Bengals Booth Podcast: Heavy Action

You'll hear from Logan Wilson about facing his former teammate Josh Allen, Chimadenage on moving into the starting lineup at right tackle, and Cam Sample on his increased role after injuries to Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. And finally, in this week's No The Faux segment, we'll spend a few minutes with the voice of the Buffalo Bills, John Murphy. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you 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. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since pilots. As you may have read, the Bengals had a little trouble getting home from New England after beating the Patriots on Christmas Eve.

About fifteen minutes into the flight home, one of the flight attendants notified us that due to a mechanical issue, we were going to have to divert to New York and land at JFK Airport. That was a little unsettling, but didn't seem like a major issue. A few minutes later, the pilot got on the intercommon said, folks, this is your Captain Skooking. Were having a mechanical issue at one of the engines, so we're going to land at JFK and have it checked out. We should touchdown at about

fifteen minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience. Okay, so now we know it's engine related and that made me a little nervous, but the players were happy about the win and barely seemed to notice. The landing in New York was pretty bumpy, but still felt like normal turbulence, as one of my colleagues put it, about a three on a scale to ten. But when we hit the runway, we were greeted with about ten fire trucks with their

lights flashing. It was only after landing that we learned exactly what happened, when the pilot got back on the intercom and said, okay, folks. While we were in the air, a warning indicated that there was an issue with the left engine. So after checking the proper procedure, I shut it down and we landed with one engine at the nearest airport. We should have another plane ready to go shortly. Thank you for your patients. Amazing He shut off an

engine and landed with one like it was nothing. We got home several hours late, but we got home safely. All I can say is thank God for islets. Now let's look ahead to Monday's game between the eleven and four Bengals and the number one playoff seed in the AFC at the moment, the twelve and three Buffalo Bills. It's no coincidence that when the schedule came out in May, the NFL picked this matchup to be the final Monday

Night football game of the year. It figured to be a critical game, and that is exactly how it's played out. A huge game warrants a big time guest, and that's exactly what we have on this podcast. We are joined this week by one of the greatest Bengals of all time, Boomer Asiasin and Boomer, let's start with an obvious topic and you know what's coming. Joe Burrow. You had a great career fourteen years MVP, took the Bengals to the

Super Bowl. Is there anything about Joe Burrow at age twenty six in his third season that you wish you had had your playing days? Oh? Boy, I'll tell you what I wish I were playing during during this time in the NFL. It's a completely different game than when we played back in the you know, in the eighties, and I don't want to always go back to that, but it's a different game. It's more wide open. Uh. These kids are more prepared coming out of college than

we were when we were coming out of college. So, you know, I think he has lived up to every single expectation that I certainly had for him coming out of LSU. I remember talking to Jeff Hopson before the draft, and he asked me, why are you so sure Joe Burrow is going to be the first overall pick. I said, if you watched him play, and you watched the boys that he that he possessed on the field for LSU.

Did you watch that national championship game? I mean the kids and can't miss players, So you know you combine that, and I've said this, you know many years now watching him play, you combine that with his whole aspect of being a point guard in the high school and being an All state point guard. You understand that he understands distribution, leadership, and how to run a football team. So I'm not

surprised by any of this. And this a matter of fact, I think he's going to go to even greater heights and he'll get his Super Bowl. If it's not this year, it will be in the next comming years. Boomer. He might not have the armed talent of Patrick Mahomes, he doesn't have the legs of Lamar Jackson, but I say he's the perfect quarterback for this franchise. And I wouldn't trade him for anybody. You know the city, you know the fan base, you know ownership. Do you agree with that. Yeah,

but you know he's an Ohio kid too. I mean, so he gets the whole thing, and he's a local kid, and he's done well and he's exceeded every single expectation. There's no question about that. You know, he could run, believe me, he's an athlete. He just wants to play quarterback like Tom Brady plays quarterback. You know, I would, I would basically compare him to a young Tom Brady. This is what Brady looked like when he finally took over and he really, you know, basically ran the offense

for the New England Patriots. So what we're watching to me in terms of the way that he plays is the way that Tom Brady plays the game. You know, Josh Allen plays fearlessly. He can be chaotic times, but his game has been refined to now, you know, whether it be him justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow. You know, we're looking at the four best quarterbacks in the league right now, and I guess in another year

or so, Trevor Lawrence will probably join that group. But the Big four, as I'd like to put them in the AFC, you know, all bring something special to their own franchise, And I think all these teams pick the right guys and when you think about marrying them to the coaching staff, to the city, and to everything that they're bringing to their football teams, all four of those

players are perfect fits for their respective organizations. Let's talk about some news of the week and that involves right tackle Al Collins and the eighty eight Super Bowl season. You lost your great right tackle Joe Walter final game of the regular season when he's playing at a Pro Bowl level. Now the Bengals have lost the Al Collins for the rest of this season. What problems does that present this late in the year. You know, for us,

we had Brian Blados that substant for Joe Walter. Everybody says, why did I have a number sixty three in my helmet that year? Well that was Joe's number. And Joe is a big part of our success, much like Stanley Wilson was. You know, it's got to be the next man up mentality. You know, when Jamar Chase went down, who do they bring in Trenton Irwin? Like everybody's like, who is Trenton Irwin? Well, Trenton Irwin turned out to

be a pretty damn big player. So you never know when that opportunity is going to present your present itself to the next player, that is, the next man up in a DNA. Jay has played in big games before. He knows what's going on. You know, he's not going to be overwhelmed. He's not a rookie. Let's see how he does first, and this is going to be a really good test for him because the Buffalo Bills have a good pass rush, not a great pass rush. It's not basing von Miller out there, I can tell you that.

So luckily for Joe Barrow, you know, von Miller is out for the rest of the season for the Bills. So you know, it's like you got to think about the locker room itself and how guys look at each other and how long they've been, you know, working together and playing together. And he's there for a reason. He's there for depth. And the one good thing about the Bengals, I've had a lot of good depth all throughout their roster this year. When guys have gone down, other guys

have stepped up. So Haydon Hurst smissed a couple of games. Now all of a sudden, Trent Irwin is one of those down the middle patterns. You know, at six foot two, it's like you're throwing it to a tight end. He may not be as heavy as one, but he's as tall as one, and he's got the aththeticism of a wide receiver. So that's the mentality that every team in the league has to have, and that's the mentality that

Zach Taylor has definitely brought to the Bengals. So I know that there's people out there saying that they should go out and sign you know, will it Worth and bring him back and all that other stuff. Number One, I don't know if he wants to plan anymore. And number two, that would wreak at desperation. To me, that's not who the Bengals are. That's not what this organization is all about. This organization is all about, next man up.

Put him out there. He's experienced, and we can win with him, because hell, they won with him last year, or why couldn't they do it again this year? We're chatting the boomer Assias and three coaches of Arvin already been fired this year, including Nathaniel Hackett, who is in his first year on the job in Denver. The Bengals stuck with Zach Taylor through two tough seasons and now they're reaping the benefits. What do you admire and respect

about Zach Taylor and the job he's done in Cincinnati. Well, Zach was lucky he was able to draft Joe Burrow. And that's the most important position in all of sports. You've got to have the quarterback. You've got to have the unquestioned leader of the guy that inspires everybody else. And that includes the defense, the special teams, the front office, the fan base. You know, you have somebody to sell.

And it's one of the reasons why the Bengals are so popular, why they're on national television as much as they are, and why this game was selected to be on Monday night before the season even started, because whoever put the schedule together knew that this was going to be a meaningful game. So I think Zach Taylor has done a magnificent job. But it's really more the patience of the Bengals, Like we used to make fun of it.

You know, Marvin Lewis was there for fifteen years, and you know, Mike Brown has never won to react to finn pressure. He's never got to react to national pressure from people like me that may say, hey, this guy's got to be fired, that guy should be fired. He's always going to do it his way, and that's been the Bengal way for as long as I can ever remember. So I never thought in my wild the streams that Mike would have gotten rid of Zach early on in

his career. You know, he's a young coach. He was learning on the fly. And now when you see he and Joe come together and you see what it can really turn into, you realize that it's pretty special. This thing that happened in Indianapolis with my buddy Frank Wright, what happened in Denver. You know, it's obvious to see what happened. You know, they had older quarterbacks, so the older quarterbacks were not playing well. The team looks listless.

You know, Russell Wilson has been awful this year. Matt Ryan has been you know, I would say partly awful when it came to turnovers and things like that. In Nature, you saw his replacement, Nick Falls throw interceptions. Those are the things that older quarterbacks do that get them in trouble, get their coaches in trouble. So that's not the case with the Bills or the Bengals, because they have young,

vibrant quarterbacks. They got really solid head coaches, won an offensive coach, Sean McDermot as a defensive coach for the Bills. And that's why, you know, these coaches end up lasting a long time. Like Andy Reid. You know he had Donovan McNabb for all those years and then all of a sudden has Alex Smith and then drafts of Patrick Moms. It doesn't get much better than that for Big Red.

So all I can tell you right now, Dan is we got four great quarterbacks in the AFC, and it is going to be one wild playoff fund And I would tell you Monday Night's game is going to be a playoff atmosphere, much like it wasn't Week thirteen when we played the Bills when they came to Cincinnati back in nineteen eighty eight as well. But when people talk about great defensive minds in the NFL, they'll start with Belichick. They might mention Dan Quinn or Link Martindale, whatever, should

lou Anna Rumo be included on that list? So lou Anna Rumo came to the forefront last year. You know we had their AFC Championship game out there in Kansas City. I don't know if you were doing the game, so you didn't see halftime when we had the speakers behind us, you know, just absolutely drowning everything out that we were saying.

But I would We were all talking about lou Anna Rumo and his ability to change up, you know, in the second half of games, and he never gives the quarterback a comfort zone of seeing the same thing over and over and over again. The number one, you gotta have really smart players on your defense to be able

to pull stuff off like that. So the Bengals, you know, when you see their players and you see like Bondell make this put at the end of the game last week and bj Hill fall on the ball, you know that they understand what's going on, where they are in the game, how important their plays are to be made, and what they did in the second half last year against Patrick Mahomes and what they did to Patrick Mahomes again this year. You know, speaks volumes to who lu

and A Rumo is. But really the players that he has the ability to adjust them the fly, have a plan and be patient with that plan. So if you know, if the Bill score seventeen points of the first half on Monday Night. You know he's not going to panic. He'll come back and he'll have something for the second half that Josh hasn't seen yet. So I think he's definitely a guy that is on everybody's radar now because of their success. This has been one of the best

defenses in football. You know, they're not San Francisco. You know that's that's a deep it's on a different level. But I will say that the defense has come up with a huge plays throughout the year and he's a big reason for that. But the players have to buy into what he's selling, and I think that's the combination that makes them work so well together. I did see the video of halftime last year in Kansas City. I'm glad you didn't suffer permanent hearing damage, or at least

it doesn't appear that you did. Last thing for Boomerassias and Bills and Bengals Monday Night. You've talked about the importance of this game. What do you see as a couple of keys to victory on Monday. Well, you know, number one, the Bills have a hard time with wide receivers, A lot of wide receivers have had big games against them.

You know, they put against Miami, They've struggled against Miami's wide receivers, and I wouldn't say that Cincinnati is right there with the Miami wide receivers, especially with the emergence of Trenton Irwin. And maybe they get Hayden Hurst back too, So that creates a lot of problems down the field. They're not a blitzing team. They're a team that likes

to play seven men in coverage. One of the reasons that went out and got Bond Miller was to create that pressure so they can they can have more guys in the secondary, and they're going to meet every guy they possibly can get in the secondary this week against this bingle wide receiver crews. So to me, if I was Jack Daylor, i walk in. Everybody knows the quarterbacks are important, so you don't have to talk to them.

They know what they got to do. But you say, hey, if we're going to win this game on offense, the wide receivers got to win the game. Because in my eyes, even with Trey Davias White back with the Buffalo Bills, that's where they're susceptible because they don't have the pass rush that they had prior to Bond Miller's injury. So you know, to me that the wide receivers, you know, the big, the big guys. This week, they got to have the mammoth game, and I would like to think

that they can. And then on the other side, you know, the Bills are running the ball a lot more. There's no question that. You know, last week they had a lot of subtests running the ball. But you know, to me, you know it's always Josh Allen. Josh Allen is the wild card because by Patrick Mames, you know, he's not overly concerned about running with the ball. And you know they actually have bets in their quarterback room in Buffalo.

I don't know if you guys knew this that if he slides, then one of their guys that's got to show up just with a jock on the walk through on Wednesdays, because he never slides. He very rarely ever slides. So he's the wild card, you know. So you've always got to have somebody aware of where he is going to be. And I'm sure that lou Anerom will come up with a plan to try to deal with the plays that just happened naturally for Josh, and that's a big,

big problem for everybody who plays the Bills. I think it's going to be a great game. I think it's gonna be a high scoring game, and I think it's just going to be kind of a glimpse into what I think is going to be another great playoff run. You know, for all of us on the AFC side, because we have the best quarterbacks in the league. Boomer, you're the best. Hope he had a wonderful Christmas with your kids and grandkids, and we really appreciate your time.

Thank you, my pleasure. Then, thank you very much. No Bengals Podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabits speeds designed to take your home, business, and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with all to Fiber. As I mentioned in that conversation with Boomer, the Bengals will have a

change in the starting line up at right tackle. L Collins suffered a season ending knee injury in New England, meaning that third year pro hakimad Energy will take his place. You are the next man up. As they say, it looked like things went pretty well for you in New England. How did you think you did? You know, there's there's definitely things to fix, but ultimately was able to go out there and produce enough to get the job done.

We could get a win Washton, and you know, there's plenty of things to clean up and we have a lot of time to clean things up before the game Winday night. What are your emotions now taking over a right tackle in the hunt with two games left in

the regular season? Business as usual? I mean, we've been through this situation last year and you know, just we know what our goals are and you know, got great guys with experience across the old line, got great coach and so I mean it's just going out there and executing. Just another week. Really, honestly, do you feel happy to be playing tackle in this situation as opposed to being

in there at guard last year? Uh, no doubt. You know, it was kind of new playing guard last year, and it's kind of you know, more natural here playing tackling, and you know, having that full full camp and early season as opposed to you know, last year. Definitely feel a lot better energy, started the last thirteen games last year, including the postseason, at right guard, but he was a tackle in college and appears more comfortable on the outside.

According to Pro Football Focus, he was in for forty five pass blocking snaps last week and did not allow a sack or a quarterback hit. 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 Kettering

health dot org to learn more. Monday's game will feature the first ever meeting between two of the NFL's best young quarterbacks, twenty six year old Joe Burrow and twenty six year old Josh Allen. Yes, even though Allen has been in the NFL two years longer than Burrow, he's only six months and nineteen days older. Logan Wilson was Josh Allen's teammate at the University of Wyoming. It's like

the Wyoming Showdown, you know. I mean, Wyoming loves loves Joston rightfully, so I mean he's he's the highest draft pick we've had in school history, and he's represented you know, the state very well, and so guys, the whole state loves him back home. You know, I'm proud to be his former teammate. Obviously, will be on the opposing sidelines on Sunday, so it'll be it'll be a cool opportunity for us. He's become so much more accurate. He's worked

hard at that. Obviously, Are you at all surprised the way that he's developed that aspect of his game? No, I knew the talent was there. He's always used just call as you was just very raw and those those skills weren't as developed and sometimes those things just take time. You know. They had a good coaching staff that obviously brought out the best in him. And you know what he is today is didn't happen by chance. Josh Allen his throne for more than four thousand yards and rushed

for more than seven hundred. I discussed tackling him and other topics this week with defensive lineman cam sample Can. The NFL made Bengals Bills the final Monday night game of the year for a reason. I think they realized there was a good chance that a lot would be at stake in this game. When the schedule came out and you saw Bengals Bills Week seventeen, did you think

the same thing? Honestly, no, I didn't really. Uh. I mean, obviously you look at the whole schedule, you know, as a grad opportunity, but you really don't know the significance. I mean, I know we're both two very good teams, so but I mean I didn't know I had this type of ampet. But we're just kind of taking the monset, you know, one game out of time to try and get the next win. The mindset that has certainly been

working well of late. You and your fellow defensive lineman, we'll be trying to sack Josh Allen on Monday ninety six five two thirty seven. Is there a different approach you have to take to try to bring down a guy like that? I would say it's not really much of a difference. I mean, he is a bigger guy, stronger, I mean, we just got to do what we do, beat the offensive lineman and get to him and just

make the play. So over the last few weeks, you guys have either been without Sam Hubbard or without Trey Hendrickson, and you're the guy that's really been getting the bulk of the snaps in the rap since last week it was ninety five percent, fifty three out of fifty six plays. How have you approached these games the last few weeks knowing that your role was going to be so much bigger. The great thing for me is my approach really didn't change. I mean, the kind of approach I'd taken through the

whole season's prepares you to start us. So I mean when Sam and Tray went down, I mean, you know, I didn't change my routine, study the same amount of film, did the same things. I mean, so I'll just trying to take advantage of opportunity in front of me. As it felt like you were back in college or back in high school being out there for every snap. Oh yeah, yeah,

now that that far is definitely to college. But you know, once you get in the floor of the game, you start to catch a second win and rhythm, and you know it's just playing ball. We're chatting with camp Sample so on the key defensive play last week, the fumble in the final minute forced by Von Bell, you were one of the guys out there that was kind of pushing Romandre Stevenson backward before the ball was punched out. In that situation, when do you realize that there's a fumble?

Do guys start yelling? How do you know? Um? Yeah, it's it's just a shift in a big shifting movement or energy. You know, it goes from everybody focus on him to a little, you know, a little pile to the side. So, I mean it was a great play by a first DJ. I think he came off a double team stood him up and we all rallied to it. And then on the way down. I mean, we're always preached attacking the ball, so Vron had a great you know punch out and you know BJ came up with it.

BJ's recovered three fumbles this year. Is that luck or is that skill? Man? I think it's a I'll say it's skill because I mean our kind of mentalit on defenses hats around the ball. So I mean, if you if you go around the ball that much, good things attending to happen. So when it comes out, he's in a position made to play. So I'm gonna go with that one. You were next to DJ Reader on that play. You've lined up next to him quite a bit this season. What makes him the immovable object that he is in

the middle of your defensive line. I mean, I mean just a pride he takes him coming in and doing his job to the best of the ability. I mean, he's very technically sound. He takes his job serious, approaches it the right way. So I mean he's not a surprise for anybody on defense on the team, and we see him making those plays because how hard he works and he does every day in practice, So that's just him.

How cold were you last week? Oh man, I wasn't cold to after the game, but I mean it was cold out there, way different than New Orleans for shire. How many layers did you have on? I didn't do anything out of ordinary. I wear my long sleeves and shots. So the same thing. You know out there while you're playing, you don't feel it's on the sideline and starting to get to you. We're chatting with Cam sample. You are a rookie on last year's Super Bowl team. You got

into the game. That had to be a thrill. Is this year starting to feel similar with an eleven and four record in a seven game winning street. I only like to compare years. I mean everything last year was last year. We kind of put it to bed. But um, I mean we're turning in the right direction of our you know, our main goal to win the Super Bowl. So I mean we're taking step by step beach the co try to accomplish that goal. What was getting into

the Super Bowl? Like for you? I mean, guys, go, some players go ten years and never get a chance to play in that game. There you are in year one and you're on the field in LA and a super Bowl. Yeah. Man, it's crazy. All the older guys coming mess with, you know, the guys in our class and say, we don't know how blessed we are to have it, not even just a chance at Super Bowl.

Was just the playoffs. You know. I was talking to in DJ and he told me one guy he played with his rookie year made the playoffs then or a guy who made the playoffs and then make it again for nineteen years. You know, you know, we're blessing making it bad to bad years in our first two seasons. So I mean, I don't think we realized the Sevin nic is now probably after you know, years passed, we take some time away from it. Because I mean, we're just attacking it one day at the time. It's definitely

a blessing though. All right, let's talk a little bit about your alma mater. Tulane won two games last year. They've won eleven so far this year. They won the American Athletic Conference title, they ended Cincinnati's home field winning streak. Now they get to play USC and the Cotton Bowl. What's it been like for you as an alum to watch that team this year? Honestly, a little jealous, I which happened when I was there, But now I'm happy for those guys. I mean, I know a lot of

the guys. I'm around them. You know, when I get the chance to and just see some of those young guys grow up and be the leaders and stuff like that is great for the program, great for coach Fritz. He's did a great job over there. So I'm happy to see it all come together from and you know, they got one more win to go get so I'll be tuned in watching before we got to get ready. Have you been doing a lot of bragging in the locker room this year? Oh? Yeah, they can't shut me

up in there. I was, I was bragging. We were two and ten, so now now the rolls of flip. They can't shut me up. I'm talking to everybody about Toulin. Well, I hope you are bragging about a victory over USC. Congratulations on a great season, Best of luck against Buffalo. All right, gotsa thank you. Appreciate its beat podcasts just brought to you by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay Corps to help them recruit, pay, engage,

and retain employees. Learn more at paycorps dot com. Finally, it's time for this week's No the Faux segment. John Murphy is the radio voice of the Buffalo Bills, and he joined Dave Lapham in me this week. Got in the Bengals game plan show. Let's discuss what you folks have been dealing with in Western New York. Buffalo has been hit with one of the worst storms in recent memory. It has crippled the city. How is that impacting the Buffalo Bills so far? It's not infecting them much, to

be honest. I mean with the Bills played at Chicago last Saturday and couldn't get home until late Sunday, so they got home late on Christmas Day for thirty five o'clock or so, and then they had a couple of days off, you know, just kind of reset. And that's the benefit of having a Monday game. The practice week has begune. I think it's going fairly smoothly. Things are where we are in Orchard Park, and I live a

couple of the mouths of the stadium. You know, there's a lot of snow on aground here were three feet but it was thirty nine forty degrees today. It started to melt. It'll be former tomorrow, it will melt some more, and I'm pretty sure by Friday morning they'll be just a trace us though, So I don't think the storm, which was considerable here last Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I don't think gonna have any impact on their preparations for this

coming week. Murph, I know you've lost you know you've lost players during the season earlier, Von Miller, you know, great edge guy, one of your tremendous safeties on injury reserve. You've had your injuries. Bengals lose LC Collins at the right tackle position. So I guess the football God said, well, they don't have Miller you're not gonna have Collins kind of like balance that off a little bit. Is there anybody that's limping and gimping along that you think might

not be able to make the dancer? Is everybody pretty healthy otherwise? Well somewhere in between. I would say a lot of guys are limping and gimping, but they're all kind of gutting it out the last three or four weeks and playing. Among those, inside linebacker Matt Milano, who's got a leg injury that he kind of limits. He get is limited in practice most of the week, then cuts through practice on Friday and then playing he's on Sunday.

He would be one of the biggest ones. Stacy Jordan Ployer, I know, has banged up in a lot of different ways, and he too misses practice time during the week and is landing up and playing on Sundays. It's kind of a whole roster full of people like that. I mean the guys that you think about. You mentioned Bon Miller. Obviously, Josh Allen banged his elbow in the Jets game back

on November sixth. I want to say it was and it took him a while to recover from that, and he didn't miss any time, but he's not point where he was. I think before that, before he heard his elbow and I think, I forget the name of the nerve and there the all there or something. But he's okay, He's not great. He's throwing the ball well, but I know he's playing through some pain. I think that whole roster is playing through some pain right now. It is that time of the year, isn't it. Our guest is

the radio voice of the Buffalo Bills, John Murphy. Murph The Bills were seemingly everybody's pick to win the Super Bowl this year, and rightfully so. It's been an excellent team for several years now. But was there a burden of expectation on the team because of that? Yeah, I think so a little bit. I mean, they're they're an interesting team, and Sean mcdermots does a great job of removing any internal doubts the players might have, and he

does a great job of getting this team ready to play. Look, they've only lost three times this year, and they've won six in a row now, so it'd be I'd be hard pressed to say, yes, they struggled through a burden of expectation, because I don't know when that was. I think I think they've managed to make it true then and this win six game win Street. Now it's setting up well for the run to the postseason and hopefully I think of runs through the postseason. And they're aware

that they're heavily favored. And I think because of mcdermot's leadership and some of the veteran leaders he has, they don't care whether you think they're any good or anybody they're any good, you know what I mean. They don't care what the expectations are. They don't care what people say about them. They just want to go out and playing and win. And that's after credit McDermott for aid the type of people he brought into accomplice that, and

be just his leadership style in general. Murph. I don't know if it's this simple or not, but it seems to be. When when the game is on the line, you know the ball is going to be in Josh Allen's hands either either gonna run it or throw it. And if he's gonna throw it, he's gonna throw it to Diggs. I mean, you know, Diggs is third in the league and catches with over one hundred, third in the league receiving yards with over thirteen hundred and ten touchdowns,

tied for second in the NFL. I mean, what makes Diggs digs and what kind of relationship does Josh Allen have with him? They have a good one, I will say this day. They they've gotten away from that a little bit in recent weeks and sort of expanded their range offensively. Other guys, Gustin Knocks in particular, and some others are making contributions in the passing game. It's not just Digg. In fact, Diggs did not have a target

in the first half last Saturday in Chicago. He targeted on the first pass of the SEC and alf and made a nice catch and a nice pickup. But they've tried to expand themselves. They've run the ball more often and better in the last couple of weeks than they did off season. Long Now that being said, Diggs is the most important offensive weapon they have, and I think

they want to. I think the Bills have done a good job of expanding their offense, in the range of their offense, kind of teaching themselves that there's more than one way they can move the ball. But I think They all know that when push comes to shove, to get at the Stefan Diggs is the way to go. He's a remarkable player, a tremendous competitor. I don't you know,

have an internal line to his way he's thinking. But I'm sure he's not crazy about not being targeted and one half of football last Saturday, and I'm sure he lets people know that. But he keeps an in house and gets the job done. And I think he's all about winning. He's a remarkable competitor. He really is the voice of the Bills. John Murphy is our guest. Here's my final question for you, Murphy, has to do with

a Bill secondary. They lost Micah Hyde, who's multiple time All Pro safety, their best corner, Tredavious White, who's been to the Pro Bowl a couple of times, just started playing again after missing a year with a torn acl The Bengals obviously have a great quarterback and a trio of outstanding receivers. From Buffaler's perspective, is that the concern that the Bill secondary versus Joe Burrow and his weapons. Yeah, I mean it has to be right and he's got

weapons to be sure. I mean the Buffalo secondary. Yes, Mike Hides is missed and he's been out since I want to say Week two this season. Trdavious White just came back maybe three or four weeks ago. He is not totally rounded into form. He plays every down, plays every snap, but he's you know, he's not quite where he was the last few years, and he missed a

whole year, more than a year with that injury. The other cornerback spot is either a three year veteran Dave Jackson or Guy Eelam their first round pick, and they sort of alternate. Yeah, that's the area concern. I think I'll tell you one and one other guy because he plays like he's a starter. He almost Taron Johnson the nickelback. He's playing great. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league to be honest, number seven

for the Bill Star and Johnson. But all that being said, yes, that's the number one threat that the Bengals posed, right, and it's it's Burrow obviously one of the great quarterbacks in the game. And as arsenal of weapons, I mean, who do you focus on? Which one of the three DA focus on? It's pretty impressive and yeah, I think that's the number one challenge the Bills will face next Monday night. So I know that you know McDermott does not want to to blitz much. I mean he rushes

for plays coverage. He's got seven in coverage with you know, with regularity, Leslie Fraser obviously on board. They're they're both have the same mindset in that regard. But with Millard down and with the issues that you know they've had their secondary a little bit, do you anticipate that they will pick up the blitz the blitz percentages as the season winds down here down the stretcher, Do you think this is who we are and this is what we're

gonna do. Well, you know, it's already happened a little bit. They blitzed more now and send more pressure now than they did back when von Miller was in the lineup, and he's been out now since I want to say, before the Thanksgiving Gay game. That's what he got hurt. So it's just about a month. They blitzed more now than they did before, but they don't flitz a lot. And ideally, this defense I think is at its best when they have a four man rush and drop guys

into coverage. As you asstutely point out, that's what they want to do. They will blitz when the question comes for it. Now, when the question, when the issue calls for it, I should say, but I'll be honest, they haven't face a passing an attack like this since von Miller's been out right. They just I mean, they've rolled through their opponents pretty well with the sixth straight wins, but they haven't faced a team that can provide the

kind of challenge the Bengals did. So if they're gonna blitz more, this I think would be a game to do it. But I don't think they're ever going to be a tournam loose. Uh you know, we're blitzing sixty percent of the time. Kind of defense. They like to play covers. They using get a pretty good pass rushing with four. A guy to watch is last years first round draft picks Greg Russo, Who's I'm not going to say he's still in von Milou choose, but he's done

a great job rushing the passer. Is a defensive end. He's been a starter for most of the season. He missed about four or five weeks in an injury, but he's a really good pass rusher. They haven't. They had a nice eight man healthy rotation on the defensive line. With the injury, especially von Miller. They're down to about six or seven now, but they still like the cycle. Guys through there and get contributions from a number of different guys up fronts Offensive book. That's why to do it.

For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Cattering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs by pay Corps, the official HR software provider of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with

Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.