Speaker 1: Hi, Get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. Let the Healing begin. Addition, as the
Speaker 1: injury ravage Bengals take the field for the final time
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, looking to end the season on a
Speaker 1: winning note and potentially knock the Pittsburgh Steelers out of
Speaker 1: the playoffs if the Baltimore Ravens don't do it. First
Speaker 1: coming up, my broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me to
Speaker 1: discuss several key topics, ranging from the murky future of
Speaker 1: linebacker Vantz Berfect to whether this season qualifies as the
Speaker 1: most disappointing that lap has experienced in forty three years
Speaker 1: as a Bengals player and or broadcaster. There have been
Speaker 1: some bright spots, including twenty three year old Sam Hubbard.
Speaker 1: I'll talk to the molar High and Ohio State grad
Speaker 1: before the final game of his rookie season, and in
Speaker 1: this week's No The Faux segment, we'll get the Steelers
Speaker 1: scoop from the always entered hating Tim Ben's, a long
Speaker 1: time buddy of mine who is a columnist and radio
Speaker 1: host in Pittsburgh. All of that is straight ahead, but first,
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean.
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Speaker 1: outlets are located outside the house. Now, let's get to football.
Speaker 1: The first meeting between the Bengals and Steelers seems like
Speaker 1: it was two years ago rather than two and a
Speaker 1: half months ago. Heading into that game, the Bengals were
Speaker 1: four and one and the Steelers were two two and one,
Speaker 1: and with one minute and eighteen seconds to go, it
Speaker 1: looked like Cincinnati was about to have a two and
Speaker 1: a half game lead over Pittsburgh in mid October, second
Speaker 1: down and three at the Steelers four, the Bengals down
Speaker 1: by six, Dalton hands it off to Mix Churches into
Speaker 1: the end zone, touchdown Bengals. Cincinnati has tied the game
Speaker 1: with one eighteen left, and the Bengals can take the
Speaker 1: lead when Randy Bullock lines up for the extra point.
Speaker 1: Bullock made the kick, but as you know, the lead
Speaker 1: didn't last. Ben Roethlisberger calmly drove the Steelers down the field,
Speaker 1: thanks in part to a third and ten defensive holding
Speaker 1: penalty against Drake Kirkpatrick. With fifteen seconds left, the Steelers
Speaker 1: were at the Bengals thirty one, and the Bengals defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator at the time, Tarall Austin, elected the gamble. The
Speaker 1: Bengals have nobody back deep. They are crowding the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. Roethlisberger catches the shotgun snap quick throw of
Speaker 1: the mental cup. Antonio Brown sprinting down the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. He's into the end zone for as Steeler's
Speaker 1: touchdown with ten seconds left. Since that touchdown pass, the
Speaker 1: Bengals are two and seven and the following players have
Speaker 1: gone on injured reserve Andy Dalton, A J. Greene, Carl Lawson,
Speaker 1: Tyler Croft, Preston Brown, Josh Tupo, and Adolphus Washington. There
Speaker 1: are others, but you get the point that when for
Speaker 1: the Steelers was the second of a six game winning
Speaker 1: streak that put them at seven two and one with
Speaker 1: a two and a half game lead over Baltimore in
Speaker 1: the AFC North, but it's been an epic fail in
Speaker 1: the Steel City since the Steelers have dropped four out
Speaker 1: of their last five games, despite having second half leads
Speaker 1: in all five. And in the Steelers case, it is
Speaker 1: not injury related. Pittsburgh is only missing one starter from
Speaker 1: opening day, right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who went on injured
Speaker 1: reserve in mid December. Now time for this week's visit
Speaker 1: with my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham Lap. Between playing and broadcasting,
Speaker 1: you've been part of this franchise for forty three of
Speaker 1: its fifty one years, considering the four and one start
Speaker 1: this year, that was almost five and one before they
Speaker 1: got Roethlisberger. Does this go down as one of the
Speaker 1: most disappointing seasons ever? I think when you look at
Speaker 1: it in that regard, because there was such high hopes.
Speaker 1: I know when we talked a bunch of times watching
Speaker 1: them during training camp, were like, man, this looks like
Speaker 1: could be pretty good. I think people, you know, they
Speaker 1: didn't have them under the radar. They had him off
Speaker 1: the radar. I mean, they were dismissed totally. People were
Speaker 1: saying four wins Max and we thought differently when we
Speaker 1: saw how it was being put together. You have a
Speaker 1: chance to see it every day and how it's being assembled,
Speaker 1: and they get off to that great start, and offensively
Speaker 1: there was something to watch. And then the beginning of
Speaker 1: it was Tyler Eiffort. When Tyler Eiffort was lost for
Speaker 1: the season, that started the downslide, and the football god said,
Speaker 1: not so fast, my friend, it's not going to be
Speaker 1: the kind of year you think when Effort was in there.
Speaker 1: When you have a tight end AJ Green, you can
Speaker 1: double team, but then Iffort's going to eat if you
Speaker 1: double Effort. You can't double AJ's easily because there's a
Speaker 1: run threat too. With Tyler Eiffort in the game. We
Speaker 1: talked about it many times. Every snap he played, they
Speaker 1: went nickel because they couldn't match up with him in
Speaker 1: the passing game. They didn't want a linebacker on them,
Speaker 1: so they'd bring in a smaller body to, you know,
Speaker 1: be able to run with him with his excellence and
Speaker 1: route running, and then they could bunch it up and
Speaker 1: run in those smaller people. And the first two games
Speaker 1: of the season they scored thirty four points in each game,
Speaker 1: and they look dynamic offensively, Tyler Boyd, you know, was
Speaker 1: showing some things as a third option. So you have Effort,
Speaker 1: you have Aj Green, you have Tyler Eiffort, Andy Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton is just you know, making Pittsburgh get out of
Speaker 1: their blitz. I mean, Baltimore Ravens get out of their
Speaker 1: blitz pattern. You know, It's like Wink Martindale wanted to
Speaker 1: blitz every single snap and he said no, Moss. I
Speaker 1: mean he went like a quarter and a half without
Speaker 1: blitzing at all. So it's like, Wow, these guys are
Speaker 1: looking pretty good and then the injury started and they
Speaker 1: never did recover. And you know it's like I'm telling people, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, over the weekend here going into the Pits,
Speaker 1: this Pittsburgh game, how would the Pittsburgh Steels look without
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Juju Smith Schuster. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I'd like to see it. I know that'd be
Speaker 1: that'd be a lot easier for Marvin Lewis to defend.
Speaker 1: I mean, this foot this Bengals football team isn't is
Speaker 1: nowhere near the team that started out the season, not
Speaker 1: even close, not even close. And you know, fifteen guys
Speaker 1: on injury reserve that's not to count guys that missed
Speaker 1: two or more games. I think it would be easier
Speaker 1: to say the number of guys on the roster that
Speaker 1: played sixteen games. Not many of them. I mean, they
Speaker 1: might go on one hand they've missed guys for two
Speaker 1: or more games, a bunch in some for half a
Speaker 1: dozen games or more. And you know you're not gonna
Speaker 1: have Vontes Berfett playing this game against Pittsburgh. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna have dray Ker Patrick played against in this game
Speaker 1: against Pittsburgh. You're gonna be depleted offensively, defensively. It's a
Speaker 1: it's a shame when you look at the way the
Speaker 1: season started, what could have been, and the way it
Speaker 1: ended up. Man, the football gods, Oh you won the
Speaker 1: big time lab. Vontes Berfeckt began the year on suspension,
Speaker 1: he never played that well once he was active, and
Speaker 1: last week in Cleveland he suffered his seventh known concussion
Speaker 1: in seven NFL seasons. He's twenty eight, he's got two
Speaker 1: years left on his contract. What does Vontes Berfick's NFL
Speaker 1: future hold, Well, that's a that's a great question. It
Speaker 1: doesn't look promising for him. Honestly, that many concussions and
Speaker 1: that short of time frame is a concern. You know,
Speaker 1: if you're Vontes berfect, you're probably thinking about getting hurt
Speaker 1: and you're thinking you're gonna get fined every time you play.
Speaker 1: You think you're a marked man, and your style of
Speaker 1: play is conducive to the concussions that he's had. So
Speaker 1: to me, it doesn't look promising. He didn't play as
Speaker 1: well as he's played in years past. There was an injury.
Speaker 1: He's had a history of injury and suspension. The amount
Speaker 1: of money he's given back the league could support small
Speaker 1: communities in the country. It's amazing. You know. You just
Speaker 1: don't no matter how much money you make, you don't
Speaker 1: want to give a big chunk of it back. That's
Speaker 1: for darn sure. So it's interesting. The Bengals have a
Speaker 1: big decision to make there. That's one of their bigger
Speaker 1: decisions I think in the offseason. If the Bengals allow
Speaker 1: twenty two or more points this week, they will break
Speaker 1: the franchise record from most points allowed in a season.
Speaker 1: Let's take a look at each level of the defense
Speaker 1: defensive line, linebackers, in secondary. Where must they improve in
Speaker 1: each of those areas well. I think in the defensive line,
Speaker 1: i'd maybe try to get another big interior guy, you
Speaker 1: know Glasgow and two Power. I mean they're they're on injuriserve.
Speaker 1: Glasgow is playing very well. I think i'd try to
Speaker 1: get another one, though not real high in the draft.
Speaker 1: It might be my you know, third priority in the draft.
Speaker 1: My first priority's offensive line tackle. With what's happened, I mean,
Speaker 1: Certico Bay, he's catching his chips. Fisher, you don't know
Speaker 1: if you can play because of the physical aspect of it,
Speaker 1: So they're going to find a tackle. It's a good
Speaker 1: one down an old mess. Wouldn't mind to see him
Speaker 1: up there in the first round. But and then second round,
Speaker 1: I'd probably go linebacker because we've seen how they've been attacked,
Speaker 1: they've been put in space. The only linebacker win healthy
Speaker 1: that you know, shows that he can do what needs
Speaker 1: to be done is Nick vigil. You know, they need
Speaker 1: to they need to get a little bit better in
Speaker 1: that area. So I draft I draft a linebacker that
Speaker 1: is a linebacker that fits day's NFL almost like a
Speaker 1: hybrid safety linebacker type guy, guy that can stay on
Speaker 1: the field and defend the run. But if you put
Speaker 1: them in space, it's not an embarrassment because we've seen
Speaker 1: how teams have attacked the Bengals linebacker level at tight
Speaker 1: ends with running backs with shallow crosses from every position group, receiver,
Speaker 1: tight end or running back. Those crossers. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think every Bengal fan when they close their eyes in
Speaker 1: the offseason going to see crossing routes up on the
Speaker 1: ceiling and instead of with the back of their eyelids.
Speaker 1: But so that's that's where I'd really make a move
Speaker 1: is at the linebacker position. But I would like to
Speaker 1: see them if there's a good interior defensive lineman in
Speaker 1: that in that third round kind of area, you know,
Speaker 1: go go that route as well. Secondary. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you can never have enough, you know, corners obviously, and
Speaker 1: they've had a history of drafting corners in the first round.
Speaker 1: I don't think they go that route, you know, this year.
Speaker 1: I do think they've got a budding star in Jesse
Speaker 1: Bates at the safety position. I think he's he's going
Speaker 1: to be here for a long time barring injury. Knock
Speaker 1: on wood for everybody in that regard. But you know,
Speaker 1: you can always there's no harm in bringing bodies in
Speaker 1: to compete at the safety or cornerback position for sure.
Speaker 1: The Bengals wrap up the season at Pittsburgh. The Steelers
Speaker 1: are seven two and one after ten games, but after
Speaker 1: losing four out of their last five, they are currently
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs unless they beat the Bengals on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and it's a big end. The Cleveland Browns go to
Speaker 1: Baltimore and beat the Ravens, who are red hot. Are
Speaker 1: you surprised the Steelers are where they are? Some but
Speaker 1: not totally. I maintain that when Bell decided he was
Speaker 1: done with Pittsburgh, that's when it started. They thought seven
Speaker 1: two and one, Bell still could return for the final
Speaker 1: six games of the season. Man, we get a boost,
Speaker 1: man like Bell comes back. Are you kidding me? We're
Speaker 1: go now we're a super Bowl favorite. Nope, not coming back.
Speaker 1: The offensive lineman kept saying, oh yeah, he keeps communicating
Speaker 1: with us he's coming back, coming, And then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, you know, they're all mad because he's not
Speaker 1: doing what he says he's going to do. So not
Speaker 1: only is he causing a wedge, you know, in that
Speaker 1: communication aspect of it, then when he doesn't return at all,
Speaker 1: I really think that was the straw that that loaded
Speaker 1: up the camel's back. I really do, because the guy
Speaker 1: is so dynamic in the running game, in the pass game.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's as big a weapon for Ben as
Speaker 1: he is, you know, on the ground. And Connor, you know,
Speaker 1: made the Pro Bowl, I mean a good year, but
Speaker 1: a Belle is a different breed of cat. And then
Speaker 1: Connor has gotten nicked up. So and then you look
Speaker 1: at their turnover ratio. What team has made the playoffs
Speaker 1: going minus ten? That's that's very, very difficult. They're they're
Speaker 1: a good football team. Many of the games that they've
Speaker 1: lost in this little stretch you think many they're a
Speaker 1: better team, they played better. How do they lose that game?
Speaker 1: How did that happen? I think part of it is,
Speaker 1: you know, Leveon Bell helps you close games. Not having
Speaker 1: him is a big, big deal. There's there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. I mean, that would be like having you know,
Speaker 1: the best back in Bengals franchise history decide ten games
Speaker 1: of the season. I'm going somewhere else. I mean that
Speaker 1: that would be crippling mentally to a football team. And
Speaker 1: I think that's where it started. Thanks Lap, the Steelers
Speaker 1: have won the last seven meetings between the two rivals,
Speaker 1: including the infamous melt down at Paul Brown in the
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen wild Card game. Pittsburgh's longest ever winning streak
Speaker 1: against Cincinnati was eight straight from nineteen ninety one to
Speaker 1: ninety four. The Bengals longest winning streak against the Steelers
Speaker 1: was sixth straight from eighty eight to ninety when Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger was in elementary school. Ben is thirty six now,
Speaker 1: meaning that when he started his NFL career, Sam Hubbard
Speaker 1: was an elementary school. I spoke to Sam this week.
Speaker 1: We are in the locker room with rookie Sam Hubbard,
Speaker 1: one of the bright spots this season. I would say,
Speaker 1: evaluate what you've done well your rookie year and where
Speaker 1: you still need to think you need to get better.
Speaker 1: I think I did a good job coming in. You know,
Speaker 1: you got a lot of coaches trust and teammates trust
Speaker 1: to earn. I think I came in worked hard and
Speaker 1: I did what I was asked to do, and you
Speaker 1: know earned the coaches trusting my trusting my teammates to
Speaker 1: get on the field more and throughout the year played
Speaker 1: more and more. I had a bigger role, and you know,
Speaker 1: got really comfortable as the season went on. I think
Speaker 1: just everything comes down to enhancing what I've done this
Speaker 1: year for next year, because I'll have a leg a
Speaker 1: big role in a varied role. Four or seventy snaps
Speaker 1: on defense, two eighteen on special teams, twelve on offense.
Speaker 1: Has that all been a bit of a surprise? I
Speaker 1: mean that's what I set out to do. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not a surprise. You know, I accomplished a goal
Speaker 1: that I playing a lot and having a big all
Speaker 1: on this team this year. But um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's a blessing that I've been on the field that
Speaker 1: much and contributed that much. One of the highlights last
Speaker 1: week was Clayton Federlem's block punt in Cleveland, and he
Speaker 1: gave you all the credit after the game. Can you
Speaker 1: describe what you did on that play? Yeah, it's just
Speaker 1: a two man, two man game. I don't want to
Speaker 1: talk too much. Scheme between me and Clayton and the
Speaker 1: PP and the snapper of the punt team, and my
Speaker 1: job was to beat the snapper across the face. I
Speaker 1: did that and PP had no choice to pick me
Speaker 1: up and double tee me and that like Clayton go
Speaker 1: free and you know, that's just what teammates do and
Speaker 1: I'm happy to do it pp being personal protector. After
Speaker 1: the game, Joe Mixon said, I've never been part of
Speaker 1: a losing program, and I can promise you it's not
Speaker 1: going to be that way for long. And Cincinnati you
Speaker 1: saw that and tweeted you couldn't have said it better yourself.
Speaker 1: What gives you that confidence? I just think we got
Speaker 1: uh you know, guys didn't hear that want to win?
Speaker 1: You know they're they're frustrated. You know, we got people
Speaker 1: out of practice that are put in the work and
Speaker 1: we really just want to change the culture to a
Speaker 1: winning attitude around here. And that's easier said to do
Speaker 1: than to do. But it all just comes down and
Speaker 1: putting in the work and backing up what we're saying
Speaker 1: with our actions. And that's personally what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Sam Hubbard. In your college football career,
Speaker 1: you don't get summers off after your final college season,
Speaker 1: you're preparing for the draft. That's a full time job.
Speaker 1: When you complete your rookie year, you finally get the
Speaker 1: opportunity if you choose to to take a little time off.
Speaker 1: Have you given that any thought? Oh? Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I haven't had more than a week off or a
Speaker 1: week and a half, two weeks off in about five
Speaker 1: or six years. But you know, it's gonna be nice
Speaker 1: to get a few weeks off and just you know,
Speaker 1: let my body rest and recover, my mind recover, and
Speaker 1: you know, then I'm excited to get back in the
Speaker 1: weight room and getting ready for next year. A couple
Speaker 1: more questions for Sam Hubbard. You finished the season against
Speaker 1: the Steelers on October fourteenth. Was it strange to look
Speaker 1: across the line of scrimmage and see and hear Ben Roethlisberger. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was crazy. I think you're you know, you watch
Speaker 1: watch those games for years growing up, and you got
Speaker 1: you got big Ben across from you, and Steelers offensive
Speaker 1: line trying to protect them, and you know, I was
Speaker 1: still still young early in the season trying to survive.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm a lot more comfortable this this
Speaker 1: uh time around, and hopefully get some pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 1: That old line is widely regarded as one of the
Speaker 1: best in the NFL. Did you feel that way facing
Speaker 1: them the first time? Yeah, you know, they get a
Speaker 1: lot of credit for a reason. Um, they work very
Speaker 1: well with the quarterback and you know, extending plays and
Speaker 1: keeping guys away from Big Ben, so you can sling it.
Speaker 1: But um, yeah, I mean across the board, I think
Speaker 1: one of the three all Pro guys and uh, we
Speaker 1: got a big challenge, but I think we got enough
Speaker 1: on our side too to have a big impact on
Speaker 1: the game. Last thing for Sam Hubbard, you potentially could
Speaker 1: knock the Steelers out of the playoffs on Sunday as
Speaker 1: a Cincinnati area kid. Does that add anything to this
Speaker 1: final game? Oh? Of course, you know you wanna, wanna,
Speaker 1: you want to win this game. We've lost quite a funeral,
Speaker 1: and you know we're, like I said earlier, we're focusing
Speaker 1: on ourselves and seeing what we can do to be
Speaker 1: better as a team and an organization. But obviously we
Speaker 1: got a little something something extra this week. Let's play
Speaker 1: for Congrats on a great rookie here, thank you. Sam
Speaker 1: Hubbard has six sacks this season to rank third on
Speaker 1: the team, behind Geno Atkins, who has ten, and Carlos
Speaker 1: Dunlap who has eight. Now time for this week's No
Speaker 1: the Faux segment. As we take a closer look at
Speaker 1: the upcoming opponent, and this week our expert is Tim Bens,
Speaker 1: a columnist and radio host in Pittsburgh. He joined Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham and me on the Bengals Game Plan Show this week,
Speaker 1: and I started our conversation by asking Tim about a
Speaker 1: column he wrote after Pittsburgh's heartbreaking loss to the Saints
Speaker 1: last Sunday. The headline of the column read, Steelers deserved
Speaker 1: the coal they got in their stockings. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: that loss against New Orleans was a tough break. They
Speaker 1: had some bad calls against them, they had some misfortune.
Speaker 1: Tomlin rolled the dice and went for a fake hunt
Speaker 1: when I don't think you should have, but you know,
Speaker 1: all in the name of being aggressive and so forth.
Speaker 1: I think I walked away from that Saints game saying,
Speaker 1: if you go on the road and you have a
Speaker 1: lead in the fourth quarter against New Orleans, a team
Speaker 1: that's lost only twice all year, if you play that
Speaker 1: game in Week nine, you could walk away saying, hey,
Speaker 1: we gave it a great effort. We kind of got
Speaker 1: screwed over by some Carls. Live to fight another day,
Speaker 1: and let's go forward the rest of the season and
Speaker 1: maybe we can pull some positives off of this. But
Speaker 1: you can't do that when you put yourself in the
Speaker 1: position that they did by losing two Oakland, by blowing
Speaker 1: a lead against DLA Chargers, by losing at the Denver Broncos,
Speaker 1: by tying the Browns the Fort Baker Mayfield was the
Speaker 1: quarterback back in Week one when they had multiple opportunities
Speaker 1: to win that game. You know, they're not going to
Speaker 1: miss the playoffs because they lost the game in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: They deserve a better faith. That team that played against
Speaker 1: New Orleans deserved a better faith. The overall team of
Speaker 1: twenty plants does not because of those performances. And it's
Speaker 1: something we have seen on numerous occasions under Mike Tomlins.
Speaker 1: Good Steeler teams left out of the playoffs five hundred
Speaker 1: and above Steeler teams left out of the playoffs because
Speaker 1: they lose to lesser competition and tim it seems like,
Speaker 1: you know the thing that the barometer that holds true,
Speaker 1: it's a football axiom turnovers. You know, you're minus ten.
Speaker 1: You don't have many playoff teams that are minus ten.
Speaker 1: You know, after fifteen football games only fifteen takeaways. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're not doing either well. They're only take The Bengals
Speaker 1: have more takeaways in the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have two
Speaker 1: more takeaways and they have eight fewer giveaways. I mean,
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh's given it away twenty five times. The Bengals are
Speaker 1: even seventeen takeaways, seventeen gives. If the Steelers were even
Speaker 1: instead of minus ten, shoot, they maybe be like, you know,
Speaker 1: eleven three and one. Yeah, Steelers are even versus minus
Speaker 1: ten and that probably means that they haven't turned it
Speaker 1: over what was it three times in Denver and win
Speaker 1: that game. And ye, maybe it's because the fumbles against
Speaker 1: dew Orleans. They win that one. At least they're keeping
Speaker 1: pace and where a game ahead of Baltimore where Baltimore
Speaker 1: would they need help to get in as a wild card.
Speaker 1: You're right about that. I think if you continue to
Speaker 1: look at those notes you got in the turnover column,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure when you look at differential not wrong,
Speaker 1: and that the only four teams that are worse than
Speaker 1: them in differential or non playoff teams that have been
Speaker 1: eliminated already. Yeah, that's the case. You're right. They're twenty
Speaker 1: eighth in the NFL and the only four are are
Speaker 1: not playoff contention exactly right, you know that, yeah, killer.
Speaker 1: In fact, In fact, I think even when they were
Speaker 1: in good playoff position, like seven three and one something
Speaker 1: like that, they were still in the bottom five in differential.
Speaker 1: If they'd managed to mask the turnover problem with other
Speaker 1: victories against teams that sort of fell off, like you know,
Speaker 1: Carolina in Atlanta, those kinds of clubs, they'd managed to
Speaker 1: mask that for a while, but a problem all year.
Speaker 1: It's really manifested in losses though in recent weeks. Tim
Speaker 1: The other thing that's mind boggling to me, I look
Speaker 1: at these ratios. At the sack ratio, they're plus twenty five.
Speaker 1: They've accumulated forty eight, you know, tied for the amongst
Speaker 1: the top in the NFL. They've only allowed twenty three
Speaker 1: fourth viewers, so they're plus twenty five, second best in
Speaker 1: the league. Interception ratio, they're minus eight, twenty ninth in
Speaker 1: the league. They've thrown sixteen, only got an eight. Usually,
Speaker 1: if you're putting that much pressure on usually you have
Speaker 1: more interceptions, and if you're protecting your quarterback, usually you
Speaker 1: have fewer interceptions thrown. It's just the reverse in both
Speaker 1: of their scenarios, it's kind of odd, really it is.
Speaker 1: I would say that the defensive part of that equation
Speaker 1: is harder to explain because the Roethlisberger interceptions, as you
Speaker 1: guys will know so often are born from them keeping
Speaker 1: plays alive, using to take an open check down and
Speaker 1: trying to go something deeper down the field and trying
Speaker 1: to so he might have protection, look away from a
Speaker 1: guy who's open for five yards and try to get twelve.
Speaker 1: And that's where some of those interceptions are born from.
Speaker 1: So you can kind of explain the pressure versus interception
Speaker 1: disparity on offense easier than you can on defense. That's
Speaker 1: been a major threw line for all this turnover talking Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: You're right about that, Davi. Is that there's a lack,
Speaker 1: there's a gap there as to why the pressure isn't
Speaker 1: resulting in at least more bad throws, hurry throws, tipped passes,
Speaker 1: things of that nature. But then the flip side of
Speaker 1: it is of his thirty three touchdown passes, maybe ten
Speaker 1: or come from extending it like you're talking about. So
Speaker 1: you have to take the bad with the good with
Speaker 1: the guy, right, I mean, he'll he'll he'll make a
Speaker 1: play and you know by you know, shucking people off
Speaker 1: of him and extending it and all that, and then he'll,
Speaker 1: like you said, he'll turn it over. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just Big Ben, that's him. Yeah, you know, And there
Speaker 1: was like that Denver game kind of drove me crazy
Speaker 1: in that regard, where you know, he makes some great
Speaker 1: throws and then he just decided he's going to make
Speaker 1: the throw come hell or high water in situations where
Speaker 1: he shouldn't. I don't think he's lost anything in his game.
Speaker 1: As I was writing notes during the Saints game, I
Speaker 1: can't tell you how many times to put a star
Speaker 1: next to seven hyphen eighty four or seven nineteen. I mean,
Speaker 1: he made so many great throws to those guys. They
Speaker 1: but jus you fumbled at the end, and you know
Speaker 1: Ridley fumbled earlier in the game. I think his worst
Speaker 1: season when he came to interceptions was two thousand and
Speaker 1: six after they won the Super Bowl, and a lot
Speaker 1: of that had to do with the concussion that he
Speaker 1: got during the season and the motorcycle accident in the offseason.
Speaker 1: You know that that was kind of easy to explain away.
Speaker 1: But I guess my point is, it's not like he's
Speaker 1: lost his fastball and that's why the interceptions are high.
Speaker 1: I think it's more than anything else, But then it's
Speaker 1: decision making. Pittsburgh radio host and columnist Tim Benz is
Speaker 1: our guest. The Steelers were seven two and one with
Speaker 1: a two and a half game lead in the division.
Speaker 1: Now they are six and one and at least at
Speaker 1: the moment, on the outside looking in when it comes
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. Pittsburgh's had three head coaches since nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty nine, so they are not going to just fire
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin on a whim. But is somebody feeling the heat,
Speaker 1: assistant coach, a player in particular, Has anybody kind of
Speaker 1: become the focus of the this guy's gotta go crowd?
Speaker 1: Danny Smith and Keith Butler. There have been so many
Speaker 1: penalties on special teams that have cost them and errors
Speaker 1: on special teams that have cost them. Now the counter
Speaker 1: two that is boy, they've been really good blocking kicks
Speaker 1: this year. Their kick block schemes have been fantastic. So
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're gonna swing the hatchet on
Speaker 1: Danny Smith. Keith Butler. I think people view him as
Speaker 1: just an extension of what was the Dick Lebau defense,
Speaker 1: and Mike Tomlin has kind of put his thumb prints
Speaker 1: on the defense as well here and maybe minimized or
Speaker 1: marginalized with Butler is doing. And I think some folks
Speaker 1: are saying, we'll put a new true to defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: in there to install his own stuff and get away
Speaker 1: from what the Steelers are doing right now. But it's
Speaker 1: not the old lebou three four. It has definitely changed
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, particularly relying on pressure from
Speaker 1: Hayward and two as opposed to what the old three
Speaker 1: four defensive ends used to do. And they do drop
Speaker 1: the outside linebackers quite a bit now. I think those
Speaker 1: two are getting it. But honestly, your question, Dan, it's
Speaker 1: it's far more just fans angry at Tomlin, like he's
Speaker 1: probably not feeling any in the building. But this is
Speaker 1: the loudest I've ever heard the fire Tomlin crowd. And
Speaker 1: it's been loud in the past at times, especially during
Speaker 1: that stretch of seasons where they didn't have a playoff
Speaker 1: win prior to the you know Vantes perfect game in
Speaker 1: Cincinnati that you know, they've gone four straight years out
Speaker 1: of playoff victory prior to that and looked like it
Speaker 1: was going to be five up until the last minute
Speaker 1: of that game. So I've heard it loud. This is
Speaker 1: as dense as it's been, and you made the points.
Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty nine three coaches, right, there have been
Speaker 1: fewer popes than there have been Steeler coaches. I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1: So release at least the tie you crazy, I think.
Speaker 1: But that being said, I think that you know, like
Speaker 1: Bill Cower would still be the head coach to Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: Steelers to say if he hadn't wanted to retire. I
Speaker 1: think we all know that Bill Caller would still be coaching.
Speaker 1: So it's not like and then they never would have
Speaker 1: hired Tomlin. So my point is just because you don't
Speaker 1: have to hold on the coach just because you feel obligated,
Speaker 1: like I'm sure there's another there's a Sean McVay out there,
Speaker 1: there's a Frank greyk waiting to be promoted. So you know,
Speaker 1: if the Steelers do feel the urge, and I don't
Speaker 1: think that they do to fire the coach, I don't
Speaker 1: think it would be as galling as maybe they feel
Speaker 1: in their gut because in Pittsburgh you just quote unquote
Speaker 1: don't do that, but you know what if you get
Speaker 1: a better one. My question, tim is does Boswell have
Speaker 1: pictures that are compromising into somebody? How does with twelve misses,
Speaker 1: you know, missing five extra points and seven field goals
Speaker 1: that you know they've been costly in some of these
Speaker 1: tight losses. I mean, what's the deal? How much heat
Speaker 1: is he feeling? Yeah, a lot, a lot of well
Speaker 1: many people myself included, thought they should have reade to
Speaker 1: move there. If it's the Pirates, then you're just saying, well,
Speaker 1: they're trying to honor a contract and they're trying to
Speaker 1: you know, not eat the rest of the money. You know,
Speaker 1: that would be the narrative around here if it was
Speaker 1: a baseball situation. I don't think they want to be
Speaker 1: stuck with that cap hit. I think they think he's
Speaker 1: good and he's going to swamp the boys. This's been
Speaker 1: in Long Swamp and it's the same thing, or every
Speaker 1: cake has missed the same way. Everything is being pushed
Speaker 1: right again, kind of like the turnover thing earlier. They
Speaker 1: danced through the ranger ups there where a lot of
Speaker 1: his missus weren't affecting the outcomes of games. They either
Speaker 1: came back and overcame them more. There were losses that
Speaker 1: were going to be losses anyway, So he didn't materially
Speaker 1: affect a lot of games until the Charger game, where
Speaker 1: that kind of swung how the Chargers approached their offense,
Speaker 1: and then of course the Raider game when he slipped
Speaker 1: and that was his second miss kick of the afternoon.
Speaker 1: That one was definitely directly on him. That was why
Speaker 1: I was so confused about the fake punt against the Saints.
Speaker 1: You know, part of Thomlin's rationale was, well, if they
Speaker 1: come down and score, we at least have time to
Speaker 1: come back and score to tie it. What with him
Speaker 1: with Boswell they won't you kidding me? You know, just
Speaker 1: just maybe get a field goal off to tie it,
Speaker 1: so then you kick it off to Drew Brees to
Speaker 1: get an overtime perhaps, Like you know, I thought that
Speaker 1: was It was to me, that was aggressiveness masking cowardice,
Speaker 1: or aggressiveness masking and lack of faith in your own defense,
Speaker 1: because um, you know, it dealt to me like a
Speaker 1: self defeating truism that at some point true was going
Speaker 1: to beat us anyway, and let's rely on the boss
Speaker 1: to maybe extend the game. Which you know turns my
Speaker 1: summer to think about. But wait a second, Tim, that
Speaker 1: fake punt worked. I saw Roosevelt Nick celebrate he got
Speaker 1: the first down. How about that? How did that play
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh? There was a meme going around in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: The probably still find it on Twitter somewhere where it
Speaker 1: was like some guys said, this is my Tomlin eront
Speaker 1: da Vinci and it's you know, going first down, believe
Speaker 1: the bruce down the other way. It was the key
Speaker 1: to that Green based Seattle game. Remember the failed merry
Speaker 1: game where the one rap is putting his hands up
Speaker 1: to incomplete. Yes, they got this duality on the photo.
Speaker 1: And it's just called the Tomlin Years. I thought. I
Speaker 1: thought that summed it up pretty well. Final question and
Speaker 1: thanks so much for your time, Tim. What are the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh stealers or what's the locker room the feeling about
Speaker 1: the Bengals. The Bengals obviously struggling. Uh, they probably don't
Speaker 1: recognize the offense. The guys that are playing in the
Speaker 1: skill positions, I mean, the four most important players offensively,
Speaker 1: they couldn't afford to lose. I've lost all of them.
Speaker 1: It is Pittsburgh just thinking they got to roll their
Speaker 1: helmets out there and uh, it'll take care of itself. Well,
Speaker 1: today is the first state that the guys talk um.
Speaker 1: You know, as far as the interaction with them, it's
Speaker 1: been minimal from a media point of view, so I
Speaker 1: haven't been able to glean what they're thinking. The concerning
Speaker 1: thing is for any game where the stealers are heavy favorite,
Speaker 1: it's not what they say, it's what they think. They
Speaker 1: were really good telling us that this is going to
Speaker 1: be different against the You know, they were really good
Speaker 1: telling us already they were for the Browns. They knew
Speaker 1: it was a new hell for the Browns, and then
Speaker 1: they tied. They're really good telling us, hey, there are
Speaker 1: some good things about this Denver team. Don't just look
Speaker 1: at their record. And then they went out there and
Speaker 1: got beaten by them. So I don't put a lot
Speaker 1: of stock in what they say about an opponent coming up.
Speaker 1: I bet you to say all the white things all
Speaker 1: week long, iss the Bengals, and then I think they
Speaker 1: look in their hearts and they look at that wine
Speaker 1: and say, seventeen point favorites. That's about we should do
Speaker 1: that to these guys. And I'm certain this is going
Speaker 1: to be a game in the fourth quarter. I'm not
Speaker 1: certain that Baker's going to keep the Browns in it
Speaker 1: that long, and honestly, that's every bit. It's much important,
Speaker 1: if not more important, for the Steelers right now than
Speaker 1: anything else and what happens in Baltimore. We should explain
Speaker 1: that there is a way for the Steelers to make
Speaker 1: the playoffs even if Baltimore wins the AFC North by
Speaker 1: beating Cleveland on Sunday. If Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati, the Steelers
Speaker 1: could grab the AFC's final wildcard spot if the Sunday
Speaker 1: night game between the Colts and Titans ends in a tie.
Speaker 1: Keep in mind that the NFL did shorten the regular
Speaker 1: season overtime period from fifteen minutes to ten minutes last
Speaker 1: year in the interest of player safety, but that hasn't
Speaker 1: led to a slew of ties. There have been two
Speaker 1: in four hundred and eighty six games since that rule change.
Speaker 1: Our thanks to Tim Benz, and that's going to do
Speaker 1: it for this episode of the podcast. If you haven't
Speaker 1: done so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean, and if you have a minute, give
Speaker 1: it a rating or leave a comment. Your feedback is
Speaker 1: very much appreciated, and five star ratings help more Bengals
Speaker 1: fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, Happy New Year
Speaker 1: and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast