Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The come on up for the rise.
Speaker 1: In addition, as the AFC North champion Bengals look to
Speaker 1: end their thirty one year drought without a playoff win
Speaker 1: as they host the Las Vegas Raiders. Coming up, I'll
Speaker 1: talk to the delightful k Adams from Good Morning Football
Speaker 1: on the NFL Network. She'll tell us why she predicted
Speaker 1: that the Bengals would be a playoff team back in July.
Speaker 1: My one on one player interview is with c j Uzama,
Speaker 1: who reveals who came up with the nickname Joey Franchise
Speaker 1: for Joe Burrow. Dave Lapham joins me to look at
Speaker 1: some of the key matchups on Saturday and did our
Speaker 1: know the faux segment, we'll hear from Charles Davis from
Speaker 1: CBS Sports, who called five Raiders games on TV this year,
Speaker 1: including the Bengals Raiders game in Week eleven. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to
Speaker 1: play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from the
Speaker 1: App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning breaking down video of Joe Burrow, the former
Speaker 1: Colton Broncos quarterback, host a show for ESPN Plus called
Speaker 1: Detail where he does a deep dive into quarterback play,
Speaker 1: and Manning recently did a twenty five minute segment looking
Speaker 1: at Joe Burrow's performance against San Francisco. It's tremendous, not
Speaker 1: only explaining many of the traits that make Burrow great,
Speaker 1: but also highlighting the play design and play calling expertise
Speaker 1: of Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan. You need an ESPN
Speaker 1: Plus subscription to watch it, but between that show and
Speaker 1: NFL Turning Point and Tom Brady's Man in the Arena,
Speaker 1: I think the cost is well worth it. Now let's
Speaker 1: get to my guests, beginning with a TV host who
Speaker 1: has become very popular among Bengals fans. She is one
Speaker 1: of the hosts of my favorite football show on TV,
Speaker 1: and she made an exceptional ruler of the Jungle at
Speaker 1: Paul Brown Stadium several weeks ago. The NFL networks k
Speaker 1: Adams k way back in July, you called it, you
Speaker 1: predicted that the Bengals would be a playoff team this year.
Speaker 1: What did you see that so many others missed? I
Speaker 1: think what I saw two album. I'm just gonna be
Speaker 1: completely honest with you. It was people not picking the Bengals,
Speaker 1: and for no reason. It was very strange that they
Speaker 1: were getting Nola. They have the quarterback, they have the
Speaker 1: wide receiver, they're bringing chemistry in Trey Hendrickson was assigning
Speaker 1: that I loved because I've studied the Saints very closely
Speaker 1: last year and loved when he did there. And just
Speaker 1: about Joe Burrow just sort of won me over the
Speaker 1: fact that he is cool under pressure. I didn't follow
Speaker 1: his career at LSU college football. I don't have a
Speaker 1: room in my heart for it as much as most
Speaker 1: fans do. So really just through the draft process, we
Speaker 1: handled himself. Post game, they had what it takes in
Speaker 1: the recipes. It was definitely the cj Uzama Why not them?
Speaker 1: And then I really loved the fan base because I
Speaker 1: think the fan base is smart. They're hungry, but they're
Speaker 1: not whiny, and I think this is a fan base
Speaker 1: that is really riveted and enthusiastic and enjoying the moment,
Speaker 1: and I hope it works out. So Joe Burrow and
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase are getting a lot of the credit, and
Speaker 1: deservedly so. They've been fantastic. But what about this team
Speaker 1: do you think might be flying under the radar a
Speaker 1: little bit? I mean, I'm just gonna go back to
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson because this was someone who had double digit
Speaker 1: sacks with the Saints, and there is a lot the
Speaker 1: narrative nationally was, Oh, that's because he's with Cam Jordan,
Speaker 1: that's because he's you know, it's the Jajavian Clowney to
Speaker 1: TJ wat effect or whatever it is, or a one
Speaker 1: year one theer stack numbers can be misleading all of that,
Speaker 1: and then you look at what he did. What a streak,
Speaker 1: what pressure, what disruption he's putting on the opposing offenses.
Speaker 1: It is so fun to watch and tremendous, and that's necessary,
Speaker 1: especially this battle this weekend. I'm you know, if I
Speaker 1: had to worry about the Bengals, it would of course
Speaker 1: be protecting Joe, which we'll get into. But I just
Speaker 1: think he's been such a force and he's been so great,
Speaker 1: and he needs to get more national love. We're visiting
Speaker 1: with Kay Adams from Good Morning Football. So a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago you did a one on one interview with
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase whenever you're Q and K interviews. What stood
Speaker 1: out in that conversation, what really caught your ear? I appreciated,
Speaker 1: you know, I love interviewing rookies because they're still honest, right,
Speaker 1: they're not as they haven't gone through the media training
Speaker 1: as much as veteran players have, so they say a
Speaker 1: little bit more. And I really I thought he was
Speaker 1: very genuine. I really they appreciated that he is honest
Speaker 1: about wanting things for himself and for his team, and
Speaker 1: that's okay. Players are usually I don't want the records.
Speaker 1: I just want team wins. That's the company line. But
Speaker 1: I think he wants it all and I could feel
Speaker 1: the confidence he has that he can have it. We
Speaker 1: talked a lot about his, of course development with his quarterback,
Speaker 1: that chemistry, how much they add lib out there, and
Speaker 1: he said that Joe Burrow holds him accountable. If they're
Speaker 1: not communicating, he'll run to him and he'll say Joe,
Speaker 1: what am I doing? And Joe will let him have
Speaker 1: it and let him go and I liked it that
Speaker 1: he said that communication is still something that they're working
Speaker 1: on week in, week out. I thought that was impressive.
Speaker 1: They're not complacent. They're not you know, we've been here,
Speaker 1: we've done this, We've won a national championship where you know,
Speaker 1: we're just skating and getting paid here in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It means something to him, which I love. And the
Speaker 1: craziest thing he told me, which I stopped the interview,
Speaker 1: he told me that I haven't seen a good catch.
Speaker 1: He basically said, I said, what have it? I've said,
Speaker 1: you're doing all this crazy stuff yards after catch, You're
Speaker 1: speedy're amazing. And this is before, of course his monster performance.
Speaker 1: But he said, he's like, I just I got to
Speaker 1: get to that like Tyler Boyd level. I need to
Speaker 1: get to these like you know Odell kind of catches.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, there's more, there's more to the show.
Speaker 1: Sign me up. I can't wait. He is setting the
Speaker 1: bar really, really high, that's for sure. Was there a
Speaker 1: point this year where the Bengals went from fun, exciting,
Speaker 1: entertaining team to being a legitimate contender In your opinion,
Speaker 1: that went over the Chiefs absolutely sealed the deal. You know,
Speaker 1: I always take the temperature on before games. What is
Speaker 1: this game going to do to change how I feel?
Speaker 1: That was a big whopping win that said, hey, we're
Speaker 1: not here, We're not a one hit wonder. The problem
Speaker 1: with sports media in the NFL and covering it, it's
Speaker 1: a lazy take that the narrative can't change. The narrative changes.
Speaker 1: The Rams get rid of Fisher, they bring in Sean McVay,
Speaker 1: they get their quarterback in Jared Goff now Matthew Stafford,
Speaker 1: and the entire complexion of the franchise changes. There's ups
Speaker 1: and there's down downs, and the Bengals are just they're
Speaker 1: on their way up. So the Bengals are AFC North champs.
Speaker 1: The next hurdle is to win a playoff game. What
Speaker 1: are a couple of keys in your opinion, to knocking
Speaker 1: off the Raiders on Saturday. So the way I look
Speaker 1: at this is that they're both inexperienced teams, both quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: Both teams have equal pressure to deliver wins to their
Speaker 1: respective fan bases who are expecting them, excited for them,
Speaker 1: riveted by them. I'm sure it's what you guys have
Speaker 1: been talking about week in, week out. Me, these two
Speaker 1: teams faced each other, Joe mix in the huge part
Speaker 1: of that game plan. Max Crosby is terrifying. And I
Speaker 1: know if you look at the staff numbers, they weren't
Speaker 1: there against Joe Burrowing company. But he was everywhere. I
Speaker 1: went back when we were watching the game a couple
Speaker 1: of days ago, because I'm a sick pup who's watching
Speaker 1: the game time and he but his pressure was everywhere.
Speaker 1: He's incredible. I mean eight sacks this season, Yannick and Goquay.
Speaker 1: He was a monster and a problem for Burrow because
Speaker 1: of Max Crosby's presence. I've spoken to Yannik and Gokway
Speaker 1: about how they work in tandem and how they're one
Speaker 1: of the past best pass rushing duo. So it's it's
Speaker 1: trite and it's the usual Bromoken record, but can you
Speaker 1: protect your quarterback? I don't want to see that nameplate
Speaker 1: flying if it flies where I think that, I just
Speaker 1: don't want to see that. So you know, disruption is
Speaker 1: production and those are two of the better ones to
Speaker 1: do it. But and remember and Goqua has been to
Speaker 1: this dance. Twenty seventeen, Jags went to the AFC Championship
Speaker 1: game had a tremendous season down there with Jacksonville, so
Speaker 1: he's been there and bring some experience to it too,
Speaker 1: So can you protect him? And I'll say the other thing,
Speaker 1: crowd noise. You heard your coach talk about it. I
Speaker 1: was there, I had the time of my life. And
Speaker 1: since I think everyone in the world knows I had
Speaker 1: the time of my life in Cincinnati, it has to
Speaker 1: be that same energy. I can't tell you how many
Speaker 1: NFL players I've talked to over the years and I say,
Speaker 1: talk to it like I don't believe in home field,
Speaker 1: like tell like why should I care? And a lot
Speaker 1: of them say that they can feel nervousness, they can
Speaker 1: feel every pension they can, if not just decibel levels
Speaker 1: that people are that you know, players are picking up on.
Speaker 1: I thought that was so interesting, and a lot of
Speaker 1: guys have said this. So I need the Bengals fan
Speaker 1: base to show up. Don't give your tickets to the
Speaker 1: Raiders because they travel and they will come in there
Speaker 1: and try to invade and make it not cute, and
Speaker 1: I don't want to see that. But I think that
Speaker 1: there's a level of when things cross out like inexperience
Speaker 1: and you know, across the board, firepower or whatever momentum.
Speaker 1: They both have it on both sides. Things like that
Speaker 1: really matter. It's going from playing indoors in Vegas to
Speaker 1: playing outside in Cincinnati where I have to like have
Speaker 1: electric can ormers and forty degree weather. I don't even
Speaker 1: know if the conditions will be I notall be cold,
Speaker 1: crowd noise is going to be huge, but also maintaining
Speaker 1: just the support the supportive vibe I would say to
Speaker 1: put out there. It sounds kind of cheesy, but I
Speaker 1: think there's something to it. All right, Bengals fans, you
Speaker 1: heard it from K. Bring the noise, be supportive for
Speaker 1: all sixteen minutes. That's important in a playoff game final
Speaker 1: follow up for k Adams from Good Morning Football, you
Speaker 1: mentioned you had the time of your life you came here.
Speaker 1: What were the highlights of your ruler of the jungle
Speaker 1: visit and how can we persuade you to come back? Oh?
Speaker 1: I'll come back, And I mean I bother Seth Tanner
Speaker 1: like every other day, like I miss Blackburn, I would
Speaker 1: gladly come back and hang out with you. Elizabeth Is,
Speaker 1: She'll have her time on Good Morning Football where I
Speaker 1: explain from my vantage point, what she has meant to
Speaker 1: that organization and what she has done to improve the
Speaker 1: fan experience and just to open things up a little bit.
Speaker 1: I loved meeting her. One of the people I probably
Speaker 1: loved meeting in the past year the most. Meeting Marissa
Speaker 1: was incredible as well, and for just very passionate fans.
Speaker 1: Greater's ice cream was delicious. I tried at the Blackburn's tailgate.
Speaker 1: I tried some chili. I thought I ate it all.
Speaker 1: I thought it was great. I think it's just the enter.
Speaker 1: It's just excitement. But it's not like entitled excitement. It's
Speaker 1: it's not shoved in your face. We have this. It's
Speaker 1: not me. It's just excited. And I just felt at
Speaker 1: home there and I was so welcome. You fit right in.
Speaker 1: It was great having you in town. We look forward
Speaker 1: to your return and we appreciate your time today. Thank you, Kay,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Good luck Up next this week's
Speaker 1: one on one player conversation. There are only four current
Speaker 1: players who were on the team the last time the
Speaker 1: Bengals were in the playoffs in twenty fifteen. Kevin Hubert, Clark,
Speaker 1: Harris Trey Hopkins, who was on the practice squad at
Speaker 1: bad time and tight end c J Uzama, who was
Speaker 1: a fifth round draft pick that year. I spoke to
Speaker 1: CJ this week. CJ and your rookie year. The Bengals
Speaker 1: started eight no and went to the playoffs, and it's
Speaker 1: taken you six years to get back. What does this
Speaker 1: playoff trip mean to you? Personally means everything? You know.
Speaker 1: After the game against Kansas City, I got briefly got
Speaker 1: pretty emotional just thinking about how tough it's been. You know,
Speaker 1: that's what you fight for, that's why you play, That's
Speaker 1: why you go through what you go through during seasons,
Speaker 1: and you know, just for an opportunity. You know, you
Speaker 1: want to get into the playoffs. You want to have
Speaker 1: an opportunity um in January and February to win a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. So man, it it means the world. It
Speaker 1: means the world to me. It means the world to
Speaker 1: this team to be able to m have that opportunity
Speaker 1: to go out there, put our best foot forward and
Speaker 1: you know, achieve everything that we wanted to achieve since
Speaker 1: the side of the season. Back in August, at the
Speaker 1: beginning of training camp, you famously said why not us
Speaker 1: A Senate could have responded with because you guys only
Speaker 1: won four games last year. But what did you see
Speaker 1: at that early stage that made you think this team
Speaker 1: was legit? I mean, just the talent we have. And
Speaker 1: and like you said, when when I say that, a
Speaker 1: senate can look and say, Okay, well yeah, but you
Speaker 1: guys are young, you have this, you have this, but
Speaker 1: but and just say a bunch of different things. But
Speaker 1: you know, the way that I saw it, the way
Speaker 1: that I saw the pieces that we added, the way
Speaker 1: that I saw you know, the new guys come in,
Speaker 1: the way that I saw us just vibing and clicking
Speaker 1: as a team. Um, and the potential that we had.
Speaker 1: I was like, I mean everyone's gonna say there's gonna
Speaker 1: be daughters for sure. Um, there's gonna be hiccups, there's
Speaker 1: gonna be bumps in the road. But why can't we
Speaker 1: go out there and prove all these people wrong? You know,
Speaker 1: we know what we have in this locker room and
Speaker 1: outside noises just that. So um yeah, that's kind of
Speaker 1: uh what when what my thought process was? And um,
Speaker 1: it's kind of holding true. Right now we're chatting with
Speaker 1: c j Uzama. You've become the guy who leads the
Speaker 1: hood date chat in the locker room after wins. How
Speaker 1: did that happen? And do you consider it a position
Speaker 1: of honor? Oh? For sure, I think it's awesome. Um,
Speaker 1: I think it's amazing. You know, after after a win,
Speaker 1: I get to go out there and lead the team.
Speaker 1: And man, uh after the first win, UM coach just said,
Speaker 1: I see j come on lead us in there. I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, I'll been. Uh yeah. I think to me,
Speaker 1: it's it's awesome to be able to to you know,
Speaker 1: if I have a few words to say to the boys,
Speaker 1: I can Sam and Um break it down and UM
Speaker 1: see the boys kind of hype me up when I
Speaker 1: get up there. It's it's also I think, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's a position of bonafa shure. I'm elated that
Speaker 1: I get to do that this year. So you faced
Speaker 1: the Raiders on Saturday, a team with great edge rushers
Speaker 1: and Max Crosby who leads the NFL with one hundred
Speaker 1: quarterback pressures that's fourteen more than anybody else and unique
Speaker 1: in gok Way who has ten sacks. Do you go
Speaker 1: into the game thinking we can't let those guys wreck
Speaker 1: the game. As as you go into a game like this,
Speaker 1: you you know who they're who their key guys are.
Speaker 1: You know what they're trying to do to get those
Speaker 1: guys freed up and put in favorable positions and um,
Speaker 1: and then you got someone like Denzel Perriman in the back,
Speaker 1: you know as a linebacker, who you're like, Okay, well
Speaker 1: we have to account for this guy too, and and
Speaker 1: you know they have they have secondary of guys that
Speaker 1: just fly around the ball. So yeah, obviously you're you're
Speaker 1: going into it thinking okay, nice, like we we know
Speaker 1: what the what they present and we're gonna have to
Speaker 1: handle and adjust are lee or um, you know, try
Speaker 1: to try to be able to attack certain areas. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you you definitely don't want those those guys
Speaker 1: on the edge getting getting going early, getting there, you know,
Speaker 1: hearing their energy going and and thinking they're just kind
Speaker 1: of a field day out there. So um, we got
Speaker 1: to get after them and the defense very very early
Speaker 1: and very quickly. I know, you respect guys that excel
Speaker 1: at your position. What makes Darren Waller one of the
Speaker 1: best man. Uh, the respect I have to for him
Speaker 1: has grown exponentially. Um, you know, especially after hearing his
Speaker 1: story at tight end, you and um getting just spent
Speaker 1: some time with him and talking football with him and
Speaker 1: then just talking life with him. I have the utmost
Speaker 1: respect for him. Um, but him as a player, he's
Speaker 1: a I mean, he's a dinosaur, you know, he's he's
Speaker 1: one of those guys where it's like they don't they
Speaker 1: don't really they don't make him like that too alt
Speaker 1: and um, and it's just i mean just his speed,
Speaker 1: the way that he sees the game, the way that
Speaker 1: he can he can dissect defenses and and you know,
Speaker 1: picking his brain about how he runs routes against certain coverages.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's unique. You know, he's able to attack
Speaker 1: leverages and and find openings and if there's not really
Speaker 1: that big of an opening, he's he's a dinosaur, so
Speaker 1: he can go make a play. So, um yeah, as
Speaker 1: a player, he's he's he's pretty unique. We're chatting with
Speaker 1: cjus when you're in the huddle with Joe Burrow on Saturday,
Speaker 1: Well you be able to tell by his demeanor that
Speaker 1: it's a playoff game. No, No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I don't think. I think that's something that's Um, that's
Speaker 1: kind of unique about the team is we don't really
Speaker 1: let the moment get too big. We know what's at stake,
Speaker 1: we know what we have to get done. I mean,
Speaker 1: we knew what happened, and for the Kansas City game,
Speaker 1: we knew it was on the line for that right,
Speaker 1: and we just go out there and when we're in
Speaker 1: the huddle, we're just I mean, we're the boys out
Speaker 1: there just having a good time and um making place.
Speaker 1: And that's what you want. You don't want someone. You
Speaker 1: don't want to look around and see someone who's kind
Speaker 1: of like, oh, dear in the headlights are oh this
Speaker 1: is this is a huge moment. You don't want the
Speaker 1: moment to be to be too big for someone. And um,
Speaker 1: I don't think we have that in our in our huddle,
Speaker 1: we just have a bunch of guys who are like nice,
Speaker 1: Like when my numbers called, if Joe throws me the ball,
Speaker 1: if Joe hands off the ball, if we have to
Speaker 1: make this block, we're gonna make the block. That's just
Speaker 1: that's how it is, um, And that's that's it makes
Speaker 1: it fun, you know, it makes being him a huddle
Speaker 1: and playing that much more fun. So yeah, I don't think, uh,
Speaker 1: I don't think there's gonna be like a nerve factor
Speaker 1: going on. You're the first person that I remember that
Speaker 1: referred to him as Joey Franchise. Did you coin the nickname?
Speaker 1: I would be honest, Uh, it was. It was James
Speaker 1: Casey but said it the first time, and I was like, franchise,
Speaker 1: that's such a that money. So I'd say the Tide
Speaker 1: Ending Room coin that because I hadn't heard anybody say
Speaker 1: it until then. Um, and then we just started saying it.
Speaker 1: It was just something that the tidden't started saying, and
Speaker 1: then it started picking up. So I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: give the credit where credits to do with Coach Casey,
Speaker 1: even though he's gonna be like I don't want the credit. Um,
Speaker 1: but the tight ends. The tight ends for sure, and
Speaker 1: probably me in particular afterwards, because I was just like
Speaker 1: Joey Franchise, joe in his in in my phone, his
Speaker 1: name is Joey Franchise and it's it's bad because I
Speaker 1: tried to text him. I try to type in Burrow
Speaker 1: and I was like, where is his name? I can't
Speaker 1: fund it And I had to text him and be like, dude,
Speaker 1: I got to change your name in my phone because
Speaker 1: it's under franchise and I'm gonna forget that every time.
Speaker 1: So um but yeah, that's that's where that came about.
Speaker 1: That is the greatest nugget of all time. He is
Speaker 1: Joey franchise in your phone. That's great, all right, the
Speaker 1: last thing we know at this time of the year
Speaker 1: that your body probably doesn't feel great. Was it like
Speaker 1: an unexpected bonus to be able to get the final
Speaker 1: game of the regular season off to prepare for this.
Speaker 1: I mean, how great was that? Though? Kind of right
Speaker 1: like that was you know, it's it's uh. I had
Speaker 1: mixed emotions kind of as well, to be completely honest,
Speaker 1: because I really wanted to play against the Browns, and
Speaker 1: you know that that was, Um, it was funny to
Speaker 1: me and kind of um ironic that the hotel room
Speaker 1: that I had was the same hotel room that I
Speaker 1: had last year. The you know, I went over to
Speaker 1: the spot where I told my achilles last year, and
Speaker 1: I was like, dang, like it would be it would
Speaker 1: be kind of nice to be able to play and um,
Speaker 1: kind of like self fulfilling to to be able to
Speaker 1: play on this field again. But I'm not going to complain,
Speaker 1: like I feel like I feel so much better taking
Speaker 1: you know, getting some time off, getting getting a chance
Speaker 1: to rest and not go through a full game. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, talking to the other time and talking talking
Speaker 1: to Mitch. Mitch was like, man, I'm feeling this right now,
Speaker 1: Like that was his first time and since preseason where
Speaker 1: he was banging the entire game. So um yeah, definitely was.
Speaker 1: It was a nice Uh, it was a nice treat
Speaker 1: for sure to get that one off. I hope you
Speaker 1: are leading a who Day chant Saturday night after a
Speaker 1: playoff victory over the Raiders. Congrats, had a great season
Speaker 1: to date, best of luck in round one. Thank you
Speaker 1: very much, appreciate it. How great is it that CJ
Speaker 1: has Joe Burrows phone number stored under Joey franchise on
Speaker 1: his cell phone. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This year,
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of
Speaker 1: the season with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy
Speaker 1: experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the
Speaker 1: App Store and Google Play. The Bengals won at Baltimore
Speaker 1: this year by twenty four points, then won the rematch
Speaker 1: at home by twenty they wanted Pittsburgh by fourteen, then
Speaker 1: won the rematch at Paul Brown Stadium by thirty one.
Speaker 1: Now they faced the Raiders, a team they beat in
Speaker 1: Las Vegas thirty two to thirteen. In late November. I
Speaker 1: discussed the upcoming rematch with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham Lap.
Speaker 1: I want to start with something that I don't think
Speaker 1: is getting enough attention, and that is the fact that
Speaker 1: Quentin Spain has been a full participant at practice this week.
Speaker 1: He's a gigantic man who was taken to the locker
Speaker 1: room on a cart less than two weeks ago. What
Speaker 1: does his now it appears likely return mean to the
Speaker 1: team Huge presence, you know literally in figuratively, I mean
Speaker 1: he is a massive human being, big broad shoulders and
Speaker 1: just very strong, strong hands and risks and quems vice
Speaker 1: gript kind of guy and very high football IQ, real,
Speaker 1: real smart. Nothing fools him out in the football field.
Speaker 1: He's seen every defensive configuration, every blitz package. I think
Speaker 1: he's a calming influence out there for the young players
Speaker 1: as well as a physical presence that I know. I know,
Speaker 1: for example, Joe Mixon's happy that he's gonna be playing
Speaker 1: in this football game, and uh, it's QUSA. He's a
Speaker 1: tough guy and not surprised that he's he's going to
Speaker 1: give it a go. And the thing is, though, with
Speaker 1: those ankle injuries, you just never know, I mean, you
Speaker 1: just turn wrong, you're in a pile the wrong way,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they can they can exascerbate themselves pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: So Jackson Carman still better be ready. And the fact
Speaker 1: that he's gotten the snaps that he's gotten and performed
Speaker 1: well for the most part with a lot of those snaps,
Speaker 1: I think he's an encouraging thing. They've already got two
Speaker 1: inexperienced guys in the starting line up the offensive line
Speaker 1: in Isaiah Prince and acam Identagy. Not having three to me,
Speaker 1: it seems like a pretty big deal. I agree. And
Speaker 1: I'll tell you another guy that I thought looked pretty
Speaker 1: darn good out there at left tackling. I'm wondering if
Speaker 1: you can play right tackle. Deante Smith played well. I
Speaker 1: mean that guy, he's got really good feat he's got length,
Speaker 1: he's got good hands. I mean he got hurt at
Speaker 1: the wrong time, unfortunately for him, because he was making
Speaker 1: a move he was. He was the guy. I think
Speaker 1: that Frank Pollock, he was on a fast track to
Speaker 1: get some snaps and get some playing time. But injuries
Speaker 1: can curtail those kind of things, and it did unfortunately
Speaker 1: for Deante. But I think he's he's back physically and
Speaker 1: now can he catch up with everything. You know, you
Speaker 1: missed so many reps. You missed the mental part of
Speaker 1: it as well as the physical part of it. You
Speaker 1: can keep up with the mental part of it obviously easier,
Speaker 1: but there's nothing like being out in the field from
Speaker 1: a mental standpoint. You know, you think you have it
Speaker 1: figured out. When you're out there and it's full, full
Speaker 1: tilt and live bullets, sometimes it looks a lot different.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's stick with Bengals offensive line versus Raiders
Speaker 1: defensive line. In this playoff game, Max Crosby has eight
Speaker 1: sacks and more than one hundred quarterback pressures. He leads
Speaker 1: the NFL unique and Ghakway has ten sacks. They are
Speaker 1: going to be missing an excellent defensive tackle. Darius Filon
Speaker 1: suffered an injury in that finale against the Chargers, so
Speaker 1: he is definitely out. Do you look at Bengals offensive
Speaker 1: line versus Raiders defensive line as the biggest matchup question
Speaker 1: in this game. I look at it as a huge one,
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. I think honestly both lines
Speaker 1: of scrimmage. I think that the Raiders, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: have one really good player in Colton Miller. Everybody else
Speaker 1: just guys. And I'm sure that's what the Raiders think
Speaker 1: about the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line, just guys. So will
Speaker 1: there respective defensive fronts to be able to take advantage?
Speaker 1: And I'm looking at the matchup of the interior pass
Speaker 1: rushers that the Bengals have, the Ogan Jovies, J Hill,
Speaker 1: DJ Reader too getting pushed. I'm looking at them against
Speaker 1: those guards. I think the guards of the weak links
Speaker 1: of the offensive line, and I would think Lou and
Speaker 1: Rumo and company would have some pressure packages that would
Speaker 1: test and put those guards in conflict a little bit,
Speaker 1: walking linebackers up in gaps and twisting and studying and
Speaker 1: things of that nature. So I'm looking at that, and
Speaker 1: I'm also looking at, like you said, Dan, the flip
Speaker 1: side of it, the Bengals offensive line. Will they be
Speaker 1: able to handle those bookends, I mean Crosby and Gookway.
Speaker 1: That's a duel. I mean, that's a very very that's
Speaker 1: eighteen sacks combined from the two of those guys. In
Speaker 1: my mind, there's a million things you can do. You know,
Speaker 1: you can keep a tight end in, you can chip,
Speaker 1: you can slide the line. But quarterbacks has got to
Speaker 1: get the ball out of his hand quickly. I think
Speaker 1: that's another thing that you incorporate in the game plan
Speaker 1: and don't forget about draws and screens. That's that It's
Speaker 1: forever tested. Paul Brown, he would he would patrol the
Speaker 1: sideline and he'd be like, time for the draw. He'd say,
Speaker 1: he'd say to the play called time for the draw,
Speaker 1: because he could tell the pass rushers are just team
Speaker 1: and the draw would break bust for big yards. You know,
Speaker 1: he invented it. He invented the draw play with Marion
Speaker 1: Motley up there with the Cleveland Browns by accident. So
Speaker 1: I think draws and screens are gonna be a big,
Speaker 1: big factor. The Kansas City Chiefs hurt him badly with
Speaker 1: the screen game, throwing that screen game behind the pass rush.
Speaker 1: So there's a myriad of ways that you can slow
Speaker 1: that pass rush down, and the other way to do
Speaker 1: it get Joe Mixon going. I mean they finished that game.
Speaker 1: Grind and Joe Mixon in the second half nineteen carries
Speaker 1: for over one hundred yards in a touch. Get big
Speaker 1: twenty eight running inside outside, Get him just hammering that
Speaker 1: defensive football team and anchor them a little bit. Following
Speaker 1: up on that, thirty carries for one hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: three yards total in the first meeting, and Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: only threw for one hundred and forty eight yards. That's
Speaker 1: the fewest he's ever had in his twenty six NFL starts.
Speaker 1: So do you expect a similar formula on Saturday. I do,
Speaker 1: because you know, I think Gus Bradley is going to
Speaker 1: do the same thing. Gus Bradley, he does not load
Speaker 1: the box. He plays coverage. He has four guys and
Speaker 1: he can rely on to rush the passer in his mind.
Speaker 1: Now with injury, he might not have all four of
Speaker 1: those guys with the interior injury at defensive tackle, but
Speaker 1: I think he's still he's gonna he's gonna make sure
Speaker 1: that Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase don't throw it over
Speaker 1: their heads. You know that te Higgins doesn't throw it
Speaker 1: over the heads with Joe Burrow. I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: do play a lot of that cover three. And you
Speaker 1: know what he does. I think his biggest act is
Speaker 1: he gets guys to just really play hard for him,
Speaker 1: high energy, high enthusiasm, you know. I mean, they're they're
Speaker 1: just effort guys defensively, and he doesn't overload their minds.
Speaker 1: I mean, he keeps it real simple and they can
Speaker 1: play fast and they know his system cold. I think
Speaker 1: now though, at this stage in the playoffs, another thing
Speaker 1: another Paul Brown is that applies and I remember he
Speaker 1: said it when we were in the playoffs for the
Speaker 1: first time in nineteen thirty five. I can vividly see
Speaker 1: him up there in the front of the classroom saying, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: sometimes we have to make the same things look different
Speaker 1: and different things look the same. And that's exactly what
Speaker 1: you do. Now. You don't overhaul your systems. You tweak them.
Speaker 1: And it might be it's the same throw to the quarterback,
Speaker 1: but it might be instead of a slot receiver on
Speaker 1: a safety a by formation and window dressing him, might
Speaker 1: be a running back on a linebacker. Because you're, you know,
Speaker 1: you're you're putting your base people in there and you
Speaker 1: don't want sub packages in there. So the offense you
Speaker 1: can control it with personnel, with formations, with motion, with
Speaker 1: window dressing. So Paul Brown would be like, if we've
Speaker 1: got some concepts that have worked for us, worked for
Speaker 1: us in the first matchup. Sometimes you have to make
Speaker 1: the same things look different and different things look the same.
Speaker 1: And I think the game, the team that game plans
Speaker 1: that way, and then most importantly, the players that go
Speaker 1: out and execute best going to win the football game.
Speaker 1: By the way, as I mentioned, Burrow through four hundred
Speaker 1: and forty eight yards in Game one, the fewest he's
Speaker 1: ever thrown four in an NFL game. His three lowest
Speaker 1: yardage figures ever all wins at Vegas, at Denver, at
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh this year. Let's talk about the other quarterback, Derek Carr.
Speaker 1: He was decent in Game one, two and fifteen yards,
Speaker 1: one touchdown, one pick. For the season fourteenth in the
Speaker 1: NFL and passer rating fifth in passing yards, one spot
Speaker 1: ahead of Joe Burrow. What do you consider to be
Speaker 1: his strengths and his weaknesses. I think he has immense
Speaker 1: arm talent. I think he can make every throw there
Speaker 1: is to make. It's interesting, though, I heard Jack del
Speaker 1: Rio come out and say that he does not play
Speaker 1: well in cold weather, and that's his former head coach,
Speaker 1: so he has experience with it. So that would that
Speaker 1: kind of pert my ears a little bit when I
Speaker 1: when I heard that, But I think, I think what
Speaker 1: he does is sometimes tries to force the issue. We
Speaker 1: have so much confidence in that arm talent. I mean,
Speaker 1: he'll take a chance here and there so that he'll
Speaker 1: he'll put it up there for the defensive backs to intercept.
Speaker 1: And when he does, you have to take full advantage
Speaker 1: of it. You can't let one slip through your hands. Literally,
Speaker 1: you have to catch the football when he gives you
Speaker 1: that kind of an opportunity. The other thing with him
Speaker 1: is if you hit him, he gets deeply affected. Every
Speaker 1: quarterback is affected by pressure and by his but his
Speaker 1: is significant. I mean you can see him, you know,
Speaker 1: reacting in a much different way as a quarter back
Speaker 1: after he's been smacked a couple of times. So that's
Speaker 1: going to be a big factor. If they can get
Speaker 1: him off his spot and get hit him some and
Speaker 1: make him think about you have him see ghosts a
Speaker 1: little bit. Ghosts in the pocket, goes down the football field,
Speaker 1: have him see some of that stuff. I do think
Speaker 1: that in this football game here lately he has done
Speaker 1: a great job of creating an extending plays and throwing
Speaker 1: up fifty fifty balls and they've either caught him or
Speaker 1: get pass interference penalties. So he's made some big plays
Speaker 1: that way. Joe Burrow can do the same thing. I
Speaker 1: think this game a big factor might hinge on which
Speaker 1: quarterback is the most intelligent when they're creating and extending
Speaker 1: and not forcing but making, you know, making big plays
Speaker 1: down the football field and avoiding big mistakes down the
Speaker 1: football field. Let me follow up on the weather. The
Speaker 1: forecast for four to thirty on Saturday is in the
Speaker 1: high twenties. The current temperature in Las Vegas is in
Speaker 1: the mid sixties. So how big of an advantage do
Speaker 1: you think that is? I think it's I think it is.
Speaker 1: I think it's signific can um, I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: in the twenties for for linemen, that's not you know,
Speaker 1: that's not cruel and unusual punishment. I mean, you can
Speaker 1: handle that, um, But but I think for skill guys
Speaker 1: that that aren't used to that, that ball gets harder,
Speaker 1: it gets slicker. Like everybody talks about Um. You know,
Speaker 1: your hands or you know, can can get cold and
Speaker 1: get numb a little bit, and you have a hard
Speaker 1: ball hitting those those cold hands, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: totally different feeling. And then in the in the ball,
Speaker 1: it feels like it's coated with resin, you know, when
Speaker 1: it's when it's cold like that. It's weird how how
Speaker 1: the resin And I don't know why it migrates, but
Speaker 1: the resident seems to migrate to the surface of the football.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, Um, but I do think I think that's
Speaker 1: going to be a factor. And when you look at it,
Speaker 1: that influences ball security, you know, I mean, and you
Speaker 1: got to go high and tight big time when it's
Speaker 1: cold like that, because if you get hit in cold
Speaker 1: weather sometimes, you know, if you're hitting sixty degree weather,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to grip that football a little
Speaker 1: bit better than you will when it's in the twenties
Speaker 1: and get hit like that, Like we talked about, the
Speaker 1: ball's harder, it's slicker, Your hands are cold, your arms
Speaker 1: are cold. It's a it's a much different dynamic that
Speaker 1: you've got to get used to that and you have
Speaker 1: to get a get a feel for that, and if
Speaker 1: you practice in it all week, you have a little
Speaker 1: bit better feeling then if you haven't. So I think
Speaker 1: all those things are going to be a factor. The
Speaker 1: one thing when I was researching the Raiders that stunned
Speaker 1: me six interceptions was dead last in the NFL six
Speaker 1: interceptions in seventeen games. And they have a really good
Speaker 1: front four you know, it's like, you know, they're getting
Speaker 1: more than a couple of sacks a game. Why isn't
Speaker 1: that transferring into more interceptions? They just haven't taken the
Speaker 1: football away very much. And it's because they haven't, you
Speaker 1: intercepted the ball very much. So Joe Burrows on a
Speaker 1: stretch where he hasn't thrown an interception for a long time,
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty six passes. I think it is
Speaker 1: something like that. So hopefully that continues. And so far
Speaker 1: they haven't shown much for a pensity to pick quarterbacks off.
Speaker 1: So a big storyline this week has obviously been the
Speaker 1: playoff drought, and I think people have kind of looked
Speaker 1: at it and said, these guys have nothing to do
Speaker 1: with that long stretch of futility and shouldn't be affected
Speaker 1: by it. But when the Bengals take the field on
Speaker 1: Saturday and every Bengals fan in attendance is yearning to
Speaker 1: end that streak. Do you think they'll feel it? Then
Speaker 1: that's a great question. I hope the fan base. I
Speaker 1: hope they have a sense of virgin urgency to get
Speaker 1: as loud as they possibly can. Because let's go back
Speaker 1: to the opener Dan the Minnesota game that the Bengals
Speaker 1: won an overtime. Minnesota had multiple false starts because of
Speaker 1: crowd noise playing a simple it was just flat out
Speaker 1: crowd noise. And we remember how loud it was we
Speaker 1: were in Vegas playing the Raiders. That place was that
Speaker 1: was off the hook. It was loud, man in that dome.
Speaker 1: They were going crazy. The Bengals handled it pretty well.
Speaker 1: It's Tessa Raiders and everybody come to that game full throat,
Speaker 1: loud and proud, and see when you can affect them
Speaker 1: a little bit. That's that's that's going to be a
Speaker 1: big factor in this football game. So if the fans
Speaker 1: are wondering how they can help make sure to end
Speaker 1: that streak that they're there, they've suffered through, do it
Speaker 1: by vocal cords. So I'm feeling pretty confident going into
Speaker 1: this game, and much of my confidence is rooted in
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, his track record in big games at his
Speaker 1: personality in general. Do you think that his teammates have
Speaker 1: that same feeling because of Joe, Yeah, I think he
Speaker 1: I think they follow his lead. I think he just
Speaker 1: rises to the occasion. I think he's one of those
Speaker 1: kind of guys that big stage time to go out
Speaker 1: and do your best. You know, don't shrink, shrink up
Speaker 1: like a shrinking violet. You know, go out there and
Speaker 1: be a star. Go out there and play. And that's
Speaker 1: the big thing too. Joe did a great job of that.
Speaker 1: The numbers you talked about his three career low yardage games,
Speaker 1: they won the football game. You don't have to play
Speaker 1: hero ball. Joe Burrow knows he doesn't have to play
Speaker 1: hero ball. He understands that totally. Jamara has to understand
Speaker 1: enough to play hero ball. Joe Mixon has to understand.
Speaker 1: Everybody has to understand. Do your job to the best
Speaker 1: that you possibly can. Don't try to do anything more
Speaker 1: than what you're supposed to do, but do what you're
Speaker 1: supposed to do at the highest level you possibly can
Speaker 1: do it, and then you're gonna win the football game,
Speaker 1: and that's in the playoffs. That's that's as big a
Speaker 1: factor as anything. Joe Burrow will be one of five
Speaker 1: quarterbacks making his first playoffs start this weekend. The Bengals
Speaker 1: will be facing another one in Derek Carr. Finally, it's
Speaker 1: time for this week's No The Faux Segment. Charles Davis,
Speaker 1: who calls NFL games on CBS with Ian Eagle, was
Speaker 1: in the booth for five Raiders games this year. He
Speaker 1: joined Lap in Wayne box Miller and the Bengals Game
Speaker 1: Plan Show and started by sharing what he likes about
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one Bengals. I like that this team
Speaker 1: has the air to it of we're just gonna do
Speaker 1: what we do the past. Okay, you guys can talk
Speaker 1: about it, but it's not going to define us. We're
Speaker 1: gonna take care of our own business. And when they
Speaker 1: had opportunities, you know, one of their breakthroughs was winning
Speaker 1: three in a row? Right when was the last time?
Speaker 1: Twenty fifteen? And that became a thing, didn't it. In fact,
Speaker 1: we had it. We had the Chargers game, one of
Speaker 1: the times they were going for three in a row
Speaker 1: and didn't get there. And Zach Taylor really emphasized, hey,
Speaker 1: let's get a breakthrough here, and it didn't happen. A
Speaker 1: lot of teams would just go away on that, a
Speaker 1: lot of teams would have more issues. They came back,
Speaker 1: battled their way and when they finally broke through and
Speaker 1: got three in a row Kansas City, that's a pretty
Speaker 1: strong one to make it make your move on. So
Speaker 1: I just like where this team is. And look, a
Speaker 1: second year quarterback in the old days didn't really take
Speaker 1: over a team. This young man took over the amenity
Speaker 1: he got drafted and now they really reflect to who
Speaker 1: he is. This is Joe Burrow kid. There's something really
Speaker 1: special about him. And when we sit in production meetings
Speaker 1: and all, he's not getting that. He doesn't have his
Speaker 1: feed up on and telling us tales and all that.
Speaker 1: He answers the question just fine, but you can tell
Speaker 1: he's all about business. You're right, Charles Manne, dude is
Speaker 1: laser focus, there's no question. And in today's National Football League,
Speaker 1: you have to have a quarterback. And they've got the
Speaker 1: youngest duo in the history of the National Football League
Speaker 1: to have a thousand yards receiving in the same year
Speaker 1: and his man, Jamar Chase who he worked with at LSU,
Speaker 1: set a franchise record single season record fourteen hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty five yards. It's only fourth best in the league
Speaker 1: this year, even though it's a Bengals franchise record. That
Speaker 1: tells you what the league's like. But you, as a
Speaker 1: former defensive back and a good one, when you've got
Speaker 1: guys like Chase Higgins, Boyd, what kind of conflict does
Speaker 1: that cause you in the back end? Zama Mix? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, just going right, It causes all kinds of
Speaker 1: conflict because if you want to kick coverage as a
Speaker 1: certain direction, if you're doing things you're guessing, you know,
Speaker 1: you're you're playing odds in a sense certain third downs.
Speaker 1: If you think that they'd like to go to a
Speaker 1: certain place on a third down, maybe you want to
Speaker 1: double one of those guys. But they all, every one
Speaker 1: of those guys can make you pay. That's the thing is.
Speaker 1: It's not like you take away certain people and guess what,
Speaker 1: the other guys aren't going to really sting you. You
Speaker 1: take away Chase, Okay, we send all of our coverage there.
Speaker 1: You really think Boyd and Higgins are going to light
Speaker 1: you up? They are. They've proven it time and time again.
Speaker 1: So with all those weapons, the plethora of things going on,
Speaker 1: and an offensive line, it's probably playing a little bit
Speaker 1: better than what you would you know, you would think
Speaker 1: in terms of how they might have been rated coming
Speaker 1: out where the talent level is all of that, you're
Speaker 1: putting together a pretty powerful group. And I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see them go at it on Saturday with the
Speaker 1: Raiders because both of them have been through their stuff
Speaker 1: this year and battled their way through the Bengals with
Speaker 1: a division titled the Raiders with a really unlikely playoff birth.
Speaker 1: Considering everything that's going on in Las Vegas this year,
Speaker 1: no doubt, you know, Charles Davis is I guess Charles,
Speaker 1: you watched a lot of football and talk about just
Speaker 1: how impressive it is. You bring in Trey Hendrickson, you
Speaker 1: bring in Von Bell, you know, you bring in a
Speaker 1: lot of new guys chitabey E Woozier, and these guys
Speaker 1: just seem to mess with the existing players. It's not
Speaker 1: that easy. Although people may think that, right, Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: exactly right. And I think what helps is that when
Speaker 1: these guys come in, they weren't coming into a place
Speaker 1: that it either had a ton of success or wasn't
Speaker 1: ready to ascend to it. They came in because, like
Speaker 1: Trey Henderson told us, he had a feeling about this place,
Speaker 1: you know, spent the time he bought into Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: was the last time you heard anyone around the league say,
Speaker 1: you know what I wanted to send. I really bought
Speaker 1: into their vision. Yeah, just don't hear that. So so
Speaker 1: so when Trey Henderson is saying that, and as focus
Speaker 1: as he is, it means something. And then you have
Speaker 1: guys who have had success both in the lead to
Speaker 1: in the pro level who have come over. Larry Ogan
Speaker 1: job's out of Charlotte. Okay, so no one's thought about
Speaker 1: his college success, but boys, he carved out a nice
Speaker 1: niche in the NFL being a starter in Cleveland and
Speaker 1: on a team that found its way into playoffs last year,
Speaker 1: and he helped, you know, make successful. I think one
Speaker 1: of the most underrated people on the staff is Marion Hobby.
Speaker 1: Now there's a lot of buy ins here. Okay, Marion
Speaker 1: and I played together at Tennessee, but he has won
Speaker 1: heck of a good football coach, I mean, and what
Speaker 1: he's done with that front. And you spend time with
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard, you spend time with Trey Hendrickson, you spend
Speaker 1: time with Ogan Job, you spend time with any of
Speaker 1: the guys there. They willingly talk about what he gives them.
Speaker 1: And then I'm gonna leave you with this. Sam Hubbard
Speaker 1: compared him to Larry Johnson, the quintessential defensive line coach
Speaker 1: in college football Ohio State. And when an Ohio State
Speaker 1: Buckeye compares another d line coach with Larry Johnson, who
Speaker 1: is their godfather? Okay, the bosses go back in the
Speaker 1: offseason and spend time with Larry Johnson. Okay, And that
Speaker 1: if you want to know what it's all about. That's
Speaker 1: how I praise and that defensive front. They've done some
Speaker 1: work this year. Let me ask you a question about
Speaker 1: the Raiders. How do the Raiders have ten wins and
Speaker 1: seven losses when they were outscored by sixty five points.
Speaker 1: They've they're the thirty first most penalized team in the league,
Speaker 1: thirty second most penalty yards in the league. They've only
Speaker 1: got six interceptions on the season, last in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. They give up a touchdown defensively in the
Speaker 1: red zone eighty one point four percent of the time,
Speaker 1: last in the National Football League. But how the hell
Speaker 1: had they won ten games? What do you think, Charles,
Speaker 1: what's up with that? I don't know. Dave and our
Speaker 1: crew has had the Raiders five times this year, really,
Speaker 1: so we've seen them, and we've seen there's a toughness
Speaker 1: to them, there's a resilience to them. We saw them
Speaker 1: week two. Remember that Monday nighter that they had with
Speaker 1: Baltimore that was still two. Jo Car hit to Day
Speaker 1: Jones for a touchdown. They had to turn around short
Speaker 1: week and go to Pittsburgh the next week. Remember Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: could just beat Buffalo in the season opener, so they
Speaker 1: were feeling pretty good about themselves. They went up there
Speaker 1: and beat them on the road and got off to
Speaker 1: that great start. Our crew was in town when the
Speaker 1: John Gruden news broke. In fact, I was at practice
Speaker 1: and John said, Hey, can I talk to you for
Speaker 1: a minute, because I've known John for thirty five years,
Speaker 1: and told me what was about to go down. And
Speaker 1: that was the weekend they played the Bears, and the Bears,
Speaker 1: who were not very good, went in there and beat
Speaker 1: them because they were they were discombobulated. We were also there,
Speaker 1: I believe right after Henry Ruggs. Okay, we were there
Speaker 1: when Cincinnati took charge in the second half and ran
Speaker 1: them into submission, when Joe Mixon and crew beat them
Speaker 1: down because Zach Taylor said, if we just stayed with it,
Speaker 1: they will crack, and they did. How they've gotten ten wins.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of toughness. And Derek Carr is one
Speaker 1: of the most underrated guys going in terms of fortitude.
Speaker 1: He's a good player, all right, He probably doesn't get
Speaker 1: his due that way, but that guy really helped keep
Speaker 1: that locker room together with everything that went on, and
Speaker 1: that team actually does believe in him, and they've hit
Speaker 1: the right plays at the right times. This is like
Speaker 1: the old Peanuts cartoon strip but Charles Schultz where Lucy
Speaker 1: is getting all over Charlie Brown about his baseball team. Okay,
Speaker 1: and she's crushing him, and she's like, and you guys
Speaker 1: are lasting the league in this, and you're lasting the
Speaker 1: league and that blah blah blah, and your stats say this,
Speaker 1: and finally Charlie Brown says, Lucy, tell your statistics to
Speaker 1: shut up. That's kind of where the Raiders off. Just
Speaker 1: tell the statistic to shut up. We're just gonna show
Speaker 1: up and play. But I got a relentless pass rush.
Speaker 1: Now Crosby, you think a gock Way. They get after
Speaker 1: it and they create a little havoc back there. But
Speaker 1: the numbers they don't make sense. That's why I can't
Speaker 1: believe they only have six interceptions with that pass rush
Speaker 1: to only have six picks because those guys, yeah, they've
Speaker 1: got when they've got on the back end. You know
Speaker 1: when Nathan Abram is right. Dathan Abram is a box
Speaker 1: safety who can't cover. He's not a cover guy, I
Speaker 1: mean coming out of college. I love the fact that he,
Speaker 1: you know, like Burgess, Meredith said, Rocky, I'm knocking it tomorrow,
Speaker 1: rock Yeah, right, but but but but his coverage ability
Speaker 1: isn't very good. Trayvon Merrick is that high center field
Speaker 1: safety who's going to get better and better as time
Speaker 1: goes on. He's ranging Casey Hayward up there. But they
Speaker 1: are not super ballhawks, but they do a nice job
Speaker 1: keeping things and waiting for you to make a mistake.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Charles Davis and for much more on Saturday's
Speaker 1: playoff game, Join lapping Me for the Bengals pep Rally
Speaker 1: Show this Friday afternoon from three to six on ESPN
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty or on the iHeartMedia app by searching for
Speaker 1: ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to do it for this
Speaker 1: episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by
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Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast