Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Bye Week ADJUSTMENTS: Opportunity for Jack Endries, Defense MUST Fix Miscues

Episode Date: October 13, 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals have bye week adjustments to make, and will now need to account for Tanner Hudson’s season-ending injury and Swayze Bozeman’s trip to IR. That could mean opportunity for Jack Endries, while a waiver claim for Al Golden's former Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser backfills for Bozeman.What else can the Bengals fix during the bye week? Jake Liscow and Joe Goodberry spotlight communication issues in the defensive secondary, concerns over tackling and explosive runs allowed, and stepping up when Dexter Lawrence isn't on the field.Photo Credits: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images, Eric Hartline-Imagn ImagesSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Gameday Men's HealthBook your complimentary test and consult at https://join.gamedaymenshealth.com/reasons_to_choose_gameday-1201?utm_source=lockedon&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NFL&utm_network=lockedon&utm_adgroup=corp&ghl_tag=national,corpOdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.Butcher BoxIf you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNFL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always.AppleYou can earn up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase you make with Apple Card using Apple Pay. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA. Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at apple-card-dot-com.https://learn.applecard.apple/unlimited-daily-cash?cid=apy-318-2000008800000-400000000000039&itscg=2030032&itsct=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnagencyid=c1a&mttnsiteid=133087&mttnpid=LockedOn%20%28Audio%29&mttnsubad=srvs-crd-P3004756-C3004897&mttnsubplmnt=&mttncc=USPrizePicksVisit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!KALSHIToday's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet three hundred fifty dollars in Bonus Bets — GUARANTEED — when you bet five dollars every day for seven days. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Bengals were already going to have to make some adjustments in the by week, but some injuries to Swayze Bozeman and Tanner Hudson are going to force a few more adjustments for the Bengals this week. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. It's the Bengals by week. So today on Lockdown Bengals, we're talking big by week adjustments. What can the Bengals try to fix during their by week?

But we have to get started with injuries Tanner Hudson going to be lost for the season. And we've got Swayzy Bozeman heading to the injured reserve. The Bengals have already made a waiver claim to backfill for Swayzy Bozeman who broke his arm. And that's Jack Kaiser, Al Golden's linebacker back at Notre Dame. So that's where we're starting the show. He's Joe Goodberry. I'm Jake Lisco. And we are your Lockdown Bengals podcast covering your team every day here on the lockdown podcast.

Now we're getting to the biggest stories. In the by week, we have a lot to talk about. So we figured we'd start with what the Bengals can fix and adjust. And that's going to start with these injuries. And an episode brought to you by Fandall. You can make this your most rewarding season ever with the Fandall Rewards Club. Every week, check the Fandall app to see what's waiting for you. And Joe, some bad news today as we're recording this on Tuesday,

chief among those bad news pieces is Tanner Hudson with that torn peck. It looks like he suffered it on a kickoff coverage play, the last play that we could find from him. in that game against the dolphins in week five. And it looks like he was on his way to a bigger role. It was a little bit surprised with the snap count. When we went and looked at it, thought it would be a little bit higher. And this explains that this injury happening at the very end of the third quarter.

Yeah, that's right. What a shame. I was really enjoying. I had three audible Tanner Hudson, you know, when I was watching the game on Sunday because his three catches were impactful, right? One Burroughs looks like he's getting away from the pressure, almost panic throws.

I know Joe Burroughs not panicking, but he just kind of has to fade it away. Hudson comes back and scoops it up off the ground and gets a couple extra yards. Then there's a third down where he winds around the tackler and fights for the first down. And of course, the touchdown on the right side and on a nice designed play to get heavy personnel

from the defense and take advantage of Hudson versus a linebacker. So big game, it stinks he gets hurt in that big game. On a kickoff, we're assuming Jake, we went and watched the clips to try and figure it out. It looks like it. He doesn't get off the ground quickly at all in that. And he was playing a big role. And it felt like he could expand that role or it was expanding in front of us,

especially with the injuries at receiver. And them really looking for answers from the under center game to the shotgun game where they couldn't really blend the two tight ends, right? Eric, all, we haven't seen them too much in the shotgun. We haven't seen Mike Kaseki too much in the under center stuff. Or Tanner Hudson was acting as that brief. bridge between where he can route up a linebacker one-on-one and shows good hands. He's always been that.

But yet he was actually hitting his blocks and getting to his assignments and executing them at a decent level, which is something we didn't have a ton of confidence in early in his career. So, you know, I think that's a player we root for as an underdog and fringe roster guy that continues to make plays. You always forget the Cal Hamilton one-handed touchdown last year. You forget? Come on. I mean, yeah, because there's so many crazy catches the Bengals can have.

having a season. You go, oh, yeah, Tanner Hudson had one too. Of course he did, because Tanner Hudson somehow finds his way in, and he had one again this week. Yeah, and I think the blocking element here is really what stands out when you consider the game against Miami. It looks like he was hitting us right now. Maybe this is just because Miami is quite bad. Certainly very possible that that is the case, but just looking here at, I wanted to look at the PFF numbers for positively graded run blocking snaps and I don't have them in front of me quite yet. Here we go. We've got a 12 and a half percent positively graded run blocking rate for Tanner Hudson

this season and a 0% negatively graded. Wow. It felt like that. So the reason I wanted to bring this up and took the time to find it, right, is that when you think Tanner Hudson, you're not thinking excellent run blocking. And the percentage of positively graded plays, I think, kind of reflects that. But that's actually the highest rate for a Bengals tight end this season. And the other two tight ends for the Bengals, who are your primary blockers, Eric called Drew Sample, both have 20% negatively greater around blocking rates, which is going to happen sometimes for tight ends.

You're going to be blocking guys that are bigger than you that can throw you to the side. But when you look at the way that like, they're asking more as well, just to be clear, right? Of course. And Tanner Hudson, yes. But like when you look at the way that the Bengals are getting blocked by Ted ends on the other side this year, it's been frustrating for us on the defensive side. So if you have a guy who's not losing in a dramatic way, the way that Tanner Hudson was able to play this week, then you have an asset in the run game. And that's why Tanner Hudson's run blocking grade is probably the highest on the team for tight ends, 83.7 with PFF.

So, you know, PFF with a great assault, but you go watch him. You watch those. He's in control. He's getting to his target and he's doing a good enough job on his target to have some wins, not just stalemate. And so the natural next step then is, Can Jack injuries do what Tanner Hudson is doing for you? Can Jack Andrews?

Because on tape in college, these are the kinds of blocks that Jack injuries can make, get to the linebacker and do enough to keep that linebacker out of the play. There's a lot of that on Jack Andrews tape in college. Then the other question is, can the receiving part of his game catch up in the NFL? Remember what Zach said about injuries coming off of the preseason? He knows Zach that injuries receiving game will come along because that's what the strength was to him in college. And he was impressed with the run blocking. And so and the blocking in general.

So if that receiving game has caught up with five weeks to work on it, a buy week to continue to work on it, this opportunity for Jack Andrews is what we're going to be looking for here to try to fill the role that Tanner Hudson was starting to occupy in this offense, which I think was going to be growing in week five and beyond. Yeah, and he's been playing a lot of special teams too, Hudson was. So they're going to need that fix there. But yeah, the way Zach described Jack entries is how we would describe Tanner Hudson this year.

Like his receiving game was a known commodity. it was nice to have and we're all surprised by his run blocking. I would take a Jack Endries if he can be Tanner Hudson and what Hudson was this year. Like I think that would be a fair, especially as a rookie, but even like for most of his career for a late round pick, if he could look like that as a receiver now, Hudson was never a heavily used player, right? He had his moments and had his games and they've always had tight ends in front of them. But if you could take that and as a tight end, too, a more consistent player that could give you

40 snaps per game and that would be Jack injuries in the future. I think we take that. I think there is some question about Eric All and should his role expand or be maybe dialed back a little bit? It feels like we're on the verge of it dialing back some, although we did see him run more routes this last week. You do wonder if injuries has an opportunity here. And tight ends take a while, right? Rookie tight ends typically don't hit the ground running. So what we saw in preseason, maybe I'm just not too concerned. And I think he'll look

quicker, faster, and better once he gets in the flow of the game and can play more snaps. And I'm excited. I know you are too. Jake, we've talked about injuries a ton this offseason. I want to see him get that role. I'm honestly more curious as to whether or not he actually will get that opportunity going forward or if they're going to go try to get, you know, Cam Grandi back. And maybe they trust him more right now. Different kind of players. So probably not. I think that injuries is a likely next step here. And we'll find out very quickly here. But a big opportunity for him either way to show that he's ready to to play a little bit more for this team, not just on special teams.

The other big move big is maybe overstating it. The Bengals made a waiver claim. And Jack Kaiser, who's actually a fourth round pick, is the second, second year linebacker on this team, age 26 or older, joining Demetrius Knight in that very experienced role as a second year linebacker, but a lot of familiarity with Al Golden. Kaiser is going to come in and be a special teams player if he's active on game day for this team.

that is what Swayze Bozeman's role was, but with no linebackers on the practice squad, this was a way for the Bengals to get a player that Al Golden is very familiar with and is going to be familiar with Al Golden's system for depth in the lineback room. But if you're wondering if Kaiser can push the starters, I think that is a pipe dream to put it lightly,

I think, like maybe. Never say never, but I think probably not. This is a player who hasn't been able to get on the field for Jacksonville this year, was dealing with an injury that is part of that, but was just waived to make space for a practice squad player that Jacksonville preferred to have on their 53-man roster instead of Kaiser. Yeah, that's right.

I think at the very least, special teams for Kaiser replacing what Swayze Bozeman was doing, which when I watched special teams tape, I did not notice Swayzy Bozeman in a positive way on special teams. And we've had issues. The Bengals have had issues there. So maybe this is an opportunity to get a guy in who Al Golden spoke highly of throughout his nor didane career and even in the draft season. I would like to talk about what I remember of Kaiser and what my expectations are on the defensive side.

If there's any of that as a draft prospect, because he's still pretty fresh. He was drafted last year in the fourth round. Jake, we'll do that coming up next. This episode is locked on Bengals is sponsored by Fandall who wants to welcome you to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandle. How rewarding are we talking? more rewarding than that game against Miami Dolphins would have been had the Bengals not given up that last touchdown. More rewarding than that game against Miami Dolphins would have been if we didn't have two red zone fumbles.

And the Bengals were stewing about it still here on Tuesday of the by week. More rewarding than bringing Cody Ford back for the tight end roll. Maybe instead that's going to be Jacob Bayer this year catching a ball, taking it to the house for a touchdown. This season, Fandul is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all new Fandall Rewards Club featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more every week. Check the Fandul app and see what's waiting for you. There's nothing like watching Jemar Chase and these circus catches. And that's what makes football so fun and rewarding to watch as you get to see these crazy moments happen live. Fandual is adding another layer of excitement with rewards and surprises throughout this season.

So if you want to check it out and make this your most rewarding season. ever check it out with Fandle. Visit fandle.com to get started. Support for today's episode is brought to you by game time. The NFL is full of games you plan for all year, but sometimes the best memories from the, come from the games that you almost missed. Game Times makes it easy to find tickets to NFL matchups you want to see. With prices that include the fees, so you know what your total cost is up front because nobody, nobody likes getting surprise costs at the end.

Game Time helps with that. You can browse games, see a panoramic view from your seats before you buy. You can get tickets in just a couple of clicks and taps, plus zone deals that you just choose the section, and then GameTime chooses the seats to help save you even more. Whether it's a rivalry game, a matchup featuring a player that you want to see in person or an underdog ready to make some noise, game time makes getting to the game simple.

Think about the game on the schedule that you absolutely don't want to miss for the Bengals this year. It's not just football, Jake. I think I may use game time to get to a Guardians playoff game this weekend. Since Bengals are on by, it lines up pretty well for me. So maybe I'll get my friends together, get my tickets, and tell them it's game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account. Use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

Again, create an account and use code locked on for $20 off. Jake, let me remind the people or I think you put some cold water on the Jack Kaiser. Let's start there. You're real quick. any hopes for Jack Kaiser in the NFL ever. Flash cold water. To be a starter for the Bengals this year. To make the Bengals reconsider Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight as starters on this football

team this year. That's what I was saying. Barrett Carter was a fourth rounder. Jack Kaiser was a fourth rounder. And the Bengals picked Barrett Carter instead of Jack Kaiser. And at a second round. Had him in college. Yeah.

And at a second round grade on Barrett Carter, right? We've learned that over the years. I was going to say yes. So Kaiser to me was a fun player to watch in that good Notre Dame defense because he was a very secure tackler. Almost never seemed like he had any missteps or mistakes. You really can't say that about the Bengals linebackers now. So if you're hearing that, you're like, man, great tackler. No mistake.

Sounds great. He didn't look like a plus athlete to me. He also looked small and not the most physical tackler either. While a very secure wrap-up tackler wasn't really laying the wood either. Last year for special teams for the Jacksonville Jaguars before he had an injury, he had 175 snaps. He had about a 75 grade from PFF on special teams. Maybe that's the impact. Maybe it's not as a future starting linebacker for this team, right? I get why you may be excited for that. But if he can help stabilize the special teams a little bit because of Blake L.

Golden has talked about this guy being the QB of the defense for his Golden Domers. I think we could use that sometimes on special teams as well. Yeah. I mean, there's an outside shot. shot here where Kaiser can push for the starting lineup because of the familiarity with Al Golden if he comes in and hits the ground running. I was just looking back in his Notre Dame career, Joe, and it's really interesting because he spends six years in college, right? 26-year-old second-year player, you're in college for a long time.

In his final four years, he never cracked 400 collegiate defensive snaps until his last season in college. When he had 641, before that, he was below 400 in every single year. part-time player, maybe some injuries for him. He was unable to determine that immediately, but even in that Ohio State championship game, and again, maybe he got hurt. I don't remember. He only had 30 snaps in that final game for Al Golden's defense back in college.

So an interesting player, a player that I was certain the Bengals were going to try to draft, and then they went in a different direction at lineback. I was so sure. We mocked a lot of Notre Dame players. Yeah. All the players from Notre Dame for. to come out of that draft with. Ben Morrison.

Jack Geiser was the one because they need a linebacker. So bad and they drafted two of them. You're right. Our draft process, our draft sheet that you guys may or may not follow in the off season, I assume a lot of the listeners do, had him a sub 70 grade, which is fairly draftable. So when he went in the fourth round, I was like, that's too early. Too early for me.

Like that linebacker class, there'd be a lot of solid draftable players on day three. And I thought the Jags were early on them. So I wasn't absolutely shocked that he was cut this past week. I was like, okay. And he was a good special team that I think you mentioned last year for Jacksonville. So if he can be a good special teamer again for the Bengals this year, he, for Jacksonville last year played 193 special team snaps. He was playing on kick return.

He was playing on kick coverage, punt returns, and punt coverage. So four of your major special teams units that don't involve kicking field goals. So hopefully he can be that for the Bengals. Maybe there's a little bit more meat on that bone. Got the analogy right today. for the everydayers that her me mess that one up yesterday. We'll see. If nothing else, this is depth that is familiar with Al Golden's system,

even if it's not necessarily a piece that will get on to the field defensively in the imminent future. Maybe I was going to shift it for you, Jake. I was going to say maybe communication could be a big shift and big point of emphasis for the biweek, especially on defense, maybe tackling to be a point of emphasis during the biweek. both things Jack Kaiser helps with. I don't know how you fix tackling during a by week. There have been some signs that tackling has improved a little bit.

Here's how you fix tackling during the by week is Brian Cook is playing at 100%. And maybe Kyle Dugger gets back. And maybe they find a way to get Kyle Dugger into some packages on this defense a little bit more. Dugger, one of the sure tacklers, I think, in the secondary, Brian Cook brought to town for his reputation as being a tackler. And he missed a tackle against Miami. And I wonder how much of that is that he's just not at 100%. So he's a little bit late to a spot,

not able to generate as much power with the lower body as he's used to with the ankle perhaps being a little bit limited still. So a couple of weeks off for Cook to get healthy should help. And we've seen things going in the right direction in the last couple of weeks for Barrett Carter and Demetri's night as tacklers. Yeah. And then it's really, okay, how do we fix tackling besides that? Is tackling just going to improve with reps for this team?

Is it a matter of they're going to play some worse teams after Baltimore? I guess Atlanta is going to be really tough to tackle too, but there are some teams that are easier to tackle in the NFL. Miami last week, I think one of them. The Bengals didn't miss a whole lot of tackles, even though they got blocked up pretty well on the perimeter a few times. But if we're talking about priorities for the by week, which is what we're transitioning the conversation to here, Joe,

I'm thinking a lot about the defensive side of the ball. And obviously it starts with tackling. And you can talk more about why tackling is perhaps the chief culprit and some of the explosive runs they've allowed. And you could focus on that too, where the Bengals are this weirdly polarized team, where they're leading the league in run stuff, but also leading the league in explosive runs allowed. I think a lot of you would also like to talk about what the Bengals can improve on the

offense, but where I was going with this long and sprawling monologue, Joe, is that we think that the offense is going in the right direction. So it doesn't feel like there's as much to fix there. It feels like if you're talking about things to fix in the byweek, the priorities are really on the defensive side. And the Hudson piece is something they'll have to figure out and fix and, you know, what was his role in the tight end position? But these all feel very minor in comparison to the defense, especially when it comes to tackling and a lot of allowing explosive runs. I went and looked at their 21 explosive runs on tape earlier before we started

recording to see what was going on. I wanted to count up how many were quarterback runs, which a lot of them were. They had been right up the middle. C.J. Shroud had a couple. Baker Mayfield had one. Even Aaron Rogers had one. And so, yeah, it's been a thing. And then, of course, Malik Willis had the most egregious explosive runs that

they've given up. But if we have 15 that are not quarterback explosive runs, still a lot. I mean, you can't give up three explosive runs. per game. The Bengals aren't hitting that for sure on offense. Nine missed tackles on those 15. Seems like that's stemming from a lot of their issue, the explosive runs. Also, the edge players need to play better and the boundary corners need to play the run better. And maybe those could get helped by getting Jalen Davis back at some point after the

biweek. It's not going to happen right now, but you know, he's got a couple weeks left. And then maybe he slides back into the slot and you get Dax back on the boundary or whatever the case may be. but tackling as a whole, if it can improve throughout the season. And it was, if you look at the numbers for like Carter and Knight, they missed a lot of tackles those first two weeks. It's gotten better.

They don't tackle a lot in practice and in preseason. And these guys barely played in preseason. We joked about if they have missed tackles in there. And we never got a chance to see them because they barely played. It would make sense of tackling got a little bit better with more time on task. That is the hope. And if it does, that can fix some of the issues with this defense, and some of the yards after catch issues that they've had

and some of these perimeter run issues that they have, they've had because when Dexter Lawrence is on the field, and Jonathan Allen is doing this too to some degree. Like they are blowing up a lot of runs. Dexter is obviously a huge part of that. It takes us to another topic, though, on this defense. Like, can they get better when Dexter Lawrence is off the field? Can they fix some of these communication issues, Joe,

that you alluded to in the secondary that have been driving me crazy a little bit? We'll continue the conversation on those topics coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over there at Butcher Box. And one thing I always try to do every week with every meal is make sure that I get enough protein. And Butcher Box, that's why I love them because it makes quality protein the easiest option when it's time to cook. Butcher Box delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild caught seafood, and more. All sorts the standards they can actually tell you about. They've already done the research and made the tough sourcing decisions.

So all you have to do is decide what's for dinner. Whether it's boneless rib-eye steak every Tuesday night, my wife and I do that or in the morning, you want to make some bacon. Who doesn't love bacon? Butcher Box has everything you could be looking for to reach your protein goals. If you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give Butcher Box a try.

Go to butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL to get $20 off your first box plus chicken breast in every box for life or filet or New York strips for a year with free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Again, that's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Be sure to use our link so that they know that we sent you. Support for today's episode of Locked on Bengals is brought to you by prize picks because football is back. And Sundays are a lot more interesting when the Bengals play, but they're not playing this week.

So maybe you want to dive in on something where there's a little bit less pressure to pick a Bengals player. That's usually how it goes for me with prize picks. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances, plenty of storylines to follow. If you like getting more engaged, especially on a buy week, prize picks is bringing its best offer yet. New users who sign up for 100 and new users that sign up can get $150 in lineups. So you get a lineup, you pick it, you pick two to six players.

You say, hey, over or more or less on their stat, projected stats. that's how you know, the last couple weeks, you pick a Somajip, Ryan. I think you get a little less pressure when the Bengals are on by the leagues. I tend to only do these when the Bengals aren't playing because I pick too many Bengals players. But you can do this and get $150 when you win your first $5 lineup.

Download the app today. Use code lockdown NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups when you win your first $5 lineup. That's prize picks. Run your game. So I talked about miscommunications. in the defensive secondary has led to some touchdowns

for opposing teams where you have two guys covering the same player and a lot of this is in man, which is interesting. It's not just zone where we have two guys that are bouncing into the same part of the cover three underneath. They're both taking the flat instead of one of those players going to the hook curl.

There have been some issues with the Bengals in handing off players in either zone match situations where they're expecting handoffs or even in cover one. where they're trying to pass up pass off some crossers at times and i wonder if there's a way to clean that up during a by week of all the things that we're talking about here like something that you as a defensive coaching staff could look at an issue and say this has been a bit of

a recurring thing is there something similar about these plays is there some way for us to make this clearer because a lot of times it is like a motion that occurs or a switch release or or a crosser and the rules as they're playing out look like it's just a little bit too fast for the Bengals defense to hand some of these things off. That's exactly what I was going to say when you got to the last point. It felt like when I was watching film, a lot of defenses now. This is a bigger story for the entire NFL, but defenses are not giving you the manned indicators that they used to at the same rate.

So when you put a guy in motion and a guy follows them, it used to tell you that they're playing man. standard across the NFL and in football. But now you'll have them follow and just replace, okay, now I'm hook, curl, and now you've got the deep part. So it's actually still zone. They're just switching up how they're doing it. When I watch the Bengals, a lot of these mistakes are happening off of a motion

or some type of switch release. And I wonder if they're just not clear on the rules or if they're not communicating them well. They talk about Brian Cook and Jordan Battle, even, of great communicators. We've got Dax Hill and DJ Turner that are veterans and been in the league a long time, even Jalen Davis. And honestly, DJ Ivy's been in the league long enough. These things probably shouldn't be happening at the rate they are. So I do wonder what it is.

And even Barrett Carter and Demetra Sni, at this point, I assume they're connected at the hip at everything they do. These mistakes should not be happening at this rate. So I think it's on the coaching staff to say, okay, either we clarify it and make it more clear. Maybe we fix some of the calls or some of what we're calling. calling things, or you dial it back and trying to eliminate some of these plays that aren't working. And you do that on offense all the time, right? That's why the Bengals offense gets better throughout the season. They realize this isn't working and we should be switching to this. Instead, they do it. And that happens on defense as well. So maybe they eliminate some of these

mistakes by just taking it out of the playbook, not running it or simplifying it. Yeah. And the simplification is really standing out to me out of those options because that's what it seemed like happened and worked for the Bengals last year. And they kind of paired things down a little bit. Some more veteran team this year, obviously, is the second year in the system. So you should be able to have more complexity, but maybe they just need to look at the edges of that complexity and dial it back if that is in fact the problem. They're running a fair amount of cover three match, which is a fairly exotic coverage.

Don't see a ton of it in the NFL. I wonder if some of the mistakes are coming on those plays. just where there maybe is a little bit more communication required with some of the motion. And I'm thinking of honestly, both of Jordan Battles Interceptions this week, where he ends up in the right place to come away with the ball. But it looks like they have two guys in the same zone. And it looks like he's trying to communicate pre-snap as he's rotating due to some motion. And he's trying to talk to DJ Ivy and they can't get on the same page.

And so they're ending up in the same spot of the field. And that vacates another zone that luckily Malik Willis didn't find on either play. Aaron Rogers was finding it, though, right? That's why you can't do that. Quarterbacks, well, Lamar Jackson, if he plays for the Ravens, will find those spots. And so that's why that's something that I'm thinking about. The last thing that I've got on my mind, Joe,

and I do have one mention for the offense that we're not going to dig into in a ton of depth, but I just want to mention. But maybe this is just solved by the return of BJ Hill. The defense needs to be better when Dexter Lawrence is off to field, especially defending the run. The run splits when Dexter's on and off. We've talked about the overall splits with the run splits as well. You got a 13% difference in success rate.

Teams are running the ball much more explosively when Dexter is off the field than on the field. Dexter has been on the field for most third downs, but when he's on the field is 3.7 yards per play overall versus 6.1 yards per play. So like all of these in running plays only, all of these things heavily skewed when they try to get Dexter a couple first and second downs off on some of these drives to preserve him. But the difference here is he's been on the field for twice as many of these plays as he's been off the field. So 73 on 36 off. He's not leaving the field often. About 67% of the time opponents run the ball in the Bengals, Dexter's on the field. But when he goes off the field, there is a Dexter off the field playbook. And you're never going to be able to replace a player as good

as Dexter Lawrence with a player that is impactful as Dexter Lawrence. But can we hold teams to like less than five yards per carry when Dexter Lawrence? is off the field, that would be something that is a very attainable goal that the Bengals currently are not reaching. We had similar splits with Hendrickson on and off the field, not so much run defense, but in pass rushing, right? And it feels like that again. And what I'm left with is, okay, who else is going to step up? I think Boy, Amafé's been fantastic through five weeks. But who else? Who else is going to become a good player or an impact player or create chaos? I've been happy with Jonathan Allen.

He does have his share of mistackles and sometimes getting blown up in the run game. He's a smaller guy getting BJ Hill back helps. Is he that type of impact player? Probably not. Can one of these linebackers continue to get better and become that? Can DJ Turner and Dax Hill become that? And in fact, that brings me to one of my points for the defensive design is it still feels like they're leaving the middle of field open more than I would like.

They're getting targeted. And of course, offenses are trying to target these linebackers and safeties, why wouldn't you? But also, you can watch some of these better defenses, and they want you to throw at Pat Sertan, right? They want you to throw at their best player because that guy is so good that it's an advantage for the team. Russ, you just got DJ Turner running cardio out there and get two targets a game. I would like them to funnel these targets towards Dax and DJ. When I watched film in the Miami game, the receivers aren't really a threat. But I came away thinking, these guys are really sticky in coverage. I'd love to see it with the ball going in their

direction and spend two weeks in a row, Jags didn't it test them at all. And they had great receivers. So I'm sitting here saying, you know, Al, it's okay to keep the middle of the field closed a little bit, put an extra defender in that box and make these teams throw it to the boundary. You're trying to contain explosives. And that also does play up in the run game. You tend to give up fewer explosive runs, like major explosive runs when you're in a middle of field open defense because you have those two high safeties instead of one. You tend to get caught with your pants down a little bit less when you're too deep. Even defending the run, you might give up six yards of carry, but you're giving up less explosive. So that is a balance that the Bengals

defense will have to strike. I did want to just add that John Allen's on off splits are also really good in run defense. When he's off the field, teams are averaging five yards of carry when he's on is 4.3. Success rate is 13% lower, 11% lower when Alan is on the field versus when he's off the field. He's on the field a lot with Lawrence, though, right? So I, for double counting a little bit there. Sorry, I think I'm looking at this backwards. We'll update you on the Jonathan Allen. We'll make a post for every dayers.

Yeah. And the last thing that I wanted to mention here, just something on the offense is, looks like this under center part of the playbook isn't going away entirely. And so if that's the case, let's continue to find ways to make it work. I like the progress I saw against the Miami Dolphins for the Bengals, some boots to the left this week. The play action game looked a lot better this week, continuing to find what's working there is something that will be a season long process for the, you know,

three or four plays a game when they want to run those under center play action plays. But that's going to do it for this episode of the lockdown Bengals podcast. Plenty more to talk about this by week, including looking back at the Bengals offseason moods to talk about what worked, what didn't, some trade targets that may or may not be out there for the Bengals and much more coming to you this week on lockdown Bengals. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. who does and have a good one