Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow REMINDS everyone why he is the FRANCHISE in PROLIFIC bounce-back

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

After a tumultuous two weeks in which some national sports media members tried to spin narratives about Joe Burrow's future in Cincinnati, the Bengals franchise quarterback reminded everyone why he is just that in a prolific bounce-back performance. Alex Frank, Mike Santagana, and Art Valero break down Burrow's prolific day in South Florida as the Bengals beat the Dolphins and snap a two-game losing streak. Winning matters all the time, even in the situation the Bengals are in. The squad discusses what positives the Bengals can build on with this win in the final two games of the regular season and going into 2026. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rocket Money Take control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money. Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON today. 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) 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 you can want the Bengals to win games. You also maybe don't want them to win games to improve their draft pick. But at the end of the day, in a way, winning does matter. And Mike Santagana, given all that this team has been through Joe Burroughs comments, it feels good to see them put a win on the board and play complimentary football for really one of the only times this season. Yeah, a glimpse at the dominant team that we thought they could be when Burrow was healthy, but was not true for most of the season. And coach, when Joe Burrow, after the tumultuous week he has had and the recent comments he's made,

he goes out and plays like that. It really says a lot about this team's franchise quarterback. Oh, you know what? I mean, he came out ready to prove himself wrong and ready to silence the critics. And he did an outstanding job of leading that offense today. No question about it. Lots to come on this edition of the Bengals Squad Show. 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. Welcome to the Bengals Squad Show on the Lockdown Bengals YouTube channel and the Locked-on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, your team every day. Don't forget to become a member of the Everydayers Club where you get benefits, including access to the members-only Discord. To learn more information, go to lockdown podcast.com slash every day.

Today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by FanDuel. If I can find the thumbnail here. Anyway, today's episode is brought to you, as I mentioned by 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. I'm Alex Frank and Frank the underscore Natty. joined as usual on game days by Mike Santagina at Bengals underscore sands and Coach Art Valero at Arthur Valero 54 on Twitter. And the Bengals are victorious today.

54 or I'm sorry, man, if I felt like they were going to score 54 points, 45 to 21. The Bengals beat the dolphins. They go to 5 and 10 on the season. Miami Falls to 6 and 9. Joe Burroughs spectacular today throwing for over 300 yards, 309 to be exact four touchdowns. 5 of 32 passing.

The Bengals defense getting three turnovers on the day and outscoring the dolphins, 28 to 7 in the second half to pull away for a huge win and get to 5 and 10. By the way, here is the Fandual Thumbno that was trying to look for. They apparently relabeled it. So anyway, this edition, as I mentioned, brought to you by Fandual download or excuse me, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fanduil.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Gentlemen, I just want to get your 30,000-foot view reaction first on this game.

A great day offensively for the Bengals and a successful day defensively. What was kind of your biggest takeaway from this game? The first of three to conclude the season at which, unfortunately, the Bengals are eliminated from playoff contention, but they still find a way to put 45 points on the board. A week after getting shut out at home. Yeah, it felt like the offense was incredible everything from the court. quarterback was good, but when he made plays that weren't perfect, I'm thinking that underthrown

ball to Jamar Chase, where he takes a hit so that you don't really blame Burrow that much on it. He's hit by a 300-pounder. But ball ends up being short. Chase, despite a double team, he beats the double team deep and still comes back and then beats them again underneath by jumping over them and dunking on them too. So I think the wide receivers, they made the plays when they needed two. I felt like the play calling was good. It was varied.

It was different from last week. Last week they kind of fell on their worst tendencies, I feel like. The under center and pistol was all run game. And then the shotgun was a lot of pass here from the beginning. It felt like they had a plan to throw the ball from under center and run the ball from under center. So that gives you so you don't have a tell. They're not cheating the run when you get under center. And they were getting in the eye formation, offset eye.

It was stuff I wish they would have done last week when they were still in the playoff on. but it was really interesting and it felt like Taylor was opening the Rolodex a little bit and what you could see from a Zach Taylor offense. You wish it happened earlier, but it is what it is. On the other side, you had a lot of opportunities that they won. You think of the interceptions, the fumble, just stuff that 50-50 plays and they're coming out on top. I also think we sing as praises like every week, but man, Miles Murphy, another great game. He just, he looks like a starting defensive end.

And that's not something I think we would have said the last couple of years. So I think that's huge. Winning, yeah, it loses you this draft position. But if you get from winning the development of Miles Murphy, maybe Jordan Battle and all these guys, and Dax Hill, I think, had a pretty good game. These guys end up in Jalen Davis, too. That looked like he could be a player, a starting level player, I think, over the past few weeks. And especially today, he got dunked on the one time by Waller.

But other than that, it felt like he was playing really well. you get that development and that could end up meaning more than those high picks because these guys that you've already invested on becoming better players is going to be more beneficial for you than one player. And it could be a really good player. But getting multiple guys to develop and become the best version of themselves can end up being more beneficial than a player. That's a great point there, Mike, because this team does have a lot of defensive players like Miles Murphy, Jordan Battle, who had a fumble force today. So you get the development of those guys late in the season. Again, you're eliminated from playoff contention, but you're still trying to see what players on defense you can build around that you can, you know, say, okay, we've got this guy. We're good with him.

We want to move forward with him. We want to keep developing him so you can have momentum going into next season. And coach, that's why every game still matters, even if you're eliminated from playoff contention because you're still, these are professional athletes. And I know this is going to sound maybe cliche, but these are professional. professional athletes, they're putting stuff on tape, not only for themselves, but for this coaching staff, because they want to win. And when Zach Taylor says, we want to win as to why Joe Burrow played and T. Higgins played, and Jamar Chase is still playing, winning does matter even when you're limited from playoff contention.

You know, I'm telling you that they, and Mike hit it on the head. From an offensive standpoint, you have both of those two wideouts. it creates so much disarray on the other side of the ball that because they're both unbelievable threats and then you mix in the running game and you know again Chase Brown had a very good day catching the ball and running it you know and that kept everybody off balance and on the other side of the ball so you didn't see anybody take a step back

like why I'm just going to try to stay healthy these last two weeks. And on the other side of the ball, we continue to see Miles Murphy get better and better, better every week to the point where you're saying, okay, maybe maybe he is.

He moved from number three defensive end or number four with Osai to now maybe he might be number two on our D-line list. And then you see somebody like, and I had heard it today, that Battle had a high, 110 tackles, which is almost unheard of for safety, meaning they're getting through the line

of scrimmage pretty easy if he's got to come up and make all the plays, playing like he did, you know, where he was all over the place. So people are kind of separating themselves in terms of their ability and their want to to show this team like Mike had talked about, wow, we can build them around these guys. We got somebody on the back end. We got somebody on the front end. We got two good defensive tackles that are forced under the linebackers. What do we really need? What do we need? Do we need a veteran to come in here and help us out here? Or is that draft choice where we end up 16, 17, you know, are we going to get the same player as picking in the top five? Really? Do you want a top five guy? Or are you capable of?

of those bottom half second round, high second round guys, third and fourth rounders are going to make your team without all the cost. It's a great point, coach, because I think what's interesting about this team is the fact that a lot of Bengals fans wanted them to get a high traffic. And I understand that because you don't have anything meaningful to play for. This season has taken a lot out of them. And I understand that. But I also think winning does matter in the sense that you want to see what you have in a guy like Jordan Battle who led the team in tackles with 10.

Miles Murphy had five tackles today. He had a tackle for loss as well. Barack Carter had an interception. Jalen Davis had an interception. So when you look at it from that perspective, yeah, these games still do matter. You only get 17 games a year. Coach, you know this from your coaching experience. You only get 17 in your day, 16 Sundays a year to show.

This is what you could do after all the training you go through in the offseason, training camp, and the preseason. So, yes, the Bengals draft positioning may not be what some fans want it. And that's totally fine. The question I have is, and we're going to talk about this a lot, middle of the week shows and then the off season leading up to the draft is, can whoever is leading the draft process for the Cincinnati Bengals come up with a plan to still hit on a draft? draft pick that is, let's say, 12th or 13th as opposed to eighth or ninth. That's what's going to separate this team and organization from where they are right now to where they hope to be because there is a lot of pressure on this organization to build

around Joe Burrow and do what they did in 2021. And you mentioned, coach, what does this team need? to me, you can look at any level of the defense, secondary linebackers defensive line, but for me, they need to do something similar to what they did in 2021, which is go get some veteran players, emerging veteran players that can help the young guys that have shown some signs over the second half of the season. Barack Carter's looked a little better at times. We saw Demetri's night with an interception on Thanksgiving.

We've seen Miles Murphy come along. Can we get a veteran player on any level? level the defense to not only help from an on-field standpoint, but how to understand the fact, because they played so much better today, but they were eliminated from playoff contention. When the expectations are high going into a season and when you're playing in games that have a lot of leverage and when the season is still hanging in the balance, how do you play to your expectations and win games when it matters when you're still in contention? I think that's the biggest thing that I have coming from today's game because they weren't playing for anything as far as the playoff picture goes, but they're still playing for something they put on tape. That's fine.

But next season, when you go into week one, when you go into week, let's say 11 and you're in the thick of the playoff race, can you, is there going to be a veteran player on this team that helps the young guys say, hey, we need to live up to expectations. we've got a franchise quarterback who was one of the best in the world. Let's help him out a little bit. That's where I'm seeing it. What do you guys think about that? I think that's where the development comes in. You don't want to enter a season where you have all these young guys and the defense can't figure anything out.

And the defensive coordinator doesn't have any experience at the NFL level calling plays. Like that's all combined to create what was a historically bad defense. Now you've went through those hardships and it stink. And it probably is the main reason. kicked out of the playoffs. But now, they're playing better. I think you have to worry a little bit about this quality of competition.

I do think Arizona's offense is all right. So that next week is a little bit of test. I don't, Miami, it didn't look great in the first half. And I was thinking like, man, Quinn Ewers, this guy's going to kill them, a seventh round pick. And then they, he turned into a seventh round pick throwing interceptions and they were fumbling the ball. So, like, they ended up working out.

So I worry a little bit about that because I think there was a little bit of a mirage last year with the end of the season and all these ideas like they simplified the defense they did this they did that look they played nobody's like that's the real issue here is that they ended up playing russell wilson after he was you know kind of cooked he didn't do anything that last five games and the playoff game uh bow nicks i think was the hardest quarterback they play but you look back at that schedule and it's not it's not the highest quality of competition i think that's going to be true for them coming up but you can't control who you play you can only control how you you play. And how they play was very, very good in this. So I think the idea here would be

if they can get enough confidence that these young guys are performing better, we talked about Murphy and if battle is still starting out there, him, you look at the linebackers, one of them still out there. If these guys can improve, Dax Hill improve or Jalen Davis or whoever, it would benefit them a lot to be able to go into next year. Be like, yes, that's the same guy, but he is so much better now than he was week one, 2025. I think that's what we're looking for. They always start slow. I think that's the biggest issue, the offense at least.

The offense, they cannot figure out how to start fast. But if this defense can pick up the slack, which they kind of did against the Browns, then you pick up a little bit of the slack early. And defenses, a lot of times, defenses are better early. Because they rotate these guys out, you know, when you got no injuries and you can stay fresh and rotate guys in and out, and you're, You've created all these new game plans and nobody has any idea what they want, you know, to tackle and you've watched all the offensive film and you see all the tendencies

out there. I think defenses get a little bit of a head start usually. So if they could start fast with the defense, that would be great for them. But to do that, like you said, I think they need to hit free agency hard. They need to have starting level players across the defense before you get to that draft. And I don't know if that's going to be possible with them. We'll see. They don't always like to spend money like that.

But if you end up in that situation where you're, some of these guys are just in competitions to play that we're looking at and we're saying are improving a little bit. If Jordan Battle is in a competition for that safety spot or Knight, Carter and somebody else are in a competition for a linebacker spot, that will make it better because now if you falter a little bit, there's a guy ready, you know, competition breeds success. And I think that's what you're going to look to try to build.

You try to get all these starters on defense so that you have at least what looks okay, passable to start the year, and then that competition will breed some success for you. So that's, I think, what they need to do. It feels pretty easy what the plan is. Like this offense, that feels plug and play, man. You just resign Rizner, Reisner. Maybe you throw a cheap contract at no offense. Maybe not because Eric All might be back to take that spot.

It's another big thing. Yeah. Otherwise, the offense feels pretty set, man. Like, there's not much you got to do. You really got focused on that defense. Hopefully, you hit the draft, and it's not crazy that you could take an offensive tackle if it falls because you're a little worried about Orlando Brown getting older. I think that that would be the ideal spot.

We'll see if we get there. I don't know, hold my breath about it. But that the ideal is that you're in a good spot that you can take whatever with that first pick. Coach, how do you balance knowing that you have some emerging guys, particularly on defense, but also understanding, hey, we still need to bring some veterans in the room. How does a front office balance that conundrum, so to speak? Well, I think, you know, when we've alluded to us,

it before about how the front office and especially the personnel department, how they jive themselves together. You know, you've got a college staff who is concentrating on the draft and where they would fall and what their needs are and who are the best available. you've got a pro staff who knows who's coming up, whose contract is up, and who also is like a Miles Murphy, who hadn't shown anything, but is on the verge and needs some repetitions in games

to show what he's actually has. You know, it's a little bit of a shame that, you know, he's a one, but it takes him what, year three to finally get on the field on a regular basis and show that, hey, he hustles. You can make plays down the field, recover a fumble, you know, in the secondary. There are those guys that some teams will cut loose.

And you can bring them in, and they fit very well in the locker room. They've got leadership tendencies. And if they don't, you can cultivate those leaderships, those leadership abilities. allow them to find a home in Cincinnati that they say, hey, you know what, I'm going to sign a four-year deal. And I feel pretty good about it. Yeah. And you mentioned a great point, too, with college staffs and pro staffs. And when it comes to a front office, and I think that's where Joe Burrow has been hinting a little bit these last two weeks that, you know, he's frustrated with the fact that this team has a smaller coaching staff and a smaller scouting department. And maybe that's

where changes could come to the Bengals, if that means that. they're not going to move on from Zach Taylor, Al Golden, and or Duke Tobin. Speaking to Joe Burrow, a bounce back performance said that he desperately needed, the Bengals desperately needed, and quite frankly, this fan base desperately needed. We'll talk about his performance when we come back right here on the Bengals Squad Show. This edition of the Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by Car Gurus. All right, so here's the deal. Car shopping should feel exciting, not confusing.

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Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium today in Miami Gardens Florida. I'm going to be honest, Mike and coach, there were a lot of Bengals fans in attendance today at Hard Rock Stadium. The entire visitor side felt like it was a Bengals home game, which was great to see. And it shows that even at what has been a, tough season for the Bengals, four and ten coming into today, now five and ten. These fans still care. And I think that's what's so amazing about this fan base. They still care, even though they have been very frustrated, gotten to levels of apathy

towards this organization. But at the end of the day, these fans still care and they care because they have, this team has a superstar quarterback in Joe Borough who showed up today in Spades, an incredible bounceback performance, 25 of 30. 309 yards, four touchdowns, no picks, was sacked twice, but he also added two carries four, six yards, including a long of five yards. I say that because we really haven't seen him run a lot this season, like he said earlier before the season that he wanted to. We saw a little bit of it today, four touchdowns, one to T. Higgins, one to Chase Brown,

one to Mike is Sicki, and actually two to Chase Brown, excuse me, and the other, as I mentioned, to Mike Issue. Coach, when you watch Joe Burrow play today, what stood out to you about him? Just as the poise in which he goes about his job, he spreads the ball around. He knows he can always go home and number one is always going to be there. And it's like his best ability is his dependability in their communication that they have. And I think that, you know, nothing seemed to bother him. He wasn't close to having a turnover, and he just ran the offense the best he could,

and he had big numbers, and they all turned around. And then the way that he progressed during the game, the defense got him the ball back in good field position, and he was able to capitalize on all three turnovers that, created points. And when you have that, you rest of ease a little bit. You still have that competitive fire, but you're saying, hey, okay, the defense got him back. Where I think in the past, he was on the sidelines after he checked out, talked to his coaches, everything, it was a waiting game. And when you wait for the defense to get off the field, there's a lot of time that's

going by, and you're wondering, hey, how many more times are we going to get the ball? Yeah. And, you know, they got off, the defense got off on third downs, you know, 20% as opposed to the Bengals having about 50% on third down conversions. You know, that's great for a quarterback. Now you're saying, okay, hey, we're feeling pretty good. It's like a pitcher pitching a great game and having his offense come to the plate and giving him cushion in terms of where he can experiment. and he can throw a few balls through extra balls without making a mistake. That's a great point because we've seen so many times this season with Joe Burrow with Joe Flacco, the fact that the Bengals offense basically had to score every single time they have the ball. And to go along with the point goes that you made of, you don't know how many possessions you're going to get because your defense can't get off the field.

That stuff does matter. And so for Joe Burrow, who I think a lot of his frustration, was the fact that when you come to work and you know you have to be perfect to put your team in position to win, I can't imagine what that's like. And it's been that way for two years. And it was that way the last two weeks against Buffalo and against Baltimore. And look, I know he wasn't great against Baltimore by any means, but still, you had to think that he did after the Buffalo game. And, like, it goes back to the point we made in the open, the fact that this team played complimentary football. And as coach mentioned, the defense gives the Bengals offense extra possessions. And a guy like Joe Borough is confident in himself enough to know that if the offense gets extra possessions, he's going to leave them down the field and score.

And it's not like they just kick field goals. They score touchdowns. They scored three touchdowns off turnovers in the third quarter to put the game away. That stuff matters to Joe Burrow. And that's why you saw a much different Joe Burrow. The fact he says he's having fun playing football. I understand the fact that they're not going to the playoffs. He knows that.

But again, complimentary football, we saw it today. And to your point earlier, Mike, the fact that I'll go back to the point you made about the defense being ahead of the offense earlier in the season. So when the Bengals made a defensive free agency spree five years ago, that first game in 21, Burroughs first game back from injury against Minnesota, the offense struggled early. I don't think they got a first down until like this. second quarter. If I remember correctly about looking at the play-by-play, but the defense, guys like BJ Hill got a sack. Trey Hendrickson was making plays. Larry Ogun Joby, remember him? Got a sack. And then you look at other guys making plays in the secondary, guys like Eli Apple and Von Bell and Mike Hilton and Shinobeau-Wousier. So that's what you wanted to see when we get into next season.

But today, you saw complimentary football. And that's what Joe Burrow wants. He's smart enough to know that's what wins games. Yeah, you mentioned, do you remember Larry Yogan Joby? I feel like this team needs to remember Larry Yogan Joby, because part of the reason they went to that Super Bowl, their defensive tackles were awesome role players. DJ Reader, fantastic nose tackle. And then you had Larry Yogan Joby, almost a complete opposite. Like he's not going to slow play two gap, take up everything, double team, you know,

two gap the center, take away both agats. You can't run up the middle at all. You can't move this guy. he's a fire off the ball he had he had sacks that year b j hill had some sacks he kind of does a little bit of both and i have just been so confused why they have never seemed to try to find another they let their larry go and they've just never tried to find the guy that can like fire off the ball and be that disruptor again i mean i guess maybe that was their plan was zach carter or something and maybe they think mckinley jackson might be able to do some of that but it's just fascinating you brought that up i don't think this is even that

second. This is never going to be a section. Larry Ogun Joby section of a post-game show. But that just reminded me. I was like, man, I wish that the Bengals would remember Larry O'Kinjovey because he was super important to them. But yeah, Joe Burrell, by the way, I mean, I feel like at his best was like today. He's in completely control of the offense. You know, he's making all the right protection calls outside of one where it might have been

Chase Brown, might have been his guy. You never know without no other protection call. Doesn't look like Brown's looking at that Mike Weinbaker that comes. but you know outside of that he's keeping himself protected with his calls he's processing pretty much perfectly that's why you're not throwing anything close to an interception hitting the open guys this is like a fantastic job of reading leverage pinpoint accuracy on some of these back shoulder throws it's just that's that's what we love to see with him it's all of his superpowers his brain is the superpower but also his ability to make these super accurate throws especially

when he's given at least a decently clean platform, although he does a great job of stepping through trash around his feet as well. So just one more thing about there is just I felt like last week, he was getting God on these pressures. Like there's guys coming through the B gap. The defensive tackle is coming through the B gap. And he's saying, I made the wrong call. And I'm thinking, what call did you make?

What protection plan has ever said, don't block the defensive tackle in the B gap? No, you always block that. But, yeah, none of that this week. They came with some pressure looks. And I really like the one, the touchdown at the end, Zach Taylor. Miami's in a pressure look. Linebackers mugged up, sugared up. And Jordan Brooks has to freak out because the running back motions from the left side of the quarterback to sprinting out to the right side of the field.

And he said, push, push. I can't run. I can't catch up to this guy. And he's going to ruin everything. And nobody listens. And it's a touchdown where nobody is within 10 yards of Chase Brown on a low red zone play. That doesn't happen very often. And then I wonder like, where?

was this so much of like the play calling today was like where was this when when baltimore would line up in a pressure look why aren't you just like let's just well i'm just going to send chase brown flying as fast as he can out to the right side and one of you guys is going to have to follow him they didn't it feels like easy answers sometimes right yeah football's a really complicated game and sometimes it's a little easier you think just like let's just take our fast guy that they're trying to man up with a slower guy and just run them let's just run him as fast as he can he's got trying to either communicate or keep up and neither one of those is a good option for a defense. The only throw that Joe Burrow had today that I thought wasn't great.

It was late second quarter on their touchdown drive. He was trying to hit Gisickey over the middle. He just under threw it a little bit and it was broken up. I think Jordan Brooks made back. Jordan Brooks, that was a really good play too. Yeah, that got the hand on it. It was just not a great throw. But I don't think it was ever in true danger of being intercepted.

But that's what made Joe Burroughs performance so great today was he was in complete control. His accuracy was great. How Chase Brown was that wide open. And I remember watching a replay that. I still don't know. But by the way, Chase Brown had a heck of a game today. Great to see him bounce back.

Coach, just, and we'll talk about this a lot on future shows, but I just, I want to ask you this kind of instantly, instant reaction after the game. So it sounds like that Zach Taylor's going to return for an eighth season, which is still hard about them. Just in general, he's going to be in his eighth season. I remember when he was hired in 2019.

But we've talked a lot about the season. Has he lost the locker room when he looked at Jamar's actions. but understand this, that this is a team with alpha dogs that have won big before Borough and Chase included, that just were not winning this season. So given today, and let's say they win their next two games and they have a good offseason, can a coach like Zach Taylor, can he win back the locker room? Can a coach do that? And if so, how does that happen?

You know, he can. and it's his approach after the season, let everybody go home, heal up, get themselves right. When they come back in March for phase one, you know, how he approaches the veterans that are coming back in, free agents that they happen to sign, or those ones that come in shortly after, he can win it back because you have to remember,

we thought he might have lost him a little bit, but that was during a point in time when they lost a lot of players who they were counting on. Yeah. They lost Joe. They lost Hendrickson. They were playing without a lot of their core veterans who were the spark plugs on both sides of the ball. So it's very easy. So in that locker room, everybody's looking around to see who that next person is.

and because they weren't cultivated into being great leaders and they weren't ready to be great leaders, there was a huge void. You know, I think that when you come back, when they come back next year, and if they went out, they come back in and they say, okay, hey, when we're going to, when we are going to assign captainships. Yes. It's not a popularity contest. who do you want us to

want us to lead or have them lead you into battle because A, they're going to be there every time they're going to be there. They're going to be their hurt. They're going to be there well. Who is that person, boys, that you feel you'll follow anywhere. And he can control the locker room.

You know, I know when before I got to Tampa, we had great players in Tampa. But the guy that really brought everything together was before I got there, which was Hardy Nickerson. Hardy showed the defense how to go about it, because the defensive guys were all very, very young. And they said he just showed up every day, practiced hard and went out and showed them on Sundays.

you can count on me. And I think that was a little bit lax in this year's locker room because everybody kept looking around. Who is that guy? So you lean on the coaching staff, and when the coaching staff is trying to figure it out, they're probably more busy trying to do that than they are walking through the locker room,

talking to their players, you know, and getting them ready to go. And I think that's all part of the management part of the deal. So I think Zach, you know, Zach says the right things. He says the right things. And he's been around it. And he's, you know, he's done all of those things. But you wonder, things go south?

What's going through your mind? Are you game planning? Are you trying to fix the locker room with the players that you have because, you know, management is not going to go bring you another one? You know? And there's a lot going through his mind. And I think he probably learned a lot this year. I think he did.

I think that's the one thing, too, I thought a lot about was Zach Taylor. And see, when the Bengals win, I think you can kind of frame it this way, and this is what we're doing. Zach Taylor has been, he's not happy with how the season's gone. He knows that.

When people say that he's running out of things to say, yeah, because he had high expectations. And I get that. He's been to the Super Bowl. He's been this close to bring a Lombardi trophy back to Cincinnati. He knows what it takes to win. And when he said earlier this week that it feels right now like it did at the end of 2020, I kind of believe that because at that point, you know, everything was going south.

There were rumors of the locker room. You know, he had lost a locker room and Lou Enrumah had lost the locker room and all that. They won two games. They carried some momentum in the offseason. They had a very good free agency. And then next year, they went to the Super Bowl. And now Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase Dickens are established veterans. So again, it's all about what Joe Burrow was saying.

Get creative. Think outside the box. And I think when the Bengals are winning, and again, this is another reason why winning matters. And I get that there are fans that don't want them to win for draft positioning. That's fine. I understand that.

But my stance on that winning matters is because when you win, Joe Burroughs' message is going to have more strength, I believe, because he's backing it up on the field. He's showing the front office, hey, I'm one of the best of what I do. I'm playing my tail off. We're playing our tail off.

You know, let's try, like, we need some help here. Can you do what you did in 21? And I think this front office can't do that. We'll talk about the defense and their bounce back performance today because it was really strong. And we'll talk about who in particular we feel confident that is not just another guy, but a guy that the Bengals defense has something with going forward into 2026. We'll do that next on the Bengals Squad Show.

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So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanduel. And place your NFL live bets all season long. Fan duel, the game moves fast. And so can you. Don't forget to check out James Rapine and Jake Liscoe on their recap and breakdown of today's game on Lockdown Bengals on the Lockdown Michaels YouTube channel. And wherever you listen to podcasts, Lockdown Bangles is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, your team every day.

And don't forget, if you want to learn more information, how to become a member of the Everydair Club, visit Locktown Podcast.com slash Everydayer. Michael, turn to you first. What did the defense do as far as adjustments or just differently in general in the second half that they weren't doing in the first half that really allowed them to fluster Quinn yours? To be honest, I think they did a good job of stopping the run. That's the first thing. And other than, you know, that toss play, A-chan got out there. You miss a tackle, probably the worst running back in the league to miss open field

tackles against. I know he's going to be difficult to bring down. But you've got to find out of a way to slow that guy down. Because if he hits full speed right after that, he's the fastest player on the field. It's Chris Johnson-like, where you miss that, he's gone, man. Like, there's no catching this guy from behind or taking a good angle to get him. He's just gone. Um, but considering that, considering Mike McDaniel,

usually does a pretty good job of scheming up some run stuff. There was also the touchdown. So there's a couple of plays you look at you go like, those aren't perfect. Those are first half plays. What I think actually really helped them was you made the best of those opportunities. The middle eight, if you think about it, really the middle four is what it was. Uh, you get a turnover on Greg Dulcich on a fumble, then score off of that. Then you get a quick, was it a three and out right after that?

Is that another turnover? Either way, ball came back to the Bengals after half time. It was Barrac Carter. Barrettar Carter's interception. Josh Newton, great play, by the way. I want to get him some there too because he makes the initial deflection. But catching that ball is huge. Making, turning these tips and overthrows into interceptions, recovering the fumbles.

These are huge. These are humongous plays. And being able to turn those into turnovers, I think gave them the upper hand to take the lead. And this Dolphins team with a seventh round rookie, what I really think is a different is he had to throw the ball. There was no more getting into a decent spot and trying to, not that he was fully protected by Mike McDaniel, but you're going to protect a seventh round rookie quarterback a little bit. You don't want him getting in straight dropback for 66, 67% of the time. You want him in a straight drop back maybe once in a while, but most of the time you want,

is this a run? Is this play action? Are we going to surprise him on first and 10 with a dropback? because we haven't done that in two series. That's what he wanted. And when you get to the point where you're down multiple scores, you no longer can do that. And then when they got the opportunity to run the ball, the Bengals did a good job of stopping that run. So that's how you end up ballooning this lead out

is you force that seventh round rookie to have to just throw the ball now. There's no more run game. There's no more play action. You have to get back there and do the hardest thing, in my opinion, in the NFL as a quarterback, is just you have to read this defense out, make all these decisions. Well, we always credit Joe Burrow for it.

It's one of his supporters to be able to get into this spot where I don't have a run game. I've got no play action game. And we're still going to put up 40 points. That's so hard to do. There's only a handful of guys in the NFL that can do it. It's the thing that you can't defend as an NFL defense because if he always knows what you're in, always gets the protection right, gets the play right, hits the right spot, is throwing the ball to the right guy.

There's just nothing you can do. That's just good offense is going to be good defense. The thing is a seventh round rookie isn't going to be able to do that. So you put them in a position. where that seventh round rookie had to be perfect, and he ended up floundering. And you made the best of those opportunities. That Jalen Davis interception, by the way, bad throw, but awesome play from him. Correct.

To bully Jailen Waddle a bit and force him to the sideline. And then as the balls in the air, Jail Maudillow can make no play because he's on top of it. He's not as fast as Jailen Waddle, and he's kind of forced him further and further to the sideline. Coach, I think you would, they would call the no tread zone. You don't go within a yard of that sideline because that's nothing. Nothing good happens over there. So puts that ball up and Jalen Davis has just dominated that route.

I know people think go route is just run forward, but there is a little nuance there. And being able to force that guy to the sideline, play to your help. I really like that play from him because what I see is a guy that tries hard on the run game. I know he got pancakes, I'd say flowers the one time. But I see a guy tries hard on the run game. And if he could do some coverage like that, I know he's not going to be the most athletic guy. It kind of reminds you a little bit of Mike Hilton, right? Like a guy that tries really hard.

He's an underrafted free agent, undersized. but he uses as a chip on his shoulder. So that's why I'm a little excited. That's one of the things I'm excited about. Watching a guy like Jalen Davis, can this guy be a starter next year? Because three weeks ago, we would be saying we've got no idea

who this third corner could even be if there's one on this team. Now you're looking at a guy that was on the practice squad playing this hard. Sometimes they're out there. Sometimes you just have to give these guys a shot. Correct. And look at the play that changed the game for me, at least,

was when the dolphins were flagged for offensive to pass interference early in the third quarter. And you can debate whether or not it was. But clearly the Bengals defense took advantage of that because they forced a fumble on, who's number 85 on the Dolphins? Greg Dulcich. Greg Dulcich. Greg Dulcich fumbles.

Who makes that play? Battle forces the fumble. Murphy recovers it. The Bengals then go up by 10. So now, Mike, to your point, you're putting the dolphins in a situation, Quinn, you were a seventh round pick. He knows he asks a three. drill the football. What happens on the next possession? Barrett Carter's interception. Coach,

I'm going to go back to something you Mike and I talked about on our very first post game show that we did. So it was after the Steelers game, the second one where Mason Rudolph comes in and just dinks and dunks all over the Bengals defense. Today, you saw a Bengals defense, as Mike said, completely flustered Quinn Hewers with the fact that, you know, they didn't get a lot of pressure, but their coverage was really good. So when you do this against a backup quarterback, and again, And fans can say, well, you beat a backup quarterback. You should have. So what really can you take away from it?

But for a defense that's had all of its struggles and its youth that is still there, even though you're facing a backup quarterback, is this a confidence booster for this defense, in your opinion? It sure is. You know what? I tell you what, they probably went into the game plan or went into the week and said, you know what? Forget who's playing and who's not playing. We do know this about him. is he's going to get the ball out of his hands in a hurry.

Every play is going to be called. He's not going to sit back there like Joe and wait and wait and step up in the pocket for something to clear down the field. He's going to catch the snap and boom, try to get the ball out. Very few reads. So don't drop as deep. Play your coverage as it's designed. And then rally to the football.

You know what? And I think that they kind of took that at heart. Because there was very little pressure on the quarterback, that told you how fast he was getting the ball out of his hand. They didn't have a chance to get there. But that pressure, a couple seconds more, would have closed in. So that helped, it helped the back edge. They weren't allowed to throw it to the tight ends like they have before. you know he was almost non-existent in the game play and when you're stopping a guy like waddle on the outside yeah he's one of the best in in the league unfortunately i mean fortunately for the bengals

there's only one of them you know they didn't have two like if tyreek hill was there yes would have been a different game plan and so you know what they went about their business and i and i thought on both sides of the ball the half-time adjustments were outstanding coming out. And I think that showed in the third quarter when they basically put the game away. They played sound on defense because the defensive staff knew

what we have planned is working. We just have to be better at this and this and this. Offensively, they know their plan. They know their scheme. They know the system of football offensively in which to hire people. and to bring people in. Defensively, they don't know.

They just got a big bowl of good players and don't know who's there, but it's almost as if they gave people possessions or positions without them earning them. And the same defense is showing up, week in and week out, and now those guys are earning their spot and they're performing.

You didn't see today a lot of mistackles like we have in the past or not only where they missed, they just turned them down. And that made you, that rage you really wonder why. And if you got to get a free agent, non-drafted free agent of a practice squad

and bring him in and he performs, you're saying, that's what we want. We'll give up this to have more of that. And it wakes up because they'll hide. it tomorrow in film, and they'll say, you know what? Great job. And the guys that don't play it like that will be saying, oh, that's what he wants. That's what they want. And it'll just move on from there. I'll tell you what's interesting, too, is the fact that you mentioned coach the coverage of the Bengals and the fact that they were able to force turnovers. And Mike, you mentioned Quinn Ewers

had to read the defense. Well, the dolphins, I think Quinn Ewer was going into this game, thought, okay, I can take advantage of Devon A. Chan's running. He's fast. Jalen Waddle is one of the fastest guys' coach, as you mentioned in the NFL. I can take advantage of this defense not being able to tackle well, and that's how we're going to move the football. In the first half, that's exactly what happened. But then in the second half, coach, to what you're saying, the tackling was so much better. The fundamentals were there. And that's what led to the three turnovers. And because they made Quinn Eurs read the defense and because the tackling was much better. They were, Quinn Hewers couldn't take advantage of what he thought he was going to be able to

with this team. It would have been interesting to see if Tyree Kill had played in this game, how much the Dolphins offense would have maybe looked a little faster in the second half. But I can't believe I'm saying this, but credit, like you said, coach, to Al Golden for the second half adjustments, he may. We'll take a quick time out and come back and wrap up the Bengals squad show with our game balls. We haven't really done this a lot this season because we haven't been a lot of wins, but we'll hand out some game balls when we come back right here on the Michael Squad Show. It's always great doing a show after the Bengals win, 45-21.

They get it done in Miami. And it was interesting, too, is it? The Bengals were shut out for the first time in the Joe Borough era last week at home. This week, they score the most points in the Joe Burrow era, 45 points. They get it done, 45-21 in Miami. This is now their second straight win over the dolphins. They beat the dolphins in 22 on Thursday night football in Cincinnati. they win 45-21 today in Miami now 5-10.

Unfortunately, again, as we all know, still eliminated from playoff contention. Let's hand out some game balls. Mike, if you can give a game ball to one offensive player, one defensive player, who are you giving them to? If you have to give it to one offensive guy, I think it's got to be Chase Brown, three touchdowns, all in one quarter, really good running. I think any time you give the ball with a running back, also got to give it to some offensive linemen. but I think the Office of Line played very well in this game. And they have been, they've been straight up good for the most part over the last like five, six weeks. Ever since Reisner came back in at right guard.

But I would also say a little underrated thing that's part of the game ball for Chase Brown. Sorry to go too far on this, but Drew Sample. Drew Sample was some blocking. He made some big blocks in space. I know I'm not giving it to it for the catch, but it is funny that I feel like every big Drew sample play ever has been a play where he's he's designed to just stay in and pass protect and then ends up like a yard down field and bro just throws the ball at him. Burrow on the run and then he dumps off the Drew sample like he did in the second quarter.

The bills. And just like in that Bill's game years ago where he just over Taylor Rapp for the touchdown, he was not designed to go out into a route. It didn't look like he was in this one either, but he's just a yard downfield. Burroughs in trouble just says, screw it. Go, go, Drew. There's nobody within 20 yards of you. So a little bit of a game ball to all those guys.

Because I feel like Drew Sample's blocking was criticized a little bit early on. I feel like he plucked very well in this game. Then on defense, a lot of guys. But I banged the drama earlier. And I think I would say Miles Murphy again, high effort, tackles for loss. He blew up a couple of drives on his own. Not a lot of in the past rush department.

He had a quarterback hit. But I do think, like coach said, the Mike McDaniel offense is designed to get that ball out quick. And so what you don't end up with in pressures and sacks, you end up with, in this case, batted balls, interceptions, plays made. But I just feel like Murphy hustling around, I feel like it's been kind of the biggest changes. His motor is nonstop now. Reminds you, like recovering that fumble reminds me a little bit of like in a basketball where the guy's got the breakaway layup. And then there's that one really hustly guy that's running right after him on the same team.

He's like, if you miss this, I'll put it in for you. Like just nonstop. Like most guys don't do that. They don't run down the court. And that's what Murphy is doing. That's why he's recovering the fumble. He just keeps running at the ball afterwards, just nonstop motor when you're in there. So I think that's been one of his biggest changes, physical, fast and a high motor.

And I think that all showed up today. Yeah, it did. And one other Drew Sample play where he just like he pops up out of nowhere. It feels like the Raiders game last year, or Burroughs rolling out to his right. And then all of a sudden he finds Drew Sample just pops wide open in the end zone for a touchdown there. So he's right about Drew Sample. I mean, we're not trying to make this about Drew Staple,

even though he did play a good game today. Coach, who were you giving your game balls too? Well, the first one was going to be to Chase Brown. I thought, but I retract that because he can't have two of them, even though he scored a couple of times. So I'm going to give him Ted Karras. I thought he controlled the line of scrimmage from line call standpoint of which way to get the protection turned to

when he needed to sit in the middle because they were a 60-40 passover run. And when a team knows that you're a little bit because of who you have, you're going to be a little bit more pass-heavy, they can come up with a lot of disguises and a lot of other things.

And I thought he was spot on with his protections. And he got everybody else going in the correct direction. Okay. One other thing with him is on that touchdown. They were in that weak side wide, or mid-zone play, split zone from the I formation.

He's the guy that I think made, him and Sample made the key block. They were at the second level, open it up. And that's how it's great when you get a run and it pops through the first level. It only pops through the second level when you've got guys that are making spectacular plays like Ted Karas and Drew Sample made there in space against these linebackers. So I reiterate that. I think Ted Karas does deserve game ball. Absolutely. Offensive line coach giving offensive linemen a game ball.

Fitting. I like it. Everybody needs a lot. They do. They need some loving. You know, on defense, you know what, I'm going to tell you, the last, since we've been doing the show, Miles Murphy has impressed me with his hustle. Yeah.

Every single game. He has lit his hair on fire and he is causing an accident somewhere, you know. But I'm going to have to give it to this week. I give it to my man battle in the secondary. because I tell you what, he is like, I kept thinking today watching the game. He is like John Lynch. He's always around the ball. That's why he has 10 tackles today.

He's around the football. He's in the line of scrimmage making a play. He's in the secondary making a play. He's breaking and driving on the ball to create a fumble when, you know, the rest of the team, the linebackers are nowhere to be seen. And so I got to give it to him. I like those picks. I really do. I'm going to go in two different directions. T. Higgins is getting my offensive game ball. T. Higgins didn't have to play on Sunday.

Didn't have to go to Pittsburgh to get that second opinion, further evaluation. The Bengals went the extra mile and did that for him. He took advantage of it. He went there. They told him he was fine. What does he do today? Three catches, 53 yards, and a touchdown. touchdown. That's impressive. And it shows the competitive warrior that he is that we've talked about with Burrow and Chase for so long. T. Higgins is now that. T. Higgins was absolutely worthy of being paid by the Bengals this off season. It showed he now has this season. And this is what's so impressive about T. Higgins. He has 49 receptions for 720 yards, 10 for touchdowns. That means over 20% of his receptions are for touchdowns. Remarkable.

Defensively, I'm giving my game ball to Barrett Carter because I truly think he has something. I truly think because he was a captain of college, you can tap into that. That's why they drafted him. That's why I liked the pick at the time. He had a pick today. And I just think if he continues to make plays like that and continues to play with confidence, similar to a lot of guys on defense, you have a somebody that you can develop and then you make him into a building block on defense, like DJ Turner is, like Jordan Battle is,

like Miles Murphy is, and like maybe some other guys are. Barrett Carter can be that. Play with confidence, be in the right place at the right time, and be fundamentally sound. That's how you're going to develop. And I think just maybe, if the Bengals defense and coaching staff can do that and also bring in some veteran free agents in, this defense can get back to where they were in 21, which is middle of the pack, just what we've been saying for the last, what, two off seasons they need to be.

Gentlemen, it is always fun doing the show after a Bengals win, 4521 at Miami. We will be back sometime later this week. Not sure yet what day with Christmas, but I want to wish you both and your families. A Merry Christmas. I want to wish all of our loyal listeners a Merry Christmas. And we thank you for being with us in the infancy stages of the Bengals Squad show, but we are going to still be doing this Wednesday. a week during the off season, and hopefully there will be plenty to get to.

Don't forget to check out James Rupin and Jake Liscoe on their Lockdown Bengals episode out right now on the Lockdown Michael's YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast. They break down the Bengals victory in Miami today. And of course, Art coach, you and I will be back with Jake Lisco sometime later this week. Thank you for tuning into this edition of the Bengals Squad Show for Mike Santagana at Bengals underscores sands and coachart valero at arthur bellaro 54 i'm alex frank a frecky underscore natty have a great rest of your night have a great rest of your weekend have a merry christmas and a happy hana and we will talk with you next time on the bengals squad show