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Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading

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Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Welcome to the Future addition,

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Speaker 1: as I discussed some of the Bengals' biggest offseason questions

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Speaker 1: with Sam Monson, lead NFL analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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Speaker 1: But first I'll talk to a player who says he

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Speaker 1: did not play up to his own expectations this season,

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Speaker 1: linebacker Jermaine Pratt. And we'll wrap things up with a

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Speaker 1: crazy NFL Weather edition of story Time with Dan. The

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Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,

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Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official hr software provider, by

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Speaker 1: Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,

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Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering

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Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health

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Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's

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Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition

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Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or

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Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the

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Speaker 1: greatest thing since the Bengals Bar and Kitchen at the Airport.

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Speaker 1: There are seven new dining and beverage options coming to

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Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport, including the Bengals Bar

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Speaker 1: and Kitchen, which is being described as a sports bar

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Speaker 1: which pays tribute to the city's NFL franchise. What a

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Speaker 1: great idea. According to the CBG website, the airport welcome

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Speaker 1: more than seven point six million passengers in twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 1: and now many of them will be reminded that Cincinnati

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Speaker 1: is one of only thirty cities in the country that

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Speaker 1: has an NFL team. According to an airport press release,

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Speaker 1: it's expected to open in the coming months. Now, let's

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Speaker 1: get to my first guest. According to Pro Football Focus,

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Speaker 1: Jermaine Pratt was one of the best linebackers in the

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Speaker 1: NFL two years ago. PFF grated your main eighth overall

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Speaker 1: among linebackers and number one in pass coverage. That was

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Speaker 1: the final year of Pratt's rookie contract, and he earned

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Speaker 1: a three year extension for twenty point twenty five million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Here was defensive coordinator lou Anarumo after the Bengals re

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Speaker 1: signed Jermaine. I mean Jermaine's you know, since his rookie year,

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Speaker 1: he's always taken a step forward every year.

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Speaker 2: You know, if he doesn't come away with a turnover

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Speaker 2: each game.

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Speaker 3: He's he's you know, upset, so mind, but he's he's

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Speaker 3: on everything.

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Speaker 1: He's a strong tackler, always around the ball. You know,

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Speaker 1: so love him. Jermaine certainly had stellar moments this year.

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Speaker 1: His red zone interception at San Francisco thwarted a potential

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Speaker 1: game tying drive, and he forced to fumble in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter of the Buffalo game that helped seal that win.

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Speaker 1: But by his own admission, Pratt wasn't as consistent as

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Speaker 1: the year before, and his Pro Football Focus grade reflected that,

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Speaker 1: dropping to number fifty seven among linebackers. I talked to

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Speaker 1: Jermaine about it at the end of the season.

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Speaker 4: I can't look back and see what I did and

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Speaker 4: like looked up and say I did well. I play okay,

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Speaker 4: it's a par you know, I gotta play elite for

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Speaker 4: us to be great on defense.

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Speaker 1: You don't sound like you were happy with your own

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Speaker 1: play this year.

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Speaker 4: Nah, I say sometimes I made good plays, but I didn't.

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Speaker 1: I didn't.

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Speaker 4: I wasn't consistent enough to help us win games. You know,

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Speaker 4: I I win some. I help us win games late

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Speaker 4: with like a big turnover and stuff. But I need

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Speaker 4: to be consistent within you know, helping younger guys be

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Speaker 4: more impactful. You know it was this probably was harder,

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Speaker 4: I say, because I didn't have the guys around me

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Speaker 4: that make my job more easier.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 4: Then you got young guys they're trying to feel you know,

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Speaker 4: sometimes you be out there thinking you're still playing with

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Speaker 4: better than guys, but you're playing with rookie. So it's

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Speaker 4: just getting better each and every year.

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Speaker 1: It's hard for me to analyze why the run defense

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Speaker 1: hasn't been as good. You got most of the same

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Speaker 1: guys back. What do you think have been the biggest

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Speaker 1: issues for why that that portion of the defense just

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Speaker 1: hasn't been quite as good.

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Speaker 4: It's a eleven man. You know, everybody gotta do they

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Speaker 4: one eleven? You know, it's like we have a supposed

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Speaker 4: to run every game, one or two a game, and

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Speaker 4: then they be like did so you know that that's

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Speaker 4: a hit, But we gotta figure out ways to stop it.

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Speaker 4: You might have to get beef up front, or or

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Speaker 4: I just got to play better.

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Speaker 1: Big plays in general, right, Passing and running have been

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Speaker 1: a major issue this year.

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Speaker 4: Yes, you know that's that's we I think the lead

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Speaker 4: the NFL. It's mostly supposed to plays. You know, that's

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Speaker 4: something I ain't customed to say. You know, that's that's everybody.

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Speaker 4: You know, everybody gotta do their job better. You know,

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Speaker 4: everybody gotta look at itself in the mirror and get better.

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Speaker 1: You had a I guess about a five game stretch

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Speaker 1: where Joe is fully healthy, beat the forty nine ers,

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Speaker 1: beat the Bills. Looked like the team that you guys

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Speaker 1: probably expected to be. Do you feel like that's the

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Speaker 1: team you're going to be next year when he healthy again.

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 4: You know, every year they'll be a new team, new

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Speaker 4: challenges we may face. But I know next year we

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Speaker 4: gotta start faster. I mean we said that each and

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Speaker 4: every week. It's the start faster we get if we

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Speaker 4: win some games early in the in the season, get

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Speaker 4: rolling fast. We gotta figure out where to start faster.

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Speaker 4: And said, I don't know, maybe like we be having

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Speaker 4: a long playoff run and we're trying to itch our

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Speaker 4: way back into the season, So I think it shall

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Speaker 4: be this. Obviously it will be huged for a lot

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Speaker 4: of guys. You know, guys are coming off injury. So

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Speaker 4: you know when you got a guy that's off injury,

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Speaker 4: he get the focus more on himself and become more dangerous.

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Speaker 4: As we've seen Joe did become more dangerous and led

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Speaker 4: us to the super Bowl. You know, guys get back,

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Speaker 4: get back right, and then guys look at itself as individuals.

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Speaker 1: How can you get better? How can you pat the team?

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Speaker 4: How can you grow from this year the less next

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Speaker 4: year to be better.

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Speaker 1: So as one of the veteran leaders on this team,

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Speaker 1: that's going to be your massage. It could be in

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Speaker 1: the next year. We've got to start fast.

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Speaker 4: Because yeah, that's what be everybody mind say. You know,

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Speaker 4: we can't keep on dropping early games. You know that's costness,

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Speaker 4: I say, because we're trying to fight and call letter

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Speaker 4: in season. You know later in the season. Last year

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Speaker 4: was winning games, so it was unefeated roll into the playoffs.

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Speaker 4: This game, we were trying to play kitsch up. You know,

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Speaker 4: everybody are playing MEFL games and end of the year.

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Speaker 4: But we gotta jump out. I feel like we gotta

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Speaker 4: start faster.

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Speaker 1: Jermaine is twenty seven years old and has been mister

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Speaker 1: reliable in Cincinnati, only missing one game due to injury

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Speaker 1: in five NFL seasons. He helped force the fumble in

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Speaker 1: the jungle in the twenty twenty two playoffs and picked

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Speaker 1: off Derek Carr the two yard line with twelve seconds

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Speaker 1: to go in the twenty twenty one wild Card round

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Speaker 1: to clinch Cincinnati's first playoff win in thirty one years.

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Speaker 3: Nine yards of real estate will determine this playoff game

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Speaker 3: fourth down end goal from the nine seventeen seconds to

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Speaker 3: go to play clock at three shotgun snap car throws

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Speaker 3: in the traffics prep.

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Speaker 2: A the football coffin now fam bam bam. How about

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Speaker 2: that it ends on a turnover? Unbelievable? Huh? The Cardiac

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Speaker 2: kids take it to the last snap.

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Speaker 3: Want to play by Jermaine Proud extending the arms to

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Speaker 3: intercept that throw by Derek Carr and win the game

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Speaker 3: for Cincinnati and twelve seconds left, the Bengals have to

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Speaker 3: snap it one time and the drought is over.

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Speaker 1: He's earned the nickname Playoff p and I think he's

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Speaker 1: a strong bet to bounce back with a better season

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought

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Speaker 1: to you by pay Corps. Proud to be the Bengals

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Speaker 1: Official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber

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Speaker 1: Internet design to elevate your home, business and community to

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Speaker 1: a new level, and by Cattering Health the best care

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Speaker 1: for the best fan. Kettering Health is the official healthcare

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Speaker 1: provider of the Bengals. Now time for an in depth

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Speaker 1: look at some of the key issues facing the Bengals

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Speaker 1: this offseason. My guest is Sam Monson, lead analyst for

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Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. Sam, one of your PFF colleagues, wrote

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Speaker 1: this week that the Bengals will undoubtedly be back in

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Speaker 1: contention with a healthy Joe Burrow. Do you agree?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's true. I mean, Joe Burrow I

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Speaker 5: think has already shown himself to be one of those

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Speaker 5: quarterbacks that's good enough that, assuming he's healthy, he's going

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Speaker 5: to put you in contention every single year. You know,

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Speaker 5: Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, those teams are always

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Speaker 5: going to be in contention as long as they have

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Speaker 5: quarterbacks that good. Another teams will come and go. But

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Speaker 5: I think that's an incredible starting point. So yeah, I

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Speaker 5: think a lot of the season's problems were sourced with

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Speaker 5: Joe Burrow's injuries. Even though Jake Browning played very well

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Speaker 5: in Instead, let me.

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Speaker 1: Follow up on Jake Browning because I suppose that's one

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Speaker 1: of the positives from this season. The Bengals learned that

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Speaker 1: they have a competent backup quarterback in Jake and they

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Speaker 1: control his rights for two more years. How good was

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Speaker 1: he in your opinion and should the Bengals consider trying

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Speaker 1: to get something in exchange or do you need to

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Speaker 1: have a guy like that, especially when Joe's had some

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Speaker 1: injury problems.

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Speaker 5: I think he was really good. Outside of playing Pittsburgh,

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Speaker 5: Jake Browny was fantastic this year. It was weird, like

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Speaker 5: his two worst games by a distance, came against the Steelers,

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Speaker 5: and pretty much every other game I think he played

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Speaker 5: really well. Some of his performances felt a little bit

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Speaker 5: sort of unsustainable. I don't want to say lucky, but

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Speaker 5: they were more you know, let's put the ball up

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Speaker 5: and see if a receiver makes a play, and they

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Speaker 5: did quite a lot of the time, because you know,

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Speaker 5: the Bengals have really good wide receivers. But that's always

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Speaker 5: a little bit of a precarious style of play to

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Speaker 5: replicate week after week after week. Sometimes those balls are

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Speaker 5: not going to go your way, and you're not going

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Speaker 5: to get the payoff from them. But overall, I mean,

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Speaker 5: he showed he could run the offense, he showed he

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Speaker 5: could make good decisions, he showed he could be accurate

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Speaker 5: with the ball, and maybe wrote his look a little

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Speaker 5: bit at times during the season. But I agree he

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Speaker 5: showed that he is immediately one of the better backups

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Speaker 5: in the NFL. I think this year, of all the years,

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Speaker 5: showed not just from the Bengals point of view, but

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Speaker 5: league wide, the value in having a good backup quarterback.

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Speaker 5: You know, so many teams had to turn to their

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Speaker 5: backups this year, and if you need a guy to

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Speaker 5: win you you know, three or four games in the season,

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Speaker 5: Jake Brown just showed that he's capable of doing that.

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Speaker 5: So I would be inclined to say the value of

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Speaker 5: that exceeds the value of anything you could get for

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Speaker 5: him in a trade, So keep him around.

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Speaker 1: So Pro Football Focus has come out with a ranking

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Speaker 1: of the top one hundred free agents, and t Higgins

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Speaker 1: is high on the list at number four. Most of us,

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Speaker 1: or many of us, myself included, think that the Bengals

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Speaker 1: are likely to franchise tag him for roughly twenty one

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Speaker 1: million bucks to keep the band together, so to speak,

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Speaker 1: for at least another year. Is that what they should do.

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Speaker 5: I think the decision should be between that and getting

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Speaker 5: a long term deal with him sorted out, you know,

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Speaker 5: trying to keep him around long term as part of

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Speaker 5: the whole thing. But it's felt like for a while

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Speaker 5: they were going to go the sort of Jesse Bates

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Speaker 5: rut with T Higgins and play him throughout that rookie deal, franchise,

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Speaker 5: tag him and for you know, a step up in costs,

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Speaker 5: and then move on when it's time to really commit

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Speaker 5: big money to him and instead go in a different direction.

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Speaker 5: I don't think it's necessarily a bad decision, a bad approach.

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Speaker 5: You know, you get one more year of T Higgins

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Speaker 5: and then theoretically you've had a chance to come up

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Speaker 5: with the backup solution, and Cincinnati is good generally, I

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Speaker 5: think at four planning these things and having already made

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Speaker 5: back up there to step into the bigger role. But

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Speaker 5: it's always a risk. You know that the Bengals had

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Speaker 5: Tax Hill this year to step into the role left

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Speaker 5: by Jesse Bates, and it didn't quite go that way.

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Speaker 5: It didn't quite work the way he wanted it to.

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Speaker 5: You might have the best laid plan, but it doesn't

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Speaker 5: mean that guy is going to be able to step

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Speaker 5: into that role. You know, this year, I imagine maybe they'll

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Speaker 5: draft somebody as well. But you know, the Andre Yoshivas

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Speaker 5: looks like a receiver that could potentially become, you know,

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Speaker 5: step into that number two role in a year's time,

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Speaker 5: But it's projection at this point. That might be the plan,

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Speaker 5: that might be what you want to happen, but you're

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Speaker 5: really not going to know whether it's going to work

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Speaker 5: or not until at the end, you know, twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 5: when you actually make that switch and then hope fingers

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Speaker 5: crossed that it's going to have the results you expected

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Speaker 5: it to. So I definitely think it's a sensible plan.

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Speaker 5: It's one that makes sense, but it is a risk

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Speaker 5: anytime you're going to an unknown quantity versus someone that

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Speaker 5: you know is good in this offense.

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Speaker 1: Sam Monson is our guest lead analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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Speaker 1: For other Bengals free agents made that PFF Top one hundred,

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Speaker 1: DJ Reader nineteenth, Chinna Beao Wuji twenty sixth, Joana Williams

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Speaker 1: fifty fourth, and Tyler Boyd seventy fourth. Who should they keep.

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Speaker 5: I think they should try and keep DJ Reader. He

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Speaker 5: would be the the first name on that list that

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Speaker 5: I would try and bring back. He's so important to

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Speaker 5: what they do. He's the most difficult skill set I

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Speaker 5: think to replace as well, Like you can't find DJ

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Speaker 5: Readers just out there on the open market. He's incredibly

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Speaker 5: good against the run. He brings enough as a pass

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Speaker 5: rusher he can impact that side of the game as well,

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Speaker 5: and they really miss him when he's not in that

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Speaker 5: defensive lineup. So I think he's the first guy I

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Speaker 5: would try and bring back. Ouzie I think is a

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Speaker 5: player that they would like to have back, but it

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Speaker 5: kind of depends on the costs, and I think that's

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Speaker 5: one that maybe you can replace easier. I think Jonah

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Speaker 5: Williams the move to right tackle didn't really work out

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Speaker 5: for him. He didn't bounce back to the level that

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Speaker 5: he'd been at before last year, which was the worst

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Speaker 5: year of his career. Was more in line with that

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Speaker 5: just on the other side of the line. So I

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Speaker 5: think they'll be looking to move on from him anyway,

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Speaker 5: regardless of the costs, regardless of whether they need to

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Speaker 5: give him a big extra deal and then Tyler Boyd

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Speaker 5: kind of depends on the cost. You know, I think

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Speaker 5: they would like to have him back, but it also

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Speaker 5: feels like a player that would be the easiest to

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Speaker 5: try and replace and have somebody step into that role

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Speaker 5: and do what Tyler er Boyd did fur them, or

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Speaker 5: at least an approximation of it. Again, they might already

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Speaker 5: have that guy on the roster. You know, maybe it's

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Speaker 5: not Yosebast this time. Maybe it's Charlie Jones that can

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Speaker 5: become their primary slot receiver and take those targets. So

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Speaker 5: you know, if Tyler Boyd, if the market isn't strong,

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Speaker 5: or if he's willing to come back on a cheap deal,

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Speaker 5: maybe they'd be interested. But otherwise I think they would

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Speaker 5: be looking to move in a different direction.

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Speaker 1: Sam, is there a pending free agent on another NFL

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Speaker 1: roster that you think makes sense for Cincinnati.

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Speaker 5: It's a weird year for a free agency this year.

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Speaker 5: It's not the strongest class in the world. There's some

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Speaker 5: guys that at the top end I think that make

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Speaker 5: a lot of sense, but you're gonna have to bring

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Speaker 5: big money to the table. I mean, if a guy

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Speaker 5: like DJ Reader does make it out of the door,

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Speaker 5: and you're looking to try and replace that. Christian Wilkins

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Speaker 5: from the Miami Dolphins is potentially available if he hits

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Speaker 5: the open market. That is one of the few guys

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Speaker 5: I think that kind of replicate what DJ Reader brings

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Speaker 5: to the table. Really good against the run, enough about

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Speaker 5: him as a pastrusher to be a factor there as well.

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Speaker 5: You know, Justinmoutabuike. I imagine it's going to make a

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Speaker 5: ton of money given the season he just had for

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Speaker 5: the Ravens, but if they were able to steal him

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Speaker 5: away from a division rival, that would be absolutely spectacular.

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Speaker 5: And then I think there will be a few cornerbacks

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Speaker 5: available in free agency as well. Whether it's lugurious need,

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Speaker 5: I imagine the Chiefs will lock him up and not

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Speaker 5: let him hit the market. The Bears Jalen Johnson, similar

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Speaker 5: kind of thing. I imagine they'll franchise tag him. I

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Speaker 5: can't see him hitting the market either, but there will

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Speaker 5: be I think some intriguing players available that they could

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Speaker 5: dip into.

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Speaker 1: If Jonah Williams leaves as a free agent, there's going

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Speaker 1: to be an obvious needed right tackle. How's that pool

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Speaker 1: in free agency? And or the draft.

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Speaker 5: It's not good in free agency, not taking that it's

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Speaker 5: a better year in the draft, and absolutely I think

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Speaker 5: that would be a live situation for them. One name

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Speaker 5: I think that is interesting though, in a free agent

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Speaker 5: he is Michael Owenu from the New England Patriots. He's

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Speaker 5: had a weird career where they've bounced him around the

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Speaker 5: line an awful lot, whether it's left guard or whether

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Speaker 5: it's the either guard position or right tackle. I think

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Speaker 5: his best position has been right tackle. And basically anytime

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Speaker 5: he's played, he's he's played extremely well, really good PFF grades,

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Speaker 5: really good performance. They've never seemed to quite buy into

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Speaker 5: him one hundred percent. And he's now scheduled to hit

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Speaker 5: free agency, so you know, it's not like they've been

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Speaker 5: proactive and bringing him back and keeping him as part

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Speaker 5: of the future there. And I wonder what his sort

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Speaker 5: of league wide standing is, whether he's underrated by everybody

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Speaker 5: and he's a guy that could be had for relatively

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Speaker 5: low money, or if for some reason the Patriots just

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Speaker 5: didn't value him as much as maybe the play suggests

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Speaker 5: they should have. And actually he'll have a strong market

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Speaker 5: in free agency given the relative lack of players at

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Speaker 5: that position. But if Michael Owenu, you know, was available

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Speaker 5: for not a huge amount of money, I think that

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Speaker 5: would be a huge upgrade at that spot.

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Speaker 1: We're chatting with Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus. You

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Speaker 1: can follow him up on Twitter at PFF Underscore. Sam.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk Bengals running backs. When you look at Joe

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Speaker 1: Mixon's numbers for the year, he had more than fourteen

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Speaker 1: hundred dollar purpose yards, he scored twelve touchdowns. Chase Brown

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Speaker 1: added explosive this once he started to play for the

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Speaker 1: latter end of the season. Are they good with that

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Speaker 1: duo going forward or do they need to add something

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Speaker 1: at that position.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I think it's a good duo going forward,

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Speaker 5: and I think they're a pair that compliment each other. Well,

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Speaker 5: it's not like Joe Mixon is reaching the age where

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Speaker 5: you're particularly concerned about running backs as well. He's still

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Speaker 5: only twenty seven years old. Okay, there's quite a lot

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Speaker 5: of mileage on the clock for him. I think it's

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Speaker 5: a position where you know, you should always have an

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Speaker 5: eye on the draft, right and just bring in a

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Speaker 5: young player and see if that guy is going to

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Speaker 5: bring you something that may be unexpected or maybe simply

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Speaker 5: just with the benefit of being a young player. When

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Speaker 5: generally speaking, I think running backs at this point the

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Speaker 5: first contract is the best play you're going to get

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Speaker 5: from them.

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Speaker 1: So I think I think they're.

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Speaker 5: Fine if that's the two they end up rolling with

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Speaker 5: primarily next season. But I would absolutely draft somebody and

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Speaker 5: see what you can find or on Earth and maybe

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Speaker 5: you're in a position where you can move on from

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Speaker 5: Joe Mixon and get cheaper and not suffer any kind

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Speaker 5: of drop off at at that spot.

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Speaker 1: Sam, I think we'd all agree that the Bengals defense

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Speaker 1: was disappointing this year. The question is why. Was it

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Speaker 1: largely the result of having youth in the secondary? Did

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Speaker 1: veterans at other positions underperform? What do you think were

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Speaker 1: the biggest contributing factors to that disappointing performance.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it was a bit of everything.

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Speaker 1: You know, we said before.

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Speaker 5: They had this contingency plan of moving on from Jesse Bates,

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Speaker 5: going to a design success or an error a parent.

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Speaker 5: I don't know that they planned on losing both safeties

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Speaker 5: at the same time. I think that was a bit

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Speaker 5: of a surprise to them and that sort of upset

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Speaker 5: the Apple card A bit. Now we don't just have

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Speaker 5: to rely on one new guy back there. We've got

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Speaker 5: to do it with two injuries. So obviously played in

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Speaker 5: as well, and suddenly you just got the secondary that

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Speaker 5: is not used to playing with each other, that isn't

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Speaker 5: on the same page consistently, and.

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Speaker 1: Really the front four as well.

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Speaker 5: I mean, Trey Hendrickson had a great year, an incredible

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Speaker 5: pass rusher, had a ton of pressure, a ton of sacks,

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Speaker 5: but they didn't have that consistent, complimentary piece to him.

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Speaker 5: Particularly on the other side. They weren't able to get,

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Speaker 5: you know, a ton of pressure outside of Hendrickson. I

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Speaker 5: think that impacted everybody behind him. Anytime you can get

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Speaker 5: a ton of pressure, it's going to negate some of

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Speaker 5: the deficiencies on the back end, and the Bengals weren't

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Speaker 5: really able to do that.

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Speaker 1: PFF's highest graded defensive player on the Bengals roster was

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Speaker 1: a rookie safety, Jordan Battle, who once he started playing,

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Speaker 1: really helped solidify that position. Did the Bengals strike it

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Speaker 1: rich would that third round draft pick?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, he looked absolutely fantastic. He's one of those guys

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Speaker 5: that you know had had really good hey but didn't

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Speaker 5: necessarily test off the charts and was just sort of

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Speaker 5: good at everything. You know, didn't necessarily stand out, didn't

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Speaker 5: look like an a credible athlete, didn't get pushed up

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Speaker 5: draft boards because you get enamored by the potential of

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Speaker 5: what he could do and all the crazy things. He

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Speaker 5: was just a really good player in all facets of

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Speaker 5: the game, coming out of a good program. You know,

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Speaker 5: that asks quite a lot of those defensive backs. But

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Speaker 5: I think players like that tend to fly under the

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Speaker 5: radar sometimes when you get distracted by shiny objects and

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Speaker 5: guys that run in the four to threes and things

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Speaker 5: like that. But I think he showed that he can

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Speaker 5: step into an NFL defense and do exactly the same

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Speaker 5: job as he could in the SEC against top level competition.

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Speaker 1: Damn, When you add up the production of the bengals

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Speaker 1: four tight ends, you get eighty eight catches for six

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Speaker 1: hundred and eighty six yards at seven point eight per catch,

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Speaker 1: and four touchdowns. Should the Bengals have upgrading tight end

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Speaker 1: near the top of their list of priorities or is

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Speaker 1: that enough production?

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Speaker 5: I mean, I think they would like to. I think

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Speaker 5: it's a position that you're seeing the value of and

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Speaker 5: the impact that can come from the tight end position

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Speaker 5: if you have a good one, if you have a

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Speaker 5: quality receiver at that spot. Look what the Bills did

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Speaker 5: last season by going to get Dalton Kinkaid in the

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Speaker 5: first round, even though they've already given a significant contract

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Speaker 5: to a guy like Dawson Knox. I think you're also

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Speaker 5: seeing a growth in the proliferation of two tight ends

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Speaker 5: sets in the NFL. It's not something Cincinnati does an

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Speaker 5: awful lot of, but maybe this would give them the

436
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 5: ability to go in that direction a bit more, or

437
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,600
Speaker 5: at least give them some more options when it comes

438
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,440
Speaker 5: to personnel groupings. So yeah, I think that's an area

439
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,720
Speaker 5: that they've I don't want to say they've scrimped on,

440
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,560
Speaker 5: but they haven't hit on a guy in recent years

441
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,280
Speaker 5: at that spot to be able to come in and

442
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,040
Speaker 5: make the difference. They've rolled the dice a few times

443
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,960
Speaker 5: on sort of former big talents, first round picks, guys

444
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,560
Speaker 5: that have a pedigree but haven't worked out so far

445
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,760
Speaker 5: in the NFL, and they haven't been able to recapture that.

446
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,840
Speaker 5: They haven't been able to find the ability the talent

447
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,280
Speaker 5: that got those guys drafted it high up. Obviously, the

448
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,400
Speaker 5: injuries were a big part of that, but it might

449
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,200
Speaker 5: be time to just go and get your own sort

450
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,080
Speaker 5: of high draft pick at the tight end position and

451
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,760
Speaker 5: see if you can strike it rich that way.

452
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,000
Speaker 1: What about offensive tweaks, whether it is more two tight

453
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,360
Speaker 1: end sets, whether it's more under center runs, whether it's

454
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 1: more play action. Do you think that there's something along

455
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: those lines that the Bengals really need to seriously consider

456
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four.

457
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,439
Speaker 5: I think there is something to being more versatile and

458
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,439
Speaker 5: more multiple when it comes to personnel groupings and the

459
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 5: way you deploy the group.

460
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: That you have.

461
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 5: The Bengals have tended to skew on the other side

462
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 5: of that, which is we run basically the same personnel

463
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 5: and we just out execute you. And there's it's absolutely

464
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,400
Speaker 5: a valid way of thinking, but I think generally speaking,

465
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,679
Speaker 5: it is easier to cause problems for defense if you

466
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,240
Speaker 5: can mess with the personnel and you can change things

467
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 5: up and give them different looks on a consistent basis,

468
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,320
Speaker 5: as opposed to they're going to have a pretty good

469
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,240
Speaker 5: idea how you're going to line up before you even

470
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 5: get on the field, and you just have to execute

471
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 5: better than they do. I think you just gain so

472
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 5: much more by introducing that element of doubt and causing

473
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,800
Speaker 5: them problems before the snap, as opposed to letting them

474
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 5: be the ones that are proactive with misdirection and you know,

475
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,520
Speaker 5: disguise and rotating safeties and changing the look pre and

476
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,560
Speaker 5: posted snap and those kinds of things. I think when

477
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 5: you see all the offenses that are really starting to

478
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,679
Speaker 5: take over the NFL right now, it is ones that

479
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 5: are much more diverse and multiple when it comes to

480
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 5: those things, Sam m.

481
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,960
Speaker 1: The Bengals went one in five in the AFC North.

482
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,359
Speaker 1: Their only win was over Cleveland when the Browns basically

483
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:42,959
Speaker 1: rested everybody in the final week of the regular season.

484
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: There's a healthy Joe Burrow fix that? Or do the

485
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:50,200
Speaker 1: Bengals need to specifically think about those six games against Baltimore, Pittsburgh,

486
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:54,200
Speaker 1: and Cleveland as they build their roster in the offseason. Yeah.

487
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,439
Speaker 5: As we said before, I think a healthy Joe Burrow

488
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,520
Speaker 5: makes you puts you at every single game, you know,

489
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,880
Speaker 5: and it certainly changes the outcome of several games relative

490
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,199
Speaker 5: to a Jake Browning. So yeah, I don't think that

491
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 5: there's I don't think they exposed anything about Cincinnati this year.

492
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 5: Other than the fact that they didn't have Joe Burrow

493
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,199
Speaker 5: for a lot of the season and they weren't as

494
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 5: good as they've been in previous years. And that division

495
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:16,120
Speaker 5: was really.

496
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:16,479
Speaker 1: Good this year.

497
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 5: I mean, the Browns had the best defense in the

498
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,399
Speaker 5: NFL for most of the year. The Ravens looked like

499
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 5: the best team in the AFC, and Pittsburgh were what

500
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,119
Speaker 5: Pittsburgh usually is, which is good enough to win, you know,

501
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 5: nine games, scrape over that five hundred mark from Mike

502
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,040
Speaker 5: Tomlins record that he never loses.

503
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:35,480
Speaker 1: So it's a tough place.

504
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,119
Speaker 5: I mean, there's a reason all four teams in that

505
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,399
Speaker 5: division had a winning record. It's harder to get wins

506
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,399
Speaker 5: in that division that it would have been if you

507
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,920
Speaker 5: were playing in the NFC South for example.

508
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 1: Final question for Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus, and

509
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,080
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time. We've reached the second round of

510
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: the playoffs, so you got Yeah, it's tough.

511
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,160
Speaker 5: I mean it's interesting now we get the number one

512
00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 5: seeds entering the equation and you know the line the

513
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,080
Speaker 5: points spread has them both as big favorites. I think

514
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 5: sometimes we tend to forget based off the wildcard week

515
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,119
Speaker 5: that actually the best teams are sitting at home watching

516
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 5: this and ready to enter the fray with a week

517
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 5: of rest behind them. But Houston were fantastic a week

518
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 5: ago against Cleveland Green Bay the same thing against Dallas,

519
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,439
Speaker 5: so I think both those games are live. But the

520
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 5: forty nine Ers are the best team in the NFC.

521
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 5: The Ravens probably are the best team in the AFC.

522
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,639
Speaker 5: So it's still the most likely super Bowl, I think.

523
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: And if that is the Super Bowl, which of the

524
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:34,920
Speaker 1: twoty alike?

525
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 5: I think everyone will be going for Baltimore because of

526
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,440
Speaker 5: the way the last game went. I think that game

527
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 5: was kind of I don't want to say fluky, but

528
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 5: the way that it went against San Francisco doesn't happen,

529
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 5: you know, very often everything bounced against them. I would

530
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 5: actually I would back to forty nine Ers in that scenario.

531
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,440
Speaker 1: Sam, appreciate your time as always, Thanks so much, great

532
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:57,640
Speaker 1: stuff anytime.

533
00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 5: Thanks for having me.

534
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,719
Speaker 1: Before we wrapped things up, how about an addition of

535
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 1: story time with Dan. Last week, insanely cold weather for

536
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 1: playoff games in Kansas City and Buffalo brought back memories

537
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: of the coldest playoff game of them all, the nineteen

538
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 1: eighty two Freezer Bowl at Riverfront Stadium, where the temperature

539
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 1: hit minus nine and the wind chill reached minus fifty nine.

540
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 1: The end result was good, as the Bengals beat the

541
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 1: Chargers to earn a trip to their first Super Bowl,

542
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:39,920
Speaker 1: but the conditions were miserable for everybody involved, with one

543
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:45,040
Speaker 1: possible exception the weather forecasters, who get very excited when

544
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 1: it's nasty outside. I wrote a commercial about that once,

545
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,320
Speaker 1: and you're about to hear it on Storytime with Dan.

546
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 1: Remember bud Light's Real Men of Genius commercials. For several years,

547
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 1: the mock salutes were the funniest thing on the radio.

548
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 1: There were tributes to mister Giant foam fingermaker and mister

549
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,440
Speaker 1: bowling shoe giver Router, and well, just listen.

550
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 6: Bud Light presents real men of genius, Real men of genius. Today,

551
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:24,159
Speaker 6: we salute you, mister tiny thong bikini ware, mister tiny

552
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 6: thummy Gediwhere beach goers the world over see you coming

553
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 6: and say hey, check out the wooly mammoth and the

554
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 6: rubber bands.

555
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:34,679
Speaker 1: A mammoth.

556
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,120
Speaker 6: Defying the natural laws of physics, you managed to squeeze

557
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 6: a forty six inch waist into a thirty in suit

558
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 6: like ground meat crammed into a sausage skin. You take

559
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,120
Speaker 6: to the beach and proudly strut your stuff. If you've

560
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 6: got it, flaunt it. That's your motto, which is ironic

561
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,399
Speaker 6: because you haven't got it. So crack off in a

562
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 6: nice cold bud light, sweet cheeks, and know that if

563
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 6: you weren't wearing that suit, we'd ask you to take

564
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 6: a bumkin.

565
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 3: Women, I'd like.

566
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 6: Here and iss Missouri.

567
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,040
Speaker 1: The real men and women of Genius were the writers

568
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 1: of those commercials, along with the two voices you hear

569
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,359
Speaker 1: on every one of them. The deep voice narrator is

570
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 1: an actor named Pete Stacker, and the singer is Dave Bickler,

571
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: the lead singer of the Band's Survivor, best known for

572
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 1: the hit I of the Tiger. So what does all

573
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 1: of this have to do with me? Here's the story.

574
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 1: Many years ago, when I was still a sports anchor

575
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 1: at Fox nineteen, I learned that those two guys were

576
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: going to be doing some recording at a studio in Cincinnati.

577
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: So I contacted the advertising agency that did the campaign

578
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,320
Speaker 1: and told them I was interested in doing a story

579
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,040
Speaker 1: about the real men of Genius commercials and the two

580
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: guys that we hear but never see. The advertising agency

581
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 1: set up interviews with Pete and Dave and the story

582
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 1: turned out great. But I also asked them for a favor.

583
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,440
Speaker 1: I figured it would be fun to write a couple

584
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: of those ads about the TV news business, and I

585
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,600
Speaker 1: asked if they would be willing to record them. They

586
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 1: said yes, and you're about to hear the result. Here's

587
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 1: my real Men of Genius tribute to meteorologists everywhere.

588
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:24,680
Speaker 6: Bud Light presents Fox nineteen Real Men of Genius, Real

589
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:30,480
Speaker 6: Men of genius. Today we salute you, mister excited about

590
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 6: storms weather man. Mister excited about storms weather that'd while

591
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 6: normal people hate snow, sleet and heavy rain, you act

592
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 6: like it's your birthday. How can I thank you for

593
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 6: on those nights a one hour newscast becomes all weather

594
00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 6: all the time, and most of us don't even know

595
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,000
Speaker 6: what barometric pressure is?

596
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 1: Jumulo nimbus what?

597
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,360
Speaker 6: And for all we know, there's no such thing as

598
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 6: Doppler radar for Doppler nineteen thousand. Open a nice cold

599
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 6: bud Light, mister meteorologist. But remember, even when the weather's lousy,

600
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 6: you don't care. You're bone dry in a room with

601
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 6: no Windows, Mister excited about Stock swather Man, bud Light

602
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 6: Beer and ISAA Bush Saint Louis, Missouri.

603
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: That concludes Storytime with Dan and this episode of the

604
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by pay Core, Proud

605
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,160
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606
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Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,

607
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Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering

608
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health

609
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you

610
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,760
Speaker 1: haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and

611
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,600
Speaker 1: if you have a minute, give it a rating or

612
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.

613
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals

614
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast