December 30, 2025 • 25 mins
Tony and Austin talk Bengals with Joe Danneman from FOX19 on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Is Tony Pike sincey three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in Park by Cincy Shirts, Cincy Shirts all sincey
all day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All right now re number two.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thanks to our friends a't Cincy's shirts and thank you
for listening. On ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, Tuesday
hour two. We dive right in with our guy from
Fox nineteen. They're covered to the Bengals and really all
sports is immaculate and he joins us right now. Joe Daniman, Hi, Joe.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Tody Austin, Happy New Year. You got ready to turn
up tomorrow night?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh Man, turn up, turnout, you name it. I'm doing it.
You got any big New Year's players?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I plan on doing tomorrow night on New Year's evens
watching football. That's what get be Oh.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Yeah, you fired up for the Buckeyes, Joe, Is that
what it is?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I'm looking forward to that game. You know. It's been
interesting to last what seven to ten days, ever since
Miami beat Texas A and m where there's this idea
that Miami might be able to expose a couple of
flaws in Ohio State and I'm curious about it. In fact,
I spoke to Seth McLaughlin inside the Banglis locker room
(01:18):
yesterday and I was talking to him about the idea
that Miami has these guys on the defensive line that
can really get after Ohio State's offensive line, who doesn't
have a great run game they're not great and short
yardage and he said, what are we doing? He said,
what are we what are we doing? He said, Ohio
State has the best roster in the sport. They're going
to win the game. And he said, you know, in fact,
(01:38):
they're going to score a lot of points. So I said, okay, okay,
you called your shot. We'll see how it is. He
does think Georgia is a big threat.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But George's flying under the radar.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Last year thinks that Ohio State could beat Miami. What's
that time.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
George's flying under the radar.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I feel like from a lot of people, no one
talks about the SEC champs or plus five hundred to
win it all?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
How can nobody be talking about the SCR Nobody from
thet CC is ever under the radar? Come on, now,
come on now, now, what's interest thing about Georgia is Georgia.
All the numbers throughout the year will tell you that
that this isn't normal Georgia. Georgia's defense isn't built like
it usually is. But there's also a lot of people,
(02:23):
myself included, who thinks they're rounding into form at the
end of the year and they're playing their best at
the right time. So I think if we get Ohio
State Georgia in the semi finals, it's going to be
a fantastic football game. I think I think the four
quarter finals are all lining up to be great games.
(02:44):
But certainly when talking about Ohio State Miami, I kind
of lean with Seth mclough. From the closer we get
to the game, I think Ohio State is going to
be fine.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think it'll be fascinating with the four teams that
had buys last year all losing, how teams deal with
that extra time off. But outside of that, I agree
you Ohigh State's got the best roster of the remaining teams.
They should win the game. Before we dive into the Bengals, Joe,
let me ask two NFL questions for you. One, who
is your NFL MVP? In two, because I think this
(03:13):
list could contain seven or eight different coaches.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Who's your coach of the Year in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
All right, I'll start with MVP. Up until last night,
it was, for sure Matthew Stafford. And then what Drake
May did this weekend, and then what Matt Stafford did
last night, I think he's closed the gap. I still
kind of sometimes feel like that award, or any award
of that magnitude can be somewhat of a lifetime achievement award,
(03:41):
and so I think Matt Stafford might get the benefit
of the doubt over Drake May because he's played in
the league so long that he might end up getting
that award. But I think what Drake May has done
this year. I go back to what I was having
discussions with some of my friends who watch football as
much as we do, and I sent him a text
about halfway through the year and I said, Drake May
(04:04):
is a top fill in the blank quarterback right now.
And everybody wanted to say, oh, top ten, top eight.
I'm like, at what point does this guy jump into
the top five with what he's doing, considering what he's
playing with as well, and now he's not playing with plumbers,
but he certainly doesn't have Davante Adams and Puka Nakua
and Kyron Williams, all guys that can rise to the level
(04:27):
of Pro Bowl players around him. So I think he's
done more with less than when Matt Stafford does. But
I'm gonna lean Matt Stafford is a bit of a
lifetime achievement. Now as far as Coach of the Year goes,
I'm going to immediately jump to my mind was Sean
McVay and everything he's done. And I think once you
(04:48):
get into a playoff game, you see Sean McVay is
one of the best at what he does. Sure, but
I think and you start thinking about teams that are
going to go to the Super Bowl, and I start
thinking about the AFC and are we going to be
surprised if we look up in six weeks and Dimiko
Ryans at the Houston Texas and the Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Nope, that what I said.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Is my vote.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Okay, you mentioned Drake May and the quarterback position. They
have one here in Cincinnati. I think could be the top.
If not, he's in the conversation for the top two
in the league, and Joe Burrow He's going to play
on Sunday. Zach Taylor made that very clear. On the
other side of the ball, Miles Garrett's going for the
NFL sack record. We just saw that that this Cleveland
(05:34):
defense is still flexing its muscles. I know Joe wants
to play. I know Joe gives them the best chance
to play. Seeing what you've seen the last two weeks,
have you waivered from not at all, or do you
agree with sending Joe Burrow out there on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Well, here's what I think is what we're getting. I
think this is Dak Taylor in the Bengals organization understanding
if they want people to come to the game, they
want to sell tickets, they have to say that Joe
Burrows playing. And they say Joe Burrow is playing. Joe
Burrow is going to play what a quarter, maybe two,
maybe to halftime. I kind of feel like this is
going to play out like a preseason game. This is
(06:08):
just a guess. But if Zach Taylor comes out of
the podiums today and says, you know, Joe Burrow is
not playing, You're going to have thirty five thousand people
in the stadium. But if you come out and say
Joe Burrow is going to play, there are going to
be people who want to come see him play. There
are a lot of people who've never seen him play
in person. For example, my kids for Christmas, they had
(06:29):
never seen Joe Burrow play, two of them and they
had a chance to go watch him and they saw
him play against the Arizona Cardinals and what looked like
the best offense in the NFL. So I think the
Bangles kind of have to do this organizationally just to
get some butts and seats for Sunday's game. But I
do think it'll play out almost like a preseason game.
Even going back to my conversation after the game with
(06:51):
de mar Chase, if you saw it, we were talking
about his numbers and his outside chance to break his
own franchise records for catches in the season. Right now,
he's at one seventeen, the records one twenty seven. And
this guy has had probably multiple games this year with
fifteen or more targets. When I say multiple, probably four
or five if you go back and look at the stats.
So certainly he can catch eleven passes in the game,
(07:13):
but he shot it down immediately like I'm not getting that,
and I kind of thought, in the back of my head, Okay,
he knows something we don't know about how it's going
to play Sunday against the Browns. So yeah, I'm okay
with the Bengals treating this like a preseason game of
playing Joe Burrow for a quarter maybe two, Jamar Chase
for a quarter maybe two, and then putting those guys
on ice for the offseason.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Offensively, we know the weapons at the disposal of Joe Burrow.
How much do you think Cody Ford plays into the
plans in the future at maybe wide receiver number three?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
How fun was that? How fun has this been? And
it's a cool thing because and I've had this discussion
a few times on our Sunday Night Bengals show about
watching this team at the end of the season. If
this is your favorite team, whatever your favorite team is,
when they're in the situation where they're playing games that
don't have any playoff meaning attached, it can be one
(08:09):
of two things. Right, you can sit back and be
entertained and enjoy watching your team play, or you can
be frustrated at heck, wondering what if and wondering why
now and where was this, and I think that's a
hard thing too. And I can't tell Bengals fans how
to fan and how to watch the game and how
(08:30):
to either enjoy it or be frustrated by it. But
I will say this about the offense and the way
it's looked the last couple of weeks. We all know
what it looks like when Joe, Jamar and t is
going the way they're going right now. And these are
the results, and certainly the fact that Miami and Arizona
look disinterested helped the Bengals put up the numbers they did,
(08:53):
but to win back to back games by twenty plus
points for the first time since the Super Bowl season,
and then the first time since before that was the
twenty fifteen season, which I think a lot of us
would argue is a Marvin's best team and be probably
the second best team that this franchise has had in
the last twenty five years. So when they're playing at
the level of the twenty fifteen team and the twenty
(09:15):
twenty one team, it can be frustrating. It can be
a what could have been, or it can be very
realistic what this still might be. Once the Bengals tried
to get it figured out again this coming offseason. They
tried last offseason. It didn't work defensively. We've seen some
growth defensively through the year, but it's still there, right,
(09:37):
It's still in there with this team that they can
perform at this level. They're not far off. And when
I asked Zach Taylor about this yesterday, I said, what's
the one message do you want to give to fans
about twenty twenty six after seeing the way it's played
out the last couple of weeks. He said three words,
We'll be back. It will be back means they'll be
(09:58):
back in the playoffs. They'll be back playing for big games,
trying to win playoff games, trying to win championships. The
long road to go. But I do think, and again
I won't tell fans how to fan, not to be
frustrated by what they're seeing, but also enjoy what you're watching.
I think it's okay to drink a little bit of
the kool aid and see what it's still very realistically
(10:19):
can be with these three being the core of a
team going forward.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
We've talked a lot about the offensive line. One of
the names that stands out to me is Dalton Reisner.
What's the vibe that you get internally about the way
that maybe they feel internally I should say about Dalton
Reisner and potentially bringing him back this offseason.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, I know he wants to come back. He has
said that publicly multiple times that he really likes the
fit Yere loves playing with Joe Burrow, likes playing with
this offensive line, and it seems to be he's a
bit of kind of the glue that finally put this
whole thing together. Once he got his feet wet and
his feet under him and they started playing as a
cohesive unit. They've been very good the second half of
(11:00):
the year. Joe Burrow has said it, that Taylor has
said it. This is the best the offensive line has
played over a chunk of time in their time here
in Cincinnati. So I wouldn't mess with a good thing
and try to replace him with anybody else. I can't
speak for the Bengals organization, but I don't know how
you could look at it what they have right now
and not want to run it back and bring him
(11:23):
back and have him be part of this offensive line.
Because what they're doing in the passing game, what they're
doing in the run game right now, I think is
proof that this can be. And I would even argue
if you go into some of the analytical stats that
this is the best offense in the world when they're healthy,
(11:43):
and they've been healthy the last two weeks. And I
know at Miami and I know it's the Arizona but
even going back to Buffalo as well, the way they
looked on the road in the snow against Buffalo, this
is the best offense in the world. And if you
can have continuity coming back in twenty twenty six from
two thousand in twenty five, what are the big questions
we always ask right is fix the defense, fix the
(12:05):
offensive line. The offensive line is healthy. It's in a
great space right now. So what it takes is bringing
him back. Do it bring him back, continue the continuity
going forward and protect Joe Burrow the best you can
going forward with this offensive line. They have to feel
comfortable and I sure hope they have to feel like
they have to bring Dalton Reisner back because it feels
(12:26):
like he's been the final piece to this offensive line
starting to play the kind of football they have to play.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
What do you make We mentioned so much about Higgins
and or t Higgins and Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow.
Chase Brown's fifty three yards away from a thousand yard
rushing season. With a huge game, he could reach over
fifteen hundred total yards.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
On the season.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Talk about his development, as we often talk about Duke
Tobin's draft classes. You look at where they got him
in the twenty twenty three draft. Is he a guy
you're highlighting maybe earlier than the contract will be up
to maybe try to link in long term and be
a part of this going forward. I know it's usually
a little bit dicey with running backs and how you
(13:08):
handle those contracts, but with what you've seen from Chase Brown,
is he a guy? Maybe you start the conversation early
on getting an extension done.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
So he is fifty plus yards away from one thousand
rushing and then eighty one away from five hundred receiving.
I know that would be a monster game. That would
be a Christian mccafss type game to become the first
Bengals player with a thousand yards rushing and five hundred receiving.
Unless I'm wrong. I went back and looked at this
(13:38):
the other night. No Bengal has gone one thousand, five
hundred rushing and receiving since James Brooks in nineteen eighty six.
So even if he doesn't get there, that's the kind
of conversation he's in right now for the kind of
year he's had for the Bengals. And if you look
at the numbers, when he's with Joe Burrow and without
Joe Burrow, he preperforms like a top seven running back,
(14:01):
maybe even higher when Joe Burrow's in there, and then
when Joe Burrow wasn't, his numbers were down. I think
the biggest key for Chase Brown and what's unlocked his
confidence and unlocked his all around game is getting him
the ball and checkdowns not necessarily in the middle of
the field, but more often to the flat, giving him
a chance to put a foot in the ground, make
(14:22):
a guy miss, and make some plays. The Bengals did
that Sunday twice where they weaponized a check down with
Chase Brown, and it made a huge difference for this team.
And I think that's what you're seeing. You're seeing the
confidence of him putting the foot in the ground and
accelerating on one cut and becoming just an awesome running
back this year. I think his performance here the second
(14:43):
half of the season has elevated him into the conversation
of what I think will be one of the more
fascinating debates for Bengals front office members and also Bengals
fans and shows like this of deciding what to do
with Chase Brown in a second contract, because after they
gave Joe Mixon the money for a second contract, I
(15:04):
think we all said, Okay, that'll be the last time
the Bengals do that. Right. They'll they'll draft, we'll get
the four years, they'll move on, they'll bring in a rookie,
they'll plug and play. And maybe that's still the plan,
and that's fine. But Chase Brown's a pretty special dude,
and what he's done the last two years isn't just produced.
His availability has been remarkable. For as many times as
(15:26):
he's got the ball for his size, the guy plays
every Sunday, he doesn't get hurt, he produces, and he's
now put himself in the conversation of do the Bengals
look at a second contract for Chase Brown? One that
I would have said no before, but now I say
maybe so. And I think that also, guys opens up
(15:47):
the conversation up going back to what Joe Burrow talked
about when he said they need to get more creative
in roster building. And maybe that's starting to look at
guys like Chase Brown and a Dack and a DJ
Turner who's still have a year left here in Cincinnati
on a contract and start getting ahead of it, get
ahead of it and lock these guys up that look,
(16:09):
they're not the big three, they're not the foundational pieces,
but their next tier guys that help you win games
and help you go to playoff games and help you
win championships are the guys that you build around your
big three, and guys like Dax Hill and DJ Turner
and maybe a Chase Brown or guys that you reward
early before they price themselves out of Cincinnati before the
(16:32):
negotiations start to turn into something ugly. And I think
that might be a little bit of what Joe Burrow
might be hinting at, that it's not just draft and develop,
it's reward early and then dive into free agency and
build a roster that way. So it's gonna be fascinating
trying to figure out what the Bangers are going to
do with Chase Brown because the way he fits and
(16:53):
the way he's played, I think he has made himself
a candidate to possibly getting paid on a second time
contract with the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
How about Geno Stone? Are we going to talk ourselves
into Geno Stone coming back? Because I heard out Golden
Boy talk about how much he likes and how much
he's improving.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Surely that's coach speak. Joe.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Yes. I was in the room yesterday when he was
talking about that, and I said, boy, God, bless the
poor person in this room, because there's about twelve people
in the media in the rooms taking notes and penning tweets.
I said, who's going to be the poor soul that
puts that out there and says rip ned mentioned for
about a week. I said, I'm not touching that. No,
(17:33):
I want no piece of that. Yeah, Genostone had to go.
And I think it's been important because we've talked, you know,
through seventeen weeks about about the Bengals defense and about
what guys have proven they should be relied upon as
contributors going forward. And I think it's just as important
to find the guys that you need to weed out
(17:56):
and guys that you can't rely on going forward. And
I think we here today and look at guys under
contract for next year and picked out players that we
think should be back as contributors slash starters for the Bengals.
I think there's a solid six. There's a solid six
on defense, and the others are all up for grabs.
(18:17):
Starting with number twenty two, Geno Stone has to go.
There has to be a difference, There has to be
a change. And yes, that was even if it's not
coach speaking, Genostone is helping with communication and getting guys
lined up. God love you, great job. But when the
ball snap, it's not good enough. And that's where games
(18:39):
are one that four to six seconds right in his
four to six seconds has not been good enough. And
we all saw it Sunday when he completely whipped on
a wide receiver running down the sideline and it ended
up in a touchdown. Yeah, that's gotta be the first
person in the first position. That is addressed once the
Bengals season is over, how.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Much has Miles Murphy helped not only his case, but
maybe the view of this defense going forward. It's obvious
a defense that needs to add starters in my opinion
every level. But the consistent play of Miles Murphy has
to be something that as seen as an extreme positive
down the stretch of this season.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
There's no question he can be counted on as a contributor. Now,
I don't think he can count on him as your
number one defensive end. I think he'd be slots in
as your number two guy, you're in a good position.
I think if you slot him in as your number
three guy, you're in a great position. Spotting him in
his number three would mean that Shamar Stewart takes a
big leap to number two and the angles go out
(19:39):
and find a number one, probably not Trey Henderson, but
probably find someone else to play that position. But even
if you had to go Shamar Stewart and Miles Murphy
as your defensive ends, it's not the worst thing in
the world. It's not ideal. And that's a credit to
Miles Murphy that the light bulb has finally gone on
(19:59):
some what you know. We had Andrea Yoshibots on our
Live Bengal show last night and we did kind of
the end of the year superlatives and one of the
questions I asked was, what player, Andre do you think
who is in a star right now is most likely
to become a star, and he said immediately, Miles Murphy,
he said, he's got every tool he pops in practice,
(20:22):
and the way other guys talk about him in the
locker room and in the coach's meeting rooms. He feels
like he's got a shot here to really pop in
year four next year after really starting to show some
flashes in year three. I think at the beginning of
the year, the jury was kind of out right. We
didn't know about this guy, and I'm sure some people
(20:43):
had already convicted him of being a bust. And I
think I might have been one of those guys. I'll
rap my head and say, I don't think Miles Murphy
has it. I don't know if he can be a contributor,
but he has proven a lot of people wrong in
this year, and I think he's a guy you can
rely on to me as one of the six players
you can bring back defensively next year and feel really
comfortable with if he's a starter on this defense. And
(21:07):
that's a credit to him. Some guys take longer to
develop for whatever reason, but he finally reached that point
this year where he's making plays and the Bengals can
count on him. I think in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
The last question I have on the Bengals is that
development word, because this isn't development time for this organization.
Joe Burrow's going to be thirty next year. We've talked
about the psychology side of Joe Burrow's actions a couple
of weeks ago. I don't feel like you've got time
to just wait slowly for guys on the defensive side
(21:40):
of the ball to develop. So that would lead me
to the question of as this season comes to a
close and you look to next year, what is your
initial thoughts on what you're doing in the linebacker room.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Well, I think they have developed some guys, and I
think that's what's been good about this year. I think
the DJ Turner and Dak Hill's story has been great
for this defense in twenty twenty five, that those guys
have given a chance to go out and prove who
they are. And so I think even though this year
feels like a drop back fifteen yards in punt, there
(22:12):
are some good stories on defense At linebacker. I'm counting
one of the two rookies as a guy that you
can rely on for next year. I think Demetrius Knight
is a guy that you bring back in year two
with the idea that he's a starter. I do think
you have to go out into free agency and I think,
along with Ginostone at safety, finding a free agent difference
(22:35):
maker that steps in, a guy who has proven he
can play on Sundays, a guy who can make plays
and can elevated defense immediately has to be a priority
for this team. I don't think it can be draft
another guy and see if you can put another rookie
linebacker next to Demetrius Knight and see if he can
be a playmaker. I think you have to go out
(22:55):
in free agency this offseason with the idea in mind
that Okay, look, the defense is great, the offensive continuity
is going to be fine. Maybe we can draft the safety,
but I think you have to circle linebacker as a
free agent of someone who's proven it that they can
play at this level and be a difference maker. It's
a slot next to Demetrius Night. I think that would
(23:16):
solve a lot of problems for the Bengals in their
front seven if they just put someone there who is capable,
who is confident, who is confident that he can go
out there and be that kind of a player. I
don't think that's the draft pick. I think that's one
that has to be addressed with a ready made starter
and free agency.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
That is Joe Danoman Fox nineteen. I know you guys
had the last show at the Levey last night with
Andre Yoshi Vash. What's coming up next at Fox nineteen
and when do you leave for Memphis?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Joe tomorrow?
Speaker 5 (23:48):
No, get him.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I don't know if I could just catch a ride
with you or what the plan was the next big thing?
Speaker 4 (23:56):
You guys believe this already. We're having meetings next week
talking about Ring Train.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Oh boy, there we go.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Next big event. Maybe we'll run it back. Yeah, maybe
we'll get JJ bled live on the phone next year
or this coming spring like we did with the Reds
last year and Brent Shooter jumping on live on since
he three to sixty. What a day that was. What
a time to be alive. Yeah, that's the next big event.
(24:24):
But until then, gentlemen, Happy New Year. Are you guys
getting Are you getting crunk on New Year's Eve?
Speaker 3 (24:31):
I got a seven am flight tonight. I'm not getting crunk.
We'll celebrate New Years with the kids at like nine o'clock.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
I don't do such things.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I'm worried.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
I hope for for your guy's sake, that that Ohio
State takes care of business and you get to ring
in the new year a little bit better than the
last time the Buckey's played on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Oh yeah, that happened right at midnight.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Just missed it, Just missed it.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Ag. I wish the best for you and your Buckeyes
on New Year's d oh.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Daniman, thanks so much, man, have a great new year.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
I'm never gonna say yeat again.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I got y eated on Sunday from the stands, and I'll
yeak you guys today. Happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Joe Daniman of Fox nineteen, your talkbacks come up next.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
I'm working the game Sunday. We're gonna be in the
press box. If I run into Joe, I might have
to break press box etiquette and yeat relatively loudly at Joe,
just to see what he would do there.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
It is.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I bet there'd be some others talkbacks next. ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports station
Is Tony Pike sincey three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in Park by Cincy Shirts, Cincy Shirts all sincey
all day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All right now re number two.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thanks to our friends a't Cincy's shirts and thank you
for listening. On ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, Tuesday
hour two. We dive right in with our guy from
Fox nineteen. They're covered to the Bengals and really all
sports is immaculate and he joins us right now. Joe Daniman, Hi, Joe.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Tody Austin, Happy New Year. You got ready to turn
up tomorrow night?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh Man, turn up, turnout, you name it. I'm doing it.
You got any big New Year's players?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
I plan on doing tomorrow night on New Year's evens
watching football. That's what get be Oh.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Yeah, you fired up for the Buckeyes, Joe, Is that
what it is?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I'm looking forward to that game. You know. It's been
interesting to last what seven to ten days, ever since
Miami beat Texas A and m where there's this idea
that Miami might be able to expose a couple of
flaws in Ohio State and I'm curious about it. In fact,
I spoke to Seth McLaughlin inside the Banglis locker room
(01:18):
yesterday and I was talking to him about the idea
that Miami has these guys on the defensive line that
can really get after Ohio State's offensive line, who doesn't
have a great run game they're not great and short
yardage and he said, what are we doing? He said,
what are we what are we doing? He said, Ohio
State has the best roster in the sport. They're going
to win the game. And he said, you know, in fact,
(01:38):
they're going to score a lot of points. So I said, okay, okay,
you called your shot. We'll see how it is. He
does think Georgia is a big threat.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But George's flying under the radar.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Last year thinks that Ohio State could beat Miami. What's
that time.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
George's flying under the radar.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
I feel like from a lot of people, no one
talks about the SEC champs or plus five hundred to
win it all?
Speaker 4 (02:00):
How can nobody be talking about the SCR Nobody from
thet CC is ever under the radar? Come on, now,
come on now, now, what's interest thing about Georgia is Georgia.
All the numbers throughout the year will tell you that
that this isn't normal Georgia. Georgia's defense isn't built like
it usually is. But there's also a lot of people,
(02:23):
myself included, who thinks they're rounding into form at the
end of the year and they're playing their best at
the right time. So I think if we get Ohio
State Georgia in the semi finals, it's going to be
a fantastic football game. I think I think the four
quarter finals are all lining up to be great games.
(02:44):
But certainly when talking about Ohio State Miami, I kind
of lean with Seth mclough. From the closer we get
to the game, I think Ohio State is going to
be fine.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think it'll be fascinating with the four teams that
had buys last year all losing, how teams deal with
that extra time off. But outside of that, I agree
you Ohigh State's got the best roster of the remaining teams.
They should win the game. Before we dive into the Bengals, Joe,
let me ask two NFL questions for you. One, who
is your NFL MVP? In two, because I think this
(03:13):
list could contain seven or eight different coaches.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Who's your coach of the Year in the NFL?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
All right, I'll start with MVP. Up until last night,
it was, for sure Matthew Stafford. And then what Drake
May did this weekend, and then what Matt Stafford did
last night, I think he's closed the gap. I still
kind of sometimes feel like that award, or any award
of that magnitude can be somewhat of a lifetime achievement award,
(03:41):
and so I think Matt Stafford might get the benefit
of the doubt over Drake May because he's played in
the league so long that he might end up getting
that award. But I think what Drake May has done
this year. I go back to what I was having
discussions with some of my friends who watch football as
much as we do, and I sent him a text
about halfway through the year and I said, Drake May
(04:04):
is a top fill in the blank quarterback right now.
And everybody wanted to say, oh, top ten, top eight.
I'm like, at what point does this guy jump into
the top five with what he's doing, considering what he's
playing with as well, and now he's not playing with plumbers,
but he certainly doesn't have Davante Adams and Puka Nakua
and Kyron Williams, all guys that can rise to the level
(04:27):
of Pro Bowl players around him. So I think he's
done more with less than when Matt Stafford does. But
I'm gonna lean Matt Stafford is a bit of a
lifetime achievement. Now as far as Coach of the Year goes,
I'm going to immediately jump to my mind was Sean
McVay and everything he's done. And I think once you
(04:48):
get into a playoff game, you see Sean McVay is
one of the best at what he does. Sure, but
I think and you start thinking about teams that are
going to go to the Super Bowl, and I start
thinking about the AFC and are we going to be
surprised if we look up in six weeks and Dimiko
Ryans at the Houston Texas and the Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Nope, that what I said.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Is my vote.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Okay, you mentioned Drake May and the quarterback position. They
have one here in Cincinnati. I think could be the top.
If not, he's in the conversation for the top two
in the league, and Joe Burrow He's going to play
on Sunday. Zach Taylor made that very clear. On the
other side of the ball, Miles Garrett's going for the
NFL sack record. We just saw that that this Cleveland
(05:34):
defense is still flexing its muscles. I know Joe wants
to play. I know Joe gives them the best chance
to play. Seeing what you've seen the last two weeks,
have you waivered from not at all, or do you
agree with sending Joe Burrow out there on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Well, here's what I think is what we're getting. I
think this is Dak Taylor in the Bengals organization understanding
if they want people to come to the game, they
want to sell tickets, they have to say that Joe
Burrows playing. And they say Joe Burrow is playing. Joe
Burrow is going to play what a quarter, maybe two,
maybe to halftime. I kind of feel like this is
going to play out like a preseason game. This is
(06:08):
just a guess. But if Zach Taylor comes out of
the podiums today and says, you know, Joe Burrow is
not playing, You're going to have thirty five thousand people
in the stadium. But if you come out and say
Joe Burrow is going to play, there are going to
be people who want to come see him play. There
are a lot of people who've never seen him play
in person. For example, my kids for Christmas, they had
(06:29):
never seen Joe Burrow play, two of them and they
had a chance to go watch him and they saw
him play against the Arizona Cardinals and what looked like
the best offense in the NFL. So I think the
Bangles kind of have to do this organizationally just to
get some butts and seats for Sunday's game. But I
do think it'll play out almost like a preseason game.
Even going back to my conversation after the game with
(06:51):
de mar Chase, if you saw it, we were talking
about his numbers and his outside chance to break his
own franchise records for catches in the season. Right now,
he's at one seventeen, the records one twenty seven. And
this guy has had probably multiple games this year with
fifteen or more targets. When I say multiple, probably four
or five if you go back and look at the stats.
So certainly he can catch eleven passes in the game,
(07:13):
but he shot it down immediately like I'm not getting that,
and I kind of thought, in the back of my head, Okay,
he knows something we don't know about how it's going
to play Sunday against the Browns. So yeah, I'm okay
with the Bengals treating this like a preseason game of
playing Joe Burrow for a quarter maybe two, Jamar Chase
for a quarter maybe two, and then putting those guys
on ice for the offseason.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Offensively, we know the weapons at the disposal of Joe Burrow.
How much do you think Cody Ford plays into the
plans in the future at maybe wide receiver number three?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
How fun was that? How fun has this been? And
it's a cool thing because and I've had this discussion
a few times on our Sunday Night Bengals show about
watching this team at the end of the season. If
this is your favorite team, whatever your favorite team is,
when they're in the situation where they're playing games that
don't have any playoff meaning attached, it can be one
(08:09):
of two things. Right, you can sit back and be
entertained and enjoy watching your team play, or you can
be frustrated at heck, wondering what if and wondering why
now and where was this, and I think that's a
hard thing too. And I can't tell Bengals fans how
to fan and how to watch the game and how
(08:30):
to either enjoy it or be frustrated by it. But
I will say this about the offense and the way
it's looked the last couple of weeks. We all know
what it looks like when Joe, Jamar and t is
going the way they're going right now. And these are
the results, and certainly the fact that Miami and Arizona
look disinterested helped the Bengals put up the numbers they did,
(08:53):
but to win back to back games by twenty plus
points for the first time since the Super Bowl season,
and then the first time since before that was the
twenty fifteen season, which I think a lot of us
would argue is a Marvin's best team and be probably
the second best team that this franchise has had in
the last twenty five years. So when they're playing at
the level of the twenty fifteen team and the twenty
(09:15):
twenty one team, it can be frustrating. It can be
a what could have been, or it can be very
realistic what this still might be. Once the Bengals tried
to get it figured out again this coming offseason. They
tried last offseason. It didn't work defensively. We've seen some
growth defensively through the year, but it's still there, right,
(09:37):
It's still in there with this team that they can
perform at this level. They're not far off. And when
I asked Zach Taylor about this yesterday, I said, what's
the one message do you want to give to fans
about twenty twenty six after seeing the way it's played
out the last couple of weeks. He said three words,
We'll be back. It will be back means they'll be
(09:58):
back in the playoffs. They'll be back playing for big games,
trying to win playoff games, trying to win championships. The
long road to go. But I do think, and again
I won't tell fans how to fan, not to be
frustrated by what they're seeing, but also enjoy what you're watching.
I think it's okay to drink a little bit of
the kool aid and see what it's still very realistically
(10:19):
can be with these three being the core of a
team going forward.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
We've talked a lot about the offensive line. One of
the names that stands out to me is Dalton Reisner.
What's the vibe that you get internally about the way
that maybe they feel internally I should say about Dalton
Reisner and potentially bringing him back this offseason.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, I know he wants to come back. He has
said that publicly multiple times that he really likes the
fit Yere loves playing with Joe Burrow, likes playing with
this offensive line, and it seems to be he's a
bit of kind of the glue that finally put this
whole thing together. Once he got his feet wet and
his feet under him and they started playing as a
cohesive unit. They've been very good the second half of
(11:00):
the year. Joe Burrow has said it, that Taylor has
said it. This is the best the offensive line has
played over a chunk of time in their time here
in Cincinnati. So I wouldn't mess with a good thing
and try to replace him with anybody else. I can't
speak for the Bengals organization, but I don't know how
you could look at it what they have right now
and not want to run it back and bring him
(11:23):
back and have him be part of this offensive line.
Because what they're doing in the passing game, what they're
doing in the run game right now, I think is
proof that this can be. And I would even argue
if you go into some of the analytical stats that
this is the best offense in the world when they're healthy,
(11:43):
and they've been healthy the last two weeks. And I
know at Miami and I know it's the Arizona but
even going back to Buffalo as well, the way they
looked on the road in the snow against Buffalo, this
is the best offense in the world. And if you
can have continuity coming back in twenty twenty six from
two thousand in twenty five, what are the big questions
we always ask right is fix the defense, fix the
(12:05):
offensive line. The offensive line is healthy. It's in a
great space right now. So what it takes is bringing
him back. Do it bring him back, continue the continuity
going forward and protect Joe Burrow the best you can
going forward with this offensive line. They have to feel
comfortable and I sure hope they have to feel like
they have to bring Dalton Reisner back because it feels
(12:26):
like he's been the final piece to this offensive line
starting to play the kind of football they have to play.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
What do you make We mentioned so much about Higgins
and or t Higgins and Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow.
Chase Brown's fifty three yards away from a thousand yard
rushing season. With a huge game, he could reach over
fifteen hundred total yards.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
On the season.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Talk about his development, as we often talk about Duke
Tobin's draft classes. You look at where they got him
in the twenty twenty three draft. Is he a guy
you're highlighting maybe earlier than the contract will be up
to maybe try to link in long term and be
a part of this going forward. I know it's usually
a little bit dicey with running backs and how you
(13:08):
handle those contracts, but with what you've seen from Chase Brown,
is he a guy? Maybe you start the conversation early
on getting an extension done.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
So he is fifty plus yards away from one thousand
rushing and then eighty one away from five hundred receiving.
I know that would be a monster game. That would
be a Christian mccafss type game to become the first
Bengals player with a thousand yards rushing and five hundred receiving.
Unless I'm wrong. I went back and looked at this
(13:38):
the other night. No Bengal has gone one thousand, five
hundred rushing and receiving since James Brooks in nineteen eighty six.
So even if he doesn't get there, that's the kind
of conversation he's in right now for the kind of
year he's had for the Bengals. And if you look
at the numbers, when he's with Joe Burrow and without
Joe Burrow, he preperforms like a top seven running back,
(14:01):
maybe even higher when Joe Burrow's in there, and then
when Joe Burrow wasn't, his numbers were down. I think
the biggest key for Chase Brown and what's unlocked his
confidence and unlocked his all around game is getting him
the ball and checkdowns not necessarily in the middle of
the field, but more often to the flat, giving him
a chance to put a foot in the ground, make
(14:22):
a guy miss, and make some plays. The Bengals did
that Sunday twice where they weaponized a check down with
Chase Brown, and it made a huge difference for this team.
And I think that's what you're seeing. You're seeing the
confidence of him putting the foot in the ground and
accelerating on one cut and becoming just an awesome running
back this year. I think his performance here the second
(14:43):
half of the season has elevated him into the conversation
of what I think will be one of the more
fascinating debates for Bengals front office members and also Bengals
fans and shows like this of deciding what to do
with Chase Brown in a second contract, because after they
gave Joe Mixon the money for a second contract, I
(15:04):
think we all said, Okay, that'll be the last time
the Bengals do that. Right. They'll they'll draft, we'll get
the four years, they'll move on, they'll bring in a rookie,
they'll plug and play. And maybe that's still the plan,
and that's fine. But Chase Brown's a pretty special dude,
and what he's done the last two years isn't just produced.
His availability has been remarkable. For as many times as
(15:26):
he's got the ball for his size, the guy plays
every Sunday, he doesn't get hurt, he produces, and he's
now put himself in the conversation of do the Bengals
look at a second contract for Chase Brown? One that
I would have said no before, but now I say
maybe so. And I think that also, guys opens up
(15:47):
the conversation up going back to what Joe Burrow talked
about when he said they need to get more creative
in roster building. And maybe that's starting to look at
guys like Chase Brown and a Dack and a DJ
Turner who's still have a year left here in Cincinnati
on a contract and start getting ahead of it, get
ahead of it and lock these guys up that look,
(16:09):
they're not the big three, they're not the foundational pieces,
but their next tier guys that help you win games
and help you go to playoff games and help you
win championships are the guys that you build around your
big three, and guys like Dax Hill and DJ Turner
and maybe a Chase Brown or guys that you reward
early before they price themselves out of Cincinnati before the
(16:32):
negotiations start to turn into something ugly. And I think
that might be a little bit of what Joe Burrow
might be hinting at, that it's not just draft and develop,
it's reward early and then dive into free agency and
build a roster that way. So it's gonna be fascinating
trying to figure out what the Bangers are going to
do with Chase Brown because the way he fits and
(16:53):
the way he's played, I think he has made himself
a candidate to possibly getting paid on a second time
contract with the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
How about Geno Stone? Are we going to talk ourselves
into Geno Stone coming back? Because I heard out Golden
Boy talk about how much he likes and how much
he's improving.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Surely that's coach speak. Joe.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Yes. I was in the room yesterday when he was
talking about that, and I said, boy, God, bless the
poor person in this room, because there's about twelve people
in the media in the rooms taking notes and penning tweets.
I said, who's going to be the poor soul that
puts that out there and says rip ned mentioned for
about a week. I said, I'm not touching that. No,
(17:33):
I want no piece of that. Yeah, Genostone had to go.
And I think it's been important because we've talked, you know,
through seventeen weeks about about the Bengals defense and about
what guys have proven they should be relied upon as
contributors going forward. And I think it's just as important
to find the guys that you need to weed out
(17:56):
and guys that you can't rely on going forward. And
I think we here today and look at guys under
contract for next year and picked out players that we
think should be back as contributors slash starters for the Bengals.
I think there's a solid six. There's a solid six
on defense, and the others are all up for grabs.
(18:17):
Starting with number twenty two, Geno Stone has to go.
There has to be a difference, There has to be
a change. And yes, that was even if it's not
coach speaking, Genostone is helping with communication and getting guys
lined up. God love you, great job. But when the
ball snap, it's not good enough. And that's where games
(18:39):
are one that four to six seconds right in his
four to six seconds has not been good enough. And
we all saw it Sunday when he completely whipped on
a wide receiver running down the sideline and it ended
up in a touchdown. Yeah, that's gotta be the first
person in the first position. That is addressed once the
Bengals season is over, how.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Much has Miles Murphy helped not only his case, but
maybe the view of this defense going forward. It's obvious
a defense that needs to add starters in my opinion
every level. But the consistent play of Miles Murphy has
to be something that as seen as an extreme positive
down the stretch of this season.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
There's no question he can be counted on as a contributor. Now,
I don't think he can count on him as your
number one defensive end. I think he'd be slots in
as your number two guy, you're in a good position.
I think if you slot him in as your number
three guy, you're in a great position. Spotting him in
his number three would mean that Shamar Stewart takes a
big leap to number two and the angles go out
(19:39):
and find a number one, probably not Trey Henderson, but
probably find someone else to play that position. But even
if you had to go Shamar Stewart and Miles Murphy
as your defensive ends, it's not the worst thing in
the world. It's not ideal. And that's a credit to
Miles Murphy that the light bulb has finally gone on
(19:59):
some what you know. We had Andrea Yoshibots on our
Live Bengal show last night and we did kind of
the end of the year superlatives and one of the
questions I asked was, what player, Andre do you think
who is in a star right now is most likely
to become a star, and he said immediately, Miles Murphy,
he said, he's got every tool he pops in practice,
(20:22):
and the way other guys talk about him in the
locker room and in the coach's meeting rooms. He feels
like he's got a shot here to really pop in
year four next year after really starting to show some
flashes in year three. I think at the beginning of
the year, the jury was kind of out right. We
didn't know about this guy, and I'm sure some people
(20:43):
had already convicted him of being a bust. And I
think I might have been one of those guys. I'll
rap my head and say, I don't think Miles Murphy
has it. I don't know if he can be a contributor,
but he has proven a lot of people wrong in
this year, and I think he's a guy you can
rely on to me as one of the six players
you can bring back defensively next year and feel really
comfortable with if he's a starter on this defense. And
(21:07):
that's a credit to him. Some guys take longer to
develop for whatever reason, but he finally reached that point
this year where he's making plays and the Bengals can
count on him. I think in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
The last question I have on the Bengals is that
development word, because this isn't development time for this organization.
Joe Burrow's going to be thirty next year. We've talked
about the psychology side of Joe Burrow's actions a couple
of weeks ago. I don't feel like you've got time
to just wait slowly for guys on the defensive side
(21:40):
of the ball to develop. So that would lead me
to the question of as this season comes to a
close and you look to next year, what is your
initial thoughts on what you're doing in the linebacker room.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Well, I think they have developed some guys, and I
think that's what's been good about this year. I think
the DJ Turner and Dak Hill's story has been great
for this defense in twenty twenty five, that those guys
have given a chance to go out and prove who
they are. And so I think even though this year
feels like a drop back fifteen yards in punt, there
(22:12):
are some good stories on defense At linebacker. I'm counting
one of the two rookies as a guy that you
can rely on for next year. I think Demetrius Knight
is a guy that you bring back in year two
with the idea that he's a starter. I do think
you have to go out into free agency and I think,
along with Ginostone at safety, finding a free agent difference
(22:35):
maker that steps in, a guy who has proven he
can play on Sundays, a guy who can make plays
and can elevated defense immediately has to be a priority
for this team. I don't think it can be draft
another guy and see if you can put another rookie
linebacker next to Demetrius Knight and see if he can
be a playmaker. I think you have to go out
(22:55):
in free agency this offseason with the idea in mind
that Okay, look, the defense is great, the offensive continuity
is going to be fine. Maybe we can draft the safety,
but I think you have to circle linebacker as a
free agent of someone who's proven it that they can
play at this level and be a difference maker. It's
a slot next to Demetrius Night. I think that would
(23:16):
solve a lot of problems for the Bengals in their
front seven if they just put someone there who is capable,
who is confident, who is confident that he can go
out there and be that kind of a player. I
don't think that's the draft pick. I think that's one
that has to be addressed with a ready made starter
and free agency.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
That is Joe Danoman Fox nineteen. I know you guys
had the last show at the Levey last night with
Andre Yoshi Vash. What's coming up next at Fox nineteen
and when do you leave for Memphis?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Joe tomorrow?
Speaker 5 (23:48):
No, get him.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I don't know if I could just catch a ride
with you or what the plan was the next big thing?
Speaker 4 (23:56):
You guys believe this already. We're having meetings next week
talking about Ring Train.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Oh boy, there we go.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Next big event. Maybe we'll run it back. Yeah, maybe
we'll get JJ bled live on the phone next year
or this coming spring like we did with the Reds
last year and Brent Shooter jumping on live on since
he three to sixty. What a day that was. What
a time to be alive. Yeah, that's the next big event.
(24:24):
But until then, gentlemen, Happy New Year. Are you guys
getting Are you getting crunk on New Year's Eve?
Speaker 3 (24:31):
I got a seven am flight tonight. I'm not getting crunk.
We'll celebrate New Years with the kids at like nine o'clock.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
I don't do such things.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I'm worried.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
I hope for for your guy's sake, that that Ohio
State takes care of business and you get to ring
in the new year a little bit better than the
last time the Buckey's played on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Oh yeah, that happened right at midnight.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Just missed it, Just missed it.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Ag. I wish the best for you and your Buckeyes
on New Year's d oh.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Daniman, thanks so much, man, have a great new year.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
I'm never gonna say yeat again.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I got y eated on Sunday from the stands, and I'll
yeak you guys today. Happy New Year.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Joe Daniman of Fox nineteen, your talkbacks come up next.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
I'm working the game Sunday. We're gonna be in the
press box. If I run into Joe, I might have
to break press box etiquette and yeat relatively loudly at Joe,
just to see what he would do there.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
It is.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
I bet there'd be some others talkbacks next. ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports station
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