Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow PUSHING THROUGH back tightness, Offensive Line STOCK UP

Starting point is 00:00:01 Earlier this week, Joe Burrow was on the injury report. Bengals' Twitter was melting down. But coach, we don't need to fear anything about Joe Burrow. He's just fine. That offensive line against one of the better offensive lines in the NFL really held their own. Now, this opportunity will set them apart from a lot of different groups. If they can protect again this week, I'm excited to see if they go bombs away and try to go over this vaunted Texans defense. And if they try to go bombs away, it's bad.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Best on best when it's Jamar Chase and Derek Stingley. Why the Bengals need Jamar at his best to get a win in Houston. Today, it's the Bengals squad. Everything Cincinnati Bengals every week. Breaking down all the big hits and game changing plays from the Queen City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals squad show starts now. Full house today on the Bengal Squad show.

Starting point is 00:01:03 to it. It's Friday, September 18th. I'm in the Hamptons. Nothing better alongside coach Arfallaro, Jake Liscoe and Joe Taneman. I'm Alex Frank. We are brought to you today by Fandwell right now. Get $350 in bonus bets guaranteed when you bet $5 for every seven days. Join all the action at fanduel.com. Bengals Texans on Sunday 1 o'clock in Houston, Jody will be there looking forward to that one o'clock on CBS. It's a big game in the AFC with the Bengals. the Texans, two teams that could be very well in position at the end of the season. Joe Burrow came up on the injury report this week. He's fine.

Starting point is 00:01:42 You know what else is fine? The Bengals offensive line. Yeah, you know what? I tell you what, they, like I had mentioned before, you know what? They went against a very, very good defensive line in Tampa, and they did more than hold their own. I thought that this is a group as a group because you have to treat them like a group that they are. They're coming together. They're very connected.

Starting point is 00:02:11 And this next step, provided the game plan fits what they're capable of doing, will really move them up a notch, I believe. Jody, how good can this offensive line be this season? I spoke to Dylan Fairchild about this. last week. And I asked Dylan, I think everybody in Cincinnati and inside the Bengals bubble that follows this team knows that the Bengals' offensive line is what Zach Taylor and Joe Burrow have said many times. It's the best they've had in their tenure here in Cincinnati. But it still feels like there's this national narrative about the Bengals' offensive line that's out there. That's incorrect. And I said, how does this offensive line go about getting respect? And Dylan Fairchild said,

Starting point is 00:03:01 You have to do it consistently over a longer period of time than what they've done to completely change that narrative around. It was a great performance in week one. In fact, in a game where Zach Taylor, I think, gave out nine or ten game balls, including one on Monday, the day after the game to Dexter Lawrence. I think Amarius Mims deserves a game ball for his performance in week one against Rubin Bain. But how does that look forward to what's coming up on Sunday against the Houston Texans and the two most vaunted duo lines? men defensive edges that the Bengals will face in the NFL this season when they see Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson. That'll test it, right? We all think that the Bengals graded out well for how they performed as an offensive line in the season opener against Tampa Bay. A defensive line

Starting point is 00:03:47 that has Vita Vaya drafted Ruben Bain went out and got free agents to try to make themselves better at getting to the quarterback. And the offensive line performed well, but this is a different test. I talked to Zach Taylor on Monday about the way the offensive line performed, and he kind of left and said Sunday, we'll find out pretty quick how good our offensive line is. It's not like it gets any easier anytime soon either. You get to Neil Hunter, Will Anderson, this week, and then you get Pittsburgh with their three edge rushers, T.J. Watts, switching sides of the line of scrimmage for the first time in his career now that Mike Tomlin is not in Pittsburgh anymore either, but we don't need to talk about the Steelers game quite yet.

Starting point is 00:04:24 And we can keep it locked in a little bit here on the Tampa Bay, or on the Houston, Texas. this week, and that's really the challenge when you look at this defense because they're so static on defense. I watched the Houston Buffalo game earlier this week. I went back and watched a tape, and this is a defense that, to me, as I said, on Lockdown Bengals in our game preview yesterday, feels like it matches up well with Joe Burroughs strengths. If, and this is a big caveat this week, if the Bengals can go out there and protect against what should be one of the better pass rushes in the NFL. We also thought that about Tampa. There was so much hype around that Tampa defensive line in week one.

Starting point is 00:05:02 And then kind of after the fact, you saw, as you see with these narratives, that tend to shift and the goalposts often move, right? When you're talking about the Bengals and the offensive line, Ruben Bain was a rookie. That was the worst matchup he could have had with the five inches of arm length that he gives up to Amarius Mims. Meanwhile, in the preseason, it was nothing but hype for Ruben Bain. And Vita Vaya had a pretty quiet day as well.

Starting point is 00:05:25 And so different kind of challenge this week, different approach from the Texans defense. You're going from the blitz heavy Todd Bowls to the almost never going to blitz, going to line up and just punch you in the mouth, the guy that's across from me approach from the Damiko Ryan's defense in Houston. But if they can protect, they're going to show you what they're going to play in coverage. And they think they have the horses to run with your horses on offense. And we'll see what they do because the Bengals always get some unscatted looks every week, right? But if they can't protect and they can't hold up against those edge rushers,

Starting point is 00:05:58 Joe Burroughs ability to figure out where the ball should go and when the ball should go there should really play up against the defense. It doesn't even try to discuss. You know, and that's what I've mentioned before. The game plan will dictate how well those old line guys play. If you put them, if they're like, like Jacob talked about watching the Buffalo Houston game from a week ago, that was about that's like ned in the first grade reader they threw three step drops five step drops maybe one or two sevens but the ball came out of josh allen's hands and they moved the ball down the field because of not fearing because they were getting the ball out fast not fearing that secondary as much as much as as ferrying the defensive line.

Starting point is 00:06:54 And I think that is the key when you're game planning is you see what you guys are doing and what they can do and then formulate it that way. It seems like everybody is always wants to put, because of the stars they've got around them, wants to put the heat on the old line. Well, you know what? They don't listen to noise. They're five guys and 10 guys in that room that have one job. They carry a lunch bail with them every day.

Starting point is 00:07:24 They know they're never going to get mentioned unless they get a hold or a pre-snap movement penalty. And they'll go about their business. But the coaching staff has to help them by running the ball, keeping it. I don't think you'll see a lot of seven-step drop play actions against these pass rushers because they can convert really fast. And so I think it'll be, it is a test like Joe was talking about. I wonder if they will go to more play action this week, though, Art, and whether the game plan is going to be a little bit different because of the different styles you get and trying to get guys out of,

Starting point is 00:08:04 they're very disciplined, very cohesive unit as a defense, right? So I wonder if this week begs a more play action, more deceptive approach. And, you know, the Bengals, when they had to pass the ball, for the most part against Tampa, they went to the shotgun, and they let Joe spread it out, figure out where the blitzers were coming from and get the ball out pretty quick. And I wonder how that approach changes this week.

Starting point is 00:08:24 I also wonder how the approach changes and how things look differently for this offensive line if the Bengals aren't playing with the lead for the entire game. Baker kept putting the ball in the ground the entire game. And so another factor in the Bengals' offensive line, strong performance in week one, that you can't really control if you're an offensive line is the game script was in the Bengals favor in that game

Starting point is 00:08:43 because they're playing with the lead the entire game. You don't really get the opportunity. if you're Tampa to pin your ears back in that one. And so that goes to the Bengals Offensive Line's favor as well. So how well C.J. Strauss able to take care of the football, which was on display in Week 1 as well, has been on display throughout his career in Houston, will be another question that will then relate to how the Bengals Offensive Line

Starting point is 00:09:04 might have an opportunity to reprise their Week 1 performance this week. Absolutely. Before the season started, this was a matchup I was worried about. And Joe, I think you mentioned it on this show, that this was like either the game you were most looking forward to or like the biggest game or earliest test for the Bengals. And this is a week two game at Houston. That's the third game on CBS as part of a single header week. So here's what I'll say.

Starting point is 00:09:30 The Bengals and going back through the Buccaneers game to film this week, the Bengals ran 19 plays from under center. So that's good. And even on the place they weren't going under center, you saw a lot of eye candy at the line of scrimmage. You saw Joe Burrow, you know, in and out of checks, audibly, whatever it was, because you can do so much more with this offense and the offensive line that the Bengals have. One other note, the Bengals' offensive line did not have a single penalty that negated a positive gain. That's really important because how many times last year or in years before have we seen a big run by Chase Brown

Starting point is 00:10:06 or a big play by Jamar Jays got called back by a holding? There wasn't any of that on Sunday against Tampa Bay. So against Houston, where you have those ferocious pass rushers in Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter combined with, you know, physical play at linebacker. Now, Henry Toa Toa is not going to play this week, but you still got to contend with Aziz Al Shire, who's one of the most physically imposing players in the league. And you got the secondary to worry about. But I think the Bengals going into this game, this feels like Joe, a game where, yes, Joe Burrell's banged up. We'll talk about it in segment two. But for me, given who the Bengals have personnel was in office, especially up front,

Starting point is 00:10:42 that you can, given what Buffalo did last week and Buffalo didn't even run the ball well last week against the Texans, the Bengals could be able to do what they want to do offensively. And you as a fan, and I know Burroughs injured, well, I shouldn't say injured, but on the injury report, you can go in there not really worrying about that because you have confidence in the things, the multiple things this offense can do to neutralize the Texas pass rush. Okay, a few things. And Jake was mentioning Josh Allen's performance against Houston. last week. So we're in 36 points. There were some Josh Allen Superman in that performance.

Starting point is 00:11:18 Josh Allen doing things that only he can do. And Joe Burrow likes to believe, and we've all seen that Joe Burrow can do Superman-like things as well. We've seen that many times the way he can escape the pocket, make plays with his feet. He made some plays with his feet in week one. And I sit here on Friday before this show believing Joe Burrow will be his normal self on Sunday despite the back tightness. That's kind of my read of the situation, the body language, the way it's played out as the week has gone on, even though he might be limited in practice. We've seen times before where he was limited in practice leading up to a game. I go back to the San Francisco game, I believe in 2021. He was limited in practice that week,

Starting point is 00:12:02 then went through for 350 yards in a loss in overtime when Zach Taylor took the ball out of his hands in OT and a lot of fans were upset about that way. But the, I don't know. But the idea here that Houston's coming off a performance that's not sitting well with them, giving up 36 points. There's an intangible that I think is in play here a little bit. We can X and O, and there are a lot more smarter people doing X's and O's than I can. But when you think about the intangible of Houston, their schedule comes out. They have back-to-back home games, bills and Bengals to start the year.

Starting point is 00:12:36 And this jockeying for position in the AFC we expect is going to be very fierce throughout the entire season all the way up until the final week to see who gets what seed, who wins divisions, who gets home playoff games. Houston's, you can't use the word desperate in week two, but if you start the season with back-to-back home losses, all of a sudden alarm bells are going off in Houston. So there is an intangible at play here that Houston's defense was, I'm sure, a little bit embarrassed by the way they performed in week one, understanding their backs are against the wall that you can't really lose two straight home games to start a season and expect to go and be the one seed in the AFC. I mean, they went on that long winning streak last year, so maybe I'm wrong. But I do think that's in play here. Two things to watch would be if Joe Burrow can be his normal self and make the explosive play. that Josh Allen and the bill's offense made last week. You want to beat Houston. You got to have some explosives.

Starting point is 00:13:38 And the Bengals are very capable. But the question is, will Joe Burrow be his normal self to do that? The other one is the intangible of Houston, not wanting to lose two straight home games to start the season. I think that adds a little bit of a layer to what's already one of the best matchups in the NFL. When I was watching that week one game, Joe, and the outcome looked like it was going Buffalo's way. I was like, man, this is the worst outcome for the Bengals. You get Buffalo winning week one. You're going to have pissed off Houston in their second straight home game after losing to Buffalo.

Starting point is 00:14:07 They're going to want to go prove this thing against Joe Burrow. And it's going to be tough down there if Joe's not himself. Because like you mentioned, and the reason that I wanted to jump in here, Josh Allen doing Superman things. The Superman cape that Josh Allen wears is different from the Superman cape that Joe Burrow wears. You probably need to give him different capes, like maybe Batman and Superman. Because Josh Allen's like on the run launching at 60 yards downfield. And Joe Burrow just has every tool in the toolkit to answer what he's getting from the defense. So maybe Joe Burroughs Batman in this scenario if Josh Allen is Superman and we're doing superhero analogies here.

Starting point is 00:14:43 And I don't know if Joe has that on the run, put it 60 yards down the field on a rope in the bag. And that's what Josh Allen was able to do a couple of times in that Houston game to go over the top. I want to find ways for the Bengals to go over the top. We're waiting for that vertical offense to show up this year. and I think there will be opportunities to do it this week. But it's going to look different than it did with Josh Allen did. You know what to go back to what Joe was talking about, you know, as much they are a very dangerous football team right now.

Starting point is 00:15:16 I'm sure they got ripped after the Buffalo game. And I'm sure that they will come out and they will be ready to play. And that's tough when you have a good football team, a very good football team. a very good football team, who had a lot of hype. And all of a sudden, they'd lose to who they probably thought that they would see later down the road in the playoffs as the number one. And all of a sudden, now you get beat and you give up that many points. They are a very, very dangerous football team at this point, especially defensively.

Starting point is 00:15:53 There's no question about that. And I remember thinking about this game all summer, with the Bengals and the Texans on Sunday. And I remember thinking, well, that's probably a game that Bengals lose. We remember the last time the Bengals played the Texans, they did not play well offensively. And yes, Joe Borough threw for 340 plus yards, but they were held in check for most of that game. And they were Tyler Boy dropping the end zone away from having a really good chance to win that

Starting point is 00:16:16 game in the end anyway. Yeah, that's also true. It was also on my birthday, so that also made it sting a little more. I also say this about the Texans. I remember thinking their schedule, you know, playing the bills and Bengals at home, yeah, it might be nice to get those two games at home. But if you lose both those games, you start 0 and 2 and 02 at home, you're asking for it. You're going up against it, especially when you only have six home games remaining.

Starting point is 00:16:36 I don't care how winnable the AFC South is. And the Texans, we talked about the Bengals prior to this season getting off to slow starts. The Texans have slow starts themselves. They were 0 and 3 last year. They were 0 in 2002 in 2003. So you're right, the point that you guys are making that Houston is going to be a desperate team on Sunday, they will. If you're the Bengals, though, and we keep hearing the words, sense of urgency and how high it is. And I believe it is. You got to go out there and you've got to steal a brownie.

Starting point is 00:17:01 As what former Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams said in his book, steal some brownies on the road in the game you're maybe not supposed to win. You bury Houston and O and two. You're two and O. Suddenly you have an AFC win and your two games above Houston in the standings and three because you beat them head to head. Coming up next, should we be worried about Joe Burrow? I'll tell you why you shouldn't even think twice about not being worried about him. David Harrison here at the Lotton Commanders podcast. Talk about Butcher Box. I'm someone who's always trying to make sure I'm getting enough protein.

Starting point is 00:17:37 For me, that gets a whole lot easier when I've got a freezer full of the good stuff and I'm not stuck trying to figure out what to do for dinner. And I like having that quality protein ready to go, whether it's for the whole family or it's just for myself so I can avoid that dreaded takeout order. And Butcher Box delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more, all source to standards. they can actually tell you about they've already done the work. So all you have to do is figure out what's for dinner.

Starting point is 00:18:04 So 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. You get $20 off your first box. Plus, you get your choice of free rib-eye. That's the way I went. New York strip or filet mignon in every box for a year. And you always get free shipping always.

Starting point is 00:18:24 That's Butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Again, butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Well, make sure you use our link so they know we sent you. And Bengals, watch out. I also brought to you today by Price Picks. Football is finally back, and that means Sundays are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances, and plenty of storylines to follow. And if you like getting even more engaged with players and the statute you're watching,

Starting point is 00:18:51 there's a new way to make every game day more exciting. Price Picks is bringing out its best offer yet for kickoff. New users who get $150 in lineups if they win their first $5 lineup if you sign up. And Price Fix is now available nationwide. With Price Picks, you're building daily fantasy lineups by choosing two to six players and selecting more or less on their projected stats like passing yards, rushing yards, or fantasy score. There's always one player.

Starting point is 00:19:18 I'm watching a little closer than anyone else. And this season, I'm really interested in seeing what Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams can do because, oh, boy, did he make a statement last week in Carolina? The Bears putting up 59 points. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on their projections on the prize picks and seeing if their numbers match what I expect from them. I've got my eye also on New York Giants quarterback Jackson Dart, who after last Sunday, he could have a really big season.

Starting point is 00:19:44 If the opportunity is there, I want to see how their numbers stack up week to week, and that's where I like using price picks to follow their player projections. Download the app today and use code. Locked on NFL to get $150. instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. Price picks, run your game. With Joe, Daniman, Jake, let's go and Coach Arfalera. Alex Frank with you right here on the Bengals Squashow.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Bengals, Texan Sunday at 1 o'clock on CBS. Kevin Harland, Drank Green, Melanie Collins on the call. Coach, you and I will be with Mike Santagina and Evan Stacey after the game, hopefully discussing a 2-0 start. All right, let's go back to Wednesday. When I was trying to calm people down on Twitter, when they saw the news that Joe Burrow had a brace going out to practice and was limited, didn't really throw.

Starting point is 00:20:35 But I'm like, if you got hit like Joe Burrow did on Sunday sometimes, you'd be sore too, wouldn't you be? It's called game day soreness. And then Joe Burroughs said himself at his breast conference, I feel good, normal game day soreness, and that he's playing on Sunday. And the fact that he said that it would take surgery to keep him off the field, that's the confident Joe Burrow that we have been missing the last few seasons that we have again this year. Joe D, how worried should Bengals fans be if they still are about Joe Burrow and what we've seen this week and heard?

Starting point is 00:21:06 Everything that I've seen at practice, everything I've heard from Joe Burrow and the general feeling around the locker room is that people should not be worried about Joe Burrow, that they expect him to go out there and be his normal self or close to it against the Houston Texans. I mentioned in the first segment that Joe Burrow has been limited in practice many times and gone out and performed well. Joe Burrow has gone out and played through things many times and gone out and performed well. I think the only time that we could actually see Joe Burrow not be as normal self when trying to play through something and maybe should not have been playing through was the calf injury at the start of the season. That really limited him for the first month of the season. and the Bengals went to Arizona and everything took off from there,

Starting point is 00:21:58 which ironically is also the week after Jamar Chase said, I'm always bleeping open and they went to Arizona and Jamar Chase went off. Maybe there's a parallel here with the Bengals playing Houston in week two after Jamar was really quiet in week one. The vibe I get around the stadium, around Joe Burrow, around practices that he expects to go out there and perform well. The Bengals need him to against a very good defensive team in Houston. and everybody knows that watching this, how good Houston is defensively.

Starting point is 00:22:26 My feeling for Joe Burrow being around him, being around the team, is that they expect him to be his normal self on Sunday. And Zach did just meet with some media after practice ended, said Joe was a full go today at practice. He's not going to have a game status. BJ Hill's Achilles injury just to round out the injury stuff here since we just got the information. It's apparently not a new injury, which surprised me.

Starting point is 00:22:49 I thought this was something new because on Wednesday, he was listed as not injury related. He had some soreness, I guess, that caused him to be limited on Thursday. Didn't practice today, but Zach said he's questionable. I thought there was an IR potentially coming for BJ Hill with an Achilles injury that popped up midweek, but apparently not just questionable for this

Starting point is 00:23:06 week, and Shamar Stewart will reportedly play this weekend and make his debut. So that's an exciting potential shot in the arm for the Bengals defensive line rotation on the one hand and probably not going to have BJ Hill this week. Zach did also mention that elevating Josh Johnson is a contingency

Starting point is 00:23:22 this week is a possibility just in case. So while it doesn't sound like Joe Burrow is 100%, I'm with Joe Danneman here on this one where if he doesn't show signs of limitation, I don't think there's any real reason to be concerned. And we'll see what that looks like for him on Sunday. On the Houston side of things, I think the injuries are probably even more interesting, especially with Nico Collins, who reportedly I'm starting to see that he's been ruled out.

Starting point is 00:23:48 And I haven't seen that directly from the source. he didn't practice once again on Friday, but Aaron Wilson, who does a great job of covering the Texans and the rest of the NFL supposedly has said somewhere that he's a little, I don't know if that was a radio report that's getting aggregated. I haven't seen it directly from him, but he didn't practice again today on Friday. And if he doesn't play them with a grade one hamstring in his history, that wouldn't be a surprise. And that's a big deal for that Houston, too. Coach, keep it real.

Starting point is 00:24:16 Is any player really ever 100% once the season get started? No. and you won't be until March. And then you start all over again. And, you know, normal every day or game day hits and you go on the injury report. How about the O-line, D-line linebackers and tight ends? They are the only ones that want to get hit every play. Why aren't they on the injury report?

Starting point is 00:24:45 They got no, they got everyday starters. So I don't know what this is all about. And Joe could be hurt. I know he's the golden child, but there has to be something of why they would eliciting. And then him coming out conversely and saying, oh, I'm good to go. You don't take three days off and then get ready to play a game if you just got everyday soreness. So deeper, I want to know why he was on the injury port.

Starting point is 00:25:18 Because everybody that they can treat him without putting him on it, just like they do, the old line guys, the running backs and everybody else, they get that gets hit much more than that position gets hit. So you know what? I'm kind of like, I looked at it as he'll show up. He'll be all right. He's going to play. I just wondered why they put him on it. Well, let me jump in, Alex and coach. and it's nuanced with Burrow, right?

Starting point is 00:25:49 You mentioned the phrase golden child. He's the quarterback. It was very noticeable during open media time on Wednesday that something was different, something was off. So it was going to be reported. And the Bengals had, of course, the stink a few years ago with the wrist. And it not being on the injury report, that became a really big story here in Cincinnati and across the NFL.

Starting point is 00:26:09 Were they trying to hide something? Why wasn't Joe Burrow on the injury report with the wrist? So that's baked into it a little bit. bit with Joe Burrow going forward. But when you start thinking about him and what he means to this team and all the attention he gets, certainly when the media shows up and he's not throwing the ball and he's doubled over, it looks uncomfortable, then that's going to get attention. So I think the bang was kind of felt like they had to do something. And let me say this too about the injury, what happened on Sunday. And Joe said in this press conference, and I believe him because I hear

Starting point is 00:26:42 NFL players say this all the time. He doesn't remember exactly when it happened, how it happened, that this popped up. You know, I shared the video of Joe getting knocked out of bounds when he was scrambling for a first down, and we all kind of concluded maybe that was it. I've been told by multiple people inside the building that necessarily is maybe not the hit that caused whatever Joe's dealing with, that perhaps it was on one of his quarterback sneaks, that he took a shot near the neck, top of the back area that caused that. So my curiosity has peaked a little bit to see. And we saw it already once with Joe Flacco running on the field for what would have been a quarterback sneak,

Starting point is 00:27:22 even though when they spotted the ball, it was fourth and two. And everybody in the building then knew what the bangles were trying to do, that they weren't going to sneak it on fourth and two. But I'm curious if Joe did take a bit of a shot on a quarterback sneak in week one, that you have an even bigger body quarterback and Joe Flacco over there on the size. line. If Joe Flacco might be the guy, they shuffle in for quarterback sneaks this week going forward. We'll see. But I think that's something to keep in mind and watch out for in Houston on Sunday, what the Bengals do if they get into a scenario where it's a third or fourth and one, and they think a sneak is an effective play. I just want to speculate for a second as to the lines

Starting point is 00:28:03 you're going down there, Joe, about where the injury occurred. I think it was the final QB sneak of the game where he bounces it outside. Two Tampa Bay defenders kind of crunch him into the ground a little bit there. There's nowhere for that force to go. You're going between very strong, very heavy defenders that are trying to punish you and the ground. And so the hit on the sideline where he takes a shot on the shoulder, sure, and people are making all this noise about how Joe needs to get out of bounds there. Peyton Manning would never take that hit. Peyton Manning's going to preserve himself.

Starting point is 00:28:32 That's probably true. Peyton Manning probably throws the ball there before he runs and gets hit. But that didn't look like anything to me. I know that some former quarterbacks winced at it. There's a ton of space for that force to go. There's no ground there, right? So he bounces out of bounce, gets up, looks fine the rest of the game. That quarterback sneak at the end of the game.

Starting point is 00:28:50 You can see him get up slowly. There's a shot on replay where you can see him grimace after that play. That seems more likely to me to be where that occurred. Then him trying to get an extra yard on third and six and trying to stay competitive and absorbing a hit there that some people don't want to see him take. Can I understand that too? I do wonder about the quarterback sneak approach. So you've seen that Andy Reed over in Kansas City hasn't run Patrick Mahomes on a QB sneak since Mahomes was hurt on one early in his career.

Starting point is 00:29:17 And I've been kind of of the school of thought that that would not be an approach to Bengals would take. But when you have Joe Flacko around, I do wonder, as you said, Joe Danaman, whether that's an option for Zach Taylor. You know what? I was more concerned on his scramble, get the first. down about where he got hit with a throwing shoulder. Now, quarterback snakes, yeah, you know what, guys are going away from that. But the best quarterback snake quarterback that I've ever seen who never, who very rarely, I should say, failed was Tom Brady. Absolutely. I mean, he was unbelievable at it. And speaking of Tom Brady, how many times would he be on the injury

Starting point is 00:30:01 report leading up to a game? And you never heard anybody freaking out up in Boston. it. Now then again, they have a bunch of championships. So maybe that has something to do with it. And Brady rarely missed time aside from 2008. But again, Joe Burrow has been on the injury report throughout his career leading up to games. I was listening to Ball, Daniel Jr. and Jay Morrison earlier this week. And Joe Barrow was on the injury report. I think every week in 2004 coming off that wrist injury just as a precaution. And well, he turned in the best season of his career. So again, I understand why Bengals fans are worried because they've been through this before. And, you know, we as Bengals fans have been through this too many times.

Starting point is 00:30:36 But at the same time, you know, Joe Burroughs down and very confident when he spoke on Wednesday. He ramped up his pre-practice, you know, routine yesterday, and then he was full today. So, again, we shouldn't be worried about him, but like you're facing some monsters on that defensive front. But if the offensive line, if the offensive line is able to hold up against them, we could be talking about a various mims. I'm just going to throw this out there, potentially being an all pro candidate at right tackle. Joe, D, am I being too far-fetched with that, or is that reasonable to believe? No, it's reasonable. And I've said this many times, and I'll say it again here, that if you look across the entire

Starting point is 00:31:14 Bengals offense, and we understand that there are potential Hall of Famers, there are guys who are arguably the best at what they do at their position in the league. But I still feel like right now, the way they're constructed and the experience some of those guys have, I feel like there's no player on the Bengals offense who still have. has more room from their current floor to what their ceiling could be than Amarius Mims. That's not saying he's better at his position than Jamar Chase or Joe Burrow, but I think those guys at this point of their career are closer to their ceiling or have reached their ceiling.

Starting point is 00:31:49 And I feel like Amarius Mims is like on the 50th floor of some kind of skyscraper. And that thing can go all the way to floor 100 and he can jump up 10, 20 floors with a great performance on Sunday. He knows it, right? I think that's what's cool about this is this is the undercard to the main event. It's the game within the game. The idea that Amarius Mims understands that people are now talking about him this way. The way he performed against Ruben Bain didn't look like he even broke a sweat in that game,

Starting point is 00:32:18 keeping Ruben Bain out of the backfield. But this is a different animal, different animals he'll be facing in Deniel Hunter and Will Anderson. And if he performs well, all of a sudden he goes from someone we talk about a lot in Cincinnati, A lot of the people nationally might not be ready to anoint him to that space of pro bowl, all pro conversation. But if he goes out and has a great game on Sunday, that's noticed. That'll be noticed by people not only here who follow the Bengals in Cincinnati and around the country, but people who don't follow just the Bengals, but look at the league from a national scope. He's got a chance to really showcase himself.

Starting point is 00:32:56 He knows it. I think that's a cool thing going into Sunday's game. Absolutely. And he's a big part of Sunday's game. And we'll get into our keys to the game. And if you guys want to make some game predictions, score predictions, we can do that as well.

Starting point is 00:33:09 Coming up next on the Bangal Squad Show. Bangal Squad Show brought to you today by Indeed. Support for today's episode comes from Indeed, sponsored jobs when workplace chaos hits and you need the right, hire, indeed sponsored jobs, helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certifications, and location. So less time gets spent searching and more time gets spent.

Starting point is 00:33:33 finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. For instance, in this minute that I've been talking to you, companies like yours have made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed data worldwide. Usually the biggest difference isn't someone doing more work. It's having somebody who knows exactly what needs to happen and helps everything run smoother. Think Brian Cook in the back end of the Bengals defense. Think Dexter Lawrence on the defensive front of the Cincinnati Bengals. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less. stress, less time, more results.

Starting point is 00:34:05 It's a good trio to me. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help get your job, the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you've heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast firms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

Starting point is 00:34:31 Jody, I know you got to run here in five minutes. Thank you again for coming on today's show. It has been over a month we've had you on. We'll look forward to listening to you this afternoon with Dan Horde on the Bengals Pepp Rally show at the On the Rine eatery above the downtown quarter. That's a really nice location for a Bengals Pepp rally show. I want to ask you this, Joe, I know we're going to get to our keys to the game, but part of it is Jamar Chase.

Starting point is 00:34:57 So last year in week two, after a subpar game against Cleveland, and well, the whole Bengals offense at a subpar game that year in week one. Jamar Chase goes for 14, 165 and a touchdown. Should Bengals fans be worried about Jamar Chase's, quote, subpar game last week? Because I'm not. Of course not. I don't think anybody's worried about Jamar Chase going forward. And I think it's heightened within the entire building right now.

Starting point is 00:35:28 Dan Pitcher said this week that it's not acceptable. Jamar Chase has to get more targets, only four targets in week one, only two catches. going back to what you just said last year, I think three times he had subpar Jamar games, and then he bounced back each time with more than 100 yards the following week. This is a little bit different, right? We all understand that Joe Burrough is going to be under duress unless the offensive line performs even above what we can expect underperform. There's going to be moments that the Texans are going to win up front,

Starting point is 00:36:00 and he has to get rid of the ball. So there might be some calls to, Jamar Chase just to get the ball in his hand and get him going early. That's what I would look for. Try to get him going early with just some quick game action. I go back to that joint practice against the Bears and the Bengals did a lot of that when they weren't performing well. They went a lot of quick action to Jamar and it really seemed to unlock their offense for the second part of that joint practice during training camp. I could see a lot of that happening on Sunday. But the fact that Dan pitcher's talking about it, Joe Burroughs said he's heard a lot about it from multiple

Starting point is 00:36:34 inside the building about getting Jamar Chase more involved. And then if you're Jamar, and it's this personal matchup against Derek Stingley, who's considered one of, if not the best of what he does, it's going to bring the best out of Jamar Chase. Now, the question is, and Joe Burrough said this, and we can go back and look at what Buffalo did week one. Josh Allen threw some 50, 50 balls downfield, and the bills made plays on those balls.

Starting point is 00:37:00 Joe Burroughs said this week against Houston, you have to be careful with those 50s. 50-50 balls. So if you're going to beat Houston, you have to have some explosives. Buffalo had, I believe, eight explosive plays and scored 36 points. So there's this fine line that Joe Burroughs got a walk between throwing 50-50 balls, giving his guys a chance to make plays on this. But I'm thinking you're going to see Jamar Chase involved early. You're going to see Jamar Chase involved in some quick screen game to get him going. There was a play last week. The Bengals were one block away from getting Jamar loose on a quick screen that would have gone for a big play. And this

Starting point is 00:37:34 thing would have been different. So yeah, no one's worried about Jamar Chase. He is who he is for a reason. I would expect him to get a lot of targets in this game, even though he's going to be matched up a lot against one of the best corners in the National Football League. I think one of the great things about this matchup for the Bengals and for Jamar Chase is that the Texas don't move their corners. You're going to have Derek Singly playing on the right side. You're going to have Kamari Lasseter playing on the left side. You're going to have Jalen Petra in the slot the entire game. They're going to match everything with nickel and those corners are going to be where those corners are going to be.

Starting point is 00:38:05 Jalen Petrie, if you're out there in 12 personnel, he's going to play linebackers at a slot corner because he's a freak. And he's like souped up Mike Hilton who can do those things. But because they play sides with such strict roles in this Texas defense, you can get Jamar Chase whatever matchup you want. So yeah, you want to let him go fight Derek Singley, his former teammate and try to get the best of him, you can do that. But if you like to match up better with Kamari Lazan,

Starting point is 00:38:27 who struggled a little bit in week one and is on paper a better matchup with T. Higgins than Jamar Chase. But you can move Jamar around. You can put Jamar in the last. slot where Jalen Petrie is an awesome player, but I'm taking Jamar Chase over every slot corner in the NFL and liking that matchup there. So the nature of the Texas defense, which can beat you in these physical matchups, these one-on-once that they're going to get, and I like their corners, don't get me wrong, they can move Jamar Chase around and get the matchups that they want

Starting point is 00:38:54 and go fishing for those matchups when they want to. Joe, I know you got to run about a minute. Give me your biggest key to the game. And if you want to make a game pick, you can. But first, Sunday. Biggest key for the Bengals is what? Forcing two plus turnovers on the Texans offense. CJ Stroud has the propensity to give the other team the ball, whether that's interception, whether that's fumble. They can come in bunches. It happened twice last week, him putting the ball on the ground and Buffalo coming away with turnovers. We saw it in the playoff game last year against the New England Patriots. That's a very high profile moment for C.J. Stroud.

Starting point is 00:39:37 So if the Bengals can get two plus turnovers, I like their chances of leaving Houston with a win. I think that Nico Collins injury is a major factor in the Bengals having a very good chance to win. I would have predicted Houston by a field goal with Nico Collins. I'm now thinking the Bengals get out of Houston with a win by a field goal if Nico Collins doesn't play in this game. The other thing to keep in mind,

Starting point is 00:40:03 not only are these two teams very good offensively and defensively. Certainly they're a lead on offense for the Bengals, a lead on defense for Houston. We think there's, you know, top end ability for the Bengals' defense to be much better this year. Same with Houston's offense is very capable.

Starting point is 00:40:20 Two kickers that are two of the best in the league. And that's going to be important. What we expect to be a four-quarter close game, one of these two guys is going to get an opportunity. I would think for a game winning or game changing kick deep into the fourth quarter and they're two of the best of what they do. Evan McPherson's made 17 in row. It's the second longest streak in Bengals history of consecutive field goals. If you have Wood anywhere, Bengals fans, go ahead and knock on it. So it's not the announcer's jinks on the Bengals squad show. But for me, the key is, guys, the Bengals

Starting point is 00:40:52 finding a way to force a couple of turnovers on CJ Stroud. If they do that, I think the Bengals get out of Houston 2-0, and Bengals fans are going to start thinking this team can really compete for one of the top seats in the AFC. Worth noting Nico Collins didn't play in the playoff game in New England last year. CJ Stroud threw four picks in that game. Joe Danneman, thank you, as always. Always great to have you won. Best of luck this weekend in Houston, and we'll look forward to seeing you on all the TV

Starting point is 00:41:19 and radio shows that you do for the Bengals and Fox 19. Thanks, guys. See you Houston. Yes, that's Joe Daneman from Fox 19. and it was great to have him on once or twice a month on the Bengals Squad Show. Back with Jake Liscoe and Coach Arfallero. Coach, I want to turn to you because I feel like this game for me really epitomizes stopping the run. If you can stop David Montgomery, if you can stop Woody Marks and make CJ's draw throw the ball against an offense or against a defense that is looking to feast on turnovers,

Starting point is 00:41:47 you don't have your best wide receiver. You should be able to bait him into some mistakes. Oh, there's no question. He's going to try to prove himself. And I think that that's key. I think that front seven defensive line and linebackers for the Bengals, just like they did a week ago. You know, it's all about stopping the run on first and second down,

Starting point is 00:42:09 forcing them to where, regardless of whether it's medium or third down, and the Texans need to throw the ball or want to throw the ball, make it very, very difficult. And I think the Bengals have, if they can put them in that kind of, situation, they've got guys that can rush the passer and not necessarily with sacks, but with pressures, get him off time and make him make bad throws and make him his decision making a little bit fuzzy. And I think that that's key.

Starting point is 00:42:48 And I think the other thing that's key is how the system or how the game plan, like I talked about earlier, fits the O line. and getting the ball out of Joe's hands early, fast, and you know what, he's got a chance that, you know what, you can throw hitches on these guys if they're off, give the ball to those guys and let them run. Because if they come up and try to press them, those hitches always convert,

Starting point is 00:43:14 and now you can get some big plays, some 50-50 balls down the field, and now we can rock and roll with some excitement on offense. I'm looking at the other side of the ball, because I think we've talked a lot about Bengals' offense, Houston defense, right? Can you protect? Can you run the ball against a front that isn't going to necessarily load the box with Jalen Petrie? Such a dog in the box. Like that guy is so good as a run defender, as a slot guy who's playing linebacker times,

Starting point is 00:43:43 and moonlighting as a linebacker from a 197-pound player in the slot. But on the other side of things, I'm looking at the injuries for the Texans as a pretty big deal. One that we didn't talk about yet is on the defensive side of the ball for Houston. Gidevian Clown, he still didn't practice on Friday, and he was a guy that D'Amico Ryan said would be back for the Texans on Thursday. So he's probably going to come down to a game time decision. I would imagine if they thought he'd be back Thursday. He's a guy that probably doesn't need to practice at this stage in his career to play if he feels good enough to play. Ed Ingram, though, suffered a groin injury on Thursday, then didn't practice on Friday either.

Starting point is 00:44:22 He's one of the best run blockers on this Houston line. And as you're talking about stopping the run and making Houston one-dimensional in this game in a game where they don't have their top three wide receivers because they're hurt, assuming Nico Collins doesn't play. And that's what I'm assuming at this point. That game gets really hard for the Texas. And I'm going to take this a step further when I say, well, then you think about tight ends, right?

Starting point is 00:44:44 Or Woody Marks as a receiver, running backs in the receiving game. The tight ends help a lot in this Texan's offense blocking because they have, questions about their tackles. There are two tackles. Trent Brown on the right side, Ariante Ursary on the left side, got some of the most help in the NFL in week one, where Amarius Mims had one of the higher island rates in the league,

Starting point is 00:45:04 according to PFF charting of over 63%, meaning he gets no help on those plays. The Texans tackles both closer to the 50% mark. And that's both tackles. Not that they're just helping one of the tackles or the other. Trent Brown's getting a little bit more help, but they're really helping the tackles in this past, scheme for Houston.

Starting point is 00:45:24 And if they're helping the tackles, and if Boye-Maffe can go out there and put stress on these tackles and Cassius Howell can put stress on these tackles, and Miles Berger can put stress on these tackles. And Ed Ingram doesn't play. That's one that you really have to watch, I think, on Sunday, because then the matchup could improve significantly for the Bengals on the interior. Now, Ed Ingram is not much of a passwalker, but he really can be a mauler in the run game. So maybe they even get an upgrade in the pass-blocking category if Ed Ingram can't play.

Starting point is 00:45:51 they certainly would get a downgrade in the run blocking category because he's one of the best to do it at his position. But Dexter Lawrence could go crazy on the interior for the Bengals in this one. If they're helping those tackles a ton again this week and maybe there's going to be a different protection game plan because there's different personnel for Buffalo versus Cincinnati. But that trench matchup for the Bengals, very, very interesting given Stroud's propensity for the turnover and the Bengals' ability to take the ball away from Baker Mayfield last week. And I'm trying to remember who was talking about, yeah, it was Joe Danerman right before he left, talking about disrupting the timing for C.J. Stroud, right? That was Joe. Such a rhythm passers, everything I've heard about C.J. Stroud in the preparation for this game. He wants to hit his back foot and get the ball out and you disrupt that rhythm.

Starting point is 00:46:38 Then you can increase your likelihood of taking that ball away. Yeah, what you're describing is what happened the last time the Bengals by the Texans, where Dolan Shultz had a big game and he helped out the tackles. Bengals got no pressure on C.J. Stroudan in that game. And that allowed Devin Singletary. They're running back at the time to rush for well over 100 yards. So if the Bengals can do a complete 180 of that on Sunday stopping the run, you know, getting them into unfavorable passing downs where you can tee off with Boy, Mafea and Miles Murphy and Shamar Stewart. It sounds like he's going to be able to go this week. So you love hearing that. And that's for

Starting point is 00:47:12 defensive line depth. And then you have Jonathan Allen who had a sack last week. And then, of course, the big band of the middle, Dexter Lawrence. You got to get, Chase going early, though. Jamar Chase going early. I think we'll talk about that here coming up. And then it's also about starting fast, you know, put Houston behind early. And then you get the fans nervous because if you, in a way, team can sense a restless nervous crowd. And they feast on that. And this Bengals team, I think, can do that. And then also down in distance on offense because you don't want those two guys off the edge coming at you, Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. And then if you throw up a 50-50 ball and let's say Derek Stingley makes a play or Jalen Petrie makes a play or Kamari Lassie. So pretty much what we talked about last week is keys to the game, our keys to the game this week. Starting fast, down in distance, getting Chase going early, and stopping the run.

Starting point is 00:47:57 Jake, I know you don't make predictions. That's totally okay. Coach, your prediction for Sunday if you have one. Well, no, I'm not going to make one because last week I made one. And then Jake proved me wrong with the Vegas guys, right? I thought it was going to be a defensive game. And next thing, you know, we're looking at close to 60 points. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:48:16 The over hit it. So I'm out of the prediction. But I will say this to add on to what Jake was just talking about. One thing that they have to do is they have to eliminate the pre-snap penalties. I've never seen a national football league defense line up off sides in the neutral zone as many times as the Bengals did last week. Now, that gives, even though Tampa Bay blew up and they gave the ball back, though four times is like, come on, boys. So I know that was a topic of conversation, especially for the inside guys who ended up lining up off sides. They, I mean, don't give them an advantage from a down-and-distance situation.

Starting point is 00:49:10 Absolutely. that will help that will help put CJA Stroud in that offensive line having to chip having to get help make him throw off rhythm boom now you got it but it starts pre snap don't make anything easy on CJ Stroud is what we're saying and that's absolutely true because when he is in rhythm he can be a very good quarterback as we have seen throughout the course of his first three seasons over under on this game 45 and a half I'm going to take the with my prediction. I believe that Bengals do win this game. I'm going to go 30, 23. And I say 30 because I do think we're going to see some drives that end with Evan McPherson field goals, as we saw last week for those drives. But I think that Bengals make some plays on defense. I think their offense is going to have a good day. Joe Barrow hasn't had his best games in week two, but I think he does have a really good game this Sunday. And I also think Jamar Chase as a big game on Sunday, which we're going to talk about here coming up next to

Starting point is 00:50:07 conclude today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show. You know, the over-under, I just mentioned on Fan Duel. Well, guess what? It's the most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fan Duel. How rewarding are we talking? Well, more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring, more rewarding than an 18-point comeback in the AFC championship and maybe even more rewarding than an offensive linemen catching a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:50:32 This season, Fan Duel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new Fan Duel Rewards Club featuring exclusive offer, surprises, and more. This season, Fan Duel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field. There's nothing like a game winning play when everything comes down to the final seconds. That feeling is what makes football so much fun. And Van Duel is adding another layer of excitement with rewards and surprises throughout the season. The NFL gives you something new to watch every week. And now Fan Duel is giving fans something new to check for every week, too.

Starting point is 00:51:04 The Rewards Club has exclusive offers and surprises. So it's worth opening the app to see what's waiting. most rewarding season ever with Fandul. Visit Fanduil.com to get started. Jake Liscoe, Coach Arpillara, Alex Frank with you on the Bengals Squad Show on this Friday, September 18th, Bengals Texans Sunday at 1 o'clock on CBS. Coach, you and I are back with Mike Santagana and Evan Stacey after the game for our Bengals squad show post-game edition, hopefully talking about a second straight, 2-0 starting.

Starting point is 00:51:37 One reason the Bengals started 2-0 last year is because Jamar Chase went for 14, catches 165 yards in a touchdown. Do we expect a similar performance or even like even just eight for 90 in a touchdown on Sunday? Do we expect Jamar Shea's to play really well on Sunday? I say yes. I think it's hard to bet against that guy bouncing back. He has a pretty good history of only having one bad game here or there and generally

Starting point is 00:52:06 having good games. So having two bad games in a row would be a bit of a statistical anomaly. I don't know that there's anything specific about bounce back games for Jamar. than he's always going to be motivated to go out there and make plays and help his football team, as he talked about in his presser on Thursday. And generally, when a player's that good, you can't hold him down two weeks in a row. That being said, I also see this as a matchup where Mike Kaseki could go crazy again. And this could be another Mike G game because of the way the Houston, Texas play defense,

Starting point is 00:52:33 and because of the attention to T. Higgins and Jamar Chase command. So I'm not sure if we'll have quite the volume. I think a lot of that volume in week two last year was driven by, uh, Jake Browning, Chuck in the ball to Jamar a whole lot after Joe Burrow left with injury in that one. A bit of a different matchup, right, with the Jacksonville secondary than the Houston secondary. But betting against Jamar Chase, not something that I like to do very often. I'm not a betting guy, as Jake knows. And that was the reason why.

Starting point is 00:53:07 But, hey, no, one game targeted only four times, right? That is so unusual. I guarantee you those two long-term teammates will hook up much, much more, will have more targets. And I guarantee you that even anybody questioning Jamar Chase's ability or the ability to bounce back or whatever, this young man's highly motivated.

Starting point is 00:53:41 He's extremely competitive. And he will come out ball and whatever it is, whether he catches four balls or two balls, he will have big yardage game. Because I think for whatever reason, and I don't know it. But when you get that kind of a competitive guy, you can't tie him down. Yeah, I mean, I'll even take a three catch for 165 game that like Randy Moss had on Thanksgiving against Dallas in 98. hey, that's how, you know, that's how I think Jamar Chase is going to play in this game.

Starting point is 00:54:18 You mentioned a great point, coach, about Mike Kisiki. Why don't you take me inside the tight ends room with this matchup? Because we talked about Mike Kisiki just now. Take me inside the tight ends room going into a matchup like this. How much are you emphasizing you're going to get the ball potentially, and that's going to allow the receivers to make place? Well, you know what? You do that.

Starting point is 00:54:40 the room knows. And Jake mentioned it about Mike having a big game. But I think it's all of them in that room knows that regardless of when, because when Gisicki gets in

Starting point is 00:54:56 the game, you know they're throwing it, right? Which acts extra heat on the O line. But those other guys, Eric All, Jr., all those other guys in that room are well aware of of their particular routes and how they want to take away T. Higgins and Jamar Chase,

Starting point is 00:55:20 that they are alive on every route that's being run, whether it's a clearing route, whether it's a crossing route, or whether it's just getting into the flat. They are alive and they have, they know they are, and they got an opportunity as a position. position group to come out of the game with eight to 10 catches in a game. And they are, I mean, so run your route full speed. There are no plays off. You go because you know what? They're trying to take away those studs on the outside.

Starting point is 00:55:57 And you are the next viable choice for Joe Burrell because he feels so comfortable in that room. Yeah, I'm not going to bet against Jemar Chase either going into this game, Jake, like you said. because you look at his subpar performances or games where he hasn't really been much of a factor. And go back to his rookie year in the win at Denver, he had one catch for three yards. The next two weeks, seven for 125 against the Ravens, and then against the Chiefs, the legendary, 11 for 266 and three touchdowns. Go back to 2023, where he didn't start the season particularly great. Five for 39, five for 31, his first two games.

Starting point is 00:56:30 What he's to do against Arizona, 15, 192 and three. 2024, first two games had 97 combined receiving yards, and then he won the Triple Crown and receiving. Last year he had 5 for 23 in Denver. He was not happy on the sidelines during that game. Six for one, 10, and two touchdowns. Then we've seen a balance in a touchdown. So, yeah, we've seen a balance in tax so many times.

Starting point is 00:56:54 I expect something similar to happen in this game on Sunday. I know he's going to back there, Eric Stingley Jr. He's a very good corner. We know that. But Jamar Chase has cooked so many great corners this career. Marlon Humphrey, he's burned so many times. We've seen him burn Jaylen and say a Super Bowl. And, you know, we don't like final play, but he has burned him.

Starting point is 00:57:15 We've, you know, it doesn't matter who he's playing. He finds a way to, you know, should not come to Chess. Any other thoughts that you have going into this game on Sunday, we are approaching 48 hours from Houston. I think the last thought for me is just going back to that takeaway battle, Alex, and whether the Bengals can come out on top and take care of the ball and also get C.J. Stroud to give it back to you,

Starting point is 00:57:44 that'll go a long way in helping the Bengals' offensive line. I talked about that much, much earlier in our squad show today. The Bengals' Offensive Line and their protection game plan in general got a lot of help because they were playing from ahead for much of that game. If they can do that again this week, their job gets a lot easier. If they have to play from behind, it's going to get a little bit harder. and we'll see how they fare against the Texans defense. It really wants to pin its ears back and play with the lead.

Starting point is 00:58:12 Yeah, I think that this is going to be a battle. This is going to be a war. I mean, if you want to measure where the Bengals are early, it's going to be this game. And I think that this game could rocket them forward or they can just continue to get better. And I think that this is a big contest. Hey, anytime you're plus three in the turnover takeaway battle, you're in good stead.

Starting point is 00:58:40 Just stay on the positive side. And I think that you're going to be okay. Yeah. I'll piggyback off that because I feel like we're going to learn where this team's at and where they could go at. Let's go back to three years ago. One of the road to borrow their birth and the playoffs, the following down the point we. I'm losing to Houston. Alex is having some internet issues there.

Starting point is 00:59:10 We will wrap up the squad show here, guys. And look, the squad show will be back with you after the game right here on Locked-on Bengals. Joe and I will be here for you after the game as well. And keep an eye out. We might have a slightly different post-game schedule. Joe and I are considering doing a live stream post-game. That'll be followed directly by the squad show this week. If that's the direction we choose to go.

Starting point is 00:59:36 So make sure you're back with us here for the squad post-game show. And until then, for Art Valero and Alex Frank, I'm Jake Lisco. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Squad Show. Did you get anything while you're done in it, babe?

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow PUSHING THROUGH back tightness, Offensive Line STOCK UP

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.