Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The alleed addition as the O
Speaker 1: and two Bengals head to New York badly in need
Speaker 1: of a victory if they face the one and one
Speaker 1: New York Jets. Coming up, I'll be joined by Ian
Speaker 1: Eagle from CBS Sports, who called that wild season opener
Speaker 1: against the Steelers and will be in the booth this
Speaker 1: Sunday in the Meadowlands. Running Back samaj p Rhin joins
Speaker 1: me to discuss something he did against the Cowboys last
Speaker 1: week that wowed coaches and teammates. I'll discuss the Bengals
Speaker 1: offensive line issues with Dave Lapham and finally, it's our
Speaker 1: no the Faux segment as we visit with Rich Samini,
Speaker 1: who covers the Jets for ESPN. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is presented by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet capable
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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the Rule
Speaker 1: of three. I love grilling, and I was recently introduced
Speaker 1: to the rule of three. When grilling steak. First, set
Speaker 1: up a two zone cooking system where one side of
Speaker 1: your grill has direct heat and the other side has
Speaker 1: indirect heat. If you're cooking with charcoal, that means you
Speaker 1: pile all the charcoal on one side. If you're cooking
Speaker 1: with gas, one set of burners will be on medium
Speaker 1: high and the other will be on low. Here's where
Speaker 1: the rule of three comes in. You cook the steak
Speaker 1: over direct heat for three minutes, then flip it over
Speaker 1: and cook the other side over direct heat for three
Speaker 1: more minutes. That gives the steak a great seer. Then
Speaker 1: follow the same formula over indirect heat three minutes on
Speaker 1: one side and three on the other. Remove the stake
Speaker 1: from the grill, let it rest for five minutes, and
Speaker 1: the result is juicy, mouthwatering perfection. But don't take it
Speaker 1: from me, try it yourself with the rule of three. Now,
Speaker 1: let's look ahead to Sunday's game against the Jets, beginning
Speaker 1: with one of my favorite broadcasters. He called the Bengal
Speaker 1: season opener, and he will be back in the booth
Speaker 1: for CBS this Sunday. My pal I an Eagle, So
Speaker 1: that season opening game was a broadcaster's dream, although Bengals
Speaker 1: fans obviously did not like the finish. You had a
Speaker 1: classic what is happening here call in overtime on a
Speaker 1: missed Steelers field goal. But ian was that one of
Speaker 1: the wackier final stretches of a game you've had in
Speaker 1: a while. Dan, I've been doing this a long time now,
Speaker 1: It's twenty five years at CBS, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if I could come up with another roller coaster Rye
Speaker 1: type of finish. I've had game winners, I've at Hail Mary,
Speaker 1: I've had flea flickers, But the sequence of events that
Speaker 1: led to where we ultimately got to, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: anybody could have possibly imagined it. It's rare that long
Speaker 1: snappers become parts of the narrative and the conversation, and
Speaker 1: we realized very much in the moment that this could
Speaker 1: play a big role in the final and it did
Speaker 1: for Cincinnati. Obviously, that's a heartbreaking loss, but from a
Speaker 1: broadcasters point of view, it had just about everything that
Speaker 1: you look for in these Week one mysteries because that's
Speaker 1: what it feels like every year in the NFL, and
Speaker 1: we will never take the long snapper for granted. Again,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Bengals. Through two games, they've surrendered
Speaker 1: thirteen sacks. They obviously addressed the offensive line in the offseason.
Speaker 1: Do you consider that to still be the biggest question mark.
Speaker 1: I think it was the biggest question mark coming into
Speaker 1: the season. Clearly it's still an issue. I wouldn't pin
Speaker 1: everything on the offensive line. I think when you break
Speaker 1: things down and try to figure out how to make
Speaker 1: it better, it's a lot of different parts. Running game
Speaker 1: has to be better. I think there's probably a way
Speaker 1: to create a bit more in play action and movement
Speaker 1: in trying to put Burrow in positions where it's not
Speaker 1: all on his shoulders at all times and they're going
Speaker 1: to get there. There's too much talent, there's too much
Speaker 1: belief in that locker room, there's too much shared success
Speaker 1: from last year for it to completely evaporate. But what
Speaker 1: ends up happening is every year in the NFL you
Speaker 1: get this very strong reminder it's hard to win. It's
Speaker 1: hard to win games, and when you have it rolling
Speaker 1: like the Bengals did last season. It's hard to imagine
Speaker 1: not seeing things go smooth and having everything work out
Speaker 1: the way that you think it's supposed to. This is
Speaker 1: a league where you enjoy success, but you also have
Speaker 1: to deal with adversity, and the Bengals right now they're
Speaker 1: in the second part of that equation. They're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out how to bounce back from these adverse results.
Speaker 1: There's no such thing as a must win game in
Speaker 1: Week three, but there are critical games, particularly after an
Speaker 1: O and two start. How critical is this game for
Speaker 1: Cincinnati in your opinion, Well, you just look at the numbers, Dan,
Speaker 1: and over the course of NFL history since the merger,
Speaker 1: if you start O and three, you have a two
Speaker 1: point five percent chance of making the playoffs. Can it
Speaker 1: happen yes? Does it happen often? No? So you need
Speaker 1: to win. You need to get that feeling back a
Speaker 1: just for your own locker room and for the guys
Speaker 1: and the staff to experience it. And then secondly, the
Speaker 1: mathematic the stats don't lie. You put yourself in an
Speaker 1: O and three hole, it's going to be very difficult
Speaker 1: to climb out of this division. Still very much up
Speaker 1: in the air, Pittsburgh trying to figure things out. Cleveland
Speaker 1: clearly has dealt with a great deal of drama, coming
Speaker 1: off among the worst losses I've ever seen in Week two,
Speaker 1: and Baltimore, a team whose identity was very much entrenched
Speaker 1: in our brains as NFL observers, now redefining who they
Speaker 1: are just a little bit. So. The division's up for grabs.
Speaker 1: You got to win football games to be part of
Speaker 1: the mix. We're chatting with I an Eagle. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about the Jets. The Jets were the team that handed
Speaker 1: Cleveland that unbelievable loss last week, scoring fourteen points in
Speaker 1: the last minute and a half. They only won four
Speaker 1: games last year. They're one and one this year. Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco is playing better. What stands out to you about
Speaker 1: the Jets through two games an injection of youth more
Speaker 1: than anything else. They desperately needed an impact draft class,
Speaker 1: and they've gotten it with Wilson who emerged last week.
Speaker 1: And certainly they're Ohio fans that are very familiar with
Speaker 1: his work with Sauce Gardner, who you know quite well,
Speaker 1: and Cincinnati fans know quite well. They just needed legit
Speaker 1: talent guys that step onto that field and you know
Speaker 1: on first glance that they're going to actually be good
Speaker 1: pros that you don't have to worry about what they're
Speaker 1: going to be in the next five to seven years.
Speaker 1: Bruce Hall, same deal. Really talented running back out of
Speaker 1: Iowa State who was highly productive, and you're seeing that
Speaker 1: at this level. His subtle movement, his burst, his abilities
Speaker 1: in both running the football and catching the ball. That's apparent.
Speaker 1: They desperately needed young players to step forward, and they've
Speaker 1: gotten it in the first two weeks. They're seeing results.
Speaker 1: They know they're a better team than they were a
Speaker 1: year ago, but it's hard to evaluate them until Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson's under center and until their franchise quarterback is gaining
Speaker 1: the necessary experience. Just like Bengals fans needed to see
Speaker 1: it with Joe Burrow, Jets fans need to see it
Speaker 1: with Zach Wilson. The injured right knee suffered on the
Speaker 1: second possession of the preseason. That's curtailed the timetable a bit,
Speaker 1: but that's why Joe Flacco was brought in. Veteran presence,
Speaker 1: been through everything, experienced and can still throw the football
Speaker 1: around a little bit. That was a huge win for
Speaker 1: their team, the question can they back it up and
Speaker 1: sustain success? That's tough to do in this league. You
Speaker 1: typically visit with some players and coaches before you call
Speaker 1: a Bengals game. Is there anybody in particular on the
Speaker 1: roster on the coaching staff that you look forward to
Speaker 1: talking to? Yeah, I gotta tell you. Jamar Chase in
Speaker 1: just one year has come a very long way. When
Speaker 1: we sat down with them as rookie season, I think
Speaker 1: there was still the feeling out process. A he didn't
Speaker 1: know quite the success level that he was going to have,
Speaker 1: so there might be that trepidation of being yourself until
Speaker 1: you have the success to back it up. But this year,
Speaker 1: sitting down with him week one, what a pleasure. Really smart,
Speaker 1: clearly mature, understands what the job is, what it entails.
Speaker 1: I think he is already one of the leaders on
Speaker 1: this team. He's going to emerge as an even bigger
Speaker 1: leader because of his production and because of the way
Speaker 1: that it carries himself. I just think that he's the
Speaker 1: whole package and the Bengals are fortunate to have him,
Speaker 1: and I think he wants to be great, And I
Speaker 1: know that's an assumption in this leak. Everybody wants to
Speaker 1: be great, there's another level of dedication that's required to
Speaker 1: be among the best, and I think he happens to
Speaker 1: have that gene and that attribute that's going to put
Speaker 1: him above the rest very well. Put in twenty five
Speaker 1: years of doing this, is there anybody league wide in
Speaker 1: those meetings that stands out as the all time best?
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning was the first player I talked to when
Speaker 1: I got the CBS job. Dan nineteen ninety eight, I
Speaker 1: did his NFL debut. It happened to be my CBS
Speaker 1: debut with Mark May Indianapolis, Miami, Dan Marino the QB
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins, and Peyton Manning making his first NFL start.
Speaker 1: We have our production meeting. First guy we meet with,
Speaker 1: Peyton walks in the room. First of all, he's bigger
Speaker 1: than you think. He walks in the room and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh wow, he's legitimately six foot five. He filled out
Speaker 1: over the course of his career. But he extends his
Speaker 1: hand and says, Hey, Ian I'm Peyton Manning. Nice to
Speaker 1: meet you. So he knows my name. That means that
Speaker 1: he did a little research ahead of time, and there
Speaker 1: was a thoroughness and attention to detail and his answers.
Speaker 1: Even then, I'm filling up my yellow pad. I've got
Speaker 1: ten twelve things that I can use on the podcast.
Speaker 1: And he never disappointed in all those years. He might
Speaker 1: be the only NFL player that called me by my name,
Speaker 1: and it just happened to be the first one in
Speaker 1: twenty five years of doing it. But I think if
Speaker 1: you were going to put a Hall of Fame together
Speaker 1: of production, meeting interviews, Peyton Manning is a first ballot
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. All right, final question for I an Eagle,
Speaker 1: and it's a personal one. Your parents were entertainers. Your
Speaker 1: dad was an actor and a comedian. Your mom was
Speaker 1: a singer. When you are a little kid, at least
Speaker 1: some of the times you are part of their act.
Speaker 1: I want to know how old you were, what the
Speaker 1: costume was, and what the act consisted of, Dan hard hitting.
Speaker 1: These are the answers the people want to know. I
Speaker 1: was six years old. I was the last part of
Speaker 1: their act for about ten months and then I retired.
Speaker 1: It was an emotional ceremony where I ended my reign.
Speaker 1: And entertainment act was five minutes long. It consisted of
Speaker 1: Impressions Howard Cosell conducting interviews with Muhammad Ali WC. Fields.
Speaker 1: This was very topical humor at the time, nineteen seventy five,
Speaker 1: and my parents dressed me in a three piece suit.
Speaker 1: Three piece suit. Social Services came to our apartment about
Speaker 1: six months afterwards to question my parents as to whether
Speaker 1: or not they were putting me on the right track
Speaker 1: for life success. They say, he can find everything on YouTube.
Speaker 1: There is no amount of money I wouldn't pay to
Speaker 1: see six year old Iron Eagle in his three piece
Speaker 1: suit doing his five minute act. Then I mentioned it
Speaker 1: was brown, The suit was brown, and dan last part
Speaker 1: I killed Iyan's dad. Jack Eagle started a famous Super
Speaker 1: Bowl commercial in the nineteen seventies. He played a month
Speaker 1: brother Dominic who was assigned to make five hundred copies
Speaker 1: of a handwritten document. After sneaking away from the monastery
Speaker 1: to use a xerox copy machine, he returns quickly with
Speaker 1: a giant stack of copies, and a fellow monk says
Speaker 1: it's a miracle. It was voted one of the top
Speaker 1: ten Super Bowl commercials of all time. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is presented by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're
Speaker 1: free to play with tickets and sign merchandise up for grabs.
Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals app. The Bengals players and
Speaker 1: coaches met with a media on Wednesday, and I felt
Speaker 1: like a time machine had taken me to Green Bay
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen when the Packers started the season one
Speaker 1: and two and Aaron Rodgers said five letters for everybody
Speaker 1: out there in Packer Land R E L a X
Speaker 1: Relax Rogers and the Packers backed it up by finishing
Speaker 1: that season twelve and four. Well. Joe Burrow has a
Speaker 1: similar message for Bengals fans after two straight losses to
Speaker 1: begin the season, everyone is frustrated, but like I said,
Speaker 1: we're not panicking. Two games in, we got fifteen games left.
Speaker 1: Let's all just take a deep breath and relax. We're
Speaker 1: gonna be fine. We got to go out and play
Speaker 1: well this week and get a win. Can't go down
Speaker 1: oh and three, But like I said, we're not panicking.
Speaker 1: We're focused on one week at a time, so we're
Speaker 1: gonna go out there and get our best shot this week.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a great game plan, we're gonna execute
Speaker 1: it well, and we've got great players, great coaches, understand
Speaker 1: our plan and know what we need to do to
Speaker 1: fix it. We did it last year. We were in
Speaker 1: here talking about the same exact stuff several times last
Speaker 1: year and everyone saw how it worked out. So now
Speaker 1: we're focused on getting it right, getting better. But like
Speaker 1: I said, no panic, a lot of urgency, but no panic.
Speaker 1: Clearly that no panic message came from the top is
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor made nearly identical comments since the panic from others,
Speaker 1: and that's just not what's happening for us. So I
Speaker 1: think sometimes it's the easiest thing to say just to
Speaker 1: tell everybody to calm down. We're okay, We're a good
Speaker 1: football team. We'll get to where we need to be,
Speaker 1: and it's just about going and having a great Wednesday.
Speaker 1: That's really what we are focused on today. Having tremendous energy,
Speaker 1: understanding the plan, asking questions of the plan, going out
Speaker 1: there and having our best Wednesday we can possibly have.
Speaker 1: To put ourself in a great position to go have
Speaker 1: a great Thursday and continue to piggyback on that and
Speaker 1: just gain some momentum, find our first win, and then
Speaker 1: take a deep breath and continue to get the ball roll.
Speaker 1: If you go back to last season and don't count
Speaker 1: the regular season finale where coach Taylor rested his starters.
Speaker 1: The bengals last seven games have come down to the
Speaker 1: final minute before the Super Bowl. Last second interceptions and
Speaker 1: dramatic field goals allowed the Bengals to win, but in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. In the first two games of this year,
Speaker 1: the defense played well but could not get a stop
Speaker 1: when the game was on the line, and the other
Speaker 1: team won romatic fashion. I discussed it with Dave Lapham.
Speaker 1: For the sake of two plays, they could be two
Speaker 1: and oh literally one playing either game, and they're two
Speaker 1: and o. And the truth is they still would have
Speaker 1: the problems that they have to rectify, but it's a
Speaker 1: much easier pill to swallow when you're two and oh
Speaker 1: as opposed to oh and two. And that's the problem,
Speaker 1: and that that's why everybody's like, oh my gosh, this
Speaker 1: guy's following what's going on, because the expectations after finishing
Speaker 1: the way they finished. But like you described, Dan, they
Speaker 1: were winning games down the stretch and through the playoffs
Speaker 1: this way, but they were finishing them. They were the
Speaker 1: ones kicking the game winning field goals instead of the
Speaker 1: other team kicking game winning field goals against them. It's
Speaker 1: just a fine line. It's razor thin. And when you
Speaker 1: when you kind of tightrote that kind of a line,
Speaker 1: you know this kind of thing can take place. There's
Speaker 1: there's no two ways about it. That is life in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Life in the NFL also includes injuries,
Speaker 1: and we learned and when day the tight end Drew
Speaker 1: Sample is going to have knee surgery and will be
Speaker 1: out of action for months, if not the entire year.
Speaker 1: Devin Asiassi, who has claimed off waivers from New England
Speaker 1: just before the start of the season, is expected to
Speaker 1: join Hayden Hurst and Mitchell Wilcox as the Bengals active
Speaker 1: tight ends. One of Drew Sample's strengths is blocking, and
Speaker 1: when he left the game in Dallas, one of the
Speaker 1: guys who helped fill his role was running back samaj
Speaker 1: p Ryan. In fact, if you watched the two point
Speaker 1: conversion passed the Tyler boyd p Rhyan wound up having
Speaker 1: to block Cowboys star Micah Parsons one on one and
Speaker 1: handled him like he was an all Pro tackle. That's
Speaker 1: not why you called the play to match up a
Speaker 1: running back on Michael Parsons. I promise you that you know,
Speaker 1: a guy can line up on the left side of
Speaker 1: the entirety of the drive and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden be on the right and you just got to
Speaker 1: call the protection the way you want to call it,
Speaker 1: trying to trying to help everybody there, and just the
Speaker 1: way he worked out. He lined up outside samaj and
Speaker 1: Smage did a great job holding him off. Refit in
Speaker 1: his hands. So that's just what he veteran player like
Speaker 1: him brings the table. Smage did not practice that, you know,
Speaker 1: that was devas rue Sample and Hayden and Somaje get
Speaker 1: stornto the fire he's got at halftime or in the
Speaker 1: O two package and do a good job executing a
Speaker 1: unique play down there in the goal line that was
Speaker 1: really just meant for inside the three and steps up
Speaker 1: does it initially maybe lined up wrong, but but got
Speaker 1: it fixed, tightened down. There was a little concern there
Speaker 1: for a moment, lines up right and then and then
Speaker 1: just blocks his tail off for you know, five seconds
Speaker 1: or whatever it seemed like, and allowed for us to
Speaker 1: tie the game. I talked to p Ryan about that block,
Speaker 1: the team Z and two start and the final offensive
Speaker 1: play of the Super Bowl this week? Let's start with
Speaker 1: the two point conversion last week against the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: You have the assignment of blocking Micah Parsons one on
Speaker 1: one and did a great job. Gave Joe plenty of
Speaker 1: time to throw that ball. Describe that process when you
Speaker 1: know that you're matched up against that guy, You've got
Speaker 1: to keep them away from your quarterback blocking this ninety
Speaker 1: percent effort and ten percent technique. So just gave everything
Speaker 1: that I had and came out on the winning side
Speaker 1: of it. How does that satisfaction compared to a big
Speaker 1: play with the ball? A big player is a big
Speaker 1: play where it's blocking, whether it's uh, you actually doing it,
Speaker 1: so you know the the end result is what we
Speaker 1: wanted it to be. So I can never complain about that.
Speaker 1: Do you consider blocking to be one of your strengths?
Speaker 1: I take pride in it, So you know, to be
Speaker 1: able to block block an elite player like that for
Speaker 1: as long as I did, you know it was it
Speaker 1: was a definite win for me. Was that enjoyable to
Speaker 1: see again? When you guys watch tape on Monday? I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess it was cool that they showed it, but
Speaker 1: you know, it was just the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it's just me, you know, doing whatever I have to
Speaker 1: do to help the team be in position to win
Speaker 1: a game. We're visiting the my JP Ryan. The team
Speaker 1: has dropped the first two games and walk off field
Speaker 1: goals of fifty plus yards. How much of a gut
Speaker 1: punch has that been? Um, you never want to lose,
Speaker 1: whether it's getting blown out or whether it's like you said,
Speaker 1: walk off field goals. So it's unfortunate, but you know,
Speaker 1: we know what kind of team we have. We just
Speaker 1: have to continue to come together and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we've got to start faster. You know, these past two
Speaker 1: games we haven't started as fast we were like, so
Speaker 1: you know, we just have to come out and and
Speaker 1: start fast and finish faster because we know now we're
Speaker 1: gonna get everyone's best shot. You know, there's no more
Speaker 1: looking over the Bengals, there's no more circling the Bengals
Speaker 1: and all. Yet this is a for sure win. Now
Speaker 1: we're the team that everyone wants to beat, So we
Speaker 1: have to come out and and act like it. You know,
Speaker 1: these past two games we haven't we haven't started like
Speaker 1: we wanted too, so you know, we just have to
Speaker 1: continue to put our heads down and grind and just
Speaker 1: trusting each other and you know, things will start coming
Speaker 1: together for us. Other than talking about it and emphasizing it,
Speaker 1: is there any way to try to create a better start,
Speaker 1: a faster start, Uh, just not play behind the chains.
Speaker 1: You know, we've had penalties, we had breakdown protections, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. We've always just just found a way to
Speaker 1: shoot ourselves in the foot. And we just have to
Speaker 1: be you know, more sound and starts in practice. You know,
Speaker 1: we have to we have to continue to put together
Speaker 1: great practices. We can't go out and have okay practices
Speaker 1: or good practices. We have to consistently have great practices
Speaker 1: because you know, like I said, we're gonna get everyone's
Speaker 1: best shot, and we have to match and exceed that
Speaker 1: intensity weekend and week out. Is the intensity different after
Speaker 1: you lose a couple in a row. I feel like
Speaker 1: it's up to us to set that intensity. Like the
Speaker 1: coaches aren't going to be able to do it, you know,
Speaker 1: whoever else is going to be able to. We have
Speaker 1: to go out and be intentional about technique and you know,
Speaker 1: being on top of things. If someone messes up, we
Speaker 1: have to redo it and that's gonna come to come
Speaker 1: from us, because at the end of the day, we're
Speaker 1: the ones out there, We're the ones who have to play.
Speaker 1: So you know, we're really gonna have to step up
Speaker 1: and just be intentional about the little things, because that's
Speaker 1: what it always comes down to, you know, whether it's
Speaker 1: a little twitch and a false start, or you know,
Speaker 1: someone doesn't get the right call. We just have to
Speaker 1: be intentional about the little things, all right. A couple
Speaker 1: more questions for some I JP Ryan. You celebrated a
Speaker 1: birthday last week, happy twenty seventh, and the Bengal social
Speaker 1: media team did something that I found hysterical. They created
Speaker 1: a Sami jp Ryan filter so that as your teammates
Speaker 1: went to wish you a happy birthday, they looked like
Speaker 1: you no hair and a big beard. Well, what was
Speaker 1: your reaction to the sma jp Ryan filter. It was
Speaker 1: definitely interesting. I've never seen anything like that before. It
Speaker 1: definitely caught me off guard, but little school and you know,
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it and got a good laugh out of it,
Speaker 1: but you know, it was it was interesting for sure.
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard was my person a favorite in the som
Speaker 1: jp Ryan filter. Did you have one I would say
Speaker 1: either Sam Archito, those two they got caught off guard.
Speaker 1: The most I would say that was it was pretty funny.
Speaker 1: It was good stuff, all right. Final question. I haven't
Speaker 1: had a chance to ask you this since the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl final offensive play. Joe's getting hit by Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1: He kind of shot puts one in your direction that
Speaker 1: looked uncatchable from the TV angle. But was it close?
Speaker 1: Was it tantalizingly, you know, hanging in the air. I
Speaker 1: feel like if it was in the air for another
Speaker 1: half a second, it would have been close. And I've
Speaker 1: seen everyone, Oh yeah, if you would have no, you
Speaker 1: would have caught it. If you would have did this,
Speaker 1: you would have caught it. But it's like if you
Speaker 1: weren't there, and if you weren't in that position, like,
Speaker 1: how you gonna tell me what I could have done?
Speaker 1: And even if I would have caught it, I still
Speaker 1: wouldn't have got the first down, so it wouldn't have
Speaker 1: mattered in the first place. But you know, I watched it,
Speaker 1: watched it again, thought about all the different things, talk
Speaker 1: to coaches, you know about if they saw something different,
Speaker 1: and everyone here is on the same page. So I've
Speaker 1: moved on from it. You know, I haven't given any
Speaker 1: second thought because I know if I do, it's just
Speaker 1: gonna it's just gonna, you know, eat at me. And
Speaker 1: I ain't got no time for that. You know. We
Speaker 1: have to go out and trying to get back there,
Speaker 1: and that starts with, you know, getting our first win
Speaker 1: of the season. I appreciate your time, thank you very much,
Speaker 1: and best of luck against the Jets. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Sabaj is averaged four point six yards per
Speaker 1: carry since joining the Bengals in twenty nineteen. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one
Speaker 1: hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers. Kettering
Speaker 1: Health is committed to guiding you to best health. Visit
Speaker 1: ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Time to discuss the
Speaker 1: Bengals offensive line. Through two games, Cincinnati has surrendered thirteen sacks.
Speaker 1: That's three more than any other team, and going back
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, Joe Burrow has been sacked at least
Speaker 1: six times in four of their last five games. L
Speaker 1: Collins had a tough time against Michael Parsons last week
Speaker 1: and did not practice on Wednesday due to a sore back.
Speaker 1: Here's Dave Lapham. He basically missed training him with the
Speaker 1: back probably, and honestly he has struggled because he's gone
Speaker 1: against two really outstanding edge rush guys. All you have
Speaker 1: is t J. Watt Defensive Player of the Year in
Speaker 1: week one, and then in week two he had a
Speaker 1: guy who was runner up. He was the defensive Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year and runner up to t J. Watt
Speaker 1: as Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Michael Parsons. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's like, that's pretty good tannem to start
Speaker 1: out with. But honestly, I'm wondering his bet. He looks
Speaker 1: to me like he's a little stiff, you know, like
Speaker 1: he's not as fluid as as he probably will be
Speaker 1: as he takes more and more snaps. But they are
Speaker 1: gonna monitor how much they work him. I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: the back, it's it's I don't I'm not sure how
Speaker 1: much who knows. The only one that knows is LC.
Speaker 1: How much pain is there? There's probably some, but I
Speaker 1: think stiffness is a big issue. And uh, in watching
Speaker 1: them move, it looks that looks to be the case
Speaker 1: a little bit. I still think though, that this guy
Speaker 1: is a powerful man that can run, block and dry block.
Speaker 1: I would I would not think it would be a
Speaker 1: bad concept to let him do that against the New
Speaker 1: York Jets. Let him come off the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: knock people backwards, knock him down, try to get that
Speaker 1: running game going. And you know, honestly, Joe Mixon, Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon leads the National Football League and carries and touches,
Speaker 1: so they are It's not like they're okay, we're not
Speaker 1: We're not getting the ball to Jill Mixon. They're giving
Speaker 1: him plenty of opportunities, but players aren't being executed by
Speaker 1: all eleven guys regularly enough for him to put up
Speaker 1: significant yards. He's eleventh in the league in rushing with
Speaker 1: the most carries, you know, in the league. So it
Speaker 1: can all get better, There's no doubt about it. And
Speaker 1: I'd like to see alc just come, you know, let
Speaker 1: him be a road grader at that right tackle position
Speaker 1: in the running game. The Bengals addressed the offensive line
Speaker 1: by signing three proven free agents and drafting Cordell Volson,
Speaker 1: but so far, the results have him been great. I
Speaker 1: ask Lap if he's seen anything that gives him hope
Speaker 1: that the line will eventually be as good as anticipated.
Speaker 1: I honestly think that the interior center and guards, particularly
Speaker 1: in this last game, I thought they played pretty decently
Speaker 1: as a group. Now the problems came on the edge,
Speaker 1: and Michael Parsons was the biggest problem on the edge.
Speaker 1: But in the opening he had t. J. Watton Heads
Speaker 1: high Smith, who both were issues on the edge. So
Speaker 1: I think once that starts getting solidified, you know, it's
Speaker 1: like five playing is one. That's what you have to have.
Speaker 1: Film only got three playing as one or four playing
Speaker 1: as one. It's just it's not going to work. So
Speaker 1: you know, to me, it's all about unlocking a running game.
Speaker 1: A running game would be a cure all because the
Speaker 1: offensive line would start to be the aggressor instead of
Speaker 1: retreating and trying to give ground grudgingly and counteract everything.
Speaker 1: You know, instead of a counterattack, you're attacking, and it's
Speaker 1: a it's a much different mindset, There's no two ways
Speaker 1: about it. So I think if you get them coming
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage, you get h you know,
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon into the second and third level of a
Speaker 1: defense punishing people a little bit, then you can mix
Speaker 1: in play action pass and then everything opens up. It
Speaker 1: all opens up. So I'd like to see Joe Barrow
Speaker 1: under center, run that football and then play action pass
Speaker 1: off of it with Joe under center more than they've
Speaker 1: been doing, you know, I think it has to. You
Speaker 1: have to go back almost to not square one, but
Speaker 1: you have to go back a little bit and say,
Speaker 1: let's simplify, let's let's not overload anybody with too much mentally,
Speaker 1: because that's another problem they've had is communication breakdown. You know,
Speaker 1: Drew Sample and LC had a communication problem that allowed
Speaker 1: Parsons just to come untouched. You know, I mean Michael
Speaker 1: Parsons number eleven. You you got to have at least one,
Speaker 1: maybe two, maybe three on them, not none, not none,
Speaker 1: and that uh you know that miscommunications and issues. So again,
Speaker 1: what what it is is the Bengals bottom line, have
Speaker 1: to take themselves off their schedule. They have to do
Speaker 1: what they did last week in terms of not turning
Speaker 1: the ball over and get it off of the opponent.
Speaker 1: And they got one, but they could have gotten four.
Speaker 1: But that was an improvement from minus five. There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about that. Now you have to curtail the penalty problem,
Speaker 1: and you know, and then communicate, recognize, communicate properly. So
Speaker 1: it's all self destruction stuff. And you know, self destruction.
Speaker 1: You're your own worst enemy. You're a bigger enemy than
Speaker 1: your opponent. You take yourself officer schedule, you get a chance.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are currently tied for last in the league
Speaker 1: in turnover margin at minus four, with the Indianapolis Colts
Speaker 1: another team still looking for its first win. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More
Speaker 1: than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay Corps to help
Speaker 1: them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at
Speaker 1: paycorps dot com. Time for a closer look at this
Speaker 1: week's opponent. The New York Jets have not gone to
Speaker 1: the playoffs in the last eleven years, a stretch that's
Speaker 1: featured four head coaches and four gms. But over the
Speaker 1: last two years they've been the league's third biggest spender
Speaker 1: in free agency, and they've had a bunch of high
Speaker 1: draft picks, including three first rounders this year. Rich Samini,
Speaker 1: who covers the Jets for ESPN, joined Lapping me on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night as we hosted the Bengals Game Plan Show
Speaker 1: from Patrick Sports Bar and Grill. I do think they're
Speaker 1: on the right track. You know, they have a lot
Speaker 1: of young talent on the team, starting with the young
Speaker 1: quarterback who obviously won't play this week but could be
Speaker 1: back next week. You saw Garret Wilson against Cleveland just
Speaker 1: have a huge game with a couple of touchdowns. So
Speaker 1: they are building something I don't I don't know how
Speaker 1: long it's going to take. If you ask a Jets fan,
Speaker 1: they feel like this has been happening since, you know,
Speaker 1: the Jurassic era, because it seems like a perpetual rebuild.
Speaker 1: But I do think there are some signs of progress.
Speaker 1: What about what about defensively? Rich, I know, offensively got
Speaker 1: some weapons. Defensively, they've been built through the draft and
Speaker 1: also free agency. What's the defensive improvement look like in
Speaker 1: your eyes? Yeah, they have a lot of younger players
Speaker 1: as well, including you guys know him well. Saws Gardener
Speaker 1: from Cincinnati is starting. He's playing pretty well so far
Speaker 1: as a rookie. He has a really bright future. They're
Speaker 1: very high on him, and so it's a new look secondary.
Speaker 1: They have three new starters in the secondary, and they
Speaker 1: have had some miscommunications last couple of first couple of games,
Speaker 1: they've given up a touchdown in each game where they
Speaker 1: had a blown coverage in the secondary, So they're going
Speaker 1: through some growing pains back there. They have a really
Speaker 1: good deep defensive line. They go about eight or nine
Speaker 1: deep on the defensive line. Now the results have not
Speaker 1: been there. They only have two sacks with the defensive
Speaker 1: line has only two sacks right now. I know they're
Speaker 1: disappointed with that. That includes Carl Lawson, obviously a familiar
Speaker 1: face to Bengals fans, coming back from a devastating achilles injury.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's back one hundred percent yet. He's
Speaker 1: going through some skipping off some of the rust, so
Speaker 1: I think he'll get better as the season goes on.
Speaker 1: So I think this defense has not played up to
Speaker 1: its potential yet, but you know, I still think they're
Speaker 1: growing into it. ESPN's Rich Samini is our guest. The
Speaker 1: fact that the Jets only have a couple of sacks
Speaker 1: is well received by the Bengals fans here at Patrick
Speaker 1: Sports Bar and Grills. Since Cincinnati has surrendered thirteen right
Speaker 1: in the first two weeks. But what about pressure? Sometimes
Speaker 1: the sack stats can be a little deceiving. Teams are
Speaker 1: still pressuring the quarterback hitting the quarterback. Is that deep
Speaker 1: defensive line at least applying a decent amount of pressure?
Speaker 1: As a very good question, Dan, and I wish I
Speaker 1: could give you like a great answer, like a positive answer,
Speaker 1: But the fact is, no, they have not been generating
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure either. I checked all their analytics
Speaker 1: stats and the pressure numbers are down as well, and
Speaker 1: so they just haven't been producing. They openly admit that
Speaker 1: they just haven't been really clicking as a defensive line yet.
Speaker 1: I will say that they're well aware of the thirteen
Speaker 1: sacks or Joe Burrow. In fact, I was talking to
Speaker 1: a couple of them today and Sheldon Rankin's their defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: I asked them, you excited to face Joe Burrow? And
Speaker 1: his eyes kind of lit up, and he goes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Whenever you face a team that's given up that many sacks,
Speaker 1: of course you want to play them, he goes. So
Speaker 1: we're kind of licking our chops right now. So it's
Speaker 1: an interesting matchup. You got the two sack jets versus
Speaker 1: the thirteen stack allowed Bengals, something's got to give. As
Speaker 1: they say, Joe Flacco not your typical backup quarterback. I
Speaker 1: mean a guy who was MVP of a Super Bowl
Speaker 1: winning team and who fifth in yards throwne for over
Speaker 1: forty two thousand close to forty three thousand yards, fifth
Speaker 1: among active quarterbacks, turning thirty two touchdown passes, sixth amongst
Speaker 1: active quarterbacks in the rally that he had in the
Speaker 1: final two minutes, but three of his five touchdown passes
Speaker 1: have come in the final two minutes of the first
Speaker 1: two football games. That's that's almost unbelievable. It's almost unheard of.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's another quarterback in the league that
Speaker 1: has more than one. Yeah, it's been a strange two
Speaker 1: weeks for Joe Blaco. If you if you pulled Jet
Speaker 1: fans after the opening loss to Baltimore, they wanted him gone.
Speaker 1: I mean they wanted Mike White back in the lineup.
Speaker 1: Bengal fans, of course will not fomly remember Mike White
Speaker 1: from last year, but they wanted White in. They were
Speaker 1: done with Blaco, they thought he was just washed up.
Speaker 1: And now those things. Fans have a different tune this
Speaker 1: week because Joe played great. It was the first Jet
Speaker 1: quarterback in twenty years to have three hundred yards passing
Speaker 1: and four touchdowns in a game. Gotta go all the
Speaker 1: way back to Vinny Testaverty for that. And so you
Speaker 1: know he had he had a fantastic two minutes. I mean,
Speaker 1: he just was on fire in the last two minutes
Speaker 1: of Sunday's game and he will you know, obviously he's
Speaker 1: going to start again this week. And it's funny just
Speaker 1: how the wins that dipted in New York on Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco rich My final question has to do with c
Speaker 1: j Uzama finally remembered for his time in Cincinnati. I
Speaker 1: think Bengals fans were bummed when he wound up signing
Speaker 1: with the Jets, but understood why he got a big
Speaker 1: contract from the Jets. I looked at Week one, didn't
Speaker 1: have a target in a game where Flacco completed thirty
Speaker 1: nine passes, didn't have that many snaps in comparison to
Speaker 1: Tyler Conklin. I know he was out last week with
Speaker 1: a hamstring injury, but if healthy, is he the number
Speaker 1: two tight end? What is the deal with c j
Speaker 1: Uzama right now with the Jets. Yeah, that's a very
Speaker 1: interesting case because obviously the big contract I think I
Speaker 1: think it's like eight or nine million a year, and
Speaker 1: he had like twenty three snaps in the opener, no targets.
Speaker 1: I talked to him after the game. I mean he
Speaker 1: seemed a little frustrated by it. Tyler Conklin has been
Speaker 1: their number one receiver. When they're in eleven personnel with
Speaker 1: one back and one tight end and three receivers, it's
Speaker 1: Tyler Conklin. Conklin has been there receiving tight end, So
Speaker 1: I think they see TJ as really more of a
Speaker 1: blocker and when they're in twelve personnel. So I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's the role he envisioned when he signed here,
Speaker 1: but I think that's the role they have planned for him.
Speaker 1: And I do think he will play this week. He
Speaker 1: missed last week with the hamstring, but he did practice
Speaker 1: today limited, and you have to believe he wants to
Speaker 1: play his former team, so I think things are trending
Speaker 1: in that direction for him to play. On Sunday. You
Speaker 1: mentioned the game against the Jets. Mike White a quarterback.
Speaker 1: I remember him checking the ball down to run backs
Speaker 1: and them running forever after catch, and Lewis Rumo addressed
Speaker 1: it today and said, you know, that gave too much
Speaker 1: space to the running backs. You know, didn't press up
Speaker 1: close enough on the reception of the football, and that
Speaker 1: was a big issue. And I'm looking at Flacco and
Speaker 1: the way he's utilizing his running backs. The running backs
Speaker 1: have twenty catches already tied for most in the NFL
Speaker 1: as a position group at running back, one hundred and
Speaker 1: eighteen receiving yards eleventh in the NFL. Joe Flacco, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's almost like an extension of the ground game the
Speaker 1: way he looks to be utilizing those running backs checking
Speaker 1: it down to him, doesn't it Absolutely It's a great point,
Speaker 1: you know, but Joe has been just throwing a lot.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got one hundred and three pass attempts
Speaker 1: in two games. And I checked on that. That is
Speaker 1: at the astounding for any quarterback, let alone a thirty
Speaker 1: seven year old guy. It really doesn't move too well.
Speaker 1: It's like it's the second most for the first two
Speaker 1: games in the Super Bowl era. The only guy who's
Speaker 1: thrown it more in the first two games it was
Speaker 1: Brian's Sight had like one hundred and ten attempts way
Speaker 1: back in the early eighties, and so I think the
Speaker 1: Jets really want to lower that. Obviously, they don't want
Speaker 1: to put Flacco in harm's way that many times a game,
Speaker 1: and so he does throw to the back. He likes
Speaker 1: to spread it around. Look, he's a smart quarterback. He's
Speaker 1: won a Super Bowl and he knows where to go
Speaker 1: with the football. Now, did he get it out all
Speaker 1: the time? No? Can he escape a pass rush No,
Speaker 1: So if the Bengals get pressure on him, they're liable
Speaker 1: to attack him or force him into a bad decision.
Speaker 1: But he knows when he has time. He's still an
Speaker 1: effective quarterback. Joe Flacco started twenty games against the Bengals
Speaker 1: when he was still in Baltimore. The Bengals went eleven
Speaker 1: and nine in those games, and Flacco had a passer
Speaker 1: rating in the low seventies. Sunday's game kicks off at
Speaker 1: one o'clock. Our pregame coverage will begin at eleven thirty am.
Speaker 1: Before I wrap things up, here's an invitation to join
Speaker 1: us at the Wings and Rings Beach model location for
Speaker 1: the Bengals pep rally show this Friday from three to six.
Speaker 1: Special Teams Captain Michael Thomas will join us in the
Speaker 1: final hour, and we'll have plenty of giveaways throughout the show.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it. For this episode of The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber
Speaker 1: Internet elevate your connection with Alta Fiber by Kettering Health,
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks
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Speaker 1: signed merchandise up for grabs, and by Paycorps, the official
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Speaker 1: so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you
Speaker 1: have a minute, give it a rating or share a
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan
Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.