Bengals Booth Podcast: Get Closer

Published Dec 14, 2024, 3:25 AM
The Bengals try to gain ground in the AFC playoff race with a win at Tennessee. Dan Hoard’s guests include Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, defensive end Joseph Ossai, and “Know the Foe” with Nashville sportscaster Jon Burton.

Hi, get everybody on Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth podcast. The Close Suit to You get Close Suit to Me. Addition, as the Bengals try to gain ground in the AFC playoff race as they face the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. Coming up, I'll talk to Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated about the possibility of Joe Burrow winning MVP despite the Bengals record. My one on one player interview this week is with Joseph Osai, who's looking to record a sack for the fourth straight game. And in our NOA Faux segment, we'll get the skinny on the Titans from Nashville sportscaster John Burton. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering health the best care for the best fans. Cattering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. There are a few things that the rest of the country doesn't understand about Cincinnati. For example, when somebody asks where did you go to school, they mean you're high school, not your college. There's no debating this question. In Cincinnati, Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, and Oprah Winfrey isn't just great for her business empire, but also due to the fact that she gets Greater's Black Raspberry chocolate chip ice cream delivered to her home. As for Skyline Chili, if you didn't grow up in Cincinnati, chili comes in a bowl with ground beef and kidney beans. But if you're from Cincinnati, chili is served on spaghetti or hot dogs and topped with a giant orange mound of cheddar cheese. The rest of the country can make fun of us, but we know it's a delicacy. As for the Crosstown shootout, if you google the best rivalries in sports, you'll get Ohio State, Michigan, the Yankees, Red Sox, North Carolina Duke, maybe even the Bengals Steelers. But none of those rivalries are in the same city. That's what makes the Cincinnati Xavier game so unique. It's the best intra city rivalry in sports. Two great academic institutions located just three miles apart that happen to have two of the best college basketball programs in the country. The ninety second edition of the rivalry is coming up on Saturday at two, a tasty appetizer before the Bengals face the Titans on Sunday at one. Now, let's get to my first guest. It is always great to spend a few minutes with Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer. Albert, prior to the season, you picked Joe Burrow to be your NFL MVP, So clearly you had high expectations for this season. But all things considered, coming back from the risk, et cetera, has he even exceeded what you were expecting?

I mean, yeah, I mean I think you make an argument for him being MVP. Now, you know, I one of the guys I work with at Amazon, actually, Richard Sherman, did have him as MVP just because of you know, that word value and how much he's meant to the Bengals and how he's kept them in it, and as fate as the hopes are right now for the team, based on the way the defense is played, based on some of the troubles they had and getting the running game going, I think it's it's hard to argue there is a player who's more valuable to his team now, you know, I know, obviously Josh Allen or Saquon Barkley is somebody with a winning team's gonna gonna get it. But Joe's been off the charts, you know, And you know, I think it's a great sign of where the Bengals are going to be going forward, even though you know, it looks pretty bleak.

As far as the chances of getting in the playoffs.

I think you're right. The MVP will almost certainly come from a winning team. There's never been one in the NFL from a losing team. There has been in baseball, but not in football. But here's the question.

Do you think that.

Joe will get a significant number of votes?

Probably not.

Again, like I just think the win loss, and I actually, you know, the funny thing is, I think Joe would.

Actually agree with that because he like I.

There are very few quarterbacks that are as obsessed with winning and losing as Joe is, and so I think he would probably agree with the premise that that you shouldn't be the MVP if you've if you've got a losing record.

But I do think he deserves votes.

I don't think he'll get a lot, you know, because I do think that these things become about narratives, and you know, I think that's why we've seen a couple of unanimous MVPs in the last few years. I think more than ever, storylines can drive these things, and and right now it feels that the storylines are going in the direction of the two guys I mentioned Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley earlier in the year.

You know, Lamar was in that mix.

But but I yeah, it's hard for me to see Joe, based on the narratives that are out there, getting a ton of getting a ton of votes.

Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated is our guest. You seem to have as good a relationship with Joe as any national reporter. What have you enjoyed about your interactions with him over the years.

He challenges you, You know, like he's somebody who I always like the people that you go to a conversation with and it's not going to be a layup where you got to ask good questions and you got to think on your feet, and you know, I I think he what I what I like about him is like I think he likes it when you come into the conversation prepared. He's like Lamar Jackson that way. Actually, Lamar is just like that too, where you know it's it's not going to be you know, you're not going to get answers overflowing with cliches that go on for ever. He's gonna be quick and to the point, and you know you've got to be able to think on your feet and kind of keep the back and forth going. I also he reminds me so much of the first quarterback I covered, you know, in in my twenty years covering the NFL and Brady Like, there are a lot of personality traits that are very similar there. I think, you know, stylistically, he's like the closest thing to a descendant now as far as like the scoreboard goes, obviously, Mahomes is closest to ever having a shot of catching him. But you know, I think Joe has a lot of similarity stylistically the way he plays, you know, and and the way he carries himself, what's important to him to Brady so and I just think he's a great person, you know. I think he's a really good guy from a good family who.

You know, wants to do the right thing.

And I think you can oftentimes tell about a player and what his teammates think of him and Joe, you know, as you know better than me, Dan like emphatically catch checks that box.

Albert, you did a brief video this week on social media making the case that the Bengal should not only extend Jamar Chase, but try to do it right now if they can. You refer to Bengals ownership as follows good hearted people who want to do the right thing and want to win. Elaborate on your case for why you think the Bengal should make that move a sap, Well, I think.

The number one thing is you want to keep your quarterback happy. And you know, I think that you can't always do it, but when you do it, you should go one hundred miles an hour doing it, you know what I mean? Like with every quarterback. There are going to be situations where you're gonna have to make a.

Hard decision for the team that they're not going to be happy with.

Patrick Mahomes I'm sure was not happy with with completely happy with Tyreek Hill going out the door, because that's going to affect his performance directly, and it's a risk. You know, they had a good thing going, and you know that the Chiefs were upfront with with with with Patrick about why they were doing it, you know.

But they've also done things to help him, you know.

They they they went over the top and paying Chris Jones, they went over the top and accommodating Travis Kelcey. They were aggressive when he was on his rookie contract. And so you know, I think you always want to be really, you know, cognizant of your quarterback and where he's at.

And you know, we know how close Jamar and Joe are.

And so I think, you know, with the possibility that you're losing t Higgins, I think that you're taking care of Jamar now as a signal.

To the quarterback how serious you are about winning.

The other thing is I just think Jamar is the right type of guy, you know, and and there are certain guys where you might like kind of you hold your ass paying them, you know what I mean, Like like I like I like like, I like I. I there's a great player, but I don't know the way he's going to act to getting to he's gonna he's going to react to having you know, a lot more money in his pocket. And I just don't think that's going to exist with Jamar. Jamar and Justin Jefferson are a lot alike that way. I think they're driven by team success. I think they're driven by individual greatness. And I can tell you a story like that. I've told my own kids about Jamar. Right, I was at your camp summer twenty one, and you know it's just after COVID, so we're just you know, I well, I don't know if it's like this for you, Dan, but like that first training camp back, like I was kind of like like super aware of everything, you know, and so and so that was like remember Jamar's first summer, he had the issue with the drops, and you know, I hung out in the field afterwards to catch up with a couple of coaches, and I was probably out there for fifteen or twenty or twenty five minutes whatever it was. And you know, I turn around and I'm walking up and I see there's Jamar, like a half hour after the field has been cleared, and he's on his knees, you know, with a trainer or whoever it was, in the drugs machine. And you know, I just think like it was such a symbol of who the guy is as a player and what's important to him and how how important being great is to him. And so, you know, I think he's for my money. Like he and he and Jefferson are one two in some order the best receivers in the league. I think he's going to continue to play at that level because of how important it is to him to be at that level. So I think combination of a great player you can build around offense around. He changes the math for the rest of the receivers and how they're covered. It makes your quarterback happy to have him, and he's got a great rapport and uncommon rapport with him because they've been together going back to college. I just think, as sooner you can get it done, the better, And I would have done it before now because the price is only going to keep going up.

You mentioned t.

Higgins as well. Joe raised some eyebrows this week by expressing confidence that the Bengals could keep him as well. What was your reaction when you heard those words?

Wishful thinking?

I mean, I think the issue is here is how do you pay both those guys and and and also rebuild the defense and retool.

And I think we all.

Know like the issues the issues they've got on the defensive side of the ball. There are some guys like you know, Sam Hubbard and Von.

Bell who are feeling their years.

There are younger players who haven't developed as they had expected them to. So you know, I think there's a pretty significant amount of work that needs to be done on the defensive.

Side of the ball. And yeah, you can do some of that through the draft.

But you know, if you're investing however much money in one phase of the game, what you know, one hundred million and one hundred and ten million dollars per year and one phase of the game, are you gonna be able to do the things you need to be do need to do to be.

Good enough everywhere else? That's number one?

So you have to make a choice. And I look, I think Higgins is a fantastic player. But but Jamar is better, so Jamar is the guy you pay. So there's that part of it. And I also think like that position generally you can find it. I mean t Higgins himself was a second round pick. They got your main Burton in the third round. If you look at some of the best receivers in the league, you know, so guys who have big contracts now, a lot of them were drafted outside of the first round. AJ Brown, Deebo, Samuel Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf. You can go right on down the list. There are a lot of guys taken outside the first round. I'm on Ross Saint Brown that have turned into top of the league players at that position. It's just the nature of the sport where seven on seven is taken the sport, the way that kids are throwing and catching now, the best athletes playing receiver, they're just everywhere, so you can find them easier too. So, you know, I think the replaceability of the position, the choice that you have between Chase and Higgins, and then the reality of paying two receivers and a quarterback all at once or what it might mean for the rest of your team is why I think the likelihood has chased Stays long term and Higgins is gone.

I guess the reverse of it could be.

You know, you could do what San Francisco did with their d tackles a few years ago, where they decided to to to pay the one that was going to be a little bit cheaper and keeping Eric Armstead and and moving on from DeForest Bucketer. But my guess would be be the other way around here, they would keep Jamar and move on from Tea.

The Bengals are at Tennessee on Sunday, a reunion for Zach Taylor and Brian Callahan. What are a couple of keys for the Bengals to knock off the three and ten Titans.

We'll stay out of their own way for one thing. I mean, this is one of those games where you know, if you give the other team confidence early on, it can be a problem, you know, So I like, I hate the fast start start fast thing is a key because you know what's the alternative. But I think this is like the type of game where you can bury the opponent pretty quickly. Look like, I think, you know Calli and his staff have a ways to go, obviously, and you guys are very familiar with him. But and and and and clearly they've got a question a quarterback. But they are strong along the lines of scrimmage. You know, they do have Jeffrey Simmons and Trevandre Sweat's gonna be a really good player.

For them in time. And you know the offensive line.

They've spent you know, a high draft capital on guys like jac Latham and Peter Skirt. So you know, it's the type of team that you know, if you if you let the thing become a street fight, you know that, then then then you're you know, you're sort of barking up, not barking up their own tree.

It's around cliche.

You're asking for trouble maybe, So I think getting on top of them and getting them in a position where they have to play catch up, you know, could put the Titans in a really tough spot. And for once, for once, give the the Bengals a bit of a lay up here.

Last thing for Albert brun I really appreciate your time. The Bengals won four games in twenty twenty and went to the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one. How realistic is it for the Bengals to be right back in the mix next year after having a disappointing season this year.

Very realistic, you know, I I I think, you know, there's been a lot of questions about what the future is going to look like there. I think with Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor in place, with Duke Tobin running the draft, I think if they can invest a little bit more, you know, and that's again an ownership thing, maybe make a little bit of a deeper, deeper investment in scouting going forward, you know.

And and hit on draft picks, and dude's been pretty good in.

That area, they can get this thing turned around pretty quick, you know. I also think lou Ana Roumo would be able to get things turned around quick if you can kind of flip the roster a little bit on that side of the ball. So I have no doubt that the offense is going to be good, especially if they get you know, full off seasons from their key guys, which has been a struggle for them in the last few years.

You know, what they what they.

Wind up looking looking like on defense, I think is I'm sure you'd agree that the swing factor and where they're going in twenty twenty five but I think it's very realistic that they could be right up there with the.

Chiefs and the Bills atop the AFC next year.

Albert, this has been outstanding. Can thank you enough for your time. Keep up the great work.

Well, thanks for putting up with my cold and my horse voice. I appreciate it.

One interesting matchup to keep an eye on this week is Trey Hendrickson versus Titan left tackle JC Latham, the seventh overall pick in this year's draft. Trey leads the NFL with twelve and a half sacks. Latham leads the NFL in sacks allowed with thirteen. We'll see if big play Tray adds to his league leading total on Sunday. One issue that the Bengals have had on defense this year is getting sacks from somebody other than Trey, but that's changed in recent weeks as Joseph Osai has picked up sacks in each of the last three games. He also blocked a field goal in the Pittsburgh game. I caught up with Joseph this week to discuss his recent productivity. Joseph, you scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery a couple of years ago. Against Baltimore. How did the excitement of that blocked field goal a couple of weeks ago against Pittsburgh compare.

Nothing visa touchdown? You know, So that one's tough, but it's close there. It's close up there. But yeah, you know, I said, a big man's is to either catch it and run in for a touchdown or pick it up and run in for a touchdown. I was fortunate that it was there, so all I do was fall on it. But I would say I would say a touchdown, touchdown? Stead up there?

Understandable. I'm that block field goal? Muma Jong Meta and Tyson Anderson put number ninety two of the Steelers on his butt and you were able to slice through a gap pretty much untouched. Is that the way that's supposed to look or did it just work out unbelievably?

Well, that's the way it's drawn up. But it was one hundred percent there's you know what I mean. It happened because they were able to execute and do that. So kudos to those guys.

For sure.

We're visiting the Joseph Osai. You've had a sack now in three consecutive games. Have you felt like it was only a matter of time before you started getting some.

Absolutely, that's how it is. You know you're Russian and gave the way the game goes. You know, either he gets the bought out too early, or you hit him and you just fall off it, or you miss him, or you hit him and or you pressure him into some other guys. And but you just gotta keep going. You can't be discouraged. And you just understand when it when the rains are poor, so when they do come, they'll come in bunches. Everybody knows that Lou.

And Aroumo has praised your growth this year, especially as a run defender. Is it physical improvement or better understanding of the game.

I would say both understanding his scheme and being being in it for it for so long now and being comfortable in it. You play faster, and then obviously you still need to be strong, you need to get off blocks, you need to do your job. And then and then some which is the running to the ball, which is what Lou preaches about all the time, the effort to the ball, all all eleven guys driving. He likes when he cuts tape and when he hits pause, and he sees all eleven guys digging to the ball, and that's what we try to do. So I would say both understanding the defense so I can play faster I can I can anticipate better, you know, and help myself being at a positioning and then being strong and you know, grinding an off season with Trey and being able to shed those blogs and and go that extra mount.

We've talked about your relationship with Trey before and how he's been a great mentor for you. How would you describe the season that he is having.

This year unbelievable? Unbelievable and unbelievable, but believable to me because it's been there all along, and I know I know what kind of guy he is. I've seen it. I've seen the way he puts in work, and it was only like you were saying, it's only amount of time before if the whole the whole world sees it, and if he's not Defense Player of the Year this year, I don't know what we're looking at. But that's just my true cents. I might be biased because you know, he's such a big mentor to me, but I don't care. He's he's great and it's only going to keep getting better, So look out.

You've had bad injury luck in the past, hopefully that is strictly in the past and not going to happen again. You've had wrist, shoulder, and knee surgeries. Do any of those injuries still give you trouble?

Not really, not really, And you know, I keep talking about Trede, but Trey was a huge, huge, huge part of getting over that mental hurdle with the wrist, and once I got over that, it was, you know, just progression every day. So I would definitely I'm super thankful to guy for putting him in my life and and using him to help me because it was tough. It was tough at times. You know, I was taping it when I didn't need to tape it, even though the tape wasn't doing anything, but the feeling of the tape helped me mentally, and he was He just kept telling me cut it off. The tapes not doing anything, cut it off, cut it off. And one day I was just because it was getting to a point where it was annoying hearing him say it every day because he didn't he didn't. If you know him, he doesn't let up. So when they had cut it off, and you know, the world didn't and so just and then gradually I was able to trust it more and you know, use it more, and it's a huge it's a huge part of how I'm playing to run this year, you know what I mean.

So it was great you won a game in Dallas on Monday night. You're from Texas, he played for the Longhorns. Was that extra special for you?

I mean, every win, especially this season, everyone is special, but it did mean something to be back at home. That was the first game my family was at, so again it was extraprescial in that sense. But I wasn't a Cowboys fan growing up, so I didn't care about that as just getting that win and heading to his right direction in this for this team.

Your first NFL contract will be up at the end of the year. Is that on your mind?

Yeah? But no, you know what I mean, it's on my mind because I could possibly not be with my brothers that I've been with for four years now, so that that'd be tough, but God wouldn and God knows whom, you know what I mean. We could be anywhere and maybe I'll still get to be with him. But that's why it's on my mind because of that, and then the other stuff. You know, ball, you keep playing ball. That stuff a take care of itself. I can play ball for free. I'm just I'm super thankful that they pay us to do a lot of money to do it. But I could play both for free because I love the game. I love the game. With a new game, I love it.

You're putting yourself in position for a good payday. You're only twenty four years old. Do you feel like the best is yet to come?

Oh? For sure, there's only growth. And if this is my ceiling, that'd be careble to say so. I'm looking forward to surpassing that ceiling and keep growing, So I would say yes, the best is yet to come.

I'd say so too. Appreciate your time, best of luck, Thank you.

Boss.

Joseph passed thirty one tackles this year. His previous career high was seventeen. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider. By Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by kettering health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, now ten For this week's Know the Faux segment, this week's opponent is the three and tennis CE Titans under first year head coach Brian Callahan. The former Bengals offensive coordinator. Nashville sportscaster John Burton joined Dave Lapham in me this week on the Bengals Game Plan Show, and I asked John if Titans fans are showing patients with coach Callahan are already expressing doubts about his future in Tennessee.

Great question. It depends on who you talk to. There are some that realize, hey, he's a first not only a first year coach here in Nashville with the Tennessee Titans, but also a first year NFL head coach. Right, they're going to be growing pains, and it's something we talked about during the summer. But then when it happens, you know, it's kind of like a perfect example, right, you know, I'm a diehard New York's Yankee fan. I knew there was a possibility we could lose Wan Soda and free agency to the Mets, But when it happened, I was like, oh, you know what I mean. So, I think the ceiling for this team was probably realistically eight maybe nine wins. The floor we thought maybe was in the five to six range, and obviously it's a couple of steps below that. I think the fans are trying to be patient. But when you look at everything that happened during the offseason, you know, Mike Brabile getting fired, Derek Henry leaving by a free agency. Some of the mainstay players that help this team be consistent in the playoffs over the last several years, over the last couple of years have left this organization. I think a lot of fans are wondering what is the future of this organization. But so yeah, there are you know, fans are gonna fan and so a lot of people are like, you know, who is this guy? Why did we hire him? Why isn't Rable here? But I think the more level headed fan knows that, you know, there's going to be growing pains. We're experienced them experiencing them right now, and you know, you just got to ride it out and hope that the front office can you know, improve the roster and things can kind of you know, level out a little bit.

Well, John, it's great to hear your voice. Appreciate you joining us. Brian Callahan, in my mind as humble a guy as I've ever known. I mean, he passes credit on to everybody else. Collaboration is his buzzword. It's what he's all about. Is that what he's presenting to the organization down there.

Definitely. First of all, Big Dave, great to talk to you, as always, But second of all, that's a big reason why he got hired. You know, Amy Adams Strunk, the owner of the Tennessee Titans, wants collaboration, you know, between front office, general manager, head coach, coaching staff. That's a big reason why when she let you know, Mike rabil go, she elevated Ran Carthon not only the general manager, but to vice president and general manager. He is in charge of the putting the roster together, putting the coaching staff together. And the idea is for just what you said, collaboration. You know, everybody in tune with one of another, everybody on the same page. That wasn't necessarily the case when Prabel was here. So but you're right, Brian Callahan is a humble guy, and you can tell you know he wants to be successful. I mean, he's dave. He's been wearing these losses after these games, I mean a couple of times almost coming to tiers and you can feel it. It's eating away at him. He wants to be successful, he wants to win, he wants to win now and so but yeah, I will say this from a media standpoint, dealing with him is one hundred and eighty degrees different than dealing with Mike Rabel and it's it's been pretty cool. I like Brian a lot. I mean, he comes across as a very very likable guy, a good dude, wants to win, wants to be successful, and you know, I know I'm supposed to be objective as a media guy, but I don't mind saying I am pulling for him and I'm rooting for him big time.

We feel the same way about Brian Callahan. John Burton is our guest. Let's talk about Will Levis, the former Kentucky Wildcat quarterback three and six is a starter last year two and eight so far this year five and fourteen. Overall, have the Titans seen enough of Will Levis to know if he is their quarterback going forward?

I think Dan. They've seen enough to know that he'll get another year to prove that he can be the franchise quarterback, right, I mean a lot of you know, he had a lot to learn this year. New head coach, new offensive system, new weapons, and new personnel. It's been a struggle for him at times. You know, the offensive line hasn't helped him. He's been sacked and hit a bunch. He's been already injured a couple of times. He's missed some time due to injury. But the good news is, you know, the turnovers are down. The boneheaded mistakes that he made at the beginning of the year, in the first couple of games, he was good for one a game, those have diminished a little bit. The biggest thing with him is decision making and consistency. You know, last week and the loss of the Jaguars, you know, the Titans were zero for two in the red zone against the really, really bad Jaguars team and defense, and you know, there was one particular play that everybody's talking about. You know, Callahan decides to go forward on fourth down and he had a wide open chigacon Quo the tight end in the end zone on one of those stack plays where you've got a you know, receiver shallow and a receiver deep. He went for the deep option UH in the back of the end zone and it was broken up by a defensive back. So you know, good quarterbacks don't miss wide open receivers and so he's got to improve in that area. But you know, Callahan has always talked about he likes will Levis's work ethic. He likes the fact that he's coachable. He likes the fact that, you know, he's willing to take whatever constructive criticism there is and get better. So I think are they one hundred percent convinced that he is their long term franchise quarterback. I think the answer to that question is no. But have they seen enough to give him another shot at it next year? I would say the answer is yes.

You mentioned turnovers, John, and you know, I'm looking at UH. I'm looking at the Tennessee Titans defense numbers. I'm like, God, their top ten and every top five and a lot of things, and yet they they're thirtieth in points allowed. You know, it's like twenty seventh in points allowed, thirtieth and points scored twenty seventh in points A lot how do they give up all these points? Then you see minus eleven in the turnover department, tied for thirty teen NFL three pick sixes, and teams have scored eighty nine points off of those turnovers. So some of those have been short fields. You know that teams were able to, you know, negotiate fairly easily. Is there any finger pointing going on between offensive and defensive players as a result of some of that.

Well, I'll tell you what. Last week was tough. You know, walking into the locker room after that loss to the Jaguars, there seemed to be a couple of defensive players pretty disgrundled at how inep the offense was last week. And you know, Jeffrey Simmons, the great All Pro defensive tackle, was you know, saying during his postgame media availability, He's basically was like, you know what, I'm tired of seeing our quarterback getting laid out and crawling around on the ground. And there are a couple of defensive players that seem to, you know, voice their opinions about how well or how well poorly the offense played. They didn't say anything publicly, but you could just get a feel being in the locker room. So I think there is a little bit of that going on, and you know it's gonna be up to Callahan and his staff to quell that. But you know, once cooler heads prevailed, we're in the locker room today. Everybody was singing the same tune. Hey, you know we're gonna finish strong. We're gonna finish the season strong. We win as a team, we lose as a team. But you know it's human nature, right guys. You know you're playing your butt off on defense and the offense can't cash in against really a team that they shouldn't have had much problems with, yeah, in the Jacksonville Jaguars. So you know that's gonna happen from time to time. But the one thing, you know, we talk about Brian Callahan and all these all the situations going on with the record and how bad the season's been, I don't get the sense that these players are quitting on Cali at all. I mean, as an example, I'm a New York Giants fan, and I feel like those players are quitting on Brian Dable right now, and it's not a good situation. I don't get that sense.

Here a couple more questions for our friend John Burton. I want to ask you about the punter Ryan Stenhouse. He's fourth in the NFL and average, he's thirtieth in net. They're giving up a ton of punt return yardage. What's the deal there?

Special teams has been into absolute disaster this year. Guys, you're right, you know they're giving up a ton of return yardage. You know, Ryan Stonehouse is one of the better punters in terms of placing the ball, in terms of getting your own when you need a long punt, if you're deep in your own end, he can provide it. But the tackling has been poor on the returns. The angles have been poor on the returns, and both kickoff and punt. You know, they've had punts blocked for touchdowns. They've had all kinds of mishaps on special teams. And you know, Colt Anderson is a special teams coach, and you know, you guys know how this business is. I'm hoping he's renting and he didn't buy property here in Nashville because he may not be here much longer. But bad tackling bad, and unfortunately, if you look back at the Lions game, it just didn't look like the effort was there, and so that's a problem. And that's that's been a problem all season for the Titans. Just bad special teams all around. Nick Folk those at forty one years old, but still pretty good kicker though, we got that going for us.

Yeah, yeah, No, Honey went out of twenty two. He's as good as anybody in the league.

Yeah, and uh, I mean in the last couple of years, what he's fifty out of fifty two is a Titan. I mean, the dude doesn't miss. It's crazy. But you talked about bad angles, bad tackling. I thought you were going to talk about the Bengals defensive football team. That's what deepened. I mean, it's like you got to be kidneying on special teams. There must be something in some kind of disease or virus that's going around the league. My final question for him, appreciate you as always, John. You've been a plethrough of info.

Uh.

Nine times in the red zone the Titans have come away without a point, no scores, and I can understand. And Brian Callahan, he's aggressive by nature and that guarder he's probably looking at how the season's unfolding you think that will continue?

Is it?

Like, you know, why the hell now, why don't we just get after it and go forward in the road zone. Do you think that that type of mindset will continue?

I think so, Dave, But I think, you know, Cally spoke about it today, just the fact that, you know what, I need to take a better look at how we're approaching the red zone because you know, you look at the two instances last week where they came up empty in the red zone. They were running the ball extremely well. Tony Pollard's having a really solid year. Yea tightened in his first year here, the former Cowboys running back. You know, he's probably going to get a thousand yards when it's all said and done. And you know, Cally kind of admitted, you know, there are times where maybe I'm too aggressive. You know, we have goal to go. Maybe I need to run the ball a little bit more so. It's all part of the learning process for a new head coach. But hey, listen, four games left. You want to try to win as many as you can. I definitely expect Brian Callahan to be aggressive in terms of, hey, it's fourth down, let's go for it, Let's try to get it, you know, get it in the end zone, especial, you know, with a home game, one of two home games left, and you want to try to send the home crowd happy as best you can. So I think he'll be aggressive, but I think he'll try to be a little bit smarter and more selective about the types of plays that he calls, especially when they get in the high red zone, right guys, you know, inside the five yard line, etc.

John and I made up the sports team at WTVHTV in Syracuse, New York many years ago, and he is one of my all time favorite people in this business. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find US. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast

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