All right.
My next guest covers the Bengals and the local sports scene for Local twelve dot com. His Skinny podcast with Roock Brewing a must watch as well Stocks and Bengals with the man they call Skinny, Richard Skinner. How are you.
I'm good, last, Thanks for having me.
Thanks for making time tonight. Let's start with the news of the day surrounding Joe Flacco. What do you make of his if we're projecting ahead now from Wednesday forward, what do you make of his status for Sunday?
Yeah? I think. I mean fifty fifty is what Zach Taylor called, and that's probably being generous. I mean, you know, when he went down on that sack on the next to last series, I had my head down for a second and somebody said, oh, Jake's throwing, and I looked up, okay, and then you see Joe kind of being looked at by the medical staff. Then he tries to throw. He's
wincing in pain. They give him a couple of a couple of I don't know maybe til at all, but I know he took something on the sideline that went into the locker room, and you can imagine probably got a shot of something in the locker room and did finish the game, and he was asked after the game how he felt and said, I feel fine. Well, that's all well and good because you just got shot up with pain medication probably so you did. And then the reality comes in that, yeah, he sprained his ac joint
and that's Those things can be dicey. I mean, they can be really long term, they can be medium term. They can sometimes be short term. But if he wasn't good enough to go today and he doesn't go tomorrow, I know, Zach said, you know, if he feels good on Sunday, even without reps, he could probably play him. I just I think that's a really big ask. I mean, I'll give him credit. I know Zach did too. I mean, kudos to him for wanting to play, right. I mean, yeah,
this guy's forty plus years old. He just hurt his throwing shoulder. You got a bye week coming up, easy to go, Hey, man, I'm good. Get Jake ready for this week and I'll come back hopefully and you know, after the bye week. But I just think it's a big ask if he plays this weekend.
After the game on Sunday, Zach made a public declaration of a need for somebody to step up on defense. What'd you make of that?
Yeah, you know you lost the leadership. But Logan Wilson, I mean he's still playing snaps, but he's not playing start he started. Actually he's not playing you know, the majority of the snaps. I think it's a plea for somebody to make a play. I believe that. I mean, like, uh, you know, somebody needs to make a tackle. Somebody needs to disengage and go make a fact. Somebody needs to
you know, come up with interception of sometimes. But I think he's looking for leadership with Logan off the field and Logan's I don't want to call Logan not a leader. That's not fair. He's just quiet, okay. And you know leaders do different things. I mean some lead quietly by example and some are our real leaders. The guy I think they're pointing to is Barrett Carter. I mean he I know Zach really likes spirits leadership qualities. The problem there is, you know, you've also got to lead by
example too. And I'm not gonna knock bear a Carter for everything because he had a really good first couple of series, like alling those great, and he's played okay, but he also had a chance on a tackle on Isaiah Davis, the running back. I mean he diagnoses the play. He gets right in the gap. It's one on one in the gap, and the thing you have to do there as a professional linebacker is put that guy on the ground. Would have been a yard gain it most probably,
and he slips through and goes for fifty yards. It's hard to lead when you're not making the plays and you're a rookie on top of it. But I do think that's you're looking for the leader that they're trying to point to. I think he'd be the guy. Maybe Jordan Battle a little bit, but again, his performance doesn't exactly scream Hey, I'm really good, so I'm gonna lead you guys. So I think I think. I think it's a mess at the moment. I really do. I mean,
they had all three levels of the defense. Skinny.
Is there an in season fix for this defense?
I don't think so. I just don't think it's one guy. I think, honestly, Atlantis is multiple seasons. It's gonna take to fix, you know. I think part of what you're seeing with the rookie linebackers is okay, these are our guys for the next few years, and let's just let them go. They're gonna make mistakes. I mean, you saw the one in Green Bay where they both won to the outside gap on a on a Josh Jacob's fourteen yard touchdown line. He goes right up the middle of
the end zone. Both of them went to the wrong place. Both of them went the wrong way. I don't want to say you have to live with it, but you kind of do. While they kind of get some of that out of their system. And you know, at the cornerback spot, you've you've been up and down with the camp Tiller brit situation. At the safety spot, neither safeties played well. And guess what if you're looking, we'll put somebody else in there. They don't really have a backup safety.
They got two special teams guys backing up at safety and Tyson Anderson PJ. Jewels and up front. I mean Lance, you see the audience is seen in the last the last two weeks. They don't disengage from a soul. I mean it's it's not even like getting pressure. It's like velcro. When offensive lineman get them. It is staggering. Then in the last two weeks they have three quarterback hits total.
One of those was on that Aaron Rodgers remember when he scrambled for eight plus seconds and threw a touchdown pass. Dimitrius not actually hit him right after he threw the ball. That's one quarterback hit. Another one came this past week when Cam Taylor britt blitzed and and hit and hit Justin Fields. Those are two of the three quarterback hits in the last two games. Not sacks, just hits. And that's a big problem at the moment because while you can put this second go, I how of Justin Fields
carve him up? Well, he carve him up because he stood back there for eons to throw the football. There was one wor seacon number who the receiver was, because they were all, you know, backup quality guys. I saw a guy on a takeoff route and I kind of looked away for a second. All of a sudden, I see Justin throw it that way. The guy came back ten yards of the football because he had a billion
years to throw. They've got to find a way to generate pass rushing, and I think Al Golden hinted this hinted at that with us on Monday a little bit without letting the cattle bag. He's on the record when he said it like, I've got to create more. I gotta create more pressures, and I think the only way to do that is to start blitzing more and just throw caution the way. But we ain't getting stops anyway.
Maybe I can create a negative play, maybe I can create a turnover too, and that's the only way we're gonna get stops. Because if this team just lines up and says we're gonna try to stop you in base defense and maybe occasionally blitz, it's not gonna work. It's just not good enough.
The run game is clicking. Joe Flacco has been kept relatively clean other than the hit he got smoked on Sunday. Why has that happened?
Great question, and that was actually we talked Damn Pitcher today and that was asked the Dan. He just I just think the offensive lines played well the last couple of weeks. You know, I thought Orlando Brown was sliding backwards significantly for the first few weeks. He's played well. Ted Carris has actually elevated his level of play. It looks like Jalen Rivers, I think settling in nicely at
right guard. Marius Mims has kept his side quiet and and you know, Dylan Fairchout came back in for Dalton Reisner and Dalton started the previous game when the offensive line played well against Pittsburgh. I just think I think they've somehow settled in. Uh you know, I know people continue to look at the offensive line with a John Desie and go, oh, they they haven't stunk. They've won
the ball great. Joe's been sacked three times and hit minimal times in the last two games at approximately you know, eighty some odd drop backs, and uh, you know, they still have to They still have to protect for a lot of times in the game because they dropped back to pass so much. So Yeah, I don't honestly, there's no real answer than they're just playing better.
Jamar obviously has been incredible and heavily targeted. Did the two t targets on Sunday raise an eyebrow?
Sure? Did you know? I know the Jets were, you know, trying to take both of them away. But you know, if I'm taking one away, no offense to T Higgins, I'm gonna focus my taking away on Jamar Chase and not Tea. And so Jamar got plenty of targets and had plenty of catches. He had two targets. Andre Yoshibash had three. Look, I know, Andre was probably single covered more often that last play at the end of the game,
they did double both Tea and Jamar. Jamar talked about that and Andre was the place to go with it. But in what world did you sign t Higgins in this contract and he only gets two targets? That just seems to be crazy to me, Like, and it feels like it's kind of been that way almost all year, where he he seems kind of invisible at times. And listen, he is a clear number two to Jamar Chase. Let's not forget that. But you didn't pay him like a
clear number two. You paid him like a one a. And if you're gonna pay him like a one a, then you better find a way. I mean, honestly, you better throw four jump balls to him again just to get him extra targets. In my opinion, If not, why did you resign him?
Do you see Yoshi's snaps declining? And if so, who assumes those snaps?
Yeah, that's a great question because we you know, we asked both Pitch and I think Zach either Monday or today, and we ask Pitch today of you know, do you still have confidence Andre? And they both expressed their confidence. I wouldn't expect them to say anything otherwise publicly, but it's hard not to. I mean that last play is an example of kind of how his years gone. He doesn't get much separation. It was a contested catch. I think we can agree with that. It was not a
you know, he wasn't wide open. It wasn't wide open because he didn't get separation, and then it was a contested catch that he couldn't quite haul in. He's had some issues with some drops. I mean, it's hard not to like the kid, but at some point life has nothing to do with this. I can't imagine you don't
give Mitchell Tin's a little bit more on. I think it'd be silly not to, just because you know, Andre's not producing, and you know, I think there's a there's a role where they'd like to get Jermaine Burton on the field, and Jermaine keeps probably stubbing his foot to on the field, and so there's that issue and so it's it's really it's either Mitchell Tinsley or him. I mean maybe if Mike Kasicki was healthy, you could might
put Mike in that role, but Mike's not healthy. So yeah, I think the next man up would be Mitchell Tinsley. And I think you need to see more of that, to be honest with you.
All Right, last question. They're three and five, there's nine games left. I saw a new win total today posted for them at seven and a half. If you were Terry Rozier, would you bet over or under on that total?
Yeah? The other thing is I don't have control of It's like Terry had totals, man, I mean, that's the one thing he had gone for me. He could determine what those totals were going to be.
That would be five, and that'd be five and four the rest of the way to go over.
Yeah, I think they. I think they do because I think they win this week. I think Flacco is at least back for the Pittsburgh game and they have a schot to go there. Believe it or not, they win this week. There is a world in which pitt Sburg is four and five and the Bengals are four and five, playing at Pitts first, first place, or at least to keep the raven Heck, the Ravens might be four and five at that point two, but you'd be playing head to head to see which one of you goes to
five and five. That's the goofy part. I mean, nine wins can win this division. The question is then you're asking can they hit the seven and a half? Can they get denying there's a world where they can. There's also a war where they win two more games the rest of the way because this defense is just so horrific.
All right, what are you working on? And how can listeners read and watch all you have going on?
Yep, just go to Local twelve dot com slash sports. I got the Joe Flacco story up today and kind of the confidence they again have in Jake Browning, and then tomorrow Lance I did this today. I was gonna post today if the Joe flacko who's had to come out. I redrafted the Bengals first three picks this year just because I wanted to just see who you could go with, and it took me in a direction where it wasn't
completely off base. And the three picks make a whole lot of sense, and it makes you wonder what are they doing in the draft through one draft night?
Well, I can't wait. I will read it at Local twelve dot com. You're a good man. I appreciate the time. Thank you. All Right, there you go, Richard Skinner. Check it in tonight.