Speaker 1: Hi, gain everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. Belong and Winding Road audition as
Speaker 1: the Bengals fall to four and seven, losing to the
Speaker 1: Chargers in Los Angeles. Coming up radio replays, locker room
Speaker 1: comments and postgame analysis from Dave Lapham. Then, in this
Speaker 1: week's fun Facts Conversation, you'll not only get to know
Speaker 1: rookie Chris Jenkins, but you'll get a little bonus after
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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since renting a
Speaker 1: car that you would never buy. I'm not a big
Speaker 1: car guy. I like to spend my income on experiences
Speaker 1: like travel, sporting events, and concerts. But every now and
Speaker 1: again I get to drive rental cars that are a
Speaker 1: significant upgrade from my several years old Supero outpack. It
Speaker 1: happened this weekend when I wound up behind the wheel
Speaker 1: of a tricked out, brand new Jeep Wagoneer. It was huge,
Speaker 1: it was luxurious, and it had a high tech dashboard
Speaker 1: that made me feel like I was piloting the Space Shuttle.
Speaker 1: I don't plan to buy one anytime soon, but for
Speaker 1: a day, it was fun to ride in style. Now
Speaker 1: time for the radio replays from Sunday nights game at
Speaker 1: Sofi Stadium, in the home of Hollywood. Two of the
Speaker 1: NFL's biggest superstars go head to head in prime time.
Speaker 1: It's Joe Burrow and the Bengals versus Justin Herbert and
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Chargers. And it is time for the
Speaker 1: big skin to fly here at Palatial so By Stadium.
Speaker 1: Evin McPherson thirteen out of seventeen on his field goal
Speaker 1: attempts this season.
Speaker 2: This will be a twenty six yard try from the left.
Speaker 1: Hash Adam Might is ready to snap it back to
Speaker 1: Rico the placement that kicked a high spinning, end over
Speaker 1: end kick. It is good and the Bengals are on
Speaker 1: the scoreboard.
Speaker 2: First.
Speaker 1: They lead the Chargers three to nothing with six twenty
Speaker 1: seven left here in the first quarter. First and ten
Speaker 1: at the Cincinnati twenty nine yard line, Dobbins in at
Speaker 1: running back. Herbert is under center. He takes the snaff,
Speaker 1: fakes a handoff, throws downfield. It is caught and Will
Speaker 1: Disley grabs it at the four and trots into the
Speaker 1: end zone for a Chargers touchdown. This will be a
Speaker 1: twenty seven yard attempt for McPherson from the right hash
Speaker 1: trying for his second field goal of the game.
Speaker 2: His kick is on its way.
Speaker 1: It is down the middle and good, and Cincinnati has
Speaker 1: scored on back to back possessions, unfortunately settling for three
Speaker 1: points each time. Second and seventh at the Cincinnati twenty six,
Speaker 1: Herbert fakes a handoff bootlegs to the right. Now moving
Speaker 1: up the middle of the field, he fires touchdown Brenton
Speaker 1: Johnston with tremendous separation behind the Bengals secondary.
Speaker 2: He does a backflip.
Speaker 1: In the end zone and justin Herbert has thrown touchdown
Speaker 1: passes of twenty plus on back to back drives. Herbert
Speaker 1: under center, he takes the snaff. It's a handoff and
Speaker 1: a leaping touchdown for JK.
Speaker 2: Dobbins.
Speaker 1: He goes up and over the pile and soars into
Speaker 1: the end zone for La Cameron Dicker into attempt a
Speaker 1: fifty three yard field goal try. His long of the
Speaker 1: year is fifty nine. Trying to put the Chargers up
Speaker 1: by three touchdowns from the right. Hash His kick is up.
Speaker 1: It is good. It looked like it might fade to
Speaker 1: the right, and then it hooked a bit and stayed
Speaker 1: inside the right upright for the fifty three yard field goal.
Speaker 2: Fourth and goal from the five. Burrow waits at the ten.
Speaker 1: Three receivers right, one left, shotgun snap, Let's come.
Speaker 2: In, let's throw. The slant is caught. Chase coming in
Speaker 2: form the left side, makes the catch.
Speaker 1: It's a touchdown for Jamar, his NFL leading eleventh touchdown catch.
Speaker 1: Fourth down and two at the forty two balls on
Speaker 1: the left. Hash, three receivers out to the right, one
Speaker 1: out to the left. Burrow ready for the shotgun snap.
Speaker 1: He catches, takes a deep drop. He's gonna fire an
Speaker 1: iron long into the in zone, caught by T.
Speaker 2: Higgins for the forty two yard touchdown.
Speaker 1: Welcome back T Higgins. Herbert ready for the shotgun snap.
Speaker 1: The Big Guy catches, fakes two. Dobbins rolls out to
Speaker 1: the right now takes off and runs and Mike Hilton
Speaker 1: will make the tackle.
Speaker 2: Ball comes out, the Bengals recover.
Speaker 1: Gino Stone has it for Cincinnati and the Bengals get
Speaker 1: a takeaway. Burrow catches the shotgun snap against the four
Speaker 1: man rush. He's back pedaling all the way to the
Speaker 1: thirty throws before getting hit into the end zone. It
Speaker 1: is cock by Jamar Chase for the touchdown and the
Speaker 1: Bengals are a pat away from a racing a twenty
Speaker 1: one point deficit. Rookie punter Ryan Rico is the holder
Speaker 1: Cincinnati trying to take the lead after being behind by
Speaker 1: twenty one in the second half. The kick is up,
Speaker 1: fading left. It is wide left. Evan McPherson misses. Distance
Speaker 1: was not a problem, but he hooked it and the
Speaker 1: game is still tied with seven thirty one to go.
Speaker 1: This is a fifty six yard try for the lead
Speaker 1: with less than two minutes to go. The snap, the
Speaker 1: placement the kick is up, it is hooking left and
Speaker 1: it is no good. Twenty six seconds to go. It's
Speaker 1: a handoff to Dobbins running up the middle of the field.
Speaker 1: He's at the twenty, he's at the fifteen, he's at
Speaker 1: the ten, and he will dive over the pylon for
Speaker 1: a Chargers touchdown.
Speaker 2: The ball comes out.
Speaker 1: At the end, but he was safely into the end
Speaker 1: zone and the Chargers score a touchdown with eighteen seconds
Speaker 1: to go on a run by JK. Dobbins. Three seconds left.
Speaker 1: The Bengals down by seven. They have the ball at
Speaker 1: the forty three of Los Angeles. Two receivers go out
Speaker 1: to each side of the formation. Burrow taps both sides
Speaker 1: of his helmet. He's ready for the snap. Four down linemen,
Speaker 1: the Chargers send a fifth defender. Burrow launches it off
Speaker 1: his back foot toward the goal line, broken up incomplete,
Speaker 1: and the Chargers win by the final score of thirty
Speaker 1: four to twenty seven.
Speaker 3: We are where we're at. I'm not happy with her
Speaker 3: where we're at.
Speaker 4: I don't think anybody is.
Speaker 1: But all you can do is come back tomorrow and
Speaker 1: try to get better. Just been the most frustrating seas into.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what.
Speaker 4: Pretty self explanatory.
Speaker 5: How do you explain the way this season has gone
Speaker 5: where it feels like we've been in the spot after
Speaker 5: so many games, they've all felt.
Speaker 1: One play away, like you've made so many winning plays.
Speaker 1: Are you able to explain it?
Speaker 3: How do you explain?
Speaker 4: It's got to make the plays. Just got to make
Speaker 4: the plays.
Speaker 6: And we have it down the stretch and we're not
Speaker 6: We're not, you know, a good enough team to you know,
Speaker 6: our margin of vera is slim, so we got to
Speaker 6: make those plays.
Speaker 4: I got to make those plays. We all got to
Speaker 4: make those plays.
Speaker 1: The Bengals almost equal the biggest come from behind victory
Speaker 1: and team history. They rallied from twenty one down to
Speaker 1: win in nineteen eighty one and nineteen ninety five, but
Speaker 1: they couldn't pull it off this time, losing thirty four
Speaker 1: to twenty seven. Dave Lapham talked to Zach Taylor after
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 4: Man, another another unbelievable football games. I mean one thing,
Speaker 4: your football team will never quit.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and at some point that's going to count for something.
Speaker 7: You know, we've all got the same sick feeling in
Speaker 7: our stomachs. Guys competed like crazy in the second half,
Speaker 7: unbelievable comeback, had our opportunities to finish the game off,
Speaker 7: and we just didn't do it, you know. And that's
Speaker 7: kind of been the story for the season so far.
Speaker 7: There's still opportunity in front of us, and I expect
Speaker 7: to take advantage of it.
Speaker 4: I mean, every single football game but one has been
Speaker 4: a one score game. I mean, well, you're one in one,
Speaker 4: in five, one and six, whatever it is in one
Speaker 4: score games. I mean, it's just a matter of a
Speaker 4: play here or there. I guess you know that's that's
Speaker 4: the National Football League. But was it just a matter
Speaker 4: of execution from first half to second half? Did you
Speaker 4: make any adjustments at half time? Was just like, let's
Speaker 4: just do better what we're doing. Yeah, a little bit
Speaker 4: of that.
Speaker 7: There were certainly adjustments. Is we've got a better feel
Speaker 7: for how they're playing us on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 7: Thought the coaches did a good job. Players bullied in it,
Speaker 7: players understood it, capitalized on and put ourselves in a
Speaker 7: really good position to find a way to win in
Speaker 7: a tough road environment against good football team and just
Speaker 7: just came up short.
Speaker 4: You got to feel sick for Evan McPherson. I mean,
Speaker 4: he's he's made a lot of big kicks in his
Speaker 4: career and he just he's in one of those one
Speaker 4: of those funks now that you know players get in.
Speaker 4: It's hard to explain, isn't it It is?
Speaker 7: You know, we got confidence in him, We're counting on him,
Speaker 7: and he'll have more opportunities to come asway.
Speaker 4: So I mean, Joe Burrow twenty eight for fifty, they're
Speaker 4: in a fifty six yards three touchdowns. T Higgins his
Speaker 4: first game back, I mean, the tong hang in there
Speaker 4: like he did Cardio Vashlee and physically in a game
Speaker 4: like this, nine Cats one hundred and forty eight yards
Speaker 4: of forty two yard touchdown. I mean, it's amazing what
Speaker 4: these guys were able to accomplish.
Speaker 8: These guys competed.
Speaker 7: You know, we can count on them down and down out.
Speaker 7: We ask a lot of them. They come up big
Speaker 7: for us every single time. And you know, proud of
Speaker 7: the way that all of our guys competed, not just
Speaker 7: Tea and Jamar and Joe, but all these guys. They
Speaker 7: left it all in the field, and you just feel
Speaker 7: sick for this locker room for kind of what they've
Speaker 7: gone through and no one the potential that we have,
Speaker 7: no one the potential that's stole in front of us.
Speaker 7: And so we're gonna take this by week to regroup,
Speaker 7: get our bodies back right, and if we want to
Speaker 7: make the playoffs, we're gonna have to go on a run.
Speaker 7: It's going to take great effort, it's going to take
Speaker 7: a lot of wins, but I believe this team can
Speaker 7: do it.
Speaker 4: Man, when you look at it defensively, what about that
Speaker 4: side of it. I mean the first half Herbert was
Speaker 4: like on fire, I mean, with with this throwing arm,
Speaker 4: with his legs, with everything else. And then I mean
Speaker 4: the first twelve plays of the second half offensively, they
Speaker 4: had fourteen yards on their first twelve steps. I mean,
Speaker 4: what was it was? Their adjustments again at halftime was
Speaker 4: just execute better, a little of both.
Speaker 7: We just I mean, we really competed in the back end.
Speaker 7: I saw a lot of guys make plays.
Speaker 2: On the balls.
Speaker 7: Tight coverage, a little more pressure, and then those guys,
Speaker 7: you know, they made the ball come out and those
Speaker 7: guys made plays on the balls.
Speaker 8: It was big time performance from them.
Speaker 7: So just really proud of the way that both sides
Speaker 7: of the ball responded there at halftime, gave us a
Speaker 7: chance to win.
Speaker 4: Didn't turn I mean turnovers were not an issue. That
Speaker 4: was you know, that was something that they were living
Speaker 4: off if they were a plus nine. You guys got
Speaker 4: the big fumble, the big takeaway that that was a
Speaker 4: big factor in the football game. You know, what did
Speaker 4: you tell your team? What did you tell your team
Speaker 4: after the football game as you go into the bye week.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that I'm sick of these speeches post game where
Speaker 7: we're just close and we didn't quite do enough. Still
Speaker 7: proud of them what they did. I saw every single
Speaker 7: guy compete, play for each other. Not many teams in
Speaker 7: this league down twenty four to six on the road
Speaker 7: can put it together to come back and get back
Speaker 7: in it with a good team like that. And we're
Speaker 7: going to depend on each other, you know, because that's
Speaker 7: all we're going to have right now, stick tight together.
Speaker 8: We have enough talent to go on and run.
Speaker 7: We got to take this bye week to get our
Speaker 7: bodies right and come back huge game against Pittsburgh and
Speaker 7: if we can win that game, then everything's right in
Speaker 7: front of us.
Speaker 8: We got to just take advantage of it.
Speaker 4: And finally, what was it like with with guys in
Speaker 4: the locker room at halftime, I mean, did your leaders
Speaker 4: step off, have anything to say? Was just like, let's
Speaker 4: just take care of business here. I mean, was it?
Speaker 4: How was it approach at halftime?
Speaker 7: We just need to get in a half time, take
Speaker 7: a deep breath. You know, it was emotional at the
Speaker 7: end of the half. Guys just got in there, sat down,
Speaker 7: took a deep breath. We went over all the adjustments
Speaker 7: we're going to make, and it was a good locker
Speaker 7: room and there was still belief that if we just
Speaker 7: take it one possession at a time, we're going to
Speaker 7: have enough opportunities to get back in the game. That's
Speaker 7: what our guys did, starting with the defense getting a
Speaker 7: huge stop offense. Then the second possession went down and
Speaker 7: scored points and we just we got right back in it.
Speaker 7: And probably the way the guys responded to start with
Speaker 7: the second half got us in the game.
Speaker 4: We got to find a ways to finish it. As always,
Speaker 4: appreciate your time. I know this isn't isn't easy. I
Speaker 4: know it's a it's it's not only for the players,
Speaker 4: I mean, it's for the coaching staff, for everybody to
Speaker 4: get their hearts ripped out like that is a difficult thing.
Speaker 4: And appreciate you our carvent time to join us and
Speaker 4: talk about a coach.
Speaker 8: Thanks.
Speaker 1: So Joe burrought through for three hundred and fifty six
Speaker 1: yards with three touchdowns and no picks. He leads the
Speaker 1: NFL with twenty seven touchdown passes and has only thrown
Speaker 1: four interceptions all year. After missing three games of a
Speaker 1: quad injury, t Higgins returned with nine catches for one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty eight yards and a touchdown. And Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase continues to dazzle. He had seven catches, seventy five
Speaker 1: yards and two tds. Then there's Chase Brown. He ran
Speaker 1: for eighty six He added fifty seven on the ground
Speaker 1: for a total of one hundred and forty three yards.
Speaker 1: And I talked to Chase after the game. Chase another
Speaker 1: big game statistically more than one hundred combined rushing and
Speaker 1: receiving yards. I imagine that's a little consolation after a
Speaker 1: really tough loss.
Speaker 6: Again, Yeah, we we just want to we want to
Speaker 6: win games. I just go there and do my job
Speaker 6: and sometimes personal stack comes up with that. But then
Speaker 6: of the day, we gotta we gotta finish these games
Speaker 6: better execute and some areas better and come out.
Speaker 4: With these w's.
Speaker 1: Describe the feeling on the sideline as you rallied from
Speaker 1: twenty one down again the stingiest defense in the NFL
Speaker 1: at this point.
Speaker 6: Yeah, just confidence. We know we're capable of We're explosive
Speaker 6: and it really just takes a little spark to get
Speaker 6: us going. So we had we had it rolling there
Speaker 6: for a little bit. They came back and made some
Speaker 6: good adjustments and yeah, we just got to finish off
Speaker 6: those games better.
Speaker 1: Do you almost feel jinxed? I mean, there have been
Speaker 1: so many games now where one play that goes in
Speaker 1: a different direction and you're the winner.
Speaker 3: C NFL.
Speaker 6: These games are close, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 6: a team that wakes, you know, one extra play is
Speaker 6: usually the one that wins it.
Speaker 4: So, you know, we were one short today. I want
Speaker 4: to watch the film when we get.
Speaker 6: Back and users by week to just recoup reset and
Speaker 6: you know, just come back into these last few stretches here,
Speaker 6: you know, with the you know, two division games against
Speaker 6: the Steelers and seeing the Browns again and just you know,
Speaker 6: making sure we're right back in the race.
Speaker 3: We're not, We're not unmotivated.
Speaker 6: It's just gonna make us even more motivated to you know,
Speaker 6: go out there and you know, put even better film out,
Speaker 6: better tape out, and not only just play, not play
Speaker 6: for the name of oar back, but just you know,
Speaker 6: play for this team, play for the coaches, play for
Speaker 6: the fans, and just just be better.
Speaker 1: You had t Higgins back tonight. He had nearly one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty receiving yards. Talk about a guy that
Speaker 1: didn't miss a beat. That was remarkable.
Speaker 6: Now, yeah, no, he's he's explosive man, can take the
Speaker 6: top off any defense. Same with Jamar So got so
Speaker 6: many threats in that receiver room. It's it's it's a
Speaker 6: dangerous room.
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time. Thanks Jase.
Speaker 2: Thanks ticking defensively.
Speaker 1: After a rough first half, the Bengals were tremendous in
Speaker 1: the second, at least until the final minute. I talked
Speaker 1: to Logan Wilson, who had eight tackles and forced to fumble. Logan,
Speaker 1: it's a gut check. I mean, you guys mounted a
Speaker 1: tremendous comeback, and unfortunately it's one of those years where
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, you can't make that one play that
Speaker 1: beats good teams.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know what it is.
Speaker 5: I mean, we just can't find a way to catch
Speaker 5: a break. We gave ourselves opportunities and just didn't take
Speaker 5: advantage of them and.
Speaker 1: Stuff.
Speaker 5: When you have those opportunities, you have to take full advantage,
Speaker 5: especially in this league, and we didn't.
Speaker 1: How did you flip things defensively in the second half
Speaker 1: because they were obviously giving you fits in the second
Speaker 1: quarter the second half, didn't do much until the final drive.
Speaker 5: Well, we were just giving up explosives in the first half,
Speaker 5: and it was on stuff that we were doing, and
Speaker 5: we just settled in and played one play at a
Speaker 5: time and just found a way to scratch a claw
Speaker 5: back into that game.
Speaker 1: One positive is that some of the young DB's made
Speaker 1: a lot of plays in the second half. Josh Newton,
Speaker 1: DJ turn or maybe some of these younger guys took
Speaker 1: a significant step tonight.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and we're gonna need them to play that well
Speaker 5: and keep getting better within their individual craft the rest
Speaker 5: of the year because we're gonna need him.
Speaker 1: Got the bye week coming up and the Steelers after that.
Speaker 1: How do you move on, Just.
Speaker 5: Find a way to get your get our bodies back
Speaker 5: underneath us and get our minds right and just just
Speaker 5: just try to find a way. I mean, that's all
Speaker 5: we can do at this point. Just keep scratching a clown,
Speaker 5: keep fighting.
Speaker 4: We just can't give up. And that's what we're going
Speaker 4: to continue to do, is to keep fighting.
Speaker 1: I don't even want to mention some of the plays
Speaker 1: that have happened in these games, but do you find
Speaker 1: yourself it's almost like you're living a nightmare with some
Speaker 1: of the way these games have ended.
Speaker 5: It's tough, It's it's uh. I mean, it's pretty easy
Speaker 5: to get frustrated when you're when stuff like that happen
Speaker 5: is happening, but it's just part of this year we're
Speaker 5: having right now as we're just not finding ways to
Speaker 5: win unfortunately, and either just kind of find a way
Speaker 5: to grow from it, or you can find a way
Speaker 5: to bicker about it and can plain to you guys
Speaker 5: about it, and that's not That's not what we're gonna do.
Speaker 5: We're just gonna continue to find a way to go
Speaker 5: to work and find a way to get better and
Speaker 5: just keep fighting because we have we have guys that
Speaker 5: are capable of being a good football team, and we
Speaker 5: just haven't put it all together yet, and so we're
Speaker 5: just gonna keep fighting.
Speaker 3: That's all we can do.
Speaker 1: Appreciate your Time's always thank you. The Bengals have their
Speaker 1: buy next week before a home game against the dread
Speaker 1: hated but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers, who now lead the
Speaker 1: AFC North by game and a half after beating Baltimore
Speaker 1: on Sunday eighteen sixteen. Remember when the Bengals couldn't beat
Speaker 1: the Steelers back in the Big Ben era, Well, now
Speaker 1: that team is Baltimore. Pittsburgh is one eight of its
Speaker 1: last nine meetings against the Ravens. The Browns march toward
Speaker 1: a high draft pick continues. Cleveland is two and eight
Speaker 1: after thirty four to fourteen drubbing to the Saints in
Speaker 1: the battle for the final playoff spot in the AFC.
Speaker 1: Denver improved a six and five with a thirty eight
Speaker 1: to six win over the Falcons. The Colts are five
Speaker 1: and six after beating the Jets twenty eight twenty seven,
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins are four and six after beating the
Speaker 1: Raiders thirty four to nineteen. The Bengals are now behind
Speaker 1: all of those teams at four and seven. 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,
Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health,
Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time for
Speaker 1: the radio guys recap.
Speaker 2: Lap.
Speaker 1: For a while, it looked like the Bengals were going
Speaker 1: to rally from twenty one down and win for the
Speaker 1: third time in franchise history. It would have tied the
Speaker 1: team record for biggest come from behind win. Unfortunately, a
Speaker 1: couple of missfield goals in the fourth quarter and a
Speaker 1: drive gone wrong defensively in the final minute cost them
Speaker 1: yet another close game.
Speaker 4: Really, it's amazing, I mean you look at it. Every
Speaker 4: one of their losses except for one, has been a
Speaker 4: one score loss, a couple of one pointers, a three pointer,
Speaker 4: a five pointer, a six pointer, now a seven pointers.
Speaker 4: It's almost unfathomable really, And you know, to show the heart,
Speaker 4: the determination, the no quit attitude to come back from that,
Speaker 4: everything that I've been told here in the locker room
Speaker 4: after the game was. The locker room at halftime was great.
Speaker 4: I mean, guys, there was no finger point and there
Speaker 4: was nobody losing their minds. Was just, look, we got
Speaker 4: to execute better, make some adjustments here. We're capable of
Speaker 4: winning this football game. And they went out and played
Speaker 4: a much different game in the second half. It was
Speaker 4: like a tailor two has as we talked about during
Speaker 4: the course of the broadcast. And then Monny Mack is
Speaker 4: just struggling, man. I mean, nobody feels worse than he does.
Speaker 4: It's like you come back and tie the football game
Speaker 4: and then you lose it. The way the game was lost,
Speaker 4: it just rips your heart out. I mean, and how
Speaker 4: many times if we said that this year. I mean,
Speaker 4: I don't know how many heart transplants you can go
Speaker 4: through in one season. But it's incredible. I mean, the
Speaker 4: winning touchdowns, a twenty nine yard touchdown run. Robbins had
Speaker 4: twenty seven yards on ten carries before that play, and
Speaker 4: they run simple power pull the guard, pull the tight
Speaker 4: end behind them, they get their blocks and he's off
Speaker 4: to the races. So you have to play every single
Speaker 4: snap with you know, everybody playing their gap, controlled discipline,
Speaker 4: responsibility and everything goes along with it or something like
Speaker 4: that's going to happen. So it's it's heartbreaking though, because
Speaker 4: you know, you look at what the stars the Bengals,
Speaker 4: they continue to be stars. I mean Joe's twenty eight
Speaker 4: to fifty three and fifty six yards street touchdowns, Haigan's
Speaker 4: nine catches one hundred and forty eight yards and a
Speaker 4: touchdown forty two yards. Chase seven catches for seventy five,
Speaker 4: two touchdowns. I mean, the big the big guys stepped
Speaker 4: up and played. There's there's no no question about it.
Speaker 4: Brown has twenty two carries for eighty six yards, and
Speaker 4: he you know, he continued to you know, to make
Speaker 4: plays and you had he had receiving yards as well.
Speaker 4: I mean the game, the game that he had in
Speaker 4: the scrimmage yards fifty even receiving eighty six rushing. That
Speaker 4: dog will hunt. I mean, that'll that'll get it done.
Speaker 4: A lot of great and things again offensively in the
Speaker 4: second half in particular, but defensively, man, it's still a
Speaker 4: puzzle to me, still a quandary. They just can't seem
Speaker 4: to pull it together.
Speaker 1: They did in the second half. They stopped giving up
Speaker 1: big plays before the touchdown drive in the second half, punt,
Speaker 1: long field goal, punt, fumble, punt, punt, punt. They did
Speaker 1: a great job until that final four play eighty four
Speaker 1: yard drive that ended the game. Essentially.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's true. I mean, you look at it. Last week.
Speaker 4: It was the first half, laid their tails off, give
Speaker 4: up what six points in the first half of the
Speaker 4: football game last week, and then this this week it's
Speaker 4: the second half. Well about trying to put four quarters together.
Speaker 4: It'd be great to have a four quarter football game,
Speaker 4: and there would do were some good signs too. I mean,
Speaker 4: you know, money Machimus is a field goal. The defense
Speaker 4: step up and they said, okay, we got your back,
Speaker 4: you know, they force upon the Bengals offense gets the
Speaker 4: football back and then there's another missed field goal. Unfortunately,
Speaker 4: but again the fact that that.
Speaker 3: They were just.
Speaker 4: Not going to quit, I mean, they were in it
Speaker 4: until until the bitter end. There's no there's no doubt
Speaker 4: about it. This football team's prideful, but they just can't
Speaker 4: make the play that they need to make the finish
Speaker 4: football games.
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons has said many times one of the reasons
Speaker 1: why he loves Eta McPherson is that his demeanor never changes.
Speaker 1: He's never too high, he's never too low. You wouldn't
Speaker 1: know it's a pressure kick. Well, he's missed six field
Speaker 1: goals now this year. Maybe the demeanor hasn't changed outwardly,
Speaker 1: but it's got to be in his head at this point,
Speaker 1: don't you think.
Speaker 4: It's got to be. And it seems like a high
Speaker 4: percentage of them are the same situation. It's like overcook hook.
Speaker 4: You know, it's like almost duck hook on one of them.
Speaker 4: So you know, you would think a kicker of his
Speaker 4: excellence and magnitude could make the necessary adjustment to strike
Speaker 4: it more straight instead of hooking the thing. But easier
Speaker 4: said than done. And it's not.
Speaker 8: To me.
Speaker 4: It doesn't look like the operations an issue. It really
Speaker 4: looks like that's handleable and manageable to make the kicks.
Speaker 4: It doesn't look bad to me. But I don't never
Speaker 4: kick the ball in my life, so I don't really
Speaker 4: I can't really say it, But to me, it just
Speaker 4: looked they were like they were overcooked a little bit.
Speaker 4: I think, you know, maybe for the first time he
Speaker 4: might be pressing a little bit. Like you said, his
Speaker 4: disposition has been so like, you know what does even
Speaker 4: have a heartbeat. It's flatline. But I think you know that.
Speaker 4: I guess maybe he's proven that he is human, and
Speaker 4: maybe he's pushing a little bit, trying too hard.
Speaker 1: We've said that for the defense to make a significant
Speaker 1: improvement in the the second half of the season, it's
Speaker 1: going to have to be young guys playing up to
Speaker 1: their potential. And I thought a couple of guys stepped
Speaker 1: up and showed me something tonight. Josh Newton made a
Speaker 1: lot of plays in the secondary, several pass deflections that
Speaker 1: was great to see, and he played a lot tonight.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a big game for his development.
Speaker 1: McKinley Jackson splashed a few times. Joseph Osi had a sack.
Speaker 1: So some of these guys that you need to show
Speaker 1: that they can be better players than they've been showed
Speaker 1: something in the second half tonight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree. And a guy that I think continues
Speaker 4: to play pretty darn good football is Cody Ford. You know,
Speaker 4: I mean, he's Unfortunately, Orlando Brown has never missed three
Speaker 4: games in a row in his life. I don't think
Speaker 4: at any level of high school, any level of football,
Speaker 4: high school, college, NFL, or he's probably too big for
Speaker 4: pee wee football. But I mean, he's never been in
Speaker 4: a situation like this, and hopefully after the bye week
Speaker 4: he'll be able to come back. And because I think
Speaker 4: he was having a career year. I thought he was
Speaker 4: playing an extremely high level. It's just unfortunately was interrupted
Speaker 4: by the injury that he's been dealing with here. But
Speaker 4: you know, to get him back would be this big
Speaker 4: a boost to the offensive line as getting T Higgins
Speaker 4: was to the receiving corps.
Speaker 1: They didn't score thirty three plus, but they scored twenty
Speaker 1: seven against the team that was giving up an average
Speaker 1: of thirteen. The offense continues to shine. It's a shame
Speaker 1: that they're four and seven. The way this offense is performing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it really is. I mean, you know, and I
Speaker 4: think Joe took fourteen quarterback hits tonight and last week
Speaker 4: thirteen twenty seven quarterback hits. I mean, he's going to
Speaker 4: worship that bye week. I mean, he needs he needs
Speaker 4: to be able to just get his body right. I'll
Speaker 4: tell you what. This guy is competitive with the capital C,
Speaker 4: tough with the capital T. I mean, you know, people say, oh,
Speaker 4: this guy's tough that Joe Burrow never says a word,
Speaker 4: never complains, never moans, never groans, continues to just play
Speaker 4: as tough a rano football as I've ever seen. Really
Speaker 4: at the quarterback position. He's up there with anybody and
Speaker 4: puts up big numbers to boot. I mean that guy
Speaker 4: is the real deal in every sense of the word.
Speaker 4: I mean he is. When you think football player, his
Speaker 4: picture's going to come flashing into your head pretty darn quickly.
Speaker 1: The teams that they were hoping would lose one and
Speaker 1: a game they felt they needed to win slipped through
Speaker 1: their fingertips. The math is not looking good. Unfortunately, after
Speaker 1: the buye.
Speaker 4: They're gonna have to win at least five. You know,
Speaker 4: maybe he's gonna have to run the table, but they're
Speaker 4: probably going to have to win fight. You gotta win
Speaker 4: nine games. You just got to. And it starts with
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh in Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh is playing at an incredibly
Speaker 4: high level football. I mean Tomlin, Mike Tomlin knows exactly
Speaker 4: what he's doing.
Speaker 3: This.
Speaker 4: This game reminded me, though, of a division game. I think.
Speaker 4: I think Harbaugh's teams are physical, They're in great shape,
Speaker 4: They're going to compete until the bitter end. Their feeling
Speaker 4: is that They're better conditioned and mentally tougher than everybody.
Speaker 4: And that's what the Pittsburgh Steelers have the same mindset.
Speaker 4: Baltimore Ravens have the same mindset. This game was like
Speaker 4: an AFC North game.
Speaker 3: To me.
Speaker 4: It really was.
Speaker 1: Get some sleep on the flight home.
Speaker 4: I'll try you do the same your schedule. I don't
Speaker 4: know how you do it, Dan Horde, I've been there.
Speaker 4: I know it ain't easy, man, and you continue to
Speaker 4: amaze me.
Speaker 1: That puts a rap on the Chargers game. Now it's
Speaker 1: time for this week's fun fact segment, where you get
Speaker 1: to know the person under the pads and stay tuned
Speaker 1: until the end of this one for a special treat.
Speaker 1: Time for some fun facts with defensive lineman Chris Jenkins.
Speaker 1: Your hometown is listed as only Maryland, which is close
Speaker 1: to Washington, DC. What's a kid do for fun? Growing
Speaker 1: up in only.
Speaker 9: Going on the metro that's like the biggest thing. You
Speaker 9: go on to Metro, go to d C. Virginia. There's
Speaker 9: a mall somewhere out in Virginia. I forgot what it's called,
Speaker 9: but it's a huge mall. We used to go to
Speaker 9: all the time, even though we ain't really had cash
Speaker 9: back then it was fun.
Speaker 1: So if somebody wants to visit DC, do you have
Speaker 1: all the monuments and everything?
Speaker 9: You know, downpack the monuments the museums like went to
Speaker 9: them like I don't know how many times I could
Speaker 9: count for school and and the crab cakes and stuff
Speaker 9: like that.
Speaker 3: That is ain't necessity, that's huge.
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Chris Jenkins. Your dad and your uncle
Speaker 1: both had long careers in the NFL. But I read
Speaker 1: an interview where your mom said she didn't like football,
Speaker 1: so she signed you up for everything but football? Was
Speaker 1: that the case? And what did you play?
Speaker 3: That was definitely the case? And I did? I know?
Speaker 9: I did swimming, baseball, and soccer competitively. I did a
Speaker 9: couple club activities at school at my little like kindergarten,
Speaker 9: first grade school, Charlotte Preparatory School or it did golf
Speaker 9: and tennis stuff and all that. I think badminton too,
Speaker 9: So trying to she really wanted to get me in
Speaker 9: as many as possible, except for football, just to see
Speaker 9: if I buy something I liked.
Speaker 1: Did you push back at some point and say, mom,
Speaker 1: I want to play football now?
Speaker 9: My pops did for me. You know, my Pops was like,
Speaker 9: you know what, now you got to experience football at
Speaker 9: least for one year, and then after that, if you want,
Speaker 9: you could quit.
Speaker 3: But fell in love with it after that.
Speaker 1: All right, So let's talk about Pops. Your dad, Chris Senior,
Speaker 1: was a gigantic three hundred and sixty pound nose tackle
Speaker 1: who is a four time Pro Bowler and played in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl with Carolina. It's not necessarily easy to
Speaker 1: have the same name as somebody who accomplishes things like that.
Speaker 1: Was it challenging for you?
Speaker 9: Absolutely, especially being compared to someone like my pops and
Speaker 9: my uncle and constantly feeling the need to prove myself.
Speaker 9: You know, had to eventually figure out, you know, I'm
Speaker 9: not going to be the type of player they were,
Speaker 9: but I could still be the best version of myself.
Speaker 9: And that's where I try to stack every day and
Speaker 9: keep turning that into a possibility.
Speaker 1: Your high school coach says it first, he wasn't sure
Speaker 1: if you were going to be serious about football. You
Speaker 1: were a fun, happy, go lucky sort.
Speaker 9: Yep, yeah, that's mad accurate. I mean to this day
Speaker 9: still i'm goofy. I can't help it. I mean, that's
Speaker 9: just how I am, but you know it kind of
Speaker 9: as I got older, you know, my competitiveness really started
Speaker 9: to take shape, and you know, like my junior senior
Speaker 9: year kind of.
Speaker 3: Like college as well.
Speaker 9: You know, you could really see that jump and that
Speaker 9: progression really take for him and you know, bring that
Speaker 9: goofiness in the game, and you know it was fun.
Speaker 1: So, as we mentioned, you're from the DC area and
Speaker 1: your dad played at Maryland, but you chose Michigan.
Speaker 9: Why Michigan, Well, one, because my family is close by,
Speaker 9: So that's a huge thing. You know, all the rest
Speaker 9: of my family lived near the area, so great to
Speaker 9: be by them. And then absolutely with the academics and
Speaker 9: the athletics up there too. Really just you know, you
Speaker 9: kind of have that it feeling when you go up there,
Speaker 9: you see the school you want to go to. In
Speaker 9: the second I touched down there, I just I just
Speaker 9: knew right away that was gonna be it.
Speaker 1: We're visiting with Chris Jenkins. During your time there, Michigan
Speaker 1: had a famous strength and conditioning coach named Ben Herbert.
Speaker 1: He's with the Chargers now. One day, in a team
Speaker 1: meeting your sophomore year, he called you the mutant to
Speaker 1: the rest of the team for your feats of strength
Speaker 1: in the weight room. What did you think when he
Speaker 1: said that for the first time.
Speaker 9: I didn't expect it as at first because I was
Speaker 9: still trying to earn my stripes and I hadn't proved
Speaker 9: myself on the field yet, you know, so for him
Speaker 9: to say something someone who I have immense amount of
Speaker 9: respect and admiration towards, you know, it really meant a
Speaker 9: lot to me, and that inspired me to you know,
Speaker 9: I didn't see myself as a mutant at the time,
Speaker 9: but really to become that what coach saw to become that,
Speaker 9: so you know, that's that's my guy. Though Coach heard
Speaker 9: that's my guy.
Speaker 1: How quickly did the mutant nickname spread?
Speaker 3: Oh, it spread pretty quick.
Speaker 9: I mean from the first from the training room to
Speaker 9: the weight room, and then everybody started calling me that
Speaker 9: on the field. It kind of took it took shape.
Speaker 9: My teammates started being like, look at that, that's the music.
Speaker 9: So yeah, it just it just stuck.
Speaker 1: After that last year, you were a captain on an
Speaker 1: undefeated national championship team. Describe the emotion when the confetti
Speaker 1: is falling after you've won a national championship.
Speaker 9: It's an emotion like unlike any other I've experienced, even
Speaker 9: after one of my high school championship, because you just
Speaker 9: know all that work you put in, you know, all
Speaker 9: them video games and all them times watching the championship
Speaker 9: as a kid dreaming to be in that moment, and
Speaker 9: all the hard work you and your teammates did and
Speaker 9: the coaches did to pay that all. You know, you
Speaker 9: create such a tight knick connection and a family to
Speaker 9: get you to that point. So seeing that all come
Speaker 9: to fruition, you know you're gonna shut a tear for
Speaker 9: every piece of confetti, man.
Speaker 1: And you literally did. I saw a video of you
Speaker 1: on the field with tears in your eyes after that.
Speaker 9: Game because it didn't everything hit didn't hit until that moment,
Speaker 9: because you know, we still had a job to do.
Speaker 9: We still overcame a hurdle we haven't done in a
Speaker 9: while to get to that point. But you know the
Speaker 9: job wasn't finished until the clockhead zero, and the second
Speaker 9: it did, you know I couldn't hold it back no more.
Speaker 1: You won the title, so you obviously get a championship ring.
Speaker 1: But I've seen pictures of a box with four rings
Speaker 1: in it. What was the story?
Speaker 3: Well, with the four rings. I don't really know myself.
Speaker 9: I mean, I know it's two of them have something
Speaker 9: to do with the college football playoffs in the National Championship.
Speaker 9: One of them was the bowl game too, and then
Speaker 9: the Big Ten. Yeah, the Big Ten Championship game as well,
Speaker 9: I believe.
Speaker 1: So yeah, not bad, it's pretty good swag. You played
Speaker 1: in three games against Ohio State, you won all three.
Speaker 1: How would you describe your feelings for the buck Eyes now?
Speaker 9: Well, now, I mean there's a certain level level of respect,
Speaker 9: you know, especially having so many buck Eye teammates in here,
Speaker 9: but there's always going to be that rivalry whenever you
Speaker 9: see them play, you know, and that's why I can't
Speaker 9: wait for when we played them, you know, in a
Speaker 9: couple of weeks now, But you know, it's that same
Speaker 9: level of respect. But at the same time, you know,
Speaker 9: you still our arrival though, so we know what time
Speaker 9: it is.
Speaker 1: Once that WEEKNDS you were drafted in the second round,
Speaker 1: number forty nine overall. Was the draft stressful?
Speaker 9: Absolutely? It didn't hit me till that day. You know,
Speaker 9: my uncle told me it was going to be the
Speaker 9: most stressful moment in my life. You know, I didn't
Speaker 9: really see it happening until you know the phone the
Speaker 9: clock started, and you know, having my family there, you
Speaker 9: know I didn't pay attention to everyone. I had my
Speaker 9: phone ready to go, and I can't tell you I
Speaker 9: probably got five calls whenin that time that wasn't the call,
Speaker 9: so I was I was stressing out. But but yeah, nah,
Speaker 9: it was after that call, like, oh, it was the
Speaker 9: best feeling ever.
Speaker 1: People need to know. Don't call a guy the day
Speaker 1: he's likely to be drafted and make him think that
Speaker 1: it's the call.
Speaker 9: You'll never see me jump quicker or move faster than that.
Speaker 9: The whole room will shut down that they hear that
Speaker 9: phone ring, and if you like not false alarm, they're
Speaker 9: like ahn, yeah, but you know we we got that.
Speaker 3: We got that fixed out the way quick. So it
Speaker 3: was cool. All right.
Speaker 1: A few wild card topics. Now for Chris Jenkins. In
Speaker 1: high school, you apparently sang a solo in the choir.
Speaker 1: Do you remember it? And do you care to give
Speaker 1: us a sample?
Speaker 6: Uh?
Speaker 9: Now, I'm not gonna do a sample because I would
Speaker 9: I would not do myself justice. I ain't been practicing,
Speaker 9: but I think, honestly, I think you could find it
Speaker 9: on SoundCloud. My teacher was my music teacher stand spots with.
Speaker 9: He got a SoundCloud in the YouTube channel. I know
Speaker 9: a couple of our videos out there, but I think
Speaker 9: it was called Greatest Yell Mercy And yeah, we're practicing
Speaker 9: for that now. I ain't do too bad, but it
Speaker 9: wasn't it one of the best?
Speaker 1: All right? I'll be going down the internet rabbit hole
Speaker 1: after this to discover who is your all time favorite
Speaker 1: athlete in any sport?
Speaker 9: And why, Oh, it probably has to be between in
Speaker 9: any sport. Has to be probably Kobe because there was
Speaker 9: something just about between Kobe and d Rose, because there
Speaker 9: was something about when we kids, you know, de Rose
Speaker 9: was in his prime and Kobe was in his prime.
Speaker 9: You know, we watched the games all the time, and
Speaker 9: the second we step on the basketball court for recess,
Speaker 9: we always trying to pick which one who gonna be?
Speaker 9: Which one? So probably those two stuck with me the most.
Speaker 1: It's amazing to me how often the answer to that
Speaker 1: question is a basketball player as opposed to a football player.
Speaker 1: Why do you think that's the case.
Speaker 9: I think it's because if you know you about to
Speaker 9: be a football player, then you you kind of like
Speaker 9: fantasize if you were able to be a basketball player
Speaker 9: because I knew I didn't have that type of you know,
Speaker 9: hand eye coordination to do that. So, you know, it's
Speaker 9: always fun to think about, you know, what if I
Speaker 9: was like Kobe or something like that.
Speaker 1: So, Chris, you told me after the draft that you
Speaker 1: are a nerd with a comic book collection. Yes, what
Speaker 1: books do you collect?
Speaker 3: All types of Marvel books.
Speaker 9: Yeah, that's really my main collection, given me for my grandfather.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's mainly Marvel books. A lot of them.
Speaker 3: Some of them I'm open.
Speaker 9: Some of them are open, but it's a lot of
Speaker 9: old time in nineteen seventies, I think, eighties, nineties.
Speaker 3: I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1: You might be sitting on a gold mine.
Speaker 3: Yeah maybe, who knows.
Speaker 9: I mean they still from my grandpa, so they still
Speaker 9: his technically, So I ain't gonna do nothing with them
Speaker 9: if you don't want me to.
Speaker 3: I'm still going to reading.
Speaker 1: Your former college coach Jim Harbaugh said that you are
Speaker 1: the poster child for enthusiasm unknown to mankind, which is
Speaker 1: one of his favorite sayings. Are you naturally in a
Speaker 1: good mood?
Speaker 9: Absolutely? I mean not being surrounded by the people I am,
Speaker 9: and then living the dream, at the position I am,
Speaker 9: there's no reason for me not to be happy. So
Speaker 9: you know it's hard for me, you know, to catch
Speaker 9: me in a bad mood. But you know, I'm just
Speaker 9: grateful for you know, my blessings and for God.
Speaker 1: Do grumpy MOPy people annoy you?
Speaker 9: Nah, Nah, I understand. I mean, you never know what
Speaker 9: someone's going through. Maybe you catch them at a bad time,
Speaker 9: maybe they got a lot of stuff going on. So me, personally,
Speaker 9: I try my best to you know, be just be me,
Speaker 9: be goofy and try to hopefully cheer them up. Yeah,
Speaker 9: I mean, it is what it is, so Camplin all right.
Speaker 1: Final fun fact for Chris Jenkins. This one is kind
Speaker 1: of deep. If you could meet anybody in history, living
Speaker 1: or deceased, who would that person be?
Speaker 9: My great great grandma because I've heard so much about her.
Speaker 9: Actually I know I met her when I was two.
Speaker 9: I've seen photos. I don't remember it, but she was
Speaker 9: such a pillar in our family that I would just
Speaker 9: love to if I had the opportunity to have at
Speaker 9: least in conversation with her, that would be awesome.
Speaker 1: Chris, this has been great. Appreciate your time. Best of luck,
Speaker 1: the rest of the year.
Speaker 3: Absolutely appreciate you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 8: All right.
Speaker 1: So when I asked Chris about his solo in the
Speaker 1: high school choir, he said, I think you can find
Speaker 1: it on SoundCloud. My music teacher, Stan Spotswood has a channel. Well, Chris,
Speaker 1: thanks for the tip. The song is Great is Your Mercy,
Speaker 1: performed by the Good Counsel Choir featuring teenage soloist Chris Jenkins.
Speaker 7: E fit.
Speaker 2: Tools need.
Speaker 9: Always providing tools.
Speaker 5: Great is yourc too, Greed, it is your.
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