Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Burrow says the Bengals are going to WIN THE SUPER BOWL; Rivalry RENEWED!

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

When Joe Burrow says something like the Bengals are going to "win the Super Bowl" this year, he's not just saying it just to say it. This is a confident Joe Burrow, and that could be a scary thing for the rest of the NFL.   Alex Frank, Mike Santagana, and Coach Art Valero discuss Burrow talking Super Bowl, breaking records, and winning MVP and how all of those things can happen in 2026.   One thing that will help, for sure, is a fast start. It's not all on Burrow and the passing game to get off to a good start. Chase Brown, actually, holds the key to a fast start.   Every NFL fan now looks for when the Bills-Chiefs game is on the schedule. But it wasn't too long ago when Bengals-Chiefs was that game. Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, now have the opportunity this season to remind everybody how this is the best rivalry in the NFL.   The Bengals have two prime time home games this season, both against AFC North opponents. Alex, Mike, and Coach discuss those games and what could ultimately decide them.   Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals   Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everyday...   Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0l...   Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...   Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-...   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!   Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.   Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.   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. Playoffs. Don't talk about playoffs. You kidding me? We're talking about Joe Burrow saying the Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl, Mike. You got a guy like Joe Burrow. You're always in contention to win a Super Bowl. 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 Squat show on this Friday, May 22nd, 2026. I'm Alex Frank. He's Mike Santagana, coach Art Valero. Joining us, as always, we got so much to get to today. Joe Burrough setting the bar high, high expectations, Super Bowl expectations,

plus the key to a fast start this season. It may not necessarily lie within the hands Joe Burrow in the passing game. They may rely on the hands of Chase Brown. A rivalry renewed this season and the AFC North home primetime games. We'll talk about my challenge for the Bengals in one of those games and the variable that not really anybody has discussed that could decide the game on New Year's Eve. But we begin with Joe Burrough saying on Wednesday, we're going to win the Super Bowl this year. I mean, Joe Burroughs says something. You can't just take it with a grain of salt.

He didn't just nonchalantly say this. Can the Bengals win the Super Bowl this year? if Joe Burrough says they can, I think we have to talk about that they can. Yeah. The great thing about having a guy like Joe Burrough is you're always in contention to win a Super Bowl. I think you have to get to a certain level of defense.

They obviously weren't there last year. I think some people say, like, if they were just a normally bad defense, they'd be in the Super Bowl. I'm not even sure if I agree with that. I think the playoffs or things get really tough there. You look at a lot of Super Bowl winning. teams in the playoffs. Most of them at least had solid to good defenses. And you can point to that

Colts won with Peyton Manning, but Bob Sanders was out like the entire year. Bob Sanders played the year before and the year after they were a top 10 defense. So you're looking at good defenses for the most part. It's same with the other end. It's just usually the team that wins a Super Bowl is balanced, where you can point to another Peyton Manning team, but not in a good way for him, that Broncos team. that offense was pretty ugly, but the defense was otherworldly. So for me, the Super Bowl, you have to at least have a pretty good defense, and I expect their offense to be very good. And for that to happen, I think you need some improvement.

But they're always in contention. You have a guy like Joe Burrow. That's one of the great things about having him. And why having a franchise quarterback, even if you're paying them 50-whatever million dollars, $60 million a year, it's probably still. underpaid because it's just the most valuable position across sports. The only other thing I'm going to mention is the team that wins in Super Bowl is also typically the healthiest.

I think we see that a lot. Of these really, really good teams, they're the healthiest. I don't mean to take away from Super Bowl winners, but at the same time, it's just what you look at it. It's like, yeah, look at the Seahawks. Were they missing anybody? Not, not they miss Charbonnet. I can't think of too many guys that were key contributors that they were really missing on that.

On the other hand, you got some teams like you can look at the chiefs or whatever, you've got my homes, but either way, you look at all that, you see a healthy team. It's been true for years. Of the elite teams, who can remain the healthiest, and then it's a battle between probably those two teams in the Super Bowl. But I would like to see the defense improve, and to do that, I think we're going to need to see a step from the second level for them to be a team. true Super Bowl winner. Coach, what say you? When you hear Joe Burrow say things like, we're going to win the Super Bowl, it's doable that I can break the Bengals franchise record for career touchdown passes.

This is a confident Joe Burrow we haven't seen the last three years. We're seeing it now, though. Well, it sounds like he's ready to have fun. I tell you what, the one thing about when you have a player, and I would assume he would think that way, in the past, so, you know, he never spoke out this boldly about it. And so not only has he professed it, kind of a la, you know, Joe name it, but he's talking to the, not only the organization, but the guys in that locker room. This is my expectation, all right?

Don't let me down. Follow me, I'll take you there. And I think that when he comes out and professes that early, he has now set the bar higher than I think that not necessarily the newcomers into the locker room, but the ones that remain from seasons past, that's the bar. And you have to hurdle this bar. We have to hurdle this bar. Take care of your body. Take care of your assignments. execute the offense and defense, and let's go and we'll see what happens next February.

It goes back to that point, Joe Burrow, talking about how the front office, and I thought it was really great how he mentioned on Wednesday that the front office has taken a lot of heed from fans, from media, from, you know, all sorts of critical entities, but that the front office has done an excellent job of building this coaching staff and this roster, an excellent team. and now it's on Burrow and Zach Taylor and this entire team to go out there and execute and bring the locker room together. I thought that was really, really good that Joe Burrow mentioned that because he knows what's at stake this season. And when you think about what Joe Burroughs been through the last three seasons, when you think about him talking about his football mortality going into 2024, then you think about how that season unfolded, and then last year going through the turf toe injury and being in rehab again, when you think about what he's been through, you start thinking of. about him wanting to do all these things. He's coming in, as you say, coach, highly motivated for this season.

And when you bring in a team with a bunch of veterans like Brian Cook and Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen and Boy Amafay, and not to mention all the veterans on offense, they're going to absolutely 100% rally around behind their leader on the field. No doubt. You know what? every team and you can look at past Super Bowls, probably without the exception of New England and Kansas City, maybe. That window is very small. And as a player, you look at how small that window is.

And for the Joe Burroughs, the Chases, the Higgins, the Lawrence's, the cooks, that window is closing. some got a new breath of life the guys that are in the building got a new breath of life and they're saying to each other that window is now because now we have veteran tools that will lead us both offensively and defensively to that promised land that we want to get to and when you have that in the building boy i tell you what they will motivate that locker room and they will they will they are very basically talking about holding each other accountable in throughout this season. And now that they're all together in the offseason program and they're getting ready to go through OTAs in mini camp and then continue to work out. And when we show up in camp, that's when they know that this is not a sprint. It is a marathon. And the veterans know how to prepare for a season. If the Bengals go 0 and 4 in the preseason, or 0 and 3 now in preseason games, so be it.

They're trying to get guys reps. But when the foot hits the ball in that opening kickoff for the season, now it's go time. It's all gas, no breaks. And let's see where it takes us, regardless of the schedule, regardless of if there are some nicks and bruises and injuries, guys are able to come back later and hey it's the next man up and i feel that they have that ability to be able to do that now when joe burrow called everybody out the media the fans he didn't mention the pressure that the front office got from in-house and in that locker room that joe burroughs and Jamar Chases, those guys didn't come out and publicly say it, but they want to win now.

And I think that message got across. I was just, you mentioned the windows are small. And I think just to reiterate that, I think sometimes we even understate that when the Bengals went to the Super Bowl in 2021, I think most people thought, what do you got? Like a three, five year window? It was a two year window. Turns out that team had a two year window. And after 2022, they haven't even been back to the playoffs.

So they had a really good shot those two years. But the turnover in the NFL is unlike any other sport. It is extremely fast. What you have today is probably not what you're going to have in three years. Even though rookie contracts are four to five years and all of that, it's just it happens so quick that whether that's decline from players in a very physical game or that's just thinking you'd be able to keep somebody around like Jesse Bates, DJ Reeder, et cetera, and then it doesn't work out. So windows are really small outside of having Tom Brady or Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes.

Well, you know what, and that goes back, just like Mike was saying, the windows get smaller because when you reach a Super Bowl, don't admire your work. you have to come back like New England, like Kansas City, like Philadelphia. You have to put people in place. And, you know, the last three years is kind of like, okay, we kind of rested on our laurels and thought this was going to happen all the time. And, you know, and they made some bad selection, some bad choices that didn't necessarily fit with what they were trying to do. They had turnover on defense with staff-wise, and that sets your back.

And I think that now they feel comfortable about where they're heading. And I don't say they feel good about it. They just feel comfortable about it. Well, that's a great point there because I do kind of feel like the coaching staff in the front office thought that they were closer to winning the Super Bowl, particularly the last two seasons than they really were. They maybe could have sold that after the 20-23 season because Borough was hurt, and they had still a lot of four guys.

but you look at what happened in 24. You look at what happened last year. That made them realize they weren't that close. Now, another thing that Joe Burrow brought up this week was the Bengals becoming explosive again offensively. And he mentioned that this is when the Bengals offense is at its best. He said, quote, we've got to be more explosive. We've been grading third down at Red Zone situations,

but we've got to get back to be an explosive offense that we were in 21 and 22. For a couple years, their teams were playing us a little differently, so we had to adapt. Now defenses are starting to turn back the other way, where they are pressuring more and playing a little more man. So we have to go back to burning them and become an explosive offense again, end quote. Mike, when you look at the offense as it's constructed, do you think this offense gets back to being the explosive offense we saw

in Burrow and Chase's first season together in 21 and then again in 22? I think that offense was insanely explosive. And in 21 specifically, it felt disrespectful most of the time where they're just playing single high and leaving Jamar Chase. He's a rookie. Joe Burrough is a second year quarterback. It doesn't, every week, it didn't matter that he was going for 200 yards or whatever, but like every week it was the same thing where we're going to just play cover three and

trust our corner and bail covers to handle Jamar Chase on a go route. Never, never doesn't work. That doesn't work. And they figured that out in 2022. And I thought 2022 was a good year of Zach Taylor in terms of learning, adapting, and becoming explosive again. To me now, to be explosive, they have to run the ball as well as they did in the back half of the year.

I think the days for this, cats out of the bag and it won't go back in. Maybe whatever analogy we use, the toothpaste is out of the tube, you can't put it back in there. They know Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins are an awesome trio of quarterback and wide receivers. So they're not going to give you one-on-one opportunities that often. Maybe they will, but even when they play man coverage, it feels like you're always going to be able to give those guys help over the top unless you punish them. where can Chase Brown provide you explosives? Where I don't think Joe Mixon was providing that many explosives in 21-22. Chase Brown maybe could.

And I think this offensive line was showing down the back half of the year. They were a good run offense. They were creating some explosive plays. I think that's where it starts because what you're really trying to do is if defenses aren't going to honor your run game, they're going to keep both safeties out of the box. They're going to be able to play, you know, man coverage, not have eyes into the backfield, you have to punish that.

And I don't think the Bengals have done a great job of that, especially in 23 and 24, and then the first half of 2025. But down the back half, that gives me the hope of, okay, I think this offense could be explosive again because eventually defensive coordinators get tired of giving up 15-yard runs. That's probably the thing. I mean, it tests their manhood, their testosterone. them. They're going to get that safety in the box. They have to stop this. I tell you, just what Mike just talked about.

They, if I was a defensive coordinator on the other side of the ball playing those three, that three-headed monster that can rear its ugly head at any time, I would pick and choose when I played man because of their danger in getting no help. Now, if the run game, just like Mike talked about, if the run games comes around and starts to play, and now it works the clock and it's kind of slow death, they got to add that safety in the box. And now you got no help. And how they do that is, hey, sit back, play middle of the field open, you know, cover two or quarters, and where you got off coverage. And now you have to be able to run the ball because you got help outside on those two whiteouts by the safeties. But the middle field's open.

So now you have to take advantage of those tight ends and Jamar Chase coming out of the back field. We got to remember he had what 60 catches last year? Yeah, Chase Brown. You know, that's a weapon in itself. when you put obviously the best ball handler with the ball in his hands in space, not trying to run between the tackles, but in space, he can create. He can really create. And I think that that's the key.

And I think that's what their goal is going to be. It's like when you think about Chase Brown in that sense, coach, you're talking about like a guy, Marshall Falk, with the greatest show on turf and the Rams, or Lidani and Tomlinson with the San Diego Chargers. You think about a guy like, lost my train, I thought that, but do you think about a guy like Matt Forte when he was with the Chicago Bears? You think about all these running backs, Reggie Bush with the Saints,

Alman Camaro with the Saints, all these running backs that have been, you know, very critical parts of passing offenses with some of the best offensive staffs and coaching staffs throughout recent NFL history. But I thought what Joe Burrough said, excuse me, when he talked about being great in third downs in red zone situations, it speaks to the precision that Joe Burrow has as a passer because you look at all the great plays over the last few seasons that he's made on third down. One play that comes to mind is escaping Nick Bosa in the game against San Francisco three years ago

when he finds T. Higgins and eventually he rolls out to his right for escaping, I mean, he should have been sacked. And think about all these great plays that Joe Burrow has made on third down and in the red zone because of his escapeability in his pocket passing with precision. That's where the Bengals have accepted. sell. But as you said, coach, defenses are going to get tired just giving up those 10-yard plays on third and nine or 15-yard plays on third and 12. They're going to say, all right, beat us deep. It's a lower percentage play. But Burrow and Chase have the ability to hit big plays. So if you can do that, especially with a guy like Chase Brown, if he can, you know, run the football,

if you can get those five to 10 yards, this Spangles offense is going to be able to recapture a lot of what made them great in 21 and 22. And they've been really good, the last. two seasons, they just haven't had that explosive element maybe as much. Now obviously, there's two key concerns and questions about Joe Burrow in this offense. And if they're going to be able to, as he says, win the Super Bowl and be explosive, Joe Burroughs going to break Andy Dalton's touchdowns record for a career in a Bengals quarterback. Number one is how worried are both the view of Joe Burrow staying healthy this season? And number two is how much do you worry about this team getting off to a slow start this year?

Slow start? Not necessarily. We'll see how that plays their first two or three games, and I think it favors them. It allows them to be able to go on and play. Now, as far as, you know, them saying all the other things, you know, that is the great thing about football, is you don't know what's going to happen until. that foot hits the ball and it starts to kick off because there is a team that is also involved. It's not just Joe Burrow.

It's how well that team can come together and create that brotherhood with some new pieces and get ready to roll. Yeah, I'm a little concerned about both. I feel like the slow start, they keep coming up with different phrases or tactics or whatever. to avoid it. And I guess they did technically start 2 and 0 last year, but it sure didn't feel like a good 2 and 0 fast start. But I also don't know how much it matters for records, Super Bowl, whatever, because they've over, they were overcoming that in 21, 22. So that to me isn't a huge concern. I still think it might happen. There's nothing they could drop week one, or at least it looks ugly. A lot of teams look ugly week one, though, too. Like that, you think of that, that's when everybody's the healthiest. that's also what everybody's the sloppiest.

I think the other part of this, the injury, fairly concerned. The thing is, when I think of injury prone type of guys, it's soft tissues. It's hamstring. He's always pulling his hamstring. It was when AJ Green became more injury prone, it was his turf toe that kicked that off. I feel like he didn't really get his toe managed. Like there was some chronic injury. Brod just seems to have like some type of freak injury every other year.

you have the ACL whole knee tear up but then his his wrist is like and people are saying oh I've never heard of this so nurse the quarterback go through this okay and then he gets the turf toe his foot explodes not a common quarterback injury I guess Brock Purdy went through it as well but yeah it just feels like these levels of injuries are just kind of freaky maybe there's something to his ligaments because they are a ligament type injuries but i don't i don't know so i'm still not like that concerned about joe burrow's health i think he has a good offensive line this year at least a solid offensive line's the best one he's had and he showed it on the back half of the year wasn't taking too many hits so i'm not super concerned those feel like freak things more than they

feel like uh you know you're going to be out a couple of games of burr like i feel more like i'm more off and T. Higgins misses like three games on I am Joe Burrow. You know what? If I was Joe Burrow, and I agree with Mike, those were kind of freak. Everything's been kind of a freak deal with him, but they're lasting. Now at least, you got somebody in the bullpen who is going to understand the offense all the way through, and they don't have to restile the offense around what Joe Flacco can or can. can do if that was the case. And I wish nothing, I wish no injury on any player. But you know what? If I was a quarterback, I'd give a call to Tom Brady and TB 13 or where TB 12 or whatever it was.

You'd get on his workout and start. Yeah. Whatever that stuff he was eating. Macha, matcha ice cream. Is that a lot? Yeah. I do that. Avocado ice cream and kale sheets and, hey, as an old fat guy, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, you know, I choose not to be healthy than to eat that something. If I was a young guy, go for it. Exactly. I go back to a point, Mike, you made. I'm not really concerned either about Joe Burroughs injuries because, like, look,

they have been freaky injuries. Like, you don't hear about them a lot with NFL players, but also just because you can't worry about it. And as you said, the Bengals have a really good offensive line this year. The blessing in disguise last year when Joe Burrell missed nine games was how solidified the offensive line became. And you now have a quarterback like Joe Flaskin. who's going to be able to help you maybe, you know, not take as many hits.

So you don't run the risk of having another major injury that keeps you sideline for a good chunk of games this year. So that is, again, the blessing in disguise that last year because we saw a lot of new elements of this offense come together. One of those, Chase Brown, terrific second half of the season, why he holds the key to the Bengals not getting off to a slow start in 2026 and rather a fast start. We get into that conversation next on the Bengals Squad show. This episode of The Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by Fandual. The NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, Fandual has a great offer to get you started.

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With Mike Santagana and coach Art Valero, I'm Alex Frank on the Bengalsquatchel, the twice-week, long-form conversational supplement to the Daily Lockdown Mangals podcast hosted by James Rapine and Jake Liscoe. And don't forget, get your daily locked-on Bengals fix completely ad-free by joining the Everydayer Club today. Start your seven-day free trial right now, closer to your team without the interruptions.

Check the link in the show notes or go to Lockdown bangles.com to claim your free trial. Coach, I'm going to turn back to you because I feel like you're going to agree with me on this. When it comes to the beginning of the season, and this is going into every game, but every team is going to

sell out to stop the run so they can tee off on opposing quarterbacks at the start of the season. Is that right, coach? Yeah, pretty much. You know what? It depends on the quarterback. You know, especially with a Joe Burrell, you're always, I mean, you can play man, he's going to beat you. You're going to play a zone, he's going to beat you.

They will go from, most defense will go from, we're always going to rush the passer, and we're going to react to the run if, in fact, that run game is not as dominant as you want. you know so they're going to always have their ears pinned back and they're going to say hey number one we're not going to let Joe Burrow beat us so we need pressure up front whether it be by blitz whether it be by just straight pass for us and play coverage we're going to tee up and don't worry about the run play the run but react to it and I think that that's the way the defenses will probably try to approach the season against could be you know one of the most dynamic offenses in the league.

It goes to that point, though, because when you think about Joe Burrow, that depends on the quarterback. Well, we know what Joe Burrow can do. And Mike, that makes it very important for Chase Brown to have a strong first four games. I go back to 2021 when Joe Mixon had those great first four games, including over 100 yards in week one against Minnesota. Because if the Bengals can run the football to get their offense going, that's going to make it even harder for defenses like Tampa Bay, like Houston, like Pittsburgh.

in Jacksonville, the strong first four defense as you're playing. Mike, if the Bengals can run the football, they're going to be able to get into a rhythm offensively much quicker this season. Yeah, definitely. And I think it insulates them a little bit in terms of setting, you know, insulates Joe Burrow a little bit from taking hits too. You're handing that ball off. You're not going to be taking those hits.

If you're running well, you're going to hand it off more. It could get the offensive line going and jelling early. I think this strategy could work against Tampa. I am fearful of this against Houston. Those are some monsters. That is a monster defense. That is probably going to come down to can Joe Burrow win this game? Because even if I assume it's an improved run game and I could see them taking on Pittsburgh,

like they did. They ran all over, they ran pretty well against Pittsburgh. You could see them running against Tampa pretty decent. Jacksonville, too. it's that Houston game where kind of stinks, but this is probably going to fall on Joe because that's the only form of offense that's going to be able to consistently move the ball.

When you face, you know, elite defense, I feel like you're going to need some type of elite offense to match it. Elite offense can beat elite defense when matched up, but a good offense isn't going to beat that elite defense. So in my head, yes, I am expecting Chase Brown being the key to a fast start in three out of the four games, unless something changes with Houston, but Houston is built to try to punch you in the mouth,

and they just line up and they just run. They say, it's funny because there's all these, like, disguises and everything's all about hiding what you're going to do, and then the best defense in the league just lines up and plays straight up. They don't care about disguising anything. They're like, you're not going to beat us. We're just going to punch you in the mouth and you can't stop it. So that'll be a really interesting game.

But I agree for week one, weeks three, week four. Chase Brown's probably the key to getting that thing rolling. But winning week two to me is probably going to come down to borough and the passing offense. You know what? The thing with Chase Brown, I mean, he is a guy and like all running backs, they need touches. They need touches, whether it's in the backfield or passing routes to feel the flow of the game. If you don't give them, no, it's okay to throw the. the ball on first down. But if you don't give them touches to get into the flow of the game,

it's much like it's kind of a double-edged sword. The quarterback needs to get a completion, get moving down the field, get into the rhythm. Same thing with a with a running back. They need to do the exact same thing in terms of going. They got 65 plays in the game. Chase Brown needs to have, I'd say between 20 and 25 touches during the game to really make them effective. You know, and I tell you what, the other thing talking about the injuries that Joe Burrow had in the past, I don't know what kind of receiver coming out of the backfield that he could check the ball out. It seemed like he was holding it a long time, waiting for something to happen down the field. If you got viable checkdowns, whether it be a tight-in or a redact in or a round,

running back or that number three slot receiver, oh, that keeps you healthy because you know their best ability is their dependability on where they're going to be in that past concept. The greatest quarterback of all time was also the best at timing is checkdowns and Tom Brady. I feel like that was something that not a lot of quarterbacks were able to see the coverage, see this isn't going to work out. Let me kill this out and just dump it down to the running back. Kevin Fock and Dionne Lewis and all these James White, all these guys would get all these receptions because you just process fast enough.

Like it's not going to work. The faster I get this ball to this checkdown, the more space and time he will have. Because I think some people think of it as also checkdown as just way everything's done, toss it out there. We see a guy get killed, like a running back to get smoked. It's probably because the quarterback was late and getting that checkdown. He really wanted to hit something deeper down the field. Goes to throw it.

At that point, the linebacker is, he's buzzed out there. And he has one thing on his mind when he sees the ball in the air. And it does not pick six. It is declet. Hey, that is so true. Hey, if they're going to play off, check it down. You're moving the chains. You're keeping the drive alive.

And that is rhythmic. And that's what you really like as an offensive coach is you want rhythm. Because, you know, eventually they'll start to play up. And now you can beat them over the top. Even the teams in the NFL today with some of the best, one, two punches of wide receiver. You think about the Rams with Pooka Nakua and Devante Adams. They still have a running back in Williams that can run the football and get those

harder in yards and he can catch out at the backfield. The Eagles, now A.J. Brown is probably going to be traded this offseason. But with A.J. Brown and Devonte Smith, you also had the best running back in the NFL and Saquan Barkleck was also really good out of the backfield. And then even, like you go back to when Tom Brady first joined the Buccaneers, they had Mike Evans and Chris Godwin playoff Lenny Leonard Fournett. I mean, he was a guy out of the backfield. I mean, he had a, I think he had a touchdown reception in the Super Bowl.

If I'm remembering that correctly, it may have been a long run. But you had those guys that could be just as integral parts of your offense. And Chase Brown has to be that for the Bengals this season. Joe Mixon, for as good as he was, he wasn't, you know, known. He wasn't like a concern for opposing defenses as a past catcher out of the backfield. Chase Brown can be that. He had 65 receptions last year with three different quarterbacks. So we know what he can do.

And the best part is, and Mike, you brought this up in the first segment. He's coming into this season, coming off an incredible second half of the 2025 season. From week seven on, he was one of the best running backs in all of football. Yeah. Yeah. That offensive line started jelling. You started seeing some things that we haven't seen in Cincinnati in a while, a run game that can really challenge you, not just from some type of crazy cut from the running back,

but just being able to run it down their throats. So that was something we haven't seen in a while. Credit, chase ground, credit to the offensive line. I think credit to Scott Peters, too, because he turned it around because I thought it was also the worst running game I had seen in Cincinnati when it was like week four. Oh, wow. And he said Vikings game.

That Vikings game, they think they had like negative four yards on the game rushing. I was thinking, man, I've seen some bad run games, and this might be the worst one. You know what? And it's almost like it was forced on him. You know what? I mean, you don't have that quarterback or you get a brand new quarterback. You better protect him and you better start running the ball. Well, all of a sudden those big guys up front, they started rolling with it. And then when Joe Burrell came back, it was like, hey, we got to protect him. Let's continue to do that. And now they became not just one dimensional. They became a complete offense where people had to

play, run and pass. And, you know, they should have been the at, now offensively, other than turning the ball over for pick sixes, you know what? They were in a lot of games that they should have won had they been able to stay with it and not had long fields to deal with. You think about Burrow in this offensive line and the fact that it's the best offensive line that he's had in his career. You think about that at the start of the season, how beneficial that's going to be playing against some of the best defenses in the NFL. You still have to have a running game just in case the passing game isn't fully jail. Because if you do, you're going to be able to move the football and score points.

Coming up, one reminder, the Bengals and one of their opponents can send to the rest of the NFL in 2006. Support for the lock, the Bengals squad show today comes from Square. The system that helps fix one of the biggest headaches in running the business. Starting a business is exciting, but actually running it, well, that's where things can get complicated and fast. Payments, inventory, staff, scheduling online orders, it's a lot to manage. That's why Square brings everything together into one connected system. Square helps you take payments, track sales, manage inventory, and keep your business running smoothly without juggling a bunch of disconnected tools. One thing I've noticed is some of my favorite local spots in Cincinnati is how seamless everything feels when they use Square.

The checkout is quick. The receipts are easy and the whole experience just feels more. more organized. There's a local coffee shop. I love that uses Square and it makes everything simple from fast payments to loyalty rewards. If you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down. Right now you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com slash go slash locked on NFL. That's SQU-A-R-E dot com slash GO slash locked on NFL. Run your business smarter with Square get started today. With Mike Santagin and Coach Arfallaro. I'm Alex Franklin, the Bengals Squash,

excuse me for the hardware noise in the background here at my house. So Bengals Chiefs, Joe Borough, Patrick Mahomes, for two years in 21 and 22, this was the rivalry in the NFL so much so that the biggest criticism went towards Cincinnati's mayor. That's how fierce this rivalry was. And then you think about in 2023 in the offseason on CBA, this morning, that game in 23 was announced as the upfront game reveal week 17 on New Year's Eve. Fortunately, the Bengals haven't made the playoffs the last three years. The Chiefs weren't very good last year. But this year, the Bengals are rejuvenated. The Chiefs are hopefully going to be rejuvenated. And Joe Burrow talked as much as such about that of this press conference

on Wednesday, talking about how he hopes the Bengals are really good at the time. The Chiefs are really good at the time. This is for week 14, that that game is going to mean something this year. And if it does, this rivalry may become the NFL's best quarterback in team rivalry once again. Absolutely. You know what? You wish, I'm praying for that to be a just the game of the week. Because what a show that both teams are going to put on. I mean, how can the Chiefs not put on a show? I mean, that's Andy Reed. And that's Patrick Mahomes. And, you know, if the Bengals can hold can play the, you know, just stay the course. And that they're in a very good football team at that time, all eyes are going to be on that particular game. And it's going to be a

fun game to watch. You know what's interesting about this rivalry coach and Mike is you think about the bills. And right now, I think we all would agree that Bill's Chiefs is the premier rivalry in the NFL. But the problem with that is, the bills have beaten the Chiefs in each of the last five regular seasons, and that's great. But they're 0 and four against them in the playoffs. And it's the same old story year after year. They do just enough, but they don't win the game. The Bengals have beaten the Chiefs in the playoffs in Kansas City coming back from down 21 to 3. So that makes this rivalry unpredictable. And people thought that Bengals would beat the Chiefs in 22 in the AFC championship. They were shocked when the Bengals lost the game the way they did.

And now we get this game, 425 on Fox, America's game of the week, these two quarterbacks. And as Burroughs says, and I think this is really unique, he's hoping both teams are good because he knows what this rivalry can do for the league. That's a really in-tuned quarterback to the NFL and the entertainment product that it is. Yeah, I think as great as the games have been at times between the Bills and Chiefs and Ravens and Chiefs. there is a difference between great regular season games and some wins and actually slaying the dragon. You know,

they haven't done that. They've won regular season fights. I don't know how much the chiefs care. Like, maybe not last year because they didn't make the playoffs. But the years before that, it felt like the regular season is kind of just a tune up. I mean,

this is a team that was going to Super Bowl's left, right and center. In fact, at that point, the only AFC team that didn't go, that broke up the chief's reign of terror was the Bengals. But until you take down that beast in the playoffs, it's different. Ask a Bill's fan if they think that those matter at nearly as much as the losses to the chiefs.

And same with the Ravens. I don't think they've had as many. I feel like the Bills and Chiefs have had more battles in the playoffs. But you ask a Ravens fan, do they care about the regular season 425 victory over the Chiefs? Probably not as much as the playoff victory. None of that's to say this game doesn't matter. I think this game does matter. I think this game could be a return to the rivalry.

I'm glad this game's happening in December because when I knew they were going to play each other, had a little bit of worry about if this game was in September, not for the Bengals slow start as much as Patrick Rahams coming off of 20 ACL. But should be better by then, at least playing. I don't know if he'll be at 100%. will the team be better? I don't know.

I think they are more in danger of their slow start being some type of impact than the Bengals are because when you have a quarterback that's coming off injury and maybe the best quarterback in the lead, that's hard to overcome, especially. But we'll see. I'm hoping they're both good teams. I kind of missed the rivalry. It was very fun in 2021, 2021, 2022, and it did feel like it came to an abrupt end in 23 when it was Jake Browning taking the field instead of Joe Burrow in that situation.

You talk about branding. That's a game that can brand your organization because all eyes are going to be on. Take away the Madrid game. I mean, that's branding you overseas. This is America's game. And that will brand you where a lot of people are going to be tuned into that game, providing both teams that are healthy and good and battling ready to punch it out. That's a, that's a Mike Tyson fight. You know, it's, it could go 15 against these guys.

That makes for great television and it makes for great branding. I mean, the Chiefs already have a brand, right? The Bengals are trying to get that brand. You talk about a branding game that is big for the organization in itself. The most fun part of that rivalry in all of these games for me, by the way, has not been Patrick Mahomes versus Joe Burrow, but instead Joe Burrow versus Steve Spagnolo and Patrick Mahomes against, at the time, Lou Anirumo. I felt like both defensive coordinators were putting up a good fight against some great quarterback play.

That was, well, because, you know, the quarterbacks don't actually go against each other. We talk about the quarterback, these quarterbacks are facing off and whatever. It's really a quarterback against defense, quarterback against defense. but the minds of everybody involved, you know, Aniruma was able to get Mahomes to have some of the worst games of his career. And I feel like Joe Burrow was able to dice up and give Spagnolo some of the worst games of his career.

And then there would be moments where you would just see, whether that's Patrick Mahomes figuring out a Lou Anarumo disguise or Joe Burrow on the opposite end. Like I mentioned, he really gave it to Spagnolo in some of those games. but also, I think of 2025 with this, Spagnola saves a blitz the entire game and then calls that in the third, like a third and long when they're trying to come back and Burroughs not able to see it. I think that stuff's really interesting to me. Like what do they save? What do they throw out there towards the end of the game when it's getting tight?

I love that part of it. That's a great point there, Mike, because I think Steve Spagnolo has said that Joe Burrough is the best quarterback in the NFL besides the one that he's on a team with and Patrick Mahomes. And you think about, you think about in 22, when the chiefs, we were talking about this, this was conversation on locked out Bengals and throughout Cincinnati Bengals media was that C Spagnulla wouldn't show a lot of cards in the regular season match, just in case they saw them again in the postseason. This will be the first matchup for the Bengals against the chiefs without Lou and Aruma with their defense coordinator. So how does Al Golden fare against Mahomes and this new look chief's offense potentially? And also, the two-hirt

coaches in this matchup for the two longest tenured head coaches in the AFC. Andy Reed has he's going into his 14th season with the Chiefs. Zach Taylor is going into his eighth season with the Bengals. So these two head coaches, I mean, we've criticized Zach Taylor a lot on this show and rightfully so, but he's going to his eighth season. He has a lot of experience and he is three and I believe he's three and three against the Chiefs. And he won the first three times he faced off against Andy Reed and the Chiefs. That matters. Oh, it does. Yeah, You know, that experience are going in. You know how to prepare your team.

You know how to get the right things going. You know, and the not only that, but, you know, the coordinators that are attached to that as well. They understand there's plenty of film on them. You know they've already set an identity of who they're going to be. And you're going to try to strap the weapons. And I think that it's it's, it'd be. very interesting to see where the Travis Kelsey's are at that particular time of the year because, for lack of a better explanation, his age. You know what? He's still mentally,

very, very sharp, but he can't run the routes that he once used to when they were both really young. So you'll find out. If you can take him out out of the mix, and put it on the wide receivers, there's a lot of different things you can do for them instead of had to focus on one guy. My mic was muted there. Sorry. Travis Kelsey is going to be a year older this year in this rivalry.

So that is going to be interesting. There are a lot of new elements this rivalry than what we saw in 21 and 22. I mean, we've seen Tyree kill in this rivalry. He left. We saw Joe Mixing in this rivalry. He played some big roles. He's now gone.

Obviously, Sam Hubbard played a big role in this rivalry. He's no longer with the Bengals. The Chiefs have obviously seen some players come and go on both sides of the ball. It's going to be really interesting to see what this version of this rivalry is going to look like. But again, in a league now where everybody looks when the schedule comes out, when's that Bill's Chiefs matchup, when's Al and Mahomes going to be. Now we have Burrow Mahomes back on the schedule. Feels right being a Bengals fan.

And hopefully the game lives up to expectations and the hype that Joe Burrow created on Wednesday with it. Coming up next, the Bengals also have two. primetime home games this year against the AFC North. I have a challenge for them in one of them. Plus, in the other one, the scenario that nobody is talking about, but we will discuss. Coach, when you have a division home game in primetime under the lights, 20 plus million people watching across America, what's that like? Oh, it's huge.

Because at that particular point in time, and you don't even have to say it, The players understand that they are prime time. So all eyes are on them. It's no different than playing a Thanksgiving Day game or now a Christmas Day game. People are sitting around. They're tuned in and they want to see what you have. So if you can make a, you can splash onto the scene if you haven't had necessarily. a great year. And now you have everybody talking about you because they saw you on national

television. And it's big. You don't even have to mention it to the players. They understand and they know. Yeah. Look, division rivalry shaped the NFL from Bears, Packers, all the way to the new division rivalries like Texans, Jaguars. I mean, this is what shapes the NFL because you see these teams twice a year. There are 48 division rivalries in the NFL and they're played twice years. That's 96 of the 272 games. You get these in prime time.

These are the teams you know the best. So it's just a matter of going out there, leaving nothing to chance, staying true to who you are and laying everything on the line. Because everybody's watching, coach, as we just said, but guess what?

And Mike, you know this. Games like this count twice in the standings. Absolutely. Just look at the NSC West. You know, I mean, regardless of who you are, either have the Rams twice, you got the Niners twice, and you got the Seahawks twice. And all of those are going to be on television. Absolutely. And people are chomping at the bit to see them because they know the excitement around those games.

I mean, they're like playoff games. Yeah. And you have to win your division. So if you can survive those, not just split them, but maybe take an upper hand on one of them. Hey, you're on your way. So two division home games this year in primetime, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Mike, when you saw the schedule, what was your reaction to that? I was surprised it was the home game against Baltimore, right?

I think we all were. Yeah, that was. was my biggest surprise that was i said there it's always Thursday night football in baltimore what do you mean we're going to be in sincerity for this one what's going on here um they always put that pittsburgh one in there too so that none of this was that surprising i hope we're not getting unc bowl because that would mean burroughs injured uh but that was a very fun primetime game i think i didn't have too many thoughts i did think they didn't have very many primetime games but with the way flexing works anymore,

after the first like five weeks, how much, how much doesn't matter that you don't have these primetime games? Because I wonder, how much do your prime time games matter? Because if they stink or they're really good, either they get flexed out and they only get one primetime game all year, or they get flexed in and you get more primetime games.

Maybe it doesn't happen as much as I'm thinking it does. But I think, I think with this, it's expected. If I was going to pick two primetime games for the Bengals, and I had to pick, which opponents they would be against. I think Ravens and Steelers would be my first two guesses.

Interesting. You know, what it does is with those two particulars, okay, they're divisional rivals, they're divisional games, there must win games. They are games that where now your prime time, you get to put a silencer on all of those naysayers are saying, hey, you know what?

the Bengals are the Bengals. Yeah, certainly they got a lot of new people to try to help them out. But let's see who they actually are. And this is for the fans out there to really say, hey, you know what, I'm kind of proud to put my orange hat on again. Yeah. And I don't have to walk around, you know, keeping in the closet and hope they make the playoffs so I can pull it out. And I think that those, that's why they're going to be, those two particular games are going to be big. because you know the crowd's going to be there.

You know, the TV audience is going to be there. Hey, put on a show. Show us who you are. And the Bengals have put on a lot of great shows in primetime. They've had the White Bengal game in primetime. They've had Stripe the Jungle in primetime. So we know the Bengals play well at home under the lights in the Zach Taylor era. And when Joe Burroughs playing, they play well also in those games.

So the Pittsburgh game in Week 10, Sunday night football is going to be great. Chris Collinsworth will be in the booth, obviously, with Mike Tariko, football night in America. They'll be there. It's a Sunday night football and NBC game. Look, we know T.J. Watt and Cameron Hayward are great players, but they're older players. And my challenge for the Bengals in this game and coach,

I'm sure you'll agree with me on this being a former offensive line coach. I want the Bengals offensive line, which is younger and it's more experience now, to completely take Watt and Hayward out of the game. Take them out of the game and allow your offense to do whatever they want to do. This is in your building. it's the second time you'll face in this season. End them. End the Steelers and maybe anything they want to do this season.

Firmly state that they are nowhere near where you are in the AFC North. That's my challenge for the Bengals' offensive line in this game. You know what? They will take that challenge because they need to approach every game that way. Because they're five returners. They're established. They know what they're capable of. But now it's an operational.

for the country to see what they've got. And I think that's great. Hey, and by the way, that game, football night in America, now you've got Mike Tomlin sitting on the other side. So it'll be really interesting to see what Mike has to say about that particular game. Without any biased, you're going to hear what he really has to say. And, you know, Mike, he's very outspoken. So that pregame should be fun.

Yeah, your former coaching colleague, Mike, how much do you still worry about the Steelers' defensive line pulling the Bengals up front? Have you lessened your worry about that after last year? I think it's hard not to worry at all. And it's almost not even T.J. Watt anymore, but I think Alex Highsmith's a very good rusher. I think that their other one, he's really good, too. I think he was his name right now. But they've got three really good edge rushers. So that makes it difficult where I don't think it's T.J. Watt defensive player to your level player anymore. But now they have the depth where they've got three guys

are throwing at you that are all really good. Cam Hayward's still a very good player. Keanu Benton, he can get going. They've got guys. Derek Harmon will see if there's some year two improvement as a pass rusher. What I'm wondering with the Steelers more than anything is, because I think they've been punching above their weight.

I think that this team, more than any team in the NFL, wins in weird voodoo type ways thinking of how they won the division pouring water into the end whatever's going on there can Mike McCarthy do that or are they going to lose those three games that are drag them down into the muck

you know make do a seance on the sideline to make sure the Ravens kicker misses and I don't know like every time I've watched the Steelers I feel like this is a team that should probably be winning like six games and then they're in the playoffs. So we'll see what happens. And that's credit to Mike Tomlin, where the coaching, it feels like every 50-50 game they get in, they find a way to win. And can they still do that with Mike McCarthy?

Who's an experience coach? But I think that's the biggest question I have. Second to what is the defense going to look like? This is the first time since whenever that Tomlman. hasn't probably had his pause all over the defense. It's a very new look defense. I mean, yeah, Jalen Ramsey, most overrated corner NFL history is still there. Jamel Dean is there.

I like that signing. Deshawn Elliott's good. Joey Porter Jr. is up and down. Highsmith's very good. We know Patrick Queen is good. Malik Harrison's interesting. This is on this is the Steelers depth chart on ESPN.com. I'm looking at wide hayward, Ben Harmon, Mike, as you mentioned.

So they do have some good players, but this is not the 2010 Steelers or the 2008 Steelers. or even the 2009, 11, 12, 7, 6, any defense you want to name from the Steelers. Now, let's go to the New Year's Eve game against the Ravens. So I believe that the two best running backs I've seen, this is going into my variable that we haven't mentioned yet. And really nobody's mentioned this yet. But the two best running backs I've seen play football in my lifetime are Ladani and Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson.

Coach, what was it like to watch those two players and go up against them in your coaching career? you're holding your breath you know everything's up you're you kind of gas because they could break at any time and you know what with with thompson they were going to run the ball down your throat and really take advantage and then you know with Antonio Gates once you started playing up into the box you cut him loose so a great running running back is also complimented by a great tight end. And that really makes things happen. Adrian Peterson, whoa. Was he dynamic? And really an exciting player to watch.

Modern to Eric Dickerson, I've always said about Adrian Peterson. Those are the two best running backs I've seen in my lifetime. Derek Henry, who no questions a future pro football Hall of Famer. I mean, he's over 10,000 yards rushing. He's so many things. Rugged, bulldozer, tank, tough, freak, fast, dominant. However, he's going into his 11th season. Four players that are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, four running backs, I should say, that are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame,

have rushed for 1,000 yards in their 11th season. John Henry Johnson, Walter Payton, you may have heard of him. John Riggins would have done it in his 11th season had an option for the 1982 strike. He did actually rush for 1,000 yards in his 12th and 13th seasons. and then the other guy you may have also heard of this name is some guy named Emmett Smith. That's it. Four players.

John Henry Johnson, Walter Payton, John Riggins, Emmett Smith, rushed for 1,000 yards in their 11th season. By week 17, Derek Henry may not be at the peak of his powers. And Mike, you know this. We've seen the Bengals defense in the past, I'll be with Luan Arumo, shut Henry down in some very big games. If you can do that in this game or at least contain them to like 50 or 60 yards rushing, With this new look defensive line that you have, you can bait Lamar Jackson into a turnover doing that could decide the game.

The key on Henry has always been making contact, not necessarily making the tackle, making contact early and not giving him the runway. Because he is a freight train. And like a freight train, going to take a second to get going and almost impossible at full speed to stop. I feel like that has always been kind of the Derek Henry key of it all. And also why I think before that time period late in the regular season, I feel like also used to be his best period statistically. Maybe somebody could look that up and double check me. But it feels like cold.

And I don't want to hit the 250 pounds, six foot four behemoth back there. I want to just try to bring them down another way. I'm just going to dive at his legs as if that's, You know, he's never dealt with that before. And Henry was fine with you. He liked the context. So I always felt like that was. And then by the time you're in the playoffs,

you're going to need to actually step up and make that play whether or not it's cold and you don't want to. But regular season teams, sometimes they get away with, you know, you might not be a good team right now. Yeah. I got my body on the line. Oh, I didn't see the assignment coach. I thought I was, I thought I was blitzing through the A gap.

What do you mean? Yeah. That's a business decision. You're right about The season, it's a business decision. You're right about Henry, though, getting going later in the season, Mike, because in 2019,

he did that in December and helped the Titans clinched that play at birth and then take down the Patriots and he had a tremendous game against the Ravens we now plays for. He did that again in 2020, finishing with 2,000 yards. And then he did that in 24 and 25

his first two seasons with the Ravens. So that is a worry, but at the same time, 11th season. Coach, running back in his 11th season for as many carries and as much to try it on the tires as Derek Henry has. You do worry about that

if you're the Ravens And if you're the Bengals, you may be able to feed right into that and just stop the run, which is the first key for every defense. You know what? I mean, Derek Henry is a phenop. He is out of this world, just like the other three that you mentioned. They kept their bodies in great shape. They've always run hard.

And you know what? Like you were talking about earlier, Alex, said if you can keep him to 60 yards in that game, Well, you know what? If you got 17 games and you play 60, you gain 60 yards a game, you're over 1,000. You know, they need to up that. You know, you get 17 games, make them 100 yard games. That's back when they still play 10. You know what I mean?

So Derek Henry is a, I mean, he's an incredible athlete. And you don't know what, at this point in time, we don't know what the Baltimore offense is going to look like. is it going to be Lamar driven? Is it going to be Derek Henry driven? Yeah. And I think that that's where it comes into play at that particular point time when they're playing them, you're going to kind of find out. You know, they don't have to stack the box to try to stop him

because then you got Lamar running around and you got some quality receivers and tight ends that can make plays. So you're going to have to play that very, very, very, very. very, very carefully. You are. You absolutely are. And again, I just feel like that could decide this Thursday night game on New Year's Eve against the Ravens. And new offensive coordinator for the Ravens, you're not sure what he's going to try to do.

We know Lamar Jackson's an excellent quarterback. He's become a really good passer. But are they going to turn him lose? Are they going to dial him back? And if Lamar Jackson has to beat the Bengals, can the Bengals defense line chase him round and bait him into it in the turnovers with a secondary with the likes of Brian Cook and DJ Turner and even the guy like Jordan Battle or Dax Hill, which can be both can be in the right place at the right time. That could be what decides that ultra important game

on New Year's Eve. Speaking of quarterback rivalries, Burrow Mahomes, Burrow Jackson, we're going to see another one that you may have forgotten about be renewed in week one this upcoming season. Joe Burrow versus Baker Mayfield on some offensive fireworks that could be expected in that game. We're going to talk about that on Tuesday show. Coach, you, me and Jake Liska, it's going to be a fun conversation. But coach, your team, the Orlando Storm, big game tonight against the D.C. Defenders, 8 o'clock on Fox.

It's a home game in Orlando. You guys are the only six and two team in the league. So despite taking two losses earlier this season, you still have the best record in the league. Your team has to be feeling pretty good right now knowing you've already punched the playoff, birth. Well, you know, the playoff berth is great. We've got two games against the same opponent against D.C. back to back. And it starts with this one tonight. We have to go out and show who we are and make plays. And we'll let the rest worry about itself. All we did was with getting a playoff birth is we're guaranteed, including tonight, three more games. And you're, and you're,

want to go into the playoffs hot and you don't want to have to be with your back against the wall and that's what dc is right now they're five and three you're six and two my final thoughts on the bengals joe burrow chase brown rivalries high expectations this season can't wait for september it's a long time september 13th i'm not sure exactly how many days away it is i know it's over a hundred i'll put it to you that way i i'm not going to do that math my head for you all but Thank you, everybody who has tuned in and watched, and we'll see this again and on audio. Memorial Day weekend, one of the best weekends of the year of the unofficial start of summer, but it is important for us to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice so we could enjoy the freedoms that we deserve.

Thank you, Mike's antagonist, bangles, underscores, coach, Art Valero. Thank you. As always, good luck tonight to you and your team, 8 o'clock on Fox, the Orlando Storm, and the D.C. down in Orlando. I'm Alex Frank and Frankie underscore Natty. Thank you again for making the Bengals Squad Show part of your daily routine on Tuesdays and Fridays during the offseason. For more on how to become a member of the Everydayer Club at the Lockdown Podcast. Norfolkist Lockdown Podcast.com slash everydayer. And don't forget to check out James Rupin and Jake Liscoe on the Daily Lockdown Bengals podcast. They're back, of course, next week,

as are we on Tuesday, coach you, me, and Jake Lisco. Mike will talk to you soon right here on the Mangal Squad show, part of the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, the lockdown podcast network and lockdown Bengals, your team every day.