Speaker 1: Higat everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The Let's Get It On addition, as
Speaker 1: the Bengals wrap up the preseason and turn their attention
Speaker 1: to games that count, beginning in two weeks against the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. Coming up, you'll hear radio replace from Sunday's
Speaker 1: game against Miami, postgame comments from players and coaches, and
Speaker 1: analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game,
Speaker 1: and here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since making Nick
Speaker 1: Cosgrey an honorary captain. When the Bengals took the field
Speaker 1: for the opening coin toss on Sunday, three captains headed
Speaker 1: to the fifty yard fine Trey Hopkins coming back from
Speaker 1: a torn ACL, Joe Burrow coming back from a torn ACL,
Speaker 1: and mcl and a key person who assisted in their comebacks,
Speaker 1: the Bengals Director of Rehab, Nick Cosgray. Here's Burrow, and
Speaker 1: I think it was a great way to honor Nick,
Speaker 1: who Who's the guy that you know works really really
Speaker 1: hard for us, and you know, it's really an unsung
Speaker 1: hero of the team. He's a guy that gets a
Speaker 1: lot of guys right. Whether whatever injury you have, you
Speaker 1: go to Nick, He's gonna he's gonna get you right
Speaker 1: and tell you what you need to do to minimize
Speaker 1: the effects of that injury. So you know, Nick's a
Speaker 1: very important part of this organization that no, I'm really
Speaker 1: glad we were able to honor him in that way. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get the Sunday's game. The big story going in
Speaker 1: was Joe Burrow's return forty sundays after being carted off
Speaker 1: the field in Washington. Joe was told he would be
Speaker 1: in for three plays. The first was a jet sweep
Speaker 1: hand off to Tyler Boyd. The second was his only
Speaker 1: pass of the preseason Goyle. The Bengals line up in
Speaker 1: a pistol, Burrow five yards behind Trey Hopkins, Bixon directly
Speaker 1: behind him to fake to mix in a wide receiver
Speaker 1: screen dropped by Jamar Chase. That's right. In the Bengals
Speaker 1: final two preseason games, Chase dropped all four passes thrown
Speaker 1: his way. His quarterback says he's not concerned. I'm not
Speaker 1: worried about it. I know kind of got Jamar is
Speaker 1: the kind of player he is, He'll be ready to go.
Speaker 1: Week one. After a handoff to Joe Mixon, Burrow's day
Speaker 1: was done. The Dolphins didn't play either of their top
Speaker 1: two quarterbacks two a Tungo Vyloa and Jacoby Brissette. Instead,
Speaker 1: third stringer Reid Sanett got the start and directed a
Speaker 1: thirteen play drive in the first quarter to give Miami
Speaker 1: the lead. From the three yard line. He takes the
Speaker 1: snapsticks it in the belly of Dokes. Dokes, lowers his
Speaker 1: pads and fights his way into the end zone from
Speaker 1: Miami touchdown. Dokes, his former UC bear had Jared Doakes,
Speaker 1: who gave the Dolphins a seven nothing lead. Brandon Allen
Speaker 1: replaced burrowind quarterback and promptly drove the Bengals right down
Speaker 1: the field. Allen, ucker center, takes the snap, fakes a
Speaker 1: hand off to trade theon. Williams fires down field. It
Speaker 1: is caught by Trenton Irwin gets nailed at the Miami
Speaker 1: thirty two yard line, but holds on to the football
Speaker 1: after the big hit by Nick Needham. That's two weeks
Speaker 1: in a row. Two weeks in a row he's caught
Speaker 1: the football, taking a major shot and held onto the football.
Speaker 1: Irwin finished with two catches for thirty nine yards, putting
Speaker 1: the finishing touch on a strong training camp and preseason.
Speaker 1: It's wild. I mean, it's it's two years of grinding
Speaker 1: for more and more opportunities. You know, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: Really in the end, you look at it and just
Speaker 1: trying to go down there day in day out in
Speaker 1: grind to make plays and catch someone's eye to get
Speaker 1: an opportunity, and just one more opportunities is all you
Speaker 1: need to compile those. The Bengals tied the game on
Speaker 1: the first play of the second quarter. Brandon Allen throwing
Speaker 1: toward the end, so he drops it into the bucket,
Speaker 1: hit his cock for a touchdown. Chris Evans lining up
Speaker 1: and receiver and streaking down the sideline and Brandon Allen
Speaker 1: threw it just over the inside shoulder, right into the
Speaker 1: bread basket for the score, right on dan ball placement.
Speaker 1: It's everything in the National Football League. Good protection, clean pocket,
Speaker 1: un obscured vision, and Chris Evans, Like we said, they
Speaker 1: knew that he could run routes and catch the football,
Speaker 1: and he just burned people. That was a twenty nine
Speaker 1: yard strike on a play that's been working at practice.
Speaker 1: According to Evans, I'm running it all camp just to
Speaker 1: be able to it in the game, and they called
Speaker 1: it and already knew. I've been going over it in
Speaker 1: and seeing him myself catching it, and a walk through
Speaker 1: yesterday at night. I'm dreaming about it. That tied the
Speaker 1: score at seven, and a few minutes later, the Bengals
Speaker 1: defense made a big play. Shotgun snaps Sinette throws and
Speaker 1: he's intercepted a deflected ball that's picked off by Since
Speaker 1: add the Bengals are running it back. The tackle made
Speaker 1: at the Miami forty four on trey Von Henderson his
Speaker 1: second interception in three preseason games. It led to a
Speaker 1: thirty six yard Austin cyberd field goal in a ten
Speaker 1: seven Bengals lead, but Miami answered with another long scoring drave.
Speaker 1: Jared Oakes already has one touchdown run, they give it
Speaker 1: to him and Doakes takes it into the end zone
Speaker 1: for his second TD, so Miami takes the lead with
Speaker 1: one eighteen left. In the half, not a one yard
Speaker 1: touchdown run by Jared Doakes. It was fourteen ten Dolphins,
Speaker 1: and after a holding penalty on the kick return, the
Speaker 1: Bengals had to start from their own seven with one
Speaker 1: thirteen on the clock. Fortunately, with rookie kicker Evan McPherson
Speaker 1: on the roster, the Bengals only needed to drive to
Speaker 1: the Miami thirty nine to be within field goal range.
Speaker 1: Harris snaps to Hubery, puts it down the swing of
Speaker 1: the leg. The kick is long enough and it is
Speaker 1: yes good. Evan McPherson from fifty seven yards away ends
Speaker 1: the first half with a booming field goal, cementing his
Speaker 1: status as the bengals number one kicker in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: With Kyle Shermer at quarterback. In the second half, the
Speaker 1: Bengals got lucky and took the lead. Fourth down and
Speaker 1: fourth to Miami forty six. Shermer cox the en throws
Speaker 1: deflected Cock off the deflection, Trent Taylor streaking down the
Speaker 1: far sideline inside the twenty, down to the ten, inside
Speaker 1: the five and tackled at the one. First and goal
Speaker 1: from the one. It's a handoff to Jock first Patrick
Speaker 1: and he goes into the end zone with ease to
Speaker 1: give the Bengals the lead. After the forty five yard
Speaker 1: pass completion on a deflection to Trent Taylor, the Bengals
Speaker 1: took a twenty to fourteen lead to the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: the third straight preseason game that they led going to
Speaker 1: the fourth, and they added to their lead with roughly
Speaker 1: ten minutes to go. Shotgun snapped to Shermer's back to throw.
Speaker 1: Now scrambling, le cocks the arm, throws into the end
Speaker 1: zone and his cat for the touchdown by Scottie Washington.
Speaker 1: The Bengals went for two and failed to convert, meaning
Speaker 1: they had a twelve point lead. It didn't last. Senet,
Speaker 1: back to throw from the pocket, flings a deep pass
Speaker 1: merit open over the shoulder catch at the ten, and
Speaker 1: he runs into the end zone for the score. That
Speaker 1: forty four yard pass came on a second and twenty
Speaker 1: two play and cut the Bengals lead to five. The
Speaker 1: worst was still to come. Fourth and fifteen, with one
Speaker 1: thirty two to go. Senet waits for the shotgun snap.
Speaker 1: He has three receivers right, one left. He catches the
Speaker 1: ball deep drop, being chased by Spence, gets away from him.
Speaker 1: Runs away from Hodge, points deep steps into a deep
Speaker 1: ball throw into the end zone and it is for
Speaker 1: a touchdown by Merit who spikes the ball and make
Speaker 1: it Myrick with the catch. Unbelievable. Here's Zach Taylor and
Speaker 1: allowing two long touchdown passes and the fourth quarter to
Speaker 1: squander a double digit advantage. I think today there was
Speaker 1: plenty of opportunities to finish the game, you know, particularly
Speaker 1: on the defense there in that last round. Guys, the
Speaker 1: plenty shots we need to finish it. We didn't do it.
Speaker 1: I just told the teams just smarting lessons here in
Speaker 1: preseason game three as opposed to two, three, four or
Speaker 1: five weeks from now. You got opportunities. You got to
Speaker 1: take advantage of them. You never know what's gonna happen next.
Speaker 1: And then so again we should go on from this.
Speaker 1: The Bengals could have tied the game and avoided a
Speaker 1: loss since there's no overtime in the preseason, but with
Speaker 1: less than thirty seconds to go, they passed up a
Speaker 1: fifty yard field goal attempt to go for it. On
Speaker 1: fourth and ten, Shermer back to throw the pocket closes,
Speaker 1: he throws it deep, it is battered away at the
Speaker 1: five yard line, incomplete, and that should wrap it up
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins. As Igbanagan he broke up that deep
Speaker 1: ball intended for Washington. The final score Miami twenty nine,
Speaker 1: Cincinnati twenty six, as the Bengals finished the preseason one
Speaker 1: and two. Here's Burrow. I'm just excited for preseason to
Speaker 1: be over and get ready to play the first game.
Speaker 1: You know, we're tired of going against each other in
Speaker 1: practice every day and hitting each other and getting in
Speaker 1: fights because we see each other every day. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be nice to go out there and hit someone. When accounts,
Speaker 1: the Bengals out gained Miami four thirteen to three eighty eight,
Speaker 1: including one hundred twenty rushing yards to only sixty nine
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins, but the Bengals hurt themselves with penalties.
Speaker 1: They had eleven to just five by Miami. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light
Speaker 1: and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time
Speaker 1: for postgame analysis from Dave Lapham lap I don't want
Speaker 1: to make too big of a deal of blowing a
Speaker 1: twelve point fourth quarter lead when the second and third
Speaker 1: string is in the game. But the Bengals had the
Speaker 1: lead in the fourth quarter of all of their preseason
Speaker 1: games they only won one, And going back to last
Speaker 1: year before Joe Borrow got hurt, they had the lead
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter six times and won twice. So
Speaker 1: regardless of first string, second string, or third string, that
Speaker 1: is a habit they need to break it is And
Speaker 1: I think if you go back over Zach's entire career,
Speaker 1: they've had a fourth quarter lead probably sixty sixty five
Speaker 1: percent of the time and not being able to hold
Speaker 1: on to it. So finishing games continues to be an issue.
Speaker 1: And I remember Bill Tiger Johnson, a legendary offensive line
Speaker 1: coach with the Bengals and head coach for a period
Speaker 1: of time here, had a saying that there's going to
Speaker 1: be a handful of players or less that are going
Speaker 1: to decide football games, and you never know when they're
Speaker 1: going to occur, and you have to be ready to
Speaker 1: make the play when the opportunity for that play presents itself.
Speaker 1: This game ended up a fourth and fifteen. They made
Speaker 1: the play. Bengals on fourth down couldn't make a play,
Speaker 1: and that decided in the football game basically, But there
Speaker 1: was Ying and Yang long before that. And you have
Speaker 1: to take advantage of your opportunities, and the team that
Speaker 1: takes advantage of a bigger percentage of them usually wins
Speaker 1: the football game. In Zach Taylor's first two seasons, they've
Speaker 1: had a lead, not necessarily a fourth quarter lead, but
Speaker 1: a lead in twenty four out of thirty two games.
Speaker 1: That's seventy five percent. They've won six. That's nineteen percent. Yeah, it's, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the game is four quarters for a reason.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's it's sixty minutes long. There are
Speaker 1: four fifteen minute quarters, and you have to play the
Speaker 1: entire sixty minutes. And I guess nobody knows that better
Speaker 1: than the Cincinnati Bengals under Zach Taylor right now, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. All right, here's my favorite stat of the
Speaker 1: three preseason games. The Bengals gave up one sack, and
Speaker 1: the only sack they allowed was when the offensive line
Speaker 1: wasn't even trying to block because the ball was snapped early.
Speaker 1: That's impressive. It is impressive, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody should should accept some of the some of the uh,
Speaker 1: the credit for it. I think the offensive line, I think, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, tight ends running backs, if there's blitz pick
Speaker 1: up responsibility, quarterback getting the ball out of their hands,
Speaker 1: creating extending plays when necessary. But I think that's a
Speaker 1: major step forward that in that that play, you know,
Speaker 1: it was exacerbated. There was a problem by a rookie
Speaker 1: Trey Hill with an early snap and they get pressure
Speaker 1: as a result of it, and instead of just throwing
Speaker 1: the football away trying to make something happen, and now
Speaker 1: it turns into a fumble. So a bad play becomes
Speaker 1: a horrible play. So that quarterback sack was a was
Speaker 1: a catastrophe. But really, I think I think the guys
Speaker 1: believe in what Frank Pollock's trying to teach, and I
Speaker 1: think that's you know, shows itself. I think they're they're
Speaker 1: definitely buying what he's selling. And I thought that the
Speaker 1: protection for the most part, you didn't see free runners.
Speaker 1: You know, you didn't see guys getting beaten on first
Speaker 1: moves at the line of scrimmage. I think I think
Speaker 1: it's trending in a very good direction. I felt good
Speaker 1: about Jamar Chase's last three practices going into this game.
Speaker 1: He practiced well and I think he had one drop
Speaker 1: in three days and then sure enough in a game,
Speaker 1: first time the ball is thrown his way, he drops
Speaker 1: it again. The last four games, I'm sorry, the last
Speaker 1: two games, four targets, four drops. I don't want to panic.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to panic, but it's impossible not to
Speaker 1: be concerned. Yeah, he's going to get out of his
Speaker 1: own head. You know, I think when that ball came
Speaker 1: his way, obviously, you know, Zach Taylor talked about after
Speaker 1: the game that Joe Burrow was coming out of the
Speaker 1: game and the number ones were coming out of the game.
Speaker 1: After three snaps that they generated a first down, they
Speaker 1: were still exiting the field. So there's no doubt that
Speaker 1: every single offensive player knew the sequence of the players
Speaker 1: that were going to be called. So Jamar Chase knew
Speaker 1: for probably a few days that a ball was coming
Speaker 1: to him on a wide receiver screen, and you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a case. So I want to try to
Speaker 1: do too much. I'm going to peek and see where
Speaker 1: they are before I catch it because I want to
Speaker 1: make a big play. I want to have a big
Speaker 1: splash with Joe. First ball comes my way and I
Speaker 1: want it to be special. And first thing you have
Speaker 1: to do is look the ball into your hands, and
Speaker 1: particularly with what he's going through, you can't you can't
Speaker 1: be not lazy, but you can't have your eyes everywhere.
Speaker 1: They have to be on the target, and that's the football,
Speaker 1: and look it in, catch it and then make your move,
Speaker 1: and don't try to speed up the process because things
Speaker 1: will happen that you don't want to happen, like dropping
Speaker 1: the football. So he's got to get out of his
Speaker 1: own head. He's going to go back to the basic
Speaker 1: basic fundamentals, the one, two three of catching the football.
Speaker 1: And the first thing you have to do is keep
Speaker 1: your eyes on the football, look the football into your hands,
Speaker 1: don't take your head away before the football hit your hands,
Speaker 1: and try to locate defensive players too soon. Catch it first,
Speaker 1: you got to you gotta take baby steps and it's
Speaker 1: going to be an ABC process and he's gonna get
Speaker 1: step bad down first catch the foot ball. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about some of the position battles going into this final
Speaker 1: preseason game, starting with tight end Mason Shrek, Thaddeus Moss,
Speaker 1: and Mitchell Wilcox. It's been a spirited competition all camp.
Speaker 1: They all bring something a little bit different to the table.
Speaker 1: Wilcox had a tackle in kick coverage, made a great
Speaker 1: catch on a third and long situation, then suffered a concussion.
Speaker 1: Thaddius Moss had five catches in the game. You would
Speaker 1: think at least I think Moss and Wilcox have moved
Speaker 1: to the top of the totem pole. Now can you
Speaker 1: keep them both? Do you keep one? The other guy
Speaker 1: goes to the practice squad. It's gonna be very interesting
Speaker 1: to see it is. It's going to be very interesting
Speaker 1: because Thaddeus Moss has already experienced this kind of thing
Speaker 1: with one organization with Washington and let go and the
Speaker 1: Bengals pick him up. And Joe Burrow was effusive in
Speaker 1: his praise of what a smart football player Thaddeus Moss
Speaker 1: is and what a reliable football player he is in
Speaker 1: terms of not making mistakes, understanding concepts, understanding you know,
Speaker 1: what his role is in the big picture scheme of
Speaker 1: the offense, and uh, you know, he speaks extremely highly
Speaker 1: of them. Of course they're good personal friends as well.
Speaker 1: But I think he's, you know, just a football player.
Speaker 1: I think he gets it. He gets the game of football,
Speaker 1: and he's been around it his whole life. His dad
Speaker 1: was a superstar, So he's seen that part of it.
Speaker 1: He knows he's not that kind of player, but he
Speaker 1: understands that he can do some things in the game
Speaker 1: of football. So I think he's you know, I think
Speaker 1: he's somebody that is going to find a knitche somewhere
Speaker 1: and when he gets his opportunity, he's going to take
Speaker 1: advantage of it. Will it be here like you say,
Speaker 1: or will it be somewhere else. Wilcox is the most
Speaker 1: athletic of them. He can run the best, He's got
Speaker 1: the most foot speed. I think Darren Simmons can work
Speaker 1: with that. And you know, he made a spectacular play,
Speaker 1: got lit up and got the concussion on that catch.
Speaker 1: But you know he'll make big plays like that, and
Speaker 1: then his plays are his big plays are big, his
Speaker 1: mistakes are big. So there has to be instead of
Speaker 1: North and South Pole, there has to be an evening
Speaker 1: of that graph, you know, and and coaches have to
Speaker 1: know what they can expect out of Wilcox on a
Speaker 1: snap by snap by snap basis not say is this
Speaker 1: the one where it's going to be good Wilcox? Is
Speaker 1: this the one where it's going to be Oh my gosh, Wilcox.
Speaker 1: You know that's tough on a coaching staff. Another sack
Speaker 1: for Darius Hodge, the undrafted rookie out of Marshall leads
Speaker 1: the team with two and a half in the preseason
Speaker 1: with Joe's Fosi out as Darius Hodge made this team
Speaker 1: as a pass rusher, boy, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: you have to look at as a pass rusher. You
Speaker 1: know he'll he'll give you, depending on how the game's going,
Speaker 1: ten to fifteen snaps as a pass rusher on second
Speaker 1: and long, third and long situations. You know, if it's
Speaker 1: more than that, you're really in good shape defensively with
Speaker 1: his role. If his role he gives you twenty snaps,
Speaker 1: that means you're getting the offense off schedule all the
Speaker 1: time and he's going to be making more and more plays.
Speaker 1: But you know his role is defined. Is that right now?
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons, I think, is trying to find where that
Speaker 1: he can utilize him on special teams but hasn't found
Speaker 1: that yet. So it's it's going to be a case where,
Speaker 1: all right, a guy who came in as a linebacker,
Speaker 1: but they found this innate ability to rush the passer. Okay,
Speaker 1: linebackers shouldn't play some special teams or you know a
Speaker 1: tweener guy, you know a guy that can fit a
Speaker 1: couple of roles. What about special teams contribution. I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be the big discussion with Darren Simmons.
Speaker 1: But man, when you have a guy that has that
Speaker 1: innate ability to rush the passer and he's shown it
Speaker 1: on a snap by snap basis against you know, not
Speaker 1: just twos and threes, but number ones, I think he's
Speaker 1: got to work with the guy. He has just a
Speaker 1: very natural Everything he does is leaning and advancing to
Speaker 1: the quarterback, and he's got that low center of gravity
Speaker 1: and it's just hard for the taller guys to you
Speaker 1: gotta bend to get that. He puts you in a
Speaker 1: different position to pass protect than you normally are. Just
Speaker 1: everything has to be lower and tighter, and he's he's
Speaker 1: got he's got a skill set. So it's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting to see if, if, if he does make
Speaker 1: the team. I think he's made a case. So Noah
Speaker 1: Spence got signed about a week ago, got a few
Speaker 1: practices in, played quite a bit in the game against Miami,
Speaker 1: almost had a sack on the final play. What turned
Speaker 1: out to be the game. When he touchdown passed for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, did he make an impression? You know, I
Speaker 1: think he flashed a little bit. He flashed a few
Speaker 1: times in terms of his his rush, but again, um,
Speaker 1: it wasn't against you know, number ones, and he hasn't
Speaker 1: been here to go against number ones. But you got
Speaker 1: to remember, I think he's he's really just now shifting
Speaker 1: it into drive, you know. I mean he was in
Speaker 1: neutral and I think he's just trying to get his
Speaker 1: wind and get his football conditioning, you know, right, So
Speaker 1: I think I think his NFL path has shown that
Speaker 1: he can do it. Um, I think you know, they're
Speaker 1: trying to get him ready to do it in a
Speaker 1: very very fast fashion, fast manner. And the things you
Speaker 1: fear about something like that is what if he pulls
Speaker 1: a himmy? What if he you know, he's trying to
Speaker 1: do too much before his body is ready to allow
Speaker 1: him to do it. So you have to be smart
Speaker 1: about it. But you know, the circumstances are a little
Speaker 1: bit dire because of other injuries. So it's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting to see and it's going to be interesting
Speaker 1: to see how they address the edge rush position off
Speaker 1: the waiver wire if they try to make a trade
Speaker 1: for somebody's fourth or fifth guy that they feel might
Speaker 1: be better than their fourth or fifth guy. I think
Speaker 1: they're going to try to improve that portion of the
Speaker 1: roster every way they possibly can. I hope Goled Karma
Speaker 1: is okay, because he got off to a tremendous start,
Speaker 1: got off to a very good start training camp before
Speaker 1: hurting his shoulder. Now he gets off to a great
Speaker 1: start in this game and has to exit due to injury.
Speaker 1: But he's a guy that when he's been on the
Speaker 1: field this year has looked good. He really and I
Speaker 1: think it's one of those situations where you may have
Speaker 1: to just really monitor put him to pitch count in
Speaker 1: terms of snaps, because if if it's an arthritic condition,
Speaker 1: that's not necessarily you know, like a joint problem that
Speaker 1: surgery is going to repair. I mean, it's just something
Speaker 1: that you have to treat and take care of and um,
Speaker 1: you know, give it proper rest and all those sorts
Speaker 1: of things. And then and then the player has to
Speaker 1: grit his teeth and kind of fight through it because
Speaker 1: there's going to be some pain there, but you're not
Speaker 1: worsening the injury as such. You just have to fight
Speaker 1: through and learn how to deal with, you know, playing
Speaker 1: with that type of a malady. And that's that's gonna
Speaker 1: be interesting to see if he can do that, because
Speaker 1: he does have some length, uh some some ability to
Speaker 1: come off the edge and make plays. I mean, the
Speaker 1: first three snaps of the game, he was a factor
Speaker 1: in two of them with the deflection in the sack.
Speaker 1: You can't ask more than that. The longest field goal
Speaker 1: Enfranchise history is fifty seven yards. Mike Knugia did it
Speaker 1: in a playoff game, Randy Bullock did in a regular
Speaker 1: season game, and now Evan McPherson has done it in
Speaker 1: a preseason game. Do you agree my bold prediction that
Speaker 1: the record held by your former teammate Horst Muleman of
Speaker 1: four fifty yard field goals in a single season, that's
Speaker 1: a Bengals record, not an NFL record, but that Bengals
Speaker 1: record is going to go down this year when Evan
Speaker 1: McPherson kicks more than four fifty yard field goals. I
Speaker 1: think there's a real strong chance. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: beat the record two of a fifty seven yard field
Speaker 1: goal for the for the club record. I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna he's gonna touch sixty or maybe surpass it. I mean, gosh,
Speaker 1: he made that fifty seven yard field goal such an
Speaker 1: effortless swing of the leg and cleared it by at
Speaker 1: least three yards. I mean it would have been good
Speaker 1: from sixty plus. So he's a he's a unique special talent.
Speaker 1: And the thing about him that is real impressive is
Speaker 1: those long field goals. He gets such a quick trajectory
Speaker 1: and it stays so straight. I mean, it doesn't it
Speaker 1: doesn't fade, it doesn't hook. I mean he is. It's
Speaker 1: amazing how straight he hits. Uh, he hits his his shots.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like a golfer that just keeps, you know,
Speaker 1: piping the thing down the middle of the fairway and
Speaker 1: right to the pin, just piping everything. He seems to
Speaker 1: be able to do that from any distance. It's it's
Speaker 1: really remarkable to watch the kid, how pure he strikes
Speaker 1: the football. Did Kyle Schermer do enough to wrap up
Speaker 1: third quarterback? Probably in the practice squad third quarterback? Or
Speaker 1: do you think they'll be scouring tape of rosters out
Speaker 1: there to see if there's a better practice squad quarterback available.
Speaker 1: I think you got to do your due diligence. But
Speaker 1: after the Washington game, I would have thought they're going
Speaker 1: to find something. But I thought he rebounded very well.
Speaker 1: I thought he put up some good numbers. I thought
Speaker 1: he was efficient in the way he played his decision making. Again,
Speaker 1: I thought his protection was pretty good. Like you pointed out,
Speaker 1: I agree with you, but he has something to do
Speaker 1: with that as well. I just thought that the whole
Speaker 1: operation was much better than what took place out there
Speaker 1: in Washington. If the quarterback play had been like today
Speaker 1: in Washington, that would have been a victory in Washington,
Speaker 1: and it should have been a victory today. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's not like any one of these football games that
Speaker 1: the Bengals were manhandled and had no right being in
Speaker 1: the football game. But I do thought I did think
Speaker 1: that the quarterback play was not good enough against Washington.
Speaker 1: I thought it was good enough to win football games today.
Speaker 1: Do you have the biggest positive overall from the preseason
Speaker 1: and training camp? I think the biggest positive two things.
Speaker 1: I think. I'm a big believer, and it starts up
Speaker 1: front and from what I saw of the number one
Speaker 1: defensive line and guys that are going to rotate in there.
Speaker 1: The rotation guys in that defensive front and the young linebackers,
Speaker 1: you know, that front seven. I saw some things that
Speaker 1: I really liked, and I think that the offensive line
Speaker 1: has made some strides with Frank Pollock. So I think
Speaker 1: that you have to be able to compete on a
Speaker 1: consistent basis on gaming and a week on a weekly
Speaker 1: basis upfront in the trenches on both sides of the
Speaker 1: football to have a chance, and I do think that
Speaker 1: I've seen improvement in both of those areas. I thought
Speaker 1: it was very, very suspect last year, and injuries were
Speaker 1: a big part of it. But everybody gets hurt. All
Speaker 1: teams get hurt in the National Football League, I do
Speaker 1: think they've done a good job on accumulating much more
Speaker 1: depth to their roster. I think they have more guys
Speaker 1: that can play at a higher level, and I think
Speaker 1: that it's going to be better on both sides of
Speaker 1: the football. I can pretty much guarantee this. There's not
Speaker 1: a team in the NFL that had a better sack
Speaker 1: differential in the preseason. The Bengals had three more sacks
Speaker 1: in this game, six more quarterback hits. Like we said earlier,
Speaker 1: they only gave up one sack. The entire preseason deferential
Speaker 1: was incredible between the amount of pressure they generated and
Speaker 1: the amount they gave up. Yeah, and I think that
Speaker 1: speaks to you know, the numbers show what my eyeballs
Speaker 1: are telling me, you know, watching these guys. We talked
Speaker 1: about it a couple of times during the course of
Speaker 1: the preseason games. Dan that the size of their defensive
Speaker 1: line interior. I mean, they're big inside. They have big
Speaker 1: body guys, and they're bigger than they're bigger than they've
Speaker 1: been for a while. And they're not stiffs. You know,
Speaker 1: It's like these guys stay on their feet. It's not
Speaker 1: like they're just big lugs and you know they're just
Speaker 1: trying to blob people. I mean, these guys, these guys
Speaker 1: can take up space, they can two gap, they can move,
Speaker 1: they can stay on their feet, they can get off blocks.
Speaker 1: So I'm encouraged. It's built the right way. Big, strong,
Speaker 1: fortifying the inside. They've got some edge speed on the
Speaker 1: on the perimeter, and that's the way today's NFL and
Speaker 1: really a lot of NFL great defenses have been built.
Speaker 1: So um again, I think they have more guys that
Speaker 1: can give them quality snaps than they've had since Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor's been here. Do you have the biggest disappointment or negative?
Speaker 1: Is it Jamar's drops? Is it something else? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: mean I think I think that, you know, again, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's limited snaps, it's small sample size, but Lamar's
Speaker 1: drops and Tea and Tyler Boyd, they just didn't play enough,
Speaker 1: you know, to be able to make a make a judgment.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, I want to see the Big
Speaker 1: three get off to a really fast start, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think I think they can. I think Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon is prime for a big year. And uh and
Speaker 1: I think you know that if they can, if they
Speaker 1: can run the football when they have to, you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes it's like, you know, it's not going to be easy,
Speaker 1: but you're still going to have to run the football.
Speaker 1: And if you if you can't run the football, you're
Speaker 1: gonna be in real trouble. There's gonna be days where
Speaker 1: it's going to be easier to run the football, and
Speaker 1: then everything falls into place. Some days you know, you
Speaker 1: just can't run the football, and then it's going to
Speaker 1: be harder to throw the football and you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to figure out a way, you know, to be able
Speaker 1: to be able to run the football. So I think
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon is going to have a big impact on
Speaker 1: this on this football team. And and the best defense
Speaker 1: is an offense that you know, controls the clock, controls
Speaker 1: the snap count. You know, if you're snapping the football
Speaker 1: and a consistent basis ten to fifteen snaps per game
Speaker 1: more than the opponent is, you got a shot. And
Speaker 1: I think I think this team can do that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. I think the defense can get off the
Speaker 1: field and cost some turnovers, get the football extra possessions
Speaker 1: of the football to the offense, and the offense take
Speaker 1: advantage and just play really good complimentary football. I think
Speaker 1: the roster is sound enough and deep enough to play
Speaker 1: really sound, complimentary football. And in order to compete in
Speaker 1: this division, never mind, you know, win more games than
Speaker 1: you lose. Just to compete in this division, you dan
Speaker 1: well better play complimentary football because all the others will
Speaker 1: be This division is a beast, you know, set it before.
Speaker 1: You can be a decent football team and still go
Speaker 1: two and four or worse if you don't play complimentary football.
Speaker 1: So you've better dan well play complimentary football. Uh and
Speaker 1: play good sound you know not you can't expect to
Speaker 1: play six perfect games, but minimize mistakes against the AFC North,
Speaker 1: or it could be miserable for you seventeen games to
Speaker 1: look forward to. The fun begins in two weeks. I
Speaker 1: can't wait. I can't wait either. I'm hoping at least
Speaker 1: eight and I get out of the double digit loss scenario. Win,
Speaker 1: you know, win eight and if I breaks fall your way,
Speaker 1: maybe you can get up to double digit wins. Who knows,
Speaker 1: But I can't wait either. I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be interests to see how this whole thing unfolds. So
Speaker 1: now we wait to find out who makes the fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster. NFL teams have until four pm on
Speaker 1: Tuesday to make their final cuts. That's going to do
Speaker 1: it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought
Speaker 1: to you by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game. If
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if you
Speaker 1: have a minute, give it a rating or share a
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast