WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Final Four 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.200 I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:10.720 Bengals Booth Podcast, the Final four edition. The Bengals have 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.680 four games left in the regular season, including a road 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:18.000 game this Sunday against the nine and three Los Angeles Chargers. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:23.599 Is it me or will Los Angeles Chargers never sound right? 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.000 We'll get you set for the matchup. Here's what's coming up. 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.480 My broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me to discuss several 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:34.159 hot button topics, including the Bengals use of Joe Mixon, 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.159 what it's like for the players when your head coach 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:42.440 is under fire, and if the Bengals defensive personnel simply 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:45.479 isn't as good as we thought, and I know the 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.440 faux segment. This week, we'll talk to Chargers beat reporter 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.680 Sam forty, a who has all sorts of good nuggets 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.760 from being around the Chargers on a daily basis, and 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.520 we'll have a one on one conversation with Andy Dalton 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.320 about the injury that ended his season and his future 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.959 with the Bengals. All of that is straight ahead, but first, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.640 here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.880 edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:16.840 or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:23.840 It's the greatest invention since the cast iron skillet. They 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.320 heat evenly, they're naturally non stick, they're the best pan 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.160 to give your food a good seer, and they're easy 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.440 to clean. In case you can't tell, I'm a big 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.839 fan of the cast iron skillet. Now let's get to football. 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:45.600 The La Chargers are hot. The Bengals are not. The 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.040 Chargers have won eight of their last nine, and they're 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:52.080 only lost during that stretch was by one point to Denver. 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.080 The Bengals have dropped four in a row in six 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.080 of their last seven, and the Bengals defense is in 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.760 danger of joining a list that nobody would have imagined 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.320 the Bengals being part of at the start of the season. 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.840 There have only been five teams in history that have 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.600 allowed an average of thirty or more points a game 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.280 and four hundred or more yards a game. The two 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:22.359 sixteen forty nine Ers, two thousand and eight Lions, nineteen 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:27.600 eighty one Colts, nineteen fifty one Yankees, Yes there was 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.239 a New York Yankees football franchise had folded at the 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:35.480 end of that season, and the nineteen fifty colts. Right now, 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.160 the Bengals would make it six teams. They are allowing 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.600 thirty point nine points and four hundred thirty three yards. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.679 Both figures rank last in the NFL. Defense is where 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:53.480 I began my conversation with Dave lapham Lap. In two fifteen, 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.240 the Bengals finished number two in the NFL and scoring 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.520 defense at seventeen point four points a game. Since then, 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.800 they have dropped to eighth in twenty sixteen, still good, 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:07.480 sixteenth last year, middle of the pack, dead last with 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.519 four games to go this year? Do we tend to 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.280 think that the Bengals defensive personnel is better than it 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.200 really is? You know, I think that's a tendency that 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.679 everybody has. You know that they if your fans and 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.120 close to your team, you think that your players sometimes 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.800 are better than other people around the league might think. Now, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.840 Geno Atkins, I think is universally regarded as a disruptor, 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.000 a destroyer in the interior of a defense, and it's 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.680 it's well earned, and I think he is that guy. 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.640 I think part of their problem is though, that not 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.160 only are they underperforming physicals, they're just not getting lined 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.840 up right. You know. It's it's there. They're not gap sound, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.280 even on alignment sometimes and until that's solved, and I 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.960 can't understand why it can't be solved. I just don't 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.000 get it. Why every week it's the same problem over 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.080 and over and over again. And that's in that situation 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.480 you're even the offense an immediate win. I mean, you 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.720 can't win snaps when you're improperly aligned. It's you're given 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.120 too much of an advantage. I don't care if you have, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:14.040 you know, superheroes at every every defensive position. So they've 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:15.960 got they've got to get that part of it right. 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.520 And the little tidbit this week, you know, for me, 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.840 is one hundred and sixty seven points allowed in the 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.840 second quarter, the most points allowed in any quarter by 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.880 any team. Marvin Lewis was a defensive coordinator, a record 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:30.839 holder with the Baltimore Ravens. In the year two thousand, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.800 they allowed one hundred and sixty five in sixteen games. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:35.960 The Bengals of allowed one hundred and sixty seven and 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:41.200 one quarter of twelve football games. It is ridiculous. It's 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.640 mind boggling, it really is. And that's that's their second 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.960 quarter is just killing them. And by the way looking 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.039 at this matchup. Charges in the second quarter, they scored 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.520 one hundred and twenty four. They've i'll scored the pe 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:55.799 one hundred and twenty four to fifty one. They're plus 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.640 seventy three in the second quarter. That's the best quarter. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:03.120 Here we go in surviving the second quarter. But it 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:08.440 is dan it. I think I think that guys should 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:14.040 be humbled. But it's about time that they whatever, it's whatever, 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.800 the reason is that they keep aligning themselves, improperly, hitting 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.720 him the absent, properly doing things that aren't supposed to 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.200 be done. It's got to stop. I mean, it's got 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.800 to stop. It's it's embarrassing to watch it. It really is. 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.360 We don't know Marvin Lewis's fate. Mike Brown will obviously 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:34.359 have the final say, and if history has taught us anything, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.640 the last four games of the season will have an impact. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.680 But lap, I want to go back to nineteen seventy nine, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:44.200 your sixth NFL season. Homer Rice was the coach and 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:46.159 at this point of the season, the Bengals were two 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.400 and ten and people were undoubtedly calling for his head. 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.360 How does it affect the players when the public has 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:57.520 turned against the head coach. Yeah, and biggest memory that 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:00.760 season for me is Homer Rice getting on the intercom 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.279 system and begging guys to show up to the meetings. 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.560 You're now ten minutes late, please report to the wide 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:11.039 receiver room. Like what I mean, that was a huge 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.520 mistake that that might be one of the only mistakes 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.640 I think Paul Paul Brown might have made naming Homer 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.839 Rice the interim head coach and then keeping him, you know, 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.760 the following we started oh and eighth that year. And 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.240 I mentioned this before. I can vividly remember driving into 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:30.120 my neighborhood at night with my headlights out so neighbors 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:34.680 wouldn't detect I was there, and I remember saying to 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.520 my five year old son, take the rubbish down to 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:39.320 the curb. You know, I'm not going out there and here. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.720 You know, It's like I didn't want to go anywhere 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.240 be seen by anybody. And that's that's really if you 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.400 have pride in your job, I mean, you're a laughing stock. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.279 That's there's nothing worse than that, nothing worse than that 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.480 at all. And all you have is each other. And 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.240 and again there's some guys that are going to fight 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.000 no matter what. There are guys that are going to quit. 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.000 There are front runners. You find out who your front 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.760 runs are right away. You find out who your you know, 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.839 real pros are right away in situations like this, and 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:09.680 you know all you have is each other. Do you 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.560 rally around your coach or not? They rallied around Marvin 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.560 last year with the two wins to knock playoff teams out, 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.400 and it brought it brought Marvin back. What are they 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.040 going to do this year? It's going to be interesting 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.080 to see how it all onlines. The Bengals are an 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:27.480 organization that relies on drafting and developing players, and by 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.880 and large they've drafted well. But the two fifteen draft 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:35.080 looks like a disaster. Cedrico Boyhe, Jake Fisher, and p J. 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.960 Dawson remember him. We're all taken to the first three 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.760 rounds that haven't panned out. The only players taken in 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.360 that draft that have done okay are tight ends Tyler 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.600 Croft and c. J Uzama. How much did the twenty 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.920 fifteen draft set back the franchise heard it big time, Dan, 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.800 There's no question, you know, look at the offensive line 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:55.840 that they started the season with this year. They had 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.160 to trade for a tackle to play left side, Paim 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.440 eleven million bucks a year and sign a veteran free 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:04.520 agent from the New York Giants, Bobby Hart and the 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.880 other because they were over two drafting tackles in that 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.800 particular draft. And that's the thing. A lot of times, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.040 if a team needs a corner, you know, they don't 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.120 just draft one. They'll draft a couple because you know, 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:21.040 you lessen the operator or the chance that you're gonna 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.240 have a disaster if one doesn't pan out. You don't 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.720 have a plan B. They went, they draft the two 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.000 of them, you know, and uh, and neither one of 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.640 them at this point have done anything. Fisher more so 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.320 injury a boy, he just deciding, you know, he's not 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.760 going to do it anymore. He's basically shut it down. 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.480 The thing about citrical boy, he that bothers me as 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.680 a former player. If it doesn't work with your first 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.200 offensive line coach and then you get a chance with 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.120 a second one, it doesn't work there, at some point 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:49.960 go to the coach and say, you know what, obviously 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.440 I'm not doing something right. You know what is it 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.079 that I need to do to make myself a good 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:58.760 football player in your eyes? To improve myself and crickets. 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:01.400 He's never done it to me that that's an indicator 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.120 that wears his heart. Where's his head? Is he really 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:08.760 interested in being a pro in this foot in National 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.400 Football League? So but yeah, it was crippling, and I 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.400 mean it's rare you go over for three or the 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.120 track work of this team has It's well documented that 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.360 has more draft picks in the National Football League, not 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.320 just with their franchise, but all franchises picking players up 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.360 and everything. The Bengals drafting players initially coming in the 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.160 league by that route, there were more of those in 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.600 the National Football League than anybody else has. So they've 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.840 done a remarkable job. But that that draft was a 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.319 tough one and it did set him back because when 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.800 you're still trying to figure out who's going to play 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.400 at tacle position to handle the edge rushers, which is 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.559 a big deal in this era of the NFL, that's 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.640 tough dynamic right there. Despite missing two games, Joe Mixon 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:53.959 is twelfth in the NFL and rushing with seven hundred 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.319 and fifty five yards and he's averaging four point nine 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.679 yards per attempt, which is excellent. So why isn't he 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.680 carry the ball at least twenty times a game. Very frustrating. 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.439 I know it's frustrating for Joe, and I'm sure it's 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.920 frustrating for his position coach, and I'm sure it's frustrating 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.400 for the offensive coordinator because he's probably thinking, you know, 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.160 I want to do it, but then doesn't do it, because, 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.720 particularly in this last game, aj Green went down early. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.880 Your best offensive player on the football field at that 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:26.160 point is Joe Mixon. Feed twenty eight. Put the ball 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.280 in his belly. Throw it to him in space. He 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.440 should have a myriad of touches, you know, twenty rushes, 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.959 at least five more opportunities in the passing game. He 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.080 got to take care of your best player, however you 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:39.840 do it, however you want to scheme it up, however 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.880 you want to design it. I know the penalties became 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:44.920 an issue. You know, there were runs that he had 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.040 that were negated by holding penalties. And now it's you know, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.000 now it's first and twenty instead of first and ten. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.520 Harder run the football. I know all those things occurred. 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.959 But even with that said, at some point you still 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:56.040 have to get the ball in his belly. And the 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.680 other part of it is we talked about before another 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.800 one of your very talented offensive players with the injury 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.080 hits that you've taken at tight end and receiver and 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:09.400 quarterback and everywhere. Now is Giovanni Bernard making your slot receiver. 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.360 He made a nice catch out of the slot for him. 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:13.720 That's what we were crying about as soon as he 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.360 came back to the team. Two of your best offensive 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.880 players at the running back position. You know, New Orleans 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.280 can deploy to him, and Kansas City's deployed to him, 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.559 and people are doing it. Do it. But Feature twenty eight. 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.680 I would much rather be accused of force feeding Joe 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.439 Mixon than not giving him enough the ball enough. I 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.880 would rather have fans complaining, man, you know the running 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:38.960 game is not there. Quit giving it to Joe Mixon. 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.640 I'd rather have that at this stage in the state 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:45.319 this football teams in than having fans saying, man, you've 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.280 got to give Joe Mixon the ball more. I mean, 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.720 I'd err on the side of here you go again, 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.160 Joe and again and again, because at some point he's 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.920 gonna bust one for twenty five thirty five forty yards. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.880 He's that talent. He runs hard. Every chance to give him. 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:03.760 He'll reward you. He'll he'll never give you half effort. 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:05.800 Where you say, man, I shouldn't have given him the football, 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:07.920 He's going to say, thanks for giving me the ball. 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.560 And I'm going with aj Green joining a list. The 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:15.120 Bengals are up to fifteen players on injured reserve, including 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.040 three Pro Bowlers. Here's my question for you this week. 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.040 What's the worst injury you ever witnessed in person? The 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.120 Tim crumb Rye injury. Just to watch his legs snap 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.960 like that, I mean both both bones, the tibia and 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.640 fibula snap right above his ankle, right below his knee, 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.319 so it was just flapping in the wind. I mean, 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.439 just to see that, And honestly, having practiced against Tim 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.480 Crumbrye and knowing the power of that man and the 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:47.160 dogged determination of that man, and watching him play and 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:49.160 do the things that he did as a player, I 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.280 literally thought it was instructible. So it shocked me to 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.000 see something like that happened to a guy that was 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:01.560 so frequenthly strong and physical and from football standpoint, so 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.400 it was stunning in so many ways. And I know 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:06.480 it had an impact on the football team. When you're 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.600 when you're lead dog. I mean the guy that nobody 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.640 can beat. Tim Crumrye goes down to with an injury 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.400 like that, it can be a devastating thing. So I think, 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.480 you know, emotionally, spiritually, physically, every way that it can 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.600 impact you. I know it impacted me that way. And 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.839 I remember Merlin Olson. I was talking to Merlin Olson 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.240 did that game with Edinburgh, and I remember talking to 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.720 Merlin Olson about it, and he said, I couldn't watch 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.760 it the replay. I watched it once and I said 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.640 on the air, if those of you that have weak stomach, 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.080 you might want to turn away. He goes, I didn't 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:39.720 want to watch it anymore. I said, I know. I 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.680 felt the same way. I couldn't believe that his leg 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.800 did what it did. It's it's amazing, but it just 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.400 goes to show you the power what you're dealing with 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:50.560 in the NFL. You know that all the all the 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.679 moisture was sucked out of I field. His foot went 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.280 in like a like a beach umbrella into the sand 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.360 and planted, and he tried to tork and make a 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.199 tackle in his power, in the power of the running 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.720 back and all that force, you know, his leg would 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.839 just snapped it. It snapped it like was toothpicks. It's 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.160 crazy how powerful that game can be. The Bengals faced 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.880 one of the NFL's hottest teams this week, the La Chargers, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.640 winners of eight of their last night, including a thrilling 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.440 come from behind win in Pittsburgh last Sunday night, and lapped. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.680 The thing that stood out to me watching that game 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.640 was how many times quarterback Philip Rivers knew he was 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.520 about to get hit and still stood there and delivered 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:34.680 a great throw just before getting drilled. Field general extraordinary 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.960 heart and soul of the football team. He's so tough, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:42.000 he's tough minded, he's tough physically to do what they did. 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.960 They're down sixteen and a half. It's the first time 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.760 in franchise history Pittsburgh lost a sixteen point lead at home. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.400 There were one hundred and seventy four wins no losses 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.920 in the tie, so the one hundred and seventy six 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:58.240 time they finally get a loss. But the toughness that 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.480 it takes mentally, physically, emotionally to do that, as we 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.440 know at that place, is unbelievable. And when your quarterback 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:10.920 is doing that, that inspires everybody. The offensive lineman know 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.360 what's happening. Defense is watching and saying, man, look at 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.880 our quarterback. Man, I gotta play harder. I got to 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:18.920 do a little bit more here. Look at our quarterbacks doing. 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.160 I mean, he fueled that furnace. There's no question about it. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.600 I mean, Philip Rivers is the best trash talking quarterback 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.000 I've ever seen. I mean he will. He doesn't cuss 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.120 guys out because you know that's against his religion. Literally, 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.680 he's a very religious man. But this guy, he will, 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.040 he'll challenge you. He just gets in your face. I 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.480 mean it's it's like he's a defensive player playing the 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:44.760 quarterback position the way he gets after people. And man, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.480 how about Philip Rivers. His wife's pregnant with his ninth child. 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.160 She's got to be tough too. That's a tough household 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:56.560 right there, Thanks Lap. With eight kids and a ninth 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.280 on the way, Philip and Tiffany Rivers elected to keep 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.120 their home and say and diego, meaning that Philip has 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.520 about a ninety minute commute each way to get to 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:10.280 and from practice. To make that tolerable, Rivers spent two 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:14.040 hundred thousand bucks on a custom made suv with a 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:19.080 forty inch TV, satellite, dish, WiFi, and refrigerator. He calls 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:22.400 it his mobile man Cave. For more on Rivers and 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.120 the Chargers, it's time for this week's No The Faux segment. 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:29.120 Sam Fortyer covers the Chargers for The Athletic and joined 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.720 Lapping me on the Bengals Game Plan Show, where I 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.600 started our conversation by asking him if we should look 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.640 at the Chargers as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. I 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:44.880 think that they have established themselves as a legitimate postseason player. 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.480 I know that's that's not as attractive as maybe super 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.720 Bowl contender. Obviously, I think he has to go to 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.840 the Patriots and Chiefs. Those are the two heavyweights in 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.520 the ASC right now. But the Chargers last weekend scored 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.720 twenty three un answered to erase a twenty seven depths 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.840 and a half time in Pittsburgh, became the first team 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:09.160 ever to win Athletes Field when the Steelers had built 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.000 a fourteen point lead. So I think this team, they 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.960 have Joey Bosa back, now they're running. You know, they're 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:17.000 operating well on offense. They won that game in Pittsburgh 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.120 without running back Melvin Gordon. I think they have established 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.119 themselves as a serious threat coming out of the ASC 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.160 the city of Los Angeles. What if the Rams make 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.440 the Super Bowl and the Chargers make the Super Bowl, 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.720 I know there's a fight for LA going on. The 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.119 Rams are the sexy, you know, spent a lot of 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.520 money in the offseason, get a lot of players. The 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:41.159 Chargers kind of stood Pat Moore in terms of that, 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.760 although they did make some major improvements. I mean, Pouncey 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.120 obviously was a big deal. But how about if those 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.359 two teams play in the Super Bowl and they have 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.200 to travel all the way across the country to play 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.440 in Atlanta. But well, what will happen in the city 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.719 of LA if they have two Super Bowl teams? They 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.600 would I can mostly be pulling for the Rams. This 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.879 is the Chargers have. They are carving out a niche 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:05.879 for themselves, especially because of how good they are. But 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.360 this is a RAM town. You know. You go into 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:11.359 the grocery stores and the blood light packs are all Rams. 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.399 Even in even in Orange County, where where the Chargers 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.160 are based out of, it is a It's a Ram city. 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.359 But if that were to happen, I'm sure the city 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.840 of LA. You know, it's a buzzy city. They like 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.040 what they like winners, so I'm sure that they would 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.840 get off for that game for sure. Sam forty eight 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.320 is our guest. He covers the Chargers for the Athletic. 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:32.720 Let's talk about Philip Rivers, who's got a birthday coming 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.320 up on Saturday. He will turn thirty seven. That's supposed 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.760 to be the point where guys are just about done, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.280 if not already done. But he seems to be playing 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.040 better than ever is he. Yeah, he's playing the best 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.720 football of his career. And that is really in large 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:51.320 part due to the head coach Anthony Lynn's philosophy. Anthony 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:56.120 Lynn a former running back Super Bowl winner. His philosophy 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.120 is do not turn the ball over. He's a Bill 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.439 Parsnel stifle. You know. He wants the balanced offense. He 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.520 wants the other team he wants he takes away the 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:07.920 other team's best players. He wants you to make your 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.760 mistakes and not lose. Is really his philosophy. And so 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.239 when he came here after twenty sixteen Philip Rivers led 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.639 the league with twenty one interceptions, he said, that is 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:21.040 not going to happen anymore. So he he really tried 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.760 to curb that down. There was some friction, you know, Philip, 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.440 you know, kind of made himself Philip rivers on throwing 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:31.080 those long balls, being the gun flinger, and so, you know, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.320 just parping on it again and again, you know, holding 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:35.879 the accountable on every throw. You know, Philip was afford 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:37.920 of a lot of freedom under Mike McCoy, the previous coach. 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:41.920 So and Philip himself has said he has that internal conflict, 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.400 you know, when they were trailing the Rams by two 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.880 touchdowns earlier in the year, when Philip had to tell 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.480 himself on some drives, don't do it. Don't you do it. 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:51.840 Don't throw two interceptions one for a touchdown and make 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.040 that the blowout. You know, keep yourself in the game, 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.960 keep yourself in the game flow. And we've seen that 0:19:58.000 --> 0:19:59.920 constantly kind of play out on the field this year, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.639 where he'll make some thank you throws or he'll you know, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.240 consciously have to throw it away or take a sack. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.960 And that has been one of the most fascinating storylines 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.960 this season. That is interesting, you know, you look at it. Overall, 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:15.320 their turnover ratio, they're plus eleven, tied for second in 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.679 the NFL twenty two takeaways tied for fourth only eleven 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.600 gives fourth in the league, top five in every category 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:25.000 in terms of turnovers. I mean that that's going to 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:27.240 win you a lot of football games, there's no question. 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:30.280 And they've won a lot of football games in their 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.760 last twenty four games. They're eighteen and six. They've won 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.600 fifteen to their last nineteen games. They finished last year 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:39.120 six and one and now nine and three to start 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.680 this season. Six out of the last seven, I should 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.800 say they won. How about this football team? Is it 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.520 playing the best football that that franchise has has seen 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.320 for quite a while now? I asked the Antonio Gates 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:55.040 and some people forget he's still playing, but he is here. 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.280 He's used mostly in the red zone and on third downs. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.000 Philip trust him implicitly more than anyone. They've been together 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.520 there for I want to say eighteen years. They seventeen 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:07.360 years now. Um Antonio Gates said, this team really feels 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:09.840 he hasn't felt this way about a team, you know, 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.600 since they're fourteen and two team, uh in they're in 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:16.159 their twelve and fourteen that won I think it was 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:18.440 something like ten straight games to finish off the season 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:21.240 in oh nine under North Turner. Um. You know, he 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:23.920