1
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,359
Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading

2
00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:12,920
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The simply having a wonderful Christmas

3
00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,159
Speaker 1: time addition, as the Bengals move on after being the

4
00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,799
Speaker 1: Grinch that stole Christmas from Steelers fans and head to

5
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,880
Speaker 1: Houston two days after the holiday to face the Texans

6
00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,720
Speaker 1: coming up, Dave Lapham joins me to put a bow

7
00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:29,760
Speaker 1: on Monday night shocking win and look ahead to what

8
00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:31,840
Speaker 1: it's going to take to make it two in a row.

9
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,879
Speaker 1: My one on one player interview this week is actually

10
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,360
Speaker 1: with a former player who started on the Bengals nineteen

11
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:41,080
Speaker 1: eighty eight Super Bowl team, and in our know the

12
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,519
Speaker 1: post segment, we'll find out what's gone wrong in Houston

13
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,000
Speaker 1: this year from one of the best NFL reporters out there,

14
00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,320
Speaker 1: John McLean from the Houston Chronicle. The Bengals Booth Podcast

15
00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,080
Speaker 1: is presented by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and

16
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,480
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest

17
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,680
Speaker 1: edition of this podcasts delivered like Santa right to your phone, tablet,

18
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,200
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on Itune, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,

19
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,160
Speaker 1: or Podbean. It's the greatest thing since Darlene Love's annual

20
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,320
Speaker 1: Christmas appearance on Late Night with David Letterman for nearly

21
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: every year from nineteen eighty six to twenty fourteen, when

22
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,880
Speaker 1: the show ended, the Great Darlene Love performed her signature

23
00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:30,559
Speaker 1: song Christmas Baby, Please Come Home on David Letterman's final

24
00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,080
Speaker 1: late night show each year before Christmas. It was always

25
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,280
Speaker 1: fantastic and helped raise the profile of a nineteen sixties

26
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,200
Speaker 1: singing great who had never received the stardom she deserved.

27
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,560
Speaker 1: Even though the Letterman Show has been off the air

28
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,040
Speaker 1: for nearly six years, the tradition continues as Darlene belts

29
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,480
Speaker 1: out the song each year on the view. You can

30
00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,960
Speaker 1: check it out by searching for Darlene Love on YouTube. Now,

31
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,600
Speaker 1: let's get to football, beginning with my podcast partner Dave Lapham,

32
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,520
Speaker 1: and we start our chat by discussing Monday's win over

33
00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:11,440
Speaker 1: the suddenly reeling Pittsburgh Steelers. Think about, all right, Bengals

34
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,120
Speaker 1: have to bring their A game, Pittsburgh maybe bring their

35
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,040
Speaker 1: C game. And that's what happened. I mean, Pittsburgh did

36
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,760
Speaker 1: not play well, but part of that was because the

37
00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,560
Speaker 1: Bengals were bringing their A game. I mean, honestly, they suffocated.

38
00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,160
Speaker 1: The suffocating, stifling defense was the Bengals, not the Pittsburgh Steelers.

39
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:34,279
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals ran the football, They controlled tempo. They frustrated

40
00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,640
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers by running the football the way they did.

41
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 1: The quarterback run package a big part of it. They

42
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,600
Speaker 1: didn't turn the football over Cincinnati Pittsburgh did. Pittsburgh basically

43
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,120
Speaker 1: flipped the script. They ran the ball down your throat,

44
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,720
Speaker 1: they didn't make mistakes, and they played suffocating defense. Check

45
00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 1: check check flipped the script on Pittsburgh win. So I

46
00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,160
Speaker 1: was thinking about this today. Lap. The Bengals are three

47
00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,440
Speaker 1: and one with two games to go. Right now, they've

48
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,200
Speaker 1: got the third pick in next year's draft. But if

49
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,560
Speaker 1: you really go back and look at the early portion

50
00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,320
Speaker 1: of the season before Joe Burrow got hurt. In Week one,

51
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,920
Speaker 1: they threw a game winning touchdown pass with seven seconds

52
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,240
Speaker 1: to go. AJ Green got called for a tikie tack

53
00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 1: offensive fast interference. Randy Bullock missed a chip shot field

54
00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 1: goal to four's overtime due to cramping in the calves.

55
00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,480
Speaker 1: They're want a wink, yeah, Calfman. Week three, seven point lead,

56
00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,520
Speaker 1: less than thirty seconds to go, Carson Wentz scrambles for

57
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,560
Speaker 1: a game tying touchdown. There goes another win. Game ends

58
00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,320
Speaker 1: in an overtime tie. Week six, twenty one nothing second

59
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: quarter in Indianapolis, still up by six in the fourth quarter,

60
00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,160
Speaker 1: wound up losing to the Colts. Week seven, three different

61
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,680
Speaker 1: leads in the fourth quarter, including a touchdown pass with

62
00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,360
Speaker 1: one oh six to go. They allowed Baker Mayfield to

63
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:51,920
Speaker 1: beat them with a TD pass of his own with

64
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,240
Speaker 1: eleven seconds left. Week eleven, they go up and down

65
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,360
Speaker 1: the field in Washington Borough. Had twenty one pass completions

66
00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,320
Speaker 1: in the first half, they had the lead in the

67
00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,080
Speaker 1: third quarter when he blew out his knee. That's five

68
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:07,160
Speaker 1: games that could have been wins, really should have been wins.

69
00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,240
Speaker 1: I mean, those are what just happened type of losses.

70
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,040
Speaker 1: The Bengals probably should be eight and six with two

71
00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,680
Speaker 1: games to go. Yeah, and that's that would be the

72
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,880
Speaker 1: best case if they win all the game, all those games.

73
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:22,599
Speaker 1: If they only win three of them, they still have

74
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,719
Speaker 1: six wins. I mean, you know, it's it's not as

75
00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,200
Speaker 1: desperate or as desolate a seasons as it sounds. And

76
00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,839
Speaker 1: in all of those wins, I mean, in the Philadelphia game,

77
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,599
Speaker 1: if Carlos Dunlap had played against the Eagles like he's

78
00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,719
Speaker 1: playing for the Seattle Seahawks. Carson Wentz does not score,

79
00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,080
Speaker 1: Carlos Dunlap makes a play on him. Carlos Dunlap, he

80
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,520
Speaker 1: was in his mode where it's not that he couldn't play,

81
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,120
Speaker 1: he wouldn't play, and they that whole thing blew up

82
00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,119
Speaker 1: and fell apart. But in that game, I can point

83
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,360
Speaker 1: to a handful of plays where it's like, come on, man,

84
00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,599
Speaker 1: just give some kind of effort. And I'm not going

85
00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,520
Speaker 1: to put that loss just on that play with Carlos Dunlap.

86
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,120
Speaker 1: But but you know, there were other players in that

87
00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,680
Speaker 1: football game, obviously. But I mean, if in fact, he

88
00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,799
Speaker 1: had stepped up to his ability in the fourth quarter

89
00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 1: in any of those close games when he was still

90
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,919
Speaker 1: with the team defensively, they'd have handful more wins potentially.

91
00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,920
Speaker 1: And again it's not all Carlos Dunlap, obviously, I mean,

92
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,520
Speaker 1: that would be ridiculous, that would be you know, small,

93
00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:24,159
Speaker 1: to try to put it on a guy that's not

94
00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,080
Speaker 1: even here anymore. But he was a factor while he

95
00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,240
Speaker 1: was here. And because honestly, when you look at the

96
00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,640
Speaker 1: overall effort, it's not that they're not trying. It's that

97
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,680
Speaker 1: they weren't playing smart enough football, you know, And you

98
00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,320
Speaker 1: can't when you're when you're in the situation that since

99
00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,000
Speaker 1: then any Bengals are in, you have very little margin

100
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,200
Speaker 1: for error. You can't put yourself on your schedule so

101
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,880
Speaker 1: often and turning the ball over, turn it over, turn

102
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,719
Speaker 1: it over. I mean we're like a bakery. We're making

103
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,599
Speaker 1: turnovers every Sunday, you know, and giving them to everybody. Now,

104
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,360
Speaker 1: the two games that they won, big games that they

105
00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,000
Speaker 1: won it at Paul Brown Stadium against two playoff teams

106
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: right now, playoff worthy teams, Tennessee in Pittsburgh. No giveaways,

107
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,960
Speaker 1: no turnovers, if you keep care of the football and

108
00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,039
Speaker 1: then you can get it into the fourth quarter with

109
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,920
Speaker 1: a chance to win a football game and give your

110
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,719
Speaker 1: defense a chance to do their thing. And they get

111
00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,599
Speaker 1: takeaways against Tennessee and they get takeaways against Pittsburgh. So

112
00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,960
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's that's the formula. But the formula

113
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,280
Speaker 1: has been you know, just basically taken apart too many

114
00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:31,359
Speaker 1: times by giving the football away. It just just can't

115
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,480
Speaker 1: do it. That's the Lottom line. So you know, it

116
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:38,760
Speaker 1: also is great about Monday's victory. It's caused major ajita

117
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,640
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. I mean the sky is falling from eleven

118
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,960
Speaker 1: and zero to eleven and three. They were hoping and

119
00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,040
Speaker 1: expecting to clinch the AFC North title on Monday night

120
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,520
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. Well now it's a real question mark whether

121
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,160
Speaker 1: they are going to hold off the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland

122
00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,880
Speaker 1: is one game behind. Pittsburgh has to play the Colts

123
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,599
Speaker 1: this week ten and four, then the Browns in the

124
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,039
Speaker 1: regular season finale. Cleveland plays the Jets this week. I

125
00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,159
Speaker 1: don't see New York winning back to back games after

126
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,480
Speaker 1: beating the Rams last week. I want to listen to

127
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,760
Speaker 1: something that I heard on Sports Center. This is former

128
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark talking to host Kenny

129
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,080
Speaker 1: Maine after the game on Monday night. All Right, Pittsburgh

130
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,960
Speaker 1: was the last unbeaten team. Now they've done threes three?

131
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,920
Speaker 1: How far in your eyes have they fallen? When you

132
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,720
Speaker 1: look at the whole AFC playoffs which aren't too far away, Kenny,

133
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,240
Speaker 1: who can they beat? You tell me who can they beat?

134
00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,560
Speaker 1: Can they beat the Coats? No? Right? Can they beat

135
00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,760
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans in the playoffs? No? Can they beat

136
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns. We know they can't beat the Kansas

137
00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,440
Speaker 1: City Chiefs. We know they can't beat the Buffalo Bills.

138
00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:45,239
Speaker 1: We look at this team play offense. They are playing

139
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,120
Speaker 1: at such a deficit each game. There is no way

140
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,920
Speaker 1: that they'll win. Tonight, they were getting stopped behind the line.

141
00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,680
Speaker 1: You couldn't convert third and one, fourth and one. The

142
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,840
Speaker 1: past game was any fishing. There weren't their drops, whether

143
00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,680
Speaker 1: there were the incompletions, the passes that were blown up

144
00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,600
Speaker 1: interceptions by the Cincinnati Bengals. They made the Cincinnati Bengals

145
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,360
Speaker 1: look like an All Pro Bowled caliber defense and they

146
00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,680
Speaker 1: haven't been that all year. And so you think when

147
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,400
Speaker 1: you're playing the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, the

148
00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,200
Speaker 1: Cleveland brown some of the better teams in the AFC,

149
00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,120
Speaker 1: that the Pittsburgh Steelers can win. They were eleven and old,

150
00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,120
Speaker 1: and that was fool's goal. You're now losing players on defense,

151
00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,840
Speaker 1: you have injuries on offense, and you have a quarterback

152
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 1: that can't seem to make the right decision when that

153
00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: is what you're expecting him to do as a Pittsburgh

154
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,200
Speaker 1: Steelers fan. As an alum, i Am said, because I

155
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,400
Speaker 1: don't see them winning the game in the playoffs. So

156
00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,640
Speaker 1: to summarize, you're not high on the Pittsburgh Steelers right now.

157
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,520
Speaker 1: Kenny Mayne putting the perfect capra on that so is

158
00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,760
Speaker 1: a Bengals fan. How great is it to hear the

159
00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,240
Speaker 1: Steelers and their fans and their former players just absolutely

160
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,600
Speaker 1: depressed for a change after losing a game at Paul

161
00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,520
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium? How does it feel? You know, it's like

162
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,760
Speaker 1: ashen was a great description. And I think rol Aids

163
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,280
Speaker 1: had a record sales week and it wasn't because of

164
00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 1: overeating pre holiday food. It's because of the Steelers. I mean,

165
00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,679
Speaker 1: they're just trying to lessen that hard burn. I mean,

166
00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,480
Speaker 1: it's it really is. It is amazing to watch the

167
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,280
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers. Though offensively Dan, they're they're very hard to recognize.

168
00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,600
Speaker 1: I mean, they look nothing like they looked before. It's

169
00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,160
Speaker 1: it's almost like an impostor out there. And you know,

170
00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,600
Speaker 1: now people are saying that the Steelers, it's Ben's done there.

171
00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,520
Speaker 1: They're not going to extend Ben. They're not going to

172
00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,800
Speaker 1: ask him. He's got forty some odd million dollar cap

173
00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,040
Speaker 1: hit next year. What they normally do with them is

174
00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,199
Speaker 1: they say Okay, we'll extend you and you know, lessen

175
00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,079
Speaker 1: the load. There, ll give you a little bonus money

176
00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,520
Speaker 1: and help us give us some cap releaf. And now

177
00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:43,440
Speaker 1: they're not doing that. They're not doing that with a

178
00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,120
Speaker 1: quarterback like that. I mean, I love it. It's great.

179
00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,040
Speaker 1: How does it feel? I mean, boy, welcome to the

180
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,040
Speaker 1: real world reality in the National football You can suck,

181
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,640
Speaker 1: can it? Honest? Question? Do they win again this year? Cults?

182
00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,320
Speaker 1: This week, Brown's the week after that? They have clinched

183
00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,800
Speaker 1: to playoff Berth. Not the way you're playing right now,

184
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,920
Speaker 1: and not the way they're playing. And you think, all right,

185
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,839
Speaker 1: well they'll fix it. Well, I thought they'd try to

186
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,120
Speaker 1: run the ball against Buffalo. You know, you got to

187
00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,240
Speaker 1: try to run the ball against Buffalo. No. I thought

188
00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,880
Speaker 1: they try to definitely run the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals.

189
00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,760
Speaker 1: Didn't do it against Buffalo. No. I mean, I guess

190
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,960
Speaker 1: they feel like they can't run the football. I mean

191
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,160
Speaker 1: Connor obviously is a factor in the equation. But I'll

192
00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,439
Speaker 1: tell you, I mean running back is Snell. He was

193
00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:29,280
Speaker 1: far from their worst problem. They had much bigger problems

194
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:31,320
Speaker 1: than that dude. That dude ran hard. I thought i'd

195
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,200
Speaker 1: take him and my team is running back any day.

196
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,280
Speaker 1: That wasn't the issue. Wasn't the issue that Snell was

197
00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,280
Speaker 1: in the backfield of o Connor. That's a bunch of crap.

198
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,520
Speaker 1: If that's what they're saying, that's that's ridiculous, um. And

199
00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,760
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that three Pro bowlers in that offensive line,

200
00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,600
Speaker 1: former Pro bowl getting up there in years. Yeah, they

201
00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,760
Speaker 1: ain't playing at that level anymore. And again, you know

202
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,400
Speaker 1: we talked about it before. Losson gives Villain a wave

203
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,400
Speaker 1: of fits, six quarterback hits in the quarterback sack, rolling

204
00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:01,720
Speaker 1: a wave of the six fight inch bend at the

205
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,840
Speaker 1: waist tower of nonpower right now. I mean he got

206
00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,480
Speaker 1: he got torched around the corner quite a few times

207
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,280
Speaker 1: by Carl Lawson. The Bengals finally beat the Pittsburgh Steelers,

208
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,480
Speaker 1: and the guy that led them to victory was Ryan Finley.

209
00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,920
Speaker 1: Statistically not exactly dazzling. He passed for eighty nine yards,

210
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,959
Speaker 1: completing seven passes in the game. He did run for

211
00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,200
Speaker 1: forty seven yards, including a twenty three yard touchdown run,

212
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,840
Speaker 1: but hey, the guy got the job done. Here's wide

213
00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,720
Speaker 1: receiver T Higgins on Ryan Finley's performance. You know, I

214
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:34,880
Speaker 1: feel like he was lay more confident. You know, you

215
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,240
Speaker 1: could tell he was running the ball, you know, really good,

216
00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,480
Speaker 1: and you know he was just just calm during the

217
00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,360
Speaker 1: whole game, and that's what you wanted to use. Quarterback.

218
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,600
Speaker 1: Ryan Finley was moving on that touchdown run. Did you

219
00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,199
Speaker 1: know he had those kind of wheels? No? I did

220
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,040
Speaker 1: not know he had those. That surprised me. So I mean,

221
00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,920
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad it worked out, aren't we all?

222
00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,720
Speaker 1: Ryan Finleys timed at four point six five and the

223
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,280
Speaker 1: forty yard dash when he was as Stella college student

224
00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:07,520
Speaker 1: at NSE States, So he is faster, I think than

225
00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,440
Speaker 1: most people realize. Now, the question is going into this

226
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,880
Speaker 1: week's game against Houston, does he start again or if

227
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,800
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen's right knee is okay, is he back in

228
00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:18,920
Speaker 1: the starting lineup? What do you think? I think if

229
00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,200
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen's right knee is okay, Brandon Allen starts, I

230
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:27,480
Speaker 1: think that they're limited offensively to what they can do

231
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,600
Speaker 1: with Ryan Finley, and I think it worked defensively. They

232
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,000
Speaker 1: allowed it to happen. They allowed it to work if

233
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,000
Speaker 1: the defense wasn't playing the way they were playing, and

234
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 1: the Bengals had to throw the football more. Might have

235
00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,040
Speaker 1: been a little more exposure, but the whole thing, I mean,

236
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,440
Speaker 1: every you talk about complimentary football, the ying and yang

237
00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 1: of that football game, the defense lifting up the offense,

238
00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,880
Speaker 1: the offense responding, you know, and when the defense gave

239
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,000
Speaker 1: him opportunity with short fields, the offense capitalized two touchdowns

240
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,199
Speaker 1: in the field goal, seventeen points on the three takeaways.

241
00:12:58,360 --> 00:12:59,679
Speaker 1: Those are the kind of things that you have to

242
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,840
Speaker 1: do to pull off an upset like they did. But

243
00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,520
Speaker 1: I do think two things. I think the Texans have

244
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,280
Speaker 1: to prepare for both quarterbacks. Now they're gonna have to

245
00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,040
Speaker 1: spend some time on the zone read and all that

246
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,600
Speaker 1: sort of thing. So and also it's going to make

247
00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,320
Speaker 1: them be a lot more assignment sound defensively instead of

248
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,080
Speaker 1: backside defensive and crashing and pulling Giovanni Bernard down from behind.

249
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,040
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to stay home a little bit, particularly

250
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,880
Speaker 1: when Finley's a quarterback, because they've shown they're going to

251
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,280
Speaker 1: do that, so now they have to spend time in

252
00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,800
Speaker 1: preparing for it. They have to make sure their real

253
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,640
Speaker 1: assignment sound, so they might not take as many chance

254
00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,839
Speaker 1: as defensively. So your running gab with Giovanni Bernard may

255
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,440
Speaker 1: be better at the point of attack without extra clutter

256
00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,920
Speaker 1: because of other things that you have to concern yourself

257
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,640
Speaker 1: with in terms of reads defensively. So there's some positive.

258
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,520
Speaker 1: There's some positive trickle down to the next week when

259
00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,120
Speaker 1: an opponent springs something on the league, like the Bengals

260
00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:02,440
Speaker 1: did with Finley with a run package Nobody, I mean Pittsburgh.

261
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,440
Speaker 1: Tomlin was like, I gotta give those guys credit. And

262
00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,400
Speaker 1: during the course of the game it evolved. Finley said

263
00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,839
Speaker 1: that Zach Taylor during the game the touchdown run of

264
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,599
Speaker 1: twenty three yards, they never practiced that that run that

265
00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,000
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernard ran. They never practiced him pulling it and

266
00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,800
Speaker 1: having a read option from the thing. And during the

267
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,560
Speaker 1: course of the game, Zach saw what was going on.

268
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,520
Speaker 1: He said, look, if the backside guy crashed and Highsmith crashed,

269
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:29,760
Speaker 1: chased it down the line, scrims v crashes, pull it

270
00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,320
Speaker 1: and run. That was just an adjustment, you know, And

271
00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,240
Speaker 1: they're getting he's getting killed about not making adjustments in

272
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,000
Speaker 1: game adjustments and all that sort of thing. That was

273
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,160
Speaker 1: a huge in game adjustment and it led to a

274
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,640
Speaker 1: huge touchdown in the beginning of the fourth quarter of

275
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,560
Speaker 1: twenty three yard John and Scamper. That was a big

276
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 1: difference in the football game. So it's it's very interesting

277
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,640
Speaker 1: to see how Houston is going to handle it. But

278
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,520
Speaker 1: I do think that Brandon Allen, if healthy, will be

279
00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,560
Speaker 1: the guy that they'll send out there. So they ran

280
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,040
Speaker 1: a one times last week against the Pittsburgh team that is,

281
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,720
Speaker 1: you know, good at stopping the run. This week, they

282
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,440
Speaker 1: faced the Houston team that has given up two hundred

283
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,760
Speaker 1: and twelve yards to Derrick Henry one thirty eight to

284
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:16,800
Speaker 1: Clyde Edwards a layer one thirty, Dalvin Cook one twenty six,

285
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,800
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb one oh nine, James Conner one oh four

286
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,560
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt in the same game where Chubb went for

287
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,400
Speaker 1: one twenty six. They're not stopping anybody. They're not one

288
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,280
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty and a half yards a game. They're

289
00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,000
Speaker 1: allowing thirty first in the league five yards to carry.

290
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,520
Speaker 1: They're allowing thirty second in the league. Did last teams

291
00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 1: are efficiently pounding the football on them. The Bengals rush

292
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,120
Speaker 1: for over one hundred and fifty yards against the Steelers,

293
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,680
Speaker 1: you know, and forty some out of them courtesy the quarterback.

294
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,000
Speaker 1: But I think that they are going to feature. No

295
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 1: matter who the quarterback is, the Bengals are going to

296
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:54,520
Speaker 1: come out and say to the offensive line, who I

297
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,920
Speaker 1: think is going to return intact to play in this

298
00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,240
Speaker 1: football game. I think for the first time they'll they'll

299
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,400
Speaker 1: come off a good performance with an offensive line that

300
00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,320
Speaker 1: is physically and mentally intact to try to do it again.

301
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,240
Speaker 1: That's the key. You don't just do it once in

302
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,920
Speaker 1: a while, do it again and again and again and

303
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,520
Speaker 1: see if they can control that Houston Texan front seven

304
00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,520
Speaker 1: and Giovanni Bernard in company and p Running and everybody

305
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,280
Speaker 1: involved get after him. You'd after him, run the ball

306
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,240
Speaker 1: down their throat and make it easy for the quarterback

307
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,160
Speaker 1: and keep the defense off the football field against Watson.

308
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,360
Speaker 1: Sean Watson's having an incredible year. Number one in the

309
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,520
Speaker 1: NFL in yards per pass attempt, number one in yards

310
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,520
Speaker 1: per pass completion. He is second in yardage to Patrick Mahomes.

311
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,880
Speaker 1: Here's Bengals head coach Zach Taylor on the Texans starting QB.

312
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,760
Speaker 1: Just watching some of the highlight reels of this guy,

313
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,840
Speaker 1: or he's unbelievable. He's one of the best players in

314
00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,720
Speaker 1: the league. There's no question about that. Every play is

315
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,600
Speaker 1: alive until you see someone get him on the ground

316
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,720
Speaker 1: or the ball hits the turf, because he just extends

317
00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,200
Speaker 1: a lot of plays that you don't think there's any

318
00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,680
Speaker 1: way they can be extended. And and really the other

319
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,880
Speaker 1: person I see that does that as Lamar Jackson's well,

320
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 1: so all hands on deck for this guy. Tremendous playmaker.

321
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,480
Speaker 1: We got a ton of respect for him. You know,

322
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,159
Speaker 1: it'll be a great challenge for a defense. Named a

323
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,800
Speaker 1: Pro Bowler earlier this week, third time in his four

324
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,560
Speaker 1: year NFL career, he took Houston to the playoffs each

325
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,880
Speaker 1: of the last two years, won a playoff game last

326
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,159
Speaker 1: year with a tremendous individual performance against the Buffalo Bills,

327
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,560
Speaker 1: and now the team has kind of collapsed around him.

328
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,720
Speaker 1: But he is having an incredible year. He is, I mean,

329
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,160
Speaker 1: he's a one man show. And Sam Hubbard earlier today

330
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:30,960
Speaker 1: was talking about how hard it is to get him

331
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,840
Speaker 1: on the ground six two two fifteen, and he's got

332
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,800
Speaker 1: unusual strength for somebody that size. He's not a little quarterback,

333
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,120
Speaker 1: but he's not a big one either, but he has

334
00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,440
Speaker 1: got unbelievable overall body strength and explosive this I've heard

335
00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 1: him referred to as magician, escape artist, fearless, resourceful, creative,

336
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 1: He's all of it. I mean, his college coach called

337
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,119
Speaker 1: him Michael Jordan. I mean that's about as high praise

338
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,360
Speaker 1: as you can get. And Dan, he's one of these

339
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:03,080
Speaker 1: guys where he extends and creates and ultimately the play

340
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,000
Speaker 1: that he comes up with ends up being a better

341
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,040
Speaker 1: play than what was called. You know, He's one of

342
00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,200
Speaker 1: those kind of guys. And they will live with his sacks.

343
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,040
Speaker 1: They'll live with the forty four sacks because he makes

344
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 1: so many big plays in doing that. The only thing

345
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: that if he starts throwing a lot of interceptions, they'll

346
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,520
Speaker 1: probably say time out, let's let's revisit this. But man

347
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,920
Speaker 1: on his career at this point, ninety four touchdowns he's

348
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,479
Speaker 1: accounted for seventy nine of them are touchdown passes, and

349
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,440
Speaker 1: then he's had touchdowns rushing obviously to twenty seven interceptions.

350
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,400
Speaker 1: Ninety four touchdowns he's accounted for seventy nine by air

351
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,439
Speaker 1: to just twenty twenty seven interceptions. That ratio they're going

352
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:44,399
Speaker 1: to continue to live with and let him play the

353
00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,440
Speaker 1: way he's playing. I think the Barras would like a

354
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,560
Speaker 1: do over back in the twenty seventeen draft, they trade

355
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,240
Speaker 1: it up to take Mitchell Trubisky number two overall, and

356
00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,440
Speaker 1: later in that draft the Chiefs took Patrick Mahomes. Two

357
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,640
Speaker 1: picks after that, the Texans took to Shaun Watson. Man.

358
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,240
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, yeah, I think they'd want to do

359
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 1: over a redo safe pet right. The Bengals have seen

360
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,960
Speaker 1: to Shaun Watson once before. That was his first NFL start.

361
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,840
Speaker 1: It was Week two of his rookie year Thursday Night Football,

362
00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,200
Speaker 1: and he led Houston to a victory at Paul Brown Stadium.

363
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,639
Speaker 1: He wasn't individually spectacular. He passed for one hundred and

364
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:21,639
Speaker 1: twenty five yards in that game. Do you know Atkins

365
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,880
Speaker 1: sacked him a couple of times, but he made one

366
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,240
Speaker 1: big play and that was enough of forty nine yard

367
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,320
Speaker 1: touchdown run in a thirteen to nine win. That was

368
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,520
Speaker 1: back in the early portion of the twenty seventeen season

369
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,520
Speaker 1: when the Bengals could not score a touchdown. Yeah, and

370
00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,480
Speaker 1: that touchdown run was are you kidding me, Serpentine? Yeah,

371
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,359
Speaker 1: nobody's gonna get him. I mean he was like it

372
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,440
Speaker 1: was a forty nine yard touchdown run, but he probably

373
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,200
Speaker 1: ran seventy yards back. I mean he was zigzag and

374
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,200
Speaker 1: serpentine is a good word. I mean, it was an

375
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,560
Speaker 1: incredible effort by him. The Texans started the year on

376
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,000
Speaker 1: four and whacked Bill O'Brien and interim coach Romeo Crennell

377
00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,520
Speaker 1: is the oldest head coach in NFL his three he's

378
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,479
Speaker 1: seventy three. George Allis and Marv Levy coached until they

379
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 1: were seventy two. Romeo's first head coaching job was in

380
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 1: Cleveland from two thousand and five to two thousand and eight,

381
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,680
Speaker 1: when the Bengals, Steelers, and Ravens all one Division titles.

382
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,399
Speaker 1: It's similar to what the Bengals are facing right now.

383
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,199
Speaker 1: So here is Crenell on the challenge of trying to

384
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,720
Speaker 1: rebuild in a division where the other three teams are loaded. Well,

385
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:30,159
Speaker 1: it's hard to compete versus an experience team who have

386
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,040
Speaker 1: pieces in place, who have guys who play well together,

387
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,720
Speaker 1: you know. And now you're got a young team and

388
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,720
Speaker 1: young talent, and you're trying to figure out what they

389
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,560
Speaker 1: can do well. And but you've got to play the

390
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,120
Speaker 1: games to try to figure that out, and so you

391
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,959
Speaker 1: end up taking a whipping a little bit, you know,

392
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 1: while that goes on and so through that education that

393
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,680
Speaker 1: they have to get. You know, like the third year

394
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:01,680
Speaker 1: we were able to win ten games in the third

395
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,920
Speaker 1: year and almost made the playoffs. So it takes time.

396
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 1: It just won't happen overnight unless you have the pieces

397
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 1: in place already and then you can kind of build

398
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,640
Speaker 1: on that. But if you have to add the pieces,

399
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:20,119
Speaker 1: it takes time to add the pieces you need to

400
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,200
Speaker 1: be competitive. Romeo Cornell does not have a great head

401
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,400
Speaker 1: coaching record, basically two wins for every or two losses

402
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,040
Speaker 1: for every win, thirty two wins sixty one losses, but

403
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:32,960
Speaker 1: as he mentioned, he did have a ten win season

404
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: in Cleveland back in two thousand and seven and they

405
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:39,640
Speaker 1: did not go to the playoffs despite going ten and six. Yeah,

406
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,000
Speaker 1: one year we went ten and four and didn't make

407
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 1: the playoffs. It was there, there weren't as many wildcard

408
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 1: teams and the Pittsburgh Steelers went twelve and two, the

409
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,480
Speaker 1: Houston Oilers won eleven and three. We went ten and

410
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,359
Speaker 1: four and stayed home. I mean, what was the loss

411
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 1: that year that You're like, how did we lose that game?

412
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,639
Speaker 1: Was there one or not? Necessarily? Now I think you know,

413
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 1: we pretty much pretty much lost it. Lost games that

414
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't I get to really good teams. Yeah,

415
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 1: there was no there was no guarantee. We didn't. We didn't.

416
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,439
Speaker 1: We didn't lose to like the one in eight Browns

417
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 1: or anything like that. You know, nothing like that took place.

418
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:20,320
Speaker 1: But and that's that's probably you know, Pittsburgh and Tennessee

419
00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: probably right now scratching their heads of saying, what happened?

420
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: What happened when we went to Cincinnati? What happened we

421
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,560
Speaker 1: did we? Uh? Did we have something that we shouldn't

422
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: have had in terms of food or drink? What happened

423
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: up there? So Romeo Cornell's got this record of sorts

424
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: oldest head coach in NFL history. It might not last

425
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: very long. Pete Carroll's sixty nine years old. It looks

426
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,639
Speaker 1: forty five. Yeah, he's a they say young. He is

427
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,240
Speaker 1: a young sixty nine years old Romeo Cornell. Watch him walk,

428
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 1: He looks his age. I mean, he's I understand what

429
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 1: he's going through. I'm pushing that seven oh, that's seven

430
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: oh is coming sooner than I want. And boys, some

431
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,040
Speaker 1: some mornings and oil can you got to lubricate man,

432
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 1: You got to loop up the joints. Man, it's there.

433
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,439
Speaker 1: It's no joke. Old age is not fun. It's happening

434
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,040
Speaker 1: to me in the fifties. It's awful. Bill Belichick is

435
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:12,680
Speaker 1: sixty eight. So you got a couple of guys and

436
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 1: Carol and Belichick that could very easily surpass seventy three

437
00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 1: as head coaches if they choose to. They're obviously both

438
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,919
Speaker 1: still very much at the top of their games, very

439
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 1: much still there. I mean, and there's a little bit

440
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 1: of a connection in history all three of them. Romerio

441
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: Cornell and Bill Belichick have a history, and Pete Carroll

442
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 1: and Bill Belichick do. I mean, it's it's interesting that

443
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: coaching tree. When the when the really prime fruit falls,

444
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: somebody picks it up, scoops it up, and it's going

445
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 1: to cherish it for a long time. So the Texans

446
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,159
Speaker 1: are in the market for a new GM and a

447
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,239
Speaker 1: new head coach. They've already started interviewing candidates. And I

448
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,160
Speaker 1: was listening to a kind of a team sponsored podcast

449
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 1: about the Texans earlier today. They are pumping that up

450
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,439
Speaker 1: heavily as their kind of sales message to the fans.

451
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: A new day is coming, a new year is coming.

452
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: We'll have a new coach. We'll have a new GM.

453
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: It's very interesting to hear a team just like openly

454
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 1: advertise the fact that you know, we've cleaned house and

455
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: you know the new era is about to begin. And

456
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:16,920
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, if I'm a general manager or a

457
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,919
Speaker 1: head coach, my biggest asset, everybody wants to work with

458
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,960
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson. If you have that, If you have that

459
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: as a centerpiece, as a starting point, as a foundation piece, man,

460
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: you've got something. And you know that's the interesting thing

461
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: Dan With Joe Burrow, you know two things, two boxes

462
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,720
Speaker 1: that as we talk about Zach Taylor and what's gone

463
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: on with the football team, Mike Brown is going to

464
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 1: think two things and it's going to be pretty early,

465
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 1: pretty high in the list. Has he lost control of

466
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 1: the football team? And I think based on the performance

467
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 1: that he saw going into Pittsburgh, He's going to think

468
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: he hasn't really lost control of the football team. He

469
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 1: hasn't really heard. I don't think anything internally that would

470
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 1: suggest that he's lost control. And what's good for Joe Burrow.

471
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow couldn't have been more effusive in his praise

472
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 1: of Zach Taylor. So if Joe Burrow is going to

473
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 1: line up right behind Zach Taylor and push and support him,

474
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: that's a that's a big piece. So you know, a

475
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 1: couple of boxes might be checked in Zach's favorite I'm

476
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 1: not saying they're the only boxes, but I'm saying those

477
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 1: are a couple of boxes as you're going through the

478
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 1: the evaluation process and considering what to do, those are

479
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 1: significant boxes. Yeah, if Joe Burrow was being honest and

480
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: wasn't just being nice in front of the cameras, and

481
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,160
Speaker 1: I have no reason to think that, you know, that

482
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,359
Speaker 1: wasn't the case. I think he was being a genuine

483
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,199
Speaker 1: That is a pretty important voice to have in your corner,

484
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 1: it really is. I mean, I think he really liked

485
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: working with with all of them. I think he really

486
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: liked working with Zach, Bryan Callahan, Dan Pitcher. I think

487
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 1: he really liked the trio of former quarterbacks and then

488
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,600
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow put in their heads together and coming up

489
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,040
Speaker 1: with game plans and they listened to him and his

490
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,000
Speaker 1: feelings and thoughts and opinions. He really liked it. He

491
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,399
Speaker 1: really liked that whole process. Now, time for this week's

492
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,640
Speaker 1: one on one player interview, and this week it's a

493
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: former player. I had a chance to discuss the current

494
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,160
Speaker 1: team with a member of the nineteen eighty eight Super

495
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: Bowl squad who is currently working as an analyst for

496
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,399
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. When the Bengals celebrated their fiftieth season

497
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 1: back in twenty seventeen, he was named the fortieth best

498
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 1: retired player in franchise history. A starting safety on the

499
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight Super Bowl team, the great Solomon Wilcot.

500
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 1: It's always great to speak, Sally. I want to start

501
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: with a guy on this year's team that plays your

502
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,480
Speaker 1: old position, Jesse Bates. Where does Jesse Bates rank among

503
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 1: NFL safeties these days? Well, in our database, according to

504
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,360
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus or PF as we had now been

505
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 1: rebranded now, he ranks among the top safeties in the

506
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 1: National Football League, particularly when it comes to coverage. Had

507
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,879
Speaker 1: started off the season very well, but still has maintained

508
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,439
Speaker 1: his position among the top five safeties in the National

509
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 1: Football League. We're talking about guys like Justin Simmons, guys

510
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:14,640
Speaker 1: like Minca Fitzpatrick, Jamal Adams. I mean, that's pretty good company.

511
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 1: And so he continues to make plays on the ball.

512
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: His ability to help the defense in pass coverage and

513
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: lock him down receivers tight ends. That's where he really

514
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,639
Speaker 1: tends to send himself apart. Love to get in, love

515
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,679
Speaker 1: to see him give a few more interceptions, but he

516
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,719
Speaker 1: still comes up with the football time and time again.

517
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,399
Speaker 1: Let's stick with a secondary and another guy having a

518
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,199
Speaker 1: very solid season, Will Jackson. What do you think of

519
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 1: Will's play? You know, Will, after last year having a

520
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 1: down year, this year he's been much better. We love

521
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,159
Speaker 1: to see him get back to some of the numbers

522
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,639
Speaker 1: we saw him early in his career, particularly when it

523
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,960
Speaker 1: comes to locking down the top receivers weekend and week out.

524
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 1: But still he's a really good cornerback and ranking the

525
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 1: top half of corners around the National Football League. I

526
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,680
Speaker 1: still believe he could be a top ten shut down

527
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 1: corner weekend and week out. We are visiting with Solomon Wilcox.

528
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 1: When the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow, you tweeted the following, Sally,

529
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: good times are coming to the Queen City. So I

530
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 1: know how you feel about Joe. What did you think

531
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 1: of his play his rookie year? You know, I was

532
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,200
Speaker 1: very much impressed, and I think a lot of us

533
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: who from Afar. We analyzed the game, We critiqued the

534
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: game to the eighth degree, and we were very much,

535
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 1: i think pleasantly surprised with the fact that he could

536
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: handle blitz protection, that he was a born leader, that

537
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 1: every single guy on the football team and in the

538
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 1: huddle and in the locker room sort of defers to him.

539
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 1: And the fact that if you take a look at

540
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: the ten games that he played, he had him at

541
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: every single game right up until the end, I think,

542
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: with the exception of maybe the Pittsburgh Steeler in the

543
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens game. But the fact that you could see

544
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 1: he tilt the competitive balance in the Bengals favor just

545
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 1: by being under center and in the huddle and being

546
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback. He averaged about forty one pass

547
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: attempts per game. I don't know that we've ever seen

548
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 1: a rookie throw the ball as much to start a

549
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: career without going to training camp or preseason in the

550
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 1: history of our league. So the arrow was pointing up

551
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,720
Speaker 1: for Joe Burrow. You referenced his leadership. You played with Boomers,

552
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 1: Sias and one of the great leaders in franchise history.

553
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 1: Do you see some of those qualities in Joe very

554
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: much so. And I always said that that's where I

555
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 1: believe Boomer sias had sat himself apart from all the

556
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks around the National Football League. He played at

557
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: a time when there was some great ones. There was Elway,

558
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: there was Marino, there was Montana, But I'd take Boomer Siasen.

559
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,720
Speaker 1: I know what kind of leader he was. He was

560
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 1: a guy that wouldn't back down, and he was the

561
00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 1: guy that everyone in the locker room with instantly follow

562
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 1: And you could see that from the moment Joe Burrow

563
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 1: arrived at Paul Brown Stadium, he was the guy in

564
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 1: the room. Everyone knew he was the guy in the room.

565
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 1: There's no questions, no doubts about it. And then when

566
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 1: he stepped onto the football field without a lot of work,

567
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: without a lot of lead time, no training camp, no preseason,

568
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 1: the fact that he was able to dive into the

569
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,200
Speaker 1: deep end of the pool and still help this team

570
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 1: improve in every single facet of the offense. I think

571
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 1: it tells you what kind of player he can be.

572
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 1: We're approaching the end of the season. What should the

573
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: Bengals prioritize this offseason? I think you prioritize one thing,

574
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: what's best for Joe Burrow, because what's best for Joe

575
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,760
Speaker 1: Burrow is what's best for the football team. What's best

576
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,800
Speaker 1: for Joe Burrow is gonna be what's best for the

577
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 1: organization because I believe the wins will follow. If you

578
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: improve the offensive line and you protect him. Not only

579
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 1: does he play better, your running game gets better, your

580
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: receiver get better. The overall productivity of the offense is

581
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 1: going to get better. If you go out and get

582
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,240
Speaker 1: an extra receiver, an extra running back, or extra tackle

583
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 1: are tied in. You get better around the quarterback that

584
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 1: is Joe Burrow, and now you're going to see his

585
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 1: production spiked to the next level. You also can help

586
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,959
Speaker 1: a quarterback by improving defense, right, so you don't have

587
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: to go out and score five six touchdowns a game,

588
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: but your defense is getting stops putting Joe Burrow in

589
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 1: the short field after getting turnovers. So I think that's

590
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: how you have to look at it. Everything you do

591
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 1: is how do we play around Joe Burrow? How do

592
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: we improve around him and help him be better. That's

593
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: what the coachs did around Peyton Manning when he was

594
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 1: a former first overall pick and you can see the

595
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: ten win seasons just begin to stack up. The final

596
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:52,360
Speaker 1: road game of the year is coming up this week

597
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,760
Speaker 1: as the Bengals head to Houston. The Texans had been

598
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: much better since they made their coaching change. They started

599
00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 1: out oh and four, they've been close to five hundred.

600
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,520
Speaker 1: Sense what are a couple of things the Bengals would

601
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: need to do to beat Houston in Houston this week? Well,

602
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 1: first of all, you got to get pressure on Deshaun Watts.

603
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 1: I think he is one of the top and most

604
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,160
Speaker 1: prolific quarterbacks in the National Football League. This guy is

605
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,160
Speaker 1: going to be a winner, but you have to put

606
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: pressure on him. You have to contain him in the

607
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: pocket because he can break containment and he'll run while

608
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 1: all over the field. He'll make plays. And then you

609
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: have to be able to block JJ Watt on the

610
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 1: other side. And that's two of the areas where the

611
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 1: Bengals have struggled. One is getting pressure on the opposing quarterback.

612
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: The other is protecting our quarterback from the opponent's best

613
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 1: pass rusher. So you've got to be able to get

614
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 1: after Deshaun Watson and you better block JJ Watt. Great

615
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 1: stuff is always Sally, appreciate the time. Happy holidays and

616
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us. Dan, Happy holidays to you and

617
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,920
Speaker 1: everyone with the Cincinnati Bengals. Thank you for having me.

618
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: Those Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's

619
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now

620
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: time for this week's Know the Faux Segment. Last year,

621
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans won their division, beat the Buffalo Bills

622
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 1: in the first ground of the playoffs, and led the

623
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs twenty four nothing in

624
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 1: the second quarter before getting mahomes and losing that playoff game.

625
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,720
Speaker 1: Now Houston is four and ten and in the market

626
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,920
Speaker 1: for a new GM and a new head coach. John

627
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 1: McLean from the Houston Chronicle joined Lapping Me on the

628
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 1: Bengals Game Plan Show this week and I asked him

629
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,600
Speaker 1: what happened. First of all, go back to the last

630
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 1: game the last season against the Titans. The Texans have

631
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,920
Speaker 1: been behind in double figures six consecutive games, including two

632
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 1: playoff games, and when they did it the first four

633
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:57,080
Speaker 1: games this year and lost all four, they fired Bill O'Brien. Now,

634
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,719
Speaker 1: in fairness to the Texans, they have played the toughest

635
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 1: live seen in forty five years of covering the NFL.

636
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,960
Speaker 1: Five teams they played are in first place. The teams

637
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,879
Speaker 1: they played at a combined record of Mike plus forty five.

638
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like it. But still they have

639
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,399
Speaker 1: not played well. The only player who's been consistently good

640
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 1: is Deshaun Watson. He's having the best season of this career.

641
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 1: He's on the page to set personal best in every

642
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,440
Speaker 1: statest dig he leads the league and average per attempt.

643
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,360
Speaker 1: Even though they traded DeAndre Hopkins, will Fuller suspended the

644
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,000
Speaker 1: last five games, Randall Cobbs injured the last five games.

645
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: Don't matter who they put out there with him, he

646
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,280
Speaker 1: continues to play well. Now. One of the things interesting

647
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 1: about that is their offensive line returned intact. It was

648
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 1: in put it last year, and everybody had high hopes

649
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: for this line coming back. They were ninth and rushing

650
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,880
Speaker 1: last year, so they were really good. Past protection or

651
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: run blotting was awful, and then in the last three

652
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,239
Speaker 1: games the past protection has been off. The two Shawn

653
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,920
Speaker 1: Watson creates some sacks because he holds the ball, but

654
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: he also gets away from a lot of sacks. Kind

655
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: of like Coodini. It's people are amazed the way he

656
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,839
Speaker 1: seems to have eyes in the back of his head,

657
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,239
Speaker 1: and that comes from pocket awareness. But he's now been

658
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:22,160
Speaker 1: sacked forty times and that's just been a bad habit.

659
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:26,000
Speaker 1: And they don't have injury excuses up front like they

660
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,279
Speaker 1: do on their defense, where seven starters six have been

661
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:33,359
Speaker 1: injured and one Bradley Roby, was suspended. But last year

662
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,120
Speaker 1: they were nineteen rushing, this year their thirty second. They

663
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 1: are one point four yards a game for being the

664
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,000
Speaker 1: worst rushing team in team history. That would be their

665
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:46,479
Speaker 1: expansion year two thousand and two. And then I wrote

666
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,719
Speaker 1: a column today they are on the verge of shattering

667
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: the team record for fewest turnovers forced. They have eight.

668
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,200
Speaker 1: If they don't get to eleven, they're going to have

669
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:01,200
Speaker 1: the second fewest since nineteen eighty. Last year they had

670
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 1: twenty two. Year before, they had twenty nine. Romeo Canell's

671
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 1: first season here as defensive coordinator, they had a team

672
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: record thirty four. How many teams have a defensive linement

673
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,319
Speaker 1: tide for the team league with intersetting right, that would

674
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,400
Speaker 1: be J. J. Watt was one. They have three interceptions,

675
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,040
Speaker 1: also lay Glow and one other thing. This team is

676
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,320
Speaker 1: on the pace to be worst against the run in

677
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,399
Speaker 1: franchise history. So they can't run, they can't stop the run,

678
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: they can't force turnovers. Other than that, they're fine. Well

679
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,359
Speaker 1: that's a trifecta. There, can't run, can't stop the runner,

680
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 1: and can't take take the ball away. Amen, let me

681
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: ask you a question about O'Brien. In a two year period,

682
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,239
Speaker 1: traded Clowney traded Hopkins a year apart. Didn't get a

683
00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 1: first round pick in either of those trades, which to

684
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,759
Speaker 1: me is almost mind boggling. Not one first rounder. Is

685
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,799
Speaker 1: that the biggest reason he's gone into There are other

686
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,279
Speaker 1: reasons or what are the reasons that O'Brien is no

687
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: longer there? Well, that's nothing to do with clowning. You know,

688
00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:06,359
Speaker 1: Clowney had done squats since he was traded from here,

689
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,880
Speaker 1: the guy that got Jacob Martin one of the three players,

690
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,240
Speaker 1: he's had more sacks than Clowney. Coli'S having more surgery

691
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:17,160
Speaker 1: now he's out for the year. But what the Hopkins thing.

692
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: Watson has played better without Hopkins, and he spread the

693
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,000
Speaker 1: ball around no matter who they put on the field,

694
00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:27,080
Speaker 1: utilize his tight ends more. But where they miss Hopkins

695
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 1: is down inside the ten yard line where they control

696
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: him the ball. Now, Will Fuller was on a pace

697
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,120
Speaker 1: to have more yards and touchdowns and a better average

698
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,480
Speaker 1: per carry than Hopkins ever had when he got suspended,

699
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:45,440
Speaker 1: and that should have hurt should have hurt Watson, But

700
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 1: I think the only place he's been hurt is when

701
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,600
Speaker 1: they get close to the goal line. Defenses do not

702
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 1: have to worry about them trying to run the ball

703
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 1: inside the five yard line. They know it's going to

704
00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 1: be a pass or it's going to be a Watson

705
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,399
Speaker 1: RPO or watch and draw. And when you can't run

706
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,840
Speaker 1: inside the five, teams get to play a whole totally

707
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 1: different defense, which is the only thing they don't do

708
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 1: in their passing game is score more in close to

709
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:16,239
Speaker 1: the goal line. O' brien was fired because this organization

710
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 1: at the point they were owing four, you can put

711
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,279
Speaker 1: up the debut played. You know this. You guys know this.

712
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,759
Speaker 1: A coach can scream and yell at people consistently if

713
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 1: you're winning. But when you scream and yell at other

714
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 1: coaches and players and media and people in the office

715
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 1: and you're losing, it goes in one ear and out

716
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,839
Speaker 1: the other and it teams to infuriate them, and some

717
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,399
Speaker 1: other than them lash out, and it was just a

718
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,560
Speaker 1: bad atmosphere over there. People didn't want to come to work.

719
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,880
Speaker 1: The organization was divided. So when they fired him, this

720
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: says it all. They fired him over for they elevated

721
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,960
Speaker 1: the popular Romeo Mail the interim coach. He was associate

722
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 1: head coach, and J. J. Watt put on Twitter a

723
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:10,319
Speaker 1: picture of the roof and NRG Stadium open and sunshine

724
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: shining on the no comment, And then I asked him

725
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,640
Speaker 1: the next day when we had him on the zoom,

726
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:20,240
Speaker 1: I said, were you insinuating that the sun is shining

727
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:24,120
Speaker 1: it NRG Stadium again? And he basically said, you guys

728
00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,560
Speaker 1: can read into it whatever you want, but we knew

729
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:30,239
Speaker 1: what that meant. And it was felt like that universally.

730
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,719
Speaker 1: It's like a dark cloud was lifted. What's O'Brian doing

731
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 1: these days? Nobody's heard about him or from him. What's

732
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 1: he doing it? Do you know anything what he's doing? Yeah,

733
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:44,480
Speaker 1: he's on the NFL radio every Friday doing a show

734
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 1: with Pat Kirwin and Jim Miller. Okay, I think you.

735
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,239
Speaker 1: I don't know if he does predictions rundown or what.

736
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 1: He walked away with a lot millions of dollars with

737
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,520
Speaker 1: two years left on his contract, and I think that

738
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,360
Speaker 1: Bill will get another job. He won four divisions and

739
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,600
Speaker 1: six years one two playoff games. People here are saying, oh, man,

740
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:07,799
Speaker 1: now to hire Marvin Lewis. I said, Bill o brian

741
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,920
Speaker 1: won two more playoffs games than he did and won

742
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,680
Speaker 1: more divisions than he did. No, you don't want Marvin Lewis.

743
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,600
Speaker 1: And even though he has a totally different personality, but

744
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 1: O'Brien wants to coach. Some people think you'd be better

745
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,560
Speaker 1: in college where you can get away with that kind

746
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,960
Speaker 1: of dictatorship personality. He did a great job at Kent State,

747
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:33,680
Speaker 1: went into the worst situation in college football history and

748
00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:36,520
Speaker 1: did a really good job. But his heart was always

749
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,960
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And people say, well, is he going

750
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,799
Speaker 1: to be an offensive coordinator? To give him another chance

751
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 1: to be a head coach. Well, because of his personality,

752
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,919
Speaker 1: he would have to work for a really strong head

753
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: coach like he used to Bill Belichick. But now that

754
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:54,960
Speaker 1: he has a taste to coaching for going into the

755
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 1: seventh year, and I don't know that he wants to

756
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:00,040
Speaker 1: do that. A couple more questions are John McClain in

757
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: the Houston Chronicle, you mentioned Marvin Lewis. Houston is already

758
00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 1: conducting a coaching search for after this season. It came

759
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:09,440
Speaker 1: out publicly that the Jim Caldwell got an interview. I

760
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,440
Speaker 1: don't know if that was the first. What do you

761
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,880
Speaker 1: think Houston is looking for? And although you don't sound

762
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,719
Speaker 1: like you would approve of Marvin Lewis being hired, do

763
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,440
Speaker 1: you think there's a shot that he would get an interview. Well,

764
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,879
Speaker 1: he might get an interview, but they're not good like Jim.

765
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:27,360
Speaker 1: The Texans will never say this. I think they're going

766
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: to hire an offensive coordinator, somebody like Eric b Enemy,

767
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith a Tennessee, or defensive coordinator like Matt Eberklos

768
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,640
Speaker 1: from Indianapolis or Robert Salo from San Francisco was here

769
00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 1: for six years under Gary qbac. They're not going to

770
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: give the head coach of files say on personnel like

771
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 1: O'Brien had the last two years. They're done with that.

772
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:51,920
Speaker 1: It's going to go back to the way it was

773
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 1: with Charlie Cashley and Doc Capers, Rick Smith and Gary

774
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,920
Speaker 1: Kubiak and Rake Smith and O'Brien for a couple of

775
00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 1: years before O'Brien was al Is trying to wrestle away

776
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,279
Speaker 1: personnel from him and he finally got it. So they're

777
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 1: interviewing guys that are able to interview right now. Lewis Riddick,

778
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:15,440
Speaker 1: their own personnel director, Matt Bazzard, Jim Caldwell. He can interview,

779
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 1: and I think it's smart to interview as many as

780
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 1: you can. Learn as much as you can about the

781
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 1: structure of an organization in case you don't know or

782
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,040
Speaker 1: here good ideas. Check out what are the people think

783
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,440
Speaker 1: about your players, your schemes. I would interview as many

784
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 1: as I can. I don't think you can get too

785
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,360
Speaker 1: many opinions. And there's competition out there as well. But

786
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,279
Speaker 1: what the Texans have two offers and Sean Watson good receivers,

787
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,960
Speaker 1: they'll resign Will Fuller. They have two offense and tackles.

788
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 1: They need a running back on offense, and then they

789
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:51,480
Speaker 1: need an overhaul on defense. Final question, John, will really

790
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,880
Speaker 1: appreciate your carbon time. It's going to be defense. Defense

791
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 1: be a two parter for you. J J. Watt how

792
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,120
Speaker 1: close is he to one? He was Defensive Player of

793
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,040
Speaker 1: the Year and the linebacker crew. I always thought the

794
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,560
Speaker 1: linebackers were damned good down there in Houston, you know,

795
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,960
Speaker 1: led by Merciless, and I know you've had injuries. McKinney,

796
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,800
Speaker 1: I thought, hell of a player against the run. What's

797
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,600
Speaker 1: happened to the defense overall? And then I guess, more specifically,

798
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:22,480
Speaker 1: how was JJ watt plan? Two years ago? They were

799
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:25,120
Speaker 1: eleven and five. They gave up eighty two yards a

800
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 1: game rushing. They were third in the league against the run.

801
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,479
Speaker 1: They had Clowney playing opposite Watt. Clowney's not a great

802
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,960
Speaker 1: pass rusher, but he's great against the run. And he

803
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,920
Speaker 1: had nine sids a year. He's never had double digits.

804
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:39,760
Speaker 1: They had Tyring mad to you at safety. They didn't

805
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:43,200
Speaker 1: pay him. The Chiefs dead O'Brien got mad, didn't think

806
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:46,000
Speaker 1: Clowney was serious enough about football, and they weren't going

807
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:47,760
Speaker 1: to give him one hundred million. They were already playing

808
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,319
Speaker 1: Watt one hundred million. In retrospect, Clowney probably should have

809
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:53,840
Speaker 1: taken their seventy five million, because you're never going to

810
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:58,040
Speaker 1: make that. And so DJ reader there no stackle, as

811
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,920
Speaker 1: you guys know that he to state here for the

812
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:05,440
Speaker 1: money they used to resign. Whitney merciless. Merciless like most

813
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,960
Speaker 1: of the players on this defense and a lot on

814
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,400
Speaker 1: offense have not played as well this year as last

815
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:15,120
Speaker 1: year for whatever reason, and so that's why they need

816
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:18,000
Speaker 1: the overall of the defense. Why is still their best

817
00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 1: defensive player. They're good at inside linebacker for next season,

818
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 1: they're good at safety. They need at least two corners,

819
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:28,680
Speaker 1: two outside linebackers, another nose tackle like DJ Reader, and

820
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,160
Speaker 1: maybe another defensive end. What is not the pass rusher

821
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:34,680
Speaker 1: he used to be? He can still get pressured, but

822
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:38,400
Speaker 1: without anybody else on their defensive line who's a legitimate

823
00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 1: NFL starter like Reader and Clowney. He's playing with guys

824
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,640
Speaker 1: that are be really good backups. He gets double teamed

825
00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:49,200
Speaker 1: on every play, and he's got five sacks, and he's

826
00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,200
Speaker 1: not the pass rusher he was two years ago playing

827
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:55,440
Speaker 1: with those other guys when he had sixteen. You're in

828
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,959
Speaker 1: the car on Christmas Day afternoon, driving two or from

829
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,040
Speaker 1: a family gift ex change, join us for a special

830
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:04,960
Speaker 1: Christmas Day edition of the Bengals pep Rally Show from

831
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:09,000
Speaker 1: three to six on ESPN fifteen thirty. In addition to

832
00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:12,760
Speaker 1: discussing the Houston game will feature some of this year's

833
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: best fun facts interviews. That's going to do it for

834
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:18,359
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you

835
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:22,200
Speaker 1: by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game. If you haven't

836
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:25,080
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe, and if you have a minute,

837
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:27,880
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps

838
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:33,400
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde. Merry Christmas,

839
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:37,000
Speaker 1: thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast.