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Speaker 1: This is Tony Pike Sincy three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,

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Speaker 1: sponsoredmen Park by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts, all Cincy, all Day.

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Speaker 1: This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back. It is our two Cincy three sixty thanks

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Speaker 2: to Cincy Shirts. Thank you for listening on ESPN fifteen

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Speaker 2: thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's dive right in our Thursday

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Speaker 2: tradition now hour two to get things underway. From A

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Speaker 2: to Z Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals is John Sheeran.

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Speaker 2: What's up, John?

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Speaker 3: How are you? I'm doing well, man.

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Speaker 4: I'm a little nervous that I'm bad luck because it

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Speaker 4: wasn't on last week, and of course the Bengals won

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Speaker 4: by a lot, but I'm happy to be.

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Speaker 2: Bet Not being on last week, you obviously had a

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Speaker 2: chance to sit down on the holiday and watch what unfolded.

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Speaker 2: What were your biggest takeaways Being able to watch Joe

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Speaker 2: Burrow on Thanksgiving night?

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Speaker 4: My biggest takeaway It really began on that horrendous low

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Speaker 4: red zone sequence of events in which he was in

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Speaker 4: empty and I'm like, oh, even when Burrow is back

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Speaker 4: and the rest isn't fully shaken off yet he's still

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Speaker 4: required to be Superman out there, which is a little

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Speaker 4: bit annoying from a from a viewer standpoint. But once

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Speaker 4: his feet were you know, firmly under him and he

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Speaker 4: stopped really like forcing a lot of those throws in

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Speaker 4: the first half, he looked like himself, and that was

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Speaker 4: very reminiscent, I believe of like a couple of years

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Speaker 4: ago when he faced the Ravens again in Week two,

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Speaker 4: when he was dealing with a calf and his first

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Speaker 4: half was also a little bit rusty, and then he

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Speaker 4: just started to come alive again. And fortunately this time

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Speaker 4: the Bengals ended up winning because he got a lot

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Speaker 4: of help from the defense with five turnovers. But I mean,

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Speaker 4: this is pretty normal for him against the Ravens defense,

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Speaker 4: posts Mike McDonald when he left for the Seahawks job

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Speaker 4: a couple of years ago. He's always been able to

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Speaker 4: carve them up, and the offensive line gave him a

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Speaker 4: ton of time to just, you know, survey the field

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Speaker 4: and just make the throws that were always accustomed to

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Speaker 4: seeing him when he's at his best, and right now

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Speaker 4: it's you know, it's December.

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Speaker 3: This is when Burrow plays his best.

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Speaker 4: And it was really promising to see that accuracy not

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Speaker 4: go away despite all the rust of taking two months

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Speaker 4: off with his.

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Speaker 2: Injury, the help that he was able to get around him,

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Speaker 2: he finds nine different receivers. The running game got going.

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Speaker 2: The offensive line. I feel like we haven't talked as

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Speaker 2: much about the offensive line. How much of an improvement

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Speaker 2: have you seen from that group.

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Speaker 3: It's been nine and day.

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Speaker 4: I think along the interior, you have Dylan Fairchild playing

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Speaker 4: I think above what you would expect a rookie third

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Speaker 4: round pick to play. At the power of his game

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Speaker 4: in pass protection is so notable. Dalon Riser has been

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Speaker 4: doing this for a long time, and that was the

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Speaker 4: expectation when when he signed. Yeah, it makes sense why

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Speaker 4: he wasn't necessarily at his best when he was first

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Speaker 4: year and he only had like a couple weeks of

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Speaker 4: actual practice experience for the entire offseason. But now that

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Speaker 4: you know he's in full game shape and everything like that,

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Speaker 4: he does look like the better option compared to Jalen

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Speaker 4: Rivers who was out there for the majority of the season.

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Speaker 3: And Rivers, again, this is the rookie.

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Speaker 4: You don't expect that much of him, but this is

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Speaker 4: definitely their best interior trio that they've had in quite

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Speaker 4: some time, and the fact that Mariusmims continues to be

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Speaker 4: a solid player right tackle Lynda Brown Junior. He does

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Speaker 4: have his mishaps every now and then with speed on

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Speaker 4: the outside, but when he's playing well, the entire unit

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Speaker 4: looks like the best offensive line that Burrow has ever had,

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Speaker 4: really going back to I would say even a college days.

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Speaker 4: I think even at LSU, like his offensive line was

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Speaker 4: never as good as people tauted to that. So he

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Speaker 4: now has the opportunity to do all the special things

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Speaker 4: that Burrow can do in terms of extending plays and

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Speaker 4: creating out of structure. But when he does have to

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Speaker 4: just stay in the pocket and survey the field, I

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Speaker 4: think this offense line gives him the chance.

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Speaker 3: To do that.

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Speaker 2: You mentioned the defense, John, I'm curious if you look

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Speaker 2: back to the Pittsburgh game, the Steelers scored two defensive touchdowns.

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Speaker 2: I thought the defense played better. I certainly think they

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Speaker 2: had a winning performance against the Patriots, and they did

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Speaker 2: well again against the Baltimore Ravens. Are we are we

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Speaker 2: ready to turn the page that the defense is improving

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Speaker 2: or do you still want to see more? And if so,

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Speaker 2: what do you want to see?

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Speaker 4: It is improving just because what have we talked about

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Speaker 4: for twelve weeks now? It's all relying on the pass

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Speaker 4: for us, it's all relying on guys who have been

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Speaker 4: dependent on this year when they didn't go out and

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Speaker 4: make other moves to through the Union, they relied on

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Speaker 4: the development of Miles Murphy, just to Oosai, Chris Jenkins specifically,

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Speaker 4: those three guys in the early parts of their careers,

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Speaker 4: they played the most pass rushing snaps against the Ravens

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Speaker 4: and they all had high level performances. Yes, they didn't

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Speaker 4: always finish at Lamar Jackson, but they disrupted plays and

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Speaker 4: they forced bad mistakes out of him unfortunately, Like sometimes.

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Speaker 3: They're gonna be wacky games like that, right.

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Speaker 4: The Bengals just experience went against the Vikings back in September,

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Speaker 4: which they turned the ball over five times. You know,

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Speaker 4: not always expecting to force five turnovers, but when you

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Speaker 4: can create disruption, muddy the pocket a little bit, force

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Speaker 4: Aaron Paron decisions, forced bumbles, whatever the case may be. Jenkins, Osai,

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Speaker 4: and Murphy all did that, and Murphy's kind of been

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Speaker 4: on this track for the last handful of weeks I

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Speaker 4: think his ability to push the pocket as a power

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Speaker 4: rusher and to disengage at the right time that has

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Speaker 4: definitely improved. Osai is probably their best overall pass rusher

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Speaker 4: with Autree Hendrickson out there, but the jump from Chris

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Speaker 4: Jenkins specifically in this game was maybe the most promising

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Speaker 4: because they haven't really had that boost from an interior

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Speaker 4: rusher in quite some time, and I'm still not sure

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Speaker 4: Jenkins is quite that player just yet. I think he

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Speaker 4: had a really good week, but you do need to

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Speaker 4: see more of that. But with again, have multiple pass

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Speaker 4: rushers who can contribute with like a fifteen to twenty

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Speaker 4: percent when as a pass rusher, that just does so

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Speaker 4: much for the rest of your defense and it makes

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Speaker 4: everything else go and sync. So this is what they've

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Speaker 4: been missing for for the first eight nine weeks of

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Speaker 4: the season and they're finally getting some of that now.

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Speaker 2: Do you think there's a value with Trey Hendrickson and

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Speaker 2: Shamar Stewart not playing that Miles Murphy and Josephosai have

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Speaker 2: taken this jump more practice reps. We know how important

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Speaker 2: those are that they're not rotating through in the course

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Speaker 2: of a game. Do you find a correlation between the

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Speaker 2: other two defensive ends not playing and the production we're

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Speaker 2: seeing for Miles Murphy and Josephosai.

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Speaker 4: It's certainly possible. You know, like Murphy, this is this

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Speaker 4: is his third year and he's never really been thrust

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Speaker 4: it into this important of a role before. Like we

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Speaker 4: kind of wanted it to happen last year when Sam however,

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Speaker 4: was experiencing his decline and he got some more opportunities

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Speaker 4: along with Joseph a saie. So I think obviously them

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Speaker 4: being in the spotlight, them getting all the all the

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Speaker 4: starter reps, that definitely helps, but you still have to

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Speaker 4: go out there and perform, right, and that just wasn't

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Speaker 4: happening in the early parts of the season, even with

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Speaker 4: Stewart was healthy, Right, I think Murphy and s I

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Speaker 4: were still you know, at at the very least equals along.

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Speaker 3: With him in the rotation.

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Speaker 4: So they're just running with the opportunity now, and sometimes

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Speaker 4: it just takes a little bit longer for some of

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Speaker 4: these guys to click.

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Speaker 3: And even if.

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Speaker 4: Murphy is not necessarily gonna be a ten sac of

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Speaker 4: year type of guy for a first round thick, I

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Speaker 4: think he's still showing the value that you would have

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Speaker 4: expected for who the player that he was coming.

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Speaker 3: Out of college.

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Speaker 2: Do we need to have a Trey Hendrickson conversation? Do

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Speaker 2: you do you find it just at all odd? We've

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Speaker 2: talked about on this show in Austin. I think has

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Speaker 2: made the point if if the injury was as serious

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Speaker 2: at the outset for Trey Hendrickson, would the Bengals have

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Speaker 2: just put him on IR at that point? Do you

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Speaker 2: find how this situation is being handled and how blunt

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Speaker 2: Zach Taylor is each and every Monday that he's doubtful? Again,

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Speaker 2: do you find this situation odd?

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Speaker 4: It's definitely odd compared to how you know, these situations

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Speaker 4: normally go about, and when the wording is like that,

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Speaker 4: when the messaging is like that, and considering the history there,

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Speaker 4: it all raises, you know, very, at the very least

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Speaker 4: minor red flags. I think this could be a situation

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Speaker 4: in which he aggravated the injury. It made it a

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Speaker 4: little bit worse obviously than now. There's the pelvis classification

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Speaker 4: along with the hip. It's a core muscle injury, probably

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Speaker 4: gonna require surgery in the offseason, right, So there's all

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Speaker 4: this new information that's come out about it. And it's

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Speaker 4: possible that the Bengals didn't think it was as serious

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Speaker 4: as it is, and that's why he hasn't been on IR.

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Speaker 4: He's still on the active roster and they haven't cleared

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Speaker 4: that roster spot up for him. Obviously, with a guy

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Speaker 4: like Rander, if he's healthy, you want him out there

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Speaker 4: as soon as possible, and I think they've always kept

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Speaker 4: that door open just in case he's able to come back.

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Speaker 4: I think there's probably some frustration with it not healing

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Speaker 4: the way that they.

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Speaker 3: Expected it to, and it could just be they miscalculated

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Speaker 3: in that regard.

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Speaker 4: Again, we don't know nearly enough details to make any

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Speaker 4: conclusions about this. It's all unfortunately speculation, and considering who

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Speaker 4: the subject is, he's been in the spotlight all year

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Speaker 4: and not for the best reasons. So I think it's

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Speaker 4: rather unfortunate that it's got to this point. But I

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Speaker 4: don't know if we can go as far as to

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Speaker 4: say that there's anything the Fairies here. It's just a

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Speaker 4: lot of speculation and unfortunately a lot of unknowns because

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Speaker 4: unfortunately for them that they just didn't expect it to

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Speaker 4: get worse and unfortunately just not at the point where

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Speaker 4: he can play John.

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Speaker 5: The Buffalo Bills have the best rushing offense in the NFL.

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Speaker 5: Why are they so good? And how do you expect

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Speaker 5: them to attack the Bengals with that rushing game on Sunday?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it was so dominant against the Steelers

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Speaker 4: that TJ. Watt joke that they ran the same play

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Speaker 4: of thirty times, and it kind of wasn't really joking, right,

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Speaker 4: It was just inside zone after inside zone after inside zone.

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Speaker 4: That offensive line has always been comprised of pretty good

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Speaker 4: athletes who can display guys, and when they're all in sync,

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Speaker 4: even without their two starting tackles like that, they're able to,

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Speaker 4: you know, clear the edges for James Cook to bounce outside.

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Speaker 4: And I think part of that is also not just

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Speaker 4: with the offensive line. They're getting a lot of help

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Speaker 4: from their tight ends. To rookie Jackson Hawes has been phenomenal,

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Speaker 4: not not for beyond just receiving reasons right, Like he's

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Speaker 4: getting his nose dirty and he's clearing out the edge,

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Speaker 4: and James Cook has phenomenal vision for these cutback lanes

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Speaker 4: and he's an explosive runner as well. So when you

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Speaker 4: combine an offensive line that's always in sync, It's always

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Speaker 4: that it can always really out athlete the opposing defensive

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Speaker 4: line clear space for a running back that just knows

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Speaker 4: where to go with the ball.

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Speaker 3: It has really good vision and explosion to his game.

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Speaker 4: That's how you get not only a successful run game,

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Speaker 4: but an explosive run game that can really open a

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Speaker 4: game for you.

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Speaker 5: They also use their tight ends very well. Have you

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Speaker 5: seen any differences in the way the Bengals have kind

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Speaker 5: of been defending tight ends because for years they haven't

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Speaker 5: been able to cover them. They did give up a

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Speaker 5: big one to Isaiah likely that they had a good

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Speaker 5: hustle play on on Thursday night. How do you expect

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Speaker 5: the Bengals to try to prevent the Bill's tight ends

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Speaker 5: from beating them?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that's something that I expect is not

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Speaker 4: necessarily going to be of strength of the Bengals in

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Speaker 4: this week. I was expecting Mark Gamers to have a

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Speaker 4: little bit better at the game last week, and of

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Speaker 4: course he got an extension this week. Dalon kin Kat

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Speaker 4: is their second leading receiver, but he's not just he's

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Speaker 4: just a tight end name only right, He's basically in

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Speaker 4: the slide like Mike Esecki out there and the middle

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Speaker 4: of the field has been mostly compromised for this Bengals defense,

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Speaker 4: and it's not something I expect Bark Carter, Demitrius Night

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Speaker 4: to be, you know, on top of necessarily this week.

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Speaker 3: It's gonna have to be continue to be a work

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Speaker 3: in progress.

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Speaker 4: But you know, Alan Josh Allen is always on the

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Speaker 4: same page with those guys, and they find the vacancies

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Speaker 4: in the soft spots in the zones, and that's gonna

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Speaker 4: be something again, where like you have to be able

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Speaker 4: to disrupt these guys at the line of scrimmage. He

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Speaker 4: had to force them off of their timing. He had

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Speaker 4: to force Allan into making some bad decisions. But you know,

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Speaker 4: Kincage's been reliable for them. I think he's on the

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Speaker 4: injury report, but he should be able to play this

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Speaker 4: week and that'll be a very important figure for the

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Speaker 4: Bengals to stop.

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Speaker 5: I thought it was interesting John the split between Chase

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Speaker 5: Brown and samaj p Ryan in Baltimore. Do you think

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Speaker 5: that's just short week give Chase Brown a little bit

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Speaker 5: of rest in the run game, or do you think

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Speaker 5: we'll see that continue over the course of the end

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Speaker 5: of the season.

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Speaker 4: I think there's gonna be always opportunities for p Ryan

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Speaker 4: to give him a little bit of a break, but

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Speaker 4: also for his valume pass protection as well, and we

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Speaker 4: saw that definitely on the touchdown andre yosavajh And doesn't

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Speaker 4: pick up that block on the opposite side of Burrow,

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Speaker 4: that play does not happen, right, And I think as

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Speaker 4: long as Piterran is healthy, he's the trusted guy to

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Speaker 4: be on the.

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Speaker 3: Field in those situations. And I think with the way

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Speaker 3: the game.

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Speaker 4: Script played out, or at least for how much Burrow

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Speaker 4: checked into those pass plays and how much they rely

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Speaker 4: on his arm to outscore Baltimore, that's why p Ryan

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Speaker 4: was on the field for as much as he was.

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Speaker 4: But there's always going to be opportunities for him to

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Speaker 4: run the ball as well and to not overload Chase Brown.

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Speaker 4: Despite how productive Chase Brown has been, He's going to

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Speaker 4: get his opportunities. But Piterran definitely still has value there

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Speaker 4: and they definitely.

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Speaker 2: Recognize that if t Higgins is able to continue on

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Speaker 2: his progression and getting back to this team. How do

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Speaker 2: you view, you know, Joe Burrow's ability to spread the

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Speaker 2: ball around. It's always something I've been in all of

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Speaker 2: Joe Burrow. He found nine different targets. How much more

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Speaker 2: difficult does life become for the Buffalo Bills if you

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Speaker 2: can get T. Higgins healthy and playing on Sunday.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the Bills their cornerbacks are an area

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Speaker 4: in which the Bengals have a definite ave enage of

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Speaker 4: this one. Like their safety has always been good with

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Speaker 4: player and a second year player Cole Bishop I believe

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Speaker 4: is his name back there. So their safeties are good

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Speaker 4: and they can cost some confusion in the pre stat phase,

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Speaker 4: but you will.

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Speaker 3: Always take Jamar Chase and T.

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Speaker 4: Higgins over you know, Tradavius White, Brent Frip, I'm blanking

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Speaker 4: on his first name, but you know, like the Bengals

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Speaker 4: did do have the advantage there, and I think in

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Speaker 4: games like this, like you never really know if Chase

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Speaker 4: or Higgins is gonna go off, if that is, if

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Speaker 4: Higgins plays. I remember back in twenty twenty three it

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Speaker 4: was Tea's big game which he had one hundred and

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Speaker 4: ten receiving yards against the Bills. He got the spotlight,

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Speaker 4: and then Chase obviously you know, dominating games after that

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Speaker 4: as well. So like it could just be a picker

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Speaker 4: poison such situation. That's the beauty of the Bengals offense,

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Speaker 4: and that's how they're at their peak.

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Speaker 3: When all three guys are out there playing.

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Speaker 4: At their best, Burrow knows where to go with the ball,

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Speaker 4: and when he sees one on one opportunity with either

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Speaker 4: of them, it's not gonna be about all this guy's

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Speaker 4: getting paid.

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Speaker 3: More money than this guy.

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Speaker 4: No, if the opportunity is there and the matchup is right,

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Speaker 4: he's going to whichever guy is the best, and that's

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Speaker 4: how you get the ball being spread around as much

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Speaker 4: as the as it does with Burrow at the.

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Speaker 2: Quarterback, John, how do you view the season up to

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Speaker 2: this point? I feel like it's the most optimistic I've

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Speaker 2: seen a team for being four and eight on the year,

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Speaker 2: and rightfully so with Joe Burrow coming back. But there

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Speaker 2: are a lot of issues that we have discussed with

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Speaker 2: this team throughout the course of the season, and yes,

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Speaker 2: a one game sample size against Baltimore helps to kind

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Speaker 2: of move past what those issues were. But how important

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Speaker 2: now does the final stretch become? Everyone wants to say,

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Speaker 2: Okay went out and get into the playoffs. What is

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Speaker 2: your realistic vision for how this season plays out?

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Speaker 4: I think this is still at the end of the day,

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Speaker 4: it's still a very flawed team that has major issues

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Speaker 4: to work out in the offseason. But I think as

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Speaker 4: the season has unfolded, you've seen just everywhere in the

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Speaker 4: league there are cracks with some of the best teams,

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Speaker 4: and there's going to be flawed teams in the playoffs.

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Speaker 3: And I think that's.

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Speaker 4: Somewhat of a source of optimism right now, in which

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Speaker 4: the Bengals definitely have taken their bumps and bruises along

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Speaker 4: the way. The fact that they've been in the situation

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Speaker 4: before and were able to do what they could to

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Speaker 4: win out and give themselves a chance in the playoffs,

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Speaker 4: I think it does give them a little bit of

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Speaker 4: confidence as well, which is why again, like you don't

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Speaker 4: want to be in the situation, but the Bengals, unfortunately

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Speaker 4: do find themselves in this situation more than most of

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Speaker 4: the teams, and that's why like, oh, we've been here before,

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Speaker 4: we can control we control the old you know.

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Speaker 3: The cliches and whatnot.

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Speaker 4: But no, I think right now you have confidence in

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Speaker 4: this offense producing with Burrough playing the way that he does,

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Speaker 4: and if the defense can continue continue to be opportunistic

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Speaker 4: with the pass.

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Speaker 3: Rust that it is now found.

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Speaker 4: There isn't a game that you feel like they're going

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Speaker 4: to be completely outmatched and give you hope that you

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Speaker 4: can just win out and find a way to do

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Speaker 4: this and if you get some help along the way

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Speaker 4: from the Steelers and Ravens losing out. So confidence I

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Speaker 4: think is definitely higher than it was a week or

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Speaker 4: two ago. But this is still a flawed team that

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Speaker 4: just needs to be in the same company as other

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Speaker 4: flawed teams when January comes around.

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Speaker 2: Before I let you go, John, we didn't get to

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Speaker 2: talked last week. So you speak of confidence in winding

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Speaker 2: down the season. Not a great end of the season

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Speaker 2: for our U see football Bearcats who lose four in

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Speaker 2: a row after getting to seven and one. How do

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Speaker 2: you how do you view as a as a fan

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Speaker 2: of the Bearcats? How do you view this year's football season?

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Speaker 4: You know, Penn State still looking for a head coach

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Speaker 4: and one Cincinnati I think that would be you know,

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Speaker 4: I'm just kidding. Yeah, it sucks not being both a

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Speaker 4: second half of the season team and not being a

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Speaker 4: second half of the game team. That's unfortunately the the

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Speaker 4: UC Bearcuts football program. At the moment, I'm pretty much

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Speaker 4: over the season. I'm still I'm just on myll eyes

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Speaker 4: on tomorrow on the harvoid.

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Speaker 2: Are you excited about it?

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Speaker 3: Or are you? Are you?

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Speaker 2: Are you cautiously?

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Speaker 5: Do you?

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Speaker 3: I give you this game? Just give me this game.

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Speaker 4: I have no confidence in the season of other than this.

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Speaker 4: This is like my O High State Michigan moment, right.

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Speaker 4: I don't care about the rest of the season.

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Speaker 3: Just give me. Just give me a win oversaver and

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Speaker 3: I'll be content.

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Speaker 2: Or it is that is John Shearon a to c

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Speaker 2: Sports covering the Bengals. John, what's easiest way to follow

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Speaker 2: along with everything you got going on with the Bengals

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Speaker 2: as they look to continue this run.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, it's December football.

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Speaker 4: It's when the Bengals somehow play their best, and it's

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Speaker 4: when we're on firing all cylinders as well.

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Speaker 3: Adsea Sports dot Com, Backslash.

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Speaker 4: Cincinnati YouTube, Instagram, TikTok where you get your short form

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00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,400
Speaker 4: video content. We're on their AES Sports Cincinnati follow us

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Speaker 4: along with the final five weeks.

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Speaker 2: Much much appreciated, John, We'll talk again next week.

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Speaker 3: Thanks fellas.

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Speaker 2: There he is, John Sharon a is ease Sports, love

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Speaker 2: it some Bengals optimism, signs of life, Your talkbacks come

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Speaker 2: up next thanks to Cinci shirts. It's our number two

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Speaker 2: on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station, Hey Alexa,