Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast I Want to Get Better, Better, Better,
Speaker 1: Better edition, as we take an in depth look back
Speaker 1: at the bengals sixth straight loss to begin the season
Speaker 1: twenty three seventeen, the final score in Baltimore. Coming up,
Speaker 1: you'll hear radio replays, locker room comments from players and coaches,
Speaker 1: and Dave lapp them will join me for postgame analysis. Plus,
Speaker 1: in this week's fun Facts Conversation, we'll meet the person
Speaker 1: under the pads as I'll talk to rookie Stanley Morgan Junior,
Speaker 1: who is obviously the son of Stanley Morgan, but not
Speaker 1: the former Pro Bowl wide receiver. We'll get to know
Speaker 1: the Bengals Stanley Morgan in just a bit. All of
Speaker 1: that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean. It's the
Speaker 1: greatest thing since the search tool on Pro Football Reference
Speaker 1: dot Com. When Lamar Jackson rushed for one hundred eleven
Speaker 1: yards in the first half against the Bengals, on Sunday,
Speaker 1: it occurred to me we should probably know the NFL
Speaker 1: record for rushing yards by a quarterback just in case.
Speaker 1: So at halftime, I went to Pro Football Reference dot Com,
Speaker 1: clicked the play index, and then went to the player gamefinder.
Speaker 1: I entered any year quarterbacks only, regular season or playoffs
Speaker 1: rushing yards equal two or greater than one fifty and
Speaker 1: hit search. In a split second, I had my answer.
Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick rushed for one hundred eighty one yards in
Speaker 1: a playoff game and Michael Vick rushed for one seventy
Speaker 1: three in a regular season game. Lamar Jackson ran for
Speaker 1: one fifty two against the Bengals on Sunday, so he
Speaker 1: did not set a new record, but I was ready
Speaker 1: if he did, thanks to the search tool on Pro
Speaker 1: Football Reference dot Com. Now let's take a closer look
Speaker 1: at this week's game. In addition to being the greatest
Speaker 1: field goal kicker of all time, Baltimore's Justin Tucker has
Speaker 1: become a weapon on kickoffs. Last week and the Ravens
Speaker 1: went over the Steelers. Tucker floated extremely high kickoffs near
Speaker 1: the end zone but not into it, forcing the Steelers
Speaker 1: to return the kicks three times. Pittsburgh was pinned inside
Speaker 1: its own fifteen yard line. Tucker tried to do the
Speaker 1: same thing to begin Sunday's game against the Bengals, but
Speaker 1: with a very different result. Wilson catches at the eight
Speaker 1: charges past the twenty twenty mery, go Brandon, who We'll
Speaker 1: take it to the house. As the attempted kick inside
Speaker 1: to ten fails miserably for Justin Tucker and the Baltimore Ravens,
Speaker 1: Brandon Wilson sprinting ninety two yards untouched for a Bengals touchdown.
Speaker 1: That was the bengals first kickoff return touchdown since two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine, when Bernard's Scott ran one back against
Speaker 1: the Steelers. It gave the Bengals a seven nothing lead
Speaker 1: without running an offensive play. Here's Alex Ericson on Brandon
Speaker 1: Wilson's return. Yeah, it's a huge spark anytime he started
Speaker 1: the game off seven nothing with twelve seconds off the
Speaker 1: clock or whatever. It was great play by him. Guys
Speaker 1: up front didum blue jab as always, and obviously his
Speaker 1: explosiveness and all that and his instincts took over and
Speaker 1: he was able to make a play and helped us,
Speaker 1: helped us put us in position to you know, win
Speaker 1: the game. And anytime he scoring special teams and I
Speaker 1: don't know what the statistics are, but I guarantee you
Speaker 1: it raises your chance of winning by quite a bit.
Speaker 1: But it's not enough if you can't stop the other
Speaker 1: team from running the ball. Jackson keeps on a run
Speaker 1: to the left, crosses the thirty thirty five forty Now,
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson is sprinting down the field. Trade Kirkpatrick runs
Speaker 1: him down and makes the tackle at the thirty nine
Speaker 1: yard line of Cincinnati, a thirty six yard run on
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson's first attempt of the day. The Ravens drove
Speaker 1: seventy five yards for a touchdown on their opening possession,
Speaker 1: and seventy one of the seventy five yards came on
Speaker 1: running plays. Now, it's a pistol formation with a side car.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson keeping to the left. There's nobody there for
Speaker 1: the Bengals defensively. Lamar Jackson running toward the forward left pylon,
Speaker 1: and it's a touchdown for Baltimore. Jackson ran for one
Speaker 1: hundred nineteen yards in his only previous start against the
Speaker 1: Bengals and had eighty five at the end of the
Speaker 1: first quarter on Sunday. Here's Sean Williams. He's special. I
Speaker 1: mean he can hit the edge and run like no
Speaker 1: quarterback that I've ever played against, but I can remember
Speaker 1: at this moment. So, you know, hats off the hand.
Speaker 1: We we just got to go back into the game plan.
Speaker 1: We face him the gain and we kind of know
Speaker 1: the recipe. You know, We've got to stop him the
Speaker 1: first second down, get him in the third down, third
Speaker 1: down long, and keep him in the pocket and making
Speaker 1: throw and beat us. But you know, when he steps
Speaker 1: outside the pocket, he's as good as anyone, you know,
Speaker 1: and he also may throws us out to pockets. So
Speaker 1: they kind of won that today. Yes, Jackson can also
Speaker 1: throw the ball. On the Ravens second drive, he completed
Speaker 1: four in a row, setting up and easy touched down
Speaker 1: first and goal from the two. The Ravens line up
Speaker 1: in an eye formation, they give it to mark Ingram,
Speaker 1: He goes low and he gets into the end zone
Speaker 1: for a Baltimore touchdown. It was fourteen seven Baltimore at
Speaker 1: the end of the first quarter. The Bengals not only
Speaker 1: did not have a first down and they didn't have
Speaker 1: a single yard passing, but that began to change in
Speaker 1: the second quarter, Dalton drops back to throw. The protection
Speaker 1: is good. He fires over the middle of eight field one,
Speaker 1: a catch by Auden Tate, diving arms fully extended. He
Speaker 1: came up with a football at the Ravens thirty eight.
Speaker 1: There's a penalty flag thrown late. The catch stood for
Speaker 1: a seventeen yard gain, and Tate finished with five catches
Speaker 1: for a career high ninety one yards. Here again as
Speaker 1: alex Ericson obviously has the size and the physical ability
Speaker 1: that a lot of us wish we had, being six
Speaker 1: five and whatever. He ways, and you know, Annie and
Speaker 1: him got a good relationship of you know, and where
Speaker 1: you know, Tate feels comfortable and Taitan knows where Annie
Speaker 1: feels comfortable. So they do a great job feeding off that.
Speaker 1: And he was able to find him and you know,
Speaker 1: really helped us drive it down, drive down the field
Speaker 1: at the end, especially. Each team added a field goal
Speaker 1: in the second quarter, and it was seventeen ten Ravens
Speaker 1: at the half. In the second half, Baltimore played keep away.
Speaker 1: In the third quarter. The Ravens held the ball for
Speaker 1: more than ten minutes, as the Bengals only had one
Speaker 1: possession another Tucker field goal made it twenty to ten.
Speaker 1: Then in the fourth quarter, Baltimore put together an eighteen
Speaker 1: play drive that took nine minutes and forty six seconds
Speaker 1: off the clock. For the game, the Ravens finished with
Speaker 1: two hundred sixty nine rushing yards and held the ball
Speaker 1: for just under forty minutes. Here's linebacker Preston Brown. It's tough.
Speaker 1: We think you have still bottle up guys going the
Speaker 1: other way. They're stopping going all the way around, and
Speaker 1: then sometimes just miss tackles. So we got to go
Speaker 1: to the drawing board and see exactly how people keep
Speaker 1: hitting these runs, because every week you look up and
Speaker 1: it's a lot of restaurants, and that's something that you
Speaker 1: never want to happen. Is it a scheme thing? Is
Speaker 1: it something where they catch you off guard? I mean,
Speaker 1: what's kind of been the issues presidents. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a scheme thing. I think coaches
Speaker 1: do a good job every week of preparing us for
Speaker 1: what we have, but we just gotta make plays when
Speaker 1: they presented to us, when we have tackles, because sometimes
Speaker 1: we have guys in the hole or but sometimes they
Speaker 1: do a great job of getting outside of us, and
Speaker 1: no one even touches the guy. So we gotta find
Speaker 1: ways to beat our blocks, beat our man to tackle
Speaker 1: the guy with the ball justin. Tucker's third field goal
Speaker 1: of the game made it twenty three to ten with
Speaker 1: three forty nine to go. For the third straight week,
Speaker 1: the Bengals offense failed to score a touchdown in the
Speaker 1: first three quarters, but as was the case last week
Speaker 1: against Arizona, the offense finally came to life in the fourth,
Speaker 1: putting together at twelve play seventy five yard touchdown drive
Speaker 1: Bernard in the backfield. As Dalton waits for the shotgun
Speaker 1: snap back at the seven yard line, Trey Hopkins fires
Speaker 1: it back. Dalton back to the ten, steps up, rambles
Speaker 1: running toward the goal line. He's in for a Bengals touchdown.
Speaker 1: Second rushing touchdown of the year for Andy Dalton, the
Speaker 1: only two that the Bengals have on the ground this season.
Speaker 1: The extra point made a twenty three seventeen with one
Speaker 1: twenty eight left, meaning the Bengals still had a chance
Speaker 1: if they could recover an onside kick. Sure enough, Brandon
Speaker 1: Wilson did recover Randy Bullock's kick, but the ball only
Speaker 1: traveled nine yards it has to go ten. That gave
Speaker 1: the Ravens the ball and they ran out the clock
Speaker 1: for a six point win. The Ravens had five hundred
Speaker 1: yards of offense before neildowns on their last three plays
Speaker 1: took the total backward to four ninety seven, but after
Speaker 1: scoring touchdowns on their first two drives, they didn't add
Speaker 1: another on their last eight. Here's Sean Williams. The one
Speaker 1: thing I feel like we could have focused on more
Speaker 1: was keeping Lamar in the pocket way. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's a great athlete, he's a good quarterback, so he
Speaker 1: makes that team run. But in the second half and
Speaker 1: when we made adjustment, we really played well, held them
Speaker 1: to three. They're in NFL two, They're gonna get their yards.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, we got stopped
Speaker 1: from third down and we held them, held them to
Speaker 1: three when they did get get scoring his own. Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson finished with one hundred and fifty two yards rushing
Speaker 1: in two thirty six passing, the first quarterback ever to
Speaker 1: top two hundred yards passing and one hundred fifty yards
Speaker 1: rushing in a regular season game. It all added up
Speaker 1: to the bengals sixth loss in a row to begin
Speaker 1: the season here again as Cincinnati native Preston Brown, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's tough. I mean I grew up seeing two and
Speaker 1: fourteen teams and stuff that I never wanted to be
Speaker 1: a part of. So now I'll definitely try each and
Speaker 1: every game try to get that first win because we
Speaker 1: know the whole city what they want, and we got
Speaker 1: to get this win because the whole city is down
Speaker 1: because we're not getting winning against Since the Redskin and
Speaker 1: Jets both got their first wins of the season on Sunday,
Speaker 1: there are only two winless teams left, the O and
Speaker 1: five Dolphins and the Owen six Bengals. After the game,
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham spent five minutes with Zach Taylor, coach. I know,
Speaker 1: a uh, you know, another another day of frustration for sure.
Speaker 1: I mean, their their game plan that has been all
Speaker 1: year is to take the air out of the out
Speaker 1: of the ball and then control the clock. And they
Speaker 1: were number one in the NFL time of possession in
Speaker 1: the in the per game and in the second half.
Speaker 1: I mean like a nine minute, nine and a half
Speaker 1: minute advantage in the second half of football games, and
Speaker 1: I think it was only three possessions for the offense
Speaker 1: in the second half, they did a pretty good job
Speaker 1: of playing keep away they did. You know, we really
Speaker 1: touched the ball for the third time there with around
Speaker 1: two minutes left, had that eleven play drive no points
Speaker 1: for play drive no points obviously, and then got to
Speaker 1: touch on it that at the end. So that was
Speaker 1: that was a unique game. And to be quite honest, yeah,
Speaker 1: they at the time of possession, they ate it up.
Speaker 1: Our defense really gave up six points after those first
Speaker 1: three dives. They were up some shots, but holding them
Speaker 1: to fewer points and trying to allow our offense to
Speaker 1: get back in the game. And it's just too a
Speaker 1: little too eight. So offensively, I mean, you got a
Speaker 1: new guy at the at the left tackle position and
Speaker 1: John Jerry and you have you know, a guy at
Speaker 1: the right guard position, Alex Redman, that just is back
Speaker 1: from serving a suspension because of the growing injury to
Speaker 1: John Miller. So you know, and I know that everybody's like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, make an excuse. So these are facts, you know,
Speaker 1: and I know you have to deal with him. It's
Speaker 1: National Football League. But man, it's issues. It's tough. It's
Speaker 1: got to find a way, you know, it's we can't
Speaker 1: run the ball for a few yardages we're going to
Speaker 1: and so we continue every week to re examine how
Speaker 1: we're going about it and what players are going to
Speaker 1: be most efficient for us. And we got to search
Speaker 1: and find that answer. And when we do, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be productive. But right now it's it's been tough autumn.
Speaker 1: Tape stepped up five catches ninety one yards. I think
Speaker 1: he was targeted twelve times, and you know, he drew
Speaker 1: some interference penalties and stuff too. He's such a big
Speaker 1: body for guys to deal with and they make that
Speaker 1: early contact on him and they're in trouble. He did.
Speaker 1: I thought he played well when he was targeted and
Speaker 1: made some great fifty He didn't have any easy catches.
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of fifty fifty balls that he came
Speaker 1: up with. And so thirty and eighty nine shop with
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. It looked like Humphrey obviously was with him
Speaker 1: a good part of the day. They also kind of
Speaker 1: tilted things to him a little bit. They doubled him
Speaker 1: a little bit more than he had been. That's something
Speaker 1: they'd shown in the past with some elite receivers and
Speaker 1: Tyler's certainly been a really productive guy, good leader for us,
Speaker 1: and that wasn't anything that surprised us. That's something that
Speaker 1: they'd shown and we anticipate. That's why guys like odd
Speaker 1: and have to step out. Third phase of the game,
Speaker 1: Special Teams ninety two yard kickoff returned to get the
Speaker 1: game started. I mean that lights a fire under everybody,
Speaker 1: and Wilson makes a great play there and then he
Speaker 1: almost makes a great play on the book end and
Speaker 1: the backside of it with that on side kick. He
Speaker 1: was just a yard too early making that jumping recovery
Speaker 1: of the football. But the kid really played hard for you.
Speaker 1: Special teams and defense, didn't he he did? That was
Speaker 1: a great spark. You know, Brandon's his error has been
Speaker 1: going up. He's been doing a great job for us
Speaker 1: and a lot of different areas, and that looked like
Speaker 1: the spark we were going to need there to start
Speaker 1: the game and just couldn't hold it up. I know
Speaker 1: it rings hollow, but you know you're missing some key contributors,
Speaker 1: some key components, and hopefully some of them will start
Speaker 1: to come back here. And when they come back, the
Speaker 1: fact that other guys had to step into roles that
Speaker 1: they necessarily weren't targeted to do at the start of
Speaker 1: the season, I mean, getting some snaps and in the
Speaker 1: long haul, I mean there could be some positive but
Speaker 1: as it's unfolded now, it's going to be frustrating as
Speaker 1: hell to go through it. Well, a lot of young
Speaker 1: guys are getting asked to step up and play, and
Speaker 1: that's why they're playing the NFL, that's why they're on
Speaker 1: our roster, and we expect a lot out of them,
Speaker 1: and some of them are gonna have to keep growing
Speaker 1: faster than they anticipated. But again, there's there's been no
Speaker 1: lack of fight from anybody who's walked on the field
Speaker 1: for us. And I'll keep going a battle with these
Speaker 1: guys any day of the week. Yeah, I mean you'll
Speaker 1: look at today, you know, six point loss, in a
Speaker 1: four point loss, been a three point loss, been a
Speaker 1: one point loss. I mean it's um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the defense, like we talked about earlier, gave up a
Speaker 1: lot of yards, but the game's not decided by yards.
Speaker 1: It's decided by points. And ultimately, you know, they kept
Speaker 1: kept the game close enough to if you guys to
Speaker 1: almost pull it out. They did, They did. We just
Speaker 1: needed more points on offense. But I thought the defense
Speaker 1: really in the second half, the end of the the second
Speaker 1: quarter really stepped up and did a did a much
Speaker 1: better job. And finally, uh, Jacksonville the next opponent. And
Speaker 1: I know that's you know, you guys haven't started. Oh
Speaker 1: you probably haven't known the NFL started on some of
Speaker 1: that preparation. But it would be like to finally maybe
Speaker 1: have an offense that runs a different you know, you
Speaker 1: won't see all the gimmicks in the in the bells
Speaker 1: and whistles that you've been seeing, and the quarterback's not
Speaker 1: going to be some kind of freakazoid that can kill
Speaker 1: you with his legs and throwing arm as well, and
Speaker 1: more of a traditional NFL type thing. That will that
Speaker 1: be a little bit different week for you guys as
Speaker 1: you're prepping for him. It'll be different. I know that
Speaker 1: Jacksonville is still a really solid, well coached football team,
Speaker 1: physical team. They'll present challenges in other ways obviously, but
Speaker 1: it'll be a change of pace. Certainly, they're what they
Speaker 1: do schimmatically. Yeah, I mean it's been it's been almost
Speaker 1: like trying to defend a relay team out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: these these guys are at the quarterback position. I mean,
Speaker 1: you get an anchor anchor on a by one hundred
Speaker 1: relay team than anybody would take. It's been. It's been
Speaker 1: a heck of a stretch for your defense, hasn't it?
Speaker 1: It does? It has, But again they keep trying to
Speaker 1: respond to the challenge, and Ken in the second half
Speaker 1: without their sponse was good. They kept the points off
Speaker 1: the board, and we just gotta find a way to
Speaker 1: win us a team. Now, time for some postgame analysis,
Speaker 1: and I began my conversation with lap by asking him
Speaker 1: about the disparity in the running game. Forty three carries
Speaker 1: for two hundred and sixty nine yards for the Ravens.
Speaker 1: That six point three yards per carry. Thirty three yards
Speaker 1: on fourteen tries for the Bengals. That's two point four
Speaker 1: per attempt. Take away a jet sweep Alex Rickson a
Speaker 1: seventeen yards thirteen carries sixteen yards for the Bengals. In
Speaker 1: the ground, I mean, you you just can't. You can't
Speaker 1: compete when it's that type of situation. Ravens ran at
Speaker 1: forty three times for two sixty nine well over six
Speaker 1: yards to carry a couple of touchdowns. You know, there.
Speaker 1: I'm always to run away with the football. Play keepaway,
Speaker 1: play hide. Bengals had three drives in the second half,
Speaker 1: so you know you're in a point where you have
Speaker 1: to get on the football field to try to amount
Speaker 1: a comeback. They did score a touchdown, but it was
Speaker 1: you know, too little, too late. As we said so
Speaker 1: many times during the course of this football game. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens basically played the game on their terms,
Speaker 1: and the Bengals have not been able to play any
Speaker 1: game on their terms this whole season. And you know,
Speaker 1: they've lost by one point, three points, four points, six points,
Speaker 1: but you know this one, this one didn't seem like
Speaker 1: it was just six points. Lamar Jackson is so tough.
Speaker 1: If he stays healthy, it's an incredible weapon. But it's
Speaker 1: dangerous to have a quarterback run that much. But not
Speaker 1: only do you have to worry about him taking off
Speaker 1: and running, he's hard to rush because as a pass rusher,
Speaker 1: you don't want to blow by him. And then when
Speaker 1: you're trying to cover people in the secondary, you always
Speaker 1: have to keep an eye open just in case he
Speaker 1: takes off and runs. Well, I think the twenty four
Speaker 1: yards scramble that the Arizona Cardinals had at the end
Speaker 1: of the game, were lost in ripped up the football
Speaker 1: field and rushed past Murray and Gino. Atkins took an
Speaker 1: inside rush and he went twenty four. And that made
Speaker 1: an impression on some guys. And now I start to
Speaker 1: mush rush. I call it a little bit where you're
Speaker 1: not rushing past the quarterback. You're trying to stay in
Speaker 1: your lane, put pressure on him and trying to squeeze
Speaker 1: the pocket on him. But he's clever, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: he still finds rush lanes. He's still he's a lot
Speaker 1: more he's looking at a lot more reads down the
Speaker 1: football field. But eventually, if he doesn't like what he sees,
Speaker 1: he's going to tuck that thing and try to hit
Speaker 1: a distorted rush lane and he's going to kill you.
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy he's he did basically what he's
Speaker 1: fifty carries coming into today's game, and a lot of
Speaker 1: them were off scrambles, and there were a few design
Speaker 1: quarterback run calls. There were a few, but not many.
Speaker 1: I mean last year, fifteen to seventeen times a game
Speaker 1: design quarterback runs. I think this year it's probably closer
Speaker 1: to ten. Coming into today's game. I don't think there
Speaker 1: were ten today design quarterback runs. And then he's when
Speaker 1: he scrambled, he's just I mean, he's such a weapon.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's dynamic, there's no electric I mean, anything
Speaker 1: you can think of. Kid is just he's an incredible
Speaker 1: football player. Nothing has come easily on offense right now.
Speaker 1: It seems like every yard is pulling out wisdom teeth.
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon eight carries for ten yards in the game.
Speaker 1: We know how good he is. Is what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: Basically the result of having an offensive line that just
Speaker 1: he is not that strong. Offensive line that's not that strong,
Speaker 1: and your two deep receivers aren't in the football game,
Speaker 1: one drive it was a one yard completion, a three
Speaker 1: yard completion, a five yard completion, a thirteen, and then
Speaker 1: back to a six. I mean it was you know,
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton was seven for eight for forty yards five
Speaker 1: yards an attempt. You know, it's basically part of your
Speaker 1: outside running game is throwing the ball in these outs
Speaker 1: and because you don't, I mean, they're they're they're crowding you,
Speaker 1: and you know you don't have anybody to run behind them.
Speaker 1: Stretch the football field and put it over their heads.
Speaker 1: So as a result the fact that they're crowding lines,
Speaker 1: they're also crowd in the box when you I mean,
Speaker 1: if you have somebody that can stretch the field, it
Speaker 1: opens the box up too, So now you don't have
Speaker 1: any speed on the football field. The trickle down effect
Speaker 1: is huge. I mean, when you don't have your two
Speaker 1: year three best receivers AJ Green and John Ross and
Speaker 1: those two guys, the outside guys that stretch it and
Speaker 1: everything else becomes easier in the middle of the football
Speaker 1: field when you don't have the stretching. The middle of
Speaker 1: football field is high traffic now, I mean it's heavy
Speaker 1: traffic pattern. It's tough. That's why it is. It's like
Speaker 1: it's like root canal surgery every single drive. It's like
Speaker 1: you have to be perfect and there's only a few
Speaker 1: things you can do. Baltimore Ravens game plan was wide
Speaker 1: open to them. Bengals game plan was like, I can't
Speaker 1: do this, can't do that. Game. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you get two options. Baltimore's got ten choices on you know,
Speaker 1: third and four, third and two. Bengals have two choices
Speaker 1: on third and nine, third and eight. It's totally different dynamic.
Speaker 1: I mean, hopefully they start to get some weapons back,
Speaker 1: and you know, not to mention the offensive line. John
Speaker 1: Jerry did everything he could. That's the fourth guy at
Speaker 1: the left tackle spot. And Alex Ridden has been back
Speaker 1: a week and he's you know, he's playing in the
Speaker 1: right guard spot because I've injured or John Miller soo,
Speaker 1: I mean, more issues in a magazine, stand man, The
Speaker 1: Bengals did not have AJ Green, they did not have
Speaker 1: John Ross, and the Ravens did a good job of
Speaker 1: taking Tyler Boyd away. He got to throw it to somebody.
Speaker 1: And Auden Tate had the best game of his young
Speaker 1: NFL career. He did targeted twelve times, five catches ninety
Speaker 1: one yards made contested catches. He also drew interference penalties
Speaker 1: and you know, illegal use down the football field of
Speaker 1: hands and early hits and all that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: He's so big. I mean, these defensive backs trying to
Speaker 1: get around him are having difficulty and really, you know,
Speaker 1: the silver lining, although it's a tough one in your
Speaker 1: own six, when AJ Green and John Ross do return. Now,
Speaker 1: Auden Tate has had experience that he never would have
Speaker 1: had otherwise, and his NFL careers accelerated. You know, he's
Speaker 1: been out there having to make plays as the morn guy.
Speaker 1: That bodes well. But man, gonna get those other guys
Speaker 1: back to stretch the field if they can stretch it,
Speaker 1: Odd and Tate, Tyler, Eiffort, CJ. Zama, all these guys
Speaker 1: that have a much different look in the middle of
Speaker 1: the football field and they're having right now. The last
Speaker 1: thing one positive, The Bengals have found a kick returner.
Speaker 1: Brandon Wilson had a fifty two yard or last week,
Speaker 1: ninety two yards for a touchdown today, the first Bengals
Speaker 1: and kick returner to take onto the house ince two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. He's impressive. I mean, he makes a decision,
Speaker 1: he goes. I mean he would no wasted time. He
Speaker 1: can scoot, he can fly. He almost had a bookend
Speaker 1: of excellence in special teams at the very end of
Speaker 1: the game and the onside kick when Airbourne made a
Speaker 1: great play as a yard short of the ball, advancing
Speaker 1: ten yards though, so they don't get the football and
Speaker 1: they're penalized. It didn't it didn't go ten yards for
Speaker 1: the onside kick opportunity, but he was close. He almost
Speaker 1: made a dynamic play there, and he gave him a boost.
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. He gave him a lift
Speaker 1: on that kickoff return. You know, you get an unconventional,
Speaker 1: unscripted score like that. That's what kept the game close
Speaker 1: in the first half. I mean at halftime, the numbers
Speaker 1: were nuts, but that kickoff returning. The Bengals, you know,
Speaker 1: their defense, they're allowing tony yards track meet between the twenties,
Speaker 1: but they're not allowing a whole lot of touchdowns. They're
Speaker 1: keeping the game, you know, close enough if the offense
Speaker 1: could do anything. Up next a home game on Sunday
Speaker 1: against the two and four Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bengals will
Speaker 1: honor ten of their all time greatest players at halftime
Speaker 1: of that game, including Ken Anderson, Anthony Munio's, Willie Anderson,
Speaker 1: and Chad Johnson. Now time for this week's fun Facts interview,
Speaker 1: where we get to know the person under the pads.
Speaker 1: This week it's a member of the Bengals rookie class who,
Speaker 1: among other things, has never tasted chocolate. Time for some
Speaker 1: fun facts with Bengals wide receiver Stanley Morgan Junior. Your
Speaker 1: dad is obviously Stanley Morgan, but not that's Stanley Morgan,
Speaker 1: not the former Pro Bowl wide receiver with the New
Speaker 1: England Patriots. How often have people expected that to be
Speaker 1: the case? Well, draw up my whole combine, you know process.
Speaker 1: Every coach set interview with actually had that on their paper.
Speaker 1: So I get that a lot. Have you taken an
Speaker 1: interest in that Stanley Morgan as a result since you
Speaker 1: play the same position. I mean I looked at his
Speaker 1: fume back in the day, but I mean, I you know,
Speaker 1: just just resemble his name. Were visiting with Stanley Morgan,
Speaker 1: the Bengals wide receiver. You're from New Orleans. Tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about where he grew up. I grew
Speaker 1: up in seven Ward, Gentile area with my mom, and
Speaker 1: New Orleans is a great place. You know, it's no
Speaker 1: place like it. It's different. It's very different growing up
Speaker 1: with my grandparents too, going to the all boys school,
Speaker 1: Santa Gustin High School was a historical all black male school.
Speaker 1: It was real. It was real tough, you know, in
Speaker 1: New Orleans, but you know, you find your ways and
Speaker 1: it's a great place. It sounds like you are from
Speaker 1: a gigantic family. Oh yeah, My grandmother has fifteen brothers
Speaker 1: and sisters. My Grandpa has seventeen brothers and sisters and
Speaker 1: that's not even including my dad's side. That's amazing. How
Speaker 1: is your family impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I remember it
Speaker 1: like it was yes today. I was just starting the
Speaker 1: second grade. We left that next day. We lost everything
Speaker 1: we lost, you know, we lost everything in our house.
Speaker 1: We had to rebuild. We stayed in bat Rugs for
Speaker 1: about two to three years and came back home and
Speaker 1: you know, rebuild everything, just like everybody else. We're visiting
Speaker 1: with Stanley Morgan. You have an interesting tie to the Bengals.
Speaker 1: When you were ten years old, your youth football team
Speaker 1: played at halftime of a game in the Super Dome
Speaker 1: turned out to be a Bengals Saints game. Where are
Speaker 1: your memories of that day? I remember just coming out
Speaker 1: there with you know, playing with my youth team before
Speaker 1: the national anthem, and uh, standing there right behind me
Speaker 1: was a chattel to a single and that was, you know,
Speaker 1: amazing to me. You know, he tapped me on a
Speaker 1: hit and I remember it's like yesterday, you know, he
Speaker 1: just say, keep working a little man, you know, I
Speaker 1: remember like it was yesterday. Did you tell your mom
Speaker 1: after that game that this is what you want to
Speaker 1: do for a living to play in the NFL. Oh
Speaker 1: of course, I mean we it was a two lane camp,
Speaker 1: you know, we all we did it like three years
Speaker 1: in a row after that, you know, and that's just
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,
Speaker 1: you know, being in a dorm and just seeing it
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. Stanley, you mentioned that you played
Speaker 1: at Saint Augustine High School. One of your teammates was
Speaker 1: Leonard Fournette, the great LSU running back who's now in
Speaker 1: the NFL with Jacksonville. What was he like as a
Speaker 1: high school kid. It's funny because he always looked that way,
Speaker 1: but he was very, very, very humble guy. You know,
Speaker 1: he's very you know, young active, you know, as a kid,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. In high school he was
Speaker 1: very loving and and and just being active and fun
Speaker 1: around his teammates. But he's a different guy, you know,
Speaker 1: when you get to know him, he's he's like one
Speaker 1: of my best friends. Back he had to be intimidating
Speaker 1: for the high school teams you played against. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, I mean, we will give it to him.
Speaker 1: On fourth and fifteen. He would get a first down.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you get a touchdown. You know. He was very intimidating.
Speaker 1: So you were a great high school player and could
Speaker 1: have gone just about anywhere. Ohio State, Clemson, Florida, Georgia,
Speaker 1: they were all interested, but you visited Nebraska and it
Speaker 1: sounds like it was love at first sight. It was
Speaker 1: my only official visit that I took. It was love
Speaker 1: at first sight. Coming out of that tunnel, I read
Speaker 1: carpet touching that harsh shoe. I mean, it was no
Speaker 1: place like it, and I couldn't you know, leave without
Speaker 1: staying there, you know, and not being a part of that.
Speaker 1: Why is that the perfect fit for a kid from
Speaker 1: New Orleans just, you know, just to get a different
Speaker 1: view of you know, being in New Orleans. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a fishboat down there. You know,
Speaker 1: it's hard to get out of there, you know. So
Speaker 1: I had my chance to get away from New Orleans
Speaker 1: and really focus on myself and focus on my craft.
Speaker 1: And I had a great coach out there, so that
Speaker 1: was a right away for me to go. We're chatting
Speaker 1: with Stanley Morgan. You are the all time leader in
Speaker 1: Nebraska history and catches receiving yards or the first wide
Speaker 1: receiver to have a one thousand yards season for the
Speaker 1: corn Huskers. What do all of those achievements mean to you?
Speaker 1: It's such a historical program. It means everything to me.
Speaker 1: I mean, becoming the first person in a thousand yards
Speaker 1: in a season, that's, you know, something nobody can ever
Speaker 1: take away from me. You know, coming out of that school,
Speaker 1: being the all time leading receiver and receptions. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's them doing that. You know, you dream about and
Speaker 1: then when it comes to reality, is it's so real,
Speaker 1: you know, and it's amazing. You know, it's I think
Speaker 1: it's just you know, my family behind me that pushed me,
Speaker 1: and everybody from New Orleans that pushed me, you know,
Speaker 1: and everybody from New Orleans that's behind me. I read
Speaker 1: a story where you said you would rather throw a
Speaker 1: big block than catch a touchdown pass. I'm calling bs,
Speaker 1: how could that possibly be true? I mean that's I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's it really isn't. I mean I fell in
Speaker 1: love with blocking just because of that guy you name earlier,
Speaker 1: I mean Leonard Fronette. I mean it, you really you
Speaker 1: really find who's love you know, who's different about the game.
Speaker 1: You find your love for the game and My love
Speaker 1: for the game is just seeing everything go right for
Speaker 1: my teammates, and not only just myself, it's my teammates,
Speaker 1: you know, my team player. So that does make me
Speaker 1: feel great. Looking back at scouting reports going into the
Speaker 1: NFL Draft, you were widely projected to go somewhere between
Speaker 1: the fourth and sixth round and then wound up going undrafted?
Speaker 1: Was that betterly disappointing? To be honest, when it happened,
Speaker 1: it was, you know, kind like, you know, kind of sad,
Speaker 1: you know, but then the next day I just kind
Speaker 1: of swiss it, you know, like, this is this an
Speaker 1: opportunity for me, You know, this is an opportunity to
Speaker 1: make history again, you know, coming coming from out the
Speaker 1: bottom and really grinding it up and really focusing on
Speaker 1: my graft, and this can be another step in history
Speaker 1: for me. You know. The Bengals were delighted that you
Speaker 1: were available and signed with them as a free agent.
Speaker 1: What appealed to you about Cincinnati Just opportunities here and
Speaker 1: the coaching staff met with those guys at the combine
Speaker 1: and just knowing opportunities here and coming in, I mean,
Speaker 1: it was everything I expected. The teammates are are great,
Speaker 1: you know, they help and the coaches are great, you know.
Speaker 1: So it was it was a person fit. You got
Speaker 1: activated to the fifty three man roster before Week five
Speaker 1: against the Cardinals and made your first NFL catch? Was
Speaker 1: that on your first offensive snap? Yeah? It was, Actually
Speaker 1: it wasn't my first offensive offensive snap. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: It's pretty cool. Did that reinforce to you when you
Speaker 1: make that first catch? That all right, I've made it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: That getting that first catch was it was all right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know you've made it. Now it's time to step
Speaker 1: it up and us. You know, let's let's turn one
Speaker 1: catch into two, two into three, three into four and
Speaker 1: you know, next next thing, I know, I can be
Speaker 1: a no more receiver on the team one day. A
Speaker 1: few more fun facts for wide receiver Stanley Morgan. If
Speaker 1: you could meet anybody in history, athlete, politician, religious figure,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be, who would that person be? It
Speaker 1: would probably be Shack. Shack, Yeah, White Shock, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Shack is just like my favorite all times person. I
Speaker 1: mean not just person, but just all the time at
Speaker 1: LEAs is he's a fun guy. You know, he's had
Speaker 1: he has a character off the field. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's he knows how to brand himself. He's just he
Speaker 1: looks like a fun guy to bear around all the time.
Speaker 1: You know, I just respect this game too. I just
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just like Shaq. I like Shaq too.
Speaker 1: I used to live in Boston. In one time when
Speaker 1: he was playing for the Celtics, he went to kind
Speaker 1: of a famous public square in Boston and pretended to
Speaker 1: be a statue for an hour. He just sat there
Speaker 1: without moving. People came up, they tried to get him
Speaker 1: to smile or talk and took pictures with him. To me,
Speaker 1: that was a perfect Shack moment. And that's why I
Speaker 1: would love to be Shake. That's perfect. That's a perfect example.
Speaker 1: Do you have any hidden talents? I can sing a
Speaker 1: little bit, I guess. Do you want to show off? Na? Na?
Speaker 1: I mean I have a yes about it. I mean
Speaker 1: I never ate chocolate before in my life. You've never
Speaker 1: eaten chocolate? Why? I just don't like to smell it?
Speaker 1: Just greeze me out. Wow, you are the first person
Speaker 1: to ever tell me they have never eaten chocolate. Someday
Speaker 1: we'll break you down, all right. If singing is your
Speaker 1: hidden talent, is there something that you are absolutely terrible
Speaker 1: at I'll have to say basketball, really, I cannot shoot,
Speaker 1: say in my life, but I could go up and
Speaker 1: get a rebound. That's about it. Called me a blur man.
Speaker 1: But anything else I am terrible. Did you play as
Speaker 1: a kid, I'll played basketball as a kid. I was
Speaker 1: just rebound this year out. You know. I give about
Speaker 1: fifteen rebounds a game and that's about it. See the
Speaker 1: guys on the team that can shoot love to play
Speaker 1: with a guy like you. They'll just do the dirty work.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well it makes sense. If you prefer blocking
Speaker 1: more than catching touchdown passes, then being the rebound and
Speaker 1: pass it out guy is a perfect fit. I enjoyed
Speaker 1: this best of luck this season, and thanks for the time.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. All right, that's Stanley Morgan Junior.
Speaker 1: We want to remind you to come out and join
Speaker 1: us at our on location radio shows this week. On
Speaker 1: Wednesday night from six to eight, we'll be at Bucketheads
Speaker 1: on Harrison Avenue for the Bengals Game Plan Show, and
Speaker 1: then on Friday afternoon from three to six we'll be
Speaker 1: at Buffalo Wings and Rings in Fairfield for the Bengals
Speaker 1: pep Rally Show. A Bengals player will join us at
Speaker 1: each of those shows. That's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this edition of the podcast. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and
Speaker 1: if you have a moment, give it a rating or
Speaker 1: share a comment. Five star ratings help more Bengals fans
Speaker 1: find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde. Thank you for listening
Speaker 1: to the Bengals Booth Podcast.