00:00:00
Speaker 1: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. What's up? Good afternoon. I'm Mo Egger.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening. Hope you're having an unbelievable Tuesday afternoon. It is gorgeous out. We are inside the Mercantile Immersive, one of the great venues you will ever visit if you have a corporate event, a wedding, a party. If you just want a place to hang out and feel fancy all by yourself, Mercantile Immersive on 4th Street downtown. Under the Delightmore umbrella, this place hosts Bengals watch parties. They've got a couple coming up, one for the game against the Ravens on October the 25th. Tickets available for that at delightmore.com or and the Madrid game, Bengals and Falcons, on November the 8th. That is a 9.30 a.m. kickoff, really special event here at delightmore.com. There's also a bourbon tasting experience coming up. There are four unique venues across the greater Cincinnati area operated by Delightmore, Mercantile Immersive, the Transept, which is across from Washington Park, the View in Mount Adams, Carnegie Hall in Newport, and early next year, the historic Phoenix located at 9th and Race. Check them all out, delightmore.com. Paul Daner Jr. is here from The Athletic and the Growler podcast.
00:01:45
Speaker 4: What's up?
00:01:46
Speaker 2: Keyshawn Williams is out.
00:01:48
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:01:49
Speaker 2: Surprised?
00:01:50
Speaker 3: No.
00:01:51
Speaker 5: I mean, certainly not after... I mean, I asked the question yesterday.
00:01:55
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:56
Speaker 4: Curious.
00:01:56
Speaker 2: It wasn't even a lukewarm response.
00:01:58
Speaker 5: After the answer, I came away saying, I think we might have our next Darius Phillips just because that was such a... I mean, that was the opportunity to very clearly be like, well, look, we still.
00:02:10
Speaker 4: Trust in Keyshawn. No, it was.
00:02:13
Speaker 5: We're talking about what's going to happen next here.
00:02:16
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:02:16
Speaker 5: And, uh, so no, I'm not surprised by the move today. I think though, generally, I think surprised by how quick they were to move on, um, from it. But I think it's another example of the urgency that we've heard and the word, you know, I hate when the word unacceptable gets used and then, and nothing changes.
00:02:42
Speaker 4: If it was unacceptable.
00:02:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:02:44
Speaker 5: Then something has to happen or else you accepted it, right? And it doesn't always have to be as dramatic as this. We're not talking about the Reds here.
00:02:51
Speaker 2: You're the Bengals guy.
00:02:52
Speaker 4: Sorry, sorry, sorry.
00:02:53
Speaker 2: You're the Bengals guy.
00:02:54
Speaker 5: Sorry, that's a whole different situation. But you know what I'm saying? You can't say that and then nothing changes. And there are other ways it can happen besides getting rid of somebody, but at that position.
00:03:08
Speaker 4: Trust is so hard to get back.
00:03:10
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:03:10
Speaker 4: Like, it's just.
00:03:11
Speaker 5: If it's Bengals, Jags, and it's 30-all with two minutes left, and how comfortable are they going to be sending out Keyshawn Williams at that point?
00:03:22
Speaker 4: And I just.
00:03:23
Speaker 5: That's the question they had to ask themselves. And if they say, no, it's Dante Myers, well, that sets off a chain reaction of other stuff. Colby Young injury is significant because it has ripple effects on top of the Andre injury. Mitch Tinsley being back because of that, well... because you had to take some of that off of Dante's plate, because now you want him to be part of the return game. It's all very interconnected back there, but I think inevitably it starts with once trust is broken at that spot, it's hard to get it back.
00:03:53
Speaker 3: I think, and I'm with you, having listened to the press conference yesterday, I thought to myself, uh-oh, not a good day to be Keyshawn Williams.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: But I think there are folks.
00:04:05
Speaker 3: Who follow the Bengals, a franchise typically not associated with urgency, who are expressing surprise that they did that after one mistake.
00:04:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker 5: You know, the talent level connect and the relevance connects to it. And it's like, if you're the back of the roster guy, this is the reason he's here.
00:04:29
Speaker 2: Catch the punt.
00:04:30
Speaker 5: It's different if he's there, but he also, if he was Dante Myers, it would be different. Because Dante is bringing you more. Keyshawn is there because this is what he's supposed to do. And if there is a trust breach there... and that's the thing that you do, suddenly the conversation changes significantly because they need more out of the back of their receiver room.
00:04:54
Speaker 4: In a bunch of different ways.
00:04:56
Speaker 3: What do I do with this 1-34 stat that seems to be what everybody has recited since about 4-15 on Sunday, where the Bengals, Joe Burrow specifically, of course, is 1-34 when the Bengals are trailing with eight minutes or less to go.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: I think I've memorized it.
00:05:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's it.
00:05:14
Speaker 2: 1-34. What do we do with.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: This?
00:05:20
Speaker 5: I think you take it in and you throw it into the pile with a lot of other stuff that's connected on so many things that have been wrong in Cincinnati. The defense that's been wrong, the mistakes that have been made, whether it's been coached. There's been a lot of mistakes that lead to this team not being able to pull off comeback wins. How many of those are Joe Burrow? Now, there is truth in it. There has to be. He has had opportunities. We have outlined these over the years. You can start talking about the Super Bowl and talk about any number of times since then. I went through and just looked at since 2023 because I wanted to look at since they haven't been making the playoffs, how many times has what happened Sunday happened?
00:06:11
Speaker 4: That Joe Burrow gets the ball with.
00:06:13
Speaker 5: Less than four minutes remaining and trailing by a score with a chance to go. And they haven't won any of those games. They're now 0-6. But he's gone down and scored in those games. He's gone down and scored a touchdown and didn't get the two-point conversion. There's been plenty of times. Sometimes there's a three and out. We had the fumble. But it's like a lot of it is, no, he went down and scored and the defense gave up the game.
00:06:38
Speaker 4: So is that his fault?
00:06:39
Speaker 6: No.
00:06:40
Speaker 4: Look, I don't. Joe Burrow's a great quarterback.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:06:44
Speaker 5: I think that there is relevancy to that discussion until he kills that narrative with a couple game-winning drives that end up being wins.
00:06:54
Speaker 4: Then this stuff is going to continue to creep up.
00:06:56
Speaker 5: That's just the nature of it. But I don't necessarily buy into that. You know what I buy into? I'm a big high leverage down guy.
00:07:06
Speaker 4: Red zone guy.
00:07:07
Speaker 5: Third down, fourth down. I think those decide games more than us cherry-picking.
00:07:15
Speaker 4: The end of games.
00:07:16
Speaker 5: And that's fine. Those are big moments. I'm not discrediting those. But those are the moments, the four-point swings, the stops, the turnovers, the change games.
00:07:25
Speaker 4: That truly decide games.
00:07:27
Speaker 5: He is second in the league since 2021 in terms of.
00:07:32
Speaker 4: Third down conversion rate in those spots. Second in the league. I mean.
00:07:37
Speaker 5: In those high leverage biggest moments, there just aren't people that are better than him. And he creates, he knows how to pick apart the defense, he takes advantage of tight windows, he does all the things that.
00:07:51
Speaker 4: You want a quarterback to do.
00:07:53
Speaker 5: I think it's fine to point out that this one bit of his resume isn't as full as others. I don't think that discredits the entire thing at all. It.
00:08:06
Speaker 4: It's just another piece of data to put into the Joe Burrow conversation. That's a good one. That's a reason why he's a tier one quarterback. It is a good one.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: He was awesome on Sunday. Like, that's the thing.
00:08:17
Speaker 4: Near flawless. Until the end.
00:08:20
Speaker 3: Okay, the fumble is bad. Nobody is saying it's not. You got to figure out a way to score. It'd be great if you didn't have to burn a timeout coming out of a dead ball situation.
00:08:30
Speaker 2: That'd be neat. Not sure what was up with that.
00:08:33
Speaker 3: Like, what I hated, I hated a lot of things about the loss, not the least of which was the fact that they lost.
00:08:39
Speaker 2: But Joe Burrow was awesome on Sunday.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: Yes. Right?
00:08:44
Speaker 3: That was the, hey, this is how it's going to look the rest of the year. And if all this other stuff comes together, good luck. And instead of talking about that, it's this just litany of other things that cost him the game and made Joe's awesomeness to footnote.
00:08:59
Speaker 5: Which is another reason why it felt like so many games from the last couple of years.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:03
Speaker 5: Where Joe's awesomeness became a footnote because he was asked to do so much. And that ends up, so you end up getting the replay of him trying to make that last play. And that's partially on him after a quick loss from what was also a nearly flawless day from Dalton Reisner, but it ends poorly for him. And so we're going to talk about that. And then the rest of it gets thrown out. The fact that they were put in a spot of having to make that comeback. The fact that their 10 points were just given up on special teams. The fact that Pittsburgh just comes out and runs down the field in the first quarter like it's nobody's business. I mean, they scored 27 points. Burrow was great. But he needed to make one more play. That is the story of the last couple of years. He always has to make one more play, it seems. And is forced to play. almost perfect football. We saw it come to an end at the end of that game on Sunday, but that's why it all felt so familiar.
00:10:04
Speaker 4: I'd just seen that show before. Burrow played great, but Bengals lose.
00:10:10
Speaker 3: The Bengals haven't sent out a press release regarding Keyshawn Williams yet.
00:10:14
Speaker 4: I have news if you want news. I want news.
00:10:17
Speaker 2: So we've got.
00:10:20
Speaker 5: Keyshawn Williams. Mitch Tinsley signed. Tanner Hudson is up. Jalen Davis goes to the IR, which is significant with a hamstring injury. And we also have multiple safeties added to the practice squad. The safety, the secondary is going to be the story of the week, Mo. How these pieces are going to fit together. Brian Cook, banged up. Kyle Duggar, banged up. We know Jalen Davis on IR. So, Takario Davis didn't play super. Jordan Battle, bad. Jordan Battle, bad. How's he doing? There's a lot of stuff happening back there, and here comes Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars ready to take that on. Who's going to play where? I talked to Dax Hill after the game, and I kind of joked because I used the video on the walkout so people could see the eye roll when I pointed out that he was back in slot again. And he's very much doing what's best for the team, but he's like, yeah, I mean. It's got to be frustrating, though.
00:11:32
Speaker 4: I haven't been doing this.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:11:33
Speaker 5: He hasn't been doing this. He was hardly part of it. You do it some, but it's different in there. The communication is different. What you're doing is different. It's a different deal. Well, with Jalen Davis out, I think the assumption is that Dax is going to be back inside, just like he was. Who's going to be outside? Takario?
00:11:53
Speaker 4: Right. DJ Ivy?
00:11:54
Speaker 1: Right.
00:11:54
Speaker 5: Figuring that out, and then all the communication to Dax, getting used to the inside communication again.
00:12:02
Speaker 4: Who's behind him at safety? Right.
00:12:04
Speaker 5: Getting used to that stuff, and possibly new communication on the outside.
00:12:08
Speaker 4: There's just a lot of more moving parts going on.
00:12:11
Speaker 5: Than you care to have, especially coming off a game where the secondary wasn't great in general.
00:12:16
Speaker 3: Bengals signing safety Isaiah Nwokobia from SMU.
00:12:21
Speaker 4: He was here at the beginning in offseason program.
00:12:24
Speaker 3: Oh.
00:12:24
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: And Bo Braid.
00:12:27
Speaker 3: Who's from Maryland, third-year guy, college free agent, signed near the Ravens in 24, 26 regular season games under his belt over the last couple of years with Baltimore and the Giants. See, I was just going to have fun with the press release because there's three different levels of Bengals press release. There's center press release that we've cut a player. There's center press release that we've cut a player, quote from Zach. Center press release that we've cut a player, quote from Zach and Mike Brown.
00:12:51
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:52
Speaker 2: Keyshawn Williams did not qualify for a quote.
00:12:54
Speaker 4: No. Hmm.
00:12:55
Speaker 5: No, I think we got all the quotes that we needed yesterday from Darren and Zach Taylor.
00:13:00
Speaker 4: On that one. Yeah. So it goes, though. And it'll be an interesting week to see how everything plays out.
00:13:06
Speaker 3: You mentioned Cook and Duggar banged up. I know we'll know more tomorrow when they get back to work and have an injury report, but does your gut tell you that either player may be in jeopardy of not playing on Sunday?
00:13:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they're in jeopardy.
00:13:21
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:13:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's... Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's hard to know.
00:13:25
Speaker 5: I mean, like, I think it truly is what Zach Taylor had to say yesterday, and that's get them to Wednesday and see how they look, get them to see who can go in practice.
00:13:35
Speaker 4: I mean, they're.
00:13:36
Speaker 5: So thin that I would assume there's, you know, it seems that there's going to be an entertaining of, all right, some guys might just not practice this week and just get them to the game and try to get.
00:13:48
Speaker 4: Through this game. I mean, you've got Miami and a bye. On the back end of this. That's the good news.
00:13:57
Speaker 5: But I think it's a matter of getting through and trying to get a win against Jacksonville with a bunch of guys that are probably going to have to.
00:14:04
Speaker 4: Gut it out back there.
00:14:07
Speaker 5: Or be playing a new position. I think there's a chance that any number of them, all or none or some combination, could be playing, gutting through it, or sitting out.
00:14:20
Speaker 2: Is Geno Stone still in the Bills practice squad?
00:14:22
Speaker 4: I don't think he's going to be back. I don't think it's going to get the approval.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: I might not go to the game if Geno Stone is brought back.
00:14:32
Speaker 5: Honestly, just for my own entertainment value, I'd kind of like to see it. Just to get to talk to you.
00:14:38
Speaker 4: No, you don't. You don't want that.
00:14:41
Speaker 2: You don't want that.
00:14:42
Speaker 4: Like I say, it's strictly my own entertainment value. I enjoy your rants. That's where it comes. That's all it is.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: 18 minutes after 3 o'clock. Paul Daner, Jr.
00:14:51
Speaker 3: TheAthletic.com, covering the Bengals on top of the Growler podcast. Follow him at Paul Daner, Jr. So there is obviously a ton to get to between now and 4 o'clock. I'm here until 6. My name is Mo Egger. Thank you for listening today. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:11
Speaker 7: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:15:12
Speaker 4: Traffic.
00:15:16
Speaker 6: From the UC Health.
00:15:17
Speaker 7: The Gullicks have your mid-morning football fix. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. on the official home of the Bengals. ESPN 1530. Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:29
Speaker 3: Mo Egger with Paul Daner Jr. We're broadcasting from the Mercantile Immersive. This venue will host a bourbon tasting experience on November the 19th at 6 o'clock. Tickets are available for that event at delightmore.com. Paul Daner Jr. covers the Bengals for The Athletic. He does a podcast, The Groundwork Podcast. It is the one we did this morning, Up and Out.
00:15:50
Speaker 4: It is, yes.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: Up and Out.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: Wow. Yeah.
00:15:52
Speaker 2: Pretty good.
00:15:54
Speaker 4: There it is, every day.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Where was the pass rush on Sunday?
00:15:59
Speaker 4: You know, well, I think there was a combination of things where, one.
00:16:03
Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers has just been getting rid of the ball as fast as anybody, and that was pretty much the case again on Sunday.
00:16:11
Speaker 3: And.
00:16:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, Pittsburgh's protection was a lot more solid. The Bengals still got 18 pressures. But it didn't feel as... It didn't feel like it. Yeah, it didn't feel as chaotic. It didn't feel as disruptive. I think that was partially the design.
00:16:27
Speaker 2: It didn't feel as swarmy.
00:16:29
Speaker 1: No.
00:16:30
Speaker 2: Well, because I just.
00:16:31
Speaker 5: There wasn't a lot of times where Aaron Rodgers.
00:16:34
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers ain't back there patting the ball. Right. Okay, he's not back there.
00:16:38
Speaker 1: And.
00:16:39
Speaker 5: They weren't playing from ahead. They didn't have them in a clear pass situation. They were giving up runs. All the things that were situationally conducive to them feeling.
00:16:56
Speaker 4: Swarmy through the first two weeks were not really present. You fall behind. You're giving up runs. They're designing against it. They've seen it now.
00:17:07
Speaker 5: They're designing their plays to to avoid a lot more under-center, under-center play action stuff. When they are back there, they're getting it out quick. There weren't a lot. I have to go back and look at the exact numbers, but there wasn't like they were living in.
00:17:20
Speaker 4: Third and long. And when they did, they got back there.
00:17:22
Speaker 5: I mean, Cassius Howell certainly was disruptive in those situations, getting hits on the quarterback and pressures and continued to look like himself. But yeah, the disruption that you felt the first two weeks was not as obvious, but I think... I think that's more situational to that game than it.
00:17:43
Speaker 4: Is too indicative that the pass rush had an awful day. I don't know that that was necessarily as much the case.
00:17:53
Speaker 2: Okay, then what was up with all the missed tackles?
00:17:57
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know. I don't have the answer to that.
00:18:04
Speaker 5: Guys that have missed tackles historically went out there and missed tackles.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question.
00:18:09
Speaker 4: I mean, that's what it is, right? Yeah.
00:18:11
Speaker 2: If you were in charge of the Pittsburgh Steelers, if you were the quarterback.
00:18:14
Speaker 4: Darnell Washington.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: How do you not throw him the ball?
00:18:17
Speaker 4: At least once a series.
00:18:18
Speaker 2: 25 times a game. He's played, this is his fourth NFL season.
00:18:22
Speaker 4: 86 targets.
00:18:23
Speaker 2: What are we doing?
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:18:25
Speaker 3: If I was Mike McCarthy on the first day of the job, I would have stood at the podium and said, I don't know how things are going to go here. It's great to be home. My quarterback's old. Here's what I can tell you. We're going to throw the ball to Darnell Washington today. A dozen times a game in the first half per game. And we'll see if people can tackle him.
00:18:41
Speaker 5: Always available underneath is a check down. Like, he should be one of your number one weapons. I will say this.
00:18:48
Speaker 4: I thought the most... I felt.
00:18:52
Speaker 5: Like I absolutely just turned on the 2025 tape when I watched the Darnell Washington check down in the fourth quarter.
00:19:00
Speaker 4: I mean, it was....
00:19:02
Speaker 5: I'll even excuse a missed tackle from Barrett Carter slightly.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: It's a hard task. It's open field. The dude's massive.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: And he looked like he wanted a part of making the tackle. I could excuse that 100%.
00:19:14
Speaker 5: The rest of what was happening, the end zone angle of the All-22 shows you the deceleration and the unwillingness to go fully all the way through of multiple corners. Along the sideline there. And that stuff were staples of last year's defense. Like that was what it looked like. And, you know, same field is what it looked like. And so that to me is concerning because that's the type of stuff that, okay. I just got done here in two weeks of Al Golden telling me about how great the population to the football is and how hard they're all chasing it down. And then I got to watch this. So, well, this isn't that. This is not that attitude, that willingness to finish and all the stuff.
00:20:09
Speaker 4: It has been preached. That's not what it looked like.
00:20:11
Speaker 5: And that was far from the only time it was like that. But in terms of that specific play, it's right there in front of your face. That's effort. That's largely effort and willingness that was a part of that. And I can deal with some of the missed tackles. I can deal when you go in there and it just doesn't go your way or you overrun a gap or something. I can deal with that. When I see the open space and there's the deceleration and they're not going all the way through the sideline, that's where I have a problem. And that's why I was most, that was probably the most concerning defensive play all day.
00:20:49
Speaker 3: I would tell that dude, you don't have to run a route. Just line up on side. And when we hike the ball, turn to the quarterback and we're going to throw it to you. And then we're going to watch people just try to hang all over you and have you drag them down the field.
00:21:03
Speaker 4: Yeah. I'd say, I'd even add to that. I was like, here's what we want you to do. Stand there. Just hit anyone in your vicinity one time.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:21:11
Speaker 4: Just really hard.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:21:13
Speaker 4: And then just go, go run out wherever. Yeah.
00:21:15
Speaker 5: And then we'll find you and throw it to you. But I mean, it's, it's a weapon if used correctly as he has, as he has proven. I mean, he's, he had some, some reps in the run game too that were devastating. I mean, he's, I was told that he had some sort of injury problems that should have ended his career by now, and that's why he was available in the third round. Same injury problems probably that I heard Derek Harmon supposedly had. Why you wouldn't take him in the first round. That one was hard to miss, huh? Uh-huh.
00:21:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:21:45
Speaker 4: You knew this day was coming. Absolutely. The moment the Steelers took Derek Harmon in that draft, and we all had sat there and said, There it is. Most productive three-tech. Here he is.
00:21:55
Speaker 5: He's right there. And it went the other direction. The moment it ended up being Pittsburgh, you're like, well, he's going to win them a game at some point against the Bengals. And sure enough, there it was. I didn't expect it to be on the day that Shamar Stewart had zero snaps.
00:22:08
Speaker 2: Oh, we're going there next.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: But that storyline was certainly right in your face.
00:22:13
Speaker 3: You might have seen me fumbling for a pen before. It's because I neglected in my notes to write down Shamar Stewart's name. So I've done it here. I've circled it. We're going to do that when we come back. 3.30, Paul Daner Jr. from The Athletic. And the Growler podcast broadcasting today from Mercantile Immersive.
00:22:28
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00:22:39
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00:22:44
Speaker 1: Traffic.
00:22:50
Speaker 6: From the UC Health Traffic Center, Prostate. Touchdown, Bengals!
00:22:55
Speaker 1: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, her will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:23:24
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00:23:32
Speaker 2: KelseyChev.com.
00:23:33
Speaker 3: Bengals have made a slew, that's right, I said a slew of roster moves. Jalen Davis goes on IR with a hamstring injury, suffered it on Sunday when the Bengals lost to the Steelers. Keyshawn Williams waved after muffing a punt on Sunday. Tanner Hudson signed off the practice squad to the active roster. Mitch Tinsley is back. He has been signed off the Houston Texans practice squad. Isaiah Nwokobia. is being signed to the practice squad. He is a safety, a rookie from SMU, was a college free agent signee of the Bengals during the offseason, waived by the team on August the 4th. Also, Bo Braid, safety, has been signed to the practice squad, third-year player from the University of Maryland, was a college free agent signee of Baltimore. In 2024, played in 26 regular season games between two seasons with the Ravens and the New York Giants.
00:24:27
Speaker 2: Lots going on.
00:24:28
Speaker 3: Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 live on ESPN 1530. Eli De La Cruz has been named the National League's Player of the Month for the month of September as a reward. He gets the next five months off, maybe even more. The baseball postseason is underway. In Atlanta, they're going to the top of the sixth inning. Phillies and Braves are tied at one. Game one of that best of three series. Later this afternoon, it's the Astros hosting the White Sox in game one of their series. The Red Sox in the Bronx take on the Yankees. Game one of that series. And the Padres hosting the Cubs in game one of their best of three series. Obviously, you host game one. You also host game two. You host game three. You get how it works.
00:25:11
Speaker 2: Paul Tanner, Jr. from The Athletic and the Growler podcast is here.
00:25:15
Speaker 4: What's going on?
00:25:16
Speaker 2: A lot. Lots of moving parts. I'm trying to wrap my brain around all the stuff that's happening in the secondary.
00:25:22
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to figure out. I mean, I don't know how many new players and new places you're.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: Going to have. There could be a lot, though.
00:25:31
Speaker 5: I mean, everybody's dealing with something, whether it's a move or an injury.
00:25:35
Speaker 4: It seems like.
00:25:35
Speaker 2: It sounds like something we'd be dealing with like week 14.
00:25:39
Speaker 4: It all happened fast.
00:25:40
Speaker 5: They went from, look how healthy this team is, Isn't this how it goes, though? One trip to Pittsburgh and it's like, oh, everybody comes back a little beat up. It looks like that Miami game and the bye will be well-timed, potentially.
00:25:57
Speaker 2: Shamar Stewart played as many snaps on Sunday as I did.
00:26:00
Speaker 3: Why?
00:26:02
Speaker 5: I don't think there's trust there in terms of, is he going to do the right things, know where to go? Does he know what every play is supposed to be? I mean, That was really the case against Houston.
00:26:13
Speaker 4: Not until they were up a bunch did he get in. People act like he did because he had a sack.
00:26:16
Speaker 5: He played five snaps at the very end of the game trying to get him some reps. He was not up to the speed you would want him to be last year as a rookie.
00:26:28
Speaker 4: Everyone's in agreement on that. He didn't get any.
00:26:32
Speaker 5: Work on that in the preseason or really now they're into stuff. He's not getting the reps with the first team He's on the scout team, right? So, like, it's just hard to catch up on that stuff. That's what he needed. That was the worst part of his injury was it just puts him behind it. It's one thing to be healthy. It's another thing to be up to speed on exactly what you need to do when there's other options that do know what they're doing. And, you know, they got him playing 4-I now. Essentially like a defensive tackle kind of. So they have other guys that can do that.
00:27:08
Speaker 4: I mean, so... Could they have used somebody with his skill set?
00:27:14
Speaker 5: Sure, but they've got to have the trust he's going to go out there and do the right thing and make the adjustments and understand the games and the stunts and all the stuff they're trying to do. I don't think that that trust exists. They do have it in Jonathan Allen and TJ Slayton and Chris Jenkins and all the other, Murphy and Hal, all those guys. They have trust in what they're doing out there. I just don't think it's there right now in Shamar in comparison to others, so he watches and he's there in case an injury happens and they need him.
00:27:47
Speaker 3: Tanner Hudson comes off the practice squad and gets more snaps than Eric Aul. Why?
00:27:54
Speaker 5: Andre Yosefash and Colby Young, they had to adjust on the fly.
00:27:59
Speaker 4: Colby Young was going to be a big.
00:28:01
Speaker 5: Part of what was going to happen on Sunday, and when he goes out on the first play, there was a significant ripple effect, and that included Tanner Hudson having to take over some of that stuff, do the type of stuff that he was doing. So he ends up with more snaps. I think lining up and trying to bully the Steelers has never been the Bengals' philosophy against them because they feel like it sort of invites their strength and decreases the Bengals' strength. They'd rather have it become wide open, not invite more defensive linemen that can wreck you with what they do. And be more spread, which is what they do. So less Eric All, 12 personnel, power bully.
00:28:45
Speaker 1: Right.
00:28:46
Speaker 5: More spread it out with a guy like Tanner and Gesicki and let Joe kind of pick them apart like he did. And get your runs out of light boxes and things of that nature.
00:29:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm underwhelmed. You want more Eric Hall. I get it. I think he is much like the under center conversation. Matchup dependent. Right now.
00:29:17
Speaker 5: Because you're not taking Drew Sample off the field because of what he is in protection. And you gotta figure out who you're taking off the field if you're playing Eric Hall, you're taking Gesicki off, you're taking Dante Myers off, whatever you're doing. I think that's part of the decision. I think there are going to be games where they are going to invite the power running game.
00:29:41
Speaker 4: Let's go.
00:29:42
Speaker 5: Let's line them up and go knock their teeth in. I think there are going to be a lot of those games this year. I just think their philosophical approach to Pittsburgh is not that.
00:29:53
Speaker 4: And that's why his snaps were a little less.
00:29:56
Speaker 3: No Andre Yochevas for the foreseeable future, and then the Colby Young injury happens. Now there's no Keyshawn Williams. How do things line up right now at wide receivers? Is this like just the Dante Myers show?
00:30:08
Speaker 4: And Tinsley.
00:30:09
Speaker 5: I mean, I think Tinsley comes right back into the role that I think we thought he was going to have before the year started.
00:30:14
Speaker 4: I mean, he was a part of the rotation last year. He's a guy who caught balls. He's out there. I mean, Jacksonville specifically. Sure, yeah.
00:30:22
Speaker 5: I think that he shows right up, and he's thrown right into the mix as a guy who's going to have a part of it. Gesicki and Hudson and Myers and Tinsley are all a part of that plan. I think you'll see Tinsley soak up some of what Colby Young was going to be, and that's the direction that they'll go for. They have a lot of different options and things they can still do at that spot. It's just their top two options are now out of it.
00:30:51
Speaker 3: There's a deal that Bengals didn't make that I want to ask you about when we come back.
00:30:56
Speaker 2: Paul Danner Jr.
00:30:56
Speaker 3: From The Athletic and The Growler Podcast broadcasting today from the Mercantile Immersive Event Venue downtown 4th Street.
00:31:04
Speaker 2: Check it out. Learn more at delightmore.com. 16 from 4 o'clock. I'm Mo Egger. He's Paul Danner Jr.
00:31:10
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:31:13
Speaker 7: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:31:14
Speaker 2: Traffic.
00:31:18
Speaker 6: From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC.
00:31:30
Speaker 4: There is 11 away from 4 o'clock.
00:31:32
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530. Mo Egger broadcasting from the Mercantile Immersive, which will be hosting a Bengals Ravens watch party on October the 25th. Doors open at noon. Tickets available. Delightmore.com. Paul Daynor Jr. from The Athletic and The Growler Podcast. For about 30 minutes, and I participated in this, for about 30 minutes a week and a half ago, the internet was enjoying suggesting that the Giants go trade for Joe Flacco because they needed a quarterback.
00:32:06
Speaker 2: They went and got J.J.
00:32:07
Speaker 3: McCarthy to back up Jameis Winston, but people making the obvious connection between.
00:32:12
Speaker 2: John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco.
00:32:15
Speaker 6: What?
00:32:16
Speaker 3: What would the Giants have had to offer the Bengals in terms of compensation to get them to not laugh at them?
00:32:24
Speaker 4: I'd have been interested in Jermaine Illuminor.
00:32:27
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: I'd make that deal.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Right.
00:32:29
Speaker 4: Yes. A swing tackle.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: That deal I would make.
00:32:33
Speaker 4: Pretend to starter.
00:32:34
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:32:36
Speaker 5: Joe Flacco counts as a starting player. He's making $ 6 million for a reason. He is not a minimum salary dude that you just exchange. I mean, this is a big part of the Bengals' plans to avoid the pitfalls of previous seasons. So to think that you're going to give him up for somebody that's not a starting level player is.
00:33:01
Speaker 4: Crazy.
00:33:02
Speaker 5: And they would, you know, they'd turn to Josh Johnson as their backup and you can talk yourself into that, I suppose. But, you know, Joe Flacco is a big deal. The fact that he's here, that was a big part of their off season plan. And they're not just going to give that up unless they felt like they were bettering the team in another way significantly. Um, because it's easy to say that. And then one play the next week and you're like, why did they trade Joe Flacco? And you're questioning everything. So I, It would have had to have been a significant starting level addition to not laugh at them. And that probably is. I don't even know if that's enough to get the job done. I'm just saying. You asked about not laughing. I'm saying they would probably start listening if you started offering real starters.
00:33:45
Speaker 3: Well, the internet was telling me. And part of this is like it comes out of New York because in those cities they think we're all a feeder to their teams. So whatever New York wants here in flyover country, we should just give it to them. And I, you know, well, you know, they'll get draft compensation. And I go, the Bengals don't care about draft compensation right now.
00:34:03
Speaker 4: Not one bit.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: They just did a trade with the New York Giants where they gave away the 10th overall pick. Could not care less about the 2027 draft. Obviously, I'll feel differently, and they will, too, in February, March. Hopefully, March, not February. But, like, I just laughed at it. I got a topic out of it. I got a segment out of it.
00:34:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's segment-worthy.
00:34:22
Speaker 5: I think it's worth listening to the conversation about. And partially, I think, because of how happy they were with what Josh Johnson was.
00:34:31
Speaker 4: But Joe Flacco can win you games for a month.
00:34:36
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:34:36
Speaker 4: Okay?
00:34:37
Speaker 5: And I don't know that you can say the same thing about Josh Johnson. As good as his story was and as much as his resume.
00:34:45
Speaker 4: Is something you're comfortable with. I mean.
00:34:48
Speaker 5: Joe Flacco is a high-level backup that can take care of you if something significant happens, especially with this defense. And that is not something to take lightly. I mean, how many teams do you got to see their quarterback get hurt until you're like, that is a valuable player? The whole league is like this right now. And so, yeah, he is a valuable piece of the Bengals organization. He gets paid $ 6 million for a reason.
00:35:16
Speaker 4: We can laugh at it.
00:35:17
Speaker 1: A little bit.
00:35:18
Speaker 3: Now, what are they going to have to dangle to maybe go get a safety?
00:35:24
Speaker 4: Joe Flacco.
00:35:24
Speaker 2: See, it all comes full circle now, doesn't it?
00:35:28
Speaker 5: I mean, at some point, if they needed something and they were in win-now mode, you're probably, you are, dipping into your draft resource.
00:35:37
Speaker 4: I mean, that's likely where it comes from. I don't know.
00:35:42
Speaker 5: How many luxury positions they have to deal from right now.
00:35:46
Speaker 4: Maybe, I don't know.
00:35:49
Speaker 5: They could think up something depending on what people needed, but more than likely any move that you're making this year is coming from your draft and a win-now type of conversation.
00:36:00
Speaker 3: How much does Sunday miss represent an enormous missed opportunity that a fan should worry that come December we're going to look back on?
00:36:12
Speaker 4: Sure.
00:36:14
Speaker 5: We played this game in 2024, in 2025. Looking back at all, rank the games that are the most you should have won. All these games that they should have won. Well, where will this one rank at the end of the year? Whether we're talking about whether they could have been the one seed or whether they could have been the division champ or whether they make the playoffs. I think so much of it depends on something that this organization has been bad at the last three years, and that is not letting these things snowball. You've had three consecutive years that they have had losing streaks of at least three games. Last year, they had two different four-game losing streaks in that middle portion of the program with Flacco. And they haven't been good at stopping the bleeding when things spiral out of control. I think the idea behind Dexter.
00:37:12
Speaker 4: Lawrence and Brian Cook and.
00:37:14
Speaker 5: Jonathan Allen and so many of the guys they signed, the reason they brought those types of guys in was they will be better at that. And I will say the locker room sounded different in that regard on Sunday from the defensive side.
00:37:26
Speaker 4: What were we talking about after some losses last year? Defense laughing over here. Yeah. Right? It's a joke.
00:37:30
Speaker 3: Right.
00:37:31
Speaker 5: I think there was very much a sense of authoritative accountability and leadership postgame from people like Dexter Lawrence and DJ Turner.
00:37:41
Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
00:37:42
Speaker 5: The tone in the voice, what they were saying was notable and came from a place of, I'm going to make sure this gets nipped in the bud versus last year of, someone's going to make sure this gets nipped in the.
00:37:54
Speaker 4: Bud, right? And I think there's a difference there.
00:37:58
Speaker 5: And that's how teams stop the bleeding is with players, with veteran leadership and presence like that. And I think they plan on leaning on that as they go forward.
00:38:07
Speaker 3: Paul Tanner Jr. covering the Bengals for the Athletic. and The Growler Podcast. Follow him at Paul Daner Jr. Thank you, as always.
00:38:15
Speaker 4: My pleasure.
00:38:16
Speaker 3: Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 o'clock live on ESPN 1530.
00:38:20
Speaker 2: Paul Daner Jr.
00:38:21
Speaker 3: Will be covering that, obviously, for The Athletic and The Growler coming up on 4 o'clock on Moe Eggert.
00:38:26
Speaker 2: There's lots of ground to cover.
00:38:27
Speaker 3: Between now and 6 on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:38:33
Speaker 2: I'm Brett Coleman.
Speaker 1: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, fur will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. What's up? Good afternoon. I'm Mo Egger.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening. Hope you're having an unbelievable Tuesday afternoon. It is gorgeous out. We are inside the Mercantile Immersive, one of the great venues you will ever visit if you have a corporate event, a wedding, a party. If you just want a place to hang out and feel fancy all by yourself, Mercantile Immersive on 4th Street downtown. Under the Delightmore umbrella, this place hosts Bengals watch parties. They've got a couple coming up, one for the game against the Ravens on October the 25th. Tickets available for that at delightmore.com or and the Madrid game, Bengals and Falcons, on November the 8th. That is a 9.30 a.m. kickoff, really special event here at delightmore.com. There's also a bourbon tasting experience coming up. There are four unique venues across the greater Cincinnati area operated by Delightmore, Mercantile Immersive, the Transept, which is across from Washington Park, the View in Mount Adams, Carnegie Hall in Newport, and early next year, the historic Phoenix located at 9th and Race. Check them all out, delightmore.com. Paul Daner Jr. is here from The Athletic and the Growler podcast.
00:01:45
Speaker 4: What's up?
00:01:46
Speaker 2: Keyshawn Williams is out.
00:01:48
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:01:49
Speaker 2: Surprised?
00:01:50
Speaker 3: No.
00:01:51
Speaker 5: I mean, certainly not after... I mean, I asked the question yesterday.
00:01:55
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:56
Speaker 4: Curious.
00:01:56
Speaker 2: It wasn't even a lukewarm response.
00:01:58
Speaker 5: After the answer, I came away saying, I think we might have our next Darius Phillips just because that was such a... I mean, that was the opportunity to very clearly be like, well, look, we still.
00:02:10
Speaker 4: Trust in Keyshawn. No, it was.
00:02:13
Speaker 5: We're talking about what's going to happen next here.
00:02:16
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:02:16
Speaker 5: And, uh, so no, I'm not surprised by the move today. I think though, generally, I think surprised by how quick they were to move on, um, from it. But I think it's another example of the urgency that we've heard and the word, you know, I hate when the word unacceptable gets used and then, and nothing changes.
00:02:42
Speaker 4: If it was unacceptable.
00:02:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:02:44
Speaker 5: Then something has to happen or else you accepted it, right? And it doesn't always have to be as dramatic as this. We're not talking about the Reds here.
00:02:51
Speaker 2: You're the Bengals guy.
00:02:52
Speaker 4: Sorry, sorry, sorry.
00:02:53
Speaker 2: You're the Bengals guy.
00:02:54
Speaker 5: Sorry, that's a whole different situation. But you know what I'm saying? You can't say that and then nothing changes. And there are other ways it can happen besides getting rid of somebody, but at that position.
00:03:08
Speaker 4: Trust is so hard to get back.
00:03:10
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:03:10
Speaker 4: Like, it's just.
00:03:11
Speaker 5: If it's Bengals, Jags, and it's 30-all with two minutes left, and how comfortable are they going to be sending out Keyshawn Williams at that point?
00:03:22
Speaker 4: And I just.
00:03:23
Speaker 5: That's the question they had to ask themselves. And if they say, no, it's Dante Myers, well, that sets off a chain reaction of other stuff. Colby Young injury is significant because it has ripple effects on top of the Andre injury. Mitch Tinsley being back because of that, well... because you had to take some of that off of Dante's plate, because now you want him to be part of the return game. It's all very interconnected back there, but I think inevitably it starts with once trust is broken at that spot, it's hard to get it back.
00:03:53
Speaker 3: I think, and I'm with you, having listened to the press conference yesterday, I thought to myself, uh-oh, not a good day to be Keyshawn Williams.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: But I think there are folks.
00:04:05
Speaker 3: Who follow the Bengals, a franchise typically not associated with urgency, who are expressing surprise that they did that after one mistake.
00:04:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:18
Speaker 5: You know, the talent level connect and the relevance connects to it. And it's like, if you're the back of the roster guy, this is the reason he's here.
00:04:29
Speaker 2: Catch the punt.
00:04:30
Speaker 5: It's different if he's there, but he also, if he was Dante Myers, it would be different. Because Dante is bringing you more. Keyshawn is there because this is what he's supposed to do. And if there is a trust breach there... and that's the thing that you do, suddenly the conversation changes significantly because they need more out of the back of their receiver room.
00:04:54
Speaker 4: In a bunch of different ways.
00:04:56
Speaker 3: What do I do with this 1-34 stat that seems to be what everybody has recited since about 4-15 on Sunday, where the Bengals, Joe Burrow specifically, of course, is 1-34 when the Bengals are trailing with eight minutes or less to go.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: I think I've memorized it.
00:05:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's it.
00:05:14
Speaker 2: 1-34. What do we do with.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: This?
00:05:20
Speaker 5: I think you take it in and you throw it into the pile with a lot of other stuff that's connected on so many things that have been wrong in Cincinnati. The defense that's been wrong, the mistakes that have been made, whether it's been coached. There's been a lot of mistakes that lead to this team not being able to pull off comeback wins. How many of those are Joe Burrow? Now, there is truth in it. There has to be. He has had opportunities. We have outlined these over the years. You can start talking about the Super Bowl and talk about any number of times since then. I went through and just looked at since 2023 because I wanted to look at since they haven't been making the playoffs, how many times has what happened Sunday happened?
00:06:11
Speaker 4: That Joe Burrow gets the ball with.
00:06:13
Speaker 5: Less than four minutes remaining and trailing by a score with a chance to go. And they haven't won any of those games. They're now 0-6. But he's gone down and scored in those games. He's gone down and scored a touchdown and didn't get the two-point conversion. There's been plenty of times. Sometimes there's a three and out. We had the fumble. But it's like a lot of it is, no, he went down and scored and the defense gave up the game.
00:06:38
Speaker 4: So is that his fault?
00:06:39
Speaker 6: No.
00:06:40
Speaker 4: Look, I don't. Joe Burrow's a great quarterback.
00:06:43
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:06:44
Speaker 5: I think that there is relevancy to that discussion until he kills that narrative with a couple game-winning drives that end up being wins.
00:06:54
Speaker 4: Then this stuff is going to continue to creep up.
00:06:56
Speaker 5: That's just the nature of it. But I don't necessarily buy into that. You know what I buy into? I'm a big high leverage down guy.
00:07:06
Speaker 4: Red zone guy.
00:07:07
Speaker 5: Third down, fourth down. I think those decide games more than us cherry-picking.
00:07:15
Speaker 4: The end of games.
00:07:16
Speaker 5: And that's fine. Those are big moments. I'm not discrediting those. But those are the moments, the four-point swings, the stops, the turnovers, the change games.
00:07:25
Speaker 4: That truly decide games.
00:07:27
Speaker 5: He is second in the league since 2021 in terms of.
00:07:32
Speaker 4: Third down conversion rate in those spots. Second in the league. I mean.
00:07:37
Speaker 5: In those high leverage biggest moments, there just aren't people that are better than him. And he creates, he knows how to pick apart the defense, he takes advantage of tight windows, he does all the things that.
00:07:51
Speaker 4: You want a quarterback to do.
00:07:53
Speaker 5: I think it's fine to point out that this one bit of his resume isn't as full as others. I don't think that discredits the entire thing at all. It.
00:08:06
Speaker 4: It's just another piece of data to put into the Joe Burrow conversation. That's a good one. That's a reason why he's a tier one quarterback. It is a good one.
00:08:15
Speaker 2: He was awesome on Sunday. Like, that's the thing.
00:08:17
Speaker 4: Near flawless. Until the end.
00:08:20
Speaker 3: Okay, the fumble is bad. Nobody is saying it's not. You got to figure out a way to score. It'd be great if you didn't have to burn a timeout coming out of a dead ball situation.
00:08:30
Speaker 2: That'd be neat. Not sure what was up with that.
00:08:33
Speaker 3: Like, what I hated, I hated a lot of things about the loss, not the least of which was the fact that they lost.
00:08:39
Speaker 2: But Joe Burrow was awesome on Sunday.
00:08:42
Speaker 1: Yes. Right?
00:08:44
Speaker 3: That was the, hey, this is how it's going to look the rest of the year. And if all this other stuff comes together, good luck. And instead of talking about that, it's this just litany of other things that cost him the game and made Joe's awesomeness to footnote.
00:08:59
Speaker 5: Which is another reason why it felt like so many games from the last couple of years.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:03
Speaker 5: Where Joe's awesomeness became a footnote because he was asked to do so much. And that ends up, so you end up getting the replay of him trying to make that last play. And that's partially on him after a quick loss from what was also a nearly flawless day from Dalton Reisner, but it ends poorly for him. And so we're going to talk about that. And then the rest of it gets thrown out. The fact that they were put in a spot of having to make that comeback. The fact that their 10 points were just given up on special teams. The fact that Pittsburgh just comes out and runs down the field in the first quarter like it's nobody's business. I mean, they scored 27 points. Burrow was great. But he needed to make one more play. That is the story of the last couple of years. He always has to make one more play, it seems. And is forced to play. almost perfect football. We saw it come to an end at the end of that game on Sunday, but that's why it all felt so familiar.
00:10:04
Speaker 4: I'd just seen that show before. Burrow played great, but Bengals lose.
00:10:10
Speaker 3: The Bengals haven't sent out a press release regarding Keyshawn Williams yet.
00:10:14
Speaker 4: I have news if you want news. I want news.
00:10:17
Speaker 2: So we've got.
00:10:20
Speaker 5: Keyshawn Williams. Mitch Tinsley signed. Tanner Hudson is up. Jalen Davis goes to the IR, which is significant with a hamstring injury. And we also have multiple safeties added to the practice squad. The safety, the secondary is going to be the story of the week, Mo. How these pieces are going to fit together. Brian Cook, banged up. Kyle Duggar, banged up. We know Jalen Davis on IR. So, Takario Davis didn't play super. Jordan Battle, bad. Jordan Battle, bad. How's he doing? There's a lot of stuff happening back there, and here comes Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars ready to take that on. Who's going to play where? I talked to Dax Hill after the game, and I kind of joked because I used the video on the walkout so people could see the eye roll when I pointed out that he was back in slot again. And he's very much doing what's best for the team, but he's like, yeah, I mean. It's got to be frustrating, though.
00:11:32
Speaker 4: I haven't been doing this.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:11:33
Speaker 5: He hasn't been doing this. He was hardly part of it. You do it some, but it's different in there. The communication is different. What you're doing is different. It's a different deal. Well, with Jalen Davis out, I think the assumption is that Dax is going to be back inside, just like he was. Who's going to be outside? Takario?
00:11:53
Speaker 4: Right. DJ Ivy?
00:11:54
Speaker 1: Right.
00:11:54
Speaker 5: Figuring that out, and then all the communication to Dax, getting used to the inside communication again.
00:12:02
Speaker 4: Who's behind him at safety? Right.
00:12:04
Speaker 5: Getting used to that stuff, and possibly new communication on the outside.
00:12:08
Speaker 4: There's just a lot of more moving parts going on.
00:12:11
Speaker 5: Than you care to have, especially coming off a game where the secondary wasn't great in general.
00:12:16
Speaker 3: Bengals signing safety Isaiah Nwokobia from SMU.
00:12:21
Speaker 4: He was here at the beginning in offseason program.
00:12:24
Speaker 3: Oh.
00:12:24
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: And Bo Braid.
00:12:27
Speaker 3: Who's from Maryland, third-year guy, college free agent, signed near the Ravens in 24, 26 regular season games under his belt over the last couple of years with Baltimore and the Giants. See, I was just going to have fun with the press release because there's three different levels of Bengals press release. There's center press release that we've cut a player. There's center press release that we've cut a player, quote from Zach. Center press release that we've cut a player, quote from Zach and Mike Brown.
00:12:51
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:12:52
Speaker 2: Keyshawn Williams did not qualify for a quote.
00:12:54
Speaker 4: No. Hmm.
00:12:55
Speaker 5: No, I think we got all the quotes that we needed yesterday from Darren and Zach Taylor.
00:13:00
Speaker 4: On that one. Yeah. So it goes, though. And it'll be an interesting week to see how everything plays out.
00:13:06
Speaker 3: You mentioned Cook and Duggar banged up. I know we'll know more tomorrow when they get back to work and have an injury report, but does your gut tell you that either player may be in jeopardy of not playing on Sunday?
00:13:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they're in jeopardy.
00:13:21
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:13:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's... Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's hard to know.
00:13:25
Speaker 5: I mean, like, I think it truly is what Zach Taylor had to say yesterday, and that's get them to Wednesday and see how they look, get them to see who can go in practice.
00:13:35
Speaker 4: I mean, they're.
00:13:36
Speaker 5: So thin that I would assume there's, you know, it seems that there's going to be an entertaining of, all right, some guys might just not practice this week and just get them to the game and try to get.
00:13:48
Speaker 4: Through this game. I mean, you've got Miami and a bye. On the back end of this. That's the good news.
00:13:57
Speaker 5: But I think it's a matter of getting through and trying to get a win against Jacksonville with a bunch of guys that are probably going to have to.
00:14:04
Speaker 4: Gut it out back there.
00:14:07
Speaker 5: Or be playing a new position. I think there's a chance that any number of them, all or none or some combination, could be playing, gutting through it, or sitting out.
00:14:20
Speaker 2: Is Geno Stone still in the Bills practice squad?
00:14:22
Speaker 4: I don't think he's going to be back. I don't think it's going to get the approval.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: I might not go to the game if Geno Stone is brought back.
00:14:32
Speaker 5: Honestly, just for my own entertainment value, I'd kind of like to see it. Just to get to talk to you.
00:14:38
Speaker 4: No, you don't. You don't want that.
00:14:41
Speaker 2: You don't want that.
00:14:42
Speaker 4: Like I say, it's strictly my own entertainment value. I enjoy your rants. That's where it comes. That's all it is.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: 18 minutes after 3 o'clock. Paul Daner, Jr.
00:14:51
Speaker 3: TheAthletic.com, covering the Bengals on top of the Growler podcast. Follow him at Paul Daner, Jr. So there is obviously a ton to get to between now and 4 o'clock. I'm here until 6. My name is Mo Egger. Thank you for listening today. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:11
Speaker 7: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:15:12
Speaker 4: Traffic.
00:15:16
Speaker 6: From the UC Health.
00:15:17
Speaker 7: The Gullicks have your mid-morning football fix. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. on the official home of the Bengals. ESPN 1530. Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:15:29
Speaker 3: Mo Egger with Paul Daner Jr. We're broadcasting from the Mercantile Immersive. This venue will host a bourbon tasting experience on November the 19th at 6 o'clock. Tickets are available for that event at delightmore.com. Paul Daner Jr. covers the Bengals for The Athletic. He does a podcast, The Groundwork Podcast. It is the one we did this morning, Up and Out.
00:15:50
Speaker 4: It is, yes.
00:15:51
Speaker 2: Up and Out.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: Wow. Yeah.
00:15:52
Speaker 2: Pretty good.
00:15:54
Speaker 4: There it is, every day.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: Where was the pass rush on Sunday?
00:15:59
Speaker 4: You know, well, I think there was a combination of things where, one.
00:16:03
Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers has just been getting rid of the ball as fast as anybody, and that was pretty much the case again on Sunday.
00:16:11
Speaker 3: And.
00:16:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, Pittsburgh's protection was a lot more solid. The Bengals still got 18 pressures. But it didn't feel as... It didn't feel like it. Yeah, it didn't feel as chaotic. It didn't feel as disruptive. I think that was partially the design.
00:16:27
Speaker 2: It didn't feel as swarmy.
00:16:29
Speaker 1: No.
00:16:30
Speaker 2: Well, because I just.
00:16:31
Speaker 5: There wasn't a lot of times where Aaron Rodgers.
00:16:34
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers ain't back there patting the ball. Right. Okay, he's not back there.
00:16:38
Speaker 1: And.
00:16:39
Speaker 5: They weren't playing from ahead. They didn't have them in a clear pass situation. They were giving up runs. All the things that were situationally conducive to them feeling.
00:16:56
Speaker 4: Swarmy through the first two weeks were not really present. You fall behind. You're giving up runs. They're designing against it. They've seen it now.
00:17:07
Speaker 5: They're designing their plays to to avoid a lot more under-center, under-center play action stuff. When they are back there, they're getting it out quick. There weren't a lot. I have to go back and look at the exact numbers, but there wasn't like they were living in.
00:17:20
Speaker 4: Third and long. And when they did, they got back there.
00:17:22
Speaker 5: I mean, Cassius Howell certainly was disruptive in those situations, getting hits on the quarterback and pressures and continued to look like himself. But yeah, the disruption that you felt the first two weeks was not as obvious, but I think... I think that's more situational to that game than it.
00:17:43
Speaker 4: Is too indicative that the pass rush had an awful day. I don't know that that was necessarily as much the case.
00:17:53
Speaker 2: Okay, then what was up with all the missed tackles?
00:17:57
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know. I don't have the answer to that.
00:18:04
Speaker 5: Guys that have missed tackles historically went out there and missed tackles.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question.
00:18:09
Speaker 4: I mean, that's what it is, right? Yeah.
00:18:11
Speaker 2: If you were in charge of the Pittsburgh Steelers, if you were the quarterback.
00:18:14
Speaker 4: Darnell Washington.
00:18:15
Speaker 2: How do you not throw him the ball?
00:18:17
Speaker 4: At least once a series.
00:18:18
Speaker 2: 25 times a game. He's played, this is his fourth NFL season.
00:18:22
Speaker 4: 86 targets.
00:18:23
Speaker 2: What are we doing?
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:18:25
Speaker 3: If I was Mike McCarthy on the first day of the job, I would have stood at the podium and said, I don't know how things are going to go here. It's great to be home. My quarterback's old. Here's what I can tell you. We're going to throw the ball to Darnell Washington today. A dozen times a game in the first half per game. And we'll see if people can tackle him.
00:18:41
Speaker 5: Always available underneath is a check down. Like, he should be one of your number one weapons. I will say this.
00:18:48
Speaker 4: I thought the most... I felt.
00:18:52
Speaker 5: Like I absolutely just turned on the 2025 tape when I watched the Darnell Washington check down in the fourth quarter.
00:19:00
Speaker 4: I mean, it was....
00:19:02
Speaker 5: I'll even excuse a missed tackle from Barrett Carter slightly.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: It's a hard task. It's open field. The dude's massive.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: And he looked like he wanted a part of making the tackle. I could excuse that 100%.
00:19:14
Speaker 5: The rest of what was happening, the end zone angle of the All-22 shows you the deceleration and the unwillingness to go fully all the way through of multiple corners. Along the sideline there. And that stuff were staples of last year's defense. Like that was what it looked like. And, you know, same field is what it looked like. And so that to me is concerning because that's the type of stuff that, okay. I just got done here in two weeks of Al Golden telling me about how great the population to the football is and how hard they're all chasing it down. And then I got to watch this. So, well, this isn't that. This is not that attitude, that willingness to finish and all the stuff.
00:20:09
Speaker 4: It has been preached. That's not what it looked like.
00:20:11
Speaker 5: And that was far from the only time it was like that. But in terms of that specific play, it's right there in front of your face. That's effort. That's largely effort and willingness that was a part of that. And I can deal with some of the missed tackles. I can deal when you go in there and it just doesn't go your way or you overrun a gap or something. I can deal with that. When I see the open space and there's the deceleration and they're not going all the way through the sideline, that's where I have a problem. And that's why I was most, that was probably the most concerning defensive play all day.
00:20:49
Speaker 3: I would tell that dude, you don't have to run a route. Just line up on side. And when we hike the ball, turn to the quarterback and we're going to throw it to you. And then we're going to watch people just try to hang all over you and have you drag them down the field.
00:21:03
Speaker 4: Yeah. I'd say, I'd even add to that. I was like, here's what we want you to do. Stand there. Just hit anyone in your vicinity one time.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:21:11
Speaker 4: Just really hard.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:21:13
Speaker 4: And then just go, go run out wherever. Yeah.
00:21:15
Speaker 5: And then we'll find you and throw it to you. But I mean, it's, it's a weapon if used correctly as he has, as he has proven. I mean, he's, he had some, some reps in the run game too that were devastating. I mean, he's, I was told that he had some sort of injury problems that should have ended his career by now, and that's why he was available in the third round. Same injury problems probably that I heard Derek Harmon supposedly had. Why you wouldn't take him in the first round. That one was hard to miss, huh? Uh-huh.
00:21:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:21:45
Speaker 4: You knew this day was coming. Absolutely. The moment the Steelers took Derek Harmon in that draft, and we all had sat there and said, There it is. Most productive three-tech. Here he is.
00:21:55
Speaker 5: He's right there. And it went the other direction. The moment it ended up being Pittsburgh, you're like, well, he's going to win them a game at some point against the Bengals. And sure enough, there it was. I didn't expect it to be on the day that Shamar Stewart had zero snaps.
00:22:08
Speaker 2: Oh, we're going there next.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: But that storyline was certainly right in your face.
00:22:13
Speaker 3: You might have seen me fumbling for a pen before. It's because I neglected in my notes to write down Shamar Stewart's name. So I've done it here. I've circled it. We're going to do that when we come back. 3.30, Paul Daner Jr. from The Athletic. And the Growler podcast broadcasting today from Mercantile Immersive.
00:22:28
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00:22:29
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00:22:39
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00:22:44
Speaker 1: Traffic.
00:22:50
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00:22:55
Speaker 1: It's a big cat clash, and the Bengals are on the prowl for a win. To get one, they'll have to jolt the Jaguars. And trust me, her will fly. You might call it a pounce-a-palooza. It's spot versus stripes. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:23:24
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00:23:32
Speaker 2: KelseyChev.com.
00:23:33
Speaker 3: Bengals have made a slew, that's right, I said a slew of roster moves. Jalen Davis goes on IR with a hamstring injury, suffered it on Sunday when the Bengals lost to the Steelers. Keyshawn Williams waved after muffing a punt on Sunday. Tanner Hudson signed off the practice squad to the active roster. Mitch Tinsley is back. He has been signed off the Houston Texans practice squad. Isaiah Nwokobia. is being signed to the practice squad. He is a safety, a rookie from SMU, was a college free agent signee of the Bengals during the offseason, waived by the team on August the 4th. Also, Bo Braid, safety, has been signed to the practice squad, third-year player from the University of Maryland, was a college free agent signee of Baltimore. In 2024, played in 26 regular season games between two seasons with the Ravens and the New York Giants.
00:24:27
Speaker 2: Lots going on.
00:24:28
Speaker 3: Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 live on ESPN 1530. Eli De La Cruz has been named the National League's Player of the Month for the month of September as a reward. He gets the next five months off, maybe even more. The baseball postseason is underway. In Atlanta, they're going to the top of the sixth inning. Phillies and Braves are tied at one. Game one of that best of three series. Later this afternoon, it's the Astros hosting the White Sox in game one of their series. The Red Sox in the Bronx take on the Yankees. Game one of that series. And the Padres hosting the Cubs in game one of their best of three series. Obviously, you host game one. You also host game two. You host game three. You get how it works.
00:25:11
Speaker 2: Paul Tanner, Jr. from The Athletic and the Growler podcast is here.
00:25:15
Speaker 4: What's going on?
00:25:16
Speaker 2: A lot. Lots of moving parts. I'm trying to wrap my brain around all the stuff that's happening in the secondary.
00:25:22
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to figure out. I mean, I don't know how many new players and new places you're.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: Going to have. There could be a lot, though.
00:25:31
Speaker 5: I mean, everybody's dealing with something, whether it's a move or an injury.
00:25:35
Speaker 4: It seems like.
00:25:35
Speaker 2: It sounds like something we'd be dealing with like week 14.
00:25:39
Speaker 4: It all happened fast.
00:25:40
Speaker 5: They went from, look how healthy this team is, Isn't this how it goes, though? One trip to Pittsburgh and it's like, oh, everybody comes back a little beat up. It looks like that Miami game and the bye will be well-timed, potentially.
00:25:57
Speaker 2: Shamar Stewart played as many snaps on Sunday as I did.
00:26:00
Speaker 3: Why?
00:26:02
Speaker 5: I don't think there's trust there in terms of, is he going to do the right things, know where to go? Does he know what every play is supposed to be? I mean, That was really the case against Houston.
00:26:13
Speaker 4: Not until they were up a bunch did he get in. People act like he did because he had a sack.
00:26:16
Speaker 5: He played five snaps at the very end of the game trying to get him some reps. He was not up to the speed you would want him to be last year as a rookie.
00:26:28
Speaker 4: Everyone's in agreement on that. He didn't get any.
00:26:32
Speaker 5: Work on that in the preseason or really now they're into stuff. He's not getting the reps with the first team He's on the scout team, right? So, like, it's just hard to catch up on that stuff. That's what he needed. That was the worst part of his injury was it just puts him behind it. It's one thing to be healthy. It's another thing to be up to speed on exactly what you need to do when there's other options that do know what they're doing. And, you know, they got him playing 4-I now. Essentially like a defensive tackle kind of. So they have other guys that can do that.
00:27:08
Speaker 4: I mean, so... Could they have used somebody with his skill set?
00:27:14
Speaker 5: Sure, but they've got to have the trust he's going to go out there and do the right thing and make the adjustments and understand the games and the stunts and all the stuff they're trying to do. I don't think that that trust exists. They do have it in Jonathan Allen and TJ Slayton and Chris Jenkins and all the other, Murphy and Hal, all those guys. They have trust in what they're doing out there. I just don't think it's there right now in Shamar in comparison to others, so he watches and he's there in case an injury happens and they need him.
00:27:47
Speaker 3: Tanner Hudson comes off the practice squad and gets more snaps than Eric Aul. Why?
00:27:54
Speaker 5: Andre Yosefash and Colby Young, they had to adjust on the fly.
00:27:59
Speaker 4: Colby Young was going to be a big.
00:28:01
Speaker 5: Part of what was going to happen on Sunday, and when he goes out on the first play, there was a significant ripple effect, and that included Tanner Hudson having to take over some of that stuff, do the type of stuff that he was doing. So he ends up with more snaps. I think lining up and trying to bully the Steelers has never been the Bengals' philosophy against them because they feel like it sort of invites their strength and decreases the Bengals' strength. They'd rather have it become wide open, not invite more defensive linemen that can wreck you with what they do. And be more spread, which is what they do. So less Eric All, 12 personnel, power bully.
00:28:45
Speaker 1: Right.
00:28:46
Speaker 5: More spread it out with a guy like Tanner and Gesicki and let Joe kind of pick them apart like he did. And get your runs out of light boxes and things of that nature.
00:29:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm underwhelmed. You want more Eric Hall. I get it. I think he is much like the under center conversation. Matchup dependent. Right now.
00:29:17
Speaker 5: Because you're not taking Drew Sample off the field because of what he is in protection. And you gotta figure out who you're taking off the field if you're playing Eric Hall, you're taking Gesicki off, you're taking Dante Myers off, whatever you're doing. I think that's part of the decision. I think there are going to be games where they are going to invite the power running game.
00:29:41
Speaker 4: Let's go.
00:29:42
Speaker 5: Let's line them up and go knock their teeth in. I think there are going to be a lot of those games this year. I just think their philosophical approach to Pittsburgh is not that.
00:29:53
Speaker 4: And that's why his snaps were a little less.
00:29:56
Speaker 3: No Andre Yochevas for the foreseeable future, and then the Colby Young injury happens. Now there's no Keyshawn Williams. How do things line up right now at wide receivers? Is this like just the Dante Myers show?
00:30:08
Speaker 4: And Tinsley.
00:30:09
Speaker 5: I mean, I think Tinsley comes right back into the role that I think we thought he was going to have before the year started.
00:30:14
Speaker 4: I mean, he was a part of the rotation last year. He's a guy who caught balls. He's out there. I mean, Jacksonville specifically. Sure, yeah.
00:30:22
Speaker 5: I think that he shows right up, and he's thrown right into the mix as a guy who's going to have a part of it. Gesicki and Hudson and Myers and Tinsley are all a part of that plan. I think you'll see Tinsley soak up some of what Colby Young was going to be, and that's the direction that they'll go for. They have a lot of different options and things they can still do at that spot. It's just their top two options are now out of it.
00:30:51
Speaker 3: There's a deal that Bengals didn't make that I want to ask you about when we come back.
00:30:56
Speaker 2: Paul Danner Jr.
00:30:56
Speaker 3: From The Athletic and The Growler Podcast broadcasting today from the Mercantile Immersive Event Venue downtown 4th Street.
00:31:04
Speaker 2: Check it out. Learn more at delightmore.com. 16 from 4 o'clock. I'm Mo Egger. He's Paul Danner Jr.
00:31:10
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:31:13
Speaker 7: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:31:14
Speaker 2: Traffic.
00:31:18
Speaker 6: From the UC Health Traffic Center, prostate cancer care should be as individual as you are. Find treatment options built around you at the UC Cancer Center. Call 513-585-UCCC.
00:31:30
Speaker 4: There is 11 away from 4 o'clock.
00:31:32
Speaker 3: This is ESPN 1530. Mo Egger broadcasting from the Mercantile Immersive, which will be hosting a Bengals Ravens watch party on October the 25th. Doors open at noon. Tickets available. Delightmore.com. Paul Daynor Jr. from The Athletic and The Growler Podcast. For about 30 minutes, and I participated in this, for about 30 minutes a week and a half ago, the internet was enjoying suggesting that the Giants go trade for Joe Flacco because they needed a quarterback.
00:32:06
Speaker 2: They went and got J.J.
00:32:07
Speaker 3: McCarthy to back up Jameis Winston, but people making the obvious connection between.
00:32:12
Speaker 2: John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco.
00:32:15
Speaker 6: What?
00:32:16
Speaker 3: What would the Giants have had to offer the Bengals in terms of compensation to get them to not laugh at them?
00:32:24
Speaker 4: I'd have been interested in Jermaine Illuminor.
00:32:27
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: I'd make that deal.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Right.
00:32:29
Speaker 4: Yes. A swing tackle.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: That deal I would make.
00:32:33
Speaker 4: Pretend to starter.
00:32:34
Speaker 6: Yes.
00:32:36
Speaker 5: Joe Flacco counts as a starting player. He's making $ 6 million for a reason. He is not a minimum salary dude that you just exchange. I mean, this is a big part of the Bengals' plans to avoid the pitfalls of previous seasons. So to think that you're going to give him up for somebody that's not a starting level player is.
00:33:01
Speaker 4: Crazy.
00:33:02
Speaker 5: And they would, you know, they'd turn to Josh Johnson as their backup and you can talk yourself into that, I suppose. But, you know, Joe Flacco is a big deal. The fact that he's here, that was a big part of their off season plan. And they're not just going to give that up unless they felt like they were bettering the team in another way significantly. Um, because it's easy to say that. And then one play the next week and you're like, why did they trade Joe Flacco? And you're questioning everything. So I, It would have had to have been a significant starting level addition to not laugh at them. And that probably is. I don't even know if that's enough to get the job done. I'm just saying. You asked about not laughing. I'm saying they would probably start listening if you started offering real starters.
00:33:45
Speaker 3: Well, the internet was telling me. And part of this is like it comes out of New York because in those cities they think we're all a feeder to their teams. So whatever New York wants here in flyover country, we should just give it to them. And I, you know, well, you know, they'll get draft compensation. And I go, the Bengals don't care about draft compensation right now.
00:34:03
Speaker 4: Not one bit.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: They just did a trade with the New York Giants where they gave away the 10th overall pick. Could not care less about the 2027 draft. Obviously, I'll feel differently, and they will, too, in February, March. Hopefully, March, not February. But, like, I just laughed at it. I got a topic out of it. I got a segment out of it.
00:34:21
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's segment-worthy.
00:34:22
Speaker 5: I think it's worth listening to the conversation about. And partially, I think, because of how happy they were with what Josh Johnson was.
00:34:31
Speaker 4: But Joe Flacco can win you games for a month.
00:34:36
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:34:36
Speaker 4: Okay?
00:34:37
Speaker 5: And I don't know that you can say the same thing about Josh Johnson. As good as his story was and as much as his resume.
00:34:45
Speaker 4: Is something you're comfortable with. I mean.
00:34:48
Speaker 5: Joe Flacco is a high-level backup that can take care of you if something significant happens, especially with this defense. And that is not something to take lightly. I mean, how many teams do you got to see their quarterback get hurt until you're like, that is a valuable player? The whole league is like this right now. And so, yeah, he is a valuable piece of the Bengals organization. He gets paid $ 6 million for a reason.
00:35:16
Speaker 4: We can laugh at it.
00:35:17
Speaker 1: A little bit.
00:35:18
Speaker 3: Now, what are they going to have to dangle to maybe go get a safety?
00:35:24
Speaker 4: Joe Flacco.
00:35:24
Speaker 2: See, it all comes full circle now, doesn't it?
00:35:28
Speaker 5: I mean, at some point, if they needed something and they were in win-now mode, you're probably, you are, dipping into your draft resource.
00:35:37
Speaker 4: I mean, that's likely where it comes from. I don't know.
00:35:42
Speaker 5: How many luxury positions they have to deal from right now.
00:35:46
Speaker 4: Maybe, I don't know.
00:35:49
Speaker 5: They could think up something depending on what people needed, but more than likely any move that you're making this year is coming from your draft and a win-now type of conversation.
00:36:00
Speaker 3: How much does Sunday miss represent an enormous missed opportunity that a fan should worry that come December we're going to look back on?
00:36:12
Speaker 4: Sure.
00:36:14
Speaker 5: We played this game in 2024, in 2025. Looking back at all, rank the games that are the most you should have won. All these games that they should have won. Well, where will this one rank at the end of the year? Whether we're talking about whether they could have been the one seed or whether they could have been the division champ or whether they make the playoffs. I think so much of it depends on something that this organization has been bad at the last three years, and that is not letting these things snowball. You've had three consecutive years that they have had losing streaks of at least three games. Last year, they had two different four-game losing streaks in that middle portion of the program with Flacco. And they haven't been good at stopping the bleeding when things spiral out of control. I think the idea behind Dexter.
00:37:12
Speaker 4: Lawrence and Brian Cook and.
00:37:14
Speaker 5: Jonathan Allen and so many of the guys they signed, the reason they brought those types of guys in was they will be better at that. And I will say the locker room sounded different in that regard on Sunday from the defensive side.
00:37:26
Speaker 4: What were we talking about after some losses last year? Defense laughing over here. Yeah. Right? It's a joke.
00:37:30
Speaker 3: Right.
00:37:31
Speaker 5: I think there was very much a sense of authoritative accountability and leadership postgame from people like Dexter Lawrence and DJ Turner.
00:37:41
Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
00:37:42
Speaker 5: The tone in the voice, what they were saying was notable and came from a place of, I'm going to make sure this gets nipped in the bud versus last year of, someone's going to make sure this gets nipped in the.
00:37:54
Speaker 4: Bud, right? And I think there's a difference there.
00:37:58
Speaker 5: And that's how teams stop the bleeding is with players, with veteran leadership and presence like that. And I think they plan on leaning on that as they go forward.
00:38:07
Speaker 3: Paul Tanner Jr. covering the Bengals for the Athletic. and The Growler Podcast. Follow him at Paul Daner Jr. Thank you, as always.
00:38:15
Speaker 4: My pleasure.
00:38:16
Speaker 3: Bengals and Jags Sunday at 1 o'clock live on ESPN 1530.
00:38:20
Speaker 2: Paul Daner Jr.
00:38:21
Speaker 3: Will be covering that, obviously, for The Athletic and The Growler coming up on 4 o'clock on Moe Eggert.
00:38:26
Speaker 2: There's lots of ground to cover.
00:38:27
Speaker 3: Between now and 6 on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:38:33
Speaker 2: I'm Brett Coleman.
