Speaker 1: Hi and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Roland Roland Roland. Addition, as
Speaker 1: the Bengals make it seven wins in their last nine
Speaker 1: games by beating the Titans in Nashville twenty to sixteen.
Speaker 1: Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, one on one, locker
Speaker 1: room interviews and analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then,
Speaker 1: in this week's fun fact segment, you'll get to know
Speaker 1: the latest Bengals punter from a Cincinnati area high school,
Speaker 1: former Lasale lancer and Ohio State Buckeye, Drew Chrisman. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber, future proof
Speaker 1: fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to
Speaker 1: take your home, business, and community to a new level.
Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. Now here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, own tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since powerful hotel showers. Our home in Cincinnati was
Speaker 1: built in the nineteen twenties and the water pressure isn't great,
Speaker 1: especially in the upstairs bathroom. As a result, when I'm
Speaker 1: on the road and the shower in my hotel room
Speaker 1: has a powerful spray, it's a real treat. And the
Speaker 1: team hotel in Nashville was the perfect example. Remember the
Speaker 1: Seinfeld episode where Kramer bought a black market showerhead that
Speaker 1: was used to wash off elephants at the zoo. Well,
Speaker 1: that's what I experienced in Tennessee, and that's probably more
Speaker 1: than you ever wanted to know about my shower habits. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to the radio replays from Sunday's win at
Speaker 1: Nissan Stadium. It'll be a forty seven yard field goal
Speaker 1: attempt from the left hash for Evan McPherson, four for
Speaker 1: four in the playoffs on this field, including the fifty
Speaker 1: two yarder at the gun and that sent the Bengals
Speaker 1: to the AFC Championship game. Chrisman Catches places the ball down,
Speaker 1: the kick has the distance and it is good money.
Speaker 1: Mac hits from forty seven and that ties the game
Speaker 1: at three. Play action fake by Tannehill sets up a screen.
Speaker 1: Henry Catches runs to the thirty thirty five forty five
Speaker 1: fifty head of the field at the forty thirty the twenty,
Speaker 1: cutting between the hash marks at the top, the ball
Speaker 1: is chopped out and the Titans fall on top of
Speaker 1: it in the end zone. It's a touchdown for Tennessee,
Speaker 1: trailing Burke's trailing. The play fell on the fumble for
Speaker 1: the touchdown. Unbelievable play. Another horrible drive starts. The Bengals
Speaker 1: begin from their own eight. Burrow looks to pass short
Speaker 1: pass caught by p Ryan running to the twenty from
Speaker 1: outside the numerals thirty, uses a stiff arm at the
Speaker 1: thirty five and goes out of bounds at the forty
Speaker 1: thirty two yards on the short pass to Sama J.
Speaker 1: P Ryan. Burrow takes the snap, hands it off to
Speaker 1: p Ryan, follows blockers to the right, and he will
Speaker 1: run into the end zone standing up from the Bengals touchdown. Nice.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what I mean. He I don't think
Speaker 1: they got a hand on him, and he would have
Speaker 1: scored in touch football. This will be a thirty five
Speaker 1: yard try from the left hash the snap, the placement
Speaker 1: and the right footed kick. It is no good wide right.
Speaker 1: He pushed it badly, so she Dak misses With four
Speaker 1: seconds left, in the half. The Bengals trying to take
Speaker 1: the lead for the first time today. Two forty one
Speaker 1: left in the third, the snap, the placement, the right
Speaker 1: footed kick, a high spinning and never end kick. Oh
Speaker 1: yeah is good, and the Bengals have taken the lead
Speaker 1: with two thirty five left in the third. On third
Speaker 1: and long, Burrow catches the shotgun snap his throat toward
Speaker 1: the sideline, back shoulder throw. Trent in a Law fakes
Speaker 1: an amazing catch as he's sliding to the ground. Incredible
Speaker 1: grab for a first down at the twenty seven yard line.
Speaker 1: That is him as him Joe surveys the defense too
Speaker 1: deep safeties for Tennessee. Joe catches the shotgun snaff fakes
Speaker 1: the p rhyan floated toward the end zone and Higgins,
Speaker 1: he's got it. Touchdown Bengals has He used his height
Speaker 1: and his size and went up and over the cornerback
Speaker 1: in coverage for the touchdown. McCreary he he just outmuscled him. Dan,
Speaker 1: You're right, bigger body guy. It was like you called
Speaker 1: basketball games so well. He boxed them out. I mean
Speaker 1: he got inside position, boxed him out and said I'm bigger,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna get over the top of me and
Speaker 1: he Boughty position McCreary. Perfectly great throw by Burrow, better
Speaker 1: catch by Higgins. Burrow catches a shotgun snaff against the
Speaker 1: four man rush. Guyer's deep down field for Higgins. See
Speaker 1: Higgins has the football an amazing catch half the eleven
Speaker 1: yard line of Tennessee. Oh my gosh, equal opportunity abuse.
Speaker 1: Chrispin looks back at his kicker, now twists his head, catches,
Speaker 1: puts it down. The kick is up and money back
Speaker 1: Kim Cincinnati a seven point lead with one minute and
Speaker 1: fifty three seconds to go. There's a penalty flat down
Speaker 1: and the Bengals are saying it's on Tennessee. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: may have illegally tried to jump to block it. Might
Speaker 1: jump off number ninety seven defense for a hit on
Speaker 1: a defense list player half the distance goal automatic Bye,
Speaker 1: Lord that Kevin Strong. That's not very strong. Whoop? That
Speaker 1: was weak? Do you think it's safe to say the
Speaker 1: Bengals of Victoria's Dan Coffin nails my man. Bam bam bam.
Speaker 1: Prior to the games, Zach Taylor sent two people to
Speaker 1: the fifty yard line for the opening coin toss. Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: who beat the Titans in the playoffs last year despite
Speaker 1: getting sacked nine times, and Tennessee native T Higgins. Burrow
Speaker 1: through for two hundred and seventy yards with one touchdown,
Speaker 1: no interceptions, and a passer rating of ninety one point zero,
Speaker 1: and he was only sacked once. Higgins finished with seven
Speaker 1: catches for one hundred fourteen yards after having one forty
Speaker 1: eight in last week's win at Pittsburgh. I talked to
Speaker 1: T after the game. This had to be a special
Speaker 1: day for T Higgins. You were out there for the
Speaker 1: coin toss as a Tennessee kid, and you ultimately made
Speaker 1: the game winning touchdown catch. Describe your afternoon. I feel good, obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, just coming off of any any w'm I'm
Speaker 1: gonna feel good. Um, but you know, for me to
Speaker 1: come out, you know in my home state, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: being a going out there for the coin toss, you know,
Speaker 1: for the first time of my NFL career, and then
Speaker 1: coming out and you know after you know, a tough
Speaker 1: job that I had in the first half, you know,
Speaker 1: coming back out in second half making the big time
Speaker 1: plays that I did. Um, it just shows that you
Speaker 1: know that we got a group of guys that don't
Speaker 1: give up. Um, you wouldn't let one drop, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, bring us down. We just gotta keep going,
Speaker 1: you know, and make plays on down the road. Two
Speaker 1: times mister football in this state, finalist for mister basketball
Speaker 1: in this state. Did you want to put on a
Speaker 1: show for your home state fans? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know idea. Man, It's just you know, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I had a lot of family come in. Um, so
Speaker 1: you know, just a lot of family in France came
Speaker 1: to this game just to watch me play. And you know,
Speaker 1: you know, I obviously wanted to put on the show
Speaker 1: from our people's and um, a lot of people don't know.
Speaker 1: But my name is up twice in this studio on
Speaker 1: the banner from winning mister football twice. So all right,
Speaker 1: let's get to the game winning touchdown catch. Trenton Irwin
Speaker 1: makes a great catch on the sideline to extend the
Speaker 1: drive on the very next play. After the replay, they
Speaker 1: put it up for you and count on you to
Speaker 1: make a play. Yeah. Um, you know, just like you said,
Speaker 1: we're gonna start off with Ti, Um, I'll standing catch,
Speaker 1: I'll standing you know. That's that's a hard catch. To
Speaker 1: make it for him to you know, stay in bounce
Speaker 1: with the catch and you know, and complete it through
Speaker 1: the ground. Big time play by him. Um. And then
Speaker 1: you know that very next play, you know, Joe said
Speaker 1: he's gonna give me a shot and he's just gonna
Speaker 1: throw it up and be expecting me to make the play.
Speaker 1: And that's what I did. I think we saw the
Speaker 1: finalist for mister Basketball actually on that catch, because it
Speaker 1: was a classic box out a smaller corner and just
Speaker 1: dominate them physically. Definitely had to box him out. Um,
Speaker 1: you know that was that was the way he threw
Speaker 1: it up. Um, just give me a chance, and you
Speaker 1: know you had to use my basketball skills in No. One.
Speaker 1: This win has to feel good. That's a tough, physical team.
Speaker 1: They make you earn every inch and you've managed to
Speaker 1: come in here twice in ten months and beat them
Speaker 1: on their home field. Yeah, for sure, it's a tough,
Speaker 1: tough win. Um, But you know, um, we're gonna be still.
Speaker 1: We made a lot of mistakes. Still, we're gonna come
Speaker 1: back in you know, go over the film, look it over.
Speaker 1: Got tough matchup next week and hope we can keep
Speaker 1: stacking these w two straight, great games one hundred yards plus. Congratulations.
Speaker 1: That's T. Higginson. The Bengals Booth podcast just brought to
Speaker 1: you by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand stamers
Speaker 1: trust pay Corps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and
Speaker 1: retain employees. Learn more at paycorps dot com. Defensively, the
Speaker 1: Bengals held NFL rushing leader Derek Henry to a mere
Speaker 1: thirty eight yards on seventeen carries. That's two point two
Speaker 1: yards per attempt. DJ Reader was literally right in the
Speaker 1: middle of that defensive performance, and I joined Jay Morrison
Speaker 1: of The Athletic in talking to DJ after the game,
Speaker 1: really shutting down the run the whole time. But when
Speaker 1: you're playing a guy like Derek Carry, how much is
Speaker 1: it in the back of your mind at one player
Speaker 1: you're going anytime, I'll saw it on the screen big
Speaker 1: or runway train down here, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So I gotta make sure that you limit him. You know,
Speaker 1: you try to do your best to frustrat um your
Speaker 1: job back and forth a little bit, get a little
Speaker 1: frustration and settle in. So that's part of my game.
Speaker 1: I don't know if everybody else talks as much as
Speaker 1: I do, but I do a lot of talking out there,
Speaker 1: so that's a good time. Everybody knows what Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is and he can put a team on her shoulders
Speaker 1: of Karen, do you feel like this defense is now
Speaker 1: poised to show that you guys can carry. We're gonna
Speaker 1: do whatever you know, they put whatever situation they put
Speaker 1: us in, or wherever we got the ball, We're gonna
Speaker 1: go out there and play ball. I think we do
Speaker 1: a good job as a team, a whole overall team
Speaker 1: and playing off each other. If they're down, we're If
Speaker 1: we're down, they're picking us up. And when we get
Speaker 1: it rolling together. We had those blowout games, you know
Speaker 1: those those that's just what happened. But we're completely confident
Speaker 1: those guys and what they got going. And we play defense.
Speaker 1: That's our job, play defense, the special teams and we
Speaker 1: just heer the offense on no matter what's going on. Physicality, toughness, execution,
Speaker 1: all that. Where does this game rank since you've been
Speaker 1: here as far as the defense is performing thin defense?
Speaker 1: This one of a good better games, playing as physical
Speaker 1: as we can play, not getting down on ourselves when
Speaker 1: they had a big play just coming back and fighting
Speaker 1: back for the next play. Every play, you know, just
Speaker 1: making sure even on that the screen with a touchdown,
Speaker 1: to have Cam chase down, punching that ball, get it out.
Speaker 1: Those are huge plays. It says a lot about your defense,
Speaker 1: how gritty they are, the guys you got in your room,
Speaker 1: what their makeup is. And you know, I can go
Speaker 1: to warld with those guys anytime, that type of group,
Speaker 1: I can go to world with him anytime. Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: carried seventeen times. It felt like you guys knocked the
Speaker 1: lineback probably on thirteen or fourteen up those seventeen. Was
Speaker 1: that the key? That's the job, I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: we've talked about all week, you know, just making sure
Speaker 1: we're sething a little new line of scrimmage. Don't let
Speaker 1: them be their aggressives. We go out there and be
Speaker 1: aggressives a day and get it done. That's a team
Speaker 1: that makes you earn every inch. Ye Braves gonna make
Speaker 1: you do that though. As a coach, you know, I
Speaker 1: got so much love and respect for the guy. Um Well.
Speaker 1: I came in league, taking me as a young player
Speaker 1: and just teaching me how to do it the right way,
Speaker 1: teach me how to be about ball, understand ball, what's
Speaker 1: going on, situational ball, all that. So I know that
Speaker 1: they're gonna take on the characteristics or their head coach,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna have those guys prepayers, so they're gonna
Speaker 1: make you earn it. They're not just gonna go out
Speaker 1: there and and just wash them down like. They're gonna
Speaker 1: make you earn it every time because they got a
Speaker 1: lot of pride and the coach has a lot of
Speaker 1: pride and a lot of good players over there too.
Speaker 1: So to come here twice in ten months against that team,
Speaker 1: that's got to be tremendously satisfied. Yeah, it feels good, man.
Speaker 1: You know, I played him all the time when I
Speaker 1: was in the other division in Houston. You know, I
Speaker 1: hear about the rug game all the time. I still
Speaker 1: haven't giving up one hundred of Derek yet in the league,
Speaker 1: So I'm just I'm excited for a challenge every time
Speaker 1: he comes in and we gotta play them. I know
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a physical game, so I enjoy it.
Speaker 1: How many times do you think that's been against Derek?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I played him two times a year
Speaker 1: when I was in Houston. I think I didn't play
Speaker 1: twice and the two times here, no hundies. I want
Speaker 1: this Nation championship. You got me want some Nation championship?
Speaker 1: How was it since then hadn't got one? Congrats in
Speaker 1: a great game. Thank you. That's DJ Reader, So I
Speaker 1: had to look it up. Derrick Henry carried thirty six
Speaker 1: times for one hundred and fifty eight yards and three
Speaker 1: touchdowns when Alabama beat Clemson for the National championship in
Speaker 1: DJ Reader's final college game. But at the pro level,
Speaker 1: DJ's defenses have consistently shut Henry down. Now, DJ wasn't
Speaker 1: entirely right. Henry did have one hundred nine yards in
Speaker 1: a game against Houston back in twenty seventeen, but in
Speaker 1: their nine NFL meetings, Henry has only averaged fifty one
Speaker 1: yards per game and three point nine yards per carry.
Speaker 1: More evidence the DJ Reader is one of the best
Speaker 1: run stoppers in the NFL. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
Speaker 1: With more than one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
Speaker 1: to your best Health. Visit kettering health dot org to
Speaker 1: learn more. With Jacksonville upsetting Baltimore on Sunday, the Bengals
Speaker 1: and Ravens are now tied for first in the AFC
Speaker 1: North at seven and four. The Bengals also moved up
Speaker 1: one spot on the AFC playoff totem pole. They are
Speaker 1: currently the sixth seed and seven teams get in time
Speaker 1: to hear from head coach Zach Taylor, as Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: spent a few minutes with him in the locker room.
Speaker 1: That was one hell of football game. I mean, uncharacteristically,
Speaker 1: you suffered a lot of penalties that you know, you
Speaker 1: were kind of instead of them stopping you're stopping yourself
Speaker 1: a little bit. I mean, you guys could have rolled
Speaker 1: a lot of points up on these guys, and that's
Speaker 1: hard to do. There were some critical penalties in the
Speaker 1: first half that really set us back, and that's what
Speaker 1: Tennessee's done a great job of opinion in dat making
Speaker 1: you to the whole length of the field. We certainly
Speaker 1: didn't help that cause at all, but we still went
Speaker 1: in halftime feeling really confident about it being a ten
Speaker 1: ten game. Despite losing the penalty battle. Despite losing the
Speaker 1: field position battle. We knew things at some point would
Speaker 1: take a turn, and they did. You know, I thought
Speaker 1: they wanted to coin toss and they decide, you know,
Speaker 1: we're going to defer. They get an opportunity to score
Speaker 1: at the end of the half, they missed the field goal.
Speaker 1: They come out to start the second half three and out.
Speaker 1: I thought that sequence was really big in a close
Speaker 1: football game like this. Yeah, I think even though we
Speaker 1: didn't score after the three and out, we felt like
Speaker 1: we had some good momentum. We were able to pin
Speaker 1: them in there I think at the ten yard line
Speaker 1: after that drive, and then and then start to win
Speaker 1: the field position battle and start to push the points
Speaker 1: on the board. And so just really pleased with overall
Speaker 1: how our team played winning football. I thought that you
Speaker 1: were They play very soft coverage on the on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: It looks like quite quite a bit, and you guys
Speaker 1: were very patient, took full advantage of it. And then
Speaker 1: at some point they're tired of getting picked on and
Speaker 1: you're gonna take your shots, and I mean Joe was
Speaker 1: very patient and then took his shots when they were there.
Speaker 1: I thought it was outstanding. Yeah, that's that's how you
Speaker 1: have to against them. You know, that's why they don't
Speaker 1: give up big plays. That's part they have one i
Speaker 1: think seven of the last eight games. That's your style,
Speaker 1: making go to the length of field. No big plays,
Speaker 1: make you be patient, and unfortunately we got a quarterback
Speaker 1: that's one to do that. They don't give up many
Speaker 1: yards in the ground. I mean, they don't give up
Speaker 1: many yards per carry. If you guys. The other thing
Speaker 1: they started doing, you know, pin and pull, some gap
Speaker 1: scheme stuff, mixing things up a little bit on them,
Speaker 1: got that running game going a little bit too, I
Speaker 1: mean was running hard man. Yeah, we threw everything at
Speaker 1: them that we had. You know, I think Frank did
Speaker 1: a great job developing the run play this week, and
Speaker 1: the guys believed in it, and um, you know, this
Speaker 1: team's they're a premier run defense, and so you're going
Speaker 1: to have a couple of zero or negatives, maybe more
Speaker 1: than we're used to. But I thought that the run
Speaker 1: game allowed us to play on play on time today
Speaker 1: and on rhythm and allow us to do the passes
Speaker 1: that we wanted to, and so I was really pleased
Speaker 1: with that performance. What about stopping Derrick Henry again? In
Speaker 1: the running game. I mean three games in a row now,
Speaker 1: I mean Derrick Henry has done really nothing compared to
Speaker 1: what he's done to everybody else. What is it about
Speaker 1: the Bengals in the formula you guys have. Our defense
Speaker 1: isn't afraid of anybody, you know, it's it's they're gonna
Speaker 1: roll the ball out there. They got a playoffs. I
Speaker 1: think that's the attitude of our defense right now. And
Speaker 1: they had a performance that wasn't surprising to any of us.
Speaker 1: No turnovers in the football game, so it was one
Speaker 1: of those who's going to be better, you know. It's
Speaker 1: like no extra possessions for any anybody. And it was
Speaker 1: just a grind it out day, I mean on the
Speaker 1: road to grind it out against a team that had
Speaker 1: won what seven out of their last eight games or whatever,
Speaker 1: and one that was the number one seed in the
Speaker 1: playoffs last year, and felt like, oh yeah, we'll show you.
Speaker 1: You know, you guys knocked the style of the the playoffs
Speaker 1: will show you what does this winn't mean? It doesn't.
Speaker 1: It's just the next game for us. It's our team
Speaker 1: and has so much confidence right now and so much
Speaker 1: belief that we're doing things. The right way. We're putting
Speaker 1: in the work to be successful on Sunday. They we're
Speaker 1: not paying attention to necessary who the opponent is, it's
Speaker 1: whoever's on the schedule next. Yeah, they're a good team.
Speaker 1: They got to come see us. We got a really
Speaker 1: good team too, And that's just the confidence we're operating
Speaker 1: with right now. It's funny. Last year you beat Tennessee
Speaker 1: on the road, and then you beat Kansas City. Now
Speaker 1: you've beat in Tennessee on the road. Now you have Kennisty,
Speaker 1: but it's at home. But it's the same, it's the
Speaker 1: same sequence. I mean, I know it's one game at
Speaker 1: a time. You want to be one to know as
Speaker 1: many many times you can, But do you have any
Speaker 1: flashbacks at all as you're preparing for this stretch? Now?
Speaker 1: Every game every year is so different. I got to
Speaker 1: look at their personnel. I don't even know what personnel
Speaker 1: they got this year, you know. So I'm sure there's
Speaker 1: there's a lot of new faces over there. We got
Speaker 1: some new faces and so it's a totally different game.
Speaker 1: Speaking of new faces, a big thing. One quarterback sack
Speaker 1: on the day there was some pressure. Joe had the
Speaker 1: intentional grounding but I mean, overall, I thought the offensive
Speaker 1: line really handled things well. I thought they did a
Speaker 1: great job. You know, last year we felt how physical,
Speaker 1: how much this d line can get on you. I
Speaker 1: thought this year our guys really stepped up and had
Speaker 1: the right attitude for this game. The two time Tennessee
Speaker 1: High School Player of the Year Te Higgins comes back
Speaker 1: to the state of Tennessee and shows out how big
Speaker 1: was that. Yeah, that's what he does, you know when
Speaker 1: his numbers called epso makes plays and he made two
Speaker 1: on those last two drives that were just huge for
Speaker 1: us to get that one. And so I'm really proud
Speaker 1: of the job t did today. Coach, congratulations, got your
Speaker 1: team ready to play a big time game on the
Speaker 1: road against a big time opponent. Seven and four. Nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a good feeling. Appreciate you, all right, Thank you.
Speaker 1: So it's a home game against the Chiefs next Sunday
Speaker 1: at four to twenty five, and CBS will send the
Speaker 1: a team of Jim Nance and Tony Romo. Kansas City
Speaker 1: has the best record in the AFC at nine and two,
Speaker 1: and we'll roll into town with a five game winning streak.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs open as a three point favorite. Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: leads the NFL with twenty nine touchdown passes. Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: and Josh Allen are tied for second with twenty three.
Speaker 1: Now time for the radio guys recap lap. Let's start
Speaker 1: with the job the Bengals did on Derrick Henry. I've
Speaker 1: been saying, I haven't looked this up, but I'd like
Speaker 1: to know how many times he had seventeen carries in
Speaker 1: a game and couldn't even get to forty yards. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, it's three games now against Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1: They've been able to handle him. You know, he had
Speaker 1: one the one screen got out on him and got
Speaker 1: unfortunately you know, Marta because his scrimmage yards would have
Speaker 1: been nothing as well. But that's seventy yard reception that
Speaker 1: he had and then fumbled the ball. That'll that'll, you know,
Speaker 1: make his his average per touch in terms of scrimmage
Speaker 1: yards look a lot different. But on a snap by
Speaker 1: snap basis man, the defensive line took control the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. I thought Pratt and Wilson were confident, decisive,
Speaker 1: physical I mean, I thought they brought the physicality to
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry instead of the other way around. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was. It was really something to watch, and the
Speaker 1: defensive line really knocked their offensive lineback consistently. They did,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they did it going through him, sometimes they
Speaker 1: did it hit the gap penetrating linebacker same way. And
Speaker 1: then on the flip side of it, I thought the
Speaker 1: Bengals offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage on the
Speaker 1: other side of it much better than the Tennessee Titans did.
Speaker 1: Um honestly, I mean, I thought for the most part
Speaker 1: they controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well. There's only
Speaker 1: one quarterback sack on the day, um Joe had the
Speaker 1: intentional grounding. There was some pressure there. There was some pressure.
Speaker 1: There's always going to be when you're throwing it as
Speaker 1: many times as you throw it in any football game
Speaker 1: in the National Football League, there's gonna be there's gonna
Speaker 1: be some pressure. But I thought, and I thought the
Speaker 1: guys inside really really did a good job. And I
Speaker 1: thought everybody did. I thought everybody played a more than
Speaker 1: sound football game, and I thought that was a big
Speaker 1: part of it. That's that's the way you that's the
Speaker 1: way you beat a football team. You give your skill
Speaker 1: people an opportunity to perform to show what they've got,
Speaker 1: you know, by handling things up front offensively. Another huge
Speaker 1: day for te Higgins seven catches for one hundred and
Speaker 1: fourteen yards. He was down on himself for dropping one
Speaker 1: in the red zone early in the game and kind
Speaker 1: of made it his mission to make up for it.
Speaker 1: And boy did you ever. I mean, like you were
Speaker 1: saying during the game, two time Tennessee high school player
Speaker 1: of the Year, you know, it comes back and uh
Speaker 1: as a second consecutive hundred yard receiving day. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, in the absence of Jamar Chase so many
Speaker 1: needs to step up, and he did. And then you
Speaker 1: gotta feel good for Trent and Irwin, you know, two
Speaker 1: weeks in a row making big plays. That that was
Speaker 1: as good a catch, as good a body control exhibition,
Speaker 1: you know, catches as you're gonna want to see. I
Speaker 1: mean he did. He did a lot of things, a
Speaker 1: lot of things right on that play. It's it's just
Speaker 1: rewarning to see guys that you know, do it the
Speaker 1: right way, work hard, get an opportunity, and then capitalize
Speaker 1: on it by doing it right during the course of
Speaker 1: a football game. So I JP Ryan fits that description
Speaker 1: as well. Fifty eight rushing yards and a touchdown, thirty
Speaker 1: five receiving yards. He fills in for Joe mix And
Speaker 1: and gives him ninety three yards of offense. That's strong,
Speaker 1: you know. And I mean I thought he was running
Speaker 1: better than Henry. I thought he was he was finding
Speaker 1: lanes a lot more decisively. I noticed hesitation and Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry running the football, which you don't see. You don't
Speaker 1: see that very often. And I thought Samaje was very,
Speaker 1: very decisive, and you know, just aggressive and downhill, squaring
Speaker 1: those shoulder pads up and fighting for extra yards. I mean,
Speaker 1: I thought he gave an incredible effort out there. He's
Speaker 1: gonna go sleep well tonight. So I know. You talked
Speaker 1: to quite a few people after the game. I talked
Speaker 1: to a few as well. The overwhelming sentiment I get
Speaker 1: is that they have a ton of respect for the
Speaker 1: Titans and for Mike Vrabel, and that makes beating them
Speaker 1: on their home field twice in ten months incredibly satisfying. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's like you look at last year,
Speaker 1: they beat Kansas City twice in a month in the
Speaker 1: same month. Now they beat Tennessee at the end of
Speaker 1: the season. The playoffs and you're the Man five Beta
Speaker 1: Kappa Alex Kappa walking by and hum and then to
Speaker 1: come to their place, you know, and uh and get
Speaker 1: it done again, you know, like you said. Less than
Speaker 1: a year later and you can say all you want,
Speaker 1: Oh it's not. I'm not saying it's a revenge game.
Speaker 1: But it's a game where man, we were the number
Speaker 1: one seed and they knocked us out. It's a pride game,
Speaker 1: is what it is. It's like, you know, every every
Speaker 1: professional athlete is extremely prideful, and they didn't want to
Speaker 1: get beaten again. It's the last thing they wanted to
Speaker 1: do is have a team come into their place and
Speaker 1: beat them again. The Bengals did it. The Bengals did
Speaker 1: it without Mixing in Jamar Chase. It's pretty strong when
Speaker 1: you think about it, it really is. I mean, it
Speaker 1: shows team shows this as a football team that has
Speaker 1: many ways they can win football games. I would think
Speaker 1: they'll definitely have Mixing back next week. Probably a decent
Speaker 1: chance they'll have Jamar back next week. And the timing
Speaker 1: is good with Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs
Speaker 1: rolling into town. Man, I looked up you know, some
Speaker 1: of the stats just to get a little bit ahead,
Speaker 1: and you're number one and everything offensively, I mean it's
Speaker 1: it's there's there's not much. I don't think there's much
Speaker 1: of anything. They are not number one, and you know,
Speaker 1: you look at it and you say, all right, well, geez,
Speaker 1: maybe they're better off not having that one big go
Speaker 1: to receiver and just a few guys, a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys to go to. If you talk to Louis andru
Speaker 1: it might be harder to defend. You got more places
Speaker 1: to go with the football. I mean, they may be
Speaker 1: a tougher offense to defend, which is almost incomprehensible. I
Speaker 1: mean it's it's almost when I say it out loud,
Speaker 1: it's almost stupid because the kids such a such a
Speaker 1: huge weapon. He's doing the job also down in Miami.
Speaker 1: But I mean Andy Reid, I've seen him for too
Speaker 1: long a period of time. Camp Taylor, brit They hit
Speaker 1: her man, but bring to bring the wood. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: I saw him do it in college with lesser players,
Speaker 1: you know, put together game plans that gave people some
Speaker 1: win football games that they shouldn't have won. And now
Speaker 1: he's got talent. That's a dangerous combo. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Finally, it's
Speaker 1: time for this week's fun Facts interview, where we get
Speaker 1: to know the person under the pads. Time for some
Speaker 1: fun facts with punter Drew Chrisman from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Just
Speaker 1: across the state line. Anybody who's made that drive has
Speaker 1: seen the big signs for fireworks. That's the family business. Correct, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it. Party at Travis a big red, white and
Speaker 1: blue building run off the exit. So you've done some
Speaker 1: work for the family business, including recently. Correct, every year,
Speaker 1: the whole family does work. They got pictures of me
Speaker 1: in the womb. My mom's sitting there leaning up against
Speaker 1: a palette in the warehouse while craziness of the Fourth
Speaker 1: of July is happening. So this is it's since birth
Speaker 1: and will continue to be long after I'm done playing football,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. So this past fourth of July, you're
Speaker 1: in there helping customers even though you're an NFL player
Speaker 1: one percent. Yeah, it's it's all hands on deck that
Speaker 1: that week leading up to the fourth, and no matter
Speaker 1: where our family is at situation wise, we know it's
Speaker 1: it's crunch time for our family and we and we
Speaker 1: enjoy it. We really do. I was a minor league
Speaker 1: baseball broadcaster for many years. I've seen a lot of
Speaker 1: fireworks shows, so I'm kind of jaded to the whole thing.
Speaker 1: What about you? Do you still enjoy a great fireworks show?
Speaker 1: I do. Um, I've seen my fair share, as you
Speaker 1: would imagine. I actually really don't get to celebrate the fourth.
Speaker 1: Our fourth is really after the fourth because we're a
Speaker 1: little too busy on the fourth of July. People are
Speaker 1: still coming in by that last minute mortar or artillery
Speaker 1: artillery shell. So um yeah, really my fourth July is
Speaker 1: after the fourth. But at this point in my fireworks life,
Speaker 1: I enjoy the uh the m eighties and the little
Speaker 1: all the rockets I can go blow some stuff up with,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, and nice big breaking artillery shell
Speaker 1: is fun and I try to emulate that with my
Speaker 1: foot as best as I can. But yeah, I like
Speaker 1: to tinker around and blow some stuff up. We're doing
Speaker 1: fun Facts Withdrew Chrisman. You're from Lawrenceburg, as I've mentioned,
Speaker 1: but you went to high school in Cincinnati at LaSalle.
Speaker 1: Was that for academics, athletics or a combination. We had
Speaker 1: a couple of buddies. I went to my grade school
Speaker 1: with Saint Lawrence and it was a small class and
Speaker 1: a couple of buddies who were gonna go out up
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati for a high school, and they kind of
Speaker 1: just talked me into it, and I'm real like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll try it. Sounds like a great opportunity. Nothing wrong
Speaker 1: with Laarrensburgh. My dad with a high school in Lawnsburg,
Speaker 1: I think it would have had a great career there.
Speaker 1: But I think it worked out at Last as well,
Speaker 1: so I would say. So. I've read that you started
Speaker 1: out as a quarterback until you needed Tommy John surgery.
Speaker 1: Was that the case? Yeah, back in back in my
Speaker 1: prime when I was a real athlete. Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: really did it all growing up playing playing sports. I
Speaker 1: was you know, punter obviously, and kicker, quarterback, middle linebacker,
Speaker 1: safety if they needed it. I mean, I never came
Speaker 1: off the field. So yeah, when I got to LASU,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit bigger pond, and you know, I
Speaker 1: started off as a quarterback and then got injured and
Speaker 1: then ended up just finding my way as a punter,
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, it was. It was a big change,
Speaker 1: you know, being on the field every play and then
Speaker 1: you know, maybe once or twice a game with how
Speaker 1: our offense was running out of sou I mean we
Speaker 1: once stayed back to back my junior senior year and
Speaker 1: I punted one time in the state game and we
Speaker 1: were pretty dominant those years, so it was a little
Speaker 1: bit of getting used to. But I don't think I
Speaker 1: would have been able to have a state as a
Speaker 1: quarterback still, So how bad was the arm injury? It
Speaker 1: was good. I mean, I mean Tommy John surgery. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you said you were a baseball broadcast you know
Speaker 1: all about that, and um yeah I was. We were
Speaker 1: playing I think it was Mohler and stuck my arm
Speaker 1: out for a fumble. Guy landed on it, hyper extended
Speaker 1: and toward that same tendon, and then I couldn't throw
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. But I was still with
Speaker 1: a punt and that's kind of really when I started
Speaker 1: developing my I'd love for punting, so you still control football.
Speaker 1: There's video evidence Big Ten Championship game at Ohio State,
Speaker 1: you completed a twenty one yard pass on a fake punt.
Speaker 1: Have you shown that video to Darren Simmons? You might
Speaker 1: have seen it somewhere along the line. I'm sure scouting
Speaker 1: me out coming out of college. But yeah, I only
Speaker 1: got one opportunity in college. It's funny that that same
Speaker 1: fake I threw that was my I believe junior year.
Speaker 1: We practice that same fake ever since freshman year with
Speaker 1: Urban there, and then once Ryan Day got there, he
Speaker 1: finally felt comfortable enough to pull the trigger in a
Speaker 1: big moment. There were able to come through there. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I still got it. That's that's for sure. So you
Speaker 1: were the number one ranked punter in your recruiting class.
Speaker 1: Was Ohio State a no brainer for you? Or did
Speaker 1: you seriously consider several schools? I would saying it was
Speaker 1: really the only one I had to work for. I
Speaker 1: went on a couple visits there to get that scholarship.
Speaker 1: A lot of the places offer me and just called
Speaker 1: me over the phone, and but they really maybe worked
Speaker 1: for it. And And so I don't know if that was,
Speaker 1: you know, what really made me fall in love. But
Speaker 1: I was good friends with the kicker who was there
Speaker 1: at the time I trained with his same kicking coach
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati with Dick Sites that was our kicking coach,
Speaker 1: and Sean Nurnberger was a kicker's name, and so I
Speaker 1: kind of had that connection and and so I came
Speaker 1: up there and he showed me around and showed me
Speaker 1: all the opportunities that you'll get out of House State
Speaker 1: and what it opens the doors academically in just life afterwards,
Speaker 1: and I was like, Yeah, after realizing that, it was
Speaker 1: kind of a no brainer. What were some of the
Speaker 1: highlights of your entire Ohio State experience? Shoot, I mean,
Speaker 1: I have four gold pants. I know, that's a big,
Speaker 1: big conversation piece this week. So that's that's all ac
Speaker 1: I highlights. I think I have four big Ten championships
Speaker 1: as well playing in the National Championship my senior year
Speaker 1: during covid UM. I mean there's just so many. But
Speaker 1: really a top it off that's kind of when I
Speaker 1: was kind of fell in love with my wife in
Speaker 1: a way and I was able to propose to her
Speaker 1: on the Ohio State field. That's certainly I'll get in
Speaker 1: trouble if I don't mention that as the highlight, at
Speaker 1: least on the field. Wise. So there was a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of really good moments in college, and
Speaker 1: that proposal can also be seen on the internet. It
Speaker 1: was pretty clever on your part. You had kind of
Speaker 1: a fake that your now wife was going to do
Speaker 1: a kick, so you were in the holder position, and
Speaker 1: then instead of putting the football down for the kick,
Speaker 1: you had the ringwriting Yeah it was. It was pretty smooth,
Speaker 1: smoother than probably I even expected. It's kind of the
Speaker 1: peak of my career there for sure. And yeah, she
Speaker 1: had no idea what was coming, and I was able
Speaker 1: to pull it off. And luckily she said yes, or
Speaker 1: I might have been in the transfer portal the next day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I might not have finished my career there on High State.
Speaker 1: I would have been pretty embarrassing. But yeah, luckily she
Speaker 1: said yes, and kind of the rest is history. Now
Speaker 1: you put a lot of our proposals to shames, So
Speaker 1: I'm glad my wife had already said yes for anybody
Speaker 1: could see that. So you signed with the Bengals last year,
Speaker 1: and in your rookie season, it was on and off
Speaker 1: the practice squad quite a few times. You were actually
Speaker 1: on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. Briefly, what was the
Speaker 1: whole experience, Like was it difficult or did you just
Speaker 1: kind of chalk that up to this is the way
Speaker 1: it goes when you're trying for one of thirty two jobs. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I think I came into it not really
Speaker 1: knowing what I was getting into. And you know, coming
Speaker 1: from college, you kind of have a stable job for
Speaker 1: the five years I was there, kind of had a
Speaker 1: good routine and what was coming each week, and then yeah,
Speaker 1: you really get it. I really got a taste of
Speaker 1: the NFL last year and just the uncertainty of what
Speaker 1: was going to happen that week. I remember there was
Speaker 1: a lot of Tuesdays last year that's usually when they
Speaker 1: make the call to bring you on or not. And
Speaker 1: how'd be sitting there. I'd be mad as someone else
Speaker 1: called my phone that day because I'd be getting excited
Speaker 1: I was going to get another opportunity somewhere. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so it was a little bit of a roller coaster,
Speaker 1: and I think this year we kind of just like
Speaker 1: kind of let go of all those expectations, just kind
Speaker 1: of went into it like I was just just gonna take
Speaker 1: it week at a time, see see what happens. Even
Speaker 1: last week when I kind of had a feeling that
Speaker 1: I was going to get the first start. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I really wasn't sure until they actually officially made it,
Speaker 1: you know, official on Saturday. Just because of the roller
Speaker 1: coaster year I spent last year just not knowing anything
Speaker 1: until it's actually, you know official. That's that's gonna how
Speaker 1: I've been treating things lately. So your debut would have
Speaker 1: been special under any circumstances. But Bengals Steelers, the rivalry,
Speaker 1: it's something you're obviously familiar with. Did that add anything
Speaker 1: to it? I tried not to let it get to
Speaker 1: me too much, but you know, I knew obviously it's
Speaker 1: the first game. You know you're gonna have nerves already,
Speaker 1: and then you know you've got to think about, you know,
Speaker 1: how big of a game that is to the you know,
Speaker 1: the franchise and the fan base, and but yeah, I
Speaker 1: really tried to just think of it as just another
Speaker 1: another game and just go out there and let your
Speaker 1: training take over and do what you know what to do.
Speaker 1: And so you know, you can kind of think about
Speaker 1: that afterwards, but you don't want to think about that
Speaker 1: too much leading up to it, or you're just getting
Speaker 1: getting your own head, So now it's starting to really
Speaker 1: so can just kind of how cool a moment that
Speaker 1: was with you know everything? All right, a few wildcard
Speaker 1: topics now for Drew Chrisman. You are a champion bottle
Speaker 1: flipper with a partially filled bottle of water. You can
Speaker 1: flip it and it will land upright. Virtually every time
Speaker 1: you tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records,
Speaker 1: did it work. Yeah, Darren Covid, they did a little
Speaker 1: thing where, because I've tried multiple times, I have many
Speaker 1: unofficial world bottle flip records, but to actually get in
Speaker 1: the book you have to pay. I think I looked
Speaker 1: into it. It was like over five grand, and as
Speaker 1: a college kid, I didn't I didn't have that kind
Speaker 1: of money. I would have been half to pony up
Speaker 1: to some donors to get that kind of cash. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Now maybe with the nil deals that might
Speaker 1: might have happened quicker, but while I was in college,
Speaker 1: we didn't have that. So Darren Covid, they did a
Speaker 1: little thing where you can submit a video and that'll
Speaker 1: count as official. And I was beat out by this, uh,
Speaker 1: this kid who was flipping like a minute your bottle
Speaker 1: and he beat me in the most in a minute
Speaker 1: and so, but he was. I'll give it to him
Speaker 1: that his reaction him getting the plaque was pretty priceless,
Speaker 1: So I'm happy for him. But yeah, nothing technically official
Speaker 1: world record other than just knowing that I'm the best
Speaker 1: bottle flipper in the world. At least I was at
Speaker 1: one time. I haven't. Haven't dabbled too much recently obviously
Speaker 1: been a little more focused on flipping the field, but
Speaker 1: it was I had a lot of fun doing that
Speaker 1: in college. You did sneak in a reference there to
Speaker 1: this person flipping a smaller bottle. Are you casting aspersions
Speaker 1: on his record? Nah? I mean, hey, whatever Guinness wants
Speaker 1: to go with it, he can go with it. But
Speaker 1: if someone was gonna ask me to dispute it, you know,
Speaker 1: I think there would be two plaques, one given for
Speaker 1: a full size and half side. But I'll let him
Speaker 1: have his day. Who is your all time favorite athlete
Speaker 1: in any sport? And why? Really? We didn't watch too
Speaker 1: much sports growing up, and really I was a big
Speaker 1: basketball fan growing up. That was kind of my first passion.
Speaker 1: And the Dirty Bird, Larry Bird. He was someone I
Speaker 1: always looked up to at least my dad said. I
Speaker 1: reminded a lot of him watching him growing up and
Speaker 1: my play style. But as far as football wise, Pat
Speaker 1: McAfee kind of comes to mind. When I started transitioning
Speaker 1: to a punter. I watched a lot of his tapes.
Speaker 1: He was fun and he was pretty electric and had
Speaker 1: a great personality. But I guess, yeah, best athlete if
Speaker 1: I had to really say, I'd say Larry Bird first
Speaker 1: was my first kind of true athlete that I looked
Speaker 1: up to in a way. So, Indiana guy, you gotta
Speaker 1: go for an Indiana guy? Would you like to spend
Speaker 1: your money on savings account? Right now? We got a
Speaker 1: five month old daughter at home, so we are certainly
Speaker 1: planning for the future. I know there's all these stories
Speaker 1: of like what you spend your first game check on
Speaker 1: and everything right now, and I have a feeling we're
Speaker 1: just going to be putting that, putting that away for
Speaker 1: some time, and especially with the kind of how the
Speaker 1: world it is right now, anything we can say for
Speaker 1: a rainy day, I think that's where we're gonna go on.
Speaker 1: We're pretty frugal. We try we try to live pretty
Speaker 1: frequently as much as we can. But I know this Christmas.
Speaker 1: My wife's already got a couple couple of presents downstairs.
Speaker 1: I'm sure she'll enjoy. So we did. We did a
Speaker 1: little something special for this Christmas coming up. But yeah, really,
Speaker 1: I'm we're pretty frugal. Yeah, first Christmas as a dad,
Speaker 1: that's gonna to be awesome. What's your favorite part about
Speaker 1: fatherhood so far? Just there's so much. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: everyone tries to tell you what it's gonna be like
Speaker 1: and give you tips and everything, you don't really know
Speaker 1: what you're getting into to actually do it. And then
Speaker 1: just just coming home every day. And she's at the
Speaker 1: point now where she really recognizes me and gives me
Speaker 1: a big old gummy smile when I walked through the door.
Speaker 1: And really nothing beats that after a good or bad day.
Speaker 1: I mean, that just brightens your mood. My wife, she's
Speaker 1: been doing a lot of the work, to be honest,
Speaker 1: I haven't had it too bad yet. She's kind enough
Speaker 1: to let me sleep at night. We're breastfeed and so
Speaker 1: she does a lot of work right now. But I'm
Speaker 1: sure once she starts walking around and run and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get a lot more playtime in for sure. But yeah,
Speaker 1: just coming home and seeing her smile. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: nothing that beats that final thing for Drew Chrisman and
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time. This is kind of deep. If
Speaker 1: you could meet anybody in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, whoever
Speaker 1: that person might be, who would it be. Well, I
Speaker 1: know recently there was one guy I've always been wanting
Speaker 1: to meet. It was a great guy. He passed away recently.
Speaker 1: It was someone I've always wanted to meet and kind
Speaker 1: of pick his brain in some things. Unfortunately, he passed
Speaker 1: away recently. I think some illness he was fighting for
Speaker 1: a long time. So I think that would be someone
Speaker 1: I think it would be pretty cool to sit down
Speaker 1: with and just kind of a conversation. How he, you know,
Speaker 1: really changed the game at this position, so the goat
Speaker 1: in your predict position, at least in terms of how
Speaker 1: much better he was than the rest of the guy
Speaker 1: in his time. Yeah, No, he certainly changed the game
Speaker 1: and he will go down as that for history. So
Speaker 1: that's awesome. This has been fun. Greatly appreciated. Best of
Speaker 1: Luft the rest of the year. Thank you appreciate for
Speaker 1: having me on. That's going to do it for this
Speaker 1: episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast presented by Kettering Health,
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks
Speaker 1: and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and
Speaker 1: sign merchandise up for grabs by Paycore, the official HR
Speaker 1: software provider of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast