Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Moeger this football season. No matter who you
root for, no matter if it's college or pro, you
can catch every game at Longneck Sports Grill. They've got
four KTVs all over the place. And remember the sound
is on for every big game. And if you haven't
tried Long Next Wings, what are you waiting for? There's
tons of other great stuff on the menu, and no
(00:20):
place in Northern Kentucky has a better beer selection. Locations
in Wilder, Richwood, and Hebron Long Neck Sports Grill stay
long come often that tripman. I didn't get a chance
to talk to Robert Weintraub, but we get to talked
to him today. His latest Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine
is up. Go read it now at Cincinnati Magazine dot com.
(00:43):
I've missed you. What's going on? You know?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
When people ask me where I'm from and I say
the Lampta, nobody really understands what that is. So I
suppose it's not so bad to be from the Natty
and say that to this despicable Ravens fans. What do
they know anyway?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Well, they know they're team one. Uh can't talk about
that game without talking about the decision to go for
two at the end. I'm team two point conversion in
that instance, I know you are to roll through it.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
For me, Yeah, it's a no brainer. I'm also the
opinion that even if they had made it and taken
the lead, there was still enough time for Lamar to
get down the field and Baltimore to kick the winning
field goal. So in some ways, it's not even a discussion.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, it's it's a no.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Brainer to go for it.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
There.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You're on the road, your defense's gas. They can't stop Baltimore,
they can't stop anybody, your best players. Joe Burrow put
the ball in his hands and rolled the dice from there,
And you know, two point conversions have kind of gone
downhill the successor ratio, not just this year but overall.
Really it's in par with the way red zone success
(01:48):
has gone downhill. It's sort of a decade long trend,
and you know, teams are defending it better. It's a
high leverage situation. It's a high leverage play that you
know only happens and key usually in key them into
the game in the fourth quarter when either making a
comeback or the game is on the line, so they're
you know, they're not that easy, and teams don't have
a lot of go to plays for that situation. You'd
(02:09):
like to see the Bengals sort of develop at least
a couple more plays that are just specific for two
pointers that they can really rely on, and you know,
they don't seem to have them, but neither do a
lot of teams around the league and get teams that
are successful more often than that, like we saw on Thursday,
or teams with a player like Lamar Jackson. You can
just sort of take anything, even if it turns into
chicken droppings, and make chicken salad out of it. So
(02:31):
usually Joe Burrow is good at that, but he tends
to need a little bit more field to really unleash
his superpower looking downfield and making plays out of the pocket,
not necessarily running and.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Be in for two points. Now, it's interesting so that
the two point conversion came came into place in the
NFL in nineteen ninety four was actually scored against the
Bengals Tom tupa right. So for about twenty to twenty
five years, IFLT like kind of a fifty to fifty
play I read going into Week nine this year, the
conversion success rate was thirty one percent. That is a
steep drop off.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, and that's what we're saying, and it's it sort
of mirrors the way that overall red zone success has
gone downhill, and you know, defensive coordinators, from their perspective,
that's a must play to stop, and it's it's kind
of like a three pointer in basketball. You know, the
opposition can make it a much more regular part of
their offense. They're going to go for it more often,
(03:22):
and we're going to see a lot more sixteen to
eight scores rather than fourteen to seven scores early on.
So it's you know, in the best interests of the
defense to really practice heavily to stop it. The sort
of as we mentioned before, the amount of space available
for the offense to run its regular playbook is very limited,
so the advantage there for the defense.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I think it.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Started out as closer to a fifty to fifty proposition,
like you said, because defenses weren't necessarily prepared for it,
and the advantage was with the newcomers for a while.
And we're seeing that level out. You know, you expect
it to go back up. As these things do, they
sort of tend to wax and Wayne as different ideas
and different coaches with different schemes com into being. But
(04:03):
for right now, it's a tough play to make and
tough play to convert. And you know, given the fact
that everything is so tilted toward the offense in general,
maybe not such a bad thing overall.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
You are are one of the smartest people I know,
So maybe you can give me a smart, smart explanation
as to why they take Mike off the field as
Mike Hilton off the field as much as they do.
I can't even talk. That's how dumb I am. So
how why do they take Mike Hilton off the field
as much as they do?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And Mike's a smart guy too, it's forget that. Yeah, well,
I mean take him off the field. I think we're
talking about third downs me right, Yes, take him off
the field. And that's you know, that's sort of a
slot corner's lot in life, depending on the situation that
down in distance.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Especially.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
In Mike's case. You know, he's five nine, as a
lot of slot corners are. He's not the biggest fellow.
He's a matchup disadvantage when the other team goes to
multiple tight ends, let's say, or can't necessarily run with
certain wide receivers that are put on the field. I
think it's got a lot of publicity, and it's a
talking point in Cincinnati right now because there's so few
(05:07):
players playing well on defense. My Cap has been one
of them, and he's a vet you's sort of living
up to for the most part, his reputation, unlike many
other players on the Bengals defense. So you want him
on the field basically every play. But I think from
lu An Rumo's standpoint, it's less that and more you know, hey,
we're going to you know, get the tight end boxing
him out for an easy third down conversion. Let's see
(05:29):
if we can do and put somebody a little bit
bigger on the field maybe to try and match up.
But clearly that hasn't worked either. So I mean, at
this point, I think they're just throwing anything out there
that may work, and we may see Hilton's third down
snaps maybe tick up as a result. Just you know,
play base and go with what your best players and
you know, hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
It feels like on a weekly basis, we talk about
a different roster deficiency that we didn't talk so much
about the week before, which tells me the off season
to do list is going to be long, longer than
it's been in quite a while. With the way things
stand right now, with obviously still a big chunk of
the season in front of them. What's at the top
of that list.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
For you, Well, it depends on are you talking on
field or are we talking off field. Let's go on field,
all right, Let's stick with you because we both know
that the GM and the head coach are not going anywhere.
We may see a you know, a coordinator toss to
the Alligators, but that's a whole nother story. I still
think it's it's pass rush past rush is sort of
the you know er issue with the Bengals this season
(06:32):
and really in previous seasons as well. You know, we've
said it many times. You and I have talked about it.
It's Trey Hendrickson or nothing with the squad, and it's
just not sustainable. You look at a team like the
opponent on Sunday Night, the Chargers. They're getting it from
not only their big name guys Joey Bosa Khuil Mack,
but from you know, guys who are lesser known and
(06:54):
younger players like too. There's Samoan, you know, pass rush
linebacker whose name I always mangle, so I won't even try.
But the point is they're getting a lot of pass
rush from a lot of sources, and that's why they've
been really successful this season. You know, they're they're excellent
against the pass, and a lot of that is because
of their pass rush, not necessarily their coverage. And the
(07:16):
Bengals are really having an issue there. Every quarterback who
comes in has just all day to survey the field,
and you know, it's something that every team wants, obviously,
and the Bengals have certainly addressed it at least, you know,
in theory, they just haven't gotten any kind of performance
out of you know, Sheldon Rankins and their free agent
acquisitions or Joseph Osid, Miles Murphy, their their higher draft
(07:40):
picks that they've looked to address this pass rush efficiency.
So you know, you're just gonna have to keep trying.
It looks like to me until you get a couple
of guys who can be relied upon. You get to
the quarterback with some regularity that can balance it beyond
just having Trey Hendrickson be your only answer at that pinside.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, no question about that good stuff. I'm glad I
got a chance to talk to you this week. I'd
missed you. Well, you know what, I'm not here next
Thursday either.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Wow, Oh my goodness. Mode.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
But you know, stranger, I'm gonna be in Atlanta next weekend,
so just keep that in mind.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I'm here and ready for you. Was always in the
Atlanta Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
I'm coming to the Atlanta Bearcats v. Georgia Tech. So
I'll figure out a way to get a hold of you.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Let's do it and we'll talk about past rushing efficiencies
while we're watching basketball.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Hey, it's Moeger. Whether it's pro football or college football.
And no matter who you root for, there's no better
place to post up for the game than Long Neck
Sports Grill. Three locations in Northern Kentucky, Wilder, Hebron and
rich Wood. Each Long Necks has four k TVs all
over the place and the sound is on for all
the big games. They've got an extensive menu. You've got
to try Long Next Wings, and no place in Northern
(08:50):
Kentucky or anywhere has a better beer selection this football season.
Long Neck Sports Grill stay long, come often