Hi, get everybody.
I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The You Go Hoo Back Jack Do It Again addition, as the Bengals look for their second straight win and try to even the record at three and three as they host the Seattle Seahawks. Coming up, I'll visit with Iron Eagle, who will broadcast the game for CBS. My one on one player interview is with Kwame Lassiter, the second who received a game ball last week in the city where his late father spent most of his NFL career.
Dave Lappam will join me to discuss Joe Burrow's significantly improve mobility and how Jamar Chase caught fifteen passes despite the Cardinals trying to double team him whenever possible. And finally, in our no The Faux segment, we'll get the latest on the Seahawks from their longtime radio voice, Steve Rabel.
The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or
computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the Sinsy Hat. If you've seen Ted Kerris do an interview in the last year, chances are he was wearing the Sinsey hat, more specifically a baseball hat with the word Sensei and three cat scratch marks
on the front. Ted had the hats made when he joined the Bengals is a fun gift to give to teammates, never dreaming that there would be a demand for them from fans, so he decided to have more made and sell them, with all of the proceeds going to the Village of Marichi, a nonprofit living community in his hometown of Indianapolis designed to assist adults with Down syndrome, autism, and other developmental disabilities. Between hat sales and donations, Ted
has helped raise more than one million dollars. It's a great cause and we can all help by buying a hat. I'm currently rocking a white one with black lettering. There's a wide variety of styles and colors available and you can check them out by visiting the sincyhat dot com. Now time for my first guest. He is the father of rising broadcasting star Noah Eagle and he will be in the booth this Sunday for CBS to call the
Bengals Seahawks game. My buddy I and Eagle. I and Joe Burrow called last week's game in Arizona a must win and then he delivered. What did you think of Joe's performance and the Bengals victory over the Cardinals last week?
Most importantly, it looked like Joe Burrow previous weeks that was not the guy that we had seen in his time with Cincinnati. So to me, that was the best storyline of all that Joe Burrow is healthy and Joe Burrow looks the part once again. Give him a lot of credit for going out there with his teammates, for having the pride in which to go and play and perform coming off the huge contract that he signed. And I know that he's a competitor, no one will ever
question that. But we did not see the best in Joe Burrow. The first few weeks we saw the real Joe Burrow.
He stood up last week and you were there in Week one with Charles Davis to call the game in Cleveland. It obviously did not go well for Cincinnati. What were your takeaways as you exited the stadium that day?
Shock more than anything else.
Look, the element certainly played a role, and I think that's always an issue that teams have to handle, and for Joe, part of it was that, but I think it was compounded by the fact that he just wasn't right. He wasn't throwing the ball with any velocity. There were times where he just wasn't throwing the ball in a normal Joe Burrow like motion. When he snapped off that long pass to Jamar Chase last week for the touchdown,
that was the oh wow moment. He's back, And if he's back, then you get the sense that the Bengals are back. It doesn't mean that it solves all of the issues so far, but it goes a long way in getting to the place where Cincinnati ultimately wants to be, and that's consistent, which is a difficult place to get
to in this league. Maintaining excellence is really challenging in the NFL, and when you get to a certain stage as a franchise and you expect a certain level of performance and you don't get it, that's when you have to figure out some answers and make some adjustments.
We're visiting with Ian Egel.
There are a bunch of great wide receivers in the NFL right now, and Jamar Chase is obviously one of the very best. When you watch Jamar Chase, what stands out more than anything else.
It's almost effortless in how he goes about his business, and that shows you that he's at a different level his versatility. You could put him anywhere on the field. He knows every position at wide receiver and he knows it thoroughly, and you could put him there and he's the best guy at it. That shows you a great deal. You want to work him on the outside, great. You want to work him out of the slot, not a problem. You want to send him on a go route, He
can do it. I want a fifty to fifty ball where you're asking him to go up and get it and be physical with a dB not an issue. I think wide receivers by nature are confident, and most of them can use that to their advantage.
Some do not.
Jamar Chase, that's real. That's not him trying to create a character or trying to fire himself up. What he says he believes. And when he says that he's open all the time, he's probably right.
He is definitely right.
You've done quite a few Bengals games in recent years and you always have the opportunity to meet with Zach Taylor before the game. What stands out about his leadership and the job he's done in building the Bengals to contender status.
He's really thorough and there is no minute detail that he has not thought of or considered, and I think it says a lot about where we are with modern coaches. It's been a different job. It's not just x's and o's that's a big part of it, but managing personalities, handling success, motivating, pushing the right buttons, knowing when to push your guys and when to maybe go in and give him a hug or a tender moment. And I think he balances that really well. When you sit down
and talk with him, he's highly organized. He's locked in on the task at hand. This is not someone that's easily distracted. This is not someone that has a short attention span. I've talked to all of them through the years. That's the one real positive of doing this job is you get some time with them and not with a camera on and a microphone on, so odds are you're
getting them a little more at ease. And Zach, to me, has really grown into this role and he's a student of it and he cares a lot that comes across every time that we sit with him.
Trey Hendrickson had a huge game last week, two and a half sacks in Arizona. He's currently tied for second in the NFL with six. Do you consider Trey to be among the best pass rushers in the NFL.
I think he is.
I think there's that top level that always gets notice and this happens in sports. We categorize players and coaches. It's part of what we do. And I think sports fans by nature have almost been taught this. It's learned behavior. Comparisons contrast put people in certain boxes, and Trey is probably considered on that next tier, which is still really good in the NFL. But to crack that top tier you've got to do it again and again and again. You almost have to do it in a very outward
dramatic public fashion. And I don't know if Trey is ever going to be that.
He just does his job. He does it really well, and.
You look at his numbers at the end of the season and say, hey, this guy, he's one of the best guys doing it. So I think he's He's mentioned in that whole topic. But to get into that next year, that elite tier, that requires four, five, six years of sustained play.
So the Seahawks come to town this week, and I'm not sure there is a comparison in NFL history for Geno Smith. He started his first two years with the Jets, he had thirty four interceptions, basically sat the bench for seven years, and then last year he takes over for Russell Wilson and earns Pro Bowl recognition. Are you sold on Geno Smith at this point?
So we had Seattle earlier in the season, Dan and asked Pete Carroll this exact question, because I find it to be one of the best stories in the NFL, and the guys that we came up with in comparison, these are not perfect comparisons by any stretch. But Pete mentioned Steve Young that Steve strugg early in his career and then obviously excelled went to the Hall of Fame.
That to me probably is a bit extreme. Vinny Testaverdi, that's a name that came up, struggles early and then had his best years, not necessarily in his second stop, but it required his third stop with the Jets where you started to see what he could do when given all the tools around him and his experience. And Rich Gannon is another one that popped up as well. Rich
and I worked together at CBS. Rich was a great partner, a terrific guy, worked his butt off to make himself an NFL quarterback and won the MVP Award later in his career as a member of the Oakland Raiders. I think Geno's writing his own story. He was given a
chance early in his career with the Jets. I was doing those preseason games, so I was in those production meetings, and Gino was very confident and to me followed almost the handbook of what you're supposed to do and what you're supposed to say as a starting NFL quarterback.
And now when you meet with him.
I think it's even more sincere and genuine because of all of the experience that he's gotten and the guys that he's been around and waiting for his chance. He told us he never stopped believing that he was a starting quarterback. While everybody else may not have seen it, he believed it. So to answer your question, yes, I
believe in him. I think it's a legitimately great NFL story and one that other quarterbacks are going to follow for many years to come in the league, Guys that either aren't getting their opportunity or let one slip away, but still hold out hope that they could maybe have an impact down the road and be the guy somewhere else.
A couple more questions for my friend Ian Eagle. So the Bengals take on Seattle this week, they have a bye next week, and then a road game at San Francisco forty nine ers or five and L. They're winning by an average of twenty points a game. Is San Francisco the team debat and what teams are in that conversation right now.
It feels like Cincinnati's in the NFC West.
That's how it feels for me.
That's been the bulk of their schedule and then obviously that's going to come to an end when they play the forty nine ers. San Francisco has been a joy to watch. That's an offense that's clicking on all cylinders. Defensively, they really get after it, and they've been doing that now for a number of years, going back to when Sala was running that defense before he got the head coaching job with the Jets, and it's still the same mentality. Brock Purdy, you want to talk about great stories. He's
the last pick of the draft. He's playing at an MVP level and that doesn't happen every day. We know how hard it is in this league to find a quarterback and then believe in that quarterback. This is year two for Brock Perdy in a job that he wasn't supposed to have, and here he is excelling. They've been the best team in the NFL so far, no doubt about it. Philadelphia obviously has to be in that conversation.
They're still undefeated. Kansas City. They can look like world beaters, but it's not quite the same mistique as it was. And because of that, I think there are teams in the AFC that see and opening. Buffalo has certainly played better. Cincinnati gets mentioned because of what they've done the last couple of years, They're going to have to go out
and prove it. Beyond that, there feels like a drop off in the NFL, and that's what makes this league so unpredictable and so intriguing, not just year to year Dan. Week to week, you think you have a handle on
things and then something happens. The two games that I did last week Thursday, I was in Landover, Maryland, and I had Chicago and Washington, and everything was lined up for the Commanders to get a win and get that extra time off and feel good about where they are and their development with Sam.
How they didn't.
The Bears win their first game. They looked really impressive in the first half Offensively, DJ Moore was unstoppable. Then Sunday I go to Pittsburgh. Everything about the Steelers all week had been about the offense being poor, and this team may not be able to compete with the elite teams, let alone in their division. Forget about the conference for a moment. Baltimore controls, it dominates in the first half. Mistake here, mistake there, missed opportunity and then boom, the
bottom drops out safety interception. Steelers take advantage. They're now leading the division at three and two. They had no right to win the game. So to me, this is what really makes the NFL what it is. It's a reality show and every week we're finding out something new and something different that we didn't expect.
Seattle comes to town at three and one. They've got three game winning streak. What are some of the keys this Sunday.
Key for Cincinnati? Got to force some turnovers? Seattle has avoided it. Can you take that next step? And we saw it last week? Really good sign for this Bengals defense. I think numbers wise, I hate getting caught up in rankings through five weeks.
You see trends.
I believe they're better than their numbers indicate, and they will be better when the smoke clears. But can you put pressure on Geno Smith force them into a mistake. Seattle has one turnover this season.
One.
That's it. That has to.
Change if you're the Cincinnati Bengals. In addition, the mar Chase show is great and it was highlight driven last week. They do have to spread it around.
And the running game.
If we believe in trends, it's been getting a little bit better, incremently better each week. The hope is this is the week for Cincinnati where they bust through over one hundred yards rushing and a real impact. Look, this is just from the outside looking in. I remember specifically a game that you did, a game that I did the Jets and the Bengals last year where they needed to bleed clock and secure a win. They just gave the bolt a samajp Ron over and over and over again.
And it just feels like they've been missing that piece this year when they've just needed that. Maybe they find it and maybe Trevion Williams is that guy. I don't know, but that and the tight end position, you'd like to see a little more production from that. I'll put that in the keys for Sunday as well.
And your schedule is crazy. I always appreciate your time when you spend a few minutes with us. Thanks so much, look forward to seeing you on Sunday. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paid Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future Proof vibber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Last week, with t Higgins unable to play because of a fractured rib, the Bengals promoted Kwame Lassiter the second from the practice squad. It was the second time in his two NFL seasons that Kwame has been on the active roster for a game, and it was especially meaningful in this case because his dad, who passed away three years ago at the age of forty nine due to a heart attack, was a great
player for the Arizona Cardinals. I talked to Kwame this week. Kwami, not only were you on the active roster for last week's team against Arizona, but you took part in the coin toss as one of the coin toss captains in the same city where your dad spent the first eight years of his NFL career. How did you get the news that you were going to be a game day captain.
Oh, we got the hotel and we was going through the walkthrough and Zach called me over and told me so I was appreciated of that because my family's gonna be there. Sadly, my mom wasn't there. She's in Italy, so it's a win lose for her. But it was special. I'm appreciative of him for that.
Can you describe the emotions walking out to the fifty with Logan Wilson by your side?
To be honest, I was just thinking about the game. I know that was more for my family to enjoy it, but I was just thinking about the game. I knew what we were trying to do when we got out there, so I was honestly thinking about winning that football game.
The story doesn't end there. With about a minute left in regulation, you caught your first regular season NFL catch. Borro takes the snap, throws it out to the right. It is caught by Kwame Lassiter. He will be tackled in bounds, but that is significant. You might be thinking, all right, why are they throwing the ball with a minute to go up by fourteen. Well, Kwame Lassiter does not have an NFL catch. His father played here for
near a decade. His late dad Kwame Senior. So the Bengals made Kwame Lassiter a captain prior to the game today and they allow him to have his first ever NFL catch.
That's that's a good example of how everybody feels about everybody else in the football team. I mean, you know, it's just one of those things where that's a moment this guy will remember the rest of his life and pats off to Zach Taylor and everybody else responsible for making it happen.
We learned the next day that play wasn't called from the sideline. Joe Burrow checked to a pass on that play to make sure that you got to catch, and then you got a game ball after the game. What did that tell you about how your coaches and teammates feel about you.
It was real solid. No, they got my bag.
They knew that was a special moment for my family, and it was a special moment for Mitsu. So I got a good group around me and they're real solid.
When Coach Taylor tossed to your game ball in the locker room afterward, he mentioned the fact that your late dad, Kwame had four interceptions in an NFL game, which is tied for the all time record. He's one of twenty guys to do it. I didn't realize that before Zach shared that story in the locker room. I think that was the year you were born. What have you learned about his performance in that game?
So I see the highlights all the time when I was growing up, and it's on YouTube actually, so I would when I was a kid, I'd go watching them highlights on YouTube, and like you said, I wasn't born yet, or I might have just been born, so I just.
Know the highlights.
And he would always say like, I'm a Deefens bag, but I always got the ball in my hands, so that's kind of the thing of where I got my hands from.
So we've learned that your mom was in Italy and couldn't be there last Sunday. But what friends and family did you have there and did you have a chance to visit before after the game?
Yeah, I had my fiance out there. I had the rest of my family out there, my cousins, brothers, so it was special. I got to see them a little bit before during warm ups because they got there early. They made sure they got there early for that one, so I got to see him a little bit before during war up warm ups, and then I seen them all after the game, and it was special.
We're visiting with Kwame Lassiter. Speaking of family, I learned from broadcasting University of Cincinnati games that you have a brother who is a wide receiver at BYU. He had a touchdown catch against the Bearcats. You have another brother, Quinton, who is a defensive back at You're alma mater, Kansas. He had interceptions in each of the first two games of this season. So they're both having great years. And they played each other. Kansas played BYU last month. What was that like for you?
That was a special we got.
My mom got us split cut shirts, well Darius on one side and Quinn on the other side. She kept running with bad a little brothers even though we were trying to switch it to the last of the bow, but she kept running with better little brothers. And it was a great weekend for me. I was here, which is a good thing that I'm here, But I did want to be at that game. My whole family was out there for that one too. I didn't really care who won. That was the first time I would not
have been mad if Kansas lost. Really, so, I do want to see my boys ball and they did for the record.
Kansas squad, Yeah, it.
Was a win win and and Darius. He lost, but he had a good game so and he scored.
So that's a split jersey that your mom had made.
So I got a split They have a split jersey. I have a split shirt just with pictures of them. And then I gotta I make sure I bought a b whye jersey because I got so much Kansas gear and Quentin Ward's eight too, so I could just throw in a jersey old school jersey. But uh yeah, I got split jerseys in BYU five and all black.
All right, let's turn to the Bengals. As a wide receiver. I'm sure you have great appreciation for the people that are masters of your craft, and Jamar Chase had one of those games last week with a team record fifteen catches. What did you respect most about that performance?
You see what he can do with the ball in his hands, and uh, you know, he got a great He's a great athlete, so he can do a lot with the ball in his hands. And there was one play that stuck out to me that he's a d ball. He had a post route kind of and he is when he scored. That's a tough catch to make for a wide receiver if you don't know the game is over, the like the behind your head, and he put his hands back here and caught it.
And that's impressive.
Man.
It's it's a tough catch to make, but you're supposed to make the catch.
In my eyes, he has numero uno for a reason. Prior to that game last week, Joe Burrow said, it's a must win, and you guys went out and delivered. What's the mindset for you and your teammates this week going into the Seattle game.
I think every game is a must win, honestly, and I think the guys in there thing so too. I feel like you don't go as a game expecting to lose, So I think every game is a must win, especially with them guys and they where their head is at.
I think here on out, every game is a must win.
Final question for Kwame Lassiter. This is your second year on the Bengals practice squad and you're not getting rich, but it is a six figure income. How would you describe your thought process as you try to move toward more regular season opportunities.
You gotta keep blessing again. You study the playbook like as you plan practice, as you plan I feel like you're supposed to do everything as you're about to play, just in case, because you know, anything happen. So I still trying to slow the game down every aspect of the game.
And I'm just blessing the game.
Man.
I'm trying to be I'm trying to be one of them greats and potentially and I feel like the guys in here.
Sidesla congrats on the first of what we hope are many NFL regular season catches.
Yeah, amen to that. I hear that one real.
That's Kwame Glassiter. Wami will join Dave Lapham and me on the Bengals pep Rally Show this Friday. We'll be broadcasting from the Wings and Rings location in Greendale, Indiana, from three to six, and Kwame will join us for the final hour of the show. We hope to see you there. In last week's fourteen point win at Arizona, the impostor that had been wearing the Bengals number nine jersey in the first four weeks was replaced by.
The real deal.
Joe Burrow was finally able to move around as his calf continues to heal, and the result was a vintage Joey franchise performance, as he completed seventy eight percent of his passes for three hundred and seventeen yards with three touchdowns and a passer rating of one oh eight point one. Joe spoke to reporters on Wednesday and shared encouraging news about his calf.
Feel good, keep getting better, So it's exciting.
Is his problems close to one hundred percent?
He felt since going back to before.
Trying to get start by far.
Yeah, when he woke up the next morning from the game. Was it encouraging? How good you felt when he woke about exerting as much.
As you did.
Yeah, it was, And I felt that way last week too, after the game. It felt it felt good after last week. So we're just getting.
Better and better. On your coat, it's hard to say.
I'm confident that I can. I can run around and extend and make plays right now, So tough to say percentage wise, but we're pretty close.
What's the biggest difference for you physical ability to be more mobile or was it more like a mental.
Thing or something else?
Physical ability?
Physical?
What is it about that that made such a difference for you?
On Sunday, I.
Was just you know, it's feeling feeling good after, you know, the first touchdown, I figured I was gonna be confident in my calf all day, and it's it's tough. It's tough sledding. When you can't when you can't move around in the pocket, when you can't extend plays, you gotta play a certain kind of way. And so I was able to play the game the way I wanted to, the way I expected to. We were able to come out with a big win.
Folks.
On this week now, Dave Lapham and I discussed Burrow and his favorite target, Jamar Chase on the Bengals Game Play and Show. So Joe threw three touchdown passes last week, all to Jamar Chase. I don't know if he could have thrown any of them the previous week when his calf was still hurting. On touchdowns one in three he moved in the red zone. Yep, he hadn't been moving. Touchdown number two, he threw the ball fifty eight yards in the air where he had to really push off
on the right calf. So that was pretty definitive proof that the calf is getting better.
No question that fifty eight yards in the air is the longest of his career. If it had gone to the ground, it would have been well over sixty yards in the air.
That's a goose in the town. They're pretty good.
And like you said, getting out of pocket or climbing the pocket and changing direction in the pocket, all those kind of things. I mean, that wasn't there for Joe for the first you know, four football games, but it was there for this one, and what a difference it made.
And honestly, in.
Today's NFL third down red zone, quarterback mobility is a must. I mean it's, you know, the fields compressed in the red zone, it's gonna be harder to get open.
And sometimes the.
Play that's called, you know, is taken away and then it's like extend and create. Get receiver and quarterback on the same page. Like Joe and Jamar do so well. It's like they have mental telepthy esp. They know what each other is going to do before they really do it. It's kind of crazy, really, And actually, Joe Burrow had a fourth touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd's right that was
taken away on a bogus call on Kappa. I mean, he got his hand up there maybe for a split second and My understanding of the rule is if you get your hand out of there right away, which he did. He knew he was close, so he get out of there, it's not a penalty. And I can find plays in that game where defensive players had offensive lineman's face past grab and the other way around, they weren't called in.
I mean, it was unfortunate that that little bogus moved there nullified a fourth touchdown pass for Joe Burrow to Tyler Boyd. That would have been extraordinary. They had three touchdowns for the season going into the game, and they matched their total would have exceeded it if they let that one. Let that one stand. But I do think that now they can build on something. You know, it's
like they're getting closer to getting back to normal. And it had to be so frustrating to Joe Burrow and the receivers to realize if I wasn't medically challenged, if I could buy us a little bit more time, we could have done so much more in those four games. But it wasn't meant to be at that point.
And on the receiving end of the touchdowns was Jamar Chase and an unbelievable performance fifteen catches. That's a new Bengals single game record, one hundred and ninety two yards, three touchdowns, and he had that game by lining up and moving around all over the place. Let's hear from head coach Zach Taylor on what it took to have that kind of performance for Jamar Chase.
And we've got to continue to be creative with ways to get him the ball because teams are always gonna try their best to take him away, and we that's part of our job as coach just to make sure that you can't fully take a guy away. We got to continue to be creative and find ways to get him the ball and allow him to be explosive. And it might not always be fifty eight years down the field, you know, launching the ball. It might be just trying to get him the ball and the move or get
him the ball in the backfield. And he's done a great job. Again, there's never any m as from you know, miss assignments from him when he's putting those positions. He he nails it and knows how to do it, and that allows you to be a lot more flexible with how you use him and get him fifteen catches in a game because he's able to retain all the information
you're throwing out of the week. I mean he's got he's got as much information as he's got to retain as any any player other than quarterback maybe over the course of the week in terms of how what position am I playing, Where am I lined up?
What is my route?
In this concept, he's got to do a lot lap.
I think you can speak to the difficulty of what Jamar Chase did in lining up at every wide receiver spot, knowing the route you got to run from every spot going in motion a lot. In your playing days, you played every spot on the offensive line and did that in single games. It wasn't like, you know, you played left tackle one game, you played right tackle another one. There were games where you played every spot on the offensive line, which takes a tremendous amount of study and
knowing the assignments. What Jamar Chase is doing is not as simple as people might think.
You're right, Dan, and you know, the different positions require different skill sets too. On the outside, it's a much different route routes that you're running as opposed in the slot. You know, and like when I played all those spots Garden tackle were much different in terms of pass protection, technique and responsibility Center as well. I mean, center had a whole different set of responsibilities and techniques and everything
to it. So it can if you let it, it can overwhelm you, you know, But you.
Try to just do the best you can.
And in putting it in a in a form that you can relate to and recall quickly. It's almost like you're studying schematics and concepts as much as you are
memorizing assignments. It's always like it's it's it's better to have an understanding of if I'm an uncovered lineman, there's two or three things I'm going to have to do on this play, which one makes the most sense, you know, And so if you get in a pinch, just rely on your football instincts to take you to a to a place where you can make a call and have it work. Same type of thing with with Joe and
his receivers. When plays are covered initially and they break down, now you have to understand concepts, understand where you are in the field, what things you can do to create a secondary play that the quarterback is going to be able to react to.
That's not easy stuff.
I mean, that takes a lot of work, a lot of timing with each other, and I admire the guys that can do it. I mean Jamar Jamar is not only physically gifted, he's mentally gifted to be able to do that. Trenton Irwin was doing is doing the same thing. You know, in his role, he has to line up everywhere and and honestly, the Bengals bring in receivers.
That can do that, Yosi vash the young guys.
I mean, I did a podcast with Troy Walters yesterday and he said that every single receiver in that room has to know every spot, and some are further along than others in that regard. But I mean, we played back in the seventies and eighties, it might have been one guy that could do that. If that guy get hurt, you are still back to the drawing board in terms of jeez, we can't move anybody around here. So then it'd be a second guy, but no more than two.
Now it's everybody on this on this football team, And to me, it's uh, it's great because it makes life so much easier for Joe Burrow as well, because He trusts all these guys that they know their end of the bargain as well as he knows his end of the bargain. And when he sees something, he expects them to be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there, doing what they're supposed to do. And the trust level between quarterback and receiver on this football team.
Is sky high. It's as good as there is in the National Football League.
Every opponent the Bengals face, the number one objective on defense that take away Jamar Chase. If again, they're going to double team them or shade in his direction on virtually every snap. For him to have a game like that with fifteen catches, really about the only way to do it is to move them around the way they did absolutely.
I mean, you know, particularly with t Higgins down. With t Higgins down, it's like we're going to double you, and we're going to try to single up some others, maybe double Tyler Boyd, try to single up on Trent and Irwin. But the fact is, you have it's musical chairs and you don't know when the music's gonna stop. You have trenton Irwin moving around, you have Jamar Chase moving around. I mean Trent Irwin was single receiver on one side of the formation one play, he's lined up
in trips. On another play he motions to slot on another and Jamar's moving around too. It's like, I mean, if you're saying, okay, what we want to do is double that guy and single that guy. But then they motion the opposite way. It's like, BOYD, now do I try to run with them?
We're playing zone defense. We can't do that. We're gonna have to roll.
Oh, make sure we roll to double coverage here and single up here. So your chance for the defense making a mistake based on what their original call was by formation, then all of a sudden, the whole formation changes because
everybody can line up everywhere. Puts a lot of pressure on the defense to make sure that they're communicating all the changes due to the shift and strength to the formation, and it's the current and everything, and it puts a lot of stress in the defense, particularly when the clock's winding down, the play clock's winding down. All that's going on, man, that's like a fire drill out there, man.
And that's a good segue to the next topic because Jamar Chase did his best to dows a fire on Thursday. One of Seattle's best receivers, DK Metcalf, was asked this week what he appreciates about Jamar's game.
I mean, just the long ball that I think Burrowed threw to him on like a seventy yard bomb. Just how effortlessly he caught the ball. So he's just a great receiver. Took my hat off to him with you know what he's done the first three years in the league, So you know, it'll be fun to watch Sunday, But I think it's going to get the best of them.
So at the end of all of those mostly flattering comments, Metcalf said, I think Spoon will get the best of him, expressing confidence in rookie cornerback Devin Witherspoon, who is the fifth pick in this year's draft. In this day and age, that is considered to be trash talk, so reporters myself included race to get your mars reaction.
He ain't doing nothing but just praising his teammate.
Though you know what I'm say, that's.
What he's supposed to do. At the end of the day, it's about game time. Represent game time de sitting, so he gonna get the opportunity to get his match ups and they just see who win that matchup.
Like when does peop.
All talk trash to you?
I mean you seem to have like so much fun. I mean that sports part of the game. I expect people to talk trash to me. If you don't talk trash, you don't like football. But I'm usually one talking first, so so I don't think they have time to talk about there.
Do you like enjoy it?
Or does it start laughing first? I haven't heard anything that's like really like damn you said that?
Is there a line you can't cross when the trash start?
There is no line trash talking for no, No, there's no rules to it. That's why I stalled trash talking. So how does it work since whether spentiff talk track persons to.
Make talk more.
Yeah, that's why I ain't say nothing until he says something. I'll say something, but is DK I'm not lynched. I'm not checking DK, DK not checking me. You know what I'm saying. He just saying what you want to say at the end of day, so which they just spice it up the game, Like what I said against Cleveland just spicing up the game a little bit and make NH making us have more energy coming into the game.
Follow this, Oddly enough, Witherspoon might not be the primary person covering Chase. The Seahawks also have Tariq the Freak Woollen, who is six ' four, ran a four to two six forty at the combine and had six interceptions as a rookie last year, the most of any NFL cornerback. Finally,
time for this week's Know the Faux segment. The radio voice of the Seahawks, Steve Rabel, joined Lapping Me on the Bengals Game Plan Show this week, and I started our conversation by asking him about QB Geno Smith, who took over for Russell Wilson last year and went to the Pro Bowl after basically sitting the bench for the previous seven seasons. I asked Steve, at what point last year he started to think that Geno Smith could be a quality starting quarterback in the NFL.
You know, it might have even taken place the year before that, Dan and that was when Russ broke his finger and missed four games and Gino came in, and you know, we kind of didn't play well around him a couple of those games, but then a couple of them he really lit it up, and it was a parent that he you know, he got it, He knew the offense, and and he still had obviously a really good arm. What we didn't all know was could he
protect himself in the pocket. We were so used to seeing Russ being able to get up and take off, move around, throw on the run. But could Gino do those things? Could he command the huddle like a starter has to do, And it had been a long time that he had done that. Well, he did all those things and amaze everybody but the guys on the team and the coaches because they saw it every day.
They saw how.
He prepared every day they knew and even during training camp of last year, Pete would, you know, pull me in a few of the guys aside and say, listen, if you don't watch Gino every single day, you're not really knowing the full story of how prepared he is and how well he's going to play. I don't think there was ever any doubt in Pete's mind as they got into preseason a year ago and then the start of the regular season that Gino was going to do his job.
So Steve, turnovers are huge at any level of football. I mean, watching my grandson play pee wee football. When they turn it over, they lose the football game. When they don't, they got a chance.
For a football team to not only haven't.
Lost a fumble, they're one of four teams that haven't lost a fumble, but think the only team in the NFL that hasn't put it on the ground once in four that's very very unusual. One give one interception by Gino Smith one giveaway on the season is best in the National Football League as well. Obviously, obviously it's a it's a it's a focus and when in the plus department since twenty ten and turnovers eighty five and nineteen, that's that's pretty good. I mean, is it is it
a big deal? Do they work on that part of things, ball security turnovers all the time?
I mean it's it's literally every day that not only do they work on it, but that he talks about it. You know, I interview him twice during the course of the week, one on one for different segments of our broadcast. And if he doesn't stick in there somewhere that it's all about the ball. Then, you know, I feel like I haven't done my job to kind of to kind of get him to say those because he is just so much about what it means to be able to
take the ball away and not turn it over. You know, with plus after four games, you know, San Francisco is only plus seven. And in my estimation after watching them now for a couple of weeks, they're the best team in football. I don't care if you're the Chiefs, I don't care if for the Eagles. No offense to the Bengals, but San Francisco looks like the real deal. And then come to me, as you said, we've given it away
once and we're a plus five. You win football games if you do that, and if you can protect the ball, and our running backs are really solid with it, our receivers they don't cough it up when they get hit. And we're just now really getting into I think, a real kind of nice run, you know how they come in bunches. I think we're getting into that phase right here where we might see a couple more in the next few weeks. I know that's what they're sure hoping for.
We are visiting with the voice of the Seahawks Steve Rabel. Seattle is three and one. They got a three game winning streak, and they're doing it despite some pretty significant injury issues so far this year. Jamal Adams has been out, the starting right tackle has been out. Former UC Bear Kobe Bryant's missed the last couple of games. What are some of the biggest injury question marks going into this week's game from Seattle's perspective, You.
Know, it's not question marks now, it's sort of, you know, sigh of relief. Some of these guys are going to start coming back now how quickly, and for this week, I think maybe a couple of them will be back. We're hoping that Charles Cross, our big tackle on the left side, will be back. But then again, we got a couple of the guards hurt last week in that game, that Monday night game in New York. They may or
may not be ready to play. Abe Lucas, our right tackle, still has another game out on the IR so he's still got one more to go. I think a couple of things. First of all, back in the day when Dave and I played, and that's you know, back before they had microphones and plastic for helmets, and we really did use the flatterer. We really did use the bladder
of a pig to play the game. But in those days, uh, you know, the whole idea get that starting group together and they play all the time, and if you had to stick somebody in there, uh, it was you know, oftentimes it was a real issue for you. The best thing that happened to the Seahawks early in the season was that if guys were going to go down, they went down, and they plugged right in with these young especially young offensive linemens and a couple of young defensive backs,
and those guys stepped up and played. And that only can pay dividends for you as the season goes on. So I don't think Pete batter than I. He was a little bit concerned, but yeah, these guys have stepped up and done a great job. I think we're going to have Jamal back. I'm pretty sure we will. You know, he's out of cushion protocol. Gino Hurd his be a little bit on a rough tackle. He practiced right away
starting on Monday, so he'll be fine. So I think we're actually in better shape, maybe than we were going into New York.
He wasn't happy about that tackle, There's no question about that.
He was.
He thought that was a little bit dirty, didn't he.
I mean this, yeah, you know, and back in the day, that was just the tackle. In fact, you know, it was nothing to it then, And I think even Gino walked it back a little bit in the locker room. He sort of wasn't happy about the way it happened and the guy fell on the back of his leg. But you know, shoot that those things happened. That's the game, you know, So you don't have to be happy about it. Just don't get hurt, get back out there and throw a couple of dutchdowns.
My question is a lot of times first down success leads to third down success. It's so disjointed with Seattle great on first down. Offensively six point one yards per play, eighth best in the league on first down, it's not converting on third down twenty eight point nine percent, thirty first in the league. Defensively, four point twenty seven yards per playing first down, second best in the league. Not converting on third down fifty two point four conversion percent, it's thirty first.
In the league.
What what What's what gives there? I guess I'm just a little confused by those numbers. They don't they don't jive for me.
We have a production meeting for our broadcast every Wednesday, when we go over and we talk to players and we talk to Peach and we talked about that today, trying to figure out why is this the case and how you're right, how kind of disjointed that is. One of the things we sort of came up with is uh. And I'm not giving away anything that you know you can't see on film, but we're on third down conversion.
One of the things we're not really doing, especially on third and shorts, we're not moving guys off the line of scrimmage. It's amazing that we have running lanes first and second down, or we go on first down for eight yards and then we have some running lanes on second down. But it seems like when we get up there and we absolutely have to have it and we have to run that the other guys or suddenly the defensive line is playing on our side of the line
of scrimmage and that's not a good thing. Uh. And I think also Ken Walker, our second year running back, who is just just a treat, just phenomenal. Is as good a kid as he is a football player. But what he tends to do sometimes is, you know, he'll lose a yard to pick up three yards. He'll slide down the line of scrimmage and look for a crease when there's no crease there, and especially when you need to go straight ahead. I think they need to again
continue to work on that. Just the power blocking up front. You know, we're not much of his own blocking team. We like to get you know, get a hat on a hat and push people and I think I think we're going to get better at that. And listen, one of our best capt secrets, although he's not a great secret anymore, is Zach Sharbonay, the rookie out of UCLA. This guy is a battering ram and he can also
catch the ball out of the backfield. He is fun to watch, So watch him a little more now, maybe in those second and short, third and short situation.
Our thanks to Steve Rabel, and that's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider. By all to fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official
healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps for Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Hord. Thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast.