Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Deep Dives. Today, we are strapping
on our helmets and stepping right into the very complicated,
high stakes world of NFL quarterback dynamics.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We really are, specifically, we're doing a deep dive into
the Cincinnati Bengals organization. They are navigating one of the
most i mean, strategically fraught quarterback situations you could possibly imagine.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
It's a true inflection point, and we've got a deep
stack of sources today to really unpack all the layers.
On one side, you have your franchise guy, your Pro
Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, who is making these huge physical
strides to get back from a major injury. And then
on the other side, you have his veteran replacement, forty
year old Joe Flacco, who is well, he's showing this
(00:44):
unexpected and frankly profound value on the field.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And this is all happening while the team is just
sliding deep into a losing skid exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So the tension here isn't just about the players. It's
a conflict between your long term investment and your short
term performance. Our mission today is synth We've pulled all
the key facts from a big ESPN report and some
related updates. We're looking at practice progression, coaching commentary from
Zach Taylor, and most importantly, the player's own perspectives on
(01:12):
what's next.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
And we're not just tracking an injury report here. The
real core question for you, the listener, is how an
organization balances all these competing demands. We're going beyond the
box score to look at the calculated risk the Bengals
have to take.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Okay, so let's jump right in with the main news development,
the physical status of the franchise. Quarterback Joe Burrow has
hit a really major milestone, the huge one. For the
first time since his injury, he actually achieved a one
hundred percent practice designation.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And we really need to understand the mechanics of this
injury to appreciate what a hurdle he's just cleared. I mean,
this wasn't some minor muscle tweak now. It was turf toe.
He suffered it way back in week two, September fourteenth
against Jacksonville. It needed surgery and he's missed seven games since.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And for a quarterback, turf toe, I mean, that's not
just a foot injury, it's and equally debilitating it just
destroys your ability to generate torque.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Torque, that is the key word. Absolutely. The big toe
is the last point of contact with the ground when.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You push off to make a throw to escape the
pocket and feet.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
If that toe isn't stable, you can't plant effectively. You
lose velocity, you lose accuracy, and critically, you lose that
stability in a collapsing pocket. Getting back to a point
where he can use that platform fully, it's just monumental.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And the key nugget from the reports is that on Wednesday,
November nineteenth, he was listed as a full participant. But
the truly technical detail, the thing that really signals he's
ready is what he was doing in that practice.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
That's right. More significant than just the full participant label
was the fact that Wednesday was the first time he
got into eleven on eleven drills.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That's the ultimate test.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's the proof of concept moving from you know, individual
throwing or seven on sevens, which are super controlled environments.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
To eleven on eleven where you're facing full defensive pressure,
you've got pocket collapse, timing urdles with your receivers, you're
processing coverages at game speed.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
And you're testing that foot in a pressurized, totally chaotic environment.
I mean, you have to trust that repaired toe. When
a three hundred pound defensive tackle is diving at your legs.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
It's a huge psychological hurdle as much as a physical.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
One, precisely. And this is all happening while he's in
this crucial administrative mechanism, the twenty one day practice window.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Right, So he's practicing fully even eleven on eleven without
actually being on the active roster yet.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Exactly, And that twenty one day window it's a really
important tool for teams managing these high value injured players.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So it's basically a flexible holding pattern. It lets them
test him out without having to cut another player to
make room on the fifty three man roster.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It buys them time they can fully test his durability,
see if there are any setbacks, and gauge his timing
against a real defense, all while keeping their current roster
totally intact. It just maximizes their flexibility and minimizes the risk.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
That makes perfect sense. It's a mechanism design to protect
the asset. But here is where the whole thing becomes
this strategic quagmire. Despite all this incredible physical progress. The
official timeline for his actual return to a game is well,
it's incredibly fuzzy.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
The ambiguity is thick, and you can tell the team
is trying to manage expectations while balancing his health against
what is, let's be honest, a lost season.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah. The Bengals coach Zach Taylor was very dismissive of
the idea of Burrow starting this Sunday against the Patriots.
He basically said there was no reason to even speculate.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Which is classic coach speak right. It's designed to protect
the player from any internal pressure, any external pressure. They
want to avoid a situation where Burrow says he's ready
and then the team feels forced to play him before
their one hundred percent sure.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And Burrow himself he's backing away from his own ambition.
We know he had eyed the Thanksgiving game as a
potential return date. He wanted to get back out there.
He did, but after that full practice on Wednesday, he
gave reporters no indication of a timeline, just complete silence
on that self imposed target.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And that silence, when you pair it with the coach's reluctance,
it brings us to the elephant in the room.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
The team's record, which Burrow himself mentioned last week. He
said the record would play a factor in his decision
to return.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Right if the season was salvageable, the urgency would be
through the roof.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And that's the strategic pivot point. Let's just look at
the cold hard numbers for a second. Cincinnati is currently
three and seven. They've lost seven of their past eight games.
They're on a demoralizing three game skid.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
They're essentially playing for draft position at this point, not
for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And who is this hypothetical return game against the England Patriots,
who are nine to two. They're tied for the best
record in the entire AFC.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So if you synthesize all that, the risk reward calculation
is just skewed so heavily against a fast return. Rushing
your franchise cornerstone back from surgery against a top tier opponent.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
When the season is, for all intents and purposes, mathematically.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Over, it presents a huge risk of re injury for
almost no game in terms of playoff viability. It feels
like Taylor is running out the clock, not just on
the twenty one day window, but on the season itself.
He's prioritizing twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Six, and that puts an immense amount of pressure on
the man who's currently running the offense. So while the
organization is basically in this weight and see mode with Burrow,
we have to pivot and dedicate some real time to
Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Flacco's story is such a compelling counter narrative to all
of this. He's the forty year old veteran. They got
him in a trade and he started the last five games.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
But this isn't just some healthy, steady vet filling in.
We had to acknowledge he is playing through his own injury.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
A significant one, a sprain right throwing shoulder. He suffered
it toward the end of that Week nine loss to
the Jets, and he's been managing it ever since. He's
often limited in practice, but he's still out there on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I mean, playing quarterback in the pocket requires so much
strength and stability in that throwing shoulder. To do that
at forty years old, while managing a sprain, that's an
incredible physical feat.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It absolutely is. And this brings us to what is
really a statistical contradiction, because yes, the team is one
in four in his.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Five starts, which reflects that dismal three and seven overall record,
of course.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
But if you isolate his individual performance, it tells the
story of an elite efficient quarterback who has genuinely flourished
in this offense.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Okay, but let me challenge that for a moment. Yeah,
if the team is one in four in those games,
is that truly success or is he just putting up
empty stats while the team keeps losing. How do you
balance those great numbers against the terrible team outcome?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
And that is such a critical distinction. It highlights the
difference between evaluating an individual's efficiency versus a total organizational failure.
Flacco's stats suggest he is not the reason they're losing. Okay,
He's completed sixty three point four percent of his passes.
He's racked up an impressive on four hundred and fifty
three yards. And here's the kicker. Twelve touchdowns and only
three interceptions.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Twelve touchdowns against three interceptions in five starts. That's a
four to one ratio. Yeah, I mean, that's efficiency you
expect from the top guys, not a forty year old
and a losing team with a bad shoulder.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Exactly when you look at his yards per attempt, his
percentage of drives at end in points compared to the
league average. Flacco is operating this offense at a very
high level. That high touchdown to interception ratio is the
hallmark of a quarterback who protects the ball and capitalizes
on scoring chances.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And it stands in stark contrast to his rough start
to the season with the Browns before the trade.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It does this stint has proven his ability to still
control the flow of an offense, regardless of the team's
other shortcomings, be it on defense or somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So this success has implications that go way beyond the
Bengals twenty twenty five season. Flacco is in the final
stretch of a one year deal. If he had failed
in Cincinnati, he'd be looking at a backup clipboard job next.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Year if that, and now, with this undeniable statistical proof,
his value has just skyrocketed.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
He's playing his audition tape on national television every.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Week he is, and his successful stint has profoundly reinforced
his own belief that he can and should be a
starting quarterback. In twenty twenty six, he spoke to ESPN
about it said he still desperately wants the opportunity to start,
and that this stint quote does help with the confidence
of being able to do it and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
He is leveraging the Bengals crisis for his own career renaissance,
and that creates this immediate, unavoidable drama. Right absolutely, Given
burrows progression, Sunday's game against the nine and two Patriots
could very well be Flacco's last scheduled start in Cincinnati.
That internal dynamic must be so difficult to manage.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
It's the ultimate test of professionalism, isn't it. Flacco admitted
the idea of his final start has crossed his mind.
He said, it's in your head a little bit to
a certain extent.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
How could it not be, But.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He added that he tries to act oblivious to it,
just focusing on the game plan. And that's really the
only mental strategy that allows a veteran to succeed in
that kind of temporary, high pressure role.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
So let's bring it all together. What does this all
mean for the Bengals organization? They are just caught in
this profound conflict.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a true dilemma.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
You're balancing the health and the enormous long term investment
in Joe Burrow against the desire to salvage I don't
know a shred of dignity from this three and seven.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Season, and you're doing it all while navigating the unexpected
success of a temporary replacement who now has a very
strong case to be a starter somewhere else next year.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Do you activate Burrow and risk a setback against a
monster opponent when the season is.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Basically over, or do you keep him sidelined, run out
the clock with the very efficient Joe Flacco and just
prioritize twenty twenty six and Flacco success. It also impacts
their long term backup strategy. If he leaves for a
starting job, the Bengals lose a proven commodity.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
It's a classic case of short term urgency colliding with
long term strategy, and it's all complicated by a player
performing exceptionally well while the team fails around him. It
really is so to quickly synthesize our key takeaways here.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
First, Burrow achieved that monumental milestone of full practice status,
including the eleven on elevens that proves the turf toe
is responding really well.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But that previously I Thanksgiving target date is completely unconfirmed,
and the team record looms large, suggesting caution is the
word of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
And finally, the veteran QB replacement Joe Flacco has turned
in a remarkable twelve touchdown three interception performance. He's proven
his twenty twenty six starting capability to the rest of
the league, all while managing his own shoulder injury on
a three to seven team.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
This whole situation is just a masterclass in risk management.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You've got two quarterbacks, both injured in their own way,
both sending very different signals to the front office. One
is the past, auditioning for his future. The other is
the future who might be risking his health for a
meaningless presence, Which.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Raises a really important question for you to consider as
we close this deep dive. Considering Joe Flacco's high level
statistical performance, that twelve to three ratio, the sixty three
percent completion rate, how much pressure does that unexpected six
put on Joe Burrow when he returns.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Does Flacco's high efficiency bar make Burrow's first few games
back inherently riskier knowing his whole return was tied to
the team's willingness to compete. That's something for you to
mull over. As we watch the Bengals make this defining decision, it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Forces us to ask what constitutes success for them now?
Is it winning or is it just proving you belong?
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Food for thought. We'll see you next time on the
Deep Dive.
Welcome back to the Deep Dives. Today, we are strapping
on our helmets and stepping right into the very complicated,
high stakes world of NFL quarterback dynamics.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We really are, specifically, we're doing a deep dive into
the Cincinnati Bengals organization. They are navigating one of the
most i mean, strategically fraught quarterback situations you could possibly imagine.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
It's a true inflection point, and we've got a deep
stack of sources today to really unpack all the layers.
On one side, you have your franchise guy, your Pro
Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, who is making these huge physical
strides to get back from a major injury. And then
on the other side, you have his veteran replacement, forty
year old Joe Flacco, who is well, he's showing this
(00:44):
unexpected and frankly profound value on the field.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And this is all happening while the team is just
sliding deep into a losing skid exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So the tension here isn't just about the players. It's
a conflict between your long term investment and your short
term performance. Our mission today is synth We've pulled all
the key facts from a big ESPN report and some
related updates. We're looking at practice progression, coaching commentary from
Zach Taylor, and most importantly, the player's own perspectives on
(01:12):
what's next.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
And we're not just tracking an injury report here. The
real core question for you, the listener, is how an
organization balances all these competing demands. We're going beyond the
box score to look at the calculated risk the Bengals
have to take.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Okay, so let's jump right in with the main news development,
the physical status of the franchise. Quarterback Joe Burrow has
hit a really major milestone, the huge one. For the
first time since his injury, he actually achieved a one
hundred percent practice designation.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And we really need to understand the mechanics of this
injury to appreciate what a hurdle he's just cleared. I mean,
this wasn't some minor muscle tweak now. It was turf toe.
He suffered it way back in week two, September fourteenth
against Jacksonville. It needed surgery and he's missed seven games since.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And for a quarterback, turf toe, I mean, that's not
just a foot injury, it's and equally debilitating it just
destroys your ability to generate torque.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Torque, that is the key word. Absolutely. The big toe
is the last point of contact with the ground when.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You push off to make a throw to escape the
pocket and feet.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
If that toe isn't stable, you can't plant effectively. You
lose velocity, you lose accuracy, and critically, you lose that
stability in a collapsing pocket. Getting back to a point
where he can use that platform fully, it's just monumental.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And the key nugget from the reports is that on Wednesday,
November nineteenth, he was listed as a full participant. But
the truly technical detail, the thing that really signals he's
ready is what he was doing in that practice.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
That's right. More significant than just the full participant label
was the fact that Wednesday was the first time he
got into eleven on eleven drills.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
That's the ultimate test.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It's the proof of concept moving from you know, individual
throwing or seven on sevens, which are super controlled environments.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
To eleven on eleven where you're facing full defensive pressure,
you've got pocket collapse, timing urdles with your receivers, you're
processing coverages at game speed.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
And you're testing that foot in a pressurized, totally chaotic environment.
I mean, you have to trust that repaired toe. When
a three hundred pound defensive tackle is diving at your legs.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
It's a huge psychological hurdle as much as a physical.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
One, precisely. And this is all happening while he's in
this crucial administrative mechanism, the twenty one day practice window.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Right, So he's practicing fully even eleven on eleven without
actually being on the active roster yet.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Exactly, And that twenty one day window it's a really
important tool for teams managing these high value injured players.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So it's basically a flexible holding pattern. It lets them
test him out without having to cut another player to
make room on the fifty three man roster.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It buys them time they can fully test his durability,
see if there are any setbacks, and gauge his timing
against a real defense, all while keeping their current roster
totally intact. It just maximizes their flexibility and minimizes the risk.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
That makes perfect sense. It's a mechanism design to protect
the asset. But here is where the whole thing becomes
this strategic quagmire. Despite all this incredible physical progress. The
official timeline for his actual return to a game is well,
it's incredibly fuzzy.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
The ambiguity is thick, and you can tell the team
is trying to manage expectations while balancing his health against
what is, let's be honest, a lost season.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah. The Bengals coach Zach Taylor was very dismissive of
the idea of Burrow starting this Sunday against the Patriots.
He basically said there was no reason to even speculate.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Which is classic coach speak right. It's designed to protect
the player from any internal pressure, any external pressure. They
want to avoid a situation where Burrow says he's ready
and then the team feels forced to play him before
their one hundred percent sure.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
And Burrow himself he's backing away from his own ambition.
We know he had eyed the Thanksgiving game as a
potential return date. He wanted to get back out there.
He did, but after that full practice on Wednesday, he
gave reporters no indication of a timeline, just complete silence
on that self imposed target.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
And that silence, when you pair it with the coach's reluctance,
it brings us to the elephant in the room.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
The team's record, which Burrow himself mentioned last week. He
said the record would play a factor in his decision
to return.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Right if the season was salvageable, the urgency would be
through the roof.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And that's the strategic pivot point. Let's just look at
the cold hard numbers for a second. Cincinnati is currently
three and seven. They've lost seven of their past eight games.
They're on a demoralizing three game skid.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
They're essentially playing for draft position at this point, not
for the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And who is this hypothetical return game against the England Patriots,
who are nine to two. They're tied for the best
record in the entire AFC.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
So if you synthesize all that, the risk reward calculation
is just skewed so heavily against a fast return. Rushing
your franchise cornerstone back from surgery against a top tier opponent.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
When the season is, for all intents and purposes, mathematically.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Over, it presents a huge risk of re injury for
almost no game in terms of playoff viability. It feels
like Taylor is running out the clock, not just on
the twenty one day window, but on the season itself.
He's prioritizing twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Six, and that puts an immense amount of pressure on
the man who's currently running the offense. So while the
organization is basically in this weight and see mode with Burrow,
we have to pivot and dedicate some real time to
Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Flacco's story is such a compelling counter narrative to all
of this. He's the forty year old veteran. They got
him in a trade and he started the last five games.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
But this isn't just some healthy, steady vet filling in.
We had to acknowledge he is playing through his own injury.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
A significant one, a sprain right throwing shoulder. He suffered
it toward the end of that Week nine loss to
the Jets, and he's been managing it ever since. He's
often limited in practice, but he's still out there on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I mean, playing quarterback in the pocket requires so much
strength and stability in that throwing shoulder. To do that
at forty years old, while managing a sprain, that's an
incredible physical feat.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It absolutely is. And this brings us to what is
really a statistical contradiction, because yes, the team is one
in four in his.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Five starts, which reflects that dismal three and seven overall record,
of course.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
But if you isolate his individual performance, it tells the
story of an elite efficient quarterback who has genuinely flourished
in this offense.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Okay, but let me challenge that for a moment. Yeah,
if the team is one in four in those games,
is that truly success or is he just putting up
empty stats while the team keeps losing. How do you
balance those great numbers against the terrible team outcome?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
And that is such a critical distinction. It highlights the
difference between evaluating an individual's efficiency versus a total organizational failure.
Flacco's stats suggest he is not the reason they're losing. Okay,
He's completed sixty three point four percent of his passes.
He's racked up an impressive on four hundred and fifty
three yards. And here's the kicker. Twelve touchdowns and only
three interceptions.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Twelve touchdowns against three interceptions in five starts. That's a
four to one ratio. Yeah, I mean, that's efficiency you
expect from the top guys, not a forty year old
and a losing team with a bad shoulder.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Exactly when you look at his yards per attempt, his
percentage of drives at end in points compared to the
league average. Flacco is operating this offense at a very
high level. That high touchdown to interception ratio is the
hallmark of a quarterback who protects the ball and capitalizes
on scoring chances.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
And it stands in stark contrast to his rough start
to the season with the Browns before the trade.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It does this stint has proven his ability to still
control the flow of an offense, regardless of the team's
other shortcomings, be it on defense or somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
So this success has implications that go way beyond the
Bengals twenty twenty five season. Flacco is in the final
stretch of a one year deal. If he had failed
in Cincinnati, he'd be looking at a backup clipboard job next.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Year if that, and now, with this undeniable statistical proof,
his value has just skyrocketed.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
He's playing his audition tape on national television every.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Week he is, and his successful stint has profoundly reinforced
his own belief that he can and should be a
starting quarterback. In twenty twenty six, he spoke to ESPN
about it said he still desperately wants the opportunity to start,
and that this stint quote does help with the confidence
of being able to do it and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
He is leveraging the Bengals crisis for his own career renaissance,
and that creates this immediate, unavoidable drama. Right absolutely, Given
burrows progression, Sunday's game against the nine and two Patriots
could very well be Flacco's last scheduled start in Cincinnati.
That internal dynamic must be so difficult to manage.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
It's the ultimate test of professionalism, isn't it. Flacco admitted
the idea of his final start has crossed his mind.
He said, it's in your head a little bit to
a certain extent.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
How could it not be, But.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He added that he tries to act oblivious to it,
just focusing on the game plan. And that's really the
only mental strategy that allows a veteran to succeed in
that kind of temporary, high pressure role.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
So let's bring it all together. What does this all
mean for the Bengals organization? They are just caught in
this profound conflict.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a true dilemma.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
You're balancing the health and the enormous long term investment
in Joe Burrow against the desire to salvage I don't
know a shred of dignity from this three and seven.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Season, and you're doing it all while navigating the unexpected
success of a temporary replacement who now has a very
strong case to be a starter somewhere else next year.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Do you activate Burrow and risk a setback against a
monster opponent when the season is.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Basically over, or do you keep him sidelined, run out
the clock with the very efficient Joe Flacco and just
prioritize twenty twenty six and Flacco success. It also impacts
their long term backup strategy. If he leaves for a
starting job, the Bengals lose a proven commodity.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
It's a classic case of short term urgency colliding with
long term strategy, and it's all complicated by a player
performing exceptionally well while the team fails around him. It
really is so to quickly synthesize our key takeaways here.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
First, Burrow achieved that monumental milestone of full practice status,
including the eleven on elevens that proves the turf toe
is responding really well.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But that previously I Thanksgiving target date is completely unconfirmed,
and the team record looms large, suggesting caution is the
word of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
And finally, the veteran QB replacement Joe Flacco has turned
in a remarkable twelve touchdown three interception performance. He's proven
his twenty twenty six starting capability to the rest of
the league, all while managing his own shoulder injury on
a three to seven team.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
This whole situation is just a masterclass in risk management.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You've got two quarterbacks, both injured in their own way,
both sending very different signals to the front office. One
is the past, auditioning for his future. The other is
the future who might be risking his health for a
meaningless presence, Which.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Raises a really important question for you to consider as
we close this deep dive. Considering Joe Flacco's high level
statistical performance, that twelve to three ratio, the sixty three
percent completion rate, how much pressure does that unexpected six
put on Joe Burrow when he returns.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Does Flacco's high efficiency bar make Burrow's first few games
back inherently riskier knowing his whole return was tied to
the team's willingness to compete. That's something for you to
mull over. As we watch the Bengals make this defining decision, it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Forces us to ask what constitutes success for them now?
Is it winning or is it just proving you belong?
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Food for thought. We'll see you next time on the
Deep Dive.
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