Speaker 1: Hike and everybody, I'm Dan Horde and this is the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The Canary addition, as the Bengals look
Speaker 1: to put a lousy performance against the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: nine ers in the rear view mirror and beat the
Speaker 1: two and oh Buffalo Bills on their home field, and
Speaker 1: my apologies to Crosby Stills in Nash for not being
Speaker 1: able to match their three part harmony. Coming up, you'll
Speaker 1: hear three conversations up. First, my broadcast partner Dave Lapham.
Speaker 1: We'll discuss how the defense could be so strong in
Speaker 1: week one and so week In Week two, we'll also
Speaker 1: look at the latest round of musical chairs on the
Speaker 1: offensive line, and lap will share his keys to knocking
Speaker 1: off the undefeated Bills. My locker room conversation this week
Speaker 1: is with wide receiver Tyler Boyd. According to Pro Football Focus,
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton has thrown twenty asses for Boyd in the
Speaker 1: first two games, and eighteen out of twenty have gone
Speaker 1: for completions. That's ninety percent and tied for first in
Speaker 1: the NFL in receiving percentage. If that's what we should
Speaker 1: call it for anybody who has been targeted ten or
Speaker 1: more times. Oddly enough, Boyd is tied with former Bengal
Speaker 1: Marvin Jones, who is reeled in nine of the ten
Speaker 1: passes thrown to him in Detroit. And in this week's
Speaker 1: Know the Faux segment, we'll get the lowdown on the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills from their radio analyst, not only a former
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl center for the Bills, but a former Elder panther,
Speaker 1: Eric Wood. All of that is straight ahead, But first,
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
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Speaker 1: get to football. The Bengals are a six point underdog
Speaker 1: on the road in Buffalo this week against a Bills
Speaker 1: team that opened the season with two road wins. They
Speaker 1: rallied from a sixteen nothing deficit late in the third
Speaker 1: quarter to beat the Jets seventeen sixteen in Week one,
Speaker 1: then beat the Giants twenty eight to fourteen in Week two.
Speaker 1: The Bills are one of nine teams that are off
Speaker 1: to a two and oz start, but Buffalo fans are
Speaker 1: not exactly making a down payment on playoff tickets yet.
Speaker 1: The last five times the Bills started a season two
Speaker 1: and oh, they miss the playoffs, and only one of
Speaker 1: those seasons did the Bills finish with a winning record.
Speaker 1: Their chances of finishing above five hundred are looking pretty
Speaker 1: good this year, considering that Buffalo still has two games
Speaker 1: left against the tanking Dolphins and a home game left
Speaker 1: against the Jets, who will start their third quarterback in
Speaker 1: the first three weeks this Sunday. If Buffalo just wins
Speaker 1: those games, that's five wins. They could go five and
Speaker 1: six in their other eleven games and have a ten
Speaker 1: win season. Now, time to discuss this week's matchup and
Speaker 1: get to the bottom of last week's calamity against the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham Lap.
Speaker 1: There are six first time head coaches in the NFL
Speaker 1: this year, and four of them, including Zach Taylor, don't
Speaker 1: have a win in the first two weeks of the season.
Speaker 1: People of crush Mike Brown over the years for sticking
Speaker 1: with coaches for too long. But continuity does have its advantages,
Speaker 1: it does. You know, remember the song all we are
Speaker 1: asking is give piece a chance. All were asking his
Speaker 1: give Zak a chance, you know. And Shanahan is in
Speaker 1: his third year with the forty nine ers. Tons of injuries,
Speaker 1: tons of problems. But I think now that he's got
Speaker 1: the team that he wants with Lynch as a general
Speaker 1: manager of players that they've traded four players, they've signed
Speaker 1: a free agency players, they've drafted, and they were over
Speaker 1: that injury hecks. I mean they had forty one guys
Speaker 1: in IR over the last two years. It's been crazy.
Speaker 1: He's a good coach, he has a good scheme, hell
Speaker 1: of a play caller. That defense is salty, you know.
Speaker 1: Give somebody a chance to get their feet on the
Speaker 1: ground and get their culture established and be a little patient.
Speaker 1: Lap Seattle's offense is night and day different from San Francisco's.
Speaker 1: Did the Bengals face a team in Week one that
Speaker 1: they are uniquely suited to stop? I think they did,
Speaker 1: and I think it was the personnel they had, you know,
Speaker 1: big bulky, brawny, Malling type offensive lineman and they lined up.
Speaker 1: Seattle said this is what we do, no matter what,
Speaker 1: this is what we're gonna do and stop us. And
Speaker 1: the Bengals did give them credit. They came out with
Speaker 1: a bunch of different looks. The Seattle wasn't quite ready
Speaker 1: for the five defensive linemen, you know, six defensive backs
Speaker 1: with three safeties in there handling the running aspect of it.
Speaker 1: They really had Seattle back on their heels. But Seattle
Speaker 1: didn't do anything differently, you know, I mean, their their
Speaker 1: playbook is probably a quarter as thick as Shanahans is.
Speaker 1: With the San Francisco forty nine ers. And the following
Speaker 1: week they come out and the forty niners running a
Speaker 1: two back set, but then they motion the fullback out
Speaker 1: use Check could line up on the slot. He was
Speaker 1: lining up as a tight end. The guy as like
Speaker 1: a you know, a versatile tool. You know, he can
Speaker 1: he can do a lot of things for you. And
Speaker 1: he gives a lot of versatility to the offensive playbook
Speaker 1: without substitute and personnel because of what they can do
Speaker 1: with him. And that's what today's NFL is all about.
Speaker 1: You know, Belichick loves that type of thing, and a
Speaker 1: defensive player, well, offensive coaches love it too, where they
Speaker 1: you know, can can you know, detach tight ends into
Speaker 1: the receiver position and don't even have to substitute personnel,
Speaker 1: and you have a matchup to your favor running back
Speaker 1: that can run good routes and catch football, get him
Speaker 1: out of the backfield, detach them. I mean, that's that's
Speaker 1: when you have the perfect world as you don't have
Speaker 1: to substitute in creating matchups in your favor. So San
Speaker 1: Francisco did that remarkably well. They didn't just line up
Speaker 1: and say here we are, We're going to pound you.
Speaker 1: Who's going to be the bigger man. And then couple
Speaker 1: that with Shanahan's scheme of you know, motion, second motion, detach,
Speaker 1: bring it back to motion the other way again. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's basically he's not He's trying not to just only
Speaker 1: distract your eyes. He wants to cross your eyes. And
Speaker 1: that's what was happening, guys, were running wide open and
Speaker 1: his play action screen game was phenomenal. Or he'd run
Speaker 1: outside zone with the left side of the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Garoppolo'd roll out away from it to the right. A
Speaker 1: receiver had been most across the backfield. He was the
Speaker 1: receiver of the screen from the Garoppolo throws the ball
Speaker 1: from the right numbers to the left sideline, right in
Speaker 1: front of the forty nine ers bench, and looked like
Speaker 1: every member looked like there were fifty people escorting that
Speaker 1: receiver down the sideline. There were five offensive linemen against
Speaker 1: three three defenders. You know, they just they found ways
Speaker 1: to out leverage, outnumber the defense, and then when the
Speaker 1: defense was in position to make plays, they had a
Speaker 1: poor tackling day. So it was like Murphy's law. Whatever
Speaker 1: could go wrong did go wrong. On steroids, that's a
Speaker 1: bad combo. In their history, the Bengals have given up
Speaker 1: five hundred or more yards twenty four times. Twenty four
Speaker 1: times and more than fifty years of football. It's happened
Speaker 1: four times in the last twelve games. Going forward, what
Speaker 1: would you prioritize in fixing this defense? I do think
Speaker 1: that you know, five hundred yards is going to be
Speaker 1: achievable more readily because of today's style of football. But
Speaker 1: with that said, that's no excuse. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: four times in twelve games, come on, now, that's a
Speaker 1: trend that you don't want to set. You want to
Speaker 1: break that trend in order to fix things. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that you just almost go back to the fundamentals.
Speaker 1: You go back to football one oh one. And I
Speaker 1: know I know what Paul Brown would have done, and
Speaker 1: he would he would have told his defensive coaches, I
Speaker 1: want tackling drills. I want drills, guys getting off blocks,
Speaker 1: and you know, I want to make sure that everybody
Speaker 1: is hitting the right gap. If you have to do
Speaker 1: mental reps in the classroom on the football field, you
Speaker 1: have or if you have to do it, make sure
Speaker 1: guys are aware they're supposed to be. They're hitting the
Speaker 1: gap they're supposed to hit, and they're not getting halfway there,
Speaker 1: they're getting all the way there, and they're not defending
Speaker 1: half of that gap. And then trying to help a
Speaker 1: teammate who they think is having a problem because now
Speaker 1: you're trying to do too much and you're not doing anything.
Speaker 1: You're not helping yourself or your teammate, So do what
Speaker 1: you're supposed to do. And I think that's what happened
Speaker 1: a little bit. And I'm not saying panics setting necessarily,
Speaker 1: but when they started to get gashed, your natural human
Speaker 1: reaction is what can I do to help? The only
Speaker 1: thing that you have to go contrary to human reaction.
Speaker 1: You have to just be disciplined and do what you're
Speaker 1: supposed to do. And it's hard to do. It's really
Speaker 1: hard to do to maintain that self discipline. But if
Speaker 1: all eleven guys do what they're supposed to do, you know,
Speaker 1: you'll have a much better success than eight guys doing
Speaker 1: what they're supposed to do and three guys freelancing, you know,
Speaker 1: or ten guys doing they're supposed doing, one guy freelancing
Speaker 1: because they always seem to find the freelancer. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And then that that whole thing starts to snowball. So
Speaker 1: I mean, I would go back to almost training camp
Speaker 1: fundamentals like a wise man. And why is this football guy?
Speaker 1: I knew Paul Brown? He said, you know I can
Speaker 1: trick you, I can fool you, but I get tired
Speaker 1: of trying to do that. Will you go block somebody,
Speaker 1: will you go tackle somebody. Football is blocking and tackling.
Speaker 1: Just do that, we'll win some games. That's what That's
Speaker 1: what it boils down to. Scheme is great, it's helpful.
Speaker 1: But if you don't block anybody, I don't give a
Speaker 1: damn what your scheme is, You're not gonna beat anybody.
Speaker 1: You know, and you can have you know, eleven defensive
Speaker 1: lineman and no linebackers, no defensive backs. You don't hit
Speaker 1: the right gaps and tackle people, you're not gonna beat anybody.
Speaker 1: So scheme is helpful, but man, you gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: execute fundamentals of football, snap in, snap out. Not be
Speaker 1: one play wonder, one series, wonder, one week wonder. You
Speaker 1: have to do it game after game, season after season,
Speaker 1: year after year. Before I get to my next question,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put the microphone close to the desk. Give
Speaker 1: me one more of those hits. All right? That was good?
Speaker 1: All right? Is the game coming up? Here? We are
Speaker 1: week three of his tenure. Is this already a big
Speaker 1: test of Zach Taylor's leadership. I think it is. I
Speaker 1: think it's a it's a test of Zach's culture he's
Speaker 1: trying to build because I think he feels like he's
Speaker 1: got the right kind of guy in the locker room.
Speaker 1: And I feel like he feels like he's got that
Speaker 1: at almost every position. Group He's got like a you know,
Speaker 1: a committee of guys. I think that he could draw
Speaker 1: on if he wanted to and sit down and here's
Speaker 1: what I'm thinking, here's my message. What do you guys
Speaker 1: think you know? And can you sell this to the
Speaker 1: locker room with guys buy into this kind of thing.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure he has that leadership committee yet, but
Speaker 1: he has a bunch of guys that he could form,
Speaker 1: you know, if and when he starts to do that
Speaker 1: type of thing. So I think it's a it's a
Speaker 1: it's a test of Zach what he's done in terms
Speaker 1: of instilling a culture, how the guys have bought into
Speaker 1: that culture. And I do think a lot of times
Speaker 1: you'll see after a performance like that that is embarrassing.
Speaker 1: I know guys didn't want to use that word, but man,
Speaker 1: that's embarrassing. You know. It's like if you have a
Speaker 1: bad week at work and you're a salesman, you don't
Speaker 1: make any sales. Nobody knows about it except your wife,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe some others. If you have a
Speaker 1: bad day, that's on you know, regional and national television.
Speaker 1: The whole world knows about it, and that's embarrassing. So
Speaker 1: normally guys really respond to that and you know, bounce
Speaker 1: back and have a big time effort. So I think
Speaker 1: it's going to be, uh, hopefully that's going to be
Speaker 1: the case in Buffalo. Not saying they're gonna win the
Speaker 1: football game, but I think they'll play more like they
Speaker 1: played in Seattle than they did at home against San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Through two weeks, the Bengals are averaging one point eight
Speaker 1: yards per rushing attack. Yikes, what are teams doing to
Speaker 1: stuff the run? To that extent. Teams are are doing
Speaker 1: a good job of staying in their gaps and not
Speaker 1: allowing any push, you know, at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: They're winning at the line of scrimmage. And then there's
Speaker 1: a guy that is not not just doing the right thing,
Speaker 1: you know, blocking the right guy and not getting pushed.
Speaker 1: He's not blocking the right guy, or he's using wrong
Speaker 1: tech nique in trying to block the guy, or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. Somebody's breaking down and it's not
Speaker 1: the same guy every time. Because it was that it'd
Speaker 1: be easy, easy solution, bench him, put another guy in.
Speaker 1: So different guys are breaking down, and it's not just
Speaker 1: in the offensive line, you know, in talking to Alex
Speaker 1: Erickson earlier this week, it's it's like the receivers are
Speaker 1: a big part of the running game because they're running
Speaker 1: a lot of bunch tight, cluster formations and those guys
Speaker 1: have to go dig people out, and so it's it's
Speaker 1: interesting everybody's mindset. Even though the Bengals are throwing the
Speaker 1: ball pretty well, you know, seven hundred plush yards, I mean,
Speaker 1: Andy's you know, number one and number two in a
Speaker 1: few categories in throwing the football, teams are still daring
Speaker 1: him to throw it. You know, they're they're saying, we're
Speaker 1: not going to allow you to We're gonna make you
Speaker 1: one dimensional. We're gonna try to make you play left
Speaker 1: handed as such, or tie one hand behind your back.
Speaker 1: They have to get that running game somehow, unlock though, Dan.
Speaker 1: They have to, I mean, just you can't be that
Speaker 1: one dimensional. It's like it's like one phase if it's
Speaker 1: non existent. And the passing game numbers are really pretty good,
Speaker 1: how good could they be if they had a modicum
Speaker 1: of a running game. I mean, just some semblance of one.
Speaker 1: My god, the numbers they could put up pickle when
Speaker 1: number eighteen comes back and they have a little bit
Speaker 1: of a running game. Could be who knows, left guard
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan is out this week, so Billy Price is
Speaker 1: back into the starting lineup on the offensive line. If
Speaker 1: it's up to you, do you put Billy at center
Speaker 1: and move Trey Hopkins to guard, or do you leave
Speaker 1: Tray at guard and put or leave Tray at center
Speaker 1: rather and put Billy in a guard. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a nice conundrum, Dan, It's it's it's it's interesting
Speaker 1: because you know, part of you says you don't want
Speaker 1: to make two moves for one position, in which you
Speaker 1: would if you move in Tray to left guard and
Speaker 1: Billy to center. But you have to say, okay, Trey
Speaker 1: is playing very well at center, but wouldn't really you know,
Speaker 1: downgrade the left guard position if if Trey went to
Speaker 1: left guard rather than Billy. Trey has played more left guard,
Speaker 1: Trays more comfortable at left guard, Billy's more comfortable at center.
Speaker 1: Billy would probably you know, play better at center. So
Speaker 1: maybe that old philosophy of two moves for one position
Speaker 1: may not trays. Versatility can be a blessing and a curse,
Speaker 1: I guess, you know. But here's the guy that was
Speaker 1: rated the best center in the league a week one
Speaker 1: by Pro Football Focus. You know, I mean, so it's like, cheez,
Speaker 1: do you do you move him out of that position
Speaker 1: if he's functioned in operating so well. I do know
Speaker 1: one thing, no matter which which they do, the pressure
Speaker 1: is on Billy to play well because the trays trays
Speaker 1: playing consistently, and that's that's what you're the biggest thing
Speaker 1: you want to have as a coach is consistency of performance,
Speaker 1: consistency of effort, you know, no mental mistakes and trays.
Speaker 1: He's just he's handling everything, all the calls, you know,
Speaker 1: directing the line. And Billy's a smart enough guy obviously
Speaker 1: to do all that too. So I'm not you know,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't necessarily, um, you know, struggle in that regard.
Speaker 1: Plus you have a guy that's been doing it at
Speaker 1: left guard can help the center, you know, if Billy's struggling,
Speaker 1: and if Ty, if Tracy's that's not right, Tray can
Speaker 1: say Billy that, you know, correct it. So you know
Speaker 1: there there were a lot of pluses. Um, I would
Speaker 1: probably probably I'd end up putting Tray at left guard
Speaker 1: and Billy at center. You know, I think watching Billy,
Speaker 1: he's not I don't think he's comfortable. He had a guard.
Speaker 1: But what Billy has to do is he has to
Speaker 1: get off his toes. Man, he has to plant those
Speaker 1: feet firmly in the ground and establish a base in
Speaker 1: the foundation and you know, handle those big bull guys.
Speaker 1: By the way, the highest graded center in the NFL
Speaker 1: in Week two, according to Pro Football Focus, Frank Ragnow
Speaker 1: of the Detroit Lions, a player you love going into
Speaker 1: that draft. Through two weeks, Lap John Ross leads the
Speaker 1: NFL and receiving yards with two hundred and seventy that's
Speaker 1: twenty three more than Sammy Watkins of KC. Is that
Speaker 1: the biggest bright spot through two weeks? I think, I think,
Speaker 1: um it is. But I'm going to give a like
Speaker 1: a one and a one a Tyler Boyd. He's been
Speaker 1: every time he's been targeted, he's caught the ball. That's
Speaker 1: hard to do, particularly when there's no ground game and
Speaker 1: he's running routes that are more you know, physically challenging
Speaker 1: you know, than than John. I'm not I'm not diminishing
Speaker 1: John's accomplishments. I mean, shoot, it's been it's been crazy.
Speaker 1: It's been ridiculously effective for John. I mean, he's the
Speaker 1: two hundred seventy yards he is every He's twenty four
Speaker 1: and a half yards a catch, you know, both lead
Speaker 1: the league. He's got three touchdown catches tied for the
Speaker 1: league lead. Extraordinary stuff. But Tyler Boyd eighteen catches for
Speaker 1: ten point one. You know, he has a forty seven
Speaker 1: yard but a lot of them have been you know,
Speaker 1: third and three and it's a five yard catch and
Speaker 1: get pounded to move the chains and time after time
Speaker 1: after time, you know, and he's going to him, and
Speaker 1: you know, everybody knows it, you know, John, Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: knows it, the defense knows it, everybody knows it. He's
Speaker 1: got five third down catches tied for six in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Um So, I think I think that that end him
Speaker 1: is probably as good a story as there is in
Speaker 1: the first two games, particularly with the absence of AJ Green,
Speaker 1: because other guys stepped up, you know, in AJ Green's absence,
Speaker 1: and like we said earlier, man he can get some
Speaker 1: kind of running game going lord of Mercy when eighteen
Speaker 1: comes back. The Bengals are in Buffalo this week to
Speaker 1: take on the two and oh Bills behind second year
Speaker 1: quarterback Josh Allen, the seventh pick in last year's draft.
Speaker 1: Lap He's got the size of Roethlisberger, he might have
Speaker 1: the strongest arm in the NFL. But he's not a
Speaker 1: finished product. He's not by a long stretch. In fact,
Speaker 1: he had it took him the longest time to get
Speaker 1: the ball out of his hand from snap to throw
Speaker 1: of anybody in the NFL last year. That's not a
Speaker 1: good sign. You know. Some of it may be him
Speaker 1: not seeing the field well enough. Some of it may
Speaker 1: be quick pressure and he's running around holding none of
Speaker 1: the football. When he does that, a lot of times
Speaker 1: he's not looking the throw necessarily, he's looking to tuck
Speaker 1: it and go. I mean, I think I think initially
Speaker 1: Buffalo has given him two reads and then tuck it
Speaker 1: and run, trying to simplify it. Now, I think they've
Speaker 1: expanded that a little bit. He'd led him in rushing
Speaker 1: last year. It was crazy and he rushed for eight touchdowns.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was a big, big component on the
Speaker 1: ground and you still have to respect his legs. He
Speaker 1: only completed like fifty two point eight percent last year.
Speaker 1: He's a good ten percentage points higher than that this year.
Speaker 1: So he is seeing the field. I think he's got
Speaker 1: more weapons around him, and he's advancing year one to
Speaker 1: year or two. For any player is an eye opener.
Speaker 1: I think his eyes have been opened a lot wider.
Speaker 1: Lap Bill's defense is in the top ten versus the
Speaker 1: run and versus the past. Is there an obvious weakness?
Speaker 1: I really don't think there is. I think their secondary
Speaker 1: might be the best in the league. I mean, combined
Speaker 1: White is an unbelievable corner players of tremendous safety. I mean,
Speaker 1: and they've got complimentary pieces. And when you have a
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott and Leslie Frasier combining and collaborating defense, will
Speaker 1: you have two really good defensive minds. They are putting
Speaker 1: together good game plans for these guys. And I mean
Speaker 1: they have round picks up front at Oliver. You know
Speaker 1: this year as a first round a ninth pick of
Speaker 1: the draft. Jerry Hugh was ten years ago. It came
Speaker 1: into the league's first round out of TCU, a very
Speaker 1: consistent pass rusher, I mean, there's they're solid and sound
Speaker 1: at the linebacker level. They they don't have a defensive weakness.
Speaker 1: And then they're they're only allowing four point nine four
Speaker 1: yards per pass attempt this year. What that's best in
Speaker 1: the league. That's that's better than a lot of teams
Speaker 1: are allowing on the ground, you know. I mean the
Speaker 1: Bengals are are you know, are up there allowing h
Speaker 1: four point nine on the ground. They're allowing four point
Speaker 1: nine four per pass attempt. That's that's crazy. They were
Speaker 1: number one defensively in the NFL and yards allowed last
Speaker 1: year one hundred and seventy nine, and this year they're
Speaker 1: giving one ninety eight, which is fifth best in the league.
Speaker 1: It's it's a it's a good defensive football team. The
Speaker 1: Bengals are gonna have to be on their on their
Speaker 1: best behavior in terms of assignments and execution out there.
Speaker 1: The Buffalo Bills have a rookie running back named Devin
Speaker 1: single Terry. He's five to seven, his nickname is Motor,
Speaker 1: and he's averaging nearly thirteen yards a carry and he
Speaker 1: doesn't have an eighty yard or He just keeps getting
Speaker 1: ten to twenty yard games on the runs that he
Speaker 1: has so far this season. However, he's dealing with a
Speaker 1: sore hamstring. The Bengals might not have to worry about
Speaker 1: him on Sunday, but they will have to worry about
Speaker 1: thirty six year old Frank Gore. Really one of the
Speaker 1: most remarkable players in NFL history. This is his fifteenth season.
Speaker 1: He's fourth all time in rushing. He is a physical marvel.
Speaker 1: He is, I mean, he's a unicorn. A running back
Speaker 1: with his style of running to last as long as
Speaker 1: he has is almost incomprehensible. A big, big part of
Speaker 1: it has to be luck because think of the number
Speaker 1: of times he's been awkwardly twisted in a pile or whatever,
Speaker 1: or you know, but his attachments, his ligaments and tends
Speaker 1: must be so strong. You'll see, you know, injuries because
Speaker 1: of being twisted the wrong wine pile ups. But then
Speaker 1: you'll see others that are non contact, just making But
Speaker 1: this guy's not one of those type of runners. He's
Speaker 1: he's a he's not a Lamborghini, you know, he's a suv.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's you know, he's he's downshifting into into
Speaker 1: four wheel drive and gonna pound you. And I think
Speaker 1: I think a lot of things luck his running style, um, obviously,
Speaker 1: his genetics, the way his attachments so strong and everything.
Speaker 1: But like you said, Dan, now he's at fourteen thousand,
Speaker 1: eight hundred and thirty six yards closing in on Barry Sanders.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's within range, within sniffing distance in Barry.
Speaker 1: Sooner you get up to fifteen thousand yards rushing, you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's just that's amazing. And the thing that he
Speaker 1: still has his leg drive. You know, he may not
Speaker 1: have his his uh, his burst, his quickness, his uh,
Speaker 1: you know, acceleration, but just pure power. He's got old
Speaker 1: man strength now, I mean he's still he's still an
Speaker 1: old man river cranking along. Man. The guy is totally remarkable.
Speaker 1: And the thing that he gives you is the intangible.
Speaker 1: In the locker room, I mean, Singletary is looking at
Speaker 1: him like this guy, it's thirty six years old. My god,
Speaker 1: what kind of That's just that's a self contained example
Speaker 1: of a pros pro You know, how to take care
Speaker 1: of your body, how to work out, how to study,
Speaker 1: how to practice everything that you need to find out
Speaker 1: how to be a success in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: You have a resource in the locker two lockers down
Speaker 1: from you that you can talk to about and watch
Speaker 1: how he does it in the weight room, all those
Speaker 1: things that's invaluable. Throughout his career, he has worked out
Speaker 1: in South Florida at an academy in the offseason with
Speaker 1: other NFL running backs. Early in his career he worked
Speaker 1: out with Rudy Johnson. Now he works out with Giovanni Bernard.
Speaker 1: Consider that. All right, let's wrap it up with Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham's Keys to Victory on Sunday at New Era Field
Speaker 1: in Buffalo. All Right, Dan, the team needs to get
Speaker 1: back to basics. So the Keys are going to be
Speaker 1: getting back to basics. You know. The first key is
Speaker 1: red zone. The Bengals have had six opportunities in the
Speaker 1: red zone. They've scored one touchdown. That's sixteen point six percent,
Speaker 1: is worse than the NFL touchdown percentage. Buffalo offensively has
Speaker 1: been there five times, five touchdowns, one tied for best
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. That minus four touchdown ratio.
Speaker 1: Buffalo has five. The Bengals only have one, is thirty
Speaker 1: first in the NFL. The only team worst of the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: The defensive alloted eight touchdowns in the red zone. They've
Speaker 1: only scored one, but the Dolphins in another. Another Canac
Speaker 1: Number two is you don't have to be a football
Speaker 1: wizard to figure this one out run game. Obviously, they
Speaker 1: handled the run in Seattle, they didn't handle it in
Speaker 1: San Francisco. They're averaging twenty nine and a half yards
Speaker 1: per game and they're averaging one point eight per carry,
Speaker 1: both dead last in the NFL. Defensively, they're allowing one
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five and a half and they're allowing
Speaker 1: four point nine per rush, thirtieth in the NFL. Got
Speaker 1: to run it and stop it better than the have
Speaker 1: and then big plays. San Francisco smoked him eighteen plays
Speaker 1: of ten yards of war and it was balanced. Eight runs,
Speaker 1: ten passes, and you know he had four different receivers
Speaker 1: catch a ball with thirty six yards of war thirty
Speaker 1: six thirty eight touchdown, thirty nine touchdown, another thirty nine
Speaker 1: yard or by four different guys. Can't have that, You
Speaker 1: just can't have it. The Bengals need to control the
Speaker 1: big play by the opponent and generates some themselves. Turnovers,
Speaker 1: big plays, red zone. Those are the nuts and bolts
Speaker 1: of winsor losses in the NFL. Thanks Lap. The NFL
Speaker 1: record for receptions in a single season is one hundred
Speaker 1: forty three. It was set back in two thousand and
Speaker 1: two by Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. That's basically nine
Speaker 1: catches a game. And that's precisely but Tyler Boyd is averaging.
Speaker 1: After the first two weeks of the season. He's currently
Speaker 1: tied for second in the NFL with the Jets Jamison Crowder,
Speaker 1: two catches behind the Saints Michael Thomas. Tyler had seventy
Speaker 1: six sketches for one. I was in twenty eight yards
Speaker 1: last year, earning a four year, forty three million dollar
Speaker 1: contract extension. I talked to him in the locker room
Speaker 1: this week. Tyler, I want to start with a play
Speaker 1: that happened with about ninety seconds left in the game
Speaker 1: last week. You guys were way behind, You caught a pass,
Speaker 1: you broke two tackles, You struggle to get every inch
Speaker 1: that you possibly could when the team was down by
Speaker 1: thirty one points. Can you describe what you were trying
Speaker 1: to do in a situation like that. You know, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to send my toughness and show what our
Speaker 1: team got to me. You know, I want them to believe,
Speaker 1: like I believe, you know, no matter what the scoreboards say,
Speaker 1: no matter what the outcome is, and I'm gonna continue
Speaker 1: to be the player that I've always been, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to do whatever I can do to MUDA
Speaker 1: stains or win. You know, You've got eighteen catches in
Speaker 1: the first two games of the season. You're currently tied
Speaker 1: for second in the NFL. That would be a pace
Speaker 1: for one hundred and forty four, which would be one
Speaker 1: more than the NFL record. Do you have any numerical
Speaker 1: goals in mind this season, hundred catches and anything in particular. Well,
Speaker 1: I've been I've always been a team player, you know,
Speaker 1: first and foremotion. I care more about the wins, you know.
Speaker 1: But I'm a guy. I believe that I can be
Speaker 1: a hundred uh catch receiver and a thousand yard continuous
Speaker 1: year about year receiver, you know. And without being said, um,
Speaker 1: I just feel like with me and going out there
Speaker 1: and playing with the effort that I have, you know,
Speaker 1: will easily you know, get those individual stats. You know.
Speaker 1: So if I just continue to go out there and
Speaker 1: be the guy I always been, then ain't no telling
Speaker 1: how the stat's gonna look at the end. Of the season,
Speaker 1: so hopefully, and they would be great for visiting with
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. As I said, you're tied for second the
Speaker 1: league and catches. John Ross number one in receiving yards
Speaker 1: aside from his uniform number. Change. What's different than John
Speaker 1: Ross this year, He's just he's confident now, he believes itself.
Speaker 1: He's we we got him in a system that is
Speaker 1: really great for him. You know, M not saying any
Speaker 1: couldn't excel in any of the systems we had previously,
Speaker 1: but this is like a perfect system for John to
Speaker 1: you know, showcase his speech, showcase his Tayland showcase while
Speaker 1: we take we drafted him, you know, and now I
Speaker 1: feel like he's he's been poised. He'd been he'd been
Speaker 1: he'd been more relaxed, you know. Now he's gone there
Speaker 1: and just play fast. So I think that's the biggest
Speaker 1: change is his confident level. One of the differences in
Speaker 1: the offense this year is that you guys line up
Speaker 1: tight quite a bit and you're asked to block. How
Speaker 1: do you feel about being asked to block as as
Speaker 1: often as you are and really being counted on to
Speaker 1: deliver um at the end of the day. It's a
Speaker 1: um hit or or be hit league, you know. So
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, UM, you gotta go
Speaker 1: out there and and and dig somebody else, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not gonna die, So why not go
Speaker 1: hit somebody? You know, because nobody want to get put
Speaker 1: on film of getting getting crushed. You know. That's that's
Speaker 1: how everybody's fair or not really fair, but nobody likes
Speaker 1: to get embarrassed. So I mean, I'm a I'm a
Speaker 1: bigger guy, you know, six six one a half six
Speaker 1: two two hundred and four. So I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: got no problem doing it because my line and running
Speaker 1: bout block for me when I catched fastest. So why'm
Speaker 1: not return the favor for visiting the Tyler Boyd. You're
Speaker 1: going back to Buffalo and it's not as big a
Speaker 1: story this year as it was last year. But those
Speaker 1: Bills fans are very generous to you and Andy after
Speaker 1: the way the season ended two years ago in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Will there be a different vibe for you going into
Speaker 1: that stadium this week as opposed to other road stadiums.
Speaker 1: I think it would be a little different. I think
Speaker 1: the last time they wanted to show their joy to
Speaker 1: me Andy was last year we played in a preseason game.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think they're gonna continue to praise us.
Speaker 1: It doesn't last forever. Yeah, it ain't gonna last forever.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I'm very thankful for what
Speaker 1: they did for us, you know, and I'm I'm glad
Speaker 1: I could be a part of helping them get to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. How good is that? Bill Secondary? Um, they're
Speaker 1: they're are pretty good. You know, They're they're they're sound,
Speaker 1: They're they're fundamentally um on point with each other. You know,
Speaker 1: they don't Um, well I didn't, haven't watched it a
Speaker 1: lot yet, but um White the corner, he's pretty tough.
Speaker 1: You know, I think he's there there go to guy.
Speaker 1: So ain't no telling how they're gonna play him. But again,
Speaker 1: we just gotta we just gotta execute them guys, and
Speaker 1: just to talk him like we're planning on uh talk
Speaker 1: in every corner, you know. But um, I'll give credit
Speaker 1: to them. Last thing for Tyler Boyd, you signed a
Speaker 1: big contract extension in the off Season's there a point
Speaker 1: shortly after that where you just kind of had a
Speaker 1: thought of, man, all the hard work, the injuries, everything
Speaker 1: that I've gone through my whole life is paid off definitely,
Speaker 1: you know, because now it's like less pressure, you know,
Speaker 1: of going out there and trying to be the best
Speaker 1: you can be. And I have the word about getting
Speaker 1: hurt and just trying to correlate to both. You know.
Speaker 1: It's a real tough one individual, you know, but just
Speaker 1: having out behind me allows me to just just continue
Speaker 1: to just play hungry and want to just play football
Speaker 1: and help my team, you know. And um, at the
Speaker 1: end of this one, hopefully I want to continue to
Speaker 1: the ball allow and get another one, you know. So
Speaker 1: I'm not satisfied quite yet, but it's gonna come. Best
Speaker 1: of luck against the Bills. Appreciate you. My thanks to
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd, who caught all ten passes thrown his way
Speaker 1: last week against the forty nine Ers. Now time for
Speaker 1: this week's No the Foe Interview is we do a
Speaker 1: deep dive into the Bengals upcoming opponent with somebody that
Speaker 1: knows the team. This week it's the radio analyst for
Speaker 1: the Bills, who happens to be a Cincinnati native, Eric Would.
Speaker 1: Eric was part of two state championship teams that Elder
Speaker 1: High School and went on to star at Louisville before
Speaker 1: being a first round draft pick by the Bills in
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine. He was a nine year starter
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, made a Pro Bowl in two fifteen, and
Speaker 1: now has transitioned into the broadcasting booth, doing college games
Speaker 1: on TV and Bills games on the radio. Eric joined
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham and me on the Bengals Game Plan show.
Speaker 1: The Buffalo Bills offensively the first six drives of the season,
Speaker 1: no touchdowns, no points, four turnovers in the first six drives,
Speaker 1: and then the last sixteen drives six touchdowns, forty five points,
Speaker 1: no turnovers. What how when did the light go on?
Speaker 1: And how did it go on? In your mind? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's all it's never as bad as it seems.
Speaker 1: That it's never as good as it seems in football.
Speaker 1: So for those first six strids, you have a ball
Speaker 1: go off the Cole Beasley's hands are most sure handed receiver,
Speaker 1: and it tips into C. J. Mosley's hands for the
Speaker 1: Jets to pick six. And then you have a batted
Speaker 1: ball at the line of scrimmage that ends up being
Speaker 1: an interception. You had a bumble between the center quarterback,
Speaker 1: which Mitch Morse was out the entire preseason and the
Speaker 1: concussion protocol, and then Josh Allen got stripped in the pocket.
Speaker 1: So one true turnover that that that it wasn't just
Speaker 1: kind of unfortunate circumstances. So, um, you know that it
Speaker 1: probably wasn't as bad as to quite seem that. Now,
Speaker 1: Josh threw a couple more balls in the Jets game
Speaker 1: that could have been interceptions. One actually was a holding
Speaker 1: call on the defense that was an interception that got
Speaker 1: called back. So Josh did a great job against the
Speaker 1: Giants last week and improving making better decisions. Um. But
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, and a lot of times Dalton is as
Speaker 1: UM thought it in the same light. In Buffalo, we
Speaker 1: had so many conservative quarterbacks, even with some risky throws
Speaker 1: down the field. I think guys UM and fans of
Speaker 1: the team are just really excited that we have a
Speaker 1: guy trying to make plays down the field, even if
Speaker 1: some of these plays are a little riskier. Right, we're
Speaker 1: visiting with Eric Wood, the former Bills Pro Bowls center.
Speaker 1: Let's follow up on second year quarterback Josh Allen, seventh
Speaker 1: pick in the draft last year, the guy who might
Speaker 1: have the strongest throwing arm of anybody in the NFL.
Speaker 1: How much better is he and where has he improved
Speaker 1: the most in his second year? Well, he looks he
Speaker 1: looks a lot better through the preseason and through these
Speaker 1: first two games. You know, I think it helps him
Speaker 1: tremendously that they bring in John Brown and Cole Beasley
Speaker 1: on the outside, two guys that are just pure route runners.
Speaker 1: He knows exactly where they're going to be. He trusts
Speaker 1: them they can beat man covered, so he can spotlight
Speaker 1: them one on one, you know, especially on third downs
Speaker 1: where everything happens a little bit quicker. He's really looking
Speaker 1: towards those guys to make plays for him, and I
Speaker 1: think he's want a better job of taking what the
Speaker 1: defense gets him. Eric College, he was a fifty something
Speaker 1: percent passer, and as a rookie last year he's at
Speaker 1: fifty four percent. So coming in going into the offseason
Speaker 1: last year, basically everyone was and he is who we
Speaker 1: thought he was. You know, he's an inaccurate quarterback, guns
Speaker 1: her huge arms, talent. Well, last year he showed off
Speaker 1: some athletic ability with his legs, which at times I
Speaker 1: think he takes a couple too many shots out of
Speaker 1: the pocket, but love his playmaking ability. But then this
Speaker 1: year on the year he's right around sixty four, So
Speaker 1: an improvement in completion percentage will be a huge deal
Speaker 1: for the Bills building long term success with him at quarterback.
Speaker 1: Last week against the forty nine ers, they employed a
Speaker 1: fullback or deployed the fullback multiple staffs. DeMarco plays a
Speaker 1: third of the time the Buffalo Bills based on the
Speaker 1: success the forty nine ers had against the Cincinnati Bengals
Speaker 1: with their twenty one twenty two personnel and they would
Speaker 1: motion him out of the backfield and you know, make
Speaker 1: him a receiver and he was. He's a versattle guy.
Speaker 1: Can they do the same sort of things with DeMarco?
Speaker 1: And do you feel like in a copycat league like
Speaker 1: we have here in the NFL, that DeMarco will be
Speaker 1: on the field lot against the Bengals in Buffalo. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for two weeks, Pat and Marker has been on the field,
Speaker 1: Like you mentioned, a third of the snaps, but a
Speaker 1: lot of those have been five wire, you know, an
Speaker 1: empty backfield set, or they'll split them out and they'll
Speaker 1: use that to get a man's own read by Josh
Speaker 1: Allen to see who's walked out over him. So you know,
Speaker 1: a number of their plays, especially against the Jets, because
Speaker 1: so he played a majority of the Jets game and
Speaker 1: then even a little bit less against the Giants. But
Speaker 1: you're right, it is the copycat league. But I've always
Speaker 1: felt like it is the copycat league, and you want
Speaker 1: to attack defenses where other guys were able to get
Speaker 1: or to be opportunistic on a defense. But defenses are smart.
Speaker 1: They're going to go back to the drawing board and
Speaker 1: figure out what beat them and they're gonna focus on
Speaker 1: that all week. So yes, I would imagine there would
Speaker 1: be some twenty one personnel in the game plan, but
Speaker 1: that'll simply be because Brian dave Ball, our offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: who came from New England, has always employed a fullback. Right,
Speaker 1: we are visiting the Bill's radio analyst, Eric what, the
Speaker 1: former Elder Panther. The Bills have a rookie running back,
Speaker 1: Devin Singletary out of Florida Atlantic. He's got a sore hamstring,
Speaker 1: so maybe he doesn't play this week, and if he doesn't,
Speaker 1: that's good news for the Bengals because watching the Bills
Speaker 1: first two games, this kid is unbelievable. Describe Devin Singletary
Speaker 1: and what he has done for the Bills offense. You know,
Speaker 1: he kind of reminds me of er Bonnie Bernard when
Speaker 1: he kind of bursts on the seat his rookie year,
Speaker 1: and you have an explosive component to the offense. And
Speaker 1: with him and Frank or they they're opposite each other
Speaker 1: in their skill sets, so it delivers a great one
Speaker 1: two punch. But you know, we drafted him in the
Speaker 1: third round out of Fau not a lot of people
Speaker 1: knew about him, and he instantly turned heads. They did
Speaker 1: a poll at the end of the the training camp of
Speaker 1: who was the most impressive player at all of training
Speaker 1: camp and a number of even better and voted Devin
Speaker 1: Singletary is the most impressive. So he's been turning heads
Speaker 1: since the day he got to Buffalo this year as
Speaker 1: a rookie. And he would be a huge absent if
Speaker 1: he is not on the field for the Bills this
Speaker 1: week because he's actually great in the pass game as well.
Speaker 1: They split him out, they run the routs with him,
Speaker 1: and it would be a big loss for them. The
Speaker 1: Methuselah of running backs, Frank Gore. He's also a unicorn.
Speaker 1: I mean, as long as he's played at the running
Speaker 1: back position. Is there anybody more committed to the game
Speaker 1: of football than Frank Gore is probably not. You know,
Speaker 1: he's in his fifteenth year he comes into in. The
Speaker 1: crazy part is he came into the NFL having I
Speaker 1: believe to torn both his acls in college and he
Speaker 1: was this big injury guy where everyone said he might
Speaker 1: not even last a couple of years. And now he's
Speaker 1: in his fifteenth year, and you know, he's in his
Speaker 1: first year in Buffalo and he's already creating this legend
Speaker 1: up there where they go and through joint practices in
Speaker 1: training camp with the Panthers, and Frank Gore's on the
Speaker 1: stair stepper at the hotel at six in the morning
Speaker 1: and he's working out with the media guys and the staff,
Speaker 1: and then he goes to practice and then he catches
Speaker 1: a workout with the team. So when you ask about commitment, no,
Speaker 1: there probably isn't anybody more committed throughout the NFL. I
Speaker 1: want to know that doctor, because whoever reconstructed his knees,
Speaker 1: they made those bad boys bionic man. It's unreal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they did a better job than they do with mona thing.
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for Bill's radio analyst Eric Wood
Speaker 1: Buffalo has an excellent defense. I don't see an obvious weakness.
Speaker 1: What is the weakest area of the Bill's defense, You know,
Speaker 1: you hate to put it this way, but maybe the
Speaker 1: lack of true star power. You know, they don't have
Speaker 1: a geno action. They don't necessarily have a Carlos Dunn
Speaker 1: lap guys that are just huge names now they have.
Speaker 1: They have eleven guys across the board, even some backups
Speaker 1: that are extremely productive players. But they're in their third
Speaker 1: year under Leslie Frazier and Sean McDermott in their defense,
Speaker 1: and they're just very comfortable. They're two safeties Jordan Poyer
Speaker 1: and like to hide or excellent they hide coverages. They've
Speaker 1: played so much ball together that they trust each other.
Speaker 1: And for quarterbacks, it's I don't know how at times
Speaker 1: you can get a pre snap read against them, because
Speaker 1: it'll be a Cover two look and it sure looks
Speaker 1: like man free and you know, it's it's just all
Speaker 1: these different things that they give you. And then they
Speaker 1: have a pretty complex blitz scheme on third down if
Speaker 1: they do employ it. So they're just a tough defense,
Speaker 1: and they finished they struggled the first two weeks of
Speaker 1: the season last year and finished extremely strong, and they're
Speaker 1: they're picking up right where they left off. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: saw a stat where counted up the third down in
Speaker 1: seven or more defense this year has allowed two conversions
Speaker 1: in sixteen opportunities third and seven or more. They come
Speaker 1: with all different kinds of things in those blitz packages.
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton has had some problems this year with batted passes,
Speaker 1: and I noticed you defensively batted seven balls at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Leads the NFL. Oliver batted one to
Speaker 1: his teammate for an interception. Murphy got his first interception
Speaker 1: of his career last year led the NFL with nineteen
Speaker 1: batted balls twenty six batted balls in the last eighteen games.
Speaker 1: What is it? Is it luck? Are these guys really
Speaker 1: work on it? What do you What do you think
Speaker 1: is the reason for all those batted balls? You know,
Speaker 1: I think part of its intelligence. And as you know, Dave,
Speaker 1: when it's a three step drop, those guys up front
Speaker 1: aren't get home a lot of time. So when they
Speaker 1: recognize three step drop or short sets, a lot of
Speaker 1: times they're looking to get into the passing lanes. And
Speaker 1: so that that's one reason. Another reason is on third downs,
Speaker 1: if they're not blitzing, they're often running line games, so
Speaker 1: they're running twists up front well where they're moving laterally
Speaker 1: through those zones up front, and they're moving latterly through
Speaker 1: the gaps. A lot of times as the quarterback rears back,
Speaker 1: they'll all just get their hands up and as they're
Speaker 1: moving laterally, it gives them an opportunity to batt it down.
Speaker 1: And you know, they're credited with seven's, that's nine at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, but two will buy linebackers that
Speaker 1: were in the line of scrimmage, So they're batting a
Speaker 1: ton of balls down to the line of scrimmage in
Speaker 1: our secondary gets a lot of credit, and rightfully so,
Speaker 1: because they're they're six in the NFL and pass defense,
Speaker 1: but they're number one in the NFL and pass defense
Speaker 1: per attempt and but but a big part of that
Speaker 1: is all the balls being batted down before you even
Speaker 1: get through the secondary. Unreal like four point nine four
Speaker 1: I guess it is yards per passit attempt. That's a teams.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are given up four point eight a rush.
Speaker 1: The Buffalo Bills are given up four point nine four
Speaker 1: per pass attempt. It's crazy. Absolutely yeah. Yeah, they've been
Speaker 1: productive this year. Our thanks to Eric Wood. And before
Speaker 1: we wrap this up, if you listen to this podcast
Speaker 1: before Friday afternoon at three, we invite you to come
Speaker 1: out and join us for the Bengals pep Rally Show.
Speaker 1: We'll be at Buffalo Wings and Rings near King's Island
Speaker 1: from three to six on Friday, and linebacker Preston Brown
Speaker 1: will join us for the final of the show. We'll
Speaker 1: have giveaways too, but you have to be there in
Speaker 1: order to win. That's going to do it for this
Speaker 1: episode of the podcast. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 1: don't forget to subscribe, and if you have a minute,
Speaker 1: please give it a rating or share a comment. Five
Speaker 1: star ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast