Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horden.
Speaker 1: Thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast b I want
Speaker 1: to rock and roll on the addition, as we get
Speaker 1: set for a Sunday Night primetime showdown between two of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the AFC, the Bengals and the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. Coming up, I'll visit with the voice of
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football on NBC, Mike Turrico. Jonah Williams joins
Speaker 1: me to discuss what a healthy Joe Burrow means to
Speaker 1: everybody else. On offense, we'll hear from the tight end
Speaker 1: who's been added to the roster, and in this week's
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment, we'll get the latest down the
Speaker 1: Bills from Tyler Dunn. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since actor
Speaker 1: Jeremy Strong. About a year ago, I jumped down the
Speaker 1: bandwagon and started watching the TV show Succession. I watched
Speaker 1: two episodes, didn't really enjoy them, and punted well. After
Speaker 1: much badgering from friends and family, I decided to give
Speaker 1: it another shot, and by episode six I was officially hooked.
Speaker 1: There are four seasons of the show. I've just started
Speaker 1: season two, and I am bowled over by the performance
Speaker 1: of Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy. If you haven't
Speaker 1: watched the show, I don't think I'll be spoiling anything
Speaker 1: to say that. There's an accident in season one and
Speaker 1: his performance in the immediate aftermath is extraordinary. He won
Speaker 1: an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Up and now I know why.
Speaker 1: So if you haven't watched Succession, give it a shot,
Speaker 1: even if you don't enjoy the first few episodes. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to the Bengals and Bills. Remember when we
Speaker 1: used to worry when the Bengals played in primetime. Thankfully
Speaker 1: those days are over. The Bengals are one to zero
Speaker 1: in primetime this year with a Week three win over
Speaker 1: the Rams, and they won their last primetime game last
Speaker 1: year when they beat the Ravens in the first round
Speaker 1: of the playoffs. Mike Tarico and Chris Collinsworth called that
Speaker 1: game on NBC, and I caught up with Mike on Wednesday. Mike,
Speaker 1: the last Bengals game you called featured arguably the most
Speaker 1: iconic play in franchise history, the fumble in the jungle
Speaker 1: by the Cincinnati kid as you called Sam Hubbard. What
Speaker 1: are your most vivid memories of that play and that night.
Speaker 3: Well, it was one of those and you know, damn
Speaker 3: the exact spot where the booth is. It's one of
Speaker 3: those sometimes you don't see who comes out of the pile, right,
Speaker 3: you don't know who's going to have the ball. And
Speaker 3: I just had a dead eye look right at Sam
Speaker 3: when the play happened, and happened to see the play
Speaker 3: because it was happening so fast. Remember, the Ravens rushed
Speaker 3: to the huddle. And it's just like there are benefits
Speaker 3: of years of doing something right. So having the Bengals
Speaker 3: Raiders Wild Card game the year before and doing our
Speaker 3: production meeting and talking to Sam about all the local
Speaker 3: ties from Cincinnati on through to Ohio State and all
Speaker 3: that stuff. It just that was just in my head.
Speaker 3: And sometimes when we prepare for games, I like to
Speaker 3: just think of somebody with a bumper sticker, if you will, Like,
Speaker 3: how do you describe this guy? You know, like buffalo
Speaker 3: at James Cook. Okay, he's Dalvin's brother boom right away, right,
Speaker 3: you just and when I was going through preparation for
Speaker 3: that Raiders game, like, Okay, he's the Cincinnati kid, right,
Speaker 3: He's that guy, right, So he's the local, he's the
Speaker 3: home down here living the dream. And I'm a big
Speaker 3: living the dream guy. So when we catch somebody who
Speaker 3: is doing it, you love to see it. But that
Speaker 3: was that was such a fun play and a memorable play,
Speaker 3: and the Mark Andrews' effort from the Ravens on that play,
Speaker 3: like fighting did that sticks in my mind too, as
Speaker 3: much as the celebration after and the place going nuts.
Speaker 3: Was That's why Mark Andrews is an All Pro player.
Speaker 3: You know, I know we're talking Bengals here, but that's
Speaker 3: the that's the effort of a great player. And that
Speaker 3: plus everything that happened after that after he scored was
Speaker 3: uh was something else? Stick with me for a long time,
Speaker 3: as it will for Bengals fans as well.
Speaker 1: Mike, I'm gonna bring up another possible bumper sticker. On
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl pregame show a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: you had an interesting description for Joe Burrow. You said
Speaker 1: he had embraceable cockiness, two words that don't go together
Speaker 1: all that often. How did you mean embraceable cockiness? And
Speaker 1: what do you think of Joe Burrow's leadership?
Speaker 3: The dude pulls out the cigar to smoke the cigar
Speaker 3: when he wins, right and like you're going come on,
Speaker 3: I can't, but you like him, like there's a warmth,
Speaker 3: there's a there's I want to hang with Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3: Joe Burrow's got a the way he dresses coming into
Speaker 3: games right, Like there's something about him that is really
Speaker 3: cocky and very confident. Sometimes that is an off putting
Speaker 3: characteristic of individuals. Joe Burrow's cockiness is never about look
Speaker 3: at me. It's like, hey, I got this and I'm
Speaker 3: bringing my guys with me. So I personally embrace his cockiness.
Speaker 3: I love it. And I'm not a guy who's big
Speaker 3: on you know you score a touchdown, you point to
Speaker 3: the back of your jersey. Hey, look at my name,
Speaker 3: but we just said your name, dude, But I got
Speaker 3: it at your moment, celebrates you want. I don't won't
Speaker 3: be the old guy in the corner of the barbershop
Speaker 3: because you and I don't go to barbershops anymore. But
Speaker 3: I just love what Joe Burrows about. And you could
Speaker 3: see it last week, right, you could just see that's
Speaker 3: the Joe Burrow, that's the guy. And Chris and I Collinsworth,
Speaker 3: we were toying around as we were watching Justin Herbert
Speaker 3: of the Chargers last week. Okay, how good is he?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: Who are the best? And we got into full talk
Speaker 3: radio mode, give me your best quarterbacks, right, and Joe
Speaker 3: Burrows in he's he's not even the conversations like, okay,
Speaker 3: so you got Mahomes right, you got josh Awdie and
Speaker 3: you got Burrow. Yeah all right? And then what right?
Speaker 3: So that's how good he is. So this is a
Speaker 3: great time and it's good to see him back to
Speaker 3: that inside the Velvet Rope club type of performance like
Speaker 3: we saw last week. And Santa Cleric, excuse me, we.
Speaker 4: Are visiting with Mike Terrico.
Speaker 1: Exactly one month ago, the Bengals lost by twenty four
Speaker 1: at Tennessee to fall to one in three. Did you
Speaker 1: have any concern that NBC might have a Sunday Night
Speaker 1: done on its hands at this point of the year.
Speaker 3: No. And we've been looking at the schedule and there
Speaker 3: are a couple that are sticking out like sore thumbs
Speaker 3: right now, but not this one for a couple of reasons. One,
Speaker 3: it's the Buffalo factor, which is very similar to the
Speaker 3: Cincinnati factor. I think there's a great parallel in these
Speaker 3: two quarterbacks, and they keep your team in every game,
Speaker 3: So there is that. I think also the experience of
Speaker 3: last year. I mean, the Bengals are pretty much right
Speaker 3: back where they were last year and then got on
Speaker 3: this roll. Was it ten in a row last year?
Speaker 3: And you know it's there and you know that, Okay,
Speaker 3: this isn't a team that's lost a ton of their talent.
Speaker 3: Most of those key people are there. There's the interchange
Speaker 3: of one year one there. You know, you're younger in
Speaker 3: the back end than you were, and the concern with
Speaker 3: the safeties and all that, but you know, the quarterback,
Speaker 3: if he got healthy, the offense around him. Lou Anarumo, who, man,
Speaker 3: does that guy deserve as much credit as any coordinator
Speaker 3: around the league. It is season in, season out now
Speaker 3: the steadiness, and it's the stability Dan you know, you go,
Speaker 3: Darren Simmons special teams coordinator, Brian Callahan an offense, Lou
Speaker 3: on the defense, and you know, and and the head
Speaker 3: coaching job obviously that that Zack's done. It's the same group.
Speaker 3: It's like we're coming in here for the last four years,
Speaker 3: same same dudes, same guys. That doesn't happen in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Just look at Buffalo. Leslie Frasier's not there now right,
Speaker 3: there's a change in that spot. Brian Dable has been
Speaker 3: gone the last couple of years. Doesn't mean that Kenny
Speaker 3: Dorsey is not doing a good job or Saw McDermott's
Speaker 3: not doing a good job as the defensive cordat calling
Speaker 3: the places. Excuse me as the head coach. It just
Speaker 3: is changed and there's been stability, steadiness and investing in
Speaker 3: your best natural talents in Cincinnati, which is not something
Speaker 3: we said on this franchise for many years. And it's
Speaker 3: great to see because the fan base is being rewarded
Speaker 3: by it and we as fans are being rewarded. So
Speaker 3: to answer your question, I didn't think this was gonna
Speaker 3: end up being a dud. And then obviously the storyline
Speaker 3: of last year and what happened on January second at
Speaker 3: that stadium when those two teams met, that had this
Speaker 3: circled right from when the schedule came out as it's
Speaker 3: going to be an emotional night and an exciting night
Speaker 3: too for a lot of reasons off the field and
Speaker 3: on the field as well.
Speaker 1: We saw real heroism that night with the way first
Speaker 1: response under his doctors and trainers save the life of
Speaker 1: DeMar Hamlin. Anything special plan for Sunday Night football this week.
Speaker 3: You know, it changes a little bit. DeMar hasn't been
Speaker 3: playing right, and why hasn't it been playing? He's the
Speaker 3: fourth safety on this team, and that's either a special
Speaker 3: team's role that the Bills have a couple of really
Speaker 3: good special teamers, so there's not the need to have
Speaker 3: him elevate and active. But I watched him practice a
Speaker 3: couple of weeks ago in Buffalo, and he's right as
Speaker 3: much of a part of a practice as any other
Speaker 3: player who's a healthy and active which is great to see,
Speaker 3: you know, I think for us, it'll be talked about,
Speaker 3: certainly in the body of the game as well, and
Speaker 3: all sort of appreciation, not just for the folks on
Speaker 3: the field that night, but also the people of Cincinnati
Speaker 3: who show their true colors, I think in their support,
Speaker 3: the way the sixty thousand plus in the building reacted
Speaker 3: that night, the outpouring of support, affection, belief, prayer from
Speaker 3: Bengals fans. So I think we'll touch on all of
Speaker 3: those as the game goes on. I think it'd be
Speaker 3: a little bit different if he was playing in the game,
Speaker 3: or something happens during the weekends up being active. I
Speaker 3: think that would change the conversation a little bit. But
Speaker 3: since he's not on the field, as you're going through
Speaker 3: a game, within the body of the game, there's not
Speaker 3: too many opportunities to stop and take that left turn.
Speaker 3: So but I certainly think we'll be talking about it
Speaker 3: a bunch and how it impacted the players who were
Speaker 3: in the game because it changed their lives forever as well.
Speaker 4: Chatted with Mike Turrico. Last week.
Speaker 1: The Bengals won their third straight and fourth in their
Speaker 1: last five, but it was different. It was San Francisco
Speaker 1: on the road, by fourteen points. Did they make any
Speaker 1: statement with that performance last week?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're still here. We're still here, you know, just
Speaker 3: to scrape the escape play by Burrow, I still haven't gone.
Speaker 3: I want to go back and listen to your call
Speaker 3: of that. That was that was a magical play because
Speaker 3: he's he's done three times on that play and he
Speaker 3: gets out and he makes a great play, and that
Speaker 3: just told you he's back in. The deeper drops were
Speaker 3: the thing to meet Dan and watching the game, you know,
Speaker 3: you go back and you watch before the buye the
Speaker 3: game before the bye against Seattle and then balls out
Speaker 3: quick quick, quick, quick, quick quick, and this game it
Speaker 3: felt a little bit a little more comfort of taking
Speaker 3: a deep drop, keeping a play alive, those types of things,
Speaker 3: and really attacked. I think it's a good defense in
Speaker 3: San Francisco. We had them earlier in the season against
Speaker 3: Dallas and they destroyed a good Cowboys team. I go, wow,
Speaker 3: this is okay. They're in the Super Bowl. Who else
Speaker 3: is going to be there? Right? And then you wait
Speaker 3: three weeks and it all changes. So it was a
Speaker 3: statement by Cincinnati to go there, do that to that
Speaker 3: defense and look like the Bengals team We saw on
Speaker 3: the run through the fall and winter of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3: Here in the start of the fall and winter twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three. Yeah, it's a statement that they're there and
Speaker 3: they're going to be around.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Bills for a second. They've outscored
Speaker 1: opponents by more points than any other team in the
Speaker 1: l They beat the Dolphins by twenty eight, but they've
Speaker 1: got three losses. What accounts for that roller coaster ride
Speaker 1: in Buffalo.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good question, Dan. It has been similar
Speaker 3: but not the same as the Burrow issue. When Josh
Speaker 3: Allen is moving and aggressively threatening to run if not running,
Speaker 3: this team is different, right, and I don't think they're
Speaker 3: there just yet. I also think they're undergoing a little
Speaker 3: bit of a seed change. I think John McDermott, undefeated
Speaker 3: wrestler as a high school senior right, a wrestling guy
Speaker 3: now calling the defense. I think he wants to establish
Speaker 3: some running toughness, physicality in this game. If you go
Speaker 3: back to the playoff game last year up in Orchard Park,
Speaker 3: the Bengals ran the ball effectively. The Bills did not
Speaker 3: at all. Josh Allen was their leading rusher in that game.
Speaker 3: I think Buffalo and Sean knows that they've got to
Speaker 3: have some of that as the season goes on, and
Speaker 3: it's trying to find where that balance is and how
Speaker 3: you can do it most effectively. So I think that
Speaker 3: that stopped them here. And also they've had some key
Speaker 3: losses all along their front Daikwon Jones, Matt Mulano, tra
Speaker 3: Davius White. At each level, they've lost one of their
Speaker 3: best performers. So now they're fitting new pieces in. Some
Speaker 3: of those new pieces are pretty good and they're getting there.
Speaker 3: So I like their pickup of Rasuel Butler in a trade.
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna have a couple of corners now
Speaker 3: who can play. So overall, I think the Bills can
Speaker 3: be as good as we saw in that Miami game.
Speaker 3: They just need to find their way. I just want
Speaker 3: to see the Bengals can beat somebody outside of the
Speaker 3: NFC West. I congratulate the congratulate the Bengals in their
Speaker 3: NFC West title, right, that's maybe the most bizarre thing
Speaker 3: that here are the Bengals. I feel like they can
Speaker 3: make a run here in the AFC. They might be
Speaker 3: the best team. They haven't beaten a team in the
Speaker 3: AFC yet four and zero against the NFC West. So
Speaker 3: this is a great measuring stick for both teams right now.
Speaker 3: But I also think a huge game because if they
Speaker 3: can't get to Miami and the AFC East, or can't
Speaker 3: get to Baltimore at the top of the af SEE North,
Speaker 3: you know, if it starts coming down seats five and
Speaker 3: six and seven. Nice to have a win over one
Speaker 3: of these other like minded animals. So it's an important
Speaker 3: game for both teams.
Speaker 1: They're definitely two of the best teams in the AFC.
Speaker 1: What are a couple of your keys on Sunday night?
Speaker 3: The ability of Burrow to extend plays and how do
Speaker 3: the Bills defensive backs plaster to Chase and Higgins and
Speaker 3: the rest of the crew and Boyd who know every
Speaker 3: game boy makes a big catch's So it's so neat
Speaker 3: to neat to see that. I love that. Can Buffalo
Speaker 3: run the ball? I think will be important Cincinnati pass
Speaker 3: protection because sometimes those escapes, whether it's the Houdini Act
Speaker 3: or the get out of the pocket and run for
Speaker 3: Joe Burrow, is because the protection breaks down and Oliver
Speaker 3: ninety one for Buffalo pushes the pocket in the middle.
Speaker 3: The edge rushers. Von Miller is coming on, getting more
Speaker 3: snaps now around twenty nine to thirty snaps a game.
Speaker 3: Greg Russo is starting to have an impact. Fifty off
Speaker 3: the edge for Buffalo Leonard Floyd, but they rotate a
Speaker 3: bunch of good players in there. I'm an ajp and
Speaker 3: as a fan fifty seven keeping on forty three for
Speaker 3: their defense too, Ture Bernard. So those are a couple
Speaker 3: of keys the Bills pressure. Is Joe Burrow running for
Speaker 3: his life or is he running to get out of harmsway,
Speaker 3: keep a play alive and hit a big one downfield.
Speaker 3: And then on the other side, you know this Bengals
Speaker 3: defense has done a terrific job. And you know this
Speaker 3: in the second half the last few weeks against Seattle
Speaker 3: and San Francisco, what a good job. And those late
Speaker 3: game plays, And when teams start to make plays in
Speaker 3: the red zone in the second half of close games
Speaker 3: against good teams, they start believing what they can do.
Speaker 3: And I get a sense that this Cincinnati defense starting
Speaker 3: to feel pretty good about what they can do against
Speaker 3: anybody in the league. So I watch for them late
Speaker 3: in games in passing situations as Josh Allen, who can
Speaker 3: put the ball in Harm's way is running around, the
Speaker 3: Cincinnati team can take it away, so I think that'll
Speaker 3: be a big part of the game as well.
Speaker 4: Mike, always appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: I hope Worth treat you to a great dinner at
Speaker 1: one of Cincinnati's finest establishments over the weekend. Look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you in the booth on Sunday.
Speaker 3: Augusta is a tradition like any other, so is a
Speaker 3: Collinsworth Cincinnati party, so we will take care of that.
Speaker 3: And I can't wait to see you on Sunday, Pal,
Speaker 3: and keep up for great work.
Speaker 1: Mike spoke at length about the Bills pass rush. Buffalo
Speaker 1: has twenty eight sacks. That's tied for second in the NFL,
Speaker 1: behind the Ravens, who have thirty one, and Von Miller
Speaker 1: doesn't even have one yet he missed the first four
Speaker 1: games of the year due to injury. It's going to
Speaker 1: be a big challenge for the Bengals offensive line. And
Speaker 1: I spoke to right tackle Jonah Williams about Sunday Night's
Speaker 1: game and his season to date journal last week, Coach
Speaker 1: Taylor picked six Californians to go out for the coin
Speaker 1: Toss at San Francisco you were among them. I guess
Speaker 1: your hometown is a couple of hours away in Fulsome California.
Speaker 1: Did you know that was coming and was it meaningful?
Speaker 5: It was meaningful. I got the text, I think the
Speaker 5: day before, and it was just it was really excited.
Speaker 5: He was my first time being a captain in the
Speaker 5: NFL walking out for the coin toss. So I thought
Speaker 5: that was a cool gesture by Zach and started off
Speaker 5: the game on a high note.
Speaker 1: I think we can safely say that Joe Burrow's calf
Speaker 1: is one hundred percent. He looked great running around last week.
Speaker 1: What's that mean for the offensive line that he is
Speaker 1: not a stationary target?
Speaker 5: It makes things easier on us for sure, you know,
Speaker 5: and it just adds one more multiple to our offense.
Speaker 5: You know, Joe's arms is a huge component our receiving corps.
Speaker 5: And then you know, we want to establish the ground
Speaker 5: game with our you know, super talented backs, so that
Speaker 5: that's line one. But then if you can also attack
Speaker 5: them with the quarterback's legs, it just takes everything to
Speaker 5: another level. So it was great to see that and
Speaker 5: glad he's feeling good and we're ready.
Speaker 1: To roll on the opening series last week he had
Speaker 1: that one Houdini escape where he got away from what
Speaker 1: looked like a couple of sacks and eventually completed it
Speaker 1: past the t Higgins, you're blocking your guy on that play?
Speaker 1: When do you have a sense of what's going on?
Speaker 5: When I'm watching the film after no, you know, I
Speaker 5: was blocking my guy and kind of the way it
Speaker 5: played out is I wasn't really able to see him
Speaker 5: or get close to him. I know Cap and Orlando
Speaker 5: had two big blocks where there guy was a little
Speaker 5: bit more involved, or they were at least facing Joe
Speaker 5: and could pick people off of them, So that was
Speaker 5: great by them, But I didn't know what was going on.
Speaker 3: I was just kind of chasing.
Speaker 5: My guy around and you kind of hear the crowd
Speaker 5: going crazy, so I knew something was going on. But
Speaker 5: it was awesome to see that, and it helped us
Speaker 5: tremendously on that first drive to get the conversion and
Speaker 5: not be forced upon, and that totally changed the momentum
Speaker 5: of the game.
Speaker 1: We're visiting the Jonah Williams. Now that he's healthier, you
Speaker 1: can run plays under center where he takes the direct
Speaker 1: snap because he can push off on his calf and
Speaker 1: you did that thirteen times in the San Francisco game.
Speaker 1: That's more than you had had done that in the
Speaker 1: first six games of the season combined. How much does
Speaker 1: that expand the offense, specifically the running game.
Speaker 5: It changes the angles for the back, which allows us
Speaker 5: to be a little bit more downhill, and it adds
Speaker 5: a lot of variety to our offense as well. You know,
Speaker 5: we had I don't know how many, but a handful
Speaker 5: of runs under center, but also we had some play
Speaker 5: actions coming out of that, And anytime you can do that,
Speaker 5: it just makes our job easier, you know. I think
Speaker 5: the hardest thing to do is no line is just
Speaker 5: to drop back, drop back, pass straight up and they're rushing.
Speaker 5: It kind of makes everything feel like they'red down. So
Speaker 5: when you're able to change things up and we're still
Speaker 5: allowing our receivers to do what they do and allowing
Speaker 5: Joe to do what he does, but taking a little
Speaker 5: pressure off of us, that's that's obviously really nice.
Speaker 1: You've won three straight and four out of five, but
Speaker 1: in the wins before San Francisco, it almost felt to
Speaker 1: me like there was a little bit of an asterisk,
Speaker 1: Like in the Rams and Seahawks games, the offense sputtered
Speaker 1: in the Cardinals game. They're not having a great season,
Speaker 1: They've only got one win. But last week you beat
Speaker 1: a great team on the road and every aspect of
Speaker 1: the Bengals team was solid. Did it feel differently to
Speaker 1: you guys?
Speaker 3: It did?
Speaker 5: I think it was the first win that you know,
Speaker 5: we allowed ourselves to feel really good about for a day.
Speaker 5: It's already behind us, We're moving on just like any
Speaker 5: other game. But I think that that was that was
Speaker 5: one where you can look at all phases of the
Speaker 5: game and say, we played, you know, at least close
Speaker 5: to what our standard is. So now the challenges we have,
Speaker 5: what ten more games and then playoffs moving forward, so
Speaker 5: we're not even close to the finish line. And you know,
Speaker 5: I think that we know we can be even better.
Speaker 5: And like you said, that was a great team. Definitely
Speaker 5: wasn't easy to beat them, So we know we're capable
Speaker 5: of being the best team in football, and that's you know,
Speaker 5: it's been our goal all along. But that's what we
Speaker 5: really have to get to in the next ten weeks.
Speaker 1: I'm no expert on offensive line play, but I work
Speaker 1: with Dave Lapham and I listened carefully to his opinion.
Speaker 1: He says that you look very comfortable at right tackle
Speaker 1: seven games in.
Speaker 4: Is that how you feel?
Speaker 5: Definitely? I feel good. I'm not even thinking about, you know,
Speaker 5: what side I'm on anymore. It just feels feels comfortable.
Speaker 5: You know, It's been it's been great playing next to
Speaker 5: Cap and we just have really talented and pretty vetter
Speaker 5: in a line this year. So you know, it's been
Speaker 5: a lot of fun through these first couple of weeks,
Speaker 5: and I'm looking forward to, you know, gelling even more
Speaker 5: and getting even better as the rest of the season
Speaker 5: goes on.
Speaker 1: How do you feel going forward? Are you content to
Speaker 1: be a right tackle going forward? Would you like to
Speaker 1: get back to the left side at some point? How
Speaker 1: do you feel about that position.
Speaker 5: I'll play whatever I think that I you know, I'm
Speaker 5: That's kind of my competitive character, I guess is that
Speaker 5: I'm going to when I show up, I'm gonna show up.
Speaker 5: I'm going to do my best wherever they put me.
Speaker 5: And you know, I think I'm having a good season
Speaker 5: at right tackle, and I know we can play left
Speaker 5: tackle in the league too, So you know, whatever it
Speaker 5: is moving forward, I'm just gonna attack it.
Speaker 1: You face great pass rushers every week. But when I
Speaker 1: look at Buffalo, it's the number of guys that kind
Speaker 1: of stands out to me. Ron Miller, Leonard Floyd, Greg
Speaker 1: Russo at Oliver in the middle. Is that unique in
Speaker 1: Buffalo's case?
Speaker 3: I think so.
Speaker 5: They've got so much talent else the d line and
Speaker 5: you know, particularly at edge, I think they have pretty
Speaker 5: much too deep of guys who can be starters in
Speaker 5: the NFL, so that that poses some challenges. They move
Speaker 5: around a lot, so you're gonna get a lot of
Speaker 5: different looks throughout the game. You know, they're disciplined, really
Speaker 5: good front, so it'll be a challenge for us. But
Speaker 5: we're we're confident going into it and you know, excited
Speaker 5: to to start lining up some wins.
Speaker 1: The last time the Bengals played the Bills in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: you couldn't play because of your knee injury. How is
Speaker 1: your knee and did you learn anything about your kneecap
Speaker 1: or anything along those lines in the process.
Speaker 5: Well, I have a I have a super reinforced kneecap now,
Speaker 5: so that's good and it feels good.
Speaker 3: I think that.
Speaker 5: You know, if you ask anyone and that's currently playing
Speaker 5: in the NFL getting towards medway through the season, how
Speaker 5: their body feels. It's not always great, but you know,
Speaker 5: good enough to play and that's all that matters. So
Speaker 5: I learned probably more than I'd ever want to know
Speaker 5: about knees. I always joke with the trainers that I
Speaker 5: have an associate's degree in physical therapy from the unfortunate
Speaker 5: amount of time I've had to spend in there. So yeah,
Speaker 5: it feels good though, and you know, just keep treating it,
Speaker 5: keep getting better.
Speaker 1: Was your kneecap prone to that type of injury or
Speaker 1: just one of those things that happens in football.
Speaker 5: I think it might be prone because I have shallow grooves,
Speaker 5: But it also is kind of a benefit because I
Speaker 5: have flexible knees, so that allows me to kind of
Speaker 5: anchor and get low and stuff like that. But it also,
Speaker 5: you know, caused my kneycap to slip out, so's it's
Speaker 5: reinforced in there now and so I can enjoy the
Speaker 5: benefits of loose knees without worrying about it slipping out
Speaker 5: of you.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Final thing for johnaugh Williams, for people that don't know you,
Speaker 1: became a dad back in March. I guess the cliche
Speaker 1: is you get to go home from football practice and
Speaker 1: you can forget about the game and you know, play
Speaker 1: with your daughter. In some cases cliches are true. Is
Speaker 1: that what parenthood has been like for you?
Speaker 5: It is It's been by far best thing that's ever
Speaker 5: happened to me, and it definitely like it definitely makes
Speaker 5: my day. You know, if I have a tough day
Speaker 5: or whatever, and I go home and every time I
Speaker 5: walk in, she just gives me a big smile, and
Speaker 5: that lasts about five minutes before she's either hungry or
Speaker 5: grumpy or retired or wants you go for a walk
Speaker 5: or something. So I enjoy those first five minutes. But
Speaker 5: it's it's been awesome, and it's you know, I'm so
Speaker 5: grateful for her and my fiance and everything that you know,
Speaker 5: I'm fortunate to have in my house.
Speaker 1: It's the best, nothing better than parenthood. Congratulations on that
Speaker 1: and on a great season today, Best of luck on
Speaker 1: Sunday night.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider. By
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
Speaker 1: business and community to a new level and by Kettering
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. There was
Speaker 1: a lot of speculation about the Bengals possibly making a
Speaker 1: trade for a tight end. That didn't happen, but they
Speaker 1: did add one to their roster this week, as Tanner
Speaker 1: Hudson was promoted from the practice squad. In two previous
Speaker 1: games this year, Hudson had four catches for forty eight yards,
Speaker 1: including a key twenty six yard grab in the win
Speaker 1: over the Rams. Here are Zach Taylor and Tanner Hudson
Speaker 1: about his promotion.
Speaker 6: He's earned it, okay, so just start with that. He
Speaker 6: had a really good offseason. He had a first good
Speaker 6: practice rep last year when he joined our practice squad.
Speaker 6: He did a one on one drill and caught a
Speaker 6: fade ball and he got into his attention. Okay, so
Speaker 6: right away he set the tone with what he can
Speaker 6: bring to the table. And then he was on the
Speaker 6: practice squad you know, during the season and did a
Speaker 6: great job. I thought he had a great off season,
Speaker 6: great summer, great training camp. Sometimes the roster just shakes
Speaker 6: out the way the roster shakes out. But he's continued
Speaker 6: to put his head down to work every single day
Speaker 6: in practice, makes plays on the scout teams a great job,
Speaker 6: He's done a great job in line blocking, does a
Speaker 6: good job. We're out running, and so he's earned an
Speaker 6: opportunity to get up, you know. And so it's more
Speaker 6: about maybe him than anything else, just just earning that
Speaker 6: that opportunity, and and I think that's the right way
Speaker 6: to reward guys when it makes sense.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it just shows that you know, they're they're trusting
Speaker 7: in me to prepare and be able to go out
Speaker 7: there and use my talents to help this team.
Speaker 1: I mean, the first thing Zach said was you earned it.
Speaker 1: I mean, is that the satisfying partner.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that means a lot. I don't think anybody in
Speaker 7: the NFL wants to just be given a spot. I
Speaker 7: think everybody wants to be able to go out and
Speaker 7: show that they can, show that they are supposed to
Speaker 7: be out there, and like you said, earn the earn
Speaker 7: the time to be out there.
Speaker 1: Hudson has previous experience with the Buccaneers, forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: and Giants and won a Super Bowl ring in Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment. Tyler
Speaker 1: Dunn writes in podcasts about the entire NFL on his
Speaker 1: great website, I golongtd dot com, but he's based in
Speaker 1: Buffalo and has unique insight into the Bills. He joined
Speaker 1: Lapping Me this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show.
Speaker 2: I know everybody's freaking out about Josh Allen and the
Speaker 2: offense because it's not as automatic and sublime as we've seen.
Speaker 2: I feel like the offense will be fine. As long
Speaker 2: as you have Josh Allen, Stefan Dick's healthy, they're going
Speaker 2: to be a contender. To me, the problems are on defense.
Speaker 2: You know, this is Sean mcdermo's defense. It's been his
Speaker 2: defense since twenty seventeen. But now he's calling the place,
Speaker 2: so now he really has all the power, all the control.
Speaker 2: There's no more debate. He wow, what Leslie Fraser really
Speaker 2: doing it? Honestly, it hasn't been that pretty and I
Speaker 2: think the apologist would point to the injuries, and it's
Speaker 2: not easy to overcome the loss of Da Kwan Jones, which,
Speaker 2: by the way, he wasn't in that playoff game against
Speaker 2: Natti just a massive detail who could really anchor things,
Speaker 2: and the Bengals took advantage of it obviously in the snow.
Speaker 2: You don't have him. Now you don't have Matt Mulano,
Speaker 2: one of the five, maybe one of the three best
Speaker 2: linebackers in football. I mean, he's unbelievable, and you don't
Speaker 2: have Tradavius White. So those are massive injuries. Don't get
Speaker 2: me wrong, But you guys know, I mean every team
Speaker 2: has injuries. There's attrition to pro football inherently, and they
Speaker 2: really haven't adapted well. They've played some bad seats and
Speaker 2: they've eked out some wins the Giants and the Bucks.
Speaker 2: Those games could have gone the other way, and you're
Speaker 2: looking at a three and five football team, So you
Speaker 2: know they should make apologies for winning those games. But
Speaker 2: I don't know where the improvement comes on defense. Frankly,
Speaker 2: I don't know what else they can really do. It
Speaker 2: seems like, you know, there's a lot of Sean mcdermot's
Speaker 2: play and maybe he isn't handling the play calling well
Speaker 2: at times. You know he's blitzed in key moment and
Speaker 2: it's come back to bite him. Look at Calvin Ridley
Speaker 2: and a big catch he had in London when they
Speaker 2: sent the house, and now you have these injuries and
Speaker 2: von Miller. Frankly, they look like von Miller. So I
Speaker 2: think that Cincinnati is gonna have a field day offensively.
Speaker 8: What about in the secondary? They made a move to
Speaker 8: kind of less than the blow of White. They get
Speaker 8: Douglas from the Green Bay Packers. He didn't practice today,
Speaker 8: he's traveling to Buffalo. He's his zone, his strength, his
Speaker 8: zone coverage ability, breaking on the football, making plays in
Speaker 8: that regard. Do you think that the acquisition of Douglas
Speaker 8: at the trade deadline is big?
Speaker 2: I don't you know. And it's I live here and
Speaker 2: it's weird to pour like cold water on it all.
Speaker 2: But you know, I've watched the Packers closely. It was.
Speaker 2: It was an amazing find by GM Brian Gutikin to
Speaker 2: pick up Razel Douglas off the street and he earned
Speaker 2: his way to a big contract. You know, he's on
Speaker 2: the fringes of the NFL. Gets to the Packers. He
Speaker 2: makes plays like he will turn the ball over every
Speaker 2: few games. But man, he takes chances and you see
Speaker 2: that side of the he gives up plays. He's a
Speaker 2: riverboat gambler, and he's never been a guy who relies
Speaker 2: on speed. To your point, he's a zone corner. I
Speaker 2: don't know. I feel like, if I'm Joe Purrow, I'm
Speaker 2: looking to see where he's out there. If I'm any
Speaker 2: quarterback and I'm getting him to bite, I don't think
Speaker 2: he's just gonna cure all that ales the secondary. You know,
Speaker 2: you just swap a fit a third for a fifth
Speaker 2: to get him. Maybe it's worth it for the occasional turnover,
Speaker 2: but I'm not so sure he's gonna be able to,
Speaker 2: you know, fix what they need fix him.
Speaker 4: Tyler Donnis, our guest.
Speaker 1: Check out the website golongtd dot com. You'll find some
Speaker 1: awesome feature stories about the Bengals that he's written over
Speaker 1: the last few years. You've been critical on that site, Tyler,
Speaker 1: of Sean McDermott, especially going back to the playoff disaster
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs a couple of years ago. What do
Speaker 1: you think Sean McDermott deserves praise for and what are
Speaker 1: you most critical of?
Speaker 2: Great question, because he does deserve praise. Look, this is
Speaker 2: a team seventeen years they didn't make the playoffs, and
Speaker 2: let's be let's be frank they only got into the
Speaker 2: playoffs because of Andy Dalton and Tyler boy Connected for
Speaker 2: that touchdown Fellas. I mean, it was unbelievable. And in
Speaker 2: East Aurora, the suburb of Buffalo, I was hanging out
Speaker 2: with my wife and family, and in some of her family.
Speaker 2: I mean, I saw tears of joy in a forty
Speaker 2: and fifth year old. So there's a reason they gave
Speaker 2: all that money to Andy Dogg's charity and Tyler Boyd's
Speaker 2: charity to end that drought. I guess is big. I mean,
Speaker 2: this team was in a bad place. Deamar Hamlin nearly
Speaker 2: dies on a football field. I don't know how in
Speaker 2: the heck you got a football team through that. I've
Speaker 2: talked to players that were in that locker room. Frankly,
Speaker 2: a lot of guys wanted to play. Isaiah McKenzie we
Speaker 2: did the show last year. He said most guys wanted
Speaker 2: to keep playing that game, but a few weren't comfortable.
Speaker 2: Mitch Morris the Center spoke up, and you got to
Speaker 2: give Sean McDermott credit for saying, look, we can't play
Speaker 2: this football game. I don't even know how you lead
Speaker 2: a team through all that get down to football he's
Speaker 2: a defensive coach. He thinks through that lens. We saw
Speaker 2: it again against the Bucks last Thursday, where they're a
Speaker 2: complete command of that game and they punt at midfield
Speaker 2: on four fourth and shorts in a row to basically
Speaker 2: roll out the red carpet to an inferior Bucks team
Speaker 2: to get back into the game. That again had no
Speaker 2: business coming down to a hal mary where Chris Godwin,
Speaker 2: if he just turns the other way, catches it. That's
Speaker 2: because he's just a he's a glass half empty kind
Speaker 2: of coach. What can go wrong instead of what can
Speaker 2: go right? Thirteen seconds game. You see it there right,
Speaker 2: he overruled his special teams coordinator. The squip was on.
Speaker 2: He wanted the touchback because he wanted to lean on
Speaker 2: that defense. You know, so instead of wasting five to
Speaker 2: six seconds, now you're on your heels, you give up
Speaker 2: the first big play, you're on your heels even more
Speaker 2: now now he's thinking, oh, I don't want to give
Speaker 2: up a touchdown, Let's play for the field goal. I
Speaker 2: don't know. And even the Cincinnati game last year, the
Speaker 2: Bengals were gonna win that game, but to uh to
Speaker 2: punt at the end of the first half when you
Speaker 2: finally got something good cooking, and then to punt the
Speaker 2: last play of the third quarter when I don't know,
Speaker 2: you're not gonna stop Cincinnati twice in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: You're basically waving the white flag by punting there instead
Speaker 2: of going for it on fourth and two. This is
Speaker 2: who he is. I mean, we've we've seen it season
Speaker 2: to season. The season, I think they're wasting Josh Allen's
Speaker 2: primes defon Diggs's prime. I think that they know it,
Speaker 2: the players know it, and it's and it's kind of
Speaker 2: sad because I don't think he's gonna change. And I
Speaker 2: think you've got teams in Cincinnati, Kansas City, Jacksonville, even
Speaker 2: maybe even Baltimore who get it. They're they're gonna go
Speaker 2: for it on those fourth downs. They're gonna believe in
Speaker 2: their player. They're gonna choose to believe in their players.
Speaker 2: I just think that McDermott can't get there in those moments.
Speaker 2: He'll he'll do it in the regular season. All the
Speaker 2: metrics will show you. Yeah, I know he is. He
Speaker 2: is aggressive for the most part in the regular season,
Speaker 2: but he gets into the playoffs and he clams up
Speaker 2: and his players clam up, and I don't think it's
Speaker 2: an accident.
Speaker 8: You know, when I look at the Buffalo Bills, they're
Speaker 8: ranked in the top five in so many categories, offensively
Speaker 8: and defensively at the red zone. Eight times they've held
Speaker 8: the opponent defensively without any points in the red zone.
Speaker 8: Most in the National Football League. I mean sacks, pressure protection.
Speaker 8: They're number five, number three in sacks allowed, number one
Speaker 8: in yards allowed from sacks, tied for second in sacks generated,
Speaker 8: their second in yards lost for those sacks. They're plus
Speaker 8: sixteen in the sack ratio, second in the league. They're
Speaker 8: doing a lot of things, right. What are they doing best?
Speaker 8: You said, what you think some of their concerns are.
Speaker 8: They're doing a lot of things right. What are they
Speaker 8: doing best?
Speaker 2: I like hearing those statistics because it does speak to
Speaker 2: another one of Sean's strengths, and it is situational football.
Speaker 2: They do. They do practice that stuff to the extreme
Speaker 2: right year year round, to be the middle of May
Speaker 2: of the middle of June, and the pressure will be
Speaker 2: high for that situation, red zone, right third down, Like
Speaker 2: this is the stuff that he lives for. Uh So, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think their numbers are gonna be good in the
Speaker 2: regular season.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: My criticism is more so you know, when you're wound
Speaker 2: that tight year round, you're gonna burst at some point,
Speaker 2: and that burst usually happens at the worst possible time.
Speaker 2: But you know, in that same vein, they don't really
Speaker 2: get blown out. You know, even when they were trying
Speaker 2: to turn this thing around, they never were really blown out.
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe once or twice. I'm thinking of a Saint's
Speaker 2: loss and a cult floss like year one. Other than that,
Speaker 2: they're so good at the situational football. They can keep
Speaker 2: games close, and I think that's what you see out
Speaker 2: of a lot of defensive minded coaches. They are good
Speaker 2: at situational football, keeping it close and trying to win
Speaker 2: it at the end. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that thinking.
Speaker 2: I just think when you have Josh Allen, you've got
Speaker 2: a freak show at quarterback. You've got a gangster like
Speaker 2: lean into that. Right be the front runner, be the
Speaker 2: team that wants to put up fifty on the board.
Speaker 2: And they don't really think that way on the sideline.
Speaker 2: So it's a weird dichotomy for the team. But they
Speaker 2: are really good, right it will It'll be competitive I
Speaker 2: think that they'll be able to move the ball offensively.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I'm not worried about the offense. I'd
Speaker 2: be worried about that defense because it's hard to think
Speaker 2: like a defensive minded coach when you are this underman.
Speaker 1: There are some teams in the league that just match
Speaker 1: up well with other teams. The Bengals have a hard
Speaker 1: time with the Cleveland Browns, at least to this point.
Speaker 1: For whatever reason, in the meetings last year, the DeMar
Speaker 1: Hamlin game had felt early on and like the Bengals
Speaker 1: were going to dominate. Then they went to Buffalo in
Speaker 1: the snow and did dominate. Do you think for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: the Bengals just match up well with this Buffalo team.
Speaker 2: I do, you know? And and these injuries play into
Speaker 2: that as well. Uh Dakwan Jones is he's a beast
Speaker 2: in the middle that he really did anchor that run game.
Speaker 2: So I think the Bengals will be able to run
Speaker 2: the ball exactly like they did last week. I'm sure
Speaker 2: they They don't want Joe Burrow taken off quite as much,
Speaker 2: but Joe Mixon he'll probably feast. You know. Even even
Speaker 2: the linebackers are kind of small Dreell Bernard. He had
Speaker 2: that big game against Washington. He's he doesn't have the
Speaker 2: size that Tremade Edmonds had, and in Tremade Edmunds didn't
Speaker 2: even really have a good game himself against Cincinnati at Oliver,
Speaker 2: you know, he'll rush the passer once every other game.
Speaker 2: He doesn't give you much run defense wise. I think
Speaker 2: the Bengals are are so versatile because yeah, yeah, they've
Speaker 2: They've got Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase T Higgins and
Speaker 2: they can throw it all over the place, and you
Speaker 2: got you gotta honor that right. You got to respect
Speaker 2: it and sit back in some coverages. But then you
Speaker 2: open yourself up to get gashed. So I don't really
Speaker 2: know how you stop Cincinnati. If you're Buffalo, maybe it
Speaker 2: blitz a little bit more. But okay, good luck blitzing
Speaker 2: against Joe Burrow, the smartest quarterback in football. I promise
Speaker 2: you I'm not just pandering to your audience. I think
Speaker 2: it's a bad matchup for Buffalo and I'd be shocked
Speaker 2: if they won this game.
Speaker 8: I agree with that you blitz, you're living a dangerous
Speaker 8: life against Joe Burrow the way he can see it
Speaker 8: before it happens the Bengals. Final question Bengals special teams
Speaker 8: under Darren Simmons, three of the four phases of special
Speaker 8: teams are top five in the NFL. What are Buffalo
Speaker 8: Bill's special teams like the all important hitting the yards
Speaker 8: field position. How they've been doing in that regard?
Speaker 2: You know, they've been fine, you know, Tyler, Yes, for
Speaker 2: the most part, it's been a solid kicker. Their punting
Speaker 2: game has been strong. I'm sure that's why Sean McDermott
Speaker 2: punted as much as he did against Tampa Bay last week,
Speaker 2: because he can do some situational punts, some coff and
Speaker 2: corner stuff. He's good, which is kind of crazy when
Speaker 2: you think back. Remember they drafted Matt Riza and that
Speaker 2: all hell broke loose with his legal case that they
Speaker 2: get out of that business and find Sam Martin and
Speaker 2: ended up with a pretty dang good punter. So Adobe
Speaker 2: disciplined in that third of the game, and maybe that's
Speaker 2: the pass for Buffalo is trying to you know, I guess,
Speaker 2: force a turnover on special teams maybe and force a fumble.
Speaker 2: Maybe you're able to keep Gilber off the field. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, you do want Josh Allen to
Speaker 2: be Josh all That's something to keep an eye on too.
Speaker 2: You know, they spoke all off season about Josh Allen
Speaker 2: needing to throw the ball away run less, and it
Speaker 2: was pretty clear they were trying to sanitize his game.
Speaker 2: It didn't work out. You know, if anything, he got
Speaker 2: into his head last week he finally kind of was himself,
Speaker 2: so maybeybe he turned a corner and then just cut
Speaker 2: the loose from here on out.
Speaker 1: Here's an invitation to join lapp in me for the
Speaker 1: Bengals pep Rally show this Friday. We'll be at the
Speaker 1: Wings and Rings location in Finnytown from three to six
Speaker 1: and DJ Reader is scheduled to join us for the
Speaker 1: final hour of that show. That's going to do it
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Speaker 1: Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to the Bengals Booth podcast