33
Speaker 1: backup quarterback next year. You think he'd be in high consideration.
15:36
Speaker 1: I mean, he had a remarkable game. There's no question
15:41
Speaker 1: about it. Like we said earlier, I mean he was
15:42
Speaker 1: a straight a quarterback. It was anticipatory and he was accurate.
15:47
Speaker 1: And there's a three play sequence Dan actually a four
15:50
Speaker 1: play sequence. The Bengals are it's it's seventeen seventeen football game.
15:55
Speaker 1: In the third quarter and at the seven forty seven
15:59
Speaker 1: mark third and one, he goes thirty one yards to
16:02
Speaker 1: Higgins on the deep left sideline and it's nullified with
16:07
Speaker 1: an offensive pass interference. Perfect perfect leading him just right.
16:12
Speaker 1: If that counts, he's over forty yards passing. They took
16:15
Speaker 1: that away with the penalty. I mean, he's over forty
16:17
Speaker 1: yards passing right there. So they come back and their penalizes,
16:21
Speaker 1: so they're at their twenty four yard line after the
16:22
Speaker 1: penalty on sampled the OPI third and eleven, he hits
16:26
Speaker 1: Aj Green fourteen yards to the right sideline. They get it. Yeah,
16:31
Speaker 1: but he had the height advantage. He did the contested
16:33
Speaker 1: catch thing and looking at the tape, they ran four
16:37
Speaker 1: curl routes spread the field, distributed him equally across the field.
16:41
Speaker 1: All of them go twelve thirteen yards and hook up,
16:44
Speaker 1: so he had four options to look at goes to
16:46
Speaker 1: Aj likes that mismatch with the size advantage, and it's
16:49
Speaker 1: the fourteen yard completion. Now it's first and ten. He
16:53
Speaker 1: goes covered two forty two yards down the middle field
16:55
Speaker 1: to Alex Ericson outruns the linebacker safety split Boom forty
16:58
Speaker 1: two yards down the middle. So now it's first and ten.
17:01
Speaker 1: At the twentieth the red zone. You're gonna get man
17:03
Speaker 1: coverage in the red zone. They haven't call for man covers.
17:06
Speaker 1: A little crossing route. Higgins goes to the back corner
17:09
Speaker 1: of the end zone. He makes another drops another perfect
17:11
Speaker 1: dime that they have to Initially, officials blow it and
17:14
Speaker 1: they look at it again and it's a touchdown. And
17:18
Speaker 1: four straight throws right there. One of them didn't count
17:21
Speaker 1: because of the OPI, but he had three plays seventy
17:24
Speaker 1: six yards in a touchdown on three straight throws. You
17:27
Speaker 1: add the thirty one yard or four straight throws he
17:30
Speaker 1: threw for one hundred and seven yards and every single
17:33
Speaker 1: one of them as a dime. That's a microcosm of
17:35
Speaker 1: the game. The guy played that drive was phenomenal. The answer,
17:39
Speaker 1: the response that they had after the OPI. Instead of
17:42
Speaker 1: third and eleven hour drivers down, I mean boom and
17:45
Speaker 1: then attack, boom boom. It was impressed as the way
17:48
Speaker 1: he drove the football team big plays, chunks. They had
17:51
Speaker 1: eight plays of over twenty yards. That's the most they've
17:54
Speaker 1: had in a game this year, having come close to
17:56
Speaker 1: having eight chunk plays in one game. What stood out
18:00
Speaker 1: to me was his touch. I mean, he remember early
18:03
Speaker 1: this year when they blew the big lead against the
18:04
Speaker 1: Colts and we were talking about, Man, that just the
18:06
Speaker 1: touch that Philip Rivers has. It's not always a fastball.
18:09
Speaker 1: Sometimes he's just kind of letting the guy run under it. Yeah,
18:14
Speaker 1: exactly to me, That's what Brandon Allen showed last Sunday.
18:17
Speaker 1: And you know, shoot, the guy through seven touchdown passes
18:20
Speaker 1: in an SEC game for Arkansas. He's still the all
18:25
Speaker 1: time leading record holder for touchdown passes and they had
18:28
Speaker 1: some good quarterbacks at Arkansas. He throws a nice ball,
18:32
Speaker 1: he does, and like everybody's saying, the anticipation, I mean,
18:37
Speaker 1: he's throwing it to spots that the receivers eventually get to.
18:41
Speaker 1: And that's the key in the national football You basically
18:43
Speaker 1: have to quote throw guys open with the anticipatory stuff.
18:47
Speaker 1: And he's got a great feel for that. And the
18:49
Speaker 1: other thing the more I see him on zoom calls,
18:51
Speaker 1: and the more I see him on the field, his
18:54
Speaker 1: pulse is always even killed. He never ever gets upset
18:59
Speaker 1: or distraught or whatever. I mean, whether he's hurt, whether
19:02
Speaker 1: he's got three straight completions, two straight incompletions, two straight interceptions,
19:07
Speaker 1: the dude is the same. I mean, his his emotional
19:10
Speaker 1: approach to the game and his poise in his presence.
19:13
Speaker 1: It is pretty darned strong. It really is. Yeah. The
19:15
Speaker 1: first thing Jesse Bates mentioned poise, the first thing Trey
19:18
Speaker 1: Hopkins mentioned poise. That's what stands out to the teammates.
19:21
Speaker 1: Yepan and he is. I mean, he's a he's a
19:24
Speaker 1: flatliner guy. Man, there's there's there's no uh. Well you
19:29
Speaker 1: take do an ekg a him in a two minute drill.
19:32
Speaker 1: It's the exact same as if he's sleeping at night.
19:34
Speaker 1: It's unbelievable. Joe Burrow doesn't tweet often, but when he
19:38
Speaker 1: does it has an impact. And on the day after Christmas,
19:42
Speaker 1: he posted footage of himself slowly walking across the room
19:46
Speaker 1: with no assistance following knee surgery. I asked T Higgins
19:51
Speaker 1: and Brian Callahan for their reaction I was ready for
19:54
Speaker 1: him to come back right down and there. But yeah, man,
19:57
Speaker 1: it's great to see that his progress is coming along,
20:00
Speaker 1: coming along good, And no, I can't wait for him
20:02
Speaker 1: to get back to here and you know, get things
20:04
Speaker 1: started back up. Yeah, I did see it, uh, and
20:06
Speaker 1: it doesn't It wasn't just sounds like Joe looks like Joe,
20:11
Speaker 1: you know. Um, everything that he's done since since he's
20:14
Speaker 1: since he's arrived here has been had an accelerated face.
20:18
Speaker 1: And it's no surprise to me that that's he's on
20:22
Speaker 1: the schedule that he is for his return and I
20:26
Speaker 1: know he's gonna attack that just like he's attacked every
20:29
Speaker 1: minute that he's been here for the football portion. So
20:32
Speaker 1: Joe is wired a particular way and that's kind of
20:36
Speaker 1: just how he lives in his life. And that's that
20:39
Speaker 1: that doesn't surprise me one bit. Well, at LSU, they
20:43
Speaker 1: think he can walk on water, and he came close
20:45
Speaker 1: last year and this wasn't on water, but it was
20:48
Speaker 1: across the room with no assistance, no k no walker,
20:51
Speaker 1: no anything like that. It's great to see it was.
20:53
Speaker 1: I wish he'd just had a red suit and a
20:55
Speaker 1: white beard, you know what I mean. Because it was
20:57
Speaker 1: a Christmas present extraordinary. But yeah, he and really he
21:01
Speaker 1: was very very upright. So and he was he was
21:04
Speaker 1: walking without a limp. And what he was doing there
21:07
Speaker 1: as I had, you know, minor rehab after meniscus tears,
21:10
Speaker 1: no sort of things. You want to start firing the
21:12
Speaker 1: muscle groups as fast as you can. So's he's doing that.
21:16
Speaker 1: He's trying to fire his quads, hamstrings, everything around that
21:19
Speaker 1: damaged area. When you start strengthening all those muscle groups,
21:22
Speaker 1: that helps the rehab percentages immensely. And there's no doubt
21:26
Speaker 1: that he is going to be a maniacal, fanatical rehab patient.
21:31
Speaker 1: I think he's My prediction is he's going to blow away.
21:35
Speaker 1: You know, they say, okay, he'll be back by the opener.
21:39
Speaker 1: He'll probably be back by the beginning of training camp.
21:41
Speaker 1: He's one of those kind of guys. So Carson Palmer
21:45
Speaker 1: suffered his injury later similar severity, yep, and was back
21:50
Speaker 1: for the third preseason game. Yep. How did he look
21:54
Speaker 1: when he came back. You know, Carson was never a
21:57
Speaker 1: real you know, mobile, mobile guy. He was more of
22:01
Speaker 1: a you know, a stationary type pocket pass or classic
22:05
Speaker 1: pure pure pocket pass or absolutely so. Um, you know,
22:10
Speaker 1: Joe's a little bit different. Joe's got more athleticism, um.
22:14
Speaker 1: And and Carson, I think for his type of game,
22:17
Speaker 1: it was easier for him to come back sooner because
22:19
Speaker 1: of that. He wasn't necessarily change in direction violently. You know,
22:24
Speaker 1: he would set up in the pocket. But when he
22:26
Speaker 1: set up and you push off that back foot, you know,
22:29
Speaker 1: you're you're dropping and then you redirect and and you're
22:32
Speaker 1: putting a lot of pressure on that on that knee,
22:35
Speaker 1: whether it be the follow through or the you know,
22:37
Speaker 1: the plant foot. So um, he looked, he looked fine,
22:43
Speaker 1: but again he didn't even I can't tell you the
22:46
Speaker 1: number of times I saw Carson Palmer run, you know,
22:49
Speaker 1: so it a little bit different dynamic there, I think
22:52
Speaker 1: in terms of style of play. U. But again, medical
22:56
Speaker 1: advancements or significant from one Carson Palmer had a urgery,
23:00
Speaker 1: I mean, they're much better, and I think I think
23:03
Speaker 1: Joe is gonna I think he's gonna make a full
23:06
Speaker 1: complete you know, it might be one of those deals
23:08
Speaker 1: where it to be like a bionic thing. You know,
23:10
Speaker 1: Jeez looks like he's stronger and faster than he was before.
23:12
Speaker 1: You're seeing a lot of guys have surgery and it's like, wow,
23:16
Speaker 1: they even look stronger than before they had the surgery.
23:18
Speaker 1: It's it's crazy what they're doing with, you know, sports
23:21
Speaker 1: medicine these days. I remember with Carson they used cadavers ligament. Yeah,
23:26
Speaker 1: are they still doing that these days? Or I think
23:29
Speaker 1: they take it from a different part of the body. Yeah,
23:30
Speaker 1: now they're taking it from like in a part of
23:33
Speaker 1: the achilles or part of another tendon or you know,
23:36
Speaker 1: the quad tendon. Yeah, they're taking it rather than a
23:39
Speaker 1: cadaver because I mean, you know, a cadaver body is
23:42
Speaker 1: obviously dead tissue, you know, And if you can get
23:46
Speaker 1: tissue that's not like that, your chances of having a
23:49
Speaker 1: more complete and successful recovery might be better. So that's
23:53
Speaker 1: another improvement. Now, time for this week's one on one interview.
23:57
Speaker 1: As lap and I mentioned, te Higgins is on the
24:00
Speaker 1: verge of breaking a team record that Chris Collinsworth set
24:03
Speaker 1: thirty nine years ago, most receptions in a season by
24:07
Speaker 1: a Bengals rookie. I spoke to Chris about that and
24:10
Speaker 1: more this week. Beginning with the second round draft pick
24:13
Speaker 1: out of Clemson, te Higgins is special. I mean, he
24:16
Speaker 1: has the ability to go up with those contested catches.
24:20
Speaker 1: He has big, strong hands going over the middle, seems
24:24
Speaker 1: to have no fear whatsoever. It's amazing how easily these
24:30
Speaker 1: guys catch the ball. I'd like to play with their
24:32
Speaker 1: gloves on just one time. I'd like to just try it.
24:35
Speaker 1: I mean, they literally just sticks in their hands. It's
24:40
Speaker 1: He's a big, powerful guy, and he's going to be
24:45
Speaker 1: very worthy of hopefully carrying that new record on for
24:48
Speaker 1: about the next thirty nine years or so. He's six
24:51
Speaker 1: four tremendous athletic ability. Do you marvel at the size
24:56
Speaker 1: and speed of the guys that are playing the position
24:58
Speaker 1: you used to play, You know, it's a different thing.
25:01
Speaker 1: It's almost like, you know, Dan Ross was about the
25:05
Speaker 1: size of te Higgins back in the day and he
25:07
Speaker 1: was playing tight end on our team. But the guys
25:11
Speaker 1: are just so big and physical and still are able
25:14
Speaker 1: to maintain that speed. You know. With t the one
25:17
Speaker 1: thing that I see watching him is that you know,
25:21
Speaker 1: he I don't know what his forty yard dash time was.
25:24
Speaker 1: I'm sure it was good. But with a lot of
25:27
Speaker 1: taller guys and those long striders that the more they're
25:32
Speaker 1: down the field, the fashion they get, you know, forty
25:37
Speaker 1: yard dash usually favors the small, quick guys who get
25:41
Speaker 1: the first ten yards quickly. They're good out of the start.
25:44
Speaker 1: But the great deep ball receivers that I see are
25:49
Speaker 1: the ones that have that long stride that gobble up
25:52
Speaker 1: a lot of yards after they get started. Because you're
25:55
Speaker 1: never it's always changing speed, you know, It's like a
25:58
Speaker 1: pitcher in baseball. You're just trying to change speeds on
26:01
Speaker 1: how you approach the game. And man, when he hits
26:03
Speaker 1: the jets on the back end to some of that
26:05
Speaker 1: stuff and then his ability to go up and high
26:08
Speaker 1: point that ball, he's going to be special. We're talking
26:11
Speaker 1: to Chris collins Worth. Let's talk about Joe Burrow. After
26:14
Speaker 1: his injury, you tweeted, I love Joe Burrow and I
26:18
Speaker 1: haven't even met him yet. What do you love? I
26:22
Speaker 1: love the fact that a he's from Ohio be He's
26:27
Speaker 1: given Bengals fans a new form of hope. I mean
26:30
Speaker 1: a hope that not just will they be good again,
26:35
Speaker 1: but they have the chance to be great again, and
26:38
Speaker 1: they have a chance to win a Super Bowl. And
26:41
Speaker 1: I just love his demeanor. I love the way he
26:44
Speaker 1: carried himself from the first day that he came to Cincinnati.
26:48
Speaker 1: He was all business all the time. And I think
26:51
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position, you really need somebody with that
26:55
Speaker 1: level of buy end right from the start, because then
26:58
Speaker 1: the guys around him start thinking, and man, that that
27:02
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback's going to study that hard. I better start
27:04
Speaker 1: getting in my playbook here a little bit too. So
27:07
Speaker 1: I think that he represents sort of the work ethic
27:11
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati in a way that it really makes us
27:15
Speaker 1: all proud. And when he got hurt, I was like,
27:18
Speaker 1: oh no. And I remember Brandon Graham telling me the
27:21
Speaker 1: story from the Philadelphia Eagles. Apparently it was kind of
27:25
Speaker 1: a borderline late hit or big hit or something, and
27:31
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow turned around and look at the referee and
27:34
Speaker 1: didn't get the flag, and he just turned back to
27:37
Speaker 1: Brandon Graham and he said, you know, when I'm the goat,
27:40
Speaker 1: I'm going to get that call. And I mean, Brandon
27:44
Speaker 1: Graham said it was one of the great lines they
27:46
Speaker 1: ever heard. But they were so impressed with how tough
27:50
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow was that they almost killed him that day.
27:53
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't remember that game. They got some
27:56
Speaker 1: shots on him like you could not believe, and Joe
27:59
Speaker 1: just coming back and asked for more and kept delivering.
28:03
Speaker 1: He's the kind of guy you want leading your franchise. Chris,
28:06
Speaker 1: I was looking at your TV schedule this year. You've
28:09
Speaker 1: had Russell Wilson couple of times, Aaron Rodgers three times,
28:14
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes three times, Tom Brady a couple of times.
28:18
Speaker 1: In the current NFL Do you need one of those
28:22
Speaker 1: guys to contend for a Super Bowl title? I think so.
28:25
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean you can't. You go back to the
28:28
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens winning it in two thousand based almost entirely
28:33
Speaker 1: on their defense. But sure is a lot easier path,
28:37
Speaker 1: you know, it really is. I mean, those guys are
28:40
Speaker 1: the ones that are going to touch the ball every
28:42
Speaker 1: single time. It seems like a simple concept, but it's
28:45
Speaker 1: really the truth. The guy who's going to handle the
28:48
Speaker 1: football every single play, and even on running plays, you know,
28:52
Speaker 1: the ability to play fake or bootleg fake or whatever,
28:55
Speaker 1: at least put the fear of what those great quarterbacks
28:59
Speaker 1: can do down the field. It's just awfully hard to
29:02
Speaker 1: win without one of those top eight ten guys. The
29:05
Speaker 1: twenty twenty season is about over for the Bengals. What
29:07
Speaker 1: would you prioritize in terms of the draft and free
29:10
Speaker 1: agency offensive line play. I just think that they've got
29:17
Speaker 1: a franchise quarterback. I hope to goodness knock on wood
29:21
Speaker 1: that he comes out of this thing. Okay, but you know,
29:26
Speaker 1: and as good as te Higgins has been, you know,
29:29
Speaker 1: I think you've got to prioritize some of those higher
29:32
Speaker 1: draft picks now to try and make sure we keep
29:34
Speaker 1: him alive for as long as possible. And it's gonna
29:39
Speaker 1: be who knows what the start of the season will be.
29:42
Speaker 1: I hope that Joe comes along and it's ready right
29:45
Speaker 1: from the start, but if not, you've got to You've
29:48
Speaker 1: got to put yourself in position to win at that
29:52
Speaker 1: offensive line position. I played with some teams that went
29:56
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, and we always had great offensive
29:58
Speaker 1: lineman and you know, led by Anthony Munios all those years,
30:02
Speaker 1: you've become the majority owner of Pro Football Focus, You've
30:06
Speaker 1: created about one hundred jobs in downtown Cincinnati. Do you
30:10
Speaker 1: marvel at the interest out there in data where pro
30:16
Speaker 1: and college football is concerned. Yeah, I mean it's America's
30:21
Speaker 1: distraction right now, you know. I think it really is
30:24
Speaker 1: that we're all whether it's fantasy football or now with
30:28
Speaker 1: legalized gambling, that people need and want more and more
30:33
Speaker 1: and more information and they're not just watching football anymore,
30:37
Speaker 1: they're participating in it. The fantasy football leagues are passionate.
30:41
Speaker 1: They just came out of their championship round and I
30:44
Speaker 1: can't go anywhere without somebody asking me some questions. And
30:48
Speaker 1: now the more and more that we're able to go
30:51
Speaker 1: on our cell phones and people are going to be
30:53
Speaker 1: able to make wagers on do you think Joe Barrow
30:56
Speaker 1: will be over or under three hundred yards this week?
30:59
Speaker 1: It just adds another reason to watch football, which is
31:02
Speaker 1: good for all of us. But it's it's been a
31:05
Speaker 1: pretty amazing ride with PFF and I'm glad we were
31:08
Speaker 1: able to bring it to Cincinnati and bring and hire
31:12
Speaker 1: people right here from town. We're really proud of it.
31:16
Speaker 1: So the season ends on Sunday for the Bengals against
31:19
Speaker 1: the ten and five Ravens. You've had a couple of
31:21
Speaker 1: Baltimore games on TV this year. What would the Bengals
31:24
Speaker 1: need to do to have a shot and pulling off
31:26
Speaker 1: the upset and ending the year with the three game
31:28
Speaker 1: winning stream. You know they've they've pulled off a few
31:32
Speaker 1: things against the Ravens in the past, right, we've seen
31:35
Speaker 1: some of their clutch wins. But you've got to find
31:38
Speaker 1: a way at this point to stop Lamar. You know,
31:40
Speaker 1: he has just proven to be back in form. I
31:45
Speaker 1: never thought that he looked quite right in the early
31:48
Speaker 1: part of the season. I'm not sure what it was.
31:51
Speaker 1: He just wasn't quite as dynamic with the ball in
31:54
Speaker 1: his hands. And yet now over the past couple of
31:57
Speaker 1: weeks you're starting to see that VP look in his eyes,
32:02
Speaker 1: and so is impossible as it sounds. You have to
32:06
Speaker 1: stop him. You have to keep him from getting on
32:10
Speaker 1: the edge of your defense. If they can keep him
32:12
Speaker 1: in the pocket, make him win the game throwing the
32:16
Speaker 1: football from the pocket, then you'll always have a chance
32:19
Speaker 1: against the Ravens. But the minute he gets out and
32:22
Speaker 1: he is free to run and scramble and find Hollywood
32:27
Speaker 1: Brown down the field, you've got big problems. So he's
32:31
Speaker 1: the key. Appreciate your time, Chris. Sorry your record had
32:35
Speaker 1: to fall, but it's being broken by a great rookie
32:38
Speaker 1: and te Higgins. You told me he's one of the
32:41
Speaker 1: great guys on the team, so I'm fired up to
32:43
Speaker 1: meet him. I have not met him, but if you
32:45
Speaker 1: see him, please pass along my congratulations. I'm thrilled for him,
32:50
Speaker 1: and he's earned it. I mean that's the great thing
32:53
Speaker 1: about it. I've watched him play, I went back and
32:55
Speaker 1: watched some of the video from PFF, and he has
32:59
Speaker 1: earned the right to wear that crown and I'm really
33:02
Speaker 1: happy for the Bengals. Booth podcast is presented by Bud
33:07
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with a hint of
33:10
Speaker 1: fruit flavor. Whenever the Bengals play the Ravens, I like
33:14
Speaker 1: to catch up with my friend Brad Jackson, the former
33:17
Speaker 1: UC football and basketball player who won a Super Bowl
33:20
Speaker 1: ring as a Ravens linebacker in two thousand and has
33:24
Speaker 1: been doing some media work since retiring from the NFL.
33:27
Speaker 1: Brad joined us this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show,
33:30
Speaker 1: and I started our conversation by asking him if the
33:33
Speaker 1: Ravens current four game winning streak has folks in Baltimore
33:37
Speaker 1: believing that this team is a legitimate contender to advance
33:41
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. I think we're always legitimate when
33:45
Speaker 1: you can run the football and play good defense, and
33:47
Speaker 1: you guys know that, like when you don't turn the
33:49
Speaker 1: football over and you can run the football and obviously
33:52
Speaker 1: play great defense, which is a staple and part of
33:54
Speaker 1: the foundation here in Baltimore. It absolutely means that you
33:58
Speaker 1: have a chance in the playoffs. And when you have
33:59
Speaker 1: a dynamic weapon as far as Lamar Jackson, who though
34:04
Speaker 1: he's not having been passing numbers that a lot of
34:06
Speaker 1: people would talk about h you know, as being quote
34:09
Speaker 1: unquote that quarterback, he is still an explosive and a
34:13
Speaker 1: former MVP as he was last year. So whenever you
34:16
Speaker 1: have all those components in place, it is something that
34:20
Speaker 1: you have to take the Bottimo Ravens seriously. And that's
34:23
Speaker 1: why in the last four games, you know, they're averaging
34:25
Speaker 1: almost thirty seven points two hundred and thirty yards rushing
34:29
Speaker 1: per game. Obviously those two are tops in the league.
34:33
Speaker 1: And Lamar has just you know, played phenomenal with twelve touchdowns,
34:38
Speaker 1: you know, and he's actually thrown a couple more. We're
34:40
Speaker 1: actually doubled up with eight passing and four rushing, you know,
34:45
Speaker 1: to his credit, and he's turned it on. And you
34:49
Speaker 1: get a lot of people and we've had that discussion
34:51
Speaker 1: here in Baltimore about you know, the level of competition
34:55
Speaker 1: because you know, at the end of the season. You know,
34:58
Speaker 1: they have had to play the team minus the Cleveland
35:00
Speaker 1: Brown that you know, the Ravens eat to win out
35:04
Speaker 1: there a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland, But minus that,
35:07
Speaker 1: you know, with the Jags, Jaguars, and you know the Giants,
35:12
Speaker 1: and obviously the Bengals, you know, being without Joe Burrow,
35:16
Speaker 1: but who are obviously playing well. And we all know
35:18
Speaker 1: how that rivalry ends. Whenever it's Baltimore picks, whenever it's
35:22
Speaker 1: Baltimore in Cincinnati, it's almost like Baltimore Pittsburgh, except that
35:26
Speaker 1: the Bengals have, especially in Cincinnati, as you guys are
35:29
Speaker 1: well aware of, has always found a way to somehow
35:33
Speaker 1: throw a hitch in the Ravens season. And you know,
35:37
Speaker 1: when you go back you look at the course of history.
35:39
Speaker 1: You know, the Bengals, no matter what the record was,
35:41
Speaker 1: no matter what was happening when it came time to
35:44
Speaker 1: play in Cincinnati at the end of the year, they've
35:47
Speaker 1: always found a way to give the Ravens everything they
35:50
Speaker 1: can handle more, which is why the Ravens are are
35:53
Speaker 1: a pedestrian nine and fifteen in the nashty Nati. So
35:56
Speaker 1: it's very concerning this team is not looking back the
36:00
Speaker 1: Bengals as they may have in year's pad Bred. The
36:04
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens the only team in the NFL that is
36:08
Speaker 1: average rushing more yards than throwing in the game, the
36:13
Speaker 1: only team. They're rushing it one hundred and seventy seven
36:16
Speaker 1: point eight per game, first in the league, five point
36:18
Speaker 1: three per tempt, first in the league. They're throwing it
36:20
Speaker 1: for one seventy four and a half thirty, first in
36:22
Speaker 1: the league in this era. That's that's almost incredible. And
36:26
Speaker 1: the only other team that's close as New England. They're
36:28
Speaker 1: running it one hundred and forty five point three and
36:30
Speaker 1: throwing it for one seventy six point eight. And it's working, obviously.
36:33
Speaker 1: I mean this this Baltimore team. Instead of worrying about
36:37
Speaker 1: personnel and formations and packages in the passing game, man
36:41
Speaker 1: Baltimore doesn't the running game. Watching a little tape the
36:44
Speaker 1: first time the Bengals played, Baltimore is doing a lot
36:46
Speaker 1: of you know, a lot of bodies between the hash marks.
36:48
Speaker 1: Now they're spreading it out and they're getting running lanes
36:51
Speaker 1: by spreading the field. I mean, they can do anything
36:52
Speaker 1: they want that running game, can't they? You know, you
36:55
Speaker 1: talk about it that, you know, when it's the first
36:57
Speaker 1: time info history and having sure you guys about it
37:00
Speaker 1: where you know, three t three players on one team.
37:03
Speaker 1: You know, that's Lamar Gus Edwards and JK. Dobbins, the
37:06
Speaker 1: rookie from up there at the school up north and Cincinnati.
37:10
Speaker 1: Who is who is random ball? Really really well? He's
37:12
Speaker 1: actually tied the rookie record here in Baltimore with seven
37:15
Speaker 1: touchdowns and has an opportunity to break it. But those
37:19
Speaker 1: three guys have all ran for over six hundred yards,
37:22
Speaker 1: all of them have over six touchdowns. So you know,
37:25
Speaker 1: I think prior to this last four weeks and again
37:28
Speaker 1: it's one of those things that you're cautiously optimistic about.
37:32
Speaker 1: You know, from Hardy's question is, yeah, they can line
37:36
Speaker 1: up and play with anybody. But when they had those
37:39
Speaker 1: those playoff teams early in the year, the kids in
37:42
Speaker 1: the cities and they lost in New England and the
37:43
Speaker 1: rain storm, you know, the Ravens weren't playing that well
37:46
Speaker 1: early on against the good competition. So is it part
37:50
Speaker 1: of the fact that it's the end of the year
37:52
Speaker 1: and you guys know a lot of guys have checked out.
37:55
Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to just stay healthy. They're you know,
37:58
Speaker 1: they're kind of tiring them on the COVID tracy and
38:00
Speaker 1: everything that. You know, a lot of teams have put
38:02
Speaker 1: in place in order to get this season, you know, underway,
38:05
Speaker 1: and you know a lot of guys are pretty much figured, Okay,
38:08
Speaker 1: we're not going to the playoffs, you know, kind of
38:10
Speaker 1: brother in law as you know, as a call two
38:13
Speaker 1: times or is it that they are playing better at
38:16
Speaker 1: the right time or is it part of And I
38:19
Speaker 1: think some of it has to do it a lot
38:22
Speaker 1: of hype early on with Great Roman actually getting a
38:24
Speaker 1: lot of you know, media pressed about potential head coach,
38:28
Speaker 1: potential head coach, and they were trying to throw the
38:31
Speaker 1: ball and trying to you know, because we all know
38:33
Speaker 1: if you want to be a head coach in this league,
38:35
Speaker 1: you have to have your quarterback has to have numbers.
38:38
Speaker 1: And unfortunately that doesn't mean numbers with his legs as
38:42
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson has done. Because every other thirty one teams
38:45
Speaker 1: out there or whoever would be looking to higher Great
38:48
Speaker 1: Roman as the head coach is going to say, you're
38:50
Speaker 1: not bringing Lamar Jackson with you. So yeah, that offense
38:53
Speaker 1: translate phenomenally in Baltimore with the running attack, because you
38:57
Speaker 1: have Lamar Jackson, You're not going to go to a
38:59
Speaker 1: land you know, or the Jets, which are probably going
39:02
Speaker 1: to fire you know, Adam Gates and say hey, we're
39:04
Speaker 1: going to do the same things with Mattie Ice and
39:07
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan or you know, Sam Darnold. That's not gonna happen.
39:10
Speaker 1: So I think there was a little bit of a
39:12
Speaker 1: time in there from Washington film and I've had this
39:14
Speaker 1: discussion here in the media where even the fans are saying,
39:18
Speaker 1: just run the football, run the football, And I think
39:20
Speaker 1: it may be a trispect of you know, the team
39:23
Speaker 1: getting back to what they do best, which is, as
39:25
Speaker 1: you said, run the football on anybody, anywhere, at any time.
39:29
Speaker 1: With that triple headed monster of Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards
39:33
Speaker 1: and JK. Doptins and even Mark Ingram is still in
39:36
Speaker 1: there waiting in the wings and get a couple carries
39:38
Speaker 1: here and there, especially in the goal line areas. Our
39:41
Speaker 1: guest is Brad Jackson. The first time these teams played
39:44
Speaker 1: Baltimore at fifteen quarterback hits in seven sacks of Joe Burrow,
39:48
Speaker 1: and since then they traded for unique Eckway. Has he
39:51
Speaker 1: had a big impact. No, he hasn't had the impact
39:55
Speaker 1: I think that they were hoping for as of yet.
40:00
Speaker 1: And you know, you look at it when when you
40:02
Speaker 1: look at our numbers, you know, we we you know
40:05
Speaker 1: he has eight sacks, but uh, he's only had two
40:08
Speaker 1: since I became, since he became a raven um And
40:10
Speaker 1: you know you talked about that first game out there,
40:13
Speaker 1: Uh you know with the Bengals, Um, you know what
40:16
Speaker 1: it was, the seven sacks. I think they had a
40:18
Speaker 1: patcher Queen, the rookie first rounder, had a phenomenal game,
40:21
Speaker 1: even had a Scooper score for a touchdown. You know,
40:24
Speaker 1: week Martindale, who who my honest believe obviously we know
40:27
Speaker 1: he's from Daton, went to you know, defines Colin Johns
40:30
Speaker 1: here and obviously he's the former Bearcat, which was my
40:32
Speaker 1: linebacker coach, you know with the Bearcats. I think wink
40:36
Speaker 1: Is is probably priding to get a head coaching job.
40:39
Speaker 1: I think, uh, the opportunity is going to be there
40:41
Speaker 1: for him with the Jets. We have some synergies with
40:44
Speaker 1: the Jets. They're general manager Joe Douglass obviously was here.
40:48
Speaker 1: I think he may have an opportunity with U with
40:51
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville jack Warres. He kind of fits everything that
40:54
Speaker 1: that Jacksonville is looking for. Um So I think that's
40:57
Speaker 1: the more a realistic opportunity. And you know he's gonna
41:00
Speaker 1: doll it up and get after. You know, he got
41:02
Speaker 1: after Joe Burrow the first time, and he's gonna, you know,
41:05
Speaker 1: get after any quarterback out there, especially the seed early
41:08
Speaker 1: on if they've made the adjustments for all the quarterback
41:12
Speaker 1: hits and pressure that the defense put on. Way back
41:15
Speaker 1: a week five with the twenty seventy three victory for
41:18
Speaker 1: the Ravens. In terms of passing numbers, no surprise that,
41:22
Speaker 1: you know, the only guy that shows up in the
41:24
Speaker 1: top fifty in receiving yards is Andrews, a great tight end,
41:28
Speaker 1: six hundred and seventy four receiving yards. He's got seven
41:30
Speaker 1: touchdown catches, though Hollywood Brown has six. And the guy
41:34
Speaker 1: that I'm interested in, Dez Bryant six catches, two of
41:36
Speaker 1: them are touchdowns. Is the fifth fastest wide receiver have
41:40
Speaker 1: seventy five career touchdown receptions, number of games played. Jerry
41:45
Speaker 1: Rice Moss, Harrison, Teo, and Dez Bryant. What is Dez
41:49
Speaker 1: Bryant added to the football team, what's he been like?
41:53
Speaker 1: Been up and down. Honestly, he actually quit a couple
41:55
Speaker 1: of weeks ago. I don't know if you guys got
41:58
Speaker 1: that out in there. He came in and it was
42:00
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys, and he was out on the field
42:03
Speaker 1: and warm ups, dancing around doing this thing. And then
42:06
Speaker 1: they pulled him off the field and they said he
42:07
Speaker 1: had a positive fest like and he's on the field
42:10
Speaker 1: like dapping up in high five. It was a very
42:13
Speaker 1: very weird situations. And then he had to leave the stadium.
42:16
Speaker 1: He tweeted out that he was done. He quit, and
42:18
Speaker 1: then you know, a bunch of people got in his
42:20
Speaker 1: ear and and I think, you know, cooler heads probably
42:23
Speaker 1: prevailed that, you know, it's better to stay and get
42:26
Speaker 1: a couple more game checks, uh, And being a part
42:29
Speaker 1: of a team that potentially could go to the playoff
42:32
Speaker 1: versus versus ultimately hang him up considering he had been
42:36
Speaker 1: out of the league, you know, for a couple of years.
42:38
Speaker 1: And I think, as you said last, I think that
42:39
Speaker 1: was his first touchdown since with twenty seventeen, almost two years.
42:44
Speaker 1: So he's he's brought a veteran presence, but as far
42:49
Speaker 1: as schematically, you know, he's he's a big wide receiver,
42:53
Speaker 1: but he's not getting open against people. He's not eating
42:55
Speaker 1: you know, there's nobody that is actually fearing him stretching field. Um.
43:01
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's been another guy that has kind
43:03
Speaker 1: of a lot of football. Um. And that's what I
43:06
Speaker 1: think they're hoping for with consistency. Because the wide receivers
43:09
Speaker 1: from Hollywood Brown, you know, obviously Willie Sneid, they've all
43:12
Speaker 1: had their moments tweeting after games that you know they're
43:15
Speaker 1: not being used enough and they don't get the football enough. Meanwhile,
43:19
Speaker 1: you know they're they're dropping more footballs uh, you know
43:22
Speaker 1: than I would right now if I was to get
43:24
Speaker 1: out there on that field. So um, there there's been
43:27
Speaker 1: that situation that's kind of been frustrating internally and externally
43:31
Speaker 1: with the wide receivers not being consistent, not getting over
43:34
Speaker 1: ninetenching the ball. Uh kadre Ishmael you know who does
43:38
Speaker 1: some media stuff and and my former teammate uh here
43:41
Speaker 1: with Baldimware has been very very outspoken about it. And
43:44
Speaker 1: I choke his word as it as a wide receiver
43:47
Speaker 1: in the NFL. UM And so you know, your point
43:50
Speaker 1: is correct. Let that Mark Andrews is his blankie, that's
43:54
Speaker 1: his lioness. If if you eliminate and the game plan
43:57
Speaker 1: which has been it's been out there and teams have
44:00
Speaker 1: used it to success against the Ravens, where if you're
44:02
Speaker 1: a defensive line, your defense ends keep Superman in the
44:05
Speaker 1: phone booth. They don't get rushed past the quarterback. You've
44:08
Speaker 1: given him those running lanes because that's where Lamar is
44:11
Speaker 1: absolutely destroying teams right now, where the defense ends are
44:14
Speaker 1: getting pushed past them. He steps up. Now you have
44:17
Speaker 1: linebackers the VBS coming out of coverage thinking they got
44:20
Speaker 1: to go get a guy that's running the four three
44:22
Speaker 1: four four, and then all of a sudden he's flicking
44:25
Speaker 1: it to somebody down the field. But if those defensive
44:28
Speaker 1: ends and be line are keeping him contained, and then
44:31
Speaker 1: you're eliminating Mark Andrews, his favorite weapon. He struggles that
44:37
Speaker 1: complete passes consistently, consistently, excuse me, outside the numbers and
44:42
Speaker 1: those wide receivers just haven't gotten open as much. And
44:46
Speaker 1: then the times that they have gotten up and they
44:47
Speaker 1: dropped the football and key moments, so U there is
44:50
Speaker 1: a formula, you know for the Bengals, and like I said,
44:53
Speaker 1: obviously you know that you know them playing at home
44:57
Speaker 1: is always something that has you know, Bengal bitten the
45:01
Speaker 1: Ravens so to speak. You know that last game or
45:03
Speaker 1: those those late games in the season, uh in the
45:08
Speaker 1: Queen City, which have always voted well for for the Bengals,
45:11
Speaker 1: and it's it's been something that's kind of been a
45:13
Speaker 1: thorn in Coach harball side. Um. You know, this is
45:16
Speaker 1: definitely a very very important game and it's it's it's
45:20
Speaker 1: the guys here are not taking this lightly like oh,
45:23
Speaker 1: it's the Bengals, like the Jaguars and the Giants, that
45:26
Speaker 1: they're taking this very seriously as if they're they're going
45:28
Speaker 1: to play, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. And
45:32
Speaker 1: that's that's been the mindset in the building the last
45:34
Speaker 1: couple of days. Here's an invitation to join Lap and
45:38
Speaker 1: Me for the New Year's Day edition of the Bengals
45:40
Speaker 1: Pepper Rally Show Friday from three to six on ESPN
45:45
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty. That's going to do it for this episode
45:48
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45:55
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45:57
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46:00
Speaker 1: Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, Happy New
46:04
Speaker 1: Year and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast