Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast, the I've Seen Better Days edition
Speaker 1: as we perform a postgame autopsy on Sunday's twenty seven
Speaker 1: to three loss in Baltimore. Coming up, you'll hear radio replays,
Speaker 1: postgame comments from players and coaches, and in depth analysis
Speaker 1: from Dave Lapham. And this week's fund Fact segment is
Speaker 1: with rookie Akeem Davis Gaither as we discuss a wide
Speaker 1: variety of topics, including the Big Chair in his hometown
Speaker 1: of Thomasville, North Carolina. If you would like to see
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about, just do a Google search for
Speaker 1: the Big Chair. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: bud Light Seltzer Refresh the game, and here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing on iTunes, stick, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since the reunion of Chad Johnson
Speaker 1: and Carson Palmer. Until last week, I had never heard
Speaker 1: of a show put together by NFL Films called The Grind.
Speaker 1: It features behind the scenes access with former NFL stars.
Speaker 1: New episodes appear every Wednesday on the Epics Network Epix,
Speaker 1: which I had also never heard of until last week.
Speaker 1: While on last Wednesday's episode, Chad Johnson traveled to Idaho
Speaker 1: to hang out at Carson Palmer's house and it was tremendous.
Speaker 1: They reminisced about their Cincinnati days and then we got
Speaker 1: to listen into their conversation as they watched Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: lead the Bengals to last week's win over Jacksonville. And
Speaker 1: following the game, there was a special two way hookup
Speaker 1: that allowed that nine to eighty five combination talked to
Speaker 1: the current nine to eighty five combo Burrow and t Higgins.
Speaker 1: If you don't have the Epics Network, a few short
Speaker 1: clips have found their way to the Internet. Just search
Speaker 1: for Chad Johnson, Carson Palmer, the Grind. Now let's get
Speaker 1: to Sunday's game. Last year, the Ravens set an NFL
Speaker 1: record by rushing for three thousand, two hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: six yards an average of two o six a game.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson obviously led the way, but he's hardly the
Speaker 1: only running threat, as the Bengals found out on Baltimore's
Speaker 1: second play. Here's an end around for DuVernay, third round
Speaker 1: draft pickrookie runs to the thirty five to forty sideline
Speaker 1: fifty Bengals territory forty, and he'll be shoved out of
Speaker 1: bounds near the Cincinnati thirty yard line. They mark him
Speaker 1: out at the thirty one. That forty two yard end
Speaker 1: around led to a forty six yard justin Tucker field goal,
Speaker 1: giving Baltimore an early three nothing lead. The second time
Speaker 1: Baltimore got the ball, the Ravens converted on third and five,
Speaker 1: third and one, third and seven, and third and fourteen
Speaker 1: before facing their fifth third down of the drive, third
Speaker 1: down and goal. From the five shotgun snap, Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: fires into the end zone, caught by Boyle I make
Speaker 1: that Andrews for the Ravens touchdown. It was ten nothing
Speaker 1: Ravens after two drives for each team, and things got worse.
Speaker 1: On the Bengals third possession, third and ten, the Bengals
Speaker 1: hit their own twenty five yard line. Three receivers left,
Speaker 1: two right, Burrow waiting for the shotgun snap. He has
Speaker 1: the ball, he's in trouble, flings it down field and
Speaker 1: it's intercepted. By Peters at the forty two yard line,
Speaker 1: running back to the thirty five and Tee Higgins tackles
Speaker 1: him at the thirty two. Boys, that's the kind of
Speaker 1: mistake you can't make. Joe Burrows desperation. Heave under duress
Speaker 1: was intended for AJ Green, the only pass thrown his
Speaker 1: way before he spent the second half on the bench
Speaker 1: with a hamstring injury. And it was a strange looking
Speaker 1: play as AJ didn't jump for the ball. Here's Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1: I was sitting right there on the line side of Aja.
Speaker 1: I did not think that he could have made that play.
Speaker 1: He probably didn't even know where the ball was to be.
Speaker 1: Cut on us with you. Through five games, AJ has
Speaker 1: fourteen catches for one hundred nineteen yards, as long as
Speaker 1: catch all year was for a fifteen yard gain. We'll
Speaker 1: have more on that with Dave Lapham in just a bit.
Speaker 1: The Marcus Peters I NT gave the Ravens a short
Speaker 1: field and led to their third score in as many
Speaker 1: drives to make it seventeen nothing. Early second quarter, first
Speaker 1: and goal from the three pistol formation for Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: with mark Ingram behind. Jackson does a three hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty degree spin throws into the end zone, caught for
Speaker 1: the touchdown by Hollywood Brown. Number fifteen Marquise Hollywood Brown
Speaker 1: had six catches for seventy seven yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Number eighty nine Mark Andrews also had six catches. His
Speaker 1: went for fifty six yards and a touchdown, and they
Speaker 1: were targeted on more than half of Lamar Jackson's thirty
Speaker 1: seven passes. Here's Jesse Bates. We know where Lamar wants
Speaker 1: to go in a fifteen or eighty nine, and I
Speaker 1: mean it showed up today as well. That's all I mean,
Speaker 1: that's all he was really gone to today was fifteen
Speaker 1: or eighty nine. With a seventeen point lead in the
Speaker 1: second quarter, Baltimore unleashed its pass rush, hitting Burrow ten
Speaker 1: times and sacking him three times. In the first half.
Speaker 1: Burrow has a man on either side as he waits
Speaker 1: for the shotgun snap He's back to throw. Pump fakes. Burrow,
Speaker 1: with plenty of time now, scrambling left and drilled from
Speaker 1: behind by his former college teammate Patrick Queen, who comes
Speaker 1: away with a football man. It was a blindside shot.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow had no idea Queen was closing in on
Speaker 1: him like he was. And right now, Martindale is smelling
Speaker 1: the blood and he's just bringing linebackers, He's bringing defensive backs,
Speaker 1: he's bringing everybody. He's bringing one more than the Bengals
Speaker 1: can block. Martindale as Baltimore's defensive coordinator, Don Wink, Martindale,
Speaker 1: whose blitz happy approach was too much for Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: in the Bengals offensive line. He had a good plan.
Speaker 1: Let me just st in next to get our plan
Speaker 1: very well. I didn't played very well and we as
Speaker 1: an offense didn't play very well. So he's gotta get fixed.
Speaker 1: What can you do better? I mean it does it
Speaker 1: matter a matter of everybody getting on the same page
Speaker 1: against those blitz looks or what is it? Well? Personally,
Speaker 1: I can get the ball out of my hands faster
Speaker 1: I can. Um. You know, I wasn't very accurate today,
Speaker 1: which was disappointing to me. You know, I thought we
Speaker 1: had a great week of practice and it just didn't
Speaker 1: carry over. You talked about getting rid of it quicker,
Speaker 1: but what were they doing things to take maybe your
Speaker 1: hot reads away where you couldn't do that at times?
Speaker 1: You know, they do a good job of popping guys
Speaker 1: out into the middle to take away those middle throws
Speaker 1: and bringing guys that you don't have account for, and
Speaker 1: not bringing the guys you do have account accounting for.
Speaker 1: So they had a good plan. You know, they're a
Speaker 1: good defense, a really good team. While the Bengals offense
Speaker 1: struggled all day, their defense was outstanding for the final
Speaker 1: three quarters, holding the Ravens to just one field goal
Speaker 1: on Baltimore's final eight drives, not including a kneel down
Speaker 1: in the final play of the game. Jackson finished with
Speaker 1: just three yards rushing and one hundred eighty yards passing,
Speaker 1: with a past A rating of seventy one point nine.
Speaker 1: Third down and ten. At the Cincinnati twenty seven Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson short pass, it's intercepted, It's picked off by Logan
Speaker 1: Wilson at the twenty four yard line, the Rookies second
Speaker 1: NFL pick, and the Bengals takeover with one thirteen left
Speaker 1: in the half. Here are Jesse Bates and Tyler Boyd.
Speaker 1: I think we did a good job defensively, but when
Speaker 1: you play it against really good teams like this, the
Speaker 1: room for air is just really small. Um, you just
Speaker 1: can't you know, I don't I don't care how you know,
Speaker 1: our office isn't playing up to our standard, But I
Speaker 1: don't care how bad that is. We just have to
Speaker 1: keep it close. The defense played a heck of a game,
Speaker 1: and for us on the other side, you know, it
Speaker 1: wasn't wasn't too pretty. And that's what really hurts me,
Speaker 1: you know, because we put the time and we put
Speaker 1: so much time in and repetition to this man. It
Speaker 1: just didn't work for us. And it was a rude
Speaker 1: awakening for Burrow. After throwing for at least three hundred
Speaker 1: yards in each of his previous three games, Joe was
Speaker 1: nineteen for thirty for one hundred eighty three yards, with
Speaker 1: no touchdowns, one interception, two fumbles, and a passer rating
Speaker 1: of sixty six point four. Shotgun snap Burrow in trouble
Speaker 1: again and sacked again, this time by Humphrey cornerback coming
Speaker 1: from the edge back at the thirty five yard line.
Speaker 1: Hit number fifteen, sack number seven. Burrow has been sacked
Speaker 1: twenty two times already. That's number one in the NFL,
Speaker 1: three more than Carson Wentz. So how is Joe dealing
Speaker 1: with it? You just deal with it and come back
Speaker 1: in fight every play like like I have been. Burrow's
Speaker 1: former LSU teammate Patrick Queen scored a defensive touchdown in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, scooping up a Mike Thomas fumble that
Speaker 1: was punched out by Marlon Humphrey his specialty, with Queen
Speaker 1: running fifty three yards to the house to make it
Speaker 1: twenty seven nothing. The Bengals hadn't been shut out in
Speaker 1: fifty one games since who else Baltimore blanked them in
Speaker 1: the twenty seventeen season opener. This time, Cincinnati avoided the
Speaker 1: good this egg with less than a minute to go.
Speaker 1: Randy Bullock twelve or thirteen so far this year. Harris
Speaker 1: snaps to Huber, here's the swing of the leg and
Speaker 1: the kick is good. So the Bengals avoid the shot
Speaker 1: out and they trailed twenty seven to three with thirty
Speaker 1: two seconds to go. That was the final, twenty seven
Speaker 1: to three. Taylor and Burrow some up a sobering day.
Speaker 1: We know where the issues were. We knew we had
Speaker 1: to be a fishing on first second down, and we
Speaker 1: had three charnovers minus yardage plays, which in some cases
Speaker 1: can be really avoidable. And when you do that against
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Rags, they're gonna make you pay for it,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna feel like that. You know, we're building
Speaker 1: a culture here, We're moving in the right direction. Yeah,
Speaker 1: obviously it wasn't great, but now we're gonna look back
Speaker 1: on this team in a few years and say, wow,
Speaker 1: you know that kind of propelled us forward. You know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna keep working hard. We got great people within
Speaker 1: the organization on the team and a great coaching stuff,
Speaker 1: So you know we're gonna keep working hard, keeping coming
Speaker 1: to work every day to twin games. This is a
Speaker 1: resilient team. It's a very connected team. It's unfortunate that
Speaker 1: we put this performance on the field, playing and coaching.
Speaker 1: But again, we're not gonna hit the panic button. We're
Speaker 1: gonna regroup and do itis for the Coals. It's off
Speaker 1: to Indie next Sunday for the bengals fourth road game
Speaker 1: in their first six. The Colts are three and two
Speaker 1: after losing to Cleveland thirty two twenty three. And here's
Speaker 1: how things look in the AFC North. The Steelers are
Speaker 1: four and zero, the Ravens and Browns are four and one,
Speaker 1: and the Bengals are one three and one, the best
Speaker 1: division in football so far, The Bengals Booth podcast is
Speaker 1: presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with
Speaker 1: a hint of fruit flavor. Now, let's get some postgame
Speaker 1: analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. All Right, final
Speaker 1: score twenty seven to three. It actually felt more lopsided
Speaker 1: than that, and that's pretty lopsided. The Bengals could not
Speaker 1: protect Joe Burrow, similar to the Philadelphia game a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, even though though that one ended in
Speaker 1: a tie fifteen hits the Ravens seven quarterback sacks. Through
Speaker 1: five games, Joe Burrow has been hit fifty times. According
Speaker 1: to official NFL stats, he's been sacked twenty two. That
Speaker 1: would project to one hundred and sixty hits and seventy
Speaker 1: point four sacks. The NFL single season record for a
Speaker 1: quarterback is seventy six, when David Carr was the number
Speaker 1: one overall picking a rookie. And that's uh, David Carr's
Speaker 1: career didn't last very long, and you don't want that
Speaker 1: to be the case for Joe Burrow. You know, the
Speaker 1: mental part of it, the confidence part of it, everything
Speaker 1: that goes along with it. It's just you know, you
Speaker 1: start taking these blindside shots and it's just you know,
Speaker 1: you start to lose confidence and what's happening around you.
Speaker 1: And it's human nature. I don't care who you are,
Speaker 1: I mean, would how would you like it if you're
Speaker 1: standing in depotet or you're running, you're running a ten
Speaker 1: yards sideline to sideline in the field and somebody just
Speaker 1: hits you with something in your back and you don't
Speaker 1: know when it's going to happen. You don't know how
Speaker 1: it's going to happen, but it's going to happen at
Speaker 1: some point. That's kind of what it feels like. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's not a pleasant scenario. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have to start doing things to protect him. Maybe he
Speaker 1: should start thinking about protect himself a little bit better too,
Speaker 1: you know at times and and uh, there's that balancing
Speaker 1: act between when do I extend and create as opposed
Speaker 1: to just live for another play and don't try to
Speaker 1: make too much out of something out of nothing, you know,
Speaker 1: something that's not there. So it's it's it's a learning
Speaker 1: process I think for all involved. Bottom line is everybody
Speaker 1: just has to get better though, because you know, if
Speaker 1: you this Ravens defense. Once there was blood in the water.
Speaker 1: You talk about sharks that are frenzied. I mean it
Speaker 1: was like everybody was begging. I mean they were going
Speaker 1: up and they were begging Martindale, bring me, blitz me,
Speaker 1: let me have a piece of this action. I mean
Speaker 1: it was like, you know, they put seven or eight
Speaker 1: guys up to the line of scrimmage. You don't know
Speaker 1: which ones are coming, so you call a protection to
Speaker 1: what you think might protect a certain look, and they
Speaker 1: do something totally different. They bring the guys that you
Speaker 1: haven't accounted for, and the guys you have accounted for
Speaker 1: drop off into coverage. And that's what's so tough about them.
Speaker 1: And when they get a lead, they do it over
Speaker 1: and over and over. When it's third and six or
Speaker 1: seven or more, They're gonna do it until you can
Speaker 1: until you beat it. If you beat it with some
Speaker 1: kind of blitz breaker, you know, some sort of a
Speaker 1: blitz beat or blitz breaker, at some point in time,
Speaker 1: you know he may reconsider we talked about before the
Speaker 1: game in the Thursday night game, Andy Dalton and AJ
Speaker 1: Green personally with pre snapper Reeds and cited just and
Speaker 1: all that beat the blitz and Martin deal stopped blitzing
Speaker 1: for quarter and a half. Totally uncharacteristic. But this one man,
Speaker 1: once he get up seventeen nothing and started, you know,
Speaker 1: testing the waters, he found them to be delightful. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that an assistant coach has ever been on
Speaker 1: a TV screen more than Don Wing Martindale was during
Speaker 1: the course of that game. By the way, he is
Speaker 1: not related to Winston Martindale. Member of the American TV
Speaker 1: Game Show Hall of Fame. There is such a thing.
Speaker 1: But here's what really helped this wink Martindale. The Bengals
Speaker 1: faced third and ten twice, third and eleven twice, third
Speaker 1: and twenty one, third and twenty four, third and twenty five.
Speaker 1: That is not gonna work against the Baltimore Ravens, third
Speaker 1: and twenty one, third and twenty four, third and twenty
Speaker 1: five penalties. You're self destructing, You're staying to the Ravens.
Speaker 1: We're not only gonna let you blitz us'na, We're gonna
Speaker 1: say it's we have a quarter of the football field
Speaker 1: to cover if we just to get back to the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. So you're stupid if you don't blitz
Speaker 1: us I mean it's like, oh, man, I don't care
Speaker 1: who you're playing against. If you're third and twenty plus,
Speaker 1: it's a no win situation against the Ravens, you might
Speaker 1: as well just take a knife and slit yourself. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like it's suicidal and you can't be in those situations.
Speaker 1: You don't want to be in third and seven or more,
Speaker 1: never mind third and twenty or more. So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: at that point, Wink Martindale is saying, well, I know
Speaker 1: Halloween's not to the end of the month, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna it's like taking candy from a baby. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go make my candy right now. I'm gonna get after
Speaker 1: the Bengals and blitz them to death if they're gonna
Speaker 1: help like that until this football team, this football team
Speaker 1: is nowhere near good enough to help the opponent. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's there's absolutely it's nonsensical to think that they can
Speaker 1: put themselves in situations like that. Nonsensical. By the way,
Speaker 1: is the original Wink Martindale up there on a level
Speaker 1: with Bob Barker and Alex Trebek on the All Time
Speaker 1: Game Show host or is he on that next here
Speaker 1: with Pat Say Tech, Bob Eubanks and others. I got
Speaker 1: them on level two max Max Max. Alex Trebek still,
Speaker 1: I mean, battling cancer in his eighties, still getting it done,
Speaker 1: my hero Barker and Trebek. That is that is a
Speaker 1: level above all. Right, let's talk about the defense. His
Speaker 1: performance obviously didn't start great. Ravens scored on their first
Speaker 1: three drives. That that second drive that went for a
Speaker 1: touchdown third down as a killer. They converted five times
Speaker 1: on third down, including third and fourteen. But after the
Speaker 1: first three drives of the game, three points for the
Speaker 1: Ravens offense on their last eight drives. That's getting it done.
Speaker 1: It is getting it done. And Luanna roumoin company take
Speaker 1: a bow. You know, they spied the quarterback with at
Speaker 1: various levels, with guys that can tackle them, you know,
Speaker 1: spy with the linebacker they can run. Logan Wilson. Phillips
Speaker 1: was kind of in some blitz packages, was kind of
Speaker 1: like spying on his own. He would delay the blitz
Speaker 1: and and just really give Lamar Jackson a lot of problems.
Speaker 1: Took away the outside running game, and when he tried
Speaker 1: to extend plays in the passing game, there was somebody
Speaker 1: all over him. I mean, they had a hell of
Speaker 1: a game plan. They really did. To think that Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 1: the leading rusher on the football team, ended the game
Speaker 1: with three yards rushing, where it was like fifth or
Speaker 1: sixth leading rusher on the football team. Speaks volumes. I mean,
Speaker 1: they took away a massive part of the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: offensive productivity, Lamar Jackson's legs, and they made him, you know,
Speaker 1: have to throw the football. And you know, my thought was,
Speaker 1: I hope he has to throw twenty five times more.
Speaker 1: He basically did that in the first half. I think
Speaker 1: it was close to twenty five to finish with thirty
Speaker 1: seven throws. Yeah, that's that's that's perfect, that's right in
Speaker 1: And they gave up twenty points. I mean one of
Speaker 1: the last touchdown was an unscripted score against the Bengals
Speaker 1: offense when Humphrey punched it out and Patrick Queen picked
Speaker 1: it up and ran to the house with it. That
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with the defensive football team. So
Speaker 1: they played winning football. You hold the Baltimore Ravens to
Speaker 1: twenty points in Baltimore, that's winning football. The problem is
Speaker 1: to give up seventeen on the first three drives that
Speaker 1: made life easier for Don Wink Martindale and made to
Speaker 1: make the decisions that he made to make it harder
Speaker 1: on the offense to try to generate anything. I mean,
Speaker 1: you can't let them jump out to that kind of lead.
Speaker 1: If if they get a lead, it can't be a
Speaker 1: three score lead in a quarter. Literally, they were up
Speaker 1: seventeen points six seconds into the second quarter. That's brutal, brutal.
Speaker 1: So you know, the only the only negative, the only
Speaker 1: knock on the defense would be that that allowed them
Speaker 1: to cumulate that kind of lead, you know, early in
Speaker 1: the game. But again, the offense didn't know anything to
Speaker 1: you to help their own situation. They didn't score, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, they didn't score till in the last minute
Speaker 1: of the football the last few seconds of the football game.
Speaker 1: I mean. It was a tough, tough day, a tough
Speaker 1: day at the office for everybody involved on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of things for the Bengals. So we had our
Speaker 1: first mini controversy of the season on Thursday when Carlos
Speaker 1: Dunlap complained to reporters about his removal from the starting
Speaker 1: lineup although he played reasonably well today. And now we've
Speaker 1: got this postgame controversy that has sprung up regarding AJ Green.
Speaker 1: I didn't see it while we were broadcasting the game,
Speaker 1: but there's a clip on the internet where he appears
Speaker 1: to be saying, just trade me. According to lip readers,
Speaker 1: it dangerous to try to do that. Who knows if
Speaker 1: that's really what he was saying. Aj was only targeted once.
Speaker 1: That was an interception where he never saw the throw.
Speaker 1: Then he reaggravated the hamstringer or maybe it's the other
Speaker 1: leg I don't know, but he sat out the rest
Speaker 1: of the game. I hate to see this with Aj Green,
Speaker 1: I mean, the epitome of class. Nothing that would anything
Speaker 1: negative about his tenure with the Bengals. But if he
Speaker 1: did say just trade me, I'm not sure what he
Speaker 1: would be upset about. Where the Bengals are concerned. They're
Speaker 1: they're paying him, obviously on the franchise tag. They're playing him,
Speaker 1: paying him and playing him, and so far he just
Speaker 1: has not been able to get open and consistently catch
Speaker 1: the ball. Yeah. I mean, they're paying him almost eighteen
Speaker 1: million bucks for the season. It's a pretty good job.
Speaker 1: I'll take that work. Not Dougal Hunt, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean frustration we saw it boil over with Carlos Dunlap.
Speaker 1: Now it's boiling over with aj Green. Everybody's frustrated, though,
Speaker 1: And I know those guys experienced the five straight playoff games,
Speaker 1: five straight playoff seasons, I should say, and you you,
Speaker 1: you know, the bar gets set at a certain height
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, the team starts to struggle.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, for as good as it was
Speaker 1: in the record setting five straight seasons going to the postseason,
Speaker 1: it's been record setting in the opposite direction here in
Speaker 1: this phase a bit. So you know, that's when frustration
Speaker 1: bill's over. And my thing is, it's easy to play
Speaker 1: and be happy and satisfied when you win in football games.
Speaker 1: The true test is when you're in the situation that
Speaker 1: you're in right now and you're still getting paid. You're
Speaker 1: getting paid to perform, you're getting paid to give, you know,
Speaker 1: put your best foot forward and give everything you've got,
Speaker 1: you know, to the organization for the for the betterment
Speaker 1: of the entire organization. So I understand it's tough. Been there.
Speaker 1: I was on four and twelve football teams. I was
Speaker 1: on twelve and four football teams. I understand, and I
Speaker 1: know it's it's night and day, it's North and South Pole.
Speaker 1: But believe me, I mean you got to. You have
Speaker 1: to pride yourself from the fact that, no matter what,
Speaker 1: you were giving full effort, in giving everything you possibly
Speaker 1: could from a contribution standpoint to help turn it around
Speaker 1: when it was poor and to sustain a level of
Speaker 1: excellence when it was good. That's what you're getting paid
Speaker 1: to do. Right now. Unfortunately, these two teams are not close.
Speaker 1: Baltimore had the best record in the NFL during the
Speaker 1: regular season last year fourteen and two. They had twelve
Speaker 1: Pro Bowlers. A year ago, they lost one when they
Speaker 1: let Earl Thomas go. They traded for Calais Campbell, who's
Speaker 1: a five time Pro Bowler. They drafted Patrick Queen in
Speaker 1: the first round. He was excellent today. They drafted JK.
Speaker 1: Dobbins in the second round. Any Ohio State fan knows
Speaker 1: what he's capable of doing. This is an exceptionally good
Speaker 1: Baltimore team that you know, last two meetings or seventy
Speaker 1: six to sixteen, I don't think it's that lop sided.
Speaker 1: But unfortunately the Bengals have a long way to go
Speaker 1: to catch up to the Ravens. Right now yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, you you end up saying, all right, you
Speaker 1: beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, And in my mind, you know,
Speaker 1: that was in my mind the big test because they
Speaker 1: didn't have a dozen Pro Bowlers, you know, they had one,
Speaker 1: and the Chargers had multiple Pro Bowls in the defensive line.
Speaker 1: Cleveland had a Pro Bowl in the defensive line. Philadelphia
Speaker 1: had multiple Pro Bowls in the defensive line. Jacksonville had one.
Speaker 1: But you know one time first Pro Bowl, Baltimore's got
Speaker 1: multiple Pro Bowlers and Baltimore at Indianapolis, Cleveland, Tennessee at
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh fifteen and three. Now it's sixteen and three and
Speaker 1: maybe better depending on how these other games pan out.
Speaker 1: So you're looking at you know, after that stretch, you
Speaker 1: got the Redskins at Washington, the Giants at Miami, Dallas.
Speaker 1: I mean those those uh, those four teams right there
Speaker 1: are the reverse. You know they're all struggling, but you
Speaker 1: know it's like you have to put yourself in a
Speaker 1: position these these teams, Like you said, Dan, the difference,
Speaker 1: the differential between where where the Ravens are and where
Speaker 1: the Bengals are. If you if you don't play to
Speaker 1: your highest level, you're gonna get embarrassed. And the Bengals
Speaker 1: played C minus football maybe I don't know, better than
Speaker 1: C minus because the defense I think was much better.
Speaker 1: Special teams were solid. The phase that let them down
Speaker 1: obviously was the offense and let them down dramatically. They
Speaker 1: had a failing grade. So it brings everybody down. But
Speaker 1: say it's C and if the Ravens who offensively didn't play,
Speaker 1: you know, as well as they've been playing, but their
Speaker 1: defense was lights out. If they if they play you know,
Speaker 1: B plus or better, you're gonna see this kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So you have to try to get You have to
Speaker 1: try to perform at the highest level you possibly can,
Speaker 1: up to your capabilities, and if you don't, this is
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. I mean right now, you're you're
Speaker 1: trying to build toward getting closer to these upper echelon teams.
Speaker 1: When you don't play at you at a good level,
Speaker 1: you're going to be embarrassed by these upper echelon teams.
Speaker 1: All right, Just to wrap it up, to reconfirm you
Speaker 1: have eighty six year old Winston Wink Martindale, the famed
Speaker 1: game show host of Tick Tecto High Rollers and other
Speaker 1: shows ranked as a second tier all time game show
Speaker 1: host a notch below Barker and Trebec Trebec and Barker
Speaker 1: was great. Barker's my man. And they say, they say,
Speaker 1: Barker he had some beautiful women by his side. Barker's
Speaker 1: beauties at all times. Yeah, Barker's beauties. And there was
Speaker 1: a reason for Barker's beauties. Barker was the man. There
Speaker 1: was brutal injury news in the game as DJ Reader
Speaker 1: was taken off the field on a cart and according
Speaker 1: to the NFL Networks Mike Garafolo, it's a quadricep's injury
Speaker 1: that's expected to keep Reader out for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season, pending further tests. Let's finish this edition of
Speaker 1: the podcast with something more cheerful. It's this week's fun
Speaker 1: Facts segment, where you get to know the person under
Speaker 1: the pads. Time for some fun facts or linebacker Akeem
Speaker 1: Davis gather from Thomasville, North Carolina, known as the Chair
Speaker 1: City because of the furniture industry in that area and
Speaker 1: Thomasville's most famous landmark. From what I understand, the chairs
Speaker 1: a big chair. Tell us about the big chair? Is
Speaker 1: this really like a huge chair like a statue in
Speaker 1: the middle of the town. People can't say pustures on it.
Speaker 1: I think in Dannity Center if they still do that,
Speaker 1: they put like a big old sent a class up there.
Speaker 1: It's benefit. It's a chair that's thirty feet tall and
Speaker 1: ten feet wide. Somewhere in the family archives there's your
Speaker 1: picture of you in front of the big chair, part
Speaker 1: of pro before the prom. Yeah, people meet up there
Speaker 1: take pictures because they got like a found right next
Speaker 1: to it. I love it. Sounds like a great picture.
Speaker 1: We're doing fun facts or the King. Davis Gaither tell
Speaker 1: us a little bit about growing up there and what
Speaker 1: you like to do as a kid. It's really like
Speaker 1: a small town. Probably every other person probably my cousin
Speaker 1: of some sort, so everybody knows everybody. My friends I
Speaker 1: grew I still taking them today. Uh. We used to
Speaker 1: do like adventurous stuff, playing outside, run through the woods. Um,
Speaker 1: we used to do something stupid, played tackle football on
Speaker 1: the street, which is crazy in high school with Kenya
Speaker 1: Letard and football, basketball, baseball and tracked and sports always
Speaker 1: come easily to you. My family just known for sports,
Speaker 1: so I don't know if it can't easily, but my
Speaker 1: dad was always a coach. My brother says the basketball
Speaker 1: basketball player, so everybody wanted to be the best in
Speaker 1: the house, so it was always striving for that. You
Speaker 1: played high school football for a coach named Allen Brown
Speaker 1: who was coached at that high school for three decades
Speaker 1: more than three wins. You and your dad, That's what
Speaker 1: was it like to play for a high school coaching legend.
Speaker 1: It was pretty awesome knowing that, especially knowing that they
Speaker 1: coach my dad, so knowing that they had history there.
Speaker 1: Actually got a picture my dad was telling him about
Speaker 1: to play, and I got the same type of picture
Speaker 1: doing the same thing. Put it together. It was kind
Speaker 1: of funny, but it was definitely good playing for him.
Speaker 1: I know, I kind of really messed up because either
Speaker 1: him or the hole tel to let my dad no sense.
Speaker 1: My dad was coaching at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana,
Speaker 1: so everybody always pickled the phone and let my dad
Speaker 1: know how bad I was doing. Early on. Well, I
Speaker 1: hope they let him know how well you were doing
Speaker 1: when things got better. Yeah, they probably didn't. We're doing
Speaker 1: fund Factor The King David Skither. When you finished high school,
Speaker 1: you were one hundred and seventy pounds not the ideal
Speaker 1: size for a college linebacker. How did that impact recruiting?
Speaker 1: Teams wanted Like, I know, my junior Duke wanted me
Speaker 1: to be one eighty five, and they gave me to
Speaker 1: put them in like a little time scale to get that.
Speaker 1: But I mean, my dad wasn't there. My mom she
Speaker 1: wear two jobs, so I really didn't know nothing about nutrition.
Speaker 1: So I was eating bad food and really went paying
Speaker 1: too much attention about my eating habits so that that
Speaker 1: didn't happen. But they came in. They want to speed,
Speaker 1: and it took. It took a chance on Appalachian States,
Speaker 1: about thirty five minutes from where you grew up. You
Speaker 1: had a tremendous career there. The team won a bowl
Speaker 1: game every year you were there. What was the best
Speaker 1: part of your college experience really just learning and growing
Speaker 1: as a as a man and as an individual. I
Speaker 1: became a father there at the second, second, third year,
Speaker 1: so that was huge. And this Ben Rondo's guess and
Speaker 1: winning spirit. The most famous win in Appalachian State history
Speaker 1: was the upset over Michigan back in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 1: But you played a key role in an upset that
Speaker 1: was almost as big your senior year against North Carolina,
Speaker 1: the big school in the state. You had an interception,
Speaker 1: you blocked the game tying field goal attempt on the
Speaker 1: final play of the game. What stands out about that day?
Speaker 1: We want to call it upset because we felt like
Speaker 1: it was the business state we always filled that way.
Speaker 1: This is the chip we carry on a show this um.
Speaker 1: But that definitely huge win. This. It was my birthday
Speaker 1: that day too, so I definitely wanted to be a
Speaker 1: big game h We wanted to win that game. We
Speaker 1: went in knowing that we would win that game. So
Speaker 1: I think the whole game was this pretty It was good.
Speaker 1: Then I came in your senior year at app State.
Speaker 1: You suffered a stress fracture in your foot in week three.
Speaker 1: Doctor told you you could snap it if you kept playing,
Speaker 1: and that's what you did, even though you had an
Speaker 1: NFL future. Why did you chose to choose to keep playing?
Speaker 1: This has been out there. I know my gods was
Speaker 1: depending on me. You had two freshman players UM behind
Speaker 1: me that when one maybe one as ready to play,
Speaker 1: so the team was counting on me. I know, possibly
Speaker 1: could be my last time playing football if then the
Speaker 1: field didn't work out, So I just wanted to give
Speaker 1: him my own then if it if it was a breakdown,
Speaker 1: I'll be done. But I wanted to go all out
Speaker 1: and give him all to that team. We've mentioned your dad.
Speaker 1: He's a college football coach, currently the wide receivers coach
Speaker 1: at Army. What are some of the most importan lessons
Speaker 1: he gave you when it comes to football? Gave me
Speaker 1: a bunch. You'd probably called me at the every press
Speaker 1: of the game before I even get to get in
Speaker 1: the locker room. So he's always I called him coach
Speaker 1: that that's that's the name of my phone. He's half coach,
Speaker 1: half the it definitely always coaching me. But really the
Speaker 1: biggest thing he always try to implement my head is
Speaker 1: this be better than what you were yesterday. I try
Speaker 1: to start to do that. You were named the sun
Speaker 1: Belt Defensive Player of the Year your final year at
Speaker 1: Appalachian State. Previous winners of that award include the Great
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Ware. What did the honor mean and what kind
Speaker 1: of trophy or plaque do you get for being the
Speaker 1: sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year. I mean a
Speaker 1: lot this knowing how I started there, coming in off
Speaker 1: of Andrew when I got the red shirted, didn't play
Speaker 1: as much my first two and a half season, really
Speaker 1: was the best teams guy, and this kept finding my position.
Speaker 1: Coach kept believing in me, pushing pushing me to be
Speaker 1: better each day, and it's working my tail off to
Speaker 1: actually contribute more to my team and getting the start
Speaker 1: a role in this keep elevating each year. So that
Speaker 1: was definitely a huge war for my family. That's knowing
Speaker 1: that it wasn't easy for me. This went't handed to me.
Speaker 1: I had to work for and then it was good
Speaker 1: for my team, UM and the young guys that's coming
Speaker 1: in behind me knowing that the standard is set and
Speaker 1: now as day job, keep the standard and uplifted UM play.
Speaker 1: We get it. It's like a glass plot. It's pretty
Speaker 1: it's pretty sweet. I read that you started a cleaning
Speaker 1: business in college. Is that true? And if so, described, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we started that's that's summer going into my senior year,
Speaker 1: Me and a guy on a football team and my
Speaker 1: daughter's mom. We all started that h that summer or
Speaker 1: really that spring, and they really took off that summer
Speaker 1: going into going into camp out there really some workers
Speaker 1: so she wouldn't be dog tight. We had about three
Speaker 1: or four workers, but they got pretty pretty busy. Where
Speaker 1: did you clean offices, houses, whatever? Really? Everything we did
Speaker 1: the office, Airbnb's apartment turn around really not but students
Speaker 1: out there. So during the summers, I mean everybody's moving out,
Speaker 1: so we cleaned those. We did pressure Washington really in
Speaker 1: things you think of, we did all types of stuff.
Speaker 1: A few more fun facts for the King, David Skather,
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, you're a proud dad. Your daughter is
Speaker 1: Camella Joy. What's your favorite part of fatherhood? Definitely seeing
Speaker 1: her grow up. I'll just posted a picture yesterday when
Speaker 1: she was about thinking about spot six months at daycare.
Speaker 1: She was tiny and now she's run around talking, saying
Speaker 1: all kinds of stuff and it's time to a little kid.
Speaker 1: It's fun, all right. A few wild card questions to
Speaker 1: wrap things out. Who is your favorite athlete in any sport?
Speaker 1: And why? By Serry Lewis always just been locked down,
Speaker 1: the way, what he stands for, the way to do it,
Speaker 1: what he does on the field and off the field,
Speaker 1: just the energy bringing the football and to people around him.
Speaker 1: I always try to carry myself in that in that manner.
Speaker 1: Where do you like to spend your money on business opportunities.
Speaker 1: You don't have a closet full of shoes or electronics
Speaker 1: or whatever. Nuh, I mean I gotta I gotta gamester him,
Speaker 1: but I mean I probably turn it on once a decade.
Speaker 1: All right. Last thing, you have a hyphenated last name,
Speaker 1: Davis Gaither. Is that I always been the case or
Speaker 1: did you choose to do that? That was something I
Speaker 1: did for my dad. Since my dad he's gathering my
Speaker 1: moms Davis um because my dad, I have a few
Speaker 1: cousin did the last gathers. So he just wanted wanted,
Speaker 1: uh that for himself and for my family, so I
Speaker 1: can represent Davis ain't gather. It must have brought me
Speaker 1: something that because once I did that, that's when football
Speaker 1: changed for me. That's when I started starting all that.
Speaker 1: It's a great way to pay tribute to both parents.
Speaker 1: Are you hey, You're off to hot seat. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you doing this. Best of luct to rest of the year,
Speaker 1: all right, thank you, Hi, Thanks to rookie A Keen
Speaker 1: Davis Skaith And here's a quick reminder to join Lap
Speaker 1: and Lance McAlister for Bengals Line Monday night from six
Speaker 1: to nine on seven hundred WLW. Done on Wednesday night,
Speaker 1: I'll join Lap for the Bengals Game Plan Show from
Speaker 1: six to eight on ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to
Speaker 1: do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast,
Speaker 1: brought to you by bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast