Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The house is a very very
Speaker 1: very fine house. Addition, as the Bengals play a home
Speaker 1: game for just the second time in six weeks as
Speaker 1: they host the Atlanta Falcons, coming up, Sirius XM NFL
Speaker 1: radio host Solomon Wilcots joins me to discuss the state
Speaker 1: of the Bengals after six games. Dave Lapham ways in
Speaker 1: on why the Bengals scored a season high thirty points
Speaker 1: last week. I'll chat with defensive tackle j to Fell
Speaker 1: who is going to play an important role, with DJ
Speaker 1: Reader and Josh Tupo out with injuries, and in our
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment, we'll get the latest down the
Speaker 1: Falcons from their longtime radio voice, West Durham. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one
Speaker 1: hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering
Speaker 1: Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since This week's Rulers of the Jungle on Sunday
Speaker 1: at pay Course Stadium. The pregame Hoo Day Chant will
Speaker 1: be led by former Bengal Devin Still and his daughter Leia.
Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, when Devon was in his third season
Speaker 1: with the Bengals, Leah was diagnosed with a rare form
Speaker 1: of cancer. She was just four years old at the time.
Speaker 1: She's twelve now and cancer free, and it is going
Speaker 1: to be awesome to see Devin and Leia on the
Speaker 1: throne in the Jungle this Sunday. Now, let's look ahead
Speaker 1: to this week's game, beginning with a former Bengal turned
Speaker 1: Emmy Award winning broadcaster. It is always great to catch
Speaker 1: up with former Angle Super Bowl safety Solomon Wilcot's the
Speaker 1: host of the opening drive on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Sally.
Speaker 1: It's been a bit of a bumpy ride so far
Speaker 1: from the Bengals, but they find themselves tied for first
Speaker 1: in the AFC North at three and three. Assess the
Speaker 1: team through the first six games of the season. Well, look,
Speaker 1: it was a bumpy start, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: You get off to the O two start and you
Speaker 1: get even at two and two. I think it's clear
Speaker 1: that in this league, if you get into a two
Speaker 1: or three game hole, man, it's tough to work your
Speaker 1: way out of it because you've got to spend so
Speaker 1: much energy just getting back to five hundred, and then
Speaker 1: you lose the next game, and then next thing you know,
Speaker 1: we're two and three. But we were fortunate. I thought
Speaker 1: the game against the New Orleans Saints it was the
Speaker 1: best we played on offense anyway, in terms of just
Speaker 1: having good balance, ran the ball very good with Joe Mixon,
Speaker 1: and then obviously forcing them to come out of the
Speaker 1: double coverage that Jamar Chase had been getting for the
Speaker 1: first month of the season. Once he gets single coverage,
Speaker 1: he's as good as open all day. And so I
Speaker 1: really do think the Saints game was not our best
Speaker 1: game as a football team, but it was certainly the
Speaker 1: best game for the offense. I thought we played very
Speaker 1: well in the Thursday night game against Miami was probably
Speaker 1: our most complete game offensively and defensively. Sally, we knew
Speaker 1: it might take a while for the offensive line to gel.
Speaker 1: Do you see that happening? Yeah, but we still have
Speaker 1: ways to go. You know. That goes to show you
Speaker 1: that in this game, practice matters. Time spent together, playing
Speaker 1: within a system for coaches, that matters, And yeah, you
Speaker 1: can go spend the money, But just because you throw
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys together with really good names on
Speaker 1: the back of their jerseys, as Dick lebou would say,
Speaker 1: it doesn't make you a good football team. The ability
Speaker 1: to play together and have that chemistry and even the
Speaker 1: non verbal communication goes such a long way into helping
Speaker 1: and be able to perform at a high level. And
Speaker 1: that's why you see the Buffalo Bills sort of in
Speaker 1: their position. These are players that have been on the team.
Speaker 1: They did add a von Miller to help the younger
Speaker 1: guys to improve, but these are players that have been
Speaker 1: playing together for a while in the same system offensively
Speaker 1: and on defense, that they've kept it intact and you
Speaker 1: see them playing at a very high level. Now we
Speaker 1: are visiting a former Bengal safety, Solomon Wilcots. You are
Speaker 1: part of one of the great secondaries in franchise history,
Speaker 1: the Swat team, the current group has adopted the nickname
Speaker 1: the Cleanup Crew. What stands out when you watch this
Speaker 1: group play chitterbay Ewoozier. He's just consistent in coverage and
Speaker 1: a very good tackler when asked to right. And I
Speaker 1: think our safety tandem of Jesse Bates and von Belle there,
Speaker 1: I mean, just a really good all around group. Great
Speaker 1: in coverage, great against the run. They're not afraid to
Speaker 1: lay their pads on people, which seemed to be something
Speaker 1: that we don't ask players to do a whole lot
Speaker 1: in today's NFL. But these guys are very willing tacklers.
Speaker 1: They understand and embrace the physical part of the game.
Speaker 1: And so I love the depth and versatility that they
Speaker 1: have in this secondary and they're just going to continue
Speaker 1: to get better. What was your reaction last Sunday when
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow walked into the Superdome wearing a game used
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase lsu Jersey. You know I said this on
Speaker 1: our podcast to Believe in Bigger Podcasts with Adam pac
Speaker 1: Man Jones. I said, this was like, you know, Babe Ruth,
Speaker 1: we all know it's kind of folk lower where Babe
Speaker 1: Ruth He pointed to left field with his bat. Next thing,
Speaker 1: you know, he knocks it out of the park and
Speaker 1: he hits it to left field, and as you will know,
Speaker 1: being the trite and true professional broadcaster that you are,
Speaker 1: that's called calling your shot, right. It's sort of a
Speaker 1: nonverbal communication saying here's what I'm about to do, and
Speaker 1: then you do it. So that was Joe Burrow saying,
Speaker 1: we're getting ready to have a big day, and here's
Speaker 1: the guy that I'm gonna be throwing the ball too.
Speaker 1: Here's the guy that's gonna like gonna beat you all day.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened. Fifteen yard tests down past
Speaker 1: the Jamar Chase, and then the sixty yard game winner
Speaker 1: to break it all open. I know they didn't have
Speaker 1: a cigar after this one, but they could have. They
Speaker 1: could have. Sally, you're part of the Super Bowl team
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty eight. It obviously took a while for
Speaker 1: the Bengals to get back. How competent are you that
Speaker 1: the Bengals will return to the Super Bowl in the
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow era. I'm confident of that, but it's not
Speaker 1: gonna be easy. Right. The AFC is loaded, the other
Speaker 1: teams have good quarterbacks, too. They understand the metrics of
Speaker 1: you've got to be good at the quarterback position. You
Speaker 1: gotta be good on the back end of your defense.
Speaker 1: Defenses today and our NFL are built from the back
Speaker 1: to the front. Bill Belichick understands that. Sean McDermott and
Speaker 1: Buffalo understands that. The Eagles in Philadelphia understand it. And
Speaker 1: so you've got to be able to keep people from
Speaker 1: throwing the ball over your head, and when they do try,
Speaker 1: you got to be able to pick it off and
Speaker 1: you better have a good pass rush. And I think
Speaker 1: the Rams showed us that. I think von Miller jumping
Speaker 1: over to the Buffalo Bills, I think speaks to more
Speaker 1: of that. And so no, I think we got to
Speaker 1: continue to build around Joe. But he is I think
Speaker 1: he's invested not just improving his game, but making this
Speaker 1: one of the model franchises. And as we've seen, people
Speaker 1: want to play with him. So he's the fourth multiplier
Speaker 1: and you've got to have one of those. That's what
Speaker 1: Indianapolis had in a Peyton Manning, That's what the Patriots had,
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady and the Packers have had so long
Speaker 1: with Brett Farve and Aaron Rodgers, and we like to
Speaker 1: believe that we have that same thing at quarterback in
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. So the Falcon come to town this Sunday.
Speaker 1: Atlanta's rushed for at least one hundred and fifty yards
Speaker 1: in five out of six games. Is stopping the run
Speaker 1: is holding the Falcons to a reasonable number the biggest
Speaker 1: key on Sunday. Yeah. I mean, here's a couple of things.
Speaker 1: You got to keep them under a buck fifty because
Speaker 1: they've been over one hundred and fifty each of the
Speaker 1: last three games. I mean, when they got one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty plush yards on Tampa, I was really impressed.
Speaker 1: And they did that two weeks ago. Three weeks ago
Speaker 1: they went for two hundred against Cleveland, and then last
Speaker 1: week against the really good forty nine or defense, I
Speaker 1: think they had one hundred and sixty eight yards rushing
Speaker 1: the football. And they have the fewest three and outs
Speaker 1: of any offense international Football League, So they know how
Speaker 1: to stay on the field on third down. So that's
Speaker 1: what we have to do. Defensively. We're gonna have to
Speaker 1: hold up against their run game, but we got to
Speaker 1: get them off the field when they get to third down.
Speaker 1: More importantly, our offense can help with this. Right if
Speaker 1: in Joe Burrow I think alluded to that your offense
Speaker 1: can get a ten point lead and keep and stay
Speaker 1: ahead on the scoreboard. Arthur Smith is not going to
Speaker 1: stick with that run game. There's no NFL offense that's
Speaker 1: gonna keep looking at that scoreboard. You down by two scores,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna call yourself running your way back into
Speaker 1: the ball game. You're gonna have to start throwing it
Speaker 1: right now. The Atlanta Falcons only average about twenty three
Speaker 1: pass attempts per game, one of the lowest in the league,
Speaker 1: so they clearly don't want Marcus Mariota throwing the ball.
Speaker 1: They'd rather have him running the ball. And not just
Speaker 1: our defense, but our offense can play a role in
Speaker 1: forcing them to do the things they don't want to do,
Speaker 1: and that's have to throw the football. Let me follow
Speaker 1: up by Marcus Mariota. I'll be honest. I thought Desmond
Speaker 1: Ritter would be starting for the Falcons by week seven
Speaker 1: of the season, but Mariotta has played well. He completed
Speaker 1: thirteen passes in a row last week in that win
Speaker 1: over the forty nine ers. What do you think of
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariota at this stage of his career, he's serviceable.
Speaker 1: I've always liked Marcus, even when he was in in Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I thought put in the right offense. The guy is
Speaker 1: a He's just a really fine young man. He does
Speaker 1: all the right things. His teammates love him, they really do.
Speaker 1: And Arthur Smith understood it. That's why he went and
Speaker 1: traded for him. You know, even though Marcus Mariota went
Speaker 1: to the Raiders, but when Arthur Smith had been the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinated with the Titans, he had had Marcus Mariota
Speaker 1: there with him. And since he became the head coach
Speaker 1: over in Atlanta, he felt that Marcus would be a
Speaker 1: low cost assembly to this offense. And it's worked out. Listen,
Speaker 1: he's saving the team money. I'm talking about the head
Speaker 1: coach now. He improved the quarterback position with where the
Speaker 1: team is today and also lower the cost for what
Speaker 1: they have to pay for a quarterback. That to me,
Speaker 1: that's what good coaches do. They find a way to
Speaker 1: make the team better without having to break the owner's
Speaker 1: wallet to do it. And that's why Arthur Smith, he
Speaker 1: has his team tied for first place in the NFC
Speaker 1: North excuse me. In the NFC South Division, last thing
Speaker 1: for Solomon Wilcot's j readers out. He's missed three games.
Speaker 1: Josh Tupo is going to be out this week. Logan
Speaker 1: Wilson is questionable with a shoulder injury. How big of
Speaker 1: an issue is that for a defense when the spine
Speaker 1: the guys in the middle are out or might be out. Look,
Speaker 1: I said, this is the game that we need dj Ripper.
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, if he's back in this game,
Speaker 1: I'm very confident they're not going to be able to
Speaker 1: run the ball on this Now you take Josh Tupo out,
Speaker 1: man makes it really tough. I mean, you've got to
Speaker 1: be able to hold up at the point in the
Speaker 1: middle of your defense, and particularly against teams like this
Speaker 1: that are gonna run at thirty close to almost forty
Speaker 1: times in a ball game, and you need to have
Speaker 1: the rotation on your defensive line. I think the rookie,
Speaker 1: you know, Zach Carter, I think he'll hold up well.
Speaker 1: He's a durable, very versatile guy, but he is a rookie.
Speaker 1: He can play both the run and penetrate and get
Speaker 1: a pressure on the quarterback equally as well. It's a
Speaker 1: big spot for him, but it is more than just
Speaker 1: about him. I think it's going to be about the
Speaker 1: rotation of those guys on the interior. Let's see how
Speaker 1: we do. It's going to be a real challenge. Sally.
Speaker 1: Always appreciate your time and your insight. Keep up the
Speaker 1: great work and thanks again, Thanks Dere greatly appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with
Speaker 1: tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside
Speaker 1: the Bengals app. Solomon Wilcots called last week's game against
Speaker 1: the Saints the bengals best offensive performance of the season.
Speaker 1: The numbers back it up, as the Bengals scored thirty
Speaker 1: or more points for the first time in eleven games
Speaker 1: going back to last year. Joe Burrow had a season
Speaker 1: high passer rating of one twenty six. Jamar Chase had
Speaker 1: a season high one hundred thirty two receiving yards, and
Speaker 1: while the Bengals only ran the ball fourteen times, those
Speaker 1: rhymes averaged five point four yards. So has the offense
Speaker 1: turned a corner? Here's my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham an
Speaker 1: identity standpoint, what they found out is accentuate the positive
Speaker 1: and stay away from things they're not doing quite as
Speaker 1: well they were trying to. I thought I thought forced
Speaker 1: the issue a little bit with the stretch running game.
Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to get that ball outside outside
Speaker 1: zone stretch game, and they had mixed results with it.
Speaker 1: What they're doing now, I really like gap stuff. You know,
Speaker 1: you seal seal the edge, pull a lineman, power, gap
Speaker 1: blocking power, getting one more player at the point of
Speaker 1: attack than they have on the defensive side of it.
Speaker 1: Double teaming coming off at the linebacker level in between
Speaker 1: the tackles, just hammering the ball. Let you'll mix and square,
Speaker 1: shoulder pads up and go downhill. I think that's their
Speaker 1: run game entity. I think they've found that to be
Speaker 1: the case. The other one, you know, it should be
Speaker 1: instead of the power inside running game being an appetizer
Speaker 1: to the main course of the stretch reverse it. Let
Speaker 1: the let the full meal be that power running game
Speaker 1: and the appetizer be the outside game. You know, just
Speaker 1: don't don't try to force you to do things that
Speaker 1: you're not able to get done. As as a football team,
Speaker 1: accentuate your strengths and minimize your weaknesses, you know, And
Speaker 1: I think that's a big factor. The other thing that
Speaker 1: our APO that run pass option game now, I think
Speaker 1: that they found out that they're a team that fits
Speaker 1: from a personnel standpoint with the big powerful guys they
Speaker 1: have inside running the ball from the shotgun and then RPO.
Speaker 1: It's like the play action look from the shotgun, and
Speaker 1: I'm telling you're looking at tape. Joe Mixon could rush
Speaker 1: for over a hundred yards. They were a huge gain
Speaker 1: gaps in there in there in the defensive front for
Speaker 1: the Saints. I mean they were gashing them, and Joe
Speaker 1: would pull it out of there and throw it because
Speaker 1: he was gashing them in the passing game. So when
Speaker 1: you're in a situation where you look at it after
Speaker 1: the fact and could have run it for good yards
Speaker 1: and throw it for good yards, you got the linebackers
Speaker 1: saying what do I do? And that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: The linebackers were frozen. I mean the linebackers didn't know
Speaker 1: what to do. And when you can when you can
Speaker 1: take control of it that way, and you're punching and
Speaker 1: making them CounterPunch, and they don't know what to do
Speaker 1: to CounterPunch. You're gonna score thirty points like they did.
Speaker 1: So I think we're gonna see them accentuate. They found
Speaker 1: out who they are. Accentuate those positives and don't try
Speaker 1: to force feed things that you know you've found out
Speaker 1: you can't really do. But you're gonna have to be
Speaker 1: able to do it at some point because somebody's gonna
Speaker 1: come up with a defensive game plan. It's it's all
Speaker 1: in the NFL. It's all about adjustments, and they're gonna
Speaker 1: they're gonna face somebody who is gonna say, all right,
Speaker 1: I've come up both the way to take away this
Speaker 1: RPO stuff in the inside running game, where do you
Speaker 1: got So it's the NFL. You're always evolving and that's
Speaker 1: that's the key to success in this league. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber future proof fiber
Speaker 1: Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take
Speaker 1: your home, business, and community to a new level elevates
Speaker 1: your connection with all too fiber. In the first three
Speaker 1: games of the season, when the Bengals still had DJ
Speaker 1: reader in the middle of their defense, Cincinnati was allowing
Speaker 1: eighty six rushing yards per game and three point seven
Speaker 1: yards per carry, both top ten in the NFL. In
Speaker 1: three games without DJ, they're allowing one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: six rushing yards per game and five point six per carry.
Speaker 1: The Saints had a whopping two hundred twenty eight yards
Speaker 1: on the ground last week. Now they face an Atlanta
Speaker 1: team that runs seventy percent of the time on first down,
Speaker 1: the highest percentage in the league. With reader Josh Tupo
Speaker 1: and Jeff Gunter all unavailable on the d line and
Speaker 1: linebacker Logan Wilson questionable with his shoulder injury, one of
Speaker 1: the guys who will be counted on to play a
Speaker 1: bigger role is defensive tackle Jay two fell A, who
Speaker 1: has claimed off waivers from Jacksonville at the end of
Speaker 1: training camp. I spoke with him this week. Jay major
Speaker 1: Bengal's debut last week and played a big role in
Speaker 1: the win. Six tackles, and that was in just twenty
Speaker 1: three defensive snaps. Describe what it meant to you to
Speaker 1: get your first opportunity to contribute and to play well
Speaker 1: in a win. Man, I'm very grateful, very grateful. First off,
Speaker 1: I just want to you know, glory goes to them,
Speaker 1: you know, the most high guy. I'm always put in first.
Speaker 1: But for me, the most part, it was just you know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to, you know, make sure that I could
Speaker 1: help my brothers and you know, step up and be
Speaker 1: able to make the plays and you know, be able
Speaker 1: to come out with this one. So you know, it
Speaker 1: was a big team effort. I was just playing my part,
Speaker 1: doing my role, and uh, you know, I'm really grateful
Speaker 1: that you know, they was counting on me, and you know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to let my my teammates down. That's
Speaker 1: that's the biggest thing for me. So I was very grateful.
Speaker 1: We're chatting with JA two fell a. DJ Reader has
Speaker 1: been out for a few weeks. Josh Tupo heard his
Speaker 1: calf last week. They are both excellent against the run.
Speaker 1: Do you consider that to be your strength? Uh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I've I've always been uh you know, been
Speaker 1: able to play the run. Uh really well, you know
Speaker 1: throughout high school and college and uh, for me, you know,
Speaker 1: it was just being able to watch those guys in
Speaker 1: front of me, uh DJ and Big Tupo, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, watch how they play and then you know
Speaker 1: just uh piggyback off of that, and you know, try
Speaker 1: try to do my best to to correlate you know,
Speaker 1: what the what they what they do. Obviously I can't
Speaker 1: you know that those guys are health players. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: they're they're beasts in their own right. So for me,
Speaker 1: you know, it was it was just really awesome to
Speaker 1: you know, come in there and be able to you know,
Speaker 1: be uh counted on and and uh know that you
Speaker 1: know we're gonna stop the run and it's just the
Speaker 1: next man up. So it was really awesome. You had
Speaker 1: a broken hand last year in your rookie season with
Speaker 1: Jacksonville and missed part of the season. How eager are
Speaker 1: you to show what you can do giving regular playing
Speaker 1: time in the NFL. Oh man, I'm I'm really uh
Speaker 1: you know, I'm really excited. I'm really here, uh you know,
Speaker 1: just to prove myself, uh to show you know, my teammates,
Speaker 1: uh that you know, I'm here to win games. And
Speaker 1: then I'm here. You know, I'm all in uh for
Speaker 1: this team, and you know I'm gonna give it, you know,
Speaker 1: my heart and soul and and uh, you know everything.
Speaker 1: I got into this game here because I love it
Speaker 1: and I just want to prove to my teammates and uh,
Speaker 1: you know everybody else in the league that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm uh, I'm here to be great and uh you know, um,
Speaker 1: I'm just really blessed to be here in this organization
Speaker 1: and be with the Bengals. So it's awesome. We're chatting
Speaker 1: with j two fl a Bengals defensive lineman. You went
Speaker 1: through training camp with j Axonville. I assume they were
Speaker 1: planning to put you on the practice squad after the
Speaker 1: end of training camp, but the Bengals swooped in and
Speaker 1: I claimed you off waivers, and I know they were
Speaker 1: really happy to bring you into this organization. I imagine
Speaker 1: that's kind of a whirlwind, though, when you're going through
Speaker 1: that as a player. What was that like for you?
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie it was. It was a world win,
Speaker 1: really really tough, you know, uh, thinking that you know
Speaker 1: you're you're going to be in uh in one place,
Speaker 1: and the next thing you know, your whole world gets
Speaker 1: flipped over. But for me, you know, I'm I'm used
Speaker 1: to you know, I'm used I'm used to be putting
Speaker 1: into like awkward situations, and you know, for me, it's
Speaker 1: just putting my best foot forward and going to work,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, the opportunity came and Cincinnati called,
Speaker 1: and I was all for it. You know, I was
Speaker 1: for me. I was going to give them, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: my heart and soul and show them that, you know,
Speaker 1: I desire to be in this league and uh you
Speaker 1: know why they picked me, and uh for that, it
Speaker 1: was it was really hard, you know to leave my
Speaker 1: teammates out and Jackson I had, you know, good friends, Uh,
Speaker 1: good good guys. But you know, it's a business at
Speaker 1: the end of the day. And I'm really grateful that
Speaker 1: I'm here in this organization. And oh and we're able
Speaker 1: to play some really good football and to learn some
Speaker 1: from some really good, uh, really good players on my team.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm blessed in that way. You've been here
Speaker 1: now for about a month and a half. What stands
Speaker 1: out about your coaches and teammates here? Oh? Man, I
Speaker 1: mean from the first day I walked in, Uh, it
Speaker 1: was it was all off. Um everybody. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: I can tell that everybody, uh is always there's no
Speaker 1: one ever, you know, left out. They always want everybody
Speaker 1: included and everything and and we you know, we do
Speaker 1: everything together, and uh, we're able to just feed off
Speaker 1: each other. And I think that's the biggest thing, you know,
Speaker 1: is uh, you know offense. You know, when defensive guys
Speaker 1: are out there making plays, you know, the offense starts
Speaker 1: feeding off of that, and then we start feeding off
Speaker 1: of them, and uh, you know next thing, you know that,
Speaker 1: you know, the wheels start rolling and we don't stop.
Speaker 1: So you face the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. They are
Speaker 1: number three in the NFL and rushing yards per game,
Speaker 1: they average four point nine yards per carry. They've got
Speaker 1: eight rushing touchdowns, that's third best in the league. They
Speaker 1: run the ball fifty seven percent of the time, that's
Speaker 1: number two in the league. So when I give all
Speaker 1: of those numbers, it seems pretty obvious to me that
Speaker 1: stopping the run is going to be a major key
Speaker 1: to winning. Do you agree? Oh yeah, I mean every week,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a that's the number one thing that
Speaker 1: you know, we part of selves just you know, being
Speaker 1: able to stop the run. And uh, you know this
Speaker 1: week isn't any different. We're gonna you know, that's the
Speaker 1: number one priority is to be able to stop the run,
Speaker 1: and then uh, let the guys go get after them
Speaker 1: and and have some fun on on you know, pass
Speaker 1: rushing and uh getting Mariota down. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that's the plan, is to stop the run. And uh,
Speaker 1: we're gonna we have a lot of guys you know
Speaker 1: that are eager to just show up and proved to
Speaker 1: uh proved to you know everybody every week that you know,
Speaker 1: we're we're health of defense and uh you know we're
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna keep on getting better every week. Final
Speaker 1: question for J two fel A Domata Pecola is here
Speaker 1: for eleven years. You're Simoen Domata Simoen. He used to
Speaker 1: call everybody a uso, which I believe is the Simoan
Speaker 1: term for brother. He was one of the great leaders
Speaker 1: Enfranchise history. How has your Simone background impacted you as
Speaker 1: a football player and as a person. Oh man, it's
Speaker 1: a big peco man. I look up to that guy
Speaker 1: since I was I was a little kid being able
Speaker 1: to watch uh you know NFL and and I'd always
Speaker 1: see big Peckle And for me, it means everything. Uh
Speaker 1: my culture is everything. That's who I am and uh
Speaker 1: you know I where everything I do is is uh
Speaker 1: is you know it, it shows it reflects off of
Speaker 1: you know, just my my people, the small people, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know I carry them wherever I go, So you know,
Speaker 1: being able to the big whistle, you know, being here
Speaker 1: and you know being able to just know that you know,
Speaker 1: he was, he was, He did what he did here,
Speaker 1: you know it was great and uh, it's just it's
Speaker 1: a blessing to know that my culture has really helped
Speaker 1: me shape me to who he was a fan favorite
Speaker 1: here for a decade. It's great to have you on
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Best of luck this week, and I appreciate
Speaker 1: your time, sir. I appreciate you. Thank you who Day.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Beat podcast is brought to you by pay Corps.
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay core to
Speaker 1: help them recruit, pay engage, and retain employees. Learn more
Speaker 1: at paycorps dot com. The Bengals are three and three
Speaker 1: and tied for first in the AFC North. The Falcons
Speaker 1: are three and three and tied for first in the
Speaker 1: NFC South with Tampa Bay. Now time for this week's
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment. As the voice of the Falcons,
Speaker 1: West Durham joined Lap and Wayne box Miller on the
Speaker 1: Bengals game plan show refreshing to watch. Arthur Smith and
Speaker 1: Terry Fott knows the GM and their second year kind
Speaker 1: of built this thing a little bit. And I've used
Speaker 1: the term I think Falcon fans are probably tired of
Speaker 1: hearing me use the phrase layering. But Atlanta has done
Speaker 1: a really good job of finding a way to get
Speaker 1: the right guys to do the right job in certain areas,
Speaker 1: even to the quarterback. I think Marcus Mariota. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously it didn't end well in Nashville. He was a
Speaker 1: backup in Vegas, but he's come to Atlanta and he's
Speaker 1: he's done a really nice job of following the face
Speaker 1: of the franchise and arguably the greatest player in team history.
Speaker 1: And Matt Ryan, and he's an example of probably anywhere
Speaker 1: from eight to twelve guys who probably showed up to
Speaker 1: play for this team this year Wayne with a chip
Speaker 1: on their shoulder, and they're handful of them. And lap
Speaker 1: you you know who I'm talking about. You can identify
Speaker 1: him as well as anybody in this league. And Arthur
Speaker 1: has has spun that into a productive, hard playing, kind
Speaker 1: of grindedball team and they've been uh They've never they're
Speaker 1: never out of a game. I mean, you got to
Speaker 1: remember Sunday's two touchdown win was Arthur Smith's first victory
Speaker 1: that was not one score as the Falcons head coach. Wow,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's it's been that way since
Speaker 1: he took over here. So, you know, I'm excited about
Speaker 1: where they're going. But at the same time, I'm also
Speaker 1: cognizant that there's a building process going on here and
Speaker 1: every Sunday can be different in this league. We all
Speaker 1: know that, right, yes, and it'll be a heck of
Speaker 1: a test on Sunday for sure. You know, when you
Speaker 1: look at it West, it's the Bengals and the Falcons
Speaker 1: have tracked identically to get to the three and three mark.
Speaker 1: Lose their first two, win their next two, lose one,
Speaker 1: win one, and and the Bengals are one in three
Speaker 1: in one score games. Um now, they've they've won two
Speaker 1: games by two scores and the Falcons have won one
Speaker 1: game by two scores. That's the only difference in the
Speaker 1: way that their seasons have unfolded. So both teams have
Speaker 1: experienced the same thing. You know, it comes to who's
Speaker 1: going to make the one play and avoid the one
Speaker 1: mistake to win the football game, and both teams have
Speaker 1: seen a lot of that this year, there's no question.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's interesting because obviously you guys had
Speaker 1: a great run last year to the Super Bowl, and
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of those principles back of a
Speaker 1: very very talented team. You go through the free agency
Speaker 1: that everybody does when you have success and that type thing.
Speaker 1: But they may be at similar spots in the road.
Speaker 1: I think Zach Taylor's done a terrific job as the
Speaker 1: Bengals coach. I think what Arthur Smith's done here is admirable.
Speaker 1: But they're both probably you know, they may have their
Speaker 1: best football ahead of them. You're ahead of the game
Speaker 1: in respect that Burrow is a proven commodity, Chase is
Speaker 1: a proven commodity, You're running it well with Nixon, and
Speaker 1: your defense was kind of already there. Now you've lost
Speaker 1: some of those guys. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: think I see a lot of similarities in who the
Speaker 1: Bengals and who the Falcons are. For sure. You know,
Speaker 1: you guys had a big road win in Seattle. What
Speaker 1: does this team do well on the road and what
Speaker 1: do they need to do well again Cincinnati. Well, I'd
Speaker 1: say they probably need to start well Sunday because it
Speaker 1: looks like on paper Cincinnati starts well, right, you know, Atlanta,
Speaker 1: I see that big scoring differential in the second half,
Speaker 1: and if Atlanta doesn't start well that I know the
Speaker 1: Bengals can close. I just see the numbers on paper here,
Speaker 1: So it's gonna get interesting. I think Atlanta has to
Speaker 1: keep the game in front of him Wayne and that
Speaker 1: sounds like real coach speaker and then for a radio
Speaker 1: announcer to say that, but I think that I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot of truth in it. Atlanta has to
Speaker 1: come out and run the ball. They don't have Cordarrel Patterson.
Speaker 1: They are now running it by committee. Mariota doesn't get
Speaker 1: himself typically in trouble. He moves around in the pocket.
Speaker 1: The defense made some plays the other day to force turnovers.
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be a big part of what
Speaker 1: Sunday is too. If they can create a turnover or two,
Speaker 1: I think they give themselves a chance. Yeah, they're plus
Speaker 1: two in the turnover ratio, which is tied for seven's
Speaker 1: best in the NFL, and you always have a chance
Speaker 1: if you are in that plus category ten peas the
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. I remember when he was at Baltimore that
Speaker 1: stimulated pressure, his own blitz combination package that he has
Speaker 1: where he got a guy, a lot of guys in
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. You don't know which ones are coming,
Speaker 1: but some of them are coming, you know, and you
Speaker 1: might drop a defensive end and blitz a linebacker, a
Speaker 1: blitz a safety or a slock corner or whatever, and
Speaker 1: then he mixes up his coverages in the back end.
Speaker 1: At least he did in Baltimore. Is he doing the
Speaker 1: same type of thing in Atlanta? Is he given given
Speaker 1: those kind of looks, he sure is? They even the
Speaker 1: other thing too. Atlanta one Sunday with their their most
Speaker 1: productive tackler at least one of them, Sideline and Michael Walker,
Speaker 1: and they had a rookie Troy Anderson respond in a
Speaker 1: in a very fine way. So I would even say that,
Speaker 1: you know, they've even developed some depth behind that blitzing
Speaker 1: package that that he's done so well. For sure. You
Speaker 1: know one player I wanted to ask you about. He
Speaker 1: just has seemed to anchor himself as an Atlanta Falcon
Speaker 1: as Grady Jarrett, and just continues to play well thirty
Speaker 1: career Sacks. I believe what about him impresses you the most? Oh, guy, Wayne,
Speaker 1: I think you know the one thing I'll tell you
Speaker 1: about Grady Jared is he's learned to be a pro.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he is absolutely with Ryan Gone, He's
Speaker 1: the face of the franchise. There's no question in my
Speaker 1: mind about that. He's the guy that's taking the leadership
Speaker 1: role in the community. Has been the leadership guy in
Speaker 1: the community for for a couple of years. But Grady's
Speaker 1: one of those guys who I think the future of
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons is going to revolve around how good
Speaker 1: ninety seven ends. And you know what, he kind of
Speaker 1: It's funny he arrived a year ahead of Aaron Donald
Speaker 1: in the league, and when you think about it, he
Speaker 1: and Aaron Donald even though Donald's obviously won a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl and been an MVP, Grady Jarrett's like Tom Brady
Speaker 1: three times in Super Bowl fifty one. Right, m you're
Speaker 1: talking about a guy who he and Donald, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: to kind of laugh, redefine that, you know, undersized. The
Speaker 1: guys perceive to be undersized defensive tackles, right and H
Speaker 1: and they're the two guys that come to mind with
Speaker 1: me when when we talk about that position in the NFL.
Speaker 1: For sure. Yeah, currently I agree. The guy who reminds
Speaker 1: me of a little bit in Bengals history, Geno Atkins,
Speaker 1: kind of the undersized, you know, real explosive, um just
Speaker 1: you know, just unbelievably unblockable with the six feet tall,
Speaker 1: three hundred pound kind of guy you know that has
Speaker 1: got that that upfield quickness and the first step and
Speaker 1: all those sort of things. I mean, he's kind of
Speaker 1: in that in that uh, in that neighborhood with me
Speaker 1: when I watch him. I mean, two time Pro bowler,
Speaker 1: that's just a game wrecker at defensive tackle. Usually there
Speaker 1: are more so you know outside at the edge position,
Speaker 1: he's a game wrecker inside like Aaron Donald, I agree
Speaker 1: with you. Yeah, it's it's interesting to watch and those
Speaker 1: guys has certainly developed well and you know, but it's
Speaker 1: it's got to be a package deal for for Atlanta
Speaker 1: to be successful. I mean, they have to, they have
Speaker 1: to play complimentary football. They've they've been pretty successful, you know,
Speaker 1: Bradley Pinion, the punters having his best year, Young Way
Speaker 1: Coups and all the top kickers in the league, and
Speaker 1: you know, even Avery Williams is leading the league in
Speaker 1: punt return yardage. So they've got to play all three
Speaker 1: phases in order to be successful. And certainly I'll have
Speaker 1: to do that on Sunday because that's a great environment.
Speaker 1: You guys are you guys are fourtune. You've got one
Speaker 1: of the great venues in the NFL. And you know
Speaker 1: it's a program that's in a franchise that's been successful. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be quite a challenge for Atlanta. Tell
Speaker 1: me about Avery Williams. He converted converted from from running
Speaker 1: back to why a defensive back to wide receiver. You know,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a factor there. But I mean as
Speaker 1: a punt returner number one in the NFL seventeen point
Speaker 1: eight per per return, twenty four point three kick return.
Speaker 1: If you had enough returns to be in the top
Speaker 1: five there as well, this guy must be ah, you know,
Speaker 1: just slippery in space. Huh. Yeah. It's player development and
Speaker 1: Marquise Williams does a great job with teams too. I mean,
Speaker 1: they've got a plan in that phase of the game,
Speaker 1: and you know last year they kind of struggled with it,
Speaker 1: to be honest, and this year. You seem like the
Speaker 1: maturation of some of these younger guys that you'll see
Speaker 1: carry of the ball on Sunday. I would throw Avery
Speaker 1: Williams into that maturation. And you know, it's a hell
Speaker 1: of a gamble. Now, you take a guy who was
Speaker 1: a dB in college. You know, he showed up out
Speaker 1: of Jay Sarah, California in high school. He had played
Speaker 1: running back in high school, but he did not he
Speaker 1: did not have an offensive carry day as a Boise
Speaker 1: State player. For four years, he never touched the ball
Speaker 1: as a running back. And after a year or so
Speaker 1: in the league, they decided they're going to move into
Speaker 1: running back there in the OTA's And the first time
Speaker 1: I saw him in kind of those one on one
Speaker 1: drills as a running back, I thought, well, you know,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't be doing this unless they had a plan.
Speaker 1: And sure enough, they've had a plan and he's played
Speaker 1: a little bit of running back and now with the
Speaker 1: Patterson injury, quite frankly, they've needed it. Talk about Kyle
Speaker 1: Pittsbour's second of a guy a great year last year.
Speaker 1: I mean, is he as advertised? Yeah, Jay, he is.
Speaker 1: And the problem is is that you know, every other
Speaker 1: time he'd been in the red zone in his professional career.
Speaker 1: There have been two guys, and then Kyle Shanahan. I
Speaker 1: guess he and Demiko Ryan figured out they didn't need
Speaker 1: to double team in the other day and he saw
Speaker 1: what happened, right, So, I mean, you know, he gets
Speaker 1: his first touchdown on us soil is only other touchdown
Speaker 1: Cats have been against the Jets in London as a rookie.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's a terrific player. But he's also benefited
Speaker 1: from Drake London being there too, Wayne, don't make don't
Speaker 1: get that part twisted. Now, remember they did not have
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley after the first four games last year. Cal
Speaker 1: Fitz had to kind of go it alone and it
Speaker 1: really took away a lot of what Atlanta was going
Speaker 1: to do in the throw game. But now with Drake
Speaker 1: London and Lamasa's the keyst developing the way he is,
Speaker 1: I think Atlanta's they're ascending in terms of throwing the
Speaker 1: football for sure. A lot of people listening to the
Speaker 1: show right now, are you see Bearcat fans. Desmond Hutter
Speaker 1: is the backup quarterback to Marcus Mariota. Desmond Ritter is
Speaker 1: a legend at University of Cincinnati. How's it gone for
Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter? What's his what's his future look like with
Speaker 1: the organization? You know what? The night the day they
Speaker 1: drafted in Lap I called Dan, I just black called him.
Speaker 1: I said, okay, what's the story? And he he wrote,
Speaker 1: he texted me back, he said, great kid in the winner.
Speaker 1: And I can verify that he is a great kid
Speaker 1: and a winner. And every Bearcad fan in the in
Speaker 1: the Queen City ought to be thrilled. Desmond's gonna get
Speaker 1: an opportunity at some point. I think the quarterback to team,
Speaker 1: I just don't know that it's going to be this year.
Speaker 1: And I think he's okay with it, and I think
Speaker 1: the franchise is you know Marcus. Marcus is kind of
Speaker 1: that placeholder a little bit, and he's doing a nice job.
Speaker 1: But I can see where they're excited about Desmond Ritter.
Speaker 1: We saw him in the preseason. He did some really
Speaker 1: good things. He had those rookie orientation moments like all
Speaker 1: of them. But at the same time, there's no mistaking
Speaker 1: why he was so successful that you see there's no
Speaker 1: you can't you cannot see it. I mean, he is
Speaker 1: so good and so smooth when he plays, and he's
Speaker 1: got that poise that you look for in guys who
Speaker 1: can play a long time in the league. Thanks to
Speaker 1: West durah Man, here's an invitation to join Lapping Box
Speaker 1: at the Wings and Rings location and Union, Kentucky for
Speaker 1: the Bengals pep Rally Show this Friday from three to six.
Speaker 1: Their special guests will be Doug Pelfrey and Stanley Morgan.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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Speaker 1: Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.