Bengals Booth Podcast: Can't Hold Us

We'll look at the state of the Bengals offensive line, and then we'll hear from the guy who yells in the locker room after wins, veteran coach Mark Duffner, who discusses that as well as why he calls Joe Burrow butt kiss. And finally, in this week's No The Faux Segment, Adam Benini from w g r ZTV and Buffalo explains why the Bill's most recent wins have been too close for comfort. The Bengals Booth Podcast has brought to you by Paycorps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps

to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot com. 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 seventy four Things that blew Our Minds in twenty twenty two. Atlantic Magazine published a list with that title at the end of December, and it includes some really weird and

interesting facts. For example, woodpeckers can smash their heads against trees and go unharmed because they have small brains. That makes sense. How about this? A two thousand and six effort to automatically take down Internet porn by detecting repetitive noises ended up snagging a lot of tennis videos. I'll give you one more. In twenty twenty one, ninety five of the top one hundred most watch telecasts in the US, we're sporting events. I'm guessing that one doesn't surprise anybody

listening to this podcast. Again, it's Atlantic Magazine's list of the seventy four Things that blew Our minds in twenty twenty two. If you'll look forward online, it might be behind a paywall, but you can sign up for a free trial. Now, let's get to football. In the two year history of the Ruler of the Jungle Ceremony, the Bengals have had a great mix of people leading the Hooday chant, including a popular NFL TV host who I

caught up with this week. She is the host of Up and Adams on fan Duel TV, and she is universally loved by Bengals fans, with my wife Peg at the top of the list. She is k Adams. K you have referred to the Bengals as my Bengals on your show. How is the stress Level? Last Sunday night? In the game against the Ravens? Very stressful, but also so fun. I think it was the best wild Card weekend ever. A play with Logan Wilson and Sam Hubbard that will live in infamy. And I don't mean that

in Cincinnati, I cover all thirty two teams. It's one of those. It's the immaculate reception, elite tier of plays, and that something to be excited and proud of as well. So sure was I worried? Was I jumping up on my couch? And was I hiding behind the couch when things weren't going so well? Absolutely, but there's a lot to look forward to, and but a lot that needs to be worked on as well, Dan, and thank you for having me. Just hearing your voice say my name

is really crazy. Do you have a preference between the fumble in the jungle or the Hubbard yard dash as a nickname for the play. Fumble in the Jungle rolls off the tongue. It's fun, it's easier. The Hubbard yard dash sounds a little harder to say, the immaculate rejection. I also don't like, Yeah, I'm with you. Fumble in the Jungle I think is the winner. So the win, unfortunately for the Bengals, came with the cost is Jonah

Williams suffered a knee injury. You tried to help. You found a flight from LA to Cincinnati and offered to pay for it for Andrew Whitworth, where you had disappointed when he turned you down. I just don't quite understand why he turned me down. He had some riff raff about how he has giraffe legs and he's trying to say that he's not in shape like this is there's

no so let's wait a week. Then let's get past the bills and when things get dirty in Kansas City, like you need to be there, then you'll be one, even if it's just for the Super Bowl. Stand there block of guys be a big velveta cheese block. I know you have it in you and I really but sincerely, it's not just a cute storyline. Dan. You think about Zach Taylor, he has familiarity with him. Zach Taylor comes from the Shaw McBay coaching tree, and there is connective

tissue there. It wouldn't be the craziest thing for him to step in and have success. But luck, I mean hopefully, we don't need it. Right we don't know what's going on with the knee of Jonah Kappa. There's a chance they can be back, and I do want to say digging into the numbers, I surprised myself because I gave the Bills a lot of credit for how well they've played without there one hundred twenty six million dollars edition

in von Miller. But if you'd scratch into the numbers a little further, and NFL research did a really good job at this, you know the pass rush is weakened without him. They haven't been able to generate a ton of pressure without the blitz, so it might equal itself

out as we have this issue lingering against Buffalo. So with the starting three offensive lineman out for the Bengals, is there anything about the Bengals, whether it's Joe Burrow or something else about the team that makes you think that this is a group that might be able to overcome something like that. Of course, the passing game looked great in the first quarter between these two teams before

the action got suspended in that regular season game. I think Bengals fans are going to travel and that's going to be meaningful. You heard Zach Taylor sort of asking willing for that. And you know, you can look at a weakness on the Bengal side and you can equal it out by looking at a weakness on the bill side, which is their turnovers two pick and a fumble return last week. And the issue with that is that the Dolphins weren't able to capitalize on that. You have to

cash in. The Dolphins didn't Jesse Bates let's go. You know, we got to Sam Hubbard these opportunities into the end zone and with Josh Allen most interceptions now all year, most fumbles, I absolutely think they can get it done if they capitalize on those opportunities, which seem like we'll come. We are visiting with Kay Adams. You were the ruler of the jungle before the home game against the forty nine ers last year. You really seem to love the experience.

Did that forge a connection for you with Bengals fans. It is my favorite day in my NFL career. And I know I wasn't even working and I was just having fun. But I've been to Super Bowls, I've been on the field after Super Bowls, I've been all over the place interviewing them. It was so fun. The energy was so welcoming, so full of gratitude for the moments and enjoying the moment, which is something that I think

NFL fans struggled to do. And yeah, just from getting to the airport to the hotel, to walking around and trying everybody's different chili and snacks and playing cornhole and being in the studio in that stadium and hearing the music and feeling the energy like there's just nothing better. It was a day that I'll never forget. And when I saw even Hush on the broadcast on Sunday, night

doing it, I was like, I wish it was great. Well, you know, there's an open invitation for you to come back in the future and be the ruler of the jungle again. We've got an interesting matchup coming up this Sunday in Buffalo with two teams that just went through a traumatic experience together. What did you think of how Zach Taylor, the Bengals players and the Bengals fans conducted themselves after the collapse of Damar Hamlin, Oh with complete class,

in the perfect right way. It was. You know, in those moments when those things happen, you would expect there to be already guidelines of what's going to take place. No one can predict that that would happen or something like that would happen, but it has to be if you're you know, as an organization, the NFL has to anticipate things happening, bad things, disasters, good things. What do you do? What's the checklist that we go to? And it seemed a bit in disarray, and I think everyone

can agree with that. In those moments, you look to leadership, You look to leadership from the NFL, and you look to who am I looking at on the field, and that was Zach Taylor and Sean McDermott, who I think deserves so much credit and are getting that credit for how they conducted themselves and knowing it was the right thing to not play the game or to at least

take a while and go into the locker rooms. And you know, Zach Taylor, I sometimes not a gripe, but I sometimes think like, do you have that demonstrative like fight in you? And you know, everyone from t Higgins to Joe Burrow told me, of course he does. And

you saw it in the weeks after. Once you know that everything settled and fans were so gracious, and you know, this Bengals team knew we're going to not play this game and it's probably going to take away, you know, some of our options as far as our seating with what the rule book said in the off season and those things that were decided upon, and then for that

to get flipped. I loved seeing Zach Taylor come out and you know, really say his peace on it, because I think it's important and I think it's danger as precedent, which I talked about a lot on my show. But Bengals fans, you know, I Blackbourne said it best. You still got to play us. You still got to play us.

We'll go over there and we'll whoop on you two. So, if anything, if there's any team that I think that could handle the adversity and the ups and downs, it is a team that needs to get it going and needs to get it going. Now, well, on that topic, you said on your show recently you thought the Bengals got a raw deal when the NFL tweaked its rules and Cincinnati really didn't have much of an opportunity to benefit.

What do you think would have been fair? I think it would have been fair to adhere to what the rule book said and what I'm sure that everyone making those decisions in the moment, you know, wasn't thinking about because everyone was just thinking about DeMar Hamlin, and that's what it should have been. But the gripe I have with it is that there's all of the con sequences that everyone had. Everyone got knocked around by this, but then or something bad happened the Ravens, though, having inability

to account for the what if? That's what the playoff. That's what Week eighteen is, That's what Week seven it's what if? What if? We can still possibly get this. Like you look at the Steelers, we can still get in. All we have to do is this we need. It's all about hope. That's what you account for in those games, and I felt like the league accounted for that with the decision to change the rules for pretty much all of the other teams in the AFC except for the Bengals.

All of the consequences, none of the potential benefits. And I didn't find that to be particularly fair, And I think everybody has a bit to complain about with it. But the complaint by everyone should be there should never

been the vote. There should never have been a change in this until the off season, because I do believe that it's the responsibility of the NFL to account for and anticipate these sort of things happening with all the stakes that could potentially happen, and they didn't for this one. So a trip to the AFC Championship Game will be on the line this Sunday in Buffalo. What are a couple of your keys to the matchup? Oh my gosh,

I just want T Higgins to go off. Like I said, I think when you were watching the passing game in the first quarter before this horrible thing happened that stopped the play. Burrow was not missing. He looked really, really good. Now, I will say I'm a little worried about Tradabus White if I'm a Bengals fan, because he came back from injury.

He was hurt towards acl week twelve. I think last year has come back and he wasn't, you know, jumping out the gates looking like shutdown corner like we expect him to look. But he's looked better every week. He looked really good last week as well. And when you do have what has been a pass rush that can't generate as much pressure, I'm looking at those corners in that secondary to really bring it and have that happened.

So I would say capitalizing on the turnovers that are going to come your way from Josh Allen because for whatever reason, that's what's happening. And I also feel like this team, this Bill's team, when they play with a lead. I think Dable was very let's go get foot on the gas, and I don't know the Dorsey. I think he gets a little bit more conservative, and I just hope that Zach Taylor matches that conservative behavior with more aggressive behavior. That's what I'll say. Hey, you are an

honorary member of Hu Day Nation. Like I said, Bengals fans love you and we love having you on the show. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope we crossed path soon. Dan. I want you to sit there and every night before you go to sleep, I want you to think about and manifest what calling that Super Bowl winning game for the Bengals for this twenty twenty two season will sound like and look like, and then we'll get there. Okay, that sounds like a great idea.

And as I said before we started this interview, I cannot be helped responsible for my lack of professionalism. If that happens, I can't wait to hear it, and I'll probably be there in person, so I'll have to listen to it the next day. But we are looking forward to it, of course. Good luck, Bengals fans, go travel. I know Bengal Jim already boys tickets. He's headed up there to Orchard Park. So dress warm, but be loud, and I wish I could be there, of course, cheering

these Bengals. As I mentioned at the beginning of that interview, Kay recently started hosting her own show, called Up and Adams, every day at eleven am Eastern on fan Duel TV. One of her regular guests his former Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle, who I should point out spent three seasons late in his career playing for the Baltimore Ravens. He might have provided some bulletin board material on Thursday when

he said this on K's show. Honestly, they should have lost the Ravens and they got outplayed by the Ravens. They snuck that through. They weren't scorn or sniffing another point once those linemen went out and everyone knew it, and then that play happened at the goal line, which is really unfortunate for the Ravens and everyone involved. Tyler Huntley played a great game, and you wonder why those things happen. That's the great game. That's why the sports

are great. You never know what's going to happen or why guys make decisions like that. But they got I'm sorry, I say they got zero chance gets the bills here. This is a very distressing interview. We try to be nice. We made protect Joe, we made it. Okay, they can't they can't protect them. They're they're playing without any lineman. How are how do you expect that team to go in there get quick? Yeah, that's gonna last. This is

a top five defense. This is this is listen. They have they've had the numbers, say, trouble generating pressure without von Miller so and but to day this white looks better than ever. So they might pick it up in the second are great and all, but when you're playing with second and third stringers, it doesn't matter. That's the reality that the Bengals are facing right now. How do

you manufacture not turn the ball over? How to be able to give your defense and give your team the best shot of winning with that with playing with a mangled old line in the playoffs against one of the best teams in the league. Like, I don't know they got through it last year. I just don't see it happening. You're telling me, you're telling me, and I like the

Bills a lot. You're telling me. You don't see a couple wonky turnovers by Josh Allen company who Josh Allen who now leads the league and fumbles turnovers all of the interceptions, leads the league. You don't see a couple of funny things happening with Jesse. Jesse Bates catches one and takes it to the house and they win the game. Come on, Okay, I know your hearts pulling for the Bengals.

I know it deep down. I'm not saying any of that that could happen, may very well happen, Okay, and it will happen, and they're still not gonna win because of the fact that they're playing with them a deteriorated old line. I mean, they're not gonna be able to run the ball. How they're going to protect and take some shots up the field. It's gonna be a minimized game plan of quick game and shots go balls to Chase and Higgins Like, yeah, it's just not going to work. Well,

It's true, It's true. I mean, mixing two point eight yards per Kerry couldn't get it done now with another offensive lineman I were defending, you know, AFC chance like they're battle tested. They got an amazing, incredible big game quarterback. Like, I'm not just craying any of that. I just looking at the facts. And if I was a betting man, I'm putting a lot of money on the bills because

of those reasons. Do you know the only thing? Obviously I have like an unrealistic, you know, not very objective love for this team. But when I look at this offensive line, it's not that different than the one that took them to the super Bowl last year. So they have the same issues. They might not win it, but to you know, like, it's not that different. I'm worried, but saying there's no chances mean a lot of people don't like what I say. Not always right too, so

I can admit when I'm wrong. How great would it be to see Wettle have to eat his words on her ship next week? And I would like to point this out. Eric Wettle said the Bengals weren't sniffing another point once the lineman went out, and everybody knew it well. On the Bengals first drive of the third quarter, with Jackson Carmen at left tackle, the Bengals went eighty three yards on twelve plays for a touchdown and added a two point conversion. 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 app While Wettal's comments probably got under your skin, it's obviously fair to wonder if the Bengals can overcome losing three starting offensive linemen over the last four weeks. Hakimadenagy will be making his third start at right tackle, Max Sharping will be making his second start at right guard, and Jackson Carmen will be making his

first start at left tackle. Joe Burrows says the team has no doubt that this group can do the job. It's really not. All the guys that are playing have played a lot of football for us. They're playing some different positions now, but you know, last year a Kim was a starter, Max was a starter, and Jackson was a starter at at some point in the year. So we have a lot of faith in all those guys. Harman six starts as a rookie last year all came at guard. Now he's back at his college position at

Clemson left tackle. Here's Jackson, followed by Zach Taylor. You know, I'm a whole year more experience. I think my body's better. Yeah, you know, Sam, we got a great squat, so I'm decided to be able to go out there and compete.

My budgess, his attitude has been great. He's continued to work knowing that his opportunity to can come at any moment at any position really happens to be a left tackle right now, and I think he's really taking hold of it and worked and listening to Frank and Derek and you know, proud of the progress that he's made. Anytime a player goes through their first second year in the league, you know, it can be different from college

and and just playing offensive line. It's difficult. You know, your your pointing gets a whole different breed of player, you know, when you get up to this level. And I think Jacksons did a great job of taking everything he's learned from his first year and putting himself in a great position to be successful. The Bills are a

middle of the pack pass rushing team. They're tied for fourteenth and sacks and ranked fourteenth in pressure percentage, and those numbers have dropped since they lost von Miller when he tore his ACL on Thanksgiving, but Buffalo has an excellent defense overall. The Bills were second in the NFL in points allowed. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business,

and community to a new level. Le h your connection with all to Fiber. Bengals fans are still buzzing about Sam Hubbard's game winning ninety eight yard fumble return last Sunday against the Ravens. For perspective on that play and more on this week's game, I caught up with the most experienced member of the Bengals coaching staff, sixteen nine year old Mark Duffner, who is now in his forty

eighth year of college or pro coaching. Duff in your many years in football, have you seen anything comparable to Sam Hubbard's ninety eight yard fumble return game winning touchdown. No, Dan, I haven't, and thank god that it occurred as it did, and of course we were cheering for him to get it to the ends, on which he in fact did so. No,

I've never seen anything like it. Was unbelievable. I know some football fans around the country might be saying, oh, the Bengals got a little bit lucky or something like that. But when you do that, game after game after game and come up with a takeaway when you absolutely have to have it defensively. At that point, can we safely

say it's no longer luck? Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, frankly, this team has bought into understanding the value of takeaways and winning the turnover battle, and they practice it, you know, in terms of so it's not by accident. You can't get turnovers unless you try to get them, and they practice that in the practice routine and it carries over to the games. And the thing that too is just

the awareness. I mean the awareness that Logan Wilson had that and he's a very bright player and an aware player, but could get the ball off him as he did. And yes, we got a good bounce that came right to Sam, but we see that in our opponents oftentimes too, the lucky bounce. But then Sham who went to do with it as did the rust of him in terms of an escort to the end zone. So it was well done. We're visiting with defensive assistant Mark Dufner. I

want to turn the clock back a little bit. Back in twenty fourteen, you took a job as the linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins. And the quarterbacks coach was thirty one year old Zach Taylor. What were your early impressions of Zach and did you have any inkling that

someday this guy could become an NFL head coach. Well, first, my early impressions and opinions were I saw a very bright guy, a very energetic guy, a very positive guy in the way that he taught, in the way he presented himself to his quarterbacks and also to the office of staff and our offensive team, and also to the team in general. So I was very impressed with him. He seemed to be to have an awareness that was

well beyond his ears. If you will, you know, he was a pretty mature young man for coaching, and showed that in a way not only in the football in it, but just in the way he presented himself. And yeah, I could see that. He I thought, Okay, this guy's got a chance to be a coordinator, and of course if that goes well and he could have a chance of being a head coach. Did I know it would

happen as fast as it did. I can't say. I can't say that, but certainly you had a you know, I had him circled if you will, as a guy that looked like he was going to move and move pretty quickly. What did you think people across the country learned about Zach with the way that he conducted himself after demorrow Hamlin's collapse. Well, I think they learned the

genuineeness of him, the character of him. And that's what I'm so pleased for him, is that he's even though those he's had some really tough situations and occurring as coaching as a head coach, a couple of tough seasons early on in different all kinds of the COVID thing. Everything that could you could think of that's happened has happened.

But I've said to him before, I said, look, these are going to pay back big time, big dividence for you, because if everything was peaches and cream, you wouldn't know how to react to tough situations. Well, you know, with a Mars situation, and there's no playbook manuel for that. But he acted on his own character, his own genuineness, as I said before, and obviously made a terrific and

rightful decision. And I think that I couldn't be more proud of him for that, And and he's endeared himself to the country in the world with that, and that's what it's all about. And sometimes we forget those things, but that's the most important thing, and obviously that was first and foremost in Zach's mind. So here we are just a few weeks later, and the Bengals and Bills are going to meet and the play off game. Last week he faced a bitter division rival and those games

are always nasty. The Bengals and Bills went through a traumatic experience together, they helped each other through it. Does it feel unusual going into this game, Maybe a little bit, But I think that what's the best thing is that it feels great because Damar Hamlin has recovered into a point where it looks like he's going to be in pretty good shape moving forward. And I think that's taken a lot of concern and feeling off of a lot of people, and so we're particularly excited about that. That's

first and foremost. But we're also very respectful for the talent this team has we're going to face and excited about having that competition. We couldn't wait to have it on that Monday night, and we're pretty excited about having it on Sunday afternoon, we're chatting with Bengals coach Mark Duffner. I'm turning the clock back now even further to nineteen ninety seven, your first year and since and Addie, that was the year that Boomer assias and ended his career

with a flourish. He famously took over with about a month to go and sparked to turn around with his leadership. How does Boomer's approach compared to what you've seen out of Joe Burrow in his first three years? Very similar in a lot of ways, and that they were both They're both very confident, very detailed people. I think Boomer at that time I saw quite a bit of strong leadership from him. You know, he he was not afraid to address a lot of situations, and I think Joe

does that in his way too. But you know, there's a lot of similarity in them. Mind. I just know this. I think our team rallied around Boomer that year and they felt very confident with him and the driver's seat, if you will. And I know that our football team feels that way about Joe Burrow and how he conducts

the team and himself on and off the field. Do you have a favorite Burrows story or memorable moment so far from being around him for three years, Well, I you know, I affectually call him buckas, you know, because he's as tough as nails, you know, and and he would be a great middle linebacker if, in fact he

opted to play on defense. So I oftentimes after a game just because of his not I mean, I admire his playing and his decision making, he's throwing all the things that he does offensively, but I also have great respect for the toughness, both mental and physically that he hasn't demonstrates. So that's why I said, I call him Buckas, And I've talked to him a couple of times about here. He said, okayy course, coach, I love it, and you know, he loves the fact that I throw that out to

him once in a while. But I'm so pleased that the ownership in this franchise and this city has a player and person of the depth of Joe Burrow where we're blessed. So Bucas is a very appropriate nickname for you to bestow on somebody. Since you coach linebackers for most of your NFL career and the Bengals have two starters right now that are playing at a very high level. Let's start with Logan Wilson. What makes him special? Well, I think, I think is an awareness and certainly his athleticism.

I remember when we when I watched his film at YO mean, I watched two series of plays and stopped it and went upstairs and said, the Duke and the staff upstairs, boy, we got to get this guy, because you just he had everything you were looking for. He had the certainly the physical traits and the range and the quickness and change of direction. But he could play run,

hand pass equally well. And his awareness was excellent. So I mean, I love him, and I love him as a person suit too, but I mean he's he is everything you want as a as a linebacker and as a defensive player, and then some and then there's Germain Pratt. Is he one of the most unsung linebackers in the NFL? I think he is. And I really want to compliment Jermaine. I thought I liked what we saw when we were looking at him prior to the draft, in his first

year or prior to being here. And I liked his height in fact, that he'd been a safety early in his career at NC State. I like that part of it. He came in in his rookie year. You know, it was a little tough for him initially, as it is for most rookies, and uh, you know, I think that he was trying to trying too hard in a lot of ways to make plays. And thank god that he's you know, he's now kind of seen the bigger picture of playing this cat. Now he studies, his preparation is terrific.

He's constantly communicating what the play is about to be and that happens through great study in the classroom and on the field. And then the fact that he's he's got big playability. I mean the interceptions that he's made, the one last year against Las Vegas, the ball, the ability to get the ball off of people in Kansas City, etc. I mean, so I can't be more pleased for a young man who has talent who's continuing to develop it.

I think where you see where he started, where he is today again, that's due to one his efforts and certainly the coaching staff. So well done for Jermaine Pratt. We're chatting the defensive coach, Mark Duffner, Back in late November, the night before the Tennessee road game, Zach Taylor pointed out the team meeting that all the experts were saying how hard the Bengal schedule was, and he reminded the

players that they got to play us. That's become the motto and you become the guy who yells it in the locker room after victories. Is it just a fun thing or has that rallying cry had a real impact. I think that I think perhaps the ladder, I think, and that's again attributed to the outstanding team meeting that Coach Taylor had, putting that in perspective with him and really bringing that to the forefront, that that's an important thing. I mean, we can hear about this and hear about that,

but it's really all about us. And you see that that's that standard all around the building, all around the locker room. It's about us and it is and he you know, he kind of tied that into the scheduling part of the thing, and so I think that the players understand that it's helped to kind of bring to the forefront just that point it's about us and it's really what we do in the game for sixty minutes.

It matters the most, and if we continue to do our best in terms of fundamentals and effort and playing together, that things will generally turn out the way we want. Do your friends and family get a kick out of hearing you yell that in the locker room in these celebration videos, they perhaps do? I hope that, you know, it's I kind of get a little emotional at times, and so that's kind of a blurting if you will.

But ill anything that that that's happened from that certainly has attributed to coach Taylor and his message has been and if I somehow add to that in some way, then good, you know. But I mean, yeah, they'll occasionally laugh or something about that. So yeah, final thing for coach Mark Duffner. You've had a long and distinguished career in college football and in the NFL. You've worked with Hall of Fame coaches like Woody Hayes and Dick lebou.

You've been around tremendous players. You were there when Archie Griffin won his second straight Heisman. You helped when Brett Farve was in Green Bay. What did it mean to you to be on a Super Bowl staff last year, and what would a super Bowl ring mean if you

can win one. Well, first of all, to be on a Super Bowl staff last year and have that opportunity, that's after I think twenty six years in the NFL, and you know so many people work hard to get to that opportunity and to have that feeling and that experience, I'll be forever grateful. I mean, I just it was I didn't want I didn't want the days to end. I wanted them to try to milk every minute out of the each day we possibly could, and to you know, be in position to perhaps have another swing at it

is just unbelievable. So it's it's something you're all everybody strives for. You're striving, you know, to do the best you can, to be the best you can, to have a chance to play in that which is kind of the symbol of the best. Uh. You know, we're very thankful and grateful for and we're hoping like crazy we can get there. Always great to visit with you. Thanks so much for your time and best of luck against

the Bills. Thanks Dan, appreciate being with you. The Bengals Booth Podcast has brought to you by 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 ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment and for the latest

on the Buffalo Bills. I spoke to my longtime friend Adam Benini, the sports director at w g r ZTV in Buffalo. Adam, before we get to the nuts and bolts of the matchup on Sunday, let me ask you this question. Do you think there's a chance that DeMar Hamlin will be there on Sunday for the coin toss or in some sort of capacity. Well, it's interesting, Dan, because today we got kind of an update on that.

Sean mcderman didn't indicate that he would be at the game, but thankfully, DeMar Hamlin continues to make a lot of progress, and McDermott revealed that he's in the building. He was here today at Bill's headquarters. Right now as we record this, he's in the building. Mcdermot's said almost daily players had seen him. Mitch Moore said he was a little bit tired. You know, you can tell he's recovering, but he's making

a lot of progress. Wants to be He wanted to be at the game last weekend, and I think they convinced him out of it that they didn't want him to push himself too far, too fast. So I don't have a definitive answer for you, Dan, but it would not surprise me, given everything that transpired a couple of weeks ago Monday night and how quickly he's recovered. I know he wants to be there. It wouldn't surprise me to see him make some type of an appearance. Bring

some Kleenex for me if that's the case. I tend to cry like a baby anyway, So that would be very emotional to see that the Bengals played a team last week that they despise and the Baltimore Ravens, and the Ravens feel the same way about them. I don't know if it's the same thing with the Bills and the Dolphins being division rivals, but this is unusual. These two teams went through a trem experience together. There's a

sense of brotherhood camaraderie between these two teams. How do the Bills and Buffalo fans feel about the Bengals at this point. Oh, I think they hold them an extremely high regard. I mean that dates back to twenty seventeen and Andy Dalton and all of that history and donations to his charity and everything. But obviously the situation with the Mark Hamlin took things to a whole new level.

Sean McDermott has talked repeatedly about how well he thought Zach Taylor handled himself in that whole situation came over the compassion that he showed. How Joe Burrow led the Bengals captains into the Saber excuse me, into the Bills locker room at that time that night, as they're all kind of absorbing everything and wanted to check on the Bills players to see how they were dealing with that situation, what their emotions were like, and to show them how

much they care. So I think there's a level of respect that's unusually high between these two teams. I don't think it takes anything away from the intensity of what we're going to see on the field here at Orchard Park on Sunday. It may add to it, in fact, but I think it's very unique. I mean, it was an unprecedented set of circumstances, and I know it was greatly appreciated by the Bills. The degree to which and how the Bengals players and coaches handled that situation and

kind of helped them through that night. All right, let's get to the matchup with Adam Bannini from w GRCTV and Buffalo. The Bills of one eighth straight. But the last two games have been too close for comfort, especially if you talk to my mom down in Lakewood, New York. Is anxiety running high in Buffalo? And should it be? I think the turnovers are the biggest you right, Dan, I mean three of them against the Dolphins here on Sunday. They've had nine in the last three games. So a

ball security. A lot of times that players will brush that off. And Shuan McDermott even said today I asked him directly about it, and he said that it's a very valid question given away. This thing has been trending. He says he trusts his players at this point, and

it really a lot of it comes down to Josh Allen. Look, this offense has not been as diverse, has not been as efficient as you know, you think back to that Kansas City game last year, the Divisional round, this same stage and the thirteen seconds and you know, gave Davis and the four touchdowns and that sort of a thing. You know, the explosiveness we saw from this Bill's team, it's not there right now. They're still very effective. Dawson Knox has begun to emerge. He has touchdowns now in

five straight games. That's been important. Davis was solid. He's not the same player as he was last year, but he was solid against the Dolphins on Sunday. So it is a concern ball securities at the top of the list, but there are other factors as well. So I think everyone here has the sense, but the dynamic is different

with this Bill's team. Yet they continue to win. And I think there's also a level of grit with all they've endured this year as a group, from the mass shooting this past summer, tragically, the way they kind of bonded with the community. Dawson Notch lost his brother, they helped him through that. Two historic snowstorms that sort of a thing, and then the Hamlin situation in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. Monday is at the top of that list as well. They've been able to battle through

a lot and I think that counts for something. But in terms of xs and o's, they are not operating the same way they did at this stage last year. Let me dive further into the turnover specifically where Josh Allen is concerned. Sixteen interceptions if you include the playoff game, fourteen fumbles, six that have been recovered by the other team. Is he forcing things? Is he sloppy? What explains all of these turnovers for one of the best quarterbacks in

the NFL? I think, and this is kind of a deep dived in in this take, but I think when you're talking about the season and the trend you just referred to, I think they had a lot of trouble coming up with an answer at the slot receiver position. Right when Cole Beasley moved on in March and they thought Isaiah McKenzie would be that player. Didn't work out

that way. They went out and got Jamison Crowder. He broke his ankle against the Baltimore Ravens, so they really didn't have an answer, and I think that affected a lot of things. Suddenly they became a lot easier to defend you know, teams could just take away digs and suddenly Josh didn't have that option, like he was so

effective with Beasley all that time. So they bring Cole Beasley back, right, he comes out of retirement after a brief stint with Tampa Bay and it's taken some time, but he hit him for a touchdown this past weekend against the Dolphins, and so he hasn't really put on numbers. He played in just like two or three games during the regular season, but he was effective, had a couple

of big receptions, one for a touchdown. So I think the pendulum is starting to swing back in a positive way in terms of that relationship and its impact on the offense. But before that, absolutely forcing the football. What was the expression from the original top gun Son, your egos writing checks your body can't cash. I mean there's a lot of because we call him Wyoming Josh here in Buffalo when he reverts back to that kind of and they don't want to coach that completely out of

him because it's part of what makes him great. But he walks right down that fine line of effectiveness and recklessness. He even talked about that today, So I feel like that's something that's really those two factors. I think that those are the biggest factors behind him, you know, forcing the football, turning the football over, and I'm sure that's something that the Bengals are well aware of from a defensive standpoint. We're talking to my friend Adam Benini, who

covers the Bills. As you know, the Bengals have a battered offensive line. The Bills lost their best pass rusher, Von Miller. How good has the pass rush been since Von Miller went out? It's been pretty solid. I don't think it was as effective as it needed to be against the Dolphins this past week. You didn't really hear Greg Russo's name, for example, but they do have a strength in numbers approach there. You know, I think prior to the Von Miller signing, they had really invested for

a number of years. You know, you go back to the loss of the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game a couple of years back. That was the real indicator where you know that they were not well equipped enough upfront from a pass rush perspective to deal with Mahomes. And so they went out and they invested in the draft a aj Epinessa who was their first pick a second round pick, as it happened, because they lost the first rounder in the trade for Stefan Diggs that particular year.

But then they go out and they get Rousseau in the first round, Basham in the second round, you know. The following year, so they have and they bring back a shack Lawson. They got Jordan Phillips, the defensive tackle at Oliver has really kind of come on this year, a former first round pick, and so they'll rotate. It's a strength and numbers type approach. But I think that at understanding, the Bengals are dealing with injuries on the

offensive line. We talked before the last game. I thought that was the key matchup how effective the Bills could be from a pass rush perspective against that Bengals offensive line. Now, the dynamic might change a little bit in terms of the injury situation, but they do have guys that can get home. The way in which Borrow gets that ball out so quickly and efficiently I think presents a problem for Buffalo. I think this is a game where they really begin to feel the absence of von Miller on

the field. I think the Bengals, with that passing game, the timing, those receivers are in a position to really exploit that, and by extension, the youth and the secondary. You know, Dan Jackson limited to start the week with a knee injury. Kaira tire Eelam, their first round pick this year, has been very vulnerable at times, had an interception to his credit against the Dolphins. Trey White coming

off the ACL injury last year. Not the same player he was in the past, but kind of rounding into form. He's looked pretty solid out there. But the Bills vulnerable in the secondary as well, so both in terms of the pass rush despite the injuries on the offensive line, in the way things shape up in the secondary. Dan, I think Buffalo, they're vulnerable. I think this is a nightmare matchup in terms of what the Bengals bring offensively for this Bill's defense. How about safety, because Micah Hyde

isn't back yet and obviously Damar Hamlin is out. Where do they stand at that other safety spot? Well, you've got they brought Dean Marlow back, you know, so he's a veteran five six years experience in the league. Came up with an interception in this past weekend, but again you're dealing with Skyler Thompson. I mean a guy, look a rookie seventh round pick, talk about telegraphing the ball,

talk about hanging on to it forever. I mean Vic Prucci, my Sports Talk Live counterpartyer and I are counting four plus seconds he's hanging onto the ball. You know, he's not obviously, he's probably a career backup type player. He's not an anticipatory quarterback. Right. So Burrow is the exact opposite of that. I mean, Joe is throwing that ball to a spot right and the receiver is going to be there, and it's all timing based. So it's the

polar opposite of what they faced this weekend. So I do think that they're vulnerable in the safety spot as well. Also from the communications standpoint, they've really missed Micah Hyde, who went down with a neck injury after Week two, and he was so good that at making sure players are in the right position pre snap and that sort

of a thing. I mean, I think if you look at some of the timeouts this past weekend where have been kind of controversial among the fan base, here, Hide's absence contributes to some of that, where they're just not mcdermot's not comfortable with what he sees how they're aligned defensively and they have to burn a time out. So I think it affects that that lack of a veteran

safety in that spot. Of course, Hamlin had done a very good job of filling in extremely competent in that role prior to what happened with him and his collapse. So I think they're vulnerable. I guess what I'm saying at a number of levels, both from an execution standpoint and from a precep pre snap communication standpoint at that safety position. Last thing for Adam Benini, what do we

know about that famous Buffalo weather on Sunday? Interesting We had our chief meteorologist, Patrick Hammer, who is very popular here in Buffalo, for our sports show Monday Night. I had him do it like a long range forecast, and he said, there's a system coming in here. You're not going to really know until Thursday or Friday, but we could be dealing with a mix of rain and snow for that game. It's still they're not sure on when

it's going to arrive. It could arrive, they thought initially maybe like on late Sunday, night into Monday, and now it was trending earlier in the week that possibly it could be you know, typical Orchard Park, whether something you're very familiar with from your background here. I don't know that it necessarily affects. I mean, the Bills have been very effective dealing with severe weather situations, and they've had a number of them to deal with. They're pretty good,

don't I don't have a sense. I don't think it's going to affect the Bengals all that much. I would ask you that question. I mean, how do you think that would affect the timing? Maybe that Bengal passing game. Wind is the only thing that bothers me. They can deal with cold, they can deal with precipitation. Wind is always the wild card because you never know how the wind is going to affect the ball from play to play, and they are such a passing dependent team that I

would be more worried about wind than anything else. All Right, So we'll see. I mean that's that. Obviously, wind is a primary feature here. They can plan on some of it. We're not sure at this point how severe it's going to be. Hi. Thanks to Adam Benini, and here's a quick reminder to join Lapping Me on Friday for the Bengals pep Rally show at the Wings and Rings location in Fairfield. The show runs from three to six and the legendary Bob Trumpy will be our guest in the

final hour. 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 Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs by pay Corps, the official HR software provider of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with Alti 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. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.