Bengals Booth Podcast: Rocky Top

man roster. Charles Davis will be in the booth for CBS this Sunday and has some very interesting things to say about the current state of the Bengals, especially the offensive line. Then, and this week's Know the Faux segment, Nashville broadcaster John Burton gives us the inside scoop on the first place Titans. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust pay Corps to help them recruit, pay engage,

and retain employees. Learn more at acorps dot com. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the good guy factor. In the Bengals locker room. There are roughly seventy players on the team, including the practice squad, and I can honestly say that

I can't name a single jerk. The guys are fun to deal with, very accommodating with our request for interviews and radio show appearances. And trust me, that is not the case in every NFL locker room. The Bengals have done a phenomenal job of drafting and signing players who enjoy coming to work and enjoy each other. I think it's a huge reason why this team got so good so fast. Now let's get to football. Perhaps the biggest question this week involves the status of Jamar Chase. Will

he return from his hip injury this Sunday. Here's what Zach Taylor had to say at the beginning end of the week when asked if Jamar could be back. It's hard to say, you know, it's it's We'll start working

him back this week to see where he's at. I don't want to make any predictions on that, but everything is a kind according to plan so far, and now it's just a matter of getting out there on the grass and seeing where he's at and what's his comfort level, what's our comfort level, And so that'll truly be a day to day process, you know, really starting today tomorrow, Wednesday, to figure out, you know, how he factors in on Sunday Lawrence thing for him, it really is hard to predict,

you know. It's again we told him to stay off of it for four weeks, which he did, and so now you get a chance these last couple of days to start getting him going a little bit. And so really hard to make a prediction on. It's a balance of soreness, pain, everything is so great impossible to make

the predictions. Jamar did practice on a limited basis on Wednesday, That's the day that Joe Burrow does his weekly news friends to discuss the upcoming game, and naturally, he was asked about the possibility of having Numero Uno back on the field. You know, we'll see how he's feeling. You know, we expect him to play. I know he ran yesterday and he felt good, so we'll see how it goes the rest of the week. Although Joe said we expect him to play, I would take that with a grain

of salt. The Bengals will obviously proceed with caution, because the last thing they want to do is put Chase back on the field before he's ready. Jamar has missed three games, and while the first one went horribly the loss in Cleveland, they've scored forty two and thirty seven points in their last two games without him. One of the guys who has really contributed during Jamar's absence has been Trenton Irwin, who caught his first career touchdown passed

last week at Pittsburgh. Joe Burrow praised Irwin's work ethic after that game, and I asked Zach Taylor about it this week. He lives in the facility. I think he's got a room somewhere in the facility. I promise you, whether it's the offseason, the preseason, if you hear basketball bouncing from my office and I picked my head out, there's probably Trent getting up shots because he just worked out,

or he just stretched, or he just did something. You know, we're most guys, or a guy on an off season, summer or whatever it is. He just kind of lives here. And and that just doesn't mean he's just killing time. He's he's trying to achieve something. Whether it's getting with Darren extra for special teams work, you know, just mentally trying to trying to be better on special teams because he understands the value of that as a receiver when you're not a starter, how that fits into play. And

so again he has done. I promise you, Trent goes to bed at night knowing that he did everything he possibly could to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. And so those are the types of guys that you can just see. I mean, that's one of the few ones. I watched the TV copy of that touchdown just to watch the reaction from the players, the coaches on the sideline, to staff members, because everybody in here knows how hard the guy works and how much heaters are of that moment.

Trenton Or when his twenty six years old and has been with the Bengals for four years, nearly all of it spent on the practice squad. I caught up with the former Stanford cardinal Trent, and I asked Zach Taylor about you this week, and he said, quote, he lives in the building. I think he's got a room here somewhere. And then he said he goes to bed at night knowing he did everything to make the most of his opportunity.

What's your reaction to those comments. Well, I mean that's a compliment and a half right there, But I mean that's not how true. I do stay in here a lot. I try to come in here off days every time, for sure, But you know, even the bye week, I just stayed here instead of going at home and just just trying to be the most prepared I can be for when the opportunities come, and they've been coming more lately, So happy for that. Your teammates went bananas when you

caught your first NFL touchdown catch last week. What did their reaction mean to you. I think it was pretty cool.

It was pretty cool. I actually had like a dance ready and they all showed up, so I was like, I wish I would celebrate together, but that's the way I want to do it anywhere, celebrate together of the team, you know, just having that reaction, And actually I think part of that too was having last week's taken away with the call there, so everyone was like, ah, you know, you had it, and so it was good to get back in the zone. Yeah, let's go back to that touchdown.

Catch because I think it was a touchdown against Carolina. You're just on the edge of the end zone. You reach out. It's a question as to whether you got both feet down in bounds. I watched the replay a bunch of times. I think your right foot was down. Did you get ripped off? I feel like I got ripped off. I do, I do, one hundred percent. But it's one of those they call it incomplete on the field. It's hard to overturn type of things. They made up for it in the next game that we made it happen,

so it was. It was tough, it hurt, but it turned back around. Yeah, the good news is you didn't have to wait long to get the one that counted last week against the Steelers. Let's describe that play. Are you the first option there? Do you have a pretty good idea when they snapped the ball? Did Joe's coming to you? Not at all? Not at all. TV was the first option there. I was supposed to help it out for TV, and they played different covers than we

were expecting and a little scramble drill. You know, Joe put it in a good spot and made a play, and I really had no shun no idea. I was gonna get that ball, so be prepared every time they snap it. You received a game ball after the game. Where is it and where will it ultimately wind up? Game ball is It's definitely in my condo right now, just sort of chilling there. I took it with me all through the airport on the airplane, you know, through

the bus, all that good stuff. But I'm gonna send it back home and get it frame or get it in a box, however you frame a football. I've learned that one. I've known that one. Yeah, some sort of glass case or box or something. I'm guessing we're visiting the Trenton Irwin. During the last three games, you were elevated from the practice squad to the game day roster. A team can only do that three times during the

course of the season. You played so well that you have now been promoted full time to the fifty three man roster, get a nice pay raise among other things. But is it a relief. It's definitely a huge compliment, you know. It's it's you know, getting up there three weeks in a row and then getting the fourth week to fifty three. You know, that's that's always the goal for me. But I mean it's you know, it's not

nothing I haven't proven. You know, I've been able to go a weekend, week out and make some plays and I'm excited to continue to make some plays when the opportunities come. You guys scored a bunch of points each of the last two weeks without Jamar Chase. What's it saying about the offense that you guys were able to thrive without him? I mean, Jamar's special, He's special and everything that he does. But our offense has been able to tick, and you know, ball has been spread around.

People have been making plays, different people making plays between Joe you know, Borough obviously, but mixing and T and TB. So I mean it just shows that we have a lot of pieces on this team, both through attitude and you know, playmaking ability to be able to create explosives for the team. Trying to hit your fourth year with the Bengals, much of that time has been spent on the practice squad. What's the hardest thing about doing all the work during the course of the week and not

getting to experience the joy of game day. Man, It's a tease. It's just a tease. Every week. You know, you I love the game, I love the preparation, but being able to make a play for the team, to be able to, you know, have that adversity, that moment, it's you know, it's like something you crave and it's a little bit of tease to just be that practice,

you know, going through the motions type of thing. But you can't be going through the motions if you want to be elevated because you've got to continue to get better there. So it's it's been a tease, but you know, as long as it is, I'm playing playing ball on the team right now, so I'm happy. Do you find a way to turn practice into a game. I think they do a very good job of that. I think they do some competition drills, um. But also on scout team.

You know me, Stanley's been there for some time with me, and we always we always said our Thursdays of our game days when we weren't active. So you had to Tennessee this week, knocked them out of the playoffs on their home field last year. I'm sure the fans are going to be salty on Sunday. What do you expect the atmosphere to be like? Oh, it'll be rowdy. For sure. It'll be rowdy, you know. I mean they're they're coming coming for us. But I mean this is it is

like a playoff game as well. You know, we gotta come out there, we gotta win, this must win. So I think, you know, I think we all approaching it with that manner, and I think I think the results show in their last seven games, they have not given up more than seventeen points in regulation. How would you describe their defense? Wow, I didn't know that's that. Um, Their front is definitely the strength of their defense there, their front sevens, you know. I mean they showed that

in the playoffs as well. But you know they're they're in every position. They're just a little bit nasty, they're physical. You know they're gonna play that way, and that's that's very able there. You know, that's him going pick up those types of guys and it's gonna be a competition. But I think we're going more than seventeen. So final question for Trent and Irwin. You joined Dave Lapham and

me on a radio show a few weeks ago. Somebody approached you and asked you to sign a box of Velveta because you were in a Lvita commercial when you were a kid. Is that the all time weirdest autograph request you've received? And as it started a trend, so I've signed two Vilviata boxes. Is it the all time weirdest? Some kids be creative with the weird stuff. I signed the fork ones. I don't know why I was signing a fork the Velvata boxes. Those are always fun because

it shows that nos background information. But I mean it probably up there is one of the weirdest. I've even signed a fork. I tried to figure it out. It didn't look pretty. It did not look pretty, but it was what it was. I handed it back to him. It was a metal fork and who was happy? Though? That's automatted there. That's good stuff. Congrat send your first NFL touchdown catch last week. Best of luck this Sunday.

Appreciate you. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber and by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals They're free to play with tickets and side merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app The road of the Super Bowl last year included a stunning nineteen sixteen win over the top

seeded Titans on their home field. It was the first road playoff win in Bengals history, and they pulled off the upset despite Joe Burrow being sacked nine times. So what's it going to take to do it again? I discussed the matchup with one of the guys who will call the game on TV this Sunday. I had Eagle and Charles Davis will be in the booth for CBS this week, and the former Tennessee safety joins us. Now, Charles, you had the Bengals Steelers back in Week one. You

also had the Bengals Jets game. But I want to go back to that first game. What did you think of the Bengals when you walked out of the booth at Paycourt Stadium that day? Well, the first thing I thought, Dan was I didn't give enough credence to a cardinal rule and an adage that I'm quite aware of and believe in, and that is it offensive lines take time, continuity, is real. The best ones have played together, spent time. You know what's that great phrase, it's all through the

NFL now time on task. They've all done it. And it doesn't just happen just because you're bringing new people who are very good at their positions, and then you throw in Lyon Collins really didn't practice all the run up too, like he wouldn't get like one two days in before the season opener. So when you put it together, yes, Lyon Collins is an upgrade at right tackle, Alex Kapp is an upgrade at right guard. Ted Carriss is an

upgrade at center. You're hoping that Cordell Volson will be an upgrade eventually, at least with him, he was a rookie. So you exactly you said to yourself, okay that and you know it's gonna take some time. And Jonah Williams, you knew it was a proven factor. But we went into that game and let me rephrase that, I went into that game, Wow, I can't wait to see this

Bengals offensive line. And they struggled rough ball game. And let's face it, just about anyone who plays Pittsburgh's going to struggle, and they did but fast forward to just last week, and you've seen an offensive line now that's had time on task. If I'm not mistaken, Dan, every guy has made every start. You don't get that in the league very often now because of injuries and all that. And boy did it show up against Pittsburgh last week.

Seven If you just want blood down to one stat, seven sacks has given up in the first game, two in the second game. Just off of that, you've seen the improvement, but it was a lot bigger than that. Now this offensive line is a factor as expected. And that's my takeaway from week one. So how good is the group? Ten games? In middle of the pack, top third, not near the bottom. What do you think of the offensive line? Definitely top third and trending upwards getting better.

You know they've hit their stride now to where they go into it and they're not having to account for each other as much as believe in each other. And the difference for me is very simply this. In the opener, you were counting for each other. Zach Taylor as a head coach and play caller had to count for that. Brian Callahan, do I keep tight end and more to chip and make sure I'm protecting my quarterback. Do I make sure the back checks it before he gets out

into a scout? You know, no scout protection where he just gets out, but keep him in. Do I do those sorts of things? I think there's a lot less of that now in watching them over the last few weeks and seeing them being able to do that, and when they look at each other, they kind of know what the move is without having to call out the code words and do things like that. Although I'm sure

they're still playing communication going on. That's what good offensive lines do, but they're definitely one of the better ones. They're not gonna get the credit for it because the numbers are so heavily skewed from the beginning of the year. When you give up thirteen sacks in your first two games, you're playing from behind the rest of the year Dan

as we well know. But I think that if you take it from let's say two weeks ago to the rest of the season, then you're gonna be able to compare them to say, oh, people will go, oh wow, that's a really good You know, they've come together, so I see them, I see that happening for them and Joe Burrow. Look when you can protect him, look out, He's tough enough when you don't protect him. Because that opening game, the Steelers won it, But did the Bengals actually lose it? I think a case could be made

on that. We're chatting with Charles Davis from CBS. So the Bengals are six and four right now, they're the seventh and final playoff seed in the AFCNE How good are the Bengals right now? They're good enough to play

against anyone. I know. Everyone's talking about their schedule, and my colleague out of Marchiletta talked about it last week on the broadcast, and he's right, Bengals have to earn their way, okay, because there are no soft touches for the Bengals all the way out the rest of the season. But at the same time, everyone who plays them is feeling like, oh boy, gotta get ready for this squad. And when you look at numbers and again, I'm not trying to go Vince Scully here, God rest his soul.

One of the greatest ever. I SI love how Ben could weave a stat into something and make it sound so incredible. And he's now batting two seventy five on a Tuesday when the temperature is four degree and you're like whoa, and you're like what was that? Right? But it felt really important. But you look at the numbers for the Bengals offensive offense, they're very good except for

the running game. Defense really good, Okay, especially when you're talking about them shutting people down on third downs and getting off the field. You know things that you like what you see from them, all right, you like this. You count on the experience, even with injuries things come along. I think they're gonna be a tough out for anyone they play, and a lot of people are gonna talk about games looking even because of records. They remind me

a little bit of San Francisco six and four. But I think a case could be made they're the best team in the NFC, Cincinnati six and four and in second place in their division. There's a case that can be made that that's the team you don't want to deal with. That's where I think Cincinnati is. Right now, you've got a Vince Scully imitation. I'm impressed. I just love it right there. How many times have we listen to Vince Scully give us a stat and we've just gone,

Oh my goodness. And then later on you thought to yourself, who computes what the temperature was on a certain date in Saint Louis in nineteen forty seven, Ben Scully? Didn't It sure sounded good to me. All right, let's doc secondary. That's the position you played at Tennessee. The Bengals have lost chittabey a wuge. I think he's a top five corner in the NFL. You can't go find a guy like that in the middle of the season. How good

is the Bengal secondary without him? Obviously they're reduced without him because he's what you said, he's one of your top players, and he's only gotten better and better in his time in Cincinnati. You know, he was relying on so much talent in Dallas, but then he refined it in Cincinnati. And he was a guy who liked to take on the challenge. He wanted to travel with the number one receiver. He wore CB one across his heart.

He wanted to be that guy sending me, well, you can't do that now because it's not quite the same you're trying to do, you know, figure some things out at corner. But that's where Cam Taylor brit comes into play. This is why he was drafted, and I think he's gotten better as time has gone on. And I love a Loua and Rumo does with the defense. But I think now you go back and you say, okay, here's

where my veterans come into play. Jesse Bates, von Bell, Mike Hilton, three guys that could hold down the middle, and of course Hilton going with the Nickels and doing those things and help those younger guys out. Even when they make a mistake, you have some more racers behind them. They make that mistake, they keep that mistake from being too huge. So I still think it's a very good secondary. Obviously, without a Woozia, I think it'd be disingenuous to say, oh,

it's just as good. That's not true. Woozia is that type of a player. The Bengals didn't have Jamar Chase last week, they lost Joe Mixon in the first half, and they dropped thirty seven on the Steelers in Pittsburgh with t J. Watt back. What does that say about the Bengals offense. It says that they've adjusted because you remember when Jamar Chase wasn't around the first week. I had zero doubt in my mind that they would be fine.

In fact, I opined everywhere people ask me, and probably even when they didn't ask me, they were gonna be okay. Remember that game, Dan, it was Halloween, It's Cleveland and Imber I actually said on a CBS HQ. They asked me who I liked in the game. I said Cincinnati. I've never been stronger on a pick this one this year. Halloween Night got me and they had to go through a little adjustment period. But a reason my reasoning at the time still stands for me because we've seen it

since then. T Higgins is a wr one in most places. Tyler Boyd, before t Higgins and before Jamar Chase showed up, led the team in receiving for three straight years. It's not a matter of him not understanding how to get open. Hayden Hurst is a more than quality tight end who I thought, Okay, he'll get more opportunities. Joe Mixon, Yeah, we know the trouble running football. We've seen that throughout the year, finally starting to come together. But he could

catch the ball in the backfield. P Ryan could catch the ball in the backfield. So I thought that they would adjust and Joe Burrow would find the best matchup. That one night didn't happen very well since then, with the growth of the offensive line. Yeah, all those weapons are still out there. And when you get chased back, if you get him back this week, next week, whenever it is, things go back. Not so much too normal, but they keep getting better because everyone gained more confidence

in doing more things while he was out. This is a very difficult matchup with Jamar Chase or without Jamar Jamar Chase for any defense to deal with. Let's talk about the Titans. They've won seven of their last eight, the only loss in overtime at Kansas City when they didn't have Ryan Tannehill. How is this team doing it the same way they always do it? A head coach who sets a tone and a tenor and some absolutes

that he makes his team play too. And his staff they you know, they have their We all know Pittsburgh the standard is the standard, right, so everyone has their version of that, whatever you want to call it. But I call him absolutes for every team, okay, because every coach says the same thing. You get what you coach, right, do you get what you demand? Well, whatever is you're absolute in Tennessee, absolutes are going to be. We're gonna be strong on defense right there, number one in the

league in third down defense. And remember Dan two seasons ago they went to the playoffs giving up over fifty three percent on third down, the worst since the merger. And somehow gad in any way, Right, it gonna be tough that way, It's gonna be Derrick Henry, Derrick Henry, Derrick Henry until until further notice. But when Ryan Tannehill can throw a play action off of all that, Derrick Henry and Trailer and Burks lives up to being a first round draft pick and can break people down in

the secondary, now you're starting to get there. Because their numbers with the receivers won't scare you at all. In fact, the numbers with the receivers are really abysmal. Okay, But Henry when he's running the football, and you have to respect that. When Tannehill gets that time and is locked in as he was Thursday night in Green Bay where he threw for over three hundred that night, and Burt's had a big night in the first one he's had

all year long. If they can keep ascending like that on all offense, then it's look out, because now you're gonna start throwing on first down. You're gonna go play action right then and there and get those heavy boxes and create better matchups in the secondary. But the biggest thing for me is Tennessee wakes up every morning and before their feet hit the floor coming out of bed, they know who they are and they live to it. And that's why you have what you have. Tennessee Cincinnati

both oh and two starts. Since then, it's been pretty darn good. I think Tennessee seven of eight Cincinnati sixth of eight. That's pretty strong matchup right there. Both of them have their a strong sense of identity and a strong sense of self. So the Bengals went there in the playoffs, slashed year, knocked out the Titans when they were the number one seed in the AFC. The fans are going to be salty this Sunday in Nashville, There's no doubt about it. What are a couple of keys

for the Bengals to go there and beat them again? Well, I think it's I think it's pretty simple. We just talked about identity and sense of self. Right, Joe Mixon is able to go because of the injury he had last week. Obviously we're gonna treat that with majorcaution and air on the side of that. But if he's able to go, or if it's p Ryan and maybe tray Beon Williams running the football well enough, it doesn't have

to be beating people up. It doesn't have to be that the old you have to run the ball in the AFC North to win it. Yeah, you gotta run it well enough so that you can get to the other stuff you want to get to, and that is Joe Burrow flinging it out wide to Higgins, to Boy to Hayden Hurst and just being able to dissect defense is just give him that little extra count of time in order to get that done defensively, not giving up anything big in terms of Henry meet him at the

point of attack. He's going to break some tackles. So I think the Bengals wearing white this week, a lot of white shirts around Derrick Henry. Okay, first guy, it can't just be him alone, because that person, I don't care who it is, deal with Derrick Henry. He's gonna break something, all right. You may meet him in the hole, you may meet him in the backfield. He's gonna get

a a little more than what is there? Your key as if it's only one person, might be a lot more than what is there, multiple people getting to Henry and then making sure you don't give a chance, give Tannehill a chance to get off growing the football. And right now that's Traylan Burkes, the rookie out of Arkansas. They get other people that they'll mix in. You're still waiting for Robert Woods to really break out. But he

had six catches last week. But the big thing is just like in the playoffs, don't let Henry get going. And by the way, if I remember correctly, Dan, I think Cincinnati Hill Tennessee to one of eight, one of ten, one of whatever in the playoffs on third down. That's huge, absolutely huge. Bengals Both podcast is brought to you by

Cattering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than one hundred twenty eight care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Cattering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health. Visit cattering health dot org to learn more. The tennis Titans started the year oh and two with a one point home loss to the New York Giants, followed by a thirty four point road loss to the Buffalo Bills. Since then, they're seven and one.

But here are the teams they've beaten the Colts twice, the Raiders, Commanders, Texans, Broncos, and Packers. Washington is the only team on that list with a winning record at six and five, and the others are combined nineteen and forty one with three ties. And this week's Know the Faux segment, I caught up with one of my favorite people in the world, John Burton. We worked together at a TV station in Syracuse when we were just starting out in broadcasting, and now John is a popular sports

anchor and talk show host in Nashville, KYB. The Titans are seven and one in their last eight. Their only loss during that span was in overtime at Kansas City when they didn't have Ryan Tannehill. That sounds like the profile of a really good team to me, But for whatever reason, they never seem to be mentioned as one of the true Super Bowl contenders in the AFC. Do they feel perpetually disrespected? I think deep down they do.

They don't speak on it, Dan, you know, but I think deep down they do because you look at where this organization was not that long ago. They went through a two year stretch where they were five and twenty seven, and since then they've had a winning record every year. They made the playoffs four straight times. This will be five straight. They're about to win their third straight division. They were the number one seed in the AFC last year with a home field advantage until your guys came

in and ruined the party. And you're right, they never get mentioned amongst the elite, either in the NFL or for that matter, the AFC. I think it's the market that we play in. I think it's the fact that even though Derek Henry's a star, he's not a real, you know, mouthie, dynamic kind of guy. He's a he's just a lunch pale guy. And really this organization and

this team is really a lunch pale team. They've got, you know, star players, Dereck Henry's one of them, certainly, and Jeffrey Simmons is becoming an absolute stud on the defensive line. But you know, they all kind of fall in line to what Rabel wants them to do, and that's just show up, and he preaches effort and finish and you know, support your teammates. Don't do a lot of trash talking, don't do a lot of you know, stuff that's going to get a lot of attention. I

think Rabel deep down likes it that way. You know, he comes from the Belichick tree, maybe not coaching, but he played for him and won a bunch of Super Bowls with him. So I think they like it that way. But if you asked him, if you put the wonder Woman last or truth around these players, they would say, yeah, you know what, we deserve more respect for what we've done the last four or five years. What was the local reaction after the playoff loss and what is the

atmosphere going to be like on Sunday. Well, I'll start with your first question. Devastation. I mean, nobody saw this coming. I mean, with all due respect to the Bengals, and obviously they had a great run last year getting to the Super Bowl and maybe one Aaron Donald getting blocked away from you know, play from the winning the whole thing. Nobody expected that Cincinnati ben was to come into Nashville

and beat the Tennessee Titans. Titans were, you know, basically because you look at what the Titans went through last year. They won twelve games despite the fact that they had so many key injuries, and they were able to rise above it. You know, the Titans used an NFL record ninety one different players last year and had never been done before, and they felt like, you know what, we weathered the storm. We got our guys back. Derek Henry

was coming back on his injury. Everybody, to a man and a woman here in Nashville thought last year was the year that they would at least get to the Super Bowl and a chance, you know, to right the wrong that was done with them back at Super Bowl thirty four against the Rams. It was shocked. This was a quiet town for about four or five days. And after Evan McPherson kicked that field goal in the final gun. We're talking to Nashville sports anchor and sports talk show

host John Burton. Ryan Tannehill was very candid over the summer about that game. He spoke about being in a really dark place after the three interceptions. He saught therapy. Do you see a difference in Ryan Tannehill this year? I do. And he's got that look at his eye, and I think, you know, he's a guy. Ryan is a guy that loves to compete and loves to win. And he's had a lot of success here being the Titan starting quarterback, taking over for Marcus Mariota mid way

through twenty nineteen. But the book on him has always been, you know what, he's good. He's a good regular season quarterback. He can't get you over the hump. He can't go into Kansas City and go toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes. He can't go into Buffalo and go toe to toe with Josh Allen. And we saw what Joe Burrow did coming in here last year, getting sacked nine times and getting up every time and leading that last second drive,

and of course the interceptions that Tannehill threw. So I think he's out to prove for a number of reasons, maybe chief among them the fact that he knows his days here in tennessee here number they drafted Malik Willis on the third round. He appears to be the air apparent, although he's got a lot of work to do before before we annoint him the next guy. But I think he knows you know, he's thirty four years old. He's had a good career, He's had a good you know,

reset to his career here in Nashville. He really really wants to be the guy that to help lead, you know, the Tennessee Titans to a Super Bowl championship. You know, we'll find out if he can do it. But yeah, he's a different kind of player this year, and he's been able to have success despite the fact that this passing game up until the Thursday night game against Green Bay has been almost non existent. You know, you lose H J. Brown and you draft Trailing Burkes and we

think he's going to be a pretty good receiver. He had a really good game Thursday night against the Packers, but he's been slow to develop. Robert Woods is more of a possession guy that tight ends haven't really gotten involved. You know, their best receiver has been their backup running back don Roll Hilliard. He's there leading touchdown catchcout, but he's been able to make the plays when the plays are needed to be made. And he is the unquestioned

leader of this football team. Everybody in that locker room respects him, and I think the one thing he wants to do before he leaves Nashville or leaves the Titans, is at least get them to the Super Bowl. So yes, I have seen a different look in his eye this year. Let's circle back to Derrick Henry. There have been very few running backs in NFL history like him. He's nearly

two hundred and fifty pounds. He's been time to nearly twenty two miles an hour in pads when teams have success against them, when they slow him down, you're not going to shut him down. But when they slow him down, how do they do it? Is it just hats to Derrick Henry? Is that the formula? Yeah, you have to

commit to it. You know, you have to say, you know what, Ryan Tannehill beat us throwing the football and with the wide receivers, in the lack of deep threats that you have, we're gonna bang on the fact that if we stop Derrick Henry, we'll be able to make one or two plays defensively to maybe turn Ryan Tannehill over. You have to commit full time to stopping Derrick Henry. But now that you see what happens in the Green Bay game, right, tane Hill throws for three hundred thirty yards.

Burkes has seven catches for one hundred eleven yards. Woods made some big catches. Austin Hooper the tight end had a couple of touchdowns. That's gonna make it a little bit more difficult to game plan against because that could

loosen things up for opposing defenses pretty soon. If this keeps up with the passing game, right, you're gonna have to decide do I walk my safeties up to commit to the run, or do I stay back in coverage and let you know, some of these guys run free in the middle of Burke's Hooper, some of the guys I mentioned so, but yeah, the way to stop Derrick Henrys you've got to go all out and commit to it.

I think in the Denver game, even though the Titans end up ended up winning that game, that was the best example because they basically said, Derrick Henry, if we lose this game, Derrick Henry is not going to beat us. Fill your gaps, get hats to the ball, bring your friends, you know, get and get him before he gets going right.

You gotta get him in the backfield, and you gotta hit him low because if you don't, if he if he gets even with the line of scrimmage, his shoulders square as a great John Madden used to say, you're in trouble and if he gets a step on you, you're not gonna catch him, even at two hundred and fifty pounds. A couple more questions for my friend John Burton,

the injuries having his pen is bad. This year is last year, but they've still got quite a few fifteen guys on ir What injuries have had the biggest impact and is there anybody we should be key thing on I on this week where that is concerned. I think the biggest injury going into this game dan is they're starting center Ben Jones. You know he's in concussion protocol. Did not play in the Green Bay game. He is the anchor for that offensive line, especially in the running game,

you know, in the center guard gaps. You know, he's a leader on this team. He's pound for pound, the toughest guy on this team. They did okay last week running a football without him, but they had to move some guys around. You know, coaches never liked to do that. So Ben Jones is a guy who want to keep an eye on. Also, the starting cornerback, Christian Fulton, he's been dealing with some injuries. It looks like they're gonna get their starting safety on Monty Hooker back, which will

be a big boost for them. But and also I would add outside linebacker Bud Dupree. Bengals fans are certainly familiar with him from his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's been dealing with a hip injury. He didn't play against Green Bay. I believe he did practice today. I haven't got the full practice report. I believe he did at least practice in some capacity today. And you know, you remember he had a pretty big day against Burrow, as did everybody on that defense in that playoff game.

Even though y'all came out with the win, Burrow earned that victory. So those are those are the three guys you want to keep keep an eye on. But I would say chief among them is Ben Jones because he's the guy that anchors that offensive line and really really powers that running game. A couple of Bengals players brought up to Nico Autrey today, is he expected to be good to go? He is not. And I'm glad you brought that up because I completely forgot about him. Denico

Autrey is not going to play in this game. He's gonna be out a while. And he's a guy that's been fantastic next to Jeffrey Simmons, and that defensive line leads the Titans with seven sacks this year, was on his way to perhaps a Pro Bowl Berth maybe double digit sacks. And he's a classic two way defensive lineman. Great against the run, great getting after the quarterback. And now with him out of the lineup and may make

it easier for the Bengals to double Jeffrey Simmons. But they have guys like Tierre Tart and some other interior your defensive lineman Niquon Jones, which is ironic because they used to have an interior defensive lineman named de Quon Jones, but now they just throw that in there, Dane. But yes, Nicole Autrey is certainly a significant, significant injury for the for the Titans, and that's going to affect perhaps Jeffrey Simmons's effectiveness on Sunday. So last thing about the defense.

They have not given up more than seventeen in regulation in the last seven games, which is amazing. We all know Jeffrey Simmons, he dominated that playoff game, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said, he's right there with Aaron Donald. Is one of the two best interior linemen in the NFL other than Jeffrey Simmons, and especially since Daniko Autrey is out. Who are the other standouts on that defense. I'm going to start with their inside linebacker, David Long Junior.

He's an undersized inside linebacker, but he brings the wood. He's absolutely fearless, loves playing the run, extremely physical, not that bad in space in terms of covering guys, but he is a guy that loves to stick his hat in there and and and create havoc. And also the guy just mentioned a Monny Hooker, the safety next to Kevin Bayern. We all know what Kevin Bayer can do, First team All Pro, He's been a great player for the Titans, but a Monny Hooker is an emerging star

at that other safety spot. Very smart, knows his defense down cold, really good against the run, really good in coverage, and he has a knack for making plays on the ball while they're in the air without fouling. So I would say David Long Junior and a Monny Hooker are two standouts other than Simmons. Simmons is the guy, there's no doubt. And you know Bud Dupree bringing you know, bringing the pass rush. And I'll give you one more.

Dan Rashad Weaver, second year guy out of pit. He was having a really good year until he got hurt. He was he was on a pace to have a really good number of sacks. He's back healthy now, so they've got some depth that they're outside pass rush. Something two years ago when they went up to Cincinnati and got absolutely torched by rookie Joe Burrow up in Citcinnati. Their defense has really really improved leaps and bounds. This is a top five defense, I would I would dare

say this is a super Bowl level defense. The question is can the offense, more specifically the passing game catch up. JB. I could go for an hour with you. We haven't even reminisced about our times as the award winning duo. Man. What do you need? You've got to prepare to look dapper on the TV news and I've got a radio show to do, so I'll let you go appreciate your time. Great stuff has always look forward to seeing the in Nashville, Danny,

always a pleasure, you know. How. Food about you, my man, and I look forward to seeing you as well. And I'm really looking forward to this game on Sunday. It should be a lot of fun thanks to my pal John Burton. And that's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, presented by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks

and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and signed merchand ice up for grabs by Paycore, the official HR software provider of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Boot Podcast