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Bengals Booth Podcast: I'm Back · 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 I'm Back in the Saddle
0:10
Speaker 1: Again addition, as Joe Burrow returns to the field for
0:15
Speaker 1: a Thanksgiving Nights showdown in Baltimore. Coming up, Joe tells
0:20
Speaker 1: us why Now, and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher weighs in
0:24
Speaker 1: on how Joe Flacco might have influenced Joe Burrow. Ben
0:29
Speaker 1: Chris Collinsworth joins me for an in depth look at
0:32
Speaker 1: the team, and finally it's punter Ryan Rico on mastering
0:36
Speaker 1: the art of not kicking the ball too far. The
0:40
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paycorp, proud
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Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
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Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
0:56
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's
1:00
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
1:03
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or
1:06
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the
1:10
Speaker 1: greatest thing since Elllbean slippers. When the weather turns cold,
1:17
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1:23
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1:26
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1:40
Speaker 1: click footwear and then click slippers. As they say in
1:44
Speaker 1: New England, they're wicked good, and so is Joe Burrow,
1:48
Speaker 1: the Bengals quarterback, is set to return to action on
1:51
Speaker 1: Thursday night, two months and thirteen days after tearing ligaments
1:56
Speaker 1: at the base of his left big toe. Joe knows
1:59
Speaker 1: that some people believe he should sit out for the
2:01
Speaker 1: rest of the year since the Bengals faced long odds
2:04
Speaker 1: for making the playoffs, but that's not how he's wired.
2:08
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, he explained why he's back and why he's
2:12
Speaker 1: back now, look at.
2:15
Speaker 2: It from my perspective.
2:17
Speaker 3: I'm a football player, and if I get hurt, I'm
2:22
Speaker 3: gonna go through the rehab process and then I'm gonna
2:24
Speaker 3: let everybody know when I feel like I can.
2:27
Speaker 2: Go out there and play. I don't really know what
2:30
Speaker 2: else to say about that.
2:34
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna ever go to somebody and say, yeah,
2:38
Speaker 3: I'm healthy, But you know, I don't think I don't
2:41
Speaker 3: think I should go out there and play. That doesn't
2:43
Speaker 3: make a lot of sense to me. I'm not gonna
2:45
Speaker 3: live my life and play this game scared of something happening, like, yeah,
2:50
Speaker 3: something's gonna happen.
2:51
Speaker 2: It's football.
2:53
Speaker 3: Guys are gonna get hurt, Guys are gonna get concussions.
2:55
Speaker 3: You're gonna break bones, tear ligaments. It's a physical, intense game.
2:59
Speaker 3: That's that's part of this. And yeah, I've had injuries.
3:05
Speaker 3: There's not a lot I can do about that. I
3:08
Speaker 3: worked really hard to have that not happen. But what
3:11
Speaker 3: I can do is when it does happen, I can
3:13
Speaker 3: control how I'm attacking my rehab and attacking practice and
3:17
Speaker 3: doing everything in my power to get back as quickly
3:19
Speaker 3: as possible. That's what I did. Number One, It's a
3:22
Speaker 3: division game. I got a lot of respect for the
3:25
Speaker 3: people on the opposite side of the ball, but when
3:27
Speaker 3: you play people twice a year, you get tired of them,
3:31
Speaker 3: you don't like them. It's a division rivalry. You got
3:34
Speaker 3: respect for him, but it's intense out there. It's something
3:38
Speaker 3: I wanted to be out there for playing on Thanksgiving.
3:41
Speaker 3: It's something I've always wanted.
3:43
Speaker 2: To do that.
3:46
Speaker 3: I pushed for in the past, and the NFL gave
3:48
Speaker 3: it to us, and then you know, the injury happened
3:51
Speaker 3: and thought I wasn't gonna be able to play, and
3:52
Speaker 3: then as we got closer, I felt like it was
3:55
Speaker 3: a real possibility. So that's exciting to me. And it's
4:00
Speaker 3: a national stage to go out improve yourself again after
4:04
Speaker 3: not playing for several weeks, and every opportunity that you
4:07
Speaker 3: get to go improve all the hard work that you've
4:10
Speaker 3: put in the type of player you are is something that.
4:13
Speaker 2: I try to take advantage of. I'm a football player.
4:16
Speaker 2: I get paid a.
4:17
Speaker 3: Lot of money to go and play a game with
4:20
Speaker 3: my friends, and we work really hard, and you know,
4:23
Speaker 3: it's intense and there's jobs on the line, but at
4:25
Speaker 3: the end of the day, it's a game, and I've
4:28
Speaker 3: worked hard to put myself in this position and get
4:31
Speaker 3: as healthy as I can be to go out and
4:34
Speaker 3: play with these guys, and that's something I wanted to do.
4:37
Speaker 1: He returns behind an offensive line that has shown considerable
4:40
Speaker 1: improvement since Joe's Week two injury. Under new O line
4:45
Speaker 1: coach Scott Peters. Over the last five weeks, Chase Brown
4:49
Speaker 1: has averaged eighty five rushing yards per game and six
4:52
Speaker 1: yards per carry, and it is six starts for Cincinnati.
4:56
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco was only sacked nine times and a half
5:00
Speaker 1: times per game, which is roughly what the league leaders
5:03
Speaker 1: averaged last year. Flacco, of course, helped by getting rid
5:07
Speaker 1: of the ball quickly, and this week offensive coordinator Dan
5:11
Speaker 1: Pitcher was asked about Burrow tweaking his style of play
5:15
Speaker 1: in hopes of avoiding future injuries.
5:19
Speaker 4: Care about what you do, and you're passionate about what
5:22
Speaker 4: you do. I think you're always striving to be the
5:26
Speaker 4: best version of yourself. I know that's true for myself.
5:29
Speaker 4: So inasmuch as anybody who exists in that mindset.
5:32
Speaker 5: Do they do you need to be open.
5:34
Speaker 4: To Hey, maybe there's something I can adjust here, Maybe
5:37
Speaker 4: maybe there's an element of my play.
5:39
Speaker 1: That that can be tweaked.
5:41
Speaker 4: And I think he is open to that. I think
5:43
Speaker 4: I think you'd be foolish to say any of us
5:46
Speaker 4: that know this is this is the way and there
5:49
Speaker 4: is no adjusting and deal with it. Well, I mean,
5:53
Speaker 4: that's you can go that route. But if you're not
5:56
Speaker 4: going to be self critical, so yeah, I don't. I'm
5:59
Speaker 4: not going to speak for him. He's obviously done a
6:02
Speaker 4: lot of incredible things in this league and he's an
6:04
Speaker 4: incredible player, and I expect him to continue to be
6:08
Speaker 4: an incredible player in this league. And how his career
6:12
Speaker 4: evolves and how he evolves as a player.
6:15
Speaker 5: We'll see.
6:16
Speaker 4: I'm excited to see it because he's a lot of
6:17
Speaker 4: fun to watch.
6:18
Speaker 1: Following up on that, he's had an example now in
6:21
Speaker 1: the building the last five weeks of a forty year
6:24
Speaker 1: old guy who doesn't want to get sacked, doesn't want
6:26
Speaker 1: to get hit. I mean, do you think a little
6:28
Speaker 1: of that gets incorporated just from seeing Flaka?
6:33
Speaker 5: Sure? Maybe?
6:35
Speaker 4: Again, like that's that's all part of the maturation process.
6:39
Speaker 4: That there's a natural arc of a player's career that
6:42
Speaker 4: occurs and particulate that position. And so many of the
6:47
Speaker 4: great players in our league at that position are great
6:51
Speaker 4: because there's an element of their play that allows them
6:54
Speaker 4: to produce when it's not perfect. And defenses are good,
7:00
Speaker 4: defensive coaches are good. We try our best to be
7:03
Speaker 4: in the best play we can be in every time,
7:05
Speaker 4: but it's just not possible, and so balancing that ability
7:09
Speaker 4: to extend and create with when do I do that,
7:14
Speaker 4: Is this an appropriate time? What's the big picture? I'm
7:18
Speaker 4: making sure I'm taking care of myself so that I
7:19
Speaker 4: can remain available to my team and my organization. That's
7:23
Speaker 4: one big stew that all of it goes in there,
7:26
Speaker 4: and you have to just do your best to make
7:28
Speaker 4: the right choice in the moment. And he's very cognizant
7:32
Speaker 4: of that. I think his comments reflect that, and I
7:34
Speaker 4: think he's he's introspective and it's all part of the process.
7:39
Speaker 4: So you know, I'm excited to watch him play. I'm
7:42
Speaker 4: really happy that he's back.
7:44
Speaker 1: Burow returns for a Thursday night game in Baltimore. Last year,
7:48
Speaker 1: in two starts against the Ravens, he threw for eight
7:51
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty yards with nine touchdowns and one interception,
7:56
Speaker 1: and two of the most entertaining games of the year.
7:59
Speaker 1: It's no under the NFL chose to put Cincinnati versus
8:03
Speaker 1: Baltimore on Thanksgiving Night. The NBC Sunday Night Crew will
8:07
Speaker 1: broadcast the game, but Chris Collinsworth will not be in
8:10
Speaker 1: the booth. NBC is allowing Chris to spend the holiday
8:14
Speaker 1: with his family, but he took time to join me
8:17
Speaker 1: this week. Chris, you will not be in Baltimore on
8:21
Speaker 1: Thursday night, but Joe Burrow will be seventy four days
8:25
Speaker 1: after suffering his toe injury, assuming that he returns to action.
8:29
Speaker 1: What impact do you expect it to have on the
8:31
Speaker 1: entire team.
8:33
Speaker 6: Well, I think it's already had an impact, right. I mean,
8:36
Speaker 6: they were saying how defensively they were better last week
8:39
Speaker 6: because Joe Burrow was in practice, and they showed it
8:43
Speaker 6: looked like it when they're out there on the field.
8:46
Speaker 6: It's when the star player, the fifty million dollar player,
8:52
Speaker 6: whatever you want to say, decides that even in potentially
8:57
Speaker 6: a meaningless season, it doesn't mean it's not They knock
8:59
Speaker 6: off the Rays two times their remaining schedules such that, hey,
9:03
Speaker 6: they could you know, it's not impossible for them to
9:05
Speaker 6: make the playoffs if Joe gets hot. And I'm sure
9:08
Speaker 6: Jamar is going to be a little motivated this week
9:11
Speaker 6: as well. But just the fact that he wants to
9:15
Speaker 6: come back and play I think says something about him
9:19
Speaker 6: the team, and it definitely does give him a little uplift.
9:24
Speaker 6: And could they beat Baltimore twice? Yes, yes, and they've
9:26
Speaker 6: already split with Pittsburgh, so conceivably they could end up
9:30
Speaker 6: with the best record in the division. And I you know,
9:36
Speaker 6: stranger things have happened in this league. We know that
9:39
Speaker 6: stranger things have happened.
9:41
Speaker 1: The Bengals obviously have to weigh risk reward with bringing
9:45
Speaker 1: Joe back, depending on how things go the rest of
9:48
Speaker 1: the way. Where do you come down on that argument.
9:51
Speaker 6: I'm not a doctor and I have no idea what
9:53
Speaker 6: the long term impact of this could be. For me,
10:00
Speaker 6: it's worth a fight, I guess, for as long as
10:02
Speaker 6: that fight lasts and you're still alive, potentially for the playoffs.
10:08
Speaker 7: But I.
10:11
Speaker 6: Want to win a championship, right, I mean, that's in
10:15
Speaker 6: my career, That's what I missed out on. We lost
10:18
Speaker 6: twice in a Super Bowl, and I only am interested
10:22
Speaker 6: in one thing, and that's winning a championship. So if
10:24
Speaker 6: winning a championship, my best opportunity to do that is
10:28
Speaker 6: with a completely healthy Joe Burrow next season and let
10:32
Speaker 6: him get completely well, then I would lean that way.
10:35
Speaker 6: But if the doctors say, hey, it doesn't make any
10:38
Speaker 6: difference at all. He's to the point now where he's
10:41
Speaker 6: not going to be any different today than he would
10:43
Speaker 6: have been to start next season. Then, yeah, I get it,
10:47
Speaker 6: I get it. Let him play, But I'll be like you, well,
10:51
Speaker 6: now i'll be because I'll be holding my breath. It
10:53
Speaker 6: wouldn't be good for you broadcasting the game to hold
10:56
Speaker 6: your breath. But it'll be hard to watch, you know,
11:01
Speaker 6: It'll just be and and he's he's so good. But
11:04
Speaker 6: he loves Joe loves being in the action. He loves
11:07
Speaker 6: hopping up through the line of scrimmage, he loves dancing
11:11
Speaker 6: around in there, and he makes great plays doing it.
11:14
Speaker 6: But you know, every time he tiptoes into the center
11:17
Speaker 6: of that pass rush, it's going to be it'll be
11:20
Speaker 6: it'll be a tough night for the fans.
11:22
Speaker 1: I'll say that those plays are some of the plays
11:26
Speaker 1: that make him who he is. It's why he's one
11:28
Speaker 1: of the best players in the NFL. What can he do?
11:30
Speaker 1: What can the Bengals do when he's on the field
11:33
Speaker 1: to protect him as much as possible.
11:35
Speaker 5: I don't think you can do that. I really don't,
11:38
Speaker 5: you know.
11:39
Speaker 6: And I don't think he's going to be running too
11:41
Speaker 6: many naked bootlegs out there, or quarterback options or anything
11:44
Speaker 6: like that. But when you're playing. You're playing, and it's honestly,
11:50
Speaker 6: it's what makes preseason so hard.
11:52
Speaker 5: It was like, you know, it's preseason.
11:56
Speaker 6: You're trying to get ready, you're working on a few things,
11:59
Speaker 6: but you don't want to get hurt. And I used
12:01
Speaker 6: to say, yeah, I want to catch one pass, get
12:04
Speaker 6: hit a little bit, not too hard, and then just
12:07
Speaker 6: go to the sideline and get ready for the season.
12:11
Speaker 6: But yeah, it's it's you just got to go, you know.
12:16
Speaker 6: I think if Joe or the Bengals try to do
12:18
Speaker 6: anything different than what they would have done ordinarily with him,
12:23
Speaker 6: I think he'll know it and he'll probably make him
12:26
Speaker 6: crazier and he'll hop around and try to make plays anyway.
12:29
Speaker 6: So I just don't think you can take a natural
12:32
Speaker 6: competitor and try to make him something he's not.
12:37
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase does return this week. It also returns to Baltimore,
12:40
Speaker 1: where he had two hundred and sixty four receiving yards
12:42
Speaker 1: and three touchdowns on a Thursday night game last year.
12:45
Speaker 1: You've seen all the greats. What separates Jamar Chase from
12:50
Speaker 1: just about everybody else?
12:53
Speaker 6: I do think he's a great one. I think he
12:55
Speaker 6: has a chance to be most certainly a Hall of Fame,
13:00
Speaker 6: but maybe even a notch above that. He's so strong.
13:07
Speaker 6: I mean that, that to me is what sticks out.
13:09
Speaker 6: It's like we all caught balls in open space and
13:13
Speaker 6: then you know, somebody wraps their arm around us and
13:17
Speaker 6: slows us down a little bit, and somebody else makes
13:20
Speaker 6: a tackle. You can wrap your arms around this guy
13:23
Speaker 6: and it's not going to slow him down. I mean,
13:25
Speaker 6: he is a running back in every sense of the
13:29
Speaker 6: forum from the waist down and has been.
13:33
Speaker 5: He's so fast, he's just a blur.
13:35
Speaker 6: So you got to protect the quick screen to him
13:38
Speaker 6: because he can break that for seventy which I think
13:40
Speaker 6: he did. Was that Baltimore he did that against last
13:43
Speaker 6: year is one of the best plays I've ever seen.
13:46
Speaker 6: And then a couple of years ago he did one
13:48
Speaker 6: in Baltimore just like that. So yeah, he's I'm sure
13:52
Speaker 6: Baltimore was wishing that he had been suspended this one,
13:57
Speaker 6: not the other one. But I truly think I think
14:01
Speaker 6: he's the best receiver there's ever been in Cincinnati. And
14:04
Speaker 6: I'm telling you that takes a lot for me to
14:06
Speaker 6: say that, and not because of me, but because of
14:09
Speaker 6: some of the other guys that I've played with and
14:11
Speaker 6: I've seen play there, so I'm excited to see him
14:15
Speaker 6: back on the field and I'm sure he's going to
14:17
Speaker 6: be He's going to be fired up and ready to play.
14:20
Speaker 1: Chris, Let's talk about the O line for a moment.
14:22
Speaker 1: They're starting a second year guy at right tackle and
14:25
Speaker 1: two rookies at the guard positions. Both of the last
14:27
Speaker 1: five games, they're averaging about five and a half yards
14:29
Speaker 1: per run. Joe Flacco, who was only sacked nine times
14:33
Speaker 1: during that five game stretch, do you think the Bengals
14:36
Speaker 1: are starting to build a solid line for Joe Burrow
14:40
Speaker 1: going forward.
14:41
Speaker 6: I think this is going to be one of the
14:43
Speaker 6: really interesting questions is Joe Flacco is a veteran, and
14:47
Speaker 6: one thing we know about forty plus year old men,
14:51
Speaker 6: they don't particularly like getting hit, right, So I think
14:55
Speaker 6: that what Joe Flacco has proven is it doesn't matter
15:01
Speaker 6: who the offensive line is sometimes if your quarterback has
15:05
Speaker 6: the mentality of I'm not going to take a sack.
15:08
Speaker 6: Which was Tom Brady, which was Peyton Manning, which was
15:11
Speaker 6: Eli Manning. I mean, those guys really believed that if
15:16
Speaker 6: they were around come playoff time, that they had a
15:20
Speaker 6: chance to win a world championship. And I think to
15:24
Speaker 6: some extent, it'll be interesting for Joe Burrow to have
15:30
Speaker 6: seen what Joe Flacco did and not taking those hits,
15:34
Speaker 6: not taking the sacks, being willing to get the ball
15:36
Speaker 6: out of his hands. He's got two of the best
15:38
Speaker 6: catch and run wide receivers in the game today, and let.
15:44
Speaker 5: Them take those hits.
15:47
Speaker 6: Because really, the times that we've seen Joe make it
15:50
Speaker 6: through to the playoffs, they do have a chance to
15:53
Speaker 6: win a Super Bowl. They can win in Buffalo, in
15:56
Speaker 6: Kansas City, they can beat the teams they couldn't be beat.
16:00
Speaker 6: But he's got to get there. And so, yeah, I
16:04
Speaker 6: just got to be honest with you. If I were
16:06
Speaker 6: his coach, I would say, let's take a look at
16:10
Speaker 6: what Flacco did while you were out with the same
16:13
Speaker 6: offensive line more or less, and he wasn't taking those hits,
16:18
Speaker 6: And is there a way to incorporate.
16:20
Speaker 5: Some of that.
16:21
Speaker 6: So not trying to lessen your game or your play style,
16:25
Speaker 6: but we've got to get you to the playoffs in
16:27
Speaker 6: order for it to mean anything, right, And I think
16:30
Speaker 6: that that's something he may take to heart.
16:33
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the defense for a moment of the
16:35
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, the defense, so subtracting defensive touchdowns
16:39
Speaker 1: by the other team is given up twenty points and
16:42
Speaker 1: nineteen points. So it's been better. What's the next step?
16:46
Speaker 1: What must this defense do to feel good about it
16:49
Speaker 1: going forward?
16:50
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think eventually they're going to have to get
16:53
Speaker 6: their pass rush going. And Hendrickson not being what he's
16:57
Speaker 6: been the last couple of years and being out for
16:59
Speaker 6: as long as he's been is definitely part of it.
17:03
Speaker 6: But studying the Denver Broncos this week and the way
17:06
Speaker 6: they're rushing the passer, I mean, that's that's how you
17:09
Speaker 6: win championships. Quarterbacks that are great quarterbacks are not even
17:14
Speaker 6: good quarterbacks when they're under pressure.
17:16
Speaker 5: And it's just a fact.
17:18
Speaker 6: So if the Bengals can finally get somebody, it looks
17:23
Speaker 6: like they're working out some of the stuff in the secondary.
17:25
Speaker 6: I was reading some of the stuff about Geno Stone
17:27
Speaker 6: and the tackling and all of that today, so it's
17:33
Speaker 6: you know, I think at the end of the day,
17:36
Speaker 6: they've got to go hit the quarterback. Every I interview
17:40
Speaker 6: every defensive coordinator in the league every single week and
17:43
Speaker 6: go around and like, so, what is the plan.
17:45
Speaker 5: We got to hit the quarterback. We got to hit
17:47
Speaker 5: the quarterback, you know.
17:47
Speaker 6: And so when you're doing that on a regular basis
17:51
Speaker 6: and you think about some of the great teams in
17:53
Speaker 6: league history, that's what they're doing. And you know, the
17:57
Speaker 6: New York Giants with Lawrence Taylor, Pittsburg Steelers, me and
18:01
Speaker 6: Joe Green. You go right down the list. And if
18:05
Speaker 6: they could ever, I wish they could just get that player.
18:08
Speaker 6: You know, Hendrickson's been that the last couple of years.
18:11
Speaker 6: The boy would be nice to get a twenty two
18:13
Speaker 6: year old like that. You know, they could just Micah Parsons.
18:16
Speaker 6: Would that be cool?
18:18
Speaker 1: That would definitely be cool. So they take on the
18:21
Speaker 1: Ravens on Thursday night. Baltimore started one in five. They
18:24
Speaker 1: haven't lost since. Are the Ravens all the way back?
18:29
Speaker 6: It just depends on Lamar and how healthy he's been.
18:32
Speaker 6: You know, they really haven't had they started with slowly
18:37
Speaker 6: on the defensive side, they're getting better. They're probably a
18:40
Speaker 6: little bit like the Bengals, but they've lost some key
18:43
Speaker 6: people over there on the defensive side too. So it's
18:49
Speaker 6: I don't it's not an unbeatable Ravens team.
18:52
Speaker 5: I mean, let's just put it that way.
18:53
Speaker 6: This is a team and we've seen the Bengals now
18:57
Speaker 6: slug it out with some good teams and losing and
19:00
Speaker 6: heartbreaking ways. I mean, the Bengals have found ways at
19:04
Speaker 6: the end of some of these games to lose. That's
19:06
Speaker 6: just breathtaking. And so do I think they can go
19:10
Speaker 6: into Baltimore and get a win here?
19:12
Speaker 5: I do.
19:13
Speaker 6: I do understand why Joe Burrow wants to play, because
19:15
Speaker 6: if they did win here now they would be right
19:19
Speaker 6: a game back. I think of the Ravens at that point,
19:23
Speaker 6: something like that. I'm gonna do some funny math here,
19:26
Speaker 6: but it then gives you a reason to play Joe
19:30
Speaker 6: Burrow the next week. And that's the way I would
19:32
Speaker 6: look at this. I would just think of this like,
19:36
Speaker 6: let's just we got a chance. Let's play him. You know,
19:39
Speaker 6: let's play him. He's going to be fresh, he didn't play,
19:41
Speaker 6: you know, he's not playing on four days rest like
19:45
Speaker 6: everybody else is. Let's give it a shot and make
19:48
Speaker 6: a decision and pray he doesn't get hurt.
19:52
Speaker 1: Chris, in eighty seven, you played on a team that
19:54
Speaker 1: won four games. The next year you were in the
19:56
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. The Bengals did the same thing in twenty
19:59
Speaker 1: twenty one where it wins the year before and then
20:01
Speaker 1: they were in the Super Bowl. What's the key for
20:03
Speaker 1: this team to get right back into contention if they
20:07
Speaker 1: don't have a miraculous run this year.
20:10
Speaker 6: It was a wake up call for us because we
20:12
Speaker 6: had in eighty six, we we had a good year,
20:16
Speaker 6: we had won ten games, didn't make the playoffs, which
20:18
Speaker 6: was painful, and then in eighty seven had the bad year,
20:23
Speaker 6: but it was also the strike year and we didn't
20:27
Speaker 6: get to those games. The replacement games weren't that much fun.
20:32
Speaker 5: So I lost all those.
20:34
Speaker 6: So we went from one in one to one in
20:37
Speaker 6: four when we came back, and it was just a
20:39
Speaker 6: train wreck after that.
20:42
Speaker 5: So but then we were mad, you know. It was
20:46
Speaker 5: like we're.
20:47
Speaker 6: Embarrassed and mad and all those things. And I think
20:51
Speaker 6: this team has to get mad. I think they have
20:53
Speaker 6: to decide that they're going to be a Super Bowl
20:57
Speaker 6: championship team. They've got the players, I mean they do.
21:00
Speaker 6: They've got players that can do it. I would have
21:04
Speaker 6: to study their defense a little bit more to know
21:06
Speaker 6: exactly what it was, but I do like what Al's
21:09
Speaker 6: doing now. It seems like they've kind of hit on
21:12
Speaker 6: something here lately, and I'm guessing that he probably has
21:17
Speaker 6: learned a lot about this.
21:18
Speaker 5: Defense and who can do what.
21:19
Speaker 6: And you know a lot of times you hear this
21:22
Speaker 6: guy's a good player, that guy's a good player, but
21:24
Speaker 6: until you spend a year with him, you don't know
21:26
Speaker 6: what their their skill set is. You don't you want
21:29
Speaker 6: to Every coach says the same thing. I want to
21:32
Speaker 6: take that player and put him in position to do
21:35
Speaker 6: what he does best. Well, I think Al probably knows
21:38
Speaker 6: what each of those players do best now, and he
21:41
Speaker 6: probably also knows what players can't do and what they're missing.
21:47
Speaker 6: You know, what is it that this defense just doesn't
21:49
Speaker 6: have personnel wise?
21:51
Speaker 5: And I've got to.
21:52
Speaker 6: Think that they are going to go very heavy in
21:55
Speaker 6: this draft on the defensive side. That would be that
21:58
Speaker 6: would be the quickest solution, in my mind, is to
22:01
Speaker 6: just load up and then let the Superstars go to
22:04
Speaker 6: work on offense.
22:06
Speaker 1: Final thing for Chris collins Worth last Sunday night, you
22:09
Speaker 1: called your five hundredth NFL game as an analyst. Five
22:13
Speaker 1: hundred is a big number. When the theme song kicks
22:16
Speaker 1: in and you hear Carrie Underwood's voice, is the rush
22:21
Speaker 1: as great as it's ever been, yeah.
22:26
Speaker 6: Kind of, you know, it's like it's the one thing
22:29
Speaker 6: that you know, I did a lot of years in
22:33
Speaker 6: the studio too, but there's nothing like going to the ballpark.
22:38
Speaker 5: You know.
22:38
Speaker 6: It's like, I pay my own hard earned money to
22:40
Speaker 6: go watch games everywhere around the country, and I always
22:44
Speaker 6: say that, you know, I'm sitting there.
22:47
Speaker 5: A lot of times.
22:48
Speaker 6: I'll be in Dallas Stadium and I look across the
22:50
Speaker 6: way and there's Jerry Jones sitting in his box and
22:53
Speaker 6: it's directly across from us where we are, and we
22:55
Speaker 6: have basically the same exact position, the same exact box,
23:00
Speaker 6: And I'm looking over there and I'm going Cherry spent
23:03
Speaker 6: billions of dollars to have that seat right there, and
23:05
Speaker 6: I'm getting paid to sit in mind, this is pretty good.
23:10
Speaker 6: So I try to always appreciate it, always love it,
23:13
Speaker 6: and yeah, I've got to admit when we're going on
23:16
Speaker 6: the air, I'm still feeling the butterflies and the energy
23:20
Speaker 6: and the crowd at that point is they're introducing the
23:23
Speaker 6: home team, and guy, if there's something better feeling than that,
23:28
Speaker 6: I don't know what it is. So it's been an
23:32
Speaker 6: amazing journey for me. I would have never imagined. I
23:36
Speaker 6: thought I was just buying a couple of years to
23:39
Speaker 6: help me pay for law school when I got finished playing.
23:42
Speaker 6: I used to tell Holly every week or every year, like, look,
23:46
Speaker 6: this is temporary. Very soon another Hall of Fame quarterback's
23:49
Speaker 6: going to retire and they're going to take my job.
23:52
Speaker 6: And that's okay because every dollar I make along the
23:55
Speaker 6: way here is helping me, you know. And then you know,
23:59
Speaker 6: thirty something years later, I'm still doing it. In my
24:01
Speaker 6: wildest dreams, I couldn't have imagined.
24:04
Speaker 1: Chris, I know how busy you are. Thanks so much
24:06
Speaker 1: for your time. I always appreciate it and enjoy Thanksgiving
24:09
Speaker 1: with the family.
24:10
Speaker 5: Thanks Dan, good talking to you, Budd.
24:13
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Paycreps,
24:15
Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
24:19
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
24:23
Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
24:27
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
24:30
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. No punter in
24:34
Speaker 1: NFL history with enough punts to qualify for all time
24:37
Speaker 1: records has averaged more than fifty yards of punt. Perhaps
24:42
Speaker 1: Ryan Rico will become the first. In his first season
24:45
Speaker 1: and a half with the Bengals, Rico is averaging fifty
24:48
Speaker 1: point six and this year his average is over fifty two.
24:52
Speaker 1: But Rico is still a work in progress when it
24:55
Speaker 1: comes to pinning teams deep in their own territory without
24:59
Speaker 1: punting the ball into the end zone. We discussed it
25:02
Speaker 1: this week. Ryan, you are averaging fifty two point three
25:07
Speaker 1: yards per punt, which is number one in the NFL.
25:10
Speaker 1: Do you know the NFL single season record for punting average?
25:15
Speaker 1: Do you know it?
25:16
Speaker 7: I do not know it. I think it's I want
25:20
Speaker 7: to say it's around fifty three.
25:22
Speaker 1: It is fifty three point one. It's held by Tennessee's
25:25
Speaker 1: Ryan Stonehouse. So you are less than a yard behind.
25:30
Speaker 1: Does it become a goal when you know you're that close.
25:33
Speaker 7: I wouldn't say so. I feel like the gross average
25:36
Speaker 7: it's it's good and all, but I feel like as
25:38
Speaker 7: a team we're more focused on the net and so
25:42
Speaker 7: I think, yeah, the gross has been great, we just
25:44
Speaker 7: need to get the net up. But as far as
25:47
Speaker 7: trying to break a record, I feel like those are
25:49
Speaker 7: one of the things that happen if it just so
25:51
Speaker 7: happens to come about. But for me, I'm not like,
25:54
Speaker 7: oh shoot, I need to have this average to reach
25:56
Speaker 7: that record at any given game.
25:59
Speaker 1: So the net is forty two point eight, which is
26:01
Speaker 1: very good. You're eighth in the NFL in that category,
26:04
Speaker 1: and it would be a little better if not for touchbacks.
26:08
Speaker 1: You've got nine touchbacks so far this year. Did you
26:11
Speaker 1: even worry about taking something off your punts when you
26:15
Speaker 1: were in college.
26:17
Speaker 7: Man, not as much. I feel like it's kind of
26:21
Speaker 7: been a unique thing this year. We've had a lot
26:23
Speaker 7: of punts that are in that kind of gray area,
26:27
Speaker 7: and so those are the ones that we work the
26:29
Speaker 7: most on in practice. And so that's like the most
26:33
Speaker 7: frustrating thing so far about the season is the amount
26:36
Speaker 7: of touchbacks, just because those are opportunities to pin teams
26:39
Speaker 7: deep and set up the defense. So I feel like
26:43
Speaker 7: in college, a lot of it was either you need
26:46
Speaker 7: to flip the field or it's like your traditional just
26:48
Speaker 7: try and pin them deep. You're kind of hitting from
26:50
Speaker 7: the plus fifteen in So this year it's been a
26:53
Speaker 7: little bit unique just in the way that kickoffs and
26:56
Speaker 7: everything work. The offenses are usually starting a little bit
26:58
Speaker 7: closer to that great area. And so that's again we
27:02
Speaker 7: spent a lot of time working on developing that touch
27:05
Speaker 7: and taking better lines, and that's got to be on
27:08
Speaker 7: me to go out and transition the practice onto the
27:11
Speaker 7: field in the game.
27:12
Speaker 1: I feel like it's easier to develop that as opposed
27:16
Speaker 1: to try to get stronger. If you've got the ability
27:19
Speaker 1: to boom one a long way with tremendous hangtime, I
27:23
Speaker 1: would think at least that the developing the other skill
27:26
Speaker 1: is something that you can do.
27:28
Speaker 7: Yes, I definitely feel like to your point, yeah, it's
27:32
Speaker 7: a lot easier to kind of rain things in a
27:35
Speaker 7: little bit rather than like, Okay, I got to swing
27:37
Speaker 7: out of my shoes to get it further. And that's
27:40
Speaker 7: what Darren always says. He's like, your greatest blessing is
27:42
Speaker 7: also your greatest curse. So that's definitely something that I'm
27:46
Speaker 7: well aware of, and it is it's frustrating, but it
27:50
Speaker 7: just feels like we're right on the edge of really
27:53
Speaker 7: being able to dial things in. And again it's just
27:56
Speaker 7: it's your two I'm still just learning the kind of
28:00
Speaker 7: nuances as far as that goes. But I mean, I'm
28:03
Speaker 7: going to be my biggest critic, and I know that
28:05
Speaker 7: I got to cut those down and put our team
28:07
Speaker 7: in better spots.
28:08
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Ryan Rico broadcast college games as well.
28:11
Speaker 1: Roughly forty percent of college teams have an Australian punter.
28:15
Speaker 1: You are from the state of Washington, do you almost
28:18
Speaker 1: feel like an endangered species at this point? I do.
28:21
Speaker 7: I feel like I feel like it's almost becoming a
28:24
Speaker 7: little bit of a lost art in the traditional sense
28:27
Speaker 7: of punting, because you get those Australian guys in and
28:31
Speaker 7: they're very talented, very very talented. I mean, they've been
28:34
Speaker 7: grown up kicking a ball longer than most Americans have,
28:37
Speaker 7: and so I feel like that gives them an advantage
28:39
Speaker 7: in that sense. I think it's cool that the NFL
28:43
Speaker 7: is still so much tailored around hitting the spiral, hitting
28:46
Speaker 7: the traditional ball, but it is it's definitely crazy to
28:50
Speaker 7: look around. I mean, that's one of the reasons why
28:52
Speaker 7: my youngest, my younger brother transferred was because BYU wanted
28:57
Speaker 7: to transition to kind of the rollout Australian way, and
29:00
Speaker 7: they brought a guy in who could do that at
29:01
Speaker 7: a high level. So yeah, it is. It's kind of crazy.
29:05
Speaker 7: To see the college landscape shift in that direction especially,
29:08
Speaker 7: But it's kind of been a thing in the making
29:11
Speaker 7: for a couple of years, I feel like.
29:13
Speaker 1: So the NFL changed the rules for kicking balls this year.
29:16
Speaker 1: Instead of pulling them out of the box the morning
29:19
Speaker 1: of the game, you guys received footballs in the off
29:22
Speaker 1: season that you could prepare to your liking. Do you
29:25
Speaker 1: and Evan McPherson have different kicking balls or is it
29:30
Speaker 1: one big bag of balls that the two of you
29:33
Speaker 1: guys share.
29:34
Speaker 5: Yeah.
29:34
Speaker 7: No, we're very similar in our line of thinking as
29:38
Speaker 7: to what we like in the cable, and so I
29:41
Speaker 7: think that's been a good thing where it's not like, hey,
29:43
Speaker 7: our equipment, guys, you got to get this ball in.
29:45
Speaker 7: When Ryan's in this ball in, when Evan's kicking, we're
29:48
Speaker 7: both on the same page and it's kind of like, Okay,
29:51
Speaker 7: this is the ball that we really like. This is
29:53
Speaker 7: a ball that's like, Okay, if we needed to go
29:54
Speaker 7: to it, we'd be great. And then the third ball
29:57
Speaker 7: it's like, yeah, it's still be good, but you have
29:59
Speaker 7: your favorit. It's kind of as anybody would in that sense.
30:03
Speaker 1: So Evan set the franchise record last week with a
30:06
Speaker 1: sixty three yard field goal, and you and long snapper
30:08
Speaker 1: Will Wagner obviously have to do your jobs as well
30:11
Speaker 1: in order for that to happen. Were you excited to
30:14
Speaker 1: see him top sixty because that's kind of a line
30:18
Speaker 1: for NFL kickers. You're either a member of the club
30:21
Speaker 1: or you're not.
30:21
Speaker 5: Yeah.
30:22
Speaker 7: I think that's something that we see out of Evan
30:25
Speaker 7: a lot in practice, and it's unique because we always
30:28
Speaker 7: talk about it, just the adrenaline and the difference that
30:31
Speaker 7: that makes, whether it's in a live practice situation, whether
30:35
Speaker 7: it's in a game. And so Evans has an incredible
30:39
Speaker 7: leg talent, but then you get in the game and
30:41
Speaker 7: I feel like that's really where the flip kind of switches.
30:45
Speaker 7: And so, I mean, we saw it in Green Bay,
30:47
Speaker 7: like he had the distance from sixty seven and he
30:50
Speaker 7: didn't even hit that one well the first time. So
30:53
Speaker 7: we go out onto the field knowing that, Okay, you
30:55
Speaker 7: got clear conditions and you're sixty five and in like,
30:58
Speaker 7: Evan's got a really good shot of making it. So
31:00
Speaker 7: it was awesome to have a front row seat to that,
31:03
Speaker 7: and as soon as he hit it, it was like, okay, yeah,
31:05
Speaker 7: he hit that one. Really well and just super excited
31:07
Speaker 7: for him to be able to kind of set that
31:09
Speaker 7: record for the franchise, but also for him just setting
31:12
Speaker 7: a new personal best to right.
31:14
Speaker 1: And you are a former BYU Cougar. The Cougars were
31:16
Speaker 1: at the University of Cincinnati last Saturday night. I was amazed,
31:21
Speaker 1: truly amazed by how many fans made the trip. I've
31:25
Speaker 1: seen it before if it's a drive, but I've never
31:28
Speaker 1: seen that many people before willing to fly to Cincinnati
31:32
Speaker 1: to see their college team play. How would you describe
31:36
Speaker 1: the BYU fan.
31:37
Speaker 7: Base, man, I feel like it's it's something I don't
31:40
Speaker 7: think I took it for granted because I was always
31:42
Speaker 7: in awe as well. You would transfer it didn't or
31:46
Speaker 7: you would you travel no matter where it was in
31:48
Speaker 7: the country. You felt like, Okay, Like BYU is showing
31:51
Speaker 7: out like they have a lot of a lot of fans,
31:54
Speaker 7: and so Cougarnation in that sense is like I think
31:57
Speaker 7: that they have a leg up on almost any other
31:59
Speaker 7: fan base in callege just because it is affiliated with
32:03
Speaker 7: the church, and so you got members of the church everywhere,
32:06
Speaker 7: and so a lot of it is people traveling. But
32:08
Speaker 7: then you get the people that are local who are
32:11
Speaker 7: still by you fans, and it's their opportunity to go
32:13
Speaker 7: and support the team. So I think it's really unique
32:17
Speaker 7: that BYU is able to do that and just kind
32:19
Speaker 7: of show up in full force no matter where it is.
32:21
Speaker 1: You'll be punting on Thanksgiving Night this year, the Bengals
32:25
Speaker 1: playing in Baltimore. How do you feel about the opportunity
32:28
Speaker 1: to play under such a big spotlight.
32:29
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think it's I think it's incredible. I mean,
32:33
Speaker 7: Zach he made the point today, He's like, think about
32:36
Speaker 7: every Thanksgiving you've ever been at. You're looking at the
32:39
Speaker 7: football games, who's playing, who's going to perform? And so
32:43
Speaker 7: the fact that we get to be a part of
32:44
Speaker 7: that is definitely fulfilling a childhood dream like, oh, wouldn't
32:47
Speaker 7: it be cool to be one of those guys playing
32:49
Speaker 7: on Thanksgiving? And now it's kind of up to us.
32:52
Speaker 7: It's like, Okay, how do you want to go out
32:54
Speaker 7: and perform and what kind of impression do you want
32:56
Speaker 7: to leave on all the people who are watching. So
32:58
Speaker 7: it's definitely a cool opportunity.
33:00
Speaker 1: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your wife, continue success.
33:03
Speaker 7: Thank you so much.
33:05
Speaker 1: Here's a quick invitation to join LAPP in Wayne box
33:07
Speaker 1: Miller for the Bengals pep Rally Show. This week. They'll
33:10
Speaker 1: be at the on the Rhine Eatery the food hall
33:13
Speaker 1: on the second floor above the downtown Kroger on Friday
33:16
Speaker 1: from three to six and their scheduled guest in the
33:19
Speaker 1: final hour is Bengals backup quarterback Sean Clifford from Saint
33:23
Speaker 1: Xavier High School. That's going to do it for this
33:26
Speaker 1: episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by
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Speaker 1: pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals Official HR software provider,
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Speaker 1: by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate
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Speaker 1: your home, business and community to a new level, and
33:40
Speaker 1: by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
33:43
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
33:47
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33:50
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33:52
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33:56
Speaker 1: find us. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to
34:00
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast.