Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'm so excited and I
Speaker 1: just can't hide it. Addition, as the Bengals look to
Speaker 1: advance to the AFC Championship Game by knocking off the
Speaker 1: number one playoff seed in the AFC, the twelve and
Speaker 1: five Tennessee Titans. Coming up, I'll talk xes and o's
Speaker 1: with one of my favorite podcast guests, Greg Cosell from
Speaker 1: NFL Films and ESPN. My one on one player interview
Speaker 1: is with offensive lineman Quentin Spain. My broadcast partner Dave
Speaker 1: Lapplom joins me to look at the injury concerns on
Speaker 1: the Bengals defensive line and in our Know the Faux segment,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from John Burton, a TV sports anchor and
Speaker 1: radio talk show host in Nashville. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next
Speaker 1: Level fantasy football game, downloaded now from the app Store
Speaker 1: and Google Play and by on Location in the official
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Speaker 1: com for exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL.
Speaker 1: All season long, including Super Bowl fifty six. Here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you could have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since Zach Taylor getting carded. Cj Uzama appeared on
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football on the NFL Network on Thursday and
Speaker 1: shared a hilarious tidbit. When Zach Taylor showed up at
Speaker 1: Mount Lookout Tavern on Saturday to present a game ball
Speaker 1: to the fans after the playoff win over the Raiders,
Speaker 1: a bouncer asked to see his id. Uzama said he
Speaker 1: learned that from Kevin Huber, who was an eyewitness. That
Speaker 1: tells us two things. That Zach has a youthful appearance.
Speaker 1: We already knew that, and that he's not spending a
Speaker 1: lot of time hanging out at Mount Lookout Tavern. Now
Speaker 1: let's get to this week's guests. It's the Bengals and
Speaker 1: Titans this Saturday, and there is nobody I would rather
Speaker 1: talk to preview the game than the great Greg co
Speaker 1: Sell from NFL Films and the NFL Matchup Show on ESPN.
Speaker 1: Greg before the twenty twenty draft. You are nice enough
Speaker 1: to give me your printed up notes about Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: and I want to highlight three things that you wrote
Speaker 1: going into the draft. Number one, consistently precise ball placement.
Speaker 1: Number two, a quick processor of pressures and coverage. Number
Speaker 1: three efficient pocket movement. Clearly you thought that Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: had the chance to be an excellent NFL player. What
Speaker 1: do you think of him now in the way that
Speaker 1: he's playing? Well, you know what, Dan, Every once in
Speaker 1: a while, I guess right, you know, And I mean
Speaker 1: I really liked Burrow coming out, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the things I look for is when you
Speaker 1: see a player as a rookie, and obviously his rookie
Speaker 1: year was shortened, but he did play a good amount.
Speaker 1: When you see a player that shows the same traits
Speaker 1: early in his NFL career that he showed in his
Speaker 1: really strong college career, I always think that's a really
Speaker 1: positive sign because that to me, particularly for a quarterback,
Speaker 1: that means that the game is not too fast for him,
Speaker 1: that he's still playing within his skill set and his traits.
Speaker 1: And I think that was pretty evident with Burrow a
Speaker 1: year ago. Obviously, the team wasn't quite as good, so
Speaker 1: there were some poor performances as a team. I remember
Speaker 1: one game against Baltimore where I think they lost maybe
Speaker 1: thirty to seven something like that, and they were just
Speaker 1: overwhelmed by pressure. But the team wasn't quite good enough.
Speaker 1: You know, now as the team has gotten better, obviously
Speaker 1: with Jamar Chase defense, I think is better than it
Speaker 1: was a year ago. But the point I'm making about
Speaker 1: Burrow is you saw those traits even a year ago,
Speaker 1: so I'm not surprised that he's sort of taken another
Speaker 1: step forward. This is not an X and O statement,
Speaker 1: but there's just a calmness and a poison posure to
Speaker 1: the manner in which he plays. He just navigates the
Speaker 1: pocket so well. He manages the pocket really well, and
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can teach that. You know,
Speaker 1: everybody now focuses on quarterbacks that can run out of
Speaker 1: the pocket because we're so used to seeing the greatness
Speaker 1: of a Patrick Mahomes those kinds of plays, but no
Speaker 1: one really talks about the more nuanced and more subtle
Speaker 1: movement that's required within a smaller area, you know, an
Speaker 1: area that I sometimes describe as the size of a
Speaker 1: boxing ring even though it might even be a little
Speaker 1: smaller than that. Let's talk about Jamar Chase next, because
Speaker 1: you also shared your predraft notes about Jamar and you
Speaker 1: said I loved him, so I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: what you say. Yeah, well, here's what you said. He
Speaker 1: has the explosive playmaking dimension that all NFL teams look for.
Speaker 1: How has Jamar Chase changed the Bengals offense? Anytime you
Speaker 1: have a vertical dimension, and by the way, they have
Speaker 1: two vertical dimensions, because te Higgins can do that as well.
Speaker 1: He's a different player because of his length, so his
Speaker 1: stride length doesn't make him look as explosive. But stride
Speaker 1: length is a trait for a wide out. But Chase
Speaker 1: is dynamically explosive and he's also incredibly physical. I mean,
Speaker 1: think much of this pass game. He runs a lot
Speaker 1: of inbreaking routes, so he works the middle of the field,
Speaker 1: but he also aligns up predominantly as their boundary X,
Speaker 1: meaning the single receiver to the short side of the field.
Speaker 1: And this is where the tandem with Joe Burrow is
Speaker 1: so effective because Burrow is an aggressive mindset thrower, so
Speaker 1: even if a corner is an off coverage, They'll still
Speaker 1: run vertical routes, and whether Chase gets on top of
Speaker 1: the corner or whether they throw back shoulder fades, that
Speaker 1: depends obviously on the corner and however they have that
Speaker 1: worked out. That just doesn't happen on a whim. But
Speaker 1: he definitely adds a vertical dimension. He adds a run
Speaker 1: after catch dimension. Was that the Chiefs game in which
Speaker 1: he caught the seventy two yard touchdown where he caught
Speaker 1: the quick little out route and he just burst. I mean,
Speaker 1: watching that live on television was it was unbelievable because
Speaker 1: that the speed with which he just broke away was remarkable.
Speaker 1: So he's a truly complete receiver, and he's super competitive,
Speaker 1: and I think that that is always something that it
Speaker 1: can be really important. Do you have to be that
Speaker 1: guy to be a good receiver? Maybe not, but when
Speaker 1: you are, And I think that's one reason I made
Speaker 1: the comparison in my evaluation to someone like Steve Smith,
Speaker 1: super competitive player, Jamar Chase, and he's I guess there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of talk now about the fact that
Speaker 1: they maybe should have taken Penny Sewell, huh. That definitely
Speaker 1: has died down as that died down a little bit,
Speaker 1: just a smidge. I took a lot of grief about that. Dan.
Speaker 1: You know, people were telling me I was an idiot
Speaker 1: and I didn't know football. You know, you always should
Speaker 1: take an offensive lineman, and I just thought Chase was
Speaker 1: a special, special talent that there there's not a lot
Speaker 1: of Jamar Chase kinds of players. Well, I'm one of
Speaker 1: the morons that's said take Pina Suel. So I'm very happy,
Speaker 1: very happy to have been wrong. We are chatting with
Speaker 1: a great Greg co Cell from the NFL Matchup show
Speaker 1: on ESPN. Let's specifically talk now Bengals offense versus Titans defense.
Speaker 1: This is the number two run defense in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They've got a great front four. What do the Bengals
Speaker 1: need to do to have success on Saturday? Yeah, this
Speaker 1: is going to be a challenge for this reason. First
Speaker 1: of all, I don't anticipate that they'll run the ball
Speaker 1: really effectively. I still think, assuming the game is close,
Speaker 1: that they need to run with a volume. But I'd
Speaker 1: be very surprised if Mixon has you know, twenty four
Speaker 1: one forty. But I still think they have to run
Speaker 1: the ball because I don't believe which gets into the
Speaker 1: next part of the equation. I don't believe that their
Speaker 1: offensive line will be good enough to hold off that
Speaker 1: pass rush if they ask Joe Burrow by choice to
Speaker 1: drop back forty times or forty five times, and unless,
Speaker 1: of course, the score demands that. And I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the key matchups in this game. The defensive
Speaker 1: profile of the Titans is four man pass rush, multiple
Speaker 1: coverage concepts. They're not a high percentage blitz defense. When
Speaker 1: they do bring a secondary player, meaning the slot corner
Speaker 1: might come, David Long, the linebacker might come, it's still
Speaker 1: normally a four man rush. It's what we call a
Speaker 1: four man zone exchange. They don't really rush five and
Speaker 1: awful lot. And this is a really good pass rush group,
Speaker 1: particularly inside in their subfront where it's Simmons and Autrey,
Speaker 1: two really really good players, I mean almost special players.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows about Simmons. Autry has been overlooked a bit.
Speaker 1: He played with Indianapolis a year ago. He's your classic case,
Speaker 1: the guy who lines up outside and your base and
Speaker 1: comes inside as a d tackle and inside pass rusher
Speaker 1: in your sub fronts. And he's a really really good player.
Speaker 1: And you know what they're very good at, and this
Speaker 1: is this is home now during the week for the
Speaker 1: Bengals and the coaching staff. They're really good at what
Speaker 1: we call t T stunts, tackle and tackle stunts. Whether
Speaker 1: it's Simmons who goes first as the penetrator and Autry loops,
Speaker 1: or whether Autry goes first as the penetrator and Simmons loops,
Speaker 1: they're really good at that and it's very difficult to
Speaker 1: deal with. Last week's opponent, the Raiders, also primarily a
Speaker 1: rush four type team, although it's obviously somewhat different. But
Speaker 1: how did you feel the Bengals offensive line did last week?
Speaker 1: For the most part, I thought they did pretty well.
Speaker 1: I actually thought that Jonah Williams had a really solid
Speaker 1: game and left tackle and quite honestly, Dan, and again,
Speaker 1: you know, all I do is talk about the tape.
Speaker 1: I thought he's struggled at times this year and one
Speaker 1: on one pass protection, and that'll be a big factor
Speaker 1: again in this game. But I thought Williams had a
Speaker 1: really good game. He predominantly worked against Ngakwa. I thought
Speaker 1: he did really well. Now, the quarterback helps there because
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has such a great feel for timing rhythm anticipation.
Speaker 1: Rarely DC burrows in the pocket or get stuck in
Speaker 1: the pocket. Every once in a while, every quarterback does.
Speaker 1: But Burrow is not that guy, you know, for the
Speaker 1: most part. So and plus he has very good movement skills,
Speaker 1: so you know, rarely, I mean Burrow does get sacked
Speaker 1: because he and I know he got sacked a lot
Speaker 1: this year. Because I think he's one of those guys.
Speaker 1: You know, I've not talked to him, so I don't
Speaker 1: know what's exactly in his head. But I think he's
Speaker 1: also one of those guys that believes he can make
Speaker 1: every throw, and there are times he's just gonna wait
Speaker 1: because he thinks, hey, if I just wait another beat longer,
Speaker 1: that throw will be there. And sometimes it's not. So
Speaker 1: he does get sacked. But I think this is a
Speaker 1: key matchup in this game because their old line is
Speaker 1: and you know this is it's not a great past
Speaker 1: protecting gold line, and there will be some negative plays.
Speaker 1: You just hope that those negative plays don't result in turnovers.
Speaker 1: Let's turn to the other side of the ball. The
Speaker 1: Titans have a great running attack led by Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1: It looks like the King will be back for the
Speaker 1: first time since Halloween. What must the Bengals do on
Speaker 1: the defensive end. Well, this is an offense that likes
Speaker 1: to run a lot out of base personnel. Whether they
Speaker 1: line up with two tight ends, sometimes three tight ends,
Speaker 1: they'll line up with a full back. So I've been
Speaker 1: given this a lot of thought. We've seen the Bengals
Speaker 1: in their base defense this year primarily be a five
Speaker 1: two front, five across with two stack backers Pratt and Wilson.
Speaker 1: So the question to me is is that what they're
Speaker 1: going to line up with, because the one issue you
Speaker 1: face is when you have fewer bodies at the second level,
Speaker 1: and of course they can bring down a safety, which
Speaker 1: I think they'll have to and basically play with a
Speaker 1: single high safety. So whether they bring down bell or baits,
Speaker 1: that's their call. You know, you don't want to get
Speaker 1: caught short at the second level because Henry gets to
Speaker 1: the second level, and you don't want to be short
Speaker 1: bodies at the second level because then he's going to
Speaker 1: get to the third level and then you have a problem.
Speaker 1: So I'm really curious to see what they do out Well,
Speaker 1: you know, one thing that was interesting this past week
Speaker 1: and I kind of view the Raiders as a running
Speaker 1: team to some degree. They played a ton of nickel
Speaker 1: versus the Raiders when they lined up with multiple tight ends.
Speaker 1: I would be very surprised if they take that approach
Speaker 1: this week. I think you need the bigger bodies simply
Speaker 1: to tackle Henry. So I think you're going to see
Speaker 1: more of the five two front bring a safety down
Speaker 1: because you need a lot of bodies around Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: because he's we know Henry can take it to the house,
Speaker 1: but he's also the master of making a three yard
Speaker 1: game into a seven yard game and then it's second
Speaker 1: and three and you don't want to be in that
Speaker 1: situation all game. Final question for Greg ko Sell, and
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time. What do you think of the
Speaker 1: Bengals future and the young nucleus that they've built. Is
Speaker 1: this the tip of the iceberg for what Bengals fans
Speaker 1: can look forward to? Well, I think offensively, you'd have
Speaker 1: to be excited. They've got a very young offense. You know,
Speaker 1: I think the old Lion probably needs to be addressed
Speaker 1: in the draft. They need to get better with more depth,
Speaker 1: more competition, so they can improve. But you've got your
Speaker 1: quarterback you've got your white outs. People forget about boy
Speaker 1: he's not old. So you know you have three really
Speaker 1: good white outs who fit extremely well. You know, I've
Speaker 1: always liked Joe Mixon a lot, and and you know,
Speaker 1: I never I'm not one who who tells coaches you
Speaker 1: know what I think they should do. I just remember
Speaker 1: Mixing at Oklahoma. I thought he was a great receiver
Speaker 1: who split out a lot. I would just love to
Speaker 1: see that more. But you know that's that's up to them.
Speaker 1: You know, that's not a criticism. So I think they
Speaker 1: have a really good group. If they can get the
Speaker 1: offensive line to be a little better, I can't imagine
Speaker 1: why this offense would be one of the league's best
Speaker 1: for a number of years. Defensively, I think they're going
Speaker 1: to want to get better at corner. Overall, I think
Speaker 1: a Woozy had a solid year, and he's not a
Speaker 1: young I mean, he's not an older player. He's a
Speaker 1: young player. So I think you feel good about a
Speaker 1: Woozy who at times they didn't match up to top receivers.
Speaker 1: I remember when they played Green Bay, he matched up
Speaker 1: to Davante Adams, So I think they probably feel he
Speaker 1: can do that. I think they're going to have to
Speaker 1: get better at the other corners spot going forward. You know,
Speaker 1: Hendrickson had a really nice year for them, but I
Speaker 1: would my guess is that they would believe that they
Speaker 1: need a little more from the pass rush. They're not
Speaker 1: They're not a heavy blitz team, although they do increase
Speaker 1: pressure on third down, but overall, they're not a team
Speaker 1: that you think of as hey, they're coming after you.
Speaker 1: So I think they would probably like to get another
Speaker 1: pass rusher, whether it's on the edge or whether it's inside.
Speaker 1: I'm really intrigued by Hubbard's kind of ability, which I
Speaker 1: don't know if they'll do more of. Maybe not this
Speaker 1: year because it's tough to put all this in now,
Speaker 1: but I'm really intrigued by Hubbard's ability kind of as
Speaker 1: a joker player. We saw him do that this week
Speaker 1: where he got a sack, but they did that on
Speaker 1: a couple of other occasions as well. I think he's
Speaker 1: athletic enough to be kind of that, you know, that
Speaker 1: kind of player. But you know, I think they'll definitely
Speaker 1: look for a pass rusher. Greg there's nobody better at
Speaker 1: studying the tape and making a complicated game a little
Speaker 1: bit easier for the rest of us to understand. So
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time and keep up the great work.
Speaker 1: Then I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Here's one
Speaker 1: thing to keep in mind when it comes to improving
Speaker 1: the pass rush. Next year, the Bengals will get Joseph
Speaker 1: Osai back from his knee injury. The third round draft
Speaker 1: pick looked tremendous in past rush drills at training camp
Speaker 1: last year and in his preseason debut against Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: before suffering that injury. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented
Speaker 1: by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game.
Speaker 1: This year, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the
Speaker 1: course of the season with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money
Speaker 1: can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: in the app Store and Google Play Up. Next, this
Speaker 1: week's one on one player conversation with one of the
Speaker 1: highest graded players on the Bengals offensive line this year,
Speaker 1: left guard Quentin Spain. But you spent the first four
Speaker 1: years of your NFL career in Tennessee. It started forty
Speaker 1: eight games for the Titans. Does that add anything to
Speaker 1: this playoff game for you? Yeah, it's always gonna add
Speaker 1: something to this playoff game going back to Tennessee. But
Speaker 1: when I was in Buffalo, I went back to Tennessee too,
Speaker 1: so I already got the Ravens game. But it's still
Speaker 1: a chip on my shoulder that going back to where
Speaker 1: I started at visiting with Quentin Spain. You made your
Speaker 1: Bengals debut against the Titans last year at Paul Brown Stadium,
Speaker 1: and it was a memorable game because you famously signed
Speaker 1: with a team on a Friday and then played just
Speaker 1: about every snap on Sunday, even though you didn't know
Speaker 1: all of your teammates names. What do you think that
Speaker 1: showed your teammates and coaches in that win? It showed
Speaker 1: It showed my team and the coaches. With my coaches
Speaker 1: that I was like I was approval coming in signing
Speaker 1: late and planned that Sunday one practice one walked through,
Speaker 1: So it showed them that teach me to playbook. I'm
Speaker 1: a quick learner. I can learn on the wrong fly,
Speaker 1: So that's a good advantage that I have been in
Speaker 1: the league. Like I don't feel like most people can
Speaker 1: do what I did. We're chatting with Quentin Spain, Clinton,
Speaker 1: You hurt your ankle in the next to last game
Speaker 1: of the regular season against Kansas City. It looked bad
Speaker 1: from the broadcast booth. Were you worried at the time
Speaker 1: that your season might be over? I was, or because
Speaker 1: I like I hurt my ankle and my knee, so
Speaker 1: I was feeling like dad. Most two injuries in one.
Speaker 1: So once I got back to the locker room and
Speaker 1: took X rays, my ankle was hurting the most, so
Speaker 1: I wanted filling my knee. So but I know I
Speaker 1: heard in my knee too, so most of the pain
Speaker 1: was at the ankle, So you forget about what the
Speaker 1: second pain that you worry about the most, the most pain,
Speaker 1: so it was my ankle. So that week off I had,
Speaker 1: I was getting like getting treatment at home because I
Speaker 1: had COVID, so I had to stay home. I was
Speaker 1: rehabbing at home gag Ready, doing stuff for my ankles
Speaker 1: while they was practicing and playing played Cleveland. So that's
Speaker 1: why I came back this playoff game because I was
Speaker 1: taking advantage of my own rehab where the guys pretty
Speaker 1: excited when you were able to take part in that
Speaker 1: first practice the week of the first playoff game, and
Speaker 1: it was decided because I told him, like my mind
Speaker 1: said it differently, it's playoff. I can't can't miss games
Speaker 1: like the opportunities like that, So I like when I
Speaker 1: was at home, I was just attacking, attacking my rehab,
Speaker 1: so because I can't listen to a a game that they
Speaker 1: depending on me and I depend on them, so I
Speaker 1: had to get back. But you've had an excellent year.
Speaker 1: Your ranked is one of the top twenty guards in
Speaker 1: the NFL this year by Pro Football Focus. Do you
Speaker 1: think it's been one of your best seasons and what
Speaker 1: stands out to you about this year? Um? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel like this have been a great season for me,
Speaker 1: coming all the situation I had in Buffalo, little leaving
Speaker 1: mid season, and Zach gave me another chance. Because last year,
Speaker 1: after my exit meeting, I told Zack like this team
Speaker 1: like I told Zack the same thing I told McDermott
Speaker 1: and Buffalo like this team special, and I want to
Speaker 1: come back. So when I told Zac that, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I really want to come back. I see a special
Speaker 1: team and and you see what we were doing this year.
Speaker 1: So I'm happy he gave me an opportunity. You told
Speaker 1: reporters earlier this year, that you thought the offensive line
Speaker 1: needed to bond more on and off the field, so
Speaker 1: you initiated the weekly Thursday night offensive line dinner. Do
Speaker 1: you think that had a big impact. Yeah, that really
Speaker 1: had a big impact of the offensive linement because I
Speaker 1: know we come to work every day and we hear,
Speaker 1: but we're not really bonding. We really at work game
Speaker 1: planning and stuff. So I like, I told the line,
Speaker 1: I'm like, everybody do this in the league. On Thursday,
Speaker 1: we get away from footba. I understand you see us
Speaker 1: all day, but it's special to see us outside of
Speaker 1: football get to know each other better because at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, when we on the field, we
Speaker 1: plan for each other. So if I don't understand, like
Speaker 1: don't know nothing about you, how can I trest you?
Speaker 1: Like all that stuff, So communication and the bonding and
Speaker 1: stuff we do on Thursday, I think it really helped
Speaker 1: because we see if you plug an out a guy,
Speaker 1: yet we still communicate together because we all at dinner
Speaker 1: eating and talking about family, what they what we like
Speaker 1: to do, what like, stuff we don't like, and stuff
Speaker 1: like that might have been some of your favorite spots.
Speaker 1: The favorite spot was Jeff Ruby because I feel like
Speaker 1: Jeff Ruby is the best steakhouse in Cincinnati. But we've
Speaker 1: been to a couple of spots. I took the guys
Speaker 1: to Route Roof or Rufe Chriss. We've been in a
Speaker 1: lot of different spots that I never heard of. So
Speaker 1: every time we went so I make if it's a
Speaker 1: good spot, I make sure I write it down because
Speaker 1: I'll come back to We're chatting with Clenton Spain. You
Speaker 1: face the Titans on Saturday. This is a team with
Speaker 1: an excellent front four led by interior lineman Jeffrey Simmons
Speaker 1: described number ninety eight, and he's he's that guy. He's
Speaker 1: the angle on that defense. He's physical and he played
Speaker 1: to the whistle and if you come like have as,
Speaker 1: you will make you pay. And it's not just him either,
Speaker 1: the whole front four, they have the whole the front seven.
Speaker 1: They they attack down hill, they thump us and they
Speaker 1: got the eight Landry on the outside. He speed, he speed,
Speaker 1: they got the prix. He nice. So they played as
Speaker 1: a unit and they played angry. So Mike Braman do
Speaker 1: have them planning the way he liked to play physical.
Speaker 1: Your second year there was Derrick Henry's rookie year. What
Speaker 1: stood out about the king when you were blocking for him?
Speaker 1: When I was coming out of college my last year
Speaker 1: two thousand fourteen, we played Alabama at the Georgia dun
Speaker 1: and Derek him wasn't running back, so everybody was saying like, oh,
Speaker 1: he ran too high, he ain't gonna make it in
Speaker 1: the league and all that. So when he first got
Speaker 1: to Tennessee, when I was there, and I say it,
Speaker 1: I'm like, run, he really did so. But when the
Speaker 1: season was going on, I see him breaking tackles and
Speaker 1: people falling off, and he got breakaway speed and all that.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying, but when it was scouting and recruiting,
Speaker 1: they saying that he ran too high. But in the
Speaker 1: NFL he's still running the same, and then you see
Speaker 1: what he's doing here he producing. But I'm gonna tell
Speaker 1: you're still about Derek Henry though. When I was in Tennessee,
Speaker 1: I was was at practice and we were running to
Speaker 1: play and I think we ran a draw and he
Speaker 1: was running the ball. But when I was blocking my dude,
Speaker 1: when I turned the round and Derek here was full
Speaker 1: speed right into me, right into my shoulder. So my
Speaker 1: whole right side went numb. My whole right side went
Speaker 1: um and I knew that he run with Paul then
Speaker 1: right then and there that day. If I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be a good back. So even when you're
Speaker 1: blocking for him, if he hits you, it can be paid.
Speaker 1: You would fill it, you will feel it. So you're
Speaker 1: blocked for the King in Tennessee and now you're blocking
Speaker 1: for Joey Franchise in Cincinnati. You've been in this league
Speaker 1: for seven years? Are you amazed by what he's doing
Speaker 1: in year two? Yes, I'm I'm I'm I'm so amazed
Speaker 1: what happened last year with him and how he attacked
Speaker 1: this all season rehab and came back and pit this
Speaker 1: great season. He havn't like. I'm just amazed how how
Speaker 1: he handled that, because some people with would have folded.
Speaker 1: But I see it Joey different. Like I seeing his
Speaker 1: eyes every time he come to work like he I
Speaker 1: feel like he on the mission. And that's the type
Speaker 1: of guy won't like I'm on a mission. I've been.
Speaker 1: I had a chip on my shoulder since I came
Speaker 1: in the league. So seeing that out of him, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I want to play for this guy. Last thing for
Speaker 1: Quentin Space. You referred to your meeting with Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: your exit interview last year, when you told him you
Speaker 1: wanted to come back. And I know you told your
Speaker 1: agent that you wanted him to get a deal done
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, almost regardless of the amount. What are you
Speaker 1: going to tell your agent at the end of this year.
Speaker 1: They already we talked about it. We talked, They put
Speaker 1: a bug and we told him, like, I want to
Speaker 1: be here. So at the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: want to be here. I want to finish my career Hill.
Speaker 1: So it's up to them if they want to keep
Speaker 1: me here. But I'm just gonna go out every day
Speaker 1: and pit out good film. Just in cases they don't
Speaker 1: want me, somebody else will pick me up. But I
Speaker 1: want to be in cincin that. I told him that
Speaker 1: mid season. My agent told him that mid season. So
Speaker 1: we will see how things work. You've had a fantastic year.
Speaker 1: You've had an awesome impact on a young offensive line room.
Speaker 1: I certainly hope that you're back next year, and I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time today. Best of luck against the Titans,
Speaker 1: don't you ent and signed a one year deal for
Speaker 1: about one point one million dollars last year. He'll turn
Speaker 1: thirty one next year in training camp. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by on Location, the official hospitality partner
Speaker 1: of the NFL. Visit on location exp dot com for
Speaker 1: exclusive access to the biggest events in the NFL all
Speaker 1: season long, including Super Bowl fifty six. Now tired to
Speaker 1: discuss the Bengals' latest news and some keys to Saturday's
Speaker 1: game with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Lap Let's start
Speaker 1: with the state of the Bengals defensive line as of
Speaker 1: Thursday morning. Trey Hendrickson appears to be back. He was
Speaker 1: full going practice on Wednesday. We know that Larry Ogan
Speaker 1: Jobi is out Josh Tupo limited at practice on Wednesday
Speaker 1: because of his knee injury. They have signed three hundred
Speaker 1: thirty five pound eight year vet Zach Kerr off the
Speaker 1: Cardinals practice squad. That means he is on the active roster.
Speaker 1: He's wearing the number sixty nine. They have also signed
Speaker 1: former Miami Redhawk Doug Coston to the practice squad so
Speaker 1: he could get promoted for the game on Saturday. He
Speaker 1: has started in the past for Jacksonville, so after hearing
Speaker 1: all of that, what is your concern level for the
Speaker 1: Bengals defensive line going into the game in Nashville. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, the thing is, I'm figuring that a big
Speaker 1: part of the game plan, or at any part of
Speaker 1: the game plan, was going to be played that five
Speaker 1: man front that they've played pretty successfully against teams that
Speaker 1: run it so well, and they did it against Baltimore
Speaker 1: initially unveiled it and really did a good job of
Speaker 1: controlling not only pass rush lanes but running lanes, you
Speaker 1: know for Lamar Jackson. So hopefully that they'll have enough
Speaker 1: players in a rotation now to be able to use
Speaker 1: that look. And it's not something that you live in
Speaker 1: every single snap, but it's nice to be able to
Speaker 1: go to that. But when you go to three defensive
Speaker 1: tackles in the game at the same time, that's that's
Speaker 1: eating snaps up, you know, for three guys. So you'd
Speaker 1: like to have some numbers there from a rotational standpoint,
Speaker 1: and hopefully with these signings that you reference, that'll give
Speaker 1: them that that type of rotation and um, you know
Speaker 1: that that's going to be I think the biggest key
Speaker 1: to the football game obviously is is the way that uh,
Speaker 1: the way that they can run the football. I mean
Speaker 1: the Tennessee tightens. It's it's no secret, and it's going
Speaker 1: to run, run, run, run it again, you know, and
Speaker 1: then play action, pass, naked boots, um, you know, things
Speaker 1: things that nature. Uh so, But it all starts. Their
Speaker 1: offense starts first and foremost with running the football. Whoever
Speaker 1: it is, it's going to be running it. Can Zach
Speaker 1: Kerr join the Bengals on a Wednesday with a playoff
Speaker 1: game on Saturday and have a significant impact. I think
Speaker 1: he needs to channel his his inner Quentin Spain. Quentin
Speaker 1: Spain last year in the regular season did basically exactly
Speaker 1: that with the offensive line, and honestly, Dan, there's more
Speaker 1: to learn, uh schematically, you know, from the with an
Speaker 1: offensive line standpoint, I'm not saying that there's no think
Speaker 1: to learn defensively, but there's less. There's less to learn,
Speaker 1: and it's more of a reactionary thing, whereas in the
Speaker 1: offensive line, you know you're gonna you initiate things that
Speaker 1: defense responds to. So there's a little bit more sophistication
Speaker 1: to it, and a little bit more terminology formations, you know,
Speaker 1: all these different things to learn and assignments based on
Speaker 1: fronts that you're presented and all that. Defensively, you know,
Speaker 1: there's only so many places a defensive tackle can line
Speaker 1: up and so many responsibilities that he's going to have.
Speaker 1: So again it's a reactionary thing. I think he's probably
Speaker 1: in as good a football shape as you can be in.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was just on a roster. He hasn't
Speaker 1: had a whole lot of playing time, but he's been
Speaker 1: at practices and I mean he's he's in football shape.
Speaker 1: He hasn't gotten out of football shape. So hopefully he
Speaker 1: has the impact that Quentin Spain had in that game
Speaker 1: last year when they had four new offensive linement starting
Speaker 1: and they beat the Tennessee Titans thirty to twenty, and
Speaker 1: Quentin Spain was a big reason why, and hopefully Zach
Speaker 1: will be a big reason why they hold the fourth
Speaker 1: down in the running game in this one. All Right,
Speaker 1: more on that offensive line game in a little bit,
Speaker 1: but let's get back to the Titans rushing attack led
Speaker 1: by Derrick Henry. All indications are he will be back.
Speaker 1: He hasn't played since Halloween because of a broken right foot.
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry is six three, two hundred forty seven pounds.
Speaker 1: He hit twenty one point eight miles an hour on
Speaker 1: a touchdown run this year against Buffalo. That is the
Speaker 1: sixth fastest time of any ball carrier in the NFL. Again,
Speaker 1: he is two hundred forty seven pounds. I want to
Speaker 1: put this into perspective. If we remember Jamar Chase's seventy
Speaker 1: two yard touchdown catch where he seemed to run away
Speaker 1: from the whole team. Jamar Chase hit twenty one point
Speaker 1: seven miles an hour on that run. Again, Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: hit twenty one point eight. How did the Bengals defend
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry and the other good running backs that the
Speaker 1: Titans have. Well, I think difference between Derrick Henry and
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is Jamar Chase can get to that twenty
Speaker 1: one point six or seven miles an hour faster. Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry takes them a while to get to top speed
Speaker 1: because because of his size. That's there. Oh baby, I
Speaker 1: mean you've got you know, we always talked about size
Speaker 1: speed ratio stuff. This guy sets a new standard. I
Speaker 1: mean that is ridiculous. And again they've got uh that
Speaker 1: this this franchise has a history and tradition of it.
Speaker 1: Earl Campbell could do the same thing Eddie George could
Speaker 1: do the same thing the bigger backs of their generation,
Speaker 1: but could run you over and then run away from
Speaker 1: you as well. And those guys are rare, and they
Speaker 1: got another one in this big old beast. And honestly,
Speaker 1: just his presence is going to give that team a shot,
Speaker 1: a boost of confidence, adrenaline, enthusiasm. I mean, they're gonna
Speaker 1: feel like we got our superhero back. We're almost invincible,
Speaker 1: you know, no matter how many times he carries the football,
Speaker 1: the fact that he's in pads on the sideline and
Speaker 1: at any point in time as a threat to go
Speaker 1: into the football game that gives an offensive football team
Speaker 1: an enormous boost. There is no no two ways about it.
Speaker 1: So it is going to be interesting. Dan. I think
Speaker 1: I personally believe that he's They're gonna just fifteen to
Speaker 1: eighteen carries. I don't think they're gonna overload him. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't think they're gonna put it on his shoulder
Speaker 1: and say we were gonna lose a game, because if
Speaker 1: you Derrick Henry that that would be too much. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, he hasn't hasn't really done much since Trick
Speaker 1: or Treat, So you know, like you got to. You
Speaker 1: gotta give the guy an opportunity to work his way
Speaker 1: back into it. And their mindset is probably, Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna survive an advance, We're going to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl. We want Derrick Henry throughout the entire process here.
Speaker 1: We don't want him for just one football game. If
Speaker 1: we overwork him, overload him and he starts favoring that foot.
Speaker 1: A lot of times when you come back from an injury,
Speaker 1: you start to favor it, even almost subconsciously, and then
Speaker 1: you get an injury somewhere else, you know, because you're
Speaker 1: running differently. Maybe you pull a calf muscle, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you do something else to your leg or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. So I think I don't think
Speaker 1: they say, all right, you're gonna hammer the ball twenty
Speaker 1: five thirty times this football game, because they have two
Speaker 1: other guys that performed well, and they could have a
Speaker 1: nice rotation and a three headed monster, and I think
Speaker 1: that would be, you know, something that would be a
Speaker 1: challenge to the Bengals as well. But man, when Derek
Speaker 1: Henry gets the football, Dan, you can't let him get
Speaker 1: to that top end speed. I think the biggest key
Speaker 1: is make him make his first cut either behind or
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage. Worst case scenario if he
Speaker 1: gets past past the line of scrimmage into the linebacker
Speaker 1: level before he has to make his first cut. Or o'nelly.
Speaker 1: Now you've got something really tough. And I remember when
Speaker 1: we were playing big, great backs, the coaches would always say, look,
Speaker 1: make him don't allow him to square shoulder pads to
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. Make him run to the sideline,
Speaker 1: Make him go east and west. Make him put his
Speaker 1: shoulder pad's face in the sideline, not facing north and
Speaker 1: south and him running north and south. You don't want that.
Speaker 1: Then you got a handful. Make everything east and west.
Speaker 1: Make him look east and west as pads look east
Speaker 1: and west, he runs east and west. Make him go
Speaker 1: sideline to sideline. Don't let that son of a gun
Speaker 1: go downhill on you. Then you got a tiger by
Speaker 1: the tail lap. Let's move on to Ryan Tannehill. Take
Speaker 1: an eighth in the draft by Miami the year after
Speaker 1: the Bengals drafted Andy Dalton. He's been a good NFL player.
Speaker 1: He's in his tenth year, he's thirty three years old.
Speaker 1: Went to the Pro Bowl a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: led the NFL in passer rating, but he's been a
Speaker 1: little inconsistent this year. What do you think of Ryan Tannehill? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think inconsistent. It's a good way to put it. Dan.
Speaker 1: I think he's streaky, you know the plus on him.
Speaker 1: He didn't throw as many touchdown passes this year's last year.
Speaker 1: He was well into the thirties last year. But he
Speaker 1: had seven rushing touchdowns last year and seven rushing touchdowns
Speaker 1: this year. His seven rushing touchdowns tied for fourteenth in
Speaker 1: the NFL. And he's a quarterback. So here's a guy
Speaker 1: that you know, quarterback sneak nakeds boots, keepers, you know,
Speaker 1: those kind of things. He can hurt you because of
Speaker 1: his athletic ability. I mean he could run. He was
Speaker 1: a wide receiver for a year at Texas A and
Speaker 1: M and not just a guy to phil a roster spot.
Speaker 1: He was a guy that was an all conference type
Speaker 1: wide receiver. So you know, he understands when the wide
Speaker 1: receivers are running routes. Talk about being able to get
Speaker 1: on the same page. Here's a guy that's thrown it
Speaker 1: and run routes at a very high level, you know,
Speaker 1: and sometimes receivers that have played quarterback see that through
Speaker 1: a quarterback's eye. Well, how many quarterbacks and say they
Speaker 1: can see the game through receiver's eyes because they played receiver.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy did that. That's that's a rare
Speaker 1: deal right there. So I think, you know, as far
Speaker 1: as the mental part of it, it's it's all there
Speaker 1: a pre med students, smart as whip, you know, football
Speaker 1: and tell gents all of that. Um. But when he'll
Speaker 1: have streets where you know, he turns it over fourteen interceptions,
Speaker 1: fumbled the ball ten times, put it on the ground,
Speaker 1: lost four of them, eighteen giveaways. That that's a you know,
Speaker 1: turnover machine at times. And uh in the one and
Speaker 1: three stretch they had in those three losses, his team
Speaker 1: turned over thirteen times and no, no, no takeaways. They
Speaker 1: remind us thirteen and he was a big part of that. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, which which Titan team is going to show
Speaker 1: up the one that's going to take care of the
Speaker 1: ball from Bengal standpoint, hopefully not hopefully it's the tight
Speaker 1: team that uh that is generous, you know, and they're charitable.
Speaker 1: It's a charitable Saturday Saturday afternoon down there in Nashville,
Speaker 1: and they give the Bengals some extra extra possessions and
Speaker 1: extra opportunities. I think that is the biggest factor. I
Speaker 1: think the Bengals have to take the football away to
Speaker 1: win this football game. And it's been pretty remarkable lately
Speaker 1: because the Bengals haven't turned it over in five games.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has gone his last five games without throwing
Speaker 1: an interception. Paul Dayner Junior pointed out a great stat
Speaker 1: five straight games for Joe with a passer rating over
Speaker 1: one hundred and no interceptions. That's the longest streak like
Speaker 1: that ever in Bengals history. Yeah, one eighty attempts without
Speaker 1: an interception. The only guy that has more that's still
Speaker 1: alive and playing from a streak standpoint is Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He's number two to Aaron Rodgers in terms of taking
Speaker 1: care of the football in that regard. So, you know,
Speaker 1: he had his issues during the course of the season
Speaker 1: as well, but he's really hit a stretch now where
Speaker 1: I think, you know he's he's totally confident that he's
Speaker 1: going to take care of the football and the Bengals
Speaker 1: have really played well. Obviously, when you're playing like that
Speaker 1: the quarterback doesn't have to take as many chances. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not got We don't have that many possessions left.
Speaker 1: I got to try to fit in this hole and
Speaker 1: normally wouldn't maybe try to do that. But you know,
Speaker 1: like we've always talk about every interception there's a story
Speaker 1: behind behind it, and here lately there hasn't been any
Speaker 1: story for interceptions. The Bengals have played well as a team,
Speaker 1: and it starts with the level that Joe Barrow is
Speaker 1: playing at, which is extraordinary, extraordinarily phenomenal. Yes it is.
Speaker 1: And let's talk about offensive strategy playing off that. The
Speaker 1: Titans are number two in the NFL in run defense
Speaker 1: at least in terms of yards allowed per game eighty
Speaker 1: four point six, number twenty five in the NFL and
Speaker 1: passing yards allowed per game two forty five point two.
Speaker 1: Now that's not always the best gauge because sometimes you
Speaker 1: give up a bunch of passing yards when you have
Speaker 1: a big lead. The Titans are number nine in the
Speaker 1: NFL and passer rating allowed. So having said all of that,
Speaker 1: is this a let Joe Burrow throw it a bunch
Speaker 1: and try to win the game, or do they need
Speaker 1: a healthy mix of mix in. I don't think they
Speaker 1: can abandon the running game as such, but I would
Speaker 1: not be surprised if it's slanted heavily toward the past,
Speaker 1: and probably rightfully so. On first and second down, the
Speaker 1: Titans to me look fairly standard defensively. That might be
Speaker 1: the better downs to throw. One might not be great
Speaker 1: downs to run on because they are so good. And
Speaker 1: then you find yourself if you don't perform well running
Speaker 1: the football and first second down, you're playing right into
Speaker 1: their hands. And a third and long and on third down,
Speaker 1: never mind third and long and third down in general.
Speaker 1: I mean the they mix it up they do. They
Speaker 1: do a great job on on third down that they'll
Speaker 1: they'll play some man, they'll play Cover one, they'll play
Speaker 1: some man they give they'll play cover two. They give
Speaker 1: multiple looks of Cover two. They disguise it really well.
Speaker 1: They're not a real heavy pressure team, but when they
Speaker 1: do decide to pressure, they give you some exotic you know,
Speaker 1: on where the docks looks. So third down is a
Speaker 1: down that you want to particularly third and long. If
Speaker 1: you're in third down its third and four or less,
Speaker 1: three or less, that's not that bad a situation. But
Speaker 1: if you're looking at third and five or more, they
Speaker 1: only allow thirty six point seven percent conversion on third down,
Speaker 1: sixth best in the league. So you want to avoid
Speaker 1: I mean, in a perfect world, you'd play so well
Speaker 1: on first and second down that you only have to
Speaker 1: try to convert you know, seven first third downs on
Speaker 1: the game. You don't want to be in a scenario
Speaker 1: we have to try to convert fifteen or sixteen of them,
Speaker 1: you know. And now if you only if you convert
Speaker 1: less than a fourth of them, you know, you're looking
Speaker 1: at a tough dynamic there. So I think first and
Speaker 1: second down success is going to be big. And that's
Speaker 1: where I've mixed my running pass game up on first
Speaker 1: and second down. I certainly wouldn't fall into a habit
Speaker 1: of I'm gonna run it on first down and run
Speaker 1: it on a second down and throw it on third.
Speaker 1: You know, you got you gotta have a good healthy
Speaker 1: mix there in terms of play call and you know,
Speaker 1: I think I think another big key to this game,
Speaker 1: dan is is like in playoffs, everything gets emphasized and
Speaker 1: more heightened. You know, Zack said in the red zone
Speaker 1: in the last game against the Raiders, he never really
Speaker 1: found his rhythm. I think not only for the players,
Speaker 1: but for the play callers. Zach and Louhann Rumo find
Speaker 1: a rhythm from a play calling standpoint as early as
Speaker 1: you can in this football game, and I think the
Speaker 1: coaching staff and the play callers did find that rhythm.
Speaker 1: The soonest puts their team in the best chance to win, obviously,
Speaker 1: So you reference the Quentin Spain game earlier. When the
Speaker 1: Bengals beat the Titans at Paul Brown Stadium last year
Speaker 1: thirty one to twenty. Here was the starting offensive line
Speaker 1: that day. The starting left tackle was then rookie a
Speaker 1: chemid energy, the starting left guard a guy named Shaq
Speaker 1: Calhoun who had a very brief Cincinnati Bengals career. Billy
Speaker 1: Price started its center, Alex Redman started it right big
Speaker 1: Fred Johnson started at right tackle. After the first series,
Speaker 1: Shaq Calhoun got benched. Quentin Spain came in. He had
Speaker 1: signed with a team two days earlier. He was introducing
Speaker 1: himself to his teammates in the huddle, and they played
Speaker 1: great and won the game. Joe Burrow wasn't hit, he
Speaker 1: wasn't sacked. He had a passer rating of one oh
Speaker 1: six point seven. They actually had a decent running game.
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon was out, Giovanni Bernard and Sam jp Ryan
Speaker 1: combined for ninety four yards. So if that line held
Speaker 1: up against Tennessee last year at Paul Brown Stadium, should
Speaker 1: this line be able to do a decent job? You
Speaker 1: would think so, you know, I do think that this
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titan defensive line is very very solid. To be conservative,
Speaker 1: I guess with praise, Jeffrey Simmons I think is an
Speaker 1: outstanding interior defensive lineman. I think Aaron Donald's the only
Speaker 1: guy in the league. I think that is more disruptive
Speaker 1: than athletic and if you lose sleep the night before
Speaker 1: the game, more so than this guy. Uh Autrey is
Speaker 1: a good rusher obviously, U you know they've got they
Speaker 1: have three three guys that have at least eight and
Speaker 1: a half sacks. Landry as twelve, Autreys nine, Simmons has
Speaker 1: eight and a half. That's pretty that's pretty balanced and
Speaker 1: pretty pretty good scenario there. So I think this offensive
Speaker 1: line will be challenged. But I do think that I
Speaker 1: think Frank Pollock has done a great job of developing guys.
Speaker 1: M you know, I look at Isaiah Prince and from
Speaker 1: training camp to now. Man, he's come a long way,
Speaker 1: he really has, and his confidence I think is very
Speaker 1: very high. I thought that he played very well against
Speaker 1: Crosby last week, and I think I thought Jonah Williams
Speaker 1: basically a race in Gokway, who's a you know, a
Speaker 1: great rusher as well. So I think they're coming off
Speaker 1: some game, a game where they can have some momentum
Speaker 1: going into this football game. And then it's going to
Speaker 1: be up to the interior guy, you know, hold down
Speaker 1: the fort against Simmons and and see how that, how
Speaker 1: all that shakes down. But that's going to be the
Speaker 1: key to the game, Dan is how well m You know,
Speaker 1: both both lines pass protect because both lines of both
Speaker 1: offenses have had their trouble in terms of giving up sacks.
Speaker 1: We know the Bengals have given up fifty one, excuse me,
Speaker 1: fifty five now thirtieth in the National Football League. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at the Titans, they've given up
Speaker 1: forty seven. They're twenty seventh in the NFL. So you know,
Speaker 1: both both of these offenses have given up their share
Speaker 1: of pressures and hits and sacks on their quarterback. I
Speaker 1: think that's going to be a big factor in this
Speaker 1: football game. Who can protect their guy? Joe burrows vibe
Speaker 1: since the victory over the Raiders beginning of the postgame
Speaker 1: news conference has been We've got bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 1: It was a great win, but as he said earlier
Speaker 1: this week, one playoff win is the bare minimum around
Speaker 1: here going forward. What does Joe Burrows confidence mean to
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals right now and going forward. I think
Speaker 1: it means the world. I really do. I mean I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, And it's always it's always the biggest.
Speaker 1: It always shows itself more so than any anytime it
Speaker 1: builds during the course of the week. You know, his
Speaker 1: teammates see how he prepares, They see how he has
Speaker 1: all the answers to the test that he's ready to play.
Speaker 1: But then there's no substitute for a game day. When
Speaker 1: you go out in the football field in the huddle
Speaker 1: for the first time and you look at the quarterback's face,
Speaker 1: you don't see one ounce of fear, you know, apprehension.
Speaker 1: All you see is a steely eyed, confident the guy
Speaker 1: that's gonna take you to the promised land, and man
Speaker 1: that makes you feel so good. As an offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: You know, there's nothing more disconcerting to look at the
Speaker 1: quarterback and he looks at you and it's like, Ooh,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure about this one. Yeah, that's not a
Speaker 1: good thing. That's not a good thing. And h And
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is just the opposite of that. I mean,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is is somebody that you know, he's so
Speaker 1: confident and that's an earned confidence and then everybody feeds
Speaker 1: off of that confidence and they increase their self confidence.
Speaker 1: So it is it's a huge, huge deal and the
Speaker 1: big trickle down effect and Joe Burrow that's the tangible
Speaker 1: aspect of it. You still have to be able to play,
Speaker 1: and this dude can play, and then the intangible of
Speaker 1: you know, all of that that we just talked about.
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, he's got it all. That's why
Speaker 1: he's That's why he's Joey be good. Last thing lap
Speaker 1: last week, the Bengals broke their thirty one year playoff drought.
Speaker 1: You played in the bengals first ever playoff win, and
Speaker 1: they had something of a playoff drought going into that.
Speaker 1: They had lost in nineteen seventy seventy three, seventy five.
Speaker 1: They got over the hump beating Buffalo in eighty one.
Speaker 1: Then you won the Freezer Bowl and went to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Any similarities between then and now for you, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there is, Dan, There's there's a lot of similarities. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at it. It's crazy. Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is the youngest quarterback to ever win a playoff game
Speaker 1: in franchise history. There's only been three head coaches that
Speaker 1: have won a playoff game in franchise history. Forrest greg
Speaker 1: Our coach in the eighty one Super Bowl season, Sam
Speaker 1: Weish in the eighty eight Super Bowl season, and now
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. Um, and I remember that was that was
Speaker 1: specifically one of our goals. Let's be the team to
Speaker 1: win the first playoff game in franchise history, and we
Speaker 1: did it. Let's be the team to win the first
Speaker 1: AFC Championship in franchise history, and we did it. Let's
Speaker 1: be the team to win the first Super Bowl. Didn't
Speaker 1: do it, but we we climb the ladder of success
Speaker 1: a couple of runs there, you know, we got closer
Speaker 1: and I see similarity. Okay, this team hasn't won a
Speaker 1: playoff game in thirty one years. Let's be the team
Speaker 1: to stop that drought. They did it. You know, let's
Speaker 1: let's let's be the team to advance and win the
Speaker 1: first playoff game on the road. Why don't why don't
Speaker 1: we be the first? Why not us? You know, to
Speaker 1: move on with CJ's slogan. You know, it's like, why
Speaker 1: not us? Why not this football team be the first
Speaker 1: one to go on the road and win a playoff game?
Speaker 1: Oh and seven? That would be you know, that would
Speaker 1: be something to really hang your hat on. You end
Speaker 1: the thirty one year drought and then you you of
Speaker 1: the first team in franchise history, a proud franchise is
Speaker 1: over fifty years in existence, and you go on the
Speaker 1: road and you win a playoff game for the first
Speaker 1: time ever, You're he'll always be in history. I mean,
Speaker 1: nobody's ever gonna be able to Nobody can tie it.
Speaker 1: Nobody ever ever able to take it away from you.
Speaker 1: That's what we liked about the fact the first team
Speaker 1: to win a playoff game. Nobody can tie it where
Speaker 1: the only wants to do it. You know, nobody can
Speaker 1: tie the fact that we were the first team to
Speaker 1: win an AFC championship. You can win other championships AFC championships,
Speaker 1: but nobody else can be the one to do it
Speaker 1: the first time. All that stuff's significant, meaningful, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's why that's why you play the game. And
Speaker 1: I think these guys, you know, they don't they don't
Speaker 1: like to listen about, oh, thirty one years in a row,
Speaker 1: haven't won a playoff game. Oh jeez, haven't won a
Speaker 1: playoff game on the road, oh and seven. They don't.
Speaker 1: They don't worry about that. You know, it's not their history.
Speaker 1: Their history. They want to stop that thirty one year
Speaker 1: streak of losing, and they want to be the first
Speaker 1: team to win on the road in the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: I think they get a hell of a chance of
Speaker 1: doing it. Finally, it's time for this week's No the
Speaker 1: Faux segment. Many years ago, at a TV station in Syracuse,
Speaker 1: New York, I worked with a guy named John Burton,
Speaker 1: who is one of my all time favorites on and
Speaker 1: off the air. He's a sports anchor and talk show
Speaker 1: host in Nashville now and he joined Lapping Me this
Speaker 1: week to preview Saturday's game. I started our conversation by
Speaker 1: asking John if Derrick Henry will play for the first
Speaker 1: time since breaking his foot on Halloween. Yeah, not official
Speaker 1: yet from the Titans, but it's a fad to complete.
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry will be available. He will play Saturday in
Speaker 1: the playoff game. He's looked good at practice. He actually
Speaker 1: could have been available had the Titans had a game
Speaker 1: this weekend or even the previous weekend in the regular
Speaker 1: season finale. So yeah, he is the King is ready
Speaker 1: to go back on his throne. He's primed up, ready
Speaker 1: to go. And the good thing about it is he'll
Speaker 1: have some help because Dontrell Hilliard, d woman had most
Speaker 1: extremely well in the King's absence. You know, the Titans
Speaker 1: are six and three without Derrick Henry this year. And
Speaker 1: if you'd told me that the day he got hurt
Speaker 1: Halloween up in the India, I was there for that,
Speaker 1: I would have said, no way. Yeah, the King's got
Speaker 1: a court man, He's got a couple of people that
Speaker 1: can that can help him there. And the thing about
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, you know, it's like, all right, well, he's
Speaker 1: rested and he's uh, you know, ready to roll. He
Speaker 1: can take extend and take a lot of hits and
Speaker 1: dish out a lot of punishment. But is he rusty. Well,
Speaker 1: this guy's work ethic and his conditioning from what I
Speaker 1: read and understand, his conditioning and the way he takes
Speaker 1: care of himself on how he pushes himself is second
Speaker 1: and none. So he'll be ready to roll, won't he?
Speaker 1: He will? Dave. I'll tell you what if you want to,
Speaker 1: you know, go on YouTube and just type in Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry workout. I mean his workouts right broke the internet
Speaker 1: over the summer that this guy works extremely hard, and
Speaker 1: all reports are as he's been really really grinding to
Speaker 1: get ready for this playoff run. So he'll be ready.
Speaker 1: He'll be a little rusty, hasn't been hitting, you know,
Speaker 1: almost ten weeks, so that'll be a factor there. But
Speaker 1: I think after you know, a couple of carries, he'll
Speaker 1: get back into his groove. And again, like we said,
Speaker 1: like you said, Dave, he's got a cord behind him,
Speaker 1: so he struggles early. You put in Deonta Foreman or
Speaker 1: Dontrell Hilliard and uh, you know, you give him a
Speaker 1: rest here and there, and you put him right back
Speaker 1: in there. So this could be that three headed monster
Speaker 1: that we saw with the Giants back in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight. Remember that Brandon Jacobs, Derek Ward and a
Speaker 1: mod Bradshaw, I could envision that for the Tennessee Titans
Speaker 1: during this playoff run. We are talking to John Burton,
Speaker 1: who covers the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee has used ninety one
Speaker 1: players this year. That is a record for a non
Speaker 1: strike season. So they've had a ton of injuries, but
Speaker 1: it looks like a bunch of these guys have come
Speaker 1: back just in time to face the Bengals on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Is that more or less the case? Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: that it's as healthy as they've been all season. Dan,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean you think about the guys that
Speaker 1: have missed significant times one Willie Jones, Well, they're all,
Speaker 1: you know, healthy and ready to go. And the good
Speaker 1: news is their quarterback Ryan Tannehill has managed to stay
Speaker 1: healthy all year. Been a little bit banged up. He's
Speaker 1: been hit a lot this year, way more than he
Speaker 1: was last year, but he's healthy and ready to go.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned the fact that they've used so many players,
Speaker 1: ninety one. That's a credit to the head coach, Mike Brabel,
Speaker 1: who I think, along with Zach Taylor, should get you know,
Speaker 1: significant run for head Coach of the Year because Frabel's
Speaker 1: ability to get these new guys in the lineup, coached
Speaker 1: up and ready to play and prepared. It's been It's
Speaker 1: been phenomenal this year because these injuries and illnesses that
Speaker 1: this team has went through this year would have crippled
Speaker 1: most teams. But this is a sturdy organization with a
Speaker 1: with a firm winning culture, and I think that's ropped
Speaker 1: out on these players. So I got to give Frabel
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for keeping the ship afloat this
Speaker 1: h This Titan team, just like every team in the NFL,
Speaker 1: has been streaky. I mean, they go eight and two
Speaker 1: in their first ten games, and they beat you know,
Speaker 1: some pretty darn good football teams in those eight victories,
Speaker 1: and they went four and three down the stretch, and
Speaker 1: they lost the teams like the Houston Texans and you know,
Speaker 1: the Patriots and steel has made the playoffs. But we
Speaker 1: Steelers Bengals fans. No, Pittsburgh's not the Pittsburgh Steelers team
Speaker 1: of old. Why why the discrepancy? Why they you know,
Speaker 1: why they're so good and then maybe not so good?
Speaker 1: And is there any concern that they're going into the
Speaker 1: playoffs not playing as well as they did the beginning
Speaker 1: of the season. I can sum it up in one word,
Speaker 1: Dave turnovers. They went through a street where they were
Speaker 1: turning the ball over at an alarming rate. To turn
Speaker 1: the ball over five times in the Texans game. Then
Speaker 1: the next week they come back, they get blown out
Speaker 1: in New England, they commit four turnovers. They had I
Speaker 1: believe four turnovers in the Pittsburgh game for whatever reason.
Speaker 1: You know this, Dave sacks turnovers the East type of
Speaker 1: things come in bunches. But as long as they're taking
Speaker 1: care of the football, and they did a better job
Speaker 1: of that down the stretch. They won that big Thursday
Speaker 1: night game against San Francisco where they came back. They
Speaker 1: didn't turn the ball over in that game. The Texans game,
Speaker 1: even though the defense fell asleep. You know, they had
Speaker 1: a twenty one nothing lead and then the defense fell asleep.
Speaker 1: The Texans were able to score eighteen straight points, but
Speaker 1: Tannehill was able to keep the offense on schedule with
Speaker 1: no turnovers. As long as they're taking care of the football,
Speaker 1: you've seen it, guys. They can beat anybody in this league.
Speaker 1: But when they're turning the ball over, they've become really susceptible.
Speaker 1: We're chatting with John Burton from Nashville. You brought up
Speaker 1: Mike Rabel, who's been rate in his four years with
Speaker 1: the Titans. He is best friends with you see head
Speaker 1: football coach Luke Fickle, going back to their playing days
Speaker 1: at Ohio State. Luke Fickle, as anyone here knows, is
Speaker 1: a wrestler at heart. He's tough, he's no nonsense, no excuses.
Speaker 1: Does that basically describe Mike Rabel, no question about it.
Speaker 1: And here's the thing, Dan, the players really relate to
Speaker 1: him because he was a pretty dark good player on
Speaker 1: the NFL. He won but three Super Bowls with the Patriots.
Speaker 1: He went to Kansas City late in his career and
Speaker 1: made first team All Pro. I mean, he's been there,
Speaker 1: done that kind of guy. And he is a no
Speaker 1: nonsense guy. One of the things about Frabel is that
Speaker 1: he revealed this a couple of weeks ago. The biggest
Speaker 1: thing about him is he said, I learned not to
Speaker 1: panic when things come up, injuries, COVID, whatever we're going through.
Speaker 1: And that's rubbed off on his players, And you're right,
Speaker 1: he's a guy that is a no nonsense guy. He
Speaker 1: is a guy that is a straight up, tell it
Speaker 1: like it is type of type of guy, and he's
Speaker 1: a players coach because he can relate to these guys.
Speaker 1: So he's been a perfect fit here in Tennessee him
Speaker 1: and the GM John Robinson because you know they are
Speaker 1: developing what they're calling the Titan Way. And you know,
Speaker 1: you hear coaches with catch phrases all the time. You know,
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin has the standard is the standard, and whoever
Speaker 1: else you want to name. Frabel's biggest catchphrase is biggest
Speaker 1: mantra is effort and finish. If you play for Mike Tomlin,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. If you play for Mike Frabel, I should
Speaker 1: say you have to display those two qualities each and
Speaker 1: every day you go out on the field, whether it's
Speaker 1: a practice field or on game day. Effort and finish.
Speaker 1: And these players are bought in. Yeah, you know, I
Speaker 1: believe a football team takes on the personality of the
Speaker 1: head coach. And I look at this football team and
Speaker 1: I see a physically imposing football team. You got a
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty pound running back. You have two
Speaker 1: receivers in a two hundred and twenty pounds You have
Speaker 1: you know, Taylor Lawe and the offensive line, Jeffrey Simmons
Speaker 1: in the defensive line. I mean this is a this
Speaker 1: is a very very physical football team that does play
Speaker 1: with high energy and effort and does try to finish
Speaker 1: you every snap. I mean, is this from a physical standpoint,
Speaker 1: just you know, a boy walking in the lobby of
Speaker 1: the hotel. Who, man, these guys look pretty good. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: They pride themselves, Dave on their physicality. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: the guys that you know their size and their speed
Speaker 1: and their strength. You look at a guy like Jeffrey Simmons,
Speaker 1: I think that guy's just maybe a notch to a
Speaker 1: half notch below Aaron Donald. I think these boys become
Speaker 1: maybe one of the most dominating interior defensive tackles in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. And he plays physical. Their middle linebacker,
Speaker 1: David Long Junior, he's a physical guy. Kevin Byard, he
Speaker 1: has that combination, you know, the the all pro safety.
Speaker 1: He has that combination of physicality and finesse and a
Speaker 1: knack for finding the football. Yeah, physicality certainly is their
Speaker 1: calling card, and it does start with Derrick Henry and
Speaker 1: that offensive line. You know, they want to come off
Speaker 1: the ball, smack you right in the face, and impose
Speaker 1: their will. So the all important third phase gets neglected.
Speaker 1: You know, the bigger the game, the less it gets
Speaker 1: talked about special teams, hidden yards, field position, all that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. How have special teams in specifically the
Speaker 1: kickers and the kicking game house it performed for Tennessee
Speaker 1: this year. They've both been solid, Dave. You know, Randy
Speaker 1: Bullocks come in. This organization has had a bad, bad
Speaker 1: run of luck with kickers ever since Ryan suck Up
Speaker 1: left and they finally have that stabilize with Randy Bullock.
Speaker 1: He's been fantastic. I think he's only missed maybe three
Speaker 1: or four kicks all year. Brett Kern, they're all pro punter,
Speaker 1: one of the best punters really in NFL history. His
Speaker 1: consistency with pinning teams deep inside the twenty and most
Speaker 1: times inside the ten has been pretty significant. In Chester,
Speaker 1: Rogers has done a nice job in the return game,
Speaker 1: especially on punk returns. You know, he's had some big
Speaker 1: punt returns this year to set up scores. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's you're right. That is the ignored phase, especially out
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. But the Titans a big reason why
Speaker 1: they're twelve and five in the one seed. You can't
Speaker 1: ignore the special teams on the whole. They've been solid
Speaker 1: for this team all year. I'm sure Bengals fans just
Speaker 1: heard you say Randy both has been fantastic and say
Speaker 1: why what did he just say? Because because Randy was
Speaker 1: not necessarily fantastic with the Bengals, although he wasn't terrible.
Speaker 1: Is his errors were exaggerated. But in any case, it's
Speaker 1: going to be an awesome game on Saturday, a tremendous atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it, looking forward to seeing you, my friend, man,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fantastic. Like you said, I'm really looking
Speaker 1: forward to it because the Bengals I love these young,
Speaker 1: hungry teams that you know, go in with the mindset
Speaker 1: of hey, why not us? And that's how I feel
Speaker 1: about the Bengals. And of course the Titans feel like
Speaker 1: it's their year. It's going to be a battle on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Can't wait for it? All right? Thanks to John Burton
Speaker 1: and for much more on Saturday's game. Join lapping Me
Speaker 1: for the Bengals Pepper Rally Show Friday afternoon from three
Speaker 1: to six on ESPN fifteen thirty or on the iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: app by searching for ESPN fifteen thirty. That's going to
Speaker 1: do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play
Speaker 1: next level fantasy football game, and we're also presented by
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Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast