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Speaker 1: Hi, Get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the

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Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast, the Erase the Taste Edition, as the

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Speaker 1: four and three Bengals look to rid themselves of the

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Speaker 1: bitter aftertaste from a dismal performance of Kansas City and

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Speaker 1: get back on the winning track this Sunday at home

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Speaker 1: against the three and three Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coming up

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Speaker 1: an in depth conversation with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham,

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Speaker 1: including his thoughts on what's happened to the Bengals offense

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Speaker 1: since Tyler Eifford went down and if the Bengals problems

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Speaker 1: on defense are fixable. I'll chat with Carl Lawson about

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Speaker 1: only having one sack so far this season after leading

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Speaker 1: NFL rookies in that category last year. And this week's

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Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment, we'll talk to Rick Stroud, who

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Speaker 1: covers the Bucks for the Tampa Bay Times. All of

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Speaker 1: that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder

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Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast

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Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing

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Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention

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Speaker 1: since the previous button on your TV remote. When watching TV,

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Speaker 1: especially live sporting events, I like to check out an

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Speaker 1: alternate channel during the commercial breaks, and the previous button

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Speaker 1: makes it very easy to go back and forth between

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Speaker 1: two different channels. Sure, it's not that hard to punch

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Speaker 1: in the channel numbers, but the previous button makes it

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Speaker 1: as easy as well the touch of a button. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's get to this week's game. When the Bengals hit

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Speaker 1: the practice field on Wednesday, nearly one fourth of the

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Speaker 1: roster made the injury list. Twelve out of fifty three players,

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Speaker 1: ten didn't practice at all, including Vontes Perfect with a

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Speaker 1: hip injury, Bobby Hart with a bad back, Drake Kirkpatrick

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Speaker 1: with an achilles issue, and John Ross who continues to

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Speaker 1: deal with a groin injury. The Bengals have a bye

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Speaker 1: coming up after this week's game against Tampa Bay, and

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Speaker 1: it can't get here soon enough. Now time to bring

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Speaker 1: in my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham to review last week's

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Speaker 1: to baccle at Kansas City and look ahead to Sunday's

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Speaker 1: home game against the Bucks. Lap I'm going to turn

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Speaker 1: the clock back to twenty fourteen in prime time on

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Speaker 1: Monday Night Football, The New England Patriots got embarrassed at

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Speaker 1: Kansas City forty one to fourteen, not quite as bad

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Speaker 1: as forty five ten, but awfully close. The next week,

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Speaker 1: Bill Belichick famously said, we're on to Cincinnati, and the

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Speaker 1: Patriots ended that season by winning the Super Bowl. I'm

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Speaker 1: not saying the Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl,

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Speaker 1: but how do they flush that Kansas City disaster down

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Speaker 1: the drain? Marvin Lewis channels inner Bill Belichick and Andy

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Speaker 1: Dalton channels his inner Tom Brady. I think that's two

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Speaker 1: big reasons why they were able to move on to

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati and be so successful. But you do have to compartmentalize.

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Speaker 1: I think, as I recall, Andy Dalton had his first

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Speaker 1: three game losing streak ever in any sports endeavor youth,

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Speaker 1: all the way up to the NFL when he lost

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Speaker 1: three in a row here as the Cincinnati Bengal. He'd

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Speaker 1: never had never happened to him before. So Andy Dalton

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Speaker 1: historically has been able to put a bad performance aside

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Speaker 1: and bounce back. And uh, you know, if it happens

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Speaker 1: they lose two in a row, it doesn't happen more

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Speaker 1: than that in a normal timeframe. So I think that

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Speaker 1: they are at home. It's an important football game. I

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Speaker 1: think that they have to look at this football game

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Speaker 1: as a crucial moment of the season. You know, you

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Speaker 1: do you crumble or do you get up off the ground,

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Speaker 1: dust yourself off and get back at it and beat

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Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's a winnable football game. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: they could go into the bye week at five and three,

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Speaker 1: lick their wounds, get healed up for the stretch, and

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Speaker 1: they're you know, they're tracking the ten and sixth season

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Speaker 1: right where they want to be. If not, now there

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Speaker 1: are more questions then probably can be answered during a

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Speaker 1: short time of a bye week. Lap Oar colleague Jeff

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Speaker 1: Butch Hobson from Bengals dot Com had a great stat

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Speaker 1: In fourteen quarters with Tyler Eiffort this year, the Bengals

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Speaker 1: have scored one hundred and seventeen points without him, sixty

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Speaker 1: seven points, a drop off of fifty points. I did

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Speaker 1: some research before the Kansas City game. In thirty six

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Speaker 1: possessions with Tyler Eiffort healthy, not including Neil downs or

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Speaker 1: possessions where the Bengals were not trying to score, they

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Speaker 1: scored touchdowns on fourteen of thirty six drives. That's thirty

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Speaker 1: nine percent of the time without him six touchdowns on

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Speaker 1: thirty two drives nineteen percent. What has the Effort injury

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Speaker 1: done to the Bengals offense? You know, I think you

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Speaker 1: can look at it and say, what kind of defenses

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Speaker 1: were they playing against when Effort was playing. Baltimore's pretty

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Speaker 1: darn good Carolina historically, pretty darn good. Atlanta you know,

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Speaker 1: has been not this year. But I mean it's not

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Speaker 1: like they were playing against you know, ge the football teams.

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Speaker 1: They were playing against good defensive football teams. I think

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Speaker 1: it's it's exactly what we saw with Kansas City. You

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Speaker 1: have two speeders because because the other factor is the

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Speaker 1: John Ross factor in that Kansas City Sammy Watkins, you know,

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Speaker 1: he can fly, he can stretch the football field, There's

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Speaker 1: no doubt about it. They have speed on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Hill was ridiculous. He's a joystick, you know, a video game.

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Speaker 1: Those guys stretch it, and then you have Kelsey abusing it.

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Speaker 1: With the aj Green John Ross, they could have stretched it,

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Speaker 1: Effort abusing it, and that's what they were doing. So

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Speaker 1: now you lose Effort abusing it, and you lose John

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Speaker 1: ross stretching it the threat of the deep ball. On

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Speaker 1: the other side, it tilts coverages differently. You know, Tyler

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Speaker 1: Boyd was starting to get double teamed as well as

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Speaker 1: AJ Green. So I mean the whole dynamic changed when

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Speaker 1: Tyler Eiffort was in the football game. Every snap he played,

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Speaker 1: they went nickel defense. They went to a sub package.

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Speaker 1: They did not stay based defense. That tells you the

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Speaker 1: defense's respect for Tyler Eifert was doing for them offensively

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Speaker 1: and without him um and then Tyler Boyd down as well.

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Speaker 1: I mean, CJ. Zami, you better put him in a bubble.

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Speaker 1: I can't afford to lose that guy. You better make

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Speaker 1: sure that he is protected. I would not put him

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Speaker 1: in any contact drills in practice. I mean, you have

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Speaker 1: to be very careful not to lose CJ. Zami. He's

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Speaker 1: and CJ is capable. I mean, he's a big body

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Speaker 1: guy that can run. He's a threat. But when when

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Speaker 1: they had all hands on deck, very healthy and making

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Speaker 1: the defense defend the entire football field, they were they

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Speaker 1: were dynamic. They were getting a lot of deep balls.

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Speaker 1: Now they're playing in a closet. Now the defense is compressed,

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Speaker 1: The defense is tighter, to the line of scrimmage. They're

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Speaker 1: not they're not feeling threatened with the downfield ball as much.

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Speaker 1: And uh, and then they can tilt the coverage to

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Speaker 1: AJ because a couple of weapons down. So I think

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Speaker 1: it's Tyler Eiffert for sure. John Ross is another part

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Speaker 1: of that equation. He may not be as big a

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Speaker 1: catalyst or as big a part of the formulation, but

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Speaker 1: he's a factor as well. And it's it's incredible. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, you look at the Miami game. The offense

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Speaker 1: scored thirteen points. The defense had two defensive touchdowns. So

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Speaker 1: offensive you put thirteen on the board. You put twenty

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Speaker 1: one on the board against Pittsburgh and ten on the

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Speaker 1: board against the Chiefs. That's the surprising one. Two hundred

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Speaker 1: thirty nine yards, fifteen first downs and ten points against

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Speaker 1: that defense. That's that's stunning. But the last three games

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Speaker 1: they scored forty four points against Atlanta, they scored thirty

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Speaker 1: seven to beat him, thirty seven thirty six. So it's

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Speaker 1: not a lull. It's it's a lot longer than the lull.

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Speaker 1: I mean, right now, it's hibernation. Offensively, it's not a lull.

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Speaker 1: They have to come out of it. Let's talk about

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Speaker 1: the Bengals defense next to last in the NFL and

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Speaker 1: yards allowed twenty eight and points allowed twenty sixth versus

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Speaker 1: the run twenty nine versus the pass. Is it fixable

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Speaker 1: after seven games? You know, as all coaches will tell you, Dan,

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Speaker 1: everything's fixable, you know, But I mean, is an injury

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Speaker 1: related you know you're down some people? Well yeah, but

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Speaker 1: everybody in the league. The Kents City Chiefs shut the

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Speaker 1: Bengals offense down without Houston, their Pro Bowl uh linebacker

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Speaker 1: and without Burry, their Pro Bowl safety. They're two best

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Speaker 1: defensive players. The two Pro Bowl players that they lean

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Speaker 1: on didn't play, didn't play a snap. So yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: it's fixable, And it's it's you really have to focus

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Speaker 1: on doing the little things, the minor details. You know.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes when when it's going well, you have a Tennessee like,

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Speaker 1: oh man, yeah we're good. You know, everything's you start

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Speaker 1: to handling success is difficult. You know, it's sometimes even

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Speaker 1: more difficult than handling failure. And that's that's the reason,

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Speaker 1: because it's like, man, yeah, I get some swagger, I

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Speaker 1: feel good about myself right now. They can't. They can't

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Speaker 1: feel good about anything. They have to just have laser focus,

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Speaker 1: razor sharp focus and every little minute, minute shut detail.

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Speaker 1: They have to be all over because it seems like

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Speaker 1: anytime anybody stumbles on any phase of it on any level.

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Speaker 1: Up front, hitting the wrong gap, staying out, getting washed

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Speaker 1: out of a pass rush lane, hitting the wrong gap

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Speaker 1: in the run game, whatever it is. Same thing at

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Speaker 1: the linebacker position, you're not in exactly where you should

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Speaker 1: be on your drop. You know you're off a little bit,

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Speaker 1: and there's a whole the quarterback finds it. In the secondary,

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Speaker 1: you know you have some kind of a mistake or

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Speaker 1: miscommunication issue. Any time any of it happens, they're getting

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Speaker 1: they're getting beaten, and it's happening at different levels of

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Speaker 1: the of the defense at different times. And if we're

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Speaker 1: the same guy, we're making the mistake over and over.

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Speaker 1: You could replace them. It's an easy solution, but it's not.

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Speaker 1: They're doing it collectively. There's I don't think there's anybody

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Speaker 1: on that defensive football team who suits clean, who can

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Speaker 1: look in the mirror and say, have I had, you know,

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Speaker 1: a perfect gear so far? Have I not screwed up? Now?

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Speaker 1: Every single one of them, and you know this started

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Speaker 1: on the offensive starting the Miami game. The two defensive

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Speaker 1: scores were make up to hide imperfections, and it hid

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Speaker 1: defensive imperfections as well. And now all of a sudden

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Speaker 1: reality has hit them in the face with two really

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Speaker 1: good opponents Pittsburgh Steelers in the Kansas City Chiefs. They

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Speaker 1: got they gotta tighten it up. They gotta adopt the eyes,

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Speaker 1: cross the t's in every single detail. No detail is

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Speaker 1: too small. Every single one of them is magnificently large.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned injuries. Two weeks ago, with one eighteen left

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Speaker 1: in the Pittsburgh game, the Bengals had a one point

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Speaker 1: lead over the Steelers. They're on the verge of being

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Speaker 1: five and one and the toast of the town. Now

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Speaker 1: they're four and three and being ridiculed after getting embarrassed

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Speaker 1: on primetime. How much of this decline is injury related?

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Speaker 1: I think I think a lot of it is. You know,

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Speaker 1: but in this league, everybody has to adjust and adapt.

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Speaker 1: You know, you watched the New England Patriots win a

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Speaker 1: football game without Gronkowski. You know he's not available, then

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Speaker 1: is They're outstanding rookie running back Michelle gets dinged up

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Speaker 1: and he's out in the game, they go to White,

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Speaker 1: they go to whoever, they go to Edelman, they find ways.

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Speaker 1: You have to uh. You know, if if your your

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Speaker 1: first plan of attack is eliminated, you have to have

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Speaker 1: a plan B, a plan C, a plan all the

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Speaker 1: way to Z. In the league, you really do offensively

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Speaker 1: and defensively. And I think that's maybe maybe the Bengals

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Speaker 1: have to work a little bit harder. I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: they didn't have a plan B and C, but maybe

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Speaker 1: a little bit more time could have, should have or whatever,

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Speaker 1: in hindsight been devoted to them because they came upon

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Speaker 1: them quickly, you know, and uh, and now they have

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Speaker 1: to adjust on the fly. I think the bye week

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Speaker 1: is coming at a good time for the physical part

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Speaker 1: of it because of the injuries, guys looking their wounds

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Speaker 1: and healing up, and for the coaches to really go

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Speaker 1: back and do the self evaluation and say, here's what

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Speaker 1: they did to us when when this happened, we didn't

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Speaker 1: react quickly enough with a plan B or C. And

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Speaker 1: let's do this down the stretch in the season instead

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Speaker 1: of what we did in the first half. So I

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Speaker 1: think it's going to be a twofold plus heal up, rest,

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Speaker 1: and heal up. For the players do their rehab, and

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Speaker 1: for the coaches sit back, take a good, long, hard

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Speaker 1: look at what they did, how they did it, and

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Speaker 1: make adjustments Accordingly. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have the

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Speaker 1: worst pass defense of all time. They are giving up

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Speaker 1: nearly three hundred twenty eight yards per game. Quarterbacks are

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Speaker 1: completing seventy five percent of their passes against the Bucks.

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Speaker 1: The passer rating against Tampa Bay is one twenty five

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Speaker 1: point eight. If you're the Bengals, why even run this week?

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Speaker 1: You to scratch your head and wonder. Tampa Bay has

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Speaker 1: given up eighteen touchdown passes, most in the NFL. They

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Speaker 1: only have one interception, tied for feuis in the league,

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Speaker 1: and they have no yard return on that interception, the

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Speaker 1: worst in the league. So why why run the football? Well,

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Speaker 1: the Bengals thought that the Kansas City Chiefs defense was

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Speaker 1: a sieve, and everybody did. The Kansas City was tracking

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Speaker 1: to give up the most yards in the history of

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Speaker 1: the National Football League. They gave up tune in thirty

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Speaker 1: nine against the Bengals and only ten points. So you

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Speaker 1: can take nothing for granted on a week to week

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Speaker 1: basis in this league. And I still maintain no matter

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Speaker 1: who you're playing against, you do have to have some

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Speaker 1: kind of modicum of balance, you know, you have to

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Speaker 1: if the defensive line doesn't have to respect the running

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Speaker 1: game at all and can tee off. And Mark Duffner

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Speaker 1: now the defensive coordinator, he's got a couple of weeks

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Speaker 1: under his belt now and he can come up with

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Speaker 1: some more creative designs with blitz packages. Put his stamp

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Speaker 1: on it. It's gonna it'll probably be different. The Kansas

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Speaker 1: City Chiefs through a coverage at AJ Green that he

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Speaker 1: hadn't seen on tape or anybody had seen on tape

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Speaker 1: from the Kansas City Chiefs all season long. You know,

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Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Mark Duffner in particular, Mark

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Speaker 1: Duffnin wants to beat the Bengals and he's going to

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Speaker 1: try to do it by showing a new wrinkle something

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Speaker 1: that has not been on tape yet, and not just

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Speaker 1: probably for AJ Green, but also in trying to confuse

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Speaker 1: Andy Dalton. So take nothing for granted. And if you

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Speaker 1: can pound the rock and anchor them, that's the best

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Speaker 1: way to beat the football team. Then you can abuse

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Speaker 1: them through the air. If you ask avid football fans

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Speaker 1: to name the number one passing attack in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing they would say New Orleans, maybe Kansas City,

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Speaker 1: possibly Pittsburgh, Atlanta. It's actually Tampa Bay. Three hundred sixty

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Speaker 1: four yards per game, including eight completions of forty yards

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Speaker 1: or more. They've only played six games. What do the

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Speaker 1: Bengals have to do on defense? Can't give up the

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Speaker 1: explosive play. They have four different receivers with the reception

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Speaker 1: of fifty yards or more. Evans has one for fifty one,

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Speaker 1: Humphreys for fifty one, Howard has a seventy five yard

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Speaker 1: touchdown catch. Jackson has a seventy five yard touchdown catch.

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Speaker 1: The thing is, explosive plays buy a bunch of different people.

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Speaker 1: Five different receivers have twenty more catches, four different have

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Speaker 1: three or more touchdowns, and four different have three hundred

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Speaker 1: yards or more receiving the tight ends. They have two

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Speaker 1: good tight ends. Out of that tight end group, thirty catches,

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Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty two yards five touchdowns. They combine

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Speaker 1: twelve touchdowns last year. Bottom line is the Bengals have

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Speaker 1: to be on their a game. They have to be

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Speaker 1: on point because just like Kansas City. Tampa Bay attacks

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Speaker 1: the entire football field. I mean, Fitzpatrick and Winston, they

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Speaker 1: are both. They're not prejudicial. Wherever the reed takes them,

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Speaker 1: that's where they're going with the football. They're not trying

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Speaker 1: to force things. So you have to be assignment sound,

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Speaker 1: be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to

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Speaker 1: be there, and you can't. You can't. You have to

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Speaker 1: minimize your mental mistakes because they will take advantage of it.

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Speaker 1: And they have such athletic people at the receiver position.

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Speaker 1: Evan's big and strong. You know, Jackson runs as fast

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Speaker 1: as anybody. They can. They can hit, hit you, beat,

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Speaker 1: beat you deep, hit you hard, and they've done it

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Speaker 1: to a lot of people. All right, last thing, the

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Speaker 1: Bengals face the Tampa Bay Bucks, and the Buck's original coach,

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Speaker 1: John McKay had some of the greatest one liners in

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Speaker 1: coaching history. He was asked about his team execution, he said,

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Speaker 1: I'm all for it. He was. He also said, after

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Speaker 1: one game, we didn't tackle well, but we made up

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Speaker 1: for it by not blocking. So here's my question for you,

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Speaker 1: who is the funniest coach you were ever around? Has

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Speaker 1: to be Sam White, you know, Sam, Sam could have

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Speaker 1: done stand up comedy. I think, I mean, the guy

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Speaker 1: he is so naturally funny, and he is so quick.

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Speaker 1: His mind is so quick. He can make a joke

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Speaker 1: out of anything. He can. He can come up with

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Speaker 1: a with a one liner or take it in a

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Speaker 1: direction where it's like, man, how how does your mind work?

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Speaker 1: How do you make that association um and come up

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Speaker 1: with what you come up with? I mean he was.

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Speaker 1: He was hilarious and a real high level, you know,

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Speaker 1: sophisticated level of humor. It could be you know, just

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Speaker 1: flat out normal funny, real sarcastic funny. He was something else.

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Speaker 1: And you talk to guys that played with him, you know,

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Speaker 1: during his career, I think every one of them, you know,

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Speaker 1: Bob Johnson, Bob Trumpy, Kenny, and you go through all

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Speaker 1: the all the guys that played with Sam White, I

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Speaker 1: think every one of them would say that he might

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Speaker 1: be as funny a guy, you know, as it's ever

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Speaker 1: been around, the guy that people would not think about

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Speaker 1: with sarcastic humor. Though Paul brown Man, he was. He

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Speaker 1: was funny. The guy could, The guy could. His sarcasm

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Speaker 1: dripped with about as much real sharp needle to it

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Speaker 1: than I've ever been around he could. He could crush

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Speaker 1: you in a sentence with his sarcasm. He was a

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Speaker 1: funny guy. And speaking of Paul Brown, the NFL celebrates

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Speaker 1: its one hundred season next year, and the league recently

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Speaker 1: announced that an all time team will be selected, along

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Speaker 1: with a list of the ten greatest coaches, and Paul

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Speaker 1: Brown should be a lock to be on that list.

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Speaker 1: One of the mysteries of the Bengal season to date

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Speaker 1: is the lack of a dominant pass rush. Geno Atkins

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Speaker 1: has six sacks and Carlos Dunlap has five, so they're

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Speaker 1: on pace for double digit seasons, but as a team,

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Speaker 1: the Bengals are tied for twentieth in the NFL with

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Speaker 1: just fifteen sacks. Carl Lawson led NFL rookies with eight

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Speaker 1: and a half last year, but only has one sack

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Speaker 1: through seven games. I talked to Carl at his locker

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Speaker 1: on Wednesday. How bad did you get held on Sunday night?

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Speaker 1: It was ridiculous. I mean, I think it was a

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Speaker 1: hold in. It was a buck in the back, so,

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Speaker 1: I mean, but I don't know, cause it's becoming a

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Speaker 1: water year, which you just gonna keep working. I was

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Speaker 1: among Benny that would have predicted a double digit sack

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Speaker 1: here for you. This year. It could still happen, But

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Speaker 1: have you been frustrated that they haven't come as rapidly

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Speaker 1: as they came last year? I mean, of course, but

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Speaker 1: I mean then again, the same snap counts last year.

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Speaker 1: It's just I feel like there's a bunch of varying factors.

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Speaker 1: But I can't and I've as I've reviewed the film.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it's from a lack of just you know, winning,

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Speaker 1: you know, the one on ones that to take. It's

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Speaker 1: a bunch of variables applying to it. But the thing

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Speaker 1: I can't do is I can't sit there and hang

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Speaker 1: my head. I gotta even though you know the natural

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Speaker 1: thing is to want to do that, I just gotta

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Speaker 1: keep pushing, keep fighting, and you never know what happened.

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Speaker 1: So I'm just keep taking it one day at a

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Speaker 1: time and just gotta keep working. Sacks are very black

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Speaker 1: and white stat they don't necessarily measure pressure. According to

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Speaker 1: the website Pro Football Focus, you are still among the

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Speaker 1: defensive lineman getting the most consistent pressure in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: Do you feel that way? Honestly? I mean, that's cool

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Speaker 1: and all, but I've always lose the model of sacks

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Speaker 1: and you know, sacks get stacks, sacks or what you know,

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Speaker 1: change the games. And yeah, everybody, of course, people are

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Speaker 1: gonna see the pressure. But at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: when they're talking about the conversation how good this guy is,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna that's what you're gonna be measured there. So

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna sit there and let a stat like pressure,

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Speaker 1: you know, be like a pad on the bag. I

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Speaker 1: don't take it as such. And I just need to

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Speaker 1: continue to keep working and go out there and go

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Speaker 1: out there and just you know, produce when I get

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Speaker 1: my opportunity. But I know my time will come. I

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Speaker 1: know I'm there's no there's no short of confidence that

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Speaker 1: would be a great player in this league when you

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Speaker 1: know when that time time is to hit. Two weeks ago,

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Speaker 1: you guys are about a minute and twenty seconds away

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Speaker 1: from being five and one. And the toast of the

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Speaker 1: town Steelers game ended poorly. Last Sunday night was a

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Speaker 1: rough one, and now people are questioning how good this

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Speaker 1: team is. How about internally, what's the feeling in the

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Speaker 1: locker room internally? I think, you know, we really need

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Speaker 1: to just you know, regathering and regrouping and to get

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Speaker 1: through the Bobwiek because of lot of things. You know,

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Speaker 1: injury bug is a hit. It's like somebody threw a

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Speaker 1: grenade in the tight end room. But you know, it's

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Speaker 1: just you know, I've I've dealt with little stuff this

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Speaker 1: year myself, but it's just you know, get just get

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Speaker 1: this win and then going to the Bybwiek. That's so,

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Speaker 1: that's the main goal. Carl has been in for two

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Speaker 1: hundred and twenty five defensive snaps this year, forty four

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Speaker 1: percent of the Bengals total, which is slightly up from

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Speaker 1: forty two percent last year, and although he is clearly

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Speaker 1: not satisfied with it, Pro Football Focus has him ranked

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Speaker 1: number eight in the NFL among edge rushers in generating pressure.

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Speaker 1: Now time for this week's No The Faux segment and

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Speaker 1: to learn more about the Buccaneers. Rick Stroud, who covers

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Speaker 1: the team for the Tampa Bay Times, joined Lapping Me

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Speaker 1: on the Bengals Game Plan Show. Rick, thanks so much

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Speaker 1: for coming out of the showton I greatly appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with a key injury for the Buccaneers. They

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Speaker 1: lost a bit of linebacker Kwon Alexander. Head coach Dirk

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Speaker 1: Cutter called him the heart and soul of the defense,

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Speaker 1: maybe even the team. How big a blow is that

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Speaker 1: on the field, And what are the Bucks going to

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Speaker 1: do to replace him? Well, yeah, it's enormous. I mean

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Speaker 1: they've been bad on defense pretty much all year. He

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Speaker 1: actually had maybe his best half of football before he

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Speaker 1: tore his ACL you know, when he was a rookie,

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Speaker 1: they were six and six under Lovey Smith and he

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Speaker 1: ended up being suspended before games for Pegs and they

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Speaker 1: lost all four. So, you know, he's a very valuable player.

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Speaker 1: I don't think you can really replace him. First, say

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Speaker 1: they're going to put a dairy A Taylor who's the linebacker,

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Speaker 1: has played a lot of positions at the mic, linebacker

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Speaker 1: Lavante David, who's a Pro Bowl player, will will fall

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Speaker 1: the place. He's gonna wear that green helmet and have

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Speaker 1: the communicator. But it's given me very hard to try to,

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Speaker 1: you know, fill that boy. They're gonna have to do

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Speaker 1: it with everybody. You know, in the typical cliche, everybody

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Speaker 1: else has to play a little larger because Kuan, you know,

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Speaker 1: was a guy that's really sidelined the sideline and it

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Speaker 1: just brings that fire in passion as you need as

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Speaker 1: a leader of the defense. Well, who's going to play

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Speaker 1: that strong side outside linebacker? You got your backup is

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Speaker 1: on ir with a knee injury. They signed Kevin Minter.

425
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 1: Who do you think is gonna line up at that

426
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,320
Speaker 1: other the strong side outside linebacker spot. Yeah, when they

427
00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 1: go based defense, it'll be DeVante Bond. I mean, he's

428
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 1: the guy that's been here for a couple of years.

429
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 1: He was injured in training camp. They reached an injury settlement.

430
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,440
Speaker 1: The timing was kind of good for the Bucks and

431
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,480
Speaker 1: that they had a couple of players that were eligible

432
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 1: to resign with them because they've been out for six

433
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 1: weeks and was one of them. Now he's only had

434
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: you know, really one week of practice, so but he's

435
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 1: played before. Um, not exactly a frontline guy. But you know,

436
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,480
Speaker 1: when teams are in three receivers or three wide or more,

437
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 1: you're you're you know, you're a nickel sixty six percent

438
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 1: of the time. But that's who will start there for sure.

439
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 1: What Gerald McCoy missed last week because of a calf,

440
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: didn't practice today with the calf. You've already missed your shortstop,

441
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: Alexandra a middle linebacker. If your catcher's out, you know

442
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 1: you want to be strong up the middle in baseball,

443
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: defensively end football. If you if McCoy didn't go and

444
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,239
Speaker 1: Alexander doesn't go, man, that's that's a big blow up

445
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,680
Speaker 1: the middle, isn't it. Yeah, you're losing. You're right, exactly right.

446
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 1: You build that defense that way, and you know they

447
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,800
Speaker 1: they've gotten a little fortunate. Um, I guess if you

448
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,439
Speaker 1: want to call it that that um, you know, bo

449
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,120
Speaker 1: Allen has come back off an injury. Vita Vea, who

450
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: was their first round pick out of Washington, he's only

451
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,159
Speaker 1: played in three games. It's sort of the equivalent of

452
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,199
Speaker 1: him playing now preseason, so this would be like his

453
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: first game instead of the you know, sixth game or

454
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,360
Speaker 1: seventh game of the year. But um, you know those

455
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,359
Speaker 1: are those are two guys that did a nice job.

456
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: They actually had their best game rushing the passer against

457
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 1: the Browns. I may say more about the Browns, but

458
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 1: they did have five sacked and Jason Pierre Paul has

459
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,600
Speaker 1: just been phenomenal. I mean he's coming here after being

460
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 1: traded by the Giants and has six sacks already in

461
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,120
Speaker 1: six games, and lots of tackles and and just sort

462
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 1: of been another guy that's been the emotional, sort of

463
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,199
Speaker 1: an emotional leader for them on defense. We are visiting

464
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,120
Speaker 1: with Rick Stroud from the Tampa Bay Times. The Buccaneers

465
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,359
Speaker 1: are number one in the NFL and passing yards next

466
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:45,119
Speaker 1: to last in rushing yards. Why such an imbalance, Well,

467
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,400
Speaker 1: I think if you really look at it, the first

468
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 1: couple of games when Fitzpatrick was playing, they got up

469
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: on teams really fast, and you know in those situations,

470
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 1: you know, they just didn't have the ball very much.

471
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 1: They didn't have many rushing attempts. And then in a

472
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,359
Speaker 1: couple of games, particularly Chicago, they got behind the early

473
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,840
Speaker 1: by five pets downs they weren't able to run it.

474
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,679
Speaker 1: So it's sort of been not by design to buy

475
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,880
Speaker 1: the same token. I mean, if you look at their weapons,

476
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 1: the way they want to attack you is through the air,

477
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 1: because you know, you've got Mike Evans and you know

478
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: Cameron Braid and O. J. Howard a tight end, and

479
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,400
Speaker 1: Sean Jackson got off to a great start, Chris Godwin

480
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 1: is playing really really well. Adam Humphries comes and plays

481
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,400
Speaker 1: in the slot, so they have so many receivers, which

482
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 1: is why they leave the NFL in passing that they

483
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: want to get the ball in their playmaker's hands, and

484
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,600
Speaker 1: a lot of times the best way to do that

485
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 1: is to throw it. It's interesting not just the yard

486
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:46,359
Speaker 1: but the first downs. Twenty four first downs rushing fewest

487
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,920
Speaker 1: in the NFL, one hundred and eleven first down passing

488
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,359
Speaker 1: most in the NFL. That eighty seven differential between first

489
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 1: downs on the ground and in the air, biggest differential

490
00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,719
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So, I mean, they are definitely and

491
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: I guess for the reasons you said, and most importantly

492
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think the weaponry. I mean,

493
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,680
Speaker 1: it's the Bengals. It's going to be an interesting matchup

494
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,719
Speaker 1: for me because the Bengals have had their tight end

495
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,640
Speaker 1: position decimated, so you know, they get questions there. They've

496
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: had their linebacker position decimated, questions there. Tampa Bay's got

497
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,879
Speaker 1: their linebacker position decimated, questions there. The only plus Tampa

498
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,640
Speaker 1: is tight ends, and that matchup, in the all important

499
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: matchup in today's NFL, tight end on linebacker. Everything's hurt

500
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,200
Speaker 1: and except the Tampa Bay tight ends. Do you think

501
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 1: that that could be a big advantage in this game. Oh,

502
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,440
Speaker 1: I think so. I mean, you know, those matchups are tough,

503
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 1: um even against you know, the front line players that

504
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 1: are that are on the field, let alone guys that

505
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:46,439
Speaker 1: are hurt. So you know, whether you try to man,

506
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,440
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got O. J. Howard is sick sick

507
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,199
Speaker 1: two hundred and what like forty five pounds, and you

508
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: know Cameron Braid is six to five. And these guys

509
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 1: can really go up and catch the ball. I mean,

510
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 1: they have good ball skills, their red zone weapons. You

511
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 1: know when you sprint, when they spread out and they

512
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,119
Speaker 1: go empty, which is quite a bit. You know, you

513
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 1: can play zone if you want to, but if you

514
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: go man to man, it's gonna be somebody's gonna be

515
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,680
Speaker 1: you know, they're gonna find the right guy. And that's

516
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,440
Speaker 1: what they've been doing. I mean, they're on a historic

517
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,640
Speaker 1: pace and go for over seven thousand yards this year.

518
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 1: So we'll see if they can keep that up. With

519
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 1: the way the rules have sort of morphed in favor

520
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 1: of the passing game, and Jamis Winston and of course

521
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,360
Speaker 1: Finzpatrick have you know, thrown for over seventy percent. It's

522
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: really something to watch when they get it going now,

523
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,159
Speaker 1: They've not finished drives, they've they've hurt themselves in the

524
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 1: red zone. They've been their own worst enemy there. And

525
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 1: on defense, they're not taking the ball away and Cincinnati has.

526
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: So you know, those are the things that would help

527
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,879
Speaker 1: the Bengals is their ability to get turnovers. A couple

528
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:44,879
Speaker 1: more questions for Rick Stroud, who covers the Bucks to

529
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,200
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Times two years ago, the Bucks look

530
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,359
Speaker 1: like a team on the rise nine and seven and

531
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston's second year picked to be on hard knocks,

532
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,840
Speaker 1: Why have they regressed in your opinion? Well, I think

533
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 1: they over the Skis that year in part because of

534
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: the hard knocks, and you know, really they didn't draft

535
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 1: any defensive players per se on the defensive line really

536
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 1: for about four years. Jason Light neglected that side. So

537
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: he went out and completely rebuilt this defensive line with

538
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 1: Bo Allen and Vinny Curry, who's hurt. You know, the

539
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,239
Speaker 1: guys I mentioned with Vita Vea and JPP. So you know,

540
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 1: they just weren't good enough on defense, and it showed.

541
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 1: That's why Mike Smith is no longer here in part

542
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 1: of the n't have any players. But you know, since

543
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 1: then you know, Jamis got hurt. Last year he missed

544
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 1: three games with an injury, he played three he probably

545
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: shouldn't have played in, and this year he was suspended

546
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 1: the first three. So they've just not had the kind

547
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 1: of continuity at the quarterback position or really the defensive

548
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 1: personnel to make them a complete football team. Mark Jeffner,

549
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite people linebacker coach up

550
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,719
Speaker 1: here with the Bengals before you know, earlier in his career,

551
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: takes over for Mike Smith. That had to be a

552
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 1: tough decision for sure, for Dirk Cutter. I know they're

553
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,720
Speaker 1: very close friends. But it looked like Mike was very

554
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: aggressive and a lot of blitzing and get burned. Looked

555
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 1: like against Cleveland. Mark Duffner decided to let's calm it down,

556
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 1: Let's play shell coverage, a lot of too deep safety,

557
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: you know, let's play coverage and three men rush drop eight,

558
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 1: four men rush drop seven and make them go on

559
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: sustained drives. And it seemed to have worked out. Is

560
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 1: that the way it looked to you, guys, And do

561
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:22,959
Speaker 1: you think you're gonna you're gonna see more of that

562
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: and less aggressiveness and all out getting after its stuff. Yeah,

563
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: I think that's exactly what he did. He tried to

564
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,480
Speaker 1: simplify things. They got a very young secondary. They're playing

565
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 1: three rookies, which is hard to do, as you know,

566
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,720
Speaker 1: you can't get those guys experienced. So Carlton Davis and m. J.

567
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 1: Stewart and Jordan Whitehead back there, they wanted to make

568
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 1: sure they didn't turn guys free, and that's what they

569
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: had been doing. They'd been turning receivers just absolutely loose.

570
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: So they played a lot more covered to shell. What

571
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: they did well was on third down they got off

572
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: the field, you know, when they got him in third

573
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 1: and longs. Then they came after him a few times.

574
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,120
Speaker 1: They did get the five stack, four man rush got home.

575
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 1: So duff is great. I mean, he's seen so much

576
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 1: in this game. He's really embraced this challenge. The players

577
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: love him, as you know, he's got nicknames for all

578
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: of them. He helped recruit most of them. So he's

579
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 1: been awesome. And then I think the guys are excited

580
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,680
Speaker 1: to play for him. You know one thing about Mark Duffner.

581
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,400
Speaker 1: Every day is a good day. I don't care what

582
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: the weather is, I don't care what kind of problems.

583
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: Every day is a good day when you're around Mark Dufter.

584
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: That guy's the most positive guy I've ever met. He's awesome,

585
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 1: and I think that was something they needed. And nothing

586
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,840
Speaker 1: against Mike Smith, but you know they're they're playing hard

587
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,239
Speaker 1: for Duff and they really do enjoy him, all right.

588
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 1: Thanks to Rick Strout, and that's going to do it

589
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,400
Speaker 1: for this episode of the podcast. If you haven't done

590
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 1: so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or

591
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: pod Bean, and if you have a minute, please give

592
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: it a rating or leave a comment. Your feedback is

593
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 1: always appreciated, and five star ratings help more Bengals fans

594
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening

595
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast