Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. Uh because this is Thriller Thriller night. Addition,
Speaker 1: as the Bengals survived their first round playoff matchup against Baltimore,
Speaker 1: winning twenty four to seventeen on what will go down
Speaker 1: as one of the most memorable plays in franchise history.
Speaker 1: Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, one on one locker
Speaker 1: room interviews and analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then,
Speaker 1: in this week's fun Facts segment, I'll talk to team
Speaker 1: president Mike Brown about Zach Taylor's leadership, his first ever
Speaker 1: meeting with Joe Burrow, and swapping books with Ted Carriss.
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Speaker 1: your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since a Biscoff cookie
Speaker 1: dipped in coffee. If you've been on an airplane in
Speaker 1: the last twenty years or so, chances are you've had
Speaker 1: a biscoff cookie. It's that small, rectangular, crunchy cookie that's
Speaker 1: served up by flight attendants as a free snack. Now
Speaker 1: here's where I stand on the biscoff. If you just
Speaker 1: eat it out of the package, it's nothing special. But
Speaker 1: if you dip it in coffee, it becomes magnificent. I've
Speaker 1: only recently learned that the word biscoff is a combination
Speaker 1: of biscuit and coffee. So if you haven't tried it already,
Speaker 1: the next time you're on an early morning flight, try
Speaker 1: the biscoff dipped in coffee. Trust me, it's vastly superior
Speaker 1: to stale pretzels. Now, let's get to the highlights of
Speaker 1: a Sunday night thriller in the Jungle. This will be
Speaker 1: a thirty nine field goal attempt from the left hash
Speaker 1: for Evan McPherson out of the hold of Drew Chrisman
Speaker 1: cal Adamitas ready to snap it back. McPherson is set
Speaker 1: to snap the placement the right footed kick, a high
Speaker 1: spinning end over end get right down the middle. Evan
Speaker 1: McPherson picks up where he left off in the playoffs
Speaker 1: last year when he was a perfect fourteen for fourteen.
Speaker 1: The Bengals take more than six and a half minutes
Speaker 1: off the clock and taken early three nothing lead. Hutley
Speaker 1: in the gun, He'll to his right, four down lineman
Speaker 1: for Cincinnati. He'll goes in motion out to the right.
Speaker 1: Hutley throws in the traffic, intercepted Hogan. Wilson on his
Speaker 1: feet blunting it back. Make that a Keem Davis Caither
Speaker 1: with the pick and he gets tackled at the forty
Speaker 1: five yard line of Baltimore. About that Burrow in the gun,
Speaker 1: mixing back on the field, Burrow extends the hands he
Speaker 1: has the ball, drops back from the fourteen throws get
Speaker 1: hot by Chaff touchdown goal. He caught it at the one,
Speaker 1: spun around and charged into the end zone for the
Speaker 1: Bengals first touchdown of the night. And I'll tell you
Speaker 1: the Bengals are saying, Mr Chase, instead of working on
Speaker 1: the edges, We're gonna put you between the hash marks
Speaker 1: from the numbers. You're gonna do damage in the middle
Speaker 1: of the football field. You're too big and strong for
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens third and goal from the two. Huntly
Speaker 1: to throw swing the gold to the right. Tobbins extending
Speaker 1: the ball and he gets the edge over the goal
Speaker 1: line for a Baltimore touchdown. Man. That was a good
Speaker 1: play by him, just to get that ball extended before
Speaker 1: his knee hit the ground. Three receivers right, two to
Speaker 1: the left, shotgun snap to Joe Burrow. It's a four
Speaker 1: man rush deep drop. Burrows scrambling to the right, his
Speaker 1: throw caught by hers running to the forty forty five.
Speaker 1: Oh ball comes out ball. The Ravens have started celebrating.
Speaker 1: They think they have it at the Cincinnati forty four
Speaker 1: yard line, twenty two yards from the right hash. His
Speaker 1: kick is on the way and it is good to
Speaker 1: give the Ravens a one point lead with seven seconds
Speaker 1: left in the half. So the Ravens are going to
Speaker 1: stack the defense right over the ball to try to
Speaker 1: take away the quarterback sneak. Joe Burrow with five touchdown
Speaker 1: runs this year, including one against Baltimore. He tries to
Speaker 1: quarterback sneaks, he gets pushed in behind. There's a penalty
Speaker 1: flag down. It is a touchdown for Burrow. We'll see
Speaker 1: if it stands. Let's see if the Ravens crowded the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage too much and lined up off sides
Speaker 1: because the flag came up after the snap of the ball.
Speaker 1: If it was a movement on the offense, would have
Speaker 1: blown it. Deaf Yeah, defense up in the neutral zone.
Speaker 1: Then vote for the plays. There's a touchdown. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: one yard touchdown for Joe Burrow and the Bengals have
Speaker 1: the lead with five or two left here in the
Speaker 1: third quarter. The ball is on the left hash a
Speaker 1: lot of room to roll to the right for Burrow
Speaker 1: if he wanted to try that p ride in the backfield.
Speaker 1: Wilcox goes in motion, Burrow drops back to throw. Now
Speaker 1: he rolls right, gestures toward the end zone. Burrow throws
Speaker 1: caught by te Higgins. He ran away from Marcus Peters
Speaker 1: heavy makes the catch for the two point conversion. Second
Speaker 1: down and ten at the Cincinnati forty one. Cobbins back
Speaker 1: in at running back. Two receivers to each side of
Speaker 1: the formation. Single high safety has Huntley pump fakes. Now
Speaker 1: he'll throw it to Marcus Robinson wide open. He makes
Speaker 1: the catch and runs it into the end zone. Wow, boy,
Speaker 1: that time Eli Apple and Jesse Bates. Somebody blew the
Speaker 1: coverage obviously. I mean it was a double move down
Speaker 1: the football field, all biased, lonesome third down and goal
Speaker 1: from the one. Huntley sticks the ball out. The Bengals
Speaker 1: have the ball. They are running it back Sam Hubbard,
Speaker 1: who had blockers behind him, Hobbard of the Ravens forty,
Speaker 1: the thirty, the twenty, the ten, the four touched Bengals.
Speaker 1: Tyler Huntley tried to extend the ball over the goal line.
Speaker 1: It got poked away. Sam Hubbard scooped it up and
Speaker 1: ran the length of the field for a go ahead
Speaker 1: Bengals touchdown. He tried to pull a Trevor Lawrence and
Speaker 1: the Bengal said no. They slapped it out of there.
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson punched the ball out of the hands of
Speaker 1: Tyler Huntley and right into the hands of Sam Hubbard.
Speaker 1: And boy the Logan Wilson, others. Everybody was swatting it
Speaker 1: at that football and Sam Hubbard says, I'll take it
Speaker 1: to the house. Huntley surveys the defense too deep safeties
Speaker 1: for the Bengals. Huntley from the pocket he sacked brought
Speaker 1: down at the thirty nine yard line. By b Jay
Speaker 1: Hill big time, and I'll tell you Logan Wilson was
Speaker 1: involved again. Logan Wilson's having a hell of a second half.
Speaker 1: Huntley in the gun, Justice Hill in the backfield with
Speaker 1: him eight seconds to go, the Bengals up by seven,
Speaker 1: shotgun snap, Hutley back to throw Hendricks and rushing. He
Speaker 1: floated toward the end zone into a crowd, batted down
Speaker 1: head gun player the cocket zero and the Bengals are
Speaker 1: heading the Buffalo unbelievable. You know, you know these division
Speaker 1: battles are gonna come down to the last play, and
Speaker 1: that's exactly what happened. Came down to the final snap.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable football game. Again, a defensive score wins the game.
Speaker 1: James pro she had a shot at that tip ball
Speaker 1: in the end zone, but it hit the turf and
Speaker 1: that is coffin nails. Bam bam on to Buffalo, and boy,
Speaker 1: you talk about a game that's gonna have a bunch
Speaker 1: of storylines. Man of hivits Bengals and Buffalo Bills. After
Speaker 1: what happened here in Cincinnati on Monday night. Goodness gracious,
Speaker 1: the whole world will be watching that one. There are
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Sports fans who proudly say I was there the
Speaker 1: night Tom Browning through his perfect game, or the night
Speaker 1: Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's record, or I survived the
Speaker 1: Freezer Bowl. Well, in this case, more than sixty six
Speaker 1: thousand people can say I was there the night Hubbard
Speaker 1: took it to the house. His ninety eight yard touchdown
Speaker 1: is the longest fumble recovery score in NFL playoff history.
Speaker 1: And he spoke to Dave Lapham after the game, Sam, congratulations, history.
Speaker 1: Ninety eight yard from will return touchdown, longest in NFL history.
Speaker 1: And you do it in a playoff game on national television.
Speaker 1: You're an international celebrity. Al right, place right, Tom, That's
Speaker 1: really all it was Logan Wilson making a hell of
Speaker 1: a play. The ball fell right in my lap, that's
Speaker 1: all you know. Going back even before that, Jesse to
Speaker 1: hustle and make the tackles two yard line instead of saying,
Speaker 1: you know, I cheez, you know it's a touchdown. Just
Speaker 1: never given up on a play, and then you guys,
Speaker 1: never given up on the goal line sequence. That just
Speaker 1: defines this football team, doesn't it. Yeah, you put it
Speaker 1: in a nutshell, you know, that's our mentality across the front,
Speaker 1: the back end, linebackers. That's why I love going to
Speaker 1: war with these guys. Everybody just has that mentality that
Speaker 1: we're gonna scratch, call and do whatever. We can, never
Speaker 1: give up a yard anything free, and uh, you know
Speaker 1: you can. You can go pretty far with a couple
Speaker 1: of guys like that. Last year in the three game
Speaker 1: playoff winning streak, you guys had a turnover to finish
Speaker 1: to close out the football game every single game and
Speaker 1: then yours wins the football game in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: There's six straight games. Now you guys have had a
Speaker 1: defensive takeaway in the fourth quarter that we're instrumental in
Speaker 1: winning football games. What's what's the reason for that for
Speaker 1: you think? I think we got a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: amazing players on offense, but as a defense, we consider
Speaker 1: ourselves a heart and soul of this team. And you know,
Speaker 1: whenever they're we're in a bond, we put it on
Speaker 1: us to make a play. And uh, you know whoever
Speaker 1: it is, von Bell, Jesse, Logan ord lion Um, you
Speaker 1: know that's on us. And we call ourselves a clean
Speaker 1: up clue for a reason. Any fire that's on the field,
Speaker 1: we put it out and we don't bat a eye.
Speaker 1: Have you been a part of a smarter football team?
Speaker 1: You guys do so much defensively and so many position
Speaker 1: less players that can do so many things. Have you
Speaker 1: ever been associated with a smarter group defense? No, it
Speaker 1: was a big challenge for us to play the Ravens
Speaker 1: back to back. You know, they do so much schematically.
Speaker 1: That's schematically to give us problems and we are problems
Speaker 1: solving on the field. Um talking to our coaches working together. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know that's chemistry from just a million reps together. Oh.
Speaker 1: I know my grandson Cam, he loves you. He went
Speaker 1: to your foot fault camp and I know he's probably
Speaker 1: in bed at this time, but he is gonna go
Speaker 1: nuts when he sees the highlight of this hero. Sam
Speaker 1: Hubbard too, I ain't seen it. It's unbelievable. I think
Speaker 1: you're running probably a four to five US. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: they knocked me for that four nine of the combine,
Speaker 1: but yes, it doesn't matter now. Sure doves and congratulations man.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast dis presented by Alta Fiber future
Speaker 1: proof fiber internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed
Speaker 1: to take your home, business, and community to a new level.
Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. The thrilling went over
Speaker 1: Baltimore came with a cost, as Cincinnati lost left tackle
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams due to a left knee injury late in
Speaker 1: the second quarter. No word on the severity yet, but
Speaker 1: twenty two year old Jackson Carmen finished the game in
Speaker 1: his place. Last week, right guard Alex Kappa went down,
Speaker 1: and two weeks before that it was right tackle l Collins.
Speaker 1: The only starters left on the offensive line right now,
Speaker 1: our rookie Cordell Volson and center Ted carriss I. Talked
Speaker 1: to Ted after the game, let's playoff football. Things are
Speaker 1: never easy, and you guys managed to do what you
Speaker 1: had to do to move on. Yes, we did. And
Speaker 1: you know, that's a great defense, that's a great team.
Speaker 1: You know we had to play. We had to beat
Speaker 1: a good team twice in a row, and that's hard
Speaker 1: to do. So a lot of guys stepped up, a
Speaker 1: lot of guys played really well, good enough to win.
Speaker 1: I'd love to put it out a little bit earlier
Speaker 1: on offense, but our defense has been making plays like
Speaker 1: that for us all years. So when it counted the
Speaker 1: most they came through. Since the fifteenth game of the year.
Speaker 1: You've lost three fifths of the starting offensive line, but
Speaker 1: haven't lost a game. Talk about what the other guys
Speaker 1: have done and how you guys have managed to pull
Speaker 1: it out. We'll shout out to Max Sharpings first start
Speaker 1: as a Bengal played great. A team is playing a
Speaker 1: mazing and Jackson Carmen had come in and spot us
Speaker 1: at left tackle and did a fantastic job. I think
Speaker 1: it's a testament to how hard the guys work and
Speaker 1: pay attention in our room and our unit, the way
Speaker 1: that Frank and Derek Frazier developed guys, and you know
Speaker 1: how everyone is bought in and willing to go as
Speaker 1: hard as they can for the cause, and our cause
Speaker 1: is winning. Were you watching the Sam Hubbard run back
Speaker 1: or were you, you know, meeting with a fellow offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and getting ready for the next series. We were
Speaker 1: getting ready, we were talking about a specific look. I
Speaker 1: looked up when Sam was at our own ten. What
Speaker 1: a fantastic play, probably one of the best plays of
Speaker 1: franchise history. So unbelievable, What a what a night. Get
Speaker 1: to go to high Mark Stadium here in a week play.
Speaker 1: The Buffalo bill is excited. What do you think of
Speaker 1: the atmosphere here tonight? Electric, unbelievable, the fans here. I'm
Speaker 1: so glad we could deliver them a win. They've been
Speaker 1: an advantage all season and looking forward to potentially another
Speaker 1: game here. But if not, what a fantastic season at
Speaker 1: pay Corps. We might have to be road dogs to
Speaker 1: make it all the way, at least for one week.
Speaker 1: You will. Congratulations on the winner, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: As it is possible that the Bengals could have one
Speaker 1: more home game if they win at Buffalo next week
Speaker 1: and Jacksonville upsets Kansas City, the Bengals would host the
Speaker 1: Jags in the AFC Championship game. With their battered offensive line,
Speaker 1: it was tough to move the ball against the Ravens
Speaker 1: outstanding defense. Joe Burrow finished with two hundred nine passing yards,
Speaker 1: including eighty four on nine catches for Jamar Chase, but
Speaker 1: the Bengals really struggle to run the ball, finishing with
Speaker 1: fifty one yards on eighteen carries. That's two point eight
Speaker 1: yards per attempt. I caught up with Joe Mixon second
Speaker 1: straight year with a playoff win that had never done
Speaker 1: before in this franchise's history. How does it feel tonight?
Speaker 1: Feel great? Man? You gotta always enjoy the Dubs, especially
Speaker 1: playoff wins. It's hard to come by, you know, It's
Speaker 1: hard to win in this league, especially let alone in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But I thought our crowd did a hell
Speaker 1: of a job showing up and showing out, supporting us
Speaker 1: and our whole team delivering the best way we can.
Speaker 1: So it's a blessing and on to the next round
Speaker 1: we go. What's your heart jumping out of your chest?
Speaker 1: As Sam Hubberd started running down the field, No, I
Speaker 1: was just like, go, go, go, But I mean, hey,
Speaker 1: you can take them how you get him, and anybody
Speaker 1: would take him how to get it. So, like I said,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a. It's a great feeling for Sam,
Speaker 1: and I'm happy for him, and he's gotta keep on
Speaker 1: pushing through. We got a big one next week. They
Speaker 1: only get bigger, so he's gotta keep on keeping on.
Speaker 1: The offensive line has lost three of its Vibe starters
Speaker 1: since week fifteen, But you guys haven't lost the game.
Speaker 1: What do you think of the job that those guys
Speaker 1: are doing under tough circumstances? Yeah, man, the best thing,
Speaker 1: like I said, keep saying, the best thing we have
Speaker 1: is death. I mean, I hate to say it, but
Speaker 1: at the same time, like, um, you know, people that's
Speaker 1: been getting in, they've been delivering in a big way. Man.
Speaker 1: So everybody got their work cut out. Everybody gotta do
Speaker 1: what they can to study film or be able to
Speaker 1: jail together. But we just gotta keep on doing our thing.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be tough, but we just gotta keep on.
Speaker 1: That's it. Guys are heading to Buffalo next week because
Speaker 1: it kind of feels like you got these two teams
Speaker 1: were meant to play in the postseason. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the day, we knew
Speaker 1: at some point who was gonna have to play. You know,
Speaker 1: some team that was tough and they're a tough, alass
Speaker 1: team and so was the Ravens, you know what I'm saying. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, we're gonna we're gonna enjoy this one
Speaker 1: the night and tomorrow we're gonna get on the Buffalo.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna enjoy this one the night for sure.
Speaker 1: Congrats hating to win, Yes, I appreciate it. Bengos Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast hast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one
Speaker 1: hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering
Speaker 1: Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
Speaker 1: Visit Kettering health dot org to learn more. With four
Speaker 1: postseason wins in the last two years, Zach Taylor now
Speaker 1: has the most playoff wins of eddie coach in Bengals history.
Speaker 1: Sam White had three. Coach Taylor spent a few minutes
Speaker 1: with Dave Lapham after the game. We'll take it, you know,
Speaker 1: And these playoff games are never easy. It's always a
Speaker 1: worthy opponent. You blend in the AFC North with a
Speaker 1: playoff game, and you're going to get a pretty ugly,
Speaker 1: messy game at times. But our guys figured out a way.
Speaker 1: You get it done. Man, When Sam Hubbard first of
Speaker 1: all three things, Jesse hustles his tail off and makes
Speaker 1: the tackle's two yard, there's a fourteen point tackle, keeps
Speaker 1: them out of the end zone, and ultimately gives you
Speaker 1: a defensive score for the second week in a row.
Speaker 1: Logan will send football Aware, Sam Hubbard, Football Aware, what
Speaker 1: was going through your mind with Sam was hucking and
Speaker 1: bucking down to the field. Let's go, you know, get
Speaker 1: someone blocked for him, because I could see. I think
Speaker 1: it was Mark Andrews, you know, was closing ground pretty good.
Speaker 1: But but Sam found a way to make one of
Speaker 1: the biggest plays in Cincinnati Bengals history, you know, in
Speaker 1: a home playoff game like that, the hometown kid, that's
Speaker 1: a special way to do it. It really is. Ninety
Speaker 1: eight yard fumble return touchdown, longest in NFL history. He'll
Speaker 1: be an icon and a legend forever. About two weeks
Speaker 1: in a row, your defense scores touchdowns. Hadn't happened for
Speaker 1: him all year. But the one thing about him, they
Speaker 1: never quit on a play. I mean, these guys just
Speaker 1: stay after it, no matter what it may seem like,
Speaker 1: oh boy, that forget that it doesn't have They just
Speaker 1: never quit on it. Now, they never quit, you know,
Speaker 1: And that's that's what's made this defense so special. The
Speaker 1: second half defense this year. I think it's a perfect
Speaker 1: example of happening in the playoffs. It's been happening all
Speaker 1: year and so um this is no different. They were
Speaker 1: ready for the stage and they made some big plays
Speaker 1: where you needed the Baltimore Raven defense. There's no joke.
Speaker 1: I mean that's you can go through every defense statistic
Speaker 1: and they're in the top five and a ton of them,
Speaker 1: top three and a ton of them. What were they
Speaker 1: doing today? Were they making adjustments? Were they just executing well?
Speaker 1: Was it a combination? It said, you know, that's a challenge.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna give up explosive poise. They try to
Speaker 1: do enough to keep everything underneath. Our guys made enough
Speaker 1: poise to get us the points on the board. You know,
Speaker 1: late in the game, we had a sack and hold
Speaker 1: and some things that put us put us back a
Speaker 1: little bit, but our guys kept fighting. You called it,
Speaker 1: you said, it's gonna be one of those games. We're
Speaker 1: gonna get very few possessions. I mean, neither team is
Speaker 1: going to have, you know, multiple possessions during the course
Speaker 1: of the football game. And it unfolded pretty much exactly
Speaker 1: the way you anticipated, didn't it It does? You know,
Speaker 1: every time you play them, you already know what the
Speaker 1: script is going to be. And you gotta win the
Speaker 1: turner battle, and we won it two to one, and
Speaker 1: so you win by one possession, and there's no secret
Speaker 1: sauce to this. That's just the way it goes. So
Speaker 1: what about I know it's obviously early and probably unfair
Speaker 1: to ask, but from an injury standpoint, how severe do
Speaker 1: you think it is to Jonah? Hard to tell, you know,
Speaker 1: I really don't know yet, So we'll just have to
Speaker 1: see where it's at tomorrow. Football can be cruel. I mean,
Speaker 1: you go through a good part of the season, your
Speaker 1: entire offensive line plays every snap together, then bam, bam bam,
Speaker 1: three of them, and I mean it's a tribute to
Speaker 1: Frank and getting everybody else ready and those guys stepping
Speaker 1: up and doing the best they possibly can. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: just the way it goes, you know. And so we
Speaker 1: got to have these guys ready at all times, and
Speaker 1: they're gonna be called upon to play against some good
Speaker 1: players and some good defenses, and that's why they're here.
Speaker 1: So final question, I appreciate you giving us this opportunity.
Speaker 1: You're going to ball to Buffalo beat Baltimore going to
Speaker 1: Buffalo obviously, I mean, it wasn't that long ago where
Speaker 1: it was trauma for everybody, and the way you handled
Speaker 1: yourself again was just extraordinary. What goes through your mind
Speaker 1: as you start to think about preparing for the Buffalo
Speaker 1: Bills in this playoff game, well, you know, it felt
Speaker 1: like we started to play them obviously, and uh, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things. Obviously we're prepared for it. It'll
Speaker 1: be interesting. We've never been in a situation like that
Speaker 1: where you only play half a quarter and then you
Speaker 1: got to watch these last two games they played and
Speaker 1: see what adjustments you gotta make. But it's it's a
Speaker 1: very worthy opponent. You know, they've had a great year,
Speaker 1: they're well coached, they've got great players. We got a
Speaker 1: lot of respect for them, and we know it's going
Speaker 1: to be a battle when we go out there. And
Speaker 1: I guess I lied one last question. I mean the
Speaker 1: crowd tonight was phenomenal. Again, I mean it was extraordinary.
Speaker 1: And to have that advantage of that twelve thirteen, fourteenth
Speaker 1: man or whatever at home. Now you have to go
Speaker 1: to Buffalo, where you know you got the mafia up there.
Speaker 1: It's going to be crazy and you've got, you know,
Speaker 1: some young offensive linemen, some inexperienced offensive lineman deal and
Speaker 1: crowd noise and all that. And I'm not telling you anything,
Speaker 1: you don't know it. I mean, these are these are
Speaker 1: major challenges, aren't they. Yeah, we'll have to make do,
Speaker 1: and but we do appreciate our fans. You know, they
Speaker 1: really turned out tonight. We're glad that we were able
Speaker 1: to get another playoff win in front of them, just
Speaker 1: like we've against the Raiders two years in a row.
Speaker 1: You know, they were a big part of why we
Speaker 1: are able to play the way we played today. I'm
Speaker 1: glad they get to celebrate this tonight and then maybe
Speaker 1: some of them can make the trip up to Buffalo
Speaker 1: for us. So it's onto Buffalo where the Bengals are
Speaker 1: an early four point underdog. That game will be played
Speaker 1: next Sunday afternoon at three. Now time for the radio
Speaker 1: guys recap lap. We witnessed one of the great defensive
Speaker 1: plays en franchise history, Hubbard to the house ninety eight
Speaker 1: yards on a fumble recovery, essentially to win the game.
Speaker 1: I'm still amazed by how this game turned on one play.
Speaker 1: It is. It is almost incomprehensible really when you think
Speaker 1: about it, and it does. Though. There was a sequence
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates had a fourteen point tackle. I mean he
Speaker 1: tracks down at the two yard line and instead of
Speaker 1: allowing it to go on and score. He makes a
Speaker 1: play and then you know that's set up the goal
Speaker 1: line stand and set up the possibility for Logan Wilson
Speaker 1: to make the play that he made. Um, you know
Speaker 1: you had trying to u do it capture his inner
Speaker 1: or Lawrence and up and over and stretched the football
Speaker 1: and he just smacks it out of there and then
Speaker 1: off to the races go Sam Hubbard ninety eight yards
Speaker 1: NFL record. I mean, he's an icon forever. I mean
Speaker 1: he is a legend of Cincinnati, legend, local boy, Muller
Speaker 1: High School, Ohio State, Cincinnati Bengals. Couldn't happen to a
Speaker 1: better human being and uh, you know, a better representative
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati, the city of Cincinnati, and the organization of
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals. You had to pick a guy to say,
Speaker 1: who would you like to be on the placard on
Speaker 1: the wall for the you know, the greatest, the most
Speaker 1: memorable play in playoff history. You'd be that dude, you know.
Speaker 1: And he was saying he was kidding about you know,
Speaker 1: you know that four nine forty I ran at the combine,
Speaker 1: he goes. I said, Sam, you looked like you were
Speaker 1: going about a four or five there, man, And he
Speaker 1: was a little worried about Andrews Mark Andrews catching him,
Speaker 1: and that was the one that had to be blocked,
Speaker 1: and they got they shielded enough for Sam to serpentine
Speaker 1: and zigzag his way in there to score. So that
Speaker 1: that was massive. I mean, it's just as we've seen
Speaker 1: all year long with this defense. Then they've made plays
Speaker 1: were never give play of forty five yard completion, ripped
Speaker 1: the ball out of his hands. You know, when you
Speaker 1: had to have a play in the red zone to
Speaker 1: preserve a victory, strip it out of there in the
Speaker 1: low red zone. This play in the lowest of low
Speaker 1: red zone. I mean it's there's multiple, you know, game
Speaker 1: after game, example after example of this defensive football team
Speaker 1: saying not going to give up. Yeah, the Patriots game
Speaker 1: on Christmas Eve, New England's driving in, they get the
Speaker 1: strip inside the ten yard line. You go back to
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year, interceptions on the last defensive play
Speaker 1: of all three playoff wins. That's what it takes in
Speaker 1: the postseason. Somebody's got to step up and make a
Speaker 1: defensive play. Now, they're usually not punches out at the
Speaker 1: goal line in ninety eight yard tds, but you get
Speaker 1: the point right and two straight games now against Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I guess it must be something about the ravens on
Speaker 1: the helmets or something. They've gotten defensive scores against them
Speaker 1: when they didn't have them get anybody else. You know,
Speaker 1: all season long, they won the turnover battle two to one,
Speaker 1: but that one of those two was a record, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it was. It was a actually game winner
Speaker 1: in every sense of the word. So you look at
Speaker 1: it over the last couple of weeks. They won turnover
Speaker 1: battle by three in the last regular season game, and
Speaker 1: then they won this one again by one, and in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, that's you have to You have to win
Speaker 1: the turnover battle. If you lose the turnover battle, you
Speaker 1: are shovel and stand against the tide. You know, it's
Speaker 1: an uphill battle. There's no question. They've lost their right tackle,
Speaker 1: they've lost their right guard. Tonight they lose their left tackle.
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams. Jackson Carmen has to finish up. They haven't
Speaker 1: lost any games yet, but man, the timing is unbelievably unfortunate.
Speaker 1: It is because now you know, the crowd was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I mean, the adrenaline that the crowd generated for this
Speaker 1: football team had to be you know, if you're able
Speaker 1: to measure, it might have been a record there too.
Speaker 1: The adrenaline was pumping through everybody. But now you have
Speaker 1: to go on the road and you have to go
Speaker 1: to Buffalo and the mafia and Buffalo and that crowd noise,
Speaker 1: and now you have an offensive line that's sixty percent
Speaker 1: of it is different. And now the right side has
Speaker 1: a game under their belt, but it was at home.
Speaker 1: They haven't experienced the din of working together in a
Speaker 1: place like Buffalo. So it is definitely an uphill swim,
Speaker 1: swimming against the tide a little bit because it's going
Speaker 1: to be very difficult. Buffalo has a great defensive football
Speaker 1: team there. I think second and points allowed, they're good
Speaker 1: in the red zone, they're good not giving up points.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a challenge to handle their talent
Speaker 1: coupled with the crowd noise. That makes it even more
Speaker 1: difficult because when they're at home with the crowd noise,
Speaker 1: it seems like they're faster, and they are faster because
Speaker 1: they're getting off. Your only advantage is gone. You know,
Speaker 1: you can't you can't hear this nap count. You almost
Speaker 1: have to look in and move when they move, and
Speaker 1: usually they're a little quicker, better athletes and all that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. So it's gonna be a it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a monstrous undertaking for Frank Pollock and the Bengals
Speaker 1: offensive line to cobble something together and put together a
Speaker 1: game plan. Um, you know, they're gonna have to go
Speaker 1: out there and compete. But Miami, I mean it was
Speaker 1: all turnovers. Miami won the turnover battle and um almost
Speaker 1: won the game as a result of it. That's what
Speaker 1: the Bengals is gonna have to do. They're gonna have
Speaker 1: to somehow create more possessions for themselves and fewer for
Speaker 1: Buffalo because Buffalo will probably take advantage of most of them.
Speaker 1: Were you surprised at all that it was Jackson Carmen
Speaker 1: getting the call as opposed to Deante Smith, Yeah, a
Speaker 1: little bit. I mean, I don't, I don't know what
Speaker 1: the deal is with with Deonte Smith. I mean I
Speaker 1: think I think Deante. I know, I know he's he's
Speaker 1: had some asthmatic problems U and he was dealing with
Speaker 1: some COVID so he was having breathing issues there for
Speaker 1: a while. And I mean, I don't no, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a lingering effect to that,
Speaker 1: or if others just kind of passed him buy as
Speaker 1: a result of him missing you know, that time. But
Speaker 1: you know, Jackson Carmen, he did some good things and
Speaker 1: had his struggles as you would imagine in a game
Speaker 1: like that. But man, like I said, going into that
Speaker 1: environment in Buffalo, that's going to be a much much
Speaker 1: more interesting dynamic. And I just did see Jonah leaving
Speaker 1: the locker room on crutches with a brace on that
Speaker 1: left knee, and I just yelled over to him. I said,
Speaker 1: you're all right, and he shook his head, but it
Speaker 1: didn't look like he was gonna be all right for
Speaker 1: next week's game. I mean, you know, you never know.
Speaker 1: I mean, guys bounced back, and the treatments and all
Speaker 1: that stuff are incredible today, and these athletes are such
Speaker 1: rare specimens. And but to think that he might be
Speaker 1: able to make that dance out there in Buffalo, I
Speaker 1: think would be a stretch. This is the year three JB.
Speaker 1: As in Joe Burrow. All the old history doesn't matter anymore,
Speaker 1: playoff droughts, anything like that. The Bengals have now put
Speaker 1: together playoff victories and back to back seasons for the
Speaker 1: first time in franchise history. Last year was the first
Speaker 1: time they had one road playoff games. Now they'rey'll try
Speaker 1: to do it again in Buffalo. Yeah, and you look
Speaker 1: at it the last two years, four and one in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, you know, I mean it's pretty good. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's starting to starting to make some some significant noise.
Speaker 1: There no, no, no two ways about it. So they believe,
Speaker 1: I mean, there is a there is a unification in
Speaker 1: that locker room that is special. I mean, these guys
Speaker 1: are they just they don't think about anything negative. All
Speaker 1: they think about is the positive outcome. And they truly
Speaker 1: believe that's the way it's going to be. And they
Speaker 1: have big belief in number nine. There's no two ways
Speaker 1: about that. Um and somebody, it's it's amazing you think,
Speaker 1: all right, who's gonna make the play? Somebody's gonna Remember
Speaker 1: when we were on runs and roles as a football team,
Speaker 1: you look around in the huddling and you look at
Speaker 1: each other like, all right, well, who's the guy. Who's
Speaker 1: the guy that's gonna make play? Lineman? We when but
Speaker 1: we'd be looking at our skill guys like, which one
Speaker 1: of these guys is going to do something that will
Speaker 1: be spectacular, And then you'd watch your defense out there.
Speaker 1: Somebody's gonna make a play. Who's gonna make the play.
Speaker 1: It's happening every week. Who's gonna be there, who's gonna
Speaker 1: do it this time? And that stuff just it gets
Speaker 1: so contagious it's unbelievable. I would think that playing somebody
Speaker 1: other than a division rival is helpful when you're dealing
Speaker 1: with offensive line issues. At least they don't know what's
Speaker 1: coming to the same extent as the Ravens do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I mean, I don't think anybody was surprised
Speaker 1: and how this game unfolded. Everybody knows each other cold,
Speaker 1: you know, and they muck it up. It's like, you're
Speaker 1: not going to get anything easy against this AFC North.
Speaker 1: I mean, all the division games seem to be that way.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the Bengals lost their first three
Speaker 1: division games, then won the last three. The Ravens won
Speaker 1: the first three division games, then lost the last three,
Speaker 1: and you knew that it was going to be a struggle,
Speaker 1: a fight, and it was going to come down to
Speaker 1: a play here or a play there, and that's exactly
Speaker 1: I don't think. I don't think anybody in that locker room,
Speaker 1: player or coach surprised that you're gonna have to strain
Speaker 1: and stress as much as you had to to win
Speaker 1: that football game. You ready to go eat some wings
Speaker 1: next week? Let's set those famous Buffalo wings. They are
Speaker 1: good and no question about that. If you make the
Speaker 1: trip to Buffalo and want some great wings, my recommendation
Speaker 1: is a place called Gabriel's Gate. The Bengals Booth podcast
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Paycorps. More than twenty nine
Speaker 1: thousand customers trust pay Corps to help them recruit, pay, engage,
Speaker 1: and retain employees. Learn more at paycorps dot com. Finally,
Speaker 1: it's time for this week's fun Facts interview and an
Speaker 1: episode I am sure you will enjoy. Time for a
Speaker 1: new round of fun Facts of Bengals President Mike Around. Mike,
Speaker 1: I think all of us were impressed by how Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor conducted himself and the compassion that he showed after
Speaker 1: DeMar Hamlin collapsed. Did you see those qualities in him
Speaker 1: from the very beginning? And is it among the reasons
Speaker 1: why you hired him? We had different reasons for hiring him.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons was that he was intelligent. He's
Speaker 1: highly intelligent, he's smart, he does the right things, and
Speaker 1: he's also well versed in the past offense. Those were
Speaker 1: two of the critical things. Because we hired a young
Speaker 1: coach who hadn't had a chance to lead a team
Speaker 1: or show that he could perform at a high level.
Speaker 1: We took a risk, but it certainly has paid off.
Speaker 1: He's a splendid coach. He's a wonderful person, and I
Speaker 1: thought it was on display to everyone in the stands
Speaker 1: and everyone that was watching went down at the event
Speaker 1: in the Buffalo game. Honest to god, he did that
Speaker 1: stuff on his own, and he took in my mind,
Speaker 1: control of the situation, put in process the solution which
Speaker 1: was the right one, and led the proceeding more than
Speaker 1: anybody else. And there were others involved, certainly the Buffalo
Speaker 1: coach and the players got involved, and he helped get
Speaker 1: them involved, and they came up with the right answer too,
Speaker 1: and I give them great credit. Joe Burrow was one
Speaker 1: of those players. He showed great leadership and leading the
Speaker 1: captains to the buff Low locker room to meet with
Speaker 1: the Bill's players. Joe just turned twenty six last month.
Speaker 1: Do you already consider him to be one of the
Speaker 1: best leaders this franchise has had. Boy, I think that's obvious.
Speaker 1: He is an exemplary leader. He's conscious of how to
Speaker 1: go about maintaining his position. He does a swell job
Speaker 1: of it, and everyone in this building is conscious of
Speaker 1: him and his role and how he handles it. I
Speaker 1: would have loved to have been a fly on the
Speaker 1: wall the first time that you and the coaches and
Speaker 1: the front office staff met with Joe at the NFL
Speaker 1: scouting combine in Indianapolis. The old saying is you never
Speaker 1: get a second chance to make a first impression. What
Speaker 1: kind of first impression did Joe Burrow make on you
Speaker 1: that day? I remember that day for an odd reason.
Speaker 1: I said that Joe's trained to make him at ease.
Speaker 1: They said, Joe, you know, I used to go up
Speaker 1: to the Ohio State games and I would watch the
Speaker 1: warm ups before the game, and I thought, you really
Speaker 1: threw the ball. Well, I couldn't understand why they never
Speaker 1: played you. And he said, you couldn't understand, so he
Speaker 1: was at ease. That's great. Many people say that a
Speaker 1: team's ideal Super Bowl window is when its quarterback is
Speaker 1: on his rookie contract. Joe was asked about that the
Speaker 1: other day and he said, the window is my whole career.
Speaker 1: Do you agree he's going to have a long career.
Speaker 1: We certainly want it to be here, and I think
Speaker 1: his window will extend over his whole career. But there
Speaker 1: is the fact that when you don't have to pay
Speaker 1: the quarterback some jraordinary amount, that that leaves room to
Speaker 1: pay other players more, and therefore you can keep more
Speaker 1: players that are good players. That's what people are referring
Speaker 1: to there. But the homes and others of that like,
Speaker 1: they seem to make it go even after they have
Speaker 1: gotten their paidding. We're visiting the Mike Brown. The players
Speaker 1: enjoyed victory cigars in the locker room after finishing twelve
Speaker 1: and four and winning the AFC North. Many of your
Speaker 1: fellow owners like to be in the middle of those
Speaker 1: postgame celebrations. You choose not to why. I think it's
Speaker 1: their thing and I have a role here, But it's
Speaker 1: in some sense is important, and in other ways, once
Speaker 1: the mission gets going it runs on its own. They
Speaker 1: deserve the credit. They're doing it. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 1: I'm just sitting there watching like all the other fans are,
Speaker 1: and they do it. And I don't smoke cigars. Well,
Speaker 1: I think I still smell like the cigars from last Sunday.
Speaker 1: It definitely lingers on your clothing. You've placed a lot
Speaker 1: of trust in Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin. What
Speaker 1: do you admire in respect about Duke and his ability
Speaker 1: to lead your scouting department and help draft and sign players. Oh,
Speaker 1: we're very close to Duke. He's almost like a family
Speaker 1: member here. We have a huge regard for him and
Speaker 1: trust in him. We talk to him openly in every way,
Speaker 1: and I'd like to think that that's returned. He knows
Speaker 1: what he's doing. He has a sister them that he's
Speaker 1: created here. We depend on it and it's a good system.
Speaker 1: It's shown that it's worth, shown that it works, and
Speaker 1: he's responsible for so much of what goes on here.
Speaker 1: The player acquisition part is now ben and delegated to him,
Speaker 1: and he does a great job with it. Your granddaughters,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth and Caroline, have taken on significant roles and have
Speaker 1: had a big impact on the team's off the field
Speaker 1: success in areas like the Ring of Honor and social
Speaker 1: media content. What do you think they've added? Oh, I
Speaker 1: think they're special. Obviously they're my granddaughters, so I need
Speaker 1: to be restrained here and the praise I'm going to
Speaker 1: dish out. But they're very great young women. They have
Speaker 1: come in and seen some areas that could be made better.
Speaker 1: I listened to what their thoughts were and whether it's
Speaker 1: the indoor facility, the Ring of Honor, or some things
Speaker 1: that you will never hear about. They play a role
Speaker 1: both out front and behind the scenes. They're young executives,
Speaker 1: good workers, and I'm proud of them. I thought the
Speaker 1: atmosphere before the Monday night game against Buffalo was like
Speaker 1: the Olympic opening ceremonies. It was spectacular. Do you get
Speaker 1: a kick out of the ruler of the jungle ceremony
Speaker 1: and some of the other things that have been done
Speaker 1: to enhance the game day presentation, Well, that again is
Speaker 1: one of the things my granddaughters put into action. I'm
Speaker 1: from the old days and bring on the kickoff thinking,
Speaker 1: but I agree that it makes for fun. People enjoy it.
Speaker 1: The people that participate in it especially have fun with it.
Speaker 1: Who's Manzada's coming back this week? And I guess you'll
Speaker 1: be the King for a day or whatever you call
Speaker 1: this guy, but it'll be fun to have him back
Speaker 1: and have him involved. One of the newcomers on the
Speaker 1: team this year, Ted Carris is a very engaging sort
Speaker 1: and if I'm not mistaken, at some point this year
Speaker 1: he noticed that you were reading on one of the
Speaker 1: team planes and he gave you a book. Was that
Speaker 1: a first? It's a first for a player given me
Speaker 1: a book. I read it. It was a good book.
Speaker 1: And I got a bunch of books there right behind you.
Speaker 1: They're up on top of my bookcase that I offered
Speaker 1: to him, and he took a handful of them with him.
Speaker 1: He's read one of them already and come back to
Speaker 1: me to say so. But he likes to read. I
Speaker 1: like to read, and when you're a reader, it's fun
Speaker 1: to talk to other people who are readers and understand
Speaker 1: ender here why they read what they read. And you
Speaker 1: don't ever come across someone or its seldom for me
Speaker 1: that I come across someone who reads the same type
Speaker 1: of book that you like. But he likes history books.
Speaker 1: He's more into novels than I am. But it's fun
Speaker 1: just trading books with him, in part because that is
Speaker 1: at first, they've never done that with the player before.
Speaker 1: You've got a home playoff game coming up on Sunday
Speaker 1: night against Baltimore. You've attended nearly every game home and
Speaker 1: away in this team's fifty five year history. But one
Speaker 1: game that you had to miss was last year's playoff
Speaker 1: win over the Raiders. You're under the weather at the time.
Speaker 1: How difficult was it to not be here for that game? Well,
Speaker 1: I had COVID, so I had to stay home, and
Speaker 1: that put anyone else at risk. And I sat in
Speaker 1: my den all alone and watched that game all by
Speaker 1: myself and found it a fascinating experience because you see
Speaker 1: some things on TV that you don't see in the stadium.
Speaker 1: And it was a great game, a very exciting game.
Speaker 1: One thing I found was that when I'm sitting there
Speaker 1: alone like that, I might get excited or emotional, but
Speaker 1: since there's no one around, they don't say the wrong thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's good. But it was a good experience for me,
Speaker 1: and I hope I get to see as long as
Speaker 1: I'm able, all our games in person. That's what is best.
Speaker 1: Last thing for Mike Brown at last year Super Bowl run,
Speaker 1: Wetcher appetite to get back as soon as possible. Well,
Speaker 1: it made me something of a believer. My father's phrase
Speaker 1: that winning makes believers of us all. It instilled some
Speaker 1: confidence in me that we can do this and let's see,
Speaker 1: maybe it'll happen again. I sure hope. So it's very
Speaker 1: exciting when you get that opportunity to have a long
Speaker 1: run and go to the Super Bowl. Appreciate your time
Speaker 1: as always. Bestifuck on Sunday night, Well, thank you, I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to it. That's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast presented by Kettering Health,
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast