Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast. The Luck Be a Lady. Tonight addition,
Speaker 1: as the Bengals head to Las Vegas and hope to
Speaker 1: hit the jackpot as they face the five and four
Speaker 1: Raiders coming up, I'll preview the game with one of
Speaker 1: the guys who will be in the booth for CBS
Speaker 1: on Sunday, Charles Davis. Among other things, he'll explain why
Speaker 1: his twenty three year old son was so excited to
Speaker 1: hear that his dad is doing a Bengals game this weekend.
Speaker 1: My one on one player interview is with punter Kevin Hubert,
Speaker 1: who will reach a milestone on Sunday that only two
Speaker 1: other players have reached in team history. Dave Lapham joins
Speaker 1: me to discuss the latest Bengals news, including why Hakimadnagi
Speaker 1: is starting in place of Jackson Carmen at right guard,
Speaker 1: and finally, it's our no the faux segment as we
Speaker 1: get the scoop on the Raiders from Jesse Eric, who
Speaker 1: covers the team for ksn VTV in Las Vegas. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, The Free
Speaker 1: to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from
Speaker 1: the App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since the tradition of radio announcers getting in trouble for
Speaker 1: criticizing officials. In nineteen eighty eight, Marty Brenneman and Joe
Speaker 1: Nuxall were summoned to Commissioner Peter Uberot's office for criticizing
Speaker 1: umpire Dave Polone. In two thousand and three, my color
Speaker 1: commentator on UC basketball games, the late grade Chuck Mayshock,
Speaker 1: got ejected from an NCAA tournament game for yelling at
Speaker 1: one of the refs. It never happened again in the
Speaker 1: final four hundred forty six games of Chuck's broadcasting career.
Speaker 1: And this week, the Texas Tech football announcers have been
Speaker 1: suspended from Saturday's game against Oklahoma State for ripping the
Speaker 1: officials last week in a win over Iowa State. Did
Speaker 1: Brian Jensen and his analyst John Harris go too far? Yeah? Probably,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure they regret it, but let me add this,
Speaker 1: their call of Texas Techs sixty two yard walk off
Speaker 1: field goal to win that game was fantastic. Now let's
Speaker 1: get to my guests, beginning with one of the top
Speaker 1: TV analysts in the NFL, Charles Davis, will be in
Speaker 1: the booth with Ian Eagle this Sunday for CBS and Charles.
Speaker 1: You guys had the Browns Patriots game last week. Cleveland
Speaker 1: lost by thirty eight. One week after a great showing
Speaker 1: against the Bengals. The Ravens looked lousy last week the
Speaker 1: Steelers tied the winless Lions. Can you explain the AFC
Speaker 1: North to us Dan? I can't explain the FC North.
Speaker 1: I can't explain the AFC South. I can't explain the NFL.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny because as I was watching the
Speaker 1: Raiders get jumped on by Kansas City on Sunday night
Speaker 1: and didn't expect that at all. I expected the Raiders
Speaker 1: to get off the deck a little bit because we
Speaker 1: all know that the troubles they've been through. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, here comes Kansas City a chance to
Speaker 1: really make a move a home game. All of that
Speaker 1: in Kansas City, which had been struggling. They got right
Speaker 1: in that game. And I read something recently and it
Speaker 1: was so aproposed. The AFC West has let Kansas City
Speaker 1: off the hook. You know, I feel like Dennis Green
Speaker 1: is being channeled again, right. They let them off the
Speaker 1: hook because they had them where they wanted them, and
Speaker 1: now Kansas City's back in control. In the AFC North,
Speaker 1: every time there's a chance for someone to really take
Speaker 1: control or to make a move, doesn't really happen that way.
Speaker 1: I guess my analogy is every time one of these
Speaker 1: teams goes up the ladder, someone hooks an ankle and
Speaker 1: pulls them back down to the pack. So I think
Speaker 1: that's where we are right now with the entire NFL,
Speaker 1: because every time we think someone has got it figured out,
Speaker 1: I mean, who who wasn't a win in their jumped
Speaker 1: the Arizona Carolina. I mean, I mean, just you just
Speaker 1: don't know how it's gonna go. Yeah. I think the
Speaker 1: Bengals had the greatest bye week in history last week
Speaker 1: with the way things went in the AFC North. We're
Speaker 1: visiting with Charles Davis. This will be the first Bengals
Speaker 1: game that you and I and will do this year
Speaker 1: What are you looking forward to seeing on the Cincinnati team. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, let's get away from all the things. We're
Speaker 1: looking to see them get better at doing and after
Speaker 1: this two game losing streak, let's just talk about the
Speaker 1: Bengals overall. Where they are a team that people want
Speaker 1: to watch play. You want to watch Joe Burrow at quarterback.
Speaker 1: You want to see Jamar Chase, te Higgins, Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 1: cj Uzama. Am I getting there? Am I close to that?
Speaker 1: I want to get close? Thank you, Zama, cj you Zomba.
Speaker 1: How's that all right? See, that's why I come to you.
Speaker 1: I come to you for the education. So you want
Speaker 1: to see them play? I mean you enjoyed that. You
Speaker 1: enjoy seeing the fireworks. Look, I'm tired of watching the highlights.
Speaker 1: I want to see the real thing. And now I'm
Speaker 1: going to get a chance to do that. Defensively, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to see Jesse Bates get back in form.
Speaker 1: I love the way that he's a ballhawk. I want
Speaker 1: to see him get people on the ground in the
Speaker 1: run game. I want to see all of those things
Speaker 1: come together. This is a fun team to watch. This
Speaker 1: is a team that now you talk about it. I'll
Speaker 1: put to you this way. Dan, my son is twenty three,
Speaker 1: and when I told him I had this game first thing,
Speaker 1: he said, oh wow, that'd be cool. You get to
Speaker 1: see the Bengals. How often have you heard that in
Speaker 1: the last ten years? You really have it that much
Speaker 1: because you got used to a certain way. We saw
Speaker 1: it during the Andy Dalton aj Green competing for division
Speaker 1: crowns during that time frame, but the last few years
Speaker 1: we haven't had it. There's a certain excitement about the
Speaker 1: Bengals and what they bring to the table. So I'm
Speaker 1: you know, I know myself, I and Evan Washburn and
Speaker 1: our crew, we're pretty excited about a chance to see
Speaker 1: them live. Tell your son, we said, thanks, let's talk
Speaker 1: about the Bengals Widress Core a little bit more closely.
Speaker 1: What are your observations about Jamar t and Tyler so far?
Speaker 1: I just think that they work together so well because
Speaker 1: we always talk about roles, but I do think that
Speaker 1: all of them fill different roles in different ways and
Speaker 1: can do it, you know, with multiplicity, all right, you
Speaker 1: can't just say this guy does this, this guy does that,
Speaker 1: and this guy does that, and that's all they do.
Speaker 1: They kind of do it all but some of them,
Speaker 1: but you got to accentuate what their strengths are. With
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase, the explosiveness is off the charts. We know
Speaker 1: that ball is in his hand. If you count to
Speaker 1: three and he's not on the ground, there's a good
Speaker 1: chance he's making a huge play for you downfield, all right.
Speaker 1: With t Higgins, the strength, the ability to shed people
Speaker 1: after a catch, run through contact, that's another big, big
Speaker 1: thing that you're looking for. And Tyler Boyd, it's funny
Speaker 1: as a guy that I work with, we've been watching
Speaker 1: swapping some some film, look at each other and he's like,
Speaker 1: it just me or is he extremely underrated? Still? And
Speaker 1: I love how he said still because we've recognized he's
Speaker 1: a very good player for a long time now. But
Speaker 1: because the Bengals didn't have a record where we talked
Speaker 1: about them every week in the national scene, he didn't
Speaker 1: get recognized for what he does. But put him in
Speaker 1: the slot and figure out how you're going to cover him.
Speaker 1: Very nifty in what he does, excellent hands, body control
Speaker 1: of the whole deal. Now take all of that and
Speaker 1: put it all together. If you want to run certain
Speaker 1: things as Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan do on offense.
Speaker 1: You can mix and match with these guys. They don't
Speaker 1: have to stay in one spot in order for you
Speaker 1: to make plays. Man, I'm watching tape and there's Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase back at tailback. So we're gonna see a lot
Speaker 1: of different things out of him and continue to do so.
Speaker 1: Find ways to get them the football. What's the old expression, Dan,
Speaker 1: You don't always just call plays. You you call things
Speaker 1: for people. There's certain things you have in mind that
Speaker 1: you want to accomplish. Make sure you get those plays called.
Speaker 1: And I know the Bengals do that well, Charles, Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the Bengals defense. Through five weeks.
Speaker 1: It was great, fifth in the NFL and fewest points
Speaker 1: alot allowed. The last couple of games, they've given up
Speaker 1: a bunch. What must the defense do against a very
Speaker 1: good Raiders offense this week? Well, it's funny because the
Speaker 1: Raider's identity, what they wanted to be their identities starting
Speaker 1: the season was a really hard running football team who
Speaker 1: beat you over the top off of play action, who
Speaker 1: established that physicality at the line of scrimmage. That's why
Speaker 1: they drafted Alex Leatherwood in the first round out of Alabama.
Speaker 1: They thought he'd be a plug and play right tackle
Speaker 1: for them and beat you up. Hasn't worked out that well,
Speaker 1: so he's moved inside to guard and Brandon Parker's plan
Speaker 1: right tackle, and they run the ball a lot less
Speaker 1: than I think that the Raiders wanted to do going
Speaker 1: into the season. And it's not just because of the
Speaker 1: shift that had coached either. They weren't running it well
Speaker 1: before John Gruden lost his job. So now you've got
Speaker 1: Derek Carr with the explosiveness out wide, with the ability
Speaker 1: to create plays with his moxie in the pocket and
Speaker 1: enough movement that he keeps plays alive and finds people
Speaker 1: down field. Obviously, what Henry Ruggs did was horrific. There's
Speaker 1: no other way to put it. The loss of life
Speaker 1: for Tina Tintor. You can't express any more than that.
Speaker 1: The focus for me is on her, not on Henry Ruggs,
Speaker 1: but he's no longer on this team. Still, for them
Speaker 1: as a football team, there goes that speed out wide,
Speaker 1: and I hate to say that because that's what got
Speaker 1: him into trouble in his personal life was speed. But
Speaker 1: that's a problem for them on offense, That's why they
Speaker 1: signed to Sean Jackson, hoping to find that person who
Speaker 1: can open things up and now allow the other receivers
Speaker 1: to play to their strengths. Brian Edwards is a big, strong,
Speaker 1: physical receiver, but he's not a sprinter. Hunter Renfro can
Speaker 1: run a route and have eighteen different moves on it.
Speaker 1: Always laughed at myself because one of my favorite movies,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember it, Dan, it's called
Speaker 1: The Best of Times, Robin Williams Kurt Russell, and they
Speaker 1: recreated a high school foot all game when they're adults
Speaker 1: and they're playing, and Robin Williams moves off the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage where he'd give like a temptations, you know,
Speaker 1: soul move and a spin and all that. Hunter Renfro
Speaker 1: runs routes like that and finds himself open and making plays,
Speaker 1: And always laughed at myself. He's a much more athletic
Speaker 1: Jack Dundee from the Best of Times, but that I
Speaker 1: need that speed out wide in order to create that
Speaker 1: space for them to run those underneath routes. And Darren Waller,
Speaker 1: of course, is a tight end mask. You know, he's
Speaker 1: a wide receiver masquerading as a tight end. He's just
Speaker 1: a bigger force and he hasn't gotten the ball as
Speaker 1: much lately. So I have a feeling Greg Olson, that
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. He's written down on his list find opportunities
Speaker 1: for Darren Waller. So it'll be an I see how
Speaker 1: that matchup it takes place. You will have to show
Speaker 1: that movie to Hunter Renfro for him to understand it's
Speaker 1: a compliment. Yeah, and and I don't know that he will.
Speaker 1: I think if I show it to me, he might
Speaker 1: punch me in my face. So I'm not sure I will,
Speaker 1: but it's it's one to me. It is a It's
Speaker 1: a very interesting deal because it's funny to make. But Dan,
Speaker 1: you've seen the highlights this year already. You're going to
Speaker 1: see it live on Sunday. He makes extra moves and
Speaker 1: we always talk about double move, occasionally a triple move.
Speaker 1: I've seen Hunter Renfro with four moves on a route
Speaker 1: and it turns into a big play. That's why I
Speaker 1: started laughing about the Jack Dundee think because in a movie,
Speaker 1: you know, he's doing all this stuff. In live scrimbar,
Speaker 1: a spin in the toil and the twist and all that.
Speaker 1: You can't do that in real life, but Hunter Renfro
Speaker 1: makes it work in real life with all without all
Speaker 1: the Hollywood extras that go with it. A couple more
Speaker 1: questions for Charles Davis from CBS. How about the Raiders defense.
Speaker 1: Max Crosby has been one of the best pass rushers
Speaker 1: in the league this year, but they gave up forty
Speaker 1: one last week to Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes basically
Speaker 1: did whatever he wanted to. Yeah, he got right, didn't he?
Speaker 1: Because Patrick Mahomes is going through a stretch. Like you know,
Speaker 1: people talk about Joe Burrow and the interception bug. That's
Speaker 1: what they were talking about with Patrick Mahomes. You're still
Speaker 1: creating plays, but every game there's a turnover or what's
Speaker 1: going on with that. Some of that the fault of
Speaker 1: the quarterback. Some of that the ball bouncing off receiver's hands.
Speaker 1: You know, some of us just bad luck as you
Speaker 1: go along. And that's why always caution people. You know,
Speaker 1: that's why quarterbacks don't yell at receivers very often because
Speaker 1: sometimes that ball bounce off their hands. But the next
Speaker 1: time you throw it into double coverage and he goes
Speaker 1: up and takes it away and give makes a big
Speaker 1: play and all of a sudden you look good again.
Speaker 1: So you gotta you take the good and the bad
Speaker 1: and figure it out in between. But I think that
Speaker 1: for this defense, they're not overly complex. Dan that front
Speaker 1: four is gonna try and get after you. If you
Speaker 1: get into second and long, third and long, here comes
Speaker 1: Yannick and gok Way off of one edge, Max Crosby
Speaker 1: off of the other. They're getting really good play from
Speaker 1: Quinton Jefferson, Darius Filon, Damien Square Inside. Those guys have
Speaker 1: played Hankins, They've played well for them inside in rushing
Speaker 1: the passer. They've given up more in the run game
Speaker 1: than you might expect. But if they get you pinned down,
Speaker 1: here they come. They're gonna play that old Seattle Cover one,
Speaker 1: Cover three behind it that Gus Bradley is going to do.
Speaker 1: And he's got a young secondary. He's gonna want to
Speaker 1: keep Jonathan Abram, the strong safety, out of coverage if
Speaker 1: he can. He's gonna have the high safety of Travan Merrick,
Speaker 1: the Brookie out of TCU, and he's hoping to get
Speaker 1: some help back out on the corners. Remember, Casey Habert
Speaker 1: has played really well for them. I mean he's been
Speaker 1: a big pick up, but they've been dinged up on
Speaker 1: the other corner a lot. Trayvon Mullin hasn't been there,
Speaker 1: and they're playing with Brandon Bason now who started the
Speaker 1: season with the Chargers. So that's what you're going to
Speaker 1: get out of them. It's not going to be overly complex.
Speaker 1: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to
Speaker 1: stay out of second and third and long because they
Speaker 1: get after you off the edge, which is something they
Speaker 1: didn't do last year. This year, this group, Oh, they're
Speaker 1: coming for you. Final question, you mentioned your twenty three
Speaker 1: year old son. I'm gonna mention my fifteen year old
Speaker 1: son because since twenty sixteen, I'm pretty sure that he
Speaker 1: has heard your voice more than he's heard my voice,
Speaker 1: because you are of the commentators for Madden NFL Football,
Speaker 1: the video game. When you talk to NFL players, do
Speaker 1: they want to talk about Madden more than anything else?
Speaker 1: It's funny, Dan, you brought that up, and I'll try
Speaker 1: and be SUCYNC for once in my life. This is
Speaker 1: the seventh year that I'm working on the game now
Speaker 1: and it's myself and Brandon Godden, who who's my play
Speaker 1: by play partner, formerly at Georgia Tech. Butler now he's
Speaker 1: Westwood One. He does Fox Sports, Big ten Network. He's
Speaker 1: a lead guy for them, the whole deal. Right, So
Speaker 1: all this time frame, there's not a single weekend I've
Speaker 1: done an NFL game since I've started this thing. That's
Speaker 1: somewhere a Madden mention doesn't come up. But if doesn't
Speaker 1: come from me, it's just part of the culture of
Speaker 1: what we do. Right. So, like when you're doing something,
Speaker 1: you're talking to someone, Man, that guy that you played,
Speaker 1: you know, a guy you gotta cover this week. My god,
Speaker 1: four touchdowns last week, that defensive back is likely gonna say, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was like something out of Madden. I mean, my god.
Speaker 1: You know I remember I did game I think with
Speaker 1: Chandler Jones a few years ago and he had three
Speaker 1: sacks a week before with the Cardinals. Nobody said, sitting down, Man,
Speaker 1: if that doesn't prove my Madden rating, I don't know
Speaker 1: what will. Now never connected me with it, Okay, I've
Speaker 1: not been connected, which has been an amazing part for
Speaker 1: me and a good thing, I guess in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. Until this year. Jalen Hurts was the first
Speaker 1: one I started to talk to him. Hey, Jalen, you
Speaker 1: know he goes on a second. I know that voice.
Speaker 1: You're the Madden guy. First time that has happened seventh year,
Speaker 1: so it doesn't happen very often. But I will tell
Speaker 1: you this as a parent, let me give you some advice.
Speaker 1: Parent to parent. There's a mute button on the game.
Speaker 1: Exercise it as you need to. Can play with the
Speaker 1: headphones on and the whole thing so you don't have
Speaker 1: to keep hearing this apping at you all the time.
Speaker 1: You know, of the various battles I want to fight
Speaker 1: with my son, that isn't one of them. He is
Speaker 1: welcome to listen to you while he's playing. Good man, child.
Speaker 1: This has been a treat. It's always great to catch up.
Speaker 1: I hope you have a great game on Sunday, and
Speaker 1: I look forward to seeing the in Vegas. Hey, right
Speaker 1: back at you, Dan. I can't wait to see when
Speaker 1: we get there, see you and Dave and the crew.
Speaker 1: It's always a blast to see. It's been way too long.
Speaker 1: It's been a long time since I've done a Bengals game,
Speaker 1: but we are very excited to see them in person.
Speaker 1: Up next, my one on one visit with the Bengals
Speaker 1: all time leader in every significant hunting category, Kevin Hubert,
Speaker 1: who will reach a milestone on Sunday in Las Vegas. Kevin,
Speaker 1: you are about to play in your two hundredth NFL
Speaker 1: regular season game, and that is a big number. Ken
Speaker 1: Riley and Reggie Williams are the only other Bengals that
Speaker 1: are in the two hundred club. What's this milestone mean?
Speaker 1: Do you? You know, it's pretty cool. Fee It's something
Speaker 1: that you know, I never thought I would get to,
Speaker 1: you know, I've always just I never thought about a
Speaker 1: number of games and the fact that you know, started
Speaker 1: getting close and closer, as like Matt can actually do
Speaker 1: this and get up to two hundred games, and I
Speaker 1: just think I usually hit me. Yet I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be some of those things that I'm running like, why,
Speaker 1: you know, I've crossed a two hundred game threshold, which
Speaker 1: which is pretty pretty cool thing. And I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a pretty pretty good accomplishment that I've I've
Speaker 1: had in my career. I'll say. With a new seventeen
Speaker 1: game regular season schedule this year, you can tie Ken
Speaker 1: Riley's franchise record at the end of the season with
Speaker 1: two O seven. To break it, you need to come
Speaker 1: back for a fourteenth year. Is that the plan? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's definitely the plan. And I can't just tie.
Speaker 1: I gotta break it. So I definitely got to come
Speaker 1: back next year and uh, you know, get that and
Speaker 1: hopefully pad the stats a little bit. I can't and
Speaker 1: I gotta keep Clark behind me, you know. I can't
Speaker 1: let Clark pass me. Are you guys competing for who's
Speaker 1: gonna last the longest? You know, I don't think we've
Speaker 1: ever really talked about that, but I'm sure there's a
Speaker 1: little uh, you know, I definitely want to last longer
Speaker 1: than him, and I don't want him to, you know,
Speaker 1: pass me. So yeah, there's a little internal competition that
Speaker 1: so you can last longest. We're chatting with Kevin Huber.
Speaker 1: So far this year, you're averaging forty six point four
Speaker 1: yards a punt with a net average of forty point nine.
Speaker 1: Both of those numbers are above your career average. What's
Speaker 1: been the key to your longevity? I think to staying
Speaker 1: consistent and you know, listen to your body and knowing
Speaker 1: what you need to do, just being ready. I think
Speaker 1: that's the biggest thing I've learned throughout the years is
Speaker 1: what it takes in the off season to get ready for,
Speaker 1: you know, the long season, and then also during the
Speaker 1: season to keep that maintenance up to to get yourself
Speaker 1: through and you know, it's it's it's not overly complicated.
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of just knowing what you need
Speaker 1: to do and you know, take control, being a professional
Speaker 1: and doing it. Um. Also, it's helped a lot to
Speaker 1: keep the continuity with Clark and then also with Darren,
Speaker 1: and I know Darren's gonna get no matter who we
Speaker 1: have out there, it's gonna have a team prepared. UM.
Speaker 1: So I can sit back they're confident and comfortable knowing
Speaker 1: that you know, if someone gets hurt and we have
Speaker 1: a backup come in in the middle of the game,
Speaker 1: that I know they're gonna be ready to go and
Speaker 1: know exactly what to do. And I don't like worry
Speaker 1: about are they gonna make their block or not. I
Speaker 1: can just be back there, be comfortable and you know,
Speaker 1: get the job done. At this stage your career, in
Speaker 1: your thirteenth NFL season, are you like a veteran pitcher
Speaker 1: who maybe has lost a mile or two office fastball,
Speaker 1: but finds other ways to be just as effective. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's probably go way to put it. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you see some of these young guys coming out and
Speaker 1: they can just absolutely hammer the ball. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: that wasn't really the style when I came out. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, but I think you know, this being consistent
Speaker 1: at you know what I can do, not trying to
Speaker 1: do what I you know, not trying to do something different.
Speaker 1: You know, I know what I do works, and you know,
Speaker 1: I've found myself in the you know, the top you
Speaker 1: know ten um and you know, gross and net for
Speaker 1: the last several years. So obviously, UM, it'd be great
Speaker 1: if I had a light that can you know, like
Speaker 1: some of these guys. But at the same time, UM,
Speaker 1: they probably wish they had more consistency. Consistency, and I
Speaker 1: think the way I've done things has worked, and I'm
Speaker 1: just thinking to continue to do that. Punting is not
Speaker 1: the only part of your job. You've actually been out
Speaker 1: there as the holder more on pats and field goals
Speaker 1: than you have for punts this season. I think most
Speaker 1: of us kind of take the job of holder for granted.
Speaker 1: Is it underappreciated? I think so. I think people look
Speaker 1: at that as I don't even think when people pay
Speaker 1: attention to that, but I think it's such a huge,
Speaker 1: you know, part of the game. When you see all
Speaker 1: these kicks that are missed around the league. You know
Speaker 1: there's a lot this year, and there's been several in
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. If you kind of look
Speaker 1: at you know, people don't really pay a lot of time.
Speaker 1: They just put on the kicker. But if you really
Speaker 1: break down the operation, a lot of times it's on
Speaker 1: the holder. You know, they're not getting laces around, they're
Speaker 1: not clean catching it, putting it down. That's definitely something
Speaker 1: I pride myself on that I think. I think I'm
Speaker 1: a pretty good holder, and especially in this division, you
Speaker 1: have to be with you know, the weather, the cold,
Speaker 1: the wind. You know, we have terrible conditions in this division.
Speaker 1: So it's something I've kind of pride myself on because
Speaker 1: I don't ever want to kick to be blamed on me.
Speaker 1: So I want to make sure that like everything's done
Speaker 1: and everything's perfect for the for the kicker, just that
Speaker 1: they can do their job and they're not worrying about,
Speaker 1: you know, is the ball going again? In the spot
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Kevin Huber you are working with a
Speaker 1: new kicker this year and Evan McPherson. Does it sound
Speaker 1: different when he kicks? Yeah. I mean he's got an
Speaker 1: explosiveness that I've really never experienced. You know, you kind
Speaker 1: of see it. I've gotten to the clothes I can
Speaker 1: say is you know when we play against Tucker and Multimore,
Speaker 1: you know, the ball kind of comes off very similar.
Speaker 1: And I think Evan's had a great job. He's got
Speaker 1: a great you know, mental part of it. You know,
Speaker 1: he's he's very knowledgeal about the position and he knows
Speaker 1: right away, you know, if he missed a kick what
Speaker 1: he did, and he does a great job of justining.
Speaker 1: He listens really well to Darren and um. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: got a great future out of him. Clark Harris is
Speaker 1: thirty seven, you're thirty six. Evan McPherson is twenty two.
Speaker 1: Has it been fun to have a young kid in
Speaker 1: the room. Yeah, he definite. He keeps us young. Well,
Speaker 1: we asked him a lot of time when some old
Speaker 1: songs come on the radio if he knows who they are,
Speaker 1: and he has no idea, So we have some fun
Speaker 1: with that. At the same time, you know, he likes
Speaker 1: to poke and brought us a little bit for being
Speaker 1: the old guy. So it's been a fun mix and uh,
Speaker 1: you know we've meshed really well. Our personalities are you know, different,
Speaker 1: but also very similar. So it's it's uh, it's been
Speaker 1: a nice, nice season so far. Just we've really meshed well.
Speaker 1: And uh, um it's been it's been a good run
Speaker 1: so far. He told me a great story. He said,
Speaker 1: you took him golfing and the guy in charge of
Speaker 1: the carts asked if he was your son? Can you
Speaker 1: confirm yeah, it was. I think I think it's actually
Speaker 1: what I asked me. It fills my son, so uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's yeah, it's just one of those things.
Speaker 1: I've been asked more times this year bye bye, because
Speaker 1: we've had a lot of new faces in the locker room.
Speaker 1: So I've been asked if I'm the coach several times. Um,
Speaker 1: a couple of the players, girl from the Wise, asks
Speaker 1: if I'm if I'm a coach, and um, So it's
Speaker 1: just just nature the business. You get old and you
Speaker 1: looked at the older. I mean it's you know, the
Speaker 1: locker room keeps staying young and I keep getting older.
Speaker 1: So it's it's just it's Bound to Happen thirty six
Speaker 1: as a kid in my book, trusts Me. A couple
Speaker 1: more questions for Kevin Huber. The Bengals went to the
Speaker 1: playoffs in six of your first seven seasons, you haven't
Speaker 1: been back in the last five. How much are you
Speaker 1: enjoying being back in the hunt this year? And does
Speaker 1: anything stand out about this group? I mean, first off,
Speaker 1: it's great to be back. You know, it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's tough when you're losing games. It's tough to stay focused.
Speaker 1: It's tough to you know, keep remembering that, like this
Speaker 1: is your job and you have to perform, and and
Speaker 1: it's it become it's freshrating because it becomes almost a
Speaker 1: selfish mentality when you're losing, because you're like a right,
Speaker 1: like I look out for myself and to make sure
Speaker 1: I'm performing well for myself. Or now it's you're winning
Speaker 1: games and you want to do well to help win
Speaker 1: more games. And it's just more fun because the locker room,
Speaker 1: just the mentality is better. Everyone's more excited. Um, everyone's
Speaker 1: helping everybody out because they see it, they see that
Speaker 1: you know where this team can go. And it's just
Speaker 1: a lot more fun. And with this group, it's it's
Speaker 1: a it's a really good group. It's probably one of
Speaker 1: the best group as far as locker room presence and
Speaker 1: um personalities that we've ever had. And you know, the
Speaker 1: biggest thing I think I've said this in a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of interviews this year, is you know,
Speaker 1: the the egos are not there. You don't you don't
Speaker 1: have the you know, you don't have the guys that
Speaker 1: are that might be pulling away from what the rest
Speaker 1: of the group wants to do um and kind of
Speaker 1: create that that bad that bad juju if you will.
Speaker 1: You know, everyone locker room right now just wants to win.
Speaker 1: They want to win. They want to do it for
Speaker 1: each other, and you know, that's that's all they want
Speaker 1: to do. Last thing, your last year, you see, was
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, and the program reached a point
Speaker 1: that they had never reached before when you guys went
Speaker 1: to the Orange Bowl, the first time Cincinnatie played in
Speaker 1: the Bowl of that magnitude. Now you see his ranked
Speaker 1: third in the country. They've got a legitimate chance of
Speaker 1: going to the four team playoff. How exciting is that
Speaker 1: for you? I mean, it's pretty cool, especially still being
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, so I can, you know, really be in it,
Speaker 1: and I get to see all the media every day
Speaker 1: talking about it. I've gotten a chance to go to
Speaker 1: a couple of games, and then I got a chance
Speaker 1: to go check out the game day experience, which is
Speaker 1: the pretty awesome. They did a great job of that
Speaker 1: and just seeing how you know, you know the fact
Speaker 1: that we didn't you know, just completely do what typically
Speaker 1: happens and programs like this or as you you have
Speaker 1: some success, then you just drop off, you know, worre
Speaker 1: sustaining success. And I think coach fickles on a phenomenal
Speaker 1: job of just recruiting and getting guys in and getting
Speaker 1: guys to buy in and just seeing you know, how
Speaker 1: well they're playing and how consistent they're playing. It's just
Speaker 1: really fun to watch. And I can, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: talk a little bit more in the locker room with
Speaker 1: with how weather they're playing. And your name is on
Speaker 1: the stadium wall is when the greatest Bearcats of them all.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on two hundred regular season NFL games. It's phenomenal
Speaker 1: milestone and I hope there are many many more to come.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, Ton, Thanks, I really appreciate it. Kevin
Speaker 1: obviously wants to keep playing beyond this year, and at
Speaker 1: age thirty six, he is not the oldest punter in
Speaker 1: the NFL. Baltimore Sam Cook and Arizona's Andy Lee are
Speaker 1: both thirty nine. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. Ultimate
Speaker 1: Bengals will be awarding a weekly winner during the course
Speaker 1: of the season, with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't
Speaker 1: buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in
Speaker 1: the app stores now. Now time for my midweek chat
Speaker 1: with my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham lap Sunday's game is
Speaker 1: not a must win for the Bengals. If they lose
Speaker 1: to the Raiders and then win, they're five remaining home games,
Speaker 1: that alone would make them ten and seven and give
Speaker 1: them a decent chance of going to the playoffs. But
Speaker 1: I was looking at one of these playoffs simulators earlier today.
Speaker 1: Right now, they supposedly have a thirty eight percent chance
Speaker 1: of making the playoffs if they went on Sunday. It
Speaker 1: jumps to fifty five percent if they went on Sunday
Speaker 1: and then beat the Steelers at home. The next week
Speaker 1: it jumps to sixty nine percent. So again it's not
Speaker 1: a must win, but a win would really help. It's important,
Speaker 1: you know. I think it's an important football game. And
Speaker 1: you look at it, there's a lot of similarities. Both
Speaker 1: teams have lost two in a row, Bengals obviously separated
Speaker 1: by the you know, after the bye, and both teams
Speaker 1: coming off a blog by division rival. So who's going
Speaker 1: to be able to get up off the mat, you know?
Speaker 1: And does have the bye week? Does the bye week
Speaker 1: allow you to get over it? Or do you stew
Speaker 1: in it? And it becomes more of an issue again,
Speaker 1: sports psychologists have a field day, you know. Sometimes a
Speaker 1: lot of people say, when you lay an egg, you know,
Speaker 1: like the Raiders laid the egg, the best thing to
Speaker 1: do is get right back to work the following Monday
Speaker 1: and put that aside. And all the Bengals weren't in
Speaker 1: that situation. They laid an egg and an effected, infested
Speaker 1: and fostered itself or whatever. So it's it's it's going
Speaker 1: to be interesting to see who comes out. And I
Speaker 1: think we've talked about it just about ad nausium every week.
Speaker 1: A fast start, I think a fast start, and this
Speaker 1: one's big because the team that starts out quickly maybe
Speaker 1: has gotten over it a little bit faster, and and
Speaker 1: that'll help them get over and be tougher to get
Speaker 1: off the mat if you have to overcome a two
Speaker 1: score deficit or something like that. So I think that's
Speaker 1: going to be an interesting thing to watch. And you
Speaker 1: look at the Raiders their first two games of the season.
Speaker 1: They beat the Ravens, they beat the Steelers. They're two
Speaker 1: and old against the AFC North. So the Bengals could
Speaker 1: be the first AFC North team to knock them off.
Speaker 1: Hopefully your comparison about their last two games is right
Speaker 1: on the money. Even the score of the recent game
Speaker 1: was almost identical. All the Bengals lost forty one to sixteen.
Speaker 1: The Raiders lost forty one to fourteen. Amazing, it is
Speaker 1: it's it's amazing. And you look at the big win
Speaker 1: the Bengals had, you know before they had their two
Speaker 1: games slide, you know, fourteen. I mean, what's the deal
Speaker 1: with the forty one and staying in the teams. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a recurring theme. It's kind of
Speaker 1: an interesting, interesting dynamic and uh, you know, the Bengals
Speaker 1: and the Raiders are both just good examples of what's
Speaker 1: going on in the National Football League, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean the best the Bengals have played, obviously, is the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens game. That's about as close to as well
Speaker 1: as they can play. But they've only done it one
Speaker 1: time in nine games. So it gives you a little
Speaker 1: bit of hope that, man, they haven't really put it
Speaker 1: together on a consistent enough basis to get on on
Speaker 1: a nice run, and you know, maybe they have that
Speaker 1: in them. The Raiders, it's the same thing. You know,
Speaker 1: They've They've looked pretty darn good at times and other
Speaker 1: times have looked like is this the same football team?
Speaker 1: There's so many similarities between these two teams, there really are.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's amazing how how their seasons have almost
Speaker 1: unfolded the same way. For this stage of the year.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are markably healthy. I am. I'm knocking on
Speaker 1: wood as I say that, but they do have a
Speaker 1: significant injury now. A Keen Davis Gather suffered a foot
Speaker 1: injury in the most recent game. He had surgery this week.
Speaker 1: Sounds like there's a decent chance that he's out for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. Jordan Evans was already out
Speaker 1: for the rest of the year. So those are two
Speaker 1: of your core linebackers. Marcus Bailey has been on the
Speaker 1: COVID list. He apparently is going to be back on Thursday.
Speaker 1: The Bengals recently added Clay Johnston off waivers from the Panthers.
Speaker 1: He was featured prominently on Hard Knocks last year after
Speaker 1: being drafted by the Rams. But how is all of
Speaker 1: this linebacker stuff going to impact the team? Yeah, it's yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the one of the big storylines of this game and
Speaker 1: the second half of the season. There's there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. Joe Bacchis is a guy that you know
Speaker 1: is going to have to take on a more significant role.
Speaker 1: Marcus Bailey with the COVID issue, you know, he didn't
Speaker 1: practice in the early stages of the week that he
Speaker 1: didn't practice on Wednesday. Hopefully be able to come back
Speaker 1: and give him some practice snaps and be ready to
Speaker 1: play in the football game. But yeah, you look at it,
Speaker 1: and you know, Joseph Faci, you go way back, it's
Speaker 1: like an outside linebacker, defensive end, more of a defensive
Speaker 1: end type guy, but an edge rush kind of guy.
Speaker 1: They've had their they've had their issues at the linebacker position.
Speaker 1: That if you were going to pick a position, and
Speaker 1: usually it does when you start to have an injury. Um,
Speaker 1: it's it's almost like a virus and it affects one
Speaker 1: position group and the linebacker corps is definitely the group.
Speaker 1: And it's now it's like the trickle down effect starts
Speaker 1: to hit Darren Simmons because now linebackers and it hasn't
Speaker 1: had that many of them on a special teams roster.
Speaker 1: I mean that's been for the last couple of years
Speaker 1: now something where a lot of teams have more linebackers
Speaker 1: available on special teams than what Darren has had. Now
Speaker 1: that that that pot is dwindled even more and so
Speaker 1: the linebackers are playing special teams for him have to
Speaker 1: step up and fill some of these subpackage snaps. You
Speaker 1: know that they were being filled by like Davis gaitheror
Speaker 1: Bailey's going to be the guy to take the place that.
Speaker 1: Now who's your special teams linebackers? So you know there
Speaker 1: there are guys that they're evaluating as we speak. I
Speaker 1: mean guys that they've just signed and you know, taken
Speaker 1: a look at and seeing what kind of roles they
Speaker 1: can fill, whether it be special teams or sub package roles.
Speaker 1: And I think that would be you know, a Caletro.
Speaker 1: I think that's how you say his name. He was
Speaker 1: here with the Bengals for a little bit. Austin Caletro.
Speaker 1: What can he give you out of Villanova six foot
Speaker 1: two h forty pound guy? Can he give you some
Speaker 1: special team snaps? So yeah, it's it's a it's a
Speaker 1: process where the ripple effect of injuries two guys you
Speaker 1: know that aren't even starters as such, guys that will
Speaker 1: have in a rotation or in some kind of package
Speaker 1: or whatever the case may be, it starts to have
Speaker 1: an impact. And Darren Simmons and Luanna Rumo and everybody's
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out. At this point. The Raiders
Speaker 1: have one of the best tight ends in the NFL
Speaker 1: and Darren Waller, he's had back to back one thousand
Speaker 1: yard receiving seasons. I imagine a Keen Davis Gaither would
Speaker 1: have been involved in coverage on him. What do they
Speaker 1: do now? I think that one of the packages that
Speaker 1: Trey Flowers is involved in and he's been the guy
Speaker 1: they put on the tight end um and he's he's
Speaker 1: a bigger defensive back. He's got some some length and
Speaker 1: some leverage to him. You know. I mean, he's a
Speaker 1: he's a guy that's like sixty three and he's got
Speaker 1: long arms, and I think I think that's a role
Speaker 1: that he may he may fill. Michael Thomas, the safety
Speaker 1: they they signed, he may be involved in that a
Speaker 1: little bit. They may bracket him some. I would think
Speaker 1: I would bracket him with a linebacker and a safety. Sometimes.
Speaker 1: I think I think you're just gonna have to give
Speaker 1: different looks to Waller. Whatever the Kansas City Chiefs did,
Speaker 1: I'd do that because you know, it was the it
Speaker 1: was the big matchup or not obviously against each other,
Speaker 1: but who is going to have a bigger game for
Speaker 1: their respective team, Travis kel Kelsey or Darren Waller. It
Speaker 1: was Kelsey in a in a landslide, and that that's
Speaker 1: the thing. Dan, you know, I'm looking at the second
Speaker 1: half of the schedule. They have Waller, they have Kittle.
Speaker 1: When the forty nine ers come to Cincinnati, they've got
Speaker 1: Andrews again, the Ravens and Kelsey. Three AFC Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: tight ends, all three of the guys that are probably
Speaker 1: going to be in the Pro Bowl, and then Kittle
Speaker 1: for the NFC. The quarterback tight end combinations they've got
Speaker 1: in four out of their last eight games pretty darn significant.
Speaker 1: So this is a starting point to see, how are
Speaker 1: you going to be able to handle the tight ends.
Speaker 1: They did a good job against Andrews the first time.
Speaker 1: They did a good job against the Ravens offense in general.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think a lot of teams around the
Speaker 1: league trying to crack the code like they did against
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. But tight ends are going to be
Speaker 1: an issue issue in the second half of this season.
Speaker 1: You just depressed me with that stat You didn't even
Speaker 1: mention Friar Muth would be getting a bigger and bigger
Speaker 1: role with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let's talk about the cornerback position.
Speaker 1: In recent weeks, the Bengals have added a couple of
Speaker 1: veteran corners who have been starters elsewhere. Trey Flowers, you
Speaker 1: mentioned him formerly of Seattle, Vernon Hargraves, the former number
Speaker 1: one draft pick who most recently was with Houston. There
Speaker 1: was some speculation that maybe one of those guys who
Speaker 1: had surpassed Eli Apple and move into the starting lineup.
Speaker 1: It's not going to happen this week. Zach Taylor told
Speaker 1: reporters that Eli is still the starter, and when asked why,
Speaker 1: defended his play so far this year. But what do
Speaker 1: you think long term? You know, I think that even
Speaker 1: if you know Zach says that Eli Apples the starter,
Speaker 1: all that matters to me. Starter is just a designation
Speaker 1: who's taken the preponderance of the snaps, who's taking the
Speaker 1: majority you know of the snaps, and what are the
Speaker 1: packages of those snaps, and who's playing where. So I
Speaker 1: think what they're they're trying to do is is work
Speaker 1: everybody into, you know, a package as such and break
Speaker 1: them into into playing time that way, and then if
Speaker 1: they show they can handle that package with alacrity, then
Speaker 1: they'll expand that package, you know. So I think that, uh,
Speaker 1: I think that in my mind. As Paul Brown and
Speaker 1: Tiger Johnson, the first coaches that I had experienced with
Speaker 1: in my first NFL season, they said, hey, you have
Speaker 1: to win your job every single week. In the National
Speaker 1: Football League, there's no givens. I mean, everybody's good. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of times, there's not much difference between the
Speaker 1: guy that's quote starting and the guy that's quote backing
Speaker 1: them up. Sometimes they're pretty darn equal. So you just
Speaker 1: what it should do is it should inspire competitive spirit,
Speaker 1: you know, and hopefully you get the best out of guys,
Speaker 1: and if guys are going to assume the feudal position
Speaker 1: fold their tent, you don't want those guys anyway, you know,
Speaker 1: So hopefully it lifts the entire level to play. On
Speaker 1: the back end, the use of the word alacrity one
Speaker 1: of the reasons why you got into Harvard or we're
Speaker 1: accepted at least back in the day. Let's turn to
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Hakima Dentogy will start at right guard
Speaker 1: for the second consecutive game. What's it mean to him?
Speaker 1: What's it mean to Jackson Carmen? Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think for Identagy it's it's his patience was tested, his
Speaker 1: resiliency was tested. How do you handle success, how do
Speaker 1: you handle failure? All those kind of things were tested
Speaker 1: when he had the injury that he had, and all
Speaker 1: he was trying to do when he sustained the injury,
Speaker 1: he was to get better. You know, he's trying to
Speaker 1: get extra lift in and um, you know, I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's you're you're in that in that place where you're
Speaker 1: trying to get that one last rep and you're working.
Speaker 1: You're working and sometimes and you know it can it
Speaker 1: can cause a physical issue. You're trying to get that
Speaker 1: that last rep and got it out. Sometimes it's best
Speaker 1: just okay, give it away and let's do another set.
Speaker 1: And however it happened, Um, it did happen to him,
Speaker 1: and it set him back a little bit, but but
Speaker 1: he responded well. I mean, I was very impressed with
Speaker 1: how he handled that training camp. There's there's mental parts,
Speaker 1: and I've seen guys and that you know, they get
Speaker 1: injured and it's like I'm not part of this and
Speaker 1: they kind of mope around and you know they don't
Speaker 1: they don't really feel part of the team. And it's
Speaker 1: hard to be hurt, hard to be injured. You feel
Speaker 1: like you're almost you know, a leper. You know, you're
Speaker 1: isolated and you can't do things that other people are doing.
Speaker 1: But he was. He was right in the middle of it.
Speaker 1: I mean he did everything short of taking the physical up.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was on top of every coaching point
Speaker 1: that Frank Pollock was going through and he would talk
Speaker 1: to his teammates, He talked to the veteran players, and
Speaker 1: I was impressed with that part of it. How he
Speaker 1: was always trying to accumulate knowledge. And when I talked
Speaker 1: to some of the veteran lineman, you know, I'd say,
Speaker 1: what kind of questions is he asking you? You know?
Speaker 1: And they'd be like good ones, you know, a real
Speaker 1: good ones. So now you think, and here's the kid
Speaker 1: that's dead serious. And so he got himself as ready
Speaker 1: as he possibly could from all other areas other than
Speaker 1: the actual will be able to go out there and
Speaker 1: take the physical reps. And you know, as we've said
Speaker 1: many times, and any athletic endeavor starts with the feet
Speaker 1: ends with your hands. He's got he's excels in both areas.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's got some sweet feet. Now. His lateral
Speaker 1: movement is as good as I've seen. And then when
Speaker 1: he finishes you with that punch, you know, and you're
Speaker 1: now you're allowed to extend your hands and actually punch
Speaker 1: with your palms, and he packs one. He packs a punch.
Speaker 1: So hopefully, I think he's put himself in a position
Speaker 1: to take advantage of an opportunity, he prepared himself to
Speaker 1: do so. And I'm rooting for him because guys like that.
Speaker 1: You know, he handled everything the right way, let's put
Speaker 1: it that way. Everything that he could possibly do to
Speaker 1: get himself ready for his next opportunity, he did in spades.
Speaker 1: And how about Jackson now handling this? Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I think what Jackson has to do is I mean, everybody,
Speaker 1: uh again, you handle success and then deal with failure?
Speaker 1: How are you gonna How resilient are you? How are
Speaker 1: you gonna how are you going to react? And coaches
Speaker 1: and teammates, everybody's watching. Are you gonna Are you gonna
Speaker 1: say it's over? You know, I lost my job, he's
Speaker 1: the guy. Or are you gonna say I want that
Speaker 1: job back? I'm gonna I'm gonna The first thing that
Speaker 1: I always thought if something happened like that, the first
Speaker 1: thing I was gonna do is going to the coach
Speaker 1: and say, Coach, what do I need to do to
Speaker 1: get better? How? What do I need to do to
Speaker 1: get the job. This thing's important to me. How do
Speaker 1: I help the team more? What do I have to
Speaker 1: do that That type of a reaction, I think is
Speaker 1: what is what teammates and coaches hope for instead of
Speaker 1: you know, like, uh, you know, whoe is me, poor me?
Speaker 1: Nobody gets a damn about you, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's been many many players and coaches that go through this.
Speaker 1: They have gone through this league, and there's gonna be
Speaker 1: many many coaches and players that go through it in
Speaker 1: the future. So they don't care about one person's situation.
Speaker 1: So there's not gonna be any pity party if you
Speaker 1: if you get into that pity party mode, you're the
Speaker 1: only one at the party, and it's gonna be hard
Speaker 1: to dig yourself out of that. So I think it's
Speaker 1: very important. This is probably the first time it's ever
Speaker 1: happened to him. I mean, highly regarded prospect in high school,
Speaker 1: highly regarded prospect coming out of Clemson. This is the
Speaker 1: first significant slap in the face. WHOA, I just you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not good enough right now? What do I need
Speaker 1: to do to be good enough and proceed from there?
Speaker 1: Because again, the other thing is from a teammate standpoint
Speaker 1: and a coach standpoint, you're one snap away from going
Speaker 1: back in and taking the job again. That's where you
Speaker 1: have to look at it. It's like you're literally one
Speaker 1: snap away. So you you better not be lax or
Speaker 1: lack of daisical or whatever. You have to approach it
Speaker 1: like you're a starter and you're in. You're preparing as
Speaker 1: a starter, and that's what every player should do in
Speaker 1: my opinion, you know, and then when the opportunity knocks
Speaker 1: like it did for a humid energy, he's ready. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about Joe Burrow, who's having an outstanding second NFL
Speaker 1: season with one exception, He's three a lot of picks,
Speaker 1: eleven of them, tied for most in the NFL with
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold. Here's a stat for you. When he throws
Speaker 1: one or fewer, the Bengals are five and one. When
Speaker 1: he throws two or more, they're own three. How much
Speaker 1: of it is on him so far this year? Well,
Speaker 1: as the old saying goes, you know, every one of
Speaker 1: them has its own story. But I do think a
Speaker 1: couple of red zone or red zone into the end
Speaker 1: zone interceptions were you know, almost like hoping a prayer
Speaker 1: type throws and those more often than not don't work out.
Speaker 1: But you've seen deflections for interceptions. You've seen defenders just
Speaker 1: making great plays. I mean, sometimes you just have to
Speaker 1: tip your cap to the the defender and say, you
Speaker 1: know what, I wasn't necessarily fulled by the scheme, but
Speaker 1: I didn't think he was good enough to do what
Speaker 1: he did. I didn't think he had that kind of athleticism.
Speaker 1: I thought I had a window to take advantage of.
Speaker 1: And the thing with Joey has so much confidence in
Speaker 1: his accuracy, and he should. He's about as accurate as
Speaker 1: I've ever seen. He thinks, you know that a lot
Speaker 1: of times he can get it into these micro windows,
Speaker 1: you know, really really tiny ones. So and a lot
Speaker 1: of times he does. So I think with him, there's
Speaker 1: no doubt that he can tell you more about every
Speaker 1: interception he's thrown than every touchdown pass he's thrown this year,
Speaker 1: I'll guarantee you and you know that he'll remember the
Speaker 1: story and the lesson to be learned by the story
Speaker 1: with every single one of them. And the ones that
Speaker 1: aren't on him, let it roll off your back like
Speaker 1: water off a duck. But the ones that are on him,
Speaker 1: you know, learn your lesson, uh you know, don't don't
Speaker 1: wallow in it, you know, but but learn from it
Speaker 1: and move on. And I think I think that's going
Speaker 1: to be a big factor. I'd like to see him,
Speaker 1: you know, the second half of the season, the last
Speaker 1: eight games, maybe you know, no more than four or five,
Speaker 1: you know, cut it in half or better. And he's
Speaker 1: capable of doing that. It's just, you know, that that
Speaker 1: balancing act that great players like him so competitive. It's like,
Speaker 1: I can do this, you know, and I've done it.
Speaker 1: I know I can do this. Sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: just you know, live for another snap. The opponent this
Speaker 1: week the Las Vegas Raiders, like the Bengals, five and four.
Speaker 1: Like the Bengals, they started five and two before losing
Speaker 1: two in a row, as you pointed out earlier. But
Speaker 1: unlike the Bengals, this is a team with a ton
Speaker 1: of turmoil. Their head coach John Gruden forced to resign.
Speaker 1: They lost Henry Ruggs. He's likely to go to jail
Speaker 1: for a long time for that accident that killed a
Speaker 1: woman and her dog. They've got a bunch of injuries,
Speaker 1: including some that happened just last Sunday night against the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: This is a team where you can't help but wondering
Speaker 1: if they are reeling and beginning to spire a lot
Speaker 1: of control. Yeah, I mean, you were thinking the same
Speaker 1: thing a little bit with the Cleveland Browns. You know,
Speaker 1: I was thinking, boy, Cleveland Browns, some of the things
Speaker 1: that are going on there, and you know the OBJ
Speaker 1: situation that was going on with Cleveland and Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 1: He's got a wounded wing, you know, and all these
Speaker 1: things that, Uh, boy, what are the Cleveland Browns? What's
Speaker 1: their mindset? Like? How are they going to be able
Speaker 1: to how will they handle this? I think that again,
Speaker 1: to go back to my first point about getting off
Speaker 1: to a fast start, I think if if you get
Speaker 1: off to a fast start when they're they've experienced everything
Speaker 1: they've experienced, the scab comes off quicker and the wound
Speaker 1: opens faster, and it's like, this isn't the week, This
Speaker 1: isn't the week. We come back and rally boys. You know, man,
Speaker 1: I was still was still struggling. We're still need to
Speaker 1: get over we need more time. But if they take
Speaker 1: a two score lead, yeah, guys, we're good. We're done
Speaker 1: with that. We're tough, We're tough mentally, we're tough physically,
Speaker 1: we're resilient. We can bounce back. You know, sometimes when
Speaker 1: when when a group goes through that type of stuff,
Speaker 1: it galvanizes, you know. I mean, it can have that,
Speaker 1: It can have that effect as well. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the percentages are. They have analytics on everything. I
Speaker 1: don't know what the percentages are of you know, teams
Speaker 1: that have recovered from this type of craziness that we're
Speaker 1: talking about and have gone on to you know, win
Speaker 1: a division or getting the playoffs and advancing the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure about that. But I think it's all
Speaker 1: up to the Bengals at this point, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean I think that the uh, the Raiders are probably
Speaker 1: they're probably fragile, you know. I mean, I think it
Speaker 1: could it could go either way. And I think on
Speaker 1: how how the game goes early, I think we'll have
Speaker 1: a bearing on it. I really do, particularly if they
Speaker 1: if they really come out and take control of it.
Speaker 1: I mean, just totally put a thumping on them. From
Speaker 1: the early stages. I don't think there's going to be
Speaker 1: that much fight. But if they the longer it's a game,
Speaker 1: the more of a dog fight they're in. Because now
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's like, yeah, guys, even though
Speaker 1: all this crap that we've had to deal with, we're
Speaker 1: still a good football team. I love you, man, Let's
Speaker 1: go win this sucker. That kind of stuff can happen.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to seeing this stadium. I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to being in Las Vegas for an NFL game because
Speaker 1: I imagine it's going to be just a little bit
Speaker 1: like when we've gone to London in the past, where
Speaker 1: people come from all over because it's Vegas and it's
Speaker 1: a chance to see your NFL team on the road
Speaker 1: in a city where you can always find a cheap
Speaker 1: hotel room and spend a little money doing other stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, there's no doubt it's going to be interesting
Speaker 1: to see how how diverse the crowd is, you know,
Speaker 1: and what the mindset of the crowd might be. If
Speaker 1: if the Raiders get off to a slow start and
Speaker 1: you've gotten your butt kicked either you know, rolling the
Speaker 1: bones or playing blackjack, you may start booing real quick,
Speaker 1: mainly two snaps. But if they get out to a
Speaker 1: great start and you're up a grand man, now, it's
Speaker 1: all good boy, this is a this is paradise plus.
Speaker 1: So it'll be it'll be interesting to see what the
Speaker 1: what the crowd is like. And uh yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: it's it's um there's no place like Vegas, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: There's absolutely it's it's one of a kind. And I
Speaker 1: can't think of an organization that probably fits that city
Speaker 1: better than the Raiders. You know that Raiders with Al Davis,
Speaker 1: our Syracuse fellow alone, Um and he was he definitely
Speaker 1: was one of a kind. And uh that I can
Speaker 1: tell you Dan. When I played, I mean we're like
Speaker 1: two and fifteen as an organization in Oakland, in LA
Speaker 1: I mean that's when they were dominant. We went out
Speaker 1: there and just we couldn't beat him. I mean we'd
Speaker 1: lose thirty one twenty eight whatever the I mean, it
Speaker 1: was close games, competitive games lose. We lost two playoff
Speaker 1: games out there. I played in one of them, that
Speaker 1: thirty one twenty eight game I'm talking about. I mean,
Speaker 1: that was anybody's football game. But we just couldn't get
Speaker 1: over the top against those great Raider teams that won
Speaker 1: Super Bowls. And I'm I'm pulling for the Bengals to
Speaker 1: spank the Raiders in Las Vegas. A new a new
Speaker 1: new location, new environment and under the everything that Vegas
Speaker 1: has to offer, get a victory against the Raiders. That
Speaker 1: could be one sweet weekend finally, it's time for our
Speaker 1: no the faux segment. Jesse Merritt covers the Raiders for
Speaker 1: ksn VTV in Las Vegas, and he joined Lap and
Speaker 1: Wayne box Miller on the Bengals Game Plan Show on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night. You know, it's been kind of a poster
Speaker 1: ride for Raiders in you know, they were living pretty well.
Speaker 1: They were happy with the way the season was going,
Speaker 1: you know, and then the buy comes around. They come
Speaker 1: out of the buy. I think that they're gonna have
Speaker 1: a nice DC game against the Giants, and then they
Speaker 1: lose the game, lose the turnover battle on that one,
Speaker 1: and then they drop another game there against the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: So they're kind of down on it. You're starting to
Speaker 1: hear all the people talking about car and that, you know,
Speaker 1: people say it all they need to move on from
Speaker 1: them and all this stuff because he's getting turnovers and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. So, you know, they're kind of down
Speaker 1: on it right now. But I think people need to
Speaker 1: realize there's still a young season. There's still a lot
Speaker 1: of time left to go on to the end of
Speaker 1: the day. You know, both the Bengals and the Raiders,
Speaker 1: they're five and four, they got a winning record and
Speaker 1: They've got a whole lot of games in front of them,
Speaker 1: so you know, they still kind of control their playoff dets.
Speaker 1: To me, right now, a sports psychologist would have a
Speaker 1: field day with the Raiders. Obviously. Really, the John Gruden incident,
Speaker 1: you know, is polarizing. I'm sure there were some John
Speaker 1: Gruden fans and some guys that weren't as much of
Speaker 1: a fan of John Gruden, which could be a divisive
Speaker 1: thing for the football team. Then what went on with
Speaker 1: Henry Ruggs. I mean, this football team has dealt with
Speaker 1: some adversity. Do you think that what they're dealing with
Speaker 1: in terms of the mental part of it be off
Speaker 1: the field stuff. Do you think it's had any bearing
Speaker 1: on the two game losing streak. You know, I try
Speaker 1: not to put too much stock into that because you know,
Speaker 1: for me, I played college football and it was like
Speaker 1: obviously nowhere near the level that these guys do. But
Speaker 1: like when you get on on the field, that's like
Speaker 1: your release. You know, you don't really think about anything else.
Speaker 1: It's it's kind of off to the side. And maybe
Speaker 1: when they're meetings and things like said, it can be,
Speaker 1: but I think more than anything, it would be kind
Speaker 1: of the emotional toll of like everything because it's been
Speaker 1: like one after another. You mentioned Gruden, you mentioned the
Speaker 1: situation with Ruggs, also Damon Arnett, who was another first
Speaker 1: round pick. He was recently pleased. You know, it was
Speaker 1: kind of just one thing after another. I had multiple
Speaker 1: friends of mine who cover teams all across the league saying, like, man,
Speaker 1: they're keeping you busy. It's just one thing after another.
Speaker 1: I was getting it exhausted. So I'm sure you know,
Speaker 1: for the players, it probably is because they know these
Speaker 1: guys on a personal level. They're their brothers, their coach,
Speaker 1: things like that, so it's got to take somewhat of
Speaker 1: a toll. But I also think once you get the
Speaker 1: game day, you know, they're only const round in the game.
Speaker 1: They got so much coming at him they can't really
Speaker 1: think about anything else at that point. I agree that
Speaker 1: it's the sanctuary. Basically, game days you're sanctuary, you know,
Speaker 1: and then everything else goes away. I agree. Jesse Merrick
Speaker 1: from three News in Las Vegas, our guests and Jesse,
Speaker 1: thanks to join us. When you look at what this
Speaker 1: team needs to do down to stretch up what is broken,
Speaker 1: per se or what needs to be tweaked their fix
Speaker 1: going down to stretch. Yeah, they got to get back
Speaker 1: to pushing the ball down the field the way that
Speaker 1: they had. You know, they were they were able to
Speaker 1: hit a lot of deep passes, you know, early on
Speaker 1: in the season and get teams kind of on their heels.
Speaker 1: That backed them off a bit, and you know, in
Speaker 1: a couple of the games we saw them be able
Speaker 1: to kind of establish the run a bit because of that.
Speaker 1: Now lately, you know, the run blocking, it just hasn't
Speaker 1: been there. They haven't been able to get the run
Speaker 1: game going, and then they've been losing the turnover battle
Speaker 1: every time they try and throw it down the field,
Speaker 1: and teams are kind of just able to sit in
Speaker 1: that shell and not worry about, you know, too much
Speaker 1: over the top. Obviously, losing Rugs hurts because he's that
Speaker 1: guy that had that game breaking type of speed. Then
Speaker 1: they go bring into Sean Jackson. You know, in this
Speaker 1: last game here against the Chiefs, looks like he had
Speaker 1: a massive touchdown that was at a key moment in
Speaker 1: the game and then I don't know what the heck happened,
Speaker 1: he got turned around or whatever, and then the ball
Speaker 1: gets punched loose and that's the pivotal moment in the
Speaker 1: game where you know things just changed. So for me,
Speaker 1: it's honestly, I think the Raiders need to not abandon
Speaker 1: the run because I don't want to obviously just throw
Speaker 1: it out of the window because they got Josh Jacob.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, like in the early parts
Speaker 1: of the season, they didn't have Josh Jacob and they
Speaker 1: were cooking when they're able to get the passing in
Speaker 1: going and use that short passing game to open up
Speaker 1: the run and then take a couple of shots here
Speaker 1: and there throughout the game, and they were hitting album
Speaker 1: at a pretty decent clip. So I think for them,
Speaker 1: really concentrate on the path, go ahead and throw it
Speaker 1: like forty plus times a game, and let the run
Speaker 1: game kind of hop in there as more of a
Speaker 1: supplemental thing. And I think that's where they're going to
Speaker 1: see more success throughout the year doing that. As the
Speaker 1: Rugs ripple effect infected Waller, I mean, it seems like
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs had a pretty good game plan
Speaker 1: to contain Waller, who's in my mind a Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: tight end. I mean, this guy's side speech race shows
Speaker 1: off the charts. I thought you know, the Kelsey Waller
Speaker 1: deal Chiefs Raiders, which tight end was going to step up,
Speaker 1: and obviously Kelsey had a game and Waller didn't really
Speaker 1: get that involved. What did in Europe mind, when you
Speaker 1: watched it, What did they do to take Waller out
Speaker 1: of the game. A lot of bracket coverage and we've
Speaker 1: seen a lot more teams start to do that, you know,
Speaker 1: and and they think the Raiders are using them as
Speaker 1: a bit of a decoy. You know, in the first
Speaker 1: game against the Ravens, they targeted in nineteen times and
Speaker 1: people freaked out. They were like, nineteen times, throw the
Speaker 1: ball to somebody else, and it's like, yo, hold up
Speaker 1: that Darren Waller, like he's one of the best players
Speaker 1: in the league, like beating the ball as many times,
Speaker 1: feeding the ball twenty thirty times, But whatever it takes,
Speaker 1: if that's gonna win you games. And so they've kind
Speaker 1: of come away from that. I think they got to
Speaker 1: get it more involved in that. And obviously, again it's
Speaker 1: it's easier said than done when teams are bracketing you,
Speaker 1: because now, let's be honest, without rugs in there, Tokay, yeah,
Speaker 1: they have de Shaan Jackson, but he's not the same
Speaker 1: type of speed guy. He's got obviously much older, you know,
Speaker 1: and doesn't quite have the same level of speed and
Speaker 1: game breaking type of stuff that he used to. So,
Speaker 1: you know, I think teams are able to key in
Speaker 1: on him a little bit more because they're not as
Speaker 1: worried about the other players in there, because you know,
Speaker 1: Brian Edwards hasn't shown the consistency as a receiver to
Speaker 1: continue to do it to draw that type of attention.
Speaker 1: And again we haven't seen Josh Jacobs get going either,
Speaker 1: and the other receivers a lot of younger umcoving guys
Speaker 1: Nna Renfro starting to emerge as a really good spot receiver,
Speaker 1: but still to the point where a defense is gonna
Speaker 1: key in on him at you know, all points about
Speaker 1: the game. So I think they got to start kind
Speaker 1: of forcing it a bit to Waller and saying, hey, look,
Speaker 1: this guy's just better than the guys you got on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball. I don't care if
Speaker 1: you're bracking in whatever the heck you do. We're gonna
Speaker 1: feed him the ball. But then also at the same
Speaker 1: time be able to connect when it's just not there,
Speaker 1: and he'd be opening to when other guys are in
Speaker 1: single coverage. So it's a matter of winning those one
Speaker 1: on one of battles that they just haven't been able
Speaker 1: to do with any contstency. That's far outside of Darren Waller. Okay,
Speaker 1: Jesse Merrick, you can find him on Twitter social media.
Speaker 1: Jesse News three LV. That's j e SSC News three LV.
Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I was looking at
Speaker 1: with you know, Darren Waller. I mean, this guy over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, fourteen catches for twenty and
Speaker 1: more yards in nineteen sixteen, and more catches for twenty
Speaker 1: more yards and already eight this year. I mean, you're
Speaker 1: talking about a tight end getting twenty and more yards.
Speaker 1: It's just like a huge bonus. Well, you're talking about
Speaker 1: a guy that's six six plus two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: pounds plus that runs a sub four five forty. That
Speaker 1: is a freakazoid. I mean that that is a size
Speaker 1: speed ratio that's like unbelievable. I mean, he is uh,
Speaker 1: He's he's really really talented and gifted. There's there's no
Speaker 1: question about it. Why we have you, Jesse. Defensively, the
Speaker 1: Bengals have a couple of uh I call him the
Speaker 1: h Boys. You have Hendrickson and Hubbard and they've combined
Speaker 1: for thirteen and a half sacks. You guys have in
Speaker 1: Gockway and Crosby who've combined for eleven sacks. How how
Speaker 1: much energy? How much? How much do they give this
Speaker 1: defense off the edge at the defensive end position? Man?
Speaker 1: It is? That was one thing that constantly talked about,
Speaker 1: is that they got to get to the quarterback. They
Speaker 1: got to get a pass rush going. Well this year
Speaker 1: they've gotten it in spades. It hasn't translated to as
Speaker 1: many sacks as you would think it probably would. And
Speaker 1: depending on where you get your stacks from, Max Crosby
Speaker 1: and Unique and Gockway different points about the year have
Speaker 1: been number one in the league, and pressure from what
Speaker 1: I know right now, Crosby is number one, and Treasures
Speaker 1: by a Pro football focus, And so those guys really
Speaker 1: set the tone for the defense around them, and it's
Speaker 1: helped guys like Casey Hayward and coverage. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't know anymore if he has, but I think up
Speaker 1: until like a week or two ago, he hadn't allowed
Speaker 1: you know, a catch at all all season or something
Speaker 1: like that, or more than he had like one of
Speaker 1: the highest coverage grades by Pro Football Focus, so he
Speaker 1: had had been having a great year, and I think
Speaker 1: a lot of that is because of the pressure those
Speaker 1: guys that are applying, and they're really kind of breaking
Speaker 1: the game for the defense and allowing guys to roam
Speaker 1: around and just kind of be athletes. And so they
Speaker 1: have been the driving for for this defense. And it's
Speaker 1: fun to watch because they're competing NonStop. Even a practice,
Speaker 1: it's a sprint in the line of scream because it's
Speaker 1: a front offerer, whatever the heck they're doing. Brosby and
Speaker 1: Unique seemed to really have this big connection and they're
Speaker 1: they're playing off of each other very well, and it's
Speaker 1: something that's given opposing offenses, you know, a heck of
Speaker 1: the headache and you know you've been staught it against Mahome,
Speaker 1: he was having to move around and get off the spot,
Speaker 1: which he obviously does all the time, but they frustrated him.
Speaker 1: That just obviously not enough. You guy sat it for
Speaker 1: forty one point. Hi. Thanks the Lap Box and Jesse
Speaker 1: Merrick for that interview. And here's a quick reminder to
Speaker 1: join lap and Me for the Bengals PEP rally show
Speaker 1: this Friday from two thirty to five thirty on ESPN
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty. That's going to do it for this episode
Speaker 1: of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by Ultimate Bengals,
Speaker 1: the free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded
Speaker 1: now from the App Store and Google Play. And if
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast
Speaker 1: and if you have a minute, give it a rating
Speaker 1: or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast