Bengals Booth Podcast: Carry On

We'll discuss how the defense could be so strong in week one and so week In Week two, we'll also look at the latest round of musical chairs on the offensive line, and lap will share his keys to knocking off the undefeated Bills. My locker room conversation this week is with wide receiver Tyler Boyd. According to Pro Football Focus, Andy Dalton has thrown twenty asses for Boyd in the first two games, and eighteen out of twenty have gone for completions. That's ninety percent and tied for first in

the NFL in receiving percentage. If that's what we should call it for anybody who has been targeted ten or more times. Oddly enough, Boyd is tied with former Bengal Marvin Jones, who is reeled in nine of the ten passes thrown to him in Detroit. And in this week's Know the Faux segment, we'll get the lowdown on the Buffalo Bills from their radio analyst, not only a former Pro Bowl center for the Bills, but a former Elder panther,

Eric Wood. All of that is straight ahead, But first, 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 on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since Bluetooth. It never see is to amaze me that I can hop in my car, start playing a podcast or a song on my phone and listen to it through my car speakers, or do the same thing at home by pairing my

phone with wireless speakers. The technology was invented by four Swedish engineers nearly thirty years ago, and perhaps you are using Bluetooth right now to enjoy this podcast. Now let's get to football. The Bengals are a six point underdog on the road in Buffalo this week against a Bills

team that opened the season with two road wins. They rallied from a sixteen nothing deficit late in the third quarter to beat the Jets seventeen sixteen in Week one, then beat the Giants twenty eight to fourteen in Week two. The Bills are one of nine teams that are off to a two and oz start, but Buffalo fans are not exactly making a down payment on playoff tickets yet.

The last five times the Bills started a season two and oh, they miss the playoffs, and only one of those seasons did the Bills finish with a winning record. Their chances of finishing above five hundred are looking pretty good this year, considering that Buffalo still has two games left against the tanking Dolphins and a home game left against the Jets, who will start their third quarterback in the first three weeks this Sunday. If Buffalo just wins

those games, that's five wins. They could go five and six in their other eleven games and have a ten win season. Now, time to discuss this week's matchup and get to the bottom of last week's calamity against the forty nine ers with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham Lap. There are six first time head coaches in the NFL this year, and four of them, including Zach Taylor, don't have a win in the first two weeks of the season. People of crush Mike Brown over the years for sticking

with coaches for too long. But continuity does have its advantages, it does. You know, remember the song all we are asking is give piece a chance. All were asking his give Zak a chance, you know. And Shanahan is in his third year with the forty nine ers. Tons of injuries, tons of problems. But I think now that he's got the team that he wants with Lynch as a general manager of players that they've traded four players, they've signed a free agency players, they've drafted, and they were over

that injury hecks. I mean they had forty one guys in IR over the last two years. It's been crazy. He's a good coach, he has a good scheme, hell of a play caller. That defense is salty, you know. Give somebody a chance to get their feet on the ground and get their culture established and be a little patient. Lap Seattle's offense is night and day different from San Francisco's. Did the Bengals face a team in Week one that

they are uniquely suited to stop? I think they did, and I think it was the personnel they had, you know, big bulky, brawny, Malling type offensive lineman and they lined up. Seattle said this is what we do, no matter what, this is what we're gonna do and stop us. And the Bengals did give them credit. They came out with

a bunch of different looks. The Seattle wasn't quite ready for the five defensive linemen, you know, six defensive backs with three safeties in there handling the running aspect of it. They really had Seattle back on their heels. But Seattle didn't do anything differently, you know, I mean, their their playbook is probably a quarter as thick as Shanahans is.

With the San Francisco forty nine ers. And the following week they come out and the forty niners running a two back set, but then they motion the fullback out use Check could line up on the slot. He was lining up as a tight end. The guy as like a you know, a versatile tool. You know, he can he can do a lot of things for you. And he gives a lot of versatility to the offensive playbook without substitute and personnel because of what they can do with him. And that's what today's NFL is all about.

You know, Belichick loves that type of thing, and a defensive player, well, offensive coaches love it too, where they you know, can can you know, detach tight ends into the receiver position and don't even have to substitute personnel, and you have a matchup to your favor running back that can run good routes and catch football, get him out of the backfield, detach them. I mean, that's that's when you have the perfect world as you don't have

to substitute in creating matchups in your favor. So San Francisco did that remarkably well. They didn't just line up and say here we are, We're going to pound you. Who's going to be the bigger man. And then couple that with Shanahan's scheme of you know, motion, second motion, detach, bring it back to motion the other way again. I mean, he's basically he's not He's trying not to just only

distract your eyes. He wants to cross your eyes. And that's what was happening, guys, were running wide open and his play action screen game was phenomenal. Or he'd run outside zone with the left side of the offensive line, Garoppolo'd roll out away from it to the right. A

receiver had been most across the backfield. He was the receiver of the screen from the Garoppolo throws the ball from the right numbers to the left sideline, right in front of the forty nine ers bench, and looked like every member looked like there were fifty people escorting that receiver down the sideline. There were five offensive linemen against

three three defenders. You know, they just they found ways to out leverage, outnumber the defense, and then when the defense was in position to make plays, they had a poor tackling day. So it was like Murphy's law. Whatever could go wrong did go wrong. On steroids, that's a bad combo. In their history, the Bengals have given up five hundred or more yards twenty four times. Twenty four times and more than fifty years of football. It's happened

four times in the last twelve games. Going forward, what would you prioritize in fixing this defense? I do think that you know, five hundred yards is going to be achievable more readily because of today's style of football. But with that said, that's no excuse. I mean, you know, four times in twelve games, come on, now, that's a trend that you don't want to set. You want to break that trend in order to fix things. You know, I think that you just almost go back to the fundamentals.

You go back to football one oh one. And I know I know what Paul Brown would have done, and he would he would have told his defensive coaches, I want tackling drills. I want drills, guys getting off blocks, and you know, I want to make sure that everybody is hitting the right gap. If you have to do mental reps in the classroom on the football field, you have or if you have to do it, make sure

guys are aware they're supposed to be. They're hitting the gap they're supposed to hit, and they're not getting halfway there, they're getting all the way there, and they're not defending half of that gap. And then trying to help a teammate who they think is having a problem because now you're trying to do too much and you're not doing anything. You're not helping yourself or your teammate, So do what you're supposed to do. And I think that's what happened

a little bit. And I'm not saying panics setting necessarily, but when they started to get gashed, your natural human reaction is what can I do to help? The only thing that you have to go contrary to human reaction. You have to just be disciplined and do what you're supposed to do. And it's hard to do. It's really

hard to do to maintain that self discipline. But if all eleven guys do what they're supposed to do, you know, you'll have a much better success than eight guys doing what they're supposed to do and three guys freelancing, you know, or ten guys doing they're supposed doing, one guy freelancing because they always seem to find the freelancer. It's unbelievable. And then that that whole thing starts to snowball. So I mean, I would go back to almost training camp

fundamentals like a wise man. And why is this football guy? I knew Paul Brown? He said, you know I can trick you, I can fool you, but I get tired of trying to do that. Will you go block somebody, will you go tackle somebody. Football is blocking and tackling. Just do that, we'll win some games. That's what That's what it boils down to. Scheme is great, it's helpful. But if you don't block anybody, I don't give a damn what your scheme is, You're not gonna beat anybody.

You know, and you can have you know, eleven defensive lineman and no linebackers, no defensive backs. You don't hit the right gaps and tackle people, you're not gonna beat anybody. So scheme is helpful, but man, you gotta you gotta execute fundamentals of football, snap in, snap out. Not be one play wonder, one series, wonder, one week wonder. You have to do it game after game, season after season, year after year. Before I get to my next question,

I'm gonna put the microphone close to the desk. Give me one more of those hits. All right? That was good? All right? Is the game coming up? Here? We are week three of his tenure. Is this already a big test of Zach Taylor's leadership. I think it is. I think it's a it's a test of Zach's culture he's trying to build because I think he feels like he's got the right kind of guy in the locker room. And I feel like he feels like he's got that at almost every position. Group He's got like a you know,

a committee of guys. I think that he could draw on if he wanted to and sit down and here's what I'm thinking, here's my message. What do you guys think you know? And can you sell this to the locker room with guys buy into this kind of thing. I'm not sure he has that leadership committee yet, but he has a bunch of guys that he could form, you know, if and when he starts to do that

type of thing. So I think it's a it's a it's a test of Zach what he's done in terms of instilling a culture, how the guys have bought into that culture. And I do think a lot of times you'll see after a performance like that that is embarrassing. I know guys didn't want to use that word, but man, that's embarrassing. You know. It's like if you have a bad week at work and you're a salesman, you don't make any sales. Nobody knows about it except your wife,

and you know, maybe some others. If you have a bad day, that's on you know, regional and national television. The whole world knows about it, and that's embarrassing. So normally guys really respond to that and you know, bounce back and have a big time effort. So I think it's going to be, uh, hopefully that's going to be the case in Buffalo. Not saying they're gonna win the football game, but I think they'll play more like they played in Seattle than they did at home against San Francisco.

Through two weeks, the Bengals are averaging one point eight yards per rushing attack. Yikes, what are teams doing to stuff the run? To that extent. Teams are are doing a good job of staying in their gaps and not allowing any push, you know, at the line of scrimmage. They're winning at the line of scrimmage. And then there's a guy that is not not just doing the right thing, you know, blocking the right guy and not getting pushed.

He's not blocking the right guy, or he's using wrong tech nique in trying to block the guy, or whatever the case may be. Somebody's breaking down and it's not the same guy every time. Because it was that it'd be easy, easy solution, bench him, put another guy in.

So different guys are breaking down, and it's not just in the offensive line, you know, in talking to Alex Erickson earlier this week, it's it's like the receivers are a big part of the running game because they're running a lot of bunch tight, cluster formations and those guys have to go dig people out, and so it's it's

interesting everybody's mindset. Even though the Bengals are throwing the ball pretty well, you know, seven hundred plush yards, I mean, Andy's you know, number one and number two in a few categories in throwing the football, teams are still daring him to throw it. You know, they're they're saying, we're not going to allow you to We're gonna make you one dimensional. We're gonna try to make you play left handed as such, or tie one hand behind your back.

They have to get that running game somehow, unlock though, Dan. They have to, I mean, just you can't be that one dimensional. It's like it's like one phase if it's non existent. And the passing game numbers are really pretty good, how good could they be if they had a modicum of a running game. I mean, just some semblance of one. My god, the numbers they could put up pickle when number eighteen comes back and they have a little bit

of a running game. Could be who knows, left guard Michael Jordan is out this week, so Billy Price is back into the starting lineup on the offensive line. If it's up to you, do you put Billy at center and move Trey Hopkins to guard, or do you leave Tray at guard and put or leave Tray at center

rather and put Billy in a guard. Yeah, that's a that's a nice conundrum, Dan, It's it's it's it's interesting because you know, part of you says you don't want to make two moves for one position, in which you would if you move in Tray to left guard and Billy to center. But you have to say, okay, Trey is playing very well at center, but wouldn't really you know, downgrade the left guard position if if Trey went to

left guard rather than Billy. Trey has played more left guard, Trays more comfortable at left guard, Billy's more comfortable at center. Billy would probably you know, play better at center. So maybe that old philosophy of two moves for one position may not trays. Versatility can be a blessing and a curse, I guess, you know. But here's the guy that was rated the best center in the league a week one

by Pro Football Focus. You know, I mean, so it's like, cheez, do you do you move him out of that position if he's functioned in operating so well. I do know one thing, no matter which which they do, the pressure is on Billy to play well because the trays trays playing consistently, and that's that's what you're the biggest thing you want to have as a coach is consistency of performance, consistency of effort, you know, no mental mistakes and trays.

He's just he's handling everything, all the calls, you know, directing the line. And Billy's a smart enough guy obviously to do all that too. So I'm not you know, they wouldn't necessarily, um, you know, struggle in that regard. Plus you have a guy that's been doing it at left guard can help the center, you know, if Billy's struggling, and if Ty, if Tracy's that's not right, Tray can say Billy that, you know, correct it. So you know

there there were a lot of pluses. Um, I would probably probably I'd end up putting Tray at left guard and Billy at center. You know, I think watching Billy, he's not I don't think he's comfortable. He had a guard. But what Billy has to do is he has to get off his toes. Man, he has to plant those feet firmly in the ground and establish a base in the foundation and you know, handle those big bull guys.

By the way, the highest graded center in the NFL in Week two, according to Pro Football Focus, Frank Ragnow of the Detroit Lions, a player you love going into that draft. Through two weeks, Lap John Ross leads the NFL and receiving yards with two hundred and seventy that's twenty three more than Sammy Watkins of KC. Is that the biggest bright spot through two weeks? I think, I think, um it is. But I'm going to give a like a one and a one a Tyler Boyd. He's been

every time he's been targeted, he's caught the ball. That's hard to do, particularly when there's no ground game and he's running routes that are more you know, physically challenging you know, than than John. I'm not I'm not diminishing John's accomplishments. I mean, shoot, it's been it's been crazy. It's been ridiculously effective for John. I mean, he's the two hundred seventy yards he is every He's twenty four and a half yards a catch, you know, both lead

the league. He's got three touchdown catches tied for the league lead. Extraordinary stuff. But Tyler Boyd eighteen catches for ten point one. You know, he has a forty seven yard but a lot of them have been you know, third and three and it's a five yard catch and get pounded to move the chains and time after time after time, you know, and he's going to him, and you know, everybody knows it, you know, John, Tyler Boyd

knows it, the defense knows it, everybody knows it. He's got five third down catches tied for six in the NFL. Um So, I think I think that that end him is probably as good a story as there is in the first two games, particularly with the absence of AJ Green, because other guys stepped up, you know, in AJ Green's absence, and like we said earlier, man he can get some kind of running game going lord of Mercy when eighteen

comes back. The Bengals are in Buffalo this week to take on the two and oh Bills behind second year quarterback Josh Allen, the seventh pick in last year's draft. Lap He's got the size of Roethlisberger, he might have the strongest arm in the NFL. But he's not a finished product. He's not by a long stretch. In fact, he had it took him the longest time to get the ball out of his hand from snap to throw of anybody in the NFL last year. That's not a good sign. You know. Some of it may be him

not seeing the field well enough. Some of it may be quick pressure and he's running around holding none of the football. When he does that, a lot of times he's not looking the throw necessarily, he's looking to tuck it and go. I mean, I think I think initially Buffalo has given him two reads and then tuck it and run, trying to simplify it. Now, I think they've expanded that a little bit. He'd led him in rushing last year. It was crazy and he rushed for eight touchdowns.

I mean, he was a big, big component on the ground and you still have to respect his legs. He only completed like fifty two point eight percent last year. He's a good ten percentage points higher than that this year. So he is seeing the field. I think he's got more weapons around him, and he's advancing year one to year or two. For any player is an eye opener. I think his eyes have been opened a lot wider. Lap Bill's defense is in the top ten versus the

run and versus the past. Is there an obvious weakness? I really don't think there is. I think their secondary might be the best in the league. I mean, combined White is an unbelievable corner players of tremendous safety. I mean, and they've got complimentary pieces. And when you have a Sean McDermott and Leslie Frasier combining and collaborating defense, will you have two really good defensive minds. They are putting together good game plans for these guys. And I mean

they have round picks up front at Oliver. You know this year as a first round a ninth pick of the draft. Jerry Hugh was ten years ago. It came into the league's first round out of TCU, a very consistent pass rusher, I mean, there's they're solid and sound at the linebacker level. They they don't have a defensive weakness. And then they're they're only allowing four point nine four yards per pass attempt this year. What that's best in the league. That's that's better than a lot of teams

are allowing on the ground, you know. I mean the Bengals are are you know, are up there allowing h four point nine on the ground. They're allowing four point nine four per pass attempt. That's that's crazy. They were number one defensively in the NFL and yards allowed last year one hundred and seventy nine, and this year they're giving one ninety eight, which is fifth best in the league.

It's it's a it's a good defensive football team. The Bengals are gonna have to be on their on their best behavior in terms of assignments and execution out there. The Buffalo Bills have a rookie running back named Devin single Terry. He's five to seven, his nickname is Motor, and he's averaging nearly thirteen yards a carry and he doesn't have an eighty yard or He just keeps getting ten to twenty yard games on the runs that he has so far this season. However, he's dealing with a

sore hamstring. The Bengals might not have to worry about him on Sunday, but they will have to worry about thirty six year old Frank Gore. Really one of the most remarkable players in NFL history. This is his fifteenth season. He's fourth all time in rushing. He is a physical marvel. He is, I mean, he's a unicorn. A running back with his style of running to last as long as

he has is almost incomprehensible. A big, big part of it has to be luck because think of the number of times he's been awkwardly twisted in a pile or whatever, or you know, but his attachments, his ligaments and tends must be so strong. You'll see, you know, injuries because of being twisted the wrong wine pile ups. But then you'll see others that are non contact, just making But this guy's not one of those type of runners. He's he's a he's not a Lamborghini, you know, he's a suv.

I mean, he's you know, he's he's downshifting into into four wheel drive and gonna pound you. And I think I think a lot of things luck his running style, um, obviously, his genetics, the way his attachments so strong and everything. But like you said, Dan, now he's at fourteen thousand, eight hundred and thirty six yards closing in on Barry Sanders. You know, he's he's within range, within sniffing distance in Barry. Sooner you get up to fifteen thousand yards rushing, you know,

that's that's just that's amazing. And the thing that he still has his leg drive. You know, he may not have his his uh, his burst, his quickness, his uh, you know, acceleration, but just pure power. He's got old man strength now, I mean he's still he's still an old man river cranking along. Man. The guy is totally remarkable. And the thing that he gives you is the intangible. In the locker room, I mean, Singletary is looking at

him like this guy, it's thirty six years old. My god, what kind of That's just that's a self contained example of a pros pro You know, how to take care of your body, how to work out, how to study, how to practice everything that you need to find out how to be a success in the National Football League. You have a resource in the locker two lockers down from you that you can talk to about and watch how he does it in the weight room, all those

things that's invaluable. Throughout his career, he has worked out in South Florida at an academy in the offseason with other NFL running backs. Early in his career he worked out with Rudy Johnson. Now he works out with Giovanni Bernard. Consider that. All right, let's wrap it up with Dave Lapham's Keys to Victory on Sunday at New Era Field in Buffalo. All Right, Dan, the team needs to get back to basics. So the Keys are going to be getting back to basics. You know. The first key is

red zone. The Bengals have had six opportunities in the red zone. They've scored one touchdown. That's sixteen point six percent, is worse than the NFL touchdown percentage. Buffalo offensively has been there five times, five touchdowns, one tied for best in the National Football League. That minus four touchdown ratio. Buffalo has five. The Bengals only have one, is thirty first in the NFL. The only team worst of the Dolphins. The defensive alloted eight touchdowns in the red zone. They've

only scored one, but the Dolphins in another. Another Canac Number two is you don't have to be a football wizard to figure this one out run game. Obviously, they handled the run in Seattle, they didn't handle it in San Francisco. They're averaging twenty nine and a half yards per game and they're averaging one point eight per carry, both dead last in the NFL. Defensively, they're allowing one hundred and sixty five and a half and they're allowing

four point nine per rush, thirtieth in the NFL. Got to run it and stop it better than the have and then big plays. San Francisco smoked him eighteen plays of ten yards of war and it was balanced. Eight runs, ten passes, and you know he had four different receivers catch a ball with thirty six yards of war thirty six thirty eight touchdown, thirty nine touchdown, another thirty nine yard or by four different guys. Can't have that, You just can't have it. The Bengals need to control the

big play by the opponent and generates some themselves. Turnovers, big plays, red zone. Those are the nuts and bolts of winsor losses in the NFL. Thanks Lap. The NFL record for receptions in a single season is one hundred forty three. It was set back in two thousand and two by Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. That's basically nine catches a game. And that's precisely but Tyler Boyd is averaging.

After the first two weeks of the season. He's currently tied for second in the NFL with the Jets Jamison Crowder, two catches behind the Saints Michael Thomas. Tyler had seventy six sketches for one. I was in twenty eight yards last year, earning a four year, forty three million dollar contract extension. I talked to him in the locker room this week. Tyler, I want to start with a play that happened with about ninety seconds left in the game

last week. You guys were way behind, You caught a pass, you broke two tackles, You struggle to get every inch that you possibly could when the team was down by thirty one points. Can you describe what you were trying to do in a situation like that. You know, I just wanted to send my toughness and show what our

team got to me. You know, I want them to believe, like I believe, you know, no matter what the scoreboards say, no matter what the outcome is, and I'm gonna continue to be the player that I've always been, you know, I want to do whatever I can do to MUDA stains or win. You know, You've got eighteen catches in the first two games of the season. You're currently tied for second in the NFL. That would be a pace for one hundred and forty four, which would be one

more than the NFL record. Do you have any numerical goals in mind this season, hundred catches and anything in particular. Well, I've been I've always been a team player, you know, first and foremotion. I care more about the wins, you know. But I'm a guy. I believe that I can be a hundred uh catch receiver and a thousand yard continuous year about year receiver, you know. And without being said, um, I just feel like with me and going out there and playing with the effort that I have, you know,

will easily you know, get those individual stats. You know. So if I just continue to go out there and be the guy I always been, then ain't no telling how the stat's gonna look at the end. Of the season, so hopefully, and they would be great for visiting with Tyler Boyd. As I said, you're tied for second the league and catches. John Ross number one in receiving yards aside from his uniform number. Change. What's different than John Ross this year, He's just he's confident now, he believes itself.

He's we we got him in a system that is really great for him. You know, M not saying any couldn't excel in any of the systems we had previously, but this is like a perfect system for John to you know, showcase his speech, showcase his Tayland showcase while we take we drafted him, you know, and now I feel like he's he's been poised. He'd been he'd been he'd been more relaxed, you know. Now he's gone there and just play fast. So I think that's the biggest

change is his confident level. One of the differences in the offense this year is that you guys line up tight quite a bit and you're asked to block. How do you feel about being asked to block as as often as you are and really being counted on to deliver um at the end of the day. It's a um hit or or be hit league, you know. So at the end of the day, UM, you gotta go out there and and and dig somebody else, you know. I mean, you're not gonna die, So why not go

hit somebody? You know, because nobody want to get put on film of getting getting crushed. You know. That's that's how everybody's fair or not really fair, but nobody likes to get embarrassed. So I mean, I'm a I'm a bigger guy, you know, six six one a half six two two hundred and four. So I mean, I don't got no problem doing it because my line and running bout block for me when I catched fastest. So why'm

not return the favor for visiting the Tyler Boyd. You're going back to Buffalo and it's not as big a story this year as it was last year. But those Bills fans are very generous to you and Andy after the way the season ended two years ago in Baltimore. Will there be a different vibe for you going into that stadium this week as opposed to other road stadiums.

I think it would be a little different. I think the last time they wanted to show their joy to me Andy was last year we played in a preseason game. You know, I don't think they're gonna continue to praise us. It doesn't last forever. Yeah, it ain't gonna last forever. But at the same time, I'm very thankful for what they did for us, you know, and I'm I'm glad I could be a part of helping them get to the playoffs. How good is that? Bill Secondary? Um, they're

they're are pretty good. You know, They're they're they're sound, They're they're fundamentally um on point with each other. You know, they don't Um, well I didn't, haven't watched it a lot yet, but um White the corner, he's pretty tough. You know, I think he's there there go to guy. So ain't no telling how they're gonna play him. But again, we just gotta we just gotta execute them guys, and just to talk him like we're planning on uh talk in every corner, you know. But um, I'll give credit

to them. Last thing for Tyler Boyd, you signed a big contract extension in the off Season's there a point shortly after that where you just kind of had a thought of, man, all the hard work, the injuries, everything that I've gone through my whole life is paid off definitely, you know, because now it's like less pressure, you know, of going out there and trying to be the best you can be. And I have the word about getting hurt and just trying to correlate to both. You know.

It's a real tough one individual, you know, but just having out behind me allows me to just just continue to just play hungry and want to just play football and help my team, you know. And um, at the end of this one, hopefully I want to continue to the ball allow and get another one, you know. So I'm not satisfied quite yet, but it's gonna come. Best of luck against the Bills. Appreciate you. My thanks to Tyler Boyd, who caught all ten passes thrown his way

last week against the forty nine Ers. Now time for this week's No the Foe Interview is we do a deep dive into the Bengals upcoming opponent with somebody that knows the team. This week it's the radio analyst for the Bills, who happens to be a Cincinnati native, Eric Would. Eric was part of two state championship teams that Elder High School and went on to star at Louisville before being a first round draft pick by the Bills in

two thousand and nine. He was a nine year starter in Buffalo, made a Pro Bowl in two fifteen, and now has transitioned into the broadcasting booth, doing college games on TV and Bills games on the radio. Eric joined Dave Lapham and me on the Bengals Game Plan show. The Buffalo Bills offensively the first six drives of the season, no touchdowns, no points, four turnovers in the first six drives, and then the last sixteen drives six touchdowns, forty five points,

no turnovers. What how when did the light go on? And how did it go on? In your mind? Yeah, you know, it's all it's never as bad as it seems. That it's never as good as it seems in football. So for those first six strids, you have a ball go off the Cole Beasley's hands are most sure handed receiver, and it tips into C. J. Mosley's hands for the Jets to pick six. And then you have a batted ball at the line of scrimmage that ends up being

an interception. You had a bumble between the center quarterback, which Mitch Morse was out the entire preseason and the concussion protocol, and then Josh Allen got stripped in the pocket. So one true turnover that that that it wasn't just kind of unfortunate circumstances. So, um, you know that it probably wasn't as bad as to quite seem that. Now, Josh threw a couple more balls in the Jets game

that could have been interceptions. One actually was a holding call on the defense that was an interception that got called back. So Josh did a great job against the Giants last week and improving making better decisions. Um. But in Buffalo, and a lot of times Dalton is as UM thought it in the same light. In Buffalo, we had so many conservative quarterbacks, even with some risky throws

down the field. I think guys UM and fans of the team are just really excited that we have a guy trying to make plays down the field, even if some of these plays are a little riskier. Right, we're visiting with Eric Wood, the former Bills Pro Bowls center. Let's follow up on second year quarterback Josh Allen, seventh pick in the draft last year, the guy who might have the strongest throwing arm of anybody in the NFL. How much better is he and where has he improved

the most in his second year? Well, he looks he looks a lot better through the preseason and through these first two games. You know, I think it helps him tremendously that they bring in John Brown and Cole Beasley on the outside, two guys that are just pure route runners. He knows exactly where they're going to be. He trusts them they can beat man covered, so he can spotlight them one on one, you know, especially on third downs

where everything happens a little bit quicker. He's really looking towards those guys to make plays for him, and I think he's want a better job of taking what the defense gets him. Eric College, he was a fifty something percent passer, and as a rookie last year he's at fifty four percent. So coming in going into the offseason last year, basically everyone was and he is who we thought he was. You know, he's an inaccurate quarterback, guns

her huge arms, talent. Well, last year he showed off some athletic ability with his legs, which at times I think he takes a couple too many shots out of the pocket, but love his playmaking ability. But then this year on the year he's right around sixty four, So an improvement in completion percentage will be a huge deal for the Bills building long term success with him at quarterback. Last week against the forty nine ers, they employed a

fullback or deployed the fullback multiple staffs. DeMarco plays a third of the time the Buffalo Bills based on the success the forty nine ers had against the Cincinnati Bengals with their twenty one twenty two personnel and they would motion him out of the backfield and you know, make him a receiver and he was. He's a versattle guy. Can they do the same sort of things with DeMarco? And do you feel like in a copycat league like we have here in the NFL, that DeMarco will be

on the field lot against the Bengals in Buffalo. Yeah, for two weeks, Pat and Marker has been on the field, Like you mentioned, a third of the snaps, but a lot of those have been five wire, you know, an empty backfield set, or they'll split them out and they'll use that to get a man's own read by Josh Allen to see who's walked out over him. So you know, a number of their plays, especially against the Jets, because so he played a majority of the Jets game and

then even a little bit less against the Giants. But you're right, it is the copycat league. But I've always felt like it is the copycat league, and you want to attack defenses where other guys were able to get or to be opportunistic on a defense. But defenses are smart. They're going to go back to the drawing board and figure out what beat them and they're gonna focus on

that all week. So yes, I would imagine there would be some twenty one personnel in the game plan, but that'll simply be because Brian dave Ball, our offensive coordinator, who came from New England, has always employed a fullback. Right, we are visiting the Bill's radio analyst, Eric what, the former Elder Panther. The Bills have a rookie running back,

Devin Singletary out of Florida Atlantic. He's got a sore hamstring, so maybe he doesn't play this week, and if he doesn't, that's good news for the Bengals because watching the Bills first two games, this kid is unbelievable. Describe Devin Singletary and what he has done for the Bills offense. You know, he kind of reminds me of er Bonnie Bernard when he kind of bursts on the seat his rookie year,

and you have an explosive component to the offense. And with him and Frank or they they're opposite each other in their skill sets, so it delivers a great one two punch. But you know, we drafted him in the third round out of Fau not a lot of people knew about him, and he instantly turned heads. They did a poll at the end of the the training camp of who was the most impressive player at all of training camp and a number of even better and voted Devin

Singletary is the most impressive. So he's been turning heads since the day he got to Buffalo this year as a rookie. And he would be a huge absent if he is not on the field for the Bills this week because he's actually great in the pass game as well. They split him out, they run the routs with him, and it would be a big loss for them. The Methuselah of running backs, Frank Gore. He's also a unicorn. I mean, as long as he's played at the running

back position. Is there anybody more committed to the game of football than Frank Gore is probably not. You know, he's in his fifteenth year he comes into in. The crazy part is he came into the NFL having I believe to torn both his acls in college and he was this big injury guy where everyone said he might

not even last a couple of years. And now he's in his fifteenth year, and you know, he's in his first year in Buffalo and he's already creating this legend up there where they go and through joint practices in training camp with the Panthers, and Frank Gore's on the stair stepper at the hotel at six in the morning and he's working out with the media guys and the staff, and then he goes to practice and then he catches a workout with the team. So when you ask about commitment, no,

there probably isn't anybody more committed throughout the NFL. I want to know that doctor, because whoever reconstructed his knees, they made those bad boys bionic man. It's unreal. Yeah, they did a better job than they do with mona thing. A couple more questions for Bill's radio analyst Eric Wood Buffalo has an excellent defense. I don't see an obvious weakness. What is the weakest area of the Bill's defense, You know, you hate to put it this way, but maybe the

lack of true star power. You know, they don't have a geno action. They don't necessarily have a Carlos Dunn lap guys that are just huge names now they have. They have eleven guys across the board, even some backups that are extremely productive players. But they're in their third year under Leslie Frazier and Sean McDermott in their defense, and they're just very comfortable. They're two safeties Jordan Poyer

and like to hide or excellent they hide coverages. They've played so much ball together that they trust each other. And for quarterbacks, it's I don't know how at times you can get a pre snap read against them, because it'll be a Cover two look and it sure looks like man free and you know, it's it's just all these different things that they give you. And then they have a pretty complex blitz scheme on third down if

they do employ it. So they're just a tough defense, and they finished they struggled the first two weeks of the season last year and finished extremely strong, and they're they're picking up right where they left off. Yeah. I saw a stat where counted up the third down in seven or more defense this year has allowed two conversions in sixteen opportunities third and seven or more. They come with all different kinds of things in those blitz packages.

Andy Dalton has had some problems this year with batted passes, and I noticed you defensively batted seven balls at the line of scrimmage. Leads the NFL. Oliver batted one to his teammate for an interception. Murphy got his first interception of his career last year led the NFL with nineteen batted balls twenty six batted balls in the last eighteen games. What is it? Is it luck? Are these guys really work on it? What do you What do you think is the reason for all those batted balls? You know,

I think part of its intelligence. And as you know, Dave, when it's a three step drop, those guys up front aren't get home a lot of time. So when they recognize three step drop or short sets, a lot of times they're looking to get into the passing lanes. And

so that that's one reason. Another reason is on third downs, if they're not blitzing, they're often running line games, so they're running twists up front well where they're moving laterally through those zones up front, and they're moving latterly through the gaps. A lot of times as the quarterback rears back, they'll all just get their hands up and as they're moving laterally, it gives them an opportunity to batt it down.

And you know, they're credited with seven's, that's nine at the line of scrimmage, but two will buy linebackers that were in the line of scrimmage, So they're batting a ton of balls down to the line of scrimmage in our secondary gets a lot of credit, and rightfully so, because they're they're six in the NFL and pass defense, but they're number one in the NFL and pass defense per attempt and but but a big part of that is all the balls being batted down before you even

get through the secondary. Unreal like four point nine four I guess it is yards per passit attempt. That's a teams. The Bengals are given up four point eight a rush. The Buffalo Bills are given up four point nine four per pass attempt. It's crazy. Absolutely yeah. Yeah, they've been productive this year. Our thanks to Eric Wood. And before we wrap this up, if you listen to this podcast before Friday afternoon at three, we invite you to come out and join us for the Bengals pep Rally Show.

We'll be at Buffalo Wings and Rings near King's Island from three to six on Friday, and linebacker Preston Brown will join us for the final of the show. We'll have giveaways too, but you have to be there in order to win. That's going to do it for this episode of the podcast. If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe, and if you have a minute, please give it a rating or share a comment. Five

star ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast