September 11, 2025 • 19 mins
Tony and Austin breakdown the Bengals and preview their matchup with the Jaguars with John Sheeran from A to Z Sports, on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Cinci Shirts since e three to sixty about
Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cinci Shirts. Cincy
Shirts all Cinci all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back our two thanks to Cinci Shirts. Thank you
for listening on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's get right into it. Hour
number two, Thursday afternoons, all football season long from aightes
E Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals. Our good friend John
Shearan joins us. Now, John, what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
What's up Tony? What's up? Boston? Feeling good?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Bearcats Bengals two and ow in the week. So you
always get a positive version of me when that happens.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Always a positive and it's always better, can hear the peppitist.
It's always better to be able to talk about maybe
some of the deficiencies when you're still want to know
at the end of the day, and that's something this
team has not been able to do enough of. With
that being said, let's start on the defensive side of
the ball. Let's start with that front seven, or or
that that Al Golden is able to use right now,
(01:04):
because I look at Demetrius Knight had ten tackles. I
look at Logan Wilson had seven tackles.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
John.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
That to me tells me that the front four was
doing its job and allowing those linebackers to go play
against the run as well.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
And this is why we always need to look back
at the film, because you know, on that first couple
drives for Cleveland, T J.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Slayton had some splies players.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
There was a time or two and you know, a
double team kind of got the best of it. I'm like, Okay,
maybe he needs to get his feet sail in a
little bit. But he did his job right and he
showed how much of a difference he can make to
clear up the space behind him and allow Demetrius Knight
and Logan Wilson to attack more freely. You saw Wilson
splits a ton up the middle of the day gas.
He just looked like the kind of the younger version
(01:43):
of himself. And thankfully he's totally fine with this concussion
and that's not a serious thing. But yeah, it was
nice to see a full, healthy, stable rotation of.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Guys along the defensive line.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Even Mike Panell got in with twenty two snaps right,
Chris Jenkins and BJ Hill had a pretty healthy split
of the snaps a defensive tack when he saw a
better version of Vja Hill where it looked like kind
of the early days when there was a nice rotation
of defensive tackles in the twenty twenty one team. So
it was a good sign I think for just the
guy whos being energetic coming in and out. You still
would like to see a little bit more consistency in
terms of pass rush, but hopefully that kind of can
(02:15):
kind of come along as.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
The season goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
But it was a nice good opening vision to what
you know the defensive front of its rotation is going
to look like. And I think they've been blessed with
some pretty solid coach know the offseason.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Shamar Stewart didn't flash from a box score point of view,
but he was all over the field seemingly his first
action as a rookie in the National Football League. What
was your big takeaways from watching Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He was exactly who.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I think was advertised at a training camp, where he
just looks different, he moves differently, and it's not always
going to be clean right. I think the very first
impact lay he made, he kind of had like a
decent jump off the snap, but he didn't exactly know.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Where to attack the left tackle.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Right, He was missing his landmarks a little bit and
he was trying to find and read the quarterback and
then he just got his hand up and he'd back
at the ballway. It unortunately didn't count because of a
penalty in the back end. But like that's the type of,
you know, impact plays that he can make, even if
it doesn't always look clean.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
There was another play where he crossed the face of
two Browns linemen and one of them with the tight
Endavid and Joku, but he completely messed up the point
of attack. The running back had the cutback, he tripped
over his own feet. It was like a game of zero, right.
But that that disruption that forced chaos multiplier, if you will.
Danials haven't really had that along the defensive line. So
it's definitely not going to look always clean with Stuart.
But again, he's just a ball of force and energy.
(03:28):
He tossed to side like Dewan Jones, who's sixty eight,
four hundred pounds, right, Like that's not easy to do,
but He's got just an ordn amount of strength with
his size, and that's just a valuable commodity to have,
even if again it's not always going to lead the
clean wins and sacks like you mentioned. So he was
who I hoped he would be, and I hope that
he continues to build off that.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
What do you think Al Golden learned about his defense
last week against Cleveland that he can apply to Jacksonville
this weekend.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
It's an interesting question, Like they played a lot of
cover one and cover six, so like there's a match
of you know, your single high looks of Genos Stone
cover six, where he have, you know, one side of
the tails cover four, they others.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Had to cover two. They moved around the cornerbacks a lot.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I think there's some questions about if cam Tayler Bridge
is kind of adapting to this new scheme because he
was playing on both sides of the formation and he
looked a little bit slow and indecisive, but I think
he recognized that Yeah, if he tied those blitz as well,
he's gonna blitz a lot more than the lunar remo.
It can lead to disruption if you're front fourth and
always winning up, you know, up front, because that was
kind of a problem in the beginning of the first
(04:29):
half and everything like that. But you know, I think
he has his guys playing free and they're playing fast,
and that was definitely evident. So I'm interested to see
the adjustments he makes on the back end with his coverages,
if he wants to maybe tone down on the main
coverage a little bit in case, you know, Camp taylor Bridge.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Is not fully himself just yet.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
But I thought it was a good peek into what
he wanted to do schematically, and there was definitely differences
compared to lunararuma. But it could just be a match
of the matchup type situation. Obviously, Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
This week a lot more of a mobile, mobile guy.
He wants to crate plays out of the pocket, and that.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
May require them to maybe dial down the blitz a
little bit and practice a little bit more contained.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I wonder John on the offensive side of the ball.
I don't think anyone is panicking. I think everyone assumes
this offense is going to at some point sooner rather
than later figure it out. No one's hitting the panic
button there. But were there any things that you saw
on offense that may lead to more issues for this
team going forward.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I don't know, because like the main issue I.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Think was that Burrow as the game kind of went on,
his internal clock was a little bit sped up, and
I thought you had a really good breakdown about getting
the plays in a little bit late, and that's why
he couldn't necessarily see the field clearly on some of
those plays. But ninety eight percent of the time, if
you have a defense that is wanting to play man
coverage against teagainst Jamar Chase, that is exactly what the
Bengals are salivating over, and they're counting on their guys
(05:43):
to just take advantage of that. And the Browns are
just one of the very few defenses in the NFL
that has not only the defensive coordinator to combat that,
but they have the athletes, a cornerback and obviously the
best pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
In the world to speed up Burrow. So when you
don't have separation on.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Those route skiets man coverage and you have Burrow needed
to get the ball quickly, that can lead to Obviously
a disastrous performance.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
That we saw.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
It shouldn't be that bad, but I'm not surprised that
as the game went on, they kind of slowed down
a little bit just because you know, the guys for
the Browns came to play, and that's just something that
you have to respect. So I think because that was
the main issue, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Too concerned about.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
My biggest concern is still I think the consistency of
the run game and the lack of creativity really.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
On a lot of the short yarded situations.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I still have a lot of confidence to Chase Brown,
but I think you still need to see not only
this offensive line get generate more movement up from but
you also need to see a little bit more creativity
in terms of the play calling and making sure that
you're giving your guys opportunities to convert those shortyard situations.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I'm curious. We talked about this to start the show today, John.
The Chase Brown dynamic, and if you go by next
gen stats was it was unbelievable. He was able to
get plus forty three yards on the ground. Based on
what that looked like behind the line of scrimmage, I
thought he worked magic. But I'm in this a little
bit of a dilemma because here you pay Jamar Chase
(07:00):
and you pay t Higgins, and you've paid Joe Burrow
and you got all these weapons, and then you advance
the offensive line in a way that you try to
prioritize protecting Joe Burrow more. While at the same time,
if you look across the old line, there's not a
great history of dominant run blockers that the Bengals have assembled.
Yet it feels like they want to be a running team.
They want to be able to create that physical dynamic.
(07:24):
Does that mesh does the personnel mesh with wanting to
be inside the tackle running team with Chase Brown?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I don't necessarily think so that. I think that's.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Why it's more reliant on, you know, the personnel groupings
that they have out there, and then giving the defense
a little bit of a taste of like they like
to go into pistol, right, because they don't they recognize
that Burrow is not the greatest one he's under center
when he.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Has to drop back there.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
And they ran to that issue in twenty twenty two
where they were always running under center all the time, right,
they had to adjust and become a shotgun running offense,
which fit their offensive line little bit better. Now now
it's kind of your marrying putting him in the pistol
to still create those type of run Constimpson schemes where
you have Burrow knowledge the center, but he's not in
the shotgun right, So I think personnel wise, you're still
(08:08):
kind of building out an offensive line that's really prioritizing
in pass protection, but you still need to see a
jump from a Marius Minims and generating movement. Dald Reisner
now as your starter, and that's never really been his forte.
Ted Carris at his age is definitely more of a
pass protector than a run blocker, So that entire side
of the offensive line it's not always going to be
a road grading unit necessarily, but like he said, like
(08:29):
they still want to have.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
That be part of their offense.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
So it's just about creating success in the pass game
to lighten some of those boxes, give them more opportunities
to get some easy yards to chase Brown and then
hopefully at that point the game is firmly in the
Bengals hands in part of the game, and then you
can run the ball a little bit easier out of
some of those looks. But it's definitely not a unit
where you can just line up and run the ball,
you know, pretty straight times and expect success because they
(08:52):
just don't have the guys a front to do that.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
That was my follow up because I looked at times
and it felt like Joe Burrow just didn't have much
rhythm in the game, and I think getting the plays
in quicker would help that. I also think finding him
those completions early in the game can help that. Do
you think it can work in that sense to not
just run to set up the pass? Can this team
(09:13):
find more success passing to set up the run in
your opinion?
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Yeah, I think that's exactly what their mission should be
because at the end of the day, that's just their identity.
And I think still early in the season, right like,
it doesn't really matter at this point how much.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Burrow plays in the preseason.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
You're obviously not going to have him play in all
three of these games, and you don't want him playing a.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Lot in those other two.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
It's just he's still just the quarterback that needs the
rhythm and needs to get into the flow of these
games in order for him to look like the best
version of himself. I was watching Bill's Ravens the other
day and how Lamar Jackson Josh Allenson, they can just roll.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Out of bed because they're physically so gifted.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
They could do whatever they want in the football field,
and defenses have to respect that.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
They're terrified of that, especially because defenses aren't in their
full form of week one.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
It's just not the same with the Bengals when he
has Burrow who relies so much on his timing, his anticipation,
and to see the whole offense just being in a
cohesive machine. It's just not going to be there in
Week one, And unfortunately they just ran into a defense
that was really good and keenan on what.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
They like to do best. So I still think that, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Like you saw early in this game where they had
a lot more twelve personnel, no Ah Fan was more
involved than you you were expecting.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
So I think you're kind of hit the nail on
the head.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
They're trying to get him more in rhythm and try
to see where the rest of the game goes. But
unfortunately it just wasn't sustainable for the rest of the game.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Were you surprised at all?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
With as much we talked about it in the offseason,
We talked about T Higgins and T openly talked about
moving around more and slot and being in motion. Jamars
talked about that it didn't feel like to me that
we saw a bunch of pre snap movement, that we
saw a bunch of different formations. Is that something you
just don't really get into week one? Maybe you try
to hold on to what are your thoughts on how
(10:46):
they utilized formations and motions to help these wideouts.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
That was honestly one of my biggest disappointments because I
remember in Week one last year, and obviously that was
a different scenario when Chase was still coming back after
holding in. But you saw a jump in pre snap
move in Week two against the Chiefs, and the offense
obviously looked a lot better. And that's just that she
could around the league like play action preseat movements.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Its just it puts the defense in a.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Bind right before the snap and allows you a lot
more flexibility. And it's still something that the Bengals just
for whatever reason, they just don't start the season like that,
but then they kind of go into it as the
season goes on, and like eventually it will become a
more frequent part of the offense. But whatever this plan
was against the Browns, I think they just really prioritize
is not letting Miles Garrett blow up the game, and
he really almost did because he just can't contain that
(11:31):
guy for four quarters.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
How go ahead? Awesome.
Speaker 6 (11:33):
I was gonna say, just looking ahead to Jacksonville from
what you saw from them in week number one, how
do they match up with the Bengals? Who should fans
be keeping an eye out on the Jacksonville side That
could cause issues for the Bengals on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, this run defense for the Bengals I think is
going to be put to the test again.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Like I think they're feeling really.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Good about you know how they kind of slow down
the Browns run game. But Traves YTN were obviously ran
wild against the Carolina Panthers, and I think the interior
offensive line for the jackson is probably the strength of
that unit. Ezra Cleveland's still a real good athlete left guard.
You know, the Bengals are pretty familiar with the right guard,
Patrick McCarry. Robert Hainsey's a pretty solid center as well.
But Etn, if you just give him a crease, he's
(12:12):
gonna just burst through the hole. Like like you know,
Bengals fans want Chase Brown to do and he's dangerous
in that regard, So it's up to you know, the
Bengals linebackers once again being light on their feet, taking
good angles, and the emphasis on tackling again, like because
I think if they can have a situation where they
don't have to have Trevor Lawrence drop back forty fifty
times in this game, that's a pretty good recipe for
(12:32):
success for Jacksonville. But also Brian Thomas Junior, I think
he's gonna see a lot of Kam Tayler Britt in
this game, and then it's up to Cam Tayler Britt
again to have a nice bounce back performance because I
don't really know. It's still an unknown, Like what Travis
Hunter is right now. He was mainly in the slot
of his receiver, but now the reports are saying that
he's gonna play more on the defense, maybe because the
Bengals have two of the best receivers in the game.
So he's a He's a complete wild card to me,
(12:54):
and I think the Bengals don't really know what to
expect in that respect either, So there's gonna be more
talent in some of these other areas that they just
didn't see against Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
We talk a lot about some of the weapons in
ETN and Brian Thomas and even Travis Hunter and Trevor Lawrence,
Breton Strange. I know Trevor Lawrence likes their tight end
a lot. We don't hear a ton personnel wise or
anything about the Jaguars defense. What do you know about
them at the early point here, still obviously some days
away before the game. But what does this defense pose
(13:21):
as a challenge to the Bengals offense?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
They got good linebackers who are also very athletic, and
they can create some disruption over the middle. I think
josh heinz Allen is definitely the best pass rusher. He's
not quite Miles Garrett, but no one really is. But
he's going to see orlanda Brown junior at left tackle.
Eric Armstead is still the mammoth of a man a
defensive tackle, and that's something to watch. And treymont Walker was,
honestly Shamar Stewarts like closest comparison coming out to college.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He was a first round pick a handful of years ago.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Another really explosive, straightforward athlete that's really starting to find
himself as a pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
So this JAG's defensive line.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Is not quite Cleveland, but they're really not that far off.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So that's still something I think the Bengals have to
keep in mind.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
But it's going to have to be a little bit
more spry in the pocket. I think he talked about
just wanting to make more plays and extend, didn't get
out of the pocket and kind of get into his
comfort zone a little bit more, which he didn't really
do that much against the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So their front four is still something to be a
note of. And again, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
To see if you know, Hunter plays more at cornerback
and if he ends up going up against t against
Jamar Chase.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
If if you're looking ahead to Sunday and Zach Taylor
still trying to crack the code of Week two. He's
yet to win a Week two games since he's been
the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, what would you
tab early on as your biggest keys to Sunday's game.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Yeah, I think again like Jamar Chase needs to just
have a Jamar Chase game, I think, and I think
he's going to be pretty motivated to do that after
kind of laying layn and egg against the Browns. Jake
Brownie was obviously the quarterback the last time these two
teams played, and he absolutely cooked Tyson Campbell, who.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I think is still the number one quarnerback.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Depending on what hundreds usages is going to be, I
think a lot of it's going to be on that.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I think the Bengals offense is going.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
To kind of revert back to Holly one to be
in terms of personnel usage as compared to what they
rolled out against the Browns, but it was a lot
more heavy with the twelve personnel, So you're gonna see
more Mike a Seki. I think you're gonna see andre
Yosawats actually make a catch this time around with after
you didn't catch any balls against the Browns. So you're
gonna see more of them personnel, and I think you're
gonna try to isolate you mar Chase, maybe get him
in the slot a little bit more and really tests,
(15:19):
you know, the medal of this jack secondary because again
I think they got dogs up front, but you know,
their quarterbacks are obviously gonna be testing. Every defensive secondary
is gonna be tested against the Bengals offense.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
John Shearon aight is E Sports covering the Bengals. You
mentioned at the top of this segment, John that it
was a good weekend because the Bearcats and the Bengals won.
I have a hard time still figuring out who the
Bearcats are, and I know in today's college football takes
a little bit longer. But as a fan of the Bearcats,
who do you think they are at this point two
games into the season.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Well, they're not totally pissing me off just yet. They
did a really good.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Job in Week one against Nebraska, but yeah, like they're
just I I still feel like they're in I think
that they should have played a lot better against Bowling Green.
I still don't really know what the identity of this
defense necessarily is. It sucks about Corleone and his injury
and everything, and I just I really hate how those
careers kind of turned out for you see there. But yeah,
like I think they're still lacking in identity, and obviously
(16:16):
that kind of grows as the season goes on. But
they haven't truly pissed me off at so there's.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
At least that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How how much do you look at a game like
this weekend? Northwestern State was down fifty nine to nothing
to Minnesota at halftime. What do you even watch for
as a fan in a game that is going to
be lopsided, a team that's not going to put up
much resistance? What do you even look for in a
game like Saturday?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I didn't even know that school existed. I'll be perfectly
onto the so I think the first thing I should
do is look ay where they are on a map.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
I should probably find out who the head coach is, and.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Then we can kind of go from there.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I love any sort of just competent win at this point,
I'll take it. It wasn't quite there for me against
Bowling Green.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
A win is a win, but I just I still
need more.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
I still need to be reassured of what this team is.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I love it. I love it. John Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
What's the easiest way for listeners to follow along with
all your coverage of the Bengals all throughout this season?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
You guys know it is esports dot com, Backslash Cincinnati
on YouTube, it is The Sports Cincinnati and also follow
me on the podcast for the Orange Black Insider Bengals
podcasts wherever you get your podcasts on the Belief podcast
Network awesome.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
John, Thank you so much. We talk again next week.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Thanks fellows.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Yes, sir, there he is John Sharon, A E Sports.
A is E Sports, right. I like John.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
John's great, very knowledgeable, and he watches the tape.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
He watches the tape.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
I like guys who watch tape and know what they're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Watches the tape, discusses the tape, watches the Bearcats, discusses
the bearcats. I'm all about it. Yeah, I'm all over it.
Thank you to John Sharon. Thank you for listening. Your
time as a listener is now. Talkbacks are next. Get
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(18:03):
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Speaker 7 (18:14):
Hey, it's Mawager. Miss anything from my show or from
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Speaker 2 (18:27):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back our two thanks to Cinci Shirts. Thank you
for listening on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's get right into it. Hour
number two, Thursday afternoons, all football season long from aightes
E Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals. Our good friend John
Shearan joins us. Now, John, what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
What's up Tony? What's up? Boston? Feeling good?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Bearcats Bengals two and ow in the week. So you
always get a positive version of me when that happens.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Always a positive and it's always better, can hear the peppitist.
It's always better to be able to talk about maybe
some of the deficiencies when you're still want to know
at the end of the day, and that's something this
team has not been able to do enough of. With
that being said, let's start on the defensive side of
the ball. Let's start with that front seven, or or
that that Al Golden is able to use right now,
(01:04):
because I look at Demetrius Knight had ten tackles. I
look at Logan Wilson had seven tackles.
Speaker 5 (01:08):
John.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
That to me tells me that the front four was
doing its job and allowing those linebackers to go play
against the run as well.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
And this is why we always need to look back
at the film, because you know, on that first couple
drives for Cleveland, T J.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Slayton had some splies players.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
There was a time or two and you know, a
double team kind of got the best of it. I'm like, Okay,
maybe he needs to get his feet sail in a
little bit. But he did his job right and he
showed how much of a difference he can make to
clear up the space behind him and allow Demetrius Knight
and Logan Wilson to attack more freely. You saw Wilson
splits a ton up the middle of the day gas.
He just looked like the kind of the younger version
(01:43):
of himself. And thankfully he's totally fine with this concussion
and that's not a serious thing. But yeah, it was
nice to see a full, healthy, stable rotation of.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Guys along the defensive line.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Even Mike Panell got in with twenty two snaps right,
Chris Jenkins and BJ Hill had a pretty healthy split
of the snaps a defensive tack when he saw a
better version of Vja Hill where it looked like kind
of the early days when there was a nice rotation
of defensive tackles in the twenty twenty one team. So
it was a good sign I think for just the
guy whos being energetic coming in and out. You still
would like to see a little bit more consistency in
terms of pass rush, but hopefully that kind of can
(02:15):
kind of come along as.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
The season goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
But it was a nice good opening vision to what
you know the defensive front of its rotation is going
to look like. And I think they've been blessed with
some pretty solid coach know the offseason.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Shamar Stewart didn't flash from a box score point of view,
but he was all over the field seemingly his first
action as a rookie in the National Football League. What
was your big takeaways from watching Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He was exactly who.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I think was advertised at a training camp, where he
just looks different, he moves differently, and it's not always
going to be clean right. I think the very first
impact lay he made, he kind of had like a
decent jump off the snap, but he didn't exactly know.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Where to attack the left tackle.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Right, He was missing his landmarks a little bit and
he was trying to find and read the quarterback and
then he just got his hand up and he'd back
at the ballway. It unortunately didn't count because of a
penalty in the back end. But like that's the type of,
you know, impact plays that he can make, even if
it doesn't always look clean.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
There was another play where he crossed the face of
two Browns linemen and one of them with the tight
Endavid and Joku, but he completely messed up the point
of attack. The running back had the cutback, he tripped
over his own feet. It was like a game of zero, right.
But that that disruption that forced chaos multiplier, if you will.
Danials haven't really had that along the defensive line. So
it's definitely not going to look always clean with Stuart.
But again, he's just a ball of force and energy.
(03:28):
He tossed to side like Dewan Jones, who's sixty eight,
four hundred pounds, right, Like that's not easy to do,
but He's got just an ordn amount of strength with
his size, and that's just a valuable commodity to have,
even if again it's not always going to lead the
clean wins and sacks like you mentioned. So he was
who I hoped he would be, and I hope that
he continues to build off that.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
What do you think Al Golden learned about his defense
last week against Cleveland that he can apply to Jacksonville
this weekend.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
It's an interesting question, Like they played a lot of
cover one and cover six, so like there's a match
of you know, your single high looks of Genos Stone
cover six, where he have, you know, one side of
the tails cover four, they others.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Had to cover two. They moved around the cornerbacks a lot.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I think there's some questions about if cam Tayler Bridge
is kind of adapting to this new scheme because he
was playing on both sides of the formation and he
looked a little bit slow and indecisive, but I think
he recognized that Yeah, if he tied those blitz as well,
he's gonna blitz a lot more than the lunar remo.
It can lead to disruption if you're front fourth and
always winning up, you know, up front, because that was
kind of a problem in the beginning of the first
(04:29):
half and everything like that. But you know, I think
he has his guys playing free and they're playing fast,
and that was definitely evident. So I'm interested to see
the adjustments he makes on the back end with his coverages,
if he wants to maybe tone down on the main
coverage a little bit in case, you know, Camp taylor Bridge.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Is not fully himself just yet.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
But I thought it was a good peek into what
he wanted to do schematically, and there was definitely differences
compared to lunararuma. But it could just be a match
of the matchup type situation. Obviously, Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
This week a lot more of a mobile, mobile guy.
He wants to crate plays out of the pocket, and that.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
May require them to maybe dial down the blitz a
little bit and practice a little bit more contained.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I wonder John on the offensive side of the ball.
I don't think anyone is panicking. I think everyone assumes
this offense is going to at some point sooner rather
than later figure it out. No one's hitting the panic
button there. But were there any things that you saw
on offense that may lead to more issues for this
team going forward.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I don't know, because like the main issue I.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Think was that Burrow as the game kind of went on,
his internal clock was a little bit sped up, and
I thought you had a really good breakdown about getting
the plays in a little bit late, and that's why
he couldn't necessarily see the field clearly on some of
those plays. But ninety eight percent of the time, if
you have a defense that is wanting to play man
coverage against teagainst Jamar Chase, that is exactly what the
Bengals are salivating over, and they're counting on their guys
(05:43):
to just take advantage of that. And the Browns are
just one of the very few defenses in the NFL
that has not only the defensive coordinator to combat that,
but they have the athletes, a cornerback and obviously the
best pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
In the world to speed up Burrow. So when you
don't have separation on.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Those route skiets man coverage and you have Burrow needed
to get the ball quickly, that can lead to Obviously
a disastrous performance.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
That we saw.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
It shouldn't be that bad, but I'm not surprised that
as the game went on, they kind of slowed down
a little bit just because you know, the guys for
the Browns came to play, and that's just something that
you have to respect. So I think because that was
the main issue, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Too concerned about.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
My biggest concern is still I think the consistency of
the run game and the lack of creativity really.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
On a lot of the short yarded situations.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I still have a lot of confidence to Chase Brown,
but I think you still need to see not only
this offensive line get generate more movement up from but
you also need to see a little bit more creativity
in terms of the play calling and making sure that
you're giving your guys opportunities to convert those shortyard situations.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I'm curious. We talked about this to start the show today, John.
The Chase Brown dynamic, and if you go by next
gen stats was it was unbelievable. He was able to
get plus forty three yards on the ground. Based on
what that looked like behind the line of scrimmage, I
thought he worked magic. But I'm in this a little
bit of a dilemma because here you pay Jamar Chase
(07:00):
and you pay t Higgins, and you've paid Joe Burrow
and you got all these weapons, and then you advance
the offensive line in a way that you try to
prioritize protecting Joe Burrow more. While at the same time,
if you look across the old line, there's not a
great history of dominant run blockers that the Bengals have assembled.
Yet it feels like they want to be a running team.
They want to be able to create that physical dynamic.
(07:24):
Does that mesh does the personnel mesh with wanting to
be inside the tackle running team with Chase Brown?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I don't necessarily think so that. I think that's.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Why it's more reliant on, you know, the personnel groupings
that they have out there, and then giving the defense
a little bit of a taste of like they like
to go into pistol, right, because they don't they recognize
that Burrow is not the greatest one he's under center
when he.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Has to drop back there.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
And they ran to that issue in twenty twenty two
where they were always running under center all the time, right,
they had to adjust and become a shotgun running offense,
which fit their offensive line little bit better. Now now
it's kind of your marrying putting him in the pistol
to still create those type of run Constimpson schemes where
you have Burrow knowledge the center, but he's not in
the shotgun right, So I think personnel wise, you're still
(08:08):
kind of building out an offensive line that's really prioritizing
in pass protection, but you still need to see a
jump from a Marius Minims and generating movement. Dald Reisner
now as your starter, and that's never really been his forte.
Ted Carris at his age is definitely more of a
pass protector than a run blocker, So that entire side
of the offensive line it's not always going to be
a road grading unit necessarily, but like he said, like
(08:29):
they still want to have.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
That be part of their offense.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
So it's just about creating success in the pass game
to lighten some of those boxes, give them more opportunities
to get some easy yards to chase Brown and then
hopefully at that point the game is firmly in the
Bengals hands in part of the game, and then you
can run the ball a little bit easier out of
some of those looks. But it's definitely not a unit
where you can just line up and run the ball,
you know, pretty straight times and expect success because they
(08:52):
just don't have the guys a front to do that.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
That was my follow up because I looked at times
and it felt like Joe Burrow just didn't have much
rhythm in the game, and I think getting the plays
in quicker would help that. I also think finding him
those completions early in the game can help that. Do
you think it can work in that sense to not
just run to set up the pass? Can this team
(09:13):
find more success passing to set up the run in
your opinion?
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Yeah, I think that's exactly what their mission should be
because at the end of the day, that's just their identity.
And I think still early in the season, right like,
it doesn't really matter at this point how much.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Burrow plays in the preseason.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
You're obviously not going to have him play in all
three of these games, and you don't want him playing a.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Lot in those other two.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
It's just he's still just the quarterback that needs the
rhythm and needs to get into the flow of these
games in order for him to look like the best
version of himself. I was watching Bill's Ravens the other
day and how Lamar Jackson Josh Allenson, they can just roll.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Out of bed because they're physically so gifted.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
They could do whatever they want in the football field,
and defenses have to respect that.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
They're terrified of that, especially because defenses aren't in their
full form of week one.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
It's just not the same with the Bengals when he
has Burrow who relies so much on his timing, his anticipation,
and to see the whole offense just being in a
cohesive machine. It's just not going to be there in
Week one, And unfortunately they just ran into a defense
that was really good and keenan on what.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
They like to do best. So I still think that, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Like you saw early in this game where they had
a lot more twelve personnel, no Ah Fan was more
involved than you you were expecting.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
So I think you're kind of hit the nail on
the head.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
They're trying to get him more in rhythm and try
to see where the rest of the game goes. But
unfortunately it just wasn't sustainable for the rest of the game.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Were you surprised at all?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
With as much we talked about it in the offseason,
We talked about T Higgins and T openly talked about
moving around more and slot and being in motion. Jamars
talked about that it didn't feel like to me that
we saw a bunch of pre snap movement, that we
saw a bunch of different formations. Is that something you
just don't really get into week one? Maybe you try
to hold on to what are your thoughts on how
(10:46):
they utilized formations and motions to help these wideouts.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
That was honestly one of my biggest disappointments because I
remember in Week one last year, and obviously that was
a different scenario when Chase was still coming back after
holding in. But you saw a jump in pre snap
move in Week two against the Chiefs, and the offense
obviously looked a lot better. And that's just that she
could around the league like play action preseat movements.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Its just it puts the defense in a.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Bind right before the snap and allows you a lot
more flexibility. And it's still something that the Bengals just
for whatever reason, they just don't start the season like that,
but then they kind of go into it as the
season goes on, and like eventually it will become a
more frequent part of the offense. But whatever this plan
was against the Browns, I think they just really prioritize
is not letting Miles Garrett blow up the game, and
he really almost did because he just can't contain that
(11:31):
guy for four quarters.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
How go ahead? Awesome.
Speaker 6 (11:33):
I was gonna say, just looking ahead to Jacksonville from
what you saw from them in week number one, how
do they match up with the Bengals? Who should fans
be keeping an eye out on the Jacksonville side That
could cause issues for the Bengals on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah, this run defense for the Bengals I think is
going to be put to the test again.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Like I think they're feeling really.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Good about you know how they kind of slow down
the Browns run game. But Traves YTN were obviously ran
wild against the Carolina Panthers, and I think the interior
offensive line for the jackson is probably the strength of
that unit. Ezra Cleveland's still a real good athlete left guard.
You know, the Bengals are pretty familiar with the right guard,
Patrick McCarry. Robert Hainsey's a pretty solid center as well.
But Etn, if you just give him a crease, he's
(12:12):
gonna just burst through the hole. Like like you know,
Bengals fans want Chase Brown to do and he's dangerous
in that regard, So it's up to you know, the
Bengals linebackers once again being light on their feet, taking
good angles, and the emphasis on tackling again, like because
I think if they can have a situation where they
don't have to have Trevor Lawrence drop back forty fifty
times in this game, that's a pretty good recipe for
(12:32):
success for Jacksonville. But also Brian Thomas Junior, I think
he's gonna see a lot of Kam Tayler Britt in
this game, and then it's up to Cam Tayler Britt
again to have a nice bounce back performance because I
don't really know. It's still an unknown, Like what Travis
Hunter is right now. He was mainly in the slot
of his receiver, but now the reports are saying that
he's gonna play more on the defense, maybe because the
Bengals have two of the best receivers in the game.
So he's a He's a complete wild card to me,
(12:54):
and I think the Bengals don't really know what to
expect in that respect either, So there's gonna be more
talent in some of these other areas that they just
didn't see against Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
We talk a lot about some of the weapons in
ETN and Brian Thomas and even Travis Hunter and Trevor Lawrence,
Breton Strange. I know Trevor Lawrence likes their tight end
a lot. We don't hear a ton personnel wise or
anything about the Jaguars defense. What do you know about
them at the early point here, still obviously some days
away before the game. But what does this defense pose
(13:21):
as a challenge to the Bengals offense?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
They got good linebackers who are also very athletic, and
they can create some disruption over the middle. I think
josh heinz Allen is definitely the best pass rusher. He's
not quite Miles Garrett, but no one really is. But
he's going to see orlanda Brown junior at left tackle.
Eric Armstead is still the mammoth of a man a
defensive tackle, and that's something to watch. And treymont Walker was,
honestly Shamar Stewarts like closest comparison coming out to college.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He was a first round pick a handful of years ago.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Another really explosive, straightforward athlete that's really starting to find
himself as a pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
So this JAG's defensive line.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Is not quite Cleveland, but they're really not that far off.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So that's still something I think the Bengals have to
keep in mind.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
But it's going to have to be a little bit
more spry in the pocket. I think he talked about
just wanting to make more plays and extend, didn't get
out of the pocket and kind of get into his
comfort zone a little bit more, which he didn't really
do that much against the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
So their front four is still something to be a
note of. And again, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
To see if you know, Hunter plays more at cornerback
and if he ends up going up against t against
Jamar Chase.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
If if you're looking ahead to Sunday and Zach Taylor
still trying to crack the code of Week two. He's
yet to win a Week two games since he's been
the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, what would you
tab early on as your biggest keys to Sunday's game.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Yeah, I think again like Jamar Chase needs to just
have a Jamar Chase game, I think, and I think
he's going to be pretty motivated to do that after
kind of laying layn and egg against the Browns. Jake
Brownie was obviously the quarterback the last time these two
teams played, and he absolutely cooked Tyson Campbell, who.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I think is still the number one quarnerback.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Depending on what hundreds usages is going to be, I
think a lot of it's going to be on that.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I think the Bengals offense is going.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
To kind of revert back to Holly one to be
in terms of personnel usage as compared to what they
rolled out against the Browns, but it was a lot
more heavy with the twelve personnel, So you're gonna see
more Mike a Seki. I think you're gonna see andre
Yosawats actually make a catch this time around with after
you didn't catch any balls against the Browns. So you're
gonna see more of them personnel, and I think you're
gonna try to isolate you mar Chase, maybe get him
in the slot a little bit more and really tests,
(15:19):
you know, the medal of this jack secondary because again
I think they got dogs up front, but you know,
their quarterbacks are obviously gonna be testing. Every defensive secondary
is gonna be tested against the Bengals offense.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
John Shearon aight is E Sports covering the Bengals. You
mentioned at the top of this segment, John that it
was a good weekend because the Bearcats and the Bengals won.
I have a hard time still figuring out who the
Bearcats are, and I know in today's college football takes
a little bit longer. But as a fan of the Bearcats,
who do you think they are at this point two
games into the season.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Well, they're not totally pissing me off just yet. They
did a really good.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Job in Week one against Nebraska, but yeah, like they're
just I I still feel like they're in I think
that they should have played a lot better against Bowling Green.
I still don't really know what the identity of this
defense necessarily is. It sucks about Corleone and his injury
and everything, and I just I really hate how those
careers kind of turned out for you see there. But yeah,
like I think they're still lacking in identity, and obviously
(16:16):
that kind of grows as the season goes on. But
they haven't truly pissed me off at so there's.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
At least that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How how much do you look at a game like
this weekend? Northwestern State was down fifty nine to nothing
to Minnesota at halftime. What do you even watch for
as a fan in a game that is going to
be lopsided, a team that's not going to put up
much resistance? What do you even look for in a
game like Saturday?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I didn't even know that school existed. I'll be perfectly
onto the so I think the first thing I should
do is look ay where they are on a map.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
I should probably find out who the head coach is, and.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Then we can kind of go from there.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I love any sort of just competent win at this point,
I'll take it. It wasn't quite there for me against
Bowling Green.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
A win is a win, but I just I still
need more.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
I still need to be reassured of what this team is.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
I love it. I love it. John Uh.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
What's the easiest way for listeners to follow along with
all your coverage of the Bengals all throughout this season?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
You guys know it is esports dot com, Backslash Cincinnati
on YouTube, it is The Sports Cincinnati and also follow
me on the podcast for the Orange Black Insider Bengals
podcasts wherever you get your podcasts on the Belief podcast
Network awesome.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
John, Thank you so much. We talk again next week.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Thanks fellows.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Yes, sir, there he is John Sharon, A E Sports.
A is E Sports, right. I like John.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
John's great, very knowledgeable, and he watches the tape.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
He watches the tape.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
I like guys who watch tape and know what they're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Watches the tape, discusses the tape, watches the Bearcats, discusses
the bearcats. I'm all about it. Yeah, I'm all over it.
Thank you to John Sharon. Thank you for listening. Your
time as a listener is now. Talkbacks are next. Get
on the iHeartRadio apps. Still leave a talkback. We'll get
to those when we return, and then we'll give away
(18:03):
a talkback gift card tomorrow with the best talkback of
the week. Thanks to our friends at SINCY Shirts. This
all happens next on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN
fifteen to thirty, Cincinnati Sports station.
Speaker 7 (18:14):
Hey, it's Mawager. Miss anything from my show or from
SINCY three to sixty. The good news is you can
get caught up by listening to what you missed on
the iHeartRadio app or on the podcast page of ESPN
fifteen to thirty dot com.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
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