Speaker 1: Higin everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord, and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth podcast.
Speaker 2: The tell Me Tell Me One More Time. Addition, as
Speaker 2: Sam Hubbard joins me to look back at the NFL's
Speaker 2: Play of the Year last year and perhaps the greatest
Speaker 2: play in Bengals history, the Fumble in the Jungle. Then
Speaker 2: Adam Rank from the NFL Network joins me to explain
Speaker 2: why he thinks the Bengals are the best team in
Speaker 2: the league heading into the twenty twenty three season. The
Speaker 2: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks
Speaker 2: and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets hand
Speaker 2: side merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app.
Speaker 2: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 2: latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 2: or computer by subscribing wherever you got your podcasts. It's
Speaker 2: the greatest thing since the recent Tailor Swift shows at
Speaker 2: pay Corpse Stadium. I attended the first of her two shows,
Speaker 2: and I honestly think that I knew the fewest number
Speaker 2: of the forty four songs she sang of anybody in attendance,
Speaker 2: but I can appreciate a great performer, and the entire
Speaker 2: production was incredible. Furthermore, the unbridled joy she brought to
Speaker 2: her biggest fans was really cool to witness. In fact,
Speaker 2: there were a couple of young ladies a few rows
Speaker 2: in front of me who started bawling their eyes out
Speaker 2: when Taylor took the stage. Putting on two shows of
Speaker 2: that magnitude is a huge endeavor, and kudos to everyone
Speaker 2: involved with the Bengals and the stadium for pulling it
Speaker 2: off without a hitch I suspect. In the years to come,
Speaker 2: when the biggest summer concert acts think about where they
Speaker 2: should play in the Midwest, Cincinnati and pay Corpse Stadium
Speaker 2: will be high on the list. Now, let's get to football.
Speaker 2: I was recently a guest on Serious XM NFL Radio
Speaker 2: to discuss a very speci if a topic. They were
Speaker 2: doing a show on the top plays of the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two season, and Sam Hubbard's ninety eight yard fumble
Speaker 2: return touchdown and the playoff winner for Baltimore was obviously
Speaker 2: high on the list. They asked me to reminisce about
Speaker 2: the play, and I thought it would be fun on
Speaker 2: this podcast to ask Sam Hubbard to do the same.
Speaker 2: Before we get to Sam, let's turn the clock back
Speaker 2: to Sunday night, January fifteenth. The Bengals and Ravens are
Speaker 2: tied at seventeen with about twelve and a half minutes
Speaker 2: left in regulation and Baltimore is one yard away from
Speaker 2: a go ahead touchdown. Third down in goal from the
Speaker 2: one Hontley sticks the ball out.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have the ball.
Speaker 3: They are running it back Sam Hubbard with blockers behind him.
Speaker 1: Hubbard of the Ravens forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten,
Speaker 1: the fun touchdown.
Speaker 3: Bengals Tyler Hudley try do it.
Speaker 1: Stem the ball over the goal line. It got poked away.
Speaker 3: Sam Hubbard scooped it up and ran the length of
Speaker 3: the field for a go ahead Begos touchdown. Logan Wilson
Speaker 3: punched the ball out of the hands of Tyler Huntley and.
Speaker 4: Right into the hands of Sam Hubbard and boy Logan Wilson, others.
Speaker 4: Everybody was swarming it at at that football and Sam
Speaker 4: Hubbard says, I'll take it to the house. And boy
Speaker 4: who threw the block for Sam Hubbard down the football
Speaker 4: field his escorts service. One final block was necessary, and
Speaker 4: it was made for him.
Speaker 2: He looked like he was playing lacrosse and Muller again
Speaker 2: streaking down the field.
Speaker 4: I'll tell you Sam a big man with some wheels.
Speaker 4: He's probably at the oxygen tent right now. That was
Speaker 4: one hundred yards sprint for the big fella.
Speaker 2: Ninety eight yards officially for Sam Hubbard. Now the extra
Speaker 2: point from Evan McPherson trying to give Cincinnati a seven
Speaker 2: point lead.
Speaker 1: Crispin put down.
Speaker 2: The kick dead center, perfect, and the Bengals have a
Speaker 2: twenty four to seventeen lead.
Speaker 4: I was begging for a takeaway. The Bengals had turnovers
Speaker 4: in five consecutive fourth quarters. Make it six, and not
Speaker 4: only a turnover, a takeaway touchdown, unconventional score courtesy Sam Hubbard.
Speaker 2: One of the most remarkable defensive plays in Cincinnati Bengals history.
Speaker 2: And we have a timeout with eleven thirty nine left
Speaker 2: in regulation, twenty four seventeen Bengals. That's how we called
Speaker 2: it on the Bengals radio network. Now let's hear the
Speaker 2: TV version, courtesy of my old college buddy Mike Turrico
Speaker 2: on NBC.
Speaker 1: RAT reaches other good day with some Hubbard. The Cincinnati
Speaker 1: Kid Hubbard's.
Speaker 2: Gotta come by Chase by Andrews with the thirty the
Speaker 2: twenty Hey, well stop. I thought Mike's inclusion of the
Speaker 2: Cincinnati kid in the middle of that call was sensational,
Speaker 2: and it was one of the things I discussed with
Speaker 2: Sam Hubbard. Before we get to that, we remind you
Speaker 2: that The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by
Speaker 2: Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With
Speaker 2: more than one hundred and twenty care facilities and fifteen
Speaker 2: hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
Speaker 2: to your best health. Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now,
Speaker 2: without further ado, my recent conversation about the play with
Speaker 2: Sam Hubbard. All right, let's turn the clock back seventeen
Speaker 2: all twelve minutes to go in the fourth quarter, third
Speaker 2: and goal from the one. Described what happened in as
Speaker 2: much detail as you can.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was a fourteen play drive, so we're all
Speaker 5: pretty gassed down in the one yard line, kind of
Speaker 5: backs against the wall. The quarterback decided to try and
Speaker 5: go over the top of the pile, and a quarterback
Speaker 5: sneak in logan Wilson and Jermain Pratt punch a bo
Speaker 5: all out landed in my hands and had enough gas
Speaker 5: to get the end zone and ended up winning the
Speaker 5: game for us.
Speaker 2: You glanced back a couple of times early. It looked
Speaker 2: like you looked at the video board in the midst
Speaker 2: of the run. Did you have a sense of what
Speaker 2: was behind you?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 5: I kind of was backwards on the jumbo tron, so
Speaker 5: I swerved the wrong way because it's backwards.
Speaker 6: But I had some blockers with me. Yeah, I was
Speaker 6: all blur.
Speaker 5: I just am glad that I didn't get tripped up
Speaker 5: on the ten yard line.
Speaker 2: Mark Andrews looked like you say, bolt as he tried
Speaker 2: to run you down. He dove at your feet around
Speaker 2: the twenty You stumbled ever so slightly. Did he get
Speaker 2: a piece of your shoe?
Speaker 6: I think I was just trying to pick my feet up.
Speaker 5: You know, usually I'm on the other end of that,
Speaker 5: trying to take out the runner's ankles. But uh, you know,
Speaker 5: I just know that you've picked your feet up. Keep him,
Speaker 5: keep them chopping, and you're gonna You're gonna get in.
Speaker 6: The end zone.
Speaker 2: Marcus Bailey came dangerously close to a possible blocking in
Speaker 2: the back hall. Ravens fans obviously think he was guilty.
Speaker 2: Was that a topic of discussion when you all look
Speaker 2: back at the tape?
Speaker 5: No, I was a clean blockie, you know he was.
Speaker 5: He turned his back and he was lateral with him,
Speaker 5: So you know, you can't really call that but a
Speaker 5: great effort by Mark.
Speaker 6: He's a hell of a player.
Speaker 5: Be competing against him since college and I got the
Speaker 5: utmost respect for him.
Speaker 2: We've all seen the famous shot of you in the
Speaker 2: oxygen mask. Did you need it? Did you request it?
Speaker 2: How did that come about?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I truly was completely exhausted. I don't think I could
Speaker 5: play anymore of the game. I really emptied the tank
Speaker 5: after that drive straight into that run.
Speaker 6: And I had nothing left.
Speaker 5: But I had some teammates that stepped up for me
Speaker 5: and finished out the game.
Speaker 2: I went to college with Mike Jerico. I'm sure you've
Speaker 2: heard his famous call of the play where he first
Speaker 2: used the Cincinnati kid. What did you you and your
Speaker 2: family think of that?
Speaker 6: I thought it was perfect.
Speaker 5: A credit to him for doing the research talking to
Speaker 5: Doug Rosfeld before the game. No one might you know,
Speaker 5: just knowing everybody's story and being so invested in the
Speaker 5: game he was calling and really made for a special moment.
Speaker 2: You mentioned that Jermaine Pratt and Logan Wilson stacked up
Speaker 2: the quarterback to lead to the fumble, and the previous play,
Speaker 2: Von Bell makes a great tackle to keep the running
Speaker 2: back out of the end zone. Before the goal to
Speaker 2: go situation, Jesse Bates made a great hustle play to
Speaker 2: knock a guy that bounds around the two yard line.
Speaker 2: Does that whole sequence kind of epitomize what this defense
Speaker 2: is about?
Speaker 6: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 5: You know we uh, we're gonna fight, fight, scratch and
Speaker 5: claw for every yard and you know, not give him anything.
Speaker 5: You know, they're they're gonna get yards, but yards on
Speaker 5: equal points. And that's kind of our philosophy is. You know,
Speaker 5: when it comes down to a red zone, third down,
Speaker 5: goal line, we play our best ball.
Speaker 2: The play was ninety eight yards, you actually covered one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty three. You always do sprints at the
Speaker 2: at the end of practice. Does that cross your mind
Speaker 2: now as you're doing those sprints.
Speaker 5: No, I'm just getting in shape for the season and
Speaker 5: get myself ready for whatever happens next. You know, I've
Speaker 5: made some big plays at the end of the game
Speaker 5: the last couple of pro seasons, just being in better
Speaker 5: shape than everybody else, and that's something I continue to
Speaker 5: plan on doing.
Speaker 2: I think it's the greatest single play in franchise history.
Speaker 2: As a Cincinnati native. What does that mean?
Speaker 5: It means a lot. It's got its place in history,
Speaker 5: and I look forward to continuing to build on that legacy.
Speaker 2: Fumble in the Jungle or the Hubbard yard Dash.
Speaker 6: I'll let the people decide.
Speaker 2: That I'm a fumble in the Jungle guy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I like that too, Thanks Sam, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps.
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Speaker 2: this time, Adam Rank from the NFL Network writes a
Speaker 2: state of the Franchise story about all thirty two NFL
Speaker 2: teams for NFL dot Com. He wrote about the teams
Speaker 2: in the AFC North last week and not only picked
Speaker 2: the Bengals to win the division, he thinks that Cincinnati
Speaker 2: is the best team in the NFL. All right, Adam,
Speaker 2: let's talk about the state of the Bengals. Your article
Speaker 2: has this title super Bowl or bust for Joe Burrow
Speaker 2: and company. You are setting the bar very high, which
Speaker 2: we like here in Cincinnati. Share your thoughts on your
Speaker 2: expectations for the Bengals this year.
Speaker 1: I don't think that I'm setting the bar high. You
Speaker 1: guys are setting the bar high. I think that over
Speaker 1: the last couple of seasons, I thought that the Bengals
Speaker 1: were the best team in the AFC. Two years ago
Speaker 1: obviously went to the Super Bowl loss a very close
Speaker 1: contest to the La RAI that could have gone either way.
Speaker 1: Last season, of course, things happened. You know, when you
Speaker 1: allow the Kansas City Chiefs to have extra plays willy nilly,
Speaker 1: like a wait, hold on, it's a doe over, Like
Speaker 1: I've never seen that stuff since we were kids playing
Speaker 1: on the street. Be like, no, no, no, that's a do over,
Speaker 1: Like what do you mean it's a doover? Like no, no, no,
Speaker 1: we did it like that is inexcusable. So again, you know,
Speaker 1: things being what they were, I think that over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, the Cincinnati Bengals have proven themselves
Speaker 1: that if they are not the best team in the AFC,
Speaker 1: there are certainly top two. And here's here's here's the
Speaker 1: thing nobody wants to talk about. They went out and
Speaker 1: they got better. Not only did they get better. And
Speaker 1: I know I'm gonna I don't want to. I don't
Speaker 1: want to use all my my take all my shots here.
Speaker 1: But it's like and the whole thing of like keeping
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator, like you did not get raided on
Speaker 1: the staff, it's insane. Do how are the Bengals so good?
Speaker 1: But you know what, do you want to hire all
Speaker 1: the Eagles guys? You want to hire guys from the Rams? Still,
Speaker 1: like go crazy. The Bengals staff is in tack. They've
Speaker 1: fortified the roster. If I was a Chiefs fan, I
Speaker 1: would be very worried. But they're not because the Chiefs
Speaker 1: fans are arrogant and.
Speaker 2: They have Patrick Mahomes, which obviously helped. He's fine, Yeah,
Speaker 2: he's all right, he's all right. It's not Pat who
Speaker 2: that's for sure. So I agree that you are not
Speaker 2: setting the bar too high. But on NFL Network, he
Speaker 2: recently went through game by game and looked at the
Speaker 2: Bengals schedule. You've got them starting thirteen and one, including
Speaker 2: wins over the forty nine ers in San Francisco and
Speaker 2: the Bills at home. You've got them at fourteen and
Speaker 2: three overall with a win over the Chiefs on New
Speaker 2: Year's Eve, and fourteen and three only because they are
Speaker 2: basically taking the final game of the season off. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the rest of the playoffs is the number one seed?
Speaker 2: Are they your number one team overall in the entire NFL.
Speaker 1: I believe that the Bengals are the best team, not
Speaker 1: only in the AFC, but all of the NFL. I
Speaker 1: think that they've gone out there, as I've said, They've
Speaker 1: fortified their team, They've gotten bet are in places where
Speaker 1: they were not as strong. They've kept the coaching staff
Speaker 1: in tact. You talk about Patrick Mahomes. The Bengals have
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, who I feel is on that elite class
Speaker 1: like you have Roman Reigns and you have John Cena.
Speaker 1: Both of them could have a claim to be the
Speaker 1: greatest of their era. I think that both of these
Speaker 1: guys that when their careers are said and done, that
Speaker 1: they're gonna be like I was better you or better
Speaker 1: you know, whatever it is, They're gonna be very equal.
Speaker 1: And I think that Joe Burrow has been able to
Speaker 1: do it behind an offensive line that has had some deficiencies.
Speaker 1: You know, I look back at this too, and I
Speaker 1: know this is a long winded answer to a very
Speaker 1: short question, but I go back to the whole thing
Speaker 1: about taking Penny Suwel or taking Jamar Chase. I remember
Speaker 1: doing my mock draft with a twist and I said,
Speaker 1: you know, take Penny Seol. It makes sense when you
Speaker 1: took the wide receiver Jamar Chase, I wrote in my
Speaker 1: State of the Franchise article that year, is that I
Speaker 1: was in like, I allow you like if you go
Speaker 1: if we go out for pizza, and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: would like the Hawaiian style, and you're gonna like, no, no,
Speaker 1: I want the Buffalo chick and be like, that's also
Speaker 1: a great choice. I'm with you. I agree with you,
Speaker 1: and I felt that the Bengals, you know, they've done
Speaker 1: their due diligence. I have a lot of faith in
Speaker 1: what they were doing. It makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: I get it, and now it looks like it is
Speaker 1: going to pay off because Jamar Chase is If he's
Speaker 1: not the best wide receiver in the game, maybe justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson's ahead of him. You can make an argument for
Speaker 1: Devonte Adams. Fine, Jamar Chase is a top five wide
Speaker 1: receiver and he's been so instrumental in him being there.
Speaker 1: I would say this, if you didn't have Jamar Chase,
Speaker 1: you don't go to the Super Bowl two years ago.
Speaker 1: You're not in the AFC Championship game. It's as great
Speaker 1: as Penny Stool has been. What does it meant for
Speaker 1: the Lions. It is not like they didn't get to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. So I love everything that they've done and
Speaker 1: I think that they are sincerely the best team. Last year,
Speaker 1: you know, they went to Buffalo and beat that team,
Speaker 1: and again everybody was not giving them for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: people were not giving the Bengals a chance in that game.
Speaker 1: They should have gone to Arrowhead and won that game
Speaker 1: as well. And I think that I love everything with
Speaker 1: Burrowhead Patrick who Patrick Who's a little excessive, but Burrowhead
Speaker 1: absolutely apt. The Bengals own that team. I feel like
Speaker 1: they owned the Bills, They owned the they owned the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: they own all of them. And so you know what,
Speaker 1: the division being very tough is gonna also help them
Speaker 1: because they play good competition all the time. But I
Speaker 1: when I look at the schedule, I'm like, I think
Speaker 1: the Bengals are a better team here, They're a better
Speaker 1: team there. And really the losses are the ones, like
Speaker 1: you said, like it's the end of the season, Like
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, you're playing with it. Cleveland game, Yeah,
Speaker 1: who cares that is a Cleveland Who's going to be
Speaker 1: the head coach? Then who's who's there? Because Stefanski's gonna
Speaker 1: end up being fired? They have not who's their defensive coordinator?
Speaker 1: Jim Schwartz. Jim Schwartz. Yeah, Jim Schwartz is gonna end
Speaker 1: up being the Browns coach at some point this season.
Speaker 1: That's my that's my hot take, he said. Jim Schwartz
Speaker 1: playing for his job in twenty twenty four, is going
Speaker 1: to eke out a meaningless win over the Bengals in
Speaker 1: Week eighteen. That's that's the kind of thought I put
Speaker 1: into this stuff. I know a lot of people are like,
Speaker 1: you're crazy, you don't know what you're doing, And you
Speaker 1: could look back at some of the predictions last year
Speaker 1: and be like, yeah, you're absolutely correct. But sometimes I
Speaker 1: do know what I'm talking about, and I think that
Speaker 1: Jim Schwartz is gonna end up being the coach of
Speaker 1: the Browns this season. That's a bad that's a bad situation.
Speaker 1: Like I get the Kevin Stefanski wants to win and
Speaker 1: you want to bring in an experienced defensive coordinator to
Speaker 1: help you along. Don't pick it. Don't bring in the
Speaker 1: guy that has NFL head coaching experience, Like it's the
Speaker 1: whole thing, Like what am I doing? Like Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: has got to constantly be looking over his shoulder because
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn is eventually going to be a head coach
Speaker 1: at some point. Like these guys like okay, like it
Speaker 1: it makes sense, Like I get the theory behind it,
Speaker 1: but like, do you really is this really what you
Speaker 1: want to do? It is like it's like a sitcom.
Speaker 1: It's like Zach telling Slater to like take care of
Speaker 1: Kelly while he's out of town. He's like, oh, now
Speaker 1: they're dating. When I come to That's exactly what it
Speaker 1: feels like with the Browns. So good luck with that.
Speaker 1: Whole situation.
Speaker 2: I hope.
Speaker 1: I don't want you guys to lose to the Browns
Speaker 1: in Week eighteen. And believe me, I'm not saying the
Speaker 1: Browns are a better team, but circumstances being what they were.
Speaker 1: I look through all this stuff, I just feel like
Speaker 1: that's a very Browns win kind of game for them
Speaker 1: to finish seven and ten and for the Bengals to
Speaker 1: get ready for a playoff run.
Speaker 2: Well, you've got the Bengals beating the Browns, excuse me,
Speaker 2: in Cleveland in week one.
Speaker 1: Obviously, let's be realistic. What's going to happen.
Speaker 2: We are chatting with Adam Rank from the NFL Network.
Speaker 2: You can read his state of the franchise articles at
Speaker 2: NFL dot com. You can also follow him on Twitter
Speaker 2: at Adam Rank. I don't want to spoil too much
Speaker 2: in your article about the Bengals, but you have the
Speaker 2: offensive line listed as a strength. Yeah, it's been a
Speaker 2: while since any national expert listed the Bengals offensive line
Speaker 2: as a strength. Orlando Brown Junior moved the needle that much, apparently, absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean that is such a huge deal. Is to
Speaker 1: go out there and land and left tackle that you
Speaker 1: feel not that the not that you were. It was
Speaker 1: a detriment last season. But at the same time, like
Speaker 1: having Orlando Brown Junior in there and being able to
Speaker 1: like kind of quell all all the egos. Some people
Speaker 1: have to change position, which I know is not as
Speaker 1: easy as a lot of people. But it feels like
Speaker 1: and from and you're there, you're you're on the ground,
Speaker 1: so you would know better than me. But from my
Speaker 1: from from my outside view, it feels like everybody's copa setic.
Speaker 1: Now everybody's fine, cooler, calmer, calmer heads prevailed. I think
Speaker 1: that a lot of times too, Like it is, there's
Speaker 1: a little bit of an ego thing, like you feel
Speaker 1: like you're a left tackle, you want me to play
Speaker 1: right tackle, but like Orlando Brown Junior is pretty good,
Speaker 1: Like it makes sense. Sometimes you've got to accommodate some people.
Speaker 1: And I think that now and even Loyol Collins, you know,
Speaker 1: he doesn't need to rush back. That's a depth piece
Speaker 1: now like that before was like we need him to play.
Speaker 1: Now it's like, okay, yeah, whatever, you could just it's
Speaker 1: it's it's a depth piece. And I think that we're
Speaker 1: starting to see that emerge as a strength for the
Speaker 1: Bengals and now as a long term play. Now you
Speaker 1: look back at the Jamar Chase draft pick and you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: now it's all working out. We got the one super Bowl,
Speaker 1: we've been to back to back AFC title games. I
Speaker 1: think the Jamar Chase thing has been vindicated. Now your
Speaker 1: offensive line is even better. And if you give Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow more time to throw with what I consider probably
Speaker 1: the best trio of wide receivers in the NFL, I
Speaker 1: think that's a huge thing, and I as scary as
Speaker 1: it is, because last year Joe Burrow obviously set a
Speaker 1: club record with thirty five touchdown passes. The thing that
Speaker 1: he could be even better, Like he's an ascending player. Still.
Speaker 1: As much as we love Patrick Mahomes and everything, Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow is still an ascending player. And I love everything
Speaker 1: about this situation. And I really do feel very comfortable
Speaker 1: with the Bengals offense moving forward, especially the offensive line.
Speaker 2: And as far as I know, you can only have
Speaker 2: your appendix taken out once, right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, So
Speaker 2: Joe should be good in Week one this year as
Speaker 2: opposed to not himself until about Week.
Speaker 1: Three or four. Yeah, that's that's another thing. That gets
Speaker 1: just kind of like overlooked, like people talk about well
Speaker 1: this team had this or we and I was like, uh,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow had its appendix out in August if I
Speaker 1: if I remember the timeline correcting camp, it was yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, because we were doing that. We had an
Speaker 1: interview scheduled with him. He was supposed to join us,
Speaker 1: Tom Pillisero and me. He was going to join and
Speaker 1: I know Ian was there as well, but Ian was
Speaker 1: leaving to Indianapolis. But Tom and I were going to
Speaker 1: interview him. We're gonna get I was so excited of like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, because honestly it was my first time
Speaker 1: being in Cincinnati as an adult. So that was cool.
Speaker 1: By the way, I will say this Renee Paquette, who
Speaker 1: is an announcer for ae W. She had tweeted out
Speaker 1: something that said, Hey, I've heard that Cincinnati is the
Speaker 1: San Diego of the Midwest, and I think I saw
Speaker 1: that painted on a building somewhere and I I'll be
Speaker 1: the judge of this. As a San Diego expert, I
Speaker 1: will be and I'm dubious of this. And I show
Speaker 1: up to Cincinnati and I was like, yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1: I see it. It makes a lot of sense, Like, yeah, oh,
Speaker 1: the breweries, the original sam Adams Brewery, the Rhine, I
Speaker 1: believe it guys. The market, but the marketplace where the
Speaker 1: Reds state the Reds Parade Startsley Market. That's Finley Market,
Speaker 1: Binley Market.
Speaker 6: Oh.
Speaker 1: I was at Binley Market and I was walking by
Speaker 1: and I saw a bunch of people lined up for
Speaker 1: bread and I'm like, I just got in the line
Speaker 1: and somebody's like, what's good here. I'm like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but there's a ton of people here, so it can't
Speaker 1: be terrible. I'm just gonna buy. I'm gonna let my heart.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, like, just fill my basket up with
Speaker 1: whatever for twenty.
Speaker 6: Bakery.
Speaker 1: Yes, So I loved everything about it. I went to
Speaker 1: the ballpark. It was amazing. But I was most excited
Speaker 1: about talking to Joe Burrow, but unfortunately he did have
Speaker 1: his appendix, we didn't get to talk to him. But again,
Speaker 1: he's coming into camp healthy, ready to go. This team
Speaker 1: and it feels like it's it's very cohesive. Again, the
Speaker 1: egos on the offensive line seem to be all squared away.
Speaker 1: So I love everything that's going on with the Bengals
Speaker 1: right now, I hope to get out there again.
Speaker 2: We hope you get back out here because you brought
Speaker 2: good mojo for that training camp visit. So, following up
Speaker 2: on the Pina Sewell Jamar Chase draft, I was one
Speaker 2: hundred percent Pina Sewell going into it. I'm glad to
Speaker 2: have been wrong. What I learned is that the value
Speaker 2: of a transcendent wide receiver is greater than the value
Speaker 2: of any individual offensive lineman, with the possible exception of
Speaker 2: Anthony Munoz in his prime.
Speaker 1: Right, but you're.
Speaker 2: Five good offensive linemen. You don't necessarily need the best
Speaker 2: offensive lineman in the league. You just can't have really
Speaker 2: bad ones.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't want to be a debt. You don't
Speaker 1: want it to be a detriment. You don't want it
Speaker 1: to be the worst offensive line. You want to at
Speaker 1: least be a somewhat of a roadblock. And I think
Speaker 1: it was over exaggerated about how much it was going
Speaker 1: to be. Now, obviously you can look back at the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and say, well, I mean, you know, Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald was able to play very well, But you're like,
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald's an exceptional player like that, he beats a
Speaker 1: lot of good offensive linemen. But I'm with you, like initially,
Speaker 1: like whoever they would have drafted that year, I would
Speaker 1: have been able to I would have been able to
Speaker 1: see the process and understand the rationale behind it. Like
Speaker 1: when David Caruso left NYPD Blue to go do movies.
Speaker 1: You kind of understand what he's talking about. Sometimes it
Speaker 1: works out. Like David Caruso, it didn't work out as
Speaker 1: well for him, he has to go back to do
Speaker 1: CSI Miami. George Clooney did the same thing. He left
Speaker 1: dr Like, what are you doing. You're losing, You're leaving
Speaker 1: this television show that he goes out to be the
Speaker 1: kloon dog and then everything's great. So you understand the process.
Speaker 1: Oh Clooney. By the way, I did not mean I
Speaker 1: was not pandering to the Cincinnati crowd by doing that.
Speaker 1: I'm a huge George Clooney fan by nature, but of
Speaker 1: course he's also a famous Bengals fan, and I'm assuming
Speaker 1: a Reds fan too. By the way, That's the one
Speaker 1: thing that I love about what's happening in Cincinnati. Your
Speaker 1: soccer team. They yet I don't know one loss.
Speaker 2: They have one loss all year, so great record setting pace.
Speaker 1: So amazing for them, and then the Red's playing so well.
Speaker 1: I love the Reds are almost my National League team
Speaker 1: because I fell in love with that stadium and fell
Speaker 1: in love with the crowd last year. And uh, and
Speaker 1: Ellie doing what he's doing like it's cool. And you
Speaker 1: got a bunch of prospects for the Mariners, who I hate.
Speaker 1: I know, it seems weird. Somebody's like, somebody hates the Mariners.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we we in southern California, especially if you're
Speaker 1: an Angels fan, we hate the Mariners. So I want
Speaker 1: both of those prospects, or all the prospects you got
Speaker 1: for Luis Castillo to be All Stars so we can
Speaker 1: rub that in Seattle's face forever. All right, I love it.
Speaker 2: So there are some question marks on the Bengals roster,
Speaker 2: most notably in the secondary. Three members of the secondary
Speaker 2: that started in THEFC Championship Game last year are no
Speaker 2: longer around. Jesse Bates, von Bell, Eli Apple, You're not
Speaker 2: overly concerned about.
Speaker 1: That, correct, I mean I'm somewhat concerned. I think if
Speaker 1: there is an Achilles heal with this team and you
Speaker 1: need Dak Siel to step up, you know, And I
Speaker 1: was trying to be as positive as possible. I'm going
Speaker 1: back and forth with the editors and they're like, well,
Speaker 1: we're not seeing it on tape, and I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: but you know what, Like you said, they had great
Speaker 1: players playing ahead of him, that he wasn't really pressed
Speaker 1: into action all that much. But listen, he's a first
Speaker 1: round pick for a reason. And I believe that your
Speaker 1: secondary coach came out and said the same thing. It's like,
Speaker 1: these guys have ability and at some point you just
Speaker 1: need to roll the dice. And the one thing that
Speaker 1: I really like about the Bengals, and I know that
Speaker 1: I put this in the piece, is that they've never
Speaker 1: really been a dominant defense, like you know, the eighty
Speaker 1: six Bears. And I know that I said eighty six Bears,
Speaker 1: the eighty six Bears. Statistically, we're better than the eighty
Speaker 1: five Bears. I know what I'm talking about. The Ravens
Speaker 1: of the early two thousands. You don't need to be
Speaker 1: that good, especially in the modern NFL, especially when you
Speaker 1: get to the playoffs. Now you're going to get into
Speaker 1: these They're gonna be a lot closer than you anticipate.
Speaker 1: But you know, can you make the stops when you
Speaker 1: need to make the stops. I think we saw that
Speaker 1: last year against Buffalo, and I think Dax actually went
Speaker 1: out there and made a pretty nice play on I
Speaker 1: believe it was Dawson Knox. He's shown that he can
Speaker 1: do it at times. So I think that the way
Speaker 1: that the Bengals play defense, they take the spirit from people.
Speaker 1: They really do. They really do come out there. And
Speaker 1: I felt like in that especially that game against the Bills,
Speaker 1: like they shook Josh Allen. They have done a really
Speaker 1: nice job against Patrick Mahomes. You hold him to twenty
Speaker 1: three points. That's a pretty good job. Like, hey, are
Speaker 1: you shutting teams down? Like no, but like the team,
Speaker 1: the NFL doesn't work that way anymore. They've changed the
Speaker 1: rules so much that you can't have a dominant defense,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't make sense to have a dominant defense
Speaker 1: in some In some respects, you gotta be able to
Speaker 1: score points. The Bengals can do that. You gotta have
Speaker 1: a defense. You have to have a defensive coordinator that
Speaker 1: knows how to shut down people, that knows how to
Speaker 1: get the most out of the talent around him. I
Speaker 1: think that all the guys who are leaving, you know,
Speaker 1: Baits and all them, everybody who's leaving. They're good players.
Speaker 1: But I think as long as you keep I'marilla or
Speaker 1: sorry about and and Arumo, I always say that incorrectly.
Speaker 1: That's why that's why I take the coward's way out
Speaker 1: and say the defensive coordinator Lou Lou Lou is so
Speaker 1: good as finding way because, like if you think about it,
Speaker 1: two years ago, he really solved the puzzle of stop
Speaker 1: or at least slowing down Patrick Mahomes and really going
Speaker 1: out there and putting together a plan that can slow
Speaker 1: him down. Even last year, I know that they ended
Speaker 1: up winning. You know, that's what happens when you give
Speaker 1: a quarterback that good eight downs to get a first
Speaker 1: Then fine, I'm not saying whatever. I don't want to
Speaker 1: get into trouble. I'm still a league employee. So I
Speaker 1: think that he's done a great job, and so I
Speaker 1: have a lot of confidence of that. And you know what,
Speaker 1: every team is shifting, every team is juggling rosters. I
Speaker 1: think the Bengals have proven over the last couple of
Speaker 1: years that they know what they're doing. They've got a
Speaker 1: great plan, they've got a great process. So I'm going
Speaker 1: to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I
Speaker 1: think they're going to find a way. They're not going
Speaker 1: to be the most dominant defense in the NFL, but
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to make the stops when
Speaker 1: they need to, and that's the most important thing.
Speaker 2: Has Cincinnati Kansas City become the hottest rivalry in the NFL? Oh?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's so much fun. I know we're probably old
Speaker 1: enough to remember the Cowboys and the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: going back and forth in the nineteen nineties. He had
Speaker 1: the Ravens and Ravens than Steelers for a couple of years.
Speaker 1: That was the hot ticket. And there's been some other
Speaker 1: one San Francisco, Green Bay, things of that nature. But
Speaker 1: I think that the one thing that is so special
Speaker 1: about the Chiefs and the Bengals is that they both
Speaker 1: have marquee quarterbacks. Sometimes you get into these, man it's
Speaker 1: a defensive team against an offensive team, like what is
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo versus Aaron Rodgers. It's not quite as sexy
Speaker 1: as Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes, who arguably are the
Speaker 1: two best quarterbacks in the NFL. I can't imagine who
Speaker 1: you would rank ahead of them. I'm sure somebody will
Speaker 1: chime in, not in Cincinnati, somebody somewhere will take up
Speaker 1: a probably Buffalo, which, by the way, Buffalo, And if
Speaker 1: you saw my predictions for Buffalo, I'm not a big
Speaker 1: believer in that team. I think that I think that
Speaker 1: Buffalo's window might be closing. I think it might be
Speaker 1: closing a little bit sooner than people think, but I do.
Speaker 1: I don't feel that way with Cincinnati, and I think
Speaker 1: it's because of the quarterback and everything. And this is
Speaker 1: why this rivalry is so good, because you have two
Speaker 1: marquee guys at the quarterback position, which is everything you
Speaker 1: want in one of these great rivalries. Even like for
Speaker 1: anybody who grew up in the eighties, like all these
Speaker 1: teams had, all these teams that were good always had
Speaker 1: a good quarterback, whether it was the Broncos they had Lway.
Speaker 1: Even Phil Simms with the Giants was pretty good. I
Speaker 1: guess the Washington team never this. Thisman was fine, but
Speaker 1: still Montana. All those guys. You want to have that
Speaker 1: marquee quarterback and both teams have that. So that's why
Speaker 1: I love this rivalry.
Speaker 2: We're talking to Adam Rank from the NFL Network. You
Speaker 2: can check out his State of the Franchise articles at
Speaker 2: NFL dot com. So you've done the State of the
Speaker 2: Franchise articles on the other teams in the division. How
Speaker 2: do you think everybody else stacks up Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, I'm impressed by Baltimore going out
Speaker 1: there and really addressing the wide receiver position. It's strange
Speaker 1: to me that they've never drafted a Pro Bowl wide receiver,
Speaker 1: and you think about all the guys. Every year, it
Speaker 1: seems like they draft a wide receiver. It was Rashad
Speaker 1: Bateman a couple of years ago. He's missed some games.
Speaker 1: Now it's Zay Flowers. I want to believe in my
Speaker 1: scouting or at least listening to the scouts who tell me, like,
Speaker 1: I think Zay Flowers is a good player. We saw
Speaker 1: some of the film of him at Boston College. But
Speaker 1: you're like, he's still drafted by the Ravens, Like, how
Speaker 1: good is it going to be? I love Odell Beckham junior.
Speaker 1: He is a premier wide receiver, and it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: but it's gonna be Isaiah Likely who ends up leading
Speaker 1: the team in receptions or something like that. I want
Speaker 1: to see. But I love Baltimore. I like John Harbaugh.
Speaker 1: I think he's a great coach, but he got to
Speaker 1: see it. You know, there's something about them like they
Speaker 1: need to be able to get over that hump, you know.
Speaker 1: With Lamar Jackson, I'm a big Lamar Jackson fan, and
Speaker 1: I would even point out that, you know, even like
Speaker 1: I know a lot of teams are like, well, if
Speaker 1: we get them in a deficit, they they can't rally
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. But Lamar Jackson has really good
Speaker 1: numbers when he's trailing in the fourth quarter. You know,
Speaker 1: I put that in the piece as well. But at
Speaker 1: some point you got to do it, you know. That's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing with me is like Lamar Jackson's what
Speaker 1: one and three in the playoffs. One of those wins
Speaker 1: came against the Chargers, which I don't think should count. Joe.
Speaker 1: That's the one thing about Joe Burrow, It's like we've
Speaker 1: already seen it. Like we've seen him go to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl, We've seen him win big games, win big
Speaker 1: games on the road. We have not seen that from Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I like, what's doing my scouting or my my thoughts
Speaker 1: of Kenny Pickett coming in last year? I didn't think
Speaker 1: he was the best quarterback prospect. Now he played very
Speaker 1: well at the end of the season, But I think
Speaker 1: a lot of that coincided with TJ. Watt returning. They're like, well,
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett was six and two in his last eight games,
Speaker 1: are like, well, TJ. Watt also returned, Like, let's not
Speaker 1: forget that it's TJ. Watt who returned that also helped
Speaker 1: propel them to all those wins. So I think they
Speaker 1: still have some question marks at quarterback. And then Cleveland,
Speaker 1: I whatever. Like, again, I've already given you my thoughts
Speaker 1: on Cleveland. You've already fired Stefanski. I've already fired him.
Speaker 1: I don't like their quarterback. I I don't know. I
Speaker 1: just I don't like the situation. I don't like what
Speaker 1: they've done. Like I just I just don't dig it, honestly,
Speaker 1: like any quarterback that you're gonna go out there and
Speaker 1: give a fully getting You're you're giving up so much capital.
Speaker 1: You know, you gave up so much draft capital to
Speaker 1: get this quarterback who hadn't played what twenty months or
Speaker 1: something like that. It's such a huge risk, like giving
Speaker 1: up that, Like even Denver found out the hard way like,
Speaker 1: maybe you should build a better team around some of
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks. Maybe these quarterbacks aren't as good as we
Speaker 1: think they are. Now, there are some guys I think
Speaker 1: who are transcendent who would be fine anywhere, Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: being one of them, Patrick Mahomes being one of them.
Speaker 1: I think Cleveland's gonna find out the hard way. And
Speaker 1: then you know, when the season goes on, you know,
Speaker 1: and you start as injuries happen and things start to
Speaker 1: erode your depth, and you're like, oh, yeah, it would
Speaker 1: have been nice to have a couple of first round
Speaker 1: picks that we could plug in right here. That's gonna
Speaker 1: end up hurting them. So I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1: Cleveland could surprise me, and I will come out there
Speaker 1: and I'll admit it, and I'll apologize to everybody in
Speaker 1: Cleveland to Drew Carry everybody. I just don't see it.
Speaker 1: I can make a case for Pittsburgh more so Baltimore,
Speaker 1: who are good teams. I don't think they're the elite
Speaker 1: level that Cincinnati is.
Speaker 2: And you don't see Deshaun Watson returning to the four
Speaker 2: that he displayed in Houston before all of his problems.
Speaker 1: What is his form like, what is it like throwing
Speaker 1: for four thousand yards and winning four games? Like AF
Speaker 1: I could see that. I could definitely see Cleveland doing that.
Speaker 1: I just don't see them winning a lot of football games.
Speaker 1: Like He's never on the NFL level been able to
Speaker 1: do that. And you look at it. Was it Houston?
Speaker 1: Was it him? I don't know, Like last year it
Speaker 1: didn't seem like maybe Houston knew what they were doing
Speaker 1: when they got rid of him. So I need to
Speaker 1: see it. I need to see him go out there
Speaker 1: and perform in Cleveland. And they've got a pretty decent class.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've got good wide receivers as well. Amari
Speaker 1: Cooper continues to be vastly underrated. Nick Chubbs a very
Speaker 1: good running back. Let's see if they can put it together.
Speaker 1: I'm going to remain skeptical until I see it.
Speaker 2: So last thing, the Bengals are your AFC team. Let's
Speaker 2: say they stay relatively injury free. I'm knocking on my
Speaker 2: head and live up to that prediction. Who do they
Speaker 2: face in the Super Bowl? He glass forty nine ers?
Speaker 2: What do you think your beloved Bears for Bears? Why
Speaker 2: can't I just say the Bears? Like I gotta know
Speaker 2: if I was, if I'm picking it right now. It's
Speaker 2: so hard for these teams to get back to the
Speaker 2: super Bowl. We saw it last year with your own Bengals.
Speaker 2: You know the Eagles are going to be back in
Speaker 2: the NFC Championship game. I think that the NFC comes
Speaker 2: down to two teams. It's the Bengal or the Bengals.
Speaker 2: It's the forty nine Ers and it's the Eagles.
Speaker 1: And I think that those two teams are vastly superior
Speaker 1: to everybody else. The Cowboys fans will argue with this,
Speaker 1: but still like it is the NFC North is, although
Speaker 1: Lions fans think it's them, I don't, No, it's not.
Speaker 1: I really like the forty nine Ers. I think that
Speaker 1: they could figure out their quarterback situation and it's a
Speaker 1: it's a huge leap of faith, but at Brock perty
Speaker 1: And you can ask me again in August, once training
Speaker 1: camp starts and we see Brock party throw or whether
Speaker 1: Trey Lance is fully able to rehab. I think as
Speaker 1: long as they lock in on one quarterback and go
Speaker 1: with him, I think defensively they're great. They've got Christian McCaffrey,
Speaker 1: they've got so much talent on offense, it's hard for
Speaker 1: me to imagine them failing, and even last year in
Speaker 1: that NFC Championship game, even being as like no dimensional
Speaker 1: as they were, and perhaps Philadelphia was just playing down
Speaker 1: to their opponent, not exposing their full bag of tricks,
Speaker 1: knowing that they were going to beat this team. I
Speaker 1: thought the forty nine Ers made that game a lot
Speaker 1: more competitive than it should have been. And at some point,
Speaker 1: I'm like, why aren't you just direct snapping at the
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey Just do that? Like why why not? Like
Speaker 1: I would I would have Christian McCaffrey taking snaps instead
Speaker 1: of changing the rule for the emergency quarterback. I would
Speaker 1: just have McCaffrey take snaps, or you could could you
Speaker 1: catch the ball out of the shotgun? Like figure it out.
Speaker 1: I think the forty nine ers are very good, so
Speaker 1: I I don't know, you know what, I've actually now
Speaker 1: talked myself into the Eagles because I think the stability
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position with Jalen Hurts and a very
Speaker 1: good team. Yeah, Bengals Eagles, Like it's.
Speaker 2: Like it should have been last year Bengals Eagles Super
Speaker 2: Bowl and Stefanski fired with Jim Schwartz taking over at
Speaker 2: some point before the end of the year. Those are
Speaker 2: the hot take predictions from this particular podcast appearance.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's good. Well, hey, wait, why don't
Speaker 1: I just throwing the Bears are making the playoffs too,
Speaker 1: just so I can go completely, just to really erode
Speaker 1: all my credibility. I know, I feel like I'm pandering,
Speaker 1: but we've had this discussion. We've been doing this for
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, and I remember the first
Speaker 1: time that the Bengals made it back. You were like,
Speaker 1: not surprised, but you're like, oh, you see a lot
Speaker 1: of promise in this Bengals team. I go, I really
Speaker 1: do so. As wrong as I've ever been about the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers of some of these other teams, I
Speaker 1: have been spot on with the Bengals, I feel every year,
Speaker 1: so at least take heart in that it's like, I
Speaker 1: know your team. I'm might not the other ones, but
Speaker 1: I know the Bengals, and I know that you guys
Speaker 1: are gonna be doing really well. All right.
Speaker 2: The state of the franchise stories are great, They're very interesting,
Speaker 2: they're very funny. You do a great job with it
Speaker 2: every year, and I appreciate you coming on the podcast
Speaker 2: every year.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Adam.
Speaker 2: Hope to see you in Cincinnati sometime during training camp.
Speaker 1: I'd love to be on to Cincinnati because it's a
Speaker 1: great town, great fans. I enjoyed every minute of it,
Speaker 1: so I hope to do that again. And Asel. I
Speaker 1: hope the Reds are in town because I gotta go
Speaker 1: see Ali. Oh, gotta go see him.
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
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