Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The although we've come to the
Speaker 1: end of the road addition, as the Bengals end the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty season with a downer getting run over by
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. Thirty eight to three coming up, you'll
Speaker 1: hear radio replays, postgame comments from players and coaches, and
Speaker 1: in depth analysis from Dave Lapham and in this week's
Speaker 1: fun Facts segment, It's honestly one of my all time
Speaker 1: favorite episodes of this segment as we go in depth
Speaker 1: with rookie wide receiver t Higgins. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is presented by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, go Play, Spotify,
Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since The Beg's
Speaker 1: documentary on HBO. I've never really been a fan of
Speaker 1: The Begs, although I might be the world's biggest fan
Speaker 1: of the Barry Gibb talk show skit on Saturday Night
Speaker 1: Live with Jimmy Fallon and justin Timberlake where they sing
Speaker 1: talking about chest here talking about crazy cool medallions. Look
Speaker 1: it up if you've never seen it. In any case,
Speaker 1: I recently stumbled into The Beg's documentary that's currently running
Speaker 1: on HBO, and now I can't get their songs out
Speaker 1: of my head. So yes, Since episodes of this podcast
Speaker 1: are always named for song titles or lyrics, it's only
Speaker 1: a matter of time before you get a staying Live episode.
Speaker 1: Heard enough of me singing, I thought, so let's get
Speaker 1: to football. The Ravens started the game with a twelve
Speaker 1: play drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
Speaker 1: It ended with a Justin Tucker field goal that made
Speaker 1: it three nothing Baltimore. The Bengals answered with what looked
Speaker 1: like a huge gain on their third play from scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Three receivers stretch out to the left, one out to
Speaker 1: the right. It's third down and eight shotguns snap allan
Speaker 1: with a quick throat caught by Tehiggins right springing up
Speaker 1: the middle of the field. Penalty flags down. He's to
Speaker 1: the fifty. The Baltimore forty five then goes down at
Speaker 1: the Ravens forty and he appears to be hurt. See
Speaker 1: Higgins grabbing at his hamstring after catching a pass that
Speaker 1: breaks the team record for catches by a rookie, But
Speaker 1: there are penalty flags down. If it's against Cincinnati, it
Speaker 1: won't count, and te Higgins appears to be hurt. Well,
Speaker 1: he missed some practice time this week with a hamstring problem.
Speaker 1: It could be a pick offensive pass offense by Janyard
Speaker 1: penalty third down. Yeah, they called the the OLDPI. That's
Speaker 1: what allowed Tehiggins to break free. And then he exacerbated
Speaker 1: that hamstring issue that he had. He was limited in
Speaker 1: practices earlier in the week with a hamstring problem, and
Speaker 1: now it's worse and he's still down on the field
Speaker 1: getting attention from the medical staff. It wipes out the catch.
Speaker 1: And if the hamstring is in fact the injury and
Speaker 1: he does not continue today, he will not break Chris
Speaker 1: Collinsworth's franchise record. Instead, they share the record. His teeth
Speaker 1: finished a fantastic rookie year with sixty seven catches for
Speaker 1: nine hundred eight yards. Here's quarterback Brandon Allen on the
Speaker 1: loss of a forty one yard gain and more importantly,
Speaker 1: one of the team's best weapons on a snowball from there.
Speaker 1: You know, anytime you get a big play like that,
Speaker 1: that one gets called back in two, you lose teeth
Speaker 1: for the rest of the game with the hamstring. I
Speaker 1: believe it was, so you know, like we said earlier,
Speaker 1: it definitely took some win out of ourselves. But you know,
Speaker 1: as a as a good offense, you have to be
Speaker 1: able to come back from that and execute. And it's
Speaker 1: it's always been next mentality. So you know, anytime it
Speaker 1: was a really good player like Tea for a game
Speaker 1: is tough. But you know, guys, I thought really have
Speaker 1: been stepping up all year and continue to do that,
Speaker 1: and we just weren't able to get it done. No,
Speaker 1: they weren't. Meanwhile, Baltimore scored again on its second possession
Speaker 1: out of a pistol formation. Jackson fakes a handoff, does
Speaker 1: a piro wet now throws it deep down the middle
Speaker 1: of the field. Boykin catches it at the five and
Speaker 1: runs into the end zone with Lashawn Simms trailing him
Speaker 1: a forty three yard touchdown pass Lamar Jackson to Miles Boykin.
Speaker 1: At the end of the first quarter, the score was
Speaker 1: ten nothing and total yards were one fifty two to four,
Speaker 1: But early in the second quarter, the Bengals defense provided
Speaker 1: a golden opportunity. Third down in five, the Ravens at
Speaker 1: their own forty one, Andrews goes in motion. Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: back to throw, looking looking pump fakes, throws back again
Speaker 1: and this time it was intercepted a team. Davis Gather,
Speaker 1: with his first career picked Marcus at the forty eight
Speaker 1: yard line and the Bengals come up with a takeaway
Speaker 1: and Margus Hunt got it again. Marcus Hunt, that's his
Speaker 1: second chip, isn't that series a keen. Davis Gaither's first
Speaker 1: career pick gave the Bengals the ball at the Baltimore
Speaker 1: forty seven. They gained three yards on three plays and
Speaker 1: had to punt. Baltimore took over at the seven and
Speaker 1: basically put the game away. This has been a sixteen play,
Speaker 1: seventy five yard drive that's taken eight and a half
Speaker 1: minutes off the clock. Third down in eight, Lamar back
Speaker 1: to throw, chucks it toward the middle of the end zone,
Speaker 1: a sliding attempt and a touchdown catch for Hollywood Brown
Speaker 1: beat Jayalen Davis very easily. It was seventeen nothing before
Speaker 1: the Bengals even had a first down. They got three
Speaker 1: in a row on their final drive of the first
Speaker 1: half and got on the scoreboard thirty seven seconds left
Speaker 1: in the half. Harris will snap, Huber will hold. Huber
Speaker 1: looks back at the kicker, now turns his head, catches
Speaker 1: the snap, puts the ball all down. The kick is
Speaker 1: blasted by Cybert and it is good. It was seventeen
Speaker 1: three at a half, but quickly became a route when
Speaker 1: the Ravens scored on their first two drives of the
Speaker 1: third quarter to by two. Formation. Now one of the
Speaker 1: receivers to the left motions into the backfield. That's Dobbins.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson gives it to JK. Dobbins and he runs
Speaker 1: into the end zone, scoring a touchdown for the sixth
Speaker 1: consecutive game in his rookie year. Lamar Jackson rolls right,
Speaker 1: looking to throw. Being chased, now throws toward the end zone.
Speaker 1: It is caught for the touchdown by Hollywood Brown. That
Speaker 1: made a thirty one to three, and Lamar Jackson was
Speaker 1: done for the day with roughly four minutes to go
Speaker 1: in the third quarter. He only completed ten passes, but
Speaker 1: three were for touchdowns and Lamar ran for ninety seven yards,
Speaker 1: making him the first quarterback in NFL history to have
Speaker 1: two one thousand yard rushing seasons. Michael Vick is the
Speaker 1: only other quarterback to have one. The only drama left involved,
Speaker 1: AJ Green was likely playing in a Bengals uniform for
Speaker 1: the final time. He undered the game with sixty five
Speaker 1: career touchdown catches, one shy of Chad Johnson's team record.
Speaker 1: After a fifty five yard run by Trevion Williams late
Speaker 1: in the third quarter, aj drew back to back pass
Speaker 1: interference penalties, one at the four yard line and one
Speaker 1: in the end zone, putting the Bengals in perfect position
Speaker 1: to try to get him a share of the team record.
Speaker 1: First and goal from the one. After the penalty, AJ
Speaker 1: Green goes out to the right. Brandon Allen is under center,
Speaker 1: the running back is Traveon Williams. Alan takes the snaff,
Speaker 1: fakes a handoff, looking to throw left for AJ Green,
Speaker 1: and it is intercepted by Marcus Peters. It was underthrown
Speaker 1: by Alan, touchback and the Ravens deny the Bengals on
Speaker 1: first in goal from the one. As Marcus Peters stepped
Speaker 1: in front of AJ Green and intercepted that under thrown ball.
Speaker 1: I think the Ravens knew exactly what the Bengals were
Speaker 1: trying to do. And now get Aj that touchdown and
Speaker 1: again had thrown off his back foot as he's falling
Speaker 1: away from the line of scrimmage, Calais Campbell providing pressure.
Speaker 1: The ball is underthrown and he never gets it out
Speaker 1: outside the goal line. The whole ball has to cross
Speaker 1: the goal line. It's a touchback. He was open, just
Speaker 1: have to throw it out a back pyline. Yep, you
Speaker 1: under threw it by a margin. Here's Brandon Allen. You
Speaker 1: got the right looks for him, and you know you
Speaker 1: got past interference on a couple of times, and then
Speaker 1: uh uh, did not get the ball out far enough
Speaker 1: for him on on the one so um definitely looking
Speaker 1: at AJ's way, trying to get him a touchdown, and
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to get it to him. Aj was
Speaker 1: targeted six times and did not have a catch, a
Speaker 1: disappointing ending to a remarkable ten year run. Here's teammate
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates. I'm sure he's very disappointed because he deserves that.
Speaker 1: He's put so much into the city, into the organization
Speaker 1: over the amount of years um and he deserves to
Speaker 1: get that record, but he has a he has a
Speaker 1: great life ahead of just that record. So I'm sure
Speaker 1: he'll go play ball, you know, maybe not here next year,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he'll have a lot of success because
Speaker 1: I know what he stands for. So I'm very honored
Speaker 1: to be able to play with someone like him and
Speaker 1: also learn, you know, to help my help my career
Speaker 1: out as well. And two plays after the Marcus Peters interception,
Speaker 1: the Ravens rub the little salt in the Bengals wound
Speaker 1: second and two officially for the Ravens. Hutley turns left,
Speaker 1: hands it off to Dobbins. He runs for the first down,
Speaker 1: gets away from Pratt, sprinting down field to the forty thirty,
Speaker 1: the twenty, the ten, and the former Buckeye goes seventy
Speaker 1: two yards for a touchdown as the Ravens continue to
Speaker 1: pour it on. That was part of a one hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty yard day for JK. Dobbins and part of
Speaker 1: a four hundred four yard rushing performance by Baltimore. That's
Speaker 1: the most rushing yards ever surrendered by the Bengals by
Speaker 1: a wide margin. The previous high was three thirteen by
Speaker 1: Kansas City in nineteen sixty nine, the bengals second year
Speaker 1: of existence. Here's Zach Taylor. It was a challenge. I mean,
Speaker 1: we were missing a fair amount of guys over there.
Speaker 1: That's that's no fun, and I don't I don't question
Speaker 1: the effort. Obviously, I haven't seen the tape yet, but
Speaker 1: there was nothing that stood out in that standpoint. We
Speaker 1: ran into a really good football team that can run
Speaker 1: in as well as any team in the league, and
Speaker 1: they had enough long runs there that that really broke
Speaker 1: our backs in some situations. We do expect to be better,
Speaker 1: but it was a tough matchup right now. The four
Speaker 1: hundred four rushing yards allowed was almost an NFL record
Speaker 1: for the Super Bowl era. Ironically, the Bengal set that
Speaker 1: record on offense in two thousand when they ran for
Speaker 1: four hundred seven yards against Denver. That was the day
Speaker 1: that Corey Dillon went for two seventy eight. The final
Speaker 1: score Sunday was Baltimore thirty eight Cincinnati three, as the
Speaker 1: Bengals managed to score just one field goal in each
Speaker 1: of their two games against Baltimore this year. Here or
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor and Jesse Bates not a rough finale, not
Speaker 1: how we wanted to end, There's no question about that. Um.
Speaker 1: Certainly we did some good things the last two weeks,
Speaker 1: and and uh, we just got to continue to build
Speaker 1: from everything good and bad that happened over the course
Speaker 1: of the season and focus on improving over the course
Speaker 1: to the spring. My mindset going into this game was
Speaker 1: just play really hard for all the guys that has
Speaker 1: put so much time into the season. Um, even though
Speaker 1: we lost, got our butt kick tonight. UM, I just
Speaker 1: want to focus more on, you know the guys, um
Speaker 1: that continue to fight. You get to two wins back
Speaker 1: to back in week fifteen and sixteen, UM, and that's
Speaker 1: not that's not easy to do. So I don't want
Speaker 1: to focus on the negatives. UM. I'm just gonna uh
Speaker 1: go enjoy the you know the teammates tonight, UM, because
Speaker 1: this won't be the same with some Without some of
Speaker 1: those guys, that's won't be in the locker room next year.
Speaker 1: The Bengals finished four eleven and one. They're locked into
Speaker 1: the fifth pick next year's draft after the Jaguars, Jets, Dolphins,
Speaker 1: who got the Texans pick, and Falcons. Now time for
Speaker 1: postgame analysis with my broadcast partner Dave lapple Lap for
Speaker 1: all the feel good from the last couple of wins,
Speaker 1: A lot of that was squelched in the final game
Speaker 1: of the year against Baltimore just because of how lopsided
Speaker 1: the game was. Do you think it changes anything in
Speaker 1: terms of what Mike Brown might be thinking or really
Speaker 1: the course of action that this team was likely to take.
Speaker 1: That's a that's a great question. I mean, you would
Speaker 1: you would think it might give you some pause because,
Speaker 1: I mean, this division opponent, your light years away from
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens. It's sixty five to six in the
Speaker 1: two games this year. You convert four for twenty five
Speaker 1: on third down. You know, you don't score touchdown, you
Speaker 1: score six points and eight quarters, and then you give
Speaker 1: up four hundred yards rushing to their offense. That's not
Speaker 1: going to change and that's not going to go away.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have the same players in the same scheme back.
Speaker 1: So um, yeah, it's it's it's pretty remarkable. Now. You know,
Speaker 1: there are circumstances. Obviously, you're down three defensive your three
Speaker 1: best defensive tackles, your three best cornerbacks, your three bests everything,
Speaker 1: but you you you think that you'd be able to
Speaker 1: put up a little bit more resistance than what took
Speaker 1: place today. I got out of hand early. It seemed
Speaker 1: like the devastating offensive pass interference followed by the injury
Speaker 1: to the hamstring at Te Higgins on that same play
Speaker 1: took the wind out of the sales of the football team,
Speaker 1: I think pretty dramatically, and it took them a long
Speaker 1: time to rebound and recover, and it was much too
Speaker 1: late and they never did rebound and recover. So um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean, you wonder you wonder about did
Speaker 1: this devastation, this lopsidedness that had offset the feel good
Speaker 1: part of the of the two game winning streak, because this,
Speaker 1: this was the litmus test they caught Pittsburgh when Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: was in a lull. They weren't playing their best football.
Speaker 1: Houston's just not playing very well at all this year.
Speaker 1: Other than Deshaun Watson, They're a one man team basically.
Speaker 1: But this football team, they were playing their best football.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were peaking at the right time. And
Speaker 1: this was the litmus tests. Was the brahmin or how
Speaker 1: close will we come? How much better are we than
Speaker 1: the first time we played against him? Not very much.
Speaker 1: There have been numerous reports in recent days about upcoming
Speaker 1: changes that are expected on the Bengals coaching staff. Former
Speaker 1: Channel five reporter at least Jesse was the first to
Speaker 1: say that offensive line coach Jim Turner, defensive line coach
Speaker 1: Nick Eason, and defensive assistant Gerald Chapman are expected to
Speaker 1: be out. Since then, it has been reported that Bob mcnell,
Speaker 1: the wide receivers coach, in Jamal Singleton, the runnings backs coach,
Speaker 1: are not expected to be back. We do not have
Speaker 1: Bengals confirmation on any of that, but it certainly sounds
Speaker 1: like there is going to be a big shake up,
Speaker 1: even if Zach Taylor is back as head coach. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think it's interesting how much of it is
Speaker 1: organization driven how much of it is the coach deciding
Speaker 1: that they want to go elsewhere. I'm sure it's a
Speaker 1: combination of both. But there are going to be significant changes,
Speaker 1: you know, in the coaching staff. And as a former player,
Speaker 1: that would have been weird for me to hear right
Speaker 1: before the football game about all these coaches moving on,
Speaker 1: these guys that you were you know, you're you're working
Speaker 1: with all week, you're prepping for the game, everybody's you know,
Speaker 1: rowing the boat the same way. And this guy might
Speaker 1: be going to Tennessee to coach an offensive line coach Turner,
Speaker 1: that was That's a rumor I heard out there. Coach
Speaker 1: Singleton going to Kentucky, you know, other guys going wherever
Speaker 1: that that that could be. I'm not saying that. It
Speaker 1: certainly didn't help the cause. I think you shouldn't shouldn't
Speaker 1: use it as a crutch that you got smoked the
Speaker 1: way you got smoked. There are a lot of reasons,
Speaker 1: and most of it was lining up and putting on
Speaker 1: big boy pads and not being able to have those
Speaker 1: big boy pads on and not two chin straps on.
Speaker 1: You just got pushed around. I mean, it was a
Speaker 1: physical football game for one team, and that team won handily.
Speaker 1: So you can't use it as crutch. You can't use
Speaker 1: it as an excuse. But it's not helpful, you know,
Speaker 1: to have that kind of thing all come out right
Speaker 1: before you go out to play a football game. And
Speaker 1: what was almost certainly his last game in the Bengals uniform,
Speaker 1: AJ Green was targeted six times, did not have a
Speaker 1: catch on first and goal from the one They clearly
Speaker 1: wanted to get him the touchdown tying record to pull
Speaker 1: leave an all time with Chad Johnson, and it was there.
Speaker 1: He was running across the field from right to left.
Speaker 1: He was opened in the back left corner of the
Speaker 1: end zone. Brandon Allen had somebody in his face, didn't
Speaker 1: get enough on the ball, and it turned into the
Speaker 1: easiest interception that Marcus Peters might ever have. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1: I mean it just it just floated out there. It
Speaker 1: floated their for him. I mean it just hung up
Speaker 1: in the air and way short. You know, in a
Speaker 1: situation like that, you throw it to the back pylon
Speaker 1: from from a target standpoint, but you make sure if
Speaker 1: it's it's not going to be caught, it's out of bounds,
Speaker 1: it's not going to land in the hands of the opponent.
Speaker 1: AJ Green didn't even op an opportunity to reverse roles
Speaker 1: and play defensive back. It was underthrown to that extent.
Speaker 1: You know, you couldn't couldn't prevent the interception. So you
Speaker 1: know that that play, that play certainly was a tough one,
Speaker 1: a tough pill to swallow, and to me, it was
Speaker 1: it was almost sad. Uh, you know, to see AJ's
Speaker 1: career wind down the way it did. I mean, when
Speaker 1: I closed my eyes and think of AJ Green, I
Speaker 1: see all kinds of unbelievable circus, acrobatic catches, making guys miss,
Speaker 1: splitting defenders and running, turning seven yard receptions into seven
Speaker 1: yard touchdowns. All these things that AJ Green did. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the the last images that you have of
Speaker 1: AJ Green or not those type of images. And you
Speaker 1: got to realize that for a high, high percentage of
Speaker 1: his career he was the other guy. He was the
Speaker 1: guy that was just you know, struck the fear of
Speaker 1: AJ Green into defense of backs league wide. Twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: after AJ went for two hundred twenty seven receiving yards
Speaker 1: against Baltimore, John Harbaugh famously said, one of these days
Speaker 1: we'll figure out how to cover AJ Green. It would
Speaker 1: be nice if we did it one time before he retires.
Speaker 1: They did it. They did it, no, no, no question
Speaker 1: about it, and uh, I mean it was it was
Speaker 1: a team effort. It was what the Baltimore Ravens did defensively,
Speaker 1: and it was what the Bengals didn't do offensively or
Speaker 1: couldn't do offensively against that raven defense. For sure. Four
Speaker 1: hundred and four rushing yards allowed, a Bengals record. They
Speaker 1: gave up three fifty in the first three quarters. That
Speaker 1: was a single game Bengals record for most rushing yards allowed.
Speaker 1: The NFL record survived of four twenty six going back
Speaker 1: to nineteen thirty four against the team called the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: Pirates by the Detroit Lions, and then the modern record,
Speaker 1: which Cincinnati set offensively four hundred and seven yards in
Speaker 1: the Corey Dillon two hundred and seventy eight yard game
Speaker 1: against the Denver Broncos survived by three yards, so they
Speaker 1: avoid the ignominy of giving up more rushing yards in
Speaker 1: the modern era than any other team in history by
Speaker 1: three yards. It's it's obscene, you know, I mean it
Speaker 1: really is. The Ravens rushed for over three thousand yards. Now,
Speaker 1: they embarrassed a lot of people, but this was an annihilation.
Speaker 1: I mean, four hundred yards rushing in today's National Football
Speaker 1: League anybody, any era National Football League obviously is rare
Speaker 1: to be able to do that today is mind boggling.
Speaker 1: I mean, it really is. There. There has to be
Speaker 1: so many factors, so many circumstances that have to align
Speaker 1: themselves the right way in the universe to be able
Speaker 1: to rush for over four hundred yards in an NFL
Speaker 1: game today, because this is the number one rushing team
Speaker 1: in the NFL by far, and you know, they've rushed
Speaker 1: for three hundred on teams, but they've never rushed for
Speaker 1: four hundred on anybody. And I mean, that's that is
Speaker 1: almost impossible to believe happened. But we saw it happen.
Speaker 1: So it did well for everybody that's been upset the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks because the Bengals have been dropping
Speaker 1: in the draft order. I guess they should be happy
Speaker 1: because they did not drop anymore in the draft order.
Speaker 1: It looks like they're going to have the fifth pick.
Speaker 1: I'm a glutton for this kind of stuff. I actually
Speaker 1: searched mock drafts on Sunday morning. They are out there.
Speaker 1: I looked at five mock drafts that I considered to
Speaker 1: be from somewhat reputable sources. I mean, the melk Kuipers
Speaker 1: of the world are not putting theirs out yet, but
Speaker 1: these were at least, you know, they looked somewhat legit.
Speaker 1: Two of the five still have them getting Pinney Sewell
Speaker 1: with a fifth pick, and there's probably a good possibility
Speaker 1: that that takes place. Look what happens, Fields goes from
Speaker 1: dropping from the number two quarterback to beating the number
Speaker 1: one quarterback. I mean, it's a it's a it's an
Speaker 1: instant gratification society. I mean, it's it's flavor of the week.
Speaker 1: I mean, what are we talking about here? So, uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's possible. There's there's no question that
Speaker 1: that Suol could be could be a Cincinnati Benglin. If
Speaker 1: he is, that's great. Um, if he's not, I have
Speaker 1: no I would have no issue if they traded back
Speaker 1: and accumulated, you know, significant picks and so doing fifty
Speaker 1: percent of first round picks fail fifty percent. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a crapshoot. Crapshoot. So the only way that you
Speaker 1: can increase your odds in that crapshoot is to get
Speaker 1: more numbers, you know. And I've always been one that
Speaker 1: if you have a weakness in a position, draft a
Speaker 1: couple of them. You know, if you if you don't
Speaker 1: put your back on the ball and one of them,
Speaker 1: you're you're gonna get a fifty fifty shot with with
Speaker 1: two of them. So, um, it's happened in franchise history
Speaker 1: before that they've doubled down on a position group here
Speaker 1: recently with a way Hand Fisher and on over two.
Speaker 1: I mean, it happens, but sometimes you go two for two,
Speaker 1: a lot of times you go one for two, whatever
Speaker 1: the situation may be. I just have no problem with
Speaker 1: throwing numbers at problem areas in terms of number of picks,
Speaker 1: free agent signings, whatever the case may be. If you're
Speaker 1: gonna overhaul it, overhaul it right. The scenario that I've
Speaker 1: seen where the Bengals could still get Pinay Suel if
Speaker 1: they are five and they don't trade back, would be
Speaker 1: three quarterbacks going in the top four, and then the
Speaker 1: other guy that gets picked, maybe Jamar Chase, the great
Speaker 1: wide receiver from LSU, Caleb Farley, the top cornerback in
Speaker 1: the draft. His name has come up a few times.
Speaker 1: So I don't think that Pinay Suil will be there
Speaker 1: at number five, And if he's not, I am one
Speaker 1: hundred percent in agreement with you try to get another
Speaker 1: high pick if you can, particularly if you don't have
Speaker 1: to move way back in the first round in order
Speaker 1: to do it right. I mean, there's a formula that
Speaker 1: everybody you will be following, and the Bengals know what
Speaker 1: that formula is, and the people they're trading with know
Speaker 1: what that formula is, and who's going to give who's
Speaker 1: going to have the best components you know, within the
Speaker 1: structure of that formula. So, um, you know it's it's
Speaker 1: it's not really rocket science. It's just you know, getting
Speaker 1: getting a fear deal structured. And then uh, it's certainly
Speaker 1: not The draft itself is not scientific. Although I will
Speaker 1: say Seul physically, the more you know see this guy
Speaker 1: and read about him and hear about him, he is
Speaker 1: a He is an anomaly. I mean, he is a
Speaker 1: generational type guy from a physical standpoint. Um, but you know,
Speaker 1: he's just there's there's no there's no guarantees, as they say,
Speaker 1: but he's as close as you can get. I think
Speaker 1: nobody stands out in a good way when you lose
Speaker 1: thirty eight to three and give up more than five
Speaker 1: hundred yards, including more than four hundred rushing yards. But
Speaker 1: trey ViOn Williams four carries seventy four yards, including a
Speaker 1: fifty five yard run. I guess if you had to
Speaker 1: pin a star on anybody, he would be it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I thought he ran hard, you know it, not
Speaker 1: just on the on the one that he busted out
Speaker 1: of there, but even even the runs that he went
Speaker 1: for five or six yards. He finished everything hard. He
Speaker 1: hit it hard. He's got a low pad level. He
Speaker 1: ran with a you know, a good a good lean
Speaker 1: he played, played with that low center of gravity. He's obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, somebody that's got some talent. Anybody that leads
Speaker 1: the sec and rushing ain't chopped liver, you know. And uh,
Speaker 1: he's got to make sure the thing that two things
Speaker 1: that he has to do in my mind, worked to
Speaker 1: continue to work on blitz, pick up his technique and
Speaker 1: finishing those and then ball security. You know, he is
Speaker 1: sometimes a little loosey goosey with the football. You don't
Speaker 1: want to see you don't want to see air, you
Speaker 1: don't want to see space between the football and the body.
Speaker 1: High and tight, you know, tucket high and tight. And
Speaker 1: make sure that ball security thing is paramount. And because
Speaker 1: you know that's something you have to have. You can't
Speaker 1: be putting the ball in the ground. Austin Cybert made
Speaker 1: a thirty eight yard field goal. I guess that was
Speaker 1: the other good thing for the Bengals. He he went
Speaker 1: six for eight on his field goals, eight for eight
Speaker 1: on his points after after being made the starter in
Speaker 1: place of Randy Bullock. The two messes where his too
Speaker 1: longest kicks forty nine in fifty five. He obviously did okay,
Speaker 1: but I don't think he was so good that the
Speaker 1: Bengals can confidently think, all right, we've definitely got our
Speaker 1: kicker for next year. Yeah, I agree with you. I
Speaker 1: think there's going to be a lot of research done
Speaker 1: in that regard in terms of what's out there in
Speaker 1: free agency and uh, you know what's out there in general,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of kickers out there, and then potentially,
Speaker 1: you know, late in the draft or whatever the case
Speaker 1: may be, college free agent prospect. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a kicking competition, and how many kickers
Speaker 1: will be involved in that kicking competition. Only one guy knows.
Speaker 1: That's Darren Simmons, and he probably doesn't know yet. All Right,
Speaker 1: I think what you should do now, let's go home,
Speaker 1: have a nice dinner, relax tomorrow, and then at six
Speaker 1: pm tomorrow I'll fill in for Lance McAlister and we'll
Speaker 1: talk about this game in the season for three hours.
Speaker 1: How's that sound. Yeah, we'll beat it up for three
Speaker 1: more hours Dan, you know, and uh, and then just
Speaker 1: start talking about what's going to happen in the offseason.
Speaker 1: Here comes, here comes the off season upon us quickly,
Speaker 1: and I hope the Bengals get it right in the
Speaker 1: draft this year and address offensive and defensive line and
Speaker 1: free agency if it's possible to do so, and see
Speaker 1: if we can build upon, build upon the way the
Speaker 1: season finished. Other than this final game, the last month
Speaker 1: of the season, I thought there were signs of life
Speaker 1: and hopefully that continues in the off season. 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 Ta Maurice Higgins better known as T Higgins. T.
Speaker 1: Your grandfather on your mother's side was Maurice. Your mom
Speaker 1: added the tough to get your name. Do you know
Speaker 1: if she always planned to call you T when she
Speaker 1: named you? No, I think, if I remember correctly, she
Speaker 1: told me that my grandma, her mother, could not say
Speaker 1: my full name, so they just thought thought of Tea,
Speaker 1: and that's what they've been calling me ever since you
Speaker 1: were a kid. On the first day of school, did
Speaker 1: the teachers sometimes read off to Maurice? And if so,
Speaker 1: how did you react? Every time we had first day
Speaker 1: of school, they would read off my first my full name,
Speaker 1: and they would always say at Rome, either Tamarius or
Speaker 1: tomorrow Ice. I'm just like, uh, you can just call
Speaker 1: me Tea every time. So we're chatting with T Higgins.
Speaker 1: You're from oak Ridge, Tennessee, home of the famed oak
Speaker 1: Ridge Boys country music quartet. I would sing a little Elvira,
Speaker 1: but I don't want to ruin your day. What did
Speaker 1: young T Higgins like to do growing up in oak Ridge?
Speaker 1: For me, it was just you know, running around. My
Speaker 1: friends used to ride bikes everywhere. You know, I lived
Speaker 1: a good maybe three miles from the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1: He used to ride out bikes there all the time.
Speaker 1: He's the ride eye bikes to McDonald's. Um just you know,
Speaker 1: going to summer camp. You know, those those are the
Speaker 1: times that you know, moments that always cherish and uh,
Speaker 1: some of my boys we just something we still talk
Speaker 1: about it to still to this day and you know,
Speaker 1: we just think about those times and just laugh and
Speaker 1: kick about it. Are you aware that oak Ridge is
Speaker 1: known as the atomic city? Yep? And do you know why?
Speaker 1: Uh wasn't It was like part of the you know,
Speaker 1: they helped make the atomic bomb, right, correct city, That's correct.
Speaker 1: The Manhattan Project, which was the secret project for the
Speaker 1: development of the first nuclear weapons, was basically based in
Speaker 1: oak Ridge, Tennessee. Yeah. I was like, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: oaker is being so small and in Tennessee. You know,
Speaker 1: you don't really see too many towns in the state
Speaker 1: of Tennessee being you know, naturally known, and you know,
Speaker 1: just just seeing that. I was always thought when I
Speaker 1: was young, I was like, oh, we're on the map,
Speaker 1: Like everybody knows about oak Ridge. Now. It's just you know,
Speaker 1: things like that that we always you know, laughed about.
Speaker 1: We're doing fun acts with t Higgins. This legend has
Speaker 1: it you would not be playing football today if not
Speaker 1: for hot Wheels, the little toy cars. Can you explain
Speaker 1: how hot Wheels pave the way for you becoming an
Speaker 1: NFL football player? Yeah, so pot one of days, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think all was around maybe five six,
Speaker 1: and it was real hot on one game, and I
Speaker 1: was like, I am not doing this. I can't do it.
Speaker 1: I want to go home. So in the middle of
Speaker 1: the game, I went up in the stands and sat
Speaker 1: with my aunt in the middle of the game. And
Speaker 1: then next thing, you know, she she say, she says,
Speaker 1: I will, I will go to Walmart and buy you
Speaker 1: two hot wheel cars if you go back down and
Speaker 1: play and score touchdow And sure enough I went back
Speaker 1: down and scored on like the second play. And after
Speaker 1: the game I totally take me straight to Walmart and
Speaker 1: got my hot You were bribed by your aunt who
Speaker 1: promised to give you hot wheels for touchdowns. What did
Speaker 1: you do with the hot wheels? Did you have little
Speaker 1: tracks and race them or did you just like admire
Speaker 1: them and trade them and stuff like that. I really
Speaker 1: just admoded them, just play with them on my own,
Speaker 1: you know, just going back and forth with the cars.
Speaker 1: You know, me being at a young age just having
Speaker 1: fun with those those cars is you know, it was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. And now me growing up, I'm
Speaker 1: in love with cars, and I you know, I see
Speaker 1: why has your hot wheels collection been preserved? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: Mom's never gonna throw those out, right, She can't. That's great.
Speaker 1: We're doing fun Facts with Tee Hagan's Tea. Back in April,
Speaker 1: you spoke about your relationship with your mom in The
Speaker 1: Player's Tribune and a story titled Mama's Boy, and it
Speaker 1: began with you describing the day she was shot when
Speaker 1: you were six years old and in kindergarten. What do
Speaker 1: you remember about it and the days that followed. You know,
Speaker 1: I remember just going to school of the day and
Speaker 1: you know, me being in class, sitting there doing my work,
Speaker 1: and they say, you know, they caught us, the teacher
Speaker 1: and they say, I'm being checked out. And the teacher
Speaker 1: told me I was being checked out. No one knew.
Speaker 1: She didn't know. So I'm like, see, all guys, I'm
Speaker 1: checked out, and you know, just me being excited just
Speaker 1: because I'm getting checked out of school. Um. I get
Speaker 1: to the front office, you know, my sister's death. She's crying,
Speaker 1: and I'm just wondering, like what's going on. I'm still
Speaker 1: a little bit excited that I'm being checked out of school.
Speaker 1: I don't have to be in school that day, be
Speaker 1: getting the car, and she, you know, she breaks the
Speaker 1: news to me and I just start busting out crying, like,
Speaker 1: what's going on, What's wrong? What's wrong? His MoMA gonna
Speaker 1: be okay? You you know, we get to the house,
Speaker 1: her house where she was shot at. She was already gone,
Speaker 1: flew in the helicopter and I'm just wanting to go
Speaker 1: see my mom. You know, I tried to cross the
Speaker 1: yellow tape that my sister just grab me. You know,
Speaker 1: you can't go over there. I just wanted to see
Speaker 1: my mom at that point, and you know, it was
Speaker 1: it was a tough time for me. Then they told
Speaker 1: me that she got shot in the head, that you know,
Speaker 1: she might not make it. You never know. Um, it
Speaker 1: was just you know, me having a thought, you know,
Speaker 1: losing my mom. It was just you know, heartbreaking. Even
Speaker 1: though she was you know, in and out of the house,
Speaker 1: you you know, doing drugs at the time, it still
Speaker 1: was heartbreaking to lose. You know, my mom grew such
Speaker 1: a strong connection. Guy works in mysterious ways. She's here
Speaker 1: now and ever since then, we've been growing our connection
Speaker 1: stronger and stronger, and cantybody break that behind that we have.
Speaker 1: It's an amazing story. Your mom overcame her addiction. She's
Speaker 1: been sober for more than thirteen years. She doesn't shy
Speaker 1: away from talking about the experience. How did her example
Speaker 1: help mold you? Seeing a way how she went about things,
Speaker 1: you know, stepping up and you know, talking about her
Speaker 1: her past and you know, seeing that how strong she was.
Speaker 1: You know that that can't compare to anything that's happened
Speaker 1: in my life. You know, So when when something's going bad,
Speaker 1: going downhill in my life, I just think about that moment,
Speaker 1: how how strong she was and how how passionate, how
Speaker 1: passionate she was to you know, talk about her past
Speaker 1: and and show people that it's possible to overcome things
Speaker 1: like that. Just me seeing her do that, I just
Speaker 1: think about like, I'm like, yeah, this is nothing Like
Speaker 1: I could talk about this and NB okay and move
Speaker 1: on to the next thing. And you know, so that's
Speaker 1: is how I go about things. Now. You've got an
Speaker 1: older sister, Kiki, who was a basketball player. She played
Speaker 1: on an NCAA tournament team at Middle Tennessee State. Describe
Speaker 1: her game in high school. She did, She was a
Speaker 1: post and she told me that she she she did
Speaker 1: a lot of pension down in the post, you know,
Speaker 1: to you know, get girls to you know, move weird
Speaker 1: and throw them off the game basically, and you know,
Speaker 1: she was really dominant. And then when she got to MTSU,
Speaker 1: she actually got there. You know, uh ended up having
Speaker 1: a kids, so she came back home for a few years,
Speaker 1: you know, to raise her child, and then she went
Speaker 1: back to school and went back to MTSU and you know,
Speaker 1: she had an outstanding career to um she uh, I
Speaker 1: think it's the three point she she had thirteen threes
Speaker 1: in the game and I'm that that day. I'm just like,
Speaker 1: thirteen three thirteen threes. Like I said, Susy, when did
Speaker 1: you become a three point shooter? First of all? And
Speaker 1: it's still to this day she thinks she can give
Speaker 1: me one on one. Was there a point in your
Speaker 1: childhood where she did that? She used to beat you
Speaker 1: up playing hoops? Yeah, she was. You know, she was
Speaker 1: always bigger than me. So but now I think I
Speaker 1: get her. Yes, it's nothing. Now we're chatting with T. Higgins.
Speaker 1: You went to Clemson, You won a national championship as
Speaker 1: a sophomore, made it back to the National championship game
Speaker 1: as a junior. For somebody that has never seen it,
Speaker 1: can you describe the football facility at Clemson? Man that
Speaker 1: facility there. Man's it's probably one of the best in
Speaker 1: the country, you know, now that everybody's updating their facilities
Speaker 1: now obviously the Chima outdo you know other I'll do
Speaker 1: Clemson now, but man, you got the locker room is
Speaker 1: is really crazy. Um you know, we got a bowl
Speaker 1: of allie in there. We got all types of other
Speaker 1: games like ping pong. We got a golfing letter which
Speaker 1: I was in a lot so I'm not really good
Speaker 1: at hitting with a driver, so I practiced my love
Speaker 1: six iron practices. My swing with a six iron got
Speaker 1: good at that. You got the slide going down from
Speaker 1: the meeting rooms to the locker room. The weight room
Speaker 1: is huge. I mean they literally have everything that you
Speaker 1: would need in there. And my favorite part of the
Speaker 1: whole facility is the pau bistro, which is like our cafeteria.
Speaker 1: So when you go in there, you just you can
Speaker 1: literally put your order in on the iPad, tell them
Speaker 1: what you want and it'll be ready for you and
Speaker 1: like but maybe five to ten minutes. And that was
Speaker 1: probably my favorite part because you had we had so
Speaker 1: many different options, you know. Um, So yeah, the facilities
Speaker 1: is one of a con Definitely, do people actually use
Speaker 1: the slide or is it just for shell I use
Speaker 1: it a few times, but really mostly the defense uses it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know now, but when I was there,
Speaker 1: mostly the defense uses because their their meeting rooms is
Speaker 1: like right there, and our meeting rooms is like on
Speaker 1: the other side. What a stessas you can just walk
Speaker 1: down the steps. But yeah, defense used it most of
Speaker 1: the time. So me coming back, you know, going into
Speaker 1: the locker room, you just see all those defensive guys
Speaker 1: are sliding and sometimes they so if you got on
Speaker 1: your football pants, it's like real slick. So they'd be
Speaker 1: sliding real fast and they try to land and they
Speaker 1: just bust it. It would be the funniest thing ever.
Speaker 1: Tell you. One of the great traditions in college football
Speaker 1: is the Clemson team entrance for a home game of death.
Speaker 1: Valley describe what's been called the most exciting twenty five
Speaker 1: seconds in college football. Let me let me start here.
Speaker 1: My freshman year, I'm excited to run down the hill,
Speaker 1: this and that, and one of the players go ta
Speaker 1: do not fall. Whatever you do, do not fall. It'll
Speaker 1: be the most embarrassing time here at Clemson. So I'm like, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: so I literally touched the rock, go down the hill
Speaker 1: really slow, like and then usually like this is like
Speaker 1: a little part where you can like jump. I didn't jump.
Speaker 1: I was not following it was it wasn't happening. But
Speaker 1: over the over the time, you know, me going down
Speaker 1: getting used to it, I started jumping really high. I
Speaker 1: think it is the most the most twenty five seconds
Speaker 1: of college football because you know, it's it's just a feeling.
Speaker 1: That's that's surreal with all the fans, the student sections
Speaker 1: right there on the east side, and it's just it's
Speaker 1: just a great feeling. Clemson has been called wide receiver university.
Speaker 1: Who's the best wide receiver in Clemson history. That's tough.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of grace to come through that. You know,
Speaker 1: you got you got nuke, Sammy Martavis, Bryan, Mike Williams, myself.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's a lot of grace to come
Speaker 1: through that. I can't really just pinpoint one um, but
Speaker 1: we're definitely receiver you no question about it. So on
Speaker 1: draft night, we learned that Aj Green was your sports
Speaker 1: hero and the Bengals were your favorite team. What was
Speaker 1: it like to be drafted by your team? Just getting
Speaker 1: that call from since on the second day of draft night.
Speaker 1: H it was, you know, a dream come true obviously
Speaker 1: just to get drafted, but for it to become be
Speaker 1: from my favorite team. It's uh, it's it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's just it was crazy. I'm like, mom, Cincinnati's calling,
Speaker 1: so answer, it's coach Taylor. The phone's you ready to
Speaker 1: be a biggle like hell, yeah, let's do this. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you know, just me, I didn't even think
Speaker 1: about the whole thing with Aj being here, but it
Speaker 1: hit me, like, you know, after I did all the interviews,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, man, AJ is on my team now,
Speaker 1: like this is crazy. I looked up to me this man,
Speaker 1: he's my role model and all that. Um. But you know,
Speaker 1: the transition, you know, it's been great. He's helped He's
Speaker 1: been helping me a lot um, you know, so it's
Speaker 1: been it's been good. A few more fun facts for
Speaker 1: Key Haggans. You were two time Mister Football in Tennessee.
Speaker 1: You were a finalist for Mister Basketball in Tennessee. What
Speaker 1: sport are you lousy at? Let's talk about baseball real quick.
Speaker 1: It was baseball season in boys club days, and it
Speaker 1: was my first season where the coaches do not pitch
Speaker 1: in the player's pitch, and I'm literally up the bat
Speaker 1: and I kid you not. I got hit with the
Speaker 1: ball on the pitch, and in the middle of the game,
Speaker 1: I said, Mom, I'm done, clicked through the bat down,
Speaker 1: took off my hummet and I said, mom, let's go,
Speaker 1: We'll leave it. I'm done, and we left. One hit
Speaker 1: by pitch was all it took. It was all it took.
Speaker 1: I'm done. There seems to be a history of this.
Speaker 1: I mean with football, when the weather was hot, you
Speaker 1: walked up into the stands. Baseball, you get hit by
Speaker 1: a pitch, you bald. Come on, I mean, hey, I
Speaker 1: didn't know what I wanted to do. It all worked
Speaker 1: out in the end. What do you like to spend
Speaker 1: your money on? Oh that's a good question. You know.
Speaker 1: Growing up, I didn't have much to spend it on. Um.
Speaker 1: So but now I'm you know, I'm making some money. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I buy I mean, I have a car. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I like to buy a lot of closing shoes. Right now,
Speaker 1: I'm real big, I'm starting getting real big in the
Speaker 1: shoe game. So I would I would say shoes. And
Speaker 1: you know, I've been you know, helping. I've been buying
Speaker 1: a lot of toys and my dog as well. You
Speaker 1: occasionally wear cool looking glasses in interviews. Do they have
Speaker 1: any magnifying power or they strictly for shell Oh? No,
Speaker 1: those are my actual glasses. Um. Right now, I have
Speaker 1: my my contact so I try to wear my contacts
Speaker 1: more often. But you know, at the beginning of the season, Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't have my contacts yet, so it was just
Speaker 1: I had to wear my glasses and a lot of
Speaker 1: people thought there was the show, but they're they're actually
Speaker 1: really all right. A few more fun facts. Are you
Speaker 1: an avid fan of another sport? And if so, what
Speaker 1: team do you fall up? Yeah? I want I'm a
Speaker 1: big fan of basketball. Um. You know, I was a
Speaker 1: basketball star and I followed the Brooklyn Nets now because
Speaker 1: you know, Kevin Durant is my favorite player, and you know, um,
Speaker 1: so hopefully now that you know, I can actually do
Speaker 1: something there in the off season. You know, I was
Speaker 1: in college, I couldn't do nothing because I was in school.
Speaker 1: But now actually I can do something. Hopefully they allow
Speaker 1: fans up there in New York and I can go
Speaker 1: watch the game. You know, of course side seats or
Speaker 1: if they was to come, like, you know, to and
Speaker 1: play Charlotte or Memphis, I can go to one of
Speaker 1: those games and you know, just go to see him
Speaker 1: play in person. So all right, T last thing, describe
Speaker 1: reaching out to Chad Johnson for the permission to wear
Speaker 1: number eighty five. At first, you know, um, I wanted
Speaker 1: number fifteen. You know, I just wanted to keep five
Speaker 1: in my number. You know, that's been my number since
Speaker 1: high school. And I wanted them to fifteen, but another
Speaker 1: guy had it. Or I wanted the number two. You know,
Speaker 1: you know that equals five like four plus one, so
Speaker 1: you'd be like fourteen or something like that. But they
Speaker 1: didn't have any of those numbers available and or any
Speaker 1: team numbers. They didn't have any of those of itable.
Speaker 1: So you know, they told me that they had eighty
Speaker 1: eighty five and another number. Um so I was like
Speaker 1: eighty five. I was just asking some of my friends,
Speaker 1: like when numbers you think I should get and it
Speaker 1: was like and get eighty five, like man, you know,
Speaker 1: Chad Johnson had it. He was you know, otocinko, it's otocinco.
Speaker 1: He's he's a he's a Cincinnati great bro. He was like, man,
Speaker 1: just just just do it. So I was like, all right.
Speaker 1: So I was like, you know what, since you know,
Speaker 1: since he's a great I think I should just you know,
Speaker 1: ask mission out of respect. You know what he's done.
Speaker 1: Who played the same position. So, you know, at the
Speaker 1: end of them on Twitter, I was like, man, how
Speaker 1: would you feel you know about me wearing you know,
Speaker 1: the Great eighty five. He was like, man, I'll be
Speaker 1: thrilled for you to wear it, man, and this and that,
Speaker 1: and he's like, I know you're gonna be great and
Speaker 1: know you're gonna do treat the city well, and you know,
Speaker 1: just do right by the number. And you know, I
Speaker 1: was just able to go out there. He let me
Speaker 1: get it and you know, I mean, having a good
Speaker 1: season so far, you're definitely doing right by the number.
Speaker 1: Congratulations at a tremend rookie season. Thanks so much for
Speaker 1: the time, Happy holidays, and best to lect the rest
Speaker 1: of the year you too. Here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: while the season is over, the Bengals Booth podcast rolls
Speaker 1: on in the off season with weekly editions to keep
Speaker 1: you up to date on the latest Bengals news. That's
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode brought to you
Speaker 1: by bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game. If you haven't
Speaker 1: done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute,
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, Happy
Speaker 1: New Year, and thanks so much for listening to the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast