Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Deep Bone Push addition, as
Speaker 1: the Bengals take a huge step forward in Week two
Speaker 1: at Kansas City, but wind up losing a heartbreaker on
Speaker 1: the final play of the game twenty six to twenty five.
Speaker 1: Coming up radio replays, locker room comments, and postgame analysis
Speaker 1: from Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's fun Facts Conversation,
Speaker 1: you'll get to know robo leg rookie punter Ryan Rico.
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Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's
Speaker 1: a quick that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since college football traveling trophies. The UC Bearcats and
Speaker 1: Miami RedHawks have been playing football since eighteen eighty eight,
Speaker 1: and when Cincinnati beat Miami this past Saturday, the Bearcats
Speaker 1: gained possession of the victory bell. I love those traveling trophies.
Speaker 1: Michigan State and Indiana compete for the Old Brass Spatoon.
Speaker 1: TCU and SMU battle for the Iron Skillet, and when
Speaker 1: Wisconsin faces Minnesota, the winner gets Paul Bunyan's Acts. The
Speaker 1: Bengals in Chiefs don't compete for a traveling trophy, but
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if they meet again in late
Speaker 1: January for the Lamar Hunt Trophy that goes to the
Speaker 1: winner of the AFC Championship Game. They certainly looked like
Speaker 1: two of the NFL's best teams on Sunday, and let's
Speaker 1: get to the radio replays from their latest thriller. Today,
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals in the Kansas City Chiefs play their
Speaker 1: sixth game in less than two years and nine months.
Speaker 1: The first five meetings were nail biers, as every game
Speaker 1: featured a lead change in the fourth quarter. Will we
Speaker 1: get another instant classic today? It is time for the
Speaker 1: pigskin to fly here at Arrowhead Stadium, and on fourth
Speaker 1: down and a long three, the Bengals will go for
Speaker 1: it at the Kansas City forty four.
Speaker 2: Drop Chris Jones off sides, get him to jump.
Speaker 1: Two receivers on each side of the formation. Shotgun snap
Speaker 1: Burrow from the pocket, good protection.
Speaker 2: Hey Thine. It's caught looking to.
Speaker 1: The twenty five, twenty fifteen ten and down to the six,
Speaker 1: goes tight end Mike Gesicki. It's going to be first
Speaker 1: in goal, trying to give Cincinnati the early lead. The snap,
Speaker 1: the placement, the swing of the right leg. The kick
Speaker 1: is on its way and it is good. And the
Speaker 1: Bengals go down the field and score on their opening
Speaker 1: drive to take a three to nothing lead. Mahomes back
Speaker 1: to throw, good protection, fires down the middle. It the
Speaker 1: Bengals have the ball. A Keem Davis gather with the
Speaker 1: pick and he gets brought down at the thirty two
Speaker 1: yard line. That is the second career interception for the
Speaker 1: Bengals linebacker. He's got one off Lamar Jackson and one
Speaker 1: off Patrick Mahomet.
Speaker 2: That's a pretty good role call right there.
Speaker 1: Third down and goal from the four, shotgun snap, Burrow
Speaker 1: cocks the arm, throws a dive toward the pylon.
Speaker 2: Yeah it is call it they're talking about.
Speaker 1: It's a conference no signal yet, touchdown andre Yoci Bosh
Speaker 1: Noah Gray motions as Mahomes drops back to throw from
Speaker 1: the pocket, slings it deep as a man open deep.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a touchdown to Rashi Rice. He
Speaker 1: went streaking down the left sideline. Mahomes dropped it right
Speaker 1: in the bread basket for a forty four yard td
Speaker 1: Second and ten Kansas City. The Chiefs at their own
Speaker 1: forty two yard line. Here's a handoff to steal. The
Speaker 1: rookie runs up the gun. The ball comes out. He
Speaker 1: got a pile at the forty seven yard line. They
Speaker 1: got it there it is. There's the signal. Pratt as
Speaker 1: the football. The Bengals will go post for a picture.
Speaker 1: They've got their second takeaway here in the first half,
Speaker 1: and assuming it stands up, they're gonna have the ball
Speaker 1: at the Kansas City forty seven yard line. The snap,
Speaker 1: the placement, McPherson's kick high enough, long enough and good.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Mahomes in the gun, second and goal inside the one.
Speaker 1: Mahomes fakes a handoff, throws a pass caught jan Ye Morris.
Speaker 1: They go with a trick play. They throw it to
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman and jan Ye Morris catches the TD.
Speaker 1: The ball's in the middle of the field at the thirty.
Speaker 1: Burrow back to throw after faking de Boss, he guns
Speaker 1: it deep Tremaine Burton over his shoulder catch at the
Speaker 1: Kansas City twenty five. He gets tackled at the twenty
Speaker 1: two by Jalen Watson.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you Dan what to throw.
Speaker 1: Fourth down and goal from the three, the Bengals elect
Speaker 1: to go for it, even though a field goal would
Speaker 1: give them the lead. Burrow looking to throw, bouncing backward,
Speaker 1: he throws into the end zone and is caught for
Speaker 1: the touchdown. Andre Yo Sivosh with his second touchdown catch
Speaker 1: of the game, and the Bengals, with a gutsy call,
Speaker 1: go for it on fourth and goal from the three
Speaker 1: and score. Mahomes from the pocket, throws toward the left sideline,
Speaker 1: tipped and picked up. The Bengals are on their feet
Speaker 1: and running it back. They're saying Cam Taylor Britt might
Speaker 1: have been down. He's still running toward the end zone,
Speaker 1: but I think he was touched after going down with
Speaker 1: the pick.
Speaker 2: And he catches it with one hand, the right hand.
Speaker 1: He's back to throw. He's under pressure Joe takes off
Speaker 1: and gets dragged down. The ball comes out, Kansas City
Speaker 1: scoops it up one The Chiefs are running it back
Speaker 1: at the ten five Chamari Cotter goes into the end zone.
Speaker 2: What he wasn't down and Joe's not disputing it.
Speaker 1: A fifty three yard attempt from the right. Hash rookie
Speaker 1: punter Ryan Rico is the holder. McPherson is set, Adam
Speaker 1: Mighte is ready to snap it back to snap the placement.
Speaker 1: Money Max swings the moneymaker and his kick is good
Speaker 1: and the Bengals are back in front with nine twenty
Speaker 1: eight to go.
Speaker 2: Here we go forty.
Speaker 1: Eight seconds to go, Cincinnati up by two points. Fourth
Speaker 1: down and sixteen for the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes catches
Speaker 1: a shotgun snap, drops back, bouncing at the twenty three
Speaker 1: scrambling left, stays behind the line, throws down field, broken
Speaker 1: up by days on ay, there's a penalty flag on
Speaker 1: the Bengals rookie Wow.
Speaker 2: He's gonna call pass interference on that.
Speaker 1: Rashi Rice was the intended Reconcei Wow at the thirty
Speaker 1: five yard line of Cincinnati, fifty one yards away for
Speaker 1: the win. Three seconds left in the game. Winchester ready
Speaker 1: to snap it back. The snap, the placement, the right
Speaker 1: footed kick by Bucker is good. Kansas City wins twenty
Speaker 1: six twenty five. You know what, I hope in the
Speaker 1: very near future that Dejon Anthony makes a great play
Speaker 1: that helps the Bengals win a game. I've talked to
Speaker 1: him several times since the Bengals drafted him in the
Speaker 1: seventh round this year, and he is a great kid.
Speaker 1: Here's hoping that kind hearted Bengals fans lift his spirits
Speaker 1: in the days to come. Now, let's get to some stats.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow was twenty three for thirty six for two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty eight yards, with two touchdowns, no picks,
Speaker 1: and a passer rating of one ozh three point seven.
Speaker 1: Hopefully that will silence the amateur hand and risk specialists
Speaker 1: analyze his every move. Joe said it was as frustrating
Speaker 1: as any loss he's ever had, but if he keeps
Speaker 1: playing like that, the Bengals won't lose very often. Mike
Speaker 1: Kasicki was his leading target with seven catches for ninety
Speaker 1: one yards, and both of Joe's touchdown passes went to
Speaker 1: Andrea Yosi. Vash I spoke to Andre after the game, Andrea,
Speaker 1: I feel like this is one of these games where
Speaker 1: you did everything but win.
Speaker 2: Is that how it feels.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the only point of the game is
Speaker 3: to win, so like it feels like that. But also
Speaker 3: you lost, so it's a tough one of Smoller for sure.
Speaker 3: But we'll be back, and you know, we did some
Speaker 3: good things tonight, so that's promising for sure.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like the Bengals showed that you're the
Speaker 1: team that everybody.
Speaker 3: Thought you were? Yeah, I mean we knew it. I
Speaker 3: think the public more was doubting it, but we knew
Speaker 3: our identity and we came out here and we fought
Speaker 3: and we're just gonna keep building.
Speaker 1: Let's just discuss your two touchdown catches. The first one
Speaker 1: I think think I saw that play in training camp. Yeah,
Speaker 1: where you just made a great move to get open
Speaker 1: up the pilon and then kept your feet in bolence.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I just waited for Joe's eyes and
Speaker 3: then I sprinted back to the pilon and he made
Speaker 3: a really good throw, like only where I could get it,
Speaker 3: and you know, I kind of just let my legs
Speaker 3: go dead and just dragged him.
Speaker 1: In second one, fourth and goal gots he call to
Speaker 1: go for it. You got wide open on that one. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Oh, I was supposed to run across the field, and
Speaker 3: then I saw Joe look at me, but I felt
Speaker 3: the defender undercut me, so I knew that wouldn't be
Speaker 3: a good throw. So I kind of just did my
Speaker 3: own thing and just went back to the right.
Speaker 1: Final drive of the game, Joe throws a pass that
Speaker 1: looked like it got on you a little bit fast,
Speaker 1: a little bit high. Described that play.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a bang bang throw. You kind of want
Speaker 3: to clear that linebacker level and get your eyes around.
Speaker 3: They were watched it on the film, but I wish
Speaker 3: I could have came down with that one, for sure.
Speaker 1: Bengals Chiefs. I mean, every time you guys play, the
Speaker 1: lead changes hands in the fourth quarter. I guess we've
Speaker 1: come to expect these classic games, and unfortunately classic game
Speaker 1: but with a bad ending for Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think we both respect
Speaker 3: each other, man. You know, we both know what's on
Speaker 3: the line whenever you play each other. So we'll be
Speaker 3: seeing them later, for sure.
Speaker 1: And there's six meetings over the last three seasons. Each
Speaker 1: team has won three, and the overall score is Kansas
Speaker 1: City one fifty three and Cincinnati one fifty. It is
Speaker 1: a tremendous rivalry. Defensively, Jermaine Pratt had a career high
Speaker 1: sixteen tackles, and Trey Hendrickson was a pass rushing menace.
Speaker 1: He had two sacks, three quarterback hits, and drew three
Speaker 1: ten yard penalties. Here's Trey in front of his locker
Speaker 1: after the game.
Speaker 4: You know, you don't get sacks if there's no good coverage,
Speaker 4: and you don't get good sacks is not good rush.
Speaker 4: So you know, credit to the rest of the defense
Speaker 4: and you know, we we we'll get back in the
Speaker 4: wing calm.
Speaker 2: How much did you take even as much pride over
Speaker 2: the penalties too? I mean it wasn't just when you
Speaker 2: got there, but drawing those those penalties are being massive.
Speaker 1: Was that as much, you know, as effective as the
Speaker 1: sacks in your mind?
Speaker 2: Well, you know that's one of the things.
Speaker 4: You know, the integrity of the game needs to be there,
Speaker 4: you know, no matter what on rushing, you know it's
Speaker 4: it's keeping your hands out of the.
Speaker 2: Other guy's face.
Speaker 4: It's that way for the defense too, So you know,
Speaker 4: when those things happen, you know, credit to the ref
Speaker 4: But I mean, you know, it's it's whatever way you
Speaker 4: want to look at it. Sometimes you get the call,
Speaker 4: sometimes you don't. You just gotta keep rushing.
Speaker 1: How tough is it when you outplay them in many
Speaker 1: ways and don't get the win.
Speaker 4: Well, this is a win loss league, you know. Unfortunately
Speaker 4: that's the way it is. And we have a lot
Speaker 4: to build on, a lot to get better about, and
Speaker 4: we look forward to doing that next week. Big step
Speaker 4: forward for the defense today, in your opinion, A lot
Speaker 4: of guys stepped up. You know, we had we had
Speaker 4: a lot of guys played at a high level. I
Speaker 4: mean Sam was rushing great. On the other side, Joseph
Speaker 4: stepped up, and you know the guys interiorly, when guys
Speaker 4: went down, they stepped to the play too. So I'm
Speaker 4: proud of this defensive line and defense in general.
Speaker 2: A lot to look forward to.
Speaker 4: But right now, tough loss.
Speaker 2: How much does.
Speaker 3: Change for you when the guys on the inside go down?
Speaker 4: Well, you know it's it's those are your brothers in battle,
Speaker 4: you know, those are those are my guys. We've been
Speaker 4: through a camp, We've been through a lot of adversity
Speaker 4: in the short period of time. But we're building that
Speaker 4: culture and identity as a defensive line that's unique every year.
Speaker 4: So when you see one of your friends and brothers
Speaker 4: go down, especially guys playing at an extremely high level
Speaker 4: like Sheldon and BJ, it gives opportunity for the younger guys.
Speaker 4: But man, you know, those guys are talented interior players,
Speaker 4: and anytime a guy like that or guys like that
Speaker 4: go down, that's a blove for the defense.
Speaker 1: When you guys are able to force turnovers this week,
Speaker 1: what does that do for the confidence and momentum of
Speaker 1: this defense?
Speaker 4: You know, like I said, there's a lot to be
Speaker 4: excited about, a lot to fix right now.
Speaker 2: We're w and too.
Speaker 4: You know, nobody's panicking, but there's a sense of urgency
Speaker 4: to dial in and do the fundamentals and technique that
Speaker 4: lead to winning, you know, and things like that.
Speaker 2: So and it's not one particular play.
Speaker 4: You know, there's there's a lot that goes into losing
Speaker 4: and there's a lot that goes into winning. And it's
Speaker 4: usually a one possession game and that's how it goes.
Speaker 1: The Bengals won the turnover battle three to one, which
Speaker 1: almost always means victory. But Evan McPherson missed an extra point,
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase lost control of his emotions and got a
Speaker 1: fifteen yard on sportsman like conduct penalty, and Dejon Anthony
Speaker 1: was called for pass interference on fourth and sixteen in
Speaker 1: the final minute. Those are the type of mistakes you
Speaker 1: simply can't make against the team like Kansas City. Now,
Speaker 1: let's hear what head coach Zach Taylor had to say
Speaker 1: as he spent a few minutes with Dave Lapham after
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: Heartbreaking, coach, I mean, gave everything that the team had
Speaker 2: to give. They gave it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, disappointedly lost, Proud of how our team fought, you know,
Speaker 5: and gave herself opportunities to win that game. We came
Speaker 5: up one place short, but again, loved the energy, loved
Speaker 5: the enthusiasm, loved the relentlessness, Loved how we played together
Speaker 5: as a team, Loved the emotion er guys showed.
Speaker 2: There's a lot to build all here. There's no question
Speaker 2: about that, you know. It's just it's it's a play
Speaker 2: here and there, I mean a turnover for a defensive touchdown.
Speaker 2: Those are always tough things to overcome when you get
Speaker 2: an unscripted, unconventional score like that and then appendently on
Speaker 2: fourth and sixteen is a tough pill to swallow as well.
Speaker 5: It is, but you know it's it's part of the game.
Speaker 5: And those bang bang plays, they're going to call it
Speaker 5: like they see it. I thought a defense did a
Speaker 5: great job rising up, giving up what two yards on
Speaker 5: the next three plays, making it a difficult field goal.
Speaker 5: Unfortunately their guy just punch it through.
Speaker 2: So where do you I mean, obviously major improvement in
Speaker 2: the performance today than the performance in the in the
Speaker 2: opening weekend. Do you what's your thought on that? We
Speaker 2: keep growing?
Speaker 5: You know, that's what we do. You know, it's we
Speaker 5: don't We're not a team right now that that takes
Speaker 5: pride in our losses. You know, we expect to win.
Speaker 5: That's that's where we're at as a team. But there's
Speaker 5: a lot of things to continue to build off of
Speaker 5: that are going to lead towards a really good season.
Speaker 5: We got to come back on Monday Night football in
Speaker 5: front of what I assume is going to be a
Speaker 5: tremendous crowd, give us great energy and come back and
Speaker 5: start pointing this thing in the right direction.
Speaker 2: What did you like best about what your offense did today?
Speaker 2: Kept fighting?
Speaker 5: You know, I think, you know, we finished in the
Speaker 5: in zone on every possession of the first half with
Speaker 5: points at least, came out in the second half right away,
Speaker 5: scored and and you know, just just man just missed
Speaker 5: by an indshine a couple of players there in the
Speaker 5: fourth quarter. But that's when you play good team. That's
Speaker 5: how it's going to play out. And came down to
Speaker 5: last second kick like it always does against these guys,
Speaker 5: and you know, we just got to suck it up
Speaker 5: and be ready to move on.
Speaker 2: I thought your your tight end group had a great game.
Speaker 2: I thought your game plan with your tight ends was
Speaker 2: pretty darn good. I thought it kind of hurt them
Speaker 2: early on. They had to make some adjustments to what
Speaker 2: you guys were doing. What did you think about your
Speaker 2: tight ends today? All wrong, did a.
Speaker 5: Great job, James Casey gets guys ready, had a lot
Speaker 5: of them we can use in a lot of different ways.
Speaker 5: I thought the way that the run game of the
Speaker 5: past game has built this week to help those guys
Speaker 5: and take the pressure off some of the receivers at
Speaker 5: times too. You know, with the defense they're going to
Speaker 5: play to that. So again it's I thought the execution
Speaker 5: is pretty good you know, we just needed one more
Speaker 5: score there.
Speaker 2: Joe obviously I thought played a much different football game
Speaker 2: than what the opener. You saw in the opener, What
Speaker 2: did you think about Joe Burrow's performance today?
Speaker 5: I had a chance to get a rhythm. We've got
Speaker 5: a lot more points, you know, and so just again,
Speaker 5: the first drive getting points on the board changes everything
Speaker 5: for your team. And and they're you know, when you're
Speaker 5: not able to score until the second half last game,
Speaker 5: we don't get a chance to get into a rhythm.
Speaker 5: So this is back to the team that we know
Speaker 5: we're gonna.
Speaker 2: Have this uh, this rivalry and it is that I
Speaker 2: mean between the Bengals and the Chiefs is just I
Speaker 2: mean the games are like instant classics, every single one
Speaker 2: of them. It's it's incredible to watch these two teams.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we got to continue to fight. There's there's uh,
Speaker 5: we'd love to see them again, you know, and get
Speaker 5: our chance to win the game. You know, that's that's
Speaker 5: got to be as we move forward, the expectation that
Speaker 5: we'll see them again.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time as always, thank you.
Speaker 1: So the Bengals are zero and two, just like the
Speaker 1: Ravens who lost at home, to Las Vegas. The Browns
Speaker 1: are one and one after a road win at Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: and Pittsburgh is two and oh after winning at Denver.
Speaker 1: The Steelers have only scored one touchdown in two games,
Speaker 1: but their defense has been outstanding. Up next for the
Speaker 1: Bengals a Monday night home game against Washington that will
Speaker 1: feature Rig of Honor induction ceremonies for Tim Crumrae and
Speaker 1: Corey Dillon. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals Official HR
Speaker 1: software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed
Speaker 1: to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level,
Speaker 1: and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Now time for the radio guys recap.
Speaker 2: Lap.
Speaker 1: You've been there, I haven't been. What's it like as
Speaker 1: a professional athlete when in many ways you outplay the
Speaker 1: opponent and a good opponent and don't come away with
Speaker 1: a win.
Speaker 2: It rips your heart out. I mean it's the most devastating,
Speaker 2: you know, feeling other than you know, personal tragedies like
Speaker 2: you know, death, of a love corners and people say, ah,
Speaker 2: come on, no, seriously. I mean it's put you put
Speaker 2: so much into it and you feel like you got
Speaker 2: it and then it's just ripped away from you at
Speaker 2: the end of a football game like that. It's it's tough,
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's a hard thing to bounce back from.
Speaker 2: But that's what you have to do. You're a professional
Speaker 2: and you have to you have to work through it.
Speaker 2: You have to bounce back from it. You have to
Speaker 2: see what you did right and continue to do that
Speaker 2: and see what didn't go right and correct it and
Speaker 2: try to be better the next time. I mean literally,
Speaker 2: we always say it comes down to you can pick
Speaker 2: a bunch of players, where at one point game it
Speaker 2: comes down to a play, and there's a myriad of
Speaker 2: plays you can pick from. It was just a tooth
Speaker 2: and nail back and forth Fox football game between two
Speaker 2: good football teams. And I think this game shows what
Speaker 2: the Cincinnati Bengals are more capable of.
Speaker 1: I think let's discuss a few positive Let's start with
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. Nobody's going to be asking a bunch of
Speaker 1: questions about how he lifts a water bottle anymore risk
Speaker 1: looked fine through the ball. Well, Joe Burrows back.
Speaker 2: He is, and you know, I think you should have
Speaker 2: had you know, yeah, two hundred and fifty eight yards
Speaker 2: on twenty three completions. I can think of four drops,
Speaker 2: you know, would have given them probably three hundred yards
Speaker 2: and twenty seven completions. You know, I thought he played well.
Speaker 2: I thought he you know, he bought time in the pockets,
Speaker 2: manipulate in the pocket. It looked like it looked like
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow really did, you know? In the unfortunate Dana
Speaker 2: makes great play. Dana strips the football and they pick
Speaker 2: it up and and have a defensive score. And you know,
Speaker 2: we always talk about those unscripted, unconventional scores or are
Speaker 2: difference makers a lot of times in a game like this,
Speaker 2: that was one of the difference makers for sure.
Speaker 1: You said before the game and laps keys to the game,
Speaker 1: I want to see multiple tight ends. I want to
Speaker 1: see a sixth offensive lineman. You got your wish. And
Speaker 1: that is one of the most productive receiving games by
Speaker 1: a tight end groups the Bengals have had in a
Speaker 1: long long time.
Speaker 2: I'm just totally it up. Fourteen catches, one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty one yards out of the tight ends. I mean,
Speaker 2: I thought that the game plan was extraordinary. I thought
Speaker 2: that Steve Spagnolo initially was just playing soft shell coverage.
Speaker 2: You know, it was like when you go three tight
Speaker 2: ends like that, that's what they do, That's what they'd shown,
Speaker 2: I guess, and that's what he did anyway, initially. And
Speaker 2: he had to make adjustments, and they always do. I mean,
Speaker 2: all these great coaches, I mean, the coaching matchups in
Speaker 2: this football game are extraordinary as well, not only the
Speaker 2: adjustments for the adjustments to the adjustments, and all the
Speaker 2: chess match that goes on is pretty extraordinary. You know,
Speaker 2: two really good football teams, well coached football teams. I
Speaker 2: thought penalties, you know, bit the Bengals today a heck
Speaker 2: of a lot more than last week. I mean, they
Speaker 2: only had two for ten yards last week. I guess
Speaker 2: that was kind of like, you know, the one bright spot.
Speaker 2: I guess they didn't self destruct by penalty. They self
Speaker 2: destructed by turnover and fourth down stops. But I mean,
Speaker 2: they score a touchdown a fourth down this football game.
Speaker 2: In our gutsy in that regard, I mean, I thought,
Speaker 2: I thought they did so many things right, but just
Speaker 2: a few things that went wrong were big. They were
Speaker 2: big and ended up costing the football game.
Speaker 1: I'm guided for Dejhon Anthony. He's sitting there in the
Speaker 1: locker room like he saw a ghost. Nobody wants to
Speaker 1: say anything to him. How do you boost a teammate
Speaker 1: after one of those moments, because it happens, It happens
Speaker 1: to a lot of great players, it does.
Speaker 2: You got to give them some time in space. I
Speaker 2: mean I always handled it like I waited till they
Speaker 2: wanted to come talk about it. You know. I never
Speaker 2: went over there and like, you know, hey, you know
Speaker 2: you'll be fine.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 2: It's like, man, you just gotta It's almost like when
Speaker 2: you do lose the love, when you have to agree
Speaker 2: for a while, you know. And I think there's a
Speaker 2: grieving process when something like that happens to you. And
Speaker 2: you know, he had a penalty that negated an interception
Speaker 2: or fumble whatever, it was a turnover that was big.
Speaker 2: But Bengals got another one. But this one, you know,
Speaker 2: obviously it's right at the end of the football game.
Speaker 2: It gives them their final yards necessary basically to kick
Speaker 2: a game winning field goal. So I mean, of all
Speaker 2: the of all the players that cost the Bengals. That's
Speaker 2: the last one, and that's the one that's magnified by
Speaker 2: one hundred and yeah, he won't he won't sleep much
Speaker 2: of the night.
Speaker 1: I'm sure this is going to sound absurd, but I
Speaker 1: feel worse about the Patriots game right now than I
Speaker 1: did last week because if they were one and one
Speaker 1: with a performance like that against Kansas City, we would
Speaker 1: all be thinking this team is on its way, and
Speaker 1: I still feel good about how they're going to play
Speaker 1: going forward. But if they were one and one with
Speaker 1: a toe to toe could have should have beaten the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs type game, you'd be thinking, all right,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are easily going to win the AFC North,
Speaker 1: or at least have the type of team to do it.
Speaker 2: You've convinced me you're recommend to sound I mean, honestly,
Speaker 2: I could. I felt kind of as I was walking
Speaker 2: down to the locker room, felt kind of the same way.
Speaker 2: It's like when I look back, you know, at some
Speaker 2: point in the season and say, Okay, in Kins City game,
Speaker 2: I mean, that was a dogfight. That Patriots game. Man,
Speaker 2: that things, that's that's got a lingering odor to it.
Speaker 2: You know. I mean that one is uh, they had
Speaker 2: a player on this football team Chanel, like to get
Speaker 2: a lot of Chanel and spread it all over that
Speaker 2: lost Beau's been that thing. That thing needs some help.
Speaker 2: That one was not a was not a good performance.
Speaker 2: But I do think that's a positive sign too that
Speaker 2: they put that away, you know, and came out and played.
Speaker 2: I mean, they didn't have a lead at all in
Speaker 2: that football game at home, and they led for the
Speaker 2: majority of this football game. Great football team, back to
Speaker 2: back world champions at home, found a way to win.
Speaker 2: And the great one the great teams always do. They
Speaker 2: figure out somehow, by some way, shape or form, they
Speaker 2: find a way to win games like this. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: Chris Jenkins is out, McKinley Jackson is out, b J Hill,
Speaker 1: Sheldon Rankins exited today. I don't know how serious their
Speaker 1: injuries are, but the Bengals are painfully thin right now
Speaker 1: at defensive tackle.
Speaker 2: They sure are.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: You got to hope that Jenkins might be able to
Speaker 2: participate next week. He's had you know, the surgery, and
Speaker 2: he's had different clubs put on it, and I think
Speaker 2: he's probably going to be auditioning other clubs to see
Speaker 2: what type of club he's gonna have to use to
Speaker 2: be able to go out there and participate. But it's
Speaker 2: not easy playing, you know, pad it up like that
Speaker 2: in club like that, you know, a defensive line can
Speaker 2: use their hands and grab and when you're grabbing with
Speaker 2: one hand, that's that limits to the effect this big time.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's like it's a hard thing to deal with.
Speaker 2: It's a hard thing to work through. But they may
Speaker 2: have to. I mean they are they are thin as
Speaker 2: thin can be and I'm not going to get you know,
Speaker 2: McKinley Jackson back until after four games, so I think
Speaker 2: I think he'll might be suffering with hamstring injury. And
Speaker 2: depending on the location of it, is it up by
Speaker 2: the butt, is in the middle, is it down by
Speaker 2: the knee? You know, those are always factors. How much
Speaker 2: will he be able to give them? And rankins Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't know what that injury is. But he was
Speaker 2: on and off the football field struggling trying to come back.
Speaker 2: I think that's the thing about the football team. Too
Speaker 2: many they were showing you know, resilience, physical and mental
Speaker 2: resilience and never gave up, never gave up an inch,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, they fought literally till the bitter end,
Speaker 2: and unfortunately it was a bitter end.
Speaker 1: The row and two. The Ravens are rowing two up
Speaker 1: next to Monday night home game against Washington. We know
Speaker 1: how well the Bengals have played at primetime games at
Speaker 1: home in recent years. After that, a road game at Carolina,
Speaker 1: the Panthers, at least so far, looked like they're the
Speaker 1: worst team in the NFL. They must get to two
Speaker 1: and two before Baltimore in Game five.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, I mean, it's you know, you look
Speaker 2: at there's all these stats out there, teams that start
Speaker 2: going to only five percent of them, you know, get
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl in the last X number of
Speaker 2: years or whatever. It's a good football team. It's still
Speaker 2: it was better than they played light years better and
Speaker 2: they played in the opener. But they still have upside,
Speaker 2: a good deal of upside. And that's that's the encouraging thing.
Speaker 2: Like you said, though, missing, some body's gotta get all
Speaker 2: hands back on deck. There's no question about that.
Speaker 1: One guy should be back soon, as t Higgins, who
Speaker 1: has been dealing with a hamstring injury. There have been
Speaker 1: a few times this year where I found myself thinking
Speaker 1: te probably would have made that play. Now time for
Speaker 1: this week's fun fact segment, where you get to know
Speaker 1: the person under the pads. Time for some fun facts
Speaker 1: with punter Ryan Rico, a native of Veradale, Washington. I
Speaker 1: am not familiar with Veradale. Where exactly is it? And
Speaker 1: describe your hometown.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've never actually said I'm from Veradale. It's just Spokane, Washington,
Speaker 6: but yeah, just right there in the valley. Went to
Speaker 6: Central High School. Just growing up in the Northwest, everything
Speaker 6: you can think of, having fun out in the outdoors,
Speaker 6: playing sports. It was a great time.
Speaker 1: Kicking runs in the family. Your older brother, Austin was
Speaker 1: a great kicker and punter in college at the University
Speaker 1: of Idaho. He had several opportunities to compete with NFL
Speaker 1: teams in training camp. How did the Rico brothers become
Speaker 1: such great kickers.
Speaker 6: Man, It's kind of just a weird niche that we
Speaker 6: kind of fell into. We grew up playing basketball mainly,
Speaker 6: and then soccer as well. When my older brother got
Speaker 6: to high school, they needed a kicker, saw that he
Speaker 6: could kick it pretty far on the soccer field and
Speaker 6: kind of recruited him over. So then from there, it
Speaker 6: just kind of took off. He was able to go
Speaker 6: and play in college. Being the little brother that I was,
Speaker 6: I wanted to do what he was doing and try
Speaker 6: and beat him at it. So I feel like just
Speaker 6: that competition between us really kind of helped elevate both
Speaker 6: of us. Obviously would not be here without his help
Speaker 6: and kind of guidance throughout everything. But yeah, we just
Speaker 6: enjoy kicking things, I guess, and it's been a great,
Speaker 6: great career so far.
Speaker 1: We're visiting the Ryan Rico. The longest field goal in
Speaker 1: the history of high school football is sixty eight yards.
Speaker 1: Your brother made a sixty seven yard or he just
Speaker 1: missed the all time record. Were you there?
Speaker 6: I was not there. I was babysitting my other younger brothers.
Speaker 6: I remember one of my friends is like, dude, did
Speaker 6: your brother just hit a long field goal? And I
Speaker 6: was like, yeah, I mean he's hit some long ones before.
Speaker 6: He's like, they're saying like sixty seven yards, and I
Speaker 6: was like, no, I think he might have heard it wrong,
Speaker 6: like that's a little too long. Parents come home, They're like,
Speaker 6: I can't believe you guys weren't there, And so obviously
Speaker 6: you have seen the video hundreds of times. We love
Speaker 6: reliving it and stuff like that, but just an awesome
Speaker 6: moment for him. It really kind of put him on
Speaker 6: the map as far as recruiting goes. And I mean
Speaker 6: that was kind of just the beginning of things to come.
Speaker 1: Is Evan McPherson aware of the fact that your brother
Speaker 1: made a sixty seven yard field goal.
Speaker 6: I don't think he isn't think. I think he knows
Speaker 6: that he punted, but I don't think he quite knows
Speaker 6: about what happened in high school. So I'll have to
Speaker 6: I'll maybe have to drop that one time when Evant
Speaker 6: hits along, and I'll be like, my brother hit that
Speaker 6: like ten years ago, something like that.
Speaker 1: You are a punter in a linebacker's body. You are
Speaker 1: six four, two hundred and thirty five pounds. Did you
Speaker 1: play linebacker, defensive end or anything like that when you
Speaker 1: were a kid.
Speaker 6: No, So I didn't start playing football until high school.
Speaker 6: My freshman year on the freshman team, I played tight end.
Speaker 6: But really I thought basketball was going to be more
Speaker 6: my path, and so it was more like, just stay
Speaker 6: healthy during football season. You can be athletic during basketball season.
Speaker 6: So kicking and punting definitely lended itself to staying healthy
Speaker 6: throughout the fall, and then it was just kind of
Speaker 6: trying to show off during basketball.
Speaker 1: When it was time to pick a college, you chose BYU.
Speaker 1: I've read it was your dream school. Was that the
Speaker 1: case and if.
Speaker 2: So, why? Yes? Absolutely?
Speaker 6: Looking back on my time at BYU, I mean I
Speaker 6: don't think I would be the same person that I
Speaker 6: am today. A really big part of that was just
Speaker 6: lined up with my values. I'm a member of the church.
Speaker 6: It allowed me and go to serve a mission for
Speaker 6: those two years and just was an absolutely life changing experience.
Speaker 6: Helped me just develop learn what life is all about,
Speaker 6: kind of get my priorities in line and establish that
Speaker 6: work ethic. And then once I was at BYU, I
Speaker 6: couldn't have asked for a better environment, coaches, lifelong friends,
Speaker 6: I met my wife while I was there. Really can't
Speaker 6: imagine life without BYU.
Speaker 1: Those LDS missions are really interesting to me. I think
Speaker 1: there are a lot of misconceptions about them. You went
Speaker 1: to England. What was the experience like for you and
Speaker 1: what did you gain from it?
Speaker 6: Yeah, that those two years I feel like meant everything
Speaker 6: to me, just because it allowed me to really kind
Speaker 6: of establish who I was, because when you're out there,
Speaker 6: nobody knows that you're gonna go play football or what
Speaker 6: you've done in the past, and you're really just there
Speaker 6: to try and help, to try and serve others. And
Speaker 6: so just getting to see that everybody has something to offer,
Speaker 6: you can learn something from everybody. I think without that,
Speaker 6: I just would not be the same person. I feel
Speaker 6: like every single part about that mission, the schedule, the people. Heck,
Speaker 6: I would walk down the street and you hear like
Speaker 6: fifteen twenty different languages, and just to think of like
Speaker 6: where I've walked, it's just history everywhere. Just an amazing experience,
Speaker 6: and I couldn't be more grateful for it.
Speaker 1: After your mission, you went to BYU in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: and punted right away. You were the punter for four
Speaker 1: straight years. In twenty twenty one, you had an eighty
Speaker 1: three yard punt, which is the school record. I went
Speaker 1: back and watched the video. So the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: is the seventeen the ball winds up in the end zone,
Speaker 1: but the actual punt, when you kick the ball, you
Speaker 1: were at your own six and it landed at the
Speaker 1: other team's ten. That's eighty four yards in the air.
Speaker 1: How do you kick a football eighty four yards in
Speaker 1: the air.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would like to think that having a linebacker
Speaker 6: body helps, but really I feel like just sometimes you
Speaker 6: hit a ball and it just goes like it just
Speaker 6: takes off. So obviously you want to do that more
Speaker 6: often than not. And gratefully we had a lot of
Speaker 6: feel to work with on that one, but really it's
Speaker 6: like you don't get out there thinking like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 6: gonna set a school record and hit a really long punt.
Speaker 6: It kind of just comes naturally, I think. But yeah,
Speaker 6: that's always a fun one to go back, look back
Speaker 6: on and just kind of reminisce, like, oh, yeah, I
Speaker 6: remember that one just to this day really vividly how
Speaker 6: it all felt.
Speaker 1: Is that the furthest you have ever kicked the ball, practice, game,
Speaker 1: et cetera.
Speaker 6: Oh man, I've hit some other from the WINUS scrimmage
Speaker 6: seventy seventy five yards before, so however far that is
Speaker 6: from where you actually kick it, But that one, that
Speaker 6: one was just really clean that I I remember exactly
Speaker 6: how it felt and just literally just like dang, I
Speaker 6: caught that one really well.
Speaker 1: Any golfer can identify when you hit one just right
Speaker 1: we're visiting with Ryan Rico. You average more forty seven
Speaker 1: yards of punt in your college career. You were considered
Speaker 1: one of three legitimate NFL prospects in this year's draft.
Speaker 1: As it turned out, only one was selected. That's not
Speaker 1: that unusual. The Bears took Tory Taylor in the fourth round.
Speaker 1: But were you disappointed not to be drafted.
Speaker 6: I think you're always hoping. You always want to be
Speaker 6: able to say, like, oh, I was a draft pick
Speaker 6: like I. Of course, everybody wants that, But at the
Speaker 6: end of the day, it's not where you get selected
Speaker 6: or drafted, it's what does your career look like after that.
Speaker 6: So I think for me, that's just fuel to the fire,
Speaker 6: like I want to be able to go out there
Speaker 6: and show every team this is exactly what you miss,
Speaker 6: Like I know that I can help a team. I
Speaker 6: know that I can be a part of something bigger.
Speaker 6: So of course you always want to get drafted, but
Speaker 6: it doesn't always work out like that, Especially at our position,
Speaker 6: it's pretty rare, so you're not You're not like getting
Speaker 6: your hopes too high during that day, but after that,
Speaker 6: it's just like, Okay, that was a day that's not
Speaker 6: going to determine and what the rest.
Speaker 2: Of my career looks like.
Speaker 1: And you get to be an NFL team starting punter
Speaker 1: from the beginning of the season. Brad Robbins is obviously
Speaker 1: still here as he recovers from his hip injury, but
Speaker 1: do you look at this as a regular season tryout
Speaker 1: essentially to be a full time NFL punter.
Speaker 6: I think whenever you have an opportunity like this, it's
Speaker 6: just you have to look at it as that it's
Speaker 6: an opportunity. Nothing is guaranteed or given. And so the
Speaker 6: way that I'm approaching it is just like, Okay, I
Speaker 6: have four games to essentially show you this is what
Speaker 6: I can can do for our team further down the
Speaker 6: line and in years to come, and I'm just excited,
Speaker 6: I think to be able to fulfill a childhood dream
Speaker 6: of like playing in the NFL one hundred percent. But
Speaker 6: the dream wasn't just to play, it was to be
Speaker 6: in the league for a long time, and so this
Speaker 6: is just the first step in that time.
Speaker 1: For some wild card questions, Now, for punter Ryan Rico,
Speaker 1: who is your all time favorite athlete in any sport?
Speaker 6: I probably have to say Lebron James. I think I
Speaker 6: have to go with him, him or Christiano renaldoun soccer.
Speaker 6: That was just growing up, love seeing the highlights of them.
Speaker 1: Question number two in the wild card category. If you
Speaker 1: attend a football game at BYU or a basketball game,
Speaker 1: they serve something at the concession stands called the cougar tail.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's basically a fifteen inch long doughnut covered
Speaker 1: with maple frosting. Are you a big fan of the cougartail?
Speaker 6: Huge fan, huge fan of the cougartail. You can't eat
Speaker 6: it by yourself.
Speaker 2: I've tried.
Speaker 6: Doesn't feel great afterwards. They do a chocolate one occasionally
Speaker 6: on like Halloween or something, But yeah, that's that's a
Speaker 6: must have if you're going to a game.
Speaker 1: They're very gracious. They gave me one when I was
Speaker 1: there for basketball last year, and I saved it for
Speaker 1: the flight home. Savvy veteran move to have that for
Speaker 1: a long flight.
Speaker 6: So one hundred percent of veteran move. That's Sometimes they'll
Speaker 6: have extras in the locker room of the game. It's like, yeah,
Speaker 6: this is gonna be breakfast tomorrow, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: All right. What was more impressive? Your eighty three yard
Speaker 1: punt or your brother's sixty seven yard field goal.
Speaker 6: Sixty seven yard field goal, it's for them. It was
Speaker 6: to send them into overtime. They end up winning the game. Literally,
Speaker 6: last second field goal mine was in like the first
Speaker 6: half or something like that. Like it was just kind
Speaker 6: of like, oh, it was a cool punt whatever. But yeah,
Speaker 6: that field goal, that's tough to top.
Speaker 1: Ryan, you probably have the greatest yards per carry average
Speaker 1: in BYU history. On your one run on a fake punt,
Speaker 1: you ran forty nine yards. Describe the play.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that was a mistake by me.
Speaker 2: We were playing.
Speaker 6: It was in the COVID year, so there's no fans
Speaker 6: even really late in the game. We're up by like
Speaker 6: thirty points. Maybe we'd worked on it in practice all
Speaker 6: week long. It's like, if you get this look, you
Speaker 6: run it. And so we called it. Wanted to show
Speaker 6: it on tape because it was like a roll out
Speaker 6: rugby punt, but you can run it. And so it
Speaker 6: was the exact look. The personal protector looks back at
Speaker 6: me and I'm like, yeah, we're running this like we're
Speaker 6: gonna go, and so I just remember taking off. I
Speaker 6: should have ran out of bounce because I took a
Speaker 6: gnarly hit to the leg, and I remember coming off
Speaker 6: the field and my coach is like, probably wasn't the
Speaker 6: right thing to do, but it was awesome. Anyways, I
Speaker 6: should have told you we can't do that now, but
Speaker 6: it was one hundred percent of memory I look back
Speaker 6: on and got some cool pictures out of it.
Speaker 1: So outstanding. All right, final fun fact for Ryan Rico.
Speaker 1: This one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
Speaker 1: in history, living or deceased, who would that person be?
Speaker 6: Goodness, I think it'd have to be Jesus Christ, like
Speaker 6: the knowledge, the understanding, just you'd get a lot of answers,
Speaker 6: I feel like, to a lot of things that have
Speaker 6: happened or will happen, And so I feel like you
Speaker 6: can't miss on that opportunity. Yeah, that's like a kind
Speaker 6: of a token answer, but I think i'd have to
Speaker 6: go with that.
Speaker 1: You're off hot seat. I appreciate your time. Best of
Speaker 1: luck this year.
Speaker 6: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: I am calling him roboleg. After two games, Ryan is
Speaker 1: averaging fifty nine point three yards per punt with a
Speaker 1: net average of forty eight point eight. Both numbers would
Speaker 1: have led the NFL last year by a significant margin.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it. For this episode of the
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast.