Hi again everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The I watched it begin again. Addition, as the Bengals emerged from their bye week looking to climb over five hundred for the first time this year as they face the San Francisco forty nine Ers coming up, Dave Lapham joins me to discuss a wide variety of topics, including the state of the offensive line, the possibility of trading for a tight end, and what he'll say if
he runs into Joe Montana in San Francisco. I'll talk to safety Nick Scott, who faced the forty nine Ers nine times in the last four years, and we'll hear from Brian Callahan on jump starting the Bengals offense after the bye. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, own business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for
the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. 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 fall golf. My golf season basically ends when Bengals training camp begins, but I had the opportunity to play this weekend because of the bye, and I was reminded of how enjoyable
it is to play this time of the year. The fall foliage was spectacular, as the leaves were various shades of yellow, orange, red, green, and brown. The course was mostly empty since a lot of people put their clubs away after Labor Day, and the temperature was cool but comfortable. The only negative was my play from the thirteenth hole on. For the first twelve holes, I was a stud. For the last six I was a dud. Now let's get
the football, beginning with my conversation with Dave Lapham. Now that Joe Burrow is fully healthy, or at least close to it, do you expect the offense to take off?
I do you know? I think it maybe not right away, but I do think that it'll ramp up fairly quickly, and it's a ripple effect with Joe being able to move around. I mean, the protection will be better, defenses will have to honor more things, and honestly, it'll help the running game because right now, people are crowding the
line of scrimmage. You know, they don't feel like the Bengals are going to attack the deep cordiners of the football field, and every time they take the field it's like they're in the red zone, of the low red zone, it seems like. So I think a healthy, close to one hundred percent Joe Burrow is going to make a huge difference, a big ripple effect, I think offense.
Are there other significant issues though that haven't been talked about much because we've all been so focused on Joe's calf.
Yeah, I mean, can the running game be better? Heck yeah, I mean there's no question. I was looking at it during the bye week and they're being out rushed by seventy three yards. That's the worst in the league teams out rushing an opponent. They're average per care the efficiency part of it, they're minus a yard and a half worse than the league. So, you know, the numbers don't lie. I mean, the running game hasn't been there. The efficiency
of the running game hasn't been there. They're going to have to, you know, make it at least something that defenses have to consider. You know, it's it's going to have to pick up the pick up the pace there as such, and whether it's tweaking a schematic or evaluating what you're doing, how you're doing it, with whom you're doing it. That's what the bye week was all about. That's what you spend time doing the those kind of
things for. So hopefully they obviously got their due diligence done there and we'll see what the outcome is.
Along those lines, Brian Callahan discussed the possibility of having Burrow under center more now that his calf is better. Do you think that would significantly help the running game?
I think yeah, I think that that is a that's definitely a factor. I probably they've been under center half a dozen times in the first six games. I mean, it's crazy. I think that that will at least give
the defense something else to think about. And plus I think the play action game would be much more effective that way too, if in fact, you do show that you're serious about running the football when Joe's under center, can't be an automatic talent can't be like every time he's understand to running the football and every time he's in the shotgun and he's throwing the football. I mean,
peebe football coaches would jump on that pretty quickly. So, but having a mix and being able to have more than one thing for defense to think about and prepare for, I think is an advantage.
I checked out Pro Football focused grades. Through six games this season, Four of the five starting offensive linemen have grades in the sixties, which is okay, not great, not bad. The one exception is Cordell Vohlsen, with a grade of forty eight point two. His pass blocking grade is twenty three point five. How much of that is due to the guys that he's faced and how much of that is his level of play.
I think it starts with who he's faced and a young player, and he's still a young player. You know, when you're going against guys that are that good, you start to question yourself. You know, it's like, man, all of a sudden, it's saying, am I doing the right thing? And then I've been there where you watch tape and it's like, did I really do that? You don't even realize you're doing it. It's almost like fight or flight time.
So you're not gonna fly fly, gonna fight. And when you get overly aggressive and forget about your techniques and it's like, all right, well he whip my, but I'm gonna go kick his butt right now. Well, you can't throw out you know what you're supposed to be doing and how you're supposed to be doing it, and and it's it's not it's not super obvious, but all all
is a little bit more of a lean. When you're trying to be a little bit more aggressive or get your hands on a guy sooner, you know that that's the that's the panic mode I remember, is like all right, well I'm gonna get my when I could use my hands when they finally liberalize it, I'm gonna get my
hands on the guy. Sometimes, you know, when you're trying too hard to get your hands on a player who's that elusive and combine speed with power and uh you know, have quickness and short space quickness and all that everything goes along with it, those guys are hard to block and and so I think I think that's his biggest issue. And that's the thing with pro football focus that I've said over and over again. They don't factor any of that in. You know, there's no learning, there's no grading
curve on that. You know. So it's like if you play against the number one interior defensive lineman and the league and Aaron Donald and he's one A and Simmons is one being. You get him back to back weeks, that's an adventure, and you know that's that's something that can be hard to deal with. I think the buy will do him good. Get away from it for a while, you know, clear your head, come back with an idea
that I'm going to start. I'm going to start from square one again and I'm going to do the building blocks, and I'm going to get in my routine of exactly what I have to do step by step from a fundamentals and technique standpoint, and I'm gonna I'm gonna block my ass off for the last living games of the season.
Orlando Brown Junior heard his growing in the Tennessee game, played through it, played the next game against Arizona, and then early in the most recent game against Seattle, he tweaked it and sat out the rest of the game. Were you surprised that Cody Ford was the guy that took his place at left tackle.
You know, I didn't have an idea that that's where they were, that's where they were, you know, putting there too deeps. But from watching him, remembering how he played at the college level, you know, I guess not really. I mean, he came out of Oklahoma as a pretty highly graded tackle, his second round pick, higher pick than Orlando Brown was coming out of Oklahoma. So Orlando didn't have the greatest Pro day. But yeah, Cody Ford, he has he has some abilities, he has some natural power.
I mean, he's a very physical dude. I thought he acquitted himself pretty well. I thought he did a darn good job in there when he when he went in there for Orlando Brown. So it's the National Football League. If you show up and you show that you're the guy on on a more consistent snap by snap basis and the coaches start to gain some confidence in what they're seeing, you're gonna get your shot. He got a shot, and he was ready to take advantage of his opportunity.
And that's you know, that's a credit to him as well. You never know what's gonna happen, and you don't think it's gonna be with Orlando Brown necessarily, and he went out there and just kept his composure, kept his poise and executed his assignments.
Orlando Brown Junior, by the way, says he will play this week at San Francisco. Let's turn the tight end. Irv Smith Junior has been dealing with a hamstring injury. He's only played in four out of the six games. It's unfair to make a determination on his status in terms of, you know, whether it's a good signing or a bad signing, whatever, but it is fair to say he has not produced much in the four games that he's played in. Are you wondering if he is a good fit in this offense?
From what I saw, you know, in the early stages of OTAs in training camp, it was almost like, yeah, this will be good now, this this looks like it's gonna it's going to be a good fit because I mean this is a pass offense. It's a pass first offense, and he's a receiving tight end more so than a You don't think of HERR Smith Jr. As man. He's a He's a dominant guy in the edge, you know,
as a blocker. You think of him is almost like he's another wide receiver, big body, wide out at the tight end position, and that's what I was looking for with him. I thought he was gonna, you know, have a very big season with Joe Burrow and get on the same page pretty quickly. But you know, hamstring issues
and injuries and whatever have curtailed that. Hopefully he's in a situation where he has the bye week is the is the final piece of allowing him to get totally healthy, because you know, hamstrings can be tricky too, depending on where his pull is. If it's up high by his buttocks, those are a pain in the box. If it's in the middle of his hamstring, you know, that's another less issue. If it's down by his knee, then that's even less of an issue. Mild hamstring. I think his is one
of the other two. I think his at least mid, maybe high. But with the bye week, hopefully that's the final necessary time that he needs to get back to not having to be an issue whatsoever when he's out there trying to run full till.
The Bengals historically have not given up draft picks to get players at the trade deadline, but history doesn't really seem to apply in the Joe Burrow era. They've done a lot of things that they did not do in the past. If you could add a tight end without giving up, say a first three rounds draft pick, so four, five, six, or seven, would you do it?
I'd have to think about it, you know, I'd have to consider it depends you know what tight end the tight end that is available, and you know, if it's not given up a first, second, or third round er, you know what's the talent level of that tight end. I at this point, I would explore every option from a personnel standpoint that there is to explore. And I know they do that, and you know, I mean a lot of fans, Oh, that's just a waste of time,
that's an exercise of futility. Well, there's always going to be the occasion where somebody becomes available that you didn't think was going to be available, and you didn't do your due diligence, you didn't do your homework, and other people took advantage of it because they did. And you're sitting there saying, only if you know I had done a little bit more so, I think at this point and burning the midnight oil going through every possible scenario
that they can think of. And now are they making phone calls and trying to initiate things? I don't think so, But I think if they they're preparing themselves, if in fact they were to get a phone call and not get caught totally by surprise by that phone call and what that phone call was going to be talked about, I mean, I think I think you got to get that done for the organization the least.
Here are some tight end names that have been mentioned as possibly being available on the internet, and as we know, the Internet is never wrong. Zach Ertz former Bengal c j Uzama, Hunter, Henry, Mike Kasicki. Henry and Gasicki are both of the Patriots, and Darren Waller has been mentioned. I think that one's a pipe dream personally. But how about those other names? And I have no idea what the other team would want they might want to pick
in the first three rounds. But of those other names, does anybody really pique your interest?
You know?
I mean all of them would be somebody that I'd want to take a look at and see how they're playing. Now, see how they're playing. You know, currently, some guys may not have as big a role. That's why they might be available for whatever reason. I don't know. There's many reasons that guys fall out of favor. Some of it is obviously physical they're aging or slowing down or whatever the case may be. Sometimes it's just personality conflicts or
issues that happen around the league. I mean, everybody's human and human beings don't all get along all the time, and that occurs as well. But yeah, I mean you'd have to look at what those guys are doing, what they're capable of doing when you look at them on tape, and see if it fits what you're going to be asking you're tight end to do. And like you said, it takes two to tango. I mean, you may have one value in mind and the team that you're trying
to pull the deal with, Like you're kidding me. I was thinking more along these lines, and it's like you're light years apart and can't work a deal out.
All three teams in the AFC North won this week, So the Bengals are a game and a half behind Baltimore and a game behind Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Want to start with Pittsburgh. The Steelers are twenty eighth in rushing yards, twenty fifth in passing yards. They're ravaging seventeen points a game. It must be a great defense, right. They're twenty eighth in rushing yards given U they're twenty fifth in passing
yards allowed, exactly the same as their offense. They're giving up even more points than they're scoring twenty one points a game. How are they foreign too?
Mike Tomlin the Magician, I mean, I don't. That's a hell of a question. I mean, I look at them. They're being out rushed. The efficiency of the running game is not in their favor in terms of yards per carry. I mean, it's like they're being outscored. The Bengals have been outscored by twenty seven points. They've been outscored, you know as well. You know Bengals have a plus five turnover ratio. Off the top of my head, I can't
remember what Pittsburgh's is. I know it's plus, but I mean, they don't they must be winning field position battles, what is it? I mean, it is amazing that they're pulling victories out, like they pull out every single close game though seems to go their way. They seem to have an unbelievable confidence that they can finish that football game. They're going to make plays down the stretch. They're going
to ultimately win them a football game. You know, when the rubber meets the road and a play has to be executed, they figure out a way to get it done. It It is mind boggling. Mike Tomlin and his never having a losing season record. I guess the football gods are buying it, man. I mean, it's it really is. It's a tribute to him, really attribute to the way he gets his players to think and believe. Every player that has come here from Pittsburgh they can't say enough
good things about Mike Tomlin. I mean, it's it's unbelievable how his players. You have to have respect, and if you don't have that, you know you have problems. But when you have love and respect, that's a that's a combination that's hard to beat. And his players love them and they totally respect them. And I don't think that there's a coach in league that can claim a better relationship between himself and his players.
The Browns are also foreign too. They got a big assist from the officials in Sunday's win over the Colts. They're four and two. To me is easier to understand because at least until the Colts game, their defense had been unbelievably good. But now they've got these questions with Deshaun Watson. He was checked for a concussion against the Colts. The doctors ruled him fine and said he could have gone back into the game, and they did not put him back into the game. Is that strictly because of
the shoulder injury that he's been dealing with. Was it because of how poorly he was playing? Do you think they've got a major problem there.
That's the biggest mystery in the league right now. I think was he one for five? I think in that game.
One for five with an interception and another should have been interception that was thrown right to a guy in the Colts and he let the ball hit the ground.
Yeah, and it wasn't he was cleared medically. Was it his call? Was that the organization and coaches call not to put them back in? Was there collaborative call? It is? It's a There hasn't been any definitive word. It's a mystery. It really is a mystery. I wonder if you know, when they watched him go one for five with the interception,
it's like his throwing motion just doesn't look right. Yet, you know, maybe we need to even if you did pass the concussion protocol test, he did get dinged, you know, maybe it's better that we we go with Walker. But that is that's a that's a very interesting one right there, because if they if they get consistently good quarterback play, a football team will be something serious to deal with.
So it's off to San Francisco this week. The forty nine ers are five and one. They play on Monday night against Minnesota. Before they lost last week in the rain in Cleveland, I thought the forty nine ers were the best team in the NFL, did you two?
I did? I mean, just looking at you know, before this game tonight, the game has decided on the scoreboard, their second in the NFL and scoring their second in the NFL in points without They've outscored the opponent by ninety seven points in their first six football games, including
you know that lost to Cleveland. But I mean they were putting up the lowest point total that they had scored before the Cleveland debacle was thirty I mean they had scored thirty three times, scored thirty five against Arizona and forty two against Dallas, and then Cleveland holds into seventeen points and Rock Purty comes down to earth a little bit. But I mean his numbers are still staggering. He's got a plus nine ratio touchdown interception, ten touchdowns
in the top ten. I think it's tied for eighth right now before the game only one interception, tied for the fewest. That plus nine ratio is the best in the league. So he's taking care of the football. And you know they're plus eight number one in the NFL. And turnover ratio, I mean there's not a category, whether not top five, never mind top ten. I mean they to me, it was crazy how dominant they've been. Now, their rookie third round draft picked kicker let them down
with a forty two yard miss. They could have won that football game against Cleveland. Man, I wish he had made that bad boy. But yeah, they're they're they're playing. They're playing at an extremely high level. I just think Shanahan's running game is unbelievable, unbelievable. It's so creative, and you know they're there, they're second in the league. And yards per play, they're second in the NFL. And rushing, they're averaging four and a half yards on like over
one hundred and forty yards rushing per game. And he does it in such a creative way. I do think that Fortunately for the Bengals, they saw Seattle, whose run game is kind of similar to what Shanahan's doing in San Francisco. But there's, man, there's a lot of misdirection, there's a lot of motion, there's a lot of a lot of things that his whole thing is try to get linebackers and safe, these eyes distracted, you know, and
and make them think a little bit too much. He's he's a hell of a coach and he's got He's got seven players, four on offense, three on defense that are All Pro. Seven of them not just Pro Bowlers. The Pro Bowl you make you're the best in your conference. Then to the other level is they select an All Pro from those all conference teams. They have seven guys
that have made have made All Pro. From my count, it was Trent Williams at left tackle, George Kittle at tight end, Deebo Samuel and some of these guys Williams has the ankle issue, Deebo Samuel's shoulder issue, and McCaffrey with the oblique. But that's all three of those. All four of those guys, McCaffrey, Samuel, Kittle, and Williams all
been All Pro offensively defensively, one at each level. Nickosa, who is Defensive Player of the Year last year, Fred Warner at linebacker, and Yufanga at the safety position second year player out of USC seven ball Pros's. That's a roster of talent coached by a very, very creative, detail oriented football coach.
Final question, and this one's critical. On Sunday, when you get into the elevator at Levi Stadium and you're heading to the broadcast booth, if Joe Montana steps on that elevator, what do you say to him? Why?
Why? Joe? I mean, couldn't you just give us one? I'll tell you I would. I would look at him and say, man, you're the best. Got to tip my cap to you, and then vomit all over his shoes.
If I see Lappin Joe Montana getting on an elevator together, I'll be waiting for the next elevator. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by all to Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health, the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Nobody on the Bengals roster is more familiar with the forty nine ers than safety Nick Scott. As a member of the Rams for the last four seasons, he faced San Francisco twice a year, and it was three times in twenty twenty one when the Rams beat the Niners in the NFC Championship Game. But here's the catch. That was the only time during nicks four years in LA that the Rams beat San Francisco. The Niners won the other eight games.
You've seen the forty nine ers plenty from being in that division. As media members, we think we know and makes that attack so difficult to defend all the movement and so forth. But describe it from your perspective.
One of the things that the forty nine ers do extremely well is they kind of they have an identity and they played at our identity every single game. They don't switch up for anybody. They kind of have the mentality of you gotta play us, and that's kind of what I felt and saw being in LA playing them twice a year, and it's something that they do well. They're extremely tough, they know what their quarterbacks do well, and they stick with it. So it's gonna be a
tremendous challenging. You know, I like you. I like my odds a whole lot better being here with the Bengals, just because I think our identity aligns a little bit more with with how they like to play. And that's just tough football and just you know, making teams feel like they got to go through us. So it's gonna be a good matchup.
If there are any brock Per already doubters still out there, I'd be surprised. He's basically got a full year now of showing close to elite play. Yeah, what are your impressions of him?
Like I said, he's a he's a guy that you know, credit to him and what he's done and how he came in the league, and you know how he's taking the league by storm. And I think it's also a credit to their coaches and their coaching staff, which is honing in on what he does really well and making sure that's a focal point of that offense. So it's
worked out for him. You know, hopefully we can just as a defense do the best we can to make sure he's not comfortable in the pocket and knocking balls down and making sure things are contested.
Is there a position group that's most stressed by Kyle Shanahan's offense.
Ah, that's a good question.
I would I would say it's it's it's top to bottom, honestly. I know. You know their run game, they like to attack those sea gaps and you know, create with and get going downhill and everything like that, which puts stress on whoever those ends or outside linebackers are. We got two great and three really a lot of depth on the d line, so it'll be a great challenge for them, and then also who they got their skills players. McCaffrey poses a challenge for linebackers and corners and safeties alike,
as well as Debo and a UK. So they just got a lot of talent. But you know, we got a lot of talent on this defense as well. We got guys that are super competitive and guys that look forward to challenges, so we're gonna we're gonna meet them, you know, with open arms.
They bring it on.
Look for a while on Sunday, like you guys might get some help from the Rams and the Colts against the Steelers and the Browns. And obviously it didn't work out that way. Was it a bummer to see how those games finished?
Yeah, you know, it's it's one of those things where it's like it just a little bit of a bummer, you know. But at the end of the day, you know, we look at who's on our schedule and everything is in our control if we want to, you know, be above the Steelers at the end of the year. We got opportunity to beat them twice if we want to, you know, have a good shot at division. We got another opportunity at the Ravens and the Browns. So yeah, I guess in a sense, you never want to take
the easy way out. But if somebody could do your dirty work for you, that have be nice every once in a while. But you know, we we we relished the opportunity to take these teams on it and get them out the way ourselves.
The first place Ravens will be in Arizona to face the one and six Cardinals on Sunday. The Steelers have a home game against the five and two Jaguars, and Cleveland has a tough road game in Seattle against the four and two Seahawks. The Bengals, of course, beat the Seahawks their last time out, thanks to an incredible red zone performance by the defense that offset a fairly lousy outing for the offense. As Zach Taylor put it after the game, it's better to win ugly than lose pretty.
But later that night, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan had a hard time enjoying the win.
I was on my couch last night, you know, watching it on iPad, just fuming like it's you know, there's just too many We had too many good coaches, too many good players to not play to our standard.
Aside from Jamar Chase, who is on a pace to have one hundred and forty two catches that would be thirty more than t J. Hushman's out his team record for a single season, nobody else on offense is having a stellar year.
Missing throws, We've dropped some balls, We've give up some sacks. You know, it's kind of a everyone's at a moment in the barrel if you will, So you know, just need overall better consistency allows us to score more points. I mean, we haven't haven't done as good a job as I think we're capable of doing.
Fortunately, Joe Burrow is no longer the statue of liberty that he was in the first four weeks. In his last two games, Joe completed seventy four percent of his passes, with five touchdowns, two picks, and a passer rating of ninety nine point nine. At this point, can we safely say that Burrow is back to normal?
If he's not normally, he's pretty close, thankfully. That's that's a good thing and an obviously a handful of days off the rest and should put him in a pretty good place comeing out of buy. And that was always the hope and the goal to get to this point
where he was feeling like pretty close to normal. Obviously, the Baltimore re injury or whatever you call it, has set us back a little bit, but you know, we found a way to fight and claud a three and three and hopefully not coming out of the buy, he feels like himself.
The bye week should help t Higgins ribs, IRV Smith's hamstring, and Orlando Brown Junior is growing as well. As for the running game, Joe Mixon's on a pace to rush for one thirty seven yards, but he's only averaging three point eight per carry with a long run of twenty two yards.
We get was blocked a lot, and you know, we don't get a lot more than that, and sometimes we get our four and five yards and we're okay with that most of the time, but it makes it hard to run for a lot of yards when you run like that.
It will be interesting to see if the Bengals lighten the load on mixing and get the ball to rookie Chase Brown more after the bye. He ran a four four three forty at the combine and is the fastest running back on the roster. Chris Evans has averaged nearly ten yards to catch in his NFL career, and perhaps he can provide more production on swing passes out of the backfield. This much is certain. With a healthy Burrow, there's no reason why the Bengals shouldn't have one of
the top offenses in the NFL. They were seventh in the league in scoring last year, upgraded their offensive line and have most of their skill position players back except for Hayden Hurst and some I JP Ryn. The remaining schedule includes six teams that are currently in the top ten of the NFL in scoring. Francisco, Buffalo, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Baltimore, and believe it or not, Indianapolis. The offense needs to improve and improve now.
We're as talented as anybody in football. I believe in the guys that are on our roster. I believe in the guys on offense. I think we have an outstanding quarterback, and I think we're good enough to be any team in this league. And you see there's there's teams that have had moments this early part of the year. It's it's not just us. I mean, there's there's team it's been hard on offense for for some teams. And it doesn't make it an excuse, but it just shows me
that we're as good as anybody. We can beat anybody that we line up against the play, and I have a ton of confidence and our guys be able to do that. And we just have to correct the mistakes and stop stop doing things that are hurting drives and I feel very good about our ability to turn turner turn our performs around.
Here's a quick reminder to join us for our Bengals radio shows this week. On Wednesday night from six to eight, will be at of Varsity Sports Bar and Grill in Anderson Township for the Bengals Game Plan Show. Our special guest in the first hour will be wide receiver andre Yosi Vash. Then on Friday from two thirty to five thirty, it's the Bengals pep Rally Show from the Wings and Rings location in Finnytown. Chase Brown is scheduled to be
there for the final hour of that show. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by pay Corp. Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
healthcare provider of the Bengals. 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 Hord and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast