Bengals Booth Podcast: The Climb

One on one player interview is with Mike Hilton, who has first hand experience in trying to slow down Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey, and then Dave Lapham joins me to discuss the injury and COVID impacted situation at linebacker and what it's going to take to beat the Chiefs. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play next level fantasy football game. It now

from the App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered rite to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the Sixth Floor Museum at Daly Plaza. I'm recording this podcast from Dallas, where I'll be broadcasting the Cotton Bowl on Friday, and if you're ever here, I highly recommend visiting the Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles the life, assassination,

and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. It's located in the former Texas school Book Depository building where Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed the president. The museum covers that as well as the various conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination. As I said, if you're ever in Dallas and haven't been there, it is well worth your time. Now, let's get to Sunday's game between the team that's currently the number one playoff seat in the AFC Kansas City and

the team that's currently number three, Cincinnati Bengals. Win would clinch the AFC North, and I discussed that and more with a former NFL scout now working for ESPN. Our guest is ESPN NFL insider Field Yates Field. What did you think of the Bengals going into the season and what do you think of them now? Well, I had some optimism, but I would be lying if I thought they would be nine and six entering Week seventeen of the NFL season, And I'm glad to be wrong in

this case. I thought that Joe burrows leap was predictable, but I'm not sure that anybody saw well. I should say not anybody, but there were I think there were more people that would have expected a smaller leap than

the one that we have seen from Joe. But I'm so thrilled that not only is the offense playing well, I think perhaps the most surprising part, I think too many has been just how sturdy this defense has been all season long for the most part, and I think with the Bengals offseason will be characterized by in twenty twenty one is that base. Basically every major investment that they made has worked out and worked out at an

extremely high level. And I think part of the reason why they played so well defensively is because somebody like Trey Hendrickson or Chidobia Woozy has played as well as each of them has to see that and to see it manifest itself over not just the early portion of the season, when they were a nice story, but to sustain all the way to a likely playoff spot, I

think as Bengals fans justifiably extremely excited. Well, I'm glad you mentioned Hendrickson and Woggier because you're from a scouting background, you worked with the Chiefs and the Patriots in the past. Evaluate what the Bengals have done between free agency and the draft over the last couple of years in building this roster. Yeah, so I understand that it's frustrating when you're a team that's picking in the back to back years in the top five, and that was obviously the

case with Cincinnati. But the reality is that there is a sliver of hope, and the sliver of hope is that you can turn those premium picks into foundational pieces. We know the NFL draft is much more art than

we understand. That they're going to be players taken first or second or third overall that won't work out every single year, but they're also going to be years when you draft a quarterback first and then you follow that up by taking a wide receiver for fifth, and they end up being the kind of pieces that you could vision and vision turning into ten or twelve or fifteen years superstars for your organization and then expands beyond just

Joe Burrow and also Jamar Chase te Higgins has been unbelievable. Logan Wilson prior to his recent injury, has been exceptional as well. They've gotten basically excellent production in each of the first three rounds these past two years, which I think is critical to their success. And then looking at the free agency side of it, we understand the perils

of free agency. We have seen many a team overspending free agency and part of the reason why there's some danger involved is that if a player is really good in the NFL, a team might not be motivated to let him reach the point of free agency because they want to invest in that player by retaining him on an extension or a new deal. Prior to the in

market with the Bengals found players at different levels this year. Obviously, Trey was the biggest spending free agent pickup this year on defense, and he was a player whose production during his final year in New Orleans obviously was far more significant than what it was during the previous three years, and some people wondered is this an outlier year? Is the contract a year blow up or is this the sign of a guy who's just reaching his apex and

could continue from there? And I would say with at least a half sack in eleven straight games, Tree Anderson has provides more than just a one hit wonder. Obviously plays with all out effort at all time, but he's powerful, He's got great explosiveness off the edge. He's been a foundational piece for them, and a guy that I think as a chance to go from a high priced veteran free agent signing to a bargain free agent signing or a value free agent signing by the time it's all

said and done. Interesting point. Our guest is field Yates from ESPN. Joe Burrow was incredible last week, five and twenty five yards in four touchdown. He doesn't have the cannon of Josh Allen, he doesn't have the legs of Lamar Jackson. What is Joe Burrow's superpower in your opinion? Well, I think it's confidence is something that cannot be quantified, and I'm sure you see it much more being around him, or at least during normal times, being around him much more.

It's pretty clear to me that there's an infectious energy that is involved with playing with Joe Burrow, and this is a league where you can't predict it's going to happen every single week. You might be up big, you might be down big. But my sense is that if the Bengals fall behind, no matter who they're playing, where they're playing, and when they're playing, Joe Burrow's not going

to flinch. He has this moxie about him that makes me think he's more like thirty three as opposed to twenty three or twenty four now twenty five years old. In the next few years, he plays certainly well above his age. I think that part is really really clear. And then he's got an unbelievability to distribute the right

place at the right time. He's processing things so fast right now that it feels like Joe knows what the defense is going to do as much as the defense knows what it's going to do on a snap in and snap out basis. That's why all of these wide receivers are playing well right now as we know. And I love the stat and I'm going to keep using it until I don't know at least a season is over.

That you've got two one thousand yard receivers, you've got a thousand yard runner, you've got a four thousand yard pass or all of them are twenty five or younger. It's never happened ever in the history of the NFL. And Tyler Boy is a little bit above the age of twenty five has a real shot to reach a thousand yards as well. We're talking about and you probably have better perspective than I would, but like I think

this has a chance to go down. Is one of the most exciting and best offensive seasons in franchise history. Is that the best young nucleus of skill position talent of any team in the NFL. You've got a darn good case for it, and I'm sure that there are people and their fan bases that would try to make their case for it. But this year, I don't think it's debatable that's been the best sort of one two three punch at wide receiver, number one running back and

then also a quarterback as well. They've just been so good and it's kind of been each one of them doing some heavy lifting during different portions of the season. You know, Jamar Chase was incredible. Four of his first sixteen catches find the end zone for a touchdown. Tee Higgins has been on fire the past four or five weeks.

You know, Joe Mixon had that nine straight games in which he scored at least one touchdown, plus the four straight games in which he scored at least two touchdowns, and then Joe has been steady for the most part the entire season because, as we all know, ultimately no matter how great your wide receivers and your running backs are, if your quarterback is not playing at a high level, it's really difficult to function offensively every single week. So

Joe has been rock solid. It's been a really fun week to a season, team to watch all season, and I know I keep I don't want to make Tyler just a footnote. Tyler Boyd has been really good for them in critical moments recently. I mean, he had the long touchdown this past week that helped break that game open. He nearly had a second one late then, I've got to be honest with you, I thought that might have been a catch in the end zone, but I understand

why the replay review has turned it over. But fun to watch and I feel like this team is sort of just scratching the surface right now. Our guest is Field the Age. You can follow him on Twitter at Field. As we've obviously touched down many of the Bengals strengths, what question marks do you still have about this team with two games to go? I think there's probably and

this is something that's out of their control. But until you see a team do it in the playoffs with the current nucleus that they have, you want to see them do it. Joe Burrow, it's not a fault of theirs, right, I mean, it's not Joe Burrow's fault that he doesn't want a playoff game before, because ever lost one either before? Right, So you got to get there first before we can

start to judge the merits of you. That's probably the one thing that I think any team it's got relatively fresh blood as some of the key spots, is going to have to answer in the playoffs. So they're one of those teams this year in the AFC. There are a couple of others that might be in that same group if the Chargers wind up in the playoffs. Same

question applies to Justin Herbert, Joe's draft classmates. And then you know, I think this year in the AFC for a while, it was looking like maybe it was going to be a defensive conference, as you've got teams like the chief playing really well on defense. The Patriots have been playing really well on defense for much of this year. Buffalo has got great strength on defense, even if I had a couple of games that weren't quite what they

were looking for during the middle of the season. But it feels like we're starting to see a much more balanced group in the AFC. And I think that ultimately one team is going to be happy at the end of this year, and NFL is the NFL is different, and it's NBA and MLB and NHL counterparts, and that it's not best of seven, it's best of one and then given Sunday. So playing your best football is going

to apply. And I know the Bengals have. They've learned that less than this year with some difficult losses to unexpected opponents. That's going to be the challenge once we get to the postseason, assuming they do make it, which I like their chances very much right now, and they're going to be tested even these next two weeks, right I mean, Kansas City is certainly profiles this I made

this comparison. If the NFL since College Game Day, or we had the equivalent of College game Day and they were sending it to a game each week, it would be in Cincinnati this weekend to watch the Chiefs and the Bengals. I like the sound of that. Well, let's talk about the Chiefs. This is a team that started three and four, They had a couple of blowout losses early this year, and now they runoff eight consecutive wins.

What are a couple of things the Bengals must do to have a chance to beat Kansas City on Sunday. You know, it's kind of become old news because it's been something teams have been doing for much of this year. But I think it's evident that what you have to do against the Chiefs is you have to make sure that if they're gonna beat you on offense, it's going to be more death by a thousand paper cuts then it will be a quick strike seventy five yard touchdown.

The Chiefs played Philly early this season, and that was kind of a one game where Patrick Mahomes really had his way and just threw the ball way behind the deep safeties on too many acages. Tyreek Hill scored three times in that game. If you fast forward to some of the games that Patrick Mahomes played more recently, he's been good. He was good against the Raiders twice. He

was good against the Steelers this past week. But he had a couple of games where he was a little bit more, a little bit more mortal, and that felt like what teams were doing were basically, no matter what happens, nothing gets getting behind us. We talked about the two deep safety alignment that so many defenses are relying upon this year to make sure that quarterbacks don't beat them down the field. I think part of what the Chiefs have done really well for a long time as those

explosive plays. Bengals can't do that. And then on offense. This is gonna sound so boring and so simple, but as much as I watch the NFL this year, and the more and more I watch it, the more and more that I see games where teams that we don't expect to lose do lose, it becomes clear to me you have to win the turnover battle and you have

to be good on third down. I think about a game last week, the Texans hosting the Chargers, The Texans are a team that we know they got a lot of roster reparations they need to make at some point, but ultimately they were the better team in the turnover department than the Chargers, and they were the better team on third down as well. That's the difference between winning

and losing in the NFL. The Chiefs, if they have a third and twelve situation, not only is a conversion on third and twelve, not only is it a fresh set of downs, that's just demoralizing to a defense. Right third and twelve, you're thinking to yourself, eight or nine in the ten times we're forcing a punt or a field goal that when the defense it allows a big conversion that to me, I think can change the confidence

level that they're playing with. So I know it sounds like the least spicy analysis that I could ever give. But you've got to be good in the turnover department, you've got to be really good on third down. If you're not, then the Chiefs they are just too talented against most opponents that they're just going to end up finding a way to win. That might be simple. It certainly didn't sound boring to me. Field. Yeah, it's great stuff. We appreciate your time, keep up the great work, and

thanks for joining us now. Thank you, Dan, and happy for all the Bengals fans out there that should really be soaking up all this excitement right now. It's a good time to be a Cincinnati fan. And no matter how much fun we're having this year, I think there's even more good stuff ahead as well. So field Yates says, the Bengals secondary can't give up the deep ball. They've got to try to force Patrick Mahomes to methodically march up the field and hope he makes a couple of mistakes.

One member the Bengal secondary who has faced Mahomes before is Mike Hilton, and he joined me this week for my one on one player conversation. Like, you signed a four year contract with the Bengals, and I know you expected Cincinnati to become a contender, but did you expect it to happen this fast? I had an idea, um,

you know, the one just playing these guys. I always knew the type of talent that they had over here, and well, once I signed and see who we drafted and other free agents we brought in, I was just like, yeah, we have all the ingredients to be a Super Bowl contender. You know, we've been playing well this year and you know we got a big one Sunday, so we're all excited for for what this opportunity. This team appears to have great chemistry and camaraderie. Is that true? And this

isn't a big reason why you're in the first place? Absolutely? Number one, you got to be a tight group. These are guys that you're with twenty four seven. You know, guys that you're with more than your family sometimes. So you know, you got to be able to connect owning off the field, and you know it does nothing but just bring you together and just build that confidence and that chemistry that can lead to wins. And we've been doing that well this year. We're chatting with Mike Hilton.

This might be hard for you to answer, but in addition to your play on the field, what impact do you think you've had on the secondary as a group, just being a bit of a presence, being being that calmon effect. You can't ask any of the guys, you know, I just try to be the one in the ear that's keeping us calm even if we give up big play or give up a penalty or something like that. You know, I'm always the guy to all right, guys, you know, let's focus in, let's lock in, let's do

our job and get off the field. So I just feel like just being that voice in the room and keeping keeping guys calm and ready to play. You've got a one game lead with two games to go. But it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride of a season. You've got four wins over the Steelers and the Ravens, and all of those games are by two touchdowns or more. But there were losses to the Jets and the Pairs. There was a lopsided loss to the Browns. Is that just the sign of a young team that's

learning to can end? Absolutely. You can point to a couple of plays here and there throughout those losses that if we make that play, you know, it's it's pretty much a win. You know, Green Bay, we make one the field goals, Jets, you know, if they don't call it the penalty on me, you know who who knows where where we could be now. But it's just a part of the learning and growing process of it. And you know, it's good that we're getting that experience. This year.

Let's talk about Sunday's game against the Chiefs. You faced Patrick Mahomes before in your years with the Steelers. It was actually one of his signature games in his MVP season. He threw six touchdown passes. Shoot out forty two to thirty seven was the final score. It's one thing for us, but watching that guy on TV, it's another thing to compete against him. What stood out to you, man is what everybody sees. His arm strength and the way he can get outside the pocket and just make make throws

that not many quarterbacks can mate. He's confidence guys, of course, starting with Kelsey and Hill. You know those are go to guys and they're they're supposed to playmakers. So we know as a defense we got to do our best to contain them. And what we've been saying is contained the second half of the play because he's gonna extend plays and get outside the pocket and look for those shots down field. So we know defensively and especially as the second day, we got to be smart and play

top down. Let's talk specifically about Kelsey. In their last game, he had ten catches for one hundred and ninety one yards. This is the sixth consecutive year he's had more than a thousand yards, a record for a tight end. Of the many great tight ends in the league that you face, what makes Kelsey unique. He's probably the best run after catch tight end that I personally played against. Um. He's obviously a big dude six four six five two fifty, but he can run like a receiver. He makes cuts

like a receiver. He's he's just real athletic, and it presents problem the defenses because he could be a mismatch. Too athletic for linebackers, too big for safety. So he's the guy that definitely gonna key on on on Sunday, and you know, do do our best to contain them. What's a week like this like for you to build up to a huge game at the end of the year with so much at stake. Oh, it's everything. UM. A lot of guys have actually asked me, like, just

how does this feel. I'm just like, guys, this's what we've been fighting for, you know. I be I told him I've been down this road before, playing meaningful games in late December, and I just told him, like, don't change up anything, Just treat us another week, you know. We of course, we know a lot more as a state. But if we if we do everything that we did to get us here, you know, the outcome could be

the same for us on Sunday. So guys are excited about the challenge and we were ready ready to play. You can clinch the division with a win over the Chiefs, but beyond that, people are wondering now if Cincinnati is a legitimate contender to advance in the postseason. Make the case for why you think the Bengals are. I believe we got all the ingredients. Um it starts. We have a honestly, I think a top five quarterback already. H he's a guy that he's a general. He keeps the

offense calm and no just gets them moving. And we feel like on the defensive man, we're able to go on and get after the quarterback up front, you know, and on the back end where we get our get takeaways and find ways to put our offense on a short field. So we know if we do those things consistently and just just play our game, you know, we'll have a real good shot of making a deep run. It's been a great season so far, and you've been a huge part of it. I appreciate your time. Best

of luck against the Chiefs. Thanks there. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play next level fantasy football game. Ultimate Bengals will be awarding a weekly winner during the course of the season, with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play Now. Tie for my weekly chat with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham.

But the Bengals have some great wins, most notably four wins over the Ravens and Steelers by at least two touchdowns. You can make the case that they've lost to the three best teams that they've faced, Green Bay, San Francisco and the Chargers. Do you view this game as a litmus test for just how good the Bengals are? I do, Dan in a lot of ways. I mean, I think it's an opportunity, you know, to show that they've come even further than people think they've come. And I think

that's that's important. You know, you look at the season, like you say that the teams they've beaten and the teams that they haven't you know. It's it's like, all right, well, who are they? What are they? They've never lost more than two in a row, They've never won more than two in a row. This would be their first time to have a three game winning streak all season long, in my mind, against the best football team on their schedule. So this is a big opportunity for them to show

the world they belong. I think as we were calling the game in real time last week, I never really felt like the Bengals were trying to make a statement, for lack of a better expression, for how they were throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. I just thought that they were trying to keep doing what was working against the Ravens. But clearly I am in the minority, because most of our colleagues in the media certainly felt like they were making a statement with a few days

to reflect. What do you think of that whole notion? You know, I think they were doing what they needed to do to win a football game in that you know, Joe Joe. Basically, the big throw, the big controversial throw to Joe Mixon was just a football player reacting on instincts to an opportunity to make a play, you know, and he did it. He did it on his own. I mean he said it, Zach said it that it wasn't necessarily scripted to be that way, but he made a play. And you've got to make a first down,

you know, I mean make a first down. And in games like that, as a as a former player, you want to end the game if you can by taking a knee. I mean, you want to end the football game on your terms. So if that's a statement, I guess it's a statement. But I mean every every football team, every football player, every football coach wants to win football games and end football games on their terms. So the big news this week is your main prac going on the COVID list. I guess there's a chance he'll be

back if he passes a couple of negative tests. But at this point, let's say he is not back. What do the Bengals do. Boy, that's a that's that's a tough one. You know. Um, you got a linebacker trying like hell to come back as quickly as he can. Logan Wilson working this tailoff in terms of you know, rehabilitating that shoulder and um. But as everybody knows, practice and the way practices are these days in the National

Football League is one thing game condition. Taking a hit taken on a block, or separate any from a block, making a tackle. That's a lot different animal right there than what Logan Wilson is doing right now. I guess this week in practice will be a barometer, but he won't know until he actually plays whenever, that is, if that's this week or whatever it is, how that shoulder

is going to hold up um. But you know, there's no way that the medical team is going to put him out there if they feel like he's not able to handle it physically. But you know, when you're talking about injuries like that, you just never know. So let's say that neither one of those guys is able to play,

No Pratt, no Logan Wilson. Does that mean an Austro or a Clay Johnston or somebody like that winds up playing a lot or do you think it's more likely that they change the rules of the secondary and that John Bell becomes more of a linebacker in this team. Yeah? I mean the options, that's the thing is is that lou and Rumo, you know, has options. And honestly, this football team the Kansas City Chiefs or a throw first

football team. So if you were to pick, you know, maybe an offense where you might be a little bit thin at the linebacker position in terms of defending, this might be, you know, one that you might choose because you do have a safety and Von Bell that's very physical and can play that hybrid type linebacker safety role that the Bengals would need. But yeah, there are options there.

And like you said, you know Marcus Bailey, Clay Johnson, Austin coletro KeAndre Jones, They're all on the roster for a reason, you know, I mean, they belong in the National Football League. So I'm sure, I'm sure Louis and Rumo will be changing up his personnel packages, changing up how he lines them up, changing up his coverages. I think he's I don't I don't think he's going to show the same thing to a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes two time in a row very often. I think it's

going to be a lot of different looks. Let's talk about Travis Kelsey. It's my understanding that he has purchased a luxury box for the Cotton Bowl, so he is going to watch his beloved Bearcats take on Alabama. Here's hoping Cincinnati wins and Travis really parties hard. Yeah, But in any case, when it comes to defending tight end. In Week eleven, Darren Waller had seven catches for one

hundred and sixteen yards against Cincinnati. Three weeks ago, George Kennel thirteen catches for one hundred and fifty one yards against Cincinnati. Last week, Mark Andrews eight catches for one hundred and twenty five yards against Cincinnati. How do the Bengals or anybody in the NFL slow down Travis Kelsey? Yeah, And Travis Kelsey has, you know, haven't played the quarterback position, and that's what do you see out of high school

as a quarterback. They have an understanding of how to read coverages better than anybody because they've been reading him on the other end. So the mental telepathy beyond the same page between Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey is unbelievable. When he runs routes, he'll make adjustments on the way he sees the coverage unfolding, and Mahomes is on the

exact same page as him. You know, it's they'll they'll they'll change the actual route from from the snap of the football to when they're in the in the process of executing the play, and they'll both be right there with each other in terms of what they're seeing. They see it through the same eyes. So I think that's what makes Kelsey even tougher to defend, is that, you know, he has such a feel for his route running, finding holes in zone defenses. He's he's very slippery. Uh, He's

he's a great run after catch guy. His mentality is, honestly, it is, every time I get my hands in the football, I'm gonna score. He has that kind of mindset. So it's gonna be it's gonna be a real, real challenge. And you talk about not given the same look to Patrick Mahomes, can't do it to Kelsey either. I think you gotta run a myriad of people. They're gonna be doubling him different ways, different try to give him different

things to read. Make it tougher on him. Don't make it easier for Kelsey to come off the line of scrimmage and see exactly what he wants to see, and make it easier for him to see it in for a long day. If you do that lap early this year, it looked like the Chiefs might be vulnerable. They started the season three and four, They lost to Buffalo by eighteen, they lost to Tennessee by twenty four, and they haven't

lost since. They've won eight in a row. When you watch this team, do you see an area at this point where you think they're vulnerable? Boy? You know, I really, I really don't, you know. I mean you look at offense defense. The offense is playing at a very high level. There's no question about the offensive line I think is really gel. They're playing very very well. Now. The protection that they gave Mahomes in the recent games here is unbelievable.

I mean literally, you can count to five, six, seven seconds. Mahomes is in the pocket, you know, patting the football. It's unbelievable how that offensive line is geled defensively in the in their eight game winning streak, they're only giving up thirteen points a game. And then special teams, uh, you know, they're they're great in that area. They're number one in the NFL covering punts, fourth returning punts, sixth returning kickoffs, and fifth covering kickoffs. So this is this

is a complete football team. Ban There is no doubt about it. But you know, I'm I'm basically thinking that my strength of my football team al those three wides. So I'm gonna try to do everything I possibly can to uh to accentuate my strength and and and you know, force force the Kansas City Chiefs and on the back

end to play at a very very high level. And I'm not saying that they're of the weak spot by any stretch, but you know, I think, uh, I think that that that is going to be the interesting thing to me. And I do think that it's interesting both quarterbacks. They will create an extend and and they cause controlled

chaos as a result of creating extending plays. I think the quarterback that handles the controlled chaos better and doesn't make it chaotic, you know, in other words, make plays and don't force it and make an error or make a mistake. It's going to be big in this football game as well. And that was the weakness of Mahomes. But he's he's settled down in that regard. He's not trying to hit the home run every single play. Now,

he's taking what the defense has given him more. But in a tight football game, I think maybe you know, I gotta go and make a play. My teammate needs me to go make a play. Joe Burrow would probably be thinking along those same lines. Which quarterback is going to handle the controlled chaos better? It's going to be big. I think Andy Reid like you as a former offensive lineman. He didn't make it as far as the NFL like you did, but he played at a high college level

at BYU and Jim McMahon, who's quarterback. He became an offensive line coach, rank among the players that he coached, then an offensive line coach in the NFL, and then obviously a great NFL head coach. What do you think stands out the most about Andy Reid and his teams? You know, it's interesting. The first time I met Andy Reid was I was doing Big twelve games and I

was doing a Missouri game. Bob Stole was the head coach, and he had Andy Reid coming right out of by you um, and he didn't make it in the NFL, so he wanted to get into coaching, and he hired him as a graduate assistant type deal and got to meet him talk to him a little bits. Smart as a whip, I mean, very very smart guy. You know,

not just football, but overall intelligence. And I think I think he's he's so creative with what he does, and he'll he'll, uh, he'll attack the sixth hole eight different ways, you know. I mean, he's he's one of those kind of guys. I think that he is always striving to be better, always trying to figure out another way to you know, to to for crack you know, to crack the code and and make life miserable for defensive coordinators.

I think that he is as as good a play caller as there is in the history of the National Football League. I really believe that this guy, this guy is very, very sharp. All right, last thing, we are not speaking face to face this week. We are speaking via zoom. Since you are in Cincinnati and I am in Dallas for the cotton Ball. You have called the cotton Ball several times on National TV. What do you

think about you See's chances against Alabama? You know, I think that it's all going to come down to how you see competes in the trenches. I have full confidence that you see can can stack up with anybody at the skill spots. And I'm talking offense and defense, you know, and I'm not saying that they're not good upfront offensively and defensively, but the SEC is really good as a conference in that area. I mean, they have multiple studs,

you know, on their offensive and defensive lines. That's the one thing I noticed, you know, doing games college games, when the Big twelve would go play an SEC team, be like, wow they are They do have meat on the Hoofman, they got some big boys in their offensive and defensive lines. And if you see can compete, you know, I'm not saying dominate, I think that'd be tough to do. But if they can compete, they can hold their own

in the trenches. They have a hell of a chance of winning the football game because if they if they if the offensive line allows you see, skill players to perform, and the defensive line doesn't make it like, you know, too easy for Alabama scale people. I think that's what it boils down to it. It's all about what's going on up front. That's what I will be looking for

here in Dallas. And if you see wins and qualifies for the National Championship Game, I promise you I will let Travis Kelsey do the partying here in Dallas, and I will remain in tip top shape for our game on Sunday. There you go. I appreciate that, and I have full confidence in that. And I'll tell you what. I hope Kelsey's hung over like a big dog. That would be great. I hear Patrick Mahomes might be coming

with him seriously, so hopefully that's the case. They have a good old time and they're a little bit slow to answer the bell on Sunday. Yeah, really, how about that? That would that would be awesome. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey in the luxury suite at the Cotton Bowl. That's big stuff, all right. Appreciate you time. See a Sunday all right, Dan, have a great call, Good luck and go Bearcats. Sunday's game kicks off at one o'clock and

the Bengals are a five point underdog. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast brought to you by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play Next Level Fantasy Football game downloaded now from the App Store and Google Play. And 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 and Horde and thank you for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast. H