Bengals Booth Podcast: Back To Tennessee

Hi, get everybody.

I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Find My Way Back to Tennessee addition, as the Bengals head to Nashville for the third year in a row and look to beat the Tennessee Titans for the third straight time. Coming up, I'll talk to former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker, the host of the Ross Tucker Podcast and a game analyst for CBS this year, and find out if his opinion of the Bengals changed after Monday Night's win over the Rams, and what he thinks

Maybe a little bit, Dan.

I think they were obviously able to get Jamar Chase involved, which they hadn't been able to do. And I thought Mixon showed some real burst and juice, which I thought was highly encouraging with some of his runs. Hadn't seen that as much from him recently, so I think the ability to get both those guys going a little bit was encouraged. You know, obviously, Burrow missed throws that you just never see him miss.

I mean, he's so good and he's.

So accurate that it's like jaw dropping when he misses some of the easy throws that he missed the other night. But as long as he doesn't suffer a setback, and I think even he said this, as long as you know that Calf continues to get better and they can manage it these next couple games. Now, listen, the Titans

You played in the NFL, what would you think of Joe's willingness to play if you are his teammate.

Just really appreciate it.

Yeah, just really appreciate it because you know that it's not fun to play when you're injured. Now listen, I will say this as a former offensive lineman. A lot of those guys have something bothering him, right. I Mean it's like I always laugh when these people say, are you one hundred percent later in the year.

If you're a hundred percent later in the year, what have you been.

Doing the whole time? I mean, you're not going to feel like you're one hundred percent. But he very easily could have sat that one out and said let's be safe and let's be smart about this.

But I think.

Burrow knew the risk of going on three, didn't want to take that chance, and especially I think the mental toughness dan for him to battle through performing poorly in the first half and just stick with it to be able to lead his team to a critical, critical victory. I think that's what the guys really appreciate as much as anything.

We are visiting with Ross Tucker. The defense was awesome on Monday Night, six sacks, two takeaways. Does that group have to lead the team right now while Burrow and the offense are still jelling well.

I think they do, and I think they have been.

I'm really impressed by the Bengals defense and have been for the last few years. I said it last year, I'll say it again this year. Dan, I'd be really surprised if lou Ana Rumo does not get a head coaching job.

But I don't know.

He didn't even get that many interviews, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

But they're just a really good group.

Love Logan Wilson and what he does Hendrickson on the D line.

I mean, it's been the same guys.

Now for a few years that are really high level players in the prime of their career, and they're showing it every week now. To have a corner like Cam tayl Or Britt and what he brings the table, they just have a really good team, and for them to be able to massage the situation of losing both safeties and still being able to play really good on that side of the ball, I think speaks really well. Even more so, I would say I have Anna Rumo and the position coaches for that matter.

So after three weeks, the other three teams in the AFC North, the Browns, the Ravens, and the Steelers are all off to two and one starts. Does anything jump out about the other three teams in the division so far?

Yeah, I would say one thing jumps out for sure, and it's the Browns defense. The Browns defense is really really good. So now you've got a team where the Browns defense was a liability last year they were horrendous, and now it's a strength. I mean, I'm watching those guys and they've been almost unblockable so far.

To start this year.

Miles Garrett is as good of a defensive player as there is in the NFL. So to see what those guys have been able to do on that side of the ball, that's probably the most noteworthy thing, right. I mean, the Steelers are probably about where I thought they'd be. The Ravens losing to the Colts. That was a bad loss for the Ravens and a good one for the Bengals. Obviously that the Ravens lost that game at home against the Colts in overtime.

But I would say the Ravens and Steelers.

Are about who or what I thought they'd be. It's the Browns defensively that has done the biggest one to eighty from last season.

You're a Princeton guy. The Bengals drafted one this year and rookie Andre Yosi Bosch the wide receiver. What do you think of Andre and his long term NFL potential?

I think he needs to go back to Princeton because we lost to Bryant last Saturday, and I'm not real happy about it. We need Andre back in our black and orange, not the Bengals black and orange.

By the way, what are the odds of that?

The odds there aren't that many teams that have orange and black. For him to be able to go from Princeton to the Bengals is pretty wild.

But no, it sounds like you had a good preseason.

I saw where you guys mic him up for a game that was pretty funny. You know, it's so interesting because a guy like that, they don't usually get that many snaps unless someone ahead of them gets hurt or they kind of earn that opportunity.

But I'm excited for him. I'm excited for you guys.

He's never just been a you know, I mean, and I'm sure you talked about it. But he's doing winter track, he's doing spring track. He's an All American decathlete. I think if this guy's just doing football year round, he obviously has the physical ability. He's got terrific guys to learn from, with Chase and Boyd and Higgins, and so you've got he has a mental acuity, he's got the physical ability, and he's got.

Good guys to learn from.

There's certainly a really good recipe there for him to be able to have some success.

So the Bengals are at Tennessee on Sunday. What are a few keys to beating the one in two Titans.

Well, I don't think they're gonna be able to run the ball very well, because.

Nobody runs the ball very well against the Tennessee Titans. That is clearly their focus. So I guess I would start with protecting Burrow. They've got some real difference makers up front, whether it's Landry or arn Key. On the outside, Jeffrey Simmons is probably about as good of a defensive tackle as there is in the NFL. So I would say run it enough to keep them honest, and then make sure you're double teaming Jeffrey Simmons and trying to get the ball out of Burrow's hands quickly, which.

By the way, he does very well.

It's a huge positive for Burrow, but that's a big concern when they're on offense and on defense.

Kind of interesting.

I don't know why the Titans aren't leaning on Derrick Henry as much as they have in recent years. Maybe it's game script, they've gotten behind or whatever, but they've been having that Tajy Spears play a lot, the rookie out of Tulane. You can't let Henry get going. They're clearly better at home than they are on the road. And if they get a lead and they can just pound away at Henry, that's tough for any defense.

Your schedule is nuts. I appreciate your time. Keep up the great work.

Dan, it's my pleasure love hearing you. Love those all white unis. You guys were rocking on Monday night. I don't know you guys call it White Tiger. That was awesome. Always good to be with you, Happy to be on with you. Thank you so much for having me.

As Ross noted, the Bengals defense can't allow the King Dereck Henry to get rolling this week, and Cincinnati has contained him on the road in each of the last two years. Henry had sixty two yards on twenty carries in the Bengals playoff win two years ago and just thirty eight yards on seventeen carries when Cincinnati beat the Titans in the regular season last year. That's two point

It was a tough week, you know, just not knowing for a long stretch of it what it was, who was going to be, what it was going to look like. And then you know, there was a beginning part of the game where like what is this going to look like?

You know?

And Joe Guy's an absolute warrior to be able to go out there and play the way he played and those in that state was really impressive.

Good enough to beat the Rams. But let's be honest, the offense has to get much better if the Bengals are truly going to be the type of team that we all expected them to be going into the season.

Well, in reality, dan three football games offensively, their highest production was the nineteen points net one win against the Rams twenty seven to twenty. Fourth Baltimore offense scored seventeen. There was an eighty one yard punt return, special teams touchdown. So offensively, they scored three in the opener, they scored seventeen points in Week two against Baltimore offensively, and then nineteen points in the victory against the Rams.

So it's trending up.

Yeah, So hopefully that continues in the Tennessee. I you know, it's the Bengals have won down there. The interesting thing is against Zach Taylor, Mike rabelers zero and three's that's his worst record against any individual coach head to head. So the Bengals and Zach Taylor at this juncture, we've

Come on, he was pissed kicking his car.

He kicked the side of his car, put two huge dentst and I'm like, whoa boy. It was after the playoff loss down there, he was I mean, he was hot man, he was human.

The Bengals have not scored a ton of points in those two most recent victories over Tennessee twenty last year nineteen in the playoff game, but that's been enough. It was similar to the Rams game on Monday night. Their defense has really shut down the Titans. We talked about how they slowed down Derreck Henry the last couple of games, but they've really given Ryan Tannehill trouble. Three interceptions in that playoff game.

Absolutely the last two times the two victories sixteen points that held him two both times twenty to sixteen. And just like last week's score in the victory, they'd beat Tennessee nineteen sixteen as well in the playoffs. So you know, it's a tough place to play. It's going to be loud down there. It's crazy down there. As I recall, the stands are right on top of the players. I mean, it's just I remember the players talking about people could

The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with Alta Fiber by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, and by pay Corps, the team's official HR software provider. Following the Baltimore game, where Joe Burrow's status was up in the air after he tweaked his calf injury. The Bengals signed an old friend and added him to the

Yeah, that was awesome. Listen, I've told everybody since I've got here, you can feel the love that the city has for me, and it's greatly appreciated. And I loved coming back to this organization and being back in this city. It's awesome to be a part of it again and see the excitement within the city surrounding the organization. It is awesome.

It sounds like it was in the back of your head to possibly come back to Cincinnati someday.

Oh yeah, you always want to kind of go back as a player and where you first started and be able to, you know, maybe retire there. But I mean, I don't plan on retiring anytime soon. But yes, it's awesome to kind of full circle and come back to this organization. It's special for sure.

You have already played a football season this year in the latest version of the XFL with Saint Louis after nearly a decade in the NFL. Why did you make that choice?

It was mainly just my oldest son wanting to watch me play. And I tour my ACL in twenty one in Atlanta, So it's really just coming back and being able to play and lead a team and play, you know, weekend and week out and have him experience and my middle son Cash as well, so have him both be a part of it and see daddy play. Was you know something that every player that has kids dreams of.

Your oldest son was born when you were here. Yeah, back in twenty sixteen, I believe. Was he able to be around the team much?

Yeah?

Yeah, he was ball boy and we come to practice, come to meetings, sit in and hang out, and it really helped him from playing. You know, me as a dad coaching him in baseball and in flag football, but seeing how dad got coached at practice and knowing like, okay, well Dad's not mad at me. He's just coaching me, So it really actually helped him grow as a player. And this year base ball and then leading into football was such a huge difference for him, and I mean,

You led the league in touchdown passes, you led the league in passing efficiency. Did it renew the belief that you can help an NFL team win?

Yeah?

I mean listen that that was the first time in twenty one tear my ACL that I've ever had an injury to not be able to play football that season, so and sit out, and you know, as somebody that's going through the injury like that, you always have doubts can you get back to where you were and can you still play at.

A high level.

So being able to come out and prove not only to myself but everybody else that I can still play at a high level and play the QB position in an efficient way, it was something that I was excited about and have the opportunity to do. And you know, I had great teammates that helped all that, you know, be possible. And so it was a year.

Let's turn the clock back to twenty fifteen. Your first year on the Bengals active roster. The team was ten and two when Andy Dalton broke his thumb. You took over for the rest of the year despite not having really any NFL experience and played great. What was your most vivid memory of that stretch.

Yeah, I think just being kind of thrown into the fire because rookie year, being on NFL, never getting any experience, and then really had that preseason of fifteen and then other than that it was scout team practice reps because didn't I didn't get any reps as a two for our own offense that year, So all of a sudden being thrown in in that Pittsburgh game here and then having to go from there to San fran and then Denver and then Baltimore again and then playoff game against

Your touchdown past aj Green with one fifty to go gave the Bengals a one point lead. It would have gone down as one of the most memorable plays in franchise history. If not for what happened after that, does it still sting?

Oh for sure, because you know, you just never know what would have happened from a career standpoint, and then maybe being able to start, you just you don't know what the next year leads to. But listen, I've always been a firm believer. God has a plan for everything, So just roll with the punches sometimes and enjoy the journey while you're on it.

A couple more questions for AJ mccaron. There are a couple of guys left from when you were here previously, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon, but the other guys are new, including Joe Burrow. Would have been your impressions of him watching from afar?

I told him when I first got here, it's been awesome to watch him.

You know.

I got to watch him a little bit in college just staying so busy, but mainly the big games, and then now meeting him and watching him in person the other night was something that was awesome to see. But listen, he's a special talent. He's special quarterback, and I mean, this guy's the limit. He's an awesome leader and a great quarterback, and it's it's fun to be in that room with him and you know, help in any way possible.

You're thirty three, father of three young boys, You're financially secure from your time in the NFL. What do you still have left that you would like to accomplish in the NFL?

Well, I mean I'd like to, you know, work my way to either playing or being on the active roster again and and helping the team out in a certain way. So but right now, I'm taking it day by day, just enjoying this this ride and and then we'll figure everything out once this season ends. But for right now, I'm just I just want to enjoy my time while I'm back in the city and part of this organization, and then we'll see what the future holds.

Welcome back the Orange and Black. Looks good on you. Nice to have you back in this locker room.

Thanks for the time, Thank you, I appreciate it.

Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment. John Burton is a Nashville sportscaster and joined Lapping Me this week on the Bengals Game Plan show.

It's an interesting Titans football team. We're watching, you know, one win, two losses, both losses. They haven't scored an offensive touchdown, which is certainly not expected. So you know, in the ultimate week to week league, the Titans appear to be the ultimate week to week team, at least so far through three games.

So John.

When these teams met last year, the Titans were seven and three. The Bengals won a tight game. The Bengals didn't lose again until the AFC Championship game. The Titans never won again. They lost their last seven. They're one and two so far this year. What are the biggest issues? What is plaguing the Tennessee Titans.

Well, offensively, it's inconsistently inconsistency, especially along the offensive line. You know, they lost two pillars of that offensive line last year or this past offseason. And Taylor Lawan and Ben Jones. Not only were they two Pro Bowl type productive players la one at left tackle and of course Jones at center, but they were also two big time leaders in that locker room. And you know, you lose

So that the defensive line, like you talk about Jeffrey Simmons, I mean, the Bengals go from Aaron Donald last week with the La Rams to Jeffrey Simmons, who I think of the best two interior defensive players the National Football League has to offer. I do think that Simmons has a better supporting cast around him right now than Aaron Donald does. I mean, You've got you know, Autrey, You've got Key, You've got Landry. I mean it's that down line group is responsible for six sacks, I mean eight

Yeah, I think Dave A lot of it has to do with the fact that and we talked about this after the game on Sunday when they lost to the Browns, communication appears to be an issue in that secondary and he talked about, guys need to be on the same page. And you know, there was a play where Amari Cooper got free right down the seam, wide open, caught a pass from Deshaun Watson from the touchdown that really put

We're visiting with Nashville broadcaster John Burton. Let's talk Ryan Tannehill. The Bengals have beaten his teams the last five times he started against Cincinnati.

How's he playing a.

Little up and down right now? But you know, unfortunately for him, he's not getting the protection that he needs now. He was terrible in the first game against the Saints, got sacked three times, I believe through three interceptions. Was just absolutely really bad, to be honest with you bounce back nicely in the almost s at San Diego. In the LA Charger game, you know, completed twenty to twenty four passes, you know, no no interceptions, no turnovers. Really

Derrick Henry has averaged over three hundred rushes the last four years. Is there any sign of where and tear or is Derrick Henry still the beast he once was?

In all honesty, I really think Derek has lost a step. And you know, he's twenty nine years old and he's he's had a lot of carries, as you mentioned, the last couple of years. What they've tried to do is they drafted Tai J. Spears out of Tulane to be like the change of pace running back. And trust me, ever since Derek has been here, they've been looking for that quote unquote change of pace back. But Spears appears

Henry Mike Rabels after a loss like like they suffered, and this guy, his whole game was physicality, there's no question about it. I mean, and to lose a football game to Cleveland twenty seven to three and Henry rushes for twenty yards and they're just kind of you know, beaten up and beaten down. What is he like after that type of that type of a game, and what

Yeah, I would say so, Dave, because you know, the one thing that Rabel preaches well a few things, effort, finish, and violence. He wants his team within the rules to be as violent as possible. So they're gonna they're gonna emphasize physicality this week. Obviously with Joe Joe Burrow probably still being a little bit limited because of that calf, they're gonna want to go after him and test him early. See you know, see how his mobility is, Uh, see

That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals by pay Corps. The Bengals official HR software provider and by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.