November 25, 2025 • 8 mins
Shawn Syed's Stats and Scheme Newsletter is terrific. He joined us to discuss the Bengals. And the Ravens too, since they play the Bengals.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Newsletter. Bengals beat the or lost to the Patriots, but
the defense was.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Better on Sunday. Was it better schemes, better schematics by
Al Golden or the Bengals just winning matchups?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Oh, it was really kind of fun to watch. I
wouldn't say it was necessarily schematic. I thought it was
a little bit more at the player level where on
our AI grade, DJ Turner had a grade out as
an eight, which is seen as like a player of
the week type performance. You also get that really nice
pick six from Geno Stone. You get some stunting success
on the inside, which I did like that, you know,
test the offensive line in a different way, a bunch
(00:33):
of goal line stands and kind of getting in the
face of wide receivers. So, actually, now I think about
it was a little bit schematic, but definitely at that
player level where now we're getting okay, good games from
Murphy Hill and Osi like those are things that you
can actually build on, where I do think some of
the issues for the Patriots came down to something as
simple as Drake made just just spray in a few
of those throws. It was it was a little fun,
(00:54):
if I may say so myself, to watch that game back.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It was it was, it was, It was an entertaining game,
it didn't have the right result. When teams play good
goal line defense, is that ever schematic or is it
just line up and beat the dude in.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Front of you?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Still I would say for really high level goal line offenses,
it can very much be schematic. I think when you
see four runs right into the middle, back to back
to back to back, I would lean that to be
a little bit more at the player level. And I
don't think there's anything wrong with that. As much as
I talk about skins and stuff, I still think this
is a player makes plays type of league. So I
(01:27):
do think that was just like a really nice job
on the inside at the individual level. How many times
have we talked this year, and you even look at
it in this game, where are you missing a tackle?
Are you able to destroy a block? And I think
the Bengals did that on the goal line against the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
The one thing they did not do well, and it's
been a deficiency all year. I think it stood out
on Sunday because they actually did do a lot of
things well is they had no defense in the middle
of the field. Hunter Henry Austin Hooper combined ten catches.
Hunter Henry had one hundred and fifteen yards. They combined
for over one fifty five Is there is there anything
(02:02):
you can do when you are playing two rookie linebackers
and you have the deficiencies the Bengals have in safety?
Is there anything that Al Golden can do to at
least somewhat shore up their defense in the middle of
the field.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I mean, you can try and find ways maybe just
make their life a little easier. Whether half the time
you're sending one linebacker and you're able to simplify the
job of the other linebacker. Because I agree with you,
and I'm watching that back and like any time the
Patriots needed to find a way to create some explosion,
it's like, let's get the linebackers going in the wrong direction,
We're going to be able to take advantage of them.
So I will say linebacker in the NFL is an
(02:36):
extremely hard job. When you look at the top, there
aren't like fifteen dominant dominant players. Maybe the same way
you think about wide receiver, but it's yeah, sometimes blow
the top and again through some of the film when
you're looking at emotion, just like totally kind of unfolding
part of the defense.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, it really stood out on Sunday. I'm not sure
that's going to get any better given the fact that
they're going to play a team with a couple of
really good tight ends in in the Baltimore Ravens. So
Joe Burrow is going to play, and you and I
have talked about this a bunch. I don't expect Joe
Burrow to suddenly start taking a bunch of snaps under center.
But like, given given what they have been able to
(03:12):
touch on offensively without Joe, given Joe's extensive skill set
and all his experience, what can we expect schematically for
Zach Taylor and Dan Pitcher to come up with against Baltimore?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I mean, can I get some isolation shots from my guy,
Mitchell Tinsley. You have a lot of fun to watch
against the Patriots, so much fun. He was a lot
of fun.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Bo.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I'm looking for anything that can make this stuff more
fun when I'm watching it. I do think, obviously with
a Key Higgins in this game, that is a little
bit of a bummer, And I guess like underneath it all,
I feel like, yes, Joe Burrow is probably not going
to just become like a forty under center type quarterback.
But maybe we should have a little bit of that
expectation where you need to find different ways to make
(03:56):
life easier on your offensive line. You need to find
different ways to really defenses in a conflict. And I mean,
I thought Chase Brown had a really good game against
the Patriots. You're able to see that burst. I think
he can run from gun and on our center. But
if we're getting into under center looks, we're getting that
play action look we can have guys running across the
middle of the field. I do want to see that
for the Bengals because the rest of this year to me,
(04:17):
and I like that Burroughs playing because it's like he's
he's paid. And I think that if you take a
full year off of football, that is really tough. Now,
don't play this back if he gets injured at any
point over the next games here. But I do think
keep finding ways to shape that offense and more for
a little bit. And I totally get Burrow is a special,
like one of one type shotgun player, like he really
(04:39):
really is. But in the NFL now the way things
are going, you're not always able to just sit back there.
You don't want to drop back forty five times from
a regular shotgun the way that your offensive line kind
of has played overall. So let's expect a little bit
under center and hopefully be able to talk about it
more next week.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I hope, So it'll be interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Sean saide as with a subscribe to his newsletter These
Stats and Skin Newsletter at suomer sports dot com. The
Baltimore Ravens in the first four or five games of
the season were nearly as bad as the Bengals are defensively.
Since then, they've been terrific. Six consecutive opponents, they've given
up twenty points or fewer. The obvious answer I think
is they've gotten healthier. But beyond that, what's been the
(05:20):
difference you've seen on tape between Baltimore in the first
half of their game so far and what they've done
over the last month and a half.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Big difference has been putting Kyle Hamilton in the slot.
You get him a little bit closer to the line,
you get him to play physical against the run, really
as like a line after a type of body. But also,
I don't want to take anything away from the wins,
but you played the Jets, the Browns, the Vikings, and
the Dolphins, not exactly the greatest stretch of offenses in
the NFL. So, Kyle Hamilton, I think he exited the
(05:48):
game maybe twice against the Jets for being banged up.
I think he ends up being healthy, and I'm assuming
that he's gonna play, but maybe you take it to
him a little bit, you know, at that physical level
where I mean, he's an awesome run defender. So I'm
not saying that you're gonna get positives all the time,
but you know, let's see, are you going to be
able to as a safety type body play in the
box for you know, thirty forty stats a game.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You point out that if you look at the Bengals
Jets game, Derrick Henry just a nineteen percent rushing success
rate right the first game of the season, and granted
he had a big fumble in that game, but they
lose to Buffalo. Derreck Henry was awesome in that game.
I feel like when I've watched him since, that hasn't
so much been the case. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson hasn't been himself.
(06:28):
Not sure he's totally healthy. What's missing from the Ravens
offense this year.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, I think those two things are tied together quite well,
because I don't think Lamar Jackson is one hundred percent healthy.
I don't think he's able to like be a conciston. Hey,
we're going to lean on you for fifteen carries every
single game, and if you're not able to do that,
sometimes it ends up closing some of the lanes for
Derrick Henry. So I it's been interesting to see this
offense definitely take a little bit of a step back
(06:54):
and it feels like on the outside, yes, Zy Flowers
have had a good year, but I'm just not sure
that this receiving group like really strikes a ton of
fear in your heart. So if you're able to win
over you know, the left guard, the right guard, where
I think you can take advantage of this offense and
you're able to tackle Henry, you know, just at our
near the live of Scream, which I think is going
to be a real test for the Bengals linebackers. But yeah,
(07:15):
I think even at a team that is probably I
guess gonna win the AFC North because we have to
give the AFC North Championship to someone this season, they're not. Really,
they're not. I think making me shake in my boots.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, you know, that's that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Man. You know, if you're Baltimore, you go, Okay, put
the Bengals away. They should be able to beat Pittsburgh twice.
I don't think the Steelers are very good. We'll see,
Sean Sayaed Statson Scheme newsletter shows up in your inbox
every Monday and Thursday.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
What will folks see when they subscribe?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
You get advanced game previews and game reviews for every
single game across the entire season. Really specific type stuff,
whether it's hey, how is this team doing against the bliz?
How is this quarterback doing under pressure? You get the
best storylines from across the NFL.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
All right, that's our guy, Sean Saya the Stats and
Scheme newsletter. You can learn more.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Subscribe for yourself at Summer sports dot com. We want
to thank the staff here at Oakley Greens for having us.
We're back here next Tuesday. We hope you join us.
You can come on out here get the QR code.
When the Ultimate Fan Cave giveaway from Sim's Furniture tomorrow,
Chad Brendel fills in. You'll hear an hour of the
Best of The Moegger Show on Thursday, Thanksgiving, and then
(08:23):
I've got pregame sports talk, so that's gonna be a
lot of fun. We are done shows, how we got
to go. Thanks to Drew West Heidi for producing on site,
Thanks to you for listening, and thanks to our guy
Arren Bland for producing back in Kenward. Have a great
Thanksgiving weekend. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station
Newsletter. Bengals beat the or lost to the Patriots, but
the defense was.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Better on Sunday. Was it better schemes, better schematics by
Al Golden or the Bengals just winning matchups?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Oh, it was really kind of fun to watch. I
wouldn't say it was necessarily schematic. I thought it was
a little bit more at the player level where on
our AI grade, DJ Turner had a grade out as
an eight, which is seen as like a player of
the week type performance. You also get that really nice
pick six from Geno Stone. You get some stunting success
on the inside, which I did like that, you know,
test the offensive line in a different way, a bunch
(00:33):
of goal line stands and kind of getting in the
face of wide receivers. So, actually, now I think about
it was a little bit schematic, but definitely at that
player level where now we're getting okay, good games from
Murphy Hill and Osi like those are things that you
can actually build on, where I do think some of
the issues for the Patriots came down to something as
simple as Drake made just just spray in a few
of those throws. It was it was a little fun,
(00:54):
if I may say so myself, to watch that game back.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
It was it was, it was, It was an entertaining game,
it didn't have the right result. When teams play good
goal line defense, is that ever schematic or is it
just line up and beat the dude in.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Front of you?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Still I would say for really high level goal line offenses,
it can very much be schematic. I think when you
see four runs right into the middle, back to back
to back to back, I would lean that to be
a little bit more at the player level. And I
don't think there's anything wrong with that. As much as
I talk about skins and stuff, I still think this
is a player makes plays type of league. So I
(01:27):
do think that was just like a really nice job
on the inside at the individual level. How many times
have we talked this year, and you even look at
it in this game, where are you missing a tackle?
Are you able to destroy a block? And I think
the Bengals did that on the goal line against the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
The one thing they did not do well, and it's
been a deficiency all year. I think it stood out
on Sunday because they actually did do a lot of
things well is they had no defense in the middle
of the field. Hunter Henry Austin Hooper combined ten catches.
Hunter Henry had one hundred and fifteen yards. They combined
for over one fifty five Is there is there anything
(02:02):
you can do when you are playing two rookie linebackers
and you have the deficiencies the Bengals have in safety?
Is there anything that Al Golden can do to at
least somewhat shore up their defense in the middle of
the field.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I mean, you can try and find ways maybe just
make their life a little easier. Whether half the time
you're sending one linebacker and you're able to simplify the
job of the other linebacker. Because I agree with you,
and I'm watching that back and like any time the
Patriots needed to find a way to create some explosion,
it's like, let's get the linebackers going in the wrong direction,
We're going to be able to take advantage of them.
So I will say linebacker in the NFL is an
(02:36):
extremely hard job. When you look at the top, there
aren't like fifteen dominant dominant players. Maybe the same way
you think about wide receiver, but it's yeah, sometimes blow
the top and again through some of the film when
you're looking at emotion, just like totally kind of unfolding
part of the defense.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, it really stood out on Sunday. I'm not sure
that's going to get any better given the fact that
they're going to play a team with a couple of
really good tight ends in in the Baltimore Ravens. So
Joe Burrow is going to play, and you and I
have talked about this a bunch. I don't expect Joe
Burrow to suddenly start taking a bunch of snaps under center.
But like, given given what they have been able to
(03:12):
touch on offensively without Joe, given Joe's extensive skill set
and all his experience, what can we expect schematically for
Zach Taylor and Dan Pitcher to come up with against Baltimore?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I mean, can I get some isolation shots from my guy,
Mitchell Tinsley. You have a lot of fun to watch
against the Patriots, so much fun. He was a lot
of fun.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Bo.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I'm looking for anything that can make this stuff more
fun when I'm watching it. I do think, obviously with
a Key Higgins in this game, that is a little
bit of a bummer, And I guess like underneath it all,
I feel like, yes, Joe Burrow is probably not going
to just become like a forty under center type quarterback.
But maybe we should have a little bit of that
expectation where you need to find different ways to make
(03:56):
life easier on your offensive line. You need to find
different ways to really defenses in a conflict. And I mean,
I thought Chase Brown had a really good game against
the Patriots. You're able to see that burst. I think
he can run from gun and on our center. But
if we're getting into under center looks, we're getting that
play action look we can have guys running across the
middle of the field. I do want to see that
for the Bengals because the rest of this year to me,
(04:17):
and I like that Burroughs playing because it's like he's
he's paid. And I think that if you take a
full year off of football, that is really tough. Now,
don't play this back if he gets injured at any
point over the next games here. But I do think
keep finding ways to shape that offense and more for
a little bit. And I totally get Burrow is a special,
like one of one type shotgun player, like he really
(04:39):
really is. But in the NFL now the way things
are going, you're not always able to just sit back there.
You don't want to drop back forty five times from
a regular shotgun the way that your offensive line kind
of has played overall. So let's expect a little bit
under center and hopefully be able to talk about it
more next week.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I hope, So it'll be interesting.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Sean saide as with a subscribe to his newsletter These
Stats and Skin Newsletter at suomer sports dot com. The
Baltimore Ravens in the first four or five games of
the season were nearly as bad as the Bengals are defensively.
Since then, they've been terrific. Six consecutive opponents, they've given
up twenty points or fewer. The obvious answer I think
is they've gotten healthier. But beyond that, what's been the
(05:20):
difference you've seen on tape between Baltimore in the first
half of their game so far and what they've done
over the last month and a half.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Big difference has been putting Kyle Hamilton in the slot.
You get him a little bit closer to the line,
you get him to play physical against the run, really
as like a line after a type of body. But also,
I don't want to take anything away from the wins,
but you played the Jets, the Browns, the Vikings, and
the Dolphins, not exactly the greatest stretch of offenses in
the NFL. So, Kyle Hamilton, I think he exited the
(05:48):
game maybe twice against the Jets for being banged up.
I think he ends up being healthy, and I'm assuming
that he's gonna play, but maybe you take it to
him a little bit, you know, at that physical level
where I mean, he's an awesome run defender. So I'm
not saying that you're gonna get positives all the time,
but you know, let's see, are you going to be
able to as a safety type body play in the
box for you know, thirty forty stats a game.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You point out that if you look at the Bengals
Jets game, Derrick Henry just a nineteen percent rushing success
rate right the first game of the season, and granted
he had a big fumble in that game, but they
lose to Buffalo. Derreck Henry was awesome in that game.
I feel like when I've watched him since, that hasn't
so much been the case. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson hasn't been himself.
(06:28):
Not sure he's totally healthy. What's missing from the Ravens
offense this year.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, I think those two things are tied together quite well,
because I don't think Lamar Jackson is one hundred percent healthy.
I don't think he's able to like be a conciston. Hey,
we're going to lean on you for fifteen carries every
single game, and if you're not able to do that,
sometimes it ends up closing some of the lanes for
Derrick Henry. So I it's been interesting to see this
offense definitely take a little bit of a step back
(06:54):
and it feels like on the outside, yes, Zy Flowers
have had a good year, but I'm just not sure
that this receiving group like really strikes a ton of
fear in your heart. So if you're able to win
over you know, the left guard, the right guard, where
I think you can take advantage of this offense and
you're able to tackle Henry, you know, just at our
near the live of Scream, which I think is going
to be a real test for the Bengals linebackers. But yeah,
(07:15):
I think even at a team that is probably I
guess gonna win the AFC North because we have to
give the AFC North Championship to someone this season, they're not. Really,
they're not. I think making me shake in my boots.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah, you know, that's that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Man. You know, if you're Baltimore, you go, Okay, put
the Bengals away. They should be able to beat Pittsburgh twice.
I don't think the Steelers are very good. We'll see,
Sean Sayaed Statson Scheme newsletter shows up in your inbox
every Monday and Thursday.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
What will folks see when they subscribe?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
You get advanced game previews and game reviews for every
single game across the entire season. Really specific type stuff,
whether it's hey, how is this team doing against the bliz?
How is this quarterback doing under pressure? You get the
best storylines from across the NFL.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
All right, that's our guy, Sean Saya the Stats and
Scheme newsletter. You can learn more.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Subscribe for yourself at Summer sports dot com. We want
to thank the staff here at Oakley Greens for having us.
We're back here next Tuesday. We hope you join us.
You can come on out here get the QR code.
When the Ultimate Fan Cave giveaway from Sim's Furniture tomorrow,
Chad Brendel fills in. You'll hear an hour of the
Best of The Moegger Show on Thursday, Thanksgiving, and then
(08:23):
I've got pregame sports talk, so that's gonna be a
lot of fun. We are done shows, how we got
to go. Thanks to Drew West Heidi for producing on site,
Thanks to you for listening, and thanks to our guy
Arren Bland for producing back in Kenward. Have a great
Thanksgiving weekend. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station
Mo Egger News
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