Speaker 1: Hi, Gain everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Everybody Wants to the World addition,
Speaker 1: as the Bengals look to extend their five game winning
Speaker 1: streak by beating the goat, seven times Super Bowl champion,
Speaker 1: five time Super Bowl MVP, and the NFL's all time
Speaker 1: leader in passing yards and touchdowns, Tom Brady coming up,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to another Goat when it comes to studying
Speaker 1: the tape and explaining the xs and ohs. Greg co
Speaker 1: Sell from NFL Films and ESPN, I'll chat to Von
Speaker 1: Bell about facing Tom Brady, and we'll hear what Brady
Speaker 1: had to say about Joe Burrow when the Bengals quarterback
Speaker 1: was on his podcast. And finally, in this week's Know
Speaker 1: the Faux segment, we'll hear from Scott Smith, who covers
Speaker 1: the Bucks for Fox thirteen in Tampa. The Bengals Booth
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Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
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Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Tom Mitts Christmas Trees. We got
Speaker 1: around to buying our tree a little bit later than
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Speaker 1: Tom Mitts Christmas Trees in the Newport, Kentucky Business District
Speaker 1: and that will be our first stop in the years
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Speaker 1: looks great thanks to Tom Mitts Christmas Trees in Newport.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to this week's game. The Bengals are
Speaker 1: tied for first in the AFC North and the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: are alone in first in the NFC South, but these
Speaker 1: are two very different first place teams. After an O
Speaker 1: and two start, the Bengals have won nine out of
Speaker 1: eleven After a two and o start, the Buccaneers have
Speaker 1: lost seven of eleven. Still, a six and seven record
Speaker 1: gives Tampa Bay a one game lead in its division
Speaker 1: over the Panthers and Falcons who are five and eight.
Speaker 1: For more on the Bengals in the Bucks, I turned
Speaker 1: to one of the best in the business at watching
Speaker 1: the tape and sharing his insights. It is always a
Speaker 1: treat to talk football with my friend Greg co Sell
Speaker 1: from NFL Films and the NFL Matchup show on ESPN.
Speaker 1: You did a segment on the Bengals defense last week, Greg,
Speaker 1: where you talked about them as being too often overlooked.
Speaker 1: What stands out to you when you watch this group,
Speaker 1: I would say a couple of things. Dan number one,
Speaker 1: I think they have better players than people give them
Speaker 1: credit for. They may not have that one player. You
Speaker 1: know what we think of with defenses. We think of
Speaker 1: guys who get a ton of sacks. Now. I know
Speaker 1: Hendrickson had I think around fourteen or fifteen sacks a
Speaker 1: year ago, although he's not really talked about as a
Speaker 1: sacker the way some others are, so he's not really
Speaker 1: mentioned that way. And more often than not, people talk
Speaker 1: about corners. If you have a great corner and they
Speaker 1: don't have that one guy that you say, wow, that
Speaker 1: guy is a great corner. Usually, stacked linebackers are not
Speaker 1: discussed very much. When people talk about defenses, they probably
Speaker 1: should be talked about a little more because I think
Speaker 1: they're really valuable. And I think that the Bengals have
Speaker 1: one really good one in Logan Wilson, and another in Pratt,
Speaker 1: who I think is a really solid player. You know,
Speaker 1: I think you're dealing with two guys who are really good. Now, obviously,
Speaker 1: when they go dying, which they do go dying, Pratt
Speaker 1: comes off the field. Wilson never comes off the field,
Speaker 1: and they you know, just like every team, they have
Speaker 1: different personnel packages based on nickle and dime. But I
Speaker 1: think someone like Sam Hubbard again, another guy who's not
Speaker 1: going to have fifteen sacks, but on this team and
Speaker 1: the way in which he's deployed, I think Sam Hubbard
Speaker 1: is a really really good football player. And of course
Speaker 1: we know about Reader inside. I mean, you know, there's
Speaker 1: certain guys who are just really good players, who play
Speaker 1: roles that are important roles on teams that just may
Speaker 1: not put up stats and numbers that people take note of,
Speaker 1: but they're really good players. And I think lou and
Speaker 1: Aramo does not get enough credit either, because I think
Speaker 1: they do a really good job week to week being
Speaker 1: somewhat opponent specific in how they approach it, and I
Speaker 1: think that doesn't get talked about enough either. LOUI has
Speaker 1: done a pretty remarkable job of confusing some great quarterbacks
Speaker 1: like Patrick Mahomes. Are there any unique concepts or anything
Speaker 1: he is becoming known for as a defensive coordinator. You
Speaker 1: just hit it right on the head, I think, and
Speaker 1: the Mahomes one is obviously the one that's most visible.
Speaker 1: But I think he does that pretty much every week
Speaker 1: in different ways. So it's not Hey, there's one thing
Speaker 1: that you know he's going to do Dan that you say, hey,
Speaker 1: that's a lou An Aramos thing. But I think he
Speaker 1: has a really good feel for opposing offenses, what their
Speaker 1: strengths are, how to get them into perhaps a limitation,
Speaker 1: and I think he does that really well on a
Speaker 1: week to week basis. I want to get back to
Speaker 1: DJ Reader for a second, because when he's been healthy
Speaker 1: this year, opponents have not been able to run on Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: It's been black and white statistically. What does DJ Reader
Speaker 1: do for this group? As you know, you've been doing
Speaker 1: this a long time College football, NFL, stopping the run
Speaker 1: is not a sexy subject. People always think it's something
Speaker 1: wow they must be doing something amazing normally stopping the run,
Speaker 1: and Reader is really good at This has to do
Speaker 1: with your first level defenders, you know, depending on the
Speaker 1: nature of your defense. One gap, two gap, there's always
Speaker 1: some of both, depending on whatever defense you play. But
Speaker 1: what readers really good at is controlling and displacing offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and that's essential in stopping the run. So again,
Speaker 1: it's not a sexy topic where you think, man, there's
Speaker 1: a great pass for right way. He just flew by
Speaker 1: that guy, you know, but he's really good at that.
Speaker 1: And when your interior d lineman can do that kind
Speaker 1: of thing, it really allows your linebackers to play faster
Speaker 1: because now they don't have to wait and see what's happening.
Speaker 1: They can immediately react. And I think you're seeing that
Speaker 1: with Wilson. While he often gets big tackle totals, and
Speaker 1: but Reader is just really, really good at controlling and
Speaker 1: displacing offensive lineman. For chatting with Greg Cosell from the
Speaker 1: NFL Matchup show on ESPN, Let's Turn to Offense. You
Speaker 1: sent me your notes about Joe Burrow prior to the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty draft, and you had him graded as the
Speaker 1: number one quarterback in that class, and it's turned out
Speaker 1: to be a good class. Is there anything about Burrow
Speaker 1: in year three that's even better than you thought it
Speaker 1: would be at this stage of his career. The short
Speaker 1: answer is no. But I think he's improved in certain
Speaker 1: areas that he's been forced to improve in because of
Speaker 1: the nature of the team. I think this year he's
Speaker 1: gotten much better in understanding how to camouflage and compensate
Speaker 1: for some old line deficiencies. And I think great quarterbacks
Speaker 1: do that. You know, it's always easy to say when
Speaker 1: a quarterback gets sacked a lot that they have a
Speaker 1: bad old line, and you know, and we're not gonna
Speaker 1: lie here. We're not going to say that the Bengals
Speaker 1: have a great old line or that they had one
Speaker 1: a year ago. But I think Burrow has developed sort
Speaker 1: of a more intuitive feel for how to deal with that,
Speaker 1: whether it's getting the ball out, whether it's being better
Speaker 1: with his calculated movement. Because Burrow is a sneaky athlete.
Speaker 1: And when I say sneak, I don't mean you know,
Speaker 1: he's necessarily going to run for a hundred yards, although
Speaker 1: we certainly can run for first downs if demanded. But
Speaker 1: just his ability to navigate the pocket, his ability to
Speaker 1: climb the pocket and find space, you know, a more
Speaker 1: quiet spot to deliver the ball. And he's such a
Speaker 1: quiet player. That's a word that I heard from a
Speaker 1: quarterback coach who was a head coach of the league
Speaker 1: for a number of years, who I know well, and
Speaker 1: when he told me that years ago, it just really
Speaker 1: struck me. About quarterbacks, some seem even really good ones
Speaker 1: at times, can see very active in their movement. Burrow
Speaker 1: looks quiet in his movement, even when he's forced to move.
Speaker 1: It never looks hurried or frenetic. It looks quiet. And
Speaker 1: I think he's gotten such a better feel for that
Speaker 1: as he's had to, because you know, look, let's be realistic.
Speaker 1: This has not been a great old line over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, although I do think it's improved
Speaker 1: as this year has progressed, because you would know this
Speaker 1: better than I. But I think those five have played
Speaker 1: the pretty large majority of the snaps this year, have
Speaker 1: they not? They have started every game together. Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I think there has been improvement.
Speaker 1: There's always some snaps where you know, they just certain
Speaker 1: guys get beaten. That happens, But I think you know,
Speaker 1: I think Burrow has developed a really good feel for that,
Speaker 1: and I think that's an improvement that he had to have,
Speaker 1: And because he's such a smart player and an intuitive player,
Speaker 1: he's developed that. Early this year opponents were playing the
Speaker 1: Bengals pretty much the same way, a lot of two
Speaker 1: deep zones trying to take the deep ball away from
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. Since week two they're averaging more than twenty
Speaker 1: seven points a game. What adjustments have they made to
Speaker 1: attack that better? In your opinion? You know, when teams
Speaker 1: look to take away deep you have to think of
Speaker 1: it this way. If you're going to play single high
Speaker 1: number one, a couple of things happen. One is you
Speaker 1: give up seams number two. There's outside the numbers throws
Speaker 1: that will always be there because a single high safety
Speaker 1: is never going to get to make a play outside
Speaker 1: the numbers on a vertical type route. So and I
Speaker 1: think Burrow is an absolute master, maybe the best in
Speaker 1: the league at attacking one on ones outside the numbers.
Speaker 1: When he sees that, he throws it. Now, I don't know,
Speaker 1: and you may know this, I don't know how many
Speaker 1: of those are you know, checks at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Or play calls. That's hard for me to know watching tape,
Speaker 1: but I do know that when he sees one on
Speaker 1: ones outside the numbers with Higgins or Chase, he throws it.
Speaker 1: And obviously Higgins a Chase are very very good. Even
Speaker 1: with split safety, depending on what you do with your
Speaker 1: combination route concepts, DAN, you can still throw one on
Speaker 1: one outside the numbers because if you can eat up
Speaker 1: the safety to that side with a route concept or
Speaker 1: combination route, you still get one on one outside the numbers.
Speaker 1: But if you're gonna play split safety, there's one less
Speaker 1: defender underneath. Okay, it's a numbers game. Football is a
Speaker 1: numbers game. I learned that a long time ago from
Speaker 1: a veteran coach. So now you have if you're gonna
Speaker 1: rush for play split safety, you only have three underneath defenders,
Speaker 1: and that then becomes easier to attack underneath. And I
Speaker 1: think they do a really really good job. They're among
Speaker 1: the best in the league with what we call high
Speaker 1: low concepts. They work between the numbers exceptionally well. So
Speaker 1: they eat up and underneath defender with a low route,
Speaker 1: whether it's the tight end, it could be the back,
Speaker 1: and then they run usually an inbreaking route behind that,
Speaker 1: and if you're in split safety, you can't really play
Speaker 1: that route, you know, you have to play a top
Speaker 1: down so the ball will be caught. And they do
Speaker 1: that with any number of receivers. They do it with Higgins.
Speaker 1: I saw them do it a few weeks ago before
Speaker 1: it got hurt with Joe Mixon. I forget who the
Speaker 1: opponent was. Out of an empty set, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you about this since the
Speaker 1: Steelers game when they had twenty empty sets, they've not
Speaker 1: been an empty very much, and I've been kind of
Speaker 1: surprised by that. Do you know have an answer for that,
Speaker 1: Brady Chance, not so much, except to say that they've
Speaker 1: had so much success running out of the shotgun now.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's really become the key to the running
Speaker 1: game that I think they like having, you know, that
Speaker 1: threat to present to the defense, and it's cut down
Speaker 1: in the number of times that Joe's gone empty. That's
Speaker 1: a great point, because I think they knew that they
Speaker 1: had to become more sustaining with their run game, you know,
Speaker 1: because no matter how good burrowing the receivers are, it's
Speaker 1: hard to be one dimensional every week and really win
Speaker 1: when you start playing good defenses. And that's a great point.
Speaker 1: You're probably right because they need to develop some kind
Speaker 1: of sustainability with the run game, and they've been doing
Speaker 1: that out of the shotguns, so obviously that demands a
Speaker 1: back in the backfield. So they face the Buccaneers this week.
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay is twenty eighth in the league and scoring,
Speaker 1: and it's not because Tom Brady is forty five years old.
Speaker 1: What problems are the Bucks having on offense? Well, they
Speaker 1: have a lot. I mean, and I say that honestly.
Speaker 1: You know, you know everything I say is based on tape.
Speaker 1: You know, it's never anything more than that. This is
Speaker 1: a team with pretty significant offensive problems. Number One, they
Speaker 1: can't run the ball. Their first down run game is
Speaker 1: among the worst in the league. This is a team
Speaker 1: that has faced, on offense, the second most third downs
Speaker 1: of any team in the league. They face fifteen third
Speaker 1: downs per game. Dan that you don't want to be
Speaker 1: in that situation. That's too many third downs on a
Speaker 1: weekly basis, because defense is normally normally have the tactical
Speaker 1: advantage when you're in third down unless you're in third, one, third,
Speaker 1: and two, and that's not the case with the Bucks,
Speaker 1: and quite honestly, Tom Brady has not played particularly well.
Speaker 1: He's very conscious of pressure. The old line has obviously
Speaker 1: been an ongoing issue. He's a pocket quarterback. He's not
Speaker 1: going to move, so he's become very aware of it,
Speaker 1: very conscious of it. He falls away from a lot
Speaker 1: of throws. He's not a guy that's going to take sacks,
Speaker 1: so he gets rid of the ball for incompletions, you know,
Speaker 1: just because he won't get sacked. So this is an
Speaker 1: offense that has multiple issues right now. The only thing
Speaker 1: you can say, and it could happen any given week,
Speaker 1: is they do have talented, skilled players. So could any
Speaker 1: given week be the week that they hit some big
Speaker 1: play touchdowns. It could. I mean, for your guy's sake,
Speaker 1: you hope it's not this week. But for the most part,
Speaker 1: when you watch that offense, it's they've got a number
Speaker 1: of issues that they're really struggling to work through. Defensively,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, they played pretty well. I think
Speaker 1: nine of the thirteen opponents have scored twenty or less
Speaker 1: in regulation. What do you think of the Bucks defense
Speaker 1: and who stands out on that side of the ball. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've had some issues in the secondary this year with injury,
Speaker 1: so that's you know again, I don't know what the
Speaker 1: situation is with you guys, with Higgins and Boyd obviously,
Speaker 1: but I mean if if, if everybody's healthy, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit of an issue for the Bucks because their
Speaker 1: secondaries had some concerns. I mean, this past week they
Speaker 1: started Delaney as their slot corner, which and I know
Speaker 1: they don't want to do that, so I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's going to be the guy again. I'm pretty
Speaker 1: sure Dean got benched at halftime of the last game
Speaker 1: because he did not play in the second half, and
Speaker 1: I don't believe he was hurt. He was the one
Speaker 1: who gave up the stutter go to Ayuk on the
Speaker 1: final play of the first half for the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: so I think he was benched. And he's been up
Speaker 1: and down this year. Davis is their best corner, their
Speaker 1: most consistent corner. You know, their pass rush can be
Speaker 1: really good. Todd Bowles is a master of blitz concepts
Speaker 1: and he can hurt you any given week a blitz
Speaker 1: that you haven't quite seen. And they'll be working on
Speaker 1: that this week because Burrows incredibly smart, so Todd Bowles
Speaker 1: will want to show something that Joe has not seen
Speaker 1: on film. Now, Joe may be smart enough to recognize, hey,
Speaker 1: that's a different look. This guy's in a spot I
Speaker 1: haven't seen him before. That's an alert. We may you know,
Speaker 1: Joe's smart enough to know that, or he may not
Speaker 1: know that. You never know. You know, even the great
Speaker 1: ones at times get get confused by something they haven't seen.
Speaker 1: But this defense is you know, last week they couldn't
Speaker 1: stop the run. They couldn't stop the run at all
Speaker 1: with the forty nine ers. So it's defensively they've also
Speaker 1: been really erratic as well. It's just been things have
Speaker 1: not worked for them this year really on either side
Speaker 1: of the ball with any kind of consistency. So the
Speaker 1: Bengals are looking for when number six in a row.
Speaker 1: What are a few keys in your mind to Sunday's
Speaker 1: game anytime you're talking about the Bengals. Even though we
Speaker 1: talked about the run game, we know that the pass
Speaker 1: game kind of drives it more often than not. You know,
Speaker 1: Joe doesn't have to throw for three eighty for them
Speaker 1: to win. But but they're a passing football. I mean,
Speaker 1: even last week with everyone in the game with Taylor
Speaker 1: in the game, they both hit some big plays. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're a throwing football team. They're gonna
Speaker 1: have to make plays in the pass game, and I
Speaker 1: think they can against this team. Now, the key is
Speaker 1: protection because again the Bucks can rush the quarterback and
Speaker 1: Bowls is a blitz defensive coach, so there is going
Speaker 1: to be pressure concepts that they have to deal with.
Speaker 1: So I think throwing the ball, they will have to
Speaker 1: throw it and they will have to make some big
Speaker 1: plays there. And then defensively, And I want to mention
Speaker 1: one guy because I loved his tape coming out, But
Speaker 1: I think Cam Taylor BRIT's going to be a really
Speaker 1: good player. He's competitive, he's feisty, he's tough, he brings
Speaker 1: a swagger to your defense. You know, obviously a woozy
Speaker 1: you didn't want to lose him, but you know, Taylor
Speaker 1: brit is a really good player and he's going to
Speaker 1: be a starter there for quite some time. Bengals fans
Speaker 1: love it when I have you as a guest. I
Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Look forward to seeing you at
Speaker 1: the comb in Indianapolis. And thanks so much for joining
Speaker 1: us today. Thanks Dan, really appreciate it anytime. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one
Speaker 1: hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering
Speaker 1: Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
Speaker 1: Visit Kettering health dot org to learn more. A major
Speaker 1: focus this week is the first and possibly only head
Speaker 1: to head meeting between twenty seven year old Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: and forty five year old Tom Brady. Brady has a
Speaker 1: podcast that he does with veteran broadcaster Jim Gray called
Speaker 1: Let's Go, and last year, just before the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: they had Joe Burrow on as a guest. I think
Speaker 1: Joe's got some tools that I didn't quite have when
Speaker 1: I was his age. So super impressed by how he's
Speaker 1: kind of coming to the league. In went to Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: which has been a tough place to play over the years,
Speaker 1: and two years into his career after a really tough
Speaker 1: injury last year, show a lot of mental and physical
Speaker 1: tough it's coming back and have an incredible season. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, I always love watching quarterbacks, and certainly young
Speaker 1: quarterbacks because I feel like, you know, there's certain ways
Speaker 1: to play the game, and to play the game at
Speaker 1: a high level requires a huge commitment. I think Joe,
Speaker 1: even from when I saw him at LSU, you know,
Speaker 1: he makes that commitment. So it's a it's really a
Speaker 1: great thing for me to see as as you know,
Speaker 1: somebody who's played this game for a long time, so
Speaker 1: really happy for Joe and his team. Joe, when you
Speaker 1: hear those words from Tom, your reaction is, well, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know if I can be in
Speaker 1: the conversation with this guy yet, but you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna work really hard to try, and I think we're
Speaker 1: up to a great start. Tom Brady has been an
Speaker 1: NFL quarterback since Joe Burrow was four years old. Here's
Speaker 1: the Bengals QB on TB twelve. You gets the ball
Speaker 1: really fast. You know, he understands what he's looking at. Um.
Speaker 1: I think he epitomizes toughness at the quarterback position. He's
Speaker 1: a great leader. I mean, he's the greatest of all
Speaker 1: time for a reason. He's told package it's our fourteenth
Speaker 1: game of the season. You know, it's obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: the greatest quarterback evers on the other side. But you know,
Speaker 1: we got a job to do too, and our job
Speaker 1: is gonna win. Get to ten and four and move on.
Speaker 1: And what does he think about the inevitable Brady Burrow comparisons?
Speaker 1: It is what it is. You don't really pay attention
Speaker 1: to it. He's Tom and I'm Joe. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by all to Fiber future proof fiber
Speaker 1: Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take
Speaker 1: your home, business, and community to a new level. Elevate
Speaker 1: your connection with all too Fiber. Last year, in his
Speaker 1: twenty third NFL season, Tom Brady led the NFL in
Speaker 1: passing yards and touchdown passes. But this year, behind a
Speaker 1: makeshift offensive line, Brady and the Bucks have struggled to score.
Speaker 1: They've only topped twenty two points once all year. Will
Speaker 1: the Bengals defense let's add to the Bucks offensive woes.
Speaker 1: I caught up with safety Von Bell this week. Vin,
Speaker 1: you have played at a very high level for six
Speaker 1: plus years now in the NFL, but this year you've
Speaker 1: got four interceptions. You're tied for fourth on the league
Speaker 1: in that category. You're third on the Bengals and tackles
Speaker 1: right behind the linebackers. Do you feel like you're playing
Speaker 1: the best you've ever played in the NFL? I think so?
Speaker 1: What that it comes with this time in the league.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really just growing as a young athlete
Speaker 1: in this league and just really just trying to progress
Speaker 1: year in the year out. So I think I'm hating
Speaker 1: the right direction. Let's go back to the interceptions for
Speaker 1: a second. Four this year. You've had three previously including
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but going back to your Ohio State days,
Speaker 1: you had nine in three years. Are the four interceptions
Speaker 1: this year the product of the way you're being deployed
Speaker 1: by Lou and Rumo. For sure. You always trying to
Speaker 1: put the safeties in the best position to make plays.
Speaker 1: Hats all town, You know, we always want to make plays.
Speaker 1: Me and Jesse and I just want to be just
Speaker 1: energy for the defensive feed off of and I always
Speaker 1: just want to make plays with each other. So, uh yeah,
Speaker 1: hats out there, just put me in a position to
Speaker 1: make plays. You've played ninety nine percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 1: You came out in a couple of the lopsided games,
Speaker 1: but that's it. Of your various attributes, how high do
Speaker 1: you rank reliability and durability very high because I think
Speaker 1: when I first came in, just leaving my coach at
Speaker 1: the time, I always said the best availability is availability
Speaker 1: and just always just want to stay healthy and stay durable,
Speaker 1: stay in the weight room, just being healthy because yeah,
Speaker 1: put the armone out there because it's a tough war
Speaker 1: and for those sixty minutes. But I always just want
Speaker 1: to be just available and just ready and durable because
Speaker 1: that's stickul to throughout the league. Were visiting the von
Speaker 1: Bell you mentioned Jesse Bates. You two guys form one
Speaker 1: of the best safety combos in the NFL. What do
Speaker 1: you enjoy about working with Jesse and do the two
Speaker 1: of you fit just extremely well together? Oh? Man, that's
Speaker 1: my guy, always thinking. I like, I want to make plays.
Speaker 1: We always tell each other before every game as we
Speaker 1: go they go and just want to be the leaders,
Speaker 1: be the generals back there commanding things, and I just
Speaker 1: want guys to just always just play better and up
Speaker 1: to the standard when we back there and as everybody,
Speaker 1: just want to command everybody, to keep everybody accountable and
Speaker 1: just really just feeding off each other and really playing
Speaker 1: off each other. And that's what we do very well. Together.
Speaker 1: The secondary lost one of the best cover corners in
Speaker 1: the league when chittabe Wuja towards a se all against Cleveland.
Speaker 1: And yet you've managed to win five games in a
Speaker 1: row since you've known n Eelie Apple for a long
Speaker 1: time Ohio State in New Orleans. Has he taken it
Speaker 1: up a notch since Cheetah went down? Yes, because he's
Speaker 1: the oldest corner now and so better in presence these
Speaker 1: nas is a game, and you know he had to
Speaker 1: step it up even more because we had a lot
Speaker 1: of young guys in the room and it's really just
Speaker 1: the culture in our room and the standard that we have,
Speaker 1: and we always say, we're gonna need all these guys
Speaker 1: in this room. That's what you're here for to be
Speaker 1: in his room, in his NFL locker room, because it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a time at a moment in place where
Speaker 1: we're gonna need somebody young guy, older guy, that doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: All hands on the deck. That's what we always talk
Speaker 1: and it's just really just the standing alone room. It
Speaker 1: just hats off to the coaches and hats off to
Speaker 1: the guys that's really taking the calum building in their job.
Speaker 1: So that's the biggest thing, and guys really take it serious,
Speaker 1: never to care for one another. Rookie camp Taylor brid
Speaker 1: has moved into the starting lineup. His locker is next
Speaker 1: to yours. What do you like about the kid for Nebraska?
Speaker 1: He go fight and he always want a chance. He
Speaker 1: always want an opportunity and he's gonna make most of it.
Speaker 1: He always tell me, give me the call, go play
Speaker 1: for you. He gonna play hard, So I always I'll
Speaker 1: always count on him in my corner. He gonna throw
Speaker 1: his hat in there, he gonna throw his shoulder in there.
Speaker 1: He'll give you all the guy and uh for those
Speaker 1: sixty minutes and um, you know, he just always want
Speaker 1: to make him play and um and I love that biom.
Speaker 1: He's fiery, a lot of energy and um he's just
Speaker 1: eager to make that play and keep on progression. This
Speaker 1: week in this league, week can and week out. He
Speaker 1: had to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers this Sunday.
Speaker 1: If I'm reck you faced Tom Brady once before in
Speaker 1: your career. He had a good game, three touchdown passes
Speaker 1: in the first quarter. What stood out about facing him
Speaker 1: head to head? Oh man, he's got probably won't arguably
Speaker 1: the greatest quarter right to every bloody game. He's seen
Speaker 1: a lot he'd been in there for two decades, Uh,
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of coaches. You know, he played a
Speaker 1: lot of ball. He gonna know what you're in, like
Speaker 1: Lui said today, and uh, he's just go You gotta
Speaker 1: think of all the beaters that's gonna come off of
Speaker 1: that and they go run what he likes and um
Speaker 1: so you always got to accept the challenge. That's what
Speaker 1: we're here for, to be the best of what we do,
Speaker 1: and we go play the best of what he does
Speaker 1: at this very moment. And um, you know, um so
Speaker 1: what what what? What an opportunity? What a challenge for
Speaker 1: the group? And I know guys are looking forward to
Speaker 1: it because we know we won't make plays on the
Speaker 1: ball for sure come from him. On this last tour,
Speaker 1: at the end of their game last week against San Francisco,
Speaker 1: it looked like a receiving line. I mean, one guy
Speaker 1: after the other was approaching him. They're asking him to
Speaker 1: sign their jersey. I think a guy that intercepted him
Speaker 1: asked him and signed the ball. Do you anticipate something
Speaker 1: similar this week? If I get what I know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get one this week. I'm gonna manifest that. I'll
Speaker 1: probably just send him the mail. I'll probably send the mail.
Speaker 1: But but it's just it's greatness, and you gotta respect greatness.
Speaker 1: And uh man, that's what we're doing for like I said,
Speaker 1: and he just wanted the greatest. Every probably put on
Speaker 1: the helmet and play that position. So you know, we're
Speaker 1: admired them from far, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: we gotta get the job done. A couple more questions
Speaker 1: for vine Bell. You famously have a first guy in
Speaker 1: the building work ethic, and your teammates greatly admire that.
Speaker 1: Do you need an alarm clock at this point or
Speaker 1: do you just naturally roll out of bed at five
Speaker 1: fifteen or five thirty whatever? It is not a long
Speaker 1: it's always on. This naturally just always stays on. But
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I just beat along and always up so
Speaker 1: they give me a look cute to get out the
Speaker 1: door by that time. So, um man, just come here
Speaker 1: to work and um mans. I love it, love the process,
Speaker 1: um and just just love being in it. And uh
Speaker 1: because I always tell them it's a chef life because
Speaker 1: this thing goes by so fast. I was telling one
Speaker 1: of the rooks the other day, I said, I remember
Speaker 1: when I was rooking. I came in now year seven,
Speaker 1: it's just blinking an eye, just having too much fun
Speaker 1: and building relationships and building brotherhoods. That's go last of lifetime.
Speaker 1: So really just enjoy the moment and stay in the
Speaker 1: moment and maximize the moment. You just turned twenty eighth
Speaker 1: this week. Happy birthday. By the way, you are still
Speaker 1: a young man, but you have a presence on this team.
Speaker 1: The young guys kind of look at you as the
Speaker 1: wise sense. Do you enjoy that at times? But I
Speaker 1: also want to give my age away because you know
Speaker 1: that mark. They always try to I guess, let's scared
Speaker 1: all you're getting older but still young. Hard to upbeat it,
Speaker 1: and I take it on just as some more to
Speaker 1: my plate. I accept it, just really just I always
Speaker 1: tell them I'm here to serve and trying to give
Speaker 1: all my knowledge from all the failure successes, trying to
Speaker 1: give it to the important until you so you'd be
Speaker 1: better than me and you take that next step, when
Speaker 1: you take that next that leap until your your next
Speaker 1: you know, progression in your career. So all want to
Speaker 1: feed into the young guys and always give him back.
Speaker 1: One of the best free agent acquisitions this franchise ever made.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on another great season. Best of left the rest
Speaker 1: of the way. Thank you so much. The Steelers, Ravens,
Speaker 1: and Browns all have wins over Tampa Bay this year.
Speaker 1: We'll see if the Bengals can make at four for
Speaker 1: four for the AFC North. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're
Speaker 1: free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs.
Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals App. Now time for this
Speaker 1: week's No The Faux segment. Scott Smith covers the Bucks
Speaker 1: for Fox thirteen in Tampa and he joined Dave Lappam
Speaker 1: and Wayne box Miller this week on the Bengals Game
Speaker 1: Plan Show. Here's Scott on where things stand for the
Speaker 1: six and seven Buccaneers. Well, I think getting to the
Speaker 1: playoffs is kind of the first hurdle that they need
Speaker 1: to reach. I mean, this team has been so inconsistent
Speaker 1: this year, and while there is a bulk of that
Speaker 1: attention that's going to be directed toward the play of Brady,
Speaker 1: I mean, really, this is this is a comprehensive failure
Speaker 1: in terms of what this year has been. The consistency
Speaker 1: has just not been there. We have. You know, it
Speaker 1: started early on in the season when when pieces of
Speaker 1: that offensive line started to go down. Now you only
Speaker 1: have one of the previous five starters from last year
Speaker 1: in their left tackle Downovan Smith, and he might be
Speaker 1: having his worst season yet as a pro. So I
Speaker 1: think it for Brady it starts up front, the confidence
Speaker 1: that he has in his offensive line. He's he's not
Speaker 1: one that's going to stay back there in the pocket
Speaker 1: and take a sack, and so I think he's maybe
Speaker 1: rushing things a little bit to avoid the sack, just
Speaker 1: to make sure that he maintains his longevity. And when
Speaker 1: you when you do that, players are not receivers are
Speaker 1: not getting open. There's I think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: opportunities missed when he's not able to take a little
Speaker 1: bit longer of a drop, And so I think speeding
Speaker 1: the offensive plays up a little bit has hurt this team.
Speaker 1: There's really there's no dynamic playmaker in this offense right now,
Speaker 1: which says a lot given this team had one of
Speaker 1: the best offenses in the league last year, but their
Speaker 1: production this year there, you know, aftercan about seventeen points
Speaker 1: a game, and last week against the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: they were lucky to get one touchdown. It was a
Speaker 1: bobbled catch in the end zone. So this has just
Speaker 1: been a struggle for Brady and this offense to find consistency,
Speaker 1: to find help, and even when guys are out there
Speaker 1: and playing, we have errant throws and drop balls and
Speaker 1: flags that are calling plays back. So it's just it's
Speaker 1: been a comprehensive lit down this year, especially offensively. Defensively,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a little bit different story. But they
Speaker 1: seem to remain hopeful that they can find their winning
Speaker 1: ways of years past and turn something around here late
Speaker 1: in the season and grab a little bit of momentum.
Speaker 1: But at this point, getting to the playoffs is going
Speaker 1: to be still a hurdle for this team. You mentioned
Speaker 1: Donovan Smith. He's got more holding penalties than any other
Speaker 1: lineman in the National Football League, and honestly, watching tape,
Speaker 1: they're not calling all of them. This dude is a
Speaker 1: holding machine. I mean he is grabbing people out there
Speaker 1: and he has been called you know frequently, but not
Speaker 1: as bad as it could be. You're exactly right, and
Speaker 1: he's a good player. I mean, it's just I guess
Speaker 1: it's one of those years worse got the ankle problem.
Speaker 1: But he'll probably go. He'll probably be able to go.
Speaker 1: Here's an interesting stat on Brady though. When Brady gets
Speaker 1: rid of the football in less than two and a
Speaker 1: half seconds, which is quick, he gets the ball out
Speaker 1: quickly though he's a chuck and duck guy. He didn't
Speaker 1: want to get hit at forty five years old. When
Speaker 1: he gets it out in less than two and a
Speaker 1: half seconds, seventy eight percent completion percentage of eleven touchdowns
Speaker 1: when it's over two and a half seconds drops to
Speaker 1: fifty one percent in only three touchdowns Tom Brady, it's like,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much he trusts that offensive line
Speaker 1: and like you said, everything that's going on around him.
Speaker 1: But man, if he didn't get that ball out like pronto,
Speaker 1: it's issues, isn't it? Yeah? It is. And he doesn't,
Speaker 1: obviously at forty five want to be taking sacks at
Speaker 1: this age. He didn't. He didn't come back to have
Speaker 1: a season ended with injury, so he's cognizant of that.
Speaker 1: And there are some young guys there there Their center
Speaker 1: is a second year guy and he's done an admirable job,
Speaker 1: but he's filling in for for a Pro Bowl center
Speaker 1: in Ryan Jensen, Robert Haynes. He's the guy that's filling in.
Speaker 1: You know, there there everybody, I mean, everybody's new, especially
Speaker 1: now ye have right tackle. I mean, I don't believe
Speaker 1: actually Tristan Worfs is going to play this week. He
Speaker 1: was autter practice field today, kind of running around a
Speaker 1: little bit, but he's dealing with a high ankle sprain.
Speaker 1: He's been out two and a half weeks now. If
Speaker 1: you were to make it back in time for Sunday's game,
Speaker 1: I would be shocked. I think they would still wait
Speaker 1: another week with worth. So you're still looking at kind
Speaker 1: of this. You know, Hodgepodge offensive line And to your
Speaker 1: point about Donovan Smith, he says that he is dealing
Speaker 1: with something. That's what he took reporters in the week. Now.
Speaker 1: He didn't give any more details. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: that's an injury thing. If it's maybe one of those
Speaker 1: situations where he's saying, if you only knew what injury
Speaker 1: I'm playing through right now, then maybe you would understand
Speaker 1: why this is the case, he didn't. He didn't delve
Speaker 1: into any of those details. But you know the issue
Speaker 1: is is he better than the guy that's behind him?
Speaker 1: And that point was brought up to Todd Holes today
Speaker 1: after practice and says, we're going with the guy that's
Speaker 1: going to give us the best shot to win. And
Speaker 1: Donovan Smith is that guy at left tackle right now,
Speaker 1: so they don't have a better option. If they did,
Speaker 1: they'd go there. Scott Smith, Fox thirteen Sports director joined
Speaker 1: us live from Tampa Bay. You know, Scott, this defense,
Speaker 1: Devin White a guy that is as advertised, and you
Speaker 1: have one of our Cincinnati products and Mike eb was there,
Speaker 1: but do you think that this defense has the ability
Speaker 1: to stop an offense like to Cincinnati Bengers. Not if
Speaker 1: they're down for defensive backs, And that's kind of where
Speaker 1: they are right now. We're still Antoine Winfield, Junior Mike Edwards,
Speaker 1: Sean Murphy Bunting, and then cornerback Jamel Dean, all those
Speaker 1: guys uncertain about their status for this week. So this
Speaker 1: defense has been been good. They've kept their team in
Speaker 1: games this year, but they just haven't been consistent. And
Speaker 1: last week we saw against the forty nine ers a
Speaker 1: team that, really, especially at the back end, black discipline,
Speaker 1: and so without a fully healthy defense, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: exactly what you expect that lush shack Barrett edge rusher
Speaker 1: Earlier this year, they've kind of hobbled some pieces together
Speaker 1: with a second year outside linebacker on Joe Tryon Shoenca
Speaker 1: who hasn't really lived up to expectations, even the first
Speaker 1: round draft pick. On the other side, they got Carl Nassib,
Speaker 1: a guy they kind of picked up the scrap heap,
Speaker 1: a guy that knew this defense because he had played
Speaker 1: for the Bucks previously. But they're not able to generate
Speaker 1: the rush up front, and even their interior defensive linemen
Speaker 1: are Beta Vea is doubtful for this week, and he's
Speaker 1: of course the big man in the middle. He's the
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna really help slow down the run, but
Speaker 1: he's dealing with a calf strain from last week. So
Speaker 1: Ty Bowles saying today that he doubts that beat is
Speaker 1: going to be back for this game. So if they're
Speaker 1: fully healthy, then yeah, I'll put this fucks defense up
Speaker 1: against anybody. I'm not sure that they're in their ability
Speaker 1: to slow down a red hot Cincinnati Bengals offense right now,
Speaker 1: but they're not fully healthy. And so this is what
Speaker 1: it feels like to me right now, because we may
Speaker 1: be seeing something more similar to what we saw last
Speaker 1: week when they visited San Francisco, that it could get
Speaker 1: out of hand and it could get ugly early. And
Speaker 1: this team is not a seam that really can fight
Speaker 1: from from behind them. They have to be front runners,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, to really give themselves a chance. And
Speaker 1: so we'll see, We'll see what happens in the opening
Speaker 1: quarter of this game. Those first couple of drives I
Speaker 1: think could set the tenor for the game. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: gonna it's gonna be interest. The Bengals are seven and
Speaker 1: oh this year when they score first, so they want
Speaker 1: to play with the league, you know. And they're six
Speaker 1: and oh when they lead after the first quarter. So
Speaker 1: if they can jump out to an early start. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you these two linebackers though, Devin White and Lavante David,
Speaker 1: they've played every snap defensively. These guys can run. These
Speaker 1: guys come downhill, they run to the football. That that's
Speaker 1: two very good linebackers. But if you're heard up front
Speaker 1: with via who's really good and on the back end.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's only so much you can do. But
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, Todd Bowles fourteen different guys have
Speaker 1: at least a half a sack and Todd Bowles defense
Speaker 1: fourteen and the defensive lineman, linebackers, cornerbacks, safeties. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. He's bringing them from everywhere and he's the guy.
Speaker 1: He's a guy like the offensive coaches. They say, all right,
Speaker 1: they're gonna make simple things look difficult, difficult things look simple.
Speaker 1: That's what Bowls does with all of his different looks
Speaker 1: and everything that he does. I have a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for him as a defensive coach. What do the
Speaker 1: players think about him in his defensive mind, Well, I
Speaker 1: think that they admire coach Bowls and I think you
Speaker 1: hit on it. As a defensive coordinator, he's one of
Speaker 1: the best in the game. The problem is when that
Speaker 1: how that translator translates over as as a head coach,
Speaker 1: and when you're leading an entire room versus just um,
Speaker 1: you know, working on your defensive game plant. So he
Speaker 1: very much is still a defensive coordinator for this team.
Speaker 1: So Larry Foote kind of takes on a co defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator role for this team, but top Bles is still
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator U. So he's oversight as head coach.
Speaker 1: Maybe not where it should be, UM, but he does.
Speaker 1: He draws up obviously exotic flitzes and disguise looks, and
Speaker 1: you know, players on the defensive end love playing for
Speaker 1: him because it's going to give them an opportunity to
Speaker 1: fly off the edge or run a stunt up the middle. UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, with with teams that aren't wise to
Speaker 1: playing against Todd Goles defense, Uh, they can read haboc
Speaker 1: and they they've been able to get to the quarterback
Speaker 1: you know, you know, an ample amount of times this year.
Speaker 1: And they do it with a handful of different guys.
Speaker 1: But yeah, the middle of that defense, LaMonte David Devin,
Speaker 1: why those are the two main stays. Those guys that
Speaker 1: remained healthy, they fly around. But if your defensive line
Speaker 1: is allowing you know, alignment to run free, that it
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter because you can't fill those holes. You
Speaker 1: can't stop that run. And that's part of the issue.
Speaker 1: So it's it's a total team thing. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know it's cliche, but this the team has stars on it,
Speaker 1: and those stars have certainly not played like stars this year,
Speaker 1: and the fan base is frustrated. Everybody's searching for answers,
Speaker 1: and I think it's it's a lot more nuanced than
Speaker 1: one guy will one side of the ball. It's it's
Speaker 1: all across the board that's going to do it. For
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, presented by Kettering Health,
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to the Bengals boot Podcast.