Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The Close Suit to You get
Speaker 1: Close Suit to Me. Addition, as the Bengals try to
Speaker 1: gain ground in the AFC playoff race as they face
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. Coming up, I'll talk to
Speaker 1: Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated about the possibility of Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow winning MVP despite the Bengals record. My one on
Speaker 1: one player interview this week is with Joseph Osai, who's
Speaker 1: looking to record a sack for the fourth straight game.
Speaker 1: And in our NOA Faux segment, we'll get the skinny
Speaker 1: on the Titans from Nashville sportscaster John Burton. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud
Speaker 1: to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta
Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering health
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Cattering Health is
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. There are a
Speaker 1: few things that the rest of the country doesn't understand
Speaker 1: about Cincinnati. For example, when somebody asks where did you
Speaker 1: go to school, they mean you're high school, not your college.
Speaker 1: There's no debating this question. In Cincinnati, Pete Rose belongs
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame, and Oprah Winfrey isn't just
Speaker 1: great for her business empire, but also due to the
Speaker 1: fact that she gets Greater's Black Raspberry chocolate chip ice
Speaker 1: cream delivered to her home. As for Skyline Chili, if
Speaker 1: you didn't grow up in Cincinnati, chili comes in a
Speaker 1: bowl with ground beef and kidney beans. But if you're
Speaker 1: from Cincinnati, chili is served on spaghetti or hot dogs
Speaker 1: and topped with a giant orange mound of cheddar cheese.
Speaker 1: The rest of the country can make fun of us,
Speaker 1: but we know it's a delicacy. As for the Crosstown shootout,
Speaker 1: if you google the best rivalries in sports, you'll get
Speaker 1: Ohio State, Michigan, the Yankees, Red Sox, North Carolina Duke,
Speaker 1: maybe even the Bengals Steelers. But none of those rivalries
Speaker 1: are in the same city. That's what makes the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Xavier game so unique. It's the best intra city rivalry
Speaker 1: in sports. Two great academic institutions located just three miles
Speaker 1: apart that happen to have two of the best college
Speaker 1: basketball programs in the country. The ninety second edition of
Speaker 1: the rivalry is coming up on Saturday at two, a
Speaker 1: tasty appetizer before the Bengals face the Titans on Sunday
Speaker 1: at one. Now, let's get to my first guest. It
Speaker 1: is always great to spend a few minutes with Sports
Speaker 1: Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer. Albert, prior to the season,
Speaker 1: you picked Joe Burrow to be your NFL MVP, So
Speaker 1: clearly you had high expectations for this season. But all
Speaker 1: things considered, coming back from the risk, et cetera, has
Speaker 1: he even exceeded what you were expecting?
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I mean I think you make an
Speaker 2: argument for him being MVP. Now, you know, I one
Speaker 2: of the guys I work with at Amazon, actually, Richard Sherman,
Speaker 2: did have him as MVP just because of you know,
Speaker 2: that word value and how much he's meant to the
Speaker 2: Bengals and how he's kept them in it, and as
Speaker 2: fate as the hopes are right now for the team,
Speaker 2: based on the way the defense is played, based on
Speaker 2: some of the troubles they had and getting the running
Speaker 2: game going, I think it's it's hard to argue there
Speaker 2: is a player who's more valuable to his team now,
Speaker 2: you know, I know, obviously Josh Allen or Saquon Barkley
Speaker 2: is somebody with a winning team's gonna gonna get it.
Speaker 2: But Joe's been off the charts, you know, And you know,
Speaker 2: I think it's a great sign of where the Bengals
Speaker 2: are going to be going forward, even though you know,
Speaker 2: it looks pretty bleak.
Speaker 3: As far as the chances of getting in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think you're right. The MVP will almost certainly come
Speaker 1: from a winning team. There's never been one in the
Speaker 1: NFL from a losing team. There has been in baseball,
Speaker 1: but not in football. But here's the question.
Speaker 3: Do you think that.
Speaker 1: Joe will get a significant number of votes?
Speaker 3: Probably not.
Speaker 2: Again, like I just think the win loss, and I actually,
Speaker 2: you know, the funny thing is, I think Joe would.
Speaker 3: Actually agree with that because he like I.
Speaker 2: There are very few quarterbacks that are as obsessed with
Speaker 2: winning and losing as Joe is, and so I think
Speaker 2: he would probably agree with the premise that that you
Speaker 2: shouldn't be the MVP if you've if you've got a
Speaker 2: losing record.
Speaker 3: But I do think he deserves votes.
Speaker 2: I don't think he'll get a lot, you know, because
Speaker 2: I do think that these things become about narratives, and
Speaker 2: you know, I think that's why we've seen a couple
Speaker 2: of unanimous MVPs in the last few years. I think
Speaker 2: more than ever, storylines can drive these things, and and
Speaker 2: right now it feels that the storylines are going in
Speaker 2: the direction of the two guys I mentioned Josh Allen,
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley earlier in the year.
Speaker 3: You know, Lamar was in that mix.
Speaker 2: But but I yeah, it's hard for me to see Joe,
Speaker 2: based on the narratives that are out there, getting a
Speaker 2: ton of getting a ton of votes.
Speaker 1: Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated is our guest. You seem
Speaker 1: to have as good a relationship with Joe as any
Speaker 1: national reporter. What have you enjoyed about your interactions with
Speaker 1: him over the years.
Speaker 2: He challenges you, You know, like he's somebody who I
Speaker 2: always like the people that you go to a conversation
Speaker 2: with and it's not going to be a layup where
Speaker 2: you got to ask good questions and you got to
Speaker 2: think on your feet, and you know, I I think
Speaker 2: he what I what I like about him is like
Speaker 2: I think he likes it when you come into the
Speaker 2: conversation prepared. He's like Lamar Jackson that way. Actually, Lamar
Speaker 2: is just like that too, where you know it's it's
Speaker 2: not going to be you know, you're not going to
Speaker 2: get answers overflowing with cliches that go on for ever.
Speaker 2: He's gonna be quick and to the point, and you
Speaker 2: know you've got to be able to think on your
Speaker 2: feet and kind of keep the back and forth going.
Speaker 2: I also he reminds me so much of the first
Speaker 2: quarterback I covered, you know, in in my twenty years
Speaker 2: covering the NFL and Brady Like, there are a lot
Speaker 2: of personality traits that are very similar there. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, stylistically, he's like the closest thing to a
Speaker 2: descendant now as far as like the scoreboard goes, obviously,
Speaker 2: Mahomes is closest to ever having a shot of catching him.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think Joe has a lot of
Speaker 2: similarity stylistically the way he plays, you know, and and
Speaker 2: the way he carries himself, what's important to him to
Speaker 2: Brady so and I just think he's a great person,
Speaker 2: you know. I think he's a really good guy from
Speaker 2: a good family who.
Speaker 3: You know, wants to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: And I think you can oftentimes tell about a player
Speaker 2: and what his teammates think of him and Joe, you know,
Speaker 2: as you know better than me, Dan like emphatically catch
Speaker 2: checks that box.
Speaker 1: Albert, you did a brief video this week on social
Speaker 1: media making the case that the Bengal should not only
Speaker 1: extend Jamar Chase, but try to do it right now
Speaker 1: if they can. You refer to Bengals ownership as follows
Speaker 1: good hearted people who want to do the right thing
Speaker 1: and want to win. Elaborate on your case for why
Speaker 1: you think the Bengal should make that move a sap, Well,
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: The number one thing is you want to keep your
Speaker 2: quarterback happy. And you know, I think that you can't
Speaker 2: always do it, but when you do it, you should
Speaker 2: go one hundred miles an hour doing it, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? Like with every quarterback. There are going
Speaker 2: to be situations where you're gonna have to make a.
Speaker 3: Hard decision for the team that they're not going to
Speaker 3: be happy with.
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes I'm sure was not happy with with completely
Speaker 2: happy with Tyreek Hill going out the door, because that's
Speaker 2: going to affect his performance directly, and it's a risk.
Speaker 2: You know, they had a good thing going, and you
Speaker 2: know that the Chiefs were upfront with with with with
Speaker 2: Patrick about why they were doing it, you know.
Speaker 3: But they've also done things to help him, you know.
Speaker 2: They they they went over the top and paying Chris Jones,
Speaker 2: they went over the top and accommodating Travis Kelcey. They
Speaker 2: were aggressive when he was on his rookie contract. And
Speaker 2: so you know, I think you always want to be really,
Speaker 2: you know, cognizant of your quarterback and where he's at.
Speaker 3: And you know, we know how close Jamar and Joe are.
Speaker 2: And so I think, you know, with the possibility that
Speaker 2: you're losing t Higgins, I think that you're taking care
Speaker 2: of Jamar now as a signal.
Speaker 3: To the quarterback how serious you are about winning.
Speaker 2: The other thing is I just think Jamar is the
Speaker 2: right type of guy, you know, and and there are
Speaker 2: certain guys where you might like kind of you hold
Speaker 2: your ass paying them, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 2: like I like I like like, I like I. I
Speaker 2: there's a great player, but I don't know the way
Speaker 2: he's going to act to getting to he's gonna he's
Speaker 2: going to react to having you know, a lot more
Speaker 2: money in his pocket. And I just don't think that's
Speaker 2: going to exist with Jamar. Jamar and Justin Jefferson are
Speaker 2: a lot alike that way. I think they're driven by
Speaker 2: team success. I think they're driven by individual greatness. And
Speaker 2: I can tell you a story like that. I've told
Speaker 2: my own kids about Jamar. Right, I was at your
Speaker 2: camp summer twenty one, and you know it's just after COVID,
Speaker 2: so we're just you know, I well, I don't know
Speaker 2: if it's like this for you, Dan, but like that
Speaker 2: first training camp back, like I was kind of like
Speaker 2: like super aware of everything, you know, and so and
Speaker 2: so that was like remember Jamar's first summer, he had
Speaker 2: the issue with the drops, and you know, I hung
Speaker 2: out in the field afterwards to catch up with a
Speaker 2: couple of coaches, and I was probably out there for
Speaker 2: fifteen or twenty or twenty five minutes whatever it was.
Speaker 2: And you know, I turn around and I'm walking up
Speaker 2: and I see there's Jamar, like a half hour after
Speaker 2: the field has been cleared, and he's on his knees,
Speaker 2: you know, with a trainer or whoever it was, in
Speaker 2: the drugs machine. And you know, I just think like
Speaker 2: it was such a symbol of who the guy is
Speaker 2: as a player and what's important to him and how
Speaker 2: how important being great is to him. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: I think he's for my money. Like he and he
Speaker 2: and Jefferson are one two in some order the best
Speaker 2: receivers in the league. I think he's going to continue
Speaker 2: to play at that level because of how important it
Speaker 2: is to him to be at that level. So I
Speaker 2: think combination of a great player you can build around
Speaker 2: offense around. He changes the math for the rest of
Speaker 2: the receivers and how they're covered. It makes your quarterback
Speaker 2: happy to have him, and he's got a great rapport
Speaker 2: and uncommon rapport with him because they've been together going
Speaker 2: back to college. I just think, as sooner you can
Speaker 2: get it done, the better, And I would have done
Speaker 2: it before now because the price is only going to
Speaker 2: keep going up.
Speaker 3: You mentioned t.
Speaker 1: Higgins as well. Joe raised some eyebrows this week by
Speaker 1: expressing confidence that the Bengals could keep him as well.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction when you heard those words?
Speaker 3: Wishful thinking?
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the issue is here is how
Speaker 2: do you pay both those guys and and and also
Speaker 2: rebuild the defense and retool.
Speaker 3: And I think we all.
Speaker 2: Know like the issues the issues they've got on the
Speaker 2: defensive side of the ball. There are some guys like
Speaker 2: you know, Sam Hubbard and Von.
Speaker 3: Bell who are feeling their years.
Speaker 2: There are younger players who haven't developed as they had
Speaker 2: expected them to. So you know, I think there's a
Speaker 2: pretty significant amount of work that needs to be done
Speaker 2: on the defensive.
Speaker 3: Side of the ball. And yeah, you can do some
Speaker 3: of that through the draft.
Speaker 2: But you know, if you're investing however much money in
Speaker 2: one phase of the game, what you know, one hundred
Speaker 2: million and one hundred and ten million dollars per year
Speaker 2: and one phase of the game, are you gonna be
Speaker 2: able to do the things you need to be do
Speaker 2: need to do to be.
Speaker 3: Good enough everywhere else? That's number one?
Speaker 2: So you have to make a choice. And I look,
Speaker 2: I think Higgins is a fantastic player. But but Jamar
Speaker 2: is better, so Jamar is the guy you pay. So
Speaker 2: there's that part of it. And I also think like
Speaker 2: that position generally you can find it. I mean t
Speaker 2: Higgins himself was a second round pick. They got your
Speaker 2: main Burton in the third round. If you look at
Speaker 2: some of the best receivers in the league, you know,
Speaker 2: so guys who have big contracts now, a lot of
Speaker 2: them were drafted outside of the first round. AJ Brown, Deebo,
Speaker 2: Samuel Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf. You can go right on
Speaker 2: down the list. There are a lot of guys taken
Speaker 2: outside the first round. I'm on Ross Saint Brown that
Speaker 2: have turned into top of the league players at that position.
Speaker 2: It's just the nature of the sport where seven on
Speaker 2: seven is taken the sport, the way that kids are
Speaker 2: throwing and catching now, the best athletes playing receiver, they're
Speaker 2: just everywhere, so you can find them easier too. So,
Speaker 2: you know, I think the replaceability of the position, the
Speaker 2: choice that you have between Chase and Higgins, and then
Speaker 2: the reality of paying two receivers and a quarterback all
Speaker 2: at once or what it might mean for the rest
Speaker 2: of your team is why I think the likelihood has
Speaker 2: chased Stays long term and Higgins is gone.
Speaker 3: I guess the reverse of it could be.
Speaker 2: You know, you could do what San Francisco did with
Speaker 2: their d tackles a few years ago, where they decided
Speaker 2: to to to pay the one that was going to
Speaker 2: be a little bit cheaper and keeping Eric Armstead and
Speaker 2: and moving on from DeForest Bucketer. But my guess would
Speaker 2: be be the other way around here, they would keep
Speaker 2: Jamar and move on from Tea.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are at Tennessee on Sunday, a reunion for
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan. What are a couple of
Speaker 1: keys for the Bengals to knock off the three and
Speaker 1: ten Titans.
Speaker 2: We'll stay out of their own way for one thing.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is one of those games where you know,
Speaker 2: if you give the other team confidence early on, it
Speaker 2: can be a problem, you know, So I like, I
Speaker 2: hate the fast start start fast thing is a key
Speaker 2: because you know what's the alternative. But I think this
Speaker 2: is like the type of game where you can bury
Speaker 2: the opponent pretty quickly. Look like, I think, you know
Speaker 2: Calli and his staff have a ways to go, obviously,
Speaker 2: and you guys are very familiar with him. But and
Speaker 2: and and and clearly they've got a question a quarterback.
Speaker 2: But they are strong along the lines of scrimmage. You know,
Speaker 2: they do have Jeffrey Simmons and Trevandre Sweat's gonna be
Speaker 2: a really good player.
Speaker 3: For them in time. And you know the offensive line.
Speaker 2: They've spent you know, a high draft capital on guys
Speaker 2: like jac Latham and Peter Skirt. So you know, it's
Speaker 2: the type of team that you know, if you if
Speaker 2: you let the thing become a street fight, you know that,
Speaker 2: then then then you're you know, you're sort of barking up,
Speaker 2: not barking up their own tree.
Speaker 3: It's around cliche.
Speaker 2: You're asking for trouble maybe, So I think getting on
Speaker 2: top of them and getting them in a position where
Speaker 2: they have to play catch up, you know, could put
Speaker 2: the Titans in a really tough spot. And for once,
Speaker 2: for once, give the the Bengals a bit of a
Speaker 2: lay up here.
Speaker 1: Last thing for Albert brun I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: The Bengals won four games in twenty twenty and went
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one. How realistic
Speaker 1: is it for the Bengals to be right back in
Speaker 1: the mix next year after having a disappointing season this year.
Speaker 2: Very realistic, you know, I I I think, you know,
Speaker 2: there's been a lot of questions about what the future
Speaker 2: is going to look like there. I think with Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow and Zach Taylor in place, with Duke Tobin running
Speaker 2: the draft, I think if they can invest a little
Speaker 2: bit more, you know, and that's again an ownership thing,
Speaker 2: maybe make a little bit of a deeper, deeper investment
Speaker 2: in scouting going forward, you know.
Speaker 3: And and hit on draft picks, and dude's been pretty
Speaker 3: good in.
Speaker 2: That area, they can get this thing turned around pretty quick,
Speaker 2: you know. I also think lou Ana Roumo would be
Speaker 2: able to get things turned around quick if you can
Speaker 2: kind of flip the roster a little bit on that
Speaker 2: side of the ball. So I have no doubt that
Speaker 2: the offense is going to be good, especially if they
Speaker 2: get you know, full off seasons from their key guys,
Speaker 2: which has been a struggle for them in the last
Speaker 2: few years.
Speaker 3: You know, what they what they.
Speaker 2: Wind up looking looking like on defense, I think is
Speaker 2: I'm sure you'd agree that the swing factor and where
Speaker 2: they're going in twenty twenty five but I think it's
Speaker 2: very realistic that they could be right up there with the.
Speaker 3: Chiefs and the Bills atop the AFC next year.
Speaker 1: Albert, this has been outstanding. Can thank you enough for
Speaker 1: your time. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 3: Well, thanks for putting up with my cold and my
Speaker 3: horse voice. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: One interesting matchup to keep an eye on this week
Speaker 1: is Trey Hendrickson versus Titan left tackle JC Latham, the
Speaker 1: seventh overall pick in this year's draft. Trey leads the
Speaker 1: NFL with twelve and a half sacks. Latham leads the
Speaker 1: NFL in sacks allowed with thirteen. We'll see if big
Speaker 1: play Tray adds to his league leading total on Sunday.
Speaker 1: One issue that the Bengals have had on defense this
Speaker 1: year is getting sacks from somebody other than Trey, but
Speaker 1: that's changed in recent weeks as Joseph Osai has picked
Speaker 1: up sacks in each of the last three games. He
Speaker 1: also blocked a field goal in the Pittsburgh game. I
Speaker 1: caught up with Joseph this week to discuss his recent productivity. Joseph,
Speaker 1: you scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago. Against Baltimore. How did the excitement of
Speaker 1: that blocked field goal a couple of weeks ago against
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh compare.
Speaker 4: Nothing visa touchdown? You know, So that one's tough, but
Speaker 4: it's close there. It's close up there. But yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: I said, a big man's is to either catch it
Speaker 4: and run in for a touchdown or pick it up
Speaker 4: and run in for a touchdown. I was fortunate that
Speaker 4: it was there, so all I do was fall on it.
Speaker 4: But I would say I would say a touchdown, touchdown?
Speaker 4: Stead up there?
Speaker 1: Understandable. I'm that block field goal? Muma Jong Meta and
Speaker 1: Tyson Anderson put number ninety two of the Steelers on
Speaker 1: his butt and you were able to slice through a
Speaker 1: gap pretty much untouched. Is that the way that's supposed
Speaker 1: to look or did it just work out unbelievably?
Speaker 4: Well, that's the way it's drawn up. But it was
Speaker 4: one hundred percent there's you know what I mean. It
Speaker 4: happened because they were able to execute and do that.
Speaker 4: So kudos to those guys.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: We're visiting the Joseph Osai. You've had a sack now
Speaker 1: in three consecutive games. Have you felt like it was
Speaker 1: only a matter of time before you started getting some.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, that's how it is. You know you're Russian and
Speaker 4: gave the way the game goes. You know, either he
Speaker 4: gets the bought out too early, or you hit him
Speaker 4: and you just fall off it, or you miss him,
Speaker 4: or you hit him and or you pressure him into
Speaker 4: some other guys. And but you just gotta keep going.
Speaker 4: You can't be discouraged. And you just understand when it
Speaker 4: when the rains are poor, so when they do come,
Speaker 4: they'll come in bunches. Everybody knows that Lou.
Speaker 1: And Aroumo has praised your growth this year, especially as
Speaker 1: a run defender. Is it physical improvement or better understanding
Speaker 1: of the game.
Speaker 4: I would say both understanding his scheme and being being
Speaker 4: in it for it for so long now and being
Speaker 4: comfortable in it. You play faster, and then obviously you
Speaker 4: still need to be strong, you need to get off blocks,
Speaker 4: you need to do your job. And then and then
Speaker 4: some which is the running to the ball, which is
Speaker 4: what Lou preaches about all the time, the effort to
Speaker 4: the ball, all all eleven guys driving. He likes when
Speaker 4: he cuts tape and when he hits pause, and he
Speaker 4: sees all eleven guys digging to the ball, and that's
Speaker 4: what we try to do. So I would say both
Speaker 4: understanding the defense so I can play faster I can
Speaker 4: I can anticipate better, you know, and help myself being
Speaker 4: at a positioning and then being strong and you know,
Speaker 4: grinding an off season with Trey and being able to
Speaker 4: shed those blogs and and go that extra mount.
Speaker 1: We've talked about your relationship with Trey before and how
Speaker 1: he's been a great mentor for you. How would you
Speaker 1: describe the season that he is having.
Speaker 4: This year unbelievable? Unbelievable and unbelievable, but believable to me
Speaker 4: because it's been there all along, and I know I know
Speaker 4: what kind of guy he is. I've seen it. I've
Speaker 4: seen the way he puts in work, and it was
Speaker 4: only like you were saying, it's only amount of time
Speaker 4: before if the whole the whole world sees it, and
Speaker 4: if he's not Defense Player of the Year this year,
Speaker 4: I don't know what we're looking at. But that's just
Speaker 4: my true cents. I might be biased because you know,
Speaker 4: he's such a big mentor to me, but I don't care.
Speaker 4: He's he's great and it's only going to keep getting better,
Speaker 4: So look out.
Speaker 1: You've had bad injury luck in the past, hopefully that
Speaker 1: is strictly in the past and not going to happen again.
Speaker 1: You've had wrist, shoulder, and knee surgeries. Do any of
Speaker 1: those injuries still give you trouble?
Speaker 4: Not really, not really, And you know, I keep talking
Speaker 4: about Trede, but Trey was a huge, huge, huge part
Speaker 4: of getting over that mental hurdle with the wrist, and
Speaker 4: once I got over that, it was, you know, just
Speaker 4: progression every day. So I would definitely I'm super thankful
Speaker 4: to guy for putting him in my life and and
Speaker 4: using him to help me because it was tough. It
Speaker 4: was tough at times. You know, I was taping it
Speaker 4: when I didn't need to tape it, even though the
Speaker 4: tape wasn't doing anything, but the feeling of the tape
Speaker 4: helped me mentally, and he was He just kept telling
Speaker 4: me cut it off. The tapes not doing anything, cut
Speaker 4: it off, cut it off. And one day I was
Speaker 4: just because it was getting to a point where it
Speaker 4: was annoying hearing him say it every day because he
Speaker 4: didn't he didn't. If you know him, he doesn't let up.
Speaker 4: So when they had cut it off, and you know,
Speaker 4: the world didn't and so just and then gradually I
Speaker 4: was able to trust it more and you know, use
Speaker 4: it more, and it's a huge it's a huge part
Speaker 4: of how I'm playing to run this year, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean.
Speaker 1: So it was great you won a game in Dallas
Speaker 1: on Monday night. You're from Texas, he played for the Longhorns.
Speaker 1: Was that extra special for you?
Speaker 4: I mean, every win, especially this season, everyone is special,
Speaker 4: but it did mean something to be back at home.
Speaker 4: That was the first game my family was at, so
Speaker 4: again it was extraprescial in that sense. But I wasn't
Speaker 4: a Cowboys fan growing up, so I didn't care about
Speaker 4: that as just getting that win and heading to his
Speaker 4: right direction in this for this team.
Speaker 1: Your first NFL contract will be up at the end
Speaker 1: of the year. Is that on your mind?
Speaker 4: Yeah? But no, you know what I mean, it's on
Speaker 4: my mind because I could possibly not be with my
Speaker 4: brothers that I've been with for four years now, so
Speaker 4: that that'd be tough, but God wouldn and God knows whom,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. We could be anywhere and
Speaker 4: maybe I'll still get to be with him. But that's
Speaker 4: why it's on my mind because of that, and then
Speaker 4: the other stuff. You know, ball, you keep playing ball.
Speaker 4: That stuff a take care of itself. I can play
Speaker 4: ball for free. I'm just I'm super thankful that they
Speaker 4: pay us to do a lot of money to do it.
Speaker 4: But I could play both for free because I love
Speaker 4: the game. I love the game. With a new game,
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 1: You're putting yourself in position for a good payday. You're
Speaker 1: only twenty four years old. Do you feel like the
Speaker 1: best is yet to come?
Speaker 4: Oh? For sure, there's only growth. And if this is
Speaker 4: my ceiling, that'd be careble to say so. I'm looking
Speaker 4: forward to surpassing that ceiling and keep growing, So I
Speaker 4: would say yes, the best is yet to come.
Speaker 1: I'd say so too. Appreciate your time, best of luck,
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Boss.
Speaker 1: Joseph passed thirty one tackles this year. His previous career
Speaker 1: high was seventeen. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to
Speaker 1: you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official
Speaker 1: HR software provider. By Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet
Speaker 1: designed to elevate your home, business and community to a
Speaker 1: new level, and by kettering health the best care for
Speaker 1: the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider
Speaker 1: of the Bengals, now ten For this week's Know the
Speaker 1: Faux segment, this week's opponent is the three and tennis
Speaker 1: CE Titans under first year head coach Brian Callahan. The
Speaker 1: former Bengals offensive coordinator. Nashville sportscaster John Burton joined Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham in me this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show,
Speaker 1: and I asked John if Titans fans are showing patients
Speaker 1: with coach Callahan are already expressing doubts about his future
Speaker 1: in Tennessee.
Speaker 5: Great question. It depends on who you talk to. There
Speaker 5: are some that realize, hey, he's a first not only
Speaker 5: a first year coach here in Nashville with the Tennessee Titans,
Speaker 5: but also a first year NFL head coach. Right, they're
Speaker 5: going to be growing pains, and it's something we talked
Speaker 5: about during the summer. But then when it happens, you know,
Speaker 5: it's kind of like a perfect example, right, you know,
Speaker 5: I'm a diehard New York's Yankee fan. I knew there
Speaker 5: was a possibility we could lose Wan Soda and free
Speaker 5: agency to the Mets, But when it happened, I was like, oh,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean. So, I think the ceiling
Speaker 5: for this team was probably realistically eight maybe nine wins.
Speaker 5: The floor we thought maybe was in the five to
Speaker 5: six range, and obviously it's a couple of steps below that.
Speaker 5: I think the fans are trying to be patient. But
Speaker 5: when you look at everything that happened during the offseason,
Speaker 5: you know, Mike Brabile getting fired, Derek Henry leaving by
Speaker 5: a free agency. Some of the mainstay players that help
Speaker 5: this team be consistent in the playoffs over the last
Speaker 5: several years, over the last couple of years have left
Speaker 5: this organization. I think a lot of fans are wondering
Speaker 5: what is the future of this organization. But so yeah,
Speaker 5: there are you know, fans are gonna fan and so
Speaker 5: a lot of people are like, you know, who is
Speaker 5: this guy? Why did we hire him? Why isn't Rable here?
Speaker 5: But I think the more level headed fan knows that,
Speaker 5: you know, there's going to be growing pains. We're experienced
Speaker 5: them experiencing them right now, and you know, you just
Speaker 5: got to ride it out and hope that the front
Speaker 5: office can you know, improve the roster and things can
Speaker 5: kind of you know, level out a little bit.
Speaker 6: Well, John, it's great to hear your voice. Appreciate you
Speaker 6: joining us. Brian Callahan, in my mind as humble a
Speaker 6: guy as I've ever known. I mean, he passes credit
Speaker 6: on to everybody else. Collaboration is his buzzword. It's what
Speaker 6: he's all about. Is that what he's presenting to the
Speaker 6: organization down there.
Speaker 5: Definitely. First of all, Big Dave, great to talk to you,
Speaker 5: as always, But second of all, that's a big reason
Speaker 5: why he got hired. You know, Amy Adams Strunk, the
Speaker 5: owner of the Tennessee Titans, wants collaboration, you know, between
Speaker 5: front office, general manager, head coach, coaching staff. That's a
Speaker 5: big reason why when she let you know, Mike rabil go,
Speaker 5: she elevated Ran Carthon not only the general manager, but
Speaker 5: to vice president and general manager. He is in charge
Speaker 5: of the putting the roster together, putting the coaching staff together.
Speaker 5: And the idea is for just what you said, collaboration.
Speaker 5: You know, everybody in tune with one of another, everybody
Speaker 5: on the same page. That wasn't necessarily the case when
Speaker 5: Prabel was here. So but you're right, Brian Callahan is
Speaker 5: a humble guy, and you can tell you know he
Speaker 5: wants to be successful. I mean, he's dave. He's been
Speaker 5: wearing these losses after these games, I mean a couple
Speaker 5: of times almost coming to tiers and you can feel it.
Speaker 5: It's eating away at him. He wants to be successful,
Speaker 5: he wants to win, he wants to win now and
Speaker 5: so but yeah, I will say this from a media standpoint,
Speaker 5: dealing with him is one hundred and eighty degrees different
Speaker 5: than dealing with Mike Rabel and it's it's been pretty cool.
Speaker 5: I like Brian a lot. I mean, he comes across
Speaker 5: as a very very likable guy, a good dude, wants
Speaker 5: to win, wants to be successful, and you know, I
Speaker 5: know I'm supposed to be objective as a media guy,
Speaker 5: but I don't mind saying I am pulling for him
Speaker 5: and I'm rooting for him big time.
Speaker 1: We feel the same way about Brian Callahan. John Burton
Speaker 1: is our guest. Let's talk about Will Levis, the former
Speaker 1: Kentucky Wildcat quarterback three and six is a starter last
Speaker 1: year two and eight so far this year five and fourteen. Overall,
Speaker 1: have the Titans seen enough of Will Levis to know
Speaker 1: if he is their quarterback going forward?
Speaker 5: I think Dan. They've seen enough to know that he'll
Speaker 5: get another year to prove that he can be the
Speaker 5: franchise quarterback, right, I mean a lot of you know,
Speaker 5: he had a lot to learn this year. New head coach,
Speaker 5: new offensive system, new weapons, and new personnel. It's been
Speaker 5: a struggle for him at times. You know, the offensive
Speaker 5: line hasn't helped him. He's been sacked and hit a bunch.
Speaker 5: He's been already injured a couple of times. He's missed
Speaker 5: some time due to injury. But the good news is,
Speaker 5: you know, the turnovers are down. The boneheaded mistakes that
Speaker 5: he made at the beginning of the year, in the
Speaker 5: first couple of games, he was good for one a game,
Speaker 5: those have diminished a little bit. The biggest thing with
Speaker 5: him is decision making and consistency. You know, last week
Speaker 5: and the loss of the Jaguars, you know, the Titans
Speaker 5: were zero for two in the red zone against the really,
Speaker 5: really bad Jaguars team and defense, and you know, there
Speaker 5: was one particular play that everybody's talking about. You know,
Speaker 5: Callahan decides to go forward on fourth down and he
Speaker 5: had a wide open chigacon Quo the tight end in
Speaker 5: the end zone on one of those stack plays where
Speaker 5: you've got a you know, receiver shallow and a receiver deep.
Speaker 5: He went for the deep option UH in the back
Speaker 5: of the end zone and it was broken up by
Speaker 5: a defensive back. So you know, good quarterbacks don't miss
Speaker 5: wide open receivers and so he's got to improve in
Speaker 5: that area. But you know, Callahan has always talked about
Speaker 5: he likes will Levis's work ethic. He likes the fact
Speaker 5: that he's coachable. He likes the fact that, you know,
Speaker 5: he's willing to take whatever constructive criticism there is and
Speaker 5: get better. So I think are they one hundred percent
Speaker 5: convinced that he is their long term franchise quarterback. I
Speaker 5: think the answer to that question is no. But have
Speaker 5: they seen enough to give him another shot at it
Speaker 5: next year? I would say the answer is yes.
Speaker 6: You mentioned turnovers, John, and you know, I'm looking at UH.
Speaker 6: I'm looking at the Tennessee Titans defense numbers. I'm like, God,
Speaker 6: their top ten and every top five and a lot
Speaker 6: of things, and yet they they're thirtieth in points allowed.
Speaker 6: You know, it's like twenty seventh in points allowed, thirtieth
Speaker 6: and points scored twenty seventh in points A lot how
Speaker 6: do they give up all these points? Then you see
Speaker 6: minus eleven in the turnover department, tied for thirty teen
Speaker 6: NFL three pick sixes, and teams have scored eighty nine
Speaker 6: points off of those turnovers. So some of those have
Speaker 6: been short fields. You know that teams were able to,
Speaker 6: you know, negotiate fairly easily. Is there any finger pointing
Speaker 6: going on between offensive and defensive players as a result
Speaker 6: of some of that.
Speaker 5: Well, I'll tell you what. Last week was tough. You know,
Speaker 5: walking into the locker room after that loss to the Jaguars,
Speaker 5: there seemed to be a couple of defensive players pretty
Speaker 5: disgrundled at how inep the offense was last week. And
Speaker 5: you know, Jeffrey Simmons, the great All Pro defensive tackle,
Speaker 5: was you know, saying during his postgame media availability, He's
Speaker 5: basically was like, you know what, I'm tired of seeing
Speaker 5: our quarterback getting laid out and crawling around on the ground.
Speaker 5: And there are a couple of defensive players that seem to,
Speaker 5: you know, voice their opinions about how well or how
Speaker 5: well poorly the offense played. They didn't say anything publicly,
Speaker 5: but you could just get a feel being in the
Speaker 5: locker room. So I think there is a little bit
Speaker 5: of that going on, and you know it's gonna be
Speaker 5: up to Callahan and his staff to quell that. But
Speaker 5: you know, once cooler heads prevailed, we're in the locker
Speaker 5: room today. Everybody was singing the same tune. Hey, you
Speaker 5: know we're gonna finish strong. We're gonna finish the season strong.
Speaker 5: We win as a team, we lose as a team.
Speaker 5: But you know it's human nature, right guys. You know
Speaker 5: you're playing your butt off on defense and the offense
Speaker 5: can't cash in against really a team that they shouldn't
Speaker 5: have had much problems with, yeah, in the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 5: So you know that's gonna happen from time to time.
Speaker 5: But the one thing, you know, we talk about Brian
Speaker 5: Callahan and all these all the situations going on with
Speaker 5: the record and how bad the season's been, I don't
Speaker 5: get the sense that these players are quitting on Cali
Speaker 5: at all. I mean, as an example, I'm a New
Speaker 5: York Giants fan, and I feel like those players are
Speaker 5: quitting on Brian Dable right now, and it's not a
Speaker 5: good situation. I don't get that sense.
Speaker 1: Here a couple more questions for our friend John Burton.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about the punter Ryan Stenhouse.
Speaker 1: He's fourth in the NFL and average, he's thirtieth in net.
Speaker 1: They're giving up a ton of punt return yardage. What's
Speaker 1: the deal there?
Speaker 5: Special teams has been into absolute disaster this year. Guys,
Speaker 5: you're right, you know they're giving up a ton of
Speaker 5: return yardage. You know, Ryan Stonehouse is one of the
Speaker 5: better punters in terms of placing the ball, in terms
Speaker 5: of getting your own when you need a long punt,
Speaker 5: if you're deep in your own end, he can provide it.
Speaker 5: But the tackling has been poor on the returns. The
Speaker 5: angles have been poor on the returns, and both kickoff
Speaker 5: and punt. You know, they've had punts blocked for touchdowns.
Speaker 5: They've had all kinds of mishaps on special teams. And
Speaker 5: you know, Colt Anderson is a special teams coach, and
Speaker 5: you know, you guys know how this business is. I'm
Speaker 5: hoping he's renting and he didn't buy property here in
Speaker 5: Nashville because he may not be here much longer. But
Speaker 5: bad tackling bad, and unfortunately, if you look back at
Speaker 5: the Lions game, it just didn't look like the effort
Speaker 5: was there, and so that's a problem. And that's that's
Speaker 5: been a problem all season for the Titans. Just bad
Speaker 5: special teams all around. Nick Folk those at forty one
Speaker 5: years old, but still pretty good kicker though, we got
Speaker 5: that going for us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, Honey went out of twenty two. He's
Speaker 1: as good as anybody in the league.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and uh, I mean in the last couple of years,
Speaker 6: what he's fifty out of fifty two is a Titan.
Speaker 6: I mean, the dude doesn't miss. It's crazy. But you
Speaker 6: talked about bad angles, bad tackling. I thought you were
Speaker 6: going to talk about the Bengals defensive football team. That's
Speaker 6: what deepened. I mean, it's like you got to be
Speaker 6: kidneying on special teams. There must be something in some
Speaker 6: kind of disease or virus that's going around the league.
Speaker 6: My final question for him, appreciate you as always, John.
Speaker 6: You've been a plethrough of info.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 6: Nine times in the red zone the Titans have come
Speaker 6: away without a point, no scores, and I can understand.
Speaker 6: And Brian Callahan, he's aggressive by nature and that guarder
Speaker 6: he's probably looking at how the season's unfolding you think
Speaker 6: that will continue?
Speaker 5: Is it?
Speaker 6: Like, you know, why the hell now, why don't we
Speaker 6: just get after it and go forward in the road zone.
Speaker 6: Do you think that that type of mindset will continue?
Speaker 5: I think so, Dave, But I think, you know, Cally
Speaker 5: spoke about it today, just the fact that, you know what,
Speaker 5: I need to take a better look at how we're
Speaker 5: approaching the red zone because you know, you look at
Speaker 5: the two instances last week where they came up empty
Speaker 5: in the red zone. They were running the ball extremely well.
Speaker 5: Tony Pollard's having a really solid year. Yea tightened in
Speaker 5: his first year here, the former Cowboys running back. You know,
Speaker 5: he's probably going to get a thousand yards when it's
Speaker 5: all said and done. And you know, Cally kind of admitted,
Speaker 5: you know, there are times where maybe I'm too aggressive.
Speaker 5: You know, we have goal to go. Maybe I need
Speaker 5: to run the ball a little bit more so. It's
Speaker 5: all part of the learning process for a new head coach.
Speaker 5: But hey, listen, four games left. You want to try
Speaker 5: to win as many as you can. I definitely expect
Speaker 5: Brian Callahan to be aggressive in terms of, hey, it's
Speaker 5: fourth down, let's go for it, Let's try to get it,
Speaker 5: you know, get it in the end zone, especial, you know,
Speaker 5: with a home game, one of two home games left,
Speaker 5: and you want to try to send the home crowd
Speaker 5: happy as best you can. So I think he'll be aggressive,
Speaker 5: but I think he'll try to be a little bit
Speaker 5: smarter and more selective about the types of plays that
Speaker 5: he calls, especially when they get in the high red zone,
Speaker 5: right guys, you know, inside the five yard line, etc.
Speaker 1: John and I made up the sports team at WTVHTV
Speaker 1: in Syracuse, New York many years ago, and he is
Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite people in this business.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast brought to you by pay Core, Proud
Speaker 1: to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta
Speaker 1: Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you
Speaker 1: haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and
Speaker 1: if you have a minute, give it a rating or
Speaker 1: share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find US.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast