Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast, the Whoa Get Read Abe Bambalam?
Speaker 1: WHOA Get Read Abe Bambalam edition as we preview Sunday's
Speaker 1: season opener against the dreaded, hated, but grudgingly respected Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: Coming up, I'll go one on one with former Steeler
Speaker 1: Mike Hilton. You'll also hear from Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: and other Bengals players. And then, and I know the
Speaker 1: faux segment, we chat with former Steelers offensive lineman Max Starks,
Speaker 1: who is now a member of Pittsburgh's broadcast team. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate
Speaker 1: Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free
Speaker 1: to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes.
Speaker 1: Get it now on the App Store and Google Play.
Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since this week's Ruler of the Jungle.
Speaker 1: The atmosphere of This Sunday at pay Course Stadium is
Speaker 1: going to be incredible as Bengals fans welcome back to
Speaker 1: defending AFC champs, and I couldn't be more thrilled that
Speaker 1: the team has selected my broadcast partner, Dave Lapham to
Speaker 1: be the ruler of the jungle and lead fans in
Speaker 1: the hooday chant before the game. Lap spent ten seasons
Speaker 1: in a Bengal's uniform and this is his thirty seventh
Speaker 1: year in the broadcast booth. Aside from Mike Brown and
Speaker 1: members of his family, nobody has been more closely associated
Speaker 1: with a franchise than lap. I look forward to the
Speaker 1: ovation he receives when he takes the throne on Sunday,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait for that day somewhere down the
Speaker 1: road when lap is inducted into the Bengals Ring of Honor.
Speaker 1: He is a great broadcaster and a better friend. Now
Speaker 1: time to preview Sunday's game against the Steelers, beginning with
Speaker 1: my converse with Bengals quarterback Mike Hilton. Mike, you are
Speaker 1: two and oh against your former team. The combined score
Speaker 1: last year was sixty five to twenty. When you face
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh as it's still a big deal, or now that
Speaker 1: it's been more than a year, has some of that faded.
Speaker 1: It's still a big deal, Number one, because it's a
Speaker 1: division game. You know, no matter what side I'm on,
Speaker 1: you know, division games count more, and you know, obviously
Speaker 1: being on this side with these guys, you know, our
Speaker 1: last couple of games, we've been dominating. So we're just
Speaker 1: trying to keep dictory and Roland, how strange is it
Speaker 1: going to be to look across the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: and not see Ben Roethlisberger quarterback? I was going to
Speaker 1: be different, but you know that time was coming and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm pretty sure that's a big adjustment for
Speaker 1: those guys over there. But we know we still got
Speaker 1: a job to do and let's go out there and win.
Speaker 1: So we're excited to go out there and play Sunday.
Speaker 1: You were there for four seasons and part of a fifth,
Speaker 1: so you know Mike Tomlin, well, he's never had a
Speaker 1: losing season in fifteen years as a head coach. That's
Speaker 1: the all time NFL record. If you had to pick
Speaker 1: out a couple of things that's allowed him to be
Speaker 1: so successful, what would they be? Uf? I forgot just
Speaker 1: two things Number one, his confidence and just what he knows,
Speaker 1: how he goes about coaching, and how he just you know,
Speaker 1: leads leads a group of men. You know, both of
Speaker 1: those things is just qualities of him. That really shows
Speaker 1: how great of a coach he is. And I had
Speaker 1: the time four years to experience that with him, and honestly,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of the upmost respect for him
Speaker 1: and what he brings to that organization. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: the Bengals as a defensive starter. You did not appear
Speaker 1: in any preseason games. Are you wondering how well the
Speaker 1: team will tackle in Week one with that in mind? Yes,
Speaker 1: always a thought in mind, But you know, we still
Speaker 1: got a job to do, and we got the easiest
Speaker 1: way to tackle. Get a lot of heads to the football.
Speaker 1: And you know, the more heads you gets in football, obviously,
Speaker 1: the better your chance to tackle us. So you know
Speaker 1: it's gonna it's gonna come with time, but we gotta
Speaker 1: make sure we're tackling whales. Sunday, we're chatting with Mike Helton.
Speaker 1: You had a great first year in Cincinnati. A couple
Speaker 1: of interceptions during the regular season, in cluding the pick
Speaker 1: six out Big Ben. You had another huge interception in
Speaker 1: the postseason against Tennessee. Most importantly, you help Bengals get
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl, but you didn't have a sack.
Speaker 1: You've always been up for sacks. Are you putting the
Speaker 1: pressure on lou Ana Roumo to let you go after
Speaker 1: the quarterback a little more? Oh? No, We've asked conversations. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he knows that that's what I'm best at, but you
Speaker 1: know he wants the timing up to when that blissed
Speaker 1: college is going to get hit home. So you know,
Speaker 1: me being the type of player I am, whatever coach
Speaker 1: calls on, I'm gonna go out there and do my
Speaker 1: job one hundred percent. You are very public in pushing
Speaker 1: for Jesse Bates to get a contract extension, and unfortunately
Speaker 1: the two sides were not able to reach an agreement.
Speaker 1: How does he look to you, both on the field
Speaker 1: and in the locker room. Oh, it looks good, and
Speaker 1: you can tell he's been down wherever he was training. Well,
Speaker 1: obviously it might be a little different football shape compared
Speaker 1: to true all season shape, but we know how much
Speaker 1: Jesse loves his game and how much he puts into it,
Speaker 1: and you know we'll be excited to see how he
Speaker 1: is come Sunday. How excited are you to charge out
Speaker 1: of the tunnel on Sunday as defending AFC champions. I
Speaker 1: was a big deal man, you know, Like you said,
Speaker 1: we're defending AFC champions, So the target is on our
Speaker 1: bat and we love that. You know, we were we
Speaker 1: were used to being the hunters and now we're the hunted,
Speaker 1: and you know that that comes with a lot of confidence.
Speaker 1: So guys are excited about this opportunity. I thought in
Speaker 1: training camp that it looked like the defense picked up
Speaker 1: right where it left off in the postseason. Did you
Speaker 1: feel the same way for sure as guys just having
Speaker 1: another year on the coach loose system, you know, communicating
Speaker 1: well with each other, knowing what each others are going
Speaker 1: to do, so we're setting each other up for to
Speaker 1: make the play. So the way we've been communicating and
Speaker 1: flying around, you know, I'm excited to go out there
Speaker 1: and put it on table. I know you've been asked
Speaker 1: a lot about Dax Hill. What's unusual about him as
Speaker 1: a rookie? Really how versatile he is. Um he can
Speaker 1: play any second really in the position in the secondary
Speaker 1: and do it. You know, well, you know he's the
Speaker 1: guy that we're looking forward to this year. If somebody
Speaker 1: happens to goes down, we know he can step in
Speaker 1: and we want to lose a beat, So we're excited
Speaker 1: about what he can bring to the table. Does he
Speaker 1: seem like a rookie? Not at all? Man, He's smart. Uh,
Speaker 1: He always asking questions. He's just real elo. You can
Speaker 1: tell he loves to get him football and you know
Speaker 1: he really just is open to veteran words and whoever
Speaker 1: they're trying to help him. So we're excited about him.
Speaker 1: Last thing for Mike Kelton, your wifely considered to be
Speaker 1: one of the top slot corners in the NFL, and
Speaker 1: most teams play nickel most of the time. Now, should
Speaker 1: there be a specific spot on the Pro Bowl roster
Speaker 1: for a slot corner in this day and age. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: At this point, the slot corner is a true starter.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows the game is more wide open passing spread,
Speaker 1: So we feel like your third corner is Honestly, I
Speaker 1: feel like your best corner because it's the most versatile.
Speaker 1: He has to be in the box some plays and
Speaker 1: nine now ten time he's covering the best route runners
Speaker 1: and slot receivers, So I personally feel like slot corner
Speaker 1: should be on a Pro Bowl roster. I think it's
Speaker 1: a no brainer, which is one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: I asked the question. And if it happens, I think
Speaker 1: Mike Helton will get his long awaited first opportunity to
Speaker 1: go to a Pro Bowl. Oh yeah, man, I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see what this season with Hoes and I know
Speaker 1: I'm just trusting my preparation throughout the all season and
Speaker 1: up to this point. I'm just ready to go out
Speaker 1: there and play ball. Best of luck this year. I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you appreciating. Mike is obviously not
Speaker 1: the only Bengal with Pittsburgh ties. Tyler Boyd was born
Speaker 1: there and played his college football at pitt but it
Speaker 1: took a while to beat his hometown team. After Boyd
Speaker 1: joined the Bengals in twenty sixteen, the team dropped nine
Speaker 1: straight to the Steelers before finally getting over the hump
Speaker 1: in that memorable Monday night game just before Christmas two
Speaker 1: years ago, a game highlighted by Von Bell's famous hit
Speaker 1: on Juju Smith Schuster. Here's Tyler Boyd. Cincinnati Bengals have
Speaker 1: never opened a season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. How do
Speaker 1: you feel about opening against a bitter division rival? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I love open up to any of our
Speaker 1: arrivals in the division, but Pittsburgh specifically, you not us
Speaker 1: where I'm from in I mean, I love planning against
Speaker 1: the team, I mean the team where I'm from, you know,
Speaker 1: so him. I know it's gonna be a tough game,
Speaker 1: you know, and um, we're not gonna overlook them and
Speaker 1: look past them, but it's gonna be a dogfight. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a good one. You swept him last year.
Speaker 1: The combined score was sixty five to twenty. How much
Speaker 1: satisfaction did you take in those two wins in particular?
Speaker 1: I mean it was probably the most satisfying because, I mean,
Speaker 1: my whole career, they've been putting the beating on us,
Speaker 1: you know, each and every year. Wouldn't beating us two times,
Speaker 1: and I could never beat them. Now to take mus turn,
Speaker 1: and I mean, I mean, it's a satisfying to me
Speaker 1: now that we finally got their number. Is it going
Speaker 1: to be weird to line up against the Steelers and
Speaker 1: not see Roethlisberger on the opposite sideline? Yeah, yes it is.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be very interesting to see how they how
Speaker 1: the quarterback player goes. You know, it's because Roethlisberger, he's
Speaker 1: he's a he's a he's a Hall of Famer. So
Speaker 1: you know, you go against a guy like him, you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta be tightened up when you crash. You have
Speaker 1: to make the best out of your opportunities. But um,
Speaker 1: they they still great players over there. But um, I
Speaker 1: think I think we're going to pull it off. For
Speaker 1: visiting the Tyler Boyd as one of the starters. You
Speaker 1: did not play in any preseason games. He wouldn't have
Speaker 1: played a lot anyway. But did you get the work
Speaker 1: you needed in those two practices against the Rams? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And just every day I work, you know, I'll come
Speaker 1: in take taking it like a game rep, you know,
Speaker 1: because I still need to get my conditioning again. I
Speaker 1: still need to polish, polish up a few things and
Speaker 1: tweak a few rounds. How I'm gonna run turn rounds.
Speaker 1: You know. Just just because we didn't play, um, doesn't
Speaker 1: mean we're not still all tuned in it sound in
Speaker 1: the offense. You know, We're we're still preparing as if
Speaker 1: we played that week, you know, And I'm just I'm
Speaker 1: just super super excited to get out there. I actually
Speaker 1: playing in the game, you know, So I think we'll
Speaker 1: be We'll be more than ready. You're gonna take the
Speaker 1: field as AFC champions. Is that going to be a
Speaker 1: special feeling coming out of the tunnel that you knowing
Speaker 1: the way the fans are gonna respond, It's gonna be
Speaker 1: very special, you know, because it's probably gonna be a sellout.
Speaker 1: You know, it's gonna be going crazy to us first
Speaker 1: home game. Um, it's gonna drive us, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna give us more energy. And we got home
Speaker 1: for the vantage and yeah, I mean it's it's all
Speaker 1: set up for us to go out there and and
Speaker 1: start off right, you know. But we see our go
Speaker 1: out there and do it. Since coming back from his
Speaker 1: happen deck, to me, Joe Burrow looks good to me,
Speaker 1: but he says he's not quite all the way back.
Speaker 1: Can you detect play another slightest difference in Joe pique
Speaker 1: Joe versus current Joe, not at all, you know, But
Speaker 1: I think my intake on what he what he's mean
Speaker 1: when he say that is he can always get better.
Speaker 1: You know. He always feels like if he's at one
Speaker 1: hundred percent. Then he's really not because he knows um
Speaker 1: something about his game. He wanted to continue to improve one,
Speaker 1: you know, anything, because he always shocks you. You always
Speaker 1: like I was not expecting that, Like wow, Like it
Speaker 1: doesn't even seem like he was hurt. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's dialed in, he's ready to go. Man. It's just
Speaker 1: just so he's a surprising player. He always succeeds at
Speaker 1: the big moments. Got three straight wins against your hometown team.
Speaker 1: Best of luck making it four on Sunday. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you. That's Tyler Boyd when the Bengals take
Speaker 1: the field on Sunday. It will be forty seven days
Speaker 1: after Joe Burrow's appendectomy. When we learned about his surgery,
Speaker 1: doctors who weren't specifically treating Burrow described it as a
Speaker 1: routine procedure and suggested that Joe could be back in
Speaker 1: a week to ten days. But not all appendectomies are
Speaker 1: created equal. Jose Appendix burst. It was extremely painful and
Speaker 1: he might have lost as many as fifteen pounds following surgery.
Speaker 1: He's put the weight back on and, for lack of
Speaker 1: a better word, has looked normal. At practice. Here's Dave Lapham.
Speaker 1: I liked everything that he did when he went out
Speaker 1: there in the golf card, he couldn't really move around,
Speaker 1: so when they ran gastros, he was doing in the
Speaker 1: golf card to be part of the team, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean everything he was doing was sending a message
Speaker 1: to his teammates and to everybody associated with the organization.
Speaker 1: And yeah, Joe's a quick healer and he's dedicated to
Speaker 1: his craft, There's no question about that. When I watch
Speaker 1: him throw now, I really don't see any hesitation in
Speaker 1: the torking that I was waiting to see how that advanced.
Speaker 1: I mean, like in every sport starts with your feet
Speaker 1: and legs and ends with your upper body and your
Speaker 1: arms in hand and throwing the football as that as well,
Speaker 1: and that core torking that goes on, and that transition
Speaker 1: process from lower type of body is vital. And he
Speaker 1: really accentuated that and changed his the dynamic of his
Speaker 1: motion to try to get a little more velocity and
Speaker 1: not losing the accuracy. And he did that successfully and
Speaker 1: now it's back. I think he's he's putting the ball
Speaker 1: in tight spots with good RPMs and as an off
Speaker 1: former offensive lineman. Right now, my mindset is, I can't
Speaker 1: let my guy touch Joe Burrow. Can't put a fingernail
Speaker 1: on Joe Burrow. And I think Joe is going to
Speaker 1: be very very quick with his reads, get the ball out,
Speaker 1: check it down, if deed b I'm not saying he's
Speaker 1: gonna play with any sort of fear, but I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna play with a sense of urgency to not
Speaker 1: hold out of the football. He's he's trying to find
Speaker 1: that fine line between holding in, extending and creating and
Speaker 1: not taking that big hit, you know, running out bounce
Speaker 1: when you can and not taking that big hit as
Speaker 1: opposed to just getting the ball out and protect yourself
Speaker 1: that way. And I thought down the stretch his interceptions
Speaker 1: decreased everything. He'd figured it out, and if there's any
Speaker 1: guy that can figure it out, it's number nine that
Speaker 1: that dude's gonna mind on him. Last year, Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: led the NFL in completion percentage, set franchise records for
Speaker 1: passing yards and touchdown throws, and was especially lethal down
Speaker 1: the stretch, throwing sixteen touchdown passes and only two interceptions
Speaker 1: in his final eight games, including playoffs. In that eight
Speaker 1: game stretch when it mattered most, Joe average three twenty
Speaker 1: three passing yards had had a passer rating of one sixteen.
Speaker 1: So what sparked his incredible play? Wouldn't say there's anything
Speaker 1: that helps spark it. I think and just started understanding
Speaker 1: what it takes to win in the league. You know,
Speaker 1: every game calls for a different joke. You know, if
Speaker 1: our defense is playing great, I gotta protect the ball.
Speaker 1: We gotta run the ball. Well, take the opportunities when
Speaker 1: they're there, but don't don't push anything if you know
Speaker 1: they're scoring a lot on the other other side of
Speaker 1: the ball, and might have to take some chances for
Speaker 1: not running the ball as well. And I have to
Speaker 1: take some chances that maybe I wouldn't otherwise in a
Speaker 1: different game. So just every game calls for something different.
Speaker 1: He had a favorite, the one that throws for five
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty yards for the record. He only threw
Speaker 1: for five twenty five when he set the team record
Speaker 1: against Baltimore, only five twenty five. Burrow did that behind
Speaker 1: a leaky offensive line, and the Bengals addressed it. Joanah Williams,
Speaker 1: who is younger than Burrow, is back and left tackle,
Speaker 1: but the other four guys are new rookie Cordell Volson
Speaker 1: and free agents Ted Carriss, Alex Kappa, and l Collins.
Speaker 1: When they take the field on Sunday, it will be
Speaker 1: the first time they've taken a snap together in a game.
Speaker 1: Collins was injured for much of training camp and Volson
Speaker 1: didn't win the left guard job until the week of
Speaker 1: the final preseason game. This unit has basically had three
Speaker 1: weeks to practice together. Is that enough time? Here's lab?
Speaker 1: Can they come together quickly? They can? They can, But
Speaker 1: I think it would be foolhardy to think the very
Speaker 1: first drive against the Pittsburgh Steelers they're going to be
Speaker 1: playing as well as they're playing like I'm thinking, even
Speaker 1: in the second half for the Steelers game. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure it comes together that quickly. But I don't think
Speaker 1: it's going to take that long, you know. It's just
Speaker 1: it's a matter of finishing things. And what I saw
Speaker 1: against the Rams and those two days of practice, the
Speaker 1: one thing that I saw that I really like, they
Speaker 1: definitely have an edge. They're not gonna take it. They're
Speaker 1: gonna try to dish it out. They're not gonna take guff.
Speaker 1: They're gonna they're gonna try to give guff. So I
Speaker 1: like that aspect of it. Now, you have to keep
Speaker 1: your composure. You don't want to get kick, penalized or
Speaker 1: kicked out of games. You can't have that. You can't
Speaker 1: have mayhem out there. But you can't. You don't want
Speaker 1: to be in a situation where you're counterpunching all the time.
Speaker 1: You want to be able to punch some And I
Speaker 1: think these guys all have a mentality where they're going
Speaker 1: to be aggressive and punch some and I I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing what they're
Speaker 1: about and how they can get things, uh, get things
Speaker 1: figured out quickly. This football game, like every opener, is
Speaker 1: going to be adjustments and adjustments to adjustments, and a
Speaker 1: lot of times, Dan, it's too late by the time
Speaker 1: you get to the sideline. You have to figure it
Speaker 1: out on the football field. So Ted Carriss recently elected captain.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like you're gonna have to apply your rules,
Speaker 1: maybe you're just techniques. You're almost gonna have to self
Speaker 1: coach out there. You don't want to one, two, three
Speaker 1: and out and come to the sideline and have frank
Speaker 1: custom out and your grease boarding things up. You might
Speaker 1: have to make some adjustments during the course of the
Speaker 1: first drive. They adjust to what you adjusted to adjustments.
Speaker 1: This this opener because coaches have so long to prepare
Speaker 1: for it. It could be like a big chess match.
Speaker 1: And I do think that Kris Kappa and Collins, you know,
Speaker 1: I think they may be able to compete in that
Speaker 1: chess match. Hopefully check me if the line is significantly better.
Speaker 1: Burrow isn't the only player who stands to benefit. Last year,
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon rushed for one two hundred five yards and
Speaker 1: thirteen touchdowns. He added three hundred fourteen receiving yards and
Speaker 1: three more tds. Those numbers earned him Pro Bowl recognition,
Speaker 1: but Mixon says he can do much better. I mean
Speaker 1: I left a lot of yards out there on the field.
Speaker 1: I mean everybody see all the you know, the splash
Speaker 1: plays and things like that, and they see the yards.
Speaker 1: But I left probably about like four hundred five hundred
Speaker 1: yards on the field and obviously about ten touchdowns left
Speaker 1: on the field last year. So if we could just
Speaker 1: clean you know, certain things up at one from my
Speaker 1: end and probably one block away or anything like that
Speaker 1: I mean, I could potentially turn into even more you
Speaker 1: know what, you guys pretty much see you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So we definitely could improve. But that starts
Speaker 1: week one, you know. It obviously starts in practice, starting
Speaker 1: in camp when we first reported. But like I said,
Speaker 1: I look forward to, you know what, the year of
Speaker 1: bring us. So Joe says he left four hundred to
Speaker 1: five hundred yards out of the field. If he added
Speaker 1: four hundred to last year's total, that would put him
Speaker 1: over sixteen hundred yards for the season. The team record
Speaker 1: is one thousand, four hundred and fifty eight, set by
Speaker 1: Rudy Johnson. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals,
Speaker 1: the free to play fantasy football game. This past season,
Speaker 1: Ultimate Goals awarded a weekly winner during the course of
Speaker 1: the year, with tickets, autographed merchandise, and money can buy
Speaker 1: experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the
Speaker 1: App Store and Google Play. Now, let's turn to the Steelers,
Speaker 1: a team that went nine to seven and one in
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger's final season and made the playoffs before losing
Speaker 1: by three touchdowns at Kansas City. The strength of the
Speaker 1: team is defense. Pittsburgh led the league in sacks in
Speaker 1: each of the last five years, led by NFL Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year t J. Watt, who tied the
Speaker 1: NFL single season record with twenty two and a half
Speaker 1: sacks last season. He's joined up front by five time
Speaker 1: Pro bowler Cam Hayward. Tyson Alualu is back from injury
Speaker 1: after only playing in two games, and the Steelers have
Speaker 1: added Larry Ogan Jobie, who had seven and a half
Speaker 1: sacks for the Bengals last season. Here's Zach Taylor. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of good fronts in this league. Pittsburgh's always
Speaker 1: one of them, and they're probably coming to the game
Speaker 1: healthy week one. They're always motivated anytime we played a
Speaker 1: divisional team us in them. So again it's it's really
Speaker 1: difficult tests in week one because we know what they're about.
Speaker 1: We had one of their players last year. We know
Speaker 1: he's a really good player. We think highly of them.
Speaker 1: You know, Tyson's back off off the injury from a
Speaker 1: year ago. We got tough respect for him. I thought
Speaker 1: Highsmith was really coming along last year as well. We
Speaker 1: know t J. Watton, Cam Heyward or two of the
Speaker 1: best players in the league at their positions, and then
Speaker 1: they got a lot of really good players behind them
Speaker 1: as well. So it's a really good defense from you know,
Speaker 1: the front all the way back. Offensively, the Steelers have
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl running back and Najie Harris who rushed
Speaker 1: for twelve hundred yards as a rookie, and wide receiver
Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson who had one hundred seven catches for more
Speaker 1: than eleven hundred yards. Mitchell Trubisky is Ben Roethlisberger's successor
Speaker 1: at quarterback. He made the Pro Bowl back in his
Speaker 1: second NFL season and is eight games over five hundred
Speaker 1: as a starting quarterback with a career passer rating of
Speaker 1: eighty seven point zero. But he never quite lived up
Speaker 1: to being the number two pick in the NFL draft.
Speaker 1: I asked Lap, why you come in as the second
Speaker 1: pick in the draft. The expectations are like, you are
Speaker 1: gonna be a Hall of Famer immediate, You're gonna you know,
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning set an NFL record for interceptionces orkie year
Speaker 1: twenty one. I think it was twenty one, And no,
Speaker 1: they didn't give up on him. I think I think
Speaker 1: there was a little bit. You know, Traubisky's in a
Speaker 1: big market up in Chicago's second pick of the draft.
Speaker 1: Didn't light it up, you know, it just played decently,
Speaker 1: but not like, oh what a bus second pick of
Speaker 1: the draft? You kidding me? I mean if he had
Speaker 1: gone there as a fourth round pick might have been
Speaker 1: a little different situation. I think it was just the
Speaker 1: pressure of where he was drafted. And that's that's not
Speaker 1: on him. That's on Ryan Pace, I think was the
Speaker 1: general manager at that time, and uh he no longer
Speaker 1: as the general manager the Chicago Bears. And this week's
Speaker 1: no the Foe segment. Former Pittsburgh offensive lineman Max Starks,
Speaker 1: who is now part of the Steelers broadcast team, joined
Speaker 1: lapping me on the Bengals Game Plan show. Well, Max,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, You're a hell of a player,
Speaker 1: a big man. My understanding is the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive
Speaker 1: line is the lowest paid offensive line in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. My thing is, why don't they have you
Speaker 1: go out there play, play a little tackle, give you
Speaker 1: a little bit of money, I mean, change your job
Speaker 1: description a little bit. What would you think about that? Well, listen,
Speaker 1: after seeing Jason Peters at forty getting on practice squad,
Speaker 1: I don't think it didn't cross my mind, but I
Speaker 1: think I think I'm beyond my prime. I like the
Speaker 1: way my knees feel. I hear that. Well, Max, let's
Speaker 1: talk about that offensive line because both of these teams
Speaker 1: have a lot of changes up front. The Bengals signed
Speaker 1: three free agents who will start on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: the Steelers signed a couple of It is that the
Speaker 1: Steelers biggest question mark in your mind going into the season.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be one of one of the
Speaker 1: biggest question marks. I think when you look at last
Speaker 1: year and then this year needing to bring in two
Speaker 1: free agents, something that means similar You look at the Bengals,
Speaker 1: the same kind of situation where it's a lot of
Speaker 1: youth and a lot of inexperience. So how do you
Speaker 1: how do you supplement that you have to go out
Speaker 1: and you have to get guys in free agency? But David,
Speaker 1: you can you can talk about this as well. It
Speaker 1: takes pack forward offensive line to jail. It's not like
Speaker 1: I could put five of the best guys out there
Speaker 1: and they're just gonna get it immediately. Like it's a
Speaker 1: certain nuanced type of position where you have to feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: you have to get in a group with one another,
Speaker 1: to understand the responsibilities, how they think, how they communicate. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, it is going to be one of the
Speaker 1: questions that I'm especially gonna be watching very closely this season.
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more. Max. It's like, you
Speaker 1: know these guys, Okay, you pick up a center that's
Speaker 1: one two Super Bowl US what the Patriots? The right
Speaker 1: guard won a Super Bowl with the Bucks, comment on
Speaker 1: the name of Tom Brady's quarterback. You pick up a
Speaker 1: tackle that playoff games with the Cowboys. They've all seen it,
Speaker 1: they all know what it's supposed to look like. They've
Speaker 1: all had success, but they haven't played a snap next
Speaker 1: to each other. And people like, you know, like, oh,
Speaker 1: come on, and if you want five to play like one,
Speaker 1: it takes a little bit of time. It doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker 1: You're right, Oh no, absolutely not. I mean you look
Speaker 1: at when Cleveland had a really good offensive line. They
Speaker 1: played together for a couple of years, Dallas for a
Speaker 1: long time. They had played together for a number of years,
Speaker 1: and it took time. It took multiple drafts over many
Speaker 1: years to get them all on the same page. And
Speaker 1: I think that's where you know I'm making this comparison.
Speaker 1: I said, it's a crock pot, not a microwave. When
Speaker 1: you're trying to create a great offensive line, it just
Speaker 1: it takes time and you have the right pieces, you know,
Speaker 1: And I love the pieces you guys have with Harris,
Speaker 1: Kapita and Collins, but it once they never played together.
Speaker 1: They've had individual successes at different places, but it's gonna
Speaker 1: take time for them to get together. That's a great analogy.
Speaker 1: Can I steal that? Yeah? I will give you credit.
Speaker 1: Your credit for it. Max Starks as our guest former
Speaker 1: steelersz Ligneman, now part of their broadcast team. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about quarterback. They signed Mitchell Trubisky in the offseason, then
Speaker 1: they drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round. He was
Speaker 1: the first quarterback selected in this year's draft. Was there
Speaker 1: any doubt in your mind that Trubisky would be the
Speaker 1: starter to begin the season and how did he look
Speaker 1: to you at training camp? Yeah? I wondered. I wondered
Speaker 1: how open the competition was going to be, and if
Speaker 1: things are all equal, would Mitch be able to overcome
Speaker 1: Mason who'd been in the system, And obviously Kenny Pickett
Speaker 1: being a first round pick. But you know, as I
Speaker 1: went through camp, as I watched if Mitch impressed me.
Speaker 1: Mitch had a cool, calm, collected nature about him. He
Speaker 1: didn't get frazzled, he didn't get frustrated. He was a
Speaker 1: very good communicator with the rest of his team, and
Speaker 1: I think that was one of the things that sold
Speaker 1: me on the leadership aspect. Right, the quarterback has to
Speaker 1: be the unequivocal leader. And when I looked at what
Speaker 1: he had to offer, plus he had a winning record,
Speaker 1: plus he knows what it takes to get to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: I'd say, well, it's undoubtedly he's going to be the guy.
Speaker 1: Probably after week two of preseason, I was pretty sold
Speaker 1: on it. And then you know, for Kadomlin to come
Speaker 1: out and give that blessing, I thought was the final.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously the final when the coach gives you
Speaker 1: the blessing the head coach. But I thought I thought
Speaker 1: he was the right man for the job of the
Speaker 1: three So defensively to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Keith Butler retires,
Speaker 1: Terrell Austin takes over. He'd been on the staff. He
Speaker 1: and Mike Tomlin have a history, and then Mike Tomlin
Speaker 1: also brings in Brian Flores as a linebacker, coach, senior
Speaker 1: defensive assistant. They've all got, you know, Brian Flores. Just
Speaker 1: like I'm blitz, I'm gonna play man behind it. You know,
Speaker 1: Butler was zone blitz kind of guy. Mike Tomlin has
Speaker 1: his kind of philosophy deef pensively. What is it going
Speaker 1: to be? What do you think? Will it be a mix?
Speaker 1: Will Mike Tomlin say this is what we're doing. I
Speaker 1: don't care what you guys say. How how do you
Speaker 1: think those meetings are gone? What kind of inputs do
Speaker 1: you think's going on there? Well? I think General Austin
Speaker 1: has has the ultimate say, I mean the one. The
Speaker 1: good thing about Mike Tomlin is is that he allows
Speaker 1: his coaches to coach, and he allows his coordinators to
Speaker 1: have the autonomy, which is nice. And I think having
Speaker 1: a Brian Flores gives you a different perspective and a
Speaker 1: different eye to look at defensive concepts, especially when you're
Speaker 1: looking at offenses and how to combat them. So I
Speaker 1: think I think it's a good marriage and a good
Speaker 1: mix of everything. And we've seen it all throughout camp,
Speaker 1: so I expect them to be varied. Obviously, in today's
Speaker 1: NFL with the with the prevalence of eleven personnel, you're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot more nickel and sub package
Speaker 1: that you will see base fronts. So I think from
Speaker 1: that perspective, you have to stay flexible, especially when you're
Speaker 1: playing in the NFL, because I mean teams around this
Speaker 1: league they change year in and year out, this high turnover,
Speaker 1: so you can't really be traditional like Keith Butler was
Speaker 1: for such a long time that that I were also
Speaker 1: joined on Wednesday's show by former Bengal safety Solomon Wilcotts,
Speaker 1: who hosts the opening Drive show on Sirius XM NFL
Speaker 1: Radio and the Believe in Bengals podcast with Adam Jones.
Speaker 1: Here's a few minutes of our conversation with Sally, beginning
Speaker 1: with his thoughts son Joe Burrow, the guy is here
Speaker 1: to win. He's here for nothing else. You don't see
Speaker 1: the big time endorsements. You don't see us face flast
Speaker 1: all over every opportunity, and trust me, he's got plenty.
Speaker 1: He's here to win. That's his goal. It's a single,
Speaker 1: solitary focus. I think it's refreshing to have young people
Speaker 1: like that. Who really understand what's about. And the guy's
Speaker 1: a force multiplier because everyone else they say, well, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do what he's doing. And that's he's that
Speaker 1: kind of leader. And like you've mentioned there, he's one
Speaker 1: of those guys first one of the building laughs to leave.
Speaker 1: So now other guys in the team, Look what Joe's doing?
Speaker 1: Am I doing enough? Man White, Joe didn't have to
Speaker 1: be in here for a listen, I've better pick it up.
Speaker 1: That stuff. Man that builds, That builds good stuff. The
Speaker 1: stories coming out of his hometown and they're real, you know,
Speaker 1: but they're legendary. They become folklore, you hear right, it's
Speaker 1: like bo Jackson, you know. But but these are all
Speaker 1: about strength of character stuff like that's it's not like
Speaker 1: these superhuman physical athletic feats. It's just what kind of
Speaker 1: kid he is, what kind of young many of who
Speaker 1: his parents are and what they're about, and how they
Speaker 1: taught him. And you could see it playing out. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, when I talked to some friends I was
Speaker 1: watching him a senior year at LSU, I said, look,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that could have quit because he's
Speaker 1: a hometown boy and the biggest school in the in
Speaker 1: the state, one of the best in the nation, told him,
Speaker 1: we don't want you anymore. Ohio State told him, and
Speaker 1: the ant want him. And he found a team, found
Speaker 1: a place, and look what he did with it. I
Speaker 1: think that tells you a lot about who he Look
Speaker 1: what he did for us. Took him twenty five games,
Speaker 1: all you know, twenty five games, and he took us
Speaker 1: from down here to hear. We ought to appreciate this
Speaker 1: and enjoy the ride. Sali, you were a training camp.
Speaker 1: You two guys did a broadcast together for sirius XM radio.
Speaker 1: What stood out to you being around this team this
Speaker 1: year during camp? They're better, They're just better. Um T
Speaker 1: Higgins is better, monster big, but he's big. And now
Speaker 1: you could tell two years, the first two years, even
Speaker 1: the second half of last year, he was a different
Speaker 1: player than he was in the beginning of last year.
Speaker 1: And I'm telling you right now, I think I think
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase, I think his arrival has awakened something in
Speaker 1: in t. You could see that in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But you I just love his energy, I love his
Speaker 1: size advantage. I love he's got fly paper hands that
Speaker 1: if he wants to go up and possess it at
Speaker 1: the highest point he's coming down with the ball. He's
Speaker 1: got Randy Moss, like you know, dimensions to his to
Speaker 1: his skill set, So um defend it's a line. I
Speaker 1: think they're deeper. I think they're they have a better rotation.
Speaker 1: I think the secondary has a better rotation and have
Speaker 1: more speed and versatility on the back end. So I
Speaker 1: think we'll be better defensively. Clearly, our offensive line is
Speaker 1: gonna be better. I mean that's like, that's easy. You
Speaker 1: didn't bring me here to tell you that. But no,
Speaker 1: we're And then the players, Jamar Chase is going to
Speaker 1: be better. Year number two is gonna be better. Remember
Speaker 1: he didn't play his final year in college twenty twenties
Speaker 1: set out, so last year was this real curve. He
Speaker 1: hit a wall, he persevered, and you see the numbers
Speaker 1: he put up. Think about now, with a real offseason
Speaker 1: to train, what he's gonna look like. So I think
Speaker 1: we're better in a lot of different ways from the
Speaker 1: neck up, psychologically and academically in terms of knowing what
Speaker 1: to do in lineman and assignment stuff. There'll be a
Speaker 1: better football team. Before I wrap things up, here's an
Speaker 1: invitation to join us at the Buffalo Wings and Rings
Speaker 1: location in Oakley from the Bengals Pepper Rally show this
Speaker 1: Friday from three to six. Mike Hilton will join us
Speaker 1: in the final hour of that show, and we'll have
Speaker 1: plenty of giveaways throughout. That's going to do it for
Speaker 1: this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season.
Speaker 1: It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic
Speaker 1: Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and
Speaker 1: Google Play. And if you haven't done so already, please
Speaker 1: subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute,
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast