Bengals Booth Podcast: Last Dance

Bengals uniform. One on one player interview this week is actually with a former player, Chris Collinsworth, as the Sunday Night Football analyst discusses t Higgins, Joe Burrow and what the Bengal should prioritize in the off season. And in our Know the Faux segment, we'll discuss the Ravens with a former Baltimore linebacker who also played football and basketball at UC, Brad Jackson. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented

by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh 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 iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since The Queen's Gambit. Back in mid November, after the Bengals bye week, Joe Burrow was asked what he did with his time off, and Joe said that he relaxed and watched a lot of TV,

including The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. Well, my wife and I started watching it last week, and Joe Burrow has good taste. It's excellent. We've seen five of the seven episodes and who knew that the story of a female chess prodigy could be so suspenseful. But don't take my word for it. Trust Joe Burrow and check out The Queen's Gambit. Now, let's get to football, beginning with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham, as we begin by taking care of something that was missing at the end of last

week's win in Houston. Lap After last week's victory in Houston, I realized we forgot something. We need to do it right now. Are you ready? Let's do it all right? Here it goes. Sam Hubbard forces the fumble, Marcus Hunt recovers, and that should be coffin nails. Bam Bam. Courtesy is Sam. That's good. You know, Marty Brennaman occasionally forgot to say and this one belongs to the Reds over the years, so I don't feel too bad about it. Was great to see the Bengals finally win a road game for

the first time in a couple of years. They are four ten and one. They're trying to end the season with a three game winning streak as they host the Ravens this Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. Let's hear from Jesse Bates, te Higgins, and Zach Taylor on the importance of finishing strong. It's been really cool to see how we all have came together in the last you know, weeks. A lot of teams don't do this. Um, a lot of teams, you know, check out at this point and

we're We're not the team that's that's doing it. No, it's important at the end of the day simply because you know, he feels good. Nobody wants to lose at the end of the day, and you know winning is his bills, your confidence. Hopefully we can keep it going into the next season. You know, they need that result. You feel differently on Sunday evening and Monday morning. Um, you need that feeling because that that feeling is kind of what U get you through the grind of the season.

And Okay, we want all the things we did let us to a win, and so let's go pay grand scheme to things. We want to win the division. We want to go to the playoffs and win playoff games to play for super Bowls. And when you're a team that's in that position, winning two games in a row is not going to be a big deal for us. You know, you're going to be wanting to win five, six games in a row to create that momentum. But right now, for where we're at as a team for

this season, winning two games row is important. And again we got to continue to build on the momentum going in this weekend. All right, is it really important to finish strong when you're having a lousy year. It is, There's no doubt about it. I Mean, I remember starting eight worst season I or experienced as a player, and eight start and when we went four and four, I felt like we'd accomplished something. It was like two seasons.

The first one you just wanted to bury it as deep as you could, in the deepest graves you could find. And then when you ended up respectable with a four and four mark to finish it off, you know you felt like at least you didn't quit, You didn't wallow in your pity. You know, you did something about it. You pulled yourself up by the bootstraps. And you know, and I know fans they're all they want to do is talk about, you know, as high pick as you

can get. But players and coaches, you're fighting for your professional life. I remember coming home and staying to my wife and eight, I got to make sure that I put do everything I possibly can to put as good a tape as I possibly can. I'll there because I want to play longer. I want to stay in this league as long as I can. And that's what players are doing. You're fighting for your life. One percent of the population you know plays in the National Football League.

It's it's a it's not a right, it's a it's a total privilege. And man, you want to do it as long as you can. You're gonna fight with everything You've got to do it as long as you possibly can. When you're a player in a coach. So this idea of tanking, this idea of let's lose to get you it is so foreign. I mean, you're gonna be out in the street if you're part of that quicker than you can say whatever. So surrender for Sewell or putrid for Pinay is not do it for you. It's not

gonna cut it, you know. And and as great as that player may be and Sewel may be great, and we got a great one in Anthony Muneo's in my opinion, the best to play both Super Bowl appearance appearances. He was the anchor at left tackle, also had the other member of the Mexican connection to and there at guard as well though, Max Montoya. So it's not just one guy in the offensive line. One guy makes a huge difference.

But like Mike Brown always you say during contract negotiations, we don't have any numbers for you, touchdowns, catches, we don't have any stats. You know, We're just evaluating you on the overall performance of how you're playing with the other guys up front. And that's the that's the reality of it, that's the nature of the Beast. And you draft accordingly, you know. So, I mean, one one offensive tackle does not a team make and honestly, I think

we're in the same school. I would even if it is the third pick in the draft, I would explore trading back and seeing you know how far back you would have to go, and to accumulate another real strong option to make yourself better with multiple choices in the draft. If you can increase your odds of pick two tackles, if you can increase your odds of finding one, I'm all for that, as long as they're not named Oboehean Fisher. Yeah,

I hear you. I'm glad you brought this up though, because I had a thought this week about the draft, because right now the Bengals have fallen to the fifth spot. They could drop as low as ten if they went

on Sunday. Think back to last year. If the Bengals had won that overtime game in Miami, next to last game of the regular season, they would have probably fallen out of the top spot and would not have wound up with Joe Burrow, and fans would have been marching to Paul Brown's stadium with torches and pitchforks, and we would have been upset about it. I mean, we had our heart set on Joe Burrow. Well, had that happened,

they would have drafted Justin Herbert. Absolutely, And I prefer Burrow partly for his leadership, partly because I think long term he will be the better of the two. But had they wound up with Justin Herbert, that would have been okay. As it turns out, he's been tremendous. He has been and you just you know, you just you

never do, really know. And I mean, you know, when the Bengals in twenty eleven, with the fourth pick of the draft, they took aj Green, they didn't take any Dalton, they took him in the second round and he turned out fine. It's certainly not an exact science. It's not like, you know, where you're dealing with computers and this computer has more gigabytes or whatever, and you're gonna, you know,

rank them accordingly. There's all kinds of variables. It's the it's human beings, it's the brain, it's the it's the human body. I mean, there's all kinds of variables. So the draft is the most inexact science there is in the world. And then when a guy gets drafted, the development of him, what's the mix, Like, Okay, is it a good is it a good situation? I mean, Kenny Anderson often says, if I've been drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, I may not have made it. Ever, I may not

have made it coming out of Augustana. I get drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals that have Paul Brown as the head coach and Bill Walsh is my position coach. You kidding me? Two Hall of Fame guys that are brilliant. So that gave me more than a layer leg up. And so it is. It's all about the whole circumstance, you know, getting the right guy to fit your system properly. Is he going to be developed properly. There's a million things to go into it, but having talent obviously his

first and foremost. With his first catch on Sunday, t Higgins will set a new Bengals rookie record with sixty eight receptions, breaking the mark he shares with Chris Collinsworth. And if he has ninety two receiving yards against the Ravens, he will join Chris and Aj Green as the only Bengals rookies to reach one thousand yards. Here's offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. He's run some really good routes against some really good corners, and that's really that's an encouraging thing

for a young player. He's had a success against good corners too. There's some things he's got to keep continue to get better at. He's got to continue to get stronger. But he's going to be a fortunate This league going to be reckoned with and and I never viewed him as a rookie. Has strange us. It was never a moment where he felt like a rookie to me. You know, after we got to training camp, I was like, all right, guys, ready to go, and he's going to play a lot

for us. And you know, hopefully he gets a handful more catches in yards and he can be up there as the best rook receiver the Bangles have had. That'd be pretty cool, pretty cool honor for him to come out of the gates as a rookie like that. Ninety two receiving yards might be tough against Baltimore to get to a thousand, but you know, knock on wood unless something awful happens, and it won't, he will get the catch to break the receptions record he shares with Chris Collinsworth.

What's impressed you most about Tea his rookie year. You know, quickly on some of his numbers, he leads the AFC as a rookie receiver and catches in yards and his six touchdowns are are up there as well, but overall third and catches second in yards amongst rookies, which is pretty impressive. The thing that impresses me overall Dan is the thing that Brian Callahan talks about. She's looking at me six four two fifteen plus. You think a big guy like that not going to really be a good

route runner. Man. He sinks his hips, gets in and out of cuts, gets separation, he's got a little wiggle. I mean, he turned a couple of good cornerbacks around when he's in the slot and he's running down the field. They don't know if he's going to run a post or a flag route, and he just he's turned hips. He's turned those guys around, and they're good cornerbacks. So I'm thinking, man, this dude, he's got some physical ability.

And then he's so big at six four two fifteen plus, broad shoulders, long arms, so he's got you know, the contested catch, the big catch radius where he'll go up and battle people's strong hands. He's got a lot going on.

And the other big thing that impresses me is his football IQ because, like we talked about, three different quarterbacks have won games for the Bengals, So he's had three different guys thrown to him as rookie, and every one of them he's gotten on the same page with very quickly because they all know that he is a stickler for detail on his assignments. He knows him cold, he understands why he's doing what he's doing in the big picture of everything else. And they know where he's supposed

to be. They know he'll be where you're supposed to be when he's supposed to be there, and how he gets there's going to be right. And they have trust and confidence, and those are the two big things between quarterback and receiver. Like any relationship, you have to have confidence the other person and primarily you have to trust the other person. And that's what's going on with T Higgins and his quarterbacks. His favorite athlete as a kid was Aj Green. Chances are this will be AJ's final

game in a Bengals uniform, which saddens me greatly. I'm surprised that AJ did not have a big year too. I thought for sure he was going to be healthy and he was going to be the AJ Green that we were accustomed to see prior to two years ago. Yeah, me too, I really, I really am. And I think I don't know. I mean, I don't know if he got in his own head. I don't know if physically, you know, it just he never could, you know, just

turn the engine over quite the same. It just it looked like he lost some of his quickness and explode. And this is in a suddenness, and that's going to come with age. And you compound the age with the fact that a lot he sat out so long at a late stage of his career. I think that you know that that compounded the problems in the issue there a little bit, and I think, you know, frustration started to set in for him some and his body language

showed that, you know, quite a bit. Yeah. It's the thing is, though, when you talk to any of the teammates or of his coach, is still the first thing to ell say is, man, he works so hard and he done every single practice. AJ empties the effort bucket, never mind games. So it is it's sad, sad to see that it's maybe unfolding, you know, the way that it is to the conclusion of his career here in Cincinnati, because it was brilliant, not just good, it was brilliant.

In last week's game at Houston, Texans quarterback Deshan Watson was incredible, but SOA's Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen. He completed seventy eight percent of his passes, room for three hundred and seventy one yards and had a passer rating of one twenty six point five. The Bengals also scored a season high thirty seven points. Here are Jesse Bates and offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on the Bengals current starting quarterback. Very impressed just the way how poised he always is,

you know, throughout the locker room. I don't think I've ever seen him say a word until he became the starting quarterback. So, you know, I just I just kind of like the way he goes about his work. Doesn't really say much, but you can count on him to make a play. He's very tough. Then he's playing with the hurt leg or something like that right now. And then he took a shot in the game. But he continues to fight and put you know, his front foot for um, you know, always giving us. I'm a Vanders

to win a football game. He's just gotten his way about him. He's a football player. He understands it. He knows what it's supposed to look like. He knows how to prepare. He knows how to take things from the meeting room to the field. He knows his weaknesses as well, and he knows how to how to account for those. And the more he's gotten to play, the more that

those those skills have been sharpened. I think every week he goes out there, he's got better, just like most players do that haven't played a lot, but in particular for a quarterback, you don't get a lot of opportunities, and so when you do, you usually get better in a hurry. And I think that he's done that. Brandon Allen made himself some money last week, I would think, And if he plays well on Sunday against Baltimore, you gotta think that he'll be welcome back as Joe Burrow's

backup quarterback next year. You think he'd be in high consideration. I mean, he had a remarkable game. There's no question about it. Like we said earlier, I mean he was a straight a quarterback. It was anticipatory and he was accurate. And there's a three play sequence Dan actually a four play sequence. The Bengals are it's it's seventeen seventeen football game.

In the third quarter and at the seven forty seven mark third and one, he goes thirty one yards to Higgins on the deep left sideline and it's nullified with an offensive pass interference. Perfect perfect leading him just right. If that counts, he's over forty yards passing. They took that away with the penalty. I mean, he's over forty

yards passing right there. So they come back and their penalizes, so they're at their twenty four yard line after the penalty on sampled the OPI third and eleven, he hits Aj Green fourteen yards to the right sideline. They get it. Yeah, but he had the height advantage. He did the contested catch thing and looking at the tape, they ran four curl routes spread the field, distributed him equally across the field.

All of them go twelve thirteen yards and hook up, so he had four options to look at goes to Aj likes that mismatch with the size advantage, and it's the fourteen yard completion. Now it's first and ten. He goes covered two forty two yards down the middle field to Alex Ericson outruns the linebacker safety split Boom forty two yards down the middle. So now it's first and ten. At the twentieth the red zone. You're gonna get man coverage in the red zone. They haven't call for man covers.

A little crossing route. Higgins goes to the back corner of the end zone. He makes another drops another perfect dime that they have to Initially, officials blow it and they look at it again and it's a touchdown. And four straight throws right there. One of them didn't count because of the OPI, but he had three plays seventy six yards in a touchdown on three straight throws. You add the thirty one yard or four straight throws he threw for one hundred and seven yards and every single

one of them as a dime. That's a microcosm of the game. The guy played that drive was phenomenal. The answer, the response that they had after the OPI. Instead of third and eleven hour drivers down, I mean boom and then attack, boom boom. It was impressed as the way he drove the football team big plays, chunks. They had eight plays of over twenty yards. That's the most they've had in a game this year, having come close to having eight chunk plays in one game. What stood out

to me was his touch. I mean, he remember early this year when they blew the big lead against the Colts and we were talking about, Man, that just the touch that Philip Rivers has. It's not always a fastball. Sometimes he's just kind of letting the guy run under it. Yeah, exactly to me, That's what Brandon Allen showed last Sunday. And you know, shoot, the guy through seven touchdown passes in an SEC game for Arkansas. He's still the all time leading record holder for touchdown passes and they had

some good quarterbacks at Arkansas. He throws a nice ball, he does, and like everybody's saying, the anticipation, I mean, he's throwing it to spots that the receivers eventually get to. And that's the key in the national football You basically have to quote throw guys open with the anticipatory stuff. And he's got a great feel for that. And the other thing the more I see him on zoom calls, and the more I see him on the field, his pulse is always even killed. He never ever gets upset

or distraught or whatever. I mean, whether he's hurt, whether he's got three straight completions, two straight incompletions, two straight interceptions, the dude is the same. I mean, his his emotional approach to the game and his poise in his presence. It is pretty darned strong. It really is. Yeah. The first thing Jesse Bates mentioned poise, the first thing Trey Hopkins mentioned poise. That's what stands out to the teammates. Yepan and he is. I mean, he's a he's a

flatliner guy. Man, there's there's there's no uh. Well you take do an ekg a him in a two minute drill. It's the exact same as if he's sleeping at night. It's unbelievable. Joe Burrow doesn't tweet often, but when he does it has an impact. And on the day after Christmas, he posted footage of himself slowly walking across the room with no assistance following knee surgery. I asked T Higgins and Brian Callahan for their reaction I was ready for

him to come back right down and there. But yeah, man, it's great to see that his progress is coming along, coming along good, And no, I can't wait for him to get back to here and you know, get things started back up. Yeah, I did see it, uh, and it doesn't It wasn't just sounds like Joe looks like Joe, you know. Um, everything that he's done since since he's since he's arrived here has been had an accelerated face.

And it's no surprise to me that that's he's on the schedule that he is for his return and I know he's gonna attack that just like he's attacked every minute that he's been here for the football portion. So Joe is wired a particular way and that's kind of just how he lives in his life. And that's that that doesn't surprise me one bit. Well, at LSU, they think he can walk on water, and he came close last year and this wasn't on water, but it was across the room with no assistance, no k no walker,

no anything like that. It's great to see it was. I wish he'd just had a red suit and a white beard, you know what I mean. Because it was a Christmas present extraordinary. But yeah, he and really he was very very upright. So and he was he was walking without a limp. And what he was doing there as I had, you know, minor rehab after meniscus tears, no sort of things. You want to start firing the muscle groups as fast as you can. So's he's doing that.

He's trying to fire his quads, hamstrings, everything around that damaged area. When you start strengthening all those muscle groups, that helps the rehab percentages immensely. And there's no doubt that he is going to be a maniacal, fanatical rehab patient. I think he's My prediction is he's going to blow away. You know, they say, okay, he'll be back by the opener. He'll probably be back by the beginning of training camp.

He's one of those kind of guys. So Carson Palmer suffered his injury later similar severity, yep, and was back for the third preseason game. Yep. How did he look when he came back. You know, Carson was never a real you know, mobile, mobile guy. He was more of a you know, a stationary type pocket pass or classic pure pure pocket pass or absolutely so. Um, you know, Joe's a little bit different. Joe's got more athleticism, um.

And and Carson, I think for his type of game, it was easier for him to come back sooner because of that. He wasn't necessarily change in direction violently. You know, he would set up in the pocket. But when he set up and you push off that back foot, you know, you're you're dropping and then you redirect and and you're putting a lot of pressure on that on that knee, whether it be the follow through or the you know,

the plant foot. So um, he looked, he looked fine, but again he didn't even I can't tell you the number of times I saw Carson Palmer run, you know, so it a little bit different dynamic there, I think in terms of style of play. U. But again, medical advancements or significant from one Carson Palmer had a urgery, I mean, they're much better, and I think I think Joe is gonna I think he's gonna make a full complete you know, it might be one of those deals

where it to be like a bionic thing. You know, Jeez looks like he's stronger and faster than he was before. You're seeing a lot of guys have surgery and it's like, wow, they even look stronger than before they had the surgery. It's it's crazy what they're doing with, you know, sports medicine these days. I remember with Carson they used cadavers ligament. Yeah, are they still doing that these days? Or I think

they take it from a different part of the body. Yeah, now they're taking it from like in a part of the achilles or part of another tendon or you know, the quad tendon. Yeah, they're taking it rather than a cadaver because I mean, you know, a cadaver body is obviously dead tissue, you know, And if you can get tissue that's not like that, your chances of having a more complete and successful recovery might be better. So that's another improvement. Now, time for this week's one on one interview.

As lap and I mentioned, te Higgins is on the verge of breaking a team record that Chris Collinsworth set thirty nine years ago, most receptions in a season by a Bengals rookie. I spoke to Chris about that and more this week. Beginning with the second round draft pick out of Clemson, te Higgins is special. I mean, he has the ability to go up with those contested catches. He has big, strong hands going over the middle, seems to have no fear whatsoever. It's amazing how easily these

guys catch the ball. I'd like to play with their gloves on just one time. I'd like to just try it. I mean, they literally just sticks in their hands. It's He's a big, powerful guy, and he's going to be very worthy of hopefully carrying that new record on for about the next thirty nine years or so. He's six four tremendous athletic ability. Do you marvel at the size and speed of the guys that are playing the position you used to play, You know, it's a different thing.

It's almost like, you know, Dan Ross was about the size of te Higgins back in the day and he was playing tight end on our team. But the guys are just so big and physical and still are able to maintain that speed. You know. With t the one thing that I see watching him is that you know, he I don't know what his forty yard dash time was.

I'm sure it was good. But with a lot of taller guys and those long striders that the more they're down the field, the fashion they get, you know, forty yard dash usually favors the small, quick guys who get the first ten yards quickly. They're good out of the start. But the great deep ball receivers that I see are the ones that have that long stride that gobble up a lot of yards after they get started. Because you're never it's always changing speed, you know, It's like a

pitcher in baseball. You're just trying to change speeds on how you approach the game. And man, when he hits the jets on the back end to some of that stuff and then his ability to go up and high point that ball, he's going to be special. We're talking to Chris collins Worth. Let's talk about Joe Burrow. After his injury, you tweeted, I love Joe Burrow and I haven't even met him yet. What do you love? I love the fact that a he's from Ohio be He's

given Bengals fans a new form of hope. I mean a hope that not just will they be good again, but they have the chance to be great again, and they have a chance to win a Super Bowl. And I just love his demeanor. I love the way he carried himself from the first day that he came to Cincinnati.

He was all business all the time. And I think at the quarterback position, you really need somebody with that level of buy end right from the start, because then the guys around him start thinking, and man, that that rookie quarterback's going to study that hard. I better start getting in my playbook here a little bit too. So I think that he represents sort of the work ethic of Cincinnati in a way that it really makes us

all proud. And when he got hurt, I was like, oh no. And I remember Brandon Graham telling me the story from the Philadelphia Eagles. Apparently it was kind of a borderline late hit or big hit or something, and Joe Burrow turned around and look at the referee and didn't get the flag, and he just turned back to Brandon Graham and he said, you know, when I'm the goat, I'm going to get that call. And I mean, Brandon Graham said it was one of the great lines they

ever heard. But they were so impressed with how tough Joe Burrow was that they almost killed him that day. I mean, you don't remember that game. They got some shots on him like you could not believe, and Joe just coming back and asked for more and kept delivering. He's the kind of guy you want leading your franchise. Chris, I was looking at your TV schedule this year. You've had Russell Wilson couple of times, Aaron Rodgers three times, Patrick Mahomes three times, Tom Brady a couple of times.

In the current NFL Do you need one of those guys to contend for a Super Bowl title? I think so. It doesn't mean you can't. You go back to the Baltimore Ravens winning it in two thousand based almost entirely on their defense. But sure is a lot easier path, you know, it really is. I mean, those guys are the ones that are going to touch the ball every single time. It seems like a simple concept, but it's

really the truth. The guy who's going to handle the football every single play, and even on running plays, you know, the ability to play fake or bootleg fake or whatever, at least put the fear of what those great quarterbacks can do down the field. It's just awfully hard to win without one of those top eight ten guys. The twenty twenty season is about over for the Bengals. What would you prioritize in terms of the draft and free agency offensive line play. I just think that they've got

a franchise quarterback. I hope to goodness knock on wood that he comes out of this thing. Okay, but you know, and as good as te Higgins has been, you know, I think you've got to prioritize some of those higher draft picks now to try and make sure we keep him alive for as long as possible. And it's gonna be who knows what the start of the season will be.

I hope that Joe comes along and it's ready right from the start, but if not, you've got to You've got to put yourself in position to win at that offensive line position. I played with some teams that went to the Super Bowl, and we always had great offensive lineman and you know, led by Anthony Munios all those years, you've become the majority owner of Pro Football Focus, You've created about one hundred jobs in downtown Cincinnati. Do you marvel at the interest out there in data where pro

and college football is concerned. Yeah, I mean it's America's distraction right now, you know. I think it really is that we're all whether it's fantasy football or now with legalized gambling, that people need and want more and more and more information and they're not just watching football anymore, they're participating in it. The fantasy football leagues are passionate. They just came out of their championship round and I

can't go anywhere without somebody asking me some questions. And now the more and more that we're able to go on our cell phones and people are going to be able to make wagers on do you think Joe Barrow will be over or under three hundred yards this week? It just adds another reason to watch football, which is good for all of us. But it's it's been a pretty amazing ride with PFF and I'm glad we were able to bring it to Cincinnati and bring and hire

people right here from town. We're really proud of it. So the season ends on Sunday for the Bengals against the ten and five Ravens. You've had a couple of Baltimore games on TV this year. What would the Bengals need to do to have a shot and pulling off the upset and ending the year with the three game winning stream. You know they've they've pulled off a few things against the Ravens in the past, right, we've seen some of their clutch wins. But you've got to find

a way at this point to stop Lamar. You know, he has just proven to be back in form. I never thought that he looked quite right in the early part of the season. I'm not sure what it was. He just wasn't quite as dynamic with the ball in his hands. And yet now over the past couple of weeks you're starting to see that VP look in his eyes, and so is impossible as it sounds. You have to stop him. You have to keep him from getting on

the edge of your defense. If they can keep him in the pocket, make him win the game throwing the football from the pocket, then you'll always have a chance against the Ravens. But the minute he gets out and he is free to run and scramble and find Hollywood Brown down the field, you've got big problems. So he's the key. Appreciate your time, Chris. Sorry your record had to fall, but it's being broken by a great rookie

and te Higgins. You told me he's one of the great guys on the team, so I'm fired up to meet him. I have not met him, but if you see him, please pass along my congratulations. I'm thrilled for him, and he's earned it. I mean that's the great thing about it. I've watched him play, I went back and watched some of the video from PFF, and he has earned the right to wear that crown and I'm really happy for the Bengals. Booth podcast is presented by Bud

Light Seltzer. It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Whenever the Bengals play the Ravens, I like to catch up with my friend Brad Jackson, the former UC football and basketball player who won a Super Bowl ring as a Ravens linebacker in two thousand and has been doing some media work since retiring from the NFL.

Brad joined us this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show, and I started our conversation by asking him if the Ravens current four game winning streak has folks in Baltimore believing that this team is a legitimate contender to advance to the Super Bowl. I think we're always legitimate when you can run the football and play good defense, and you guys know that, like when you don't turn the football over and you can run the football and obviously play great defense, which is a staple and part of

the foundation here in Baltimore. It absolutely means that you have a chance in the playoffs. And when you have a dynamic weapon as far as Lamar Jackson, who though he's not having been passing numbers that a lot of people would talk about h you know, as being quote unquote that quarterback, he is still an explosive and a former MVP as he was last year. So whenever you have all those components in place, it is something that

you have to take the Bottimo Ravens seriously. And that's why in the last four games, you know, they're averaging almost thirty seven points two hundred and thirty yards rushing per game. Obviously those two are tops in the league. And Lamar has just you know, played phenomenal with twelve touchdowns, you know, and he's actually thrown a couple more. We're actually doubled up with eight passing and four rushing, you know,

to his credit, and he's turned it on. And you get a lot of people and we've had that discussion here in Baltimore about you know, the level of competition because you know, at the end of the season. You know, they have had to play the team minus the Cleveland Brown that you know, the Ravens eat to win out there a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland, But minus that, you know, with the Jags, Jaguars, and you know the Giants, and obviously the Bengals, you know, being without Joe Burrow,

but who are obviously playing well. And we all know how that rivalry ends. Whenever it's Baltimore picks, whenever it's Baltimore in Cincinnati, it's almost like Baltimore Pittsburgh, except that the Bengals have, especially in Cincinnati, as you guys are well aware of, has always found a way to somehow throw a hitch in the Ravens season. And you know, when you go back you look at the course of history.

You know, the Bengals, no matter what the record was, no matter what was happening when it came time to play in Cincinnati at the end of the year, they've always found a way to give the Ravens everything they can handle more, which is why the Ravens are are a pedestrian nine and fifteen in the nashty Nati. So it's very concerning this team is not looking back the

Bengals as they may have in year's pad Bred. The Baltimore Ravens the only team in the NFL that is average rushing more yards than throwing in the game, the only team. They're rushing it one hundred and seventy seven point eight per game, first in the league, five point three per tempt, first in the league. They're throwing it for one seventy four and a half thirty, first in the league in this era. That's that's almost incredible. And

the only other team that's close as New England. They're running it one hundred and forty five point three and throwing it for one seventy six point eight. And it's working, obviously. I mean this this Baltimore team. Instead of worrying about personnel and formations and packages in the passing game, man Baltimore doesn't the running game. Watching a little tape the first time the Bengals played, Baltimore is doing a lot of you know, a lot of bodies between the hash marks.

Now they're spreading it out and they're getting running lanes by spreading the field. I mean, they can do anything they want that running game, can't they? You know, you talk about it that, you know, when it's the first time info history and having sure you guys about it where you know, three t three players on one team. You know, that's Lamar Gus Edwards and JK. Dobbins, the rookie from up there at the school up north and Cincinnati.

Who is who is random ball? Really really well? He's actually tied the rookie record here in Baltimore with seven touchdowns and has an opportunity to break it. But those three guys have all ran for over six hundred yards, all of them have over six touchdowns. So you know, I think prior to this last four weeks and again it's one of those things that you're cautiously optimistic about. You know, from Hardy's question is, yeah, they can line

up and play with anybody. But when they had those those playoff teams early in the year, the kids in the cities and they lost in New England and the rain storm, you know, the Ravens weren't playing that well early on against the good competition. So is it part of the fact that it's the end of the year and you guys know a lot of guys have checked out. You know, they're trying to just stay healthy. They're you know, they're kind of tiring them on the COVID tracy and

everything that. You know, a lot of teams have put in place in order to get this season, you know, underway, and you know a lot of guys are pretty much figured, Okay, we're not going to the playoffs, you know, kind of brother in law as you know, as a call two times or is it that they are playing better at the right time or is it part of And I think some of it has to do it a lot of hype early on with Great Roman actually getting a lot of you know, media pressed about potential head coach,

potential head coach, and they were trying to throw the ball and trying to you know, because we all know if you want to be a head coach in this league, you have to have your quarterback has to have numbers. And unfortunately that doesn't mean numbers with his legs as Lamar Jackson has done. Because every other thirty one teams out there or whoever would be looking to higher Great Roman as the head coach is going to say, you're

not bringing Lamar Jackson with you. So yeah, that offense translate phenomenally in Baltimore with the running attack, because you have Lamar Jackson, You're not going to go to a land you know, or the Jets, which are probably going to fire you know, Adam Gates and say hey, we're going to do the same things with Mattie Ice and Matt Ryan or you know, Sam Darnold. That's not gonna happen.

So I think there was a little bit of a time in there from Washington film and I've had this discussion here in the media where even the fans are saying, just run the football, run the football, And I think it may be a trispect of you know, the team getting back to what they do best, which is, as you said, run the football on anybody, anywhere, at any time. With that triple headed monster of Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards

and JK. Doptins and even Mark Ingram is still in there waiting in the wings and get a couple carries here and there, especially in the goal line areas. Our guest is Brad Jackson. The first time these teams played Baltimore at fifteen quarterback hits in seven sacks of Joe Burrow, and since then they traded for unique Eckway. Has he had a big impact. No, he hasn't had the impact I think that they were hoping for as of yet.

And you know, you look at it when when you look at our numbers, you know, we we you know he has eight sacks, but uh, he's only had two since I became, since he became a raven um And you know you talked about that first game out there, Uh you know with the Bengals, Um, you know what it was, the seven sacks. I think they had a patcher Queen, the rookie first rounder, had a phenomenal game,

even had a Scooper score for a touchdown. You know, week Martindale, who who my honest believe obviously we know he's from Daton, went to you know, defines Colin Johns here and obviously he's the former Bearcat, which was my linebacker coach, you know with the Bearcats. I think wink Is is probably priding to get a head coaching job. I think, uh, the opportunity is going to be there for him with the Jets. We have some synergies with

the Jets. They're general manager Joe Douglass obviously was here. I think he may have an opportunity with U with the Jacksonville jack Warres. He kind of fits everything that that Jacksonville is looking for. Um So I think that's the more a realistic opportunity. And you know he's gonna

doll it up and get after. You know, he got after Joe Burrow the first time, and he's gonna, you know, get after any quarterback out there, especially the seed early on if they've made the adjustments for all the quarterback hits and pressure that the defense put on. Way back a week five with the twenty seventy three victory for the Ravens. In terms of passing numbers, no surprise that, you know, the only guy that shows up in the top fifty in receiving yards is Andrews, a great tight end,

six hundred and seventy four receiving yards. He's got seven touchdown catches, though Hollywood Brown has six. And the guy that I'm interested in, Dez Bryant six catches, two of them are touchdowns. Is the fifth fastest wide receiver have seventy five career touchdown receptions, number of games played. Jerry Rice Moss, Harrison, Teo, and Dez Bryant. What is Dez Bryant added to the football team, what's he been like? Been up and down. Honestly, he actually quit a couple

of weeks ago. I don't know if you guys got that out in there. He came in and it was against the Cowboys, and he was out on the field and warm ups, dancing around doing this thing. And then they pulled him off the field and they said he had a positive fest like and he's on the field like dapping up in high five. It was a very very weird situations. And then he had to leave the stadium.

He tweeted out that he was done. He quit, and then you know, a bunch of people got in his ear and and I think, you know, cooler heads probably prevailed that, you know, it's better to stay and get a couple more game checks, uh, And being a part of a team that potentially could go to the playoff versus versus ultimately hang him up considering he had been out of the league, you know, for a couple of years.

And I think, as you said last, I think that was his first touchdown since with twenty seventeen, almost two years. So he's he's brought a veteran presence, but as far as schematically, you know, he's he's a big wide receiver, but he's not getting open against people. He's not eating you know, there's nobody that is actually fearing him stretching field. Um. You know, he's he's been another guy that has kind of a lot of football. Um. And that's what I

think they're hoping for with consistency. Because the wide receivers from Hollywood Brown, you know, obviously Willie Sneid, they've all had their moments tweeting after games that you know they're not being used enough and they don't get the football enough. Meanwhile, you know they're they're dropping more footballs uh, you know than I would right now if I was to get

out there on that field. So um, there there's been that situation that's kind of been frustrating internally and externally with the wide receivers not being consistent, not getting over ninetenching the ball. Uh kadre Ishmael you know who does some media stuff and and my former teammate uh here with Baldimware has been very very outspoken about it. And I choke his word as it as a wide receiver in the NFL. UM And so you know, your point is correct. Let that Mark Andrews is his blankie, that's

his lioness. If if you eliminate and the game plan which has been it's been out there and teams have used it to success against the Ravens, where if you're a defensive line, your defense ends keep Superman in the phone booth. They don't get rushed past the quarterback. You've given him those running lanes because that's where Lamar is absolutely destroying teams right now, where the defense ends are

getting pushed past them. He steps up. Now you have linebackers the VBS coming out of coverage thinking they got to go get a guy that's running the four three four four, and then all of a sudden he's flicking it to somebody down the field. But if those defensive ends and be line are keeping him contained, and then you're eliminating Mark Andrews, his favorite weapon. He struggles that complete passes consistently, consistently, excuse me, outside the numbers and

those wide receivers just haven't gotten open as much. And then the times that they have gotten up and they dropped the football and key moments, so U there is a formula, you know for the Bengals, and like I said, obviously you know that you know them playing at home is always something that has you know, Bengal bitten the

Ravens so to speak. You know that last game or those those late games in the season, uh in the Queen City, which have always voted well for for the Bengals, and it's it's been something that's kind of been a thorn in Coach harball side. Um. You know, this is definitely a very very important game and it's it's it's the guys here are not taking this lightly like oh, it's the Bengals, like the Jaguars and the Giants, that they're taking this very seriously as if they're they're going

to play, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. And that's that's been the mindset in the building the last couple of days. Here's an invitation to join Lap and Me for the New Year's Day edition of the Bengals Pepper Rally Show Friday from three to six on ESPN fifteen thirty. 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 or Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, Happy New Year and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast