Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
Speaker 2: The One Thing at a Time addition, as the Bengals
Speaker 2: look to earn that badly needed first victory as they
Speaker 2: face Andy Dalton and the Carolina Panthers. Coming up, did
Speaker 2: you know that andre Yosi vash is tied for the
Speaker 2: NFL lead and touchdown catches. We'll discuss that and whether
Speaker 2: he thinks he could have won an Olympic medal in
Speaker 2: the decathlon last summer. Then I'll talk to a legendary
Speaker 2: Dallas cowboy who was on a team that started zho
Speaker 2: and two and came back to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: I didn't know the faux segment, we'll get an in
Speaker 2: depth look at the Panthers from their radio voice, a
Speaker 2: Niche Shroff. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 2: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 2: latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet,
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Speaker 2: the greatest thing since Mike Valentine. Cincinnati lost one of
Speaker 2: its greatest philanthropists last week when my friend Mike Valentine
Speaker 2: passed away at the age of seventy four. He graduated
Speaker 2: with an engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati in
Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies and became a legend in the radar
Speaker 2: detector industry, inventing technology that was vastly superior from what
Speaker 2: it existed before, and then doing it again and again.
Speaker 2: We became friends through his love of UC sports, and
Speaker 2: Mike is truly among the most extraordinary people I've ever met,
Speaker 2: and he and his wife Peg have been incredibly generous
Speaker 2: to the same Cincinnati community, including a multi million dollar
Speaker 2: gift to the Cincinnati Ballet. He was a brilliant and
Speaker 2: kind man who made Cincinnati a better place. Now let's
Speaker 2: get to football. It's no surprise that Justin Jefferson has
Speaker 2: tied for the league lead in touchdown catches with three,
Speaker 2: but fans around the country probably didn't expect one of
Speaker 2: the guys that shares the top spot to be andre
Speaker 2: Yosi Vash. He's become one of the bengals top red
Speaker 2: zone targets and I discussed it with a former Princeton
Speaker 2: track star this week. Andre you are tied for the
Speaker 2: NFL lead in touchdown catches with three and if you
Speaker 2: go back to the final game of last year, you
Speaker 2: had two in that game. So that's five touchdown catches
Speaker 2: in your last four games. Has this become ho hum?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess those statistics. You can't really fight those statistics.
Speaker 3: I would say, you know, me and Joe just have
Speaker 3: some sort of knack there of I don't know, just
Speaker 3: chemistry with each other there that can't be explained. So's
Speaker 3: I'm pretty lucky to pretty fortunate.
Speaker 2: For that to be my stats. They've all come in
Speaker 2: the red zone. Do you think your size and your
Speaker 2: strength is a factor in that compressed area?
Speaker 1: Definitely?
Speaker 3: I think you know, my build, my size, my strength
Speaker 3: also like my quickness that people might or like smaller
Speaker 3: dbs might not know about. You know, I'm quicker than
Speaker 3: my people would think, so I can break it off
Speaker 3: at any point, just like against the Chiefs like that.
Speaker 3: That throughout the pilot, I broke them off with a
Speaker 3: couple of yard separation, and I only had a pretty
Speaker 3: small box to work in, So I think everything there
Speaker 3: that I have physically works in my favor.
Speaker 2: Do you still save the touchdown balls at this point?
Speaker 4: Nah?
Speaker 1: No, I didn't say any of those.
Speaker 3: Maybe if something happens like next to my birthday again,
Speaker 3: or if it's like a game winning one, then I'll
Speaker 3: save it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2: Visiting with andre Yosi vash on Monday night, it was
Speaker 2: the first time this year that you, Jamar Chase t
Speaker 2: Higgins were on the field at the same time. Did
Speaker 2: you see a difference in the defense with those two
Speaker 2: guys out there with you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean I saw a difference. I
Speaker 3: kind of felt a difference in the offense, to be honest.
Speaker 3: I felt like we were able to get into more
Speaker 3: of a rhythm. I mean, obviously we had a great
Speaker 3: game against Kansas City as well, but something just felt
Speaker 3: like it flowed and the energy felt like what it
Speaker 3: should have been when all three of.
Speaker 1: Us were out there.
Speaker 2: He scored ten points in week one, twenty five in
Speaker 2: week two, and thirty three in week three. Are you
Speaker 2: cooking now.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think the offense is definitely cooking. You know,
Speaker 3: we're all you know, it's it's interesting because you lose
Speaker 3: some of your guys last year and then this year
Speaker 3: is still trying to find a rhythm and find out
Speaker 3: what works, what personnel groupings work, and so you know,
Speaker 3: once you find that rhythm, you know it's just got
Speaker 3: to keep going.
Speaker 2: So I have a buddy that when the Bengals lose
Speaker 2: a tough game, he goes home, he pops on episodes
Speaker 2: of funniest home videos that he's saved just to take
Speaker 2: his mind off the game. Do you do after a
Speaker 2: tough loss?
Speaker 1: You know, that's actually not too.
Speaker 3: Like far off what I do sometimes, Like if I
Speaker 3: just want to decompress or something, I'll go on YouTube
Speaker 3: watch fales of the year like or an office episode
Speaker 3: that makes me feel comfort, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: He's not too far off what I would do.
Speaker 4: All right, I'm gonna pass that along.
Speaker 2: What's the message this week among the players and coaches
Speaker 2: in the locker room?
Speaker 3: You know, just keep the intensity high, hold people accountable,
Speaker 3: and just you practice more than you play in this
Speaker 3: in this sport, so if you practice just as hard
Speaker 3: as you play and with the right intentions, you know,
Speaker 3: good things will happen.
Speaker 2: Carolina really struggled in the first two weeks, then they
Speaker 2: crushed the Raiders last week with Andy Dalton at quarterback.
Speaker 2: Did that eliminate any possibility of taking them lightly?
Speaker 3: I would say, team wise, you don't take any other
Speaker 3: opponent lightly. You know, the NFL is a you know,
Speaker 3: coach Coach Taylor says all the time, it's a hard
Speaker 3: league to get wins in, and I think all of
Speaker 3: us are bought into that. You know, we have a
Speaker 3: lot of veteran leadership as well, and everybody knows how
Speaker 3: hard it is to get a w in this league.
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't say necessarily it was it we would
Speaker 3: have taken them any later.
Speaker 2: That happens for the rest of us, not for the
Speaker 2: guys that actually are out there playing. All right, So
Speaker 2: I'm curious about something, Andre. You were fined for shooting
Speaker 2: an imaginary bow and arrow after scoring a touchdown in
Speaker 2: Kansas City. Forgive my ignorance, celebrations are allowed. Why would
Speaker 2: that be fined.
Speaker 3: Well, they had said that it was an act of violence,
Speaker 3: but in I don't know, I was I felt like
Speaker 3: I was in Arrowhead playing the Chiefs. I mean, they
Speaker 3: have their stadium is Arrowhead. You don't you don't want
Speaker 3: me to shoot a bone arrow there? I mean that
Speaker 3: is asking for it to happen, so I'm going to
Speaker 3: appeal it. I didn't think it was too violent. I
Speaker 3: wasn't doing it at anybody. But you know I've seen
Speaker 3: I don't know I've seen worse.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that one really confused me.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: Final question for andre Yosibosh. At the Summer Olympics in Paris,
Speaker 2: the gold in the cafalon went to Marcus Ruth of Norway.
Speaker 2: The silver went to Leo neig Bauer, you know the
Speaker 2: name from Germany. The Brons went to Linden Victor of Grenada.
Speaker 2: Have you competed against any of them, and had you
Speaker 2: concentrated on the decathlon, could you have been a medalist
Speaker 2: this year?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 3: So I competed against Leo my junior year of college
Speaker 3: at nationals. He got first. I got fourth there, but
Speaker 3: you know, the points weren't too far apart there. First, second, third,
Speaker 3: and fourth were all neck and neck, and I think
Speaker 3: that definitely. I mean I was competing with them at
Speaker 3: the national level, and you know in the NCAA. You
Speaker 3: have guys, you know, coming from all over the world.
Speaker 3: You know, Germany, I mean Leo's from Germany and he
Speaker 3: competed for Germany and the Olympics. This other guy named
Speaker 3: Aidan Owens, He's from Puerto Rico, and so you know,
Speaker 3: you're competing against basically the guys who are going to
Speaker 3: be at the Olympics. And I was right there with them.
Speaker 3: So I think that if I'm trained for the whole year,
Speaker 3: I mean, this guys would have been the limit.
Speaker 4: For me there.
Speaker 3: But I also think the sky's a limit for me here.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't think any of those guys would
Speaker 2: have five touchdown catches in the last four games.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think I can put that. Yeah, Athletically,
Speaker 3: I have that over them for sure.
Speaker 4: So yeah, all right, appreciate your time. Best of luck
Speaker 4: this week.
Speaker 3: Yep, thank you.
Speaker 2: Because he was playing football at Princeton Yosi, Vash mostly
Speaker 2: competed in indoor track in college, where instead of doing
Speaker 2: the ten event the kathlon athletes compete in the seven
Speaker 2: event heptathlon. Andre holds the IVY League record and was
Speaker 2: a first team All American as a hepta athlete in
Speaker 2: most NFL seasons, ten wins get you to the playoffs,
Speaker 2: and if you look at the Bengals schedule for the
Speaker 2: rest of the year, you can definitely see a path
Speaker 2: for going ten to four the rest of the way.
Speaker 2: But at this point, nobody in that locker room is
Speaker 2: looking ahead. Here's Ted Karris.
Speaker 6: We can't start looking down to you know, the end
Speaker 6: of the season. There's fourteen games left. We can't be like, oh,
Speaker 6: we got to get ourselves in the dance right now.
Speaker 6: We got to go beat Carolina, a team that just
Speaker 6: came off a big win against the Raiders. So we
Speaker 6: have a lot of things that you know that we
Speaker 6: need to clean up, and guys are gonna be ready
Speaker 6: to work. Here's what it is. Owing three is reality,
Speaker 6: So let's be one and three.
Speaker 2: They'll try to get there against the Carolina team that
Speaker 2: finished with the league's worst record last year at two
Speaker 2: and fifteen and got off to an abysmal start this year,
Speaker 2: losing to the Saints and Chargers to open the season
Speaker 2: by a combined score of seventy three to thirteen. But
Speaker 2: first year head coach Dave canal Let's change quarterbacks last week,
Speaker 2: pulling the number one pick in last year's draft Bryce
Speaker 2: Young and inserting thirty six year old Andy Dalton. The
Speaker 2: Red Rifle delivered, throwing three first half touchdown passes in
Speaker 2: a thirty six to twenty two win over Las Vegas.
Speaker 2: Here's Zach Taylor, total pro.
Speaker 7: Always be grateful to Andy. He led us through a
Speaker 7: very difficult time, did it the right way. Was always
Speaker 7: really good with me with giving me feedback and especially
Speaker 7: as a first year head coach, and all the challenge
Speaker 7: is that we faced that year. And I'm not surprised
Speaker 7: that he keeps getting opportunities and makes the most of
Speaker 7: them because of how he prepares and the talent that
Speaker 7: he has and his experience in the league. I mean,
Speaker 7: he's seen everything he's got against everything. He's playing in a
Speaker 7: lot of different situations, and so you're not surprised to
Speaker 7: see him out there winning games and statistically doing the
Speaker 7: things he's doing, and playing on time and making some
Speaker 7: unbelievable throws in that last game to help them win.
Speaker 2: The Bengals are favored by four and a half. Sunday's
Speaker 2: game in Charlotte will be televised by Fox, and I
Speaker 2: spoke to a former pro bowler who will be in
Speaker 2: the booth. There is going to be a Moose sighting
Speaker 2: in Carolina this Sunday, as former Dallas Cowboys and Syracuse
Speaker 2: Orange full back Darryl Johnston will be in the booth
Speaker 2: for Fox.
Speaker 4: Moose have to ask you this question.
Speaker 2: You were on a Dallas team that started zero and
Speaker 2: two and won the Super Bowl, So share some wisdom
Speaker 2: with us here in Cincinnati. What did you and your
Speaker 2: Dallas teammates do to overcome that slow start.
Speaker 8: Well, it was a difference of circumstances than what Cincinnati
Speaker 8: faced even at Owen two.
Speaker 1: So emmittt had held.
Speaker 8: Out that year, and after we started out oh and two,
Speaker 8: they got him signed and he was back week three.
Speaker 8: And I think we learned a hard lesson from the
Speaker 8: business side of football. We have somebody key to your
Speaker 8: offense and your team, make sure that he's he's involved
Speaker 8: and ready for the season opener.
Speaker 1: So it's a little bit different circumstance.
Speaker 8: I think the biggest thing for me watching Cincinnati has
Speaker 8: just been the inconsistency. I think they all had to
Speaker 8: be disappointed with the way they played at home against
Speaker 8: New England. They never really seemed to match the emotion.
Speaker 8: New England played extremely well, and so you go out
Speaker 8: to Kansas City and you have the heartbreaking loss and
Speaker 8: the past interference penalty, and you come back and we
Speaker 8: had Washington in week one and Jayden Daniels did not
Speaker 8: play at that level.
Speaker 1: So I've watched Jaden week two, week three just continue
Speaker 1: to get better.
Speaker 8: And I had a position coach of mine at Syracuse,
Speaker 8: Jim Hoffer, who was at LSU when Jayden was there,
Speaker 8: and I talked to him a lot going into that opener,
Speaker 8: and he was very confident Jaden was going to figure
Speaker 8: it out and have a really good season. So I
Speaker 8: think he's a lot further ahead of schedule than a
Speaker 8: lot of people thought. But I think if you're Cincinnati
Speaker 8: right now, you know that you've missed an opportunity because
Speaker 8: you had New England, a team that you should have beaten.
Speaker 8: Kansas City's a tough game Week two, and then you
Speaker 8: still feel you should have won that one, and you
Speaker 8: lose to a team with a new head coach and
Speaker 8: a new rookie quarterback as their starter.
Speaker 1: So I think that.
Speaker 8: There has to be a lot different emotions for Cincinnati
Speaker 8: than there was for us. For us, it was really
Speaker 8: kind of em it's back We're going to be fine
Speaker 8: right now, it's what is wrong with us? Why are
Speaker 8: we not being able to play to the level that
Speaker 8: we think we should be able to play at, and
Speaker 8: why do we continue to let these games slip through
Speaker 8: our fingers. So that's one that you got to really
Speaker 8: work through and get beyond.
Speaker 1: Ours was a little bit easier as you.
Speaker 2: Look at the Bengals offensively and defensively, what are a
Speaker 2: couple of things that stand out that they must do
Speaker 2: better going forward?
Speaker 8: Well, I think the big question is going to be,
Speaker 8: you know, the injury at right tackle this week.
Speaker 1: You know that that's always a hard one, you know,
Speaker 1: to work around.
Speaker 8: So you're bringing it a young guy, you know, Amari's
Speaker 8: Mims comes in to be able to step into that
Speaker 8: game last week, you know against you know NFL edge rushers.
Speaker 8: You know, I think you hold your own, but you've
Speaker 8: got to be smart when you're protecting your edges. So
Speaker 8: I think from an offensive standpoint, what's what's really kind
Speaker 8: of jumped out to me is the running game. You
Speaker 8: know that that's that's one of the areas where I think,
Speaker 8: you know that there's a little bit of a surprise
Speaker 8: there with the duo that they have. You lose Joe
Speaker 8: Mixon and you think it's going to be a little
Speaker 8: bit of a declimb, but.
Speaker 1: You know, Jason Zach have done a really nice job.
Speaker 8: I think we're going through Dallas in a similar situation
Speaker 8: with Cincinnati's going through. You know, cdee Lamb has a
Speaker 8: contract holdout, doesn't go to training camp. You can train
Speaker 8: all you want away from the facility and become more dynamic,
Speaker 8: become faster, but when you're not working football and you're
Speaker 8: not working with your quarterback, it's a completely different thing.
Speaker 8: And I don't care how long you've been together, you know,
Speaker 8: I've heard Joe and Jamar say, you know, we can
Speaker 8: we can go back to our connections as Bengals, and
Speaker 8: we can go all the way back to LSU. But
Speaker 8: you need to be, you know, working that system, you know,
Speaker 8: all the time, as much as you possibly can, as
Speaker 8: many reps as you can get. And I think we're
Speaker 8: seeing kind of that that lack of chemistry between Dak
Speaker 8: and CD that we're seeing between Jamar and Joe. So
Speaker 8: you know that'll come around. So you know, you can
Speaker 8: put t heagins into that model as well. So there's
Speaker 8: some things offensively in the passing game that they need
Speaker 8: to get better at. Defensively, I was really surprised. I'm
Speaker 8: a big fan of lou and Rumo. I think he
Speaker 8: puts together really good plans. I think he's he varies
Speaker 8: what he wants to do based on the opponent that
Speaker 8: he's working against. So I was really surprised to see
Speaker 8: Washington and Jaden put up that many points. So, you know,
Speaker 8: I think that that if there was something that I
Speaker 8: was concerned about, you know, that would be the one.
Speaker 1: You're talking about.
Speaker 8: Carolina, who had a really tough start, had to make
Speaker 8: a really hard decision, and Andy Dalton comes in and
Speaker 8: plays really well. And now when I watched the film,
Speaker 8: it didn't match the excitement for me from the clips
Speaker 8: that I was reading. You know, from Carolina, he played well,
Speaker 8: he played better than Bryce Young has through the first
Speaker 8: two games. But I expected to see something a little
Speaker 8: bit more. I was actually probably more impressed with Cuba
Speaker 8: Howard or Cuba Hubbard. So you know, I think that,
Speaker 8: you know, that'll be one of the things against the
Speaker 8: defense for for Cincinnati, they've struggled against the run the
Speaker 8: entire season to start, and to me, that's that's the
Speaker 8: one part that really kind of jumped out. Sure, there's
Speaker 8: some really good numbers in the passing game, but I
Speaker 8: think the offensive line for Carolina is underrated, and I
Speaker 8: thought that they ran the ball really well.
Speaker 4: We are visiting with Darryl Moose.
Speaker 2: Johnston will be broadcasting the game for Fox this week.
Speaker 2: The Bengals don't have a fullback on the roster, but
Speaker 2: rookie tight end Eric All has been lining up a
Speaker 2: decent amount of full back over the last couple of
Speaker 2: weeks and he's not afraid to hit. Somebody has number
Speaker 2: eighty three jumped out on tape to you, And what
Speaker 2: do you think about teams that are incorporating the full
Speaker 2: back into their offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like we're getting ready to restart that cycle.
Speaker 8: You know, with that position, it's kind of come and gone,
Speaker 8: you know, over the last you know, twenty thirty years,
Speaker 8: it's been very cyclical with the teams around the NFL
Speaker 8: that utilize it.
Speaker 1: Obviously, it's my position. I know the value of it.
Speaker 8: I think that the defensive linemen in this league are
Speaker 8: so explosive and so unique that the full back, the
Speaker 8: h back, you know, whatever you.
Speaker 1: Want to call him.
Speaker 8: He gives you that extra layer of protection when somebody
Speaker 8: gets beat really quick and your running back doesn't have
Speaker 8: to make a decision three yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 8: You know, you can be absorbed by that fullback, that
Speaker 8: h back. I still think you get favorable matchups when
Speaker 8: you talk about personnel. There's there's so much you know,
Speaker 8: eleven personnel out there on offenses this year that are
Speaker 8: pulling out these different kinds of nickel defenses, and these
Speaker 8: unique athletes that are now these hybrid guys that are
Speaker 8: coming down that safety linebacker guy. I think that for me,
Speaker 8: we always used the personnel group that the fullback was
Speaker 8: in as a way to get our favorable matchups, you know,
Speaker 8: keeping a bigger group on the field. So you wonder
Speaker 8: if people are going to start to slide that way
Speaker 8: a little bit. But it's been fun to watch around
Speaker 8: the league, and Eric's doing a really nice job.
Speaker 1: He's he's as complete.
Speaker 8: I think you heard Troy talk very very highly about him,
Speaker 8: he and Joe both during the broadcast on Monday night.
Speaker 8: So I'm always excited when we have somebody come in
Speaker 8: and I think for somebody like Eric in that position
Speaker 8: where you can play traditional tight end. You can play
Speaker 8: the tight end that goes out into the slot area
Speaker 8: and brakes formation. You can be a guy that can
Speaker 8: come off the wing go into the backfield, and the
Speaker 8: transition from line of scrimmage to the backfield is very different.
Speaker 8: It's very challenging when you block on the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 8: and this is an area that I really struggled at
Speaker 8: when I tried to play, you know, a traditional backside
Speaker 8: why or even a little bit on the wing off
Speaker 8: the standard why is it's a lot of hand placement, leverage,
Speaker 8: and technique where there's really more mentality and will.
Speaker 1: When you're blocking from the backfield.
Speaker 8: So it's a completely different skill set and a completely
Speaker 8: different mental approach. So for somebody to be able to
Speaker 8: do that effectively in both areas, in both positions, it
Speaker 8: has always been extremely impressive to me.
Speaker 2: So heading into the game, Carolina has given up the
Speaker 2: most points of any team in the NFL. The Bengals
Speaker 2: obviously have some injury issues on their defensive line. Does
Speaker 2: it kind of feel like this might be a shootout
Speaker 2: to you?
Speaker 8: I was really surprised to see the number one they
Speaker 8: put up against Vegas. You know, Vegas's defense you got
Speaker 8: Antonio Peers as your head coach, you got Marvin Lewis
Speaker 8: there as his mentor.
Speaker 1: You know, that's going to be a franchise.
Speaker 8: It's going to be you know, kind of driven defensively
Speaker 8: and and as a team. That's you're putting Andy Dalton,
Speaker 8: and he's got a ton of experience. He played, he
Speaker 8: played well the last time he got a chance to
Speaker 8: start and put up some some big numbers in a loss.
Speaker 8: But I didn't I didn't anticipate seeing that. I was
Speaker 8: not sure how good the supporting cast was. I've kind
Speaker 8: of watched this team build their offensive line over the
Speaker 8: last three four years, and they've done a nice job
Speaker 8: with that. So I really felt that that they were
Speaker 8: in a position there where that that was a position
Speaker 8: of strength for him, you know, across that starting five.
Speaker 1: But I was I was really surprised.
Speaker 8: We're doing our game, you know, Packers at Titans, and
Speaker 8: that score came across UH and it was really surprising
Speaker 8: to all of us.
Speaker 1: So it very well could be.
Speaker 8: It very well could be if if Cincinnati is is
Speaker 8: still struggling a little bit with with what's going on
Speaker 8: on the defensive side of the ball. You know, if
Speaker 8: if they still do don't have if Sheldon's not there,
Speaker 8: if BJ's not there, you know that that's a huge loss.
Speaker 8: And we talked about the running game for Carolina, you know,
Speaker 8: that could be a way to control things.
Speaker 1: So it's hard to win games in the NFL.
Speaker 8: It's hard to replicate an offensive performance like Carolina had
Speaker 8: last week.
Speaker 1: It's a Cincinnati team.
Speaker 8: It's you can say whatever you want, You're gonna you're
Speaker 8: gonna hear the guys talk about it.
Speaker 1: It's it's gonna be a one week you know. Focus.
Speaker 1: You know, from from this point on, we can't we
Speaker 1: can't have any more mistakes.
Speaker 8: And I've always believed that you can't win a championship
Speaker 8: in September, but you sure can lose one. And they're
Speaker 8: on the cusp of losing the opportunity to get into
Speaker 8: the playoffs and compete for a championship as a team.
Speaker 8: That was one of the ones talked about. You know,
Speaker 8: when who's going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 8: Uh So this has to be extremely disappointing. And going
Speaker 8: all the way back to how we started this. You know,
Speaker 8: when we started zero and two, even though we knew
Speaker 8: Emmett was back and and everything should be okay. We
Speaker 8: put a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves for the
Speaker 8: remainder of the season. We ended up going twelve and
Speaker 8: two down the stretch. Our losses were losses where we
Speaker 8: didn't play well again. So it's really hard. You feel
Speaker 8: like you've got to be perfect every single week moving forward,
Speaker 8: and then you have that one little blip and you
Speaker 8: lose again and it's back to the drawing boards. So
Speaker 8: there's going to be a ton of pressure on this
Speaker 8: Bengals team for the rest of the season. And I
Speaker 8: like Joe's words when he talked about I don't want
Speaker 8: to hear anybody talking about playoffs right now.
Speaker 1: This is this is one week at a time, and.
Speaker 8: He knows that there's fourteen more games, but we got
Speaker 8: a lot of work to do. It's not going to
Speaker 8: be easy getting enough wins in those fourteen to be
Speaker 8: able to get an opportunity to get into the playoffs.
Speaker 2: They obviously need one this week, and we hope that
Speaker 2: you are calling it for Fox, Darryl.
Speaker 4: I appreciate your time. Thank you so much, my pleasure.
Speaker 1: Dan. Always good to visit with you.
Speaker 2: I was part of the Syracuse University broadcast crew and
Speaker 2: move who's played there, and he helped the Orange go
Speaker 2: twenty one, two and one in his final two seasons.
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Speaker 2: for this week's Know the Faux segment. A Niche Shroff
Speaker 2: is the radio voice of the Carolina Panthers and joined
Speaker 2: Dave Lapham and me on The Bengals Game Plan Show
Speaker 2: this week, where we started the conversation by asking about
Speaker 2: Andy Dalton's remarkable performance last week.
Speaker 5: Yeah, everyone saw that coming, right, Everybody saw that coming.
Speaker 5: You know, it's wild. I think there was this national
Speaker 5: narrative that was brewing and that was out there that,
Speaker 5: to be honest, was tough to refute when you're coming
Speaker 5: off two fifteen season that this was a team that
Speaker 5: didn't have a lot of pieces and wasn't very talented.
Speaker 5: And now the quarterback play was a result of the
Speaker 5: surrounding pieces, and then Andy Dalton comes in with those
Speaker 5: same pieces throws for three hundred plus three touchdowns. You know, Dan,
Speaker 5: you talk to coaches quite often, and a lot of
Speaker 5: times you hear coach speak and things like it's just
Speaker 5: another game in one game at a time, and whoever
Speaker 5: wins the turnover battle sometimes lost in the coach speak.
Speaker 5: There are morsels of truth, and one of them is
Speaker 5: though when you hear guys, especially coaches, say they play
Speaker 5: hard for this guy, that's code for saying the team
Speaker 5: believes in them, and this team believed in Andy Dalton.
Speaker 5: And I don't know if we've seen the last of
Speaker 5: Bryce Young. I hope not. He's a great kid. But
Speaker 5: right now, in the here and now, the reality is
Speaker 5: Andy Dalton's the best quarterback on the team. He gives
Speaker 5: the Panthers the best chance to win. Everybody inside the
Speaker 5: building and especially in the locker room, kind of knew that,
Speaker 5: just with where Bryce Young was, and so he steps in,
Speaker 5: and you know, all of a sudden, the receivers that
Speaker 5: supposedly couldn't get open were open. The much in the
Speaker 5: lined offensive line has actually been according to all the
Speaker 5: metrics number one in the league through three weeks in
Speaker 5: terms of pass blocking. The running backs, which really alleged
Speaker 5: late didn't support the quarterback and had no balance to
Speaker 5: the offense. Well, Tuba Hubbard goes for one hundred plus
Speaker 5: yards also at five catches fifty plus yards receiving, So
Speaker 5: everything seemed to go right. And then the defense didn't
Speaker 5: have to play with the mindset of, hey, if you
Speaker 5: give up ten thirteen points, you're probably not going to
Speaker 5: win the game. And when you add all of that on,
Speaker 5: I've been calling it Dalton Omis, there's a trickle down
Speaker 5: effect that comes from putting a quarterback in who can
Speaker 5: be a spark plug. And we saw that, and I.
Speaker 9: Know you got to do what you have to do
Speaker 9: to win football games. Right now, the coach's careers and
Speaker 9: everybody's careers are on the line. Bryce young high draft pick,
Speaker 9: obviously the organization put a lot in a line with him.
Speaker 9: They bring in a head coach that can develop young quarterbacks, canals.
Speaker 9: I mean, he's elected a captain. Like you said, he's
Speaker 9: a great kid. He's elected a team captain, one of
Speaker 9: the four team captains, and then another one's picked on
Speaker 9: a weekly basis, So what is that like for him?
Speaker 9: What is that like for the football team? Because he's
Speaker 9: obviously still a captain. They didn't take the seat off
Speaker 9: his chest, did they? Or did they?
Speaker 5: A lot of people, and I would say most people
Speaker 5: within the building and certainly pretty much the entire locker room,
Speaker 5: they love Bryce. The reality again was he just wasn't
Speaker 5: playing well. And is it a small sample size? Absolutely
Speaker 5: eighteen games, But go back to the tail end of
Speaker 5: last year. You know, Bryce hadn't thrown a touchdown, passed
Speaker 5: in something like nine of his last ten or ten
Speaker 5: of his last to left games. The previous two games
Speaker 5: before this season started, the Panthers were shut out. They
Speaker 5: had one touchdown Week one against the Saints, and garbage time,
Speaker 5: they managed one Measley field goal Week two against the Chargers.
Speaker 5: He just wasn't doing the things required within the offense.
Speaker 5: And then you go and turn on the tape and
Speaker 5: you say, wait a minute, the protection is there. Wait
Speaker 5: a minute, there are guys who are open downfield. They're
Speaker 5: not getting the ball. I think most everybody gave Bryce
Speaker 5: a ton of grace with the way last year unfolded.
Speaker 5: Coaching changes, injuries to the offensive line, they did have
Speaker 5: issues at the skill positions. He's still a young quarterback.
Speaker 5: I don't think they're out on him completely, but maybe
Speaker 5: this can be a hard reset and whatever version of
Speaker 5: Bryce that resurfaces, hopefully with Carolina. If not, if it's
Speaker 5: with somebody else, you hope he can tap into the potential.
Speaker 5: Not just the Panthers, but most of the teams in
Speaker 5: the league saw in him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the voice of the Panthers and E. Shrop is
Speaker 2: our guest. Let's talk about the defense a little bit.
Speaker 2: It's been getting better every week, but through three weeks
Speaker 2: has given up an average of just under thirty two
Speaker 2: points a game, which is last in the NFL. Where
Speaker 2: have they struggled on the defensive end.
Speaker 5: Well, it's been stopping the run. And when your best
Speaker 5: player on the entire football team, Derek Brown, who set
Speaker 5: the NFL record for tackles by a d lineman last year,
Speaker 5: When he gives out Week one and he's done to
Speaker 5: the season due to a knee injury and wasn't really
Speaker 5: healthy that first week, that just decimates you. There's no
Speaker 5: one guy to step in and who plays Derek Brown
Speaker 5: number ninety five. Surprisingly, they actually held up okay against
Speaker 5: the rung. The Raiders we know can't run the football,
Speaker 5: but they were without Brown, they were without Shy Tutal
Speaker 5: last week, another starting d lineman. They've had trouble stopping
Speaker 5: the run. They're pretty solid on the back end. J C. Horn,
Speaker 5: when healthy, is a really good corner. Mike Jackson stepped
Speaker 5: up and played real well. They got him from Seattle
Speaker 5: after the final roster cuts. They've got three talented safeties
Speaker 5: you guys are familiar with Mick Scott. The linebackers has
Speaker 5: been pretty good. But the weakness right now stopping the run,
Speaker 5: and there just hasn't really been much of a pass rush.
Speaker 5: You do have Jadevion Clowney dj Wanham began the season
Speaker 5: on ir Finding pressure and finding a sustainable pass rush
Speaker 5: without bringing a blitz just really has not been there.
Speaker 5: So those have been the two things that's been stopping
Speaker 5: the run and finding a pass rush.
Speaker 9: Looking at at the numbers red zone defensively, opponents in
Speaker 9: the red zone nine times and scored eight touchdowns having
Speaker 9: kicked the field goal. There was no score on one
Speaker 9: of the possessions, but eighty eight touchdown percentage in the
Speaker 9: red zone. That has to be painful.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And again, that goes back to not being able
Speaker 5: to stop the run. You get down there and you
Speaker 5: get close, and if teams know they can move the
Speaker 5: chains and make traction using the ground game, they're gonna
Speaker 5: do it, especially when the field condenses and the boundary
Speaker 5: of the end zone serfs as an extra defender. So
Speaker 5: they got to figure out some way to stop the run.
Speaker 5: But it's hard right now. You got Ashan Robinson, who's
Speaker 5: a veteran the Giants last year had success with the
Speaker 5: Rams played with Aaron Donald. You know, the rest of
Speaker 5: the guys are relatively unproven right now. Without Brown, the
Speaker 5: Hocush Tuttle can come back this week. That remains to
Speaker 5: be seen. But yeah, they've got they've got to figure
Speaker 5: out a way. Yeah, they got to figure out a
Speaker 5: way to stop the run. Teams get close and they've
Speaker 5: been able to run the ball at will.
Speaker 2: Our guest is an e. Shrot, the boy said the
Speaker 2: Carolina Panthers. Let me ask you about your first year
Speaker 2: head coach Dave Canalis. I didn't know much about him
Speaker 2: before Carolina hired him the offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay
Speaker 2: last year and time with Seattle before that. I watched
Speaker 2: his news conference today, young, good looking, articulate guy. Tell
Speaker 2: us a little bit about Dave Canalis as you've gotten
Speaker 2: to work with him this year.
Speaker 5: Extremely energetic, extremely optimistic. He and general manager Dan Morgan
Speaker 5: go way back to their Seattle days. Both were brought on.
Speaker 5: Morgan was his scout. Canalis was working as an analyst
Speaker 5: and then kind of worked his way up quarterbacks coach,
Speaker 5: wide receivers coach. Eventually left to go to Tampa to
Speaker 5: be the OC. But he's been described by Baker Macfield
Speaker 5: as an optimist, fully, and you see a lot of that.
Speaker 5: This guy when it's raining outside, walks in smile on
Speaker 5: his face, Hey, what a beautiful day. And you know,
Speaker 5: in the beginning, I'll be honest, right, there's a little
Speaker 5: bit of skepticism how much of this is authentic and
Speaker 5: how much of this is real? But I've been around
Speaker 5: him now long enough to know that that other side
Speaker 5: I really haven't seen, that's still the only side. So
Speaker 5: it's either an incredible acting job and he can leave
Speaker 5: the light switch on the entire time, or that's just
Speaker 5: his personality. And I'm at the point where I believe
Speaker 5: that's just his personality. He's an optimist by nature. But again,
Speaker 5: he's also shown that he's got the ability to make
Speaker 5: tough decisions. That decision to bench Bryce Young after two weeks.
Speaker 5: When you watch the film, you know that was essentially
Speaker 5: a bet on himself and his process and his scheme.
Speaker 5: He's the play caller and he's thinking, Okay, right now,
Speaker 5: this is what's holding us back. It's quarterback play. I
Speaker 5: feel and I have conviction that if we bring in
Speaker 5: Andy Dalton it's going to make a difference. And he
Speaker 5: was absolutely right. Boy was he ever, no question about it.
Speaker 5: Let me ask you about your kicking game, specifically the
Speaker 5: people that put the foot to the to the ball.
Speaker 5: You've got an outstanding punter, outstanding placekicker as well, amongst
Speaker 5: the best in the national foot You're gonna feel pretty
Speaker 5: good about that, don't they. Yeah, we'd like to see
Speaker 5: less of Johnny Hecker, who is an autude punter. Most
Speaker 5: of our fans probably would tell you we saw way
Speaker 5: too much Johnny Hecker last year. So we saw way
Speaker 5: too much Johnny Hecker the first two weeks, not as
Speaker 5: much against the Raiders. So as good as he is,
Speaker 5: and he was on the all decade scene for the
Speaker 5: previous decades, we would prefer to see less of Johnny
Speaker 5: Eddie Tannio has been rock solid. He doesn't have the
Speaker 5: biggest leg. He doesn't have the leg like Evan McPherson
Speaker 5: does for the Bengals. But you know, anything inside fifty two,
Speaker 5: certainly inside fifty you feel pretty comfortable with him.
Speaker 4: No offense.
Speaker 2: We just want to see the punter once, yeah, right,
Speaker 2: at least Yeah, after a Monday Nights game against Wig.
Speaker 9: I don't want to see ours though, just yeah, that's true.
Speaker 5: Year, that was fine, That was fine, Ryan Rico think
Speaker 5: I saw a single There was not a single punch
Speaker 5: in that game, right.
Speaker 2: There was correct, non first time since nineteen forty no punts,
Speaker 2: no turnovers. What it's worth If the Panthers Johnny Hecker
Speaker 2: has punted sixteen times this year, Ryan Rico of the
Speaker 2: Bengals is only punted six times. I think that eight
Speaker 2: to three ratio would be just fine. On Sunday, here's
Speaker 2: a quick reminder to join lapp in me for the
Speaker 2: Bengals pep Rally show Friday from three to six on
Speaker 2: ESPN fifteen thirty. If you're not in the Cincinnati area,
Speaker 2: just search for ESPN fifteen thirty on the free iHeartMedia
Speaker 2: app that's going to do it. For this episode of
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Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals
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