WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Learn To Fly 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.479 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:11.000 The Bengals Booth Podcast, the Make My Way Back Home 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:16.200 When I Learned to Fly. Addition, as we pick a 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.480 part of bitterly disappointing season opening loss to the LA 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.640 Chargers with radio replays, postgame comments from players and coaches, 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.280 and Dave Lapham's in depth analysis. The Bengals Booth Podcast 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.920 is presented by Prime Sport, the official hospitality partner of 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.919 the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a quick reminder that you 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.400 can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:42.760 to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.919 Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:52.640 since my job. I've dreamed of broadcasting NFL games for 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.280 as long as I can remember, and trust me, I 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.960 never take the privilege of being one of thirty two 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:03.040 NFL team radio voices for granted. Despite Sunday's finish, it 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:04.840 was a joy to be back in the Booth with 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.680 Dave Lapham and our great crew on Sunday and we 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.399 can't wait to do it again on Thursday night. Now, 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.600 let's get to this week's three point loss to the Chargers. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.320 The highly anticipated start of the Joe Burrow era got 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.160 off to a bit of a shaky start offensively, as 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.360 the Bengals had to punt on their first three drives, 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:29.240 but the fourth ended with Joe's first NFL touchdown empty 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:33.199 backfield five wides. As Burrow waits for the shotgun snap 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.360 on second and ten from the Chargers twenty three, he 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:41.440 runs a narterback drawn Hopkins with a great native touchdown 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:46.400 as Joe burrows first NFL touchdown comes out of twenty 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.920 three yard run on a beautifully called quarterback draw and 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:54.000 Burrow made the call. He looked at the Chargers defense 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.080 and audible to the QB draw to give the Bengals 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.760 a seven nothing lead, But they weren't able to add 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.840 to the athlete in the first half despite consistently having 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.720 great field position. Their average drive start on six first 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.280 half possessions was the thirty seven and a half, and 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.839 yet they only came away with seven points. Here's Zach Taylor. Yeah, 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:16.760 that's the most disappointed part of the game. As our 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.680 defensive special teams, we're winning the field position battle for us. 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:23.000 We didn't capitalize on In an offense, we had some 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:24.960 opportunities again in the third quarter that we didn't hit, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.679 and you know, that's just what it comes down to. 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:29.800 The Chargers kicked a pair of field goals in the 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.280 second quarter, and at the half the Bengals led seven six. 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.720 Burrow was sacked three times and hit six times in 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.679 the first half, but he wasn't hit at all over 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.960 the final two quarters. Here's Jonah Williams. Yeah, I think 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.720 we settled down. Obviously, you know, we weren't protecting like 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:47.240 we need to and like we should have in the 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.840 first half. You know, obviously they have great rushers, but 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.720 it really comes down to us just not doing our jobs. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.040 And so I think, you know, as a game we're on, 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.240 we kind of settled in and started to understand, you know, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.800 how to beat this specific front. And you know, it 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.160 wasn't perfect the whole game, but I did get a 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:08.280 little bit better as we got, you know, more comfortable 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:12.120 with better protection. Burrow had two shots at long touchdown 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.520 passes in a span of three snaps in the third quarter, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.760 barely overthrowing John Ross in the back of the end 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.320 zone from thirty five yards out and then missing a 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.520 wide open aj Green at the goal line from thirty 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.120 one yards out still fifty and forty three yard field 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.880 goals by Randy Bullock allowed the Bengals to take a 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.840 thirteen sixth lead to the fourth quarter. It didn't last, 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.400 as the Chargers pulled even early in the fourth. Virgil 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.120 Green checks and is a blocking tight end and the 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.119 pounding running back Joshua Kelly is into the game out 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.880 of a pistol formation. Second and goal from the five, 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.520 Taylor gives it to Kelly and he'll run it into 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.520 the end zone for the Chargers first touchdown of the day. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.960 Joshua Kelly's five yard run tied the game, and when 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.200 the Bengals got the ball back, they promptly caught it 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.920 up double tight ends on second and ten, the Bengals 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.240 at their own twenty five in a tie game. Twelve 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.880 twenty left in regulation. It's a run to the right, 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.640 Mixon fumbles the football and the Chargers recover at the 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.600 Cincinnati twenty four yard line, the first turnover of the 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:20.279 day for either team. Denzel Perryman forcing a fumble out 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:24.120 of Joe Mixon, who never fumbles the football. Coming into 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:28.120 this game, Joe Mixon had carried more than five hundred 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.719 times without a fumble and he gives it up in 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.520 his own territory. In the fourth quarter, the defense held 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.840 the Chargers to a field goal, but that gave LA 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:40.040 a sixteen thirteen lead. Joe Burrow promptly drove the offense 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.240 to the Chargers twenty three yard line before he made 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.280 a critical mistake. Burrow drops back to pass again. Here 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:51.480 comes bosup Burrow moving to his left, intercepted by Melvin Ingram. 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.839 There's a penalty flag down as burrows shovel pass intended 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:00.200 for Giovanni Bernard was picked off by defensive end Melvin 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.520 and Ingram ineligible receiver down the football field. There's Joe 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:05.800 Burrow tried to throw it, so that's what the penalty 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.480 flag is. That's not going to help the Bengals cause 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.719 it's a turnover. Two turnovers for the Bengals on back 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:15.359 to back drives in the fourth quarter, zero turnovers for 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.479 the Chargers in the game. And that was the bottom line, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.240 according to Zach Taylor, killed us. I mean, we you know, 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:22.719 we went into the second half and if we're gonna 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.120 win the turnover battle, we're gonna win the game. And 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.599 it certainly didn't work out that way. And the Chargers 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.640 got him, so hats off to them, but that port's disappointing, 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.520 and yet the Bengals were still in position to win. 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:36.480 Burrow got the ball back at his own eighteen yard 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.360 line with three o eight to go and no timeouts 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.400 and executed a near perfect drive, going eight for eleven 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.320 for seventy yards and throwing what could have been a 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.560 dramatic game winning touchdown. Three receivers left AJ Green out 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:53.240 to the right, shotgun snap Burrow from the ten yard line, 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.000 throws for Green, penalty flag down if he AJ comes 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.360 down with the ball, there's no touchdown. Six pennies for 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:04.080 offensive pass in appearance. Oh man, that is a tough 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.640 call at the top of the route, unbelievable. A J 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:10.480 Green they called him. They're they're doing hand to hand 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.920 combat at the top of the route. If they both 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:14.640 have their hands on each other, they call a J 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.360 Green for a push off. And it was sold big 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.640 time by the defensive back. That's Casey Hayward. Here are 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.360 AJ Green and Joe Burrow on the call. Well, when 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.800 he h clamping me the whole time coming off the ball, 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.120 so within five yards, So if you can call that, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.719 we can call that. Both ways, but they made the 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.120 call bang bang plays. At the end of the day, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:39.960 you know, I made too many, too many mistakes to 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.480 win the game, and we just didn't make enough plays. 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.840 So you know, whether that call goes our way or not, 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:46.840 a lot of calls are going to go on a 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.640 lot of different ways throughout the game. And then you know, 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.760 I made miss miss aj on a deep bombs John 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.080 on a deep bond and through the interception that that 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.479 just can't happen. The penalty moved the ball back to 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:00.200 the thirteen yard line, and with seven seconds to go, 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.719 Taylor called on Bullock to attempt a thirty one yard 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.800 field goal to force overtime. Bullock two for two so 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.440 far today. The snap is good, the kick is wide right, 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.360 he missed it. Oh, the Chargers hold onto the lead 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:18.000 with two seconds to go, and Pollock is hurt. Bullock 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.840 immediately grabbed his lower leg after missing the kick. Yeah, 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:23.880 on the last play, for whatever reason, during the kicking motion, 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:28.720 my left calf just grabbed real hard. So obviously that's 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.000 not not an excuse. That's a kick that I make 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.840 ninety nine times out of one hundred. It was a 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.600 freak deal. I wish I had a better answer for 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.600 what transpired. It seems like just for whatever reason, a 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.520 calf grabbed and it it affected the play. Instead of 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.960 a thrilling last second victory, Joe Burrow's debut ended in 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.200 a three point loss. How did he grate his performance? 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.800 D Like, I can't, Yeah, D I can't. I mean, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.040 I can't miss that one too. Aj. That's you know, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.080 high schooler can make the throw and then I can't 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.280 throw the ball right to Meld and Ingram and give 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:04.760 them the ball back when we were in scoring ring. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.360 So um tough way to lose. But his coaches and 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.520 teammates had a much different opinion, as Zach Taylor and 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:15.440 AJ Green marveled at burrows poise under pressure in the 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.240 final three minutes. That's what we expect, you know. That's 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.040 he just moves on to the next boy. And I'm 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.800 sure he's disappointed that you have to turnover. But again, 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:24.720 you don't since that at all from him. On the sidelines. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:26.560 He's focused on what he's going to get done. And 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:28.240 he went out there and put us some position to 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.880 go there and winner tie the game. Is unbelievable. Man, 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.640 that guy. Don't flinch. Um. I was very the way 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.400 he handled itself when the last right was unbelievable. No 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:40.480 rookie I have seen, you know, the way he handled 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.640 it after advertually. Um, so you know, we got a 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:45.600 special one in Joe. We're gonna be better next week 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.800 and we're gonna build his thing brick by brick and 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:52.079 uh get better each week. Jonah Williams gets the last 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:56.120 word on the bengals first loss. It's tough because you know, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.440 in this league, like, there's no you know, you just 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.880 have to own it. There's no like you can't feel 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:05.880 sorry for yourself. You can't sit there and say, oh, well, 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.840 we should have won, even though you know, I would 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.959 agree that it was definitely a game we could have won, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:12.480 But at the end of the day, it religious comes 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.800 down to we didn't execute like we needed to on offense. 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.559 You know, the defense played well, but there are obviously 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.559 things that could have done better. You know. So it's 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.840 definitely something where you can look and say that we 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:25.439 could have won, we should have won, whatever you want 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:26.560 to say, but at the end of the day, we 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.040 just didn't, you know, do what it took to win. 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.480 Last season began with a one point loss in Seattle, 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.280 and that's where I began my postgame chat with Dave Lapham. 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.240 All Right, Lap. For the second straight year, it felt 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.160 to me like the Bengals lost an opening game that 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.520 they should have won. Last year in Seattle, they outplayed 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.160 the Seahawks, did not come away with a w in 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.360 this game. Two fourth quarter to fourth quarter turnovers absolutely 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.640 killed them, and then all that happened in the final 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.839 ten seconds of the game. Yeah. I mean, when you 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.120 look back at last year for this the LA Chargers, 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.360 they were mine seventeen in the turnover department, they had 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:07.920 thirty one giveaways none tonight. Tyrod Taylor is known as 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.080 a guy that takes care of the football. His mantras 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.840 just don't screw it up at the quarterback position, and 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.720 ultimately that won the football game for them. Joe Burrow 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:23.520 had a very unusual interception on a backhanded shovel pass 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.080 on a screen that he was trying to accomplish, and 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.480 England made a great play. I mean Pro Bowl player 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.160 made a great play. And Joe Mixon had the fumble 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.040 a game a short field and a touchdown on that 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.480 short field. So yeah, I mean, those those two turnovers, 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:39.080 the Bengals are going in to put points on the 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.920 board and they turn it over and then gave short 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.800 field for you know, touchdown. That's a minimum of a 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:49.040 ten point swing, maybe more. Joe Burrow graded himself a D. 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:52.959 Is he too harsh tough grader? You know, I mean, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:57.680 I think he's all about wins and losses. You know. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:02.000 The fact is, I think he's obviously disappointed with himself. 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.840 Overthrown AJ Green, who beat the linebacker like a drum. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.800 He was opened by ten yards or more and he 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.920 didn't make that throw. He felt like he overthrew John Ross. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.439 I didn't think John found the football. I thought the 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.040 ball was like right through his hands. It looked like 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:18.200 that was a catchable ball. But he said he's going 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.120 to put the ball in John Ross's chest. A good 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:24.160 quarterback does that. He deflects all the credit, takes all 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.720 the plane, and that's what he's doing. So he understands 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:32.240 that part of it for sure. But in my mind, 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:37.240 very positive thing after that, you know, bone headed shovel 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.160 pass interception. He goes down the field with no timeouts 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.960 and almost wins the football game. AJ Green catches a 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.920 touchdown pass that's nullified by offensive pass interference that would 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.000 have won the football game tells me a lot about 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.360 Joe Burrow. Compartmentalized. Move on, forget about that, try to 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.319 make plays, can't do anything about the mistakes. Go make 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.480 up for him. If he does that, he's gonna have 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.319 a long, successful career. Well, let's talk about the final drive. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.720 The Bengals got the ball back with three O eight 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.360 to go, no timeouts at their own eighteen yard line. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.760 Burrow went eight for eleven for seventy yards. He also 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.720 had a seven yard scramble I think on the first 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.400 play of the drive. Of the three incompletions, one was 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.280 a spike, one was a kind of a deep ball 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.720 for aj Green that was incomplete. The other was a 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.000 great pass to John Ross that he bobbled going out 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.280 a bound should have been a nine yard game. So basically, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.240 three O eight no time outs to go, He drives 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.880 down the field, throws a game winning touchdown pass that 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.880 gets wiped out. But even taking that into consideration, he 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.280 sets up his kicker for a thirty one yard field 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.400 goal that you know, ninety eight percent of the time 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.800 is supposed to fours overtime. Yeah, and then the kicker 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:55.360 ends up injuring his kicking calf hopefully. I'm hoping it's 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.640 a cramp because during COVID nineteen, where the hell you're 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.160 going to find a kicker on a short week go 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.320 to Cleveland. It's gonna be interesting. I mean, if he 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.800 can't go, that's a tough, tough deal. I mean, very 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.000 tough deal. What's out there, I really don't know. Hopefully 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.720 there's something out there, but that's a that's a huge factor, 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.720 I think in that football game coming up less than 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:21.160 a hundred hours from now. So yeah, I mean Joe 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:25.720 Burrow to me is so poker faced, so cool, calm 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.079 and collected. He is definitely cool hand Joe. I mean nothing. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:34.880 I remember the forty nine players talking about Joe Montana 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.680 in the huddle in Super Bowl twenty three when he 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.640 went down for the game winning touchdown drive. He's saying, 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.679 other guys and hey, look there's John Candy over in 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.439 the sideline just loosening guys up. You know that's Joe Burrows. 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.120 I think he has a lot of Joe Montana makeup 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.520 to him, which I know is saying a lot and 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.880 he's getting a lot of praise and he's generational player 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.079 in all this net. But the guy has something to him. 0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:00.360 Now he's got some fiber, and I think I think 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.120 he made a very very favorable impression on his teammates 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.520 once again offensively, defensively, special teams by what he did 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:10.360 on that last drive with no timeouts. Your point about 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.120 the kickers really interesting to me. If the injury to 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.240 Bullock is significant, you've probably got to grab somebody off 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:19.440 another team's practice squad and somebody that can get here 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:23.120 quickly to start going through the protocol in order to 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:26.640 be available on Thursday. You probably will not be able 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:30.120 to practice with him. You're just going to have to 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.520 hope that he can clear protocol because he will already 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.200 be in the system, so there shouldn't be any problems there. 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.920 But it does take a few days when you change 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:41.760 teams and then he'll get his first opportunities to practice 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:45.280 with your snapper and holder on game day. Maybe unbelievable. 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.680 I mean, I think COVID nineteen with a short week 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:53.640 a Thursday night game, hilacious problem massive. You know, I 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:58.080 don't know Kevin Huber lining up from forty three yards 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.760 out to field goal instead of hold for the field 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.360 goal that would be That would be just absolutely crazy. 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:10.200 But yeah, it's you know, hopefully, hopefully it's something that 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.840 Randy Bullock can recover from. Maybe he just landed awkwardly 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:16.600 and cramped. I don't know. You know, if he wasn't 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:18.960 taking fluids it was human tonight. Maybe he lost more 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:21.640 fluids than he thought. Maybe he ended up just cramping. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.440 I don't know. One can only hope. But if it 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.240 is a pull, that it's a very very minor pull. 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.480 But if you're a place kicker and you have calf 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.360 pull in your kicking leg, that ain't good. It's not 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:36.800 a good deal. I don't care how minor the pull is. 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.360 And you know there's a bunch of muscles in the calf. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:40.960 You know, there's big ones, little ones. It's you know, 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.200 it's it's a it's a complex area to have have 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.800 an issue if you're trying to, you know, blast kickoffs 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.520 and field goals. There's no doubt. Let's talk about the 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.240 O line. You haven't seen any tape yet. We're talking 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.160 about this game immediately in the press box after broadcasting it. 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.680 But what do you think about Jonah Williams. Obviously, Joey 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.680 Bosa gave Bobby Heart fits. That's why he's making twenty 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.400 seven million dollars a year as the highest paid defensive 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.400 player in the NFL, and then Billy Price wound up 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.920 playing right guard toward the tail end of the game 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.680 when Xavier sue Filo went out. Yeah, and I thought, 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.200 I thought, in the second half, the offensive line played 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:16.880 much better than they did in the first half. And 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:18.800 that's when Billy was, you know, in the football game 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.160 in the second half. So there wasn't any glaring thing there. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.880 But there's no doubt. I mean when we played the Raiders, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.920 how he Long back in the day would go up 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.440 and down the offensive line and see what everybody had 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.240 in terms of past protection and then settled in. And 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:34.720 if you were the guy who settled in out it 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:36.440 was like you were the fish man. So he got 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:38.600 to pick which guy he wanted to rush out because 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.080 he could rush from anywhere. How he Long was the man. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.520 And it looks like Joey Bosa, you know, he can 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.120 rush from both end positions and looks like you know, 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.360 they said, you know, give it a feel him out 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.080 and see where, see where you feel like you might 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.960 have your best opportunity. And he ended up settling over 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:59.320 Bobby Hart more than Jonah Williams for sure. So and honestly, 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.000 you know, I'd have to look to see how much 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.600 help he got. But I would have given Bobby Hart 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.160 more because when I see an offensive lineman what Bobby 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.439 did in the first half, duck. When I see an 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.240 offensive lineman duck his head and take his eyes off 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.679 targets and everything else, I see a guy that's in 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.920 a panic mode. That's just you can't pass protect anybody. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.960 Duck in your head, bringing your shoulders and everything closer 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.920 to the defender who's got unbelievable hands and strength and 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.000 strengthen his hands and everything else. I mean, you just 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.040 you're you're beating yourself as well as him beating you. 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:35.440 So yeah, that But it seems like from what people 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.320 were saying after the game in the offensive line, that 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.600 the Charges came out with a wrinkle with a nuance 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.359 in their in their defensive front that caused some assignment 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:48.159 errors assignment problems for the Bengals offensive line, and they 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.919 definitely ran the ball better, pass protected better in the 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.600 second half when they made they made adjustments, I guess 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.119 they couldn't make them as quickly as they needed to 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.600 or wanted to. When they came off after every series 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.920 in the first half when they had time to get 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.880 on a board at halftime and make some solid adjustments. 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.760 It seems like they did that. So I thought the 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.560 performance was better in the second half for sure. I 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.760 think the secondary was good. Will Jackson was very solid. 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.400 Darius Phillips gave up that one deep ball to Mike Williams, 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.160 but that's a tough matchup for him. Big guy, good downfield, 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.040 a lot of tackles for von Bell, Jesse Bates made 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:27.160 a couple of plays. Kenzie Alexander was really solid. Yeah, 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.600 I thought so too. That there was a Hunter Henry. 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.439 There was an assignment era between the second level and 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:37.399 third level linebacker secondary where Hunter Henry gould open like 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.800 five yards when you know that's the only glaring mental 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.920 mistake ground and say WHOA, I mean, where is everybody 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.680 or anybody other than that? I thought. I thought overall 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.320 it was pretty solid as well, And I thought the 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:55.119 tackling wasn't atrocious, you know. I mean, these are NFL 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.960 running backs and NFL receivers are a good run after catch. 0:18:58.000 --> 0:18:59.760 I mean, they get paid a lot of money to 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:01.720 make you miss as much as you get paid to 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.560 tackle him. So you're gonna win some you're gonna lose them. 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.600 But I didn't think that tackling was like, oh my gosh, 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.960 I mean, that's just that's horrible. I thought I thought 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.520 they got people to the ground. How can it improve? Yeah, 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.280 it can definitely improve. And I think, you know, in October, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:18.720 it's going to be a heck of a lot better 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:22.120 than this here in the middle stages of September. I'll 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.120 tell you what does bother me about this loss? Though? 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.800 From a Bengals perspective, I don't think the Chargers are 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.720 any good. I mean, Tyrod Taylor is somewhere between the 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.680 twenty eighth and thirty second best starting quarterback in the NFL. 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.680 He's carved out a long career, God bless him, but 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.240 he's just not a good enough downfield thrower on a 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.840 consistent basis to elevate a team. He is a I 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.119 won't screw it up guy, and that was enough to 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.760 get the job done, no doubt. They ran the ball 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.240 well enough and they played good enough defense. I mean, 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:52.280 Bradley didn't turn it over and didn't turn it over. 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.080 He took care of the football. That's his mantra. You know, 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.560 I'm I'm gonna make sure that I don't give the 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.360 other team extra opportunity, these extra possessions. So defense, I'm 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.040 not going to betray you. You do your thing. I mean, 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.040 this is a good defense. Gus Bradley puts together good defense. 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.119 As you know, last year they were, you know, top five, 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.080 fourth in the NFL and against the past and scoring 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.320 pretty good defense and with a rookie quarterback and the 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.000 offensive line dealing with the adjustments they needed to deal 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:22.840 with with the defense or front, it took them a 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.520 half to kind of fall into a little bit of rhythm. 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:30.280 And you know, while all that was going on, I mean, 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:35.600 the Bengals had big average drive start field position advantages 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.399 in the first half and two fourth down stops and 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.200 they didn't turn it over in the first half. They 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:43.359 had a lead, but it was nowhere near what the 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:48.080 lead should have been. Why Chargers defense charges defense bailed 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.680 them out and Tyrod Taylor did not betray the defense 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.760 and put them in a very very bad situation where 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.280 you know, like what happened with Joe's fumble that short 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.440