WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Gonna Be Alright 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.600 Hi again, everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:12.520 The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Don't worry about a thing, 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:20.279 because every little thing gonna be all right. Addition, as 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.239 we look back at Sunday's lopsided loss to the now 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:27.800 nine and oh Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming up, you'll hear radio replays, 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:32.159 postgame comments from players and coaches, and in depth analysis 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:35.479 from Dave Lapham. And in this week's fun fact segment, 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.120 you'll get to know the person under the pads as 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.720 I go one on one with rookie linebacker Marcus Bailey. 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.880 The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.920 Refresh the game, and here's a quick reminder that you 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:53.120 can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.480 to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:01.920 Google Play, Spotify, or podb It's the greatest thing since 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:17.600 The Master's theme music. Hello, friends, and greetings from Augusta National. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:23.880 It's Sunday at the Masters, a tradition unlike any other. 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.319 I love everything about the Masters, and I enjoyed watching 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.399 Dustin Johnson win his first Green jacket over the weekend 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:37.160 The only downside of watching the tournament in November is 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.760 that it gave me an overwhelming desire to golf. Just 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.400 as the weather in the North is getting too cold 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.240 to tee it up, I'll just have to crank up 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:54.520 this theme music and dream of spring. Now, let's get 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.480 to Sunday's game. For the Bengals to upset the NFL's 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.080 last undefeated team, they were going to have to play 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:06.800 with minimal mistakes. Unfortunately, they dropped the ball literally and 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.880 figuratively less than two minutes into the game. The Australians 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.840 punt is a line drive. Alex Ericson catches with a 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.040 chance to run it back from the nineteen up the 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:18.320 middle of the field of the thirty and he'll be 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.119 knocked four. The all pops out near the thirty three 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:26.120 yard line. The Steelers are celebrating, no signal from the 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:30.000 officials yet as the tug of war goes on at 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.400 the bottom of the pile. The Steelers came away with 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.880 the ball at the Cincinnati thirty two, and even though 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.679 they didn't pick up a first down, a Chris Boswell 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.360 field goal gave Pittsburgh a three nothing lead. It was 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.040 that kind of day and here's Zach Taylor. We were 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.880 not good enough in any area today, offense, defense, special teams, 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.360 and we really weren't good enough coaching, and that is 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.000 with me. One. I feel like I let these guys 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.079 down today, So it all starts with me. The Bengals 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.280 could not pick up a first down on their first 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.480 three possessions, and the Steelers took advantage of getting the 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.680 ball five times in the first quarter. First, another field 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:09.720 goal made it six nothing, and then Ben Roethlisberger struck 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.320 first and ten at the Cincinnati twelve yard line, empty backfield, 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:16.880 five receivers for Big Bend. Who catches the shotgun snap, 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:22.079 quick pass cat touchdown. Beante Johnson was on the receiving end, 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.200 and it was twelve nothing. After the Steelers failed on 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:28.960 a two point conversion try. The Bengals finally picked up 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:30.960 a first down with about a minute to go in 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.760 the first quarter, but on the very next play, first 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.200 and ten, Bengals at their own forty five, Steelers moving 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.360 around on defense. Here comes the shotgun snap and a 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.840 quick throw caught over the middle by t Higgins. Oh 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:48.360 Balls ripped out and the Steelers recover ten yards down field. Unbelievable, 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.080 secure the ball. After one quarter, the Bengals had two 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.120 turnovers and one first down, but they came to life 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.560 on their first drive of the second quarter. From the 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.160 twenty four, Burrow looking to throw, He's going to finding 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.840 a deep T Higgins wide open at the fifty catches 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.680 near the sideline thirty twenty five and tackled out of 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.960 bounds after a huge gain by Minca Fitzpatrick, a Fay 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:16.440 blown coverage. Very uncharacteristic for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That fifty 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.200 four yard pass was the big play on a ninety 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.000 yard touchdown drive that ended with a gutsy call. The 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.520 Bengals are an absurd twelve or thirteen on fourth down 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:28.960 conversions this year, and they are going to go for 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:31.680 it on fourth and goal from the two yard line. 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.240 They spread out empty backfield, five wides, three left, two right, 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.840 Burrow standing at the seven catches, the shotgun snap throw 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:44.240 left car touchdown T Higgins, who dunks the football over 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.080 the goal post as the Bengals score on fourth and 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.520 goal from the two. Higgins had a big day, overcoming 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.160 the fumble to finish with a career high seven catches 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.880 for one hundred and fifteen yards. His second one hundred 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.040 yard receiving performance of the season. I haven't fumbled in 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:03.920 who knows when, and it really got to me and 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.400 the guys just like, keep your head up, stay stay positive, 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.440 and it's gonna come. And sure enough, Nick Series you know, 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:12.919 made the big played in a squat to touchdown. The 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.159 Bengals were back in it, trailing twelve seven, but not 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.120 for long, as Pittsburgh answered with a seventy eight yards 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:25.159 scoring drive. Roethlisberger ready for the shotgun snap, tightly bunched formation, 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:29.960 He's back to throw, blitz coming. Roethlisberger throws touchdown. Pittsburgh 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.760 shoot Juice Smith Schuster in the back of the end 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:37.720 zone as Roethlisberger saw the rush closing in, inched up 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.279 just a bit and delivered a strike that made it 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:44.080 nineteen seven, and after a Bengals punt, the Steelers added 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.840 another field goal to make it twenty two seven with 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.120 one forty eight left in the half. That gave Joe 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.400 Burrow enough time to run the hurry up and he 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.799 completed four straight passes to drive to the Pittsburgh thirty 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.440 five From here, it would be a fifty three yard 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.000 field goal, so the Bengals would love to get about 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:04.559 ten more yards for Randy Bullock. They trailed twenty two seven, 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.000 twenty nine seconds left and a half empty backfield for Burrow. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.160 Extends the hands, catches the shotgun snap, he's back to throw, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.680 He's in trouble and he's sacked by what back at 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.000 the forty eight yard line. That took the Bengals out 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.559 of field goal range, and a couple of plays later, 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.800 Burrow got pushed out of bounds by Bud Dupree and 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.000 went flying into the bench, twisting his ankle in the process. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:30.160 I mean, it wasn't a hit or anything. He might 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.040 have pushed me a little late, but it wasn't a hit. 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.039 I just, you know, he gave me a little extra 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.680 boost and I ended up rolling my ankle on the sideline. 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:39.880 Were you still feeling it in the second half? There 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.559 doesn't matter? Perhaps not, But after throwing for one hundred 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:45.919 eighty nine yards with a passer rating of one hundred 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:49.200 point two in the first half, Burrow went five for 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:53.960 fifteen in the second half for twenty four yards. Furthermore, 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.520 the Bengals finished the game oh for thirteen on third 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:00.599 down conversions. I just played terrible in this second half. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.000 You know, we missed a lot of throws and that 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.159 I usually make. Um, No, that's that was the game. 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.640 You know I missed. I miss a lot of those 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.400 in the second half. For thirteen on third down. I 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.880 think it might have been thirteen something like that. Obviously, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.240 that's that's not gonna win your football games. What was 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.280 the biggest reason in your mind that it worked out 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.080 that way? I missed throws? Um, that's all came down too. 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:26.120 You know, I'm You're not gonna be able to win 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:29.880 football games against a team like the Steelers, as good 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.400 as they are when your quarterback plays like I did 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.040 in the second half. Pittsburgh's quarterback, on the other hand, 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.560 did not struggle in the second half. He's thrown for 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.360 two hundred ninety four yards and two touchdowns. He catches 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.760 the shotgun snap pump fakes, throws it into the end 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:47.440 zone in traffic, caught for a touchdown by Chase Claypool. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.000 Big Ben as ready play clock at two, catches the 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:54.280 shotgun snap quick throw, caught touchdown Claypool with his second 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:58.000 touchdown catch of the game, touchdown pass number four four, 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.040 Big bad Boy. It almost looks like, you know, we've 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.600 seen this movie before. It's a horror movie that Bengals 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:08.120 fans have been forced to watch for seventeen years. Ben 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.280 Roethlisberger through for three hundred thirty three yards with four 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.160 touchdowns and no picks as the Steelers improved to twenty 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.160 six and seven. In the games that Big Ben has 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:23.640 started against Cincinnati, here's Sam Hubbard's great Claire, and he's 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.840 Big Ben for a reason. And he knew what he 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:27.680 wanted to do and where he was going with the ball, 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:31.000 and they had a good plan and he made a 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.600 lot of great throws and good decisions. Although the Bengals 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.320 were behind thirty six to seven in the fourth quarter, 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:41.199 Burrow kept playing despite the twisted ankle. Zach Taylor was 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.480 asked about it after the game, like, what was the 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.800 thought process leaving Joe in that last drive he took 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.040 a couple of hits, you're down, you know, thirty six 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.199 to seven or whatever? Did you think about taking him out? 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:53.880 You know, we tried to manage it some with the runs. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.800 We wanted to get some points, get some momentum going, 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.200 you know, to be honest with you, and and just 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.600 we left him in their and Burrow was happy they did. Yeah, 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.240 I'm not not a quitter. I'm not going out of 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:09.120 the game. No, it doesn't matter if we're down one hundred, 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.560 down ten, down twenty, I'm not going out. A thirty 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.440 nine yard run on a fake punt by Sean Williams 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.720 helped the Bengals tack on a late field goal to 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:22.080 make the final score thirty six to ten. They're eleventh 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.280 consecutive loss to Pittsburgh. Here are Zach Taylor, Joe Burrow, 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.920 and Sam Hubbard. We don't overreact to this. It was 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.520 not our best performance. We went on the road. We 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:35.960 didn't really win in any phase, any statistical category in 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.280 terms of the turnovers, the penalties, the exposive players, we 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.280 didn't win any of them. And so you go on 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:42.080 the road, there's no way you're gonna win a football 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:44.360 game doing that way against a good football team. And 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.520 so we know what the reasons were. We know that 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.480 we could have played better, and we got to put 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.560 this game behind us quite frankly, move on, you know. 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.680 And that's the biggest key, because we still got seven 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.760 games left, a big one next week at Washington. We 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:58.959 can't let Pittsburgh beat us twice. That's the biggest key. 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.679 And again It's disappointing because this is how we thought 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:04.760 we're gonna come out and play, but it's what happened, 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:06.120 and so we just got to take it like a 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.560 man and move on and and go focus on the 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:10.840 next game. It's never good to lose like this, but 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:15.680 it's always a good learning experience. Um, you know, I 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.560 told I was talking to the sideline. Uh, you know, 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.840 I think we're we're in that game if if I 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:24.480 don't suck in the second half, and I'm not gonna 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.400 suck a lot. So We're gonna come back to work 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.480 every day, and I'm excited to go go back to 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:35.160 practice on on Tuesday or on Wednesday and stuck getting 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.439 these kinks worked out and move on to Washington. Yeah, 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.120 I think we got a great locker room. We gotta 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.920 got a lot of guys that you know, are gonna 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.199 feel the pain of this loss, and we're gonna come 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.040 right back and go to work and try and go 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.520 on a run here these last seven games. Um, you know, 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.080 I definitely want to be a leader, but like I said, 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:54.440 we got a good locker room with a lot of 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:57.520 good guys, and you know, we want to We're doing 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.640 things the right way. We're we're getting better and we're 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.120 just gonna keep climbing up. Next a road game against 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.880 the Washington football team, who fell to two and seven 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.880 with a three point loss in Detroit as the Lions 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.320 kicked a fifty nine yard field goal as time expired. 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.400 But it was quite a day for Alex Smith, who 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:18.560 has come back from his gruesome leg injury that required 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:23.520 seventeen surgeries to regain the starting quarterback job in Washington. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.120 He threw for a career high three hundred ninety yards 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:33.920 in Sunday's loss. Remarkable. Now time for postgame analysis from 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.920 Dave Lapham Lap. The Bengals did not play well, that 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:42.240 was obvious, but right now the two teams are not competitive. 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.720 The Bengals have been outscored sixty three to ten in 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.679 their two games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Absolutely. I mean, 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.920 if it's a litmus test, it's shown they're not ready 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.320 measuring stick. They're way down the bottom of the measuring stick. 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.920 So they have miles to go before they rest. And 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.480 the disappointing thing, and this one was they were understaffed 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.319 by coaches. You know, not having when you don't have 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.280 all those eyes that are eliminated. I mean, the more 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:15.320 feedback you get, the better off you are. When guys 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.200 kind of the sideline, they're used to talking to a 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.760 particular coach and getting feedback and then I'm not. These 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.840 aren't excuses, these are facts. That was different. But it's 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.480 COVID nineteen era, so that's the different part of it. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.880 There are players that are affected by COVID nineteen. They're 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.480 you know, guys brought off the practice squad. It's they were. 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.520 They were undermanned theoretically at the tackle position, at the 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.240 cornerback position. I thought the tackle stepped up and played well. 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.200 Two guys that I thought I Dentergy showed himself well. 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.640 I think he belongs. Spain has been in the league 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.320 six years. We already know he belongs. So I thought 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.400 those two guys I quitted themselves well. On the back end, 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.439 I think they had their issues. And there's no question 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.960 about it. But you know, special teams didn't play well. 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.439 Offense didn't play well. Defense didn't play well. You go 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:05.320 over thirteen on third down, third downs, the money down, 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.240 they were bankrupt at every position there was Offensively, they 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.200 made no money. I mean they were broke. They were 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.640 turning their pockets inside out. Nothing fell out, So they 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:20.040 gotta get that rectified. Fourth down obviously, use their money down, 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.240 that's the down. They're thirteen out of fourteen now and 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.240 they scored on more than one fourth down. Maybe they 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.319 should forget about third down, go right to fourth. It's crazy, 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:34.440 but this was There's not very much positive you can 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.720 take out of a performance that took place today. You know, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:41.320 you fall behind too early in the turnover department, you 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:46.360 have penalties, you have turnovers, you don't convert one conversion 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.640 on third down. I mean, you're not gonna win a 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.440 football game and you're gonna be blown out by a 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.240 good team like they did. Zach Taylor used the term 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:58.000 I blame myself, it's my fault, something along those lines 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.559 several times in his postgame news cop. Do you think 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:04.960 he's specifically blaming himself for his play calling on third down? 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:06.800 Do you think that was the biggest thing about his 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.679 own performance that he was self critical of. I think 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.520 he was self critical of everything, and uh, like a 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.319 good quarterback like he was, he's accepting all the blame 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.680 and deflecting all the credit, you know. And uh, because 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:20.960 he said, you know, we took a sack in a 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.640 two minute Drow that was I shouldn't have called that play. 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.720 That's on me, you know, so I think I think 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:31.680 situational stuff. I think he was probably disappointed in the 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.200 calls that were made in hindsight when he's able to 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.360 go back over them. But they just, uh, there was 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.680 just a lack of lack of execution. Um. You know, 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:46.760 Joe Burrow makes uh makes the throw um, you know 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.080 many times down the sideline. That would have been a big, 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.840 big play, could have been another you know, thirty five 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.360 forty yard player to add to the add to the 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.920 yards of te Higgins and doesn't happen. So and Joe, 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.400 Joe Burrow himself said he played pretty well in the 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.520 first half, but in the second half he just said, 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.560 I just didn't throw it well. I didn't play well. 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.040 I missed too many throws. I missed throws that I've made, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:09.640 you know, over and over again. Tee Higgins said that 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:11.600 he and Joe on that play that he overthrew, had 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.800 you know, worked and repped in practice more than one 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.960 time and done it successfully. And you know, sometimes you 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.560 have a stinker, and they had a full fledged stinker. 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:24.360 I did like the fact that. Joe Burrow said afterward, 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.200 I won't suck like that very often, which I found amusing. 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.800 He was twenty one for forty two hundred and thirteen yards, 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.200 one touchdown, no interception. Do you have any issue with 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.120 him staying in the game at the end of the game, 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.040 you know, I guess to me, it looks like when 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:44.280 a guy's limping, you know. But Joe, Joe obviously convinced 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.480 everybody that he was okay to go, particularly the medical staff. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.920 Do you think it was brought up. I think I 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.160 think it was probably brought up. Yeah, And to me, 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.680 Paul Sparrowing, he made he errs on the side of 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.280 caution all the time, so they must have done a 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:00.760 quick examination. Joe said it was a minor you know, 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.800 roll the ankle or twisted the ankle. Obviously he wanted 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.400 to be in there and finish it. He just his 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.160 whole thing. And the you know in the zoom call 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.400 after the game is I'm not a quitter. I don't quit. 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.000 He didn't want to go out under those circumstances take 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:14.240 him out of a game like they took Ben out 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.360 and Mason Rudolph finished. And he do that all day 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.240 every day. He didn't want to go out in a 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:22.040 situation feel like he's deserting his guys, and uh, and 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.240 give give the ar or the impression of quitting. So 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:27.760 I guess, uh, you know, I guess that that ruled 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.560 the day. And then you know, Zach said, they're still 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.600 trying to score points and trying to create momentum, and um, 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.600 I don't know, it's just the one. The biggest thing 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.320 that I took out of Zach's talk after the game 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:42.160 was a good point. Don't let the Pittsburgh steal his 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:47.600 beat you twice. Make sure you pay attention to things 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:49.160 you did wrong. And that's going to be a litney. 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.960 That's gonna be a long, long, legal sized pad list. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.680 But make corrections and then get ready for the Washington Redskins, 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.720 because that defensive football team is pretty damn good. And 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.960 Alex Smith let it up, he's a great store. Um, 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.720 it's you know, you can't you can't assume we're gonna 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.040 you know, we're gonna go to Washington beat the Redskins. Man, 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.360 you gotta go play Washington football team. I keep saying, Redskins, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.320 you have the football team, gotta go, gotta go to 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:16.479 Washington and uh, and win and beat that football team. Uh. 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:18.680 You just you can't make assumptions, you know. I mean, 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.399 who who the Bengals to make an assumption like that anyway, 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.800 So you gotta make sure you get that out of 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.000 your head. Uh. It's like, okay, now now we start 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.200 to get don't you think that other teams in the league, 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.360 like the Washington and others, are saying, here, come to Bengals, 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.920 that's a win, that's a w I mean really honestly, 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.720 I mean everybody's saying, let's schedule them for homecoming where 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:42.000 here it is, let's let's get after the Bengals. So 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:44.800 you don't make any assumptions like that. You just gotta 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.120 go back to square one, work prepare. Hopefully you have 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:53.280 all your coaches back. Um. You know, um, anybody that 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.640 tested positives out ten days. Anybody that is contact tracings 0:17:56.680 --> 0:18:00.440 out five, So you gotta figure Golden and Duffner would 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.480 only be five days. But I mean, those guys, how 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.280 about that situation. You know, they traveled. Bob mcdell didn't travel, 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.320 but those guys traveled, and they're in rental cars driving 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.680 back in the afternoon before the football game, getting back 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:15.520 to Cincinnati, so they can watch as much as they 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.560 can on TV and before they study taping everything. I mean, 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.400 that's a that's a crazy dynamic. Only in the year 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:26.600 twenty twenty, Pittsburgh finished with nine quarterback hits and four sacks. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.880 That's almost exactly what they averaged per game. And obviously 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.120 they had a huge lead in the second half, which 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.439 helps you get after the quarterback. But I thought this 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.280 was interesting. It wasn't Blitzburg. They were not doing what 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:42.040 Baltimore did. They rushed four, sometimes three, occasionally five. But 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:46.320 I thought that their secondary one against the Bengals wide 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:50.080 receivers with the exception of te Higgins. Yeah, and I 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.600 think unfortunately Hayden had another big game. Joe Hayden was 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:55.720 very good. He get his hands on a lot of 0:18:55.760 --> 0:19:01.000 footballs and disrupted timing of routes and he was very good. 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:05.159 I do think that Baltimore. The difference between Baltimore and 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.320 Pittsburgh is Baltimore has multiple Pro Bowls on the back end, 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.119 so they feel like they can bring tons of people 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.520 and really get after the quarterback and mess him up 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.359 because they're so good in the back end. Pittsburgh is 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:22.080 sound solid, but their coaching staff feels like our strength 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.520 is in the front, so we're gonna rush for and 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.359 we're going to get there with those four we're gonna 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.639 keep seven back there. And that's what they did for 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.280 the most part. And like guys were saying after the game, 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:35.840 they don't run a ton of different coverages back there. 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.280 They have a couple of three things they do and 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:41.520 they know to do it very well. Every single route combination. 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:45.159 They get studied and they're they're tough, but they have 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.320 seven bodies back there, so they can double multiple people 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.480 if need be and still get pressure on the quarterback 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.720 with their four man rush. That's so extraordinary with wat 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.520 and Dupree. So that's the biggest difference is where the 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:03.280 strength those Baltimore and Pittsburgh defenses are and their coaches, 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.200 you know, proceed accordingly with game plans that that kind 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.560 of accentuate the positives and kind of help along with 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.760 things that they're not as strong in. In a sixteen 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.520 game regular season, the Bengal special teams will outperform the 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.040 other squads special teams twelve times out of sixteen. I mean, 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:24.760 they usually win the special teams battle. Not on Sunday 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.359 in Pittsburgh a fumble on the first punt returned by 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.440 Alex Ericson. Then he seemed to get a little gunshy 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:34.880 catching punts. Two got downed inside the ten. As a result, 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.000 they gave up a forty two yard punt return. They 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:39.960 had the fake punt late in the game, which I 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.240 guess helps even things out a little bit, but by 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:46.679 and large, they got outperformed significantly in special teams. Yeah, 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.240 I think, you know, as we know Darren Simmons looks 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:51.800 at the average drive start and you factor in turnovers. 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:53.840 Those are going to be short fields sometimes, and they 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.639 were a couple of turnovers were a factor in that, 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:01.280 but multiple times to half a dozen times. I mean 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.120 they're starting inside their twenty yard line sometimes aside their ten. 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:06.840 I mean, that's that's long field. They scored a touchdown 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.960 on one of those drives, you know, eight plays ninety 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:12.120 yards for a touchdown on fourth down, the two yard 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:16.800 touchdown reception that Tee Higgins had. But yeah, I think overall, 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.119 on a snap by snap basis, after having the worst 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.199 special teams game that Danny Smith and his team has 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.600 had for a long time down in Dallas, Pittsburgh was 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.760 horrible in Dallas on special teams. Dallas stayed in that 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.000 game because of special team's excellence, and that was a 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:34.960 big point of contention. I'm sure prepared for this game. 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:37.080 We got to bounce back. If we play like this 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.240 against the Bengals, it'll be even worse. So I think, 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.880 you know, players responded. Coach Danny Smith responded, and they 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:45.720 put together a pretty good game. I agree with you. 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.840