Bengals Booth Podcast: Amazing

We'll hear from Ted Carriss on the condition of his injured knee, and discuss the remarkable performance of the Bengals offensive line last week with NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. And finally, in this week's No The Faux segment, we'll get the skinny on the Chiefs from Adam Tisher, who covers the team for ESPN. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets inside merchandise up for grabs.

Find both inside the Bengals ab now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since No Excuses gear. Back in twenty nineteen, when Bengal safety Michael Thomas was playing for the New York Giants, he decided that no Excuses would be his personal slogan

for the season and shared that message with friends. When he got to training camp, a buddy back home in Houston sent him a care package that included a hat he had made that featured the word excuses in bold white letters with a red slash through it. When Michael wore that hat to camp, teammates like Sequon Barkley and Eli Manning asked where he got it, and when he wore it to a local mall, he got stopped by

several people asking the same question. So he started a No Excuses clothing brand, and perhaps you've seen Bengals players and coaches wearing hats and hoodies featuring that message this year. If you're interested, you can check out the catalog at No Excuses shop dot com. The gear not only looks good, but it helps raise money for academic scholarships for kids in Michael's hometown. Now let's get to football. The Bengals have done a remarkable job in free agency in recent years.

In twenty twenty, they signed DJ Reader and Von Bell. Last year they added Trey Hendrickson, Mike Hilton and chitubey O Wooge. And this year they beefed up the offensive line by signing Ted Carris, Alex Kappa, and L. L. Collins. But that's not all they did this year. They also signed tight end Haydenhurst to a one year, three point five million dollar deal, making him one of the biggest bargains in the league at his position. I caught up

with the twenty nine year old this week. All right, Hayden, here is my current list of the greatest hurdlers of all time. Edwin Moses number one, Ronaldo Niemiah number two, Hayden Hurst number three. Last week of Buffalo, it's a seven point game, about five minutes to go in the third quarter, third down in ten. You go up and over a defensive back for a key first down. The Bengal score touchdown on that drive. Could you tell in

the moment the significance of that hurdle? Honestly, No. When I get out there and I put my homet on, I just I'm just having fun. Obviously, I know the situation. It's third down, third and long, and I need to get the first down. As far as like how crucial in the moment it was, I didn't really cross my mind. I'm just trying to pick up first downs. Again, it's kind of my mo here. I'm kind of the first down guy. So you know, Joe checks it down and trust me to go get ten yards and you know,

I go get twelve. I kind of saw him gathering himself a little bit. I knew he was gonna go low. You know, he's a dB, so when up top just kind of I guess my thing, when do you make that decision? It's really it's more of a reaction thing. I think if you go into it being like I'm gonna hurdle this guy, it's when you get dumped. I definitely I learned my lesson in college. I got dumped in college. So I mean, you get got every once in a while in this game, but you know, I

get mine when I get got. So it's fun. Now, Well, that kind of happened in the first Puffalo game. You went to hurdle Jordan Poyer and he more or less was standing up by the time you went airborne. It was kind of a helmet to the butt collision. What did you think when you watched the replay? I got over him. He just grabbed my foot on the way down. He asked me about it on Sunday. He was like, he was like, you know what you got going on?

Trying to hurdle everybody? And I was like, I'll be honest, Jordan, I black out. I have no idea what I do out there. I just gotta have fun, man. He started laughing. So we're talking to Hayden Hurst. Your hurdle moments have gone viral, but so did a block you made in the Tennessee game earlier this year, or you wiped out Bud Dupree. I almost felt badly for him. When you came here. You came with a reputation of being a

great receiver, not necessarily a great blocker. Was your reputation wrong or have you vastly improved as a blocker this year. I've definitely improved. You know, James kind of helped me take my game in the run game to a completely different level. But I mean, you can watch my tape. Since I've been the league, I've always kind of had that chip on my shoulder. Just play physical. That's just that's my mo. You know, when I line up in

front of a guy, I take it personal. You know, I think he thinks that he's more outa than me, stronger than me, better than me. So I take it personal. And that's just what I do. I go fly around and I don't really care about my body and whatever it takes to win. You mentioned your tight Ends coach James Casey. You guys seem inseparable, like you, He played professional baseball before he ever played college football. I don't know if that's part of the link, but what is

it between you two guys? We just get along very very well. You know we've had we have the same kind of background, similar or you know, same life experiences, UM, and then mentally we're wired the same. You know, he was a physical, you know, crazy, crazy player when he played, you know, for the Eagles and the Texans UM and that's I think that's why we hit it off so well. You know, he kind of understands my mindset heading into a game on Sunday. He knows I'm gonna be prepared,

and he knows that I take it personal. You know, I don't. I don't show up and worry about Instagram or likes or like that. Like I go out there and I want to I want people to feel me. You kind of touchdown pasted last week against Buffalo, it's third down in seven, the Bills converge on Jamar Chase and leave you open right at the goal line. Was that one of those plays where you could sense the likelihood of how well it was going to work. Yes,

I mean throughout the week we called it. We understood like what they were probably gonna run defensively down there in the red zone. Um, and then we kind of had a little like a little fake check in there too. And as soon as you know, we fake checked it out to Jamar, they started communicating and I kind of looked at their communication, looked at Joe, and I was like,

there are going to miss this up. And sure enough, they converged on Jamar, and you know, I pop wide open and I saw the ball in the air and I was just kind of waiting for it to come down. So that's one of those that kind of hang up there forever. Other than missing three games with a calf injury this year has this first year with the Bengals

been everything you hoped it would be. Absolutely I told you on the sideline after we had the game, kind of clenched that this time last year, I was sitting in my house in Florida with my family watching the divisional game on TV, and it's just it's crazy how life comes full circle. Now you gotta keep fighting, got to be resilient, and you know, I've kind of fought myself into this position an hour talking AFC Championships, So it's kind of surreal. You faced the Chiefs on Sunday.

The tight end on the opposite side of the field is obviously one of the best. Travis Kelsey put up crazy numbers this year one hundred and ten catches, more than thirteen hundred yards, twelve touchdowns. You probably won't get as many targets as he does on Sunday, But do you go into a game like that thinking I am going to show that I am the best tight end on the field that day. I don't try to worry about numbers. It's a different offense, you know. Travis is

you know, their focal point. Now he's gonna get his targets, He's gonna get his catches, obviously he should. He's the best tight end in the NFL. Going into a game like this, I really just want to put on display what I'm all about. You know, I'm not worried about other guys or what they're gonna do and things like that. You know. Defensively, we'll have a plan to try to stop him, but I'm focused on what I need to do to help this team win. Whatever that is. They're

down catches, red zone catches. I'm just gonna go in there, locking and do my job. It's going to be called on Sunday. They're calling for a temperature in the mid twenties. A wind chill in New England on Christmas Eve was four degrees. You always warm up in the crop top, mid section exposed. Will that be the case on Sunday? And if so? Why? And we've won ten in a row. Man, it can't stop now. Yeah, it's crop top season all

year round. I guess I gotta roll with it. You know, I'm not that superstitious, but now that you mentioned it, you better wear the crop top. It'll come out, absolutely, it doesn't matter. Congratulations on an awesome season today, Best of luck in the FC Championship. Game, Yes, I appreciate it. I consider myself one of the least superstitious people in the world. But during the game on Sunday, I will be using the pen that I've been using throughout the

winning streak. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you in part by all Ta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business, and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with all to Fiber. Back to the subject of cold weather in Kansas City, the current forecast for Sunday night calls for highs in the mid twenties, lows around ten degrees,

where the windshill is low as five below. That's cold, so it's good to know that the Bengals have Joe Burr at quarterback. Jay Morrison of The Athletic pointed out last week that the Bengals are now seven to oz with Burrow at QB when the temperature is thirty five

degree ease or colder. And consider the two games with the worst weather that the Bengals have played in this year in New England, the temperature with seventeen degrees and the wind show was four burrow through for two hundred and eighty four yards and three touchdowns in the first half. Then last week, in that snowstorm in Buffalo, Joe started the game nine for nine with two touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of one oh one point nine.

Here's offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. I don't think anything has any impact on him, truthfully. He's just he can compartmentalize as good as anybody. Weather doesn't bother him. He's you know, I'm sure he's proud to be from Athens, where it's probably cold and miserable from like November on is you get out in the winter months. But he's playing those games the whole life. He's playing in that weather. It

doesn't bother him. You know. It takes a lot to get his mind off of the task at hand, and it's he's laser focused and whether Stoe rain cold, that doesn't phase him in the least bit. I think he actually rather enjoys it, to be honest. He's a little bit of a mutter like that. He likes that. Of course, A key reason why Joe excelled last week was the

stellar play of the Bengals injury ravage offensive line. It appears that Jonah Williams and Alex Kappa might be able to play in the Super Bowl if the Bengals make it, but they haven't practiced this week, so it's likely that Jackson, Carmen and Max Sharping will start again, along with Hakim Identagy in place of l Collins. Here's Ted Carriss on the Old Line, considering the stakes last week and the injuries you guys had upfront? Was that one of your

proudest days as an Oldlignement? It was. It's always hard to get a win in that stadium. My season had ended two years in a row there in terrible fashion. It's glad third time was a charm. I think everybody's wondering about the status of your knee at this point, ready to go practice. Well today, we're gonna go out there and practicing tomorrow and go out and perform our best on Sunday afternoon or evening. What did you think

of Jackson? I thought he played phenomenal. I think he proved he can play tackle in this league in a big moment and had a really good game. We're gonna need another great performance Altuhim. He's got a big matchup with Frank Clark, and that's gonna be another another test for him. But I know he's up for the challenge. He's gonna help us win the game. Chris Jones was first team All Pro. You mentioned Frank Clark. How good

is their front? They have a very good front, well coached, good coach over there, good culture, a lot of good players. The young guy Karlotis is another standout. So we have our work cut out for us. I think we started well today and we're gonna need to do that these next two days in order to play our best on Sunday. Chris Jones is a giant. He's six six, three hundred ten pounds and had fifteen and a half sacks this year. That's fourth most in the NFL and number one among

interior linemen. The Bengals Booth podcast You buy. Kettering Health the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health. Visit kettering health dot org to learn more. There are a ton of people doing great video breakdowns of the XS and o's on TV and social media, and one of my favorites is Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network,

who does Baldy's breakdowns. I had a chance to discuss the Bengals in Chiefs with him this week. Brian, you are an NFL offensive lineman for eleven years. How would you describe the performance of the Bengals offensive line last week? Missing three starters? It was brilliant. It was brilliant performance by Jackson at left tackle and Max at right guard,

and a team at right tackle. I mean, you wouldn't know that they were the backups, and that's a credit to Frank Pollock, the offensive line, the coaching, because it's not easy in those conditions against a really good defense. But I mean, it was one of the best offensive performances they've had whole year, and you really can't find a lot of bad plays or missed assignments or anything from that those three right now, let me follow up

specifically on Jackson Carmen. He was a left tackle at Clemson. He played guard last year as a rookie in the NFL. He was back at left tackle last week. What did you think of him specifically and how comfortable did he look back at tackle. Well, you know, he got in there, you know, obviously with the injury to you know, to

Jonah the week before. So he got in there against Baltimore, and I thought he played well until the very end, and then I thought it was just really a matter of time working, you know with Wolson and just kind of feeling his way in there. But I thought fundamentally his sets were good. He's a big two hand puncher. You don't see a lot of that anymore. But he didn't get out over his skis against you know, a variety of Russias against Buffalo. I thought he was excellent

in the run game. So, I mean the run game really kind of took off and flourished obviously, uh you know with what Joe did and what uh some aj did. So I thought it was I thought it was really good. I thought it was solid. You wouldn't know that this is his first start in the NFL left tack and I think I'm right, And so he looked really comfortable there, like like, you know, part of the reason why they took about at Clemson is they thought he could probably

play left tackle. Obviously, they had him make guard last year, but look, he's gonna get he's gonna get challenged this week in a way. Uh, you know from a variety of rushers again that you know, are pretty good at what they do in an atmosphere that's tough to play, and so the bigger test is this week. But I thought he answered all the questions. And you know, the best thing is you never talked about him during the game.

You know, That's that's like the that's like the greatest thing you could say about an offensive line and especially a kid making his first start, is you never said anything about him the whole game. Brian. At one point during the game last week, you tweeted, very simply, Joey b doesn't miss when you're watch Joe Burrow. What makes you shake your head and say, this kid's unbelievable? You know when I said that, I don't know how many complete in a row like for six or whatever it was,

you know, including a touchdown. But I think it's just that you know everything in this world. I don't care what you do. You throw a football, you know, you learn how to spin a basketball in your finger, I don't care what it is like. Everything is difficult before it gets easy. And for Joe, he just makes it look easy, like he's going through progressions, you know, about

as fast as you can go through a progression. Yet the footwork, the delivery, the fundamentals are all there to make sure the ball is thrown at the right spot. And that's obviously not easy to do and very few can do it. Yet here he is in his third year and he's doing it like on a consistent basis. Oh, by the way, it's snowing out, it's cold, it's a slick field, it's in hostile territory, and you wouldn't know. I mean, he could be in his backyard and Athens, Ohio,

you know, throwing to his dad or something. It wouldn't be any different. Probably for visiting the Brian Baldinger from the NFL Network. He did a Baaltis breakdown this week on Mike Hilton. The dude is five nine, one hundred eighty four pounds. You referred to him as a pit bull. What makes Mike Hilton so special? I think the fact that a he does everything full speed. You know, the blitzers are full speed. Defeating blocks at the line of

scrimmage is full speed. Bracketing in double coverage you know on Stefon Diggs, Like it's just it's just like he plays the game very fast, and you wouldn't know that he's five nine, you know, in one hundred and ninety pounds and change. You wouldn't know it, you know, by the way he plays, because you shouldn't be able to play the game that fast, hit, that hard attack, Josh Allen's throwing arm, like the way he does as fast as he does unless you are completely one percent confident

in what you're doing. And so I think a he's very well prepared assignment wise, like like you know, it's really special, but it's it's just a full speed, full attack approach that he has play and play out. So on Sunday, the Bengals are going to try to beat Kansas City for the fourth time in about thirteen months. Lou Anna Romo has done an incredible job of containing

Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs offense. What do you think of lou I think of him in the highest regard, Like he's as a tactician, Like I think he's as good as there is in the whole business. The things that like the things he did last year in the championship gain. You know, at halftime down twenty one three were remarkable, but you can see, like, but if you wait till halftime to make adjustments, sometimes sometimes

it's too late, right, so you see it. But just the game planning, like his ability to say, Okay, this is the guy that can beat us, you know, whether it's Stefon Diggs last week or whether it's Travis Kelsey and some of these games, like he's going to do his best to take your number one option away in the passing game. And that's you know, not everybody can do that because you know Stefan days, Travis Kelsey, they're

all over the place. Dan, you know, they're not in one place where it's kind of easy to say, Okay, this is how we're gonna double, Like you've got to have a variety of ways to double depending where he's at. And and then you know, it really helps to have DJ read or help healthy in this defense, like everybody needs that big guy in the middle. You know, it helps that BJ's playing really well and Tupo's playing well and Osia is healthy, Like all those things are good.

But I think saying okay, this is the number one option, they have whether it's third down or red zone or this is the big play guy, and to have a plan to take him away. And that's that's something I think that Lou specializes in. So the big storyline this week is obviously the status of Patrick mahomes right ankle, assuming that he is less mobile than usual. What will

Andy read in the Chiefs try to do well? I think, you know, if you're building a game plan against you know, with a hobble patch Mahomes, because none of us believe he's gonna be anywhere near one hundred percent, so you know, the first thing is, you know, make sure he's protected. You know, like Jeff McKinnon is a great personal protector. Mike Kilton comes on a blitz like we saw last week.

I think Jeff McKinnon is capable of notifying that. Now it helps that you know, you don't always know where it's coming from, but Jeff mckinns is a great personal protector. Then they have run the ball. Asaiah Pacheco had his one of his best games ever last week. Like he's he's a good number one running back and they're good upfront. So run the ball more, find ways to run it. You know whether it's Cardarius Tony on fly sweeps and

things like that. You know, like your victory against San Francisco, well they're victory against San Francisco this week. I mean McCole Hardman was going sideways scoring touchdowns that day. So like find different ways to run it. And then like you always have Travis Kelsey, He's your safety blank. You know, whether it's tight end screens or stick routes or you know,

just his ability to uncover against anything is elite. And then if you're gonna take shots down the field, you know, whether it's to Marquez Valdez Scantling or whether it's to Noah Gray, whoever it is, make sure that you're that you have max protection. Make sure the edges are protected and Trey Hendrickson isn't coming free at you, or you know, whether it's Logan Wilson up the middle, whatever the pressure is, like,

make sure you can account for it. To give Mahomes time, because I think the idea that Mahomes can do what he has done for six five straight years now is to extend these plays Like I don't know that you can count on that. I think he'll still try to do some of it, but he's not going to be one hundred percent to do it. So I would say that package of things I just said are things you can lean on them. We started with the Bengals offensive line. It was excellent last week, but it was a one

game sample size. How good is the Chiefs defensive led by Chris Jones? Chris Jones a handful. I mean, if you leave him one on one, I don't care who's in front of him, He's a handful and he's gonna win one on ones. So I think it starts with Chris and they move him around. They don't leave him in just one place. I mean, here is the three technique defensive tackle, but they'll put him outside on the edge and you know, working against offensive tackles. They'll loop

him on stunts. So it starts with him. But you know, Karloftis is a good rusher, Dana is a good rusher. Dunlop as you know, um, you know from his years and since that is a good rusher, you know, so they and Frank Clark is an explosive player. Oh and by the way, Steve Magnolah has been you know, the defense court in or two Super Bowl championship teams. So just the way lou can dial up, you know, certain

pressures and situations still can steep. And if you get to the red zone and your threat to score a touchdown, you can bet zero coverage. He's coming, zero blitzes are coming. He's gonna challenge you. And so you have to factor all those things in to your offense. Line out like they know how to protect Joe when they have to, and so they might have to, you know, help the offensive line in at times. Last thing, Brian, what are

a couple of your biggest keys on Sunday? Well, I think I don't have any fear obviously with the success they've had about against Kansas City and last week against Buffalo. But the first thing you have to do as an offense is you have to handle the atmosphere. You know, you have to handle the noise, the atmosphere. Every third down, they're going to be on their feet. They know they're one step away from a super Bowl. So you're going to get the Chiefs best from their fan base, you know,

in this game. And so it doesn't look like any of this bothers Joe, but it can bother a Keen. It can bother Jackson. There's guys that you know could be affected by that. So as a group, they got to handle that number one. I think if they put it, looks like they want to play Lagarius Sneed in the slot, and so Jalen Watson's outside. You know, you've got two

rookie corners out there. I gotta believe that. You know, Jamar and t are gonna get chances on the outside against these guys, and so a lot of them are contested catches. I like your receivers against their corners. Joe's gonna give it to them and a chance to do it and to see what kind of damage they can inflict. I think that's important. And then you know, the running game was really good last week. It was really good, and you know when that happens, like Joe's gonna be

even better when the running game takes off. So I think those three things are going to be affect our game plan wise, like if the Bengals win, those things are going to happen. And then defensively, like, look, Kelsey is their guy. I mean, I think they can handle Juju. I think they can handle all the other guys. Marcus Valdess Scantling, sky more whatever it is. But you know, Kelsey scored two touchdowns last week like he's a red zone demon. So can they continue to nullify or reduce

Travis Kelsey's impacted the game? Brian, We love talking football with you. Thanks so much for your time. Keep up the great work. Thank you, Dan. Look forward to breaking this championships on the Game Down. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Paycorps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay Corps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot com. Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment and for

the latest time the Chiefs. I spoke to Adam Tischer, who covers the team for ESPN. Adam, we are not going to know how mobile Patrick Mahomes is on his injured right ankle until he takes the field on Sunday. Assuming he can't run around as much as he usually does, what will the Chiefs do to offset that on offense? Yeah, that's the million dollar question, right. You know, Andy Reid's got some work to do there. People don't think of him in those terms necessarily, but that the scrambling, the

running big part of his game. You remember the Bengal spied him in the second half the AFC Championship game. Did a nice job took that away from him, and that was part of the reason they were able to come back, A big reason they were able to come back. He led the league in outside the pocket passes during the regular season hundred and thirteen of those. Didn't have any after the injury. So is that part of his game going to be gone? You know, he's very good

from the pocket too. He had the best QBR in the league throwing from the pocket that during the regular season. But now that the Bengals know about all this, he seems like he's a moving sitting targets. So it's a dilemma. Frand You read and he's going to earn his paycheck for sure on Sunday because they've got a lot of work to do to get to him ready for this game. I didn't realize it until reading a few stories this week. But there is a little bit of a history here.

He had a high ankle sprain now is the left ankle not the right a few years ago and in the next game he threw for four touchdown passes against the Raiders. Does that say something about his ability to overcome whatever physical ailment he might be dealing with. Yeah, it does. I don't know that that injury was quite like this one. He never had to come out of the game. I mean, he was hobbling around a little bit.

There's no doubt about that at the time, but it was it didn't seem like it was as bad as this one. So but certainly, you know, he's determined to get to do what he can to get ready to play this game. So we'll see on Sunday how well he is. But certainly this is an important thing to him, no doubt. We are talking to Adam Tisher, who covers the Chiefs or ESPN. We know all about Travis Kelsey here in Cincinnati dating back to his UC days. He

was targeted seventeen times. Last week he had fourteen catches, two for touchdowns. The Bengals held him too four catches back in December. How dependent are the Chiefs right now on Travis Kelsey a lot? And in particular, if you have a quarterback who can't do the things he normally does, um, you know they needed him in a big way with the backup quarterback for one drive and with Mahomes hobbled for the rest of the game, they really needed Travis

Kelsey and he really picked up his game. So you know it'll be a big factor on Sunday for sure. And you know, he's sort of Mahomes a security blanket. He's the guy he goes to when when when times are tough, and uh so, um, yeah, he needs to have a big game on Sunday, no doubt about him. So forty nine Ers quarterback Brock Purty has the best seventh round draft pick in the NFL this year. Isaiah Pacheco's probably number two on the list. He's been terrific

for Kansas City. How has he impacted the offense and how important is he on Sunday? Yeah, you know, you would think the Chiefs will try to run the ball maybe a little more, although I never really count on that. With Andy Reid, that's not that's not his thing. He's a throw first, quote play caller as we know, so I never predict that, but you would think that that would make a lot of sense. And Pacheco has certainly done a nice job for the Chiefs. He's revitalized their

running game. They have Jerick McKinnon as they're passing running back, and he's done a nice job there, and so they've sort of become a nice one two combination. And it's hard to see the Chiefs winning without a decent contribution on Sunday from Pacheco. So this is going to be the fourth meeting between these two teams in about thirteen months.

The Bengals have won three nail biers. Is there something that stands out to you from a Kansas City perspective that the Bengals have been able to do that other teams have not. I think they've been able to get some matchups. They've done a favorable job of getting some

matchups that they really liked, particularly on offense. They've done a nice job of creating some things I think, maybe more than some other opponents that have been favorable to favorable to them, and then taken advantage of those things. I feel like the chief had not done a good job of getting Joe Burrow on the ground. I mean, they had four sacks and the regular season game last year, and then I think only one in each of the last two games against the Bengals. So they need to

do a better job of that. I mean, they were second in the league in sacks this year, but only could get to him one time in the game a few weeks ago. So you know, that's another thing that they've done well. The Chiefs have done well against other teams, but not necessarily against the Bengals, And you know, a lot of it just comes down to Cincinnati has just

made the plays when it really counted. You remember that that big four down pass and the regular season game last year to Jamar Chase when the Chiefs came with an all outlets. It took a perfect pass and a great catch and they certainly executed it well. So the Bengals have just done a markable job of getting it done when it had to be done against the Chiefs. They really have a couple more questions for Adam Tisher from ESPN. Let me follow up on the pass rush.

The Bengals offensive line was battered last week. That played great against Buffalo. Now it's a one game sample size. Kansas City's defensive front is led by All Pro Chris Jones. How has that group played this year? It's been a nice year for them. They haven't been consistent maybe you know in the Cincinnati game is a kind of a noticeable one of the things that I'm talking about that they that was one of the games they just weren't what they had been most of the season. But they've

done a nice job, particularly getting after the quarterback. And you know, Chris Jones has had a nice season, his best season. He tied his career high with sacks fifteen and a half. But he's been a more consistent presence this year, I think than he was back in twenty eighteen when he also had fifteen and a half. They've got a rookie George Karloftus, who has played well the second half of the season defensive ends, though they've got some depth there as well, Carlos Dunlap, the former Bengal

Frank Clark. So they've got some players who can get after the quarterback. And I'm eager to see what they have cooked up on Sunday. But by and large, that group has done a nice job. The Chiefs have never been an underdog in Patrick Mahomes twelve career playoff games. Kansas City opened as a slight favorite for this game. Now it's swung. The Bengals are at least currently a slight favorite in Kansas City. What's the vibe. Does it feel like the Chiefs are an underdog this week? Yeah?

I think given the all the uncertainty with Patrick Mahomes, Yes, And I think the Bengals have a lot to do with that. You know, they've beat the Chiefs three times, although all three close games. I think there's a lot of in the town, not necessarily among the team, but there's a little bit of anks there. Oh no, the Bengals. You know, we can't beat the Bengals. You know, that kind of stuff from Chiefs fans. But so it's that it's the ankle to Mahomes. And I think a little

bit is the way the Bengals played in Buffalo. I mean that was that was one of the more dominant playoff performances of the season. I think, you know, the Bengals just controlled that thing right from the start and you never really felt once it got the fourteen to nothing, you never really felt the Bills were a factor in that game. And Buffalo is a good team and doing it in Buffalo in the snow, that was an impressive performance. So that that opened my eyes a little bit. I

guarantee you that. So it's gonna be tough. The Chiefs are gonna have to play well if they're gonna win on Sunday. I don't think there's any doubt about that last thing. For Adam Tyser from ESPN. From your perspective seeing this team every week, Kansas City wins and advances to the Super Bowl. If the Chiefs do what I'm going to give you a couple answers there. They have to get Joe Burrow on the ground. If they can sack him and create I'm going to say a couple turnovers,

take a couple of possessions away from the Bengals. That way, I think they can win this game. I think they can do enough offensively. I feel like if they can get after Burrow and create a couple turnovers and protect the ball themselves, I think they'll be I think that is the recipe for a Chiefs win. I know it's a crazy busy time for you. You are on mahomes Ankle Watch, so I appreciate you working us in and

enjoy the game on Sunday. Thank you, absolutely, Dan, take care that's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast presented by Cattering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs by paycre the official HR software provider of the Bengals, and buy Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet

elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast