Bengals Line with Lance McAlister and Dave Lapham -- 12/15/25

Lance and Lap breakdown what went wrong for the Bengals against Baltimore as the Bengals are officially eliminated from post season contention. You'll hear from Zac Taylor, Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Orlando Brown, Ted Karras and Myles Murphy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network pay Corps.
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best fans kettering hew official healthcare provider of US Cincinnati Bengals.
This is seven hundred WLW, the home of the best

(00:21):
Bengals coverage.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
All right, let's get it going on this Monday night.
Welcome into Bengals Line. Three hours of conversation about to unfold.
We're gonna sort through what transpired yesterday at pay Corps.
We're gonna look ahead to what could transpire this coming
Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. I'm Lance, Butacallister. He is
Dave Lapham, and boy, Dave, had you told me at
the start of the day, with the Bengals at home

(00:42):
and playing for their collective playoff lives, had you said
they'll lose this game, I would have thought, okay, man,
that would be tough. But it's gonna be hard fought.
It's gonna be back and forth, there might be some
points score. There's gonna be dynamic quarterback play. I would
have said I could see that. Had you told me,
they won't score and they'll lose twenty four to nothing.

(01:03):
I would have said, wait a minute, time out. That
can't possibly happen. And unfortunately it did. Yeah, unfortunately it did.
I mean uh to uh to pitch a shutout. I mean,
Baltimore is capable of that. That defensive football teams a
good when we know that Harbaugh, you know, has has
made his living as a defensive minded head coach. And uh,

(01:25):
you know, they they play hard, they believe in the scheme,
they believe in the system, they play with a lot
of pride. The Bengals couldn't get anything done. I mean
there was no consistency, no continuity to what they were
they were doing. Every once in a while, there'd be
a big play, uh, but that would go away quickly.

(01:46):
The effect that that big play would go away quickly,
and Baltimore would just bowl their necks and bow their
backs and not allow the Cincinnati Bengals to get another inch. David,
it is stunning to look at. I'm a big numbers guy,
and then numbers sometimes mean something and numbers sometimes mean nothing.
And then there's some numbers that make no sense. And if
you're loyal, if you hadn't watched the game, and you said,

(02:06):
wait a minute, the Bengals had the ball for thirty
nine minutes, Yeah, almost forty minutes to the Ravens twenty.
The Bengals ran seventy one plays to the Ravens forty,
and yet the Ravens out gained the Bengals by nineteen
I mean, think about that. One team had the ball
for twenty fewer minutes and ran thirty one fewer plays

(02:27):
and out gained the other team by nineteen yards. That's
almost impossible.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, it really is. I mean if the numbers just
don't add up, it's like, wait a minute, man, that's
a brain cramp they're waiting to happen. You know. It's
just the factor that needs to be considered. There is
field position, you know, average drive start. Where did the
Baltimore Ravens start their first first and ten, you know,
and that's where they crossed the Bengals. Really, I mean,

(02:54):
they took their soul away on those they had the ball.
Their field position advantage was maybe as as significantly positive
to their side of things as I've seen in a
long time in the National Football League. I Mean, it
was crazy the way that thing unfolded. And you know
at that at that point, you know your defense has

(03:16):
already have their backs up against the wall. It's like,
if they allow one first down, you're in field goal range,
you know. And and and that's that's a bad place
to be. That's a tough place to be. And and
the Cincinnati Bengals could never get out of that. They
could never flip it, you know, flip the switch, flip
the coin, so to speak, and put the Ravens on
a long field. They had long field after long field.

(03:38):
The Ravens had short field after short field. I think
that was the biggest difference in the game.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
And a real kicker and again filed under hard to fathom.
When the Bengals did get into the Ravens territory, they
got it into the Ravens side of the field five
different times and got i mean obviously zero points out
of it. But they get it to the forty and
half to punt, They get it to the twenty nine
and throw the interception. They get it to the thirty
and they turn it over on downs. They get it

(04:04):
to the seven Joe throws to pick six. They get
it to the twenty seven and they get stopped on
fourth and one. I mean, the odds if you turn
to Vegas and said, all right, what are the odds
this Bengals offense, We'll get into Ravens territory five different
times and not score a single point. I don't know
even how you calculate the odds, because that would be
seemingly be impossible, right right.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
I mean, fourth down stops and turnovers were huge. You know,
that's the reason that Baltimore was able to pitch the shutout.
Really they basically, in my mind, fourth down takeaways on
downs are pretty much equivalent to turnovers. You know, you
don't have an opportunity to even try a field goal

(04:44):
and score points and you're certainly not going to put
it in the end zone. So you know, the multiple
possessions where that was the case for the Cincinnati Bengals,
way too many possessions in one game. That's for damsure.
I mean, they had enough turnover taken away eight points
and allowing a pick six and fourth down stops ate

(05:04):
enough of those for an entire season, at least two
thirds of the season anyway, and they had it all
in one football game. And when you add all that up,
it's just a recipe for Disaster.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Boy and one drive that really jumped out to me, Dave.
And it's seventeen to nothing, and so this is still
certainly the game is in play, you're not out of it,
and it's seventeen to nothing. The Bengals went on a
sixteen play trucks crauized eighty five yards and consumed eight
minutes on the clock. And again, if you're not watching

(05:37):
the game, you think, wow, sixteen play drive. But as
you were watching it, you're thinking, wait a minute, they
need to score multiple times here, and they're taking sixteen
plays in the time off the clock. And I'm watching
from one step to the next, and they're in the huddle,
and I'm thinking, it almost felt like it's seventeen to nothing.
It's silly to think they just wanted to get the

(05:58):
game over. But I don't know how you go on
a sixteen play drive and take eight minutes when you
need to score multiple times.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, and there's not much time left in the football game,
you know, And yeah, the clock management was curious. Make
you scratch your head, that's for sure. I don't know
what Zach was thinking in those situations. Only he can
answer that question. But yeah, and again field is a factor.
I mean, when you go on an eighteen play drive,
you haven't put it in the end zone. You start

(06:25):
your after your drive. Start was way back there, man,
I mean you were back at your ten yard line,
inside your ten yard line. You had a long way
to go, You at a long distance drive coming up,
and you just could not quite finish it. That was
the story of the game. The Cincinnati Bengals just came
up short in terms of finishing, you know, at inconsistency

(06:45):
of play and lack of finishing. I think of the
two big headlines for this football game.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Let's get immediate reaction after the game inside the locker room.
Here's Dave with the coach Zach Taylor.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
We had a great play on defense, they gave us
an opportunity early in the game. And on dolphins. Obviously
we had the two that that really hurt us.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Third down another another key, another T. The three t's
that I had for the game, we're touchdowns, turnovers and
takeaways and third down. Third down didn't go very well.
Had some fourth downs that you had to try to convert.
I mean did okay, but not you know, you were
putting too many fourth down situations. Talk about the problems
that you faced on third down.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah, I thought early we were good. You know, early
we put uff in a good spot and drove the
ball on the field and obviously didn't finish. You know,
on one we had a turnover that took points off
the board. Another one we had a sack that that
took out a field goal range. And so first half
it was frustrating. We felt like there was opportunity for
points there and we came away with nothing a halftime
and obviously finished the game the same way.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
You were going to go from this football game to Miami.
I don't know how many degrees and just plan that's
going to be, but it's going to be. It's going
to be crazy. I know you don't necessarily want to
talk about the Miami Dolphins. You haven't had time to
digest the Miami Dolphins, to look at the Miami Dolphins much,
that's for sure. But I guess what do you think?

(08:02):
What are the weapons? What makes the Miami Dolphins a
solid football team?

Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (08:07):
I just know from what I've I am watching them
a long time. We'll find out. I know that they're
always a fast team and they've got a good quarterback
that gets out quick.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
So your division record, if you'd won out would have
been five and one, now can be four and two.
Still pretty solid, still something to be proud of. A
foreign two record in the division, and still it could
give you an eight and nine record, So obviously there's
a lot to play for.

Speaker 5 (08:34):
We just got to win.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
You know, We're gonna come in the building every day
and focus on finding a win in Miami, finding a
win after that. It's been disappointing that this is where
we're at right now. We're all accountable for that, and
that's obviously a disappointing day. But tomorrow we're gonna have
to pick ourselves up and find a way to go
find a win, get some momentum.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
That's what you're talking about there. One win at a time,
Paul Brown, my first head coach in the National Football League.
That's what you said. Man, you can't get a hit
yourself here, no matter what the situation. You got to
approach it one week at a time. You got to
try to accumulate one victory at a time. And that's
where you find yourself right now, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
That's well, that's all we can do is takeing one
game at a time and make the corrections from this
one and move on to the next one.

Speaker 5 (09:21):
Took as possible.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Coach, appreciate your time. You don't have to do this.
I know that sometimes it's difficult to do this. I
know a lot of times it's very difficult to do this.
But you're a class act and we appreciate your carbon
time for us.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
You got it, Zach Taylor. After the game, sum it up.
We'll take our first time out and continue. You hear
from QB one Joe Burrow on a rough day all
around as we navigate through the first of three hours
tonight if Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network and
seven hundred WLW all night sorting through yesterday on Bengals

(09:54):
Line and the Bengals Radio Network in seven hundred WLW
heard from Zach. Let's hear from Joe Burrow. You're at
a second. He goes twenty five of thirty nine, two
hundred and twenty five yards, sack three times, two interceptions.
Fifty eight point two was his rating. Here's Joe after
the game.

Speaker 6 (10:12):
You go back to Wednesday, there was a lot made
of your moment if you're having fun or not in Cincinnati,
so just still let you address it. Are you still
enjoying playing.

Speaker 7 (10:22):
For the Bengals?

Speaker 6 (10:23):
And what did you make of kind of what happened
in your comments on Wednesday?

Speaker 8 (10:28):
My comments had nothing to do with Cincinnati. My comments
had everything to do with me and my mindset in football.

Speaker 9 (10:35):
Do you think that your mindset this week in fact
in your play today or was it just your player today?

Speaker 6 (10:42):
Three years now of missing the playoffs, typically that results
in change for most NFL organizations. Do you still have
confidence in the people in the front office and the
coaching staff that they can get this roster in a
place and this team in a place where that wouldn't
happen next year?

Speaker 7 (10:57):
A lot of confidence because I know how hard people
work at it.

Speaker 8 (11:02):
We got the right people, uh starts, the players playing better,
and today was me from the outside.

Speaker 10 (11:08):
Are gonna just say that the organization top to bottom
front the office doesn't have enough people or the right
people in place. You honestly feel that they do and why.

Speaker 7 (11:21):
This is a team effort.

Speaker 8 (11:24):
You know, at the end of the day, players got
to play better on the field.

Speaker 7 (11:28):
Today was me, I gotta be better? What do you
feel like you could have know better today everything.

Speaker 11 (11:34):
Why was Why was it.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
So tough on there?

Speaker 9 (11:37):
What they made such challenge?

Speaker 7 (11:39):
They're getting good pressure, but you know, some.

Speaker 8 (11:45):
Uncharacter uncharacteristic mental mistakes on my end and some unforced errors.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Touch on the mindset.

Speaker 12 (11:55):
Do you think those things could be inter twined at all?
Is to maybe why you didn't go the way you
wanted to early on? Can you take us through? You
had a throw to Jamar, it was right for the interception, throw.

Speaker 9 (12:06):
To Jamar in the end zone. The interception where it
was just those two, those two players just felt.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Like you gott.

Speaker 8 (12:14):
Yeah the go I felt good about where I put it.
He got tugged a little bit. You Now, sometimes you
get those calls, sometimes you don't. But I felt good
about where I put down one. And then yeah, obviously
the interception was was a bit high.

Speaker 12 (12:27):
What would you think as you go back on the
field for the last time, the conditions, you probably would
not have what was run through your mind as you
go back.

Speaker 7 (12:34):
After the pick six. I mean, at that point it
was over, So just protect yourself.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Joe, out of playoff contention, do you want to play
the last three games personally?

Speaker 2 (12:44):
I do Joe Burrow after the game and Dave clearly
he was as hard on himself as you've ever heard
Joe Burrow. It was a rough day all around for everybody.
It was a really rough day for Joe, and he
did not hold back. I love what he said. You know,
you're you're you're not gonna win NFL games when your
quarterback plays like I did today. I want everything on

(13:06):
my plate. That's the position I want to be in.
And it just it. It wasn't his day, It wasn't
everybody's day yesterday, but that's certainly far from a typical
Joe Burrow afternoon.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Absolutely, and uh, you know he uh in in typical
Joe Burrow fashion, the leader that he is, he said,
put it on my shoulders. It's all on me, you know.
I just I did not perform the way that I'm
capable of performing. And talk to him in the in
the locker room after the game, not on not taping him,

(13:37):
but just conversing a little bit, and he was very,
very disappointed. He was down about his performance, and you know,
and deservedly so, rightfully so. But I do think one
thing about Joe Burrow is he does bounce back quickly,
and I think he will compartmentalize. Now, he'll learn, he'll
learn from this. There's a lot to learn. There are
lessons to learn for everybody that played in this football game.

(13:58):
Everybody the participate paid it in this debacle. You know,
you get shut out in the National Football League. Offensively,
a lot of lessons to learn there, and there's no
doubt defensively as well. You know, when your offense is struggling,
you have to pick them up. You know, it's a
it's basically it's a team game, and you have to
when one when one side is struggling, one phase is struggling,

(14:21):
the other one has to lift and raise the boat,
so to speak. So that's the that's the biggest lesson
I think learned in this football game. And it's not
gonna be easy going to Miami, and can tell you that.
You know there's gonna be a huge temperature swing, there's
no question, and humidity could be a big issue down
there as well. So guys better eat right, they better

(14:41):
get their rest, better take care of their bodies because
that trip to Miami is no joke.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
First time in Joe's NFL career he's been involved in
a shutout, the first Bengals home shutout since the opener
of twenty seventeen, first time Joe's played in a game
his team was shut out since twenty eighteen at LSU
against Alabama when Bama was was number one in the country.
And it also sticks out that his teammates said that

(15:08):
Joe addressed the team after the game. They didn't go
into details on what he said, but another thing that
you look for in a franchise quarterback and your leader,
gathering guys and speaking, and it is he put it
on him. But I'm sure the message was to the
group that we all need to do more. This is
not acceptable right now exactly.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
I think that you're hitting it right on the head.
And the great quarterbacks, the great leaders that the Cincinnati
Bengals have had, and they've been blessed with tremendous quarterback
play and tremendous people at the quarterback position, and I
can envision Boomers Iceen and Can Anderson both doing exactly
what Joe Burrow did. You know, Hey, guys, I played
like horse dong. You know, there's no question about it.

(15:51):
I stunk, I was, I was, I sucked, I was awful.
But you guys weren't much better. You know, I mean, nobody,
nobody did anything. Uh, you know that football game was atrocious.
It was it was not not up to snuff, not
up to standard for for NFL performance. You have to
you have to play at a higher level than that.

(16:11):
Let's make sure. Let's let's go learn. Like I was
talking about before, lesson hard, lesson hard pill to swallow,
tough pill to swallow. But let's get it down and
digest it and uh and and live through it. You know,
your neighbor's going to be all over here, your family
will probably be all over you gonna be hard to
find some friends. But that's what it's like, That's what

(16:33):
life's all about, the National Football League. When you lay
an egg as big as the one we laid.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah, no doubt. And you know, it's a rough day
for Joe. There's been days where he's maybe sailed to
pass or under thrown a pass. But when Joe says
an opening drive, when he took the sack that took him
out of field goal range, he said, a mental mistake
by me. Joe doesn't make mental mistake. You know, it's
a rough day when Joe's making a mental mistake right on.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
I mean, you know, just throw it away. You know
that those yards, every yard is valuable. He more than
anybody understands that. And one of those days. You know,
every once in a while, no matter what your job is,
you have a day at work where it's like, oh boy,
I wish this day would end. You know, this day
can't end fast enough. And that was the case for

(17:15):
Joe Burrow and the Bengals yesterday.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
No doubt, we've reached the bottom of the hour. Hangtag.
We'll flip to the defensive side of things here from
Miles Murphy. He had a nice day, a couple of sacks.
Talk more about his continuing development as we continue with
Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network and seven hundred WLW.
We rolled right along in this lendy nut of Bengals

(17:38):
Line and the Bengals Radio Network in seven hundred WLW,
Lance mccunt, Lester, Dave Black Them. We'll hear from Orlando
Brown coming up in this hour a little bit later
on Jamar Chase Head, caraus in so much more. But
let's talk defense yesterday, and let's start with Miles Murphy
who turned in a two sack day. He's up to
four and a half on the season. Here's Miles after
the game.

Speaker 13 (17:59):
We're in the locker room with Miles Murphy after disappointing
loss for the Bengals. You had two sacks.

Speaker 14 (18:04):
TJ.

Speaker 13 (18:05):
Slayton was involved in one of those sacks. In any case,
how difficult were the playing conditions for everybody on both
sides today?

Speaker 15 (18:13):
I mean, of course it's cold, but it's just a conditions.
Just you know what you signed up for football. You
played in any any weather, so just gotta bear with
it and still just play your keys.

Speaker 14 (18:24):
Played the run, rust passer.

Speaker 15 (18:26):
You know, do we can as a defense?

Speaker 13 (18:28):
Big plays hurt you guys today? Did you feel like
that was the biggest problem my defense?

Speaker 7 (18:33):
Uh?

Speaker 15 (18:33):
Yeah, Limiting the explosives. They're explosive team. They got guys
all over at quarterback, O line, running back, receivers, So
you gotta do what you can't do, limit the explosives.

Speaker 14 (18:42):
I felt we felt that we did a good.

Speaker 15 (18:43):
Job against the run, kept them, cut them, contain, cut
pressure on them.

Speaker 14 (18:47):
But it was just the explosives.

Speaker 16 (18:49):
Uh.

Speaker 15 (18:50):
I was I was one of them. I was one
of them that gave it the one of the one
explosive and those are just things that just can't happen.

Speaker 13 (18:57):
Was that on the touchdown pass to al Lee? I
was on your but I didn't really know what your
responsibility was there.

Speaker 15 (19:02):
Yeah, the first one I was supposed to Yeah, I
was supposed to take them on that one. And that's
just something that can't happen to me and or anyone.
I just can't happen to give up that explosive play.

Speaker 13 (19:11):
It was a tough game in the sense that Thangals
had some opportunities early inside the thirty, didn't take advantage Baltimore.
Baltimore got a score, and then it kind of felt
like the momentum swung their way, particularly when they got
that second score late in the second quarter. Describe what
it was like for you guys, just from a momentum standpoint.

Speaker 15 (19:30):
Really, as a defense, we try to approach every every
possession of the same like we got to get the
ball that for our offense, because we know our offense,
you know, just like there's a we have offenses full
of explosive guys and who they all they need is
a chance man, and that's that's what we try to
do for our offense. Just give them a chance. And
you know, that's the only thing we can do. Just
do our just do our job and continue to give
our give Joe to just continue to give you the ball.

(19:52):
That's that's all we want to do. That's all we
can do.

Speaker 13 (19:54):
It obviously doesn't help the playoff math. Where do you
guys stand now with three games to go?

Speaker 15 (19:59):
What's the same deal? The next next week is the
biggest game of the year. That's that's my mindset. I
feel like that's the entire defensive mindset. Just done to
next week, same mindset. Attack, stop the run, get after
the quarterback. But nothing changes. We're not just gonna sit
back and just let whatever happen to us like we're
gonna still attack set, set edges, do what we can
and just you know, show show everyone what bangle, what

(20:21):
bangle football is.

Speaker 13 (20:23):
Appreciate your time, Miles thinking.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
Miles Murphy after the game yesterday, he wasn't perfect. He
admitted his the role in in the breakdown in the
thirty yard touchdown. But if we're talking about the graph
and this team needs young guys to keep getting better
and Dave, there is clear momentum for the way Miles
Murphy has come on in the back part of this season.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
Agreed lancetal question about it, And like you said, he
has four and a half sacks now in the season
with that two sack performance yesterday, that's number two in
the team. The only guy that's got more is with
Joseph a side with five. So you know, Miles Murphy
is becoming a little bit of a factor off the edge.
You know, he and Osia both young players. They both
have immense physical talent. Uh, and when the Bengals scouted them,

(21:03):
they they are size, speed ratios and everything strength overall
body strength or off the charts. So now it's a
matter of making sure that knowing the game, what they're
what they're expected to do in the game of football,
understanding football, football IQ, everything that goes along with that.
And uh, they're very intelligent, both of them have you know,

(21:25):
raw i Q. So hopefully the football IQ will will
come along quickly.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Boy, and he's somebody. Let's let's look ahead and you
know likelihood that Trey I don't know, Betray Henderson probably
not here next year. You never know, but you need
somebody to become a dominant, game changing game wrecking. I
don't want I don't expect him to immediately jump to
it all pro next year, but you need the continued

(21:53):
development of somebody who can be an impact a young,
impactful guide or defense.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Absolutely, And if you're a defensive coordinator, Al Golden, he
wants to have a guy, all right, I know I
can count on him to pressure the quarterback, not necessarily
sack them, but pressure him, make him uncomfortable, make him
make a quicker decision than he wants. To make him
put the ball in jeopardy at least once a game,

(22:18):
maybe multiple times a game. And that's that's what he's
looking for defensively. And so you know, pass rush can
have an impact different ways other than quarterback sacks. Quarterback
being taken to the ground. That's the sexy deal that
everybody's looking for. You know, what kind of quarterback sacks
do you have? But quarterback pressures are important also, quarterback
hurries are important also. And the more you can get

(22:41):
out of these two young guys in that regard in
those two categories, the better off you're going to be.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Boy. And while we're on the defensive side of things,
and and young and needing more from Dimitris Knight Junior
has a two sack day and has five tackles, and
and that's something that the linebackers have been in the
crosshairs in the spotlight a lot this season. But to
see Dimitri's Knight Junior have a big day's got to
do a lot for his confidence, exactly.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
And you know he's capable. I mean, you know he's
Those two sacks put him in the top policy one, two, three, four, five,
he's in the top five from the team. Now with
those two quarterback stacks tied for top five, which I mean,
the Bengals aren't tearing it up in terms of team
quarterback sacks, that's for sure. But again, young guys, young

(23:28):
guys at every level, young guys at defensive line, there
are young players at the linebacker level. There are young
guys in the back end that are starting to show up.
And the graph of their contribution and their play is
going straight up, it really is.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
And if you go back started the game, first three possessions,
the defense forces a punt, forces a punt, gets the interception,
and then it's it's such a theme with this defense.
There'll be good, good, good, and then just ah, really
awfully bad on a breakdown, and there were plays they
allowed of thirty two yards thirty twenty nine, twenty eight,

(24:01):
twenty six, twenty five, twenty two, twenty two. And if
we go back to time obsessions, the Ravens only had
forty snaps and yet eight plays went for twenty two
yards or more. Those are just backbreaking and just our
steps back from so many steps you try to take forward.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah, exactly, they're catastrophic, you know. I mean it's like,
you know, you start to feel good about yourself. Yeah, hey,
things are we're believers. Man, things are going pretty well,
and then all of a sudden, bam right in the face. Man,
you take a shot right in the bridge of the
nose and get your nose busted all over your face.
I mean, that's life in the National Football League for sure.

(24:37):
But man, you know, these young players, they're just gonna
have to minimize those big plays. Every team in the
NFL is going to give up big plays. But if
you give up, you know, three big plays and eight snaps,
you're in trouble. I mean, I don't care how you
know who you are, what team you are, you just

(24:57):
can't afford to give up those kind of glosives.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, just looking at the sheet for perspective, Bengals offense
ran seventy one plays and only had two plays that
gained twenty or more yards. The Ravens ran forty plays
and had eight plays that went for over twenty yards.
Those explosive plays are.

Speaker 3 (25:18):
Just gut punches one out of every five.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, that's true. That's incredible.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
That's twenty percent of this is Riley taught me right
how to side for a little bit. I mean, you know,
twenty percent of your snaps are big plays, explosives. That
dog's definitely not gonna hunt if you're a defensive football team.
Did a lot of hunting for the Ravens, there's no question.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah. And you know, a final thought on young guys
and you reference Shamar Stewart. I would think final three
games will be big for him, And it looks like
the trend is he's probably we wondered he might play
this week, didn't. If he can play the final three,
that would be I think huge for his development, his confidence.
Just to get something on tape that that he can

(25:58):
feel good about to end the season with, I think
would mean a lot going into the off season.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
I agree with you. And for the coaching staff, yes,
you know, it's like get tape, like you said, plays
from him on tape, or you can really evaluate and say,
do we need to still address this or are we good?
Do we see growth and development here? Do we feel
good about what's going on at the on the edge
for our defensive football team? And you know, can we
put resources somewhere else at linebacker or in the back end,

(26:25):
whatever we need to do on our side of the football.
Let's uh, let's let's figure it out. Let's let's do
the evaluating we need to do.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, especially, it just popped into my head. Joseph Osai
is going to be in a contract situation. So you're
weighing Miles Murphy coming on on one end. If you
feel good over the final three with Shamar and then
maybe it impacts how you view Osai. Maybe it doesn't,
But a lot of questions and you just need young
progress and development. That's the bottom line.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
Absolutely, I mean that that is the bottom line. Young
progress and development is the lifeblood of any organization in
the NFL.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
When we continue Orlando Round Junior on the offensive line
and so much more. Thanks for hanging out with us
tonight it is Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network
and seven hundred. We keep moving along on this Monday night,
picking up the pieces from yesterday, and eventually we'll turn
the attention to those Miami Dolphins coming up in our

(27:20):
third hour tonight of Bengals Line and the Bengals Radio Network.
We've heard from Zach, heard from Joe, heard from Miles Murphy.
Let's go to the other side of the ball, and
up front Orlando Brown on the day that was for
the Bengals in the offensive line. Here's Orlando after the game.

Speaker 17 (27:34):
You know, I definitely resonate with was and Joe on
a filling on that.

Speaker 18 (27:39):
All right, Joe has done so much in his organization,
so many games he even wanted he came in today.
This one's on me as a guy who's a leader
on this team. Do you have Joe's back that like,
it's a team effort.

Speaker 17 (27:51):
It's not just the quarterday, Yeah, one hundred percent of
team effort, man. And you know, so many things going
to being able to win a football game.

Speaker 14 (27:59):
And it's not just about our.

Speaker 17 (28:00):
Quarterback playing well or just our defense playing well. Uh,
so many things have to go together. And so uh,
today's losses and just on him, man, you know, zero
points offensively, We all got a hand in that, and
whatever that is.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
You know, we'll watch the film.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
We'll we'll learn from, you.

Speaker 17 (28:15):
Know, mistakes that we made and be able to uh,
you know, focus on that and and make sure those
things don't happen again.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
But it's never just on a joke.

Speaker 14 (28:22):
Man.

Speaker 18 (28:23):
You know what this locker room has to be a
third straight year Orlando without making them.

Speaker 17 (28:27):
Playoffs against that, Yeah, it is surprising.

Speaker 13 (28:30):
Man.

Speaker 17 (28:30):
You know, we spend a lot of time uh in
the off season. Uh, we spend a lot of time
uh as a as a team, bonding and and and growing.
And so you know, anytime you don't get the opportunity
to be in a dance, it's it's frustrating and and
it sucks, man, And you know it puts it puts everybody, uh,
you know, in a in a difficult spot. But I
could tell you over these next three weeks, man, I'm

(28:52):
so thankful for the ability to play this football game. Uh,
you know, something always dreamed of as a young kid.
And so uh man, I'm I'm I'm thankful to be
playing for this organization. In the city and I'm gonna
continue to give it everything I got. But it is frustrated.
It's frustrating not being in the playoffs to get back
to the.

Speaker 16 (29:07):
Super Bowl expectations you guys have. What do you feel
like it is the first step to get back?

Speaker 7 (29:11):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Yeah, I mean it's a lot of different things.

Speaker 9 (29:13):
Man.

Speaker 17 (29:13):
It's it's hard to sit here and hang my hat
on one thing. But to me, you know, it just
it comes down to being able to to win when
we need to and showing up in these big games
and these big moments and so uh, you know, I've
I've been a part of those you know, special teams
and obviously a lot of guys in this locker room
were part of it, you know, here in twenty one
and twenty two being able to push to that point.
So h it's a lot of things, man that it's

(29:35):
gonna take for us to get back in that.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
Position, youse.

Speaker 17 (29:39):
Uh, definitely, definitely, you know. But the reality is that
the NFL, a lot of teams are close.

Speaker 16 (29:43):
You know.

Speaker 17 (29:43):
The way that this league is set up is designed
for everybody to have an even playing field, with the
way the draft order, the waiver wire, the cap, uh,
so you know what's the take to to be able
to win a Super Bowl? You know, that's that's a
whole building, that's a whole uh set of players that
are focused on the task at hand and understand that
it's one day at a time. You know, you can't
win the Super Bowl and September. You can't win it

(30:04):
in April. You gotta go win it when the when
the game's played in February. So you know, I man,
once we once we continue to to grow and and
we get to that point, to me, we'll be able
to hopefully finish when those that opportunity comes.

Speaker 18 (30:16):
How much is it the test of professionalism next three
weeks for the guys in here, not having a shot
to go to the playoffs still play up to the
standard that you expect.

Speaker 17 (30:25):
Yeah, it's important, man, It's important cause, Uh, I know
my brothers are relying on me, and you know I'm
gonna continue to come out here and give them all.

Speaker 5 (30:33):
Why is that important?

Speaker 11 (30:34):
Makes?

Speaker 5 (30:35):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (30:36):
Yeah, I mean for so many reasons.

Speaker 16 (30:37):
Uh.

Speaker 17 (30:38):
You know, I think there's a lot of people that
would you know, I don't wanna be dramatic, but.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
Die for this opportunity.

Speaker 17 (30:45):
I mean, you know, and that's that's the reality to me. So, uh,
you know, anytime I get the opportunity to suit up
in this game and and go out here and play
with my brothers, always give.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
It all up. Orlando Brown on the uh, the struggles
and difficulties yesterday, and and Dave that it's not all
on the offensive line, and Joe admitted some of his
mistakes as well. But Joe got sacked three times, he
got hit ten times. It wasn't the crisp offensive line
play we've seen in the recent weeks for that group.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
No, I mean three quarterback sacks, ten quarterback hits, and
that's not even including pressures that weren't hits. Yes, So
you know, Joe was kind of you know, Ben Gazeera,
he was, he was on the run, he was on
the move quite a bit. You hate to see your
quarterback get sacked, but you don't want your quarterback to

(31:33):
get hit ten times in the National Football League. Every
time he gets hit, you know, the odds increased that
one of them may be very painful. Yes, So you
want to you want to clean that up. You want
to address that. You want to make sure three games
left in the in the regular season, you want Miami,
Arizona and Cleveland. You want to make sure that you

(31:54):
minimize the exposure that Joe Burrow has to pressure, resulting
in the quarterback Harrison quarterback hits.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah, and that game, I think it's fair to say,
got very chippy. And the longer it went on, the
more I worried about Joe. You're thinking, all right, this
is not their day. The last thing you really need
is a cheap shot, a laid hit, something that's going
to impact Joe. And it was trending that way multiple
times yesterday.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
Yeah, it was. And you know, it's a division battle,
a heated division battle. Baltimore and Cincinnati. They there's bad
blood there. They don't really like each other, there's no
question about that. And uh and and usually more and
more of the pushing and shoving and chippiness and activity
after this play is completed happens up front. So those

(32:39):
are the guys that that need to kind of keep
their cool, keep their composure, and just take it out
each other. Uh, from the snap to the whistle, and
then after that go back to the huddle, line up
and do it again the next time and go snap
to whistle, No doubt about it.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Hey. Coming up in our second hour, we'll hear from
Jamar Chase and Ted Carris and uh mortiget to as
we eventually turn to our second hour, three Big Ones
tonight to break it all down, come back and head
down the stretch of hour one as we continue with
Bengals Line of the Bengals Radio Network and seven hundred
WLW down the stretch we go of our first hour,

(33:19):
first of three IF Bengals Line of the Bengals Radio
Network and Lance.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
As always, we have the Kettering Health Report, the Injury Report,
that's a feature every week where really, I think, as
I think back, the Bengals didn't have any real severe
problems coming out of this football game. I don't think
anybody's gonna miss any big time. We do have a
bruised shin that you know, that's a little bit of

(33:43):
an issue for Osai. All of that is presented by
Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Cincinnati Bengals,
providing the best care for the best fans.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
And how about what I'm thinking of it? And it
points to who he is and no one's ever questioned
who he is or what he's all about. Some J. P.
Ryan has carved off at one point and you turn around,
you look at he's coming right back onto the field,
and you can just imagine him saying, blankety blank, I'm
going back into that game.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
He is a tough dude. We were talking about that,
you know, on the air. He came off the field,
went into the blue tent, and he was out of
there quickly.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Man.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
You know, I mean, I guess whatever if it was,
if he got wrong, they cleared the concussion protocol symptoms
pretty damn quickly, that's for sure. If he had some
sort of an issue on a sprain or whatever it was,
it was determined not to be that severe. But that
dude is tough man, and he is physical. He is
a horse. I mean he's uh his his quadriceps, his hamstrings,

(34:41):
his calves strong. I mean he's got unbelievable legs, leg power,
and he churns those those legs, you know when he
moves the whole pile when he's when he's pushing runs
with a good body, lean as well, and he gives
very little hitting surface. A big, powerful back that has
good soft hands can catch it and he will block.
He will uh quarterbacks and Joe Burrow in particular will

(35:03):
love him. He'll stick his nose right in the chest
of linebackers and safeties and stone them.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
Ten degrees at kickoff yesterday minus one wind chill, so
cold yesterday, so cold yesterday the booth windows were closed,
that they were or on orders closed the booth windows
or you know what Yd's equipment freezing up or anything
like that. You know why you had uncomfortable honestly during
the game, as will so close him and everybody. But

(35:29):
you know, it's cold when the windows have to be closed,
and that's the way it was yesterday.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what governing body
makes that decision you and I'm not sure who makes
the call un closing uh closing the windows at pay Corps.
But it was toasty. The booth was very comfortable, and
no question about that. I know it was chili willie
for the boys out in the field. And I remember
when it was like in the freezer.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Ball man, you think about that, I said, you know,
yesterday and obviously a big deal is made out of
the weather windshill minus won and I'm looking around one
wait a minute, I mean, certainly everybody remembers what minus
fould we think of just saying it out loud minus
fifty nine wind chill. That doesn't even sound humanly possible,
and yet it very much was possible.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, it was. It was cruel and unusual punishment. I
can say that, man, I have never been close to
that cold at any other point in my lifetime. And
they came close to calling that game, postponing the game.
It was like in the in the final hour, really
they made the determination to just go ahead and let
it roll out. Yesterday's game was never in any danger

(36:31):
of you know, postponement, cancelation for twenty four hours or whatever.
But yeah, that was chili. And I can identify man
watching the take cares out there and warm ups and
shorts and T shirt and I'm.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
Thinking there's Ted keeping up the tradition, the old line
way to go Ted. Yes, we'll hear more from here
from Ted coming up. In our second era, we turned
the corner. It's Bengals line and the Bengals Radio Network
and seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
This is Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network. Pay Corps.
Pay Corps proud to be the official HR software provider
of US Cincinnati Bengals kettering el Best Care for the
Best Fans Kettering ELF, official healthcare provider of US Cincinnati Bengals.
This is seven hundred WLW, the home of the best

(37:18):
Bengals coverage.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Hey, welcome back in about to unfold our two of
Bengals line and there's Monday Night of the Bengals Radio Network.
Thanks for hanging out with us. We're sorting through what
transpired yesterday at pay Court twenty four and nothing over
the Ravens. We've got the Dolphins to look ahead to
in our third hour as well. We get busy with
it in the first hour. Let's begin our two with
the Jamar Chase, Bengal wide receiver had a ten catch

(37:42):
day yesterday, ten catches, one hundred and thirty two yards
a long of thirty four. Here's Jamar with the reaction
after the game.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Where did you.

Speaker 10 (37:50):
Think that game got away today? Why was it so
hard to create offensive rhythm?

Speaker 14 (38:00):
Just wasn't executing a little bit?

Speaker 19 (38:03):
Wasn't pushing the ball on the field when getting putting
ourselves in position on third down? Or get the ball
on the field and just get a raison? You know,
I dropped a I dropped a slam on the first
series that put us in a position to get a
t uh field goal or touch down, and Uh, I
put that on myself dropping that path.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
Did he take us through?

Speaker 3 (38:22):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (38:23):
The gobo?

Speaker 5 (38:23):
I think it was on the next drive? Yeah?

Speaker 11 (38:26):
Did he just you not get your head around cause
he was grabbed.

Speaker 20 (38:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 19 (38:29):
He twist M like he try this some sneaky that
was pretty pretty good for him, pulled my help and
you know it caused me to jerk my body and
uh in two ways, and I just couldn't find a ball.

Speaker 9 (38:42):
Jo was especial league hard on himself and as he
he had elblities and was one of the worst things
he ever played.

Speaker 14 (38:47):
What was your thoughts on Joe's cart.

Speaker 19 (38:49):
Uh, I've been knowing Joe for a long time, and
at the end of the day, I know where he's
capable of. I know when he's off, I know when
he's on. But I gotta find a way to help him.
You know what I'm saying. It he's off on, it
don't matter. I gotta beat that for him, encourage him, you.

Speaker 14 (39:04):
Know what I'm saying. Just do whatever I can for you.

Speaker 13 (39:07):
At a couple of thirty yard catches, Jamorrow but what's
their plan to take away the deep ball? Is that
what Baltimore prioritize.

Speaker 19 (39:14):
I'm not sure what they planning was today, but I'm
sure it was not for us to score.

Speaker 7 (39:19):
So what'd you been?

Speaker 5 (39:21):
What's it like to see if Beast are called himself
after a game? I think the most he's ever after.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
Any kind of fuck.

Speaker 19 (39:31):
He just he just really loved the game. Man, he
just wanna be great. And at think then I could
respect that from him. But like he told me, don't care.
I ain't gonna I ain't gonna let him kill himself
mentally by just one game he played better.

Speaker 13 (39:43):
How hard is it to accept the fact that you're
officially alarm?

Speaker 14 (39:47):
Hard pill to swallow? But I mean, at the end
of the day, is where we got a live with.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
How would you sum up this season?

Speaker 9 (39:52):
Howse the the the roller baster or stups and down
everything that he doesn't know?

Speaker 19 (39:56):
Yeah, we just I don't know. I don't know if
I mean, I don't know, Man, you gotta find a
way at the end of the day.

Speaker 14 (40:03):
A complimentary football has been tough for you guys this year.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
Why is it doing so much harder this year than.

Speaker 19 (40:07):
Past season, but that that don't mean nothing, you know
what I'm saying. As in the day, we still have
opportunities to put ourselves in a position with the close
games and we dat them. So uh we just gotta
you gotta find a way to execute them.

Speaker 14 (40:18):
And when games going.

Speaker 5 (40:18):
Forward, do you still believe in this coaching stuff?

Speaker 11 (40:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 19 (40:22):
I mean we had great plays today, that was opportunities
so for us to score and and and kill 'em deep,
but you know, sometimes we just didn't connected.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
So be it three straight seasons missing the playoffs.

Speaker 11 (40:32):
What kind of changes would you like to see in
this offseason?

Speaker 19 (40:37):
M You know, if I if I can, if I
had to say so, it'd probably be be something. But
I don't know what I could do. So all I
could do is control what I could control.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
How do you.

Speaker 21 (40:45):
Approach these last three weeks now, you know, being eliminated,
just playing towards.

Speaker 11 (40:48):
The end of the season.

Speaker 19 (40:49):
Uh, I just gotta be a leader man, be a captain,
pushing the guys forward and just trying to finish strong.

Speaker 10 (40:54):
What kind of battitude they wanna say after this SAFS playing.

Speaker 14 (40:58):
It's just about finishing strong.

Speaker 19 (40:59):
Had playing many everybody got come in and work we
all coming in the same thing, doing the same stuff
every day. Everybody time is being doing being put in
around the same thing. So we gotta come in and
just keep pushing it and just finish strong. That's all
I think we could do. At the end of the day.

Speaker 5 (41:12):
Three years ago, when you guys left the Arrow had
losing the second ARC Championship, they told you that you
wouldn't be back, just didn't a plan over the next
three years. What do you think your.

Speaker 14 (41:22):
Reaction would have been, Uh, I probably wouldn't believe you.

Speaker 12 (41:25):
What's the attribute to think y'all probably missing most to
get back to that point?

Speaker 14 (41:29):
Could again, what's the.

Speaker 5 (41:30):
Attribute y'all are missing most as a team? More than that?

Speaker 3 (41:33):
More like is there?

Speaker 14 (41:37):
I'm not sure. Man. At the end of the day, offense,
it's either.

Speaker 19 (41:41):
The offense is clicking or the defense is clicking. One
of the days we we have never yet to put
our offense and defense together as one unit and play
together with.

Speaker 10 (41:49):
So much on the line this week, Jamark, did you
guys feel mentally prepared to take on the Ravens today?

Speaker 19 (41:55):
I I believe we felt mentally prepared. But it's the
best of the best that then and it's the NFL.
And what's the hardest part?

Speaker 2 (42:03):
I play again, when it's that hold out there, what's
the hardest part?

Speaker 14 (42:07):
Trying trying to breathe, trying to breathe? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Does that make everything.

Speaker 5 (42:12):
You're seeing that much more intense?

Speaker 3 (42:13):
Just tough?

Speaker 2 (42:14):
When everything's aren't going on?

Speaker 5 (42:15):
How much more difficult does it feel when it is
that cold?

Speaker 19 (42:20):
I mean, you gotta it's football, man, and the day
it's a physical sport. But the cold don't make it
no better. And you you gotta be out there, you
gotta play.

Speaker 13 (42:26):
Does surviving in the ground, like when you're catching the ball?

Speaker 11 (42:29):
Does that change in the cold?

Speaker 6 (42:30):
Does?

Speaker 9 (42:30):
It seemed like that was an Issu're not just for
anyone in particular, but as a whole.

Speaker 3 (42:33):
The skin.

Speaker 14 (42:36):
Like surviving getting tackled, like knowing how to fall and stuff.

Speaker 9 (42:39):
Like when you're catching the ball and you to make
you have a completion when you hit the ground.

Speaker 14 (42:44):
I I don't pay attention to I'm not gonna lie you.
I mean to get in the hit on them. I'm
not so more.

Speaker 5 (42:50):
You know Joe better than just about anybody.

Speaker 14 (42:52):
What do you do to lift him?

Speaker 3 (42:54):
What?

Speaker 14 (42:54):
What I from being honest?

Speaker 19 (42:58):
I never I never been in a situation with him
where I had to uplift him, you know what I'm saying.
But going forward, I might need to because he does
it to me at the end of the day, and
you never know what he might be going through, so
I might I might need to start doing that.

Speaker 13 (43:11):
You know, your bottom line is winning and losing. But
does the shutout make it worse? Does that rep you
the wrong way?

Speaker 19 (43:20):
If I'm being honest, I read blown out, then be
playing in a close game and lose byfield goal, so that.

Speaker 11 (43:27):
Jam Joe burrows a stage.

Speaker 14 (43:31):
I'm not sure. This is my first time.

Speaker 19 (43:33):
You know, probably going to have to if anything, but
I probably doubt I will, But.

Speaker 14 (43:39):
I don't know.

Speaker 19 (43:39):
We just probably just gonna kick it, chill and just
try not to talk about football.

Speaker 14 (43:43):
If I'm being honest, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (43:44):
Is it adds like a weird feeling?

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Not really, No, Jamar Chase on a difficult day, he
was targeted sixteen times. You know it's it. It wasn't
and Jamar kind of alluded to it. There was there
were times where he and Joe didn't seem to be
on the same page, But in the end, it's still
a ten think about it. It's still a ten catch,
one hundred and thirty two yard day for Jamar Chase,
which shows his greatness. He's still able to have a

(44:13):
day like that when it maybe it wasn't at the
most proficient level between he and his quarterback.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah, and Jamar referenced it. He said in the locker
room back to the game. You know, Joe was off.
Joe wasn't like Joe can be. You know, Joe wasn't precision,
pinpoint accuracy. I wanted to try to help as as
much as I possibly could. We've been together for a
long time, all the way back to the LSU days,
and probably I don't know about the All Star gamers too,

(44:39):
not who knows, but they know each other cold, they
know exactly. They've got kind of esp in terms of
being on the same page and seeing the game the
same way, seeing coverage is the same way, seeing defenses
the same the same way, and they can tell when
each other's having a good day or a bad day

(44:59):
or whatever and the reasons for it. So yeah, it
it definitely was not. It was a big day for Jamar.
How about targeted sixteen times? Many and really quarterbacks, you know,
I remember when Kenny would say, you know, when you're
in struggling, when you're not things aren't going the way

(45:20):
you anticipated them to go, you look for the guy
that's your safety net. You look for the guy that,
no matter what, you know, he's gonna be where he's
supposed to be when he's supposed to be there, doing
exactly what he's supposed to do. And uh, Kenny had Trump,
he loved, he loved to locate Bob Trumpy and you know,
the pro bowler stepped up for Kenny many times. And

(45:40):
that's the relationship that Jamar Chase and Joe Borrow have
as well.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
I think it's a great point in the trust and
know he's going to be there, because, let's be honest,
Yoshi had another yesterday and in Tinsley had a moment
where he probably should have had a touchdown catch at
the end zone. And it's only you're only human, if
you're Joe of if there's enough that you store in
the back of your mind and you wonder about you
never have to wonder about throwing the ball to Jamar

(46:05):
Chase or or somebody. And he wasn't there yesterday. So
sixteen targets makes a lot of sense. If you're calculating
in the back of your mind, Am I gonna throw
it to player A, B or C who maybe not
in the right spot might make the dry ar? Am
I just gonna maybe force it a little bit to
Jamaar because I know where he's gonna be. And it's
easy to do that.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
Yeah, it is. It's easy to start to fall into
that trap a little bit. And speaking about T Higgins,
you know he's from the Florida area originally. For him
to go down to Miami and play against the Dolphins
is a big deal. It's a big deal for him,
for his family, for his friends. Everybody's going to be
excited to watch T Higgins perform and he who probably
I'll guarantee you T Higgins is playing on, putting on

(46:44):
a show. And have you know, like almost a double
digit catch, you know, maybe seven to ten catches for
you know, one hundred and twenty five to one hundred
and forty yards, a couple of touchdowns. I could see
those kind of numbers for T Higgins in this football
game against the Dolphins.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
One final thought on Jamar, I thought maybe the most
telling thing he said after the game was about his
connection with Joe, and you alluded to how they understand
each other, and I thought it was pretty powerful when
Jamar said, I've never been in this situation where I
have to uplift him, but going forward, I might need to.

(47:21):
Joe does it to me. At the end of the day,
you never know what he might be going through, so
I might need to start doing that. And I think
that's great recognition of Jamar of his quarterback. His friend
isn't where he usually is. Where there, it's mentally physically
and needs needs him now, and I think that's great
recognition by Jamar of what he has to do now.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
Yeah, I think I think you're right, And I think
you know, Joe made mention after the game that he's
got some personal things that he's dealing with. It's not
necessarily football related, it's not organizational related to the Cincinnati Bengals,
but he has to work through and sort through some things.
And if anybody can help him do that and forget
about those things, it's Jamar Chase and t Higgins, yep.

(48:06):
And I just I think both of them are gonna
combine for a massive day down there against the Miami Dolphins.
I can see them really saying, Joe, we got your back, buddy.
You know you've had ours many many times. Yes, you've
made us look good. Time for us to make you
look good. We got you, bro.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
Very well, said, very well, said still ahead. Ted Carris
on the day that was at pay Corps. This is
Bengals on on the Bengals Radio network and seven hundred WLW.
Let's keep covidight along on this Monday night of Bengals
on on the Bengals Radio network in seven hundred WLW.

(48:44):
And let's get back into the offensive line side of things.
Ted Carris talking after the game about the day that
was for the Bengals. Here is the Bengals center.

Speaker 13 (48:53):
Ted, I'll get Baltimore credit. They played well on defense.
What were some of the things that they did well today?

Speaker 22 (48:58):
Finish in the red zone with turnovers and knocks out
a field goal range.

Speaker 11 (49:02):
So zero points ridiculous.

Speaker 13 (49:05):
Those first couple of drives which you're alluding to. You
got to the twenty five the first time, the twenty
nine the second time and didn't come away with points.
How much of a momentum swing is that? How much
does that knock you back?

Speaker 22 (49:17):
I mean, defense gave up seventeen points. That should be
enough to beat the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
So not good enough.

Speaker 13 (49:23):
Third downs were great last week, it was a struggle today.
Anything stand out off the top of your head.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
Not yet.

Speaker 22 (49:28):
I'm gonna go home and watch it. So, but didn't
convert enough, obviously, and didn't score enough points.

Speaker 13 (49:35):
Were How big of a factor were the weather conditions?

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Non factor?

Speaker 13 (49:41):
You just got it out. You just got it out. Yeah,
you beat these guys a week and a half ago, essentially,
how did that affect the game today? Could you tell
that they were now hell bent on evening the score?

Speaker 14 (49:57):
I'm sure they were, and so were we.

Speaker 22 (50:00):
So they executed way better than we did and won
the football game twenty four to nothing.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
So you gotta gotta go take a look at it.

Speaker 11 (50:08):
And then, uh got three weeks left to do something?

Speaker 13 (50:13):
What is the goal the mission for these final three weeks?

Speaker 3 (50:17):
Win?

Speaker 13 (50:19):
It's almost hard to fathom a game where you guys
don't score. You've been so good offensively. How does it,
you know, strike you when you look up at the
end of the game and you got a goosegg on
the scoreboard?

Speaker 3 (50:33):
It doesn't strike me.

Speaker 22 (50:33):
Well, So we gotta I mean at zero points unacceptable
at any any level of football in the NFL with
the most dynamic offense.

Speaker 14 (50:42):
So I gotta go take a look at it.

Speaker 3 (50:46):
And get ready for Miami.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Ted Carris after the game, and Dave Ted alluded to it.
Joe alluded to it. The Ravens this time around seemed
to be able to get pressure without blitzing a lot,
just four man pressure, which was different than the match
two weeks ago. It just seemed like they figured out
something that gave the Bengals some problems from that standpoint.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
Yeah, and uh, the fact that they got significant pressure,
you know, three quarterback sacks and hit the quarterback hits,
the knockdowns, the pressures making Joe uncomfortable, making him throw
the ball before he really wanted to, before he felt
comfortable with what he saw. That that that's kind of surprising, honestly,

(51:25):
because you got five to block four and then you're
gonna have back out of the backfield as a safety valve,
little safety net, and Joe can get the if he's
got any problems, get the ball down, check it down
to him right away. Uh. So, the fact that that
speaks to not only the pressure that the Miami Dolphins
put on with their four man rush. Everybody was winning

(51:46):
more matchups going one on one against the Bengals offensive
lineman than they lost. They they also had good coverage
in the back end because you know, Joe is known
for getting the ball out, getting the ball out quickly.
I mean it's almost like he seems to and when
the ball's come in the shotgun, he catches it and
throws it all one motion. I mean, never really even

(52:07):
hold on to the football for any any period of time.
So yeah, it speaks to how well they looked at
the at the first matchup and said, you know what,
we're going to change everything. We're we're we've only got
a little bit of time. You know, we do have
to game plan obviously for the opponent in between here,
but we are gonna we're gonna do things a lot

(52:27):
differently the next time we face the Cincinnati Bengals, and
it turned out to be real successful.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
By the way. Final thought before the bottom they are
on Ted Carris and thinking of offensive lineman and the
cold Uh, there's the legendary story of the vasolene. Do
our our offensive lineman? And are you allowed today to
wear vasoline? Or was that banned or outlawed. Did anything
change after you guys did it?

Speaker 3 (52:49):
That's a good question. I'm not sure how the league
handled that. I'm not sure if there were any any
changes to what you were allowed to do from a
uniform code standpoint. But I don't think yesterday it was
necessarily you know, so called that you had to resort
to that.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
It wasn't a vaciline day.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
It might not have been a vacine day, right, what
might not have been?

Speaker 2 (53:09):
We've reached the bottom of the hour, Hang tight, much
more to get to. He's Dave Lapham, I'm Lance, but callister.
This is Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network and
seven hundred WLW. Hey, welcome back in on this Monday

(53:29):
night of FENOS on Bengals Radio. If to get seven
hundred WLW. We've talked to offense, we've talked defense. We're
making our way through what all took place yesterday at
pay Corps and let's oh, I know, as I'm thinking
about it, we left off with the vasiline and you'll
appreciate this. One of my other broadcast partners, Rocky Boyman,
has told a story from a defensive side of things.

(53:51):
He used to. Now tell me if you've ever heard
of this. He used to spray what amounted to like
pam cooking spray silicon. Yes, so you guys are the
offensive side couldn't get a hold of it. Have you
heard of that? Now that's illegal, he's he's I think
he said, now it's illegal. But they used to just.

Speaker 3 (54:07):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We had defensive players. Bengal teammates
did it, and defensive players did it that. I was
playing against h frequently regularly, and it was I mean,
it'd be like.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
What the heck is that slipping right off?

Speaker 3 (54:23):
If there's some slick stuff right there, boy, it really is.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
That's beautiful looking at guys lockers. Hey, yeah, you got cologne,
you got the deoder, you got what you've got Pam
crooking spreads what that cooking spray? For whatever it takes,
whatever advantage there is to be found, it will eventually
be found.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
There's no question about it.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
Wayne box Miller yesterday had a chance to talk with
McKinley Jackson, the Bengals second year defensive lineman, who had
some interesting thoughts about learning to be a professional, understanding professionalism,
and kind of knowing the game I thought it was
worth listening to McKinley. Then, Dave, I want to ask
you about just learning to be a pro when you
enter the league. Here is Wayne box Miller with McKinley Jackson.

Speaker 23 (55:06):
Let's talk about the difference so far for you between
year one and the following year.

Speaker 20 (55:12):
Uh, it's been a big transition just understanding how the
NFL leads and just understanding the routine. But as far
as like just you know, playing should at the same
intelligence go out there. I stted to prove myself and
you know, do whatever it takes to win.

Speaker 23 (55:29):
You know, you came from a high level college conference
at CC, you come here. Talk about the preparation that
gave you. Do you feel like that prepared you a
little bit more because you were in competition every week
in that league.

Speaker 20 (55:41):
Nah, competition never dictated my preparation. That's one thing I
would say, just a preparation just to being around professional
other professional athletes. And there's thirty one other teams, so
I mean other guys are preparing to you know, play
the world the best work CLIs of athletes, So I
feel like you got to take it upon yourself to
prepare these situations and you know, it's a weekend and

(56:01):
we got Uh. It doesn't get any easier and these
wins are hard fought. So you know, just preparing is
the biggest thing rather than just just god given ability
brute strength. Just just the preparation is the biggest thing.

Speaker 23 (56:14):
Talk about the veterans and what they mean to you
when you come in, because there's so much about this
game that's different at this level.

Speaker 20 (56:21):
Yeah, you just obviously you want to just look at
look at them and just if all that shadowt and
just you know, just keen on what they're doing to
get to these uh these mark second contract.

Speaker 3 (56:33):
Uh you're eight year nine All pros Pro Bowlers. Uh.

Speaker 20 (56:36):
Some guys been here at a BA Football Champs. So
it's like, you know, you want to take every circle
and everything that they give out. You know, it's a
it's just a place where like no one is bigger
than the team, and you know what's better than next man?
So it's nothing but gaming. I can learn from each guy.

Speaker 23 (56:52):
Do you feel a sense of accomplishment as you pick
up nuggets and different things and you have those aha
moments like, man, this is really starting to come together
for me.

Speaker 20 (57:00):
No, I put the person on myself because I mean
the world is full of critics, so you can't never
be you can't you can't never be comfortable in this game.
And it's always send me to work on. So it's
a sense of accomplishment. I mean, once the ring hitting
my finger and then these guys feel in the locker room,
I feel accomplished then. But until then, you know, I'm
putting my head down and I put my heart head on.

Speaker 23 (57:19):
How do you feel about the players you play with,
because many of them, when I talk to them, they
talk about you, and you get that. You don't get words,
something to forget the eyebrow. I was like, man, they
really just appreciate who you are and how you play.

Speaker 20 (57:30):
I appreciate that, and I appreciate these guys for sitting
here just being paid with me, you know, early on,
like you know, it took me a little bit to
understand professionalism, especially in this league. And you know, you know,
once I get it, I get a downpack. Guys are
really like you know, they trusted me, and I went
out there and I made players, and you know, hopefully
I can keep doing that and just just do it

(57:53):
a high level and keep continuously doing it and making
plays for this team, helping them. It's get the best
position to get in the playoffs and then you know
we go on from there.

Speaker 23 (58:00):
Lastly, I always say to young guys, at some point
you realize that the game of football gives way to
the business of football. When did that kind of hit you,
because it seems like you learned that pretty early.

Speaker 20 (58:10):
Yeah, and yeah, it was a it was a tough spot,
especially this year, just you know, not getting out there
and not helping his team, not helping his team and
just contributing. I mean, no matter if we went on losing,
it's just that you still want to contribute. And I'm
just a guy that never never was not able to
play football unless I was you know, injured in my
whole life. So this year there's been a testament to

(58:33):
just uh my faith and just staying patient and you know,
trusting my coach and schurch on my teammates and you know,
doing my part as a player, and you know, we can,
we can. We got out just beend on it and
you know, hopefully being an impact forul player for this
team and just uh to continue for us to get
better and get another winning Well.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
You know, I have no question that's gonna come.

Speaker 23 (58:53):
I see how hard you work, and your peers respect you,
so thank you so much for spending time with us.

Speaker 5 (58:58):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
Thank you box with McKinley, Jackson and David. I thought
it was very interesting to hear McKinley, who's in his
second year and has had his ups and downs and
moments and not so great moments, but say and admit
it took him a minute to understand how to be
a professional on this level. And the more I've thought
about that, it is one thing for preparation and preparing

(59:21):
your body and your mind. In college, you get to
be a pro. You've got a lot more free time,
you don't have class, you got paid, you got a
nice paycheck, signing bonus. There is a there's a big
gap between what it means to be a pro high
school college to pro. That's a huge jump. And it
doesn't always doesn't always click with guys right away, does it.

Speaker 3 (59:41):
No, it doesn't. And the best thing to have as
a mentor, Yes, you know somebody that's done it, done it,
and has done it well and has done it maybe
close to the timeframe that you're doing it. If you've
got a guy that has had success, a modicum of success,
and he's in his fourth year, for example, you know,
go pick his brain, Go sit down with him in

(01:00:03):
the locker room, or you know, outside the locker room
at a restaurant having a bite, heat or whatever. And
what what do you do? Man? How do you how
do you get ready? How do you look at tape?
How do you study?

Speaker 7 (01:00:13):
What?

Speaker 3 (01:00:14):
What are some of the keys? What are some of
the tips. A guy that was big for me was
Bob Johnson. Bob Johnson had uh everything in terms of
being a pros pro. He understood the game of football
at the highest possible level. He was an offensive Lineman
of the Year at Tennessee when he was a college

(01:00:35):
football player, first pick ever in the Cincinnati Bengals in
the history of their franchise. So, you know, I read
about all that stuff about Bob Johnson. When I got
drafted by the Bengals. I got a media guide and
started boning up on some teammates and stuff, and then think,
I'm listen to this dude. I think he might know
what the hell he's talking about. And he and Bob
Trumpy were roommates and they were both unbelievable resources for

(01:00:58):
me as a rookie that didn't know what the hell
was going on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Yeah, and I would imagine it takes your your special veterans,
because I would think there would be some veterans who
might look and say, well, here comes the young buck,
and he's gonna take my job. I'm not gonna I'm
not at all. It says a lot about the veteran
who is the willing mentor ultimately.

Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
No question about it. That and that is, that is
a fact. You know, when you're maybe like Isaac Curtis
and you have such unique talent, skill talent and skill set,
I should say, uh, you know an Olympic caliber sprinter
that had you know, sticky fingers, glue fingers. You know
that you know that they're going to find a role
for you, a spot for you. You're going to be

(01:01:39):
taking a ton of snaps. So you don't go ahead
and help a young buck out. You know, there's no
question about it. But if you're a guy that is
is basically fighting and scraping to make the football team,
you're you know, holding your breath on final cutdown day
year after year. You're not going to give a young rook,
a young buck that was a high draft pick. Any
help whatsoever.

Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
And we're talking, I mean the scope and the scale
of doing this. It's understanding how important sleep is, how
important diet is. Always go back to a conversation I
used to always have with John Thornton, the former Bengal
of how important it was. On Fridays for him, he
always had a massage, therapy, acupuncture, and he used to

(01:02:21):
always say, I invest in my body. It will cost
X number of dollars a year for a masseuse and
for acupunction everything else. But he says that investment translates
to another year and another year and those that's money,
and that's that's an investment in my body means I
get to play longer and I get to make more money.

Speaker 3 (01:02:40):
Absolutely, I mean you get a look at it as
a business. Yes, it's a it's a it's a business,
and you don't have to worry about inventory and inventory
control and all that sort of thing. But your body
is basically what your whole job is all about. And
taking care of your body to the best of the
ability is huge. And if you can get two or

(01:03:01):
three more years, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars if
you can at the end of the season and you're
making a playoff push and your body is well rested,
well nourished, you're not tired. You're gonna play it better.

Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
That's a great point.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16):
You're gonna play better, and now you're gonna get more,
you know, quote bonus money. You're gonna get additional money,
more game checks. You know, as you get to the
the AFC, NFC championship games. We're talking serious dollars. In
the Super Bowl is a big payday.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
I give McKinley Jackson credit for the recognition and their
articulation of that. I didn't understand right away how to
be a professional, and you hope that lesson learned prolongs
and extends his career. Sadly, the example on the other
end is somebody like Jermaine Burton who didn't seemingly wasn't
able to figure it out, and now he's on the

(01:03:51):
street looking for another opportunity, and maybe he learns from
that lesson. But that's the difference between staying in the
league and looking for your life's work someplace else.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
Absolutely, I mean, you gotta give McKinley Jackson a lot
of credits from being like introspective, you know, and and
looking inside himself and being honest with himself and and
uh doing what he needs to do and finding out
what he needs to find out to survive in advance
as a professional. Burton, on the other hand, he just

(01:04:21):
never got to figure out like you said, he just uh,
you know, A plus B did not equal see ever
for Burton. Unfortunately, when we continue, I have a list.

Speaker 2 (01:04:32):
I made the mistake of starting to jot down to
all the Bengals third downs yesterday off basively, and I like,
and then I got very depressed. I wanted to stop.
But we'll talk about the third down struggles and more
as we continue these Dave Blapham My Glance, but callister
Bengals Line is the show. It's on the Bengals Radio
Network and it's on seven hundred w l W. We

(01:04:58):
continue on this Monday. I talk at Bengals from all angles,
and we've got plenty more to get to in our
third hour tonight as well, look ahead to those Miami
Dolphins as well. I mentioned the third downs, and I
guess we must. We must go back through what transpired
for the Bengals offensively on third down fifteen opportunities. Yesterday
they converted their very first one to third and two

(01:05:20):
and wound up for the game three of fifteen on
third down yesterday, you wonder you look back and you say,
how did they not score? How did they get into
territory plus territory so many times and not score? If
you're three of fifteen, it's awfully hard to sustain drives
and put points on the board.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
Absolutely, I mean that is that's twenty percent third down conversion.
That is failure. I mean that is brutal. The first
third down, third and two, they pick up five yards.
That's the one they made that you described lance. The second,
third down, third and four, they get sacked for fifteen yard. Sacked.
Joe's running around back there trying to create an extent
and losing yardage.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
And took took him out of field goal.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
Absolutely, I mean that was a big mistake right there.
You know, throw it away, throw it away, take the incompletion.
You know, at least you can have them McPherson lineup
and kick a long field goal for you. Third third down,
third and four, they pick up two, So now it's
fourth and two. The next third down, third and five, interception.
Third and nine they pick up seven. Now it's fourth

(01:06:20):
and two. They had a third and nineteen. Third and
nineteen and try to throw the football obviously, and it's incomplete.
Third and four, throw the football incomplete. Third and one
they run the ball and they pick it up two yards. Okay,
first down, how about that? Hall Lujah, Praise the Lord.
The next one, third and eight failed, they run the football,

(01:06:44):
excuse me, throw the football? They pick up two yards.
Next one, third and one fail, run it, gain nothing, zilch,
not a squash douche on number eleven, Third and six incomplete,
pass number twelve, goal to go first in goal. This
is the pick six. That's the basically basically close the

(01:07:08):
game out. Say you know, it's history, Katie, bar the door.
Third and one, they pick it up, they run the
ball for six yards. How about that one, that's big.
Third and seven incomplete or excuse me, run the football,
don't make it and only pick up three and the
final one, third and six they throw the football, only
pick up five yards, and they have a fourth and one.
I mean that is third down inefficiency at its past.

(01:07:32):
I mean, it's it's really it's really a sad, sad
commentary going through that list.

Speaker 2 (01:07:38):
That means on the day, the fifteen third down opportunities,
they did not convert one that was beyond a third
and two. Think about that for a second. They on
third and four to five yards they went oh for four.
On third and six or more they went oh for seven.
They converted nothing that was longer than third and two
the entire afternoon. I don't even know how that's possible.

Speaker 3 (01:08:00):
Yeah, and let's face it, I mean, third and four,
third and five, you're gonna have to convert some of those.

Speaker 2 (01:08:05):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (01:08:06):
It's the National Football League. I mean, you know, defenses
get paid to play too. They're gonna You're gonna find
yourself in third and four. You got to make plays,
you have to convert. Uh. It just yesterday was a
nightmare in every sense of the word.

Speaker 2 (01:08:23):
And the deeper you get, the more yards you need,
the more you're gonna have to try to try to
maybe force something, and it leads to the interception or
leads to a pick. It's just nothing, nothing good happen.
It's like nothing good happens staying out after midnight. Nothing
good happens on third and long. Usually good analogy, too
many bad days. Good analogy, take a time out and continue.
We'll head down the stretch at our second of three

(01:08:45):
big hours tonight. It's Bengals on the Bengals Radio Network
in seven hundred w l W down the stretch we go,
final segment of our second of three hours tonight, Bengals
line of the Bengals Radio Network. Time to squeeze in

(01:09:05):
something from outside the Bengals realm of things, and it's
what has everybody buzzing around the NFL. Philip Rivers Returns
at the age of forty four. He starts for the
Colts yesterday, his first game in an NFL game in
over eighteen hundred days, going back to twenty twenty. He
led the Colts to a go ahead field goal, a
sixty yarder with less than a minute to go, but

(01:09:27):
then Seattle marches right back down the field and kicks
a fifty six yarder to win it. But Dave still
hard to process that. At age forty four, Philip Rivers
Returns goes eighteen to twenty six, one hundred and twenty yards,
threw a touchdown a pick on the final play, kind
of a desperation pass, but man when he threw the
touchdown and he turned and pumped his fist and just

(01:09:48):
I've thought about it all week. Forty four years old
and he came back and started. Just wasn't the backup
he started an NFL game yesterday?

Speaker 3 (01:09:58):
Incredible, it really is. And uh, you know he was
coaching in high school football and his high school team
was watching the game as so cool. The kids, Oh,
they went crazy. I mean they almost did. Jumped through
the roof. I mean they were they were vertical, man,
they were skying, and uh, it's just it's an unbelievable, uh,
unbelievable accomplishment for phil Philip Rivers to be able to

(01:10:21):
do that. Now was what kind of football shape was
he in? Obviously he was able to throw the football,
probably has uh some tonnage to drop and there's no
question about that way.

Speaker 2 (01:10:32):
And how I must feel this morning, Oh gosh, yeah,
really the first time.

Speaker 3 (01:10:37):
Yeah, And That's what I was going to say about.
If I'm an offensive lineman and Philip Rivers agrees to
come back at the age of forty four to help
us win football games, I'm protecting him with everything that
I've got, every inch of my life, man, I am.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
I am.

Speaker 3 (01:10:52):
If Philip Rivers gets hit and I'm responsible for it.
It's my guy, my my responsibility that put a lock
on Philip Rivers. I'd have a hard time going back
to back to the huddle and looking at us, you know,
and making eye contact. Have been filing my bad. I'm sorry, man.
You know it won't happen again. That is that's that's
a tremendous NFL story.

Speaker 2 (01:11:15):
And I always I look for context and perspective. When
I thought of this, it blew me away. Philip Rivers
was taken fourth overall in the two thousand and four drafts.
How long ago was that The Bengals first round pick
that year was Chris Perry. I'll think about that, the
Michigan running back. That's how long ago Philip Rivers was drafted.

(01:11:37):
The look on Yid's face says it all. Yes, two
thousand and four, Chris Perry, the Bengals, and Philip Rivers
at forty four was back on the football field slinging
the football yesterday.

Speaker 3 (01:11:48):
That puts it all in contest.

Speaker 2 (01:11:51):
And the final note to end the hour, the sad
news out of Kansas City, man Patrick Mahomes tears acl
done for this season. They say it might bleed into
into next season. What an and the Chiefs get eliminated yesterday?
What What a weird dynamic in the NFL to think
that the Bengals and Joe Burrow aren't going to be
in the playoffs, The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes aren't going
to be in the playoffs. It's it's not h It's

(01:12:14):
not the way it has been. No, it's it's different.
It's uh.

Speaker 3 (01:12:17):
And Jerry Jones upset too. The Cowboys and Michael Parsons
aren't they all are the in the playoffs with his
a cl injury. So a lot of a lot of
difficult injuries. Uh, yesterday over the weekend. No National Football League.

Speaker 2 (01:12:32):
No question. That's two in the books. Let's get to
our third hour. We'll hear from more from Zach, more
from Joe, and fun facts with Taj Brooks. It's all
ahead Bengals one of the Bengals Radio Network and seven
hundred w l W.

Speaker 1 (01:12:51):
This is Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network. Pay Corps.
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Speaker 2 (01:13:13):
All right, let's get it going, let's get it underway.
Third hour, our third of three. Thanks for tagging along
with us. Tonight is we've made our way through what
transpired yesterday at pay Court at twenty four nothing lost
to the Ravens. We'll get into the Miami Dolphins this
hour as well, and always time to get into this
absolutely lance.

Speaker 3 (01:13:29):
Everybody shop the Bengals Pro Shop find the best selection
of Bengals merchandise anywhere. Visit the Pro Shops seven days
a week, located on the north side of pay Court Stadium,
or shop online at Bengals dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:13:41):
Agat twenty four to nothing, the final in a game
that unfortunately eliminates the Bengals. Here is Zach at the
podium meeting with the media after the game.

Speaker 4 (01:13:49):
You know, I think we had five trips, you know,
to their side of the field and came by with
no points. And just again that's as a point caller,
that that starts with me. When you walk with no points,
there's a huge amount of accountability that I got to
take for that, but it was just an overall very
frustrating day. I think we did some things that were
very unorthodox on offense for us, you know, just penalties,

(01:14:12):
silly penalties that were controllable on our end, you know,
in some possessions where we had opportunites at points and
didn't walk away with anything. I was was frustrating.

Speaker 9 (01:14:20):
What are your thoughts on that team's effort.

Speaker 5 (01:14:23):
Well, I thought, defensively, I saw some really good things.

Speaker 4 (01:14:26):
I mean, they pressured him, he didn't have a lot
of time in the pocket with three or four sacks,
got a turnover, had an opportunity, had another one. I know,
they got in a zero beater, you know, where were
something we practiced, we were ready for it, and they
still got us for a touchdown. So there was some
held them three points in the second half. You know,
this was if my memory serves correctly, So there was

(01:14:48):
some some effort, you know. That's I didn't see it
lack of effort. I just saw a lack of attention
to detail. Maybe on offense that really showed up. That
was that was disappointing for.

Speaker 16 (01:14:58):
The reason for so many drop today and how big
were those drops?

Speaker 4 (01:15:02):
Yeah, but it was everything you know, it wasn't just drops,
it was it was I think everybody involved in the offense.

Speaker 5 (01:15:11):
Has got to got to own up to that performance today.

Speaker 7 (01:15:13):
Zach Jill had a kind of a unique down demeter
on Wednesday. Did you notice anything different from him this week?

Speaker 18 (01:15:19):
You had a lot of condition after Pittsburgh that you
guys are going to be in this until the very end.

Speaker 7 (01:15:26):
Is it stunning the fact that you're sitting here three
weeks ago.

Speaker 4 (01:15:29):
And it's yeah, I think it's it's frustrating to to
score zero points get shut out at home. That's that's unacceptable.
Never a million year is what I've seen that coming,
you know, But that's that's what happened today. So now
we've got to look at why that happened, and we've
got to accountable for it and and keep moving forward.

Speaker 10 (01:15:47):
Zach, why do you think you in your group of coaches, administration,
top to bottom are the right group?

Speaker 5 (01:15:54):
Yeah? I believe in everybody. I believe and every do
we got.

Speaker 16 (01:15:57):
You're down seventeen to nothing. I believe that drive the
day ended in the pick six took like eight minutes.
Anything you guys could have done there to try to speed.

Speaker 4 (01:16:04):
That up, we had some personnel issues, certainly with some
injuries that we were trying to balance there. Moments we
went tempo, moments we decided huddle and try to make
sure we got points.

Speaker 5 (01:16:13):
On the board. The playoff contention sw.

Speaker 4 (01:16:20):
Yeah, it's frustrating. This is a team that I thought
was a talented team. There's gonna have a chance to
do big things this year.

Speaker 5 (01:16:27):
Very similar. Joe was Joe sharp in practice rightily? Yes,
how do you feel like it?

Speaker 4 (01:16:34):
I'll let him speak to that, but I know that
there's some place that he's going to want to come back.

Speaker 7 (01:16:37):
Two weeks ago.

Speaker 21 (01:16:38):
You know, you guys were able to do anything at
will really against Baltimore on Thanksgiving today?

Speaker 7 (01:16:43):
Did anything surprise you that they I wouldn't say that.

Speaker 4 (01:16:45):
I would say, you know it, maybe it looked easier
than it really was. You know, our defense is five turnovers,
five to nothing. Early on, we kicked a field goals
in that game when when you'd like to come away
with teschdowns, they made it really hard. So we knew
that that wasn't People were going to say that. You
know that we won how we won, and that was
easy for us. It wasn't as far from easy you know,
we scored on two third downs in that game, touchdowns,

(01:17:07):
So we knew that this game was going to be
very difficult, and we put a lot of time and
effort to the plan and the practice, and I got
to today.

Speaker 5 (01:17:14):
Film feeling really good about where we're at.

Speaker 4 (01:17:17):
And again, we just I'm not going to say that
there was a single area, particularly an offense, that we're
going to say that was that was nearly good enough.
It wasn't even close to good enough anywhere, starting with me,
and so that that part was frustrating.

Speaker 10 (01:17:29):
Why is complimentary football being difficult for this team to
find the season?

Speaker 4 (01:17:33):
Yeah, that's that's the hard one for me to answer.
It hasn't been good Enough's what's the where you'll go
from here? Three games out with way to win? Just
just approach every single week as if we're still in it.
So get something to play for and that's our responsibility
and that's what we're going to continue to do.

Speaker 12 (01:17:47):
Aside from this overall, leans, what would you like to
see the most as you finished off the season?

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
Wins would be there? The one thing what did you.

Speaker 9 (01:17:55):
See from guys this week? Obviously as the playoff hom
was coming in, it was a big game at home.

Speaker 5 (01:18:02):
Yeah, it was important to everybody.

Speaker 4 (01:18:04):
I didn't see anything, and again this is you told
me our defense is gonna sack them as many times
and harass them in the pocket.

Speaker 5 (01:18:14):
And create a turnover and holding three points.

Speaker 4 (01:18:16):
In the second half. I'd sign up for that, you know.
So again, just just wholesale as a team, we weren't
good enough to do.

Speaker 10 (01:18:22):
Are going to want to obviously see some changes over
the next three weeks or.

Speaker 5 (01:18:26):
So, giving them to vote for twenty twenty six. What
is your message to the fans?

Speaker 4 (01:18:31):
Just hang with us. It's been frustrating. We're still portant
our heart and soul to this thing and find a
way to win. And it's it's been a frustrating season.
Understand that.

Speaker 6 (01:18:39):
Just a follow up on that. I know you're just
looking at this game, but looking big picture of three
years of not making the playoffs. What would you like
to say to the fans that give them a vote
of confidence that you guys can get this right and
they won't be feeling like this.

Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:18:52):
I've got great confidence. I mean, we come to work
every single day.

Speaker 4 (01:18:55):
I believe in the guys we got in this locker room,
coaches and players and frustrating.

Speaker 5 (01:19:00):
Frustrating season so far. We still got a couple of
games left.

Speaker 4 (01:19:05):
Zachlow session tough that we just ended in a pick six,
didn't get Flaco any time to warm up, and zero
degree temperature basically, so try to manage it. Just hand
the ball off their quick game things that would keep
them out of harm way.

Speaker 5 (01:19:19):
Obviously tough spot to be in.

Speaker 4 (01:19:22):
I say, if it was anything other than zero degrees,
we probably would have quickly made the change and forego
them warm up. But again, just tried to as we
called it, kept them out of harm's way with just
any throw we made the boss coming out quick.

Speaker 21 (01:19:34):
Now that they are officially eliminated, how do you keep
players heads in it for the last three weeks to
keep going every day.

Speaker 4 (01:19:41):
They're professionals, you know, And that's that's why you build
the locker room the way you do it, so that
you don't have to worry about guys like that. You know,
guys that they know how important this is not only
for themselves in their career, but for all the work
this team has put in and through good times and bad,
go out there and put your best for four And
I absolutely trust that these guys will do that.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
Zach Taylor on the loss yesterday and what it means
going forward in the question, everybody's wondering, how what does
it mean the final three? What do you do with
the final three? I would think there's a lot of
guys in this roster who should be thinking, I need
to put something productive, and iye popping on this tape.
In my best interest, I better show them something in

(01:20:18):
the three games left.

Speaker 3 (01:20:19):
Bingo Lance, Absolutely, I mean I hope these players are
thinking along the lines that you are right now, Miami, Arizona, Cleveland.
Three more opportunities to show your stuff. And you know,
I guess everybody, all the fans and coaches too, could say,
what's taking you so long? Why did you wait for

(01:20:40):
three games left in the season to show what you're
capable of? You know, you get paid all season long
to give us your best performance. Why haven't you given
us your best performance? Why haven't you prepared yourself on
a weekly basis to give us your best performance? But
better late than never, I guess, so you better to
show up. If you don't show up, we're gonna move on.

Speaker 2 (01:21:02):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (01:21:03):
You know we can play football in National Football League
without you. You know you're not. You're not a multiple
time Pro Bowl You're not. You're not a guy that
we're hanging our hat on and have to have. So
I'm telling you these last three weeks gonna be important
for a lot of a lot of young players, not
just with the Bengals, with everybody in the league.

Speaker 2 (01:21:20):
Yeah, as you were saying that, the words of Marvin
Lewis resonate in my head. Do your job be a pro?
And man, if i'm whether it's coaches on this staff
or I'm coaches or front office on another team, maybe
there's a Bengal who's a free agent potentially, I know,
darn well. If I'm evaluating a Bengal, I'm going back
and looking at these final three games to see how

(01:21:42):
did they play when the season was over. Did they
pack it in, did they have the car running to
warm up the car for the offseason? How did they
look when when they didn't maybe have the the incentive
of a playoff chasing them? Because that's an evaluation point
for me. If I'm looking at players, how do they
play these last three weeks?

Speaker 3 (01:22:01):
Yeah? Because not every team in the NFL is going
to make the playoffs. Yeah, you know, there's gonna be
some teams that aren't. And if you're on that football team,
you're expected to still give effort. I mean, they're selling
tickets to the games, they're taking fans money, uh to
to watch you play football. Give them a fair shake.
Go out there and and and play like you can play.

(01:22:21):
You know, I'm wondering too. Sometimes you know a guy
doesn't play well at an organization because you know there's
they're what they've decided to do offensively or defensively didn't
necessarily fit that skill set that player has. Maybe another
team in the league has uh some sort of a
defensive or offensive schematic that fits better. You better show

(01:22:44):
up and play and show that you could benefit by
them taking you on that football team. You know, uh,
keep your keep your career alive. It's a lot of money, man,
a lot of money's at stake.

Speaker 2 (01:22:57):
Still ahead. More from Jill Burrow on yesterday, and the
conversation continues through our third hour of Bengals Lot of
the Bengals Radio Network and seven hundred WLW Well then

(01:23:17):
right along through all Monday night talking Bengals football on
the show we call Bengals Love Bengals or Radio Network.

Speaker 3 (01:23:24):
And Hey Bengals fans on Fridays, make sure to listen
to myself and Dan Horde from Bengals pep Rally presented
by Just Bear Chicken on the air from three to
six pm on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:23:35):
We heard from Zach Taylor after the game yesterday. Let's
hear a little bit more from QB one on a
rough day. Here is Joe Burrow.

Speaker 7 (01:23:42):
Joe, today was the offense.

Speaker 5 (01:23:43):
Other games it's been the defense.

Speaker 13 (01:23:44):
Why has complimentary football been so hard for this team
to find this year?

Speaker 7 (01:23:48):
We haven't been a good football team. You know bad football.
Bad football teams do losing things, and.

Speaker 8 (01:23:58):
You know, if you're wanting to compete for championships and
in the playoffs, then.

Speaker 7 (01:24:05):
Number one, your quarterback has to play better than I
did today. How far does that gap feel right now?

Speaker 8 (01:24:11):
Chill between this team and what's expected of the championship level.

Speaker 7 (01:24:15):
Not that far, not that far.

Speaker 5 (01:24:17):
This is the worst you felt after loss.

Speaker 7 (01:24:19):
Probably losing losing socks.

Speaker 6 (01:24:23):
I know you're taking a lot of responsibility for today's game,
but one of the main things that has come out
of this season is how much is on your plate
and the record when you were out when you were
out and last week's perfect example the turnovers, you guys
lose the game. Do you feel like there's too much
weight on you where it feels like if you're not perfect,

(01:24:45):
the team is good enough around you to pick you up.

Speaker 7 (01:24:51):
You know, I want everything on my plate.

Speaker 8 (01:24:53):
I want That's a position I want to be in,
and you know, I feel confident all those guys locker room,
Like I said today, nobody there's not a team in
the NFL that would have won.

Speaker 7 (01:25:07):
The game today if if I was the quarterbacks.

Speaker 10 (01:25:10):
Teams record is headed in the wrong direction. Do you
think your play is slipping down the slope in the
wrong direction over the last couple of years?

Speaker 8 (01:25:20):
You know, I feel very confident in how I played
obviously today in my opinion, is an outliar. I think
I've been consistently great for.

Speaker 7 (01:25:31):
Years and years and years. Did they change up its
all from thanks Giving? The really different that way? Maybe
don't think it's giving.

Speaker 8 (01:25:41):
I said they blitzed, They blitzed less. Their front four
was able to get a little more pressure, So credit
to them.

Speaker 12 (01:25:47):
What kind of on that first act the fifty yard
on the third down going there in what kind of
happened there?

Speaker 5 (01:25:54):
Ye, Is it the same thing on the pick six?

Speaker 3 (01:25:57):
Is that kind of it?

Speaker 12 (01:25:58):
It looks like it was a similar pressure that they
had on the gap.

Speaker 2 (01:26:01):
Was that the same or now I have.

Speaker 7 (01:26:03):
To see the film on that one.

Speaker 12 (01:26:05):
We'll see what This is the hardest I think you've
ever been on yourself after a game.

Speaker 8 (01:26:09):
Why even I think this is one of the worst
games that I've I've played.

Speaker 7 (01:26:17):
You know, I'm honest with myself.

Speaker 8 (01:26:19):
And my play, and I hold myself to high standard
and today didn't come close.

Speaker 21 (01:26:26):
Joe, with playoffs off the table as a competitor, how
tough will it be now to read mindset and kind
of get yourself back into winding win again?

Speaker 9 (01:26:38):
You mentioned the mental mistake on the sack when you
guys the first draft of the game was that.

Speaker 7 (01:26:44):
I made the wrong call.

Speaker 2 (01:26:45):
Joe after the game and Dave, we were talking earlier
about Joe addressing the team, and in a comment from
Jordan's Battles jumped out to me Jordan's set up, Joe.
What Joe said after the game resonates with us. That
should determine our attitude going into these next few games
and for the rest of the season. It sends a
huge message. It shows who he is as a person.

(01:27:05):
Maybe he can come off as arrogant to people who
don't know him, He's really one of the most humble
guys I've ever met, especially with the status he has
and the player he is. When he speaks up to
the team, we hear it and it's like that old E. F.
Hutton commercial Weddingy Hutton, people listen, that's Joe Burrow.

Speaker 3 (01:27:23):
Absolutely. I mean, he is the unquestioned leader of the
football team, and in most instances, the quarterback usually is.
There are some rare exceptions to the rule, but there
aren't that many. And as the quarterback goes, so the
team goes. You know, if the quarterback has got something
going on off the football field that is affecting him,

(01:27:45):
the whole team feels it. Joe Burrow said he does
have some personal issues that he's dealing with and it's
not related to the football team, not related to the
Cincinnati Bengals organization, and he's working his way through it.
All I can say is having been part of this
organization for ten years as a player. In forty in
the broadcast booth, two guys that come to mind, Boomer

(01:28:08):
Sison leader, Boomer Sison, when things weren't going well, he
grabbed the team by the collective throat and said, hey,
let this is unacceptable. This, this just isn't gonna happen.
We're not gonna We're not gonna tank our season like this.
Kenny Anderson same way. Kenny would be very very honest

(01:28:29):
in his in his comments and addressing the football team.
And these guys obviously play at a high level, their
Pro Bowl players. You know, guys emulate, want to emulate
what they are and how important they are the community
and the football team. And they're listening. They listen to
those guys. So, like you said, Ef Hutton, when when

(01:28:49):
Boomer Sison or when Kenny Anderson speaks, people perk up
and people listen.

Speaker 2 (01:28:54):
And if there was one player on this team, if
you were asking me to bet on how somebody respawns,
I would place my chip on Joe Burrow. Probably not
sleeping much last night, probably seething a little bit. Yeah,
your classics see the game unful on your on your
bedroom ceiling. Yeah, because when when Joe says publicly it

(01:29:14):
was a mental mistake by me, that's the stuff that
just has to grade at him and drive him to
next week. What would it really surprise anybody if Joe
next week went out and dropped like a twenty seven
of thirty one for three hundred and ninety six yards,
four touchdowns, no interceptions. It would not.

Speaker 3 (01:29:31):
Wouldn't surprise on your lick, It really wouldn't. I mean,
I think, you know the great ones, that's the that's
how they respond, That's how they respond to adversity. Uh,
they respond by going out and having one of the
best games of their of their career. And Joe Burrow
is a great one. You know, Joe Burrow is a
future Hall of Famer. He's uh, he's one of one.
They broke the mold and uh, you know he's I

(01:29:54):
think he's got the last three football games of the season.
I think he's gonna put up stupid numbers. I think
people are gonna be like, what are you kidding me?
What did he do to close the season out? I
think he's capable and I think he'll do it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:06):
All Right, we're rolling through this third hour. We'll do
fun facts, fantastic fun facts with Dan Horde coming up. Well,
so take a look at the Miami Dolphins. It's all
Ahead on Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network and
seven hundred WLW. Hey welcome back into a Monday night
of conversation about all things related to the Bengals. We

(01:30:28):
do it for three hours each week. We do it
on Bengals Line of the Bengals Radio Network and seven
hundred WLW.

Speaker 3 (01:30:34):
And Lance as we know, Alta Fibers the official Wi
Fi and Internet provider of the Bengals in Greater Cincinnati's
fastest Internet with up to two gig symmetrical speeds.

Speaker 2 (01:30:44):
Each week, we love to take a listen to what
Dan Horr does with Fantastic Fun Facts. It's a sit
down conversation with a member of the organization, kind of
a chance to pull back the curtain and learn more
about the player more along the lines of the person
behind inside that helmet. This week it is Taj Brooks,
the Bengals rookie running back. Here's Dan Horde and Fantastic

(01:31:06):
fun Facts.

Speaker 1 (01:31:08):
No Fantastic fun Facts with.

Speaker 13 (01:31:11):
Dan ord tied for some fun facts with running Back.
Taj Brooks, from Manor, Texas, not far from the capital
city of Austin, describe growing up in Manor and some
of the things you enjoyed doing when you were young.

Speaker 24 (01:31:24):
Oh man, the thing I did the most was just
play football, went to school, and then you don't hung
out with friends. That was really just the most part.
And you know, I was kind of kind of a
country boy at that time too. You know, it was
Maynor back back in high school. It was a kind
of a little suburb. Now it's a lot of a
lot of things growing out there, so but it was
more country when I was out there, when I was

(01:31:45):
growing up and stuff, So it was fun.

Speaker 13 (01:31:47):
I read somewhere that you rode horses growing up. Was
that the case? And it's still the case.

Speaker 24 (01:31:52):
It's a little bit kind of the case now, but
I try to get not too much. But yeah, I
grew up. I rode a little bit of horses. It
was just when I was little. My aunt shout out
to her. She kind of, you know, just instilled in
me just just to do it for fun. And it's
been it's been great ever since. But it's crazy.

Speaker 11 (01:32:09):
It's just I kind of had like a little reaction.

Speaker 24 (01:32:11):
To like one of like the horse little blanket sheets,
and you know, I always I loved animals when I
was little. I want to be like a vision I
guess a vegetarian, not a vegetarian veninarian, Excuse me. It
was just I love watching like the incredible Doctor Poe
shows and things like that, so I just want to
see like just the way of living over horse and
things like that. But it was that's just something that
I cherished the most when I was growing up.

Speaker 13 (01:32:33):
Tys. You had an exceptional high school football career, running
for more than four thousand yards. When did it start
to become clear that the other kids either couldn't catch
you or tackle you?

Speaker 24 (01:32:44):
Really, I want to say a little league? And then
going into my ninth grade year, that was my first year.
I was a fresh ninth grade and you really don't
see that happening in a lot of places and that
kind of jectory of football. And I'm very thankful for
the coach that that gave me the opportunity.

Speaker 13 (01:33:00):
Mayner isn't far from the University of Texas. I've read
that the Longhorns did not recruit you. Was that the case,
and if so, was it disappointing?

Speaker 24 (01:33:09):
It wasn't disappointing, But they recruited me a little bit.
They kind of wanted me. It was back in twenty yeah,
back in twenty twenty when it's kind of the COVID
era and they had a guy, which is he's in
the league actually right now, so kudos and him and
things like that, but they had a guy, and I
feel like text tech was the best for me, coach
Matt Wells. I got recruited by him, and man, he

(01:33:32):
changed my life forever. And then just the inductive of
just Joey McGuire, just the things that he built there
has been great.

Speaker 11 (01:33:37):
So I'm glad I'm a text take raider.

Speaker 13 (01:33:41):
You initially committed to Tulsa largely because of an assistant
coach named Justin Hill, who is your running backs coach
now with the Cincinnati Bengals. Described that relationship going back
to the tenth grade.

Speaker 24 (01:33:53):
It was it was a great relationship. It's still great
to this day. You know, the Jay Hill he does
a great job with just the coach aspect and then
just just being a teacher, uh, a great guy you
can learn from. And then just off the field, a
great uh, A great family man, a great uh somebody
you wanna be like, uh when when you wanna grow
up and things like that. But uh, the relationship is
has been there Uh, I wanna say it, since my
freshman year I committed to him and and uh that

(01:34:15):
program and it was great. And then uh, he got
the job here, and I knew, Uh, I knew I
was kind of gonna be back.

Speaker 11 (01:34:21):
Uh, not as a Cincinnati being.

Speaker 24 (01:34:23):
I thought I know I was gonna be back in
the ropes cause uh I texted him one year, I guess, Uh,
I guess, congrats, I'm going to the super Bowl. And
he text me back, He's like, thank you, man. So
it was just a good, good seeing out of eye.
And then shoot, I got blessed and I got jobbed here,
So it all.

Speaker 11 (01:34:35):
Came for full like a full circle. So it's cool.

Speaker 13 (01:34:38):
We're visiting with TODJ. Brooks. You ultimately chose to play
at Texas Tech. As you mentioned you're gonna be in
their Hall of Fame someday you're their all time leading rusher.
What did you enjoy most about your five years there?

Speaker 11 (01:34:49):
Man, It wasn't breaking the records or anything.

Speaker 24 (01:34:52):
It was just the I want to say, my teammates,
the guys that I met there, the guys that I
came in.

Speaker 11 (01:34:56):
With, uh we built Uh those.

Speaker 24 (01:34:58):
Are my brothers for life, and that was probably like
one of the biggest things that I that I missed
about college and things like that. But besides the accolades
that I've broken things, but those that's probably the most
important ones.

Speaker 13 (01:35:10):
In addition to your on the field success, you excelled
in the classroom. You were nominated for the Campbell Award
last year, which is known as the Academic Heights Been Trophy.
Did your folks put a big emphasis on the classroom
For sure.

Speaker 24 (01:35:23):
My mom and my dad, they pushed me academically as
well as on the field. You want to be the
best person in the brain before you get outside and
get on the field, you know. So that's just it's
been instilled to me at a young age. My Grandma's
also instilled in me just you got to you gotta
be a student before you be an athlete. So just
learning different ways just to get better with your brain.
That's just something I always honored as and you know,

(01:35:45):
just want to just expand my knowledge more.

Speaker 13 (01:35:47):
The Bengals selected you in the sixth round of this
year's draft. Describe that day leading up to getting the
phone call from Zach Taylor.

Speaker 24 (01:35:55):
First and foremost, it was just it was a blessing
I can't think enough to the man above. The Bagels
got a great guy, a great a great person that's
gonna come in and impact the way that he can
if any opportunity that he gets.

Speaker 11 (01:36:07):
But nah, that that day was amazing.

Speaker 24 (01:36:09):
I talked to Zach, I talked to Jay Hill, and
then shoot, after that, it was it was ready to work.

Speaker 23 (01:36:13):
You know.

Speaker 24 (01:36:13):
They Nothing wasn't handed, nothing wasn't given. It was just
come in, learn and just be uh, whenever opportunity for
this herself, be ready for the opportunity. And I can't wait.

Speaker 13 (01:36:23):
This was a crazy deep draft for running backs. I'm
thinking in a normal year you would have gone several
rounds earlier. How did that affect you?

Speaker 11 (01:36:32):
I really didn't. Uh, it really didn't affect me.

Speaker 24 (01:36:34):
I have I have a great team, great agent within
that well and things like that.

Speaker 11 (01:36:39):
So they kept me. Uh he kept me, truly honest.

Speaker 24 (01:36:41):
He's like, man, I feel like you were one of
the top backs in this class, and you know your
film proves it. You can take and catch the ball
great out the backfield, and you know run the ball.
That's nothing, and Whitey can't question me question you about that.
So man, that's just it was deep, but I feel
like I separated myself just off pass protection and then
catching the ball.

Speaker 11 (01:36:58):
Where we're at the field.

Speaker 13 (01:37:01):
Were the guys draft before you? Where you said yourself, Man,
that guy is good, but I know I'm better than
he is.

Speaker 24 (01:37:06):
For sure, you know, just the competitor in me just
saying that, and then just you know, on draft day
I kind of wrote and thought about every guy that
went before me, so not saying when we played him,
I I just wanna, you know, be the whenever I
get my.

Speaker 11 (01:37:17):
Opportunity to be the best back on the field and
things like that. So I just can't wait for that
to happen.

Speaker 13 (01:37:21):
All right. Some wild card topics now for Bengals running
back Taj Brooks. Who is your all time favorite athlete
in any sport?

Speaker 11 (01:37:30):
And why I gotta be one or just one?

Speaker 13 (01:37:34):
You can pick several if you'd like.

Speaker 24 (01:37:36):
All Right, man, it's tough. I'm gonna go Kobe just
because the mama mentality. I'm gonna go ray Lewis, just
because a guy that's gonna come to work each and
every day and give it his all, and someone that's
that's gonna embrace you and you know, makes you want
to do things that you want to that you don't
want to do, but you're doing.

Speaker 11 (01:37:53):
And then my last.

Speaker 24 (01:37:54):
One is probably Barry Sanders, just a guy that's just
very consistent as being playing a running back, being at
the plane at the highest level and doing the great
things that he did in the NFL. Man, it's just
you always want to put yourself in that role and
just want to see yourself doing those great things that
he did.

Speaker 13 (01:38:12):
So Barry Sanders was before your time. Have you watched
a lot of the clips on YouTube?

Speaker 14 (01:38:16):
Oh?

Speaker 24 (01:38:16):
For sure, I watch him. Then you know the Madden
You know, I play Madden a lot, so I'm always
using him. Walter Payton, you know, just Marshall falk Man,
you can go a list goes down.

Speaker 16 (01:38:27):
Man.

Speaker 24 (01:38:27):
What I kind of watch those guys on YouTube and
just you know, going what they did in the NFL
and just try to see how my game can imprint
and how I can take things from their game.

Speaker 13 (01:38:35):
So we're visiting the taj Brooks. For the last three years,
you put on a free football clinic back home for kids.
More than three hundred attended this past year. Why do
you do that?

Speaker 24 (01:38:45):
I do it just it's a blessing first and foremost
for the kids, and you know, just so it's been,
it's free. It's something that I love, you know, giving
back to my community, giving back to where I came from.
And you know, you always want to get back to
your hometown because they're going to support you no matter what,
no matter if you're in no matter if you're you know,
a college coach some day, and no matter whatever you're doing,
they're gonna always support you. And I always want to

(01:39:05):
give my support back to to my high schools and
things like that.

Speaker 13 (01:39:08):
We know you're a good running back, we know you're
a good student. You rode horses as a kid. But
where do you allow to at?

Speaker 17 (01:39:16):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (01:39:16):
To be honest, I'm not a good singer. I will
not I sing.

Speaker 24 (01:39:20):
I sing to myself sometimes, but it's just myself and
probably my girlfriend.

Speaker 11 (01:39:24):
But besides that, I'm not a great singer at all.
That's probably the one.

Speaker 13 (01:39:28):
What do you like to splur? John Man?

Speaker 24 (01:39:31):
I don't know because I haven't. Man, I'm not I'm
a big I'm not a big spender. It's just it
depends like I kind of left my big spending probably
in my college days, but now it's just more of
just I don't know, man, it's I don't really splares
a lot. Second contract, probably buy a home back home,
you know, buy a home, get something set up off

(01:39:52):
of the off season, and you know, get something going
with the off season, things like that.

Speaker 11 (01:39:56):
So just buy a home and things like that.

Speaker 13 (01:39:57):
All right. Final fun fact for Taj Brooks. This one's
a little bit deep. If you could meet anybody in history,
living or deceased, who would that person be?

Speaker 24 (01:40:08):
I want to say one is Nipsey Hustle. Nipsey Hustle,
excuse me, just the way how powerful he is with
his voice and the way he carried on his life
and his legacy. And then two probably my brother Charlie Man.
Just to talk to him, see how he doing up there.
He passed away in twenty nineteen during a gun violence accident,
So just meet him and just top it up with him.

Speaker 11 (01:40:30):
That would probably be my two. Like most coming back
and just topping it up, So that probably be my
things right there.

Speaker 13 (01:40:36):
Taj, appreciate your time, best off like the rest of
the year.

Speaker 2 (01:40:38):
Yes, sorry, thank you, Taj Brooks. This week in the
Spotlight for fantastic fun facts. More of that with the
Bengals Booth Podcast. Check it out where you get your podcast.
And you know, we were talking earlier about the final
three games and opportunities. Taj Brooks had four kick returns yesterday.
We don't we hope Samaj p Ryan's okay this week
after he was dinged up. But any opportunity for somebody

(01:40:59):
like a time Brooks, whether it's kick returns or a
couple of carries, that's important for him over the final
three games of the season.

Speaker 3 (01:41:05):
It is it is. You know, you're there's always a
valuation going on, you know, and in position coaches are
taking a look at their players and okay, are they
are they? Is there a play worthy of getting more opportunity?
Should we give them more snaps?

Speaker 2 (01:41:20):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:41:20):
They are only three games left. But if if he
were to say, you know, uh, light it up against
the Miami Dolphins and give him more opportunity, see see
what he does. See see how he he handles maybe
a little bit more burden of responsibility against Arizona and Cleveland,
to see how he responds.

Speaker 2 (01:41:37):
Still ahead, those Miami Dolphins will put them in the
spotlight as we head down the stretch. Bengals Line, Bengals
Radio Network and seven hundred WLW. We continue on in
this Monday Night Bengals Line. Bengals Radio Network and seven

(01:41:59):
hundred w W. I am Lance McCalister. He is Dave Lapham.

Speaker 3 (01:42:03):
Yes, Sir Lance in pay Corp is proud to be
the official HR software provider of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:42:09):
Next up, those Miami Dolphins. They are six and seven.
They're still in playoff contention. They are in action tonight
against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. So a
short week for them in the turnaround against the Bengals.
But the Dolphins are clinging to playoff hopes, desperate playoff hopes.
They've won four straight. Their season had gotten sideways, but
then they reeled off a win over Buffalo thirty to thirteen.

(01:42:32):
They beat the Commander sixteen thirteen, They beat the Saints
twenty one seventeen, and they beat up the Jets last
week thirty four to ten. So four straight. They're playing football,
and they're playing good football, and they're in desperation mode
right now.

Speaker 3 (01:42:46):
Tell you the turnaround game thirty thirteen over Buffalo. We
know how good Buffalo can play. I mean Buffalo came
in and I mean spanked us, really really did a number,
did a job. That's a good football team. They have
a hell a quarterback. They've got a lot of good
football players in that organization. There's no question about it.
So you know, don't fall don't sleep on the Miami Dolphins.

(01:43:09):
The Miami Dolphins are capable of putting together, you know,
a game that like where did that come from? McDaniel
has done a great job because you know, other than
two of they don't have a whole lot of names.
It's like, oh yeah, that guy, that guy, Oh wow.
I mean, they've got a lot of good, solid football
players that understand what what McDaniel wants to do and

(01:43:30):
how he wants to get it done. And he's he's
stocked him himself in the organization in that regard, and
they're playing well for him.

Speaker 2 (01:43:37):
Yeah, and you better better tackle well eight chan they're
they're running back is rushed for over eleven hundred yards,
he's averaging almost five point eight yards of carry's got
seven touchdowns, so he'll be something on the ground. And yeah,
they're they're they're getting right at the right time. And again,
desperation drives a football team and they're certainly trying to okay,
and the weather will be you mentioned the weather earlier.

(01:43:59):
I looked at up up Uh, Saturday, the high is
going to be in the neighborhood of eighty one degrees,
maybe some early showers, but we're gonna go from ten
degrees yesterday to perhaps high seventies into the low eighties
on Sunday in Miami. Quite a contrast.

Speaker 3 (01:44:15):
Yeah, quite, that's dramatic, man, it really is. I mean
that you go from bone chilling cold to like, hey,
it's gonna be sweating freely. Man, there's no question.

Speaker 2 (01:44:27):
Uh, you know what, you know what I just thought
of because everything goes back to the Freezer Bowl. It
makes me think of when you guys played the Chargers
in the Freezer Bowl the week before they had beaten,
of all things, Miami and the and that the game
where Kellen Winslow is held off the field and he's
dehydrated and was so hot, and then the next week
goes welcome to the Freezer Bowl and Cincinnati.

Speaker 3 (01:44:46):
Yeah really, and uh, I guess I guess, Ah, maybe
a gauge for how how different those weather conditions were.
The Gatorade, the gatorade in Cincinnati was frozen. The gateor
raade down down there in Miami was a little bit
warm as you kind of swashed it around your mouth.

Speaker 2 (01:45:05):
Beautiful. I before coming in, I happened to look it
up and Bengals and Dolphins, And of course you played
the Dolphins a number of times and played in the
Orange Bowl. And I'm thinking of in your first year
you had a Monday nighter there. But the coaches on
the sidelines. Just to think Don Shula and Paul Brown
really on the same field across from each other, that's

(01:45:27):
just iconic, Iman, that's football big time.

Speaker 3 (01:45:30):
Oh and remember Don Shula played for Paul Brown with
the Cleveland Brown He played in the secondary and Don
Shula was a Paul Brown said, a very very intelligent
football player. Boy, that's a shock, you know, a guy
that ends up going into coaching and accumulates all the
wins that Don Shula accumulated. Man, there's no doubt that
he was a smart football player as a player.

Speaker 2 (01:45:52):
Man. And I looked up and I'm sure these names
will ring a bell in your days of playing the Dolphins.
A Verned, Yes, Bona Khani, Bob Bombhauer and aj Dewey.
Guys like that. Oh, those are some names.

Speaker 3 (01:46:06):
Some names big time, no doubt. Aj Dewey out of it,
out of LSU, Bob Bombhouer, Yeah, that that Kim Bokamper
memories man boy. Yes. And Nick Bonakhani that little sucker. Man,
I'm telling you he was like five eleven and you
couldn't get under his pads. I mean that sucker would
we would bring it went to Notre Dame and uh,

(01:46:28):
you know I hate Notre Dame, but Bonakhani was. He
was a heck of a football player. There's no doubt.

Speaker 2 (01:46:35):
We'll head down the stretch, put the raps on it,
and uh send you on your way. It's Bengals On
on the Bengals Radio Network and seven hundred W l W.
All right, here we go. Let's put the raps on it.
Final segment tonight of Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio Network.

Speaker 3 (01:46:53):
And Bengals fans make sure to catch me and Dan
Horde every Wednesday this season for Bengals Game Plan presented
by Bud Light on the air from six to eight
pm on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:47:04):
By the way, along those lines, and I just thought
of it now, I can't remember where I've heard him.
You've had Sam Hubbard, And you're having Sam Hubbard this
week again since your Wednesday Friday show Friday, somebody shows Friday.
How cool was it to catch up with Sam Hubbard?
Very cool?

Speaker 3 (01:47:18):
I mean he is uh, he is mister Ohio football,
Moeler High School, Ohio State, Cincinnati Bengals. I mean, he
is the Cincinnati kid, you know, the the rumble fumble
I should say, in the Jungle, a moment where he goes,
you know, coast to coast plus one hundred and two yards,
incredible moment. And the thing I really respect about Sam

(01:47:41):
Hubbard is he is He's as humble as humble can be. Man,
humble pie all the way, you know, and he just
and he he's very very thoughtful, introspective. You ask him
a question and you can see, you know, he registers
to question registers, He thinks about it before saying anything.

(01:48:01):
He doesn't want to put his foot in his mouth.
He is Uh, he's great. He has been an unbelievable
symbol of greatness for the Bengals organization.

Speaker 2 (01:48:11):
Yeah, and I wonder, I don't know, maybe he doesn't
know what he's going to do next, but he's one
of those guys. Whatever he does he will be successful.

Speaker 3 (01:48:19):
At Absolutely, he's got a foundation that's that's killing it,
and it's it's helping kids that are hungry, you know,
and don't have can't get enough food, they can't get
three square meals at home. So he's helping the community
in that regard. And uh, that's that's part of his uh,
you know, the golden rule, that's part of his upbringing
is help others that need help.

Speaker 2 (01:48:39):
Man, no doubt, no doubt. All right, we have put
this one in the books, thankfully in many aspects because
that was difficult to watch at times. Yesterday was really
frustrating to watch yesterday. But the beauty of the NFL
is there's next week, there's the Miami Dolphins. Let's gather
here on Monday night and talk about, uh, the the
bounce back of Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Does that
sound like a play on Dave Lapham.

Speaker 3 (01:48:59):
Sounds like a huge plan, a big game for Joe Burrow.
Intua will struggle.

Speaker 2 (01:49:04):
Thanks for hanging out with us tonight. This has been
Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio network. In seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 1 (01:49:13):
This was Bengals Line on the Bengals Radio network. Pay Corps.
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This is seven hundred WLW, the home of the Fest
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