Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The so amazing, so amazing, so amazing.
Speaker 1: It's amazing addition, as the Bengals look to advance to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl for the second straight year by beating
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs on their home field, coming up,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to tight end Hayden Hurst and share where
Speaker 1: I have him ranked among the greatest hurdlers of all time.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from Ted Carriss on the condition of his
Speaker 1: injured knee, and discuss the remarkable performance of the Bengals
Speaker 1: offensive line last week with NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.
Speaker 1: And finally, in this week's No The Faux segment, we'll
Speaker 1: get the skinny on the Chiefs from Adam Tisher, who
Speaker 1: covers the team for ESPN. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're
Speaker 1: free to play with tickets inside merchandise up for grabs.
Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals ab now here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since No Excuses gear. Back in twenty nineteen, when Bengal
Speaker 1: safety Michael Thomas was playing for the New York Giants,
Speaker 1: he decided that no Excuses would be his personal slogan
Speaker 1: for the season and shared that message with friends. When
Speaker 1: he got to training camp, a buddy back home in
Speaker 1: Houston sent him a care package that included a hat
Speaker 1: he had made that featured the word excuses in bold
Speaker 1: white letters with a red slash through it. When Michael
Speaker 1: wore that hat to camp, teammates like Sequon Barkley and
Speaker 1: Eli Manning asked where he got it, and when he
Speaker 1: wore it to a local mall, he got stopped by
Speaker 1: several people asking the same question. So he started a
Speaker 1: No Excuses clothing brand, and perhaps you've seen Bengals players
Speaker 1: and coaches wearing hats and hoodies featuring that message this year.
Speaker 1: If you're interested, you can check out the catalog at
Speaker 1: No Excuses shop dot com. The gear not only looks good,
Speaker 1: but it helps raise money for academic scholarships for kids
Speaker 1: in Michael's hometown. Now let's get to football. The Bengals
Speaker 1: have done a remarkable job in free agency in recent years.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty, they signed DJ Reader and Von Bell.
Speaker 1: Last year they added Trey Hendrickson, Mike Hilton and chitubey
Speaker 1: O Wooge. And this year they beefed up the offensive
Speaker 1: line by signing Ted Carris, Alex Kappa, and L. L. Collins.
Speaker 1: But that's not all they did this year. They also
Speaker 1: signed tight end Haydenhurst to a one year, three point
Speaker 1: five million dollar deal, making him one of the biggest
Speaker 1: bargains in the league at his position. I caught up
Speaker 1: with the twenty nine year old this week. All right, Hayden,
Speaker 1: here is my current list of the greatest hurdlers of
Speaker 1: all time. Edwin Moses number one, Ronaldo Niemiah number two,
Speaker 1: Hayden Hurst number three. Last week of Buffalo, it's a
Speaker 1: seven point game, about five minutes to go in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, third down in ten. You go up and
Speaker 1: over a defensive back for a key first down. The
Speaker 1: Bengal score touchdown on that drive. Could you tell in
Speaker 1: the moment the significance of that hurdle? Honestly, No. When
Speaker 1: I get out there and I put my homet on,
Speaker 1: I just I'm just having fun. Obviously, I know the situation.
Speaker 1: It's third down, third and long, and I need to
Speaker 1: get the first down. As far as like how crucial
Speaker 1: in the moment it was, I didn't really cross my mind.
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to pick up first downs. Again, it's
Speaker 1: kind of my mo here. I'm kind of the first
Speaker 1: down guy. So you know, Joe checks it down and
Speaker 1: trust me to go get ten yards and you know,
Speaker 1: I go get twelve. I kind of saw him gathering
Speaker 1: himself a little bit. I knew he was gonna go low.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a dB, so when up top just
Speaker 1: kind of I guess my thing, when do you make
Speaker 1: that decision? It's really it's more of a reaction thing.
Speaker 1: I think if you go into it being like I'm
Speaker 1: gonna hurdle this guy, it's when you get dumped. I
Speaker 1: definitely I learned my lesson in college. I got dumped
Speaker 1: in college. So I mean, you get got every once
Speaker 1: in a while in this game, but you know, I
Speaker 1: get mine when I get got. So it's fun. Now, Well,
Speaker 1: that kind of happened in the first Puffalo game. You
Speaker 1: went to hurdle Jordan Poyer and he more or less
Speaker 1: was standing up by the time you went airborne. It
Speaker 1: was kind of a helmet to the butt collision. What
Speaker 1: did you think when you watched the replay? I got
Speaker 1: over him. He just grabbed my foot on the way down.
Speaker 1: He asked me about it on Sunday. He was like,
Speaker 1: he was like, you know what you got going on?
Speaker 1: Trying to hurdle everybody? And I was like, I'll be honest, Jordan,
Speaker 1: I black out. I have no idea what I do
Speaker 1: out there. I just gotta have fun, man. He started laughing.
Speaker 1: So we're talking to Hayden Hurst. Your hurdle moments have
Speaker 1: gone viral, but so did a block you made in
Speaker 1: the Tennessee game earlier this year, or you wiped out
Speaker 1: Bud Dupree. I almost felt badly for him. When you
Speaker 1: came here. You came with a reputation of being a
Speaker 1: great receiver, not necessarily a great blocker. Was your reputation
Speaker 1: wrong or have you vastly improved as a blocker this year.
Speaker 1: I've definitely improved. You know, James kind of helped me
Speaker 1: take my game in the run game to a completely
Speaker 1: different level. But I mean, you can watch my tape.
Speaker 1: Since I've been the league, I've always kind of had
Speaker 1: that chip on my shoulder. Just play physical. That's just
Speaker 1: that's my mo. You know, when I line up in
Speaker 1: front of a guy, I take it personal. You know,
Speaker 1: I think he thinks that he's more outa than me,
Speaker 1: stronger than me, better than me. So I take it personal.
Speaker 1: And that's just what I do. I go fly around
Speaker 1: and I don't really care about my body and whatever
Speaker 1: it takes to win. You mentioned your tight Ends coach
Speaker 1: James Casey. You guys seem inseparable, like you, He played
Speaker 1: professional baseball before he ever played college football. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's part of the link, but what is
Speaker 1: it between you two guys? We just get along very
Speaker 1: very well. You know we've had we have the same
Speaker 1: kind of background, similar or you know, same life experiences, UM,
Speaker 1: and then mentally we're wired the same. You know, he
Speaker 1: was a physical, you know, crazy, crazy player when he played,
Speaker 1: you know, for the Eagles and the Texans UM and
Speaker 1: that's I think that's why we hit it off so well.
Speaker 1: You know, he kind of understands my mindset heading into
Speaker 1: a game on Sunday. He knows I'm gonna be prepared,
Speaker 1: and he knows that I take it personal. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't show up and worry about Instagram
Speaker 1: or likes or like that. Like I go out there
Speaker 1: and I want to I want people to feel me.
Speaker 1: You kind of touchdown pasted last week against Buffalo, it's
Speaker 1: third down in seven, the Bills converge on Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: and leave you open right at the goal line. Was
Speaker 1: that one of those plays where you could sense the
Speaker 1: likelihood of how well it was going to work. Yes,
Speaker 1: I mean throughout the week we called it. We understood
Speaker 1: like what they were probably gonna run defensively down there
Speaker 1: in the red zone. Um, and then we kind of
Speaker 1: had a little like a little fake check in there too.
Speaker 1: And as soon as you know, we fake checked it
Speaker 1: out to Jamar, they started communicating and I kind of
Speaker 1: looked at their communication, looked at Joe, and I was like,
Speaker 1: there are going to miss this up. And sure enough,
Speaker 1: they converged on Jamar, and you know, I pop wide
Speaker 1: open and I saw the ball in the air and
Speaker 1: I was just kind of waiting for it to come down.
Speaker 1: So that's one of those that kind of hang up
Speaker 1: there forever. Other than missing three games with a calf
Speaker 1: injury this year has this first year with the Bengals
Speaker 1: been everything you hoped it would be. Absolutely I told
Speaker 1: you on the sideline after we had the game, kind
Speaker 1: of clenched that this time last year, I was sitting
Speaker 1: in my house in Florida with my family watching the
Speaker 1: divisional game on TV, and it's just it's crazy how
Speaker 1: life comes full circle. Now you gotta keep fighting, got
Speaker 1: to be resilient, and you know, I've kind of fought
Speaker 1: myself into this position an hour talking AFC Championships, So
Speaker 1: it's kind of surreal. You faced the Chiefs on Sunday.
Speaker 1: The tight end on the opposite side of the field
Speaker 1: is obviously one of the best. Travis Kelsey put up
Speaker 1: crazy numbers this year one hundred and ten catches, more
Speaker 1: than thirteen hundred yards, twelve touchdowns. You probably won't get
Speaker 1: as many targets as he does on Sunday, But do
Speaker 1: you go into a game like that thinking I am
Speaker 1: going to show that I am the best tight end
Speaker 1: on the field that day. I don't try to worry
Speaker 1: about numbers. It's a different offense, you know. Travis is
Speaker 1: you know, their focal point. Now he's gonna get his targets,
Speaker 1: He's gonna get his catches, obviously he should. He's the
Speaker 1: best tight end in the NFL. Going into a game
Speaker 1: like this, I really just want to put on display
Speaker 1: what I'm all about. You know, I'm not worried about
Speaker 1: other guys or what they're gonna do and things like that.
Speaker 1: You know. Defensively, we'll have a plan to try to
Speaker 1: stop him, but I'm focused on what I need to
Speaker 1: do to help this team win. Whatever that is. They're
Speaker 1: down catches, red zone catches. I'm just gonna go in there,
Speaker 1: locking and do my job. It's going to be called
Speaker 1: on Sunday. They're calling for a temperature in the mid twenties.
Speaker 1: A wind chill in New England on Christmas Eve was
Speaker 1: four degrees. You always warm up in the crop top,
Speaker 1: mid section exposed. Will that be the case on Sunday?
Speaker 1: And if so? Why? And we've won ten in a row. Man,
Speaker 1: it can't stop now. Yeah, it's crop top season all
Speaker 1: year round. I guess I gotta roll with it. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not that superstitious, but now that you mentioned it,
Speaker 1: you better wear the crop top. It'll come out, absolutely,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. Congratulations on an awesome season today, Best
Speaker 1: of luck in the FC Championship. Game, Yes, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: I consider myself one of the least superstitious people in
Speaker 1: the world. But during the game on Sunday, I will
Speaker 1: be using the pen that I've been using throughout the
Speaker 1: winning streak. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: in part by all Ta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet
Speaker 1: capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business,
Speaker 1: and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with
Speaker 1: all to Fiber. Back to the subject of cold weather
Speaker 1: in Kansas City, the current forecast for Sunday night calls
Speaker 1: for highs in the mid twenties, lows around ten degrees,
Speaker 1: where the windshill is low as five below. That's cold,
Speaker 1: so it's good to know that the Bengals have Joe
Speaker 1: Burr at quarterback. Jay Morrison of The Athletic pointed out
Speaker 1: last week that the Bengals are now seven to oz
Speaker 1: with Burrow at QB when the temperature is thirty five
Speaker 1: degree ease or colder. And consider the two games with
Speaker 1: the worst weather that the Bengals have played in this
Speaker 1: year in New England, the temperature with seventeen degrees and
Speaker 1: the wind show was four burrow through for two hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty four yards and three touchdowns in the first half.
Speaker 1: Then last week, in that snowstorm in Buffalo, Joe started
Speaker 1: the game nine for nine with two touchdowns and finished
Speaker 1: with a passer rating of one oh one point nine.
Speaker 1: Here's offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. I don't think anything has
Speaker 1: any impact on him, truthfully. He's just he can compartmentalize
Speaker 1: as good as anybody. Weather doesn't bother him. He's you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's proud to be from Athens, where it's
Speaker 1: probably cold and miserable from like November on is you
Speaker 1: get out in the winter months. But he's playing those
Speaker 1: games the whole life. He's playing in that weather. It
Speaker 1: doesn't bother him. You know. It takes a lot to
Speaker 1: get his mind off of the task at hand, and
Speaker 1: it's he's laser focused and whether Stoe rain cold, that
Speaker 1: doesn't phase him in the least bit. I think he
Speaker 1: actually rather enjoys it, to be honest. He's a little
Speaker 1: bit of a mutter like that. He likes that. Of course,
Speaker 1: A key reason why Joe excelled last week was the
Speaker 1: stellar play of the Bengals injury ravage offensive line. It
Speaker 1: appears that Jonah Williams and Alex Kappa might be able
Speaker 1: to play in the Super Bowl if the Bengals make it,
Speaker 1: but they haven't practiced this week, so it's likely that Jackson,
Speaker 1: Carmen and Max Sharping will start again, along with Hakim
Speaker 1: Identagy in place of l Collins. Here's Ted Carriss on
Speaker 1: the Old Line, considering the stakes last week and the
Speaker 1: injuries you guys had upfront? Was that one of your
Speaker 1: proudest days as an Oldlignement? It was. It's always hard
Speaker 1: to get a win in that stadium. My season had
Speaker 1: ended two years in a row there in terrible fashion.
Speaker 1: It's glad third time was a charm. I think everybody's
Speaker 1: wondering about the status of your knee at this point,
Speaker 1: ready to go practice. Well today, we're gonna go out
Speaker 1: there and practicing tomorrow and go out and perform our
Speaker 1: best on Sunday afternoon or evening. What did you think
Speaker 1: of Jackson? I thought he played phenomenal. I think he
Speaker 1: proved he can play tackle in this league in a
Speaker 1: big moment and had a really good game. We're gonna
Speaker 1: need another great performance Altuhim. He's got a big matchup
Speaker 1: with Frank Clark, and that's gonna be another another test
Speaker 1: for him. But I know he's up for the challenge.
Speaker 1: He's gonna help us win the game. Chris Jones was
Speaker 1: first team All Pro. You mentioned Frank Clark. How good
Speaker 1: is their front? They have a very good front, well coached,
Speaker 1: good coach over there, good culture, a lot of good players.
Speaker 1: The young guy Karlotis is another standout. So we have
Speaker 1: our work cut out for us. I think we started
Speaker 1: well today and we're gonna need to do that these
Speaker 1: next two days in order to play our best on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Chris Jones is a giant. He's six six, three hundred
Speaker 1: ten pounds and had fifteen and a half sacks this year.
Speaker 1: That's fourth most in the NFL and number one among
Speaker 1: interior linemen. The Bengals Booth podcast You buy. Kettering Health
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
Speaker 1: one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
Speaker 1: Visit kettering health dot org to learn more. There are
Speaker 1: a ton of people doing great video breakdowns of the
Speaker 1: XS and o's on TV and social media, and one
Speaker 1: of my favorites is Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network,
Speaker 1: who does Baldy's breakdowns. I had a chance to discuss
Speaker 1: the Bengals in Chiefs with him this week. Brian, you
Speaker 1: are an NFL offensive lineman for eleven years. How would
Speaker 1: you describe the performance of the Bengals offensive line last week?
Speaker 1: Missing three starters? It was brilliant. It was brilliant performance
Speaker 1: by Jackson at left tackle and Max at right guard,
Speaker 1: and a team at right tackle. I mean, you wouldn't
Speaker 1: know that they were the backups, and that's a credit
Speaker 1: to Frank Pollock, the offensive line, the coaching, because it's
Speaker 1: not easy in those conditions against a really good defense.
Speaker 1: But I mean, it was one of the best offensive
Speaker 1: performances they've had whole year, and you really can't find
Speaker 1: a lot of bad plays or missed assignments or anything
Speaker 1: from that those three right now, let me follow up
Speaker 1: specifically on Jackson Carmen. He was a left tackle at Clemson.
Speaker 1: He played guard last year as a rookie in the NFL.
Speaker 1: He was back at left tackle last week. What did
Speaker 1: you think of him specifically and how comfortable did he
Speaker 1: look back at tackle. Well, you know, he got in there,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously with the injury to you know, to
Speaker 1: Jonah the week before. So he got in there against Baltimore,
Speaker 1: and I thought he played well until the very end,
Speaker 1: and then I thought it was just really a matter
Speaker 1: of time working, you know with Wolson and just kind
Speaker 1: of feeling his way in there. But I thought fundamentally
Speaker 1: his sets were good. He's a big two hand puncher.
Speaker 1: You don't see a lot of that anymore. But he
Speaker 1: didn't get out over his skis against you know, a
Speaker 1: variety of Russias against Buffalo. I thought he was excellent
Speaker 1: in the run game. So, I mean the run game
Speaker 1: really kind of took off and flourished obviously, uh you
Speaker 1: know with what Joe did and what uh some aj did.
Speaker 1: So I thought it was I thought it was really good.
Speaker 1: I thought it was solid. You wouldn't know that this
Speaker 1: is his first start in the NFL left tack and
Speaker 1: I think I'm right, And so he looked really comfortable there,
Speaker 1: like like, you know, part of the reason why they
Speaker 1: took about at Clemson is they thought he could probably
Speaker 1: play left tackle. Obviously, they had him make guard last year,
Speaker 1: but look, he's gonna get he's gonna get challenged this
Speaker 1: week in a way. Uh, you know from a variety
Speaker 1: of rushers again that you know, are pretty good at
Speaker 1: what they do in an atmosphere that's tough to play,
Speaker 1: and so the bigger test is this week. But I
Speaker 1: thought he answered all the questions. And you know, the
Speaker 1: best thing is you never talked about him during the game.
Speaker 1: You know, That's that's like the that's like the greatest
Speaker 1: thing you could say about an offensive line and especially
Speaker 1: a kid making his first start, is you never said
Speaker 1: anything about him the whole game. Brian. At one point
Speaker 1: during the game last week, you tweeted, very simply, Joey
Speaker 1: b doesn't miss when you're watch Joe Burrow. What makes
Speaker 1: you shake your head and say, this kid's unbelievable? You
Speaker 1: know when I said that, I don't know how many
Speaker 1: complete in a row like for six or whatever it was,
Speaker 1: you know, including a touchdown. But I think it's just
Speaker 1: that you know everything in this world. I don't care
Speaker 1: what you do. You throw a football, you know, you
Speaker 1: learn how to spin a basketball in your finger, I
Speaker 1: don't care what it is like. Everything is difficult before
Speaker 1: it gets easy. And for Joe, he just makes it
Speaker 1: look easy, like he's going through progressions, you know, about
Speaker 1: as fast as you can go through a progression. Yet
Speaker 1: the footwork, the delivery, the fundamentals are all there to
Speaker 1: make sure the ball is thrown at the right spot.
Speaker 1: And that's obviously not easy to do and very few
Speaker 1: can do it. Yet here he is in his third
Speaker 1: year and he's doing it like on a consistent basis. Oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, it's snowing out, it's cold, it's a
Speaker 1: slick field, it's in hostile territory, and you wouldn't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, he could be in his backyard and Athens, Ohio,
Speaker 1: you know, throwing to his dad or something. It wouldn't
Speaker 1: be any different. Probably for visiting the Brian Baldinger from
Speaker 1: the NFL Network. He did a Baaltis breakdown this week
Speaker 1: on Mike Hilton. The dude is five nine, one hundred
Speaker 1: eighty four pounds. You referred to him as a pit bull.
Speaker 1: What makes Mike Hilton so special? I think the fact
Speaker 1: that a he does everything full speed. You know, the
Speaker 1: blitzers are full speed. Defeating blocks at the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage is full speed. Bracketing in double coverage you know
Speaker 1: on Stefon Diggs, Like it's just it's just like he
Speaker 1: plays the game very fast, and you wouldn't know that
Speaker 1: he's five nine, you know, in one hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: pounds and change. You wouldn't know it, you know, by
Speaker 1: the way he plays, because you shouldn't be able to
Speaker 1: play the game that fast, hit, that hard attack, Josh
Speaker 1: Allen's throwing arm, like the way he does as fast
Speaker 1: as he does unless you are completely one percent confident
Speaker 1: in what you're doing. And so I think a he's
Speaker 1: very well prepared assignment wise, like like you know, it's
Speaker 1: really special, but it's it's just a full speed, full
Speaker 1: attack approach that he has play and play out. So
Speaker 1: on Sunday, the Bengals are going to try to beat
Speaker 1: Kansas City for the fourth time in about thirteen months.
Speaker 1: Lou Anna Romo has done an incredible job of containing
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs offense. What do
Speaker 1: you think of lou I think of him in the
Speaker 1: highest regard, Like he's as a tactician, Like I think
Speaker 1: he's as good as there is in the whole business.
Speaker 1: The things that like the things he did last year
Speaker 1: in the championship gain. You know, at halftime down twenty
Speaker 1: one three were remarkable, but you can see, like, but
Speaker 1: if you wait till halftime to make adjustments, sometimes sometimes
Speaker 1: it's too late, right, so you see it. But just
Speaker 1: the game planning, like his ability to say, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is the guy that can beat us, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's Stefon Diggs last week or whether it's Travis Kelsey
Speaker 1: and some of these games, like he's going to do
Speaker 1: his best to take your number one option away in
Speaker 1: the passing game. And that's you know, not everybody can
Speaker 1: do that because you know Stefan days, Travis Kelsey, they're
Speaker 1: all over the place. Dan, you know, they're not in
Speaker 1: one place where it's kind of easy to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is how we're gonna double, Like you've got to
Speaker 1: have a variety of ways to double depending where he's at.
Speaker 1: And and then you know, it really helps to have
Speaker 1: DJ read or help healthy in this defense, like everybody
Speaker 1: needs that big guy in the middle. You know, it
Speaker 1: helps that BJ's playing really well and Tupo's playing well
Speaker 1: and Osia is healthy, Like all those things are good.
Speaker 1: But I think saying okay, this is the number one option,
Speaker 1: they have whether it's third down or red zone or
Speaker 1: this is the big play guy, and to have a
Speaker 1: plan to take him away. And that's that's something I
Speaker 1: think that Lou specializes in. So the big storyline this
Speaker 1: week is obviously the status of Patrick mahomes right ankle,
Speaker 1: assuming that he is less mobile than usual. What will
Speaker 1: Andy read in the Chiefs try to do well? I think,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're building a game plan against you know,
Speaker 1: with a hobble patch Mahomes, because none of us believe
Speaker 1: he's gonna be anywhere near one hundred percent, so you know,
Speaker 1: the first thing is, you know, make sure he's protected.
Speaker 1: You know, like Jeff McKinnon is a great personal protector.
Speaker 1: Mike Kilton comes on a blitz like we saw last week.
Speaker 1: I think Jeff McKinnon is capable of notifying that. Now
Speaker 1: it helps that you know, you don't always know where
Speaker 1: it's coming from, but Jeff mckinns is a great personal protector.
Speaker 1: Then they have run the ball. Asaiah Pacheco had his
Speaker 1: one of his best games ever last week. Like he's
Speaker 1: he's a good number one running back and they're good upfront.
Speaker 1: So run the ball more, find ways to run it.
Speaker 1: You know whether it's Cardarius Tony on fly sweeps and
Speaker 1: things like that. You know, like your victory against San Francisco,
Speaker 1: well they're victory against San Francisco this week. I mean
Speaker 1: McCole Hardman was going sideways scoring touchdowns that day. So
Speaker 1: like find different ways to run it. And then like
Speaker 1: you always have Travis Kelsey, He's your safety blank. You know,
Speaker 1: whether it's tight end screens or stick routes or you know,
Speaker 1: just his ability to uncover against anything is elite. And
Speaker 1: then if you're gonna take shots down the field, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's to Marquez Valdez Scantling or whether it's to
Speaker 1: Noah Gray, whoever it is, make sure that you're that
Speaker 1: you have max protection. Make sure the edges are protected
Speaker 1: and Trey Hendrickson isn't coming free at you, or you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's Logan Wilson up the middle, whatever the pressure is, like,
Speaker 1: make sure you can account for it. To give Mahomes time,
Speaker 1: because I think the idea that Mahomes can do what
Speaker 1: he has done for six five straight years now is
Speaker 1: to extend these plays Like I don't know that you
Speaker 1: can count on that. I think he'll still try to
Speaker 1: do some of it, but he's not going to be
Speaker 1: one hundred percent to do it. So I would say
Speaker 1: that package of things I just said are things you
Speaker 1: can lean on them. We started with the Bengals offensive line.
Speaker 1: It was excellent last week, but it was a one
Speaker 1: game sample size. How good is the Chiefs defensive led
Speaker 1: by Chris Jones? Chris Jones a handful. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you leave him one on one, I don't care who's
Speaker 1: in front of him, He's a handful and he's gonna
Speaker 1: win one on ones. So I think it starts with
Speaker 1: Chris and they move him around. They don't leave him
Speaker 1: in just one place. I mean, here is the three
Speaker 1: technique defensive tackle, but they'll put him outside on the
Speaker 1: edge and you know, working against offensive tackles. They'll loop
Speaker 1: him on stunts. So it starts with him. But you know,
Speaker 1: Karloftis is a good rusher, Dana is a good rusher.
Speaker 1: Dunlop as you know, um, you know from his years
Speaker 1: and since that is a good rusher, you know, so
Speaker 1: they and Frank Clark is an explosive player. Oh and
Speaker 1: by the way, Steve Magnolah has been you know, the
Speaker 1: defense court in or two Super Bowl championship teams. So
Speaker 1: just the way lou can dial up, you know, certain
Speaker 1: pressures and situations still can steep. And if you get
Speaker 1: to the red zone and your threat to score a touchdown,
Speaker 1: you can bet zero coverage. He's coming, zero blitzes are coming.
Speaker 1: He's gonna challenge you. And so you have to factor
Speaker 1: all those things in to your offense. Line out like
Speaker 1: they know how to protect Joe when they have to,
Speaker 1: and so they might have to, you know, help the
Speaker 1: offensive line in at times. Last thing, Brian, what are
Speaker 1: a couple of your biggest keys on Sunday? Well, I
Speaker 1: think I don't have any fear obviously with the success
Speaker 1: they've had about against Kansas City and last week against Buffalo.
Speaker 1: But the first thing you have to do as an
Speaker 1: offense is you have to handle the atmosphere. You know,
Speaker 1: you have to handle the noise, the atmosphere. Every third down,
Speaker 1: they're going to be on their feet. They know they're
Speaker 1: one step away from a super Bowl. So you're going
Speaker 1: to get the Chiefs best from their fan base, you know,
Speaker 1: in this game. And so it doesn't look like any
Speaker 1: of this bothers Joe, but it can bother a Keen.
Speaker 1: It can bother Jackson. There's guys that you know could
Speaker 1: be affected by that. So as a group, they got
Speaker 1: to handle that number one. I think if they put it,
Speaker 1: looks like they want to play Lagarius Sneed in the slot,
Speaker 1: and so Jalen Watson's outside. You know, you've got two
Speaker 1: rookie corners out there. I gotta believe that. You know,
Speaker 1: Jamar and t are gonna get chances on the outside
Speaker 1: against these guys, and so a lot of them are
Speaker 1: contested catches. I like your receivers against their corners. Joe's
Speaker 1: gonna give it to them and a chance to do
Speaker 1: it and to see what kind of damage they can inflict.
Speaker 1: I think that's important. And then you know, the running
Speaker 1: game was really good last week. It was really good,
Speaker 1: and you know when that happens, like Joe's gonna be
Speaker 1: even better when the running game takes off. So I
Speaker 1: think those three things are going to be affect our
Speaker 1: game plan wise, like if the Bengals win, those things
Speaker 1: are going to happen. And then defensively, like, look, Kelsey
Speaker 1: is their guy. I mean, I think they can handle Juju.
Speaker 1: I think they can handle all the other guys. Marcus
Speaker 1: Valdess Scantling, sky more whatever it is. But you know,
Speaker 1: Kelsey scored two touchdowns last week like he's a red
Speaker 1: zone demon. So can they continue to nullify or reduce
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey's impacted the game? Brian, We love talking football
Speaker 1: with you. Thanks so much for your time. Keep up
Speaker 1: the great work. Thank you, Dan. Look forward to breaking
Speaker 1: this championships on the Game Down. The Bengals Booth podcast
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Speaker 1: time for this week's Know the Faux segment and for
Speaker 1: the latest time the Chiefs. I spoke to Adam Tischer,
Speaker 1: who covers the team for ESPN. Adam, we are not
Speaker 1: going to know how mobile Patrick Mahomes is on his
Speaker 1: injured right ankle until he takes the field on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Assuming he can't run around as much as he usually does,
Speaker 1: what will the Chiefs do to offset that on offense? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the million dollar question, right. You know, Andy Reid's
Speaker 1: got some work to do there. People don't think of
Speaker 1: him in those terms necessarily, but that the scrambling, the
Speaker 1: running big part of his game. You remember the Bengal
Speaker 1: spied him in the second half the AFC Championship game.
Speaker 1: Did a nice job took that away from him, and
Speaker 1: that was part of the reason they were able to
Speaker 1: come back, A big reason they were able to come back.
Speaker 1: He led the league in outside the pocket passes during
Speaker 1: the regular season hundred and thirteen of those. Didn't have
Speaker 1: any after the injury. So is that part of his
Speaker 1: game going to be gone? You know, he's very good
Speaker 1: from the pocket too. He had the best QBR in
Speaker 1: the league throwing from the pocket that during the regular season.
Speaker 1: But now that the Bengals know about all this, he
Speaker 1: seems like he's a moving sitting targets. So it's a dilemma.
Speaker 1: Frand You read and he's going to earn his paycheck
Speaker 1: for sure on Sunday because they've got a lot of
Speaker 1: work to do to get to him ready for this game.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it until reading a few stories this week.
Speaker 1: But there is a little bit of a history here.
Speaker 1: He had a high ankle sprain now is the left
Speaker 1: ankle not the right a few years ago and in
Speaker 1: the next game he threw for four touchdown passes against
Speaker 1: the Raiders. Does that say something about his ability to
Speaker 1: overcome whatever physical ailment he might be dealing with. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it does. I don't know that that injury was quite
Speaker 1: like this one. He never had to come out of
Speaker 1: the game. I mean, he was hobbling around a little bit.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that at the time, but it
Speaker 1: was it didn't seem like it was as bad as
Speaker 1: this one. So but certainly, you know, he's determined to
Speaker 1: get to do what he can to get ready to
Speaker 1: play this game. So we'll see on Sunday how well
Speaker 1: he is. But certainly this is an important thing to him,
Speaker 1: no doubt. We are talking to Adam Tisher, who covers
Speaker 1: the Chiefs or ESPN. We know all about Travis Kelsey
Speaker 1: here in Cincinnati dating back to his UC days. He
Speaker 1: was targeted seventeen times. Last week he had fourteen catches,
Speaker 1: two for touchdowns. The Bengals held him too four catches
Speaker 1: back in December. How dependent are the Chiefs right now
Speaker 1: on Travis Kelsey a lot? And in particular, if you
Speaker 1: have a quarterback who can't do the things he normally does, um,
Speaker 1: you know they needed him in a big way with
Speaker 1: the backup quarterback for one drive and with Mahomes hobbled
Speaker 1: for the rest of the game, they really needed Travis
Speaker 1: Kelsey and he really picked up his game. So you
Speaker 1: know it'll be a big factor on Sunday for sure.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's sort of Mahomes a security blanket.
Speaker 1: He's the guy he goes to when when when times
Speaker 1: are tough, and uh so, um, yeah, he needs to
Speaker 1: have a big game on Sunday, no doubt about him.
Speaker 1: So forty nine Ers quarterback Brock Purty has the best
Speaker 1: seventh round draft pick in the NFL this year. Isaiah
Speaker 1: Pacheco's probably number two on the list. He's been terrific
Speaker 1: for Kansas City. How has he impacted the offense and
Speaker 1: how important is he on Sunday? Yeah, you know, you
Speaker 1: would think the Chiefs will try to run the ball
Speaker 1: maybe a little more, although I never really count on that.
Speaker 1: With Andy Reid, that's not that's not his thing. He's
Speaker 1: a throw first, quote play caller as we know, so
Speaker 1: I never predict that, but you would think that that
Speaker 1: would make a lot of sense. And Pacheco has certainly
Speaker 1: done a nice job for the Chiefs. He's revitalized their
Speaker 1: running game. They have Jerick McKinnon as they're passing running back,
Speaker 1: and he's done a nice job there, and so they've
Speaker 1: sort of become a nice one two combination. And it's
Speaker 1: hard to see the Chiefs winning without a decent contribution
Speaker 1: on Sunday from Pacheco. So this is going to be
Speaker 1: the fourth meeting between these two teams in about thirteen months.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have won three nail biers. Is there something
Speaker 1: that stands out to you from a Kansas City perspective
Speaker 1: that the Bengals have been able to do that other
Speaker 1: teams have not. I think they've been able to get
Speaker 1: some matchups. They've done a favorable job of getting some
Speaker 1: matchups that they really liked, particularly on offense. They've done
Speaker 1: a nice job of creating some things I think, maybe
Speaker 1: more than some other opponents that have been favorable to
Speaker 1: favorable to them, and then taken advantage of those things.
Speaker 1: I feel like the chief had not done a good
Speaker 1: job of getting Joe Burrow on the ground. I mean,
Speaker 1: they had four sacks and the regular season game last year,
Speaker 1: and then I think only one in each of the
Speaker 1: last two games against the Bengals. So they need to
Speaker 1: do a better job of that. I mean, they were
Speaker 1: second in the league in sacks this year, but only
Speaker 1: could get to him one time in the game a
Speaker 1: few weeks ago. So you know, that's another thing that
Speaker 1: they've done well. The Chiefs have done well against other teams,
Speaker 1: but not necessarily against the Bengals, And you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of it just comes down to Cincinnati has just
Speaker 1: made the plays when it really counted. You remember that
Speaker 1: that big four down pass and the regular season game
Speaker 1: last year to Jamar Chase when the Chiefs came with
Speaker 1: an all outlets. It took a perfect pass and a
Speaker 1: great catch and they certainly executed it well. So the
Speaker 1: Bengals have just done a markable job of getting it
Speaker 1: done when it had to be done against the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: They really have a couple more questions for Adam Tisher
Speaker 1: from ESPN. Let me follow up on the pass rush.
Speaker 1: The Bengals offensive line was battered last week. That played
Speaker 1: great against Buffalo. Now it's a one game sample size.
Speaker 1: Kansas City's defensive front is led by All Pro Chris Jones.
Speaker 1: How has that group played this year? It's been a
Speaker 1: nice year for them. They haven't been consistent maybe you
Speaker 1: know in the Cincinnati game is a kind of a
Speaker 1: noticeable one of the things that I'm talking about that
Speaker 1: they that was one of the games they just weren't
Speaker 1: what they had been most of the season. But they've
Speaker 1: done a nice job, particularly getting after the quarterback. And
Speaker 1: you know, Chris Jones has had a nice season, his
Speaker 1: best season. He tied his career high with sacks fifteen
Speaker 1: and a half. But he's been a more consistent presence
Speaker 1: this year, I think than he was back in twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen when he also had fifteen and a half. They've
Speaker 1: got a rookie George Karloftus, who has played well the
Speaker 1: second half of the season defensive ends, though they've got
Speaker 1: some depth there as well, Carlos Dunlap, the former Bengal
Speaker 1: Frank Clark. So they've got some players who can get
Speaker 1: after the quarterback. And I'm eager to see what they
Speaker 1: have cooked up on Sunday. But by and large, that
Speaker 1: group has done a nice job. The Chiefs have never
Speaker 1: been an underdog in Patrick Mahomes twelve career playoff games.
Speaker 1: Kansas City opened as a slight favorite for this game.
Speaker 1: Now it's swung. The Bengals are at least currently a
Speaker 1: slight favorite in Kansas City. What's the vibe. Does it
Speaker 1: feel like the Chiefs are an underdog this week? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think given the all the uncertainty with Patrick Mahomes, Yes,
Speaker 1: And I think the Bengals have a lot to do
Speaker 1: with that. You know, they've beat the Chiefs three times,
Speaker 1: although all three close games. I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of in the town, not necessarily among the team, but
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of anks there. Oh no, the Bengals.
Speaker 1: You know, we can't beat the Bengals. You know, that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff from Chiefs fans. But so it's that
Speaker 1: it's the ankle to Mahomes. And I think a little
Speaker 1: bit is the way the Bengals played in Buffalo. I
Speaker 1: mean that was that was one of the more dominant
Speaker 1: playoff performances of the season. I think, you know, the
Speaker 1: Bengals just controlled that thing right from the start and
Speaker 1: you never really felt once it got the fourteen to nothing,
Speaker 1: you never really felt the Bills were a factor in
Speaker 1: that game. And Buffalo is a good team and doing
Speaker 1: it in Buffalo in the snow, that was an impressive performance.
Speaker 1: So that that opened my eyes a little bit. I
Speaker 1: guarantee you that. So it's gonna be tough. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: are gonna have to play well if they're gonna win
Speaker 1: on Sunday. I don't think there's any doubt about that
Speaker 1: last thing. For Adam Tyser from ESPN. From your perspective
Speaker 1: seeing this team every week, Kansas City wins and advances
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. If the Chiefs do what I'm
Speaker 1: going to give you a couple answers there. They have
Speaker 1: to get Joe Burrow on the ground. If they can
Speaker 1: sack him and create I'm going to say a couple turnovers,
Speaker 1: take a couple of possessions away from the Bengals. That way,
Speaker 1: I think they can win this game. I think they
Speaker 1: can do enough offensively. I feel like if they can
Speaker 1: get after Burrow and create a couple turnovers and protect
Speaker 1: the ball themselves, I think they'll be I think that
Speaker 1: is the recipe for a Chiefs win. I know it's
Speaker 1: a crazy busy time for you. You are on mahomes
Speaker 1: Ankle Watch, so I appreciate you working us in and
Speaker 1: enjoy the game on Sunday. Thank you, absolutely, Dan, take
Speaker 1: care that's going to do it for this episode of
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