Bengals Booth Podcast: It's A New Day

analysis from my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. Then, in this week's fun fact segment, you'll get to know newcomer Trey Hendrickson, who is obviously a great athlete, but he might just pale in comparison to his wife. The details are coming up. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud Light. Seltzer refreshed the Game and here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on Itunestcher,

google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since the chicken palm sandwich at the Bread Bar. I have a new contender for Cincinnati's best sandwich, the chicken palm at a cafe called the Bread Bar on Gilbert av and Walnut Hills. It's gigantic, it's delicious. The sauce has a slightly spicy kick, and it's served on freshly baked bread. What's not to love. They're only open from ten to two, so try one for lunch. You just might see me there. Now, let's get to Sunday's win.

Last week in Chicago, Joe Burrow had three straight passes intercepted by the Bears. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, it happened again on the Bengals second dry Burrow ready for the gun snap, clapping his hands furiously, Hopkins fires it back. Burrow with time whistles a fastball over the middle and it is deflected at intercepted at the money nine yard line.

The Steelers are running it back to the forty to the forty four the tackle made there, Terrell Edmonds coming up with the ricochet for the interception for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is the Pittsburgh Steelers first interception of the season. But less than a minute later, the Bengals took the ball right back. Rothlisberger hit ball is it accepted at the forty yard line. The Bengals will take over at

the Steelers forty one. Sam Hubbard put the hit on Ben Roethlisberger, and Logan Wilson made a one handed juggling interception before going to the ground. He'll give the ball to the Bengals in Steelers territory officially at the forty two yard line, and six plays later, the Bengals were in the end zone, browing the gun on third down

and two. He catches the snap, he's looking. He throws pits caught Tyler Boyd at the ten for the first TI faits a tangle to the five to the goal line, touchdown Bengals, Tyler Boyd pinballing off tacklers and taking it in for the seventeen yard score. Perfect description. Boyd, of course, grew up in the Pittsburgh area before starring at pitt Here's Joe Burrow on t b's TD. He catches something underneath and he goes and tries to run somebody over.

That's kind of guy he is. I think that's part of being from Lapaltia, you know, being in that area of Pittsburgh tough. You know, it's TV's a really, really good player that I'm excited to play with the Bengals took a seven nothing lead to the second quarter, but with nine and a half minutes left and a half, Ben Roethlisberger went to work, leading the Steelers on a fifteen play eighty six yard drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock. Three receivers right, one out

to the left. Ben has the ball, rolls right, passes into traffic. Friar Mouth extends the ball touchdown. Pittsburgh. Well, that's a gut punch to score with a little over a minute to go in the first half. The shovel pass touchdown to tight end Pat friar Mouth made it seven seven with one oh four to go. According to the athletics Jay Morrison, that's the twenty fifth time in the last thirty meetings that the Steelers have scored in the final two minutes of the first half against Cincinnati.

But it took just three plays for Burrow to answer. Joe and the Gun catches the snap, fakes the p Rhyan throws it high and deep down the left side. Chase has it in the end zone, touched down. Mangals. What a throw by Joe Burrow to Jamar Chase, who extended his arms and reeled it in for the thirty four yards score. Unbelievable. More specifically, the catch was unbelievable.

His chase hauled it in by the back half of the ball and get this, Jamar became the first player in the Super Bowl era to have a touchdown catch of thirty or more yards in each of his first three NFL games. It was a hell of a throw by Joe. You know what I'm saying. He laid me out forward. I'm not behind, not a jumbob, but no in front of me. Us Really what receiver wants and to make extend to catch like I did, perfect time.

And so that was a great throw by Joe. It gave the Bengals of fourteen seven halftime lead, and they started the third quarter with a ten play drive that ended with a forty three yard field goal by Evan McPherson to make it seventeen to seven. Here's Zach Taylor. That's how we want to play. We want to dominate the in the half and then come out strong to sort of the third quarter. Puts in a great position than to play. How we know, we got to play

on the road. The Steelers had to play catch up in the second half, Pittsburgh's offense consisted of thirty seven passes and only three runs. Big Ben has the ball fakes to the right, running toward the middle of the field. He intercepted because a penalty flag down. Logan Wilson tackled at the nineteen yard line. Big Ben faced down on the grass right now, now getting to his knees and

to his feet, will the interception? Yes, number fifty three. Yes, penalties decline, so those plays a first down Cincinnati Logan Wilson in interception. Logan Wilson will be leading the National Football League an interceptions, I mean, unbelievable. Logan Wilson had ten interceptions at Wyoming. He has five and nineteen NFL games. That's incredible stuff for a linebacker. I credit a lot of that to not really playing linebacker until I got

to the college level. Truthfully, Um, you know, I was I was a slot receiver, I was a defensive back, so I was always you know, I kind of um developed my my ball skills, you know, as I was growing up. And um, and then and then back to the whole thing about running to the ball. If you're always running to the ball, you're always gonna have a chance to make plays on the ball, maybe, whether that's trying to get a strip or someone else trips it

and you be able to fall in and recover it. Um, that's just one thing I've always prided myself on and I will continue to do so. He appears to be a great third round pick and has a fan in last year's first round pick, and he's playing at an elite level, and he's he's a guy that you love to have on your team and you would hate to play against, you know whenas in zone coverage, he reached quarterback size better than anybody. And not only does he do that, but then he makes plays on the ball.

Wilson's second I NT put the Bengals in the red zone and led to burrows third touchdown pass of the game, Burrowing the gun with Nixon to his left, a two by two formation for Cincinnati, Burrow back to pass standing looking fires over of the man caught for the touchdown. Chumar Chase with his second touchdown catch of the game, his fourth in three NFL games. He beat Joe Hayden and the Bengals increased their lead. That was the best pass protection I've seen this year out of the offensive line.

Every single pass rusher from the Steelers was wired and wired shut. The pass protection was so good that Chase was actually burrows fifth read on that play. That's what I said to the whole line, like I got, I was able to get to my fifth read. And that's all because of you guys in this league. When you can get to your fifth three, your fifth three is almost always open. And so that's that's It was twenty

four to seven Bengals midway through the third quarter. That's the most points they've scored at Heinz Field since two thousand and six. And if that wasn't a rarity, consider this. This will be a forty two yard field goal for Chris Boswell. Once in my life, I would like to see him miss a kick against the Cincinnati Bengals. His kick is and it is miss galled. It jis Boswell has missed a kick. Had last against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was fifty eight for fifty eight between field goals

and p eights and the jinks worked it did. It's about time, dad, my life is complete. Boswell did make a short field goal in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to fourteen. But that was his clothes, his big ben and the Steelers would get He's back to throw against the four man rush Cox. The arm throws dropped by nag Harris at again. Then about that and that is coffin nails by Amy. The final score Cincinnati twenty four, Pittsburgh ten. Here are Trey Hendrickson, Logan Wilson,

and Zach Taylor on a huge road win. You know, we bounced back with a lot of heart, I think, fighting back from the tough loss last week. And I know these guys are hungry, resilient, and we're a tight knit group and that's something that's really special in this league. We always believed in each other, with the team that we have right now, that we could do something like this. There's just a matter of putting it together and getting a win in a hostile environment in Pittsburgh against a

great team. So it's big for us. This is something we needed, but it's just a small step in our journey for the rest of the season. You know, we expect to be on the road win divisional games, to achieve all the things that we talk about internally as a team. This is something that's necessary and and it's it's it's a big win, but we got to turn around. We play up Thursday night, you know, so these guys

got to turn around and get focused right now. On the stat sheet, Joe Mixon ran for night yards on eighteen carries, and Burrow was fourteen for eighteen for one hundred and seventy two yards, three touchdowns, one pick, and a passer rating of one twenty two point nine. But the most significant stat was zero in fact two zero's under sacks and quarterback hits for Pittsburgh. The Bengals much maligned offensive line ended the Steelers NFL record streak of

seventy five games with at least one sack. Dave Lapham talked to offensive line coach Frank Pollock after the game. Coach, Steelers had a record NFL record seventy five straight games with a quarterback sack. Today, zilch, zippo, not a squaduge no sacks. How's it feel? Well, it's it's an ultimate team game. In the line fought hard, the backs fought hard, the tight ends fought hard. The receivers are running to get open. The corbacknos were to go with the ball.

It's the ultimate team game. It's an ultimate team accomplishment there. You know, you had such balance that Joe Burrow goes fourteen for eighteen, three touchdown passes, Joe Mixon seventeen carries ninety one yards. When you when you're balanced like that, even even really good defensive teams, you know they're they're on new heels, aren't they. Yeah, Zach called a great game. Um, it was. It was fun to be on the sidelines with him and interacting with him and called a great game.

He was into it. They were giving us some challenges, having adjusts versus base, versus eleven personnel, and he was all over it getting us to the right stuff. And the players are out there next year they have the hard job, and he did an excellent job executing and the unfortunately even had a couple of penalties that cost us some other good runs unfortunately, but the team played hard. That's against the ultimate team game. The defense put us in great positions and it was a lot of fun

to be a part of. You had a rookie with his first NFL start in Pittsburgh against the Steelers, Jackson Carman held his own in there. He held his own and he showed me that that that he can get a little you know what in his neck when he needs to. Yeah, you means so that that showed his teammates what he's all about in this environment. He stood up to it and did an outstanding job. I'm really proud of him. He's really hard. How about Riley Reefs, he came back into the football game, just kind of

turned the ankle a little bit out. Did I scare you a little bit? A little bit? But he's old school man. You don't spit on it. Put some tape and go out there and play right. He's from your error. Man. That's good stuff. I hear that, coach. So two in one record you're in. You're in a tie for first place in the in the division. After two to three games, it's week three. I could care less when any of that stuff is. All we know is got a game on Thursday. That's all we're looking forward to is uh,

you know, the next the next, the next challenge. So none of that else stuff matters. We don't control that our stuff. We just control what we got next. And that's Jacksonville. A final question, Jacksonville short week, and that that's gonna be hell on the coaching staff. I mean, how do you prepare for an NFL team that you don't play all that often such a short period of time. I'm and you guys, there's not enough hours in the day, is there. It's it's hell on the players. Who cares

about the coaches. We got the easy job. The players got the hard jobs. So that's so we got to get them rested up. And Zach does always a great job with them and takes care of them so they can play at their best. So appreciate your coach, Appreciate you. Thank you. Offensive line coach Frank Pollock. So, the Bengals host Urban Meyers Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday Night Football. The Jags areo and three after a thirty one nineteen loss to the Cardinals on Sunday, and we'll bring an eighteen

game losing streak to Paul Brown Stadium. Now time for postgame analysis with lab After losing eleven straight to the Steelers, the Bengals have now won two in a row, going back to their win on Monday Night Football last year. What did you think were some of the biggest keys

to this win. I thought the line of scrimmage. You know, we talked about you know, which offensive line was gonna get enough of a running game established where they could protect the quarterback and balanced their game out a little bit. And I thought that, you know, they really stuffed now Harris in the running game and turn him into another wide out basically in the short intermediate passing game that Ben is throwing sixty times a game, it seems like

these days. And you know, Joe Mixon the rush over ninety yards and then you know Joe Burrow kind of compartmentalizing after the interception and being as efficient as he was, you know, was ballgame. And I thought, you know, for the offensive line to pitch a shout out against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had a sack in seventy five straight games an NFL record, is is really good. And again it's not just the offensive line. Joe had a lot to do with that and everybody. It's a team sport.

I talked to Frank Pollock after the game, and he was quick to point that out a lot of things, a lot of things happen for them not to give up a sack, that's big, though. I mean, for those guys who have been so maligned for several years now, to be the team that ends that streak, even if it was only eighteen attempts, who cares. That's a great point of pride for those guys. There's no doubt. And you know that's that's almost how you the fact that you're able to run the ball, well, the fact that

the defense shut it down. That's what he means. There's a lot of components to being able to pitch the shut up, but the fact is there's no esteris there. I mean, they stopped the streak, and uh, you know, that's that's what it's all about in football. It's one of the reasons I love it so much. It's the ultimate team sport, and um, you know, wins like this show that really, you know, it's probably even more telling than the fact that they did not give up a sack.

You asked Joe Burrow a question in the postgame news conference that elicited a tremendous answer. What was your read on the touchdown pass? The second touchdown pass to Jamar Chase that was read number five. He went through his options. He's covered, he's covered, he's covered, he's covered. He gets to the fifth read and throws a touchdown pass. That's great blocking it is And Jamar Chase I talked to him in the locker room and he said the same thing.

Because I was backside, I was the last guy and uh and he said, you know, Joe, Joe came back to me. I'm like, well, you know, this is an opportunity here. So yeah, I think once they get locked in, you know, and people are gonna you know, poo poo a lot of things. Ah, there was no wat, there was no there, no that bottom line. That's life in the National Football League. And honestly, Frank Pollock made mention

of it. Zach made mention of it. The Pittsburgh Steelers because of the injuries, they were running different personnel groupings and things they hadn't done. They had to go back, you know, in their memory banks, like over that ten game period last year and in the you know, the first couple of games this year to get the adjustments that they needed to make and get them done. And they did it well enough to win by two scores.

How about Jamar Chase targeted five times, four catches, sixty five yards, two touchdowns this week, including a thirty four yard or third player in the history of the National Football League to have three touchdown catches of twenty five or more yards in his first three games. I jokingly said on the broadcast, I apologize on behalf of all members of teams. Still, we thought it would have been better to take the offensive lineman. He has provided exactly

what this offense needed. He really has. I mean, when there's man coverage on the outside, it's it's it's curtains, it's coffin nails. And to make the catch he made, I mean he made a catch that I'd only seen Isaac Curtis. To catch the back half of the football when you're a speed guy like that, to be able to focus and concentrate enough these guys when they run, their head is so still. You know their head's not bouncing around. If they can track the ball when they're

running at such an extreme speed, it's remarkable. And to catch the back half of the football like that, you know, when you have a defender you're worried about you're running up the field. I mean, it's it's it's remarkable to play he made. I thought his hands weren't good. Yeah, what happened to what happened to Stone hands man? That's a that's an urban urban myth now, So I don't want to make too much of a big deal out of this. It's Week three, the Bengals are two and one,

the Steelers are one and two. But are we seeing a change of the guard in the rivalry? The Angles have the great young quarterback in Joe Burrow. Ben Roethlisberger appears to be, you know, running out of gas at thirty nine in his eighteenth season. What do you think are we seeing a change of the changing of the guard in this rivalry? I think I think it's it's

potentially the case. I mean, you know, you're right, um Ben is uh, you know, Ben's putting out on eighteen and Joe Burrows just he's finishing maybe the second hole. I mean, he's just starting out on his and you

look at it. The Bengals defense is closing in on what the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing in terms of you know, I mean it's totally different structure and scheme and all that sort of thing, but personnel, they got some playmakers, you know, both teams do, and the Bengals are a lot closer to where Pittsburgh's been at such a high level for for so many years, and they're both trying to get their offensive lines right. I mean, there's a

lot of things. These teams are very similar, and I think right now it's it's uh, it's hit that point where on the curve they're both there. Now one is ascending, the other one is declining. All right, we all like to be a fly on the wall of places that we can't go. You are one of three people that's allowed into the locker room after the game in order to do your postgame interviews. What was the atmosphere like

after winning in Pittsburgh today? Well, by the time I was letting there, it was all pretty much, you know, calm down, it was. It was excited though we could we could listen in and hear from the doorway, and guys were obviously pumped up about it, and rightfully so. Um when I got there, though, guys were you know, in different places the shower or the training room, whether

the case may be. But everybody had that that quiet look of satisfaction, you know, I mean for that deal of I remember what it was like to come here and win, and that that feeling of feeling of satisfaction. There's nothing there's nothing like it. It's like Tiger Johnson I said many times, Dude, this as long as you can, you'll never find another job like it. Tiger was right as usual. Here's a quick invitation to join Lapping Me for the Bengals Game Plan Show on Wednesday night from

six to eight. We'll be at the Holy Grail Banks across from Great American Ballpark and our guests will include Ken Anderson the night before he enters the Bengals Ring of Honor. We'll have a bunch of giveaways as well, so we hope you can join us Wednesday night from six to eight. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Now time for this week's fun facts segment or you get to know the person under the pads.

Time for some fun facts of Bengal defensive Entrey Hendrickson from Orlando, Florida. According to your dad, when you were four or five, you told him you were going to be a professional football player. I doubt you remember that conversation, but was this your dream for as long as you can remember? Yeah, I mean playing football and competing at a high level has always been a dream of mine and aspiration that my parents have obviously fueled me through

the entire journey. So it's a it's been a blessing and a journey, and I'm happy to be here. Were you one of those kids who was basically good at every sport you played? Um? I was. I was gifted in some ways, just height and strength and then you know, wanting it. You know a lot of high schoolers in that aspect don't necessarily want it. So you know that's one thing I could I could say is hard work works, you know, and that was something my dad again instilled

in me. And uh, hard work on the basketball court, lacrosse field, baseball and football. It was just h it was fun. It sounds like, at least as a kid, you didn't take losing well guilty as charged. Yeah I didn't. I didn't like losing to my dad a lot. You know, he was he was always you know, he wanted it. So when I beat him, you know I would know I actually beat him. So it was no free rides for sure, So it was it was great. We're talking to Trey Hendrickson. Did you push your dad's car down

the street as youth? Workouts. Yeah, that was out of the Yeah that was the old book on my dad's you know, workouts and stuff. So yeah, he had an old five o Mustang that he put in neutral and I had to get behind it and he tapped the brakes a couple of times, you know, to see. But yeah, it was just great. You know the environment I was raised in. My brother was extremely competitive too, So if it wasn't you know, playing sports, video game something, we

were always competing as a family. So it's it's really special. So we've talked about your dad a bit, Let's talk about your mom for a moment because I know you were at homeschool when you were really young. How tough was she as a teacher. She was a great teacher, but she held that accountability of getting your job done. And she's a strong woman in faith, and I a lot of that that you hopefully see in me is from her. And I was, you know, raising a very

good home. So I mean being my mom being my teacher and showing me how to do things was just absolutely great. You played high school football at a Popka High school not far from Orlando. You are defensive Linemen is a sophomore in a junior and then your senior year the team needed offense. You played tight end. You're very successful, seven touchdown catches, State championship team, but when it came time to go to college, you wanted to go back to hitting people. Right. Yeah, it's a you know,

it's different environment. Rushing the passer. You know you can affect the play every time. You know you can make a tackle assist. You know, on defense you can be in the play every time. If you're running a route and the quarterback doesn't even look your way, that's a completely different game to me. So I wanted to be a part of something special and play defense, and FA you gave me an opportunity, and it was a rest is history is the biggest key to sacking the quarterback.

Physical ability or smarts. At this level, you have to have more than just physical ability. I feel like everybody's gifted in some ways. So it's a little bit of a chess match. So you know, it's you're always setting it up. I think Dwight Freeney put it best. It's like, you know, you gotta have three moves that look the same, So it's it's definitely it comes with some growth and experience and being around guys like Cam Jordan only helped me and my journey personally. So we're doing fun facts

with Trey Hendrickson. You attended Florida Atlantic. You set the school record for sacks. You at a conference USA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. What was the best part of your four years at Florida Atlantic Being under guys like um, you know, Charlie Partridge, coach Jamison and coach Rock bell Atoni. Those are guys that you know, new football told me what to look at and obviously they were molding me for the next level. So it wasn't just the next week, you know, if it was

Rice or Middle Tennessee. It was knowing that guys are gonna be bigger and stronger and getting ready for that. Tell me about the diet you followed going into your senior year. Yeah, it was a lot of calories. It was definitely different focusing on your body. That was another thing my strength Coach Chuck Loby got me too, is that you know, that's another element of the game that you can take advantage of that others might not be. So that was something that you know, how bad do

you want it? Kind of thing and it's just a lot of calories, so you know, I had to want it. We're doing fun Facts with Trey Hendrickson. You are a third round picked by the Saints in twenty seventeen. Describe your draft experience getting drafted. I was fortunate and blessed to be a part of the combine where I got to see all the competition at the end position and stuff like that. So I was also blessed to be

in the East West Shrine Game. That gave me an opportunity to show what I can do on the football field as well. So going into the draft, I really didn't know. I never really looked at potential picks and where I'd want to go because you never know. But I I can definitely say I didn't know I was going to New Orleans. So it was it was a special experience and it was a great place, and it

definitely molded me into the man I am today. You spent four years in New Orleans, culminating with a tremendous season individually last year, thirteen and a half sacks tied for second best in the NFL. What went right? Was it a matter of staying healthy? Was it the experience that you had garnered in the NFL. What led to that huge season, Well, it was my opportunity to start for the first time in the NFL, So there's a

huge opportunity there. That offseason, I got married to Alisa, and she was special, and how she helped me off the field and through faith was a very strong thing. So I think in Glacian six Night it says in proper time, you'll reap a harvest. So I have no doubt that that was my time and my opportunity, and I took advantage of it, and the rest is history. I was going to save Alisa for later, but since

you mentioned her, let's get to that. You've accomplished a lot in life, but I'm not sure you measure up to your wife. Tell us about her background and her accomplishments. Alisa, besides being a beautiful woman, she excelled in fencing. She's a state championship fencer, She's a state championship figure skater.

She's impressive academically, she's finishing up her doctorate in pharmacy up up in Nashville, and it's uh, you know, she's just tremendous and what she does in discipline and the way she was raised, and you know, like I was going back and saying, how bad you want it. It's not something that you can just punch a clock and be here. It's off the field too, and she helped align me with that. And but she's done it herself her whole life, being an athlete herself, and obviously I

don't want to fence her. So she's great. I know the US had a gold medalist in fencing in the Olympics this year. I think that was the first time. Did you follow that at all because of her background? Did it? Oh? Yeah, We watched the tournament and it was anytime the United States is going for a medal, but being fencing and we haven't done it before was something special and that was something that we were glad

to watch. So he became a free agent this past off season, and some players, understandably, they want to go to a team that was on the brink of going to the Super Bowl the year before, maybe even went. You seem to take the opposite approach, where you wanted to be part of a franchise that needed somebody like you to help in the rebuild. Well, I love to win and in New Orleans, I learned how to win and a lot of things that you can see from there.

I saw here they're just a couple pieces away. And in cincinnati's special because of the culture they've had and all the things that they and they've been so close in the past, you know, but something like they haven't won a playoff game since the nineteen ninety you know, those are the things that kind of get me fired up. Because if you're a piece that makes this culture change, that's truly special and I feel a strong calling to be,

you know, a part of something special like that. And that's why I was a no brainer to bring my family to Cincinnati. All Right, a few wildcard category worries to wrap things up. Do you have a hidden talent? Hidden talent? I'm not too sure. I can't sing, and you know, there's not a lot a lot of craziness, but not really. I'll have to check with Alisa on that one. Maybe she'll know what your hidden talent is.

Is there anything you like to splurge on? My wife and I can get into a little bit of a movie rut where we're just watching movie after a movie and rewatching things. So I think I splured John watching movies here and there. All Right, this is always a tough one. If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, statesman, actor, or whatever it might be, who would that person be. You know, I've always had a I would like to meet Muhammad Ali to know kind of how how he

mentally got after his opponents and also physically. I feel like he was truly special in the boxing ring, and I'd love to have a conversation with him. I'm right there with you. Muhammad Ali would be very high on my you are off the hot seat. I appreciate your time. Best of luck this season. Yes, sir, thanks for having That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by bud Light Seltzer.

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