Bengals Booth Podcast: California Waiting

Hi, get everybody.

I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Hey California Waiting addition, as the Bengals head to San Francisco, or more accurately Santa Clara to take on the five and two forty nine ers. Coming up, I'll visit with the legendary Jim Nantz, who will be in

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 kind celebrities. In just a moment, you're going to hear my conversation with one of the most famous sports broadcasters of all time, Jim Natz. Every time I talk to Jim, My admiration for him grows. For a celebrity of his magnitude, he is one of

Hi, everybody else is dig Vital of ESPN and EBC. My buddy Dan's not home right now. Right now, he's out at the Dome. He's working with the cubes. He's trying to help my man, Jimmy Beheim. Remember call my PTP buddy, my guy a prime time performer, Big Dan.

That was a big hit at the time. But there was one problem. I came home to a ton of messages every day, only to listen to a bunch of people hanging up after hearing Dick Vital. In any case, I consider Jim Nance and Dick Vital to be awesome baby with a capital A. Now time for my conversation with the guy who will be behind the mic for the Super Bowl this year. It is a Nance and Romo game this Sunday, and it is a thrill for me to visit with one of my broadcasting heroes, the

Now?

I have no questions. First off, Dan, great to be back with. You've got a nice little thing going here on a year to year basis. So I'm going to call this for what it is now, a tradition unlike any other. Okay, So I don't know. It seems like I may have said that somewhere, but it really it really fits right here right now. They're back. They're back, and they're on the same path that they had last year. Bumpy, start figure it out. Start winning games a big threat at the end. That's what I expect.

Anyway, you and Tony have called many of their biggest games over the last couple of years. What do you enjoy about watching and broadcasting a Cincinnati Bengals game with this particular team.

Well, I, believe it or not, For me, it starts behind the scenes. I enjoy dealing, if that's the right word, with that organization. They got a very sharp, by the way, pr team. I don't get to extol this very often, but for someone who wants to read everything and seeks information, UH, PJ and his crew, they're on top of it. They're already like loading me up with material times ten. It's most in the league. So it starts there, believe it or not, at the ground level, so that I get prepared.

There's more network crossover than there used to be, but CBS is still the primary home for AFC games, and that means an unbelievable gauntlet of quarterbacks this year. It's probably unprecedented. Where does Burrow fit in your opinion?

I hate to make this list up Dan, because I always feel like I'm going to leave one of them out. But look, he's been to the AFC Championship Game multiple times, he's played in the Super Bowl. His record, I mean, what he's done in just fourth year, it's it's insane. You got the guy over in Buffalo, you got the guy in Kansas City, you got the guy down in Miami, you got the guy in Baltimore, you got the guy at the Chargers. By the way, you got the guy

Man. It is.

It is just his player after player. I've never seen one conference so rich with quarterbacks. And you look at it and they're all franchised guys. You start to think the next crop coming out. Sure, there are still teams that are looking for quarterbacks, but there's like a lot of teams on the AFC side, they're locked in. They've got their guy for the next decade, including a Cincinnati.

Trump.

Let's talk about the other quarterback, Brock Purty. Have we seen enough at this point it's about a full season if you include the playoffs last year. Have we seen enough to consider him to be in the upper echelon.

I don't want to take anything away from what he's accomplished. He's coming off two losses with injured players around him, and I had McCaffrey back this last week. He's not one hundred percent. No debout Deebo Samuel, but it has been Hey, it has been an amazing journey for him as the last pick in the draft a year ago. It is not putting him down in any capacity, but

We're visiting with Jim Nantz.

Let's talk for a moment about Jamar Chase, who is among the NFL leaders in receptions. He's on a pace for one hundred and forty two. The Bengals team record is one twelve. When you watch that Burrow to Chase combination, what stands out It looks unstoppable.

You know.

The first memory I have of it, of course you'll you'll know it well your audience will too. Was that regular season game at Cincinnati against Kansas City. What he lit up the Chiefs for three touchdowns and I believe it was two hundred and twenty six yards. That was awesome to watch. And of course they went on to meet in the AFC Championship and he did some things that you just don't see anywhere. So that was an incredible day by the way at Cincinnati, and that game

You also had one of the all time great calls on one of his big plays in that game, Chase there is no Chase as he as he pulled away from the posse.

I wasn't sure what I said, So when you were starting down there that path a moment ago, I was thinking, Oh, I hope it was good.

It's really good.

I don't know, well, thank you. Yeah. I was running out of superlatives that day. My reservoir of superlatives had expired. But he's fun to watch. We've had some good production meetings with him too, So I'm looking forward to this game, believe it or not. And You guys know it all too well. When you go to the Super Bowl, San Francisco is always there waiting for you. But it's our year. We go every three years. It's our year to be back with the big game February eleventh, and I'm thinking.

I have one final thing for you. It is not related to the Cincinnati Bengals. It's related to something that made the rounds on social media about a week ago.

You have a home near Pebble Beach. You are apparently going for a walk.

Recently, you came upon a group that was playing the famed seventh hole, and you took one of the golfer's cell phones and did a little play by play, giving him a memory for a lifetime. I love random acts of kindness, which was great. Is that something you get a kick out of I do get a.

Kick out of it.

I didn't ever expect something like that to get posted or go viral. Last I heard, I think it was over seven million hits. The truth is, Nan, I've done it, not hundreds of times, thousands of times. I've lived at Pebble Beach full time for eleven years and I still live there part time. I'm going to be spending these days leading up to the game in my house and I'll be out on Pebble Beach golf links again, no

And it comes as no surprise that you add production value as one of the greatest broadcasters of all time, Jim, this has been a treat It is a tradition unlike any other. So I look forward to doing it again in the future. Appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Thank you, my friend. Look forward to the next time too. All the very best.

If you haven't seen the video I referred to, just search for Jim nance Pebble Beach and it will pop right up. As I said at the beginning of this podcast, you won't find a nicer, more friendly celebrity. I recorded that conversation with Jim before the news broke on Wednesday that Niners quarterback Brock Party is in concussion protocol. ESPN's Adam Schefter says that Perty is unlikely to play, although it is technically possible for him to clear concussion protocol

Is that true?

Yeah, it is. It's a unique offense. Obviously. It starts with the personnel, the people. You know, a top top three tight end and he's not number three, so he's one or two. How you view him, and then the shifts and the motions and you know, the personnel in terms of twenty one personnal. We don't see that a lot here obviously, so it's different. You know, you gotta have great eyes, gotta have a great plan, you know,

About twenty one personnel fullback right.

The fullback. Some places that's gone the way of the Dodo bird, but in San Francisco and Miami obviously has not. And they do a great job with it. They can make it look like you know, any personnel grouping like three wide out, they can look like two tight ends. And they're both special players. So forty four and eighty five obviously are dynamic and everything they do and it kind of all starts there for.

Us, excluding your own offensive coaching staff. Do you consider Kyle Shanahan to be the best play designer in the NFL?

Oh, yeah, he's up there for sure. Again, I think each week has its own challenges, so I'm a little bit short sighted that way. But in the off season, I think for sure, if you went and looked at what they did and the compliments, you know, this play looks the same, but it's the opposite. And I think he does a great job putting his dynamic players position to impact the game. And that's really what it's about. I mean, with him, it's it's people, it's not plays,

We're visiting the safety's coach, Rob Livingston. Nick Scott came from the Rams. He faced this team nine times over the last four years. Now, in some of those games he was just playing special teams. But still that's a bunch of exposure to the forty nine ers.

Is that a big deal or not? Really?

Oh?

Yeah, I think it always helps. You know, he's been in that environment. It's been a long time since we've been in San Francisco. So as simple as it is, you know, a let's talk about the grass, Nick, what's it like?

The is it wed?

Is it the old candlestick where it was kind of always wet? You know, what's the stadium like, what's the environment like? You know what should we think that way in terms of what it's gonna feel like. And then the offense, for sure, I mean we can try to replicate how fast it's gonna be in the shifts and

Let's talk about the secondary. I think it's easy to forget how young this group is. Of the guys that are playing. Where does that youth show up.

Early in the week. You know, it's it's a new week obviously every week. So you know with those guys that they do a great job. You know Mondays and Tuesdays. You know, the leaders of this group, the Mike Hilton's, the Cheetos, the guys like that really kind of set the stage. They watch film together on Tuesdays and so some of the tough questions of at least come up by the time you come in the building on Wednesday. But you know, the great thing about young players is

And Daxa's first year as a starter, he's got two interceptions and two sacks through six games.

Evaluate his play.

Yeah, it's been like most young players has been up and down. I've told Daxis so I'll say it to anybody. He could be, you know, as as great as anybody. He's God gave him a phenomenal athletic ability and he's he's a unique athlete that way. You know, playing the position full time for the first time this year, you know, training camp was was great for him to just get his feet set and go play again. Nick Scott said, you know, you can't really learn to play safety. You

We're chatting in safeties coach Rob Livingston. Your position group also includes a thirty three year old twelve year vet who's on the practice squad in Michael Thomas.

What's it mean to have Mike still be on this team?

Oh, it means the world.

You know.

Mike is as special as anybody I've ever been around. Mike could could do anything in the world. He could work at Procter and Gamble. He could be in the government, he could be in secret Service. He could do anything. And he's here with us, and he's away from his family, and he's he's putting himself through you know what a lot of other thirty three year olds won't do for the for the good of the team. You know, we talk all the time about a team mentality and what

It's your fifth year working with lou Ana Roumo.

He's been called the mad Scientist, He's been called Loudini for his ability to confuse opposing quarterbacks. After working side by side with him for that period of time, what do you admire and respect?

What's a blessing to be with him? Number one? You know each week is different. You know he sees the game from a back end perspective, which helps, and there's always a why to what we're doing. So you know, he's got the ability to kind of tear up the old game plan and do something completely different. And his feel on game day, I think is incredibly unique and dynamic.

Really appreciate your time. Best of luck this week.

Oh thanks a lot.

I appreciate you to The Bengals.

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His name was Greg Poppa.

His first job out of college was broadcasting Indiana Pacers games, and he eventually moved to San Francisco.

We're over the year.

He's been the announcer at some point for nearly every team in the Bay Area, including the forty nine Ers, Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland A's. He's one of the all time greats and he joined lap in Me this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show. The first topic the status of San Francisco quarterback brock perty So.

There were a couple of situations in the game on Monday night where he may have been concussed. There was a couple of quarterback sneaks, as we call him, the Purty plunge, and he got whacked on swimming on top of a pile by the Vikings middle linebacker Jordan Hicks.

He also.

One played Daniel Hunter, a great edge rusher, beat our right tackle Colton mckiddit so quick to the inside that Brock had a spin out to his left right away and he didn't get thrown down on that play. But when you talk to had trauma experts to and it's sometimes it's just a violent nature of moving your head fast and sometimes just decellrat it. It doesn't have to be a whack to the head or even a whiplash to the ground, so it could be any one of those plays.

So I think it's safe to say.

He played a portion of the game with it, but he didn't feel it until we'd landed on Monday morning turning to Tuesday night, so we landed like we had to go to SFO.

San Francisco Airport at two thirty in the morning.

We landed, didn't get back to Santa Clara until pre fifteen, and so a long night.

So we'll see.

He was out there today when they were doing walkthrough portions of practice, and then when it was more than that he had to leave, and then we'll see where he is tomorrow. But that's why they brought in Sam Donald the first hour of the legal tampering period back

They did do it the internal.

Brace, but it was very early in his reap, and Trey Lance was still the Niner then and he he.

Was not clear yet.

So they got Sam in the air and incentivize this contract.

And then your guy Brandon Allen is the.

Third quarterback, that he would be the number two and he may get.

Some scout team reps tomorrow.

So I thought we'd be.

Talking about Joe Burrow.

And his calf going into this talk tonight, and daw has turned into brock Party's head and whether or not he's going to be cleared to be able to play on Sunday.

What about other guys? Deebo Samuel has got that fracture of the shoulder right the hairline fracture, So he's already been ruled out, at least he was. They said he was going to be out for a couple of weeks when in the Monday Night game Trent Williams with the hand. Is this guy, in my mind a beast? I mean, I think he's the best line in football.

I really do.

I think this guy is incredibly gifted with his size and his movement and his athletic ability. I mean, he's a freakazoid. How about him? Is he going to be able to make the dance.

Trench trying to work through it? He did the best left tackle of football. I mean, the forty Niners at Joe Staley here for a number of years, and then they'm in a trade with Washington to get Trent and as you're going from one Hall of Famer to another, and Joe was a terrific player.

But we're talking Anthony Munios.

You know your guy.

This guy, he's just all that. He's a maller, great and pass pro. Go back and watching our Dallas game on Sunday Night Football and what he did to Michael Parsons in that game. And I don't think Michael was right. He had a knee injury going into that game from the week before against New England, but Trenches had just owned him. He got rolled up on in Cleveland Shelby Harris, the veteran defensive line.

I've been rolled up on him in a pile. He was out for exactly two snaps.

Did not play well in that game. It was his worst game by far. He has a history of ankle injuries. It's not a high ankle, it's a low but I'll try to work through it. An Obviously this game, Trey Hendrickson's terrific and he lines up mainly over the left tackle,

And McCaffrey only had three yards of carry.

The whole team was three yards of carry against Minnesota and the best night was a scramble.

By Brock Perdy.

So it's a major, major drop off if Brock can't play. Sam Donald's a really good player. If Trent can't play, Jalen Moore is learning his way in the NFL, and you guys will take advantage of that, So that is the major major X factor going into the game. Obviously brought Pretty's availability, but the grand Schwrett Williams and right now it's his tour in the week.

We don't know about either guy.

The voice of the forty nine Ers, Great Pop is our guest. I caught the end of the broadcast on Monday night.

I was in my car.

You described how Kirk Cousins was surgical for the Vikings late in that game. He was thirty five for forty five overall three hundred and seventy eight yards. Did he expose the forty nine ers secondary in any way?

Is that a group that's not great.

Outside of a Patrick Mahomes performance. And you guys have seen him a lot in big games. In the last seven minutes of the Super Bowl, Super Bowl fifty four, and then he came in last year October twenty third and just devoured the Niners. They almost put up fifty. And then at Josh Allen game in the pandemic year, I can't remember anybody else played quarterback like Kirk Cousins did against the Niner defense with Nick Moosa on the field.

He looked like Peyton Manning and then he just was a mat of what the Niners did.

Whether they pressured seven or dropped into a cover two zone, whether you played man or zone. He just outside of the interception he threw early in the game to Tarvarius Ward when Ward was inside of Jordan Addison, he didn't make a mistake. He missed one touchdown throw in the back of the end zone when Addison made a double move, he threw it two flat. Outside of that, he was surgical,

You got chamorrow. It's gonna be.

The first thing is they got to get more pressure on the quarterback, and I mean hit them, sack them, knock them down.

The Niners did not sack Kirk Cousins at all in the game.

They pressured him, but he he manipulated it and stepped around it and and then he you know, he found open guys.

So TJ.

Hockinson was a problem. Jordan Andison was a problem the whole game. But your trio is better, So I think this is a real challenge.

I wasn't as worried about the Viking game going in as I was the Bengal game, because, as I say it, we have a short week.

We didn't get back to the wee hours on Tuesday morning, and you guys are coming off your bye week, and look at what the Browns were able to do to the Niners off there by a week be random ball on the perimeters. So a huge advantage I think for the Bengals in this game day and is the Niners playing a Monday night game.

Traveling home late, short week.

Of practice, and you guys haven't you know, an extra week to get ready for the game.

What did you think of Christian McCaffrey. I mean two touchdowns obviously, I mean he's the scoring machine. But do you think that that o'bleaque was bothering him? To me, it looked like it was a little bit of an issue. It didn't look like the Christian McCaffrey free flow, free flowing, you know, violent cut kind of guy. Or was I just seeing things now?

I thought he looked the same I just watched, and that guy is a tireless worker. He works harder to get ready to practice than he does even and guys doing games. He's like Bosa on offense. He's just a Niacle.

Second generation player. We saw him at Stanford, you know, during his college career. Dave and I thought he was going to be a great splat wide receiver in the NFL.

The next in Stoke, clear West wid elker Julian Edelman. He could do all that, but he is a terrific running back.

He has great field. He said to learn his own scheme because he didn't grow up at it.

At Stanford with David Shaw, they power, but he's learned it and he kind of does it differently than the other backs, where it's three four steps at your landmark, get downhill.

Christian's like he's surfing and.

He kind of feels it.

The problem he's having right now is fumbling. He fumbled in the Cowboy game on the goal line.

He fumbled in this game. Now Harrison Smith punched it out at the right moment. But whatever it was, Dave and I think it's his teams getting a feel for the Niner running game. He hasn't been as productive.

He wasn't as productive in Cleveland, he wasn't as productive in Minnesota.

And I'm sure Anna Rumo is going to look.

In on our run game.

You take the run game away, that's the start you forgot. If I'm going to the game against the Niners, I'm starting on Kyle's run game. Now.

It's hard to do how many teams can do it. But if you do that and make us play, you know, without the Breton Buter the foundation of the house.

But I think Christian was fine in the game.

I just think Brock missed some throws in Cleveland with the wind and the rain just couldn't grip it and rip it. Brock was really good in this game going into the fourth quarter.

And then go back and.

Watch the two picks that he threw at the end of the game, both to cam bineh the Viking stafety and you'll wonder, you know, did he not have all of his mental faculties?

When did the concussion symptoms start to creep in.

He didn't feel it until he landed at SFO on Monday night turning the Tuesday morning.

But maybe he was slightly off a little bit at the end of that game.

Let's hit defense real quick. Nick Bosa reigning Defensive Player of the Year. I mean, he had seventy three quarterback pressures last year, more than anybody in the NFL. He's a freak azoid. We know that Fred Warner might be the best linebacker in football. I mean, but Bosa is an All Pro. Fred Warner is an all Pro Lufanga in the back end. It's safety is an all Pro. Talk about those other guys, so Bosa. Everybody knows about Bosa.

Knowing from Ohio State, he's dominant, he's a game record, but teams have been chipping him and it's bothering him, frustrated him.

At times early in his career. I know Cleveland did it and they bothered him.

He just sometimes he quits on rushes because he gets chipped and he gets frustrated. I think he's playing as well as he ever has, but they're not covering behind him, so the sacks aren't there. He's got two and a half on the year. Of course, he held out, he missed all the training camp. He signed the Wednesday or Thursday before the first game at Pittsburgh, so he's not

But the ball's not fast.

Watch our ram game and how quickly Matthew Stafford quick passed this in the first half and it was lightning and he's back.

You guys saw him on Monday Night football. What a great thrower of the ball he is. And they didn't have Cooper Cup in that game.

They did have Pooka Nakua and to Chadwell and they they got it out fast before Nick and the guys could get there. The gold rush and then the back end they're not covering as well. Tarvarius Ward to a tough game at mooney Man and you know him from Kansas City, just didn't cover as well.

And they're they're picking on the nickel guy, Isaiah Oliver. So uh Wufum is not making the amount of splash plays he did last year when he was All Pro.

And then the other linebacker, Fred's playing great. The other linebacker, Dray Greenlaw next to Fred, has been in and out of the lineup because he's got.

A hamstring injury.

He missed the game in Cleveland, and he missed some snaps in Minnesota and he didn't cover. They asked him to man up on Hockinson a lot and that was not a good matchup for him and man He also got peed in his zone in a third and two where they lined up Jordan Addison is the number three inside receiver and when he runs an over route at number three, a week side linebacker's got to pick him up and they went right at him.

So to me, it's a lot of the same issues.

Because Kevin O'Connell is from Sean McVay plays the Niners multiple times. Oh the one year they ought you know when the Rams won the Super Bowl. We saw him three times that year because we saw him in the championship game before they beat you guys in the in.

The Super Bowl at SOFI.

So the defense, Dave was lights out down the first five games. The last two games has not been as strong. And I know you look at our We scored seventeen points the last two games offensively after.

Scoring thirty thirty thirty, thirty five forty two. So the offense is down, but the defense, they're not getting off the field on third down. They're not playing as well as they played the first five games of the year.

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