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Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading

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Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast The WHOA Come with Me Now. Addition,

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Speaker 1: as the Bengals look to pick up where they left

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Speaker 1: off before the bye and begin the second half of

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Speaker 1: the season with a road win in Pittsburgh coming up,

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Speaker 1: I'll talk to Jesse Bates about how important a bye

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Speaker 1: week really is to an NFL player's physical and emotional

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Speaker 1: well being. I'll also talk to two NFL experts, Field

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Speaker 1: Yates from ESPN and Tyler Dunn from golongtd dot com

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Speaker 1: about the bengals chances of making a second half run. Then,

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Speaker 1: and this week's Know the Faux Segment, Steelers pregame host

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Speaker 1: Tim Bens tells us all about Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback Kenny Pickt.

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Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,

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Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than

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Speaker 1: one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,

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Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.

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Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now, here's a

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Speaker 1: quick reminder that you could have the latest edition of

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Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer

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Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest

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Speaker 1: thing since a gas fireplace. This is a rare repeat edition,

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Speaker 1: but it immediately came to mind with a return of

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Speaker 1: winter weather to Cincinnati. When we moved into our home,

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Speaker 1: the family room included a gas fireplace, and when it

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Speaker 1: gets cold, it's fantastic. With the flick of a button,

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Speaker 1: it heats up the room in a matter of minutes

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Speaker 1: and looks great with orange yellow flames that dance around

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Speaker 1: realistic looking logs. And that's with minimal clean up, no smoke,

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Speaker 1: and no need for firewood. So here's to having a

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Speaker 1: gas fireplace, especially when it with the house. Now let's

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Speaker 1: get to football, beginning with my conversation with fifth year

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Speaker 1: safety Jesse Bates. Jesse, the NFL season is an absolute grind.

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Speaker 1: You get here early in the morning. There are hours

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Speaker 1: worth of meetings that walk throughs the practices all leading

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Speaker 1: up to that car wreck that you play in every Sunday.

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Speaker 1: You get five days off during the bye. What to

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Speaker 1: do for your mind and body? It kind of less.

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Speaker 1: You take a deep breath, can focus a little bit

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Speaker 1: on your personal side of your life. I mean, we

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Speaker 1: are human beings. Even though we work hours and hours

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Speaker 1: of playing a game of football, there's still a lot

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Speaker 1: of personal stuff that guys go through. Unfortunately, the you know,

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Speaker 1: the NFL season, it just jumps on you. I mean

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Speaker 1: weekend and week out. You go getting a car wreck

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Speaker 1: on Sunday and then you turn around on Monday, have

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Speaker 1: to watch the film review and flush everything and then restart.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's really good, um that we had

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Speaker 1: it back to back years um, in the middle of

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Speaker 1: the season, just to refresh our minds, um, and come

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Speaker 1: back get ready for a long season in the second half.

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Speaker 1: So we're excited for Can you turn your brain off

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Speaker 1: from NFL football? Are you constantly drifting thinking of the

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Speaker 1: next game, thinking of the previous game, etc. Yeah? Um,

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Speaker 1: something that I do I always do, like a pre

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Speaker 1: like a mid season review. UM. I asked a bunch

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Speaker 1: of my you know, former coaches and stuff just to

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Speaker 1: give me a review of my first couple first weeks

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Speaker 1: of the season and then kind of review that. Like

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Speaker 1: I said, you can't really turn it off. Um, it's

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Speaker 1: hard to turn it off and then not really turn

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Speaker 1: it off. So I stay tuned in. UM. I was

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Speaker 1: able to watch some football as well this weekend, which

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Speaker 1: is nice to see what other guys are doing around

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Speaker 1: the league. So, UM, yeah, you turn it off, but

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Speaker 1: at the same time, you don't. We're visiting the Jesse

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Speaker 1: Bates for the second straight year. The team's five and

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Speaker 1: four with eight games to go. Does it feel the

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Speaker 1: same or different? Um? It feels very similar, just in

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Speaker 1: terms of the standings. UM. How everybody's kind of it

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Speaker 1: seems like you're you're out. People are kind of hanging

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Speaker 1: around around week ten and then people separate in that

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Speaker 1: second half of the season. UM. Like I've been repeating,

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Speaker 1: you know, anytime you play and playing in football, like

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Speaker 1: my high schools in Semi State right now, you know

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Speaker 1: college is starting to getting ready for those bowl games,

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Speaker 1: conference games and stuff like that. You want to be

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Speaker 1: able to play your best football, UM on every level.

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Speaker 1: UM in the second half of the season November December

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Speaker 1: for us, it's all the way up until February. So UM.

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Speaker 1: One thing is good is that we had a lot

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Speaker 1: of the core guys back from last year, so that

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Speaker 1: they've had a lot of experience, and even the guys

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Speaker 1: that we've brought in they know what a playoff run

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Speaker 1: it feels like. So, UM, I think we play our

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Speaker 1: best ball when you know when it really matters. UM,

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Speaker 1: I know, I sure do. Unfortunately, one core guy that

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Speaker 1: you won't have for the rest of this year is

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Speaker 1: Chittabay Wog. You can't run replace him. You can't find

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Speaker 1: a top five corner on the street in the secondary room.

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Speaker 1: What do you guys say about how you overcome the

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Speaker 1: loss of Chittabay Wuge. Yeah, I think the biggest part is, um,

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Speaker 1: when you when you lose a key player like that,

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Speaker 1: you don't only lose them physically out there on the field,

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Speaker 1: but as far as just him asking questions in the

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Speaker 1: in the meeting rooms. UM, I think every rookie sits

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Speaker 1: in the front row, um, in our meeting room, so

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Speaker 1: they're able to, you know, get some of those answers

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Speaker 1: that they're may be scared to ask. Um. But Cheeto

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Speaker 1: has done an outstanding job of just getting those guys

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Speaker 1: up to speed. So I think the main thing is,

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Speaker 1: like I said, you can't really replace them physically, UM,

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Speaker 1: But I think the preparation part of it. UM. It

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Speaker 1: kind of leans on me and Van Mike Hilton as

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Speaker 1: well to kind of get those guys settled down and um,

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Speaker 1: let them know that we're still playing football. We got

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Speaker 1: we got their back, just like if Cheeto was in there.

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Speaker 1: So um, but yeah, it's hard to talk about Cheeto

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Speaker 1: because I know how hard he works, how much he

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Speaker 1: puts into this game, and for him to have that

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Speaker 1: unfortunate injury kind of sucks. But um, it's it's part

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Speaker 1: of the gain. Your lockers are next to each other.

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Speaker 1: How tight is that bond? Yeah, we're me and Cheetoh uh,

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Speaker 1: it's way beyond football. Um, you know, we're locker mates.

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Speaker 1: I've known them before he even got here a little bit.

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Speaker 1: One of my best friends play with him in Dallas. So, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I've been able to experience what a real

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Speaker 1: vet looks like in the locker room. And I always

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Speaker 1: brag about Cheeto, like maybe it's just a couple of

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Speaker 1: days where I don't want to talk to anybody, but

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Speaker 1: cheetos the same guy every single day, and it's just

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Speaker 1: talks a lot about just who he is, where he

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Speaker 1: comes from, his foundation. Um, I guess I got emotional

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Speaker 1: just seeing him out there just laying down. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he wouldn't even lay down on the field, I'm like, Cheetah,

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Speaker 1: lay down on the ground. You're you know, you're hurt. Um,

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Speaker 1: he just jumped off and you know, jumping off on

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Speaker 1: one knee with a torn a cel. You don't see

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Speaker 1: that lot. So it just says a lot about him.

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Speaker 1: We're chatting with Jesse Bates. Louianna Rumo has gained a reputation,

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Speaker 1: shouldn't for being a mad scientist for some of his

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Speaker 1: defensive schemes. None of it works if you and Von

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Speaker 1: don't communicate the way that you do. Can you describe

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Speaker 1: the relationship between Lou, you and Vin. Yeah, Um, Coach

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Speaker 1: Lou has a really open relationship with me Von. We're

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Speaker 1: able to talk about some funny things, you know, off

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Speaker 1: the field, outside of the locker room. Um, and then

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Speaker 1: when we talk about, you know, game specific stuff. I

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Speaker 1: think he has a lot of confidence and U two

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Speaker 1: really smart safeties, two safeties that have seen a lot, Um,

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Speaker 1: and then the bond with me and Vaughn. It helps

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Speaker 1: as well, just having that chemistry, being able to be

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Speaker 1: on the same page as coach Lou. When he's calling

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Speaker 1: a call, why is he calling it? Make sure you

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Speaker 1: get the young guys lined up? Stuff like that. So, Um,

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Speaker 1: me and Von have have grown together. I watched him

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Speaker 1: go to work every day in the morning and it

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Speaker 1: drives not just me, but the whole team may be better.

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Speaker 1: So our relationship is very unique, I think, um, and

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Speaker 1: it's maybe it doesn't show on the stat sheet all

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Speaker 1: the time, but just being on the same level at

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Speaker 1: all times it's really good for our defense. He faced

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Speaker 1: the Steelers this week, a rematch of the season opener,

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Speaker 1: tough loss. The team had a minus five turnover ratio

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Speaker 1: and lound up losing in overtime. Does that one still sting? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that one. I don't think people understood how I'm important

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Speaker 1: that those first games are in this season. And then

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Speaker 1: it was a divisional game as well, so I think

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Speaker 1: we're olling three in our division. So this one would

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Speaker 1: be huge, kind of set the tone for who we're

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Speaker 1: going to be in the second half of the season.

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Speaker 1: And it wouldn't be no better beating up on the

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Speaker 1: Steelers again on their home field. So I wish it

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Speaker 1: was on primetime, but the four twenty five game will

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Speaker 1: be just perfect. Pittsburgh's changed quarterbacks rookie Kenny pick at

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Speaker 1: his in first quarterback taken in this year's draft. His

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Speaker 1: stats aren't very good so far too touchdowns, eight picks,

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Speaker 1: But clearly there's talent there or he wouldn't have been

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Speaker 1: a first round draft pick. Is he just making rookie mistakes?

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Speaker 1: Is that what explains those numbers? Um? Yeah, I would.

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Speaker 1: I would say there's not a lot of opportunities at

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Speaker 1: times for him, But yeah, he tries to force it

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Speaker 1: a little bit. Um. You know, I kind of down

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Speaker 1: talk him a little bit. He did the fake slide

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Speaker 1: on Wake Forest Um and the ACC Championship, so I

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Speaker 1: gotta get him back at some point for that. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that he's a young quarterback, has a lot

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Speaker 1: of talent. He's a playmaker. Um. I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of his success comes from when he gets outside the

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Speaker 1: pocket and he starts scrambling and stuff like that. But

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Speaker 1: you can see that there's some type of chemistry between

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Speaker 1: him and fourteen, him and eighty eight UM and even eighteen.

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Speaker 1: He tries to get them the ball. And just certain matchups,

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Speaker 1: you know, single high, he'll see eighteen or whether that's

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Speaker 1: fourteen UM opened up and that's I feel like that's

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Speaker 1: where a lot of his success comes from. M So

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Speaker 1: it'll be good for us to you know, mix up

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Speaker 1: some coverages, disguise some things, and hopefully we can force

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Speaker 1: him into some more mistakes. I forgot that the fake

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Speaker 1: slide was against wake Forest. They changed the rules because

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Speaker 1: of the fake slide. Last thing, there's a story on

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Speaker 1: ESPN today looking at the top twenty five free agents

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Speaker 1: in next year's class. Naturally, you are on the list.

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Speaker 1: When you're drafted, you don't get to pick your team.

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Speaker 1: Are you looking forward to being courted, having the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to see what's out there? You know, I always have

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Speaker 1: to remind myself. My family kind of reminds me all

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Speaker 1: the time that you know, you're in the NFL. I

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Speaker 1: remember watching you know, Philip Rivers. The Charges were always

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Speaker 1: my favorite team just because of who I played for

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Speaker 1: during Pop Warners. So just being able to have that

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Speaker 1: open market that would be pretty cool. But right now,

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Speaker 1: I'm just focused on the present, focus on having as

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Speaker 1: much impact as I can where I'm at right now,

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Speaker 1: where my feet are, and enjoying this locker room because

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Speaker 1: I know there's not a lot of other places that

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Speaker 1: are like this locker room, like this city. So um yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm excited for you know that but you know, I

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Speaker 1: take here to now and the rest of that will

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Speaker 1: fall into place. So, like you said, it's open marketing

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Speaker 1: and being able to see what other teams think about you.

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Speaker 1: I think that's always pretty cool. Whether I'm leaving here,

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Speaker 1: whether I'm staying, I think it's pretty cool. You've been

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Speaker 1: a great Bengal. We will savor every game that you

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Speaker 1: are wearing orange and black. Trust me, best of luck

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Speaker 1: this Sunday. Thanks you Toime. Absolutely, thank you the Bengals.

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Speaker 1: Both podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More

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Speaker 1: than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage,

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Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycor dot com. At

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Speaker 1: five and four, The Bengals are currently on the playoff

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Speaker 1: bubble in the AFC, where only one team has fewer

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Speaker 1: than three losses. That's Kansas City. At seven and two.

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Speaker 1: The Dolphins, Titans, Ravens, Jets, and Bills have three losses.

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Speaker 1: The Patriots, Chargers, and Bengals have four. It looks like

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Speaker 1: it's going to be a wild race to the finish

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Speaker 1: and I talked about the bengals chances this week with

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Speaker 1: an ESPN analyst who used to be an NFL scout

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Speaker 1: with the Patriots and Chiefs. We are joined by NFL

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Speaker 1: Insider Field, the Eights from ESPN Field. Let's start big picture.

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Speaker 1: The Bengals are five and four after they started this

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Speaker 1: season oh and two. Do you see them making a

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Speaker 1: run in the second half? I sure do. And I

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Speaker 1: know that five and four may not have been where

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Speaker 1: we forecasted this team when they went into their buy

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Speaker 1: when we were making our predictions when the schedule came

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Speaker 1: out all the way back in May. But the Bengals

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Speaker 1: probably know this better than most teams. Football and the

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Speaker 1: NFL is about how you are playing as you get

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Speaker 1: into the cold weather seasons when you can start making

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Speaker 1: your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday plans. And Cincinnati showed that

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Speaker 1: last year as they got better and better and better

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Speaker 1: literally all the way through the playoffs. And if you

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Speaker 1: look at the AFC right now, well, I do believe

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Speaker 1: there are a few excellent teams. I don't think the

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Speaker 1: depth of the AFC is nearly what we expected it

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Speaker 1: to be coming into the season. As you've got teams

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Speaker 1: amongst others like Denver, like Las Vegas, like Indianapolis that

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Speaker 1: as of this moment do not project to be a

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Speaker 1: part of the playoff picture coming into this season. I

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Speaker 1: think all three of those teams thought they could win

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Speaker 1: their own divisions. So the last time out, Joe Mixon

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Speaker 1: had a monster game for Cincinnati two hundred and twenty

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Speaker 1: one yards five touchdowns. You tweeted that it was the

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Speaker 1: eighth greatest Fantasy performance of all time. How important do

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Speaker 1: you think it is for Joe to produce, maybe not

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Speaker 1: that well, but to produce more significantly than he had

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Speaker 1: been for the rest of the season. Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: you take twenty percent of his touchdown production every single

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Speaker 1: week going forward and be pretty happy about it. Right,

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Speaker 1: But it was important for a handful of reasons. First

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Speaker 1: of all, Joe up to that point of the season

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Speaker 1: had not had a super efficient year on the ground.

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Speaker 1: And as we know, the running game is a byproduct

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Speaker 1: not just the running back, but also the offensive line scheme.

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Speaker 1: You know, the quarterback involves as well. The way that

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Speaker 1: you are able to attack an opposing offense is due

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Speaker 1: to who the quarterback is or is not. So I

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Speaker 1: don't know that it's just Joe's issue that led to

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Speaker 1: the inefficient rushing prior to that game, but it was

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Speaker 1: good to see him in the entire offense get going

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Speaker 1: in a major way leading into the buy. You would

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Speaker 1: think that Joe probably feels much better physically coming out

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Speaker 1: of the bye as well, with an extra week to

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Speaker 1: rest up. And you know, there are coaches and there

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Speaker 1: are numbers that would tell you that balance is not

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Speaker 1: important in football. And I think that there are teams

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Speaker 1: that are good enough in one phase or the other,

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Speaker 1: and it's usually a team that's good enough passing the

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Speaker 1: football they don't have to worry as much about running

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Speaker 1: the ball. But I do think when you can achieve balance,

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Speaker 1: it does have some things that it does unlock. And

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Speaker 1: for Cincinnati, while you have a mobile quarterback, you don't

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Speaker 1: have a Lamar Jackson type athlete and Joe burrowback there

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Speaker 1: where you know if an effective play action passing game

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Speaker 1: is rooted in part from a team respecting that. So

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Speaker 1: I think there's something to be said for being able

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Speaker 1: to run the football the way they did, not quite

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Speaker 1: like they did in Week nine, but at least closer

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Speaker 1: to where things were in Week nine as opposed to

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Speaker 1: the first eight weeks of the season. Let me follow

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Speaker 1: up on Joe Burrow. He started poorly after his appen

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Speaker 1: deck to me. But now he's up to fourth and

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Speaker 1: passer rating fifth in passing yards per game. Where do

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Speaker 1: you consider Joe Burrow to be among the hierarchy of

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Speaker 1: the great quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah, it's funny I've

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Speaker 1: gotten In the world of fantasy football, which is a

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Speaker 1: big part of my world at ESPN, one of the

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Speaker 1: most popular topics is weekly rankings. You know, where are

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Speaker 1: you ranking this player at this position for the week ahead?

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Speaker 1: And I've always believed that sometimes those rankings can be

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Speaker 1: a bit excessive, as we might be better suited to

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Speaker 1: put players into tiers. And I think that applies to

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Speaker 1: quarterback rankings as well. Because there's a group of quarterbacks.

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Speaker 1: Let's let's divvy this up, or divide a line between

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Speaker 1: the guys that are young, en up and coming still

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Speaker 1: like twenty eight, twenty nine and younger versus the guys

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Speaker 1: that are in the latter stages of their career. Because

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Speaker 1: Tom Brady and Joe Burrow are going to probably you know,

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Speaker 1: they might meet once more for the rest of their career.

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Speaker 1: Who knows Brady might be done after this season, We

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Speaker 1: don't know. But if you look at the guys that

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Speaker 1: are twenty eight or twenty nine and younger. I think

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Speaker 1: Joe fits into that category of and this applies to

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Speaker 1: this year by the way of guys that are like

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Speaker 1: no doubt about its centerpiece of your franchise haven't quite

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Speaker 1: won either the highest individual accolade of an MVP or

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Speaker 1: the highest team accolade of a Super Bowl. But obviously

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Speaker 1: Joe is what nine months removed from having played in

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles at the Super Bowl, so my view on

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Speaker 1: him hasn't changed at all. I think that probably what

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Speaker 1: has been reinforced this year is that when times are tough,

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Speaker 1: and this is a league of parody, ask any team.

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Speaker 1: We saw it on Monday night when the final undefeated

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Speaker 1: team went down in the Philadelphia Eagles, that when times

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Speaker 1: are tough, you don't have to worry about Joe and

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Speaker 1: how he is going to be able to lead the

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Speaker 1: entire franchise is It certainly strikes me that while there

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Speaker 1: are lots of guys that have been there for longer

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Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball, this team goes as

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Speaker 1: far as Joe Burrow goes, and his demeanor has continued

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Speaker 1: to impress me. It makes him one of the most

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Speaker 1: unique players in all of sports. We're visiting the field.

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Speaker 1: Yates from ESPN DJ reader is about to come back

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Speaker 1: from injury for the Bengals. Jamar Chase could be back

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Speaker 1: after one more game on the sidelines. Should have a

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Speaker 1: awoojah in the other hand out for the rest of

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Speaker 1: the year. Are these injuries the big variable for Cincinnati

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Speaker 1: going forward? I think that's a huge part of it

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Speaker 1: for sure. And you know, I think in the secondary,

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Speaker 1: like the Bengals are probably not going to unearth some

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Speaker 1: you know, they're not going to find the next great

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Speaker 1: cornerback just out of nowhere on the street right now,

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Speaker 1: Like you kind of have what you have. There might

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Speaker 1: be some practice squad elevations or guys that have just

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Speaker 1: been thrust into larger roles. But my sense is that,

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Speaker 1: like the secondary is going to be a lot of

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Speaker 1: the players that you've been hearing from throughout the season

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Speaker 1: so far, and a veteran safe group certainly helps. And

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Speaker 1: I think one of the realities of the NFL is

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Speaker 1: that no great secondary is great without a great pass rush,

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Speaker 1: and very few great pass rushes look as great as

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Speaker 1: they do without good coverage in the back end. So well,

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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the cornerbacks and the responsibility

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Speaker 1: of various players in the back end. I think that

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Speaker 1: a lot of the work can be offset if Trey

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Speaker 1: Hendrickson continues to play at a borderline all pro level.

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Speaker 1: And while DJ obviously makes the vast majority of his

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Speaker 1: money being one of the best run defenders in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: he can certainly impact the integrity of the interior pocket

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Speaker 1: and other players up front that have given the Bengals

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Speaker 1: coop snaps. I mean, Sam Hubbard continues to be And

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Speaker 1: I don't like to use this word too often because

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Speaker 1: I think it gets overused, but under appreciated or underrated

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Speaker 1: players in the NFL pretty much does everything well and

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Speaker 1: that includes rush in the pastor all right, since you

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Speaker 1: don't like that word, underappreciated or underrated, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: use that word anyway. In another question. Before you got

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Speaker 1: into broadcasting, you had a background in scouting. Is do

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Speaker 1: Tobin underappreciated or underrated for the job he's done in

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Speaker 1: building this roster? I think so, And you know you

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Speaker 1: have the Super Bowl run last year that helps validate that.

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Speaker 1: And you know it's funny you sometimes don't get enough

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Speaker 1: credit when you're making picks near the top of the

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Speaker 1: board because people say, like, what else were you supposed

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Speaker 1: to do? Are you supposed to give credit to the

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Speaker 1: individual who took this generation of prospect, whether it was

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Speaker 1: you know, any number of guys that have been tabbed

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Speaker 1: the next great thing. And well, I think that certainly

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Speaker 1: being closer to the top of the board tends to

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Speaker 1: lead to you know, that just the potential of those

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Speaker 1: players is higher, so you should be nailing those picks

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Speaker 1: a little more frequently. I think that the Bengals have

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Speaker 1: done a good job of finding depth. I think they've

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Speaker 1: done a good job of finding players in not first

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Speaker 1: round structure that have been major contributors for them. And

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Speaker 1: you know one thing about Duke and you know, I don't.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to speak for him, but my guess

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Speaker 1: is that part of what influences our perception of people

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Speaker 1: in sports, coaches, players, executives is just how much we

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Speaker 1: see of them publicly. And as far as nanimity is concerned,

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Speaker 1: Duke probably is in that top class of general managers

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Speaker 1: or personnel executives. And that's not a bad thing, by

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Speaker 1: the way, that's just how he and how the Bengals

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Speaker 1: go about their business. So my feeling is that you know,

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Speaker 1: there are coaches that can have you a drinking the

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Speaker 1: kool aid a little bit because you see him in

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Speaker 1: front of the camera and you start to gravitate towards words. Ultimately,

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Speaker 1: I believe in results, and I think that Cincinnati's results

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Speaker 1: largely speak for themselves. And this is a franchise has

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Speaker 1: had to reshape itself over the past handful of years.

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Speaker 1: And while a lot of the offensive pieces that are

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Speaker 1: so so great, we're high picks, none more so than

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Speaker 1: Joe and Jamar, you know, defensively, that makeover over the

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Speaker 1: past couple of years has been this really unique blend

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Speaker 1: of not just some really good homegrown talents, but find

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Speaker 1: a free agent pickup that if you were to redo it,

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Speaker 1: you would say, no, I'm not even considering it. Von

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Speaker 1: Bell is kind of an afterthought and free agency hanging

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Speaker 1: out for a while, signed a three year heel, has

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Speaker 1: been an outstanding player and a team leader. And then

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Speaker 1: you know Jenobe before he gets hurt. That was a huge,

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Speaker 1: huge signing. It looked like it was going to end

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Speaker 1: up being one of the best value signings again in

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Speaker 1: the NFL this year. We already talked about Trey Hendrickson.

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Speaker 1: Even DJ Reader when he got I think it was

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Speaker 1: four years and fifty four million dollars, people were saying,

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Speaker 1: who's this guy. Well, it took about a year for

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Speaker 1: that contract to look like one of the better values

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Speaker 1: in the NFL. So I think that stuff deserves a

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Speaker 1: lot of credit. It's not just the home runs you

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Speaker 1: hit at the top of the draft board, but also

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Speaker 1: finding the right value in free agency, because there is

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Speaker 1: a lot of fool's gold in free agency. Every single

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Speaker 1: year we see teams undoe mistakes after just one season.

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Speaker 1: A couple more questions for field Yates from ESPN. The

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Speaker 1: Bengals head to Pittsburgh this Sunday. What do you see

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Speaker 1: as a couple of keys to the matchup? I'd say

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Speaker 1: that turnovers. And I'm not trying to be obvious, but

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Speaker 1: you know, obviously week one that was what undid them.

429
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 1: Was it five turnovers in the first half? Was it?

430
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 1: I have five turnovers in total? I know, and it

431
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 1: was obviously just felt like every play was hitting the

432
00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,680
Speaker 1: ball back to Pittsburgh. But that to me is about

433
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,520
Speaker 1: as important as he gets for keys. This Sunday, le

434
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,399
Speaker 1: should take care of the football because the Steelers are

435
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,440
Speaker 1: very very good on defensive t J. Watt is healthy.

436
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,480
Speaker 1: He is healthy, obviously played last week, made a difference.

437
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: They're not dominant like they have been in years past,

438
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 1: but they have multiple good pass rushers. Alex Highsmith very

439
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 1: good as well. An offense, though no team has to

440
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,960
Speaker 1: work harder to score than Pittsburgh. This is kind of

441
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,879
Speaker 1: amazing to me. The Steelers have yet to score a

442
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,840
Speaker 1: touchdown of ten yards this season. Every single touchdown they've

443
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: scored has come within the ten yard line. And I

444
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,800
Speaker 1: mean you call like at least one vertical shot. It

445
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,800
Speaker 1: feels like per quarter in Cincinnati when you're on the

446
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,959
Speaker 1: game call. And that's not this kind of offense here.

447
00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: They are a grinded out offense, but they are not

448
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,639
Speaker 1: a particularly efficient running game. Nag Harris has not been

449
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,919
Speaker 1: nearly as impactful in the passing game this year as

450
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,479
Speaker 1: he was last season. So this is not the kind

451
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 1: of game that if you hang thirty, it's not going

452
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: to be a thirty one, thirty one thirty or thirty

453
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,600
Speaker 1: one twenty eight type game. If since he scores thirty

454
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 1: one on Sunday, it's probably because they've end up winning

455
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: the game by two touchdowns. That was an amazing stat

456
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: final thing for field Yates, the Bengals will break out

457
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 1: their white Bengal uniforms for the second time. What do

458
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,239
Speaker 1: you think? Love them? Love everything about them. I think

459
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 1: they're tremendous. I've always felt like they make guys look

460
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: a little bit sleeker, faster, which I know it doesn't

461
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 1: actually make a difference, but I love them, and I

462
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,879
Speaker 1: will say this is I think the NFL has been

463
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 1: smart to embrace some of the alternate uniforms this season.

464
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:33,680
Speaker 1: I think about some of the great uniforms that we

465
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 1: have seen so far, not just since He's but you know,

466
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,639
Speaker 1: I've seen this for nine ers and the Patriots go

467
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: back to their pat patriot. We've seen the Jets breakout

468
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: and all black helmet, the Panthers break out the all

469
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,920
Speaker 1: black helmet. Some of those that I think are really

470
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,959
Speaker 1: really sharp looks that, you know, if nothing else, at

471
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,679
Speaker 1: least give us up a talk about for the beginning

472
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 1: portion of a game. Field. This has been great. I

473
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,920
Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Keep up the great work. Thank

474
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:00,680
Speaker 1: you so much for having me. I'll utch again soon.

475
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber future

476
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:10,240
Speaker 1: Proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed

477
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,120
Speaker 1: to take your home, business, and community to a new level.

478
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Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with Alta fiber. If you love reading

479
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,400
Speaker 1: about the NFL, you'll find some of the best content

480
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 1: at golongtd dot com. There's plenty of free stuff on

481
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,719
Speaker 1: the site and additional material if you choose to subscribe.

482
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,280
Speaker 1: Tyler Dunn is the man who runs golongtd dot com

483
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: and I caught up with him this week about his

484
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 1: latest Bengals related story. Tyler, you have written some great

485
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 1: profiles about Bengals of players in recent months, including Eli Apple,

486
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,480
Speaker 1: should be a Wouge and Tyler Boyd. Now you have

487
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: turned your attention to a Bengals coach and it's nod

488
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. It is not one of the coordinators. It

489
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 1: is a guy that very few NFL fans have even

490
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 1: heard of. Tell us who and why you chose him?

491
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, great to be back, Dan, Thanks so much

492
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:09,240
Speaker 1: for having me. Dan Pitcher quarterbacks coach. This is really

493
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: a coach I feel like we'll be talking about for

494
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,680
Speaker 1: a long time. And you know, it's always hard to

495
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,919
Speaker 1: figure out. So you have an elite quarterback in the NFL,

496
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 1: and Joe Burrow and I covered Aaron Rodgers. Josh Allen

497
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: is here in Buffalo. It's always hard to figure out

498
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,479
Speaker 1: how much is the coach really giving this elite talent, right,

499
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,119
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers got a lot of people, a lot of jobs.

500
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: You can run down the list if you wanted to.

501
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 1: Some are better than others. So I've been fired. But

502
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 1: over time you kind of you kind of see, okay,

503
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 1: like what did that coach really give that quarterback? Yet

504
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 1: a lot of times I think that quarterback coach is

505
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 1: exactly what that quarterback needs at that time. And Dan

506
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: picture really strikes me as that as that coach. This

507
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,200
Speaker 1: is somebody who has such a unique upbringing with where

508
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,680
Speaker 1: he came from in Courtland, New York, and in a

509
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 1: lot of ways is kind of a kindred, kindred spirit

510
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 1: to Joe Burrow, where they both have just been immersed

511
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 1: in the x's and knows at a different level. I

512
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 1: think everybody loves football, that's that's in football, but it's

513
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: different for these two. And I think at this time,

514
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 1: at this point of the season, year three, when a

515
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 1: lot of defenses are playing them a certain way, when

516
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 1: you're off of a Super Bowl loss, and not just

517
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: any super Bowl loss, but one where you're an audible

518
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: away from being a legend, you know, immortalized forever. I

519
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 1: think that that tandem is really core to what Cincinnati

520
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: does this season. Ian Rappaport from the NFL Network was

521
00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 1: here in training camp and he told me one of

522
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 1: the things that he wanted to do while he was

523
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,639
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati was sit down with Dan Pitcher because his

524
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: name was popping up as a future coordinator or even

525
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: a possible future NFL head coach. Have you heard any

526
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 1: similar things, Yeah, definitely. I think some scouts here and there,

527
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: some coaches here and there, because he has experience in both, right,

528
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: I mean he worked in personnel that that type of

529
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,960
Speaker 1: experience is uncommon and for a quarterbacks coach, let alone

530
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 1: any position coach. But I really like his his background

531
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 1: all the way to Courtland, New York, and you know,

532
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: maybe there's some some bias there in terms of my

533
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 1: brother went to Courtland. I went to Syracuston. You know,

534
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 1: let's just say the weekends were even a little better

535
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: in Courtland than they were in Syracuse. Dan. I found

536
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 1: myself going to see Austin from time to but it's

537
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,639
Speaker 1: a great area up state. But you know, he lost

538
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: football twice. So when he when he comes in, you know,

539
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: he goes to Colgate, Rex's shoulder transfers to Courtland. He's

540
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 1: out of football for that fall. You know, the first

541
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 1: time that somebody who loves the game has the game

542
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,199
Speaker 1: stripped from him. And instead of just kind of rehabbing

543
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 1: and doing his own thing, he went back and called

544
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 1: plays first high school right there in Courtland. And I

545
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 1: think that that helped him realize early on, this is

546
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: something I want to do later in life. Yeah, I'm

547
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: gonna play as long as I can play, but I

548
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: love calling plays, I love devising game planning. It kept

549
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 1: him in, it kept him rejuvenated. And then obviously he's

550
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 1: at Courtland and is the best D three football in

551
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 1: the nation by the end there. And a big reason

552
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: why was he get a lot of his schoolwork done

553
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,040
Speaker 1: and he was kind of a half coach half player

554
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,119
Speaker 1: that last year where he gets capstone stuff done for

555
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,400
Speaker 1: his Masters and that was it. No no, no classes.

556
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,320
Speaker 1: He could be a coach in the morning and he

557
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:26,439
Speaker 1: could go over the game plan, he could drop the cards,

558
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,359
Speaker 1: he could be in all those meetings and then the

559
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 1: afternoon would hit and he's a player again. And I

560
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,239
Speaker 1: think that that is such a unique I don't care

561
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,919
Speaker 1: D one, D two, D three, that's rare. That's different.

562
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 1: And he knew then again that this is something I

563
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 1: can really take with me throughout my life. And you

564
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: know this Dan being around the game, I don't think

565
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: people realize like Division three is what you make of it.

566
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: I think xs and knows wise, and the game itself

567
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 1: is no different than D one. Everybody just runs a

568
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: four six instead of a four three or is a

569
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 1: little less you know, talented in the weight room, and

570
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 1: you know, throw in throwing the dumbells around. But I

571
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 1: think he was thinking the game at an elite level,

572
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,760
Speaker 1: similar to Joe Burrow Right. He grew up the son

573
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,479
Speaker 1: of a college football coach watching the film as far

574
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 1: back as he can remember. They're gonna find ways to

575
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 1: really push each other at every twist and turn of

576
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,480
Speaker 1: an NFL season. And in Joe's case, his dad for

577
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 1: most of his childhood is at the MAC level very

578
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 1: good college football, but not the SEC. Just a slight

579
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 1: tip below in terms of the forty times of these guys,

580
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: the size and strength of the lineman So it's in

581
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: between the Dan Pitcher college level and the level that

582
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow ultimately played at. Absolutely and there's probably an

583
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: advantage to that where you're you're seeing the game of

584
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: football through a schematic lens and you're you're thinking through

585
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: it as a coach. You're you're not just thinking, Okay,

586
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: this guy can run a four to three. He's gonna

587
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 1: beat your corner one on one, and that's that. Like,

588
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:01,920
Speaker 1: I think there was some next level stuff going on,

589
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,480
Speaker 1: and then you have the personnel background on top of

590
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: it with Dan picture where you're with the Colts and

591
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:10,320
Speaker 1: you're trying to identify talent that can translate to the NFL.

592
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,200
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals have a good one. You know,

593
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 1: they'll probably have them for a little longer. You know

594
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 1: how this progression works, right, your quarterbacks coach to an

595
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator to a head coach. But I think if

596
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow stays on this trajectory, and I'm sure we'll

597
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:26,640
Speaker 1: get into it, I think that this team is about

598
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,440
Speaker 1: to get really hot, right when they need to get

599
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 1: really hot, He'll be a name that we talk about.

600
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 1: You know, come January, you yearn and year out, all Right,

601
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 1: so if you you've wet my appetite, I don't want

602
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: to spoil the story, but we have that to look

603
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 1: forward to with a Dan picture story coming up on

604
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,800
Speaker 1: golongtd dot com. Our guest is Tyler Donne. Let me

605
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: follow up on what you were just saying, because you

606
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 1: were very bullish on the Bengals when we spoke in August,

607
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 1: and clearly you still are, despite the fact that they're

608
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 1: five and four coming out of their by Yeah, I

609
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 1: think you know, I promise It's not like I'm just

610
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: sitting on a hill and prepared to die on this hill.

611
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: Though maybe maybe some ego works its way into that take,

612
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: but as as it does us all um, it's just

613
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,960
Speaker 1: that first game was was wacky, right, I mean, Joe

614
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: Burrow is not going to throw four interceptions again in

615
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: his life. Probably that was that was strange, and he's

616
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 1: he'd never admitted. Maybe he came back from the burst

617
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 1: appendix a little soon. He had to get his weight

618
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 1: back and his strength back, So you know, yeah, that game,

619
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: I think I think Dallas's defense ended up being a

620
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: lot better than any of us thought it would be.

621
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 1: And then since then, this offense has gradually kind of

622
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: figured figured itself out, and I think most importantly is

623
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 1: willing to react to what these defenses are are doing.

624
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: And Dan Pitcher gets into this in our story as well,

625
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,200
Speaker 1: where I mean, they're sitting back there with those two

626
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,400
Speaker 1: safeties right, it's going to be a cover two in

627
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 1: quarters and just daring the Bengals to piece together at ten, eleven, twelve,

628
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: thirteen play drive to take away the vertical passing game. Jamarrow.

629
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: Chase will be back eventually, and he may be the

630
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 1: best wide receiver in football. So I think that Cincinnati

631
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: showing that willingness to just run the ball against Carolina.

632
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 1: Granted it's Carolina, but they just beat them to Smithens

633
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,240
Speaker 1: and Joe Mixon is running for a buck fifty and

634
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:18,800
Speaker 1: four touchdowns and they're running for I think like two

635
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 1: forty one. As a team, you're you're gonna force teams

636
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,600
Speaker 1: out of that look, like you're gonna punish them for

637
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: being in that look and say, all right, get out

638
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 1: of that, play a normal defense here, and then when

639
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,960
Speaker 1: they do, Joe Burrow is smart enough to realize it

640
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 1: in the moment and go up top. I think we

641
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 1: saw that, we saw that in the Super Bowl. I mean,

642
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: if they block a split second longer. I'm not telling

643
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: your listeners anything they don't know. I mean, it's a

644
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,760
Speaker 1: it's an iconic sports moment. I mean, Jayalen Ramsey falls

645
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 1: down and we're talking about a quarterback with the cojones

646
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: to call that audible at the line and to go deep,

647
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: it's it's legendary. He's gonna know, he's gonna know when

648
00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 1: that moment arrives because he's he's so smart. And that's that.

649
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: Joe made a great point in its press conference this week,

650
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: actually where this second half of the season, teams aren't

651
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: going to surprise you much anymore. You kind of know schematically,

652
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: you know what they're doing, who they are offensively and defensively.

653
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: You kind of settle in to your identity. So I

654
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 1: think that's when he really shines. I think that's when

655
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,360
Speaker 1: his brains really kind of kick in and Cincinnati's going

656
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,080
Speaker 1: to be able to outscore anybody, you know. I know

657
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 1: we talked a lot about the secondary before the season.

658
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 1: That would worry me a little bit to lose a

659
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,200
Speaker 1: shutdown corner like Chitubey Woozier is as tough as your replaceable.

660
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 1: But then I look around the AFC, and I mean

661
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,400
Speaker 1: the Bills are down to second third stringers throughout their secondary.

662
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 1: It's it's not anything other teams aren't dealing with, so

663
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,000
Speaker 1: I think they'll find a way. We're chatting with Tyler

664
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: Dunne from golong tv dot com. You've dealt with nearly

665
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,480
Speaker 1: every coaching staff in the NFL. I assume what stands

666
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,640
Speaker 1: out to you about Zach Taylor in this group? Good question.

667
00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 1: I think that what stands out is that they seem

668
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 1: to stay a step ahead schematically. There doesn't really seem

669
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 1: to be a lot of staleness and stagnation, and I

670
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: think the root of that is a healthy relationship between

671
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 1: the quarterback and the coaching staff. It does seem like

672
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is willing to buy into what's gonna work

673
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: right if if he if he has to run the

674
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:23,319
Speaker 1: ball a lot in that particular game, they're just gonna

675
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 1: do it. And he might have gotten into this a

676
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,120
Speaker 1: little bit at his press conference as well this weekend,

677
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,719
Speaker 1: just treating each game individually and not just being like

678
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 1: a stock offense with a stock game plan, and like

679
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:36,360
Speaker 1: this is what we this is what we're gonna do

680
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,400
Speaker 1: weekend and weekend. Every game is so different. Every defense

681
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:43,160
Speaker 1: is going to play you differently, and sometimes, yeah, you're

682
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:46,879
Speaker 1: probably gonna have to swallow your ego and not throw

683
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,560
Speaker 1: the ball five fifty times. And like I said, as

684
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: somebody who cover at Aaron Rodgers, that can be a

685
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 1: problem for other teams as we as we see my God,

686
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,240
Speaker 1: I mean Green Bay. If they run the ball against

687
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 1: the Giants, the Jets, the Commanders, they probably win all

688
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,759
Speaker 1: three of those games. Yet the quarterback doesn't want to.

689
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,680
Speaker 1: He's got autonomy at the line of scrimmage. He's change it,

690
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 1: runs the passes. He's screaming at Matt Laflora on the sideline.

691
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,799
Speaker 1: He's telling Aaron Andrews before this last game he wants

692
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,000
Speaker 1: to go down swinging, throwing the ball. It's like, it's

693
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,440
Speaker 1: so obvious and great, sorry, I'm getting my high horse.

694
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 1: It's just so obvious to run with a j Dillon

695
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 1: and Aaron Jones. Work off of that with a Christian

696
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,320
Speaker 1: Watson and his speed one on one, and then you

697
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 1: can beat the Dallas Cowboys in your seasons still alive.

698
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,240
Speaker 1: So he did that, and of course he still screamed

699
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,640
Speaker 1: at Laflora along the way. But to bring back the

700
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 1: Cincinnati I mean, you don't see those issues with a

701
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,720
Speaker 1: team like the Bengals. It just seems like Joe Burrow,

702
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor, everybody's just on in page. Everybody's just gonna

703
00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,720
Speaker 1: do what it takes to win. And in a game

704
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: full of egos all over the place, that's really hard

705
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: to find, it really is. So that tells me they're

706
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 1: set up to win for a long time. I want

707
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 1: to transition from the Bengals to former Bengal because here

708
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,120
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati we love Mike Zimmer. He was a great

709
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,440
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. He was kind of a lovable curmudgeon of

710
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: a personality while he was here. That was not the

711
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 1: case in Minnesota, at least at the end of his tenure.

712
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:15,440
Speaker 1: That may have been the way it was early on,

713
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:17,839
Speaker 1: but it wasn't at the finish. And as far as

714
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,720
Speaker 1: I know, you were really the first person to report

715
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 1: this and describe how bad it had become in Minnesota

716
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,600
Speaker 1: at the end. How did you learn about that dysfunction

717
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:34,520
Speaker 1: in Minnesota? Yeah, there were definitely were a lot of

718
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:40,320
Speaker 1: whispers and a lot of comments from players, from coaches

719
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 1: on staff, and I had reported on it here and

720
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,360
Speaker 1: there since I launched Go Along, but definitely had the

721
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,160
Speaker 1: series on the Minnesota Vikings ahead of this year. I

722
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 1: think maybe encapsulated all of the issues in you know,

723
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,400
Speaker 1: an organized fashion where yeah, right now with Kevin O'Connell,

724
00:36:56,440 --> 00:37:00,120
Speaker 1: you hear culture, culture, culture, culture, and there's that tene

725
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 1: just want to roll your eyes and say, oh my god,

726
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 1: I've heard this before. This is every first year head

727
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: coach is going to try to fumigate the building and

728
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,920
Speaker 1: get everybody happy and excited to go to work. But

729
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: when you really start talking to these players for the Vikings,

730
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,320
Speaker 1: you see it. It has substance. It's real. They needed

731
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,359
Speaker 1: to wake up and be excited to go to work

732
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:22,480
Speaker 1: because they weren't under Mike Zimmer. I think that you're right.

733
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,360
Speaker 1: Early on it was great. They needed him, Mike Zimmer.

734
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 1: They needed the discipline. I think schematically he's brilliant defensively

735
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 1: with the way he can devise a game plan and

736
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,759
Speaker 1: shut down on Aaron Rodgers at times where he can

737
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 1: make that elite quarterback hesitate and be confused. But I

738
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,120
Speaker 1: just think he beat guys down physically, you know, at practice,

739
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 1: just making guys kind of play hurt, play through injuries

740
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,520
Speaker 1: when they really should be arresting. There's that element. But

741
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,120
Speaker 1: even when his job security started to get a little

742
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,719
Speaker 1: shaky and his people are calling for his jobs in

743
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: the medium, and he would tell his other coaches how

744
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,640
Speaker 1: much it just drove him nuts. Terrence S. Newman talked

745
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,879
Speaker 1: about this at length. And here's a Zim guy quote

746
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 1: unquote who played for him Dallas since Minnesota, coached with

747
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:09,560
Speaker 1: him in Minnesota. So what he's coaching with him? And

748
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: he's here in Zimmer I rate and upset about his

749
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: job security. He's thinking as a player, like, what the

750
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:19,600
Speaker 1: hell are you so worried about? Man? Like, you got

751
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 1: guaranteed contract. If they fire you, you're good. You can

752
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,520
Speaker 1: just chill, go on vacation for a year or two.

753
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: These players, if you when you cut them, what you

754
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: have done, their lives are uprooted. And I think that

755
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:35,000
Speaker 1: that really took him aback. And also dbs within his

756
00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,359
Speaker 1: scheme are asked to do a lot, and I think

757
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: that they got to a point, especially when you know

758
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,480
Speaker 1: that first group kind of got older and left and

759
00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 1: they kind of had to go to some younger dbs.

760
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:47,279
Speaker 1: These younger dbs, he just really wasn't willing to work

761
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,399
Speaker 1: with them. I mean, Cameron Dancer told me that when

762
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,520
Speaker 1: he was hurt, Zimmer was basically like, you know, he

763
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:54,520
Speaker 1: brings in somebody else and you're dead to me in

764
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,000
Speaker 1: so many words. And then on the field, they're just

765
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,760
Speaker 1: scared of their own shadow. They're they're afraid to operate

766
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,240
Speaker 1: off of feel and off of instincts and just seaball

767
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 1: getball because they know, come that film session on Monday,

768
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,200
Speaker 1: there's going to be hell to pay, and Zimmer is

769
00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: just going to undress them and embarrass them and humiliate

770
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: them in front of the team. So that just absolutely

771
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 1: zaps spot in eighty which there is no coincidence that

772
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: this Minnesota Vikings team loses I think seven one score

773
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: games last year, maybe eight, and this year they've like

774
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 1: they're right there with just a few teams in NFL

775
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,600
Speaker 1: history who have won this many one score games. I

776
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,880
Speaker 1: think since the O nine Colts, the on and Culture

777
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,040
Speaker 1: the last team to win this many one score games

778
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:39,800
Speaker 1: at this point of the season. Obviously they got to

779
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,600
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. I think it is culture, right. It

780
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,600
Speaker 1: is just being willing to operate off of instincts and

781
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 1: feel in the fourth quarter, and that's everything. Kevin O'Connell

782
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,719
Speaker 1: had to change in Minnesota. Anybody that reads Go alongtd

783
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 1: dot com knew the Vikings are going to be better

784
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,759
Speaker 1: this year after the series of stories you wrote at

785
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,040
Speaker 1: the beginning of the season, Tyler, you are based in

786
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,600
Speaker 1: the Buffalo area. The Bills are clearly still among the

787
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,520
Speaker 1: best teams in the NFL, but they are not the

788
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 1: juggernaut that many expected. Who do you like at this

789
00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 1: point as the teams to beat? You're right, they've hit

790
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,799
Speaker 1: a rut. I think the Bills they had to handle

791
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 1: some pretty unprecedented Super Bowl expectations, not not just in

792
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,040
Speaker 1: Buffalo but beyond. There's never been a Super Bowl favorite

793
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 1: to that degree in Vegas, as the Bills weren't it

794
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,399
Speaker 1: this season. Inevitably, you're gonna hit a rut. I think

795
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 1: they'll work through it. Josh Allen's too good to be

796
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:33,279
Speaker 1: making the mistakes he's making. At the same time, like

797
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 1: you worry about coaching in them in that playoff moment.

798
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,640
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott has kind of come up shore here now

799
00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:43,839
Speaker 1: a few years in a row, so it's been about

800
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,839
Speaker 1: January all along for the Bills, so we'll see how

801
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:50,399
Speaker 1: he steps up in that moment. I know I said

802
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,399
Speaker 1: it last time. It sounds like I'm pandering. I really

803
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,840
Speaker 1: believe that the Bengals, the Bengals with Joe Burrow and

804
00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:00,399
Speaker 1: a healthy Jamar Chase and T Higgins and Tyler Boyd

805
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:03,359
Speaker 1: and Joe Mixon and the line that's gonna be better

806
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 1: than the line they had last year. Give give me that.

807
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,279
Speaker 1: In this AFC, I just feel like they'll be able

808
00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:11,680
Speaker 1: to keep up with any team offensively. And they're not

809
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 1: going to be afraid of the Chiefs. I mean, they're

810
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:18,200
Speaker 1: gonna play the Chiefs anywhere. Arrowhead, you know, right there

811
00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:21,920
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, pay courts, pay court State pays all right,

812
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:24,840
Speaker 1: play him anywhere. I mean, they're gonna be confident that

813
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,479
Speaker 1: they can beat that team. So I think Kansas City,

814
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:32,359
Speaker 1: I think Cincinnati. I love Lamar Jackson, but so far

815
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,879
Speaker 1: he's kind of plateaued. He you know, we haven't seen

816
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,040
Speaker 1: him dominate at the level you need to dominate in

817
00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:41,839
Speaker 1: the postseason when you have to take your layups, work

818
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 1: the ball down the field, be accurate, and then Joe

819
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:48,359
Speaker 1: Burrows the most accurate quarterback in the NFL. I would

820
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:52,200
Speaker 1: still put Cincinnati ahead of Baltimore. I think Buffalo be

821
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: in the mix. I'll tell you what one team that

822
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,240
Speaker 1: I'll have a series on next week, particularly the quarterback Miami.

823
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:00,759
Speaker 1: I think that too a tongue of Bio and Mike

824
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 1: McDaniel Tyree killing Jaylen Waddle. It's just been a perfect

825
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 1: storm where when they get going on offense, man, it's

826
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 1: it's like watching NBA jam on a football field. It's

827
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,919
Speaker 1: like they're on fire and they cannot be stopped. And yeah,

828
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,960
Speaker 1: they've got deficiencies on defense, but I think that that

829
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,280
Speaker 1: would scare me if I'm any team in the AFC.

830
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, to give you three Kansas City since

831
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,880
Speaker 1: the Miami, I wouldn't surprise any of any of those

832
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,760
Speaker 1: three teams with the distance. I'm with you on Miami.

833
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 1: I think they are trending up. They remind me of

834
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: the Bengals last year quite honestly. All Right, so we

835
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 1: have the dam pitcher Joe Burrows story to look forward to. Additionally,

836
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,759
Speaker 1: you have written a book, The Blood and Guts How

837
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:48,000
Speaker 1: tight Ends Save Football. What made you want to write

838
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:50,320
Speaker 1: about the tight end position and some of the greats

839
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,879
Speaker 1: that have played it? Gotch I've always wanted to write

840
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,320
Speaker 1: a book, you know, being a long form guy and

841
00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 1: wanting to throw myself into it, into a topic. I

842
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:01,480
Speaker 1: just didn't know what it was going to be, right.

843
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 1: I didn't really want to write specifically about one team

844
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 1: or one player. Nothing was kind of inspiring me down

845
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 1: those lines. But you know, I've grown up in football,

846
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,960
Speaker 1: havn't played it and covered it my whole life. I

847
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 1: love the sport, the real sport, real football, not this

848
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,400
Speaker 1: overly sanitized version, not this utopian middle ground the NFL's

849
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,000
Speaker 1: trying to find. I guess that's kind of what got

850
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,319
Speaker 1: me thinking about this Dan where we're sitting at home

851
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 1: watching a game. The flags are flying, you know, the

852
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,000
Speaker 1: Chris jones Is and Grady Jareds of the world this year.

853
00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 1: I mean, they tackle the quarterback and they're just taking

854
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:35,719
Speaker 1: away in cuffs. It just drives me insane. I feel

855
00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:41,360
Speaker 1: like the NFL is just in this everlasting pursuit of

856
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:45,919
Speaker 1: convincing moms across America that football is safe. They're trying

857
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,200
Speaker 1: to find a middle ground that doesn't exist. Look, there's

858
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:51,120
Speaker 1: an inherent risk, there's an inherent violence to the sport,

859
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:53,919
Speaker 1: and that's okay. I think that once the NFL could

860
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:56,560
Speaker 1: just own it and no, this is what we are,

861
00:43:57,400 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: and it would eliminate a lot of problems because the

862
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,680
Speaker 1: players know what they're getting into, especially now with awareness

863
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:05,759
Speaker 1: of concussions at an all time high. So I was

864
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,320
Speaker 1: trying to figure out love the game, a little concerned

865
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:11,280
Speaker 1: about where the game's going, what can preserve real football?

866
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:13,239
Speaker 1: And the more I really thought about it, it's that

867
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,200
Speaker 1: tight end position because you have to do everything right.

868
00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 1: You're in the trenches, you're getting bruised and bloodied, and

869
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 1: you're doing all the stuff that alignment has to do.

870
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:24,880
Speaker 1: Yet you still have the glitz and glamor outside. You

871
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:27,399
Speaker 1: still gotta make a play down the field with eighty

872
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 1: thousand screaming fans and the world watching, and that combination

873
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:35,080
Speaker 1: I think really kind of encapsulates everything that we love

874
00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:38,600
Speaker 1: about football. But honestly, you know, the more I really

875
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,520
Speaker 1: started working on this book and traveling around the country,

876
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,840
Speaker 1: hanging out with Mike Dicka, Tony Gonzalez, Ben Coats, Jeremy Shockey,

877
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 1: Grant Kittle, all these guys, I think it became a

878
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 1: book as much about the human condition and life, and

879
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:54,719
Speaker 1: you know, they'll have you kind of staring through your

880
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,600
Speaker 1: own soul, trying to trying to figure out why why

881
00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: we're on this planet. So it was awesome. I mean

882
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,840
Speaker 1: it became such a labor love, a passion project. I

883
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:06,400
Speaker 1: didn't want it to end, Honestly, I had deadlines I

884
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: had to meet and stuff. I feel like I could

885
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:09,719
Speaker 1: have been talking to these tight ends for the next

886
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 1: ten years. They were just an absolute riot. I think

887
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,080
Speaker 1: what people will learn too is, you know, outside of Gronk,

888
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 1: who idolized Jeremy Shockey, you know, living like there's no tomorrow,

889
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:22,719
Speaker 1: partying like there's no tomorrow, he wanted that rock star life.

890
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,680
Speaker 1: He wanted to be a tight end. For the most part,

891
00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:28,320
Speaker 1: the position chooses you like you have a set of

892
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,960
Speaker 1: characteristics as a human being, your you know, your Dallas Clark,

893
00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 1: a walk on at Iowa, mowing the field at Kinnocks Stadium,

894
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:42,759
Speaker 1: selling the campus newspaper, serving as a dummy for psychology

895
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,720
Speaker 1: students and Dennis students just to make an extra twenty bucks,

896
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:49,440
Speaker 1: scratching and clawn and eventually Kirk Ferren says, you're You're

897
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 1: not a linebacker, You're a terrible linebacker. You're a tight end.

898
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:55,120
Speaker 1: And it's like all of these indomitable traits inside, like

899
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:58,480
Speaker 1: Dalla's cluck just shine, and he is exactly what Peyton man.

900
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:00,440
Speaker 1: He needs to just take that offense to other level,

901
00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:03,160
Speaker 1: or you're Jimmy Graham instead of a group home, fearing

902
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:06,680
Speaker 1: for your life, fighting kids on a daily basis, feeling

903
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,040
Speaker 1: your face break. In one instance, specifically that he gets

904
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:12,720
Speaker 1: into where he feels like he's gonna die to survive

905
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:16,919
Speaker 1: that world, he naturally, organically was just going to become

906
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: a tight end and changed the position in his own way.

907
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:22,560
Speaker 1: It was it was a riot. It was so much fun.

908
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:24,080
Speaker 1: I'm just glad that people can kind of hear the

909
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: stories that I heard this past year. Sounds like great stuff.

910
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:32,279
Speaker 1: Tyler Dunn writes about the NFL and podcast about the

911
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:36,120
Speaker 1: NFL at golongtd dot com. I am a subscriber. I

912
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:40,920
Speaker 1: am proudly rocking my golonghoodie as we speak. For folks

913
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,600
Speaker 1: not familiar with what you do, share a little bit

914
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:48,040
Speaker 1: more about golongtd dot com. Absolutely appreciate it. You know,

915
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:50,640
Speaker 1: I just really want to cover the game through a

916
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 1: long form lens. I really feel like year to year,

917
00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:59,319
Speaker 1: season to season, the game is really it's covered more

918
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:02,320
Speaker 1: than ever before, right, I Mean, there's all sorts of

919
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,640
Speaker 1: ways you can consume the NFL, but a lot of

920
00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:06,640
Speaker 1: it is fast food. A lot of it's takes and

921
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,480
Speaker 1: memes and gifts and tweets and takes, and it's in

922
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 1: real time, right. We're just kind of absorbing it throughout

923
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,040
Speaker 1: the day, and we're not really getting the substance. We're

924
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:16,560
Speaker 1: not really taking a deep breath and learning the how

925
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,400
Speaker 1: and the why behind what we see on Sundays. So

926
00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,680
Speaker 1: I really want to just create a home for long

927
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,560
Speaker 1: form journalism that will just kind of last forever, where

928
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:29,080
Speaker 1: we get to know the players and the coaches and

929
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:32,040
Speaker 1: the teams on a deeper level and really explain the

930
00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:35,600
Speaker 1: game in a deeper way. So yeah, golong tv dot com.

931
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:38,520
Speaker 1: You can sign up for free if you'd like, or

932
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,040
Speaker 1: you can just get a full subscription eight a month

933
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:43,640
Speaker 1: fifty a year to get all the features and all

934
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:45,840
Speaker 1: the podcasts. I do a podcast as well with Isaiah

935
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:48,440
Speaker 1: McKenzie for The Bills. We meet up at a at

936
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,680
Speaker 1: a bar here in Western New York and he breaks

937
00:47:50,719 --> 00:47:53,480
Speaker 1: the game down at a different level. And my podcast

938
00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:56,680
Speaker 1: co host, Jim Otis was a longtime NFL scout as well,

939
00:47:57,000 --> 00:47:59,320
Speaker 1: And obviously the bread and butter are these long form stories.

940
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,239
Speaker 1: So last time I was on your podcast, Dan, the

941
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:06,680
Speaker 1: Bengal fans were unbelievable and subscribe in droves and I

942
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:10,480
Speaker 1: cannot thank everybody out there enough. So if anybody out

943
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:13,040
Speaker 1: there would like to subscribe annually, you're right. If you

944
00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:16,080
Speaker 1: want to go bigger, go home right, hit that annual

945
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:19,120
Speaker 1: subscription and we will send you a copy of the

946
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,440
Speaker 1: Blood and Guts and go along. So it would love

947
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:24,360
Speaker 1: it if people want to do that, and I'll just

948
00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:27,279
Speaker 1: personally sign a copy and you know, get a two

949
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,520
Speaker 1: for one special. You got a market a little bit right.

950
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:31,360
Speaker 1: That's the whole world that's been new to me. The

951
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,800
Speaker 1: marketing of your product is as a work in progress,

952
00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,000
Speaker 1: but the Bengal fans were so amazing that I'd be

953
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:41,560
Speaker 1: dumb to not offer something here. Well, I'm sure they

954
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:45,239
Speaker 1: appreciate it. And I can virtually guarantee that anybody that

955
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:48,880
Speaker 1: subscribed previously after hearing you on this podcast is happy

956
00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:52,280
Speaker 1: that they did because the content is phenomenal. I enjoy

957
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 1: getting those notifications in my inbox and it's always great

958
00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,600
Speaker 1: to chat Tyler. Thanks for the time. Really look forward

959
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:03,040
Speaker 1: to the Dan picture Joe Purrow's story. They no thank you, Dan,

960
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:05,960
Speaker 1: really appreciate the kind words and it's always great coming on.

961
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:09,920
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. Bengals Boot Podcast is presented by

962
00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,719
Speaker 1: Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with

963
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:18,239
Speaker 1: tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside

964
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:21,440
Speaker 1: the Bengals app. The Bengals are a four point favorite

965
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:23,360
Speaker 1: this week because they head to Pittsburgh to take on

966
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:27,160
Speaker 1: the three and six Steelers. The Steelers have changed quarterbacks

967
00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 1: since their three point overtime win over the Bengals in

968
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:34,239
Speaker 1: Week one. Mitch Drubiski is out. First ground draft pick,

969
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett out of the University of Pittsburgh is in.

970
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:40,560
Speaker 1: That's where I began this week's No The Faux segment

971
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:45,960
Speaker 1: with the pregame host of the Steelers Radio Network, Tim Bens. Tim,

972
00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett's stats are bad, but that can be deceiving.

973
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:52,879
Speaker 1: How is he played and is he getting better? He's

974
00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:59,120
Speaker 1: showing progress in terms of the very basic things like

975
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:04,000
Speaker 1: getting everybody lined up. He's taking care of the ball better.

976
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:07,640
Speaker 1: At least he did against the Saints. No turnovers, no interceptions,

977
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 1: that was a first for him. They got a couple

978
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:13,759
Speaker 1: of red zone touchdowns. They were able to stay on

979
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:18,840
Speaker 1: the field, and they converted ten I believe, third plus

980
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 1: fourth down conversions, So he's getting better there by all accounts,

981
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:28,919
Speaker 1: he's getting better for his role in executing the run game,

982
00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:33,840
Speaker 1: like real basic stuff. And when Tomlin was asked about

983
00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,719
Speaker 1: that this week, because the past game seemed to be

984
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:39,880
Speaker 1: the thing that's lagging the most still with the Steelers,

985
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:44,200
Speaker 1: he really complimented pick Up and really sold hard what

986
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:47,799
Speaker 1: he's doing. And I think that was as much dan

987
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:53,239
Speaker 1: strategic as it was of valuatives, if that makes any sense. Like,

988
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:57,040
Speaker 1: I think that was as much about giving him confidence

989
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:00,719
Speaker 1: and giving the fan base confidence that this is the

990
00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:05,759
Speaker 1: right guy. He's getting better as opposed to Tomlin's truest

991
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 1: assessment of what his play is. In other words, I

992
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:11,759
Speaker 1: do think there's some grading on a curve going on here.

993
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:14,880
Speaker 1: Salesmanship is part of the job, no question about that.

994
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:18,320
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Steelers pregame host Tim Bens. The Bengals

995
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,880
Speaker 1: could not protect Joe Burrow back in Week one. T J.

996
00:51:22,040 --> 00:51:24,480
Speaker 1: Watt got injured in that game, but he's back now.

997
00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:29,600
Speaker 1: Does everybody have trouble protecting their quarterback when t J.

998
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:33,719
Speaker 1: Watt is part of the Steelers defense. Yes, yeah, I

999
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,680
Speaker 1: mean the record indicates that. I do think there's a

1000
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:40,719
Speaker 1: bit of a correlation with how good the quarterbacks and

1001
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:43,520
Speaker 1: the lines have been. When TJ has been healthy, He's

1002
00:51:43,560 --> 00:51:47,640
Speaker 1: really exploited some of those things. Offensive lines that aren't

1003
00:51:47,680 --> 00:51:51,080
Speaker 1: so great, quarterbacks who are on the severe downside or

1004
00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:54,680
Speaker 1: very early in their careers, things like that. But the

1005
00:51:54,719 --> 00:51:57,800
Speaker 1: bottom line answer your question is everybody has a problem

1006
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:01,319
Speaker 1: with Watt and everybody else, and the Steelers defense gets

1007
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:03,600
Speaker 1: better when he's in there. I mean, look at Alex Highsmith.

1008
00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:05,719
Speaker 1: He's got eight and a half sacks, and I think

1009
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:07,879
Speaker 1: five and a half have come in the two games

1010
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:10,440
Speaker 1: where Wat's been healthy that he's gotten three and all

1011
00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:13,480
Speaker 1: the others. I think a lot of his sacks are

1012
00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:19,279
Speaker 1: product of offensive lines, offensive coordinators paying attention to where

1013
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:21,799
Speaker 1: Watt is, and then Highsmith good enough to win one

1014
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:25,879
Speaker 1: on one battles against some tackles like to see more

1015
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,200
Speaker 1: when Watt isn't on the field, for sure, but that

1016
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:32,600
Speaker 1: manifested nicely against the Saints, and I thought TJ was

1017
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:34,600
Speaker 1: real good in the run game against the Saints. He

1018
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:37,480
Speaker 1: was still disruptive. They still had a hard time with him.

1019
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:40,960
Speaker 1: Even though he didn't have a gaudy stat line as

1020
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:44,680
Speaker 1: he normally does. High Smith was dominant against the Bengals,

1021
00:52:44,719 --> 00:52:46,920
Speaker 1: no question about that with t J. Watt on the field.

1022
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,319
Speaker 1: Speaking of dominant, Minka Fitzpatrick had one of the best

1023
00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:52,359
Speaker 1: games of his career in Week one to pick six

1024
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:54,800
Speaker 1: on the Bengals opening drive. He blocked the pat to

1025
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:58,759
Speaker 1: force ot he missed last week after having an appendeck

1026
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:01,480
Speaker 1: tomy to ex becked him to be out on Sunday.

1027
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:05,160
Speaker 1: Boy Tomlin was sure trying to sell that. That might

1028
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:07,319
Speaker 1: be more of your salesman talk there, and that might

1029
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:10,440
Speaker 1: be something that he's trying to sell because the Bengals

1030
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,680
Speaker 1: would likely have to prepare a lot for Minca being

1031
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:16,400
Speaker 1: back there. But you know, if they're coming up with

1032
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:19,320
Speaker 1: a Plan A and a Plan B with or without Fitzpatrick,

1033
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:21,680
Speaker 1: that would have been a heck of a lot easier

1034
00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:25,880
Speaker 1: to do. Before Demante Kyz became eligible to come off

1035
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:29,440
Speaker 1: of injury reserve and after getting past that NFL suspension

1036
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:33,000
Speaker 1: that he was on. Was coincided because he was real good.

1037
00:53:33,160 --> 00:53:35,359
Speaker 1: I thought against New Orleans. I thought he was real

1038
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,000
Speaker 1: good during the preseason two and there are a lot

1039
00:53:38,040 --> 00:53:41,360
Speaker 1: of folks myself included that we're excited to see what

1040
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:45,360
Speaker 1: he and Fitzpatrick could be together, and we still haven't

1041
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:47,680
Speaker 1: seen that and may not see that this week against

1042
00:53:47,680 --> 00:53:52,200
Speaker 1: since if Fitzpatrick doesn't get medical clearance. But I think

1043
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:56,759
Speaker 1: since Minka has gotten here, Kaz is the closest fac

1044
00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:00,800
Speaker 1: similarly to replace Minka when he's not on the field.

1045
00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:04,640
Speaker 1: So if they go at the free safety position test

1046
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:07,799
Speaker 1: the free safety position deep like other teams have when

1047
00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:10,880
Speaker 1: Minka has not been available due to COVID or injury

1048
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:13,600
Speaker 1: or what have you, in some games, it might be

1049
00:54:13,719 --> 00:54:16,000
Speaker 1: harder to pull off because I think Casey's a pretty

1050
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:20,400
Speaker 1: good player that can do some MINCA light minca like

1051
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:23,920
Speaker 1: things that others that have been on the roster cannot.

1052
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:27,920
Speaker 1: The Steelers traded for our old friend Will Jackson, and

1053
00:54:28,000 --> 00:54:30,600
Speaker 1: then he almost immediately went injured on injured reserves, so

1054
00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:32,480
Speaker 1: we won't play against the Bengals. But what was the

1055
00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:35,919
Speaker 1: reaction to Pittsburgh picking up Will Jackson in that trade

1056
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:40,239
Speaker 1: from Washington. I think the reaction was, well, do we

1057
00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:42,600
Speaker 1: all get to go back to twenty sixteen and seventeen

1058
00:54:42,719 --> 00:54:45,080
Speaker 1: and maybe replace some of the playoff games that happened

1059
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:47,920
Speaker 1: in those years because it sort of felt like they

1060
00:54:47,960 --> 00:54:50,759
Speaker 1: were chasing a ghost, you know, like that's the first

1061
00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:53,640
Speaker 1: reaction that I had, because I don't think Jackson turned

1062
00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:56,960
Speaker 1: into what thee the Steelers thought he would be. Certainly

1063
00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:59,080
Speaker 1: already Burns did not the guy that they got when

1064
00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:01,640
Speaker 1: the Bengals scooped up Jackson the draft and the Steelers

1065
00:55:01,719 --> 00:55:05,600
Speaker 1: wanted him. You know, there was a lot of talking

1066
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:08,400
Speaker 1: the city into while it was a bad fit in Washington,

1067
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:11,520
Speaker 1: and his back is fine and YadA YadA, and then

1068
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:13,280
Speaker 1: he gets here in the back is such a problem

1069
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,120
Speaker 1: that they can't even play him much more than one practice.

1070
00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:20,120
Speaker 1: So you know, this might be what they try to

1071
00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:23,399
Speaker 1: do with the Kelley Witherspoon, pick him up kind of midseason,

1072
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:26,480
Speaker 1: incubate him, get him to learn the system, and then

1073
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:29,480
Speaker 1: see what you have to start the next season. And

1074
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:32,600
Speaker 1: hopefully they get more mileage out of Jackson to start

1075
00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:35,720
Speaker 1: next season than they did with Witherspoon this year, whereas

1076
00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:37,600
Speaker 1: Witherspoon gave him a little bit more towards the end

1077
00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:41,120
Speaker 1: of last year. Our guest the Steelers pregame host Tim Bens.

1078
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:43,720
Speaker 1: This game has been flexed out of Sunday Night Football,

1079
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:46,600
Speaker 1: and while NBC would never say it. The reason is

1080
00:55:46,680 --> 00:55:49,880
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh is three and six. How did the team and

1081
00:55:50,040 --> 00:55:55,040
Speaker 1: Steelers fans react to this game? Being flexed a little

1082
00:55:55,080 --> 00:56:00,400
Speaker 1: surprised because I think that even understanding that this Steelers

1083
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,120
Speaker 1: are three and six, even understanding that it was the

1084
00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:06,719
Speaker 1: Chiefs and Chargers that went in, the thinking was well,

1085
00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:09,000
Speaker 1: gosh and still Bengal Steelers. And even though they might

1086
00:56:09,080 --> 00:56:12,839
Speaker 1: not be as bad blood oriented as they were, say

1087
00:56:12,920 --> 00:56:16,720
Speaker 1: five years ago, they still tend to play crazy, goofy,

1088
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:19,480
Speaker 1: wild games, just like Week one of this year. I mean,

1089
00:56:20,080 --> 00:56:24,320
Speaker 1: you didn't have the Porter versus pac Man, Juju versus

1090
00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:26,879
Speaker 1: Burfix stuff in that first game, but it was still

1091
00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:30,359
Speaker 1: a nutty game. And crazy things tend to happen when

1092
00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:32,680
Speaker 1: the Steelers and Bengals playing. The games stay close, and

1093
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:36,120
Speaker 1: that's good for ratings. The Steelers still have a good

1094
00:56:36,239 --> 00:56:39,400
Speaker 1: national fan base that watches. You know, it's still a

1095
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:42,359
Speaker 1: good crowd here last week against the Saints, even though

1096
00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:44,560
Speaker 1: the Steelers are out of it. And you know, I know,

1097
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:49,359
Speaker 1: the Bengals aren't looking like a Super Bowl repeat team

1098
00:56:49,400 --> 00:56:52,760
Speaker 1: out of the AFC either. They're maybe not as touted

1099
00:56:52,800 --> 00:56:55,000
Speaker 1: as they were towards the end of last season. But

1100
00:56:55,960 --> 00:56:58,880
Speaker 1: I still think they've got a little bit. It's not

1101
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:01,560
Speaker 1: as much juice close as much juice as the Chargers do.

1102
00:57:01,840 --> 00:57:04,480
Speaker 1: So yeah, I was surprised. I think some people, you

1103
00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:06,879
Speaker 1: know people, if you could move a Monday night game,

1104
00:57:06,960 --> 00:57:08,480
Speaker 1: and folks said, well, we're not gonna have him play

1105
00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:10,520
Speaker 1: on Monday night against the Colts. I don't think anybody

1106
00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,280
Speaker 1: would have batted an eye. But because it was the Bengals,

1107
00:57:13,719 --> 00:57:16,600
Speaker 1: because there's so much fun history there, meat on the

1108
00:57:16,720 --> 00:57:19,160
Speaker 1: bone there for the networks, it was surprising that this

1109
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:23,040
Speaker 1: game was flexed. Yes, the Steelers ran for more than

1110
00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:25,640
Speaker 1: two hundred yards last week and the win over the Saints,

1111
00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:29,000
Speaker 1: they had four runs of twenty or more. Just a

1112
00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:34,120
Speaker 1: good week or something that's been building. Good question, I

1113
00:57:34,240 --> 00:57:37,880
Speaker 1: think it's been building a little bit. I would love

1114
00:57:37,960 --> 00:57:40,880
Speaker 1: to say that it's just the offensive line has totally

1115
00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:43,800
Speaker 1: gelled and come together. But then the pass blocking, which

1116
00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:46,080
Speaker 1: it looked pretty decent in previous weeks, has taken a

1117
00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:48,960
Speaker 1: step back the last two and they've allowed six sacks.

1118
00:57:49,040 --> 00:57:50,520
Speaker 1: But I could put a lot of that in the

1119
00:57:50,600 --> 00:57:53,440
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback as well. I think it was a good

1120
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:56,760
Speaker 1: match up against the Saints the records of teams when

1121
00:57:56,760 --> 00:57:59,440
Speaker 1: they played Baltimore than Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh and Baltimore a

1122
00:57:59,560 --> 00:58:02,120
Speaker 1: lousy let alone going on the road after a Monday

1123
00:58:02,200 --> 00:58:03,960
Speaker 1: night game. I think that had something to do with it.

1124
00:58:04,840 --> 00:58:07,360
Speaker 1: I do not expect them to push around the front

1125
00:58:07,520 --> 00:58:09,920
Speaker 1: of the Bengals the same way they did the Saints.

1126
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:12,000
Speaker 1: I don't expect them to have the ball for nearly

1127
00:58:12,080 --> 00:58:15,440
Speaker 1: thirty nine minutes. Again, just the occasional pop of a

1128
00:58:15,520 --> 00:58:17,800
Speaker 1: big run like you talked about before, that has been

1129
00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:21,760
Speaker 1: absent from this team. Big plays in general have been

1130
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,720
Speaker 1: absent from this team. So even to get a few

1131
00:58:24,840 --> 00:58:28,160
Speaker 1: of those to maintain drives move the sticks without having

1132
00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:33,520
Speaker 1: to do everything right ten eleven, twelve plays at a time,

1133
00:58:33,600 --> 00:58:36,120
Speaker 1: and a drive to get a chunk like that on

1134
00:58:36,200 --> 00:58:39,320
Speaker 1: the ground once or twice against Cincinnati, that would be

1135
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:41,600
Speaker 1: good enough for me to feel like there is still

1136
00:58:41,720 --> 00:58:44,360
Speaker 1: some progress being made off the Saints game, even if

1137
00:58:44,400 --> 00:58:46,720
Speaker 1: the numbers aren't as gaudy as the ones that you

1138
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:49,320
Speaker 1: and I have been pointing to here. Final question for

1139
00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:53,040
Speaker 1: Steelers pregame host Tim Benns Mike Tomlin famously has this

1140
00:58:53,120 --> 00:58:56,240
Speaker 1: streak of no losing seasons. It's at fifteen years and counting,

1141
00:58:56,560 --> 00:58:58,960
Speaker 1: it's obviously in jeopardy this year. The Steelers are three

1142
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:02,200
Speaker 1: and six right now, Pittsburgh would have the tenth pick

1143
00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:06,680
Speaker 1: in the draft. Based on your interaction with Steelers fans,

1144
00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:10,920
Speaker 1: would they rather rally to extend the streak or climb

1145
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:15,520
Speaker 1: the draft board. I don't think that they care about

1146
00:59:15,600 --> 00:59:20,280
Speaker 1: the streak. I think that some I'll say many Steelers

1147
00:59:20,360 --> 00:59:24,840
Speaker 1: fans are a bit frustrated by the streak because it's

1148
00:59:24,960 --> 00:59:28,320
Speaker 1: great to talk about when you brag about your organization.

1149
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:32,520
Speaker 1: They don't like to do it to defend Tomlin when

1150
00:59:32,560 --> 00:59:35,240
Speaker 1: he has had a playoff win in six years, you know,

1151
00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:39,280
Speaker 1: like they tend to bludgeon people with that streak when

1152
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:41,920
Speaker 1: they're talking about the emblem. But when it comes to

1153
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:44,600
Speaker 1: evaluating Tomlin, people don't like to hear about the streak

1154
00:59:44,600 --> 00:59:46,600
Speaker 1: because it's been a while since they've had a playoff win.

1155
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:51,080
Speaker 1: So I think the analysis of where the Steelers are,

1156
00:59:51,560 --> 00:59:54,600
Speaker 1: I think Monday through Saturday people are like, well, I

1157
00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:56,280
Speaker 1: don't care if they went. If they lose, so what

1158
00:59:56,400 --> 00:59:58,000
Speaker 1: they'll be up in the draft. Maybe they'll be close

1159
00:59:58,040 --> 00:59:59,840
Speaker 1: to top ten pick and maybe they can get a

1160
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:02,040
Speaker 1: I like bet again, on defense, or the guy like

1161
01:00:02,120 --> 01:00:04,480
Speaker 1: Ben again on the offensive line, or maybe they can

1162
01:00:04,560 --> 01:00:06,640
Speaker 1: just get another Ben and get rid of Picket, Like

1163
01:00:06,800 --> 01:00:08,880
Speaker 1: you know, you've heard every theory under the sun already

1164
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:11,280
Speaker 1: of what they would do with that top ten pick, right,

1165
01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:15,000
Speaker 1: But then Sunday rolls around, they beat the snot out

1166
01:00:15,040 --> 01:00:17,520
Speaker 1: of the Saints, and everybody's joyous that they finally got

1167
01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:20,160
Speaker 1: to win again. So you know, I just I think

1168
01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:22,240
Speaker 1: the tanking is not in the blood of the fan

1169
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:25,360
Speaker 1: base here. They kind of talk about it during the week.

1170
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:27,040
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be better if they're in the top ten?

1171
01:00:27,560 --> 01:00:30,040
Speaker 1: And then one o'clock rolls around, the lots are full

1172
01:00:30,080 --> 01:00:33,120
Speaker 1: oft Hinesfield and renegade plays and they're waving terrible towels

1173
01:00:33,160 --> 01:00:35,560
Speaker 1: and TJ's back out there, and it's, you know, if

1174
01:00:35,600 --> 01:00:37,160
Speaker 1: they lose the game in their math, that they lose.

1175
01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:39,320
Speaker 1: So I think that's kind of where the where the

1176
01:00:39,360 --> 01:00:42,480
Speaker 1: fan base is on it. Tim, great stuff as always,

1177
01:00:42,600 --> 01:00:46,320
Speaker 1: much appreciated. See you Sunday at Acqushuer Stadium. I am

1178
01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:48,680
Speaker 1: one for one and getting the stadium's name right this week.

1179
01:00:49,200 --> 01:00:55,080
Speaker 1: So my consecutive accuser streak ended at week eight for

1180
01:00:55,120 --> 01:00:56,960
Speaker 1: a week eight and much like a no hitter. I

1181
01:00:57,080 --> 01:00:59,800
Speaker 1: bragged about it in one segment of the Free Game Show,

1182
01:01:00,080 --> 01:01:01,760
Speaker 1: and then I blew it in the next hour, So

1183
01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:08,200
Speaker 1: I'm now a victim of my own broadcaster's cursed. Yeah. Well,

1184
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:10,720
Speaker 1: since I just bragged about being one for one, I'm

1185
01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:15,280
Speaker 1: guaranteed to botch it on Sunday. It's the historical references

1186
01:01:15,320 --> 01:01:18,040
Speaker 1: that get you. You catch yourself by saying Heinesfield when

1187
01:01:18,040 --> 01:01:20,840
Speaker 1: you're talking about a game in like twenty seventeen, So

1188
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:23,520
Speaker 1: you have to add the caveat of what it was

1189
01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:27,400
Speaker 1: called what used to be formally known as Heinz Field.

1190
01:01:27,440 --> 01:01:29,280
Speaker 1: You gotta weave that in and get used to it.

1191
01:01:30,360 --> 01:01:31,960
Speaker 1: That's going to do it. For this episode of the

1192
01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:35,760
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast, presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare

1193
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:40,240
Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals,

1194
01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:43,280
Speaker 1: they're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up

1195
01:01:43,360 --> 01:01:47,720
Speaker 1: for grabs by pay Corps, the official HR software provider

1196
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:52,040
Speaker 1: of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber. Future Proof Fiber

1197
01:01:52,120 --> 01:01:56,240
Speaker 1: Internet elevates your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't

1198
01:01:56,280 --> 01:01:59,200
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if

1199
01:01:59,200 --> 01:02:01,240
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give a rating or share a

1200
01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:05,640
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan

1201
01:02:05,760 --> 01:02:09,520
Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast