Bengals Booth Podcast: New Year's Dey - podcast episode cover

Bengals Booth Podcast: New Year's Dey

Dec 28, 202334 min
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Episode description

It’s the “New Year’s Dey” edition of the Bengals Booth Podcast as the Bengals head to Kansas City for a New Year’s Eve rematch of the last two AFC Championship games as they face the Kansas City Chiefs. Dan Hoard’s guests include Orlando Brown Jr., the NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano, and “Know the Foe” with Chiefs’ radio analyst Danan Hughes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'll be cleaning up the bottles with you on New Uesday. Addition, as the Bengals head to Kansas City for a New Year's Eve rematch of the last two AFC Championship games as they face the Kansas City Chiefs. Coming up, I'll talk to Orlando

Brown Junior about facing his former team. We'll hear from the NFL Networks Andrew Siciliano about the bengals final two regular season games, and in this week's No The Foux Conversation, we'll look at the Chiefs with their radio analyst Danan Hughes.

The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fan. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer

by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Swedish pancakes. My ancestors are mostly Swedish, and as a kid, my great grandmother frequently made us Swedish pancakes. If you've never had them, they're souper thin, more like a crep than an American style pancake, and in Sweden they're typically served with lingolnberry jam. I'm more of a butter and maple syrup guy in any case. Now I make them once a year on Christmas morning, and in

the interest of full disclosure, it couldn't be easier. You can buy Swedish pancake mix in a box, add water and an egg, and presto. They're just like great Grandma used to make. So give it a try. You'll say tuck that Swedish for thank you. Now let's get to football. Last Saturday's game in Pittsburgh was rough, but it was still a special day for Orlando Brown Junior. In the locker room after the game, he watched the birth of

his second son, a boy named Sonny, on FaceTime. This week, he goes back to Kansas City, where he earned a Super Bowl ring last year. I caught up with Orlando on Wednesday. First congratulations are in order. Orlando Brown Junior is a two time dad as of Saturday.

Speaker 2

Yes, I am, Yes, I am. Man.

Speaker 3

I'm super super blessed to be able to obviously be here for my kids.

Speaker 2

Man.

Speaker 3

You know, losing my dad at fifteen was hard for me. But man, to be able to bring these lives in the world and beat her for him menace everything to me.

Speaker 1

And both Christmas babies one born just before the they're just after.

Speaker 2

Yeah, exactly, man, the twenty third and twenty eighth.

Speaker 1

So all right, let's talk about Sunday's game. It's one of the great rivalries in the NFL, the Bengals against the Chiefs. You were on the other side of the rivalry for the last couple of years. What did you think of the Bengals from the opposite sideline.

Speaker 2

Yeah, well, I mean one of the reasons I signed here.

Speaker 4

Man.

Speaker 3

You can always tell how tough and physical, how hard this group plays, how determined they were. You know, I think being on the other side of things, man, having only one of the one of the battles, that was what stuck out to me the most.

Speaker 1

Was there anybody on the Bengals roster where you were like, man, I don't like that guy, and now that your teammates you're like, hey, this is a cool dude.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Honestly, probably all of them, Probably all of them, you know.

Speaker 3

I it's funny to say that, you know, we were just recently talking about that, just because the rivalry is so competitive, and you know, you you don't really know the guys in the other locker room, and you know, I was just staying on all of them, honestly.

Speaker 1

So going back to the AFC Championship game last year, did the Bengals calling Arrowhead Burrowhead or the Mayor's ill advised video trolling Patrick Mahomes kick you off at the time.

Speaker 3

Yeah, I mean personally, man, you know, I get it. You know, the trash talk and stuff. I can't really say it bothered me. Maybe it's some of the others as much, but you know, it's kind of a part of it, man, And I think that's what made the robbery so entertaining. It's so great, is those little things that kind of going on the outside that you know, obviously going to the game and up until that point, I mean, what they had won three straight against US, so you know they had our number.

Speaker 1

Or visiting with the Orlando Brown junior. In other sports, when you face a former team, it's not necessarily physical. On Sunday you'll be looking to pummel guys that were close friends ten months ago. Was that strange the first time you did it? And is it still strange now?

Speaker 4

No?

Speaker 3

Man, I mean, you know, at the end of the day, it's my job. Man, I don't care if my mother had a home on the other side of the ball. That's just the kind of way I think about it. You know, this guy's trying to feed his family like I'm trying to do trying to feed mine, and so you know, when it comes to the mentality, man, I mean, there is no backing down, there is no laying off. It's full go, you know, once we're out there on and light on.

Speaker 1

So you're going into Arrowhead, which holds the record for loudest stadium for a sporting event. It was one hundred and forty two decibels several years ago. Is it the loudest that you've ever played in?

Speaker 4

Yeah?

Speaker 2

Man, definitely.

Speaker 3

You know, I think Arrowhead is extremely loud from all the times that I've been there, even as an opposing player Seattle too, you know that that environment. And here in Cincinnati another another stadium that's crazy, M and T Bank, Baltimore and San Francisco. Man, those stadiums, those fans get rowdy.

Speaker 1

Now, So as an o lineman at some point is loud just loud or the ones that you just mentioned, is at a different level in trying to communicate.

Speaker 3

It's a different level when trying to communicate because honestly, it's hard to hear the man next to you, and so uh sometimes even with the quarterback checking and play or if you are on cadence in a certain situation under center. I mean, it's hard. It's hard. But you know, those are things you got to overcome on the road. And that's why I'm super excited for the opportunity to

get out here to Kansas City with this team. Is you know, because there is gonna be adversity in this game, and uh, that's that's part of the sport, that's part of you know, these Bengals Chiefs games, and uh, you know, I think the crowd noise is going to kind of

add to that. And so that's what makes it special, man, is you know, we get the opportunity to go out here against a really good football team, obviously a team that you know, took this team out of the Super Bowl last year, and and uh, you know all those things that go into it.

Speaker 2

Man, it's super exciting.

Speaker 1

So after the loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, most of the other results were favorable to the Bengals except for Buffalo winning, but the other games kind of fell in Cincinnati's favor. Were you even really paying attention to any of that? And now that you know it has it energized the team at all, knowing, hey, we're still very much in this.

Speaker 3

Yeah, man, you know, no matter what with the season, man, I try to take it one week at a time. And I know that's kind of cliche and a little bit of corny, but you know, so many things can happen week to week, and trying to keep up with playoff contention, and you know, the week fourteen or it's hard,

you know what I mean? And so I keep it week the week, man, And first and foremost, we got to beat this football team in Kansas City, and I think from there everything else will take care of yourself.

Speaker 1

The Chiefs record is one game better than the Bengals record, and they've had a healthy Patrick Mahomes all year. Obviously you have not had a healthy Joe Burrow all year. What do you think's up in Kansas City?

Speaker 3

Yeah, well, I mean, I think overall, just in the NFL, you look around how competitive the league is, and how much more competitive it is. You know, the NFL is designed to somewhat haven't even playing field, in the way that free agency works, in the way that the waiver wire works with the worst team getting the best option rec for the draft, all those different things. And uh, I think you look around the league, man, even within their division. For Kansas City, Denver is a better football

team than they've ever been. Uh, the Raiders are a really good football team, playing really hard. And you know the Chargers are are you know, playing hard as well, even though they're down with Justin Herbert. So when you have a little small things like that going on around the sport, man, you've got teams like Buffalo that are that are really good, have really good rosters. You know, I think all those things kind of go hand to hand. And so man, that's that's what that's what this league

is about. It's it's literally a game of inches and so, uh, Kansas City has come up short a few times due to that reason. Man, whether it be a turnover here there, you know, you take one of those turnovers out the game. I mean, I mean it's it's a pretty competitive game last week for them. So, uh, that's just kind of way the cookie crumbles.

Speaker 2

You could say.

Speaker 1

One thing that hasn't dropped off in Kansas City is the d.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Number two in scoring defense, number two in yards allowed. Is this as well as they've ever played on defense since you've been a member of the NFL?

Speaker 2

Yeah, definitely, Man, I think this def this is really special.

Speaker 3

And they have you know, they have been They've always had pretty much the same faces and names.

Speaker 2

A few new.

Speaker 3

People here and there, but you know, Spags is a great defensive coordinator, man, and he gets this guy's going. He's got greatest sinstant coaches. Obviously, Chris Jones is the first battle of Hall of Famer, you know. So it's a lot of things going going their way in terms of that man, and they play really hard as well.

Speaker 1

Fifth time around between these two rivals, it's all four previous games have been decided by three points.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and that's That's what this is about.

Speaker 3

Man is winning it turnover battle, you know, being the most disciplined team and winning a lot of scrimmage.

Speaker 1

Congrats on Young Sunny, best of luck on Sunday, Yes, sir, thank you. The Bengals are currently a seven point underdog at Kansas City. The last time they lost to Pittsburgh, they were a ten point underdog the following week and beat Jacksonville in overtime on Monday Night Football thirty four thirty one. Here's Zach Taylor.

Speaker 5

You can look back to how this room was, how locker room after the day after we lost Pittsburgh the first time, you know, and there could have easily been a narrative that this team's going to hang it up, and that's not what happened. Instead, three games in a row where we played really inspired football and found three wins and you got ourselves back in the hunt. So we're no different in the situation right now where we need to be at our best this week against Kansas City.

And I'm excited to see if these guys respond. And I know what they are, I know how they're going to respond, and I'm excited to see it this week.

Speaker 1

If the Bengals can win their final two games, they have a ninety four percent chance of making the playoffs. If they go one and one, it's a twenty one percent chance. So a win in Kansas City this week would be ginormous. For more in the likelihood of pulling it off. I caught up with a familiar face from the NFL Network. He is a host on the NFL Network and he's called some games on the radio for the Cleveland Browns this year. It is great to welcome

in my friend Andrew Ciciliano. Andrew, if the Bengals can win their last two games, they can still make it to the playoffs, and that road to the playoffs again's at Kansas City this week. What do you make of the Chiefs who are nine and six and just four and four at home?

Speaker 6

Oh boy, Dan, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that fun stuff to you and yours. It was not a merry Christmas, I know for the Chiefs. I think I was like everyone else. You know, by the time you get with the family and by the time, yeah, you figure out you know, when is dinner going to be served? Should I have another appetizer? Should I pour another drink. You looked up and all of a sudden, the Chiefs were losing in the fourth quarter, and everybody

wanted to blame Taylor Swift. I think they have some legitimate issues, and I don't know that I've ever seen I think this really tells the story. I don't know that I've ever seen Patrick Mahomes that visibly frustrated on

the field, and it's been building. Obviously, there have been moments and postgame with Josh Allen a couple of weeks ago with the Gadarius tonyoff size that obviously was his volcanic moment on the field, but just the first stration down in, down, out, the body language with Kelsey throwing the helmet and everything as well. I think that offense is broken. They have nobody who can get open. Mahomes

truly does have to do everything by himself. With the checko down concussion protocol, I think that adds an extra layer of difficulty for the Chiefs. I think this team is eminently beatable, even if the game is in Kansas City and we keep waiting for it to click. Oh, don't worry, Mahomes and Andy Reid are going to figure it out well. They have it yet, which leads me to believe if they aren't going to.

Speaker 1

After Kansas City, it's a home game against the Cleveland Browns. You called the Browns game last week on the radio. At this point, the way Joe Flacco is playing, are the Browns a legit contender?

Speaker 4

I think they are.

Speaker 6

Dan and the Browns fan in me, and for those who don't know, I was born and raised day Browns fan, I will be there for Thursday night football in the stands as a fan dressed formally. Of course, the Browns fan in me doesn't want to say it because you tell yourself you can't have good things and don't dream of playoff victories yet, just take it day by day, week by week, as Stefanski says, go one to oh

every week. But Flacco has brought a new level of confidence, and I think in this holiday season, I don't want to get too deep here, but I think the issue of gratitude is relevant here if you go back and you look after the Jaguars victory, when Stefanski gave flackaway game ball postgame speech in the locker room, Flacco said to the team, thank you for having me, like thank

you for letting me in here. He is that grateful to have another shot at it, and with this team it's working, and they are that grateful in return to have him, and it is a sight to behold and the level of confidence and joy with which they were playing because he is there is something Andrew.

Speaker 1

Let's turn to Jake Brown and he's made five starts since Joe Burrow went down. His passer rating is ninety nine point four. He's averaging more than three hundred passing yards per game in this year of backup quarterbacks. What do you think of Jake Browning in the job he's done in Cincinnati.

Speaker 6

I think it's phenomenal. Part of me was yelling at my TV in the first quarter, Daan, I'm sure you were yelling at the radio as well when he I think, tried to throw the ball away in the back right corner of the end zone. But also when you have t Higgins make the play the week before, you have that confidence, and Jake is certainly not one lacking confidence that you can make that play. I love the guy, I think, Dan, you and I talked on serious x

MNFL radio the day after the Joe Burrow injury. I had you on as a guest, and I said, I think the season's over, not out of spite, I just didn't see this coming. It is a great holiday gift and the Bengals still have a shot, which this time of the year is all you can ask for. And here's here's why Bengals fans should be rooting for the

Browns on Thursday. Because if the Browns win, and the Browns are in and the Ravens win and the Ravens lock up number one, Brown's got nothing to play for a week eighteen and they are decimated by injuries, and you could see PJ. Walker week eighteen. So Bengals fans root for the Browns.

Speaker 1

Let's talk about a Bengals defensive player. When people around the NFL talk about the great edge rushers in the league, they're going to mention TJ. Watt, Miles Garrett, and obviously Micah Parsons and some others. You don't hear Trey Hendrickson come up all that often.

Speaker 4

TJ.

Speaker 1

Watt's the only player in the NFL right now with more sacks than Trey who has sixteen. Does he belong in that conversation? And do you have a theory for why he doesn't get that kind of publicity.

Speaker 6

That's a great question. Why does he not? That I can't answer, But I think a sack and six straight games of those overall numbers certainly deserve more attention. I think the people to know football know the kind of job Trey Henderson does against the run as well. I'll

go back to Stefanski. He went off in his soapbox last week about stats being the only numbers kind of like home runs in baseball, that anyone pays attention to, but it truly doesn't tell the entire story, whether it's pressures or TFLs or plays in the backfield in general, Trey Hendrickson has all of those things if you take a deeper dive, and that's not analytics, that's just a better way of analyzing the way somebody is playing. Trey Henderson.

Hendrickson does deserve more attention. But the squeaky wheel, like Michah Parsons and Jerry Jones complaining about not getting holding calls, generally speaking, is what's going to be heard on the screaming head shows every morning when you turn your radio on.

Speaker 1

All right, let's look ahead to next year. The Bengals will have a healthy Joe Burrow back, and they're going to have them as their quarterback at least through twenty twenty nine. After the contract extension that he signed prior to this season. There are going to be some salary cap implications to come. But give us your long term prognosis for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 6

What did Joe say? The window is as long as I'm here right the window is my career. I think I'm going to go. I'll have what he's having. I fully believe that. But I also know Dan, as you guys will know there and is always the topic of conversation, especially this year, that there are other contracts to worry about, another mouths to feed, specifically in the wide receiver room.

Speaker 2

So it's going to be a balancing act.

Speaker 6

And what you hope doesn't happen is honestly what's going on right now in Kansas City, because we all agree that if they had simply paid a little bit more to Tyreek Hill, then maybe people aren't blaming Taylor Swift and the Chiefs offense is still clicking, and it would be great if you could keep that wide receiver room intact.

I don't know that you can but as long as Joe is there, I firmly believe that they will be fine, because I also believe in Duke Tobin's ability to continue to restock this roster.

Speaker 1

You are spending time with your family for the holidays. We interrupted a shopping spree.

Speaker 6

That's what's in the back couring rain here in northern Virginia. I actually came inside here to the car to get dry.

Speaker 1

All right, Well in happy shopping once you get out of the car, once it stops raining. We appreciate your time, enjoy that Browns game, and look forward to catching up again sometime soon. Thanks Andrew.

Speaker 6

Like I said, happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to every Bengals fan had obviously Danty you and yours as well.

Speaker 1

The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. In order

for the Bengals to beat the Chiefs on Sunday. Jake Browning is going to have to rebound from the first bad start of his NFL career, as he threw three interceptions in Saturday's loss at Pittsburgh.

Speaker 7

I'm not the first quarterback to that have a tough game, and there's been a lot of great quarterbacks that I had some really really bad games, and so I'm not.

Speaker 2

Discouraged by that.

Speaker 7

I think you watch it with I watched my losses the same way I watch my wins, and there's always going to be something you need to do better taking that into account. But then also, like for me, it's you know, okay, it's very easy to say, okay, don't turn the ball over. Okay, Well, you know, how do you do that while it's sustaining aggressive in the scheme, because I do need to play well and play like

that in order to win games. There's no quarterbacks in the NFL that are just showing up on game day and you know, just playing not to mess up and then winning a bunch of games games. So it's not as easy as just saying that, And so you got to find that balance and you know, hopefully be able to do that throughout this week of practice and play well.

Speaker 2

It's the Chiefs.

Speaker 1

If Browning had enough attempts to qualify, his passer rating of ninety eight point five would rank sixth best in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes is currently fifteenth in that stat mostly due to his fourteen interceptions, the highest total of his NFL career. For more on Kansas City and the Bengals Chiefs rivalry, radio analyst Danan Hughes joined Dave laphaman me, I'm the Bengals game plan and show.

Speaker 4

It's definitely different circumstances now, but still a lot on the line for us and you guys, and we have to make the best of it. So it's still going to be an epic clash. Definitely. You guys are one of the teams, one of the two probably three teams that I say in the NFL that are very comfortable coming in to Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and we have to be ready for it. We haven't played our

best football at home. Of our six losses, four of them have been at home, so we got to change that around and for the first time, if we can get this win or at least one of the next two wins, we'll be in the playoffs and we'll have an uphill battle with Patrick Malmes having to go on the road at some point. So definitely a lot on the line, a lot to be digesting right now, but it's the matter at hand that we have to try to take advantage of.

Speaker 8

Are you surprised that the Kansas City Chiefs have not found their rhythm offensively yet? You know, it's been up and down. I guess, to say the least. What's your thought there? Why do you think they're struggling so badly to find their rhythm?

Speaker 4

Yeah, I am definitely surprised. I think many people around the Chiefs Kingdom are surprised that we are not necessarily as consistent as you would like. I think earlier this season you kind of always chalk it up as Okay, you don't need to be your best in September, and then October came along and you had a few wins, and you kind of felt like, all right, we're just kind of hitting out groove. It's taking a little bit

longer than normal. Then November comes in December and we can see these these losses that are starting to place themselves in our situation, and we're like, Okay, now there's some concern, and I don't think it's anything like fear. I don't think it's anything like there's any disappointment or panic feeling of the season is down down the drain, or any panic. It's more just about concern because if you look at the games that we've lost, we've lost six games, you can make an argument that five of

them came down to five plays. All five of those plays were wide receivers that dropped the ball or didn't make a play on the ball, or just didn't make a play. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't other factors well, whether it's the offensive lineman or other guys not running right route, or Patrick maybe getting too much pressure to safe. But it came down to five places. And as a former wide receiver, I don't have a problem saying that because I know what goes on in

that meeting room. I know what the mice that is of wide receivers at this level, and sometimes you just gotta wail it. Like I played with Joe Montana for two years and guess what, anytime we didn't do anything on offense, it was our fault. It wasn't going to be his like, we know we know that going in. You know that when you play with a great quarterback, usually it's going to be your fault if things don't

go well. And the wide receivers just haven't really stepped up to what I think they should be and taking some of this stuff personally, you would think that they would amp up their play and it just hasn't been able to transpire that way.

Speaker 1

Cheets radio broadcaster Danan Hughes as our guest. I want to talk about the O line because for the season, the Chiefs are among the NFL leaders in fewer sacks allowed, but it was a problem last week against the Raiders four sacks, giving up ten quarterback hits. I know the left tackles missed a few games with an injury. Was that just an outlier game or has the offensive line had some chinks in the armor in recent weeks.

Speaker 4

I'd say a mixture. I mean, I think when you become a team that is so heavy pass happy, that teams can roll the dice on the run game. And I understand and you guys probably are the same way because when you have the best player on the field, whether it's Joe Burrow when he was healthy or obviously Patrick Mahomes. Chances are the ball is going to be

in that person's hands more times than not. So what we saw from the Raiders with MaTx Crossey on the outside is they just lined up and why techniques and basically said, we're going to try to run really fast around your tackles and if we don't get home, we're going to force Patrick Mahomes to step up into the pocket and that's where our big two guys are going

to be in its safe. They only glitch one time in that game, and to me, that's a concern because if you're getting you've been around this game a long time. If you're getting pressure with four, that makes it truly an uphill battle for your offense to have any efficiency,

and most times, really good defenses. If you look at the defenses in the past, whether it's the Ravens, the Buccaneers and years in the past, etc. It's usually because their front four are doing work so the other seven guys can take away all the passing lanes and confuse the quarterback. It's not because it's a blitz happy defense. So the fact that they were able to get pressure and it started immediately I mean we went three and out,

three and out. He got sacked twice in the first two drives and it was just like an onslaught that I don't think we were prepared for. And I feel like that's kind of a recipe for some headache against us coming up. And when you guys, you look at your guys on the outside who's done a great job Heston and Hubbard in the past, Like I don't see why they wouldn't be watching that film last week and saying, hey, we can do what MaTx Crosby and those guys did.

Move around and get up, feel fast, and play with that energizer Bunny tied up kind of mentality, and we got to be able to fix it. We got to be able to fix it immediately because we don't want to be in a situation where we have to go out to La to beat the Chargers to win the AFC West to get to the playoffs, Like it should not have to come down to that, and we're hoping we can write things this week.

Speaker 8

Defensively, I mean, this unit is playing extremely high level number two in points allowed, and that's that's where the rubber meets the road right there. But Russo, number two in yards allowed, number two in first downs allowed. It it's just it's crazy. It's solid across the board. I mean, how good is this defensive football team?

Speaker 4

This defense, as far as I'm concerned, going back through history, I've been here since nineteen ninety three, I played with Derek Thomas, Neil Smith, you know, great defenders, great defensive teams back in the nineties, and then the tide turned. And then when even when Andy came and Alex Smith was our quarterback and then into Patrick Mahomes, it was always about the offense this year, Like, this defense is

for real. And if our offense would have played up to anyway near the potential that they really have, or up the last year's production, like we'd be sitting here at you know, possibly with one loss on the season. So this defense is for real. The fact that they didn't allow a completed pass after the first quarter against the Raiders, like we only gave up eight points defensively in that game, that tells you something about this team. So yeah, this defense is doing everything they could possibly

do to help this team win games. And quite honestly, I would have never thought if you'd have called me back in September and said, Dan, you know what, you guys are going to have nine wins, and you can argue that the defense is truly responsible for about six of them. I would have said, you're crazy. I would have actually drug tested. I said, no way, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey would allow that to happen. And lo and behold as we go into Week sixteen, that's literally what's happened.

The best quarterback in the league, the best tight end of the league, playing back seat to this defense because we're playing what I would think. The Ravens may argue it, and they have a justified argument, but I say, as far as team consistent defense, we're playing as good as anybody or better than anybody in the NFL.

Speaker 1

Yeah, Danny. My final question has to do with a member of that defense, Lagerius Sneid. Our offensive coordinator Brian Callahan was raving about him earlier today. I know he didn't practice due to injury. How good has Sneid been and is there a chance he will not be able to answer the bell on Sunday.

Speaker 4

I think it's going to be extremely, extremely tough to believe that he would not show up and be ready to play on Sunday against the Bengals, especially with everything that is on the line, and it kind of brings you to that the disappointment factor of when you have these guys like Isaiah Pacheco on offense, the Lagarius Snead on defense that have been nicked up. Nick Bolton is

well still battling back from that risk injury. Had you won some of those games earlier this season that you should have one score game, got the ball late with an opportunity to win, whether it was the Detroit Lions up front, or even going back to that Eagles game and the Buffalo Bills game, you might have an opportunity to be able to bench these guys and say rest up for the playoffs. Well, you don't have that luxury anymore. We're not necessarily fighting for a number one seed. We're

fighting for playoff positioning and playoff existence. So I feel like Lajarius Neeed definitely will be out on the field now. As far as his play, I got played with Dale Carter and James Hasty, Albert Lewis, I mean, like some great Chiefs corners that were locked down corners on one side of the field, and Lagarious Steed. The fact that he's able to do what he does against every number

one receiver AJ Brown, Davonte Adams play. I mean, you go throughout the list of the receivers that he's played this season and shut them down on either side of the field. He's traveling with guys old school shows you how impressive he's been as a defensive back, and then his presence in the backfield on blitzes as well as like a nickel corner, like he's doing everything for this defense between he and Trent McDuffie has been extremely impressive.

I'm looking forward to the matchup. You guys will probably have the top tandem receivers that will face this year and their hands will be full. But if it's any indication of what we've seen from him this season, he's gonna be ready for the challenge.

Speaker 8

Final question, Thanks for taking all the time you've taken with us. You've been unbelievable. And my question is, well, do you think there's any chance that we'll see Taylor Swift in the press box elevator?

Speaker 4

There as the possibility she was at the last home game she's been out to I say several of the games back then when we went up to New York in October Chicago when we played at home, so she's she's made our presence here from several games and with the holidays here, I can't imagine why she wouldn't be there. So we'll see that. You know, there's been in the earlier in the season. If you remember when she was around travit had great games, we were winning football games.

Then the tide has turned a little bit where it hasn't been the same. So I don't know if they're superstitious or not, but I'm not superstitious at all. So I'll welcome her in the stadium. It gives us an extra boost with the fan base and it's got to all be about to win first though, thanks to.

Speaker 1

David Hughes, and that's going to do it for this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Corps. Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by kettering health the best care for the best fans. Scattering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.

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