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September 17, 2024 12 mins
Shawn Syed of Sumer Sports writes an excellent weekly "Monday Mashup" column, which this week includes some thoughts on how the Bengals can still make the postseason.

Shawn joined us on ESPN1530.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A week ago. At this time, we had on with
this Sean Sayed from Summer Sports, who writes and it's
very good, the Monday Morning mashup column, which is, you know,
a series of thoughts and analysis from everything that happened
around the NFL, and we had a chance to have
him on and he was excellent. We talked about the
Bengals Patriots game and I thought, God, you know what,

(00:22):
I like it when smart people come on our show
and make me smarter and say smart things. And so
I condem into joining us every single week. So you
should go read his column. If you haven't seen it,
go find it at Summer sports dot com. I've retweeted it.
I've put a link out there on X as well.
Sean is on X at Sayed Schemes and kind enough

(00:43):
to join us on a weekly basis. I hope you're
okay doing this because by like the middle of the season,
you're gonna find me pretty annoying.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, I'm so glad that you're having me back on.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
I think that the Bengals have just such an interesting
story to be written ahead of them. And now I
would have liked to come on after a win, but
you know, this is not that week and hopefully next
one will be.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, So like dive into the nuts and bolts of
the Kansas City game for me, because you know, we've
a lot of stuff goes into that game. It's a
huge rivalry. There's a lot of emotional stuff. People here
reacting with emotion to fourth and sixteen and Jamar Chase.
I want to do this a little bit more analytically.
First of all, the Bengals have not been good against
the run. We went into the season thinking they were

(01:29):
not going to be good against the run. They're probably
gonna be worse against the run because they lose two
defensive tackles. Uh, why are they so bad against the run?

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, no, sometimes you just need big guys inside to
make plays and really take on multiple blockers at the
same time to help your linebackers out.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So I'm really really concerned.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
For this run defense because, as you said, you are
already thin at that defensive line position. Now you lose
more players there and it makes everyone's life harder.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
If you can't off the run start from the inside.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
The linebackers have to now deal with the guard kind
of running at them. Now you're asking for a safety
to get into the box and make a tackle when
you'd probably want that player in coverage anyway. So it
is it's a tough situation, and you hope that they're
able to be a team where you know you're playing
from out in front enough that some of those run
game issues maybe get covered up a bit.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
So and yet you wrote the defense is trending in
the right direction. That tells me you'd like to back
end of that defense. Why is it trending in the
right direction.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I was really happy with what Leuen Roumo put on
tape in this game.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
They did a good job.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Closing those windows in zone coverage, you get an interception,
you disguise things just a bit on the back end,
and no, they held the Chiefs to one of eight
on third down, and then you have Trey Hendrickson who
almost won the game single handedly. So I think that
the run game issues are going to be looked at consistently,
probably by us from a.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Week to week basis.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
But it was great to see an exam of a
team that was able to play so well on the
back end to limit Patrick Mahomes to one hundred and
fifty one yards and throwing the ball like on an
average of three yards down the field. I think that's
a situation where you can be encouraged even if you
have some issues with the run defense.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
So and then there's the pass rush. Trey Hendrickson was unbelievable.
He's been good here for quite a while. He was
otherworldly on Sunday. We go into a game thinking he's
gonna win up front, He's gonna win his share of battles,
and if he does, he's gonna get to the quarterback.
It's not really coming from anywhere. Else Where can it
come from?

Speaker 3 (03:38):
You know, it might be a situation where you have
to now send a linebacker every once in a while.
Maybe you move Hendrickson around the formation to just manipulate
the matchup. I mean, he was so good that the
Chiefs literally had to go to their.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Second tackle in that position.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
So you hope that you can just get enough there.
Because I'm not one hundred percent sure where we'll come
from again, maybe it's that you decide to I mean,
you have to send a blitz every once in a while.
But I know that Lounromo is creative in the way
that he sends pressure.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
But he also wants to do some fun stuff in coverage.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, Sean sayet is with US Summer Sports Monday Morning
Mashup column. Go read it. You'll be smarter offensively. Look
a week ago, you and I were trying to figure
out if if Joe Burrow is okay. I walked away
from the Kansas City game feeling pretty good about him
his comfort level. They did more offensively from a game planning,
from a schematic perspective, What did you see against Kansas

(04:34):
City that was missing against New England.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I thought that one of the biggest things right away
that you saw was they used motion on seventy percent
of the snaps, which would have been the most in
the entire Zach Taylor era.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
And I think that is a really good thing.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
It's not that, oh, you send a guy in motion
and now you're automatically kind of a modern fancy offense.
But if you're using it to help create an advantage
for your player running outside, or if you're trying to
move players around and play with the defense's eyes just
a bit so from a schematic perpective, you get that,
you get some Jamar Chase in the slot, you get
him in the backfield, and it felt like they are

(05:10):
clearly doing things in that part of the game. And
then some of the past concepts were just ones that
I just like them a little bit more because they
let Joe Burrow kind of work from the left side
of the field to the right side of the field.
He can kind of scan everything and be comfortable there.
So from a schematic perspective, it's not the most you know,
schematic forward offense.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
In the entire league.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
But you don't have to do when you have players
like Joe Burrow, like Jamar Chase, and I mean no,
we have to be roasick. The most important thing here
was that Burrow looked a lot better, and he is
certainly looking good enough to be able to make a difference.
And so it's so hard to be the Hey, guys,
moral victory. I know that Cincinnati pen don't want to hear.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
It, but they chalked a big wn the moral win
column for me.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Well, but they did, you know, I don't. I don't
love the term moral victory. I just to me, it's
context right in the text of that game. I was
looking for a more comfortable, better, more Joe Burrow asked,
Joe Burrow, I got that. I wish they would have
won the game. But with fifteen weeks to spare, a
soft schedule ahead, T Higgins hopefully coming back the weapons,

(06:14):
they have the most important box that needed to be
checked on Sunday, God checked. I can live with that.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, and it's going to be so important where you
look ahead to two games that this team should be
able to win. And I thought that the Chiefs did
a lot of fun things on the defensive side where
they were comfortable getting two players onto Jamar Chase because
the Bengals didn't have T Higgins. But now again Jermain Burton,
who had that really really nice play on a deep

(06:41):
throw from Burrow that was awesome. You have Mikeasicki who's emerging,
and so it feels like an offense that is coming together.
That answered some of our questions from last week. And
now look, the margin for error is eiser thing going forward.
You cannot fall to oh to three front teams that
started own two two in the last five years and
made the playoffs. But I still feel like the Bengals

(07:03):
can become the third team to do it.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
All right, I want to. I want to hold them
up against the rest of the field of zero to
two team, Sean said with his for another couple of minutes.
You know you you talked about what they did offensively,
and here's where my mind went to on Sunday. So
hopefully t Higgins comes back and he stays healthy. We
know what T Higgins can do. We know what Jamar
Chase can do. We also know what kind of cheat

(07:26):
code a really good tight end can be. And it
feels like the Bengals suddenly have a bunch of them
and watching them use that position maybe a little bit
too much, but watching them use that position knowing what
else they should be able to do. This is more
of a comment than it is a question that to
me was intriguing. As I watched them playoffense against Kansas.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
City, I loved it because you have weapons at every
single spot.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
When you get Higgins back there.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Now as a defense, I literally do not know what
to do, Like, can I close every single window?

Speaker 2 (07:58):
I'm not comfortable with all my one on ones.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
On the outside when you have Chason Higgins going and
now I don't even want to play comfortable in the
middle of the field where Burrow was comfortable hitting, get
sicky going across that area. It's just a huge conundrum
for teams where I think they're gonna look to take
the air out in the game and run the ball
snap after sat because when Burrow's playing like that and

(08:20):
the way that all these guys are coming together, there's
just nothing that defenses are going to be able to do.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
So you talked about all the er to two teams.
The Bengals have company. They have company in their own division.
Baltimore not now some of the teams that have not
won a game through the first two weeks. It's not
a surprise. Denver, the Giants, Carolina, and then you know
there's a team. LA is a mass unit, nobody's healthy.
Jacksonville is maybe a little eyebrow raising. I'm not sure

(08:48):
it's stunning Baltimore and Cincinnati. Should I feel better as
a Bengals fan than I would if I was a
Ravens fan or vice versa.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
That is a really good question.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
So for the raison, they have issues on their offensive line.
They don't have dominant pass catchers. They lost a ton
of just brain trust throughout that organization, and then they
don't have Mike McDonald calling plays there anymore on the
defensive side, so they kind of falter at multiple positions,
And when you think about the Bengals, that's compared to

(09:21):
last year. Of course they don't have Higgins out there yet,
but there is so much that is able.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
To stay the same from year every year.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
If I was just coin flip and choose one, I
would choose the Bengals right now.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
And I think that in a few weeks we're going
to get a Bengals team that's.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Two and two and plays Baltimore, and we we'll be
able to get our answer. And you know, I'm fine
if I'm wrong there, But looking ahead, I do think
the Bengals have a comfortable schedule where they should feel
good and look even in the AFC North.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Of course, the Steelers are two.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
And zero and their defense is incredible, but I think
the Bengals are going to be able to beat that
type of team as well. So as a Bengals watcher now,
I would feel more comfortable there just because of what's
the specific issues with this team, which is, hey, let's
get see Higgins fact there, let's get your mar case going,
and we have to deal with the run on defense,

(10:08):
whereas the Ravens have some issues on defense. That issue
at the offensive line that it feels like those can
compound over time.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
Give me, give me forty five seconds on Washington, because
when we were talking about the season before it started,
my thought regarding them was that's that's maybe not a
team that I would want to play in December, but
I'm happy to play him in September. Obviously, you worry
about the Bengals stopping anybody on the ground, So Brian
Robinson's a big deal. Jadon Daniel is a big deal.

(10:38):
Where does Washington pose a threat as they try to
avoid going zero to three?

Speaker 3 (10:43):
I think the run game is certainly going to be
something that the Commander's target all throughout the day. And
that's not just on the designed run game. That's also
Jayden Daniels scrambling, where I think that lou An Romo
will probably be able to get one on them, just
where you have a rookie quarterback that still kind of
you know things out Where Daniel did have a decent
day against the Giants in their win in Week two.

(11:06):
I think that on the opposite end of that, you know,
this Bengals team should be able to really handle a
defensive unit where their dan Quinn comes in there and
is trying to change the culture, but they just do
not have the players that should be able to match
up with the Bengals. So it's another situation where, similar
to the Patriots, where you just hope that this team
is not able to drain the entire game shortened the

(11:28):
amount of possessions of Bengals have. But I think you
know the Bengals can can get on them early, can
score early in the game. And now you're turning Dad
and Danield into all of these kind of known passing
situations where now Lou and Romo, who just did a
really good job against Patrick Mahomes, should be able to
do it once again.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Sean sayed, By the way, follow him on x ad
sayed schemes. There's a lot of people on the internet
diagramming plays. Follow Sean. He knows what he's talking about.
Awesome to have you will do it again next week, man,
Thanks so much.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Thanks so much more. Looking forward to it.

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