Speaker 1: Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Oh What Tonight addition, as
Speaker 1: the Bengals rally from a fourteen point halftime deficit to
Speaker 1: beat the Jacksonville Jaguars twenty seven, twenty four on Thursday
Speaker 1: Night Football, coming up, you'll hear radio replays from the win,
Speaker 1: postgame comments from players and coaches, and analysis form my
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's fun Facts segment,
Speaker 1: you'll get to know the man who brought the loaf
Speaker 1: chart to the Bengals defensive backs room, Mike Hilton. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light. Seltzer Refreshed
Speaker 1: the game, and here's a quick reminder that you can
Speaker 1: have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to
Speaker 1: your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing
Speaker 1: since Thursday's celebration of the nineteen eighty one Super Bowl team.
Speaker 1: In addition to inducting Paul Brown, Anthony Munio's, Ken Anderson,
Speaker 1: and Ken Riley into the Bengals Ring of Honor at halftime,
Speaker 1: the team welcome back nearly forty players from the Bengals
Speaker 1: first Super Bowl team, and they gathered for a pregame
Speaker 1: storytelling event at the new Icon Music Center next to
Speaker 1: Paul Brown Stadium. It was awesome and it was the
Speaker 1: result of a ton of planning and hard work by
Speaker 1: the Bengals Director of Community Engagement Alex Simons and many
Speaker 1: other members of the Bengals front office staff. And kudos
Speaker 1: to the Brown and Blackburn families for making it all possible.
Speaker 1: It was truly a night to remember. Now let's get
Speaker 1: to Thursday's game. The first half was a disaster. The
Speaker 1: Bengals first drive ended with a missed field goal by
Speaker 1: Evan McPherson, his first in the NFL, and things quickly
Speaker 1: went from bad to worse as a pair of rushing
Speaker 1: touchdowns gave Jacksonville a fourteen nothing lead the second quarter,
Speaker 1: and it looked like it might be twenty one nothing
Speaker 1: at the half before Cincinnati made the key defensive play
Speaker 1: of the game, fourth and goal from the Cincinnati one
Speaker 1: fifty nine seconds left and a half. Lawrence, moving to
Speaker 1: his right, runs up the middle. It's and he did
Speaker 1: not get in. The Bengals stopped Trevor Lawrence. That is big,
Speaker 1: right there, boy Master. Here's Tyler Boyd on the critical
Speaker 1: goal line stand. You know, I think that was a
Speaker 1: difference in the game for sure. You know, doest stop
Speaker 1: really uh got us going, you know, because the game
Speaker 1: probably could have would have won a whole different way
Speaker 1: if they would have pushed it in, you know, so
Speaker 1: off to our defense. So even after having just four
Speaker 1: first downs in the first half to Jacksonville's fifteen, the
Speaker 1: Bengals felt confident that they could rally. Here's c j Uzama.
Speaker 1: We came out unbelievably slow. And that's not a knock
Speaker 1: on Jacksonville. I mean, they're a good team. Their record
Speaker 1: isn't indicative of who they are as a team. But
Speaker 1: we knew that we were shooting ourselves on the front.
Speaker 1: We weren't performing the way that we should have formed,
Speaker 1: and we came in at halftime. First of all, the
Speaker 1: defense had an incredible stop at the end of the
Speaker 1: half going into that going in twenty or twenty one
Speaker 1: to zero is huge in comparison to fourteen to zero.
Speaker 1: And you know, the leader stepped up, said some things
Speaker 1: in the locker room at halftime, and we came out
Speaker 1: and executed. The Bengals second play of the second half.
Speaker 1: Got the ball rolling shotgun snapped to Burrow, four man rush,
Speaker 1: good pocket, flings it deep Dungell Chase over the shoulder
Speaker 1: catch at the Jacksonville forty and he runs it down
Speaker 1: to the Jaguars twenty five yard line. Safety Andrew wingered
Speaker 1: with a stop half forty four yard catch for Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1: It's the fourth grade game that Numero Uno has had
Speaker 1: a catch for thirty or more yards and it's set
Speaker 1: up the Bengals first score. Second down and seven at
Speaker 1: the twenty two of Jacksonville c j Uzama goes in
Speaker 1: motion left to right Burrow under center. Now Mike Thomas
Speaker 1: goes in jet motion. They fake a hand off to
Speaker 1: the right Burrow at the short throw to the left
Speaker 1: phot at the eighteen Usama to the ten come back,
Speaker 1: moving a stick to the pylon, touchdown Bengals. You see
Speaker 1: jay U Sama with great yak yards after catch and
Speaker 1: the Bengals score on their first drive of the third quarter.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what they needed. Once again, it's a little
Speaker 1: play action. You get that running game going and the
Speaker 1: play action is gonna be there. That made it fourteen seven,
Speaker 1: and after the defense got a three and out, the
Speaker 1: offense struck again. A one yard touchdown run by Burrow
Speaker 1: was overturned by replay, but ultimately didn't keep the Bengals
Speaker 1: out of the end zone. All right, here we go.
Speaker 1: The Bengals line up third down and goal inside the one,
Speaker 1: trailing by seven. Midway through the third quarter. Burrow ready
Speaker 1: and the shotgun catches the snap, hands to Mixing fights
Speaker 1: his way into the end zone. Touchdown. Bengals, no need
Speaker 1: to review. Chow Mixing gets in with ease, and the
Speaker 1: Bengals make it a one point game. McPherson's extra point
Speaker 1: tied the score at fourteen. Heading to the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: Jacksonville went back in front on a four yard touchdown
Speaker 1: run by James Robinson. He finished the game with seventy
Speaker 1: eight yards and two tds. But the Bengals responded again
Speaker 1: with a ten play seventy five yard drive. Burrow catches
Speaker 1: the shotgun snap, good protection, pump fakes, gestures, scrambles left,
Speaker 1: penalty flag down. Burrow throws caught by Usama streaking toward
Speaker 1: the end zone. He's in. We'll see what the penalty
Speaker 1: flag is about. At the twenty eight. If it's on Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: it's a tie game. I think Jacksonville held initially. Then
Speaker 1: the Bengals went down the field and started blocking after
Speaker 1: he was held, but Jacksonville held initially. Let's see what
Speaker 1: the college Ill' goal used to the hands, hands to
Speaker 1: the face hold of the plays a touchdown c j
Speaker 1: U Sama with two touchdown catches. Burrow was magnificent, going
Speaker 1: twenty five for thirty two. That's seventy eight percent for
Speaker 1: three hundred forty eight yards, with two touchdowns, no picks,
Speaker 1: and a career high passer rating of one thirty two
Speaker 1: point eight. That's the third time in four games this
Speaker 1: year that Joe's topped one twenty. I think I've got
Speaker 1: better and better each week. You know, last week, you know,
Speaker 1: the defense played so well that I didn't have to
Speaker 1: do a lot, and then tonight, you know, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be games like that where you have stuff up and
Speaker 1: make plays, and so I'm really happy with my performance tonight.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna keep building on this and keep getting
Speaker 1: better and better. With the score tied at twenty one,
Speaker 1: Jacksonville drove to the fifty before having to punt and
Speaker 1: the Bengals got the ball at their own ten with
Speaker 1: five thirty three remaining. On their final drive, the Bengals
Speaker 1: had a false start and a holding penalty and lost
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon for the final few minutes when he appeared
Speaker 1: to twist his ankle on second and thirteen near midfield
Speaker 1: with roughly a minute to go, Burrow recognized that the
Speaker 1: Jags were going to an all out blitz with cover
Speaker 1: zero in other words, zero deep defenders, so he switched
Speaker 1: the play to a jailbreak screen to see Juzama. Row
Speaker 1: lines up in the gun, extends the hands, catches the snap,
Speaker 1: throws to beat a blitz caught by c jas Zambi
Speaker 1: gets to the thirty five new meals at the thirty
Speaker 1: down to the twenty five, he gets tackled at the
Speaker 1: twenty one miles Jack making the stop. The Bengals beat
Speaker 1: the all out blitz and now they are within easy
Speaker 1: field goal range for Evan McPherson with a clock running
Speaker 1: in forty eight seconds to go. You guys have heard
Speaker 1: me talking about just having the playbook in the back
Speaker 1: of my head seeing looks that you know, I can
Speaker 1: take advantage of, and that just comes with experience. And
Speaker 1: you know, they gave me a zero look, and so
Speaker 1: you know a week I knew defensive coordinator had a
Speaker 1: Baltimore background. You know, they've showed some zero on film.
Speaker 1: I knew they'd have to be ready for it in
Speaker 1: a big spot. And you know, I had CJ out there.
Speaker 1: That's not exactly the personnel that we usually put through
Speaker 1: those jailbreak screens too. But you know, he really took
Speaker 1: advantage of the opportunity. And I had those plays in
Speaker 1: the back of my head expecting zero, and I just
Speaker 1: got to it and didn't really think about it. Burrows
Speaker 1: ability to read defense and switched to the right play
Speaker 1: is not the only sign of his brain power. According
Speaker 1: to Usama, he's the smartest person on the field at
Speaker 1: all times. The I was fortunate enough to get brought
Speaker 1: into their jeopardy game, the quarterbacks that they have a
Speaker 1: little jeopardy game and the questions. I was like, what
Speaker 1: what the hell is this? Like I don't know any
Speaker 1: of this stuff. Why am I here? And he's just like,
Speaker 1: can I steal this one? Can I steal this one?
Speaker 1: I know this one. I'm like, if you want to,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know the answer, Like so I
Speaker 1: don't know, he's He's just he's Joey franchise. Uzama finished
Speaker 1: with a career high ninety five receiving yards and after
Speaker 1: a run by Sama JP Ryan, the Bengals left four
Speaker 1: seconds on the clock and called on Evan McK fearless
Speaker 1: to win it. So here we go, a thirty five
Speaker 1: yard field goal attempt to win the game from the
Speaker 1: right hash Clark Harris will snap, Kevin Huber will hold
Speaker 1: Evan McPherson looking for his second game winner in four
Speaker 1: NFL games. This snap to put down the swing of
Speaker 1: the right leg. The kick is on its way. Coffin
Speaker 1: Wills Sam Bam Bam hop out that Thursday Night Football
Speaker 1: national audience, Cincinnati Bengals three and one day in how
Speaker 1: about that Bengals Jackson Carmen lifting Evan McPherson into the air,
Speaker 1: just as he did back in Week one in overtime
Speaker 1: when he beat the Minnesota Vikings, and now on the
Speaker 1: final playoff regulation in primetime on Thursday Night Football, Evan
Speaker 1: McPherson delivers from thirty five yards away and the Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Bengals rally from a fourteen nothing halftime deficit to beat
Speaker 1: Jacksonville twenty four to twenty one. Wow. Now we're threeing one.
Speaker 1: We're in a good we're in a good spot. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we had the one setback that we didn't play very
Speaker 1: well in Chicago, but you know, we've played pretty well
Speaker 1: the last the other three games. So we're just gonna
Speaker 1: keep building on. And I'm excited to have a bye weekend. No,
Speaker 1: it's gonna fun to watch some football, kind of relax,
Speaker 1: you know, get a head start on Green Day. Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham spoke to head coach Zach Taylor in the locker
Speaker 1: room after the game. Congratulations, huge win. So many things
Speaker 1: to talk about it. I mean, you get down fourteen nothing,
Speaker 1: your defense, that goal, that fourth down stop was monumental.
Speaker 1: You guys again when the coin toss and defer, it's
Speaker 1: worked out for you where you score at the end
Speaker 1: of the half to then score first possession, you make
Speaker 1: that stop at the end of the half to stay
Speaker 1: in the game, and then you come out and you
Speaker 1: kick their tail in about a minute and a half
Speaker 1: to score and then come back and score again. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, that is scoring at the
Speaker 1: end of a half kept seven points off the board
Speaker 1: that would have been that would have been difficult to
Speaker 1: overcome in this league, and so tremendous effort of our
Speaker 1: defense just just kind of bowing up there on the
Speaker 1: goal line. They had to do it a lot because
Speaker 1: we got the holding call in the end zone, you know,
Speaker 1: that gave him a first down, and so just just
Speaker 1: really critical there and a great job by them. You
Speaker 1: overcame a few tough penalties. I mean, you had a
Speaker 1: holding call offensively on that last drive to set you
Speaker 1: back and CJ. I was talking to CJ and Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd and CJ said, I'm not I don't get that
Speaker 1: screen this first time I've ever gotten that screen. Take
Speaker 1: us through that call, that play that went to CJ Zarman,
Speaker 1: that set everything up for that field goal. There was
Speaker 1: zero blitz. That was a check from Burrow. You know,
Speaker 1: that wasn't a called play, That wasn't two plays in
Speaker 1: the huddle. We called a play and he checked to
Speaker 1: a zero blitz beater. What you got to do in
Speaker 1: this league and everyone has to be ready. And that's
Speaker 1: just a great example of CJ understanding the offense, taking
Speaker 1: mental reps because I promise you's never taking a physical
Speaker 1: rep of that, and executing when we needed the most.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Joe Cullen, the defensive coordinator, five years as
Speaker 1: d line coach with Baltimore. They go zero blitz when
Speaker 1: you approached the red zone. You guys obviously had prepared
Speaker 1: for that. You had your team prepared for that, and bam.
Speaker 1: When something like that happens, when it's like, yeah, this
Speaker 1: is what we were talking about, what are we gonna do?
Speaker 1: And then you execute it like that? How rewarding a
Speaker 1: feeling is that it's the best. You know, your players
Speaker 1: are just confident and what we asked them to do,
Speaker 1: the positions we put them in, and then they execute.
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes you're stressed as a coach going
Speaker 1: into a game, and then I just take a deep
Speaker 1: breath and say, we got good players. We got really
Speaker 1: good players. They're gonna go out there and play well
Speaker 1: and we're gonna win. What did you say at halftime, coach,
Speaker 1: I mean to come into football game and stagnated a
Speaker 1: little bit, never really got in a rhythm. You come
Speaker 1: out in the second half, I mean on fire. What
Speaker 1: was talked about was it like they're really not doing anything,
Speaker 1: We're kind of hurting ourselves. Yeah, we got their best
Speaker 1: shot all three phases, and we were not playing well
Speaker 1: in any phase at that point. And we were only
Speaker 1: down fourteen to nothing, and we scored what fourteen points
Speaker 1: and three minutes at Chicago, and so we knew how
Speaker 1: quickly we can score quickly we can get some stops.
Speaker 1: There was no need to panic, and that's exactly what
Speaker 1: our team did. So no turnovers for either football team.
Speaker 1: It just turned into who's going to execute, who gets
Speaker 1: the ball last kind of thing, and you guys do
Speaker 1: that and you give them the knockout punch in a
Speaker 1: game like that. There are a lot of lessons to
Speaker 1: be learned in a game like that too. I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you talk to your team about after the
Speaker 1: game or even tomorrow. I think situationally, the hinted everything, Well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's the defense got to stop. And
Speaker 1: in the middle of the fourth quarter, offense bled six
Speaker 1: minutes off to be able to finish with four seconds left,
Speaker 1: and a kicking team was able to kick it through
Speaker 1: the upright and finish it. So all three phases were connected.
Speaker 1: All three phases stepped up and made plays when you
Speaker 1: did him. So you come off an emotional win in
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Division win on the road, and then it's like,
Speaker 1: all right, well are we going to be able to
Speaker 1: you know, handle success. We're gonna be able to compartmentalize
Speaker 1: and the team did. What does that say about this
Speaker 1: football team that we're ready, you know, for the next
Speaker 1: phase of the season. This is just the first quarter.
Speaker 1: We're up seven and nothing right now, we got three
Speaker 1: quarters left to play. So again, we got to come
Speaker 1: out focus for a game against the two time NFC
Speaker 1: champion contenders, you know, Green Bay Packers. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: a work cut out for us. It's good that we
Speaker 1: have a long week to get healthy because we can
Speaker 1: get some guys back, but we've got to be focused
Speaker 1: and ready and ready to play on the Sex game.
Speaker 1: It's a huge one. I know you haven't looked at
Speaker 1: tape yet. Trey Wayne's first first action. How how do
Speaker 1: you think it went for him out there? You know,
Speaker 1: it's hard for me to say, but I saw him
Speaker 1: involved in a lot of plays. It's good to have
Speaker 1: Trey back, I'm sure for him. He hasn't played and
Speaker 1: almost a year and a half, so it's good for
Speaker 1: him just to get back out there, to get back
Speaker 1: in the phase of things. I know he's only going
Speaker 1: to improve with each game going forward. In your second
Speaker 1: he was beaten up. Who can you say stepped up
Speaker 1: for you in absence of key players. Von Bell as
Speaker 1: a leader in that secondary, you know, and he stepped up.
Speaker 1: And you know, with Jesse out and Cheeto out, Vaughan
Speaker 1: Von is always the guy who's consistent, reliable, and so
Speaker 1: we knew that he keeped that secondary connected. Everybody, including myself,
Speaker 1: was stunned when McPherson missed and it's like, all right, well,
Speaker 1: he's kicked three extra points. He's in a rhythm. You
Speaker 1: knew he was going to kick that game or two
Speaker 1: game winners in his first four at NFL games. Kids,
Speaker 1: Pretty cool. Yeah, No, no kicker in INFLO history has
Speaker 1: made all their kicks, and so you know at some
Speaker 1: point he was gonna face him of adversity for the
Speaker 1: first time in his young NFL career. But I didn't
Speaker 1: think everybody knew he was gonna put that last one
Speaker 1: through the uprights, and we trusted him and he did
Speaker 1: a great job. Three and one. Great start. A little
Speaker 1: mini bye week, go see the family R and R
Speaker 1: a little bit. But I know you guys, you guys
Speaker 1: you're coaching staff. You guys work man, you guys grind it.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be able to get any time though. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go watch my kids play flag football on
Speaker 1: Sunday and spend some time with my family. And these
Speaker 1: coaches will too. They they deserve it, they put in
Speaker 1: the work. It's good for them to have this opportunity.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on a big night National's TV. The nation saw
Speaker 1: Bengal's face adversity and overcome it. Love it. That was
Speaker 1: great to see. Thanks, Thanks it. So the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers come to town a week from Sunday. After getting
Speaker 1: embarrassed by the Saints in Week one thirty eight to three,
Speaker 1: the Packers have posted back to back wins over Detroit
Speaker 1: and San Francisco, Green Bay host Pittsburgh on Sunday. Now
Speaker 1: time for postgame analysis with Lap. What a performance by
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow Lap career high passer rating of one thirty
Speaker 1: two point eight. He often talks about how he wants
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands with a game on the line.
Speaker 1: Can see why after the performance he had on Thursday
Speaker 1: Night Football. Down fourteen nothing at the half, they got
Speaker 1: the ball four times in the second half. He led
Speaker 1: them down the field to square every time. He said that.
Speaker 1: He talked to Zach Taylor at halftime and said, let's
Speaker 1: go empty. Got matchups I can take advantage of. We
Speaker 1: can do this right down the field a minute and
Speaker 1: a half. Score, get the ball back, score again. I mean,
Speaker 1: he understands his football, there's no question about it. So
Speaker 1: doing that, making that adjustment, going empty and throwing it
Speaker 1: all over the place in the second half and then
Speaker 1: the screen passed that went to CJ. He audibilized too,
Speaker 1: and CJ had never gotten it. And I can see why.
Speaker 1: I mean, defensive linemen aren't. I mean, when the rush
Speaker 1: was so strong, I'm like, oh man, they're gonna back
Speaker 1: this down or something. He just dropped downside of him.
Speaker 1: Get the ball around it, and CJ was mad at
Speaker 1: he didn't score. He goes, man, I got a score
Speaker 1: on that. So he wanted the hat trick. He didn't
Speaker 1: quite get there. But that was an unbelievable play as well.
Speaker 1: So in the defense when they had to make a stop.
Speaker 1: There weren't he turnovers in the game, but that fourth
Speaker 1: down stop, when that possession didn't end in a kick,
Speaker 1: that was a huge possession in that football game to
Speaker 1: keep him in it. That was bigger than it turned
Speaker 1: over because it's fourteen nothing. You've got less than a
Speaker 1: minute to go in the second quarter. It's fourth and
Speaker 1: goal at the one. Trevor Lawrence is six six. I mean,
Speaker 1: if he jumps up and does the Drew Breeze play
Speaker 1: where you just jump up and extend the ball forward
Speaker 1: with two arms, yeah, I think it's a touchdown. He
Speaker 1: elected to run instead. Larry jug and Joby and Logan
Speaker 1: Wilson get him to the ground. That saves the day.
Speaker 1: It does. And um, like urban Meyer said to Vic
Speaker 1: Fangioe NFL, it's like playing Alabama every week. You gotta
Speaker 1: get you gotta take the points. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: I think that's at that point. You go up three scores,
Speaker 1: you go up seventeen nothing, that's you know, that's a statement.
Speaker 1: He tried to get really greedy and you know, roll
Speaker 1: Michigan or something, you know, get up on him big,
Speaker 1: and it came back to bite him a little bit.
Speaker 1: But that obviously was big. The field goal missed by
Speaker 1: McPherson McPherson was big. But for him to come back
Speaker 1: and do what he does, I mean, he's let's face it,
Speaker 1: every kicker is gonna miss kicks. Justin Tucker's miss kicks.
Speaker 1: You just can't, you know, you can't lose your mind
Speaker 1: over it. And he moved on and moved on quickly
Speaker 1: and got the game winner two and four weeks. Two
Speaker 1: game winners in four NFL games. That's crazy, both with
Speaker 1: the clock hitting zero. Unbelievable, unbelievable at the gun. McPherson, Bengo,
Speaker 1: Bango Longo, Justin Tucker might be better, but every McPherson
Speaker 1: is pretty darn good, no question about it. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about Tyler Boyd. Nine catches for one hundred and eighteen yards.
Speaker 1: I'm still trying to figure out how he caught that
Speaker 1: pass on third down in six when he wasn't open,
Speaker 1: he was being interfered with. I don't know how Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow saw any sort of opening to get the ball
Speaker 1: to him and they connected. I really believe Dan that
Speaker 1: he's been the victim of a football team that hasn't
Speaker 1: played well enough. He is a Pole Bowl slot receiver.
Speaker 1: Since he's coming to the league, nobody, very few, I
Speaker 1: think maybe one, has put up better numbers than him
Speaker 1: in the slot. He is a Pro Bowl caliber slot receiver.
Speaker 1: And I think now as the team starts to improve,
Speaker 1: people around the league will recognize this guy's talents and abilities.
Speaker 1: And he's incredibly intelligent. We were talking about in the
Speaker 1: post game. He and CJ both played quarterback, and he
Speaker 1: played in high school. CJ even played at Auburn obviously,
Speaker 1: and they just say that they can be on the
Speaker 1: same page as the quarterback. They'll pre read a defense,
Speaker 1: you know, before the snap of the football in their
Speaker 1: routes and everything. And I almost get on the same page,
Speaker 1: you know, very very quickly. He's a very very intelligent
Speaker 1: football player, very very tough physical football players. He's a
Speaker 1: he's a special one. Thursday night games are hard to play.
Speaker 1: I mean, those guys are just starting to feel better
Speaker 1: by Thursday when they're back on the field and playing
Speaker 1: in a game. Did that show tonight did they look
Speaker 1: like they were a little bit gas to you? You know?
Speaker 1: I asked h I asked, guys, what are they going
Speaker 1: to do? And they were all saying, you know, take
Speaker 1: some time and get my body right and all that.
Speaker 1: I think. Defensively, they played eighty seven snaps and it
Speaker 1: was it was not cool. I mean, it was it
Speaker 1: wasn't boiling hot. It wasn't as hot as some of
Speaker 1: the games, but it was it was not fall weather,
Speaker 1: and they paid a price, I think, and I think
Speaker 1: that might have been a little bit of a factor,
Speaker 1: but they the adjustment they made was going empty. And
Speaker 1: the reason that that screen passed to CJ was called
Speaker 1: is Joe Cullen, the defense coordinator that spent five years
Speaker 1: with the Ravens. When you approach the red zone, they
Speaker 1: go zero, and they had a feeling it was going
Speaker 1: to be zero, and it was. And when CJ, like
Speaker 1: he said, when when I broke the when I broke up,
Speaker 1: feel I should have scored. And they were saying also
Speaker 1: that Joe Barrow mentioned that Zach Taylor was going to
Speaker 1: find anybody that get tackled one on one by that
Speaker 1: deep safety. I said that if they're going to put
Speaker 1: a guy that deep, if we get tackled one on
Speaker 1: one by him, it's a fine. And they wanted to
Speaker 1: make sure that that guy didn't come up and make
Speaker 1: a one on one play on him. So it was interesting,
Speaker 1: you know, how they get ready for this one. It
Speaker 1: kind of bums me out that Joe Montana was known
Speaker 1: as Joe Cool because you can't give that nickname to
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. It's already been used. But that's what he is.
Speaker 1: He is Joe Cool. He is. I mean, I swear
Speaker 1: he was so composed and relaxed in the locker room.
Speaker 1: I thought he was going to take a nap. I
Speaker 1: mean his heart rate. He's one of those guys where
Speaker 1: the heart rate goes down instead of up, instead of
Speaker 1: a you know, a panic situation. He just can take
Speaker 1: it down and he just is very You said it
Speaker 1: during the game when they got the ball back, he said,
Speaker 1: this is what Joe Burrow well, he wants. He lives on,
Speaker 1: thrives on it. A chance to win the football game,
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands to win the game. This
Speaker 1: is what it's all about. A showtime and the son
Speaker 1: of a gun one down and did it again, and
Speaker 1: you can't do it any better. He got the ball
Speaker 1: at his own ten with five thirty three on the clock.
Speaker 1: He used all five thirty three and set up his
Speaker 1: outstanding kicker for a relative chip shot to win the game.
Speaker 1: I was I was praying to them kick it with
Speaker 1: like thirty seconds. I'm thinking, you know, within a half minute.
Speaker 1: They only have one time out I'll do better than that.
Speaker 1: Let's just take it all the way down and hit
Speaker 1: it at the gun. Just incredible. Um yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: good stuff. I think. I think that, you know, you
Speaker 1: you go on the road and win a division game,
Speaker 1: an emotional game, and then you come back and it's
Speaker 1: it's easy to say, look, you know, we can't afford
Speaker 1: to let down. You have to come out, you can't
Speaker 1: be flat and everything that you talk about, but going
Speaker 1: out and doing it, and then and then when you
Speaker 1: fall behind by fourteen, I think you know, now, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, it's a gut check for everybody. And
Speaker 1: they responded, which I think will stand him in good
Speaker 1: stead as they, you know, get into more competitive games
Speaker 1: and can't be much more competitive than that. Really, no
Speaker 1: team turned it over as such other than the fourth
Speaker 1: down stop in the goal line, and it just was like,
Speaker 1: all right, well, who's going to get the ball last,
Speaker 1: who's going to make the last body shot, who's going
Speaker 1: to get the knockout punch? And that was just a
Speaker 1: good NFL football, you know, a team that came in
Speaker 1: tied for the lead and giveaways, held onto the football
Speaker 1: and made it a game for sure. So four games
Speaker 1: is no longer a quarter of the schedule now that
Speaker 1: you've got a seventeen game regular season. But it's close.
Speaker 1: They're three in one after four. How would you sum
Speaker 1: up the first close to quarter of the season. You know,
Speaker 1: I'd say that that it's it's a good start, I think.
Speaker 1: I think that obviously, getting three of them to go
Speaker 1: in the right way. They've got miles before God before
Speaker 1: they rest, miles to travel. But they are, you know,
Speaker 1: building the foundation. It's not like there aren't any bricks
Speaker 1: laid there. There have been some bricks laid, and I
Speaker 1: think those bricks are gonna withstand you know, bad weather
Speaker 1: and all the stuff that it has to withstand as
Speaker 1: you build the rest of the house. So I think
Speaker 1: they are, you know, get that good foundation established. And
Speaker 1: Paul Brown had a great saying winners makes believers of
Speaker 1: us all and that in a few words says so much.
Speaker 1: And there's no question I think a lot of the
Speaker 1: guys in that locker room are really starting to believe
Speaker 1: that they can go out and win football games no
Speaker 1: matter what the situation. And that's always a good thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, the body can do great things when the
Speaker 1: mind lets it, you know, and the mind's starting to
Speaker 1: let these guys do some things. I don't have much
Speaker 1: more on the game tomorrow from three to six on
Speaker 1: The Bengals pep Rally Show on ESPN fifteen thirty. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's
Speaker 1: light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now
Speaker 1: time for this week's fun Facts segment, where you get
Speaker 1: to know the person under the pads. Time for some
Speaker 1: fun facts with cornerback Mike Hilton from Fayetteville, Georgia, about
Speaker 1: twenty miles away from Atlanta. What were some of the
Speaker 1: things that young Mike Hilton liked to do as a
Speaker 1: kid growing up in Georgia. Man one, I used to
Speaker 1: go to Six Flags all the time. You know, if
Speaker 1: you heard about six Flags of a George, you know
Speaker 1: they have some of the best roller coasters. So I
Speaker 1: did that a lot. Of course, play football, and you know,
Speaker 1: just enjoyed enjoying my time as a que We have
Speaker 1: King's Island nearby. Do you still like roller coasters? I've
Speaker 1: heard about King's Island. Everybody said it definitely someplace I
Speaker 1: have to visit. So I'm gonna take my daughter there,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna have some fun. We're doing fun facts
Speaker 1: with Mike Hilton. You attended Sandy Creek High School. You
Speaker 1: were more of a running back than a cornerback back then, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: I was. I got recruited mainly to play running back,
Speaker 1: and when I got to college, when I really flipped
Speaker 1: over to play corner Were you okay with that? I
Speaker 1: wasn't at first, but I knew, especially in the SEC
Speaker 1: in my size, running back was kind of a ife situation.
Speaker 1: So I know, if I made that switch, you know,
Speaker 1: you'll put me in a position to be here. So
Speaker 1: you're in the process of having a great NFL career,
Speaker 1: but you are not the most famous football player from
Speaker 1: your high school. Recently inducted Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson
Speaker 1: make Tron went to Sandy Creek. Did you see him
Speaker 1: when you were a kid. Did you get to see
Speaker 1: him player? Get to know him? Now? I've never actually
Speaker 1: seen him play when I was growing up, but during
Speaker 1: my high school games he would come, so I've had
Speaker 1: chances to talk to him and you know, just ask
Speaker 1: him about the NFL life, and you know, we had
Speaker 1: some good conversations, and you know, I just want to
Speaker 1: say congrats to him for being inducted. Was that pretty
Speaker 1: exciting for folks back home to see him getting the
Speaker 1: all things? Oh? Absolutely, especially for our town, which you
Speaker 1: know isn't really the biggest town him. So you know,
Speaker 1: everybody knows everybody, and when you have a guy like
Speaker 1: Calvin Johnson that's inducted, you know, we take pride in then.
Speaker 1: So you are an outstanding player at one of Georgia's
Speaker 1: top high school football programs, But the University of Georgia,
Speaker 1: what'sn't interested? What did head coach Mark erect say to you?
Speaker 1: I remember my high school coach pulled me out. You know,
Speaker 1: during recruiting time, you get pulled out the top of
Speaker 1: college coaches and you know, my high school coach was
Speaker 1: hyped me up and everything, and I met Rick and
Speaker 1: the first thing he said to him, he was like,
Speaker 1: you just not just not big enough for me. So
Speaker 1: that's kind of the sticking with me throughout my whole career.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't look at it as a bad thing.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just him being honest. But it definitely
Speaker 1: pushed me to help me get to where I am.
Speaker 1: And it still motivates you. Absolutely, I absolutely I still
Speaker 1: here to this day, whether it's from other people or
Speaker 1: the fans of the coaches that I'm not small, but
Speaker 1: I know what I'm capable of. So Mark Rerecht made
Speaker 1: a terrible mistake and not recruiting you, but All Miss
Speaker 1: was smart enough to recruit you. What was the best
Speaker 1: part of your college experience, man, really just being around everybody,
Speaker 1: getting no my college teammates and getting that true college field.
Speaker 1: You know, just when they say that's the best years
Speaker 1: of your life, that's honest truth. And I enjoyed all
Speaker 1: four As a senior at All Miss, you received one
Speaker 1: of the highest honors a player can receive at that school.
Speaker 1: You were chosen to wear the number thirty eight in
Speaker 1: honor of the late Chucky Mullins, a great player who
Speaker 1: is paralyzed in a game. Can you articulate what that
Speaker 1: honor means? Number One, it goes to a senior defensive
Speaker 1: player every year. It shows leadership qualities owning off the
Speaker 1: field most importantly, especially off the field, you know, just
Speaker 1: being in the community, doing right in the classroom, and
Speaker 1: then when it comes to own the field, being a playmaker,
Speaker 1: being a voice, being a leader. I really, I really
Speaker 1: took to he to it my freshman year when I
Speaker 1: started to learn who he was and why they were
Speaker 1: passing the water down every year, and it was one
Speaker 1: of my goals to become the winner. And you know
Speaker 1: I was blessed a winning We're doing fun facttion Mike Helton.
Speaker 1: Following your senior year at All Mess, you signed with
Speaker 1: Jacksonville as an undrafted free agent. Things didn't work out there.
Speaker 1: You signed with the Patriots for their practice squad. They
Speaker 1: let you go. Did the thought of moving on from
Speaker 1: football even enter your mind? Oh? Absolutely. After I got
Speaker 1: cut by New England, which I was only up there
Speaker 1: for a week, So that was like a true experience,
Speaker 1: like this game is cut through, it's a business. I
Speaker 1: was at home from like week twelve, I mean week two.
Speaker 1: It's about week twelve, week thirteen. So during that whole
Speaker 1: span I had started working out, started applying for jobs.
Speaker 1: I kind of just started to take up that. You know,
Speaker 1: my opportunity was going away. But you know I got
Speaker 1: that call from Pittsburgh and everything took off sense, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. They gave you a chance. You capitalized with
Speaker 1: four great seasons in the Steelers uniform. When did you
Speaker 1: know you made it. I kind of had a feeling
Speaker 1: through through that preseason. You know. Then it was four
Speaker 1: preseason games after the second and third when I was
Speaker 1: just making a lot of plays, and I just had
Speaker 1: my ears around the locker room that like everybody like Mike,
Speaker 1: you're good man. You have nothing to worry about because
Speaker 1: you know, being undrafted, you're always worried, like today's the
Speaker 1: day I'm probably getting cut. But all those guys kind
Speaker 1: of kept me. Kem me confident and Kevin me rosing.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Mike Hilton. So as we've referenced, you're
Speaker 1: not a big guy five nine eighty four according to
Speaker 1: the roster, but you're one of the best blitzing defensive
Speaker 1: backs in the NFL. What's the secret. I don't want
Speaker 1: to get away too much, but you know, it's just
Speaker 1: learning the tendencies of the quarterback. You know, when they're
Speaker 1: going to snap it, if they're gonna possibly have a
Speaker 1: motion before, just you know, watching field and just picking
Speaker 1: out those bits and pieces I can use to time
Speaker 1: I'm listening up better. Do you have a favorite sack? One?
Speaker 1: If we go one, I would say when I actually
Speaker 1: tied the record in Pittsburgh in twenty seventeen where I
Speaker 1: had three. So it was that third one when I
Speaker 1: obviously tied the record is my favorite one. Now, what
Speaker 1: was that record for three in a game or three
Speaker 1: three in a game? It was I say, Troy Polamalus
Speaker 1: on that list and Carneal Lakes on that list and myself.
Speaker 1: So just knowing Pittsburgh history and being up there with
Speaker 1: those guys, it's a great an. I have to find
Speaker 1: out what records you're gonna break. Here we're talking to
Speaker 1: Mike Hilton. You became a free agent. You signed a
Speaker 1: four year, twenty four million dollars deal with the Bengals.
Speaker 1: That's generational changing wealth potentially. When you go from undrafted
Speaker 1: free agent who had been let go a couple of
Speaker 1: times to highly coveted free agent signing a big deal.
Speaker 1: Is it a little bit overwhelming? I wouldn't say so,
Speaker 1: because I know how hard I've worded to get in
Speaker 1: this position. From our early experiences being cut. That kind
Speaker 1: of just got my mentality rolling, you know, being at
Speaker 1: home and seeing other guys who honestly I felt like
Speaker 1: I was bettering, you know, out there competing on Sundays.
Speaker 1: I didn't let it get me down and you know,
Speaker 1: over the four years I was able to perform and
Speaker 1: I'm ready to perform here and sense it. So since
Speaker 1: joining the Bengals, you have brought an accountability chart essentially
Speaker 1: to the defensive backs room. Tell us about that one.
Speaker 1: It's something I learned from the learning from Joe Hayden.
Speaker 1: So shout out Joe. I appreciation man, But you know,
Speaker 1: it's just something especially in the secondary, we're all about
Speaker 1: getting getting our hands on the ball, being in great
Speaker 1: coverage and just making plays. And when I brought it here,
Speaker 1: you know, guys really really embraced it because they know
Speaker 1: if we're doing these things correctly, it's going to pay
Speaker 1: off one Sunday. So I'm excited to see see how
Speaker 1: we fare Sunday. And one of the categories is apparently loafs.
Speaker 1: You get punished for loafing. And as a defender of
Speaker 1: the worst thing you can do is loath to the ball.
Speaker 1: If all other team is running to the ball and
Speaker 1: you're that one and this have a jog and sticking out,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be seen. You're gonna get called out. So
Speaker 1: I kind of put that not just on the secondarybody
Speaker 1: as a defense, as a whole like, we want to
Speaker 1: be fast, we want to be physical, and we can't
Speaker 1: have no lows. All right, let's get to some wildcard
Speaker 1: categories for Mike Hilton. Who is your all time favorite
Speaker 1: athlete in any sport? Any sport? Man, I have to
Speaker 1: go with the King Lebron James Man. He's the goat.
Speaker 1: He's the best to ever do it. And I'm kind
Speaker 1: of saying his his career slowly coming to an end.
Speaker 1: But you know, I've enjoyed watching him my whole lifetime.
Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to meet him? I haven't,
Speaker 1: but you know, hopefully one day, whether he's still playing
Speaker 1: or not, I have that opportunity. All right, what do
Speaker 1: you like to spend your money on? Oh? Man, we're
Speaker 1: getting personal. I'm gonna give a husband answer. I have
Speaker 1: a wife and a daughter, so all my money goes
Speaker 1: to them too, and you know, especially my daughter or
Speaker 1: whatever she wants. It's hard to say no, really them too.
Speaker 1: How old is your daughter? And what's your favorite part
Speaker 1: about being a dad? She turned to on the nineteen
Speaker 1: So she just turned to and favorite party. Just just
Speaker 1: seeing them grow up, you know, every day is like
Speaker 1: they learned something new, and you know, it just puts
Speaker 1: a smile on my face and when every time I
Speaker 1: come home or first word daddy, daddy. So it's a
Speaker 1: great feeling. Now we're gonna get really deep. If you
Speaker 1: could meet anybody in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, for whatever
Speaker 1: it might be, who would that person be? Anybody to meet?
Speaker 1: I would say Michael Jackson. It's kind of an old
Speaker 1: school answer. I like it. Yeah, man, I kind of
Speaker 1: got an old school So then you know, I've raised
Speaker 1: around a lot of older people, So that's what I know.
Speaker 1: Do you have any hidden talents? I don't. That's what
Speaker 1: we're gonna think about it. I don't. I don't play
Speaker 1: any instruments, can't sing or nothing. So you know, God
Speaker 1: bless me. Play football. So that's what I'm doing. Last thing,
Speaker 1: is there anything that you are really bad at? Really
Speaker 1: bad at? I'll be honest, I'm not the best mathematician
Speaker 1: like easy man. Yes, but if we go and you know, equations, fractions,
Speaker 1: dancing with things get a little hectic for me. As
Speaker 1: long as you know the value of a pick six,
Speaker 1: that's the only Matthew you need to know. This has
Speaker 1: been fun. I appreciate your time. Welcome to us, Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Investal luck this year. Thank you. I'm excited to be
Speaker 1: a that's my Kilton, That's going to do it. For
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you
Speaker 1: by bud Light, Seltzer refreshed the game. If you haven't
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute,
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and
Speaker 1: thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast