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Bengals Booth Podcast: Ain't It Fun · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Ain't It Fun Living in
0:12
Speaker 1: the real world? Addition, as the three and one Bengals,
0:17
Speaker 1: currently tied for first in the AFC North, look to
0:20
Speaker 1: add to the fun as they try to upset Aaron
0:22
Speaker 1: Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Paul
0:25
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium. Coming up, I'll talk to the host of
0:29
Speaker 1: Football Night in America every Sunday night on NBC not
0:33
Speaker 1: to mention the Olympics, Triple Crown horse races and well
0:37
Speaker 1: you name it, He's done it, the great Mike Tarico.
0:41
Speaker 1: My one on one player interview this week is with
0:43
Speaker 1: a member of the Bengals who spent seven years playing
0:46
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, Mike Daniels. Dave Lapham
0:50
Speaker 1: joins me to discuss the latest Bengals news and share
0:52
Speaker 1: some keys to Sunday's game. And finally, it's our no
0:55
Speaker 1: the Faux segment, as we find out just how serious
0:58
Speaker 1: all of the Packers injuries are as we visit with
1:01
Speaker 1: Pete Doherty from the Green Bay Press Gazette. The Bengals
1:05
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Bud light Seltzer refreshed the game.
1:09
Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can have the
1:11
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
1:15
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,
1:20
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since my incredibly
1:24
Speaker 1: good fortune last week. Beginning on the last Sunday in September,
1:29
Speaker 1: I called a Bengals road win over the dreaded, hated
1:33
Speaker 1: but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers. Four nights later, it was
1:37
Speaker 1: the dramatic come from behind Thursday night victory over Jacksonville,
1:41
Speaker 1: ending on a game winning field goal at the gun.
1:44
Speaker 1: And two days after that, it was you see's huge
1:47
Speaker 1: winted Notre Dame, ending a twenty six game home winning
1:51
Speaker 1: streak for the Fighting Irish. To make that even better,
1:54
Speaker 1: my fifteen year old son Sam was with me in
1:57
Speaker 1: the booth at Notre Dame, making it a great father
2:00
Speaker 1: son memory. To paraphrase Lou Garrig, last week I considered
2:05
Speaker 1: myself so the luckiest man man man on the face
2:10
Speaker 1: of the earth. Earth. Now let's get to this week's guests,
2:15
Speaker 1: Beginning with perhaps the most versatile broadcaster in the business.
2:21
Speaker 1: He is the host of Football Night in America on
2:23
Speaker 1: NBC and one of the most accomplished broadcasters of all time.
2:26
Speaker 1: He's also my college buddy from Syracuse University, Mike Tarico. Mike,
2:31
Speaker 1: here's my first question. When you and the crew are
2:34
Speaker 1: watching a Bengals game on Sunday getting ready for Football
2:37
Speaker 1: Night in America and you're observing Joe Burrow, what are
2:41
Speaker 1: you and Tony Dungee and Rodney Harrison and Drew Brees
2:45
Speaker 1: saying about the Bengals quarterback. Well, first off, it's great
2:48
Speaker 1: to be with one of the best. It's great to
2:50
Speaker 1: be back with my buddy and talk to you here, Dan.
2:53
Speaker 1: So we watched the games, and the Bengals have, as
2:57
Speaker 1: you all well know, been in the one o'clock Eastern
3:00
Speaker 1: Sunday time slot a lot over the last several years.
3:03
Speaker 1: So in that mix, the Bengals game usually isn't the
3:05
Speaker 1: most important game, so it has not been in the
3:08
Speaker 1: most prominent spot. But that's changing now. So that alone
3:11
Speaker 1: tells you what's going on the first month of the season.
3:13
Speaker 1: What they say about Burrow is a wow, it really is.
3:17
Speaker 1: And I think Drew Brees really kind of caught my
3:20
Speaker 1: attention last week and just pointing out that there's just
3:23
Speaker 1: something about Burrow. As a matter of fact, we're in
3:25
Speaker 1: South Bend on Friday after the Thursday night game and
3:28
Speaker 1: talking just about what Joe Burrow brings to the table
3:31
Speaker 1: that a guy who's proven himself to get to this
3:35
Speaker 1: point plays with that kind of moxie, that kind of poise,
3:39
Speaker 1: and we both remarked, and Tony Dungee has said this
3:42
Speaker 1: as well, just the way he handles being QB one.
3:46
Speaker 1: And that's not just on the field, that's everything. And
3:48
Speaker 1: I think you saw it in the postgame Thursday night
3:50
Speaker 1: on an NFL network. All the fans are there, Joe's there,
3:53
Speaker 1: three and one, the world is great. It's like, hey,
3:56
Speaker 1: let's relax. We haven't done anything just yet. And that
3:59
Speaker 1: kind of along with the physical talents, are going to
4:02
Speaker 1: be what gives Cincinnati another good quarterback for quite some time.
4:06
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals had a good one when Andy
4:08
Speaker 1: Dalton was there. There was a success. I know people
4:10
Speaker 1: don't look back at that the way that they should.
4:12
Speaker 1: In my opinion, I think you're set up for another
4:15
Speaker 1: run that may even be better with Joe being there. Well, Joe,
4:18
Speaker 1: I'll love hearing that compliment from Drew Brees since Drew
4:21
Speaker 1: was his favorite NFL quarterback growing up. Aside from Joe,
4:25
Speaker 1: what's caught your eye in this three and one start?
4:28
Speaker 1: You know, the pieces are there, Zach's done a really
4:30
Speaker 1: good job with working the pieces of this offense. You
4:34
Speaker 1: know you have run ability that mixed new Zamba coming
4:38
Speaker 1: in the game. Obviously Jamar Chase and Boyd the receivers.
4:41
Speaker 1: Now you look at the field and you go, there
4:43
Speaker 1: are four guys here to get the ball too. So
4:46
Speaker 1: it's that and then it's playing with the confidence. You know, Dan,
4:49
Speaker 1: I live in the Detroit area. I grew up a
4:51
Speaker 1: Jets fan, so I've seen firsthand for generations that the
4:56
Speaker 1: inevitability that the anvil hanging over the team is going
4:59
Speaker 1: to fall at some point late third quarter, the inability
5:04
Speaker 1: to handle prosperity, and I feel this Bengals team has
5:07
Speaker 1: a different feel about it, that comfort with being in
5:10
Speaker 1: those spots, the ability to take that moment, seize it
5:13
Speaker 1: and control the game. There wasn't a panic down fourteen
5:16
Speaker 1: nothing at Jacksonville at halftime, and the team methodically came
5:20
Speaker 1: back like we're the better team. We're gonna get there.
5:22
Speaker 1: When I'm playing our best. That to me is a
5:24
Speaker 1: maturity and a growth level and a team, and that's
5:26
Speaker 1: what I'm seeing. What I've seen from the Bengals the
5:28
Speaker 1: first month of the season. Three and one is great,
5:31
Speaker 1: but it's only roughly one quarter into the season. What
5:34
Speaker 1: would a successful season looked like in your opinion for
5:37
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Yeah, that's the most screwed up thing of
5:39
Speaker 1: having seventeen games. We don't know what the quarter pole is.
5:42
Speaker 1: We don't know at the halfway pole. Nobody can be
5:44
Speaker 1: a five hundred team anymore. You know, what do we say?
5:46
Speaker 1: The league is set up for nine and eight or
5:48
Speaker 1: eight and nine. I think in this division that's a
5:52
Speaker 1: good record because Pittsburgh obviously is on an arc that's
5:56
Speaker 1: going down at this point. But certainly Cleveland and Baltimore
6:00
Speaker 1: are two elite teams. And when you look at those
6:03
Speaker 1: six games in your division, can you scratch four and
6:06
Speaker 1: two out of that? If so, that's a good year.
6:08
Speaker 1: And I think Cincinnati's relevance and quality makes it just
6:12
Speaker 1: that as well. So can you be in the playoff
6:15
Speaker 1: mix when we hit December? Because those games being played
6:19
Speaker 1: by Joe Burrow by Chase By everybody who's young in
6:22
Speaker 1: this organization who has not been through that playoff run.
6:26
Speaker 1: Those are the valuable things. And if you can get there,
6:28
Speaker 1: and with seven it may be a little bit easier
6:30
Speaker 1: to get there than it used to be, that's great.
6:32
Speaker 1: I think the AC West is strong, so that's gonna
6:34
Speaker 1: be a little bit of the problem. The depth of
6:36
Speaker 1: the ACY West, the depth of the AMCY North. A
6:39
Speaker 1: key injury one place or the other might see if
6:42
Speaker 1: three teams from one division can get in. But overall,
6:46
Speaker 1: I think let's get to Thanksgiving December still be very
6:49
Speaker 1: much in the playoff mix. That's a successful season to me.
6:53
Speaker 1: Big test coming up on Sunday with Aaron Rodgers and
6:55
Speaker 1: the Packers rolling into Paul Brown Stadium. Any early thoughts
6:59
Speaker 1: on that match shot. You know, Green Bay was a
7:02
Speaker 1: mess after Week one, and then after a couple of
7:04
Speaker 1: weeks you start to see, okay, they're not going to
7:07
Speaker 1: be that bad, but they're not at the level where
7:10
Speaker 1: they were the last two years where they went to
7:11
Speaker 1: the NFC Championship Game. They're searching for that. On the
7:14
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. With Joe Barry, their new
7:16
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, I think they figured out who they want
7:19
Speaker 1: to be and what they can be over the last
7:20
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, and Aaron Rodgers and DeVante Adams are
7:25
Speaker 1: just ridiculous, along with Aaron Jones. Those three together are
7:29
Speaker 1: so hard to handle. And I really think of Rogers.
7:33
Speaker 1: You know, we have this category Breeze now retired, sitting
7:36
Speaker 1: with us. You've got Brady and Roethlisberger and the quarterbacks
7:40
Speaker 1: who've been around for so long. You've got the guys
7:42
Speaker 1: in their prime like Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford. And
7:45
Speaker 1: then you got all this young, great talent on Joe
7:47
Speaker 1: Burrows at the head of that list. But Aaron Rodgers
7:50
Speaker 1: isn't in that veteran group yet that he's just kind
7:52
Speaker 1: of managed. He still does magical things. There are two
7:56
Speaker 1: or three throws a game where whether it's Dungee or
7:59
Speaker 1: Breeze sitting to them, where us as fans were like, gosh,
8:02
Speaker 1: he's still unbelievable. And it's armed talent. It's the mental acuity.
8:07
Speaker 1: It's the ability to still scramble when you need to scramble.
8:11
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers will make four or five plays that the
8:13
Speaker 1: Bengals cannot be prepared to defend because nobody knows that's coming.
8:18
Speaker 1: Those are the plays that win games. Consincinnati get on
8:21
Speaker 1: them early, create an atmosphere where it's tough to communicate
8:23
Speaker 1: because they love to communicate. That would be, to me,
8:27
Speaker 1: the seeds of getting a win. A win that would
8:29
Speaker 1: open up a lot of eyes around the NFL to
8:31
Speaker 1: how real the Bengals are. Our guest is Mike Dariko
8:34
Speaker 1: from NBC Sports. You've called a lot of Bengals games
8:37
Speaker 1: over the years. Do you have a moment or a
8:39
Speaker 1: game that immediately comes to mind? There are a bunch.
8:43
Speaker 1: There was actually a Thursday night where we shot saw
8:46
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson as a visitor breakout of the fifty yard
8:48
Speaker 1: touchdown right like whoa really? And we saw how good
8:51
Speaker 1: he was the last couple of years he played after that.
8:54
Speaker 1: But a Bengal centric moment has to be Monday Night
8:58
Speaker 1: Football Week one, two thousand and seven against the Ravens
9:00
Speaker 1: when Palmer to Johnson touchdown and chad Ocho Cinco Johnson
9:06
Speaker 1: of course goes for the Hall of Fame jacket with
9:09
Speaker 1: the back saying hof class two zero, question mark, question
9:14
Speaker 1: mark nothing better. That was the epic moment of celebrations
9:20
Speaker 1: for the Bengals and Chad taking to a high level.
9:23
Speaker 1: My personal favorite wasn't a Monday Night was using the
9:25
Speaker 1: pylon as a putter and making the play. I thought
9:28
Speaker 1: that was the all time best for me. But to
9:29
Speaker 1: come over, have the jacket place ready wide enough to
9:32
Speaker 1: get over the shoulder pads, go to the back, show
9:34
Speaker 1: that what was on the back of the gold jacket.
9:37
Speaker 1: Think about all the planning that had to happen, and
9:39
Speaker 1: he still had to catch a touchdown for that to
9:41
Speaker 1: do it on Monday night football week one. Absurd, Yes, memorable.
9:46
Speaker 1: Obviously it's fourteen years later and I feel like it
9:49
Speaker 1: was yesterday looking down at the field and saying, my gosh,
9:53
Speaker 1: what is he doing? That's pretty funny. So you don't
9:56
Speaker 1: have to think back very far for the next question.
9:59
Speaker 1: You called this Cincinnati Notre Dame game last week in
10:02
Speaker 1: South Band. Are the Bearcats worthy of legitimate consideration for
10:06
Speaker 1: a four team playoff if they keep this up? It
10:09
Speaker 1: was my honor to be the second best play by
10:10
Speaker 1: play guy on that game after you calling it for
10:13
Speaker 1: the UC fans on the radio. But yeah, I think
10:16
Speaker 1: they are. I think they are. There are enough people
10:18
Speaker 1: on that defense at every level. What do you look
10:20
Speaker 1: at for a good defense? Every level of players right
10:23
Speaker 1: and from Sanders to Beavers just sauce. There are players
10:26
Speaker 1: at every level for you see on the defense and side,
10:29
Speaker 1: and a bunch of other guys to go with them too.
10:31
Speaker 1: It's not just one or two stars. And you got
10:34
Speaker 1: a quarterback who's got it? You know what is it?
10:36
Speaker 1: It's it's that whole thing that I can't really describe it.
10:39
Speaker 1: When you see it, you know it. Ritter has it
10:43
Speaker 1: as a quarterback. You know, is he going to throw
10:46
Speaker 1: the ball through the through the door, you know, and
10:48
Speaker 1: just break through the plywood of the door because he
10:50
Speaker 1: has such a huge arm. No, is he going to
10:52
Speaker 1: outrun everybody on the field A lot of guys, but
10:55
Speaker 1: maybe not everybody. But he's also got that intangible and
10:57
Speaker 1: I think when you see a team that knows what's
11:00
Speaker 1: at stake and on the road, they blow up big
11:05
Speaker 1: lead and now it's at got to have a drive
11:08
Speaker 1: and he leads you to a got to have a drive.
11:10
Speaker 1: That to me showed me these guys can do it
11:13
Speaker 1: on this stage. I think they can. Hopefully they can
11:15
Speaker 1: handle the prosperity. They'll move up to number four if
11:18
Speaker 1: they win. This week because of the matchups and the
11:20
Speaker 1: polls and all that. And now they're there. Now everybody's
11:23
Speaker 1: gonna be watching them much closer. It's on their plate.
11:27
Speaker 1: Can they finish the meal? If so, I'd love to
11:30
Speaker 1: see them in the playoff. I took my usual shot
11:33
Speaker 1: at the college football Playoff, Dan. If five of us
11:36
Speaker 1: were investing in a company, would we say let's share
11:39
Speaker 1: the profits four ways? Of course? Not so. Right At
11:42
Speaker 1: the very core of it, the College Football Playoff was
11:45
Speaker 1: set up in the most stupid fashion possible. The conference
11:48
Speaker 1: stakeholders didn't give themselves a seat at the table. Guarantee.
11:51
Speaker 1: That doesn't say anything for any of the group of
11:54
Speaker 1: five schools. Cincinnati, by their play last year, started out
11:58
Speaker 1: high enough this year to get a chance. Everything of
12:01
Speaker 1: that program, the way it's a run, the organization, the administration,
12:05
Speaker 1: the support, the fans at home, the coaching staff, the
12:08
Speaker 1: radio play by play guy, everything is worthy of national
12:12
Speaker 1: championship contender level. Let's see somebody take a swing, and
12:15
Speaker 1: you see the perfect school to do that. So I
12:17
Speaker 1: think absolutely they're in it for the run here and
12:19
Speaker 1: I can't wait to watch. I'm pretty sure they don't
12:22
Speaker 1: consider the radio play by play guy, but I appreciate
12:25
Speaker 1: the thought. Last thing for Mike Tarico. How much fun
12:28
Speaker 1: was it last Sunday night to be in New England
12:31
Speaker 1: for Tom Brady's return. It was incredible playing and simple.
12:36
Speaker 1: Then you know, we do a lot of build up
12:38
Speaker 1: when you do pregame shows and you're just like, man,
12:40
Speaker 1: this is this is a little over the top. It
12:43
Speaker 1: felt really different. We opened the show. I got to
12:46
Speaker 1: do the walk that Brady was going to do for
12:48
Speaker 1: the visitor's tunnel out and down onto the field and
12:53
Speaker 1: doing it at seven o'clock. It was really cool. I've
12:56
Speaker 1: got the chance of a bunch of cool things. That
12:57
Speaker 1: was one of the cooler things to take people behind
13:00
Speaker 1: the scenes, to see Robert Craft waiting to talk to Brady,
13:04
Speaker 1: to see the people as he walked in, the fist bumps,
13:07
Speaker 1: the hugs. It was an emotional night for the greatest
13:10
Speaker 1: quarterback we've ever seen, going up against the greatest head
13:12
Speaker 1: coach we've ever seen, and the game came down to
13:15
Speaker 1: this much. I was on the field to watch the
13:18
Speaker 1: fifty six yard field goal. It had a thud to
13:20
Speaker 1: it in the wet conditions. It was hit hard. If
13:23
Speaker 1: that ball is this much further to the right, the
13:25
Speaker 1: Patriots win the game on a last minute drive led
13:28
Speaker 1: by the guy who's supposed to be the next big
13:31
Speaker 1: quarterback in New England. Like you write the whole deal
13:33
Speaker 1: up and if you submit that one, you're like, nah,
13:36
Speaker 1: that that's not going to happen. It was one of
13:38
Speaker 1: the special nights in the NFL. I'm so glad that
13:40
Speaker 1: the ratings showed that people were invested in it and
13:44
Speaker 1: care in it, and I think I care about it,
13:46
Speaker 1: and I think there'll be a halo effect too, because
13:48
Speaker 1: I think people are so into the emotional stories and
13:51
Speaker 1: the exciting stories of the NFL this year, not just
13:53
Speaker 1: in New England and Tampa with Brady and Belichick and
13:56
Speaker 1: where they go, but around the league. Two that had
13:59
Speaker 1: one of those magnet moments that make you feel like
14:01
Speaker 1: you know on a campus what's going on in the NFL.
14:03
Speaker 1: It was a night I'll remember for a long time
14:05
Speaker 1: and an honor and a pleasure to be on the
14:07
Speaker 1: field as Brady kind of ran out for the first
14:09
Speaker 1: time as a visitor. Mike, you're the best. I appreciate
14:12
Speaker 1: your time and your friendship. Keep up the great work.
14:15
Speaker 1: Same here. It's great to see a pal's great death,
14:17
Speaker 1: Breakfast with you and your awesome sun, and to look
14:19
Speaker 1: forward to a lot of Bengals and Bearcats wins the
14:22
Speaker 1: rest of the fall. So be good, budd. I got
14:24
Speaker 1: to know Mike when he was a freshman and I
14:26
Speaker 1: was an upperclassman at Syracuse, and I knew right away
14:29
Speaker 1: that he was going to be a star. He certainly is,
14:32
Speaker 1: and yet he truly hasn't changed a bit. He's one
14:35
Speaker 1: of the most generous, thoughtful people I have ever met.
14:39
Speaker 1: Up next, Bengals defensive tackle Mike Daniels, who is currently
14:43
Speaker 1: on the Bengals practice squad. He was a fourth round
14:46
Speaker 1: draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in twenty twelve
14:50
Speaker 1: and brings a unique perspective to this week's game. If
14:54
Speaker 1: anybody knows about Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers,
14:56
Speaker 1: it's Bengals defensive lineman Mike Daniels. You spend seven grade
15:00
Speaker 1: eight years in Green Bay, were selected to the Pro
15:02
Speaker 1: Bowl three times, chosen by your peers as one of
15:05
Speaker 1: the top one hundred players in the league, made it
15:07
Speaker 1: to two NFC Championship games. When you look back at
15:10
Speaker 1: those great years in Green Bay, what do you cherish
15:12
Speaker 1: the most what I really cherish is just my development,
15:16
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, as a player and as
15:18
Speaker 1: a man. Anybody can tell you that the time he's
15:20
Speaker 1: been in NFL is definitely gonna help you grow and mature.
15:24
Speaker 1: And I definitely left a much better pro than I
15:27
Speaker 1: did when I walked in. And I definitely have like
15:30
Speaker 1: the similar feeling while I'm here. You know, just that development,
15:33
Speaker 1: constant growth, continue to be a better pro, better leader.
15:36
Speaker 1: You know, that's a just thankful you know what I mean,
15:39
Speaker 1: from my development there. I'm sure there were more number
15:41
Speaker 1: twelve jerseys in the stands, but there was a love
15:44
Speaker 1: affair between Packers fans and yourself. There were a lot
15:47
Speaker 1: of number seventy six jerseys at Lambeau. Most of us
15:51
Speaker 1: will never know what that's like. What is that relationship
15:54
Speaker 1: when you have a fan base that really admires you
15:57
Speaker 1: like that. Well, I've been going for years now. This
16:00
Speaker 1: will be the third and the last two season they've
16:02
Speaker 1: been asking me for me to come back, So I
16:05
Speaker 1: mean that tells you everything. Even now I post something
16:08
Speaker 1: I get at least you know, five or six different
16:11
Speaker 1: um Packers fans saying bring him back, Aaron GM, Aaron
16:15
Speaker 1: bring him back, you know. I mean, so that's definitely
16:18
Speaker 1: a wonderful feeling. And to have that type of love
16:23
Speaker 1: and appreciation and acceptance from the fans, that's that's everything.
16:27
Speaker 1: And once again, it's it's I feel the same stuff
16:30
Speaker 1: that I feel with Judae nation Man, the way I've
16:32
Speaker 1: been embraced, the way I've been accepted. Once again, there's
16:35
Speaker 1: arrows like we can't wait to see you back out
16:36
Speaker 1: there playing. We're looking forward to see you rolling again.
16:39
Speaker 1: So like it's really cool to have that type of
16:43
Speaker 1: really great relationship with your fan based who supports you
16:46
Speaker 1: so much. We're chatting with Mike Daniels. Aaron Rodgers or
16:49
Speaker 1: as your teammate the entire time you were there, you
16:51
Speaker 1: were there for one of his MVP seasons in twenty fourteen.
16:55
Speaker 1: What did you respect most about Aaron Rodgers? Just as
17:00
Speaker 1: the way he carried himself. He's a great teammate. He
17:02
Speaker 1: treats everybody the same, doesn't matter if you're Davanta Adams
17:06
Speaker 1: Is go to Target or you're a you know, rookie
17:10
Speaker 1: practice squad guy who they just sign. He's going to
17:12
Speaker 1: treat you the exact same way. And it's just that
17:15
Speaker 1: respect that he walks around the building with that I
17:18
Speaker 1: greatly appreciate. When he was contemplating his future in the
17:23
Speaker 1: off season, did you think there was a chance he
17:25
Speaker 1: would retire. I know there was no chance that he's retired.
17:29
Speaker 1: He ain't retire no time soon. He's too much of
17:31
Speaker 1: a competitor. He's very smart. He knows what he's doing. Man, Aaron,
17:35
Speaker 1: he loves the game. He didn't return no time soon.
17:38
Speaker 1: Earlier this year on NFL Network, he said that Joe
17:41
Speaker 1: Burrow is a lot like Aaron Rodgers. You said that
17:44
Speaker 1: Joe is baby Aaron. Those are the words that you used.
17:47
Speaker 1: What similarities do you see? Joe definitely. Once again, it's
17:52
Speaker 1: just the respect he has for everybody in the locker room,
17:55
Speaker 1: right And I've been around long enough and a lot
17:58
Speaker 1: of rookies aren't like that. And for or you have
18:00
Speaker 1: a number one overall pick to come in and you
18:03
Speaker 1: know understand what he has to do the importance of
18:06
Speaker 1: his job. That's ah. He definitely takes everything seriously. Aaron
18:11
Speaker 1: the same way. He knows when the he knows when
18:14
Speaker 1: the lightning to move. Aaron the same way. And he's
18:17
Speaker 1: a leader. Aaron's the same way he definitely will make
18:21
Speaker 1: sure he brings the best out of the guys who
18:23
Speaker 1: are blocking for him, who he's throwing too, and who's
18:24
Speaker 1: who's running the ball. And likewise, the defense, you know,
18:27
Speaker 1: our job is to get the ball back for him,
18:29
Speaker 1: and he makes you want to do that. We're talking
18:31
Speaker 1: to Mike Daniels. Aaron Rodgers is obviously not the only
18:34
Speaker 1: former teammate that's still in Green Bay. Aaron Jones, Defante Adams,
18:38
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb, the list goes on and on. Is your
18:40
Speaker 1: knowledge of those guys helpful it all this week? Absolutely? Absolutely.
18:45
Speaker 1: I don't think David is playing, you know, and haven't
18:49
Speaker 1: going to be against him. That definitely would have helped.
18:50
Speaker 1: But the other guy absolutely. I know how those guys run,
18:54
Speaker 1: catch the guys playing on defense, so you you always
18:58
Speaker 1: want to help be able to give you guys an edge.
19:01
Speaker 1: That's just how it goes in the NFL. And just
19:06
Speaker 1: I've been inside those walls, so I know the guys.
19:11
Speaker 1: I know the player and the person and that that
19:14
Speaker 1: that definitely definitely helps being able to help my teammates.
19:19
Speaker 1: Oll here, you haven't been on the active roster yet
19:22
Speaker 1: this year, but it's football. Injuries happen. You're gonna be
19:26
Speaker 1: needed at some point. How are you staying sharp and
19:29
Speaker 1: how are you contributing right now? Well, so staying sharps,
19:33
Speaker 1: just being a professional. I'm training, definitely putting a lot
19:37
Speaker 1: of working on the off days, putting extra working while
19:40
Speaker 1: I'm here and practicing heart preparing for when my number
19:46
Speaker 1: is called because we'll be called, and really being attentive
19:51
Speaker 1: in the meetings right staying on top of the game, playing,
19:53
Speaker 1: preparing every week like as if I'm going to play,
19:55
Speaker 1: I guess if I'm going to start. And I've been
19:59
Speaker 1: traveling every week. You know, I've been on the silent
20:01
Speaker 1: every game, you know the guys and they've they've really
20:06
Speaker 1: been wanting me to give the pregame speech every week.
20:08
Speaker 1: And that's one of the biggest that's the biggest comment
20:12
Speaker 1: I've ever received as a player ten years and for
20:14
Speaker 1: my teammates is still you know, view me as a leader,
20:19
Speaker 1: put me in a leadership role. And I really take
20:22
Speaker 1: that seriously and I appreciate all my brothers here in
20:24
Speaker 1: his locker room for doing so. I'm on the sidelines
20:28
Speaker 1: definitely coaching guys up, helping out and all the ways
20:30
Speaker 1: I possibly can those brothers you referred to have been
20:33
Speaker 1: playing great. The defense is off to a tremendous start.
20:36
Speaker 1: When did you start to think it might be this good? Well,
20:40
Speaker 1: I knew that from the beginning, and I was saying
20:42
Speaker 1: that on all season, where I could look at the
20:43
Speaker 1: guys we brought it, and the guys who were coming back,
20:45
Speaker 1: and the guys who were healthy. So I'm just looking
20:48
Speaker 1: forward for the opportunity to be able to get out
20:50
Speaker 1: there and physically contribute, you know, to that process. Because
20:53
Speaker 1: the guys are playing really well right now. They're doing
20:56
Speaker 1: awesome and it's very fun to watch. Zach Taylor keeps
20:58
Speaker 1: mentioning your leadership. I know that's real. I appreciate you'd
21:02
Speaker 1: spending some time with us today and look forward to
21:04
Speaker 1: seeing you back out in the field. Absolutely. Thanks. I
21:06
Speaker 1: haven't mean I'm looking forward get me back out there
21:07
Speaker 1: as well. At the age of thirty two, I think
21:10
Speaker 1: Mike Daniel still has some good football left in him.
21:13
Speaker 1: But when he decides he's finished, he'll make a great
21:16
Speaker 1: broadcaster if that interests him. The Bengals Booth podcast is
21:20
Speaker 1: presented by Bud light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with
21:24
Speaker 1: a hint of fruit flavor. Now, time to discuss some
21:28
Speaker 1: of the key storylines heading into Sunday's game with my
21:30
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave lapham So Lap. On Wednesday, while talking
21:35
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati reporters, offensive line coach Frank Pollock said that
21:38
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has an aura that reminds him of a
21:41
Speaker 1: quarterback he played with in San Francisco, four time Super
21:45
Speaker 1: Bowl champion, Joe Montana. What was your reaction when you
21:49
Speaker 1: heard that? That was like high cotton right there, man,
21:53
Speaker 1: I mean, that's about as higher praise as you can get.
21:56
Speaker 1: And you know the original Joe Cool, you know Joe Montana.
21:59
Speaker 1: I can see it. I can see it in a
22:02
Speaker 1: lot of things. Body type, demeanor, not a Howitzer, but
22:06
Speaker 1: extremely accurate, just intelligent, saw the whole field, diagnosed things
22:13
Speaker 1: great pre snap, great post snap. I can I can
22:16
Speaker 1: see the I can see the comparisons big time. And
22:19
Speaker 1: when you he just threw it out there that you know,
22:22
Speaker 1: the or the the presence kind of thing um self
22:26
Speaker 1: confidence and exuding all of that. It's it's very interesting.
22:33
Speaker 1: And Frank Pollock, I trust him as an evaluator of talent,
22:37
Speaker 1: as an evaluator of human beings. I mean, he played
22:40
Speaker 1: with them, so he knows him intimately. And now he's
22:43
Speaker 1: been around Joe Burrow enough to get a pretty good
22:45
Speaker 1: handle on him. If Frank Pollock says there are similarities there,
22:49
Speaker 1: who that's stronger than new Rope because that's a that's
22:53
Speaker 1: a great thing to have a guy of that caliber
22:56
Speaker 1: around here for who knows how much longer, hopefully the
23:00
Speaker 1: move a decade or more. That's the thing that was
23:02
Speaker 1: striking to me because we're not talking about an ESPN
23:05
Speaker 1: talk show. This isn't a hot take from Stephen A.
23:08
Speaker 1: Smith or Max Kellerman or Skip Bayliss on Fox. This
23:12
Speaker 1: is Frank Pollock, who isn't generally effusive with his praise,
23:17
Speaker 1: talking about a guy that he spent nearly a decade
23:20
Speaker 1: with as a teammate in the NFL, in the locker room,
23:24
Speaker 1: in the in the meeting room, on the football field,
23:27
Speaker 1: in the huddle, you know, everywhere, and to be able
23:31
Speaker 1: to draw, to draw that that type of comparison, that
23:35
Speaker 1: that's the name that you that you pull out of
23:37
Speaker 1: your head when you're trying to find somebody to compare
23:42
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow's demeanor. Two Extremely high praise, Extremely high praise
23:48
Speaker 1: coming from, like you said, a very trustworthy source. You
23:53
Speaker 1: know it's not it's not anybody looking for shock value,
23:56
Speaker 1: looking for ratings, looking for whatever. Just telling it like
24:01
Speaker 1: it is, you know, right from his right, from his
24:02
Speaker 1: heart in his head. Let's stick with Frank Pollock. He
24:05
Speaker 1: was asked a bunch of questions about Jackson Carmen and
24:08
Speaker 1: had positive things to say about Jackson. In the first
24:10
Speaker 1: two games, he started a right guard, but he saved
24:13
Speaker 1: his highest praise for the guy starting at left guard,
24:16
Speaker 1: Quentin Spain. For what it's worth, Pro Football Focus has
24:19
Speaker 1: him graded higher than Kevin Zeitler so far this year.
24:22
Speaker 1: Does Quentin Spain deserve more praise than he typically gets? Yeah,
24:27
Speaker 1: he loves being under the radar. But I'll tell you
24:30
Speaker 1: he is one big, strong individual. I mean he's everywhere
24:36
Speaker 1: you can be, big, broad, thick, wide, I mean he
24:40
Speaker 1: is just he's a massive man. And when you you know,
24:45
Speaker 1: pat him on the shoulder, pat him on the back,
24:47
Speaker 1: shake his hand. Everything solid as a rock. I mean
24:50
Speaker 1: there's nothing loose there. You know, he's not fleshy. He
24:52
Speaker 1: is just thick and he is. Frank Pollock described it perfectly.
24:58
Speaker 1: I mean he's got some meat hook hands. He gets
25:01
Speaker 1: his hands on people. He's got so much strength in
25:03
Speaker 1: his hands. When he locks on boy, you're done. I mean,
25:07
Speaker 1: you're you're grabbed, you're you're You're basically in control of
25:11
Speaker 1: Quentin Spain at that point in time. And he doesn't
25:14
Speaker 1: get bull rushed. You know, you don't see him, you know,
25:17
Speaker 1: getting walked back to the quarterback immediately. He is one
25:21
Speaker 1: big human being that can anchor himself. And and uh
25:25
Speaker 1: and yet people, you know when when teammates and opponents,
25:30
Speaker 1: even more specifically opponents, when they say, oh, I mean
25:34
Speaker 1: when you hit that guy, you've been hit. And when
25:37
Speaker 1: he locks on you, you can't get away. He's strong,
25:40
Speaker 1: he's this he's at when when you keep getting all
25:42
Speaker 1: the people with the same evaluation, it's a it's a
25:46
Speaker 1: it's a real deal. At that point in time, this
25:48
Speaker 1: guy is definitely a beast. There's no question about it. Now,
25:51
Speaker 1: you know, is he the most graceful athlete in the world.
25:53
Speaker 1: Not necessarily, but is he athletic enough? Hell? Yeah, you know.
25:57
Speaker 1: And and he's a big, strong, powerful human being. What
26:01
Speaker 1: I liked about what Frank mentioned about him as well,
26:05
Speaker 1: was in the classroom, he'll ask questions he knows the
26:09
Speaker 1: answer to, but he thought maybe Frank didn't quite get
26:13
Speaker 1: as deep into his explanation as he thought the younger
26:15
Speaker 1: guys might need. So he asked a follow up question,
26:19
Speaker 1: and he knows what the subject matter is going to be,
26:21
Speaker 1: what the answer is, And Frank said, I love that
26:24
Speaker 1: about him. You know, he's he's like he's helping me coach.
26:27
Speaker 1: Basically he's a fun guy to coach. And that's that's
26:29
Speaker 1: a big plus. So it's it's an unique room and
26:33
Speaker 1: that you've got some young guys, but you've got some
26:35
Speaker 1: you know, Wiley kg veteran intelligent guys like Quentin Spain,
26:39
Speaker 1: Trey Hopkins, Riley Reef. I mean it's a it's a
26:41
Speaker 1: good mix. It's a good blend both, you know, mentally, experienced, wise, physically,
26:47
Speaker 1: all kinds of ways. You see's offensive line coach Ron
26:50
Speaker 1: Crook coach Quintin Spain at West Virginia says, strongest human
26:55
Speaker 1: being I have ever met. I think he can bench
26:58
Speaker 1: push the stadium. That would be impressive. So Jenna Williams
27:03
Speaker 1: also spoke to reporters on Wednesday. He said something that
27:05
Speaker 1: made me think of you. He said, the offensive line
27:07
Speaker 1: is like an opera or a dance where everybody has
27:10
Speaker 1: to be in sync. And he felt that was much
27:13
Speaker 1: better in the second half of the Jacksonville game than
27:15
Speaker 1: it had been previously. How much progress do you see
27:18
Speaker 1: along those lines? I see quite a bit. And you know,
27:22
Speaker 1: I remember just back in the day when Jim McNally
27:26
Speaker 1: was coaching us and he wanted everybody stepping with the
27:28
Speaker 1: same foot, and you don't have to do that to
27:32
Speaker 1: be a great offensive line. When you looked at end
27:34
Speaker 1: zone tape of the Oakland Raiders, Art Shell, gene Up Shell,
27:39
Speaker 1: they were doing stuff a lot differently. I mean, they
27:41
Speaker 1: were just they were just big brutes to beat up.
27:43
Speaker 1: And they weren't a whole lot of technique there. They
27:45
Speaker 1: just mauled you. And footwork and all that wasn't you know,
27:47
Speaker 1: it wasn't It wasn't synchronized. You know, like uh, you
27:52
Speaker 1: know I said earlier, three hundred pound June tailor dances.
27:56
Speaker 1: You know, you look, everybody stepped on the same foot initially,
27:58
Speaker 1: and then the hand placed it with the left hand
28:00
Speaker 1: in the same spot. You know, unless there are different
28:03
Speaker 1: shades of the defensive line and all that, that will
28:05
Speaker 1: alter some things. But when they do their a wide
28:07
Speaker 1: zone or their stretch play, it looks like everybody's you know,
28:12
Speaker 1: went to dance class, and they're taking the same steps
28:14
Speaker 1: and doing the same type of things and trying to
28:16
Speaker 1: get the same aiming point the target to widen the
28:19
Speaker 1: defensive line. And um, so so every everybody's on the
28:22
Speaker 1: on the same page in that regard. And uh, like
28:25
Speaker 1: you said, you know, my big thing is when an
28:28
Speaker 1: offensive line is playing like a fist, you know, you
28:30
Speaker 1: don't have to think about wrapping the four fingers and
28:33
Speaker 1: curling the thumb around it. You just you just do it.
28:35
Speaker 1: And and they're mastering the mundane as Frank Pollock talks
28:39
Speaker 1: about and and Jonah talked about, you know, you don't
28:44
Speaker 1: when the when the play is called, you don't go
28:46
Speaker 1: to line of stagram and you have to think about
28:47
Speaker 1: the first step. It's just they do it so much,
28:49
Speaker 1: it just happens, you know, you just that you're just
28:51
Speaker 1: going right to that you can you can get to
28:53
Speaker 1: something else during the course of the play that you
28:55
Speaker 1: might get your mind advanced to instead of having to
28:57
Speaker 1: worry about that first step or making an adjustment on
29:00
Speaker 1: that first step. So all that is is really good
29:03
Speaker 1: um and he I remember this with with Bill Johnson,
29:07
Speaker 1: with Tiger Johnson. When I first started trying to do
29:10
Speaker 1: some of the techniques, he was teaching me that you
29:12
Speaker 1: had to unlearn and relearn techniques. In the heat of battle,
29:15
Speaker 1: you go back to the old technique that you did
29:17
Speaker 1: in college and it'd be like you didn't even know
29:19
Speaker 1: you did it. You'd watch the tape the next day
29:21
Speaker 1: you go, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I did
29:24
Speaker 1: that footwork. But in the heat of battle, that's what
29:27
Speaker 1: you go back to. Until you've gone through mastering the
29:30
Speaker 1: mundane and doing all the reps, you know, day after
29:32
Speaker 1: day after day after day with the new techniques, and
29:35
Speaker 1: then they become, you know, the thing that you automatically
29:38
Speaker 1: go to in your in your muscle memory. So it's
29:41
Speaker 1: it's very interesting to watch the development of that. And
29:43
Speaker 1: as every day goes by, it's another you know, a
29:47
Speaker 1: bunch of reps added to the mix of mastering the mundane,
29:50
Speaker 1: and they become more and more more cohesive and more
29:54
Speaker 1: and more like a fist, you know, instead of like
29:56
Speaker 1: you know, two or three fingers being wrapped or up
29:58
Speaker 1: from four closer to five, having pretty four and then
30:01
Speaker 1: pretty soon that thumb's going to wrap over the other
30:03
Speaker 1: powerful fifth. Let's move to the Bengals defense. Eighth and
30:07
Speaker 1: points allowed, eighth and yards per running play tied for fifth,
30:11
Speaker 1: and yards per passing play tied for eighth. And sacks
30:14
Speaker 1: with eleven. They had seventeen all of last year. I
30:17
Speaker 1: can't believe I'm about to ask this question. Do the
30:20
Speaker 1: Bengals have a glaring weakness on defense? Boy? You know,
30:25
Speaker 1: I when all hands are on deck, they're pretty darn good.
30:28
Speaker 1: And you know, you like the fact that last week
30:31
Speaker 1: they were down a starting corner and starting safety and
30:34
Speaker 1: they had enough depth in the roster to, you know,
30:36
Speaker 1: to make necessary adjustments and hang in there and win
30:41
Speaker 1: a football game on a nationally televised broadcast of the NFL. So,
30:47
Speaker 1: you know, I think I think that they've got they've
30:50
Speaker 1: addressed a lot of their last week. Excuse me. Last year,
30:56
Speaker 1: I think there were more glaring weaknesses than there were
30:59
Speaker 1: things that you could count on. Now it's now, it's
31:02
Speaker 1: like everything's been addressed, everything's been taken care of. You know,
31:05
Speaker 1: they've they've got they've got quality depth at just about
31:10
Speaker 1: every position group. And that's that's a that's a real
31:12
Speaker 1: tribute to the organization. Um, you know, the scouting department,
31:17
Speaker 1: the organization for for drafting them, and now the coaches
31:20
Speaker 1: for developing it and uh and the players for you know,
31:24
Speaker 1: becoming cohesive and are very timely fashion. I think not
31:28
Speaker 1: only did they get players that that can play, but
31:32
Speaker 1: they get players that know what it's supposed to look like,
31:34
Speaker 1: and players that came from winning cultures, winning traditions, and
31:39
Speaker 1: players that are you know, from a personality standpoint, leaders
31:44
Speaker 1: rather than followers. They had too many players that didn't
31:48
Speaker 1: know what it was supposed to look like, and you know,
31:50
Speaker 1: uh didn't know who to follow, never mind where to go.
31:55
Speaker 1: Last year it was it was a real problem. All right,
31:58
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the Green Bay Pack several years ago.
32:02
Speaker 1: The Bengals are getting ready to play a team that
32:04
Speaker 1: had one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. I
32:06
Speaker 1: don't remember if it was Drew Brees or Russell Wilson
32:09
Speaker 1: or Brady or who exactly it was, but I distinctly
32:12
Speaker 1: remember being in the locker room. Were gathered around Adam
32:15
Speaker 1: Jones locker. Somebody asks him if this great quarterback was
32:19
Speaker 1: the best quarterback in the NFL. And like this disgusted
32:22
Speaker 1: look on his face happens and he goes, bro it's
32:26
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. It ain't even close. What is it about
32:30
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers of all these great guys that it seems
32:33
Speaker 1: like people in the know, the people in the game
32:36
Speaker 1: point to that guy as the guy. You know, you
32:40
Speaker 1: look at all the attributes and all the boxes that
32:44
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow checks, Aaron Rodgers checks them, and a lot
32:48
Speaker 1: of them are check plus. You know, it's like checks
32:50
Speaker 1: them like at the highest level. You can check him
32:53
Speaker 1: at I just you know, with him, his intelligence, his
32:57
Speaker 1: raw intelligence is on question is unquestioned. I mean, he's
33:02
Speaker 1: doing things like, you know, as he's getting a call
33:05
Speaker 1: from his sideline, he's looking at their sideline. If they're
33:08
Speaker 1: trying to sub lady, he's gonna quick snap and you know,
33:10
Speaker 1: pick up a penalty. Um, little things like the hard count.
33:14
Speaker 1: He's the he might be the best hard count by that,
33:18
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, um, a non rhythmic cadence where
33:22
Speaker 1: he tries to draw the defensive lineman off side and
33:24
Speaker 1: instead of a hut hud hut. He's good, you know,
33:29
Speaker 1: he's and he's so good at it. And I mean
33:33
Speaker 1: to me. It's it's repetition again, mastering the mundane. If
33:38
Speaker 1: I'm an offensive lineman, that's hard to hold your water
33:41
Speaker 1: when he's doing that. And you've got a defensive lineman
33:44
Speaker 1: who's got always waiting on his hand and he's trying to,
33:46
Speaker 1: you know, sprint off the football, and it's like, man,
33:48
Speaker 1: you know you want to make sure that you get
33:49
Speaker 1: a good jump too, but you can't. You don't want
33:51
Speaker 1: to blow the hard count opportunity. You may get a
33:53
Speaker 1: free five yards. I don't know how many first downs
33:56
Speaker 1: he's generated by penalty on a third and five or
33:59
Speaker 1: less with that hardcount stuff, or making it you know,
34:02
Speaker 1: third and eight, a third and three, which is taking
34:05
Speaker 1: the free shot or taking the free shot. No question,
34:08
Speaker 1: how many touchdowns he's thrown, touchdown bombs he's thrown on
34:11
Speaker 1: the free shot, because he knows, no matter what happens,
34:14
Speaker 1: i've got five yards. You know, a worst case scenario,
34:18
Speaker 1: I'm getting a replay of the Donald. I'm picking up
34:20
Speaker 1: five yards. So that's a good starting point. I'll take
34:22
Speaker 1: whatever shot I can take. So he is he's masterful
34:26
Speaker 1: with that stuff. And then his physical attributes are I've
34:31
Speaker 1: said it before, he is a guy that Usually when
34:35
Speaker 1: you watching most quarterbacks, they're feet and legs and arm
34:39
Speaker 1: and everything has to follow through in a perfect rhythm
34:43
Speaker 1: and a perfect sequence. This guy can be running towards
34:46
Speaker 1: the sideline and be facing the sideline with his legs
34:49
Speaker 1: and upper torso and look down the football field. I
34:52
Speaker 1: saw him do it the first year we played up
34:53
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, and he just he's running to the
34:56
Speaker 1: left to the Green Bay sideline, sprinting, and he looks
34:59
Speaker 1: and he sees the see he breaking. It's put like
35:01
Speaker 1: thirty five forty yards down the field, out toward their
35:05
Speaker 1: towards their bench, and he snaps his shoulders around and
35:09
Speaker 1: squares him up and doesn't even do anything with his legs,
35:13
Speaker 1: continues to run towards the stiglite and throws his seed
35:16
Speaker 1: in a very tight hole. They make the catch and
35:19
Speaker 1: tap tapping out of bounds. I was like, what did
35:22
Speaker 1: I just see? What I just saw? I mean that
35:24
Speaker 1: I've never seen anybody make a throw like that. I
35:26
Speaker 1: don't care who the guy was, how strong his arm was,
35:29
Speaker 1: the arm strength, the accuracy, all of it. And then
35:32
Speaker 1: he can he can change the velocity and feathery touch it.
35:37
Speaker 1: He's just so gifted. And the thing is he's not
35:40
Speaker 1: a stiff either. He can run around back there, he
35:42
Speaker 1: extends creates. I mean he is the goat. I mean
35:48
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's the goat because of the number of years
35:50
Speaker 1: on all. But I'm talking about from a physical standpoint.
35:53
Speaker 1: If the Good Lord said I'm creating this the specimen
35:58
Speaker 1: here to show people how a quarterback should be able
36:01
Speaker 1: to throw a football, oh, Aaron Rodgers would be the guy.
36:06
Speaker 1: I thought it was amusing when I asked Zach Taylor
36:08
Speaker 1: today during that time period where it was unclear whether
36:12
Speaker 1: he's going to come back to Green Bay or not,
36:14
Speaker 1: did you allow yourself to hope? And he was like, yeah,
36:17
Speaker 1: he was honest, he was hoping that a week five,
36:20
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers was no longer Remember the Green Bay Packers. Yeah,
36:23
Speaker 1: and Dan, I think the only thing I can attribute
36:28
Speaker 1: green Bay losing thirty eight to three to New Orleans
36:31
Speaker 1: is because of all that stuff that went on with
36:32
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. I mean it was it was all too disheveled. Still,
36:37
Speaker 1: you know, there were too many uneven feelings about things,
36:39
Speaker 1: and you know, amongst even teammates, you know, Aaron in
36:43
Speaker 1: the front office. I'm not sure about the coaching stuff.
36:46
Speaker 1: I'm not sure about how the players all, but the
36:49
Speaker 1: whole atmosphere was, you know, there was there was too
36:53
Speaker 1: much poison that needed to be spit out. It too,
36:55
Speaker 1: it was too toxic. But they got through it, and
36:58
Speaker 1: he knew it. I mean, La Fleur obviously was disgusted.
37:03
Speaker 1: You know, I'm disgusted, and Aaron Rodgers, I'm not gonna
37:05
Speaker 1: throw everybody under the bus. We had a bad game.
37:07
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not giving up in this group. I
37:09
Speaker 1: think he knew, based on everything that he was observing
37:13
Speaker 1: body language and interaction between teammates and stuff, that they
37:15
Speaker 1: weren't quite ready yet to take anybody on. But boy,
37:20
Speaker 1: they've they've gotten there quickly, and he certainly has, having
37:23
Speaker 1: lost since they've been averaging thirty points a game since.
37:26
Speaker 1: So they're thirteen and three each of the last two years,
37:29
Speaker 1: made it to the NFC Championship Game and lost each
37:31
Speaker 1: of the last two years, once at home, once on
37:33
Speaker 1: the road. It's not just Aaron Rodgers, obviously. What are
37:37
Speaker 1: the other key strengths of this Green Bay team? Well,
37:41
Speaker 1: in my mind, Dan, they have two two tremendous workhorses.
37:44
Speaker 1: As such, Davante Adams leads the NFL and catches with
37:47
Speaker 1: thirty one and he's fifth in yards generated. And he
37:51
Speaker 1: is he's special. I mean, he's a he's a gifted receiver.
37:55
Speaker 1: And the way he beats press coverage, the way he
38:00
Speaker 1: breaks routes at the top of the route, he's just
38:03
Speaker 1: he's a phenomenal route runner, just an extremely gifted player.
38:07
Speaker 1: And the other guy is Aaron Jones, not only running
38:09
Speaker 1: the football, but Aaron Jones. It goes in terms of
38:12
Speaker 1: overall targets, the wide receiver group is first running backs
38:16
Speaker 1: or second tight ends or third, and the running back
38:19
Speaker 1: that gets targeted the most and is the most productive
38:21
Speaker 1: is Jones. I mean he's second to Adams with thirteen
38:26
Speaker 1: catches and he's got three touchdown catches. And Jones is
38:29
Speaker 1: also rushed for two touchdowns, so he's a touchdown maker
38:32
Speaker 1: for him. And I think that's going to be a
38:34
Speaker 1: big factor in this football game. Is the yak and rack,
38:39
Speaker 1: you know, yards after catch, run after catch. If Aaron Rodgers,
38:44
Speaker 1: if he can get Jones on a linebacker, and we've
38:48
Speaker 1: seen Joe Burrow hit people in stride and not make
38:51
Speaker 1: him have to work for the football, you know, stop
38:54
Speaker 1: reach back or whatever, and they have to start up again.
38:56
Speaker 1: Just hit him in full stride. Aaron Rodgers can do
38:58
Speaker 1: that in spades. He hits Aaron Jones on the go
39:02
Speaker 1: in space. I think who's going to be the best tacklers?
39:07
Speaker 1: Which linebacker group? We have a young core of linebackers
39:10
Speaker 1: that have upgraded that position. When they get matched up
39:14
Speaker 1: on Aaron Jones, it's gonna be big. It's an extension
39:16
Speaker 1: of the running game. You're getting the ball out, it's
39:18
Speaker 1: like a long lateral to a great back in space.
39:22
Speaker 1: And who's going to be able to tackle and make place?
39:25
Speaker 1: I think that's going to be a big factor in
39:27
Speaker 1: the football game. And on the flip side too, I
39:30
Speaker 1: think that you know, Bengals running backs can do the
39:34
Speaker 1: same thing on linebackers. Who's gonna who's gonna win that
39:37
Speaker 1: particular matchup Aaron Aaron Jones is He's very, very talented though.
39:43
Speaker 1: He's about as good at it as as you can
39:45
Speaker 1: as you can get really so I think that's going
39:48
Speaker 1: to be a massive factor in the football game. And yeah,
39:52
Speaker 1: who's going to make Who's going to minimize the explosive
39:57
Speaker 1: and part And that's a big part of the explosive
39:59
Speaker 1: because you know, a fifty yard play doesn't always have
40:03
Speaker 1: to be forty eight yards in the air. It could
40:05
Speaker 1: be a you know, seven yard checkdown, make a guy
40:07
Speaker 1: missing off to the races for another forty So those
40:11
Speaker 1: are those are equally explosive. I think tackling in space
40:16
Speaker 1: when you get matchups that the offense feels are favorable,
40:21
Speaker 1: you know, a fleet, elusive running back in space on
40:24
Speaker 1: a linebacker, how much damage will be done? I am
40:28
Speaker 1: really excited about this game. If the Bengals can go
40:30
Speaker 1: to go toe to toe with the Packers, even if
40:32
Speaker 1: they don't win, I think they can show that they're
40:36
Speaker 1: a team that can remain in the hunt until the
40:39
Speaker 1: latter portion of the season. Yeah. And it's interesting, you
40:43
Speaker 1: know this is these numbers don't mean anything because none
40:46
Speaker 1: of the very few of these players were involved in
40:48
Speaker 1: any of these. But the last three matchups here in
40:52
Speaker 1: Cincinnati when Green Bay has come to Cincinnati has been
40:54
Speaker 1: a multiple years between each one of them, but it's been,
40:57
Speaker 1: you know, a touchdown or less scenario, and Rodgers was
41:00
Speaker 1: the quarterback the last time, and then Terence Newman something
41:03
Speaker 1: like that. An unscripted score, a defensive score off fumble recovery.
41:07
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what you have to have to beat
41:09
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers, you know, and you know, I
41:13
Speaker 1: think turnovers are going to be massive in this football game.
41:18
Speaker 1: You can't give Aaron Rodgers extra possessions. You have to
41:22
Speaker 1: take possessions away from him if you possibly can, and
41:25
Speaker 1: give more to Joe Burrow. You don't want to go
41:28
Speaker 1: out in that game saying Joe Burrow and the Bengals
41:31
Speaker 1: offense only had eight opportunities and Aaron Rodgers and the
41:34
Speaker 1: Packers offense had ten. No can do And maybe it's
41:40
Speaker 1: fourth down again, I mean the Bengals. To me, it's
41:42
Speaker 1: it's it's equivalent if the drive that doesn't end with
41:45
Speaker 1: the kick click. We keep talking about a drive that
41:47
Speaker 1: doesn't end with an extra point field goal, U punt.
41:50
Speaker 1: That's that's big. That's almost equivalent to a turnover. It is.
41:53
Speaker 1: It's like fumbling at the line of scrimmage and the
41:56
Speaker 1: other team recovers it. It's just like a turnover. So
41:59
Speaker 1: the Bengals have done a pretty good job in that
42:02
Speaker 1: area too, obviously, that was a huge factor in their
42:04
Speaker 1: last victory. But fourth down the opponent they've had four
42:09
Speaker 1: possessions that have ended without a kick. The opponents three
42:12
Speaker 1: for seven on fourth down. So the Bengals don't have
42:15
Speaker 1: a ton of takeaways. I mean, they've only taken it
42:17
Speaker 1: away four times, but they have four additional stops of
42:21
Speaker 1: possessions end of possessions without a kick. So in my mind,
42:25
Speaker 1: you know, that's closer to you're talking about eight times.
42:29
Speaker 1: You know you've put your offense in better position and
42:32
Speaker 1: with the momentum, I think I think it's a big factor.
42:35
Speaker 1: Final thing, we did a show the day after the
42:38
Speaker 1: Jacksonville game and we discussed urban Meyer's decision to go
42:42
Speaker 1: for it on fourth and one or fourth and goal
42:44
Speaker 1: from the one obviously didn't work late in the second
42:47
Speaker 1: quarter of that game. You came down on the side
42:49
Speaker 1: of bad decision by urban Meyer. I said, I still
42:52
Speaker 1: think it was a good decision, even though the result
42:54
Speaker 1: was bad. Here's my question. You thought it was a
42:58
Speaker 1: bad decision. Was that urban Meyer's worst decision that weekend?
43:04
Speaker 1: I think one might have led to the other. I
43:08
Speaker 1: think it was Oh my gosh, I blew that. I'm
43:10
Speaker 1: gonna have to go. I'm gonna have to go chill
43:12
Speaker 1: a little bit. I'm gonna let my hair down and
43:13
Speaker 1: let everything down. My yeah, I mean I can see
43:18
Speaker 1: I can see why he did it because the defense
43:21
Speaker 1: is pitching a shout out. You know, It's like, okay,
43:23
Speaker 1: you know, my defense is playing so well. You know,
43:27
Speaker 1: I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put them. I can
43:30
Speaker 1: see why he went for it. But the defense is
43:33
Speaker 1: playing so well, I'd go up by three scores, you know,
43:35
Speaker 1: I don't know. The bottom line is what he did
43:38
Speaker 1: after that decision, the decision, after the decision, that's they
43:43
Speaker 1: should do. ESPN should do a documentary on that decision,
43:47
Speaker 1: not the Lebron James decision. Should do a documentary on
43:50
Speaker 1: the urban Meyer decision that led to the decision that
43:54
Speaker 1: led to dead man walking, that led to when is
43:57
Speaker 1: he going to get fired? There's odds on where he's
44:00
Speaker 1: going to have his next coaching job, odds on who's
44:02
Speaker 1: going to be the next head coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
44:05
Speaker 1: What a mess down there. And I do know that
44:09
Speaker 1: Bengals defensive coach Mark Duffner had an opportunity. He lives
44:13
Speaker 1: in Jacksonville, head coached in Jacksonville prior could have been
44:16
Speaker 1: the linebacker coach at Jacksonville. Thank goodness, Mark Dufter came
44:20
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati. It is not part of that knifemare down there,
44:23
Speaker 1: because that's exactly what it is right now. It is
44:26
Speaker 1: a nightmare down there. It is a cess pool. Right now,
44:30
Speaker 1: things appear to be trending up for the Bengals where
44:33
Speaker 1: injuries are concerned. Three guys that miss the Jacksonville game,
44:37
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates, Te Higgins and chitabe O Wooje all practiced
44:40
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, and Ricardo Allen was also cleared to practice
44:44
Speaker 1: after missing three games with a hand injury. Joe Mixon
44:48
Speaker 1: didn't practice after twisting his ankle versus the Jags, but
44:52
Speaker 1: he's considered day to day and hasn't been ruled out
44:54
Speaker 1: for Sunday. The picture is not as rosie for the
44:58
Speaker 1: Packers who have significant injury problems. That's where we begin
45:02
Speaker 1: our know the faux segment. But Pete Doherty from the
45:05
Speaker 1: Green Bay Press Gazette, he joined lapping Me this week
45:08
Speaker 1: on the Bengals Game Plan show. Yeah, there's they've been
45:13
Speaker 1: hit really hard the last two years. They have had
45:15
Speaker 1: great injury luck. I mean that's one of the things
45:17
Speaker 1: that has helped them get to these two championship games.
45:20
Speaker 1: Was and put up those thirteen and three records. Was
45:23
Speaker 1: they were really healthy. And they did lose Box Try
45:27
Speaker 1: right at the end of last year. And he's still
45:29
Speaker 1: on pupie, so they don't have him, but they hit
45:32
Speaker 1: they Darius Smith missed, you know, he's our best rusher
45:35
Speaker 1: by fire, and he missed all but one day at camp.
45:39
Speaker 1: He played like eighteen snaps or so in the first game,
45:41
Speaker 1: and then the headback surgery last week. He's probably done
45:44
Speaker 1: for the year. He's a really important player. M basically
45:50
Speaker 1: the guy that can't afford to loses Rodgers. After that,
45:52
Speaker 1: it's Zadarius Smith and Alexander And I just can't imagine
45:55
Speaker 1: Alexander is going to play this week and they're still
45:59
Speaker 1: the side and what to do when they're trying to
46:01
Speaker 1: avoid surgery, which tells you because he's a shoulder injury,
46:04
Speaker 1: which tells you that this isn't just going to be
46:06
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks thing. He's probably gonna be out
46:08
Speaker 1: for a little while even if he doesn't have the surgery.
46:10
Speaker 1: So um, they're gonna have to learn to play without
46:13
Speaker 1: their two most important and win without their two most
46:16
Speaker 1: important defensive players for a while here. Yeah, that's a
46:21
Speaker 1: that's a significant blow offensively. I guess my first question is,
46:27
Speaker 1: you know the effect the Aaron Rodgers effect when you
46:30
Speaker 1: know all that went on, Willy come to camp? Will
46:33
Speaker 1: he not? Willy? Is he going to retire? Well? And
46:35
Speaker 1: that certainly's not going to happen. But the whole thing
46:38
Speaker 1: is that the reason a thirty eight to three football
46:41
Speaker 1: game against the New Orleans Saints took place. I mean,
46:44
Speaker 1: were the guy's heads just in bad spots and Aaron Rodgers,
46:49
Speaker 1: you know, he basically coached. Laflor said that was embarrassing,
46:52
Speaker 1: and Aaron Rodgers like, not embarrassing. We just didn't play well.
46:55
Speaker 1: We're gonna be fine, you know, just like the R. E. L.
46:58
Speaker 1: A X deal. And he comes out and they went
47:01
Speaker 1: three football games, averaging over thirty points a game. Was
47:04
Speaker 1: it the Aaron Rodgers hangover the reason for the New
47:08
Speaker 1: Orleans debacle or what do you think the reason was?
47:12
Speaker 1: You know, I wouldn't be surprised if that were part
47:15
Speaker 1: of it. I personally think the bigger thing was, you know,
47:19
Speaker 1: he had a really good camp. They brought back, they
47:22
Speaker 1: did all these contract restructures to bring everybody back, you know,
47:26
Speaker 1: They came into this feeling like they've got as good
47:28
Speaker 1: a shout at the Super Bowl as anybody, And I
47:32
Speaker 1: think they went into that New Orleans game thinking they're
47:34
Speaker 1: just going to show up and do what they do,
47:36
Speaker 1: and you know, New Orleans is just you know, New
47:38
Speaker 1: Orleans was playing in Jacksonville, they were training in Houston.
47:41
Speaker 1: You know, I think they just thought they were going
47:43
Speaker 1: to walk all over those guys and they ran into
47:46
Speaker 1: a really really good coach and just got crushed. And
47:51
Speaker 1: I think that was a real eye opener for him
47:53
Speaker 1: that they can't just show up and win games. So
47:56
Speaker 1: I think that was the bigger factor. But I don't
47:58
Speaker 1: doubt that some of the Rodgers stuff. Who knows what
48:01
Speaker 1: effects that has guys on guy's mentality. Like I said,
48:05
Speaker 1: Rogers looked really good in camp. I mean, he played
48:08
Speaker 1: well as well in this camp as he's had in
48:10
Speaker 1: any camp. Not same with his best, but it was
48:12
Speaker 1: as good as any So, you know, I think the
48:15
Speaker 1: biggest part of it was they just got really really
48:18
Speaker 1: full of themselves. And they still haven't played great, but
48:21
Speaker 1: they've improved each week and they're winning without Zadarius Smith
48:25
Speaker 1: and now they have a real tough test against them
48:28
Speaker 1: against you know, a Cincinnati team with a good young
48:30
Speaker 1: quarterback that's put up a lot of points and yards
48:33
Speaker 1: early in the season. Pete Doherty is our guest from
48:37
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Press Gazette. I feel like I've got
48:39
Speaker 1: a pretty good grasp, Pete on the strengths of the
48:42
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. Obviously Aaron Rodgers first and foremost, but
48:45
Speaker 1: Davante Adams and Aaron Jones, etc. What do you consider
48:49
Speaker 1: to be their biggest question mark right now? Well, there's
48:53
Speaker 1: a couple of them. Even you know, before all the injuries.
48:55
Speaker 1: Their d line is not real talented. Kenny Clark is
48:58
Speaker 1: a very good player, but after him, they just don't
49:01
Speaker 1: have a lot of talent there. So I think that
49:04
Speaker 1: could be that was an issue early and they played
49:06
Speaker 1: really well against the forty nine ers and not bad
49:08
Speaker 1: last week. But I still think it's going to be
49:10
Speaker 1: an issue as the season goes on and they may
49:13
Speaker 1: need to go get help there. Their linebacker inside linebacker
49:16
Speaker 1: position to Andre Campbell's pretty good, but after that, if
49:20
Speaker 1: they go with two of the two inside guys like
49:22
Speaker 1: in their nickel, it's not so hot. And then Alexander
49:27
Speaker 1: injury is just devastating for their defense because he's a
49:30
Speaker 1: really good corner and you know, those guys are just
49:33
Speaker 1: like it, just as important as pass rushers. And behind him,
49:38
Speaker 1: you know, they're not so great either. Their first round pick,
49:41
Speaker 1: Eric Stokes has really improved a lot and since the
49:44
Speaker 1: started camp, and he's their next best corner. And then
49:47
Speaker 1: there there's just not a ton of ability after that either.
49:51
Speaker 1: So there's the domino effect of a losing Alexander is
49:55
Speaker 1: big two. So they they've got a lot of weak,
49:58
Speaker 1: weakish points on their on defense. What about the offensive line, Pete,
50:04
Speaker 1: You've got a couple of rookies, you know at center
50:06
Speaker 1: and right guard. Billy Turner, I think is you know,
50:10
Speaker 1: I mean, the Miami Dolphins waived him, but he's he's
50:12
Speaker 1: a battler and he's he's had a very good NFL
50:16
Speaker 1: career in terms of years service. Jenkins with the ankle injury,
50:20
Speaker 1: how about Jenkins? Will he be able to go? And
50:23
Speaker 1: looking at initially looking at some tape, I thought Runyon
50:27
Speaker 1: looked like maybe he was playing at the best level.
50:30
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe I didn't see enough tape. But
50:32
Speaker 1: what's the offensive line looking like? So Jenkins, he's missed
50:37
Speaker 1: the last two games with the ankle, and he did
50:39
Speaker 1: not practice today. He's a vet, so they'll give him
50:42
Speaker 1: all week, but the smart money says he won't play
50:45
Speaker 1: again this week either. Um, they're young line. They got
50:48
Speaker 1: a rookiet center, Josh Meyers. They got a rookie at guard,
50:52
Speaker 1: right guard, Roy s Newman. Both of those guys have
50:55
Speaker 1: been fine. Their line has played fine. It's it's not
50:58
Speaker 1: an issue at all. I'm sure those guys are making
51:01
Speaker 1: mistakes as rookies that they won't make two years from now,
51:05
Speaker 1: but they both have ability and they're both doing just fine.
51:08
Speaker 1: So their their line has been okay. It hasn't been
51:10
Speaker 1: a big issue. It'll get better when Bak comes back
51:13
Speaker 1: and Jenkins can move to left guard. And you know,
51:16
Speaker 1: if if Jenkins doesn't play, Yosh Niman will be their
51:19
Speaker 1: left tackle. And I'm sure you've never heard of them,
51:22
Speaker 1: and he's They got to help him some, but he's
51:24
Speaker 1: done okay the last two weeks. In Turner, you know,
51:27
Speaker 1: they paid him a lot of money. He's averaging seven
51:29
Speaker 1: million bucks a year. They signed him as a free
51:30
Speaker 1: agent a couple of years ago, and they hible were
51:34
Speaker 1: paid to get him. But you know, he's he's improved
51:37
Speaker 1: even in his time here, and he played a good game.
51:40
Speaker 1: You know, he basically you know, Watt had two sacks,
51:42
Speaker 1: but they were both garbage sacks. One was where he
51:45
Speaker 1: tripped Rogers with his foot and the other one where
51:47
Speaker 1: Rodgers ran around and slid and Watt was the nearest guy,
51:50
Speaker 1: so he got he got the sack. But but you know,
51:55
Speaker 1: Turner went against him almost the entire game and did
51:59
Speaker 1: a really nice job against him. So their lines fine,
52:01
Speaker 1: it's probably not quite as good as last year, but
52:03
Speaker 1: maybe by the end of the year will be. They
52:04
Speaker 1: got ability there, and it's fine. Um, it's you know,
52:08
Speaker 1: it's not the reason for any struggles they're having. That's
52:10
Speaker 1: not the reason. A couple more questions for Pete Doherty
52:14
Speaker 1: from the Green Bay Press Gazette. I'm amazed by Davante Adams.
52:18
Speaker 1: He's not that big, he's six one, not that fast
52:22
Speaker 1: rant of four or five six at the combine. But
52:24
Speaker 1: he might be the best wide receiver in the NFL.
52:27
Speaker 1: Why is he so incredibly good? Yeah, and all that
52:31
Speaker 1: stuff is true and made you wonder, But he's guess,
52:34
Speaker 1: got ridiculous body control. He's really strong, he's really good
52:40
Speaker 1: at His cuts are so sharp and he can stop
52:44
Speaker 1: and cut just on a dime, like like nobody else
52:49
Speaker 1: in the league maybe except for the really small guys.
52:52
Speaker 1: So he's got a little bit of size and he
52:54
Speaker 1: plays like a little guy that way. He can sky,
52:57
Speaker 1: he can jump, and he's um. He wants to be great,
53:00
Speaker 1: and he's really dedicated to his craft and his chemistry
53:04
Speaker 1: with with Rogers has is just you know, there was
53:07
Speaker 1: a couple of throws the other day last week against
53:09
Speaker 1: the Steelers where it was just like, you know, they're
53:11
Speaker 1: back shoulder throws and it's like there's no defending that.
53:13
Speaker 1: You know, I don't care who's out there on him.
53:16
Speaker 1: So that the timing playing with a great quarterback helps too.
53:19
Speaker 1: But he's just he's just got a great mix of
53:21
Speaker 1: talent and want to and intelligence and all that stuff.
53:26
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor and Matt Lafleur were on the same coaching staff.
53:31
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor was effusive in his praise of Matt Lafleur.
53:35
Speaker 1: Has Matt Lafleur had any comments about Zach Taylor during
53:38
Speaker 1: the course of the week at this stage, you know,
53:40
Speaker 1: I don't know that he was asked about him on Monday,
53:44
Speaker 1: and I did not see today's press conference, so I'm
53:47
Speaker 1: not sure if he was asked, but they do go
53:50
Speaker 1: back and I know there it sounds like I know
53:53
Speaker 1: I saw a quote from him somewhere, so that must
53:54
Speaker 1: have been today where you know he's still he considers
53:57
Speaker 1: Taylor a very good friend of his, and a lot
54:00
Speaker 1: of that in this league right now with Nick Bay
54:02
Speaker 1: and Shanahan and him and the guy down at White
54:07
Speaker 1: down in Tennessee. So we're not Tennessee Atlanta, so there's
54:12
Speaker 1: a lot of guys off of that, you know, all
54:14
Speaker 1: that staffs that work together and they're all running the
54:17
Speaker 1: same system and it's spreading like wildfire that the league
54:21
Speaker 1: seems like every week they're playing somebody that La Floor
54:23
Speaker 1: used to coach with. Thanks to Pete Doherty. And here's
54:26
Speaker 1: a quick reminder to tune into the Bengals pep Rally
54:29
Speaker 1: Show this Friday from three to six on ESPN fifteen thirty.
54:34
Speaker 1: I'll be broadcasting U see football game on Friday, so
54:37
Speaker 1: Lap We'll be joined by Wayne box Miller. That's going
54:40
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast,
54:43
Speaker 1: brought to you by bud Light Seltzer refreshed the game.
54:47
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if
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Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
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Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
54:55
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
54:58
Speaker 1: Booth podcast