Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The will I'm a steamroll of Babe,
Speaker 1: I'm bound to roll all over you. Addition, as the
Speaker 1: Bengals extend their current winning streak to five games and
Speaker 1: finally beat the team that's given them fits over the
Speaker 1: last five years, the Cleveland Browns. Coming up, you'll hear
Speaker 1: radio replays, one on one locker room interviews and analysis
Speaker 1: from a broadcast partner, Dave Lappo. Then, in this week's
Speaker 1: fund fact segment, you'll get to know a linebacker with
Speaker 1: a frequently mispronounced last name. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
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Speaker 1: hundred care providers. Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
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Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Mark Duffner's Locker Room cry. For
Speaker 1: much of this year, NFL experts have warned us that
Speaker 1: the second half of the season was going to be
Speaker 1: tough for the Bengals because of their difficult schedule. So
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, at a team meeting the night
Speaker 1: before a road game at Tennessee, Zach Taylor told his
Speaker 1: players that it was their opponents that should be worried
Speaker 1: because they have to play Cincinnati. After the Bengals beat
Speaker 1: the Titans, that came up in the locker room celebration
Speaker 1: ule a guy with a high pitched boys who yelled,
Speaker 1: they've got to play us was sixty nine year old
Speaker 1: assistant coach Mark Duffner, who's in his forty eighth year
Speaker 1: in coaching. So last week, after the Bengals beat the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor requested a repeat performance by the coach universally
Speaker 1: known as duff A heavyway battle right there. Okay, you
Speaker 1: guys went toe to toe, he came out on top.
Speaker 1: It took everybody in this locker room. What do we say, Dolf?
Speaker 1: It has become the slogan for this year's team, and
Speaker 1: it was the first thing brought up in the locker
Speaker 1: room after Sunday's win over Cleveland. Dufner began his coaching
Speaker 1: career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State under Woody Hayes.
Speaker 1: On Thursday, I talked to him about becoming a social
Speaker 1: media sensation all the credit ghost of the head coach,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. Zach had that as a theme, uh the
Speaker 1: night before we played Tennessee and uh so, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: of course, after we won that ball game, everybody was
Speaker 1: excited in the locker room and we you know, we
Speaker 1: just carried that theme on a little bit. So it's
Speaker 1: the the originator and the inventor, if you will, is
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. I just had to be a you know,
Speaker 1: a small piece of it. The first time it sounded
Speaker 1: like you just kind of blurted it out naturally. The
Speaker 1: second time it was a pond request. Yeah, that's exactly right,
Speaker 1: he did, you know, he just said Duff And I
Speaker 1: kind of thought that was a cute maybe, and so
Speaker 1: I've fired it out again. But no, he's uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've blurted it out just to kind of keep well.
Speaker 1: Everybody was excited, and so I was trying to add
Speaker 1: to the excitement. The players seem to love it, Are
Speaker 1: you aware? I'm not aware of that, but that's if
Speaker 1: they do, then that's awesome. We appreciate that. Do you
Speaker 1: think that this theme is appropriate for kind of what
Speaker 1: this team has gone through in terms of everybody's worried
Speaker 1: about how hard the schedule is going to be and
Speaker 1: forgetting that this team was minutes away from winning a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl? Yeah, I think, well, I think this. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, the focus for sure is that we're playing,
Speaker 1: you know, one game at a time, and you've got
Speaker 1: to be ready for that. But this is a confident team.
Speaker 1: This is a team that cares a lot about itself,
Speaker 1: about each other, and about about the team, and so
Speaker 1: that they're all, you know, I think, dialed into that,
Speaker 1: and they're anxious to prove that we are a good
Speaker 1: football team and we're trying to get better each and
Speaker 1: every week. Do you want to give me one, not
Speaker 1: at the top of your lungs, but at a regular volume.
Speaker 1: They've got to play us. Now, let's get to the
Speaker 1: highlights from Sunday's thirteen point win in the Battle of
Speaker 1: Ohio first and ten. At the fifteen of Cleveland nine
Speaker 1: fifty left in the second quarter, Burrow extends the hands,
Speaker 1: catches a high snap from the pocket throws for the
Speaker 1: end Chase hasn't touchdown Bengals has Chase does the gritty.
Speaker 1: I'm the back line of the end zone. M the
Speaker 1: Bengals score first. When I was a dark between two
Speaker 1: defensive backs. Joe Burrow just threw a scene right between
Speaker 1: Denzel Ward and the safety John Johnson. First and goal
Speaker 1: at the six shotgun snap, Burrow hands it to p
Speaker 1: Rhyan Samante Price to tackle head runs into the end zone.
Speaker 1: Want to run by some much a p Ryan. He
Speaker 1: was completely stacked up at the line of scrimmage. Somehow
Speaker 1: escaped like he got out of a straight jacket and
Speaker 1: read it into the end zone for the Bengals touchdown.
Speaker 1: The reason why this guy stayed on their blocks nobody
Speaker 1: could grab them. The offensive lineman sustained contact and that
Speaker 1: smaj A p Rhyan is not gonna stop the engine.
Speaker 1: First and ten at the Cleveland forty five yard line,
Speaker 1: Burrow catches a high snap. Now it's a flea flicker.
Speaker 1: God's gonna throw it too. He's got a man open
Speaker 1: over the shoulder catch Trenton Irwin half the six touchdown
Speaker 1: down eight Bengals to flee. Flicker executed to perfection. As
Speaker 1: Burrow gave it to Mix and he flipped it back
Speaker 1: to Joe and Joey Franchise launched it perfectly down the
Speaker 1: middle of the field for the touchdown strike to Trenton Irwin.
Speaker 1: Watson fakes to Chubb screen pass caught by the Joku.
Speaker 1: He's at the ten the five times for the pylon,
Speaker 1: extends the ball in his right, huts and specks the
Speaker 1: pylon for a TD Burrows under center. Irwin goes in
Speaker 1: jet motion. They pitch in the opposite direction. Mixon running
Speaker 1: to the thirty jobs forty down the sideline fifty the
Speaker 1: Browns forty. Hen he gets toppled around the Cleveland thirty
Speaker 1: five by safety John Johnson. A forty yard run for
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon. Watson fakes looking to throw fires down field, intercepted,
Speaker 1: it's picked off by Jesse Backs hen he goes out
Speaker 1: of bounds at the forty two yard line. He will
Speaker 1: run down to the opposite end zone for the pose
Speaker 1: with his defensive teammates. It is fourth and four. This
Speaker 1: could be their last chance. Down by thirteen. Nick Chubb
Speaker 1: checks back in and running back Watson catches the shotgun
Speaker 1: snap Pump fakes throws in the late hen that should
Speaker 1: be coffin now Bam bam. Six fourth down opportunities the
Speaker 1: Bengals stopped on three. Each team has a takeaway, but
Speaker 1: those are equivalent to turnovers. They have three fourth down stops,
Speaker 1: which is a big reason they're up two scores. The
Speaker 1: twenty three to ten win means that Joe Burrow can
Speaker 1: cross another thing off of his checklist. When the AFC
Speaker 1: North check go to the super Bowl check and finally
Speaker 1: beat the Cleveland Browns check. Well, we're still wanting four
Speaker 1: against him, so we still got some work to do.
Speaker 1: But today was a good start. The win ended a
Speaker 1: five game losing streak against Cleveland, and it came despite
Speaker 1: the absence of three key offensive weapons. Hayden Hurst has
Speaker 1: ruled out early in the week with a calf injury,
Speaker 1: and Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd were sidelined early on Sunday,
Speaker 1: in Tea's case with a sore hamstring in boyd case
Speaker 1: with a dislocated finger. Here's Zach Taylor, you know we
Speaker 1: really lost Tea and warm ups. We lost TB on
Speaker 1: the second play of the game offensively, and and guys
Speaker 1: just stepped up, knew what to do. There had to
Speaker 1: be a lot of modifications, but but we settled in
Speaker 1: and found a way to move the ball. And that's
Speaker 1: really because our defense allowed us to. You know, they
Speaker 1: gave us the time by lemonton to points off the
Speaker 1: board to let our offense find a way, you know,
Speaker 1: to take that lead there. So really just good team
Speaker 1: effort finding a way to win. In December in a
Speaker 1: Visional game, even though Higgins and Boyd were out, the
Speaker 1: Browns couldn't cover Jamar Chase. Joe Burrow only completed eighteen passes,
Speaker 1: and Chase caught more than half of them. He finished
Speaker 1: with ten catches for one hundred nineteen yards and did
Speaker 1: it by lining up all over the place. You gotta
Speaker 1: have a smart player, first of all, because if he's
Speaker 1: able to handle he really played all three positions, really, X,
Speaker 1: F and Z. Maybe he wasn't always called that, that's
Speaker 1: where we'd put him. He's got all sorts of motions,
Speaker 1: he's got a lot of things. He's going to remember
Speaker 1: which side he's on, to remember what part of the
Speaker 1: concept he's involved in. But that allows us to just
Speaker 1: have so much freedom to move him around and find
Speaker 1: ways to get him the ball. Because because of his
Speaker 1: understanding of what we're trying to accomplish in his communication
Speaker 1: with Joe. More from Zach Taylor in a bit. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks
Speaker 1: and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and
Speaker 1: signed merchandise up for grabs find both inside the Bengals
Speaker 1: app and by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand
Speaker 1: customers trust paycre to help them recruit, pay, engage, and
Speaker 1: retain employees. Learn more at paycorps dot com. With an
Speaker 1: injury ravaged receiving cords, the Bengals leaned heavily on the
Speaker 1: running game and finished with one hundred thirty six yards
Speaker 1: on the ground After missing two games due to a concussion.
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon led the way and he talked to Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham after the game. Joe fourteen carries ninety six yards
Speaker 1: rushing on the day. One more carry to get that century,
Speaker 1: Mark Man, I mean that was a hell of a performance, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: just really locking in and dialing into the game plan.
Speaker 1: Pilot was, you know, dialing up the runs and Zach
Speaker 1: and them guys on the perimeter, tight ends and even
Speaker 1: a lineman running out there. Man, they did a hell
Speaker 1: of a job blocking the day, and me and p
Speaker 1: Ryan was personate enough to make plays behind him, so
Speaker 1: you know, me and him was breaking tackles and that
Speaker 1: second uh, you know, the second contact, you know, it
Speaker 1: was leading us to getting autumn yards. So he just
Speaker 1: gotta keep on doing that, Joe, I thought, Okay, which
Speaker 1: tandem is gonna gonna have the better day? Chubb and
Speaker 1: Hunt and they had forty yards on a combined eighteen
Speaker 1: carries a little over two yards to carry and you
Speaker 1: and p Ryan had a combined one hundred and eighteen
Speaker 1: on eighteen carriages. Case closed. You know, man, p Ryan,
Speaker 1: they got a great tandem over there. But man, p Ryan,
Speaker 1: we've been doing this for eight years now, bro, so
Speaker 1: we know what we bring to the table. We know
Speaker 1: we could be elite, the one two punch, of course.
Speaker 1: So we just gonna keep on coming, coming to work,
Speaker 1: you know, getting better, keep on pushing each other to
Speaker 1: be the best, uh, to be the best player that
Speaker 1: we know we could be. And we just gonna keep
Speaker 1: on trying to get better. Man, keep on stacking these
Speaker 1: wins because that's all that matter. And you know, made
Speaker 1: the best come so without cursed without boy, without Higgins.
Speaker 1: Did you know that the running game even had to
Speaker 1: take on the bigger burden of responsibility a little bit um?
Speaker 1: You know, we know that other guys, receivers and tight
Speaker 1: ends can fill in as well, though. We got it.
Speaker 1: That's what That's one thing about our deep our offense. Really,
Speaker 1: we got a lot of depth. And you know, fortunately,
Speaker 1: fortunately enough, man, we got guys I could just fill
Speaker 1: in and come in and actually contribute. And you know,
Speaker 1: that's one thing We've been fortunate enough, and we just
Speaker 1: gotta keep on having people step up. We don't know
Speaker 1: where had happened, you know what I'm saying. So he's
Speaker 1: gotta keep on having them guys come in ready and
Speaker 1: stepping up. And everybody's been able to do that. Joe.
Speaker 1: Five in a row, seven out of Bate football teams
Speaker 1: playing their best football the most opportunity time again. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: most definitely, man. I mean, we started that streak and
Speaker 1: we gotta keep on building. I mean, it's a long
Speaker 1: season and we know we know what the task at
Speaker 1: hand is. We just gotta keep on getting better, keep
Speaker 1: on building, keep on showing up to work optimistic on well,
Speaker 1: you know what the task is at him, Man, and
Speaker 1: just keep keep on dialing into the game plan and
Speaker 1: keep on moving forward, keep on stocking the wins, keep
Speaker 1: going one and all. That's what it's all about. For sure.
Speaker 1: Definitely appreciate you. That's a lot. Defensively, the Bengals held
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb to thirty four yards two weeks after they
Speaker 1: held Derrick Henry to thirty eight. Teams simply can't run
Speaker 1: against the Bengals when a healthy DJ Reader is on
Speaker 1: the field. Man, we had a good job on defense.
Speaker 1: We gave him that big runner early and guys kind
Speaker 1: of looked in the mirror check themself, knew what we
Speaker 1: need to do and settle down. And that's just what
Speaker 1: team defense is. Man. We knew they were gonna run
Speaker 1: the bar at least try and they weren't gonna stop
Speaker 1: until we got some points on offense. So we had
Speaker 1: to really go in there and really stop it. So
Speaker 1: the guys they bought in. Man, just is gonna be
Speaker 1: so proud of the guys and the group of guys
Speaker 1: I worked with every days. Happy to be a part
Speaker 1: of this group. Logan Wilson had seventeen tackles in the game.
Speaker 1: I think fourteen Solos. What you think of his performance? Man,
Speaker 1: he was out there playing good ball, just running around,
Speaker 1: flying around. It's a great game. You know. I trusted
Speaker 1: him and Jermaine so much back there behind me. I
Speaker 1: know if I could clean up some pitchers for him,
Speaker 1: they gonna go in there like he's seeking missus Moga tackle.
Speaker 1: So they did a great job with it. And Man, seventeen,
Speaker 1: you're out there moving. It's a lot of tackles. When
Speaker 1: you've played this year, opponents or averaging about three point
Speaker 1: six yards to carry. I believe in the games that
Speaker 1: you've missed, it's like a one yard difference. Obviously, your
Speaker 1: impact in defending the run is huge for this team up.
Speaker 1: That's what they brought me here for. Man, you know,
Speaker 1: I take pride in it, and the guys around me
Speaker 1: stay proud in it. So that's what I'm here for. Man.
Speaker 1: I enjoy it. I didn't go there inside of the games,
Speaker 1: no matter what kind of run game it is, tone gap,
Speaker 1: if you didn't get out the ball, run stretch, whatever
Speaker 1: it is, I'm into. I just love those type of players.
Speaker 1: Do whatever I can do healthy team game Balls went
Speaker 1: to reader and fellow defensive tackle bj Hill for stuffing
Speaker 1: to run, Logan Wilson for his seventeen tackles, Jesse Bates
Speaker 1: for his interception, and rookie Cam Taylor Brett, who came
Speaker 1: up with some key pass breakups in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: Cam made his first NFL start in that loss to
Speaker 1: Cleveland on Halloween Night. You described earlier in the week
Speaker 1: how facing Amari Cooper the first time around it's a
Speaker 1: bit of an eye opener. In the NFL second time around,
Speaker 1: it obviously went considerably better. Yes, sir, Like I said,
Speaker 1: man that first time, you know, I was getting my
Speaker 1: feet with They had Cam early. I've played you know,
Speaker 1: numerous of games. Now they're just staying a lot. It's
Speaker 1: a copycat league, so you're gonna see a lot of
Speaker 1: the same stuff. And I knew, you know, what they
Speaker 1: got me on the first game, So just wanted to
Speaker 1: hold in on that and make sure, you know, while
Speaker 1: I'm pressing other trying to get hands on uh, you know,
Speaker 1: just play top down really, so in the zones they
Speaker 1: were catching little hitches and curls and stuff. You know,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to play top down, no deep shots.
Speaker 1: Well I'm a fourth down fade. That kind of clenched it.
Speaker 1: Did you figure I'm the rookie, I'm lined up against Cooper.
Speaker 1: It's coming my way. Look at the time on the club,
Speaker 1: looked at the outside. You see a Mark Cooper, savvy
Speaker 1: vet versus a rookie corner, and who wouldn't come to me?
Speaker 1: So I wanted it, you know, I wanted to. I
Speaker 1: wanted to get the pick. You know, I see it
Speaker 1: really but you know I got the PVU and then
Speaker 1: you know, uh, he just turned into the defender at
Speaker 1: that point and just you know, trying to help come
Speaker 1: and help my arm. I trying to catch it. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's how I went. You guys should wear the tea
Speaker 1: and then the tea and Tyler weren't playing, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: we found out out early man, so we knew it
Speaker 1: was on this to you know, win this game. It
Speaker 1: was a defensive game. We know that for sure, so
Speaker 1: we had to be the better defense. You tackle Chubb
Speaker 1: in space a couple of times. The team held him
Speaker 1: to thirty four rushing yards in the game. How'd you
Speaker 1: do it? You gotta put a hat on them. You're
Speaker 1: not gonna go down if you don't. We had the
Speaker 1: game tacle, and you know, just tackle our way, Man
Speaker 1: heavy hard with that running back, you have to finish
Speaker 1: Man and Rapp and role. You got to bring a
Speaker 1: lot of people to the party to get him. The
Speaker 1: DJ readers pressing in the middle. It seems like anytime
Speaker 1: he's out in the field, the opponent is not gonna
Speaker 1: run the ball. Most definitely, who you can't stop him.
Speaker 1: I don't see anybody stopping him. Man, Well, I'm so
Speaker 1: glad that we got him back. He just look at
Speaker 1: our d line, man, They're they're very physical and fast,
Speaker 1: you know, especially on our outside, but in that middle,
Speaker 1: I don't see anybody to get through those gaps. Man.
Speaker 1: DJ just moves him around, and you know it just
Speaker 1: made plays. Man. We can't ask anything else for him. Man,
Speaker 1: there's something too beating a team that had beaten you
Speaker 1: a couple of times in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: I know you weren't here they beating you earlier in
Speaker 1: the season. Is there a lifting factor to that when
Speaker 1: you guys do eventually beat that team. Oh yeah, most
Speaker 1: definitely was. And then how I look at it, You know,
Speaker 1: from my perspective, I wasn't here the years before, but
Speaker 1: I was here when we lost, you know, on Halloween,
Speaker 1: and it feels great to me to get this win. Man,
Speaker 1: that was my first start, you know, I finally got
Speaker 1: to beat these guys, you know, and I'm playing to
Speaker 1: do that, you know, while I'm here at this old time.
Speaker 1: You know, once we play our ball, we allow him
Speaker 1: feel we could be stopped. You mentioned that was your
Speaker 1: first start. How much different do you feel from then
Speaker 1: to now? A lot different? You can see it in
Speaker 1: my game. I live just very comfortable out there, not
Speaker 1: you know, a real jittery man, play on loose man,
Speaker 1: having fun with the guys. Did you get the sense
Speaker 1: from the guys who have been for three and four
Speaker 1: years how nice it felt to beat a team that's
Speaker 1: given them so much trouble? Yes? You can see it
Speaker 1: in their eyes, man, you know, just a glisten when
Speaker 1: they seen the cloud going down. It has been a minute,
Speaker 1: I see, and I'm just glad out. I'm here to
Speaker 1: be a part of it to help out. Congrats on
Speaker 1: the win. Thank you. That's Cam Taylor Brett. 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. Elevate
Speaker 1: your connection with ALTA fiber. Zach Taylor's Bengals are nine
Speaker 1: and four and tied for first in the AFC North.
Speaker 1: He spent a few minutes with Lap after the game.
Speaker 1: It was easy to be flustered in pregame and early
Speaker 1: in the game losing two starting receivers. But the sense
Speaker 1: of calm because you know you've got great coaching staff
Speaker 1: that's going to get those players right. And we have
Speaker 1: really smart players and that's why they're here on the roster,
Speaker 1: and they're able to adjust and adapt, and you know,
Speaker 1: they made the most of their opportunities. Hurst was down
Speaker 1: obviously before the game started. But te Higgins had a
Speaker 1: hamstring that was bothering him during the week and obviously
Speaker 1: it flared up very early in that football game, and
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd looked like it was a finger injury. Is
Speaker 1: there any further information to give us on Tyler's injury.
Speaker 1: We thought he dislocated his finger, and we'll find out
Speaker 1: more information. Yeah, So sometimes with dislocations that can be
Speaker 1: breaks and all that kind of stuff. You got to
Speaker 1: make sure about about all that. But you're down all
Speaker 1: those weapons, what were you thinking. I mean, when you
Speaker 1: guys were talking about how to proceed, you know, when
Speaker 1: you're communicating with all your coaches on the sideline offensively,
Speaker 1: what were those conversations like problem solving them? You know?
Speaker 1: And it is you know, in the past game started
Speaker 1: with with Brian Pitch and Troy Walters making sure we
Speaker 1: had the right pieces in place. James Casey had dealt
Speaker 1: with that all week, with dealing with two tight ends.
Speaker 1: Justin Hill has done a great job three four running
Speaker 1: backs at a time, you know, and obviously Frank and
Speaker 1: Derek Fraser getting those guys up front going. So again,
Speaker 1: we just got such a great coaching staff that puts
Speaker 1: these guys in the right spot. That brings a sense
Speaker 1: of calm for me to be able to call the plays.
Speaker 1: No one that guys are going to know what to do.
Speaker 1: So your defense has to step up in that situation,
Speaker 1: and they did obviously. Joe Mixon rushed for ninety six
Speaker 1: yards on fourteen carries during the course of the football game,
Speaker 1: the exact same number of carries for Chubb fourteen carries,
Speaker 1: thirty four yards. You really controlled Chubb and Hunt. Hunt
Speaker 1: had six yards on four carries, so eighteen carries forty
Speaker 1: yards out of those running backs to help a job
Speaker 1: by your defense. Yeah, that's that's a recipe for success
Speaker 1: right there. And again it allowed us to get our
Speaker 1: feet under eight tests on offense because the defense was
Speaker 1: keeping points off the board, making them go the length
Speaker 1: of the field, not giving up the supposed to plays,
Speaker 1: and that was a key reason why we won the
Speaker 1: game today. You were very persistent staying with that running game.
Speaker 1: Joe busted one for forty that looked like it might
Speaker 1: have a chance to chance to go. How did your
Speaker 1: offensive line handle things up front today? Have another pretty
Speaker 1: good day overall first glance, they did a nice job. Again,
Speaker 1: they're putting more hats in there than sometimes you can
Speaker 1: account for. And we knew losing two receivers. We were
Speaker 1: just gonna have to live with that and find ways
Speaker 1: to find the explosives on flee flickers and such and
Speaker 1: also grind out some runs, knowing that if you can
Speaker 1: just stick with it and have the lead, that at
Speaker 1: some point something's going to break. And that's what happened
Speaker 1: with the Joe Mixon run. So when did you start
Speaker 1: thinking about the flee flicker? Give me take me through
Speaker 1: the evolution of the flee flicker and the final decision
Speaker 1: to call that bad boy. Well, I mean that's something
Speaker 1: that's that's been up for us several games this year
Speaker 1: and just felt right, the right moments call it. We
Speaker 1: need to be on the correct hash, and so it
Speaker 1: just everything played into our hand. They had some substitutions
Speaker 1: with their defensive ends that we're out, which is always
Speaker 1: helpful on a long play like that, and it just
Speaker 1: so happened we got the right coverage and hit it
Speaker 1: man and then your defense, your defensive line. DJ Reader
Speaker 1: is a full grown and and DJ played so well.
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson had a zillion tackles. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: unbelievable to watch what was going on up front. It
Speaker 1: was awesome, you know. And in credits to DJ Reader,
Speaker 1: he shows up every day coming to work, whether he's
Speaker 1: banged up, feeling great, same guy every day leading charge there.
Speaker 1: That's why he's voted to captain. And he helps those
Speaker 1: around him play really well too. Nine and four and
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to go back, but I mean,
Speaker 1: nine more points, coach, he's thirteen and one. Man are
Speaker 1: doing twelve and one. You're twelve and one because you're
Speaker 1: nine and four. We learned from our losses, and I
Speaker 1: don't know that we'd be the same team had we
Speaker 1: not lost some of those early games. And of course
Speaker 1: you'd love them, so you could have already won all
Speaker 1: the things that come with that. But sometimes it's it's
Speaker 1: necessary evil we try to win every game. I don't
Speaker 1: want to lose, but we certainly learned a lot from
Speaker 1: those early season losses that have helped us be the
Speaker 1: team that we are today. And finally, this game up
Speaker 1: and when you played them up in Cleveland, it was
Speaker 1: a you know, cold water in the face. It was
Speaker 1: kind of what it was seemed to be a wake
Speaker 1: up call, and everybody responded the way. I'm sure you've hooked.
Speaker 1: You've won five in a row since five and a
Speaker 1: row up and out of eight, what is it? Nine
Speaker 1: out of eleven now, I mean, it's crazy. You're on
Speaker 1: a nice run. It's a confident team that's playing with
Speaker 1: right edge and preparing with the right edge, and I
Speaker 1: believe that we won't lose. That our guys are focused
Speaker 1: on how to do things the right way, and I'll
Speaker 1: be ready to go on the road next week against Tampa.
Speaker 1: Bengals remain tied for first with Baltimore, as the Ravens
Speaker 1: managed to win in Pittsburgh sixteen fourteen despite having their
Speaker 1: third string quarterback on the field for most of the
Speaker 1: second half. Lamar Jackson missed the game of a knee
Speaker 1: injury and Tyler Huntley suffered a concussion, meaning the Ravens
Speaker 1: had to turn to undrafted rookie Anthony Brown. It will
Speaker 1: be interesting to see who plays quarterback for Baltimore next
Speaker 1: week at Cleveland. Now time for the radio guys recap.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are off the schneide. Their five game losing
Speaker 1: streak head to head against the Cleveland Browns is over
Speaker 1: in convincing fashion, twenty three to ten. Where should we begin.
Speaker 1: How about the running games? Cincinnati one thirty six yards
Speaker 1: on the ground, Cleveland seventy one. I wonder how many
Speaker 1: times the Browns have essentially been doubled up in the
Speaker 1: running game and the Kevin Stefanski era. I mean, you
Speaker 1: look at the first game. Cleveland ran the ball forty
Speaker 1: four times. The Bengals ran at ten. I mean, in
Speaker 1: this football game, the exact same number of carries. Chubb
Speaker 1: fourteen carries, thirty four yards. He had a thirteen yard
Speaker 1: rush and a seven yard rush, So on two of
Speaker 1: his carries he had twenty of the yards. The other
Speaker 1: twelve carries fourteen yards. What that's unbelievable. DJ Reader, full
Speaker 1: grown man, unbelievable. What he does, makes plays himself. I
Speaker 1: mean he'll make tackles, but to keep people off of
Speaker 1: his teammates and linebackers like he does. I mean, Logan
Speaker 1: Wilson had a day at halftime, he ends up with
Speaker 1: fourteen unassisted tackles, seventeen total tackles on the day. Amazing.
Speaker 1: That's just that's unbelievable. And it's all about DJ Reader
Speaker 1: two pow. I mean, not having those guys in that
Speaker 1: game proved to be a big, big difference obviously, and
Speaker 1: I thought, I thought that was a huge difference in
Speaker 1: the football game. And I mean Deshaun Watson, he does
Speaker 1: add a little quarterback run package that's going to be
Speaker 1: I think, a very tough thing to defend, you know,
Speaker 1: complimenting a supplementing job. But the Bengals had the answers
Speaker 1: today and it was just an unbelievable defensive performance because
Speaker 1: when you look at all the starter, all the skill
Speaker 1: guys going down Dan defensively, they knew we have to
Speaker 1: step up. I mean, our offense is in a little
Speaker 1: bit of trouble here, and in the early stages it
Speaker 1: was you know, stuttering, sputtering along, and defense carried the day.
Speaker 1: Tee Higgins dealt with a sore hamstring on Thursday and
Speaker 1: Friday wounded up playing one snap. I believe Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: got hurt on the second offensive play. So you alluded
Speaker 1: to it. Two of your best pass catchers weapons in
Speaker 1: the offensive game weren't available. They managed to score three
Speaker 1: touchdowns against a pretty good defense, no, no question. And
Speaker 1: you know, I thought that other guys stepped up and
Speaker 1: made plays just like they have, you know, all season long.
Speaker 1: I mean, the flea flicker was called at just the
Speaker 1: most opportune time that it could have been called. I mean,
Speaker 1: Trent Norwin has a forty five yard reception where he's
Speaker 1: opened by ten yards and he said that he can't
Speaker 1: remember being that open at any level of football. Just
Speaker 1: a tremendous, tremendous call. Because they were bringing people to
Speaker 1: stop the run. They were bringing eleven guys and the
Speaker 1: safeties were hitting. I mean, there's no question about that.
Speaker 1: And Trent Norwyn said, you know, he and Johnson had
Speaker 1: had a few collisions. He knew when they called it.
Speaker 1: When he came flying down like he did, all he
Speaker 1: had to do was bluff that block and was off
Speaker 1: to the races, and that's exactly what took place. Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson a lot better in Game two than he was
Speaker 1: in Game one. He threw for two hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: six yards a touchdown, one pack passer rating of seventy
Speaker 1: nine point one. Should the rest of the AFC North
Speaker 1: be worried about Deshaun Watson eventually? Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: think his skill set is, you know, kind of jumps
Speaker 1: off the you know, the field at He's he's a
Speaker 1: gifted guy. But um, like we were talking about during
Speaker 1: the game, loui Ana Rumo has been masterful at confusing
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that have played at a pretty high level for
Speaker 1: the you know, not just this year, but I mean
Speaker 1: seven hundred days, he hadn't played a game. They played
Speaker 1: a lot of games in seven hundred days, and lou
Speaker 1: Louiana Rumo had them confounded a little bit. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure the shot Watson was like on the pressure packages
Speaker 1: the coverages was like, WHOA, what's going on here? What
Speaker 1: am I looking at um so. I do think that
Speaker 1: lou and Rumo continues to be a factor, and his
Speaker 1: players are definitely responded to. I mean, they're they're believing
Speaker 1: in everything that he's saying. They're buying what he's selling,
Speaker 1: let's put it that way. And he's selling a lot
Speaker 1: and they're buying a lot. Man, They've got an unlimited budget.
Speaker 1: The players, they are just um. The amount of inventory
Speaker 1: that they have to draw from pressures and coverages and
Speaker 1: everything else is pretty pretty staggering. And to have guys
Speaker 1: and have the confidence not one of them is going
Speaker 1: to make a mistake is very, very impressive. We said.
Speaker 1: One of the things the Bengals had to do to
Speaker 1: end this streak of five straight losses to Cleveland, don't
Speaker 1: beat yourself. Don't have a bunch of giveaways. They only
Speaker 1: had one giveaway on a deflected pass that was intercepted.
Speaker 1: Don't have a bunch of penalties. Well, that was very
Speaker 1: much in their favor. Nine penalties ninety eight yards for Cleveland,
Speaker 1: four penalties thirty six yards for Cincinnati, and on the
Speaker 1: Bengals first touchdown drive after they had sputtered coming out
Speaker 1: of the gate on their first three diet drives. They
Speaker 1: were gifted four penalties fifty eight yards, including a roughing
Speaker 1: the punter that kept the drive alive, a thirty three
Speaker 1: yard pass interference penalty that helped the Bengals get the
Speaker 1: ball rolling. And once they had the league, you never
Speaker 1: really had the feeling that they were going to give
Speaker 1: it up. Yeah, I agreed, Dan, I mean, they had
Speaker 1: total control of the football game, and the self destruction
Speaker 1: was significant, not by turnover like you said, just one,
Speaker 1: but hoball on four down to the Bengals. Cleveland's three
Speaker 1: for six on fourth down. So those three stops on
Speaker 1: fourth down or equivalent to turnovers, it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: a fumble that you don't there's no yardage shift or anything,
Speaker 1: but you lose possession on the football. Three times the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns ended up possession without a kick, without a punt,
Speaker 1: extra pointer, field goal. That's huge. So in my mind,
Speaker 1: the Bengals were plus three in that football game in
Speaker 1: terms of, you know, the one takeaway and then the
Speaker 1: three fourth down stops the Bengals they weren't involved in
Speaker 1: any fourth down action that way, they had the one giveaway.
Speaker 1: And the other thing was in the first game Cleveland
Speaker 1: went four for five in the red zone five trips,
Speaker 1: four touchdowns today one for three, major difference. The Bengals
Speaker 1: went two for three, got their three times scored twice,
Speaker 1: and they were one for one in the low red
Speaker 1: zone and the gold situation, Cleveland was over in that
Speaker 1: goal to goost situation. That was one of the fourth
Speaker 1: down stops. So, I mean, that's impressive. I thought that,
Speaker 1: you know, this game was going to come down to
Speaker 1: again who was more physical at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: in particular, and I thought the Bengals won the let
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage again, I really do. I thought
Speaker 1: they controlled things up front and it's it's impressive to
Speaker 1: watch it. And the Bengals, you know, they did have
Speaker 1: a little bit of a boy I got to navigate
Speaker 1: this ship back on course when you know, some key
Speaker 1: players go down. Tyler Boyd. I asked Zach in the
Speaker 1: post game the extent of the injury, and he said
Speaker 1: that there was a dislocation, but they, you know, want
Speaker 1: to make sure there's nothing more than that. And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously as a receiver that's a real problem. So I
Speaker 1: wonder how much time, if any, he's gonna miss I mean,
Speaker 1: if they get it put back in place and there's
Speaker 1: no fracture. But if there's some soft tissue damage, you know,
Speaker 1: what do you do? Do you splint them together? There's
Speaker 1: there's ways to go ahead and go out there and playing.
Speaker 1: He's a tough guy. I think he's probably gonna try
Speaker 1: to play if he possibly can, particularly with the football
Speaker 1: teams playing five straight wins, seven out of eight, you know,
Speaker 1: nine out of eleven, they're on a run. There's no question.
Speaker 1: Do you have a theory for me on what Kevin
Speaker 1: Stefanski was thinking on the opening drive. They marched down
Speaker 1: the field eight plays, fifty one yards. It's fourth and
Speaker 1: one at the Bengals twenty five. They decide to go
Speaker 1: for it. They take to Shaun Watson out, they put
Speaker 1: Jacoby Brissette in. He's under center. I'm thinking, well, maybe
Speaker 1: they think he's better at the quarterback sneak or something
Speaker 1: like that. He drops back and throws it into the
Speaker 1: end zone incomplete, his only play of the day. What
Speaker 1: on godscreen earth were they doing? I have no idea.
Speaker 1: I really don't. I mean I cannot. That one is
Speaker 1: mind boggling. I'm thinking, well, maybe he's that much better
Speaker 1: in the hard count than Watson is. I'm thinking, maybe
Speaker 1: he's going to try to draw him, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's like, all right, well, maybe the fact that he's
Speaker 1: substituting a quarterback. Oh there's a special play that might
Speaker 1: get them amped up even more to jump offside. But
Speaker 1: you know, they held their water well, and I'm thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, why take a guy that quarterback sneak? He's
Speaker 1: better at quarterback run game, He's better at you know,
Speaker 1: you go to the perimeter with a two way go
Speaker 1: with chubbing Watson. I mean, you know, there's there's so
Speaker 1: many other things you can think of that they might
Speaker 1: try to do on that fourth down play. Um, maybe
Speaker 1: even you know, some sort of a gadget play that
Speaker 1: they had in their playbook somewhere on the game plan.
Speaker 1: But to just just to run a street drop back
Speaker 1: and heave it to the corner of the end zone.
Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, I don't that that one is
Speaker 1: mind bagging. I'm gonna be very interested here what Stefanski
Speaker 1: has to say on that explanation, because that one, that
Speaker 1: one was crazy. I'm thinking, first question in the Cleveland
Speaker 1: postgame news conference, I agree wholeheartedly. There's no doubt. You know,
Speaker 1: my first thought was maybe they were going wildcat and
Speaker 1: they just hadn't repped it with Watson, and obviously they didn't,
Speaker 1: but that was the first thing that came to mind
Speaker 1: for me. Yeah, I mean that that's another another potential out.
Speaker 1: But then you would think, you know, they'd have hunt
Speaker 1: in chub in there, you know, both of their backs,
Speaker 1: and if you're wildcat, and because now you have got
Speaker 1: their quarterbacks out there, he's a waste, you know, he's
Speaker 1: just out there doing nothing, and they didn't do I mean,
Speaker 1: it was weird just the way though. He just run
Speaker 1: in the quarterbacks on and off the field, no other substitutions, Like,
Speaker 1: what the hell? Crazy? All Right, So next week it's
Speaker 1: off to Tampa, probably the last warm weather game until
Speaker 1: the Bengals go to Arizona for the Super Bowl, he says, hopefully,
Speaker 1: but probably realistically and honestly, the one and only time
Speaker 1: that Joe Burrow and Tom Brady will go ahead to head. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think there's so many similarities between those two guys,
Speaker 1: I really do. I mean, not the way they came
Speaker 1: into league. Obviously, you know, one came in as a
Speaker 1: sixth round pick, the other one came in as a
Speaker 1: Heisman Trophy, first pick of the draft kind of guy.
Speaker 1: But but the way they approached the game, what the
Speaker 1: game means to him, their protocol of preparation, it's, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's second to none. And I think there
Speaker 1: were more similarities to than than differences in what they
Speaker 1: think about the game, how they think about the game,
Speaker 1: how they play the game. There's just a lot of things. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Joe's much more mobile than Tom. Tom is just he's
Speaker 1: from Jump Street, pocket quarterback. Only we saw again today.
Speaker 1: You know, Joe Burrow can hurt you with his feet
Speaker 1: and legs, there's no doubt. And I thought a big
Speaker 1: factor in the game today was going to be who
Speaker 1: when the first play is taken away, how do you
Speaker 1: create an extend on additional plays? Joe Barrow had an
Speaker 1: eight yard run on a scramble. He kept plays alive,
Speaker 1: you know, manipulating the pocket. So Tom Brady's not going
Speaker 1: to do that stuff. Tom Brady is as good as
Speaker 1: there is ever though, in getting the ball out of
Speaker 1: his hand right now. I mean, he's an offensive lineman's
Speaker 1: best friend. It's like two point three five, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's out. I mean you can almost whiff and
Speaker 1: get beaten, and he's going to have the ball out
Speaker 1: at those kind of numbers, and Joe's very similar to that.
Speaker 1: Joe gets the ball out, but if he doesn't like it,
Speaker 1: you know, he can, you know, go to a second
Speaker 1: play and create a second play. Tom doesn't do that,
Speaker 1: but nobody reads the field better than Tom Brady. Joe
Speaker 1: burrows right there though, and then makes a quick decision
Speaker 1: based on assimilating that information so rapidly, and it's nine
Speaker 1: point nine percent of the time the right decision. It's
Speaker 1: it's incredible to watch those two guys just see the
Speaker 1: field deliver. It's amazing. The AFC North is three and
Speaker 1: oz against Tom Brady. This year, Steelers, Ravens, Browns all
Speaker 1: beat Tampa Bay. We'll see if the Bengals can make
Speaker 1: it four for four sweep. How about a divisional sweep?
Speaker 1: That would be big Man Tom Brady at forty nine
Speaker 1: ers on the road and then the Bengals come down
Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay Man and that, you know, it looked
Speaker 1: like they're gonna be a you know, a slam dunk
Speaker 1: playoff team. Now it's going to be very interesting depending
Speaker 1: on what happens in San Francisco here later today, is
Speaker 1: he playing for a playoff opportunity? I mean, will this
Speaker 1: be a must win situation for Tom Brady. That's a
Speaker 1: tough opponent when you're in a must win situation. And
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow reminds me of Tom Brady two in the
Speaker 1: fact that when the game's on the line, fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: he's like otherworldly. Brady has been that way his whole career.
Speaker 1: I mean, Brady's got what forty four come from behind victories.
Speaker 1: I think it is ridiculous. Joe Burrow can do that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. I don't know if he's going to
Speaker 1: play a thousand years like Brady, but I mean he
Speaker 1: can do the same thing. The great ones play their
Speaker 1: best at the most important times, the most necessary times
Speaker 1: to play their best. They realize it and step up
Speaker 1: and do it, and they do it at a high
Speaker 1: percentage of the time. And these two are two of
Speaker 1: the best ever doing it. Tampa Bay's game in San
Speaker 1: Francisco turned out to be a disaster. The bus got
Speaker 1: blown out thirty five to seven. Is Tom Brady threw
Speaker 1: a pair of interceptions. Tampa Bay is six and seven
Speaker 1: and yet still in first place in the NFC South,
Speaker 1: one game ahead of Carolina ended Atlanta. The Bengals open
Speaker 1: as a three point favorite for next Sunday. Finally, time
Speaker 1: for this week's fun Facts interview, where we get to
Speaker 1: know the person under the pads. Time for some fun
Speaker 1: facts with Joe Bacchi from brook Park, Ohio, a little
Speaker 1: bit south of Cleveland. Your dad, Joe Senior, was a
Speaker 1: concrete worker and a football coach, and he says that
Speaker 1: he brainwashed you from an early age. What did you
Speaker 1: learn from your dad? My dad saw me a lot
Speaker 1: in my life, him and my mom and my dad.
Speaker 1: He always pushed toughness, you know, mental toughness well as
Speaker 1: physical toughness, and kind of everything you do. We're a
Speaker 1: real blue collar family, kind of that whole hometown brook
Speaker 1: Park areas like that. And I think that's kind of
Speaker 1: how I play my game, and that's how I've tried
Speaker 1: to you know, my work ethic and how I approached
Speaker 1: a lot of things. It's just you know, your mental
Speaker 1: toughness and just coming up with that blue collar mindset
Speaker 1: every day. It sounds like he coached you in just
Speaker 1: about everything. And it also sounds like he wasn't the
Speaker 1: type of guy that if you struck out three times,
Speaker 1: it was going to pat you on the back and say,
Speaker 1: that's okay, son, Yeah that I never really got the
Speaker 1: pad on the back, that's okay. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1: He was definitely always a little harder. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was my coach in basketball, baseball, football from I would
Speaker 1: say six seven eight years old all the way through
Speaker 1: high school. He was always my coach. And by the
Speaker 1: time high school was ending, I was probably ready for
Speaker 1: it to be over with him being my coach. But
Speaker 1: you know, I wouldn't change anything about it, for sure.
Speaker 1: So I read that as a junior in high school,
Speaker 1: you're playing linebacker and tight end and there's a game
Speaker 1: where the starting running back gets hurt in the pregame
Speaker 1: warm ups, so they throw you in there at running back.
Speaker 1: You didn't even really know the plays, right, I can
Speaker 1: remember it. We get we actually was right on the bus.
Speaker 1: He goes, hey, I don't think our running back and
Speaker 1: go today, And I said, and I used to play
Speaker 1: it all the time, and I enjoyed playing running back
Speaker 1: for sure, and he just goes, all right, we just
Speaker 1: got no inside zone, right, we got no power, we
Speaker 1: got a no counter. I'm like, all right, that'll work.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that was definitely a fun game. It was
Speaker 1: a muddy game, and you know, the six touchdown game.
Speaker 1: It felt good for sure, playing a little running back again.
Speaker 1: Five touchdown runs, one touchdown reception not bad, yep, I'll
Speaker 1: take it. I was. Yeah, I was kind of all
Speaker 1: over the place and offense back in high school. I
Speaker 1: thought I was an offensive guy. I always did. I
Speaker 1: never never really wanted to continue to play defense. But
Speaker 1: the smart decision was the transition to that linebacker and
Speaker 1: play linebacker for visiting with Joe Bacchi. So where you
Speaker 1: grew up near Cleveland is Ohio state country. Sounds like
Speaker 1: you would have loved to have been a Buckeye. It
Speaker 1: didn't work out that way. How disappointing was that? Uh?
Speaker 1: It was? It was definitely disappointing for sure. Um, I
Speaker 1: loved everything about Michigan State, don't get me wrong at all.
Speaker 1: I m We went down for a junior day. You know,
Speaker 1: I knew a couple of guys down. There was me
Speaker 1: and my mom, my dad, and I think we drove
Speaker 1: two hours down, probably only stayed for about an hour
Speaker 1: and a half, turned around, drove two hours back. You know,
Speaker 1: once you know, they kind of had their mind made up.
Speaker 1: They're going in a different direction, and you know, I
Speaker 1: got that message. It was, you know, it was time
Speaker 1: to move on. And once that happened, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: that was definitely motivation moving forward for the next four
Speaker 1: or five years and into college. And like I said,
Speaker 1: I love Michigan State though. That was a perfect spot
Speaker 1: for me. Just a hard nose old school coach d
Speaker 1: Antonio ken manny how they run everything there when I
Speaker 1: was there, it was a perfect program for me. You
Speaker 1: had a great career, you were a two time captain.
Speaker 1: Folks around here no and love Mark D'Antonio from his
Speaker 1: time at the University of Cincinnati. What was the highlight
Speaker 1: of your Michigan State experience. I know this is kind
Speaker 1: of cliche, but I think it was just the guys,
Speaker 1: Like I had no complaints about any of my friends,
Speaker 1: you know, and it made go into the buildings so
Speaker 1: much fun every day and we enjoyed it. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I get with this team a little bit.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of the guys are just you know,
Speaker 1: we're all friends, like we like to We enjoy being
Speaker 1: around each other, and that's what really makes football fun.
Speaker 1: And you know, in Michigan State, it was every day
Speaker 1: with me and my roommates were out there. He's starting
Speaker 1: defensive end, my other one's a safety, that that one
Speaker 1: was a quarterback the old line, and you know, it
Speaker 1: was just a great experience there. Like I said, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't change any of it. You didn't get drafted after
Speaker 1: playing at Michigan State, but a lot of teams were
Speaker 1: interested in signing you as a college free agent. You
Speaker 1: started out with the Saints on their practice squad, then
Speaker 1: you got picked up by the Eagles, and you made
Speaker 1: your debut for Philly in December of twenty twenty. What
Speaker 1: do you remember about taking the field in that first
Speaker 1: game and knowing that you had made it to the NFL?
Speaker 1: That was That was a weird week for me when
Speaker 1: they came and when they picked me up that Monday
Speaker 1: morning they claimed me off the practice squad and I
Speaker 1: get up there. It was weird because COVID I wasn't
Speaker 1: allowed to go into the building at all during Philly,
Speaker 1: so I didn't get to go meet anyone until Sunday
Speaker 1: when we were playing actually New Orleans, so I didn't
Speaker 1: go to the building one time. First time seeing everyone
Speaker 1: was actually in the stadium in the locker room on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and I was like, all right, here you go. You're
Speaker 1: gonna kickoff return and punt return to start, and it
Speaker 1: was it was definitely sounding like I said, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to forget that because that it was just a
Speaker 1: wild experienced the whole COVID situation anyways, in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: as a whole. But yeah, that that's not how I
Speaker 1: pictured it happening, But you know, you'll take it anyway.
Speaker 1: At this point, what was your reaction to getting picked
Speaker 1: up by Cincinnati the next year? Like I said, I'm
Speaker 1: from Cleveland, I was a Browns fan growing up. That
Speaker 1: kind of wore off one thing at the college. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of Detroit games on. I was itchin state,
Speaker 1: and you know, I really just whatever team is gonna
Speaker 1: pick me. If I was the NFL wasn't be great
Speaker 1: and I didn't know what to expect it I came here.
Speaker 1: I just knew this is already my third team and
Speaker 1: basically a year and a half and you know, I
Speaker 1: got to prove, you know that I'm willing to you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a guy that can play in this league and
Speaker 1: ever since I've been here, you know, I've enjoyed it
Speaker 1: more and more every day, and a lot of the
Speaker 1: guys in there just made it a lot easier for
Speaker 1: me to transition over here, for sure. So last year,
Speaker 1: you moved into the starting lineup during a stretch where
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson was hurt, and in your second game you
Speaker 1: got hurt. You tore your ACL at Denver. It was
Speaker 1: on the same play where Teddy Bridgewater had to be
Speaker 1: carted off and a mobilized, so kind of the focus
Speaker 1: was on him, and obviously you were in pain as well.
Speaker 1: I watched the replay. I couldn't really tell how it happened.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like your knee collided or anything like that.
Speaker 1: That was a weird experience for me, just because I've
Speaker 1: never had a true serious like knee injury like that
Speaker 1: knock on wood. But yeah, when that happened, I knew
Speaker 1: something was wrong, so I haven't had that feeling before.
Speaker 1: And it was just off a little plant. I kind
Speaker 1: of was baiting him in cutting back and I was
Speaker 1: hoping he was going to do that, so it was
Speaker 1: it happened. I put my left foot in the ground
Speaker 1: and I felt it and I put my shoulder on.
Speaker 1: I mean, it kind of going over top of me,
Speaker 1: but I knew it right away something was wrong. I
Speaker 1: walked off the field. I remember walking back into the
Speaker 1: locker room. You know, I got up relatively quick cause
Speaker 1: I just was freaking out on the field. This goes
Speaker 1: back to my dad when I was younger and never
Speaker 1: been laying on the field. So when I was down,
Speaker 1: that's all I could think about, You gotta get off
Speaker 1: the field now. So I remember going back into the
Speaker 1: X ray room. I take a look up at the
Speaker 1: screen and Teddy was being carted off, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: what's going on. I had no idea he got hurt
Speaker 1: on the same play and they're like, no, it's still
Speaker 1: the same play. I'm like, oh my god, this was
Speaker 1: That was a messbul play. But yeah, that's not a
Speaker 1: great feeling when that happened. What was the toughest part
Speaker 1: of rehab for you? The mental part of it for sure,
Speaker 1: and just being consistent. You know, how many times can
Speaker 1: you do these same exercises over and over and over
Speaker 1: again during the week, and you're doing the same type
Speaker 1: stuff four or five days a week, and you're really
Speaker 1: you gotta push it because you gotta get your muscles
Speaker 1: all back and you get everything working again. But I
Speaker 1: said it was the mental part of it, and pushing
Speaker 1: through a lot of it taught me a lot about myself.
Speaker 1: All right, let's hit some wildcard categories now for Joe Bacci.
Speaker 1: Who is your all time favorite athlete in any sport?
Speaker 1: And why I got two? I was a big Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning fan growing up. That's what I alse thought I
Speaker 1: was gonna play quarterback. But then being from Cleveland, I
Speaker 1: was always a Lebron fan and he was always like,
Speaker 1: you know, as a kid in Cleveland, you're playing basketball,
Speaker 1: you're being Lebron James out there in the backyard or
Speaker 1: whatever it is. And he was kind of a guy
Speaker 1: that I always, you know, enjoyed watching for sure. Were
Speaker 1: you able to attend Browns, Calves, Indians games things like that?
Speaker 1: Is kid? Uh, we didn't. I think that time we
Speaker 1: actually played in Cleveland this year is probably my third
Speaker 1: time in that stadium ever, Like we never went. It
Speaker 1: was you know, you pay for parking, then you pay
Speaker 1: for me and my brother and my dad. It's I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get a drink and something. Just spending a couple
Speaker 1: hundred bucks there. You know, weird never knew that we
Speaker 1: were watching the game from the couch at home on Sundays.
Speaker 1: But I got to a couple of Indians games, a
Speaker 1: couple of Calves games, just from no one people and
Speaker 1: having some connections there back home. When the Cavs finally
Speaker 1: won the NBA title, what did that mean to you
Speaker 1: as a Clevelander. I was actually in college. I enrolled early,
Speaker 1: left high school early, so all my buddies were just
Speaker 1: finishing up high school and they were all downtown sending
Speaker 1: me videos and everything that was going on. It was
Speaker 1: chaos down there. I'm actually glad I wasn't down there
Speaker 1: and then for the parade and all that, but I
Speaker 1: aren't being at Michigan State and you know and watching
Speaker 1: with my roommates at the time, and I lost my
Speaker 1: mind when they wanted, you know, come back from three
Speaker 1: one like that, and for the city of Cleveland, that
Speaker 1: was awesome. Do you have any hidden talents? I don't,
Speaker 1: But I wish if I was talented anything. I wish
Speaker 1: I could sing. I do it enough where I should
Speaker 1: be better, but I'm just not. I just don't have
Speaker 1: a singing voice. I would say in the shower, though,
Speaker 1: Are you belting it out when there are no witnesses? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm great in the shower and usually in the truck alone.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty good at it to singing some country songs,
Speaker 1: but other than that, I you know, maybe on the
Speaker 1: boat when everyone's singing, I'll be singing a little bit.
Speaker 1: But that's about it for me. What do you like
Speaker 1: to spend your money on? Really nothing. We are trying
Speaker 1: to save up right now, me and my girlfriend. But
Speaker 1: I'm not a big designer brand anything. You know. I
Speaker 1: still got the same pair of shoes I kind of
Speaker 1: wear to the billity of the best two years. I
Speaker 1: don't really change my style much. If there's one thing
Speaker 1: that gets me every time I walk in there, every
Speaker 1: time I walk into Lulu Lemon, for some reason, I
Speaker 1: ended up grabbing a couple of things and it's a
Speaker 1: little pricey in there. Do you get annoyed when people
Speaker 1: mispronounce your last name? It's happened my entire life, you know, Bacchi,
Speaker 1: Bacchi whatever you hear over there, and it's I'd like
Speaker 1: to know. At this point, I'm hoping people are starting
Speaker 1: to know my name by now that it's Joe Bacci.
Speaker 1: They should. I hope so, especially in college, and I
Speaker 1: have the wrong in college, but come on, I'm one
Speaker 1: of the better players. I think in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: You got to know my name by now, but I
Speaker 1: hope they know it by now. All right, Final fun fact,
Speaker 1: This one's kind of deep. If you could meet anybody
Speaker 1: in history, athlete, actor, statesmen, whoever that person might be,
Speaker 1: who would you want to meet? I like to think
Speaker 1: of some historical figure, but then I always go back to,
Speaker 1: like I would really like to meet Mark Wahlberg. I
Speaker 1: think I feel like that'd be an interesting person to
Speaker 1: meet and sit down with. Um, maybe i've dinner, maybe
Speaker 1: have a drink with him and talk with him. See.
Speaker 1: I feel better now because when I think about this
Speaker 1: question for myself, my guy is Steve Martin. I love
Speaker 1: Steve Martin, and I feel guilty like it should be
Speaker 1: George Washington. So I feel the same way, like I could.
Speaker 1: I could definitely do that, but I just for some
Speaker 1: reason that kind of always goes back to that, or
Speaker 1: you know someone else who I think would just be
Speaker 1: a good time. That's That's kind of where I'm going
Speaker 1: with this. I want to who would be a good
Speaker 1: time to sit down with and talking. I feel like
Speaker 1: he'd be an interesting person. Mark Walburg. Yeah, Mark Walburg,
Speaker 1: there it is, Joe. I appreciate your time. Thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Best to look the rest of the year.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate it. That's going to do it
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Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast