Bengals Booth Podcast: Come With Me Now

about the bengals chances of making a second half run. Then, and this week's Know the Faux Segment, Steelers pregame host Tim Bens tells us all about Pittsburgh's rookie quarterback Kenny Pickt. The Bengals Booth Podcast is 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, here's a quick reminder that you could 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 a gas fireplace. This is a rare repeat edition, but it immediately came to mind with a return of winter weather to Cincinnati. When we moved into our home, the family room included a gas fireplace, and when it

gets cold, it's fantastic. With the flick of a button, it heats up the room in a matter of minutes and looks great with orange yellow flames that dance around realistic looking logs. And that's with minimal clean up, no smoke, and no need for firewood. So here's to having a gas fireplace, especially when it with the house. Now let's get to football, beginning with my conversation with fifth year safety Jesse Bates. Jesse, the NFL season is an absolute grind.

You get here early in the morning. There are hours worth of meetings that walk throughs the practices all leading up to that car wreck that you play in every Sunday. You get five days off during the bye. What to do for your mind and body? It kind of less. You take a deep breath, can focus a little bit on your personal side of your life. I mean, we are human beings. Even though we work hours and hours of playing a game of football, there's still a lot

of personal stuff that guys go through. Unfortunately, the you know, the NFL season, it just jumps on you. I mean weekend and week out. You go getting a car wreck on Sunday and then you turn around on Monday, have to watch the film review and flush everything and then restart. So I think it's really good, um that we had it back to back years um, in the middle of the season, just to refresh our minds, um, and come back get ready for a long season in the second half.

So we're excited for Can you turn your brain off from NFL football? Are you constantly drifting thinking of the next game, thinking of the previous game, etc. Yeah? Um, something that I do I always do, like a pre like a mid season review. UM. I asked a bunch of my you know, former coaches and stuff just to give me a review of my first couple first weeks of the season and then kind of review that. Like I said, you can't really turn it off. Um, it's hard to turn it off and then not really turn

it off. So I stay tuned in. UM. I was able to watch some football as well this weekend, which is nice to see what other guys are doing around the league. So, UM, yeah, you turn it off, but at the same time, you don't. We're visiting the Jesse Bates for the second straight year. The team's five and four with eight games to go. Does it feel the same or different? Um? It feels very similar, just in terms of the standings. UM. How everybody's kind of it

seems like you're you're out. People are kind of hanging around around week ten and then people separate in that second half of the season. UM. Like I've been repeating, you know, anytime you play and playing in football, like my high schools in Semi State right now, you know college is starting to getting ready for those bowl games, conference games and stuff like that. You want to be able to play your best football, UM on every level. UM in the second half of the season November December

for us, it's all the way up until February. So UM. One thing is good is that we had a lot of the core guys back from last year, so that they've had a lot of experience, and even the guys that we've brought in they know what a playoff run it feels like. So, UM, I think we play our best ball when you know when it really matters. UM, I know, I sure do. Unfortunately, one core guy that you won't have for the rest of this year is

Chittabay Wog. You can't run replace him. You can't find a top five corner on the street in the secondary room. What do you guys say about how you overcome the loss of Chittabay Wuge. Yeah, I think the biggest part is, um, when you when you lose a key player like that, you don't only lose them physically out there on the field, but as far as just him asking questions in the

in the meeting rooms. UM, I think every rookie sits in the front row, um, in our meeting room, so they're able to, you know, get some of those answers that they're may be scared to ask. Um. But Cheeto has done an outstanding job of just getting those guys up to speed. So I think the main thing is, like I said, you can't really replace them physically, UM, But I think the preparation part of it. UM. It kind of leans on me and Van Mike Hilton as well to kind of get those guys settled down and um,

let them know that we're still playing football. We got we got their back, just like if Cheeto was in there. So um, but yeah, it's hard to talk about Cheeto because I know how hard he works, how much he puts into this game, and for him to have that unfortunate injury kind of sucks. But um, it's it's part of the gain. Your lockers are next to each other. How tight is that bond? Yeah, we're me and Cheetoh uh, it's way beyond football. Um, you know, we're locker mates.

I've known them before he even got here a little bit. One of my best friends play with him in Dallas. So, um, you know, I've been able to experience what a real vet looks like in the locker room. And I always brag about Cheeto, like maybe it's just a couple of days where I don't want to talk to anybody, but cheetos the same guy every single day, and it's just talks a lot about just who he is, where he comes from, his foundation. Um, I guess I got emotional

just seeing him out there just laying down. I mean, he wouldn't even lay down on the field, I'm like, Cheetah, lay down on the ground. You're you know, you're hurt. Um, he just jumped off and you know, jumping off on one knee with a torn a cel. You don't see that lot. So it just says a lot about him. We're chatting with Jesse Bates. Louianna Rumo has gained a reputation, shouldn't for being a mad scientist for some of his defensive schemes. None of it works if you and Von

don't communicate the way that you do. Can you describe the relationship between Lou, you and Vin. Yeah, Um, Coach Lou has a really open relationship with me Von. We're able to talk about some funny things, you know, off the field, outside of the locker room. Um, and then when we talk about, you know, game specific stuff. I think he has a lot of confidence and U two really smart safeties, two safeties that have seen a lot, Um,

and then the bond with me and Vaughn. It helps as well, just having that chemistry, being able to be on the same page as coach Lou. When he's calling a call, why is he calling it? Make sure you get the young guys lined up? Stuff like that. So, Um, me and Von have have grown together. I watched him go to work every day in the morning and it drives not just me, but the whole team may be better.

So our relationship is very unique, I think, um, and it's maybe it doesn't show on the stat sheet all the time, but just being on the same level at all times it's really good for our defense. He faced the Steelers this week, a rematch of the season opener, tough loss. The team had a minus five turnover ratio and lound up losing in overtime. Does that one still sting? Yeah, that one. I don't think people understood how I'm important

that those first games are in this season. And then it was a divisional game as well, so I think we're olling three in our division. So this one would be huge, kind of set the tone for who we're going to be in the second half of the season. And it wouldn't be no better beating up on the Steelers again on their home field. So I wish it was on primetime, but the four twenty five game will be just perfect. Pittsburgh's changed quarterbacks rookie Kenny pick at

his in first quarterback taken in this year's draft. His stats aren't very good so far too touchdowns, eight picks, But clearly there's talent there or he wouldn't have been a first round draft pick. Is he just making rookie mistakes? Is that what explains those numbers? Um? Yeah, I would. I would say there's not a lot of opportunities at times for him, But yeah, he tries to force it a little bit. Um. You know, I kind of down

talk him a little bit. He did the fake slide on Wake Forest Um and the ACC Championship, so I gotta get him back at some point for that. But yeah, I think that he's a young quarterback, has a lot of talent. He's a playmaker. Um. I think a lot of his success comes from when he gets outside the pocket and he starts scrambling and stuff like that. But you can see that there's some type of chemistry between him and fourteen, him and eighty eight UM and even eighteen.

He tries to get them the ball. And just certain matchups, you know, single high, he'll see eighteen or whether that's fourteen UM opened up and that's I feel like that's where a lot of his success comes from. M So it'll be good for us to you know, mix up some coverages, disguise some things, and hopefully we can force him into some more mistakes. I forgot that the fake slide was against wake Forest. They changed the rules because

of the fake slide. Last thing, there's a story on ESPN today looking at the top twenty five free agents in next year's class. Naturally, you are on the list. When you're drafted, you don't get to pick your team. Are you looking forward to being courted, having the opportunity to see what's out there? You know, I always have to remind myself. My family kind of reminds me all the time that you know, you're in the NFL. I

remember watching you know, Philip Rivers. The Charges were always my favorite team just because of who I played for during Pop Warners. So just being able to have that open market that would be pretty cool. But right now, I'm just focused on the present, focus on having as much impact as I can where I'm at right now, where my feet are, and enjoying this locker room because I know there's not a lot of other places that

are like this locker room, like this city. So um yeah, I'm excited for you know that but you know, I take here to now and the rest of that will fall into place. So, like you said, it's open marketing and being able to see what other teams think about you. I think that's always pretty cool. Whether I'm leaving here, whether I'm staying, I think it's pretty cool. You've been a great Bengal. We will savor every game that you are wearing orange and black. Trust me, best of luck

this Sunday. Thanks you Toime. Absolutely, thank you the Bengals. Both podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at paycor dot com. At five and four, The Bengals are currently on the playoff bubble in the AFC, where only one team has fewer than three losses. That's Kansas City. At seven and two. The Dolphins, Titans, Ravens, Jets, and Bills have three losses.

The Patriots, Chargers, and Bengals have four. It looks like it's going to be a wild race to the finish and I talked about the bengals chances this week with an ESPN analyst who used to be an NFL scout with the Patriots and Chiefs. We are joined by NFL Insider Field, the Eights from ESPN Field. Let's start big picture. The Bengals are five and four after they started this season oh and two. Do you see them making a

run in the second half? I sure do. And I know that five and four may not have been where we forecasted this team when they went into their buy when we were making our predictions when the schedule came out all the way back in May. But the Bengals probably know this better than most teams. Football and the NFL is about how you are playing as you get into the cold weather seasons when you can start making

your Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday plans. And Cincinnati showed that last year as they got better and better and better literally all the way through the playoffs. And if you look at the AFC right now, well, I do believe there are a few excellent teams. I don't think the depth of the AFC is nearly what we expected it to be coming into the season. As you've got teams amongst others like Denver, like Las Vegas, like Indianapolis that as of this moment do not project to be a

part of the playoff picture coming into this season. I think all three of those teams thought they could win their own divisions. So the last time out, Joe Mixon had a monster game for Cincinnati two hundred and twenty one yards five touchdowns. You tweeted that it was the eighth greatest Fantasy performance of all time. How important do you think it is for Joe to produce, maybe not that well, but to produce more significantly than he had

been for the rest of the season. Yeah, I think you take twenty percent of his touchdown production every single week going forward and be pretty happy about it. Right, But it was important for a handful of reasons. First of all, Joe up to that point of the season had not had a super efficient year on the ground. And as we know, the running game is a byproduct not just the running back, but also the offensive line scheme.

You know, the quarterback involves as well. The way that you are able to attack an opposing offense is due to who the quarterback is or is not. So I don't know that it's just Joe's issue that led to the inefficient rushing prior to that game, but it was good to see him in the entire offense get going in a major way leading into the buy. You would think that Joe probably feels much better physically coming out of the bye as well, with an extra week to

rest up. And you know, there are coaches and there are numbers that would tell you that balance is not important in football. And I think that there are teams that are good enough in one phase or the other, and it's usually a team that's good enough passing the football they don't have to worry as much about running the ball. But I do think when you can achieve balance,

it does have some things that it does unlock. And for Cincinnati, while you have a mobile quarterback, you don't have a Lamar Jackson type athlete and Joe burrowback there where you know if an effective play action passing game is rooted in part from a team respecting that. So I think there's something to be said for being able to run the football the way they did, not quite like they did in Week nine, but at least closer to where things were in Week nine as opposed to

the first eight weeks of the season. Let me follow up on Joe Burrow. He started poorly after his appen deck to me. But now he's up to fourth and passer rating fifth in passing yards per game. Where do you consider Joe Burrow to be among the hierarchy of the great quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah, it's funny I've gotten In the world of fantasy football, which is a big part of my world at ESPN, one of the

most popular topics is weekly rankings. You know, where are you ranking this player at this position for the week ahead? And I've always believed that sometimes those rankings can be a bit excessive, as we might be better suited to put players into tiers. And I think that applies to quarterback rankings as well. Because there's a group of quarterbacks.

Let's let's divvy this up, or divide a line between the guys that are young, en up and coming still like twenty eight, twenty nine and younger versus the guys that are in the latter stages of their career. Because Tom Brady and Joe Burrow are going to probably you know, they might meet once more for the rest of their career. Who knows Brady might be done after this season, We don't know. But if you look at the guys that

are twenty eight or twenty nine and younger. I think Joe fits into that category of and this applies to this year by the way of guys that are like no doubt about its centerpiece of your franchise haven't quite won either the highest individual accolade of an MVP or the highest team accolade of a Super Bowl. But obviously Joe is what nine months removed from having played in Los Angeles at the Super Bowl, so my view on

him hasn't changed at all. I think that probably what has been reinforced this year is that when times are tough, and this is a league of parody, ask any team.

We saw it on Monday night when the final undefeated team went down in the Philadelphia Eagles, that when times are tough, you don't have to worry about Joe and how he is going to be able to lead the entire franchise is It certainly strikes me that while there are lots of guys that have been there for longer on both sides of the ball, this team goes as far as Joe Burrow goes, and his demeanor has continued to impress me. It makes him one of the most

unique players in all of sports. We're visiting the field. Yates from ESPN DJ reader is about to come back from injury for the Bengals. Jamar Chase could be back after one more game on the sidelines. Should have a awoojah in the other hand out for the rest of the year. Are these injuries the big variable for Cincinnati going forward? I think that's a huge part of it

for sure. And you know, I think in the secondary, like the Bengals are probably not going to unearth some you know, they're not going to find the next great cornerback just out of nowhere on the street right now, Like you kind of have what you have. There might be some practice squad elevations or guys that have just been thrust into larger roles. But my sense is that, like the secondary is going to be a lot of the players that you've been hearing from throughout the season

so far, and a veteran safe group certainly helps. And I think one of the realities of the NFL is that no great secondary is great without a great pass rush, and very few great pass rushes look as great as they do without good coverage in the back end. So well, we're going to talk about the cornerbacks and the responsibility of various players in the back end. I think that a lot of the work can be offset if Trey Hendrickson continues to play at a borderline all pro level.

And while DJ obviously makes the vast majority of his money being one of the best run defenders in the NFL, he can certainly impact the integrity of the interior pocket and other players up front that have given the Bengals

coop snaps. I mean, Sam Hubbard continues to be And I don't like to use this word too often because I think it gets overused, but under appreciated or underrated players in the NFL pretty much does everything well and that includes rush in the pastor all right, since you don't like that word, underappreciated or underrated, I'm going to use that word anyway. In another question. Before you got

into broadcasting, you had a background in scouting. Is do Tobin underappreciated or underrated for the job he's done in building this roster? I think so, And you know you have the Super Bowl run last year that helps validate that. And you know it's funny you sometimes don't get enough credit when you're making picks near the top of the board because people say, like, what else were you supposed

to do? Are you supposed to give credit to the individual who took this generation of prospect, whether it was you know, any number of guys that have been tabbed the next great thing. And well, I think that certainly being closer to the top of the board tends to lead to you know, that just the potential of those players is higher, so you should be nailing those picks a little more frequently. I think that the Bengals have

done a good job of finding depth. I think they've done a good job of finding players in not first round structure that have been major contributors for them. And you know one thing about Duke and you know, I don't. I don't want to speak for him, but my guess is that part of what influences our perception of people in sports, coaches, players, executives is just how much we see of them publicly. And as far as nanimity is concerned, Duke probably is in that top class of general managers

or personnel executives. And that's not a bad thing, by the way, that's just how he and how the Bengals go about their business. So my feeling is that you know, there are coaches that can have you a drinking the kool aid a little bit because you see him in front of the camera and you start to gravitate towards words. Ultimately, I believe in results, and I think that Cincinnati's results

largely speak for themselves. And this is a franchise has had to reshape itself over the past handful of years. And while a lot of the offensive pieces that are so so great, we're high picks, none more so than Joe and Jamar, you know, defensively, that makeover over the past couple of years has been this really unique blend of not just some really good homegrown talents, but find a free agent pickup that if you were to redo it,

you would say, no, I'm not even considering it. Von Bell is kind of an afterthought and free agency hanging out for a while, signed a three year heel, has been an outstanding player and a team leader. And then you know Jenobe before he gets hurt. That was a huge, huge signing. It looked like it was going to end up being one of the best value signings again in the NFL this year. We already talked about Trey Hendrickson.

Even DJ Reader when he got I think it was four years and fifty four million dollars, people were saying, who's this guy. Well, it took about a year for that contract to look like one of the better values in the NFL. So I think that stuff deserves a lot of credit. It's not just the home runs you hit at the top of the draft board, but also finding the right value in free agency, because there is

a lot of fool's gold in free agency. Every single year we see teams undoe mistakes after just one season. A couple more questions for field Yates from ESPN. The Bengals head to Pittsburgh this Sunday. What do you see as a couple of keys to the matchup? I'd say that turnovers. And I'm not trying to be obvious, but you know, obviously week one that was what undid them. Was it five turnovers in the first half? Was it?

I have five turnovers in total? I know, and it was obviously just felt like every play was hitting the ball back to Pittsburgh. But that to me is about as important as he gets for keys. This Sunday, le should take care of the football because the Steelers are very very good on defensive t J. Watt is healthy. He is healthy, obviously played last week, made a difference. They're not dominant like they have been in years past, but they have multiple good pass rushers. Alex Highsmith very

good as well. An offense, though no team has to work harder to score than Pittsburgh. This is kind of amazing to me. The Steelers have yet to score a touchdown of ten yards this season. Every single touchdown they've scored has come within the ten yard line. And I mean you call like at least one vertical shot. It feels like per quarter in Cincinnati when you're on the game call. And that's not this kind of offense here. They are a grinded out offense, but they are not

a particularly efficient running game. Nag Harris has not been nearly as impactful in the passing game this year as he was last season. So this is not the kind of game that if you hang thirty, it's not going to be a thirty one, thirty one thirty or thirty one twenty eight type game. If since he scores thirty one on Sunday, it's probably because they've end up winning the game by two touchdowns. That was an amazing stat final thing for field Yates, the Bengals will break out

their white Bengal uniforms for the second time. What do you think? Love them? Love everything about them. I think they're tremendous. I've always felt like they make guys look a little bit sleeker, faster, which I know it doesn't actually make a difference, but I love them, and I will say this is I think the NFL has been smart to embrace some of the alternate uniforms this season.

I think about some of the great uniforms that we have seen so far, not just since He's but you know, I've seen this for nine ers and the Patriots go back to their pat patriot. We've seen the Jets breakout and all black helmet, the Panthers break out the all black helmet. Some of those that I think are really really sharp looks that, you know, if nothing else, at least give us up a talk about for the beginning portion of a game. Field. This has been great. I

always appreciate your time. Keep up the great work. Thank you so much for having me. I'll utch again soon. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented 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. Elevate your connection with Alta fiber. If you love reading about the NFL, you'll find some of the best content

at golongtd dot com. There's plenty of free stuff on the site and additional material if you choose to subscribe. Tyler Dunn is the man who runs golongtd dot com and I caught up with him this week about his latest Bengals related story. Tyler, you have written some great profiles about Bengals of players in recent months, including Eli Apple, should be a Wouge and Tyler Boyd. Now you have turned your attention to a Bengals coach and it's nod

Zach Taylor. It is not one of the coordinators. It is a guy that very few NFL fans have even heard of. Tell us who and why you chose him? Absolutely well, great to be back, Dan, Thanks so much for having me. Dan Pitcher quarterbacks coach. This is really a coach I feel like we'll be talking about for a long time. And you know, it's always hard to figure out. So you have an elite quarterback in the NFL, and Joe Burrow and I covered Aaron Rodgers. Josh Allen

is here in Buffalo. It's always hard to figure out how much is the coach really giving this elite talent, right, Aaron Rodgers got a lot of people, a lot of jobs. You can run down the list if you wanted to. Some are better than others. So I've been fired. But over time you kind of you kind of see, okay, like what did that coach really give that quarterback? Yet a lot of times I think that quarterback coach is exactly what that quarterback needs at that time. And Dan

picture really strikes me as that as that coach. This is somebody who has such a unique upbringing with where he came from in Courtland, New York, and in a lot of ways is kind of a kindred, kindred spirit to Joe Burrow, where they both have just been immersed in the x's and knows at a different level. I think everybody loves football, that's that's in football, but it's

different for these two. And I think at this time, at this point of the season, year three, when a lot of defenses are playing them a certain way, when you're off of a Super Bowl loss, and not just any super Bowl loss, but one where you're an audible away from being a legend, you know, immortalized forever. I think that that tandem is really core to what Cincinnati

does this season. Ian Rappaport from the NFL Network was here in training camp and he told me one of the things that he wanted to do while he was in Cincinnati was sit down with Dan Pitcher because his name was popping up as a future coordinator or even a possible future NFL head coach. Have you heard any

similar things, Yeah, definitely. I think some scouts here and there, some coaches here and there, because he has experience in both, right, I mean he worked in personnel that that type of experience is uncommon and for a quarterbacks coach, let alone any position coach. But I really like his his background all the way to Courtland, New York, and you know, maybe there's some some bias there in terms of my

brother went to Courtland. I went to Syracuston. You know, let's just say the weekends were even a little better in Courtland than they were in Syracuse. Dan. I found myself going to see Austin from time to but it's a great area up state. But you know, he lost football twice. So when he when he comes in, you know, he goes to Colgate, Rex's shoulder transfers to Courtland. He's out of football for that fall. You know, the first time that somebody who loves the game has the game

stripped from him. And instead of just kind of rehabbing and doing his own thing, he went back and called plays first high school right there in Courtland. And I think that that helped him realize early on, this is something I want to do later in life. Yeah, I'm gonna play as long as I can play, but I love calling plays, I love devising game planning. It kept him in, it kept him rejuvenated. And then obviously he's at Courtland and is the best D three football in

the nation by the end there. And a big reason why was he get a lot of his schoolwork done and he was kind of a half coach half player that last year where he gets capstone stuff done for his Masters and that was it. No no, no classes. He could be a coach in the morning and he could go over the game plan, he could drop the cards, he could be in all those meetings and then the afternoon would hit and he's a player again. And I think that that is such a unique I don't care

D one, D two, D three, that's rare. That's different. And he knew then again that this is something I can really take with me throughout my life. And you know this Dan being around the game, I don't think people realize like Division three is what you make of it. I think xs and knows wise, and the game itself is no different than D one. Everybody just runs a four six instead of a four three or is a little less you know, talented in the weight room, and

you know, throw in throwing the dumbells around. But I think he was thinking the game at an elite level, similar to Joe Burrow Right. He grew up the son of a college football coach watching the film as far back as he can remember. They're gonna find ways to really push each other at every twist and turn of an NFL season. And in Joe's case, his dad for most of his childhood is at the MAC level very

good college football, but not the SEC. Just a slight tip below in terms of the forty times of these guys, the size and strength of the lineman So it's in between the Dan Pitcher college level and the level that Joe Burrow ultimately played at. Absolutely and there's probably an advantage to that where you're you're seeing the game of football through a schematic lens and you're you're thinking through it as a coach. You're you're not just thinking, Okay,

this guy can run a four to three. He's gonna beat your corner one on one, and that's that. Like, I think there was some next level stuff going on, and then you have the personnel background on top of it with Dan picture where you're with the Colts and you're trying to identify talent that can translate to the NFL. I think the Bengals have a good one. You know, they'll probably have them for a little longer. You know how this progression works, right, your quarterbacks coach to an

offensive coordinator to a head coach. But I think if Joe Burrow stays on this trajectory, and I'm sure we'll get into it, I think that this team is about to get really hot, right when they need to get really hot, He'll be a name that we talk about. You know, come January, you yearn and year out, all Right, so if you you've wet my appetite, I don't want to spoil the story, but we have that to look forward to with a Dan picture story coming up on

golongtd dot com. Our guest is Tyler Donne. Let me follow up on what you were just saying, because you were very bullish on the Bengals when we spoke in August, and clearly you still are, despite the fact that they're five and four coming out of their by Yeah, I think you know, I promise It's not like I'm just sitting on a hill and prepared to die on this hill.

Though maybe maybe some ego works its way into that take, but as as it does us all um, it's just that first game was was wacky, right, I mean, Joe Burrow is not going to throw four interceptions again in his life. Probably that was that was strange, and he's he'd never admitted. Maybe he came back from the burst

appendix a little soon. He had to get his weight back and his strength back, So you know, yeah, that game, I think I think Dallas's defense ended up being a lot better than any of us thought it would be. And then since then, this offense has gradually kind of figured figured itself out, and I think most importantly is willing to react to what these defenses are are doing.

And Dan Pitcher gets into this in our story as well, where I mean, they're sitting back there with those two safeties right, it's going to be a cover two in quarters and just daring the Bengals to piece together at ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen play drive to take away the vertical passing game. Jamarrow. Chase will be back eventually, and he may be the best wide receiver in football. So I think that Cincinnati showing that willingness to just run the ball against Carolina.

Granted it's Carolina, but they just beat them to Smithens and Joe Mixon is running for a buck fifty and four touchdowns and they're running for I think like two forty one. As a team, you're you're gonna force teams out of that look, like you're gonna punish them for being in that look and say, all right, get out of that, play a normal defense here, and then when they do, Joe Burrow is smart enough to realize it in the moment and go up top. I think we

saw that, we saw that in the Super Bowl. I mean, if they block a split second longer. I'm not telling your listeners anything they don't know. I mean, it's a it's an iconic sports moment. I mean, Jayalen Ramsey falls down and we're talking about a quarterback with the cojones to call that audible at the line and to go deep, it's it's legendary. He's gonna know, he's gonna know when that moment arrives because he's he's so smart. And that's that.

Joe made a great point in its press conference this week, actually where this second half of the season, teams aren't going to surprise you much anymore. You kind of know schematically, you know what they're doing, who they are offensively and defensively. You kind of settle in to your identity. So I think that's when he really shines. I think that's when his brains really kind of kick in and Cincinnati's going

to be able to outscore anybody, you know. I know we talked a lot about the secondary before the season. That would worry me a little bit to lose a shutdown corner like Chitubey Woozier is as tough as your replaceable. But then I look around the AFC, and I mean the Bills are down to second third stringers throughout their secondary. It's it's not anything other teams aren't dealing with, so I think they'll find a way. We're chatting with Tyler

Dunne from golong tv dot com. You've dealt with nearly every coaching staff in the NFL. I assume what stands out to you about Zach Taylor in this group? Good question. I think that what stands out is that they seem to stay a step ahead schematically. There doesn't really seem to be a lot of staleness and stagnation, and I think the root of that is a healthy relationship between

the quarterback and the coaching staff. It does seem like Joe Burrow is willing to buy into what's gonna work right if if he if he has to run the ball a lot in that particular game, they're just gonna do it. And he might have gotten into this a little bit at his press conference as well this weekend, just treating each game individually and not just being like a stock offense with a stock game plan, and like this is what we this is what we're gonna do

weekend and weekend. Every game is so different. Every defense is going to play you differently, and sometimes, yeah, you're probably gonna have to swallow your ego and not throw the ball five fifty times. And like I said, as somebody who cover at Aaron Rodgers, that can be a problem for other teams as we as we see my God, I mean Green Bay. If they run the ball against the Giants, the Jets, the Commanders, they probably win all three of those games. Yet the quarterback doesn't want to.

He's got autonomy at the line of scrimmage. He's change it, runs the passes. He's screaming at Matt Laflora on the sideline. He's telling Aaron Andrews before this last game he wants to go down swinging, throwing the ball. It's like, it's so obvious and great, sorry, I'm getting my high horse. It's just so obvious to run with a j Dillon and Aaron Jones. Work off of that with a Christian Watson and his speed one on one, and then you can beat the Dallas Cowboys in your seasons still alive.

So he did that, and of course he still screamed at Laflora along the way. But to bring back the Cincinnati I mean, you don't see those issues with a team like the Bengals. It just seems like Joe Burrow, Zach Taylor, everybody's just on in page. Everybody's just gonna do what it takes to win. And in a game full of egos all over the place, that's really hard to find, it really is. So that tells me they're

set up to win for a long time. I want to transition from the Bengals to former Bengal because here in Cincinnati we love Mike Zimmer. He was a great defensive coordinator. He was kind of a lovable curmudgeon of a personality while he was here. That was not the case in Minnesota, at least at the end of his tenure. That may have been the way it was early on,

but it wasn't at the finish. And as far as I know, you were really the first person to report this and describe how bad it had become in Minnesota at the end. How did you learn about that dysfunction in Minnesota? Yeah, there were definitely were a lot of whispers and a lot of comments from players, from coaches on staff, and I had reported on it here and there since I launched Go Along, but definitely had the

series on the Minnesota Vikings ahead of this year. I think maybe encapsulated all of the issues in you know, an organized fashion where yeah, right now with Kevin O'Connell, you hear culture, culture, culture, culture, and there's that tene just want to roll your eyes and say, oh my god, I've heard this before. This is every first year head coach is going to try to fumigate the building and

get everybody happy and excited to go to work. But when you really start talking to these players for the Vikings, you see it. It has substance. It's real. They needed to wake up and be excited to go to work because they weren't under Mike Zimmer. I think that you're right. Early on it was great. They needed him, Mike Zimmer. They needed the discipline. I think schematically he's brilliant defensively with the way he can devise a game plan and shut down on Aaron Rodgers at times where he can

make that elite quarterback hesitate and be confused. But I just think he beat guys down physically, you know, at practice, just making guys kind of play hurt, play through injuries when they really should be arresting. There's that element. But even when his job security started to get a little shaky and his people are calling for his jobs in the medium, and he would tell his other coaches how much it just drove him nuts. Terrence S. Newman talked

about this at length. And here's a Zim guy quote unquote who played for him Dallas since Minnesota, coached with him in Minnesota. So what he's coaching with him? And he's here in Zimmer I rate and upset about his job security. He's thinking as a player, like, what the hell are you so worried about? Man? Like, you got guaranteed contract. If they fire you, you're good. You can just chill, go on vacation for a year or two. These players, if you when you cut them, what you

have done, their lives are uprooted. And I think that that really took him aback. And also dbs within his scheme are asked to do a lot, and I think that they got to a point, especially when you know that first group kind of got older and left and they kind of had to go to some younger dbs. These younger dbs, he just really wasn't willing to work

with them. I mean, Cameron Dancer told me that when he was hurt, Zimmer was basically like, you know, he brings in somebody else and you're dead to me in so many words. And then on the field, they're just scared of their own shadow. They're they're afraid to operate off of feel and off of instincts and just seaball getball because they know, come that film session on Monday, there's going to be hell to pay, and Zimmer is just going to undress them and embarrass them and humiliate

them in front of the team. So that just absolutely zaps spot in eighty which there is no coincidence that this Minnesota Vikings team loses I think seven one score games last year, maybe eight, and this year they've like they're right there with just a few teams in NFL history who have won this many one score games. I think since the O nine Colts, the on and Culture the last team to win this many one score games at this point of the season. Obviously they got to

the Super Bowl. I think it is culture, right. It is just being willing to operate off of instincts and feel in the fourth quarter, and that's everything. Kevin O'Connell had to change in Minnesota. Anybody that reads Go alongtd dot com knew the Vikings are going to be better this year after the series of stories you wrote at the beginning of the season, Tyler, you are based in the Buffalo area. The Bills are clearly still among the best teams in the NFL, but they are not the

juggernaut that many expected. Who do you like at this point as the teams to beat? You're right, they've hit a rut. I think the Bills they had to handle some pretty unprecedented Super Bowl expectations, not not just in Buffalo but beyond. There's never been a Super Bowl favorite to that degree in Vegas, as the Bills weren't it this season. Inevitably, you're gonna hit a rut. I think they'll work through it. Josh Allen's too good to be

making the mistakes he's making. At the same time, like you worry about coaching in them in that playoff moment. Sean McDermott has kind of come up shore here now a few years in a row, so it's been about January all along for the Bills, so we'll see how he steps up in that moment. I know I said

it last time. It sounds like I'm pandering. I really believe that the Bengals, the Bengals with Joe Burrow and a healthy Jamar Chase and T Higgins and Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon and the line that's gonna be better than the line they had last year. Give give me that. In this AFC, I just feel like they'll be able to keep up with any team offensively. And they're not going to be afraid of the Chiefs. I mean, they're

gonna play the Chiefs anywhere. Arrowhead, you know, right there in Cincinnati, pay courts, pay court State pays all right, play him anywhere. I mean, they're gonna be confident that they can beat that team. So I think Kansas City, I think Cincinnati. I love Lamar Jackson, but so far he's kind of plateaued. He you know, we haven't seen him dominate at the level you need to dominate in the postseason when you have to take your layups, work the ball down the field, be accurate, and then Joe

Burrows the most accurate quarterback in the NFL. I would still put Cincinnati ahead of Baltimore. I think Buffalo be in the mix. I'll tell you what one team that I'll have a series on next week, particularly the quarterback Miami. I think that too a tongue of Bio and Mike McDaniel Tyree killing Jaylen Waddle. It's just been a perfect storm where when they get going on offense, man, it's it's like watching NBA jam on a football field. It's

like they're on fire and they cannot be stopped. And yeah, they've got deficiencies on defense, but I think that that would scare me if I'm any team in the AFC. But yeah, yeah, to give you three Kansas City since the Miami, I wouldn't surprise any of any of those three teams with the distance. I'm with you on Miami. I think they are trending up. They remind me of the Bengals last year quite honestly. All Right, so we

have the dam pitcher Joe Burrows story to look forward to. Additionally, you have written a book, The Blood and Guts How tight Ends Save Football. What made you want to write about the tight end position and some of the greats that have played it? Gotch I've always wanted to write a book, you know, being a long form guy and wanting to throw myself into it, into a topic. I just didn't know what it was going to be, right. I didn't really want to write specifically about one team

or one player. Nothing was kind of inspiring me down those lines. But you know, I've grown up in football, havn't played it and covered it my whole life. I love the sport, the real sport, real football, not this overly sanitized version, not this utopian middle ground the NFL's trying to find. I guess that's kind of what got me thinking about this Dan where we're sitting at home watching a game. The flags are flying, you know, the Chris jones Is and Grady Jareds of the world this year.

I mean, they tackle the quarterback and they're just taking away in cuffs. It just drives me insane. I feel like the NFL is just in this everlasting pursuit of convincing moms across America that football is safe. They're trying to find a middle ground that doesn't exist. Look, there's an inherent risk, there's an inherent violence to the sport,

and that's okay. I think that once the NFL could just own it and no, this is what we are, and it would eliminate a lot of problems because the players know what they're getting into, especially now with awareness of concussions at an all time high. So I was trying to figure out love the game, a little concerned about where the game's going, what can preserve real football? And the more I really thought about it, it's that tight end position because you have to do everything right.

You're in the trenches, you're getting bruised and bloodied, and you're doing all the stuff that alignment has to do. Yet you still have the glitz and glamor outside. You still gotta make a play down the field with eighty thousand screaming fans and the world watching, and that combination I think really kind of encapsulates everything that we love

about football. But honestly, you know, the more I really started working on this book and traveling around the country, hanging out with Mike Dicka, Tony Gonzalez, Ben Coats, Jeremy Shockey, Grant Kittle, all these guys, I think it became a book as much about the human condition and life, and you know, they'll have you kind of staring through your own soul, trying to trying to figure out why why we're on this planet. So it was awesome. I mean

it became such a labor love, a passion project. I didn't want it to end, Honestly, I had deadlines I had to meet and stuff. I feel like I could have been talking to these tight ends for the next ten years. They were just an absolute riot. I think what people will learn too is, you know, outside of Gronk, who idolized Jeremy Shockey, you know, living like there's no tomorrow, partying like there's no tomorrow, he wanted that rock star life.

He wanted to be a tight end. For the most part, the position chooses you like you have a set of characteristics as a human being, your you know, your Dallas Clark, a walk on at Iowa, mowing the field at Kinnocks Stadium, selling the campus newspaper, serving as a dummy for psychology students and Dennis students just to make an extra twenty bucks, scratching and clawn and eventually Kirk Ferren says, you're You're not a linebacker, You're a terrible linebacker. You're a tight end.

And it's like all of these indomitable traits inside, like Dalla's cluck just shine, and he is exactly what Peyton man. He needs to just take that offense to other level, or you're Jimmy Graham instead of a group home, fearing for your life, fighting kids on a daily basis, feeling

your face break. In one instance, specifically that he gets into where he feels like he's gonna die to survive that world, he naturally, organically was just going to become a tight end and changed the position in his own way. It was it was a riot. It was so much fun. I'm just glad that people can kind of hear the stories that I heard this past year. Sounds like great stuff. Tyler Dunn writes about the NFL and podcast about the NFL at golongtd dot com. I am a subscriber. I

am proudly rocking my golonghoodie as we speak. For folks not familiar with what you do, share a little bit more about golongtd dot com. Absolutely appreciate it. You know, I just really want to cover the game through a long form lens. I really feel like year to year, season to season, the game is really it's covered more than ever before, right, I Mean, there's all sorts of ways you can consume the NFL, but a lot of

it is fast food. A lot of it's takes and memes and gifts and tweets and takes, and it's in real time, right. We're just kind of absorbing it throughout the day, and we're not really getting the substance. We're not really taking a deep breath and learning the how

and the why behind what we see on Sundays. So I really want to just create a home for long form journalism that will just kind of last forever, where we get to know the players and the coaches and the teams on a deeper level and really explain the game in a deeper way. So yeah, golong tv dot com. You can sign up for free if you'd like, or you can just get a full subscription eight a month fifty a year to get all the features and all the podcasts. I do a podcast as well with Isaiah

McKenzie for The Bills. We meet up at a at a bar here in Western New York and he breaks the game down at a different level. And my podcast co host, Jim Otis was a longtime NFL scout as well, And obviously the bread and butter are these long form stories. So last time I was on your podcast, Dan, the Bengal fans were unbelievable and subscribe in droves and I cannot thank everybody out there enough. So if anybody out

there would like to subscribe annually, you're right. If you want to go bigger, go home right, hit that annual subscription and we will send you a copy of the Blood and Guts and go along. So it would love it if people want to do that, and I'll just personally sign a copy and you know, get a two for one special. You got a market a little bit right. That's the whole world that's been new to me. The marketing of your product is as a work in progress, but the Bengal fans were so amazing that I'd be

dumb to not offer something here. Well, I'm sure they appreciate it. And I can virtually guarantee that anybody that subscribed previously after hearing you on this podcast is happy that they did because the content is phenomenal. I enjoy getting those notifications in my inbox and it's always great to chat Tyler. Thanks for the time. Really look forward to the Dan picture Joe Purrow's story. They no thank you, Dan, really appreciate the kind words and it's always great coming on.

Thanks for having me. Bengals Boot Podcast is presented by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. The Bengals are a four point favorite this week because they head to Pittsburgh to take on the three and six Steelers. The Steelers have changed quarterbacks since their three point overtime win over the Bengals in

Week one. Mitch Drubiski is out. First ground draft pick, Kenny Pickett out of the University of Pittsburgh is in. That's where I began this week's No The Faux segment with the pregame host of the Steelers Radio Network, Tim Bens. Tim, Kenny Pickett's stats are bad, but that can be deceiving. How is he played and is he getting better? He's showing progress in terms of the very basic things like getting everybody lined up. He's taking care of the ball better.

At least he did against the Saints. No turnovers, no interceptions, that was a first for him. They got a couple of red zone touchdowns. They were able to stay on the field, and they converted ten I believe, third plus fourth down conversions, So he's getting better there by all accounts, he's getting better for his role in executing the run game,

like real basic stuff. And when Tomlin was asked about that this week, because the past game seemed to be the thing that's lagging the most still with the Steelers, he really complimented pick Up and really sold hard what he's doing. And I think that was as much dan strategic as it was of valuatives, if that makes any sense. Like, I think that was as much about giving him confidence and giving the fan base confidence that this is the right guy. He's getting better as opposed to Tomlin's truest

assessment of what his play is. In other words, I do think there's some grading on a curve going on here. Salesmanship is part of the job, no question about that. We're chatting with Steelers pregame host Tim Bens. The Bengals could not protect Joe Burrow back in Week one. T J. Watt got injured in that game, but he's back now. Does everybody have trouble protecting their quarterback when t J. Watt is part of the Steelers defense. Yes, yeah, I

mean the record indicates that. I do think there's a bit of a correlation with how good the quarterbacks and the lines have been. When TJ has been healthy, He's really exploited some of those things. Offensive lines that aren't so great, quarterbacks who are on the severe downside or very early in their careers, things like that. But the bottom line answer your question is everybody has a problem with Watt and everybody else, and the Steelers defense gets

better when he's in there. I mean, look at Alex Highsmith. He's got eight and a half sacks, and I think five and a half have come in the two games where Wat's been healthy that he's gotten three and all

the others. I think a lot of his sacks are product of offensive lines, offensive coordinators paying attention to where Watt is, and then Highsmith good enough to win one on one battles against some tackles like to see more when Watt isn't on the field, for sure, but that manifested nicely against the Saints, and I thought TJ was real good in the run game against the Saints. He was still disruptive. They still had a hard time with him. Even though he didn't have a gaudy stat line as

he normally does. High Smith was dominant against the Bengals, no question about that with t J. Watt on the field. Speaking of dominant, Minka Fitzpatrick had one of the best games of his career in Week one to pick six on the Bengals opening drive. He blocked the pat to force ot he missed last week after having an appendeck tomy to ex becked him to be out on Sunday.

Boy Tomlin was sure trying to sell that. That might be more of your salesman talk there, and that might be something that he's trying to sell because the Bengals would likely have to prepare a lot for Minca being back there. But you know, if they're coming up with a Plan A and a Plan B with or without Fitzpatrick, that would have been a heck of a lot easier to do. Before Demante Kyz became eligible to come off of injury reserve and after getting past that NFL suspension

that he was on. Was coincided because he was real good. I thought against New Orleans. I thought he was real good during the preseason two and there are a lot of folks myself included that we're excited to see what he and Fitzpatrick could be together, and we still haven't seen that and may not see that this week against since if Fitzpatrick doesn't get medical clearance. But I think since Minka has gotten here, Kaz is the closest fac similarly to replace Minka when he's not on the field.

So if they go at the free safety position test the free safety position deep like other teams have when Minka has not been available due to COVID or injury or what have you, in some games, it might be harder to pull off because I think Casey's a pretty good player that can do some MINCA light minca like things that others that have been on the roster cannot. The Steelers traded for our old friend Will Jackson, and then he almost immediately went injured on injured reserves, so

we won't play against the Bengals. But what was the reaction to Pittsburgh picking up Will Jackson in that trade from Washington. I think the reaction was, well, do we all get to go back to twenty sixteen and seventeen and maybe replace some of the playoff games that happened in those years because it sort of felt like they were chasing a ghost, you know, like that's the first reaction that I had, because I don't think Jackson turned

into what thee the Steelers thought he would be. Certainly already Burns did not the guy that they got when the Bengals scooped up Jackson the draft and the Steelers wanted him. You know, there was a lot of talking the city into while it was a bad fit in Washington, and his back is fine and YadA YadA, and then he gets here in the back is such a problem that they can't even play him much more than one practice.

So you know, this might be what they try to do with the Kelley Witherspoon, pick him up kind of midseason, incubate him, get him to learn the system, and then see what you have to start the next season. And hopefully they get more mileage out of Jackson to start next season than they did with Witherspoon this year, whereas Witherspoon gave him a little bit more towards the end of last year. Our guest the Steelers pregame host Tim Bens. This game has been flexed out of Sunday Night Football,

and while NBC would never say it. The reason is Pittsburgh is three and six. How did the team and Steelers fans react to this game? Being flexed a little surprised because I think that even understanding that this Steelers are three and six, even understanding that it was the Chiefs and Chargers that went in, the thinking was well, gosh and still Bengal Steelers. And even though they might not be as bad blood oriented as they were, say five years ago, they still tend to play crazy, goofy,

wild games, just like Week one of this year. I mean, you didn't have the Porter versus pac Man, Juju versus Burfix stuff in that first game, but it was still a nutty game. And crazy things tend to happen when the Steelers and Bengals playing. The games stay close, and that's good for ratings. The Steelers still have a good national fan base that watches. You know, it's still a good crowd here last week against the Saints, even though

the Steelers are out of it. And you know, I know, the Bengals aren't looking like a Super Bowl repeat team out of the AFC either. They're maybe not as touted as they were towards the end of last season. But I still think they've got a little bit. It's not as much juice close as much juice as the Chargers do. So yeah, I was surprised. I think some people, you know people, if you could move a Monday night game, and folks said, well, we're not gonna have him play

on Monday night against the Colts. I don't think anybody would have batted an eye. But because it was the Bengals, because there's so much fun history there, meat on the bone there for the networks, it was surprising that this game was flexed. Yes, the Steelers ran for more than two hundred yards last week and the win over the Saints, they had four runs of twenty or more. Just a good week or something that's been building. Good question, I

think it's been building a little bit. I would love to say that it's just the offensive line has totally gelled and come together. But then the pass blocking, which it looked pretty decent in previous weeks, has taken a step back the last two and they've allowed six sacks. But I could put a lot of that in the

rookie quarterback as well. I think it was a good match up against the Saints the records of teams when they played Baltimore than Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh and Baltimore a lousy let alone going on the road after a Monday night game. I think that had something to do with it. I do not expect them to push around the front of the Bengals the same way they did the Saints. I don't expect them to have the ball for nearly

thirty nine minutes. Again, just the occasional pop of a big run like you talked about before, that has been absent from this team. Big plays in general have been

absent from this team. So even to get a few of those to maintain drives move the sticks without having to do everything right ten eleven, twelve plays at a time, and a drive to get a chunk like that on the ground once or twice against Cincinnati, that would be good enough for me to feel like there is still some progress being made off the Saints game, even if the numbers aren't as gaudy as the ones that you

and I have been pointing to here. Final question for Steelers pregame host Tim Benns Mike Tomlin famously has this streak of no losing seasons. It's at fifteen years and counting, it's obviously in jeopardy this year. The Steelers are three and six right now, Pittsburgh would have the tenth pick in the draft. Based on your interaction with Steelers fans, would they rather rally to extend the streak or climb the draft board. I don't think that they care about

the streak. I think that some I'll say many Steelers fans are a bit frustrated by the streak because it's great to talk about when you brag about your organization. They don't like to do it to defend Tomlin when he has had a playoff win in six years, you know, like they tend to bludgeon people with that streak when they're talking about the emblem. But when it comes to evaluating Tomlin, people don't like to hear about the streak because it's been a while since they've had a playoff win.

So I think the analysis of where the Steelers are, I think Monday through Saturday people are like, well, I don't care if they went. If they lose, so what

they'll be up in the draft. Maybe they'll be close to top ten pick and maybe they can get a I like bet again, on defense, or the guy like Ben again on the offensive line, or maybe they can just get another Ben and get rid of Picket, Like you know, you've heard every theory under the sun already of what they would do with that top ten pick, right, But then Sunday rolls around, they beat the snot out of the Saints, and everybody's joyous that they finally got

to win again. So you know, I just I think the tanking is not in the blood of the fan base here. They kind of talk about it during the week. Wouldn't it be better if they're in the top ten? And then one o'clock rolls around, the lots are full oft Hinesfield and renegade plays and they're waving terrible towels and TJ's back out there, and it's, you know, if they lose the game in their math, that they lose. So I think that's kind of where the where the

fan base is on it. Tim, great stuff as always, much appreciated. See you Sunday at Acqushuer Stadium. I am one for one and getting the stadium's name right this week. So my consecutive accuser streak ended at week eight for a week eight and much like a no hitter. I bragged about it in one segment of the Free Game Show, and then I blew it in the next hour, So I'm now a victim of my own broadcaster's cursed. Yeah. Well, since I just bragged about being one for one, I'm

guaranteed to botch it on Sunday. It's the historical references that get you. You catch yourself by saying Heinesfield when you're talking about a game in like twenty seventeen, So you have to add the caveat of what it was called what used to be formally known as Heinz Field. You gotta weave that in and get used to it.

That's going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, presented 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 elevates your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast