Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow puts FUN in WINNING, Defense making STRIDES, Offensive line now GOOD?

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

Regardless of the Bengals' record right now, having Joe Burrow back makes it fun to watch them play. The crazy thing is... they still have more than a realistic chance of they can win out and win the AFC North. Alex Frank, Mike Santagana, and Art Valero discuss how serious we should be taking the Bengals' playoff prospects going into December.  Another things that's fun to watch with the Bengals right now is their young defense making strides. Which players stand out the most? Can they continue to build on solid performances over the last three weeks? The Bengals' offensive line allowed just one sack Thanksgiving Night in Baltimore. Are we ready to say their offensive line is good? Art explains what he saw in Baltimore, while Mike explains how much Joe Flacco had to do with the offensive line's progress this season.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!  Aura Frames For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.  FanDuel If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long.  PrizePicks Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LO...  Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.  FANDUEL 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.

I'm Alex Frank, and I'm going to quote something from Clemson football head coach Dabo Sweeney. The fun is in the winning. And Mike, I go back to something you mentioned on Thanksgiving night. Even though the Bengals record isn't where we wanted it to be, it's still fun to watch the Bengals win with Joe Burrow playing. Yeah, it's a heck of a lot more fun to watch the Bengals with Joe Burrow than it is really any other quarterback, even though Flacco did have that three game heater. You know what else is fun, Coach Valero? This much maligned Bengals defense over the last three weeks, they've made a lot of strides. Well, you know what? There's a lot of people out there that have been very frustrated,

and now they're coming on, and they're coming on at the right time of year. They need all gas and no breaks from here on out to make sure that everything goes well. So too is the Bengals offensive line. All that much more coming up on Bengals squad. 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 all Only the Locked-on Podcast Network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad show starts now. Welcome to Bengals Squad on this Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025. Winter is here, and that means Joe Burrow in December and January is also here.

I'm Alex Frank. I'm joined by Mike Santagana and coach Art Belara for this edition of Bengal Squad, which is brought to you by Fandul right now on Fandong. customers, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus vests to use across the app. Gentlemen, we're coming off a Bengals victory Thanksgiving night, 32 to 14, over the Baltimore Ravens. And now the playoffs seem a little more likely, even though there's still a long way to go.

But would you consider what the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, both teams at 6 and 6 are going through with, their two-time MVP quarterbacks and not to mention Patrick Rahms is a three-time Super Bowl MVP. I think you have to consider that being a Bengals fan, despite the record being four and eight, is fun right now. Is that right? Yeah, I think it's more fun because there's still the slimmer of hope that they make the playoffs, but there's also just the, I feel like most of the fan base kind of lost the expectations of doing much with this season. Maybe not right when Joe Burrow went down because Jake Browning had that good run before.

And you're thinking like, oh, they just have to be this record when he gets back. I mean, they won one game while he was gone. So it basically was, okay, or I think it was around the Steelers game. Everybody thought the dream might be dead. Now, it's not fully dead. It's still kicking like we've talked about. You take it one week at a time. But it's fun because the expectations are kind of gone.

If this is where they were at four and eight and Joe Burrow played all these games. I don't know if we would be saying the same exact thing where it's like, oh, yeah, it's fun. They lose, they've lost like three games while scoring 30 plus points. But because he missed time, I feel like fans are willing to have a little bit more fun and hopefully not yet enter the mock draft simulator season because that is that is coming upon us at some point. Hopefully we can keep pushing it back. You know, I saw a comment on Twitter from a Bengals fan this week that it's a really fun time to be a fan because you have both the mock draft simulator and the playoff predictor simulator open. So, Coach, when you were on coaching staffs of teams that

didn't have the best record going into December, what would like John Grumman and Pete Carroll do to ensure that it was still fun to come into the building and prepare week in and week out for games? Oh, you know what, every week, both of them, and basically all the head coaches that I've been around, they are setting the tone. early in the week. And if there is a hole, if there is a glimmer, you know, he would harp on that and that it is one game at a time. Every week is a playoff game in order for us to get to where we wanted to be. And then he, you know, he would liven things up at practice, have a little bit of thing to, you know, like in Pete's case, he would have a, we always had a basketball court

in the facility. And all of a sudden, he would shoot him for like, you know, beyond what would be threes and challenge any player. You know, they would do little things like that just to create the excitement that, hey, we're still alive, we're still playing. There's still something to play for and basically stimulate them, inspire them and motivate them throughout the week. I think, and, you know, we hear all the time with the Bengals, the ping pong table that's in the locker room.

There was a basketball hoop at least in the building this offseason that you saw on the schedule hype video. So it's really fascinating to think about for maybe casual fans that think when their team is four and eight this time of year and they're pretty much out of it. But at the same time, understand that these are professional athletes and they're going to work. And as Joe Burrow said, they're making a lot of money to play a kid's game. So if you have a guy like Joe Burrow that is doing what he's doing and did everything he could to get back out on that field. and not to mention have a really good performance on Thursday night, Thanksgiving night.

That as a fan makes you just even more appreciative and thankful that the Bengals have a quarterback in Joe Burrow that regardless of record, regardless of circumstances, he is going to be out there not just playing, but playing at a high level and leading the Bengals to wins. And in this case, the Bengals still have a chance to make the playoffs. Now, I ask you both, how realistic do you believe their chances are? It's slim. Like, even if they win all their games, they rely on other help.

I think the Steelers have to lose two games. The Ravens have to lose at least one game. The easiest path is the Ravens and Steelers splitting their games. So you get the Steelers losing a game and you get, or whatever it is, you know, they each lose one game. And the other doesn't win two games in that scenario. I think none of this division looks all that good. Everybody's got some pretty big flaws. You see that with the Steelers' Bills game where they're running weak side zone and duo the bills are for six yards of carry.

And Josh Allen threw like one pass above 10 yards. And yet the bills were just moving that ball on offense. And that religion of questions with the Steelers defense. And then the Steelers offense seems to hinge a heck of a lot on a couple of players. and if Aaron Rogers has any type of injury, it goes downhill. And you saw that when Mason Rudolph came in for one play last week and threw a pick six, or not a pick six, but a pick. He threw an interception in his one play.

They're not going to do anything with Mason Rudolph. They are barely doing anything with Aaron Rogers. The other side, Lamar Jackson's got to play better because he has to throw a touchdown in three games. I think there's some luck with that where you get, that should have been a touchdown for likely. We talked about a great play from Jordan Battle to fight his way back in and force a fumble. and an OPI took away another touchdown, but still, you're going to expect better performances because I don't think Lamar has played particularly well either.

So both those teams have some flaws in the Ravens defense. While better, it does seem like they have a real issue with getting pressure without Matabike. So you look at those, and those are pretty major flaws for NFL teams, and I don't think there's like a clear division winner in this. I think the Bengals also clearly have flaws of their own, and we'll get to this defense that's been better, but it's hard to say it's not a flaw of the team when you've lost three games

scoring 30 plus points and one scoring more than 40. So I think the path is there just because the AFC North is so weak. If this was the Steelers from a couple years ago, the Ravens from last year, there'd be no shot because the wild card seems harder to win than the AFC North at this moment. That's a great point there because when you look at where the AFC wild card is right now, you've got the bills at 8 and 4, the Chargers at 8 and 4, and then you've got the Colts at 8 and 4, the Jaguars are 8 and 4. Heck, the Houston Texans, who would have thought the Texans at this point would be 7 and 5

after their 3 and 5 start and C.J. Straub being now with an injury. But, or when you look at it from, and I was listening to a conversation that Moeager and Tony Pike were having on ESPN 1530 and Cincinnati yesterday on the Tony, on the Tony and Mo football show, if you're looking at this from the perspective of the Steelers and the Ravens, they got to be thinking, there they come. They're coming. You know, when you're in a car, when you're driving a car, and you look out your right side mirror,

the passenger side mirror, and there's a label that says, objects in mirror are closer than they appear. That's kind of what the Bengals are right now to the Steelers and Ravens. And Art, I think if we're saying that those two teams should be at least cognizant of the Bengals, that tells you that the position they're in

is still very much alive in the first. playoff picture. Well, you know what? I think that if you're the Steelers or the Ravens, you're driving down the highway going, I hope they don't catch us. Because they've got a lot of flaws in their game, as you saw on Thanksgiving and you saw, you know, last week when, when Cincinnati went down their play, they've got a, I mean, they are hanging on. And it's a good thing they jumped out to a somewhat of a lead in the, in the division of. Because you've got some other ones in there. And if anybody knows anything about the National Football League,

it's the month of December where you want to get hot. And if you look at it from the Bengals standpoint, they have got Joe Burrow in the building. This is a brand new season starting last Thursday. He is really 1 and 0, and they are 1 and 0 because they did play a complete. game last week. And, you know, all three phases played well. And now they can continue to tie those up. They may come up short, but they're going to put some pressure on those other two teams that, hey, we've got to find an answer and we've got to win by whatever means necessary. Or we're going to

let this team, you know, right now with a losing record, catch us. And that means that we're going to go the other way, and Mike Tomlin could end up with the first losing season he had a lot. That's the interesting. That's the storyline that I keep going back to is the fact that Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season in his, well, he's been the head coach since 2007. This is 19th season. Sorry for the echo in the background there. I'll get that fixed here. So let me ask you both this. It's crazy to think that Patrick Mahomes and LaBall Jackson both two-time Mbps can miss the playoffs, but Joe Burrow can make it. What would that say about Joe Burrow and the Bengals and the quarterback hierarchy that exists

in the NFL? Honestly, I don't think about the quarterback hierarchy all that much. I know Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, seems like Drake Mays on his way, are guys that, like, you can win a Super Bowl with. I don't know where, you know, I think you put Mahomes one just because of what he's done, but I feel like it's so fluid. People get so mad about what quarterback ranks where, week to week. And it's just, man, those guys are all awesome for me.

I don't think too much about you. I don't know about you, Art. Absolutely. You know what they, I tell you, all of those quarterbacks are very MVP. I mean, they could be MVP and they're going to be a bad. battle in it regardless of the season. And when you have, I know it's got to be very, very frustrating for Patrick Mahomes because it didn't have the same tools. You know, Kelsey's getting older. He's a little bit slower. They train him out of breaks. Maybe his best guard.

Yeah. You know, and there's a lot of, at this time of the year, a lot of people are beat up, banged up. They're held together with gum and tape and everything else. And there's, You're just trying to say, okay, we've got to get healthy and let's go because if I was a Bengals, I'd say, hey, just keep tying them together. You've got another challenging game this week with one of those quarterbacks. And you don't want him to beat you. So you stop all the passing game and now you got James Cook ramming the ball down your throat.

So it's going to be interesting down the stretch. Look, this NFL season, and Chris Collinsworth mentioned this on the Sunday night football broadcast on Sunday night in Washington, that he's done anointing which teams he believes are good and which teams are not, because it's just so unpredictable. I mean, did anybody think that the Patriots in their first season with Mike Braples, their head coach would be 11 and 2? I didn't think so. And then in the NFC, you got the Chicago Bears. Mike, you mentioned Joe Tuny.

The chiefs let him go. And then now you look at where he is on the Bears. They're nine and three, and they're the number one seat in the NFC right now. It's so interesting to me what this NFL season has been. It just be so Joe Burrow and the Bengals to somehow win their last five games and enter on a six-game winning streak and get into the playoffs. Wouldn't it just be so the Bengals and Joe Burrow to do that? In my opinion, like being so Bengals and Joe Burrow would be winning those games and not making the playoffs.

That feels like my history as a Bengals fan. Yeah. Mike's got that black cloud hanging over his head. Too many seasons. Well, I mean, listen, you know, we can talk about same old Bengals. We can talk about whatever you want to talk about with the Bengals and that throughout their history. I have said this since 2021 that Joe Burrough has made the Bengals different. These are not the same old Bengals.

And if that's the case, then maybe this season plays out different. than what last season did in 2023 did. If they're going to go to the playoffs, though, it's going to come down on the shoulders of their much maligned defense and continuing to make strides that they have made over their last three games. We'll get into that next right here on Bangle Squad. Today's show of Bengel Squad is brought to you by Fandul, and, you know, the NFL Sundays are moving fast.

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Back on Bengals squad on the Lockdown Bengals YouTube channel and the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network in America, your team every day. Mike Santagana, Arfallero, I'm Alex Frank here on this Tuesday morning. The Bengals coming off a Thanksgiving night win in Baltimore where their defense forced five turnovers, five turnovers in the win for fumble recoveries, one interception. I go back to the Jordan battle play. where he punched the ball out of Ravens' tight end, Isaiah likely the ball went through the end zone for a touchback.

The Bengals got a field goal on their next drive to go up 9 to 7. They never trailed the rest of the game. Is that a kind of play? And Michael, turn to you first, because you remember the Von Bell play in 2020 on Jujas Mishuster, where the Bengals defense was reeling going into that game. Then Von Bell makes that play. We've called that play around Cincinnati.

the culture play. Is Jordan Battles punch out of Isaiah likely, the hustle to get there and then punching the ball out? Is that the kind of play that a defense, a young defense that's been just battered all season, can they rally around that? Can that be a spark going forward through the last five games of this season?

Yeah, I think it could. You see the effort that one of your guys gives. You know what I think still to me was what changed it, at least what seems to have changed it a little bit was the goal line stand where they had the stand for eight plays against the New England Patriots. I think that maybe gave them a little bit more belief in themselves, but seeing that type of effort, same with the Miles Murphy, 45-yard chase down type of play. I think when you see your guys hustling like that, it makes you want to hustle that much

more. But I also think they may have started to gain some confidence against the Patriots in that particular game, which they lost, but you make an eight-play goal-line stand. you do a pretty good job against one of the better offenses in the league and just might make you believe that you can hang around in the league where going into that game, they were still one of the worst defenses of all time. And now they're still statistically one of the worst defenses in the league. But over the last two weeks, it's been a lot better. Art, when you see a play like that and you're on the coaching staff, is that play like the first play

that shows up in film review after this game, and you're saying, hey, this is the standard. You know, we may not be a dominant defense, but we're going to hustle, we're going to scrap, and we're going to make opportunities for ourselves. Well, you know what I can guarantee you. That was probably shown in the first team meeting. That particular play, battles play, Miles' play, the goal line stand, and they're saying these are individuals that are playing hard. through the whistle.

And then as a defense, this is us playing through the whistle. And it's the culture that they want to develop that hadn't been shown all the mistackles and everything else, the non-hustling part of the game. Because I remember two weeks ago, we're talking about, hey, some of these guys giving up. And all of a sudden, now we're talking about their effort. And the fruits of their labor are wins. And so that's something that you can seriously. build on throughout the remainder of the of the season. And they are getting better. Why? Because

there's that effort that's still there. It takes no talent for effort. It takes zero talent. You could be the worst football playing in America. But if you're playing hard, you've got a chance to make a play. Is it as simple as, and I know this question may be overstated, but I feel like there's a lot of validity to it. Is it as simple as Joe Borough just be? in the building and playing and showing that leadership that is causing this defense to play harder and maybe with more effort than we saw a few weeks ago. Is it as simple as that? I don't think it can hurt.

I think it probably makes them believe that they have more of a chance of continuing and winning and going on seeing a guy rehab and get back before his timeline is up and knowing how hard he worked to get back on the field and knowing we can't let him down. I think all that exists. I don't know if that would be the primary reason, but I do think it helps in a way just seeing what they're doing. I also think that seeing him give life to this offense, because I did talk about the Patriots game.

On the opposite end of that, Joe Flacco was pretty bad in that game, threw a pick six and wasn't putting the defense in good spots. Now they're playing well and being put in good spots and not giving up, you know, points, bleeding points the other way. I think that helps them as well, not just the emotional and, you know, teammate, teamwork factor, but also the actual on-field factor of we're getting put into better spots. It goes back R2 complimentary football.

And when the Bengals went forward and on fourth and go, albeit that drive, still wasn't the best goal line sequence by any means. But it goes back to Zach Taylor and Joe Burrow trusting the defense. Hey, if we don't get this, we believe in you guys. And sure enough, the Bengals defense answered the call. You know, that's one thing that you saw as the game unfolded. You know what? When we talked about it before, when we were going through that serious losing street,

was how the leadership needed to be there. And when you have your leader, I mean, your leader. And we talked about him and the other, the one on defense, not being there. Yeah. And all of a sudden now, your offensive leader shows up, and he's more than an offensive leader. He took over not only the offense,

but he gave the defense something to really seriously play for. And deep down, you know, they're not going to say it. But the mentality of those guys are saying, hey, you know what, we don't have a chance. You know, if it gets close, we may not have a chance. We either have to blow somebody out or not. And shoot, they went into Baltimore and played. the pretty good football team and beat them on their turf on a short week with, you know,

minus, still minus guys. So they have T. Higgins. I mean, so when he comes back, now they're full strength. We'll talk about this more on Friday. The situation that is unfolding, has been unfolding with Trey Hendrickson because it is really, especially with the Bengals still four and eight, and if they are eliminated from playoff contention, whether it be this week or next week, that could be a really, really bad storyline to unfold from Paycor Stadium.

But let's go to some positives from Thanksgiving night. Miles Murphy, you were very, very high on him in our postgame show. I'll turn to you first. From an offensive line perspective, what is Miles Murphy doing over these last three games to cause disruption up front? Oh, he's playing through the whistle. Every down, whether he gets there or not, he has, you know, he is packing his lunch and he is going out there and playing with great effort and great enthusiasm.

And when you see a guy like that, that, I mean, you look at the old teams, the old Titans teams when they had Vanderbosch. You got a guy that's running all over the place, just, you know, like his, you know, his hair is on fire. I mean, it's going to say, you know what? Look at this guy. He's involved in every play. but he's and he's setting the point to where he's doing his job, but he's doing, and he's helping somebody else do their job as well.

You know, the linebackers were making bigger plays because the inside guys were covering them up and letting them run to the ball. And, you know, now you're going to Buffalo and you've got two down tackles. So this could be, this is going to be a big game for those defensive ends and Miles in particular. It is going to be a big game. You're right.

when you look at it from that perspective now, we'll talk about this a lot in our final segment today and on Friday. The Bill's running game on Sunday against Pittsburgh was outstanding. Mike, what are you seen from Miles Murphy and Joseph Osai? Because I've heard a lot this week that the bills, you know, if Joe Brady is who we think he is, as an offensive coordinator, is going to attack the linebackers with the running game.

But when you look at what Miles Murphy and Joseph Osir are doing and did on Thursday night, Thanksgiving night, if they can do that in Buffalo, these linebackers, these young linebackers, I believe, can continue to make strides. Is that what you're seeing? Yeah, I think O'Sai and Murphy are really stepping up in terms of missing Trey Hendrickson. I think Osai has done a great job of getting some pressure, beneficiary. I think also, I think they're both getting some pressure. I think O'Sai is finishing a little bit better, but I think they're also working together

when you look at that. you have stunts where Osai starts inside and Murphy crashes down and, you know, Osai loops around him coming free. And then the opposite too, Osai's inside and he crashes out and Murphy loops around him. So they're working as a team in that way. I think when it comes to helping the linebackers, the defensive tackles will need to help the linebackers more because the ability to take on those combos and double teams and not allow a guy to climb and get on them, keeping them clean will allow them to play better.

I think the defensive tackle room is kind of the big test for this game. I think the ends are going to be tested as well. But when I think about how Buffalo is going to attack them, they're going to get double teams on the defensive tackles. They might get them on the defensive ends with their duo gap scheme. And if those guards, centers, interior linemen, whoever, climb up to the second level and able to fit on the linebackers, it's going to be a long day because that is where it becomes difficult for you as a defense. defense, can your linebacker shock and shed and get free, keep himself clean and make that play? That's not something that's always asked in the modern NFL.

They're moving more and more towards coverage guys at those linebacker positions. And I think the Bengals fit that as well. You don't see Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight really Ray Lewis type of shock shed and get rid of these offensive linemen and offensive linemen fear them. So I think the defensive tackles are going to have to keep them clean in this game. But I did want to ask one thing, you mentioned Kyle Van, Bosch. Would it help Miles Murphy's game if you put in red-colored contacts like Kyle Van Denbos used to? Yeah, that would be freaky. Well, let's go to the linebackers because Barrett Carter, Demetriess,

Nett Jr., rookie linebackers, the Bengals traded Logan Wilson a few weeks ago. This game of Buffalo, I feel like we're going to find out if the Bengals made the right call to Len, not just a veteran linebacker go, but a leader in that room. And so you're really putting the onus art. on the young guys at linebacker who've been much better of late to step up in what's going to be a tough environment and what could be an arduous weather game up in Buffalo on Sunday. Well, you know what? They're 12 games in, 13 weeks plus training camp. You can't consider these guys rookies anymore. I mean, they played in a complete season, you know, college season at this point. So they got to grow up.

They've been coached. They understand the scheme now. There's really not a lot going in that it's different for them. And it's going to take a collaborative effort with the down guys in front and those linebackers knowing what depth, what their landmarks are and their drops, but not getting out of their too fast so they can fit up and honor what James Cook's going to be. going to bring in terms of what their run fits are. And then you're going to have to get the safeties involved.

And, you know, they have, it's going to be very, very interesting to see, okay, are they going to be aggressive to the run? That then now they're vulnerable to play action. And that's the way that really Buffalo likes to react. They like to work it that way and then throw it when they have to. And then shoot, you've also got. that Josh Allen, who can run. And, you know, so it's going to be a great contest for it.

And if they could tie it together like they did last week, then they're moving in the right direction. We have number nine on your side, again, in Buffalo this week, which I mean, Joe Burroughs 2 and O against the bills in his career. But I go back to the point you made art of the fact that. These linebackers, as you said, they've played 12 games, which is the equivalent of a college football regular season. And at one point, do we consider them not to be rookies anymore? Well, maybe that point has come now. And Mike, I think it goes to the fact that here's the reality. Yes, you won in Baltimore last week, but the reality is you're still four and eight.

And prior to Baltimore, when the Bengals last win came against Baltimore, Pittsburgh, we all said, okay, well, Joe Flacco and the offense seem to be cooking. If the defense can just be average, they're going to be fine, right? Well, turns out that wasn't the case. So I don't want what happened on Thursday night to kind of overshadow what still needs to happen for this young defense, much malign young defense, to truly, if the Bengals are going to do this, they're going to have to continue playing at the level they played at Thursday night. Yeah, you can't just expect, like, not to.

to be terrible defense. They're going to have to be a little bit better than that because the offense can't be asked to put up that many points. So, yeah, I think the Bill's game's going to be interesting. I don't think they have the juice on the outside that forces you to kind of play shell coverages, even with Josh Allen. You can probably trust E.J. Turner, Dax Hill to cover those receivers deeper down the field.

But like Art was mentioning, the play action and the run game is where it's going to come. Can a safety get into the run fit? Can the defensive line hold up their blocks long enough that a linebacker can beat the guard to the spot and make the play, I think those are the things that this Bill's game will come down to because Joe Brady is so willing also to just run the same play until you stop it, just nonstop, like you did against Pittsburgh. We're going to run two concepts in the run game. And if you don't stop it, that's all you're going to see all day.

Yeah. Well, one other thing that could be a big factor in this game on Sundays, the Bengals offensive line. Is it suddenly good? We'll get into that. And what we are seeing coming up next right here on Bengals Squad. Today's Bangle Squad show is brought to you by Aura Frames. And yes, like Joe Burroughs, ORA, the holidays are officially here, which means gift hunting season is on. And if you want something meaningful, personal, and guaranteed to get a reaction,

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Terms and conditions do apply. Don't forget to check out James Rapine and Jake Liscoe on the Daily Lockdown Bengals podcast wherever you get your podcast, including right here on YouTube, your team every day, lockdown podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world. and James and Jake have a special show coming up later today.

It is their mailbag edition, taking all of your questions. You might have to get a mailbag incorporated into the Mangles Squad show. The twice a week supplemental long-form conversational show to Lockdown Mangles right here on the Lockdown Mangles YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast. One quick programming don't actually two quick programming notes. Excuse me. We are back later this week. He did Thursday or Friday since it was a Thursday night game last week. We didn't have a show over the weekends.

We got two shows during the week this week. And then we are back Sunday, Mike, Art, and yours truly after the Pankles and Bills game, I will be at the game. And from what I've been told, traffic is a nightmare getting out of the stadium. And we are staying outside Orchard Park. So we will be live with the Bengal Squad Post game show later that's Sunday night. Time to be determined. We will tweet out the details on our Twitter accounts at Frankie underscore Natty,

at Bengals underscore Sands, and at Arthur Valero 3. gentlemen, one thing that we have been, I think, kind of overlooking this entire season because of the Bengals defense, which is really kind of crazy to think about, is the offensive line. And their performance on Thanksgiving night was really commendable. Only one sack allow, mind you, was on a corner blitz. So, Art, I ask you, what is the one thing you're seeing that is costing this offensive line to now be? good? Continuity. You know what? They're playing the same guys and you can say that the Dalton Reisor, him being out, came back in, he gave them some leadership in the middle. They've got continuity going with them. As I studied them this week, you know what? They knew the

drops. They knew what their sets needed to be. They started to change it up. And the only time they really got beat, which happens to be a majority of the time with offensive linemen, is when they allowed their technique to be gone. And all of a sudden, they came out and they were technically very, very sound in the run game. The timing of the combinations were there. They had some guys that were running behind them. They were running extremely hard and broke some tackles. And, you know, their past sets were really good. And, They, based on whatever drop that Joe Borough took, whether it be a five, three, or seven-step drop, their sets were kind of showed that and kept him clean for the most part.

You know, with the exception of the one sack, suit, the five up front kept him pretty clean. Mike, what are you seeing when you rewatch this game in the last couple of weeks with particularly Dylan Fairchild and Amari. Mims, two offensive linemen the Bengals have drafted over the past two seasons because it looks like two things. One, they look really good. And number two, if you're not saying their names, that's probably the biggest compliment you can give an offensive lineman, right? Yeah. Honestly, I think this Bengals offensive line has been good for like four or five weeks now, where it felt like they had a real bad couple of weeks, Minnesota and Denver. Then they started to get a little bit better, but they weren't yet like good. They were just like they're performing okay.

but then once it it felt like once Joe Flacco took over and maybe not the Packers game, but the following game against the Steelers, it felt like week to week. They were never the reason that the team wasn't winning a game. And you think about the high offensive performances, that's clear that the offense isn't really at fault here. I even think of like the Patriots game and the second Steelers game. I don't think they played bad.

I thought they played good in those games. So you look at this game and they play. the same way for Joe Burrow. I think some people worried, oh, but Joe Flacco is a veteran. He gets the ball out so much quicker. It didn't matter. I felt like Joe Burrow was actually not used to having that much room at times, where it felt like he kind of abandoned some clean pockets.

Sometimes that's for the benefit of extending a play, getting a better angle like the Tanner Hudson touchdown. But sometimes it just seemed like he's so used to his guards being in his lap after two and a half seconds that he kind of lowers his eyes a little bit and just goes like, all right, where do I have to? escape to. Oh, I don't have to escape. I can, I can hang in here and make a throw. I think it was a little surprising for him. When it comes to those two players, I think Dylan Fairchild, this entire season pretty much, has, especially since he came back from injury after he got hurt against the

lions and then re-hurt against the Jets, I think he's been great for a rookie guard. I think that he's been really impressive. I don't think it's been perfect. I think there are missteps here and there. I think his technique does get a little bit sloppy at times, but he kind of has that wrestler background. and extremely high-end wrestler background where he just kind of re-leverages, gets into a better position. He might have lost the battle, but he wins the war on a lot of reps. I think there's some reps where, you know, I prefer you not to get into a bad position in the first place and have to wrestle your way out of it, but he's succeeding that way. So as he gets more and more technically sound, that ability to recover because you're never going to be perfect.

That ability to recover is going to give him more leeway to have some flaws and face some difficulties. competition. I think when it comes to Marius Mims, his run blocking has been much improved. When I think of him last year, he kind of looked like a baby deer out there, not knowing where to go. He'd just run and then not block anybody or he'd get there late and a guy beats him. Now it seems like he's moving fast in the run game. It seems like he knows where his assignments are. He knows the timing on his combination blocks. And I think what's really impressive for him over the last few weeks has been when they run jet sweeps, he does a great job of getting to the second level of making that block. I think in general, he was an okay pass blocker last year.

I think he's a little improved this year. And I think when it comes to Mims' pass blocking, the insertion of Dalton Reisner has really helped him the most. I think him and Rivers would have some communication and mental errors together because they're two young guys playing side by side. When you put the vet in there next to them, he's communicating well. I haven't seen them get beyond stunts that much. You haven't seen a play where a guy goes in between the right guard, right tackle, and you're like, which one of them was supposed to get that guy and they look at each other, hasn't been any of that. They're picking that stuff up. So I think if that can continue, then really Mims has a lot of potential. I think he's played pretty well over the last few weeks,

and the insertion of Dalton Reisner has really benefited him. This is a good time to remind everybody listening to this show that Mike Santagana is our resonant film guru. So if you hear him talk about stunts and sets and all that stuff, that's why he is very good at what he does. more experience. Well, he, our was an offensive line coach. And he was, I wear glasses. Oh my gosh. Okay.

But I think where you two are getting that is something that's really, we haven't been able to talk about and say about this team. And I mean, even going back to, you know, the prime of the Andy Dalton era, is that argument you mentioned continuity. There are players on this offensive line that you can build around. And that is so important. You can build around Dylan Fairchild. You can build around Amarius Mims.

And, Art, I'm going to ask you because I want to ask you about Ted Karras, because he's beloved in this city for the Sinci Hat Project, for what's the name of that village? Mike, you can pick me up on this if you know the name. I'm trying to remember. I think it's the village of Marici, if I remember it correctly. I mean, he was the Bengals nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year. He's beloved for those reasons. But I feel like last year there was.

there were conversations that his play was declining and I kind of pushed back on that. I think this year, Art, I'm going to ask you, from a center's perspective, is the play of the guards, like the two guys next to him, does that impact how the center performs in, it just overall? Because what I'm hearing is Dylan Fairchild and Dalton Reisner and how their playing has allowed Ted Carras to re-elevate his play. So is guard play tied to how a center performs on the offensive line? Especially, yes. The answer would be yes.

And what I would say that is the one thing that he has not had or have not been exposed to is a 3-4 defense where he is covered. He is right now they're playing four-down linemen. So he's basically uncovered and he's always in a help situation. What that takes is it takes a lot of knowledge on his part of which way to set the point, which way he's going to go, how the scheme is going to unfold. When you have two studs on either side of you, yeah, that makes your job a lot easier, as does when all of a sudden you're covered and the guards are uncovered and they're helping you try to work to that second level. And so it kind of works hand in hand. It's like you're going into 60 different street fights every day.

And you're going with a team. You want to go in with a fist. You don't want a finger hanging out or not a weak link because they will find you. And they'll find a way to expose you and indict you. And I think he's controlling that group up front really well right now. He is getting to the right spot. he's making the right line calls up front to get it started and they're starting to play with you know they're starting to play to that level

and they're starting to become a unit and you know they're there you can see them in the huddle there's speak they're communicating before the play after the play and during the play and he's the one that's in control of all of that and so I think having a veteran guy like him in there who is a winner chosen winner that is very, very valuable. Yeah, that's the best part about all of this. Ted Harris has played on Super Bowl winning teams with Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, great quarterbacks, Tom Brady, and now he's playing with Joe Burrow.

And I think what's interesting is Dylan Fairchild's a rookie, but he was highly accomplished coming out of Georgia, where they had produced countless offensive linemen over the past decade, and probably further back than that. And then you have Dalton Reisner on the right side, who is a veteran. You know, I think what was it, the last two years or something, he didn't allow something. And that's why the Bengals brought him in before the start of the season. He battled injuries, but now he's playing well.

And I think what's interesting, when you talk about this Bengals offensive line, the guy that they spent a ton of money on to go get three years ago, or Landup Brown Jr. Has he been great? I wouldn't say that. But if he is your weakest link, two things. One, you don't want your left tackle being your weak link because that's your blind side protector.

And with Joe Burrow, you need a blindside protector at all times. But number two is, if he's your weakest link, you know he can play at a high level when healthy. And I'm not saying he's not healthy right now. But if he's your weakest link that tells you your other four offensive linemen, who you thought one of them could be the weak link, they're performing. well, perhaps they're overachieving. What are we seeing, though, former Atlanta Brown Jr.?

Just curious, do we need to be concerned about his play going into the final five games, going into next season? What are you guys seeing from a guy who is just this behemoth of a left tackle, but maybe just hasn't been performing up to the level that he performed at last season before he got hurt? Yeah, I think with Brown, the thing that would concern me, I think he's been okay. but what concerns me is if he ever loses some of his athleticism, because the great thing about being a great athlete is when you lose a step,

you're still a good athlete. When you're a bad athlete relative to the NFL, or Leonard Brown might be able to beat me in a foot race. I don't know. I haven't timed myself before. But when you're a bad athlete relative to the NFL, when you lose a step, we saw it with Alex Kappa, where he's not the most athletic guy.

He suffered that injury, lost a step, and then it was unplayable at right guard for the most part. That was your weak link. I think Orlando Brown's been okay, but if he ever loses a step or when he ever loses a step, you will probably see the results of that where you've moved from a being relative to the NFL, a bad athlete that wins by being so large, so long, and so strong,

to now being a terrible one. And losing a step from bad to terrible is just not a place you want to be in the NFL because those edge rushers are just so fast. They're so athletic. Those are like, in my opinion, I think the most impressive athletes on the NFL field are the guys that run that rush off at the edge because of how big they are, how fast they are to go with that. You look at like Miles Garrett. There's nothing else. There's nothing else like that in the NFL.

There's no other position that's doing that. So I think that's what I'd be worried about is if he loses a step going into next season from an injury or whatever, just age. That's what I'm worried about. Yeah, and we'll talk about that in the offseason. where when it comes to the left tackle position, do you sign a guy in free agency, do you take a high draft pick on one? But I think, what I saw on Thanksgiving night, he had two false starts, but it kind of like he moved early.

And I've wondered if that's because he feels like he lost, he has lost a step, as Mike you're mentioning. But at the same time, when you're facing a guy like Miles Garrett, who maybe the most terrorizing player I've ever seen, and then a guy like Kyle Van Nuoy on Thanksgiving night, those guys can just be freaks off the edge. Sometimes you have to kind of do some things to gain an advantage when you're backpedaling and edge rushers coming right at you. Is that what you're seeing?

Yeah, absolutely. You know what? They're playing that mental game of when going into last week, they had to be prepared for no, I mean, no snap count, silent cadence. They had to be prepared for at the end of the game. They had to be prepared for Joe's cadence. and a lot of times you get a little excited out there and you want to get the jump on them.

Because you know by the middle of the game, defensively, they've kind of figured out what your cadence is, whether it be a center head nod, whether it be look to the right, look to the left, in a silent situation or not. And they're trying to get off on the same count. So you know what? You look at it and you're saying, okay, we'll live with those

as long as you keep nine clean and for the most part. And you know what? All five of them are overachievers. I mean, and I always use this analogy for those guys up front. When you're in the fourth grade, you know, what do you do at recess? You know, you go out and you play football. You learn how to catch. You learn how to throw.

You learn how to tackle even though you're not supposed to. You learn how to cover guys. I've yet to see two fourth graders go out and say, hey, today, Mike, why don't you rush the passer and I'll protect? And tomorrow, you protect the passer and I'll rush. You know, those are learned skills. And when they get them, they want the advantage. And they're always looking for an advantage that will lengthen their career and make them where they're not mentioned like the other night where all of a sudden Orlando had to be. That is very true.

And when you talk about super freaks, edge rushers in the NFL, Miles Garrett and Kyle Van Nuys, we mentioned, the Bengals are playing the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. And thank goodness, we don't have to see the guy that I consider the greatest pass rusher in NFL history, Bruce Smith. Because, Art, did you ever coach against him in your long coaching career? Did you ever coach against Bruce Smith? You know what? I was at, I was a minority coach for the bills. once upon a time. And Bruce was there.

And him and John Fina had battles every day. And it made John Fina a better player because he had to go against Bruce Smith every day. And there were some great battles. And you see the skill level that he had, that he was dominant. You know, and bringing to that point up, last week, because of J.J. Watt, the tight- for Buffalo really weren't a part of the passing game because they were too busy in their chipping to slow him down. And when you have those deadly outside rushers, either the back's got a chip, the tight ends have got a chip just to give you an opportunity, but that affects

the down-the-field throws and almost he eliminates those tight ends from the game, from the passing game. Mike, let me ask you this, but you're bringing up chipping. Let's go to the touchdown to Yosibosh, because Samage-P-Rine had an excellent ship, I believe on Kyle Van Nuoy that allowed Joe Burrow to slide up in the pocket. What did you see on that play when it came to the office of line, the protection, the call, and then the chipping that allowed Joe Burrow to slide up and make that throw. That was the full blitz pickup. It's a cross-key, so he has to look across the formation to find him.

His eyes were there almost immediately. So I think there's something in there. He's not, you know, he didn't have to read the line. backer and then keep scanning outside because they left so many guys in in past protection. He was able to just, okay, that's probably, if that guy comes, he's my guy. And he came. So he's able to run across the formation and get a piece of him. I think that play, they just did a great job of wadding all of that up because the Ravens

tried to bring everybody. And you see like Mim's guy goes inside, I believe, or drops out. And he continues to work out and picks up a defensive back. You've got P. Ryan coming off from the opposite side of the formation to pick up another defensive back and everything else there's just no movement up front from that baltimore pass rush which gave borough the room to move up as well because he needs to there have been times in bengal's history where the interior got beat so bad on the snap that they may not have been the at fault for the sack in terms of which guy got him but borough didn't

have the room to move up because of that so the interior deserves some credit for maintaining the wall the exterior does it require for not allowing any free runners to get to joe burrow and hit him while he's throwing after he throws etc it was a completely clean throw and essentially a zero blitz i don't exactly remember the covers behind it but if it was a zero and they put roquan smith on andre joseva's shame on the ravens for trying that man coverage but yeah i thought everybody did their job on that particular play that was i think probably the best team play of the day where you have a good catch from Yosevaas in traffic. You've got a great throw from Joe Burrow on a rope, and you have great pass protection up front to allow that throw to be completely clean. Team offense.

You know what? I mean, that's the one thing, and I'm sure that they studied it going into the week against Baltimore. Baltimore does not have a lot of internal heat because of those big defensive tackles that they got to stop the run. But their pressures come from outside, B gap and outside. and it was a great job of P. Ryan looking at the safeties. Linebackers will cheat. They'll walk up and they'll show you and they'll sugar you. But the linebackers will lie, but the safeties never do. And once he eyeballed that and the safety covering down on the other side,

he knew we had to scan all the way across the board. And it was, that's the one thing that they did, that Baltimore did that did not hurt. and we were really, really on cue was our blitz pickups, you know, with the exception of the one coming off the slot. That was the back's responsibility and not the old line guy because he slid it away. Rockwon Smith dropped back into coverage on that touchdown to Yossubash, and just an incredible throw by Joe Barrow. Man, it feels good to be talking about the offensive line in a positive light.

We'll take a short break, and when we come back, we'll spend a little bit of time on the matchup. Sunday between Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. An elite quarterback matchup in Western New York. We'll do that next right here on the Bengals Squad show. You know, there are great quarterback matchups in the NFL today. You've got Mahomes and Allen, Jackson and Jackson, which we saw Thanksgiving night, Burrow Mahomes.

We've seen twice in the AFC championship. Joe Burrow and Josh Allen will go at it on Sunday in Buffalo, one o'clock on Fox. It is supposed to be cold. It is supposed to potentially snow in Western New York. And that's okay with me. I'm excited to see what Bill's Mafia and what a game in Buffalo was like on Sunday. But when it comes to this matchup, the Bengals 4 and 8, the Bill's 8 and 4. We've seen these two quarterbacks play twice.

Borough has won both times. Mike, what are you excited about for this game on Sunday with the quarterback matchup? But also, there's a lot of like chess-like elements to this matchup. the Bills running game, the Bengals, much malign line, lineback and core. And then you have the Bengals receivers against Buffalo's defensive backfield, or their secondary, which I think you should have confidence that Joe Burrow can throw on them. Yeah, I do have confidence Joe Burrow can throw on them. What I'm really interested in, and I guess this is contrarian of me, in a big quarterback matchup,

is can the Bengals stop the Bills run game? Because if the bills can run the ball, they are just going to run the ball. So can they make the adjustments that the Steelers were not able to make? And on the other end, as on paper, I understand this Bill's defensive backroom is what's the issue. But they've been a pretty bad run defense. So can the Bengals run the ball in this game and control the clock and make the bills pay? Because the Bengals run game has been sneakily good over the past few weeks. So can they take advantage of this?

Can it be a game? I don't think I've seen a Joe Burrow game where the run game was the major. element of the game since the Panthers game that Jamar Chase missed were Joe Mix and scores like five touchdowns. So can they lean on Chase Brown and Samajai P. Ryan a little bit more in this game. You think of the snow game. You think of how that can affect timing, guys slipping, guys not running as fast as they might normally. On the other end of that on the snow game, we saw this when the Bengals played the bills in the playoffs before, kind of slows down a pass rush, kind of makes the defensive line a little bit slower. The offensive line having that jump, knowing the snap

count gives them a little bit of an advantage. So what I want to see is can the Bengals run the ball at will and can they stop the bill's run game to force the bills into passing situations? I also just want to mention, I know they don't have Bruce Smith. Joey Bost has been an ageless wonder a little bit. He's top 10 in pressures and still next gen stats measures get off. And he's still top 10 and get off at his 30-something years of age. That's going to be a big challenge.

I think that's the biggest challenge this offensive line is faced on a little little while because we've been, you know, singing their praises, but they also haven't faced a top 10 type guy like this in a while. And Joey Bus has sneakily been there. And a game changing place Sunday at Pittsburgh. There are three things that stand out about that Bengals, Bill's game, Mike, that you brought up in the playoffs three years ago. Number one, Joe Mixon had a heck of a day on the ground. Number two is that Joe Borough said before that game, I never feel like an underdog. And number three is the fact that The Bengals are five and a half point underdogs, at least they were on Sunday night on Fanduil,

which they were five and a half point underdogs going into that game in Buffalo in the divisional round, and then they won 27 to 10. Oh, by the way, they play with three backup offensive linemen in that game. Art, I turn to you. Josh Allen, he can do things that I have not seen the quarterback since I don't know when. Did you ever play against a quarterback that can do the things physically that Josh Allen can do? Oh, you know what, not that being that big, his ability to run and throw. You know, went against the Michael Vicks of the world, the Tom Brady's of the world.

Those guys have a skill set that was different. I think that, and I really like Josh coming out of Wyoming. I thought that he was big. He was physical. He could throw the ball like a, you know, like nobody's business. And I think he's, he is one of the. those very, very special guys. He is.

There's no question about it. He is. But when you have a guy like Joe Burrow, Art, I'll go back to you, you should as a Bengals fan, and many people have said this over the years. They said this, they started saying this during the Bengals Super Bowl run in 21. When you have a quarterback like Joe Borough, it doesn't matter who you're facing, X is a nose aside. When you have that due to a quarterback,

Bengals fans should be confident they can beat any team in the NFL. Is it that simple as that? You know what? He is that special. I know that John Gruden thinks that Joe Burroughs the best quarterback out there when healthy. And, you know, I have a tendency to agree with it because when you see him step on the field, and just look at what happened Thursday. First game back, everybody plays well.

He's not only a quarterback, he's also a thrower. And he's the ultimate competitor. And you put those three things, it's going to, I mean, you can either keep up or you're going to get left behind. And I think that, you know, coming into this game, it's going to take everything that he's got. And, you know, even though Buffalo is down a little bit on defense, they're not like some of the other defenses that the Bengals have had to play were all around. They're really good. Yeah. He can, he can, if they can establish the run.

and on the other side of the ball stop the run. The one thing that Buffalo does very, very well is they formation their way into being able to get at run game advantage. They'll always bring a Z receiver down inside to go dig a safety out. They'll always pack, put three tight ends in the game, put two on the back side, and wash the whole thing down and cut it back to where there's no run fit. you know, or the only one that's back there is a corner who really didn't want to make that play. If they can do that, they can develop a good running game.

I tell you what, there's no better way to stop a speed rusher like Joey Bosa than to hit him in the lips about 40 times a game running ball. Michael, turn the final question to you. We talked about this and the fact that the Bengals linebackers, they still got room to grow. And this is going to be a big test for them against James Cook and or you mentioned the Bill's running game. So the last time the Bengals faced the bills and they were able to shut down their running game out, Lou Anirumo, sorry for the echo in the background, I'll get that fixed. Luena Rumo was the Bengals defensive coordinator. Now it's Al Golden, who was with Luena Rumo, the linebackers coach on the Bengals. If I'm Al Golden, I'm picking Luena Rumo's brain this week.

Wouldn't you say that? Yeah. And what I remember schematically about that was they were bringing a lot of pressure from depth. Mike Hilton was rushing from being way outside, not even pressed against a receiver, and getting home because Josh Allen liked to hold the ball. He's a little, I think he's a little different now. I think he gets the ball a little quicker now, but I would attempt some of that. And I would talk to Lou and just see, what would you do? Because still, in my opinion, Lou is one of the best at taking on these high-end

quarterbacks, the cream of the crop. He does a great job. Regular season, postseason, it doesn't matter. Didn't always do the best job against backup level quarterbacks, but he did do that job against the Josh Allen's, Patrick Mahomes, of the world. Alex, you know. It's muted. Sorry about that. My mic was muted. And the Bengals will be facing the NFL's reigning MVP in Josh Allen on Sunday in Buffalo. Mike, our final thoughts before we close today's show.

This game's going to be very, very excited. You know, they're arrested, no excuses. It is a playoff game, and you're on the road. Let's go see what you're made up. Yeah, exciting about a playoff game for both teams, really, because the bills need to keep up with the Patriots in the East. Unfortunately, the downside of this is the Bengals, I'll be to end this on a bad note,

the Bengals have not won a game with extra rest after a Thursday night since I believe 2014 when they played the New Orleans Saints in week 11 of that season. But maybe they will snap that streak this week because number nine is back under center. Mike Santagina at Bengals underscore Sands. Art Valero at Arthur Valero 3. I'm Alex Frank and Frankie underscore 90.

Thank you for tuning in to this live edition of Bengals Squad right here on the lockdown Bengals YouTube channel. We are part of the lockdown podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, your team every day. We are back Thursday or Friday this week to preview the Bengals and Bills, and then back Sunday night to recap the game. Mike, R, thank you for joining me.

Thank you for listening in. I'm Alex Frank. Have a great rest of your week, and we will see you later this week right here on Bengals Squad.