Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast The Love Me Two Times bab
Speaker 1: Love Me twice today. Addition, as the Bengals win two
Speaker 1: straight games for the first time in two seasons, winning
Speaker 1: a shootout in Houston thirty seven thirty one. Coming up,
Speaker 1: you'll hear radio replays, postgame comments from players and coaches,
Speaker 1: and in depth analysis from Dave Lapham. And in this
Speaker 1: week's fun Facts segment, you'll get to know the person
Speaker 1: under the pads as I go one on one with
Speaker 1: offensive lineman Xavier sua Philo. The Bengals Booth Podcast is
Speaker 1: presented by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: odd Bean. It's the greatest thing since a sit stand workstation.
Speaker 1: I spend a lot of time doing broadcast prep at
Speaker 1: my desk, especially during this time of the year when
Speaker 1: I'm not only broadcasting Bengals games, but you see football
Speaker 1: and basketball as well. All of that time on my
Speaker 1: back side is not good for my back. But I
Speaker 1: got something for Christmas that I already love. A sit
Speaker 1: stand workstation. It's basically an adjustable desk that allows me
Speaker 1: to do my work standing or sitting, or a combination
Speaker 1: of both. You just pinch the levers on each side
Speaker 1: and you can raise and lower the desk to the
Speaker 1: desired height. I give it a standing ovation. Now let's
Speaker 1: get to the game. In Monday Nights went over, Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: quarterback Ryan Finley only completed seven passes as the Bengals
Speaker 1: went to an uber conservative game plan to neutralize the
Speaker 1: Steelers pass. With Brandon Allen back from his knee injury,
Speaker 1: the Bengals didn't hesitate to throw it. At Houston. He
Speaker 1: went five for five on the Bengals opening drive and
Speaker 1: capped it off with a touchdown pass big third down
Speaker 1: in two play, coming up at the Houston eight yard line,
Speaker 1: empty backfield, five wide, three out to the left, two
Speaker 1: out to the right. Allan looking left, throws left, cut
Speaker 1: by the tight end Drew Sample, and he cruises into
Speaker 1: the end zone for an eight yard touchdown, his first
Speaker 1: in the NFL. It was the start of an outstanding
Speaker 1: performance by the twenty eight year old quarterback, as he
Speaker 1: threw for a career high three hundred and seventy one
Speaker 1: yards with a passer rating of one twenty six point five.
Speaker 1: Here's wide receiver Alex ericson you know Brandon's you know,
Speaker 1: when he was getting the start the first time, you know,
Speaker 1: you can really notice that you can really spin the ball.
Speaker 1: And he's a confident guy and really has the right
Speaker 1: deminuor looking for and he gets back there and everyone
Speaker 1: just believes in him, and he showed that today. You know,
Speaker 1: the old line protected him and he was back there
Speaker 1: picking him apart after the team's traded field goals. The
Speaker 1: Bengals had a ten three lead late in a half
Speaker 1: when Will Jackson had to leave the game due to
Speaker 1: a concussion. Deshaun Watson took advantage of his absence by
Speaker 1: frequently picking on his replacement, lis Shaun Sims. Fun first
Speaker 1: and ten Watson back to throw Karl Lawson with some pressure.
Speaker 1: Here's a throw into the end zone and it's caught
Speaker 1: for a touchdown by Brandon Cooks. That was the first
Speaker 1: of three touchdown passes for Watson, who finished with three
Speaker 1: hundred twenty four passing yards thirty eight rushing yards. And
Speaker 1: a passer rating of one thirty three point nine. Here's
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor. Deshaun Watson is one of the best football
Speaker 1: players I've ever seen in my lifetime. I knew that
Speaker 1: going in this game. I knew it was gonna be difficult.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be moments on defense, it was gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: And he's done it to a lot of people over
Speaker 1: the last several years, and so losing, you know, a
Speaker 1: starting corner at that point was tough because this guy
Speaker 1: can extend plays and get first down to his feet,
Speaker 1: and he can throw a mile and he's got a
Speaker 1: great receiver, Brandon Cooks that can go get it. And
Speaker 1: so again, they can put in a lot of tough spots.
Speaker 1: And I did think it hurt us when Will window
Speaker 1: It was ten ten at the half with the Bengals
Speaker 1: due to get the ball to begin the third quarter.
Speaker 1: Going into the game, the Bengals had not scored a
Speaker 1: point in the third in more than two months. Here's
Speaker 1: a run to the left for somaj a p rhyme
Speaker 1: burst through a hole inside the Houston forty spins away
Speaker 1: from a tackle down the side lane toward the end zone.
Speaker 1: P Ryan takes it to the house as the Bengals
Speaker 1: score for the first time in ages in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: a drought of seven games comes to an end. That
Speaker 1: forty six yard run by two hundred forty pounds somaj
Speaker 1: p Ryan was the longest of his NFL career by
Speaker 1: sixteen yards, and gave the Bengals a seventeen ten lead.
Speaker 1: I asked him about it after the game. Have you
Speaker 1: seen your forty six yard touchdown run yet? And if not,
Speaker 1: are you dying too? Oh? No, I haven't seen it.
Speaker 1: I mean i'll see it in film, but it's not
Speaker 1: I mean a touchdown to the touchdown, So I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna I'm not gonna think about that play. I'd rather
Speaker 1: watch the plays where I didn't do what I should
Speaker 1: have done and learn from that, because you know, a
Speaker 1: touchdown is pay dirt, So I mean, I can learn
Speaker 1: from it, but not as well as I can learn
Speaker 1: from something that I didn't do so well. So you
Speaker 1: are not fired up to see a forty six yard
Speaker 1: run with a three hundred and sixty degree spin, breaking
Speaker 1: tackles that will be on every highlight show. You would
Speaker 1: rather study your mistakes, absolutely. You always got to study
Speaker 1: in the mistakes first. It's good to look back at it,
Speaker 1: but the mistakes come first. You gotta get those figs.
Speaker 1: The Bengals scored on all five of their second half possessions,
Speaker 1: but the Texans kept matching them. Watson and the gun
Speaker 1: back at the nine catches the snap, hands it off.
Speaker 1: David Johnson runs with ease into the end zone. Not
Speaker 1: much resistance there, and Houston is a pat away from
Speaker 1: tying the game. Man, no questions, Dan, I think he
Speaker 1: scores in one hand touch. Johnson ran for one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty eight yards, but his legs were offset by
Speaker 1: Al's arm. On back to back plays, he hit Alex
Speaker 1: Erickson for a forty two yard gain, followed by a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass to a sensational rookie. Alan drops back to
Speaker 1: pass again. He's gonna float one high and deep into
Speaker 1: the end zone. It is hot. Did the receiver get
Speaker 1: two feet down in bounds? No, te Higgins did not.
Speaker 1: Te Higgins is saying, are you sure he's got two
Speaker 1: feet down? He's dragging. Oh, that's a touchdown. Te Higgins
Speaker 1: telling the coaches to challenge it. You gotta challenge it.
Speaker 1: He's dragging the left foot possession left foot drag, right
Speaker 1: foot down touch down. As it turned out, the Bengals
Speaker 1: didn't have to challenge it. One official overruled the guy
Speaker 1: that got it wrong, and the twenty yard touchdown pass
Speaker 1: gave Cincinnati a twenty four seventeen lead. Higgins had six catches,
Speaker 1: allowing him to tie Chris Collinsworth's team record for a
Speaker 1: rookie with sixty seven. Tea's ninety nine receiving yards ups
Speaker 1: his season total to nine h eight, putting it within
Speaker 1: range of joining Collinsworth and Aj Green as the lead
Speaker 1: Bengals rookies to hit one thousand. Here's Zach Taylor. Being
Speaker 1: around him, it doesn't feel like you're around a rookie.
Speaker 1: He feels like he has mature. It is not the
Speaker 1: right word, because he's had the right focus since day one,
Speaker 1: and I've just really been fun to watch him. The
Speaker 1: confidence that he has as he gets through the season.
Speaker 1: You know, he's made plays against everybody in this league
Speaker 1: and he's got an extremely bright future. His approach is tremendous.
Speaker 1: We're really where we got him. When we got him
Speaker 1: in the second round is unbelievable now that you look
Speaker 1: back on it, but but we're lucky to have him
Speaker 1: once again. The Bengals seven point lead didn't last. Watson
Speaker 1: waits for the shotgun snap. Here comes a Blitz quick throw,
Speaker 1: touchdown running back David Johnson on the receiving end of
Speaker 1: that two yard throw, tying the game at twenty four
Speaker 1: heading to the fourth quarter. After scoring a pair of
Speaker 1: touchdowns in the third quarter, the Bengals had to settle
Speaker 1: for a long field goal try. On their first drive
Speaker 1: of the fourth Mark Harris ready to snap it back
Speaker 1: to Kevin Huber. Huber looks back at the kicker. Now
Speaker 1: it turns, his head, extends, the right hand, matches the ball,
Speaker 1: puts it down. The kick looks good. It is good
Speaker 1: by Austin Seibert as Cincinnati takes a three point lead
Speaker 1: on his forty eight yard field goal. It was twenty seven,
Speaker 1: twenty four Cincinnati, with ten and a half minutes to go.
Speaker 1: To that point, the Bengals had never trailed, but Houston's
Speaker 1: tight ends took care of that first. Pharaoh Brown caught
Speaker 1: an eight yard pass, broke tackle attempts by Jesse Bates
Speaker 1: and Germaine Pratt, and eventually carried five defenders on a
Speaker 1: twenty nine yard gain. A few plays later, it was
Speaker 1: more of the same shotgun snap watching straight back to throw.
Speaker 1: Now scrambling up the middle of the field, throws before
Speaker 1: crossing the line. It's caught for a first down. It
Speaker 1: is going to be a touchdown for Houston. They could
Speaker 1: not get Darren Fells, the tight end to the ground.
Speaker 1: Second time on this drive, the Bengals simply could not
Speaker 1: tackle a Houston tight end. Pratt and Bates had him
Speaker 1: wrapped up at the five yard line, but couldn't key
Speaker 1: Fells out of the end zone, and Houston had its
Speaker 1: first lead thirty one twenty seven with six fifteen to go.
Speaker 1: That's been the story of twenty twenty right. The Bengals
Speaker 1: had four games in the first seven weeks where they
Speaker 1: had the lead in the fourth quarter and blew it.
Speaker 1: But not this time. The Bengals ran seven times and
Speaker 1: passed three in marching down the field for the go
Speaker 1: ahead score. Aj Green out to the left, T Higgins
Speaker 1: out to the right. Now p Rhyan moves to the
Speaker 1: quarterback's right, shotgun snap insidehand p Rhyan into the end
Speaker 1: zone for a go ahead touchdown with one fifty seven
Speaker 1: to go. As the Bengals drive seventy five yards and
Speaker 1: take the lead. It was thirty four thirty one Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Raise your hand if you were worried that they had
Speaker 1: left too much time on the clock for de Shaun Watson.
Speaker 1: You can put your hand down now because on the
Speaker 1: second play if Houston subsequent drive, Sam Hubbard delivered a
Speaker 1: knockout blow. Watch Sam hully right into the hands of man.
Speaker 1: That's an interception for the Bengals. As Hubbard got to
Speaker 1: the right side of Watson, poked the ball out of
Speaker 1: his arm. Watson is hurt and the ball fluttered right
Speaker 1: to Margus Hunt for the pick. Nice i hand coordination
Speaker 1: by the big boy, Margus Hunt and Sam Hubbard. For
Speaker 1: the second time he got to the armor Deshaun Watson,
Speaker 1: he hit him. The ball flooded out of bounce the
Speaker 1: first time and Deshaun Watson had some right elbow injury issue,
Speaker 1: and then Sam Hubard got him again. This time as
Speaker 1: the ball flooded, Marcus Hunt said, I'll take it. It
Speaker 1: was officially a fumble forced by Hubbard and recovered by Hunt.
Speaker 1: Watson's arm was not moving forward because his fingers actually
Speaker 1: got caught in Sam's face mask. Here's the Bengals defensive
Speaker 1: end on taking the ball away from Watson. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: just he's really strong, you know, he's you know, you
Speaker 1: give him a lot of credit when you try and
Speaker 1: get your hands on him. He's out there really fast
Speaker 1: and just as strength and awareness as special. So you
Speaker 1: know to go for the ball and get it out
Speaker 1: after you know he's been getting the better of us.
Speaker 1: It felt awesome. We've had plenty of games where things
Speaker 1: are going your way and you just seek someone to
Speaker 1: step up and make that play. And really the play
Speaker 1: that Sam made, we've had We've been in that moment
Speaker 1: several times over the last two years and they've driven
Speaker 1: down and scored. I think you'll go whatever it was,
Speaker 1: but that needs to be a turning point for us.
Speaker 1: Austin Cyber tacked on a short field goal with eighteen
Speaker 1: seconds to go to make the final scores Cincinnati thirty seven,
Speaker 1: Houston thirty one. It was the Bengals first road win
Speaker 1: in sixteen tries under Zach Taylor and ended Cincinnati's twenty
Speaker 1: game road winless streak going back two years, two months
Speaker 1: and twenty seven days. They avoid reaching the Detroit Lions
Speaker 1: NFL record of twenty six road games without a win.
Speaker 1: Here are Zach Taylor, Alex Erickson, and Brandon Allen. Just
Speaker 1: tells you everything you got to know about the character.
Speaker 1: And there's all of this team. And like I told him,
Speaker 1: we practiced in ten degree weather on Christmas Day, you know,
Speaker 1: to come down and play a game to Houston, and Uh,
Speaker 1: not one guy. I didn't hear one guy complain about it.
Speaker 1: They all knew that we had to get some work
Speaker 1: done before we're gonna come win this big game. And UM,
Speaker 1: just couldn't be proud of the work that they put
Speaker 1: in here in week sixteen. Um, we're out of the
Speaker 1: playoff hunt. It's easy for guys to check out right now,
Speaker 1: and we haven't had a single player to do it.
Speaker 1: And UH just just brought to coaches. Guys. Man, it's
Speaker 1: crazy to even think about. You know this, This league's tough,
Speaker 1: and it's hard to win on the road, and UM
Speaker 1: to go two years though, man, a long time coming.
Speaker 1: It's just just a testament to you know, sticking to
Speaker 1: the process and believing. I know it's hard at times,
Speaker 1: and you know, when you lose that many road games
Speaker 1: in a row, it's you never think it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And then uh, just keep believing. And you know, I
Speaker 1: think on Monday night, you know, the energy was great
Speaker 1: and guys really believed, and uh, nice see the momentum
Speaker 1: picking up and guys are preparing the right way and
Speaker 1: uh starting to starting to get some momentum and that
Speaker 1: we've that we've earned and so it feels really good
Speaker 1: to come down here and get a victory, and it'll
Speaker 1: be nice getting on the plane for a long time coming.
Speaker 1: There's never been a question, um within this team of
Speaker 1: us moving in the right direction, and like you said,
Speaker 1: there's there has been. There have been a few games
Speaker 1: where we're literally one play away from from it being
Speaker 1: a win, and so you know, those are tough, but
Speaker 1: you have to you have to be able to move
Speaker 1: on and an approaching next week that you're gonna win
Speaker 1: it again. So I think you kind of can just
Speaker 1: see in his last two weeks that, um, you know
Speaker 1: that this team knows how close it can be, and
Speaker 1: we find them been able to have two really good
Speaker 1: games and put them together and get wins, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, we can just take that momentum and move
Speaker 1: it forward. The Bengals are four ten and one with
Speaker 1: one game to go. Now time for postgame analysis with
Speaker 1: my broadcast partner Dave lapham Well Lapp. The Bengals had
Speaker 1: two wins in the first thirteen weeks, and now they've
Speaker 1: got two in six days. Who saw back to back
Speaker 1: victories over Pittsburgh and Houston coming. I'm telling you in
Speaker 1: the fashion you know that it happened. Man Finley the
Speaker 1: star of the Pittsburgh game with his quarterback run game,
Speaker 1: and then Brandon Allen was just He threw the ball
Speaker 1: as well as just about any quarterback I think could
Speaker 1: throw the ball today. Who would have thought the Bengals
Speaker 1: were better than a touchdown underdog two touchdown undog to
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh toucheddow underdog plus in this game. And I wonder
Speaker 1: what the odds makers, how many of them thought that
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen and samaj p Ryan would lead the troops,
Speaker 1: lead the force to the victory. Let's talk about Brandon Allen.
Speaker 1: He passed for three hundred and seventy one yards, two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: no picks, pass a rating of one twenty six point five.
Speaker 1: First time in his career he stoned for more than
Speaker 1: three hundred yards in a game. When Joe Burrow got
Speaker 1: hurt a lot of people myself included, started saying, well,
Speaker 1: let's see what quarterback should they sign in the offseason
Speaker 1: just in case Joe Burrow is not ready for Week one?
Speaker 1: Should that quarterback be Brandon Allen. I think that he's
Speaker 1: proven that he understands the offense. He understands what's Zack's
Speaker 1: trying to do within that offense. And I know Zach
Speaker 1: feels good about Colin plays for him, which is big.
Speaker 1: And I think you know his relationship with Dan Pitcher,
Speaker 1: Brian Callahan. I mean, if if all these guys are
Speaker 1: back offensively, I would not be shocked at Brendan Allen
Speaker 1: is back offensively as well, you know, And I think
Speaker 1: the charge they're making here down the stretch, obviously they
Speaker 1: still have the locker room. Guys are still playing hard,
Speaker 1: Guys are still believing. Honestly, when when Houston took the
Speaker 1: lead in the fourth quarter of their first lead of
Speaker 1: the day in the past, you'd think, yeah, they're done,
Speaker 1: these guys came right back and answered. You know, it
Speaker 1: was impressive and and I thought the execution it was
Speaker 1: at a very high level. Tennessee and Houston no turnovers,
Speaker 1: no quarterback sacks. That's that's a formula for winning games
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. If Zach Taylor was ever
Speaker 1: on a hot seat, seems pretty cold right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think some people threw some cold water in that
Speaker 1: bad boy. I think some of his h some of
Speaker 1: his players and assistant coaches might have come to the
Speaker 1: rescue there. I think, you know, you have your first
Speaker 1: two game winning streak as a head coach, and it
Speaker 1: comes at a very opportune time. So, I mean, worst
Speaker 1: case scenario, you're winning two out of your last three
Speaker 1: football games. That's a good way to finish Without your
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback Joe Burrow, guy that you gave a bunch
Speaker 1: of money to at the running back position, Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1: I mean the people they didn't have. And look the
Speaker 1: Texans in the same boat. They were missing a bunch
Speaker 1: of people too. That's life from the National Football League.
Speaker 1: But the fact is the Bengals have responded, and one
Speaker 1: with guys that when the season started, there's no way
Speaker 1: people thought that guys that are playing now in significant
Speaker 1: roles would be the guys that are playing in those
Speaker 1: significant roles. So for the first time since the Cleveland
Speaker 1: home game on October twenty fifth, the Bengals had the
Speaker 1: same starting offensive line as the previous game. For the
Speaker 1: previous seven games, it was musical chairs, with anywhere from
Speaker 1: one to four changes from the previous week. How significant
Speaker 1: was they continued ay? And did anybody stand out today
Speaker 1: where you thought, Okay, maybe that guy clinched a spot
Speaker 1: in the offensive line for next year. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the interior of the offensive line now. Trey
Speaker 1: Hopkins has been very consistent all season long. I think
Speaker 1: he's had a really good year. Spain, Spain got some
Speaker 1: push in there today on p Rhin's four yard touchdown run.
Speaker 1: He drove his guy three yards into the end zone.
Speaker 1: And honestly, Xavier Suafilo is given a stabilizing force at
Speaker 1: that left guard position. I think, you know, Bobby Hartson,
Speaker 1: a veteran guy and experienced guy. I think he enjoys
Speaker 1: playing next to Spain. And I think Fred or Identity
Speaker 1: or whoever is out there at the left tackle position
Speaker 1: would appreciate playing next to Xavier Suafilo. So I do
Speaker 1: think that there's there's a good mix, you know, of
Speaker 1: of guys in terms of their experience. They're all intelligent.
Speaker 1: That's one thing I telling you this this offensive line.
Speaker 1: Bobby Hart is a very smart guy. Ty Trey Hopkins
Speaker 1: is a very smart guy. Jonah Williams, who isn't in
Speaker 1: the in the mix. Again, there's another guy they're playing
Speaker 1: without is a very smart guy. Xavier sue A, Philo Spain.
Speaker 1: All these guys can play multiple positions. They're all smart guys.
Speaker 1: So I don't think I don't think the offensive line
Speaker 1: is does it need work? Yes? It still does. I mean,
Speaker 1: do you want to try to upgrade if you can? Yes?
Speaker 1: But is it a functional group? Can you work with
Speaker 1: that group? They're proving down the stretch that they're a
Speaker 1: functional and they can be worked with. With the win,
Speaker 1: the Bengals as of now have dropped from third and
Speaker 1: next year's draft to sixth. If they win again next week,
Speaker 1: I think they could go as low as number twelve.
Speaker 1: So for all of the Bengals fans who are heartbroken,
Speaker 1: as much as they enjoyed watching a victory, they're now
Speaker 1: heartbroken over the likelihood that Pinney Sewell is no longer
Speaker 1: going to be a Bengal. What would you say, you know,
Speaker 1: I would say that I'm of the belief that some
Speaker 1: guys have been saying even with the third pick in
Speaker 1: the draft, I trade back, I trade down and get
Speaker 1: you know, an additional high pick. It's not just one guy.
Speaker 1: And even though the tackle position is vitally important, a
Speaker 1: tackle is not going to take you from a five
Speaker 1: win team to a playoff team. I mean, so I
Speaker 1: try to I try to increase my my odds. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, Sue, Sue has all the projections to be
Speaker 1: a dominant player, and I don't disagree with that. But
Speaker 1: if you can find two high caliber players in the
Speaker 1: offensive line instead of that one, why not. Or if
Speaker 1: you can find you know, a good edge guy and
Speaker 1: defensively with one of those picks, you know, I don't
Speaker 1: have any any real problem with the Bengals doing that,
Speaker 1: no matter where they end up in the draft. I
Speaker 1: think for people to cast their lot on one player
Speaker 1: and that player only and be heartbroken if you don't
Speaker 1: get that one player. And fully, it's things changed that
Speaker 1: it's an offensive tackle that people are ready to mortgage
Speaker 1: their houses over. I mean, god, that was never the case.
Speaker 1: And this is still a quarterback league, a quarterback driven league,
Speaker 1: and you do have to protect the quarterback obviously, but
Speaker 1: you've got to get them weapons too. And you know,
Speaker 1: the defense has to get them the football. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's so many things that they need to improve on,
Speaker 1: and I think the more picks they get, the better
Speaker 1: chances they're going to have of putting their bat on
Speaker 1: the ball and improving their football team. Jacksonville has clinched
Speaker 1: the number one pick, Trevor Laws. Trevor Lawrence will come
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown Stadium next year. The Jaguars are scheduled
Speaker 1: to play here next year. The Jets. With their win
Speaker 1: over the Cleveland brow and back to back wins for
Speaker 1: the Jets after an owing thirteen start, they are now
Speaker 1: in the two spot. Then you've got several teams with
Speaker 1: four wins, including the Bengals, but since the Bengals have
Speaker 1: a tie, they're down near the bottom of the four
Speaker 1: team wins. I find it interesting that the fourth team
Speaker 1: in the draft order right now should have been Houston,
Speaker 1: but they traded that pick to Miami. How happy are
Speaker 1: the Dolphins to see the texts in sitting there with
Speaker 1: the fourth pick in the draft? Unbelievable? I mean, fits
Speaker 1: Magic delivers again from them. I mean Ryan Fitzpatrick. It
Speaker 1: is incredible. This guy's career is like no other. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's really a book that you don't have to be
Speaker 1: creative as an author to write, you know. I mean
Speaker 1: it's unbelievable and he's living it. But Yeah, the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: I mean, look at where they are, what they've got,
Speaker 1: and they have the fourth pick in the draft to
Speaker 1: boot Man. They're doing a lot of things right down
Speaker 1: there in Miami, and they could set themselves up to
Speaker 1: be the real deal for a long time. There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. Little Bengals history made today by te
Speaker 1: Higgins with his six catches. He has sixty seven this year.
Speaker 1: He has tied with Chris Collinsworth for the Bengals rookie
Speaker 1: record for catches in a season, and he's got a
Speaker 1: legit shot at becoming the third Bengals rookie to have
Speaker 1: more than one thousand receiving yards in his first year.
Speaker 1: He's over nine hundred after having six catches for ninety
Speaker 1: nine yards in this game. So a tremendous rookie year
Speaker 1: is reaching record setting proportions for t Higgins. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I like te Higgins in all levels, all areas. Dan Physically,
Speaker 1: he's the real deal. Big, strong, broad shoulders, strong hands,
Speaker 1: vice length, strength, all that stuff, and he's a puppy.
Speaker 1: You know, a full off season of lifting and working out,
Speaker 1: he's going to be bigger, stronger, long. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: going to be ridiculous. The other part of it is
Speaker 1: the mental part of the game. Joe Burrow and they
Speaker 1: have a chemistry right away. Brandon Allen having a chemistry
Speaker 1: with him right away says something about him as a
Speaker 1: as a rookie to understand not only what he's supposed
Speaker 1: to do, why he's supposed to do it, how he's
Speaker 1: supposed to do it, all those kinds of things. I
Speaker 1: think he's very advanced mentally, and I think that he's
Speaker 1: a really solid route runner. He doesn't make the same
Speaker 1: mistake twice, and I think Joe Burrow and T Higgins
Speaker 1: could have a run like Andy Dalton and AJ Green did.
Speaker 1: I thought this game was a reminder that Alex Erickson
Speaker 1: is a pretty good slot receiver when needed. I mean
Speaker 1: last year he had forty three catches five hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty nine yards. This year just buried on the depth chart.
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd had been healthy until this week, had five
Speaker 1: catches for forty three yards all year, coming in six
Speaker 1: catches for eighty eight yards in the game pros pro.
Speaker 1: You know totally when you're talking about dependability, reliability, accountability,
Speaker 1: all those great abilities, those are the abilities that sometimes
Speaker 1: there are tiebreakers, I mean physical ability. Everybody's got physical ability,
Speaker 1: or there wouldn't be in the league. But some guys
Speaker 1: are in the league that you wouldn't expect to be
Speaker 1: in the league because of the intangible abilities of the accountability,
Speaker 1: reliability and all those abilities. And that's Alex Erickson. And
Speaker 1: he's all about the team. A lot of people that's
Speaker 1: lip service, you know, it's like, oh, you know they
Speaker 1: say that at butter Alex Erickson does the dirty work,
Speaker 1: I mean special teams, cover returns, do anything anything that
Speaker 1: has to be done, blue collar dirty work stuff to
Speaker 1: help his football team win. And then when the opportunity
Speaker 1: rose and Tyler Boyd would have gone off in this
Speaker 1: football game, they would not have been able to cover
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. Let's face it, but they didn't have him.
Speaker 1: And who steps up and plays his tail off, which
Speaker 1: totally expect Alex Darkson. He relishes every opportunity, and when
Speaker 1: the opportunity presents itself, he's not going to pass on it.
Speaker 1: He's going to go capitalize on it. The Bengals are
Speaker 1: going to finish last in the AFC North. Regardless of
Speaker 1: what happens next week, the other three teams, I'll have
Speaker 1: double digit wins. That means they get to play the
Speaker 1: last place schedule next year, and that means they get
Speaker 1: to avoid the Houston Texans. I don't want to play
Speaker 1: play Deshaun Watson if I'm the Bengals defensive staff anymore
Speaker 1: than I absolutely have to. I'm telling you, Dan, this
Speaker 1: guy is He's so rare with his strength, his lower
Speaker 1: body strength, His legs are so strong. I mean, I'll
Speaker 1: guarantee he probably can squat more than a lot of
Speaker 1: his offensive lineman. This dude, he's not like explosive in
Speaker 1: terms of like a four three four four four. He's
Speaker 1: probably like high four or fives four six type guy.
Speaker 1: But his explosion is when you think you have him
Speaker 1: in a small area, he just bursts. I mean he'll
Speaker 1: just if you try to just wrap your arms, one
Speaker 1: arm around it, he'll just run right through you. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy breaks so many tackles, he pulls away and
Speaker 1: just he shucks you like an ear corn man. It's over.
Speaker 1: I mean the guy's The guy's unbelievable. And the whole
Speaker 1: time he's doing that, he's got his eyes down the
Speaker 1: football field and he's deciding, all right, I got I
Speaker 1: got this linebacker. I got him on the island. Now
Speaker 1: I got him between the rock and hard place. Do
Speaker 1: I isolate him? What do I have for a receiver
Speaker 1: behind him? Okay, yeah, I'm gonna make him commit to
Speaker 1: me and I'm gonna dunk it over the head or
Speaker 1: I'm gonna run the football. He's retreating, he's still retreat.
Speaker 1: He makes these, you know, instantaneous decisions on the move,
Speaker 1: and the guy's creative and man, the play that he
Speaker 1: comes up with while improvising a lot of times better
Speaker 1: than the play that's called. There's no doubt. He takes hits,
Speaker 1: he takes sacks, he doesn't throw interceptions, and he makes
Speaker 1: a lot of big plays. So coaches live with it,
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. They'll they'll live with forty
Speaker 1: or fifty sacks if he does what he's doing and
Speaker 1: the numbers he's putting up, there's no question. Not a
Speaker 1: great day for the Bengals defense. But did anybody stand
Speaker 1: out as playing at least Okay, to you. You know,
Speaker 1: I thought, I thought, you know, Sam obviously made a
Speaker 1: couple of a couple of uh, you know, big plays. Honestly,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's hard to say. Will Jackson
Speaker 1: looked like he was off to a good start and
Speaker 1: he was going to Losing him was huge. I mean,
Speaker 1: let's face it, his replacement was targeted and targeted early
Speaker 1: and often. Will Will's a big factor on this football team.
Speaker 1: And uh yeah, defensively, I'd really have to I'd have
Speaker 1: to look at the look at the tape. I mean, guys, guys,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody will flash every once in a while,
Speaker 1: but on a consistent snap by snap basis, it's hard
Speaker 1: to see anybody defensively really won their matchup on a
Speaker 1: snap by snap basis the entire game. Do you like
Speaker 1: it when you get a Christmas gift a few days late,
Speaker 1: you know, it gets caught up in the mail or something,
Speaker 1: and a few days later it's like, huh, Christmas was extended.
Speaker 1: That's how I feel about this win. Yeah, I like
Speaker 1: Christmas was early and Christmas was late. I mean, Santa
Speaker 1: Claus came before the actual day and he came after
Speaker 1: the actual day. It was pretty nice and he came
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati and then he went all the way down
Speaker 1: to Houston to deliver a present down there. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was good. You do feel good for
Speaker 1: these guys because I don't think anybody ever had a
Speaker 1: problem with the work ethic. I don't think that anybody,
Speaker 1: and everybody's looking for it. They're looking for the first
Speaker 1: guy to pack his bags and quit, and nobody, nobody
Speaker 1: has even come close to doing that. Now, have they
Speaker 1: played intelligent enough? Have they? Have they played you know,
Speaker 1: winning football in terms of not making mistakes and things
Speaker 1: of that nature. No, but you know they've tried. It's
Speaker 1: a try hard bunch of guys, and try hard to
Speaker 1: only gets you so far. But when they not, when
Speaker 1: they do not make mistakes like they did today, like
Speaker 1: they did against Tennis, like they did for the most
Speaker 1: part against Pittsburgh, you know, it can show you what
Speaker 1: you can get done. But the thing is, Dan, this
Speaker 1: football team really didn't have any error in those football
Speaker 1: games and they just barely won. I mean, the margin
Speaker 1: for error is sliver thin with this group. That's why
Speaker 1: they need to keep improving it. Because you never feel
Speaker 1: comfortable until the final gun the game's over. I mean
Speaker 1: the fat Lady's going to be singing the second verse
Speaker 1: before the game's over. Up next the final game of
Speaker 1: the year as Cincinnati host the ten and five Ravens
Speaker 1: at Paul Brown Stadium. The last five times that the
Speaker 1: Bengals ended the regular season at home, they won, and
Speaker 1: four of the five wins were against Baltimore. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light
Speaker 1: and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time
Speaker 1: for this week's fun Facts segment, where you get to
Speaker 1: know the person under the pads. Time for some fun
Speaker 1: facts with offensive. I'm nxaviers to a Filo, a native
Speaker 1: of American Fork, Utah near Provo, where BYU is located.
Speaker 1: Describe where you grew up. Yeah, a real mountainous right
Speaker 1: along the Wasside front. Utah is actually a real beautiful
Speaker 1: state and we have all four seasons. It's what would
Speaker 1: be considered a high desert. We're great neighbors, very religious
Speaker 1: and pretty tight knit community, you know what I mean
Speaker 1: out there, and so it was real cool. But we
Speaker 1: had had the mountains right up there. Where are your
Speaker 1: ancestors from? I got mixed ancestry. My mom is park
Speaker 1: Tonguing and Tonga is a group of violence in the
Speaker 1: South Pacific, and my grandfather on my dad's side is
Speaker 1: from Samoa. It's also another country group of violens in
Speaker 1: the South Pacific. And my dad's mother is from England
Speaker 1: and she's actually from a port town, a Harvard town
Speaker 1: called Hole in England headed towards the coast, and so
Speaker 1: I got a little bit of English in there. But
Speaker 1: Tonga and Salmone, we're visiting with Xavier Sua Philo. Your
Speaker 1: dad was a college football player. Did he get you
Speaker 1: hooked on sports at an early age? Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 1: You know, my dad played junior college ball at Ricks
Speaker 1: College what's now known as BIU Idaho and they don't
Speaker 1: have a football program anymore, but uh, he did. You know,
Speaker 1: he's a big sports guy. My dad's sports actually basketball
Speaker 1: and he's pretty good at it and he had a
Speaker 1: lot of hops and you know, for me, I enjoyed
Speaker 1: playing basketball, but football was my love. And from a
Speaker 1: young age in our home being a sports family, we
Speaker 1: just enjoyed watching and playing sports. And so I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, on Sundays and Mondays mostly we would you know,
Speaker 1: make it a point to watch Sunday night football or
Speaker 1: Monday night football, you know, as a family and eat dinner.
Speaker 1: And obviously the older we got, we had more obligations
Speaker 1: and sporting and Scouts and stuff. But that was a
Speaker 1: pretty cool tradition in our home. You mentioned Scouts. You're
Speaker 1: an Eagle Scout requires twenty one merit badges among other things.
Speaker 1: Was that a big goal you were young. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: actually a requirement in my home, believe it or not.
Speaker 1: You know, my dad is an Eagle, and a lot
Speaker 1: of my uncles and that was a rule in my
Speaker 1: home that you can receive a driver's license until you
Speaker 1: became an Eagle Scout or at least completed all our requirements.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, it was important in our family.
Speaker 1: And our church was heavily involved at the time with
Speaker 1: the scouting program, and I had some great leaders and
Speaker 1: so it's something I really enjoyed and something I actually
Speaker 1: I was really proud of. We're chatting with Xavier sue
Speaker 1: a Feelo. You're a large man. Were you always the
Speaker 1: big kid in the neighborhood? Yeah, I think so. I
Speaker 1: always have been, you know, a little heavier set, but
Speaker 1: never let it stop me. To try and do everything crazy,
Speaker 1: you know, riding bikes, something on trans trying to do
Speaker 1: flips like all that kind of stuff, and so, I
Speaker 1: h it was it was fun. But yes, I've always
Speaker 1: been the big guy. You were one of the top
Speaker 1: offensive line recruits in the country. Did you enjoy the attention? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't mind it. You know. To me, what was
Speaker 1: nice for me is that, you know, I worked real
Speaker 1: hard to try and you know what I mean, get
Speaker 1: all that, have all that success, and you know, but
Speaker 1: at home especially you know, being someone you know, being
Speaker 1: familiar with the culture like gloating and kind of you know,
Speaker 1: being very very proud and I want to say cocky,
Speaker 1: but just you know that that wasn't allowed, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. When I was around, like, I was
Speaker 1: very proud and worked hard and my parents were proud
Speaker 1: of me too, But there was when I was at home,
Speaker 1: I still kid at home, I still had choreses, I
Speaker 1: still had you know what I mean, I still had
Speaker 1: a lot of things to keep me homebo and ground
Speaker 1: and coaches and uncles, aunts, parents, and that's something that
Speaker 1: I'm really grateful, grateful for it to this day. You
Speaker 1: chose you cla great school, beautiful campus. What did you
Speaker 1: enjoy most about your college experience? You know, I just
Speaker 1: had a had a fun, good experience there. I enjoyed
Speaker 1: probably playing football the most. Um. I don't think I
Speaker 1: really quite took advantage of, you know, being in Santa
Speaker 1: Monica or Westwood, you know, while I was there, because
Speaker 1: you know, what can you do? You're broke college student,
Speaker 1: you know. But I enjoyed it, and that's fun. And
Speaker 1: I had a good experience with a lot of teammates too.
Speaker 1: I still keep in touch with it. After your freshman
Speaker 1: year's ave you served. You served a two year Mormon mission,
Speaker 1: and to me, that's a remarkable thing. You're nineteen or
Speaker 1: twenty years old, you've got it made in college relatively speaking,
Speaker 1: and you chose to spend two years spreading the gospel
Speaker 1: and serving others. What was that experience like for you?
Speaker 1: I'll tell you first, it was really hard. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not easy, an easy thing to do, but it's
Speaker 1: something that you don't maybe you commit to do and
Speaker 1: you test to do. It's something that you know can
Speaker 1: be real special and beneficial for my life. I think
Speaker 1: that experience overall just really kind of molded me into
Speaker 1: you know, becoming a better man and kind of growing
Speaker 1: up when you're in nineteen to twenty year old and
Speaker 1: you got to talk to grown adults about, you know,
Speaker 1: what they're going through in life and their families and
Speaker 1: different kind of all different kinds of scenarios and situations
Speaker 1: in their lives, and speak about the Gospel and speak
Speaker 1: about God. You know that it's it's some really awesome
Speaker 1: conversations and experiences. But when you're young and you don't
Speaker 1: have that much experience and you have to kind of
Speaker 1: you know, hear that, you know, it forces you to
Speaker 1: kind of like see a big perspective and a big
Speaker 1: picture really quickly. You know, a lot of our mission
Speaker 1: was doing a lot of service, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of service, you know, serving others, serving your fellow man,
Speaker 1: and just basically you know, sharing this um we talk
Speaker 1: about the gospels. You know, it's just very basically sharing
Speaker 1: a message of happiness where you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: I've been blessed in my life and my family has
Speaker 1: been blessed in our life by what we believe in.
Speaker 1: And you know, people who can rely on their faith
Speaker 1: and rely on what they believe in truly it gives
Speaker 1: you comfort. You know and reminds you what's most important
Speaker 1: and to be able to weather the storm. And so
Speaker 1: doing all that by and also being assigned to speak
Speaker 1: Spanish and learn another language it's not native to my
Speaker 1: own was a task in itself, but it's something that
Speaker 1: I wouldn't trade for the world. Is something that I
Speaker 1: loved to do. After you finished up your college career
Speaker 1: at UCLA, you were the first pick in the second
Speaker 1: round of the draft by the Houston Texans back in
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen. Describe your draft experience. It was special, you know.
Speaker 1: I know a lot every year, you know, you see
Speaker 1: it on TV, and everyone's always like one day that
Speaker 1: could be me, one day that could be you, you know,
Speaker 1: but for it to really happen was real special, you know,
Speaker 1: and I got, you know, I was around my loved
Speaker 1: ones when it happened. I got to eating good food
Speaker 1: and go golfing with my dad and my grandpa, and
Speaker 1: got to sit on the couch with my girlfriend who
Speaker 1: was now my wife, And like I said, with loved ones,
Speaker 1: friends and family, people that have known me since I
Speaker 1: was little all around me. And so to hear your name,
Speaker 1: you know, called on draft days is something special and
Speaker 1: something that. Um. You know, I'll never forget You're from Utah.
Speaker 1: You went to college in California. You spent most of
Speaker 1: your NFL career in Texas, but you live in Phoenix, correct?
Speaker 1: How did you wind up here? We ended up making
Speaker 1: Phoenix home bay because I work out the gym and
Speaker 1: the trainer that I work out with is based out
Speaker 1: there in Chandler, Arizona, and so we It's called Oline Performance,
Speaker 1: owned by Running owned by La Charles Bentley, and so
Speaker 1: we decided, you know, to make that home. And you know,
Speaker 1: with that warm climate. My wife loves that warm weather.
Speaker 1: And we have a pool and some of my kids
Speaker 1: can go to the pool every day, hey, the whole season.
Speaker 1: It sounds like a good plan. All right. A few
Speaker 1: more fun facts with Xavier Sue Filo. Do you have
Speaker 1: any hidden talents? I love to play games, a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of board games, a lot of card games.
Speaker 1: Definitely love doing that. And let's see, musically, the talent
Speaker 1: kind of missed me in that category. I can't really
Speaker 1: play instrument. I like to sing, but in the shower,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, where no one can here.
Speaker 1: And but I love music though you know, I'm constantly
Speaker 1: listening to different kind of music. I grew up on
Speaker 1: a lot of music, and I really am a big
Speaker 1: fan of music and all different kind of genres. I'm
Speaker 1: not you know, there's there's not a whole lot of
Speaker 1: music that I don't like to explore or look at
Speaker 1: or do that. And I don't know if it's a
Speaker 1: hidden talent. But I grew up riding horses, and I
Speaker 1: own horses currently and I will probably own them until
Speaker 1: I die, you know what I mean. I'm I love
Speaker 1: riding horses, and so I'll probably that's something that that
Speaker 1: I'll do. On the flip side, what are you absolutely
Speaker 1: terrible at baseball? Oh yeah, I didn't grow up playing baseball.
Speaker 1: I think I went up for the team one time
Speaker 1: in sixth grade and I got hit by the ball
Speaker 1: or I struck out three times, and I'm just like,
Speaker 1: you know, this isn't for me, you know. And I'm
Speaker 1: probably terrible at baseball. I'm okay, I'm terrible at golf,
Speaker 1: but I love playing it. It didn't you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. Like, I'll go golf every single day and
Speaker 1: I might not be any good, but I'll have fun
Speaker 1: doing it. So that's the best way to approach it.
Speaker 1: Trust me, what unhealthy food do you have a hard
Speaker 1: time turning down? Anything from Hawaii? Hawaii is a pretty
Speaker 1: distinct you know what I mean, Like Hawaiian barbecue type cuisine,
Speaker 1: and so I don't necessarily think it's healthy for you.
Speaker 1: But any of that, I can't ever turn it down.
Speaker 1: And I also love spam, and I'm not sure spam's
Speaker 1: very good for you, but I love spam, and I'm
Speaker 1: My favorite way to prepare it is to slice it up,
Speaker 1: pan fried a little bit with a little bit of
Speaker 1: brown sugar, scramble some eggs, have some white rice, and
Speaker 1: eat that. That actually sounds quite good. It's delicious, Dan,
Speaker 1: and I can make it for you. I promise you'd
Speaker 1: love it. Last thing, if you could meet anybody in history, athlete, entertainer, statesman, whatever,
Speaker 1: who would that person be. Naturally, my answer would be, like,
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of my relatives I never knew.
Speaker 1: You know, my dad lost his parents when he was
Speaker 1: in eighteen. I would have really liked to meet them,
Speaker 1: my grandparents. But you know what I mean, other than relatives,
Speaker 1: I think outside of that, I don't know. That's a
Speaker 1: that's a great question. I think being a history you know,
Speaker 1: kind of a history buff history guy. I always thought
Speaker 1: it'd be cool, you know, to meet just different just
Speaker 1: different kind of focus and see how the brains worked,
Speaker 1: you know, like different inventors, different army generals. I probably
Speaker 1: want to meet General Custer and asking what he was thinking.
Speaker 1: I would love to meet, you know, Chief sitting Pool,
Speaker 1: Crazy Horse is in you know, American history and different
Speaker 1: kinds of things, just to see what was going on
Speaker 1: in their in their heads and kind of like you know,
Speaker 1: their their perspectives and you know, when people are gone,
Speaker 1: you know, their story changes, you know, in history is
Speaker 1: rewritten you know over the years about them and you
Speaker 1: kind of want to know who they are. So um,
Speaker 1: probably that and I think Bob Marley would be a
Speaker 1: very very re interesting person to go sit down and
Speaker 1: have dinner with. Two. I can see why you are
Speaker 1: a history major at u c LA. You are off
Speaker 1: the hot seat. I appreciate your time. Best of luck
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. Thanks to appreciate you. Here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder to join Lap and Lance McAlister for
Speaker 1: Bengals Line Monday night from six to nine on seven
Speaker 1: hundred WW. That's going to do it for this episode
Speaker 1: of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by bud
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. Refresh the game. If you haven't done so already,
Speaker 1: please subscribe, and if you have a minute, give it
Speaker 1: a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals
Speaker 1: fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks so
Speaker 1: much for listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast