Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe, Ja'Marr, Tee, Dexy, and the UNSUNG HEROES, Game and Record PREDICTIONS

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

When it comes to the 2026 Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Dexter Lawrence are obviously the stars and big faces. But what about after those four players? Who are the unsung heroes going to be on this year's Bengals' team?Alex Frank, Coach Art Valero, and Evan Stacy reveal who their unsung heroes will be for 2026, players who were not talking about nearly enough who could play key roles in this Bengals team getting to where they want to go.For the Bengals, starting fast, is once again a key to this season. So, how do the Bengals find success against their first four opponents, who are all really tough?After Burrow, Chase, Higgins, and Lawrence, who are the nine players that will define the 2026 Bengals? This conversation will get interesting?Then, the guys reveal their game-by-game and record predictions for the 2026 Bengals.Photo Credit: USA Today via Imagn ImagesJoin the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! Where you'll get updates directly to your phone and be able to text the hosts, check it out at: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsEverydayer ClubIf 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!HomeChefFor a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners FIFTY PERCENT OFF and free shipping for your first box PLUS free dessert for life! Go to http://HomeChef.com/LOCKEDONNFL.QuoTry QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/LOCKEDONNFL.IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.PrizePicksVisit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LO... and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!OdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.GustoTry Gusto today at http://gusto.com/LOCKEDONNFL, and get three months free when you run your first payroll.KALSHIFor a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet three hundred fifty dollars in Bonus Bets — GUARANTEED — when you bet five dollars every day for seven days. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to game week. Welcome to the season. You know Joe Burrow, Jemar Jays, T. Higgins, and Dexter Lawrence, but coaches you know in football, it's also about the unsung heroes. Oh, absolutely. And you know, the other thing is it's not only about starting fast, it's finishing fast. And hopefully a fast start leads to the Bengals having a very successful season and getting back to the playoffs. We'll see what our predictions are. 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. You know, you could consider this our version of Monday night football. And coach, don't you worry, we'll make sure the final four minutes of this show are much different than what you experienced with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003 against Tony Dungey and the Indianapolis.

called. Welcome to the Bengals Squad Show on Lockdown Bengals and the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day with the aforementioned coach, Art Valerl, 2002, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl champion as their tight ends coach, Evan Stacey, who runs our locked on Bengals hit account at Lockdown Mangles Hit and at Evan Stacy 3. I'm Alex Frank. We're presented tonight by Cal She right now for a limited time, download the Cal She app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. Consider this not only our version of Monday Night Football, but also our season preview show. We have so much to get to today.

And in segment four, we'll do game by game and our record predictions. But first, as we mentioned at the top, it's not just about the star players. The obvious stars are Joe Barrow, Jamar, Chase, T. Higgins, and Dexter Lawrence, three of which were named two captains today by the Bengals. The Bengals announced their seven captains for the season, which includes Joe, Jamar, and Dexter Lawrence, along with Brian. and cook, DJ Turner, and others, which we'll get to throughout the show. But coach, unsung heroes. When you think of unsung heroes on this Bengals team, where are you looking first?

Well, I tell you what, first of all, I'm looking at the O-Line. I'm looking at those guys that never get mentioned about anything. And I'm looking at the Ted Carus of the world. I'm looking at Orlando Brown, Jr. Those guys need to, even though, they're not going to get a lot of recognition in terms of whether they do their job or not, but the scoreboard will tell it yet. But I think that that's where it starts. Then I think it's not necessarily stars. And we've mentioned it many times during the broadcast in the past, Alex, it's not necessarily your top 10. It's the bottom 43 that creates our football team. And that's the special teams players, the guys that are on the core special teams guys.

And it's those guys that are fighting to put a hat on every Sunday. Those are the guys that make and develop your football team and the character of your football team. And that's where I'm looking. I'm looking at the guys that aren't heard from a lot. You know, Kyle Duggins, those kind of guys, you're going to make this football team. And they're going to make them even better. Yeah, my head immediately went to the offensive line. And the one I want to point out is Dalton Reisner.

He was signed, you know, around this time last year, kind of a vet throw-in guy really close to the end of the season. And it took him a few games to, you know, get his legs under him. But he actually finished the second half of the season really well when the offensive line as a whole did. He finished 11th among guards in PFF pass blocking grade, allowed just nine pressures and one sack over the last eight games of the season. And I think, you know, we talk about Amarius Mims, Ted Karras, Orlando Brown.

Those are the offensive line that we highlight. But I feel like Reisner being a veteran coming in as late as he did and making an impact and really taking that right guard spot pretty quickly and not relinquishing it. I think, you know, that was pretty impressive for him to come in and finish the way that he did. And, you know, the offensive line and him are looking to continue that as we move on to this season. And I think that, you know, he's one that we haven't, no one's really talked about. But I think he was a really key addition that the Bengals added late last year. Ted Carras and Evan McPherson, the other two Bengals named captains ahead of the 2026 season.

Good for Evan McPherson, good for Ted Karras. But it's interesting, Evan, you talk about Donald Reisner. He could have been easily named a captain. There are many players on this team that could have easily been named captains. And it goes to the stronger leadership aspect that this team has throughout the 53-man roster. So I came up with four unsung heroes. for this season. And this is, I guess it's in no particular order.

It just, you know, who came to mind when I think of unsung heroes. And you're totally right, coach, about the bottom 43, because that's where you're going to win this war of attrition that the NFL is. And that's absolutely true. So for me, like, before we get to my four, I just think about, like, you know, what could Dante Myers play this season? and what role could he play this season, especially in the receiver room.

Landon Robinson, I mean, the dude just has a motor. You know, he can spell Jonathan Allen for a few plays. He can spell BJ Hill. Two older guys, you have a young guy,

Landon Robertson who could come in and completely keep those guys fresh. I'm also on Jordan Battle. You know, I really think he's about to flourish in this secondary. You know, we talked a lot about him this offseason. You know, now he's playing next to Brian Cook. He's not playing next to Gino Stone,

who, you know, we could say whatever, critical than we want to about him. But now you're playing next to a captain. You're playing next to one of the captains on the team at safety. Quarterbacks are going to find opposing quarterbacks. You know, we already saw the Lions, Jordan Battle had interception in the first preseason game. Quarterbacks are going to find the throwing against this secondary, which has two captains

and Brian Cook and DJ Turner, it's not easy. And for the first time in four years, I really think this defense, including Jordan Battle, is going to be able to keep the top on it. because they have better leadership, they have better players, there's more talent, and there's more playmaking. So for me, you can talk about DJ Turner, you can talk about Brian Cook. I'm going to the guy like Jordan Battle. Don't overlook him because if you're going to try to avoid Cook and Turner coach, Jordan Battles right there lurking still. Well, you know, the other thing that you're exactly right as far as Jordan Battle's concerned.

I think that, I mean, here's a guy that played this offseason, you know, and I'm a lot. I think that he showed that, hey, he's hungry to go and he's ready to go. And he played and played well despite the fact that that Dax didn't play and that Brian Cook didn't play. And I think that it's key that they keep the top on it. But they're going to be able to keep the top half of the defense aren't intact because of the tremendous pass rush that they went out and brought on to the team. And that will make those DBs that much better.

You combine a great secondary with a great pass rush. And there's not a lot of places to go to the ball. You'll see the ball being checked down to the backs and to the tight ends a lot more frequently. Yeah, I think Jordan Battle, I like that call, Alex. I think he's in for a big year. I mean, he had four interceptions last year, which I think led the team. I'm not mistaken. And now you add Brian Cook, who's a veteran, has a lot of, you know, experience,

been won a few Super Bowls. And so I think is it weird to say that he might be like the Gino Stone for the Ravens where he just is the guy who gets a lot of interceptions and the other safety is the one who's doing all the, you know, all the dirty work. I'm not, I mean, Brian Cook's not going to be kind of like a hybrid linebacker like Kyle Hamilton is. But I think Jordan Battle, I think he, you know, had a great year last year. and, you know, with a proven veteran who can help him out.

And like coach said, with an improved defensive line that helps everybody in the back. And so I think, you know, the secondary is going to be key to having another big season defensively and making sure that, you know, we don't have these super long explosive plays that they had last year where, you know, a few tackles were missed and then, you know, guys were running 30, 40 yards on the field. And so I think with Jordan Battle, Brian Coe, and now hopefully the linebackers picking it up. I think, yeah, these young guys on defense are definitely going to be better. Jordan Battle did leave the team with four interceptions last year.

So, yeah, if he is the Gino Stone of this Bengals defense and Geno Stone 2023 version at that, I'd be okay with it. And, Coach, I mean, like, one of your bold predictions for this season is the Bengals will have, what, six pick sixes? I mean, if you got a guy like Jordan Battle lurking back there, you could get there. Oh, he's a ball hawk.

You know, and I think they've got two excellent corners. I think they've got two very excellent safeties. The ball's got to come out fast. And when the ball comes out fast, you're either doing a lot of three-step drop stuff, getting the ball out quickly or quick fives. The ball's going to be thrown short, and that allows the corners to break and drive on it. and hey, there's a lot of room between them and the old line guys are the only ones left chasing them. So I think that a lot of things that that secondary is going to be able to do.

I'm kind of interested to see when they go to single high and they play some man, which one of the safeties is coming down to take the tight-hand man. And who is going to be that box player and the other one's the free? is it Brian Cook or is it Jordan Bell? You know, I know Jordan Bowell is tested. We've yet to see what, you know, other than practice, what Brian Cook can do. But, you know, come Sunday, they're all going to be ready. But you know what Brian Cook can do, having watched him in Kansas City.

I mean, this guy is entering the prime of his career. And in his first season with the Bengals, having not even played a game yet, he's been named a captain. I mean, that's how that tells you that the guys that, this team brought in, which coach we talked about, Evan, we've talked about this. Joe Borough has had a hand and saying, okay, this guy would be good for us, not just from a schematic standpoint, not just from an on the field standpoint, but from a leadership standpoint, from a locker room standpoint. That's exactly what Brian Cook and Dexter Lawrence have brought to this team. And also unsung heroes, Evan McPherson. I mean, here's a guy who we know when he's on the top of his game

is going to be a big weapon for this team. I can easily see him winning this. his team multiple regular season games, maybe even a playoff game or two, assuming the Bengals get there. That's how good this guy is when he's at his best. And we have seen that throughout training camp in the preseason. And the biggest thing with Evan McPherson is the operation is smoother. You have the same long snapper and you have the same holder in place. Yeah, that battery is set. That battery is set. They seem to be very, very smooth. And we talked about it about a month ago. Alex, we talked about, hey, who are your top 10 guys on the team? I was to throw this guy in about at number eight or two, number nine, and the punter in is number

10. Hey, they are, that's hidden yardage, hidden points that you don't count on. And he had a great camp. And I think that he mentally is in the right frame of mind to just carry it out. And as long as that operation stays smooth. Oh, I think that he's going to be on track to really have a career year. Across midfield, that's going to put pressure on the opposing defense, right, Evan? Yeah, I mean, from just what we saw from preseason, his confidence is as high as it's been in a few years. And we saw what he could do back in 2021, where he was making big kick, every big kick after big kick after big kick. And that was his rookie season. And so now he's, you know, been with the team a few years. he's got his mechanics, like you said, Alex, down more.

He's got consistency with the punter, with the snapper holder. And I think, yeah, we've seen kickers be huge weapons, especially in late in games. And like you said, once you cross the 50-yard line, you have a guy that you trust to hit 50 plus that makes your life so much easier as an offense and as a coach because that's points on the board at the end of the day. And, you know, three points could be make or break against some of these teams

that they're going to play at the beginning of the year, which we'll talk about later. And so, yeah, I think, you know, we don't talk about kickers a whole lot because, you know, they're not the stars of the team. But they're a massive part of the team. They make a huge difference and really can make or break some of the outcomes of some of these games towards the playoffs and towards the end of the season. I tell you what, you can't undervalue your specialist. No. And every team does until you need them.

And specialists are great erasers. They erase everybody else's mistakes. And they erase the offensive mistakes for not getting the first down. They erase the defensive or the offensive mistakes by putting the ball. And they put great field position and they help out the team. And I tell you what, the Bengals have two very, very, very good ones. And they're three days a week in which they kick to rest up for the game. I hope they're game there.

because now a longer season, you need them the whole time because you never know. Field surface, whatever it is, they've got to maintain and stay healthy the whole year. Go back and watch Super Bowl 60 this past February. The Seahawks and Patriots arguably the two best special teams in the NFL last year. And Michael Dixon, the Seahawks punter. When he pinned New England deep in their own territory coach, that Seahawks defensive front, which you know well, John Schneider, and the defensive front he's built up there once again. they were able to tee off on Drake May.

So my four unsung heroes for this team in no particular order, Dante Myers, Eric Jr., Takario Davis, and B.J. Hill. Dante Myers is the best story at training camp. No question about that. Same with the preseason. Eric Old Jr., because I think what we saw in the first nine games of 24, is enough evidence for me, and I think everybody who has talked about him, the Bengals and our colleagues, on the Bengals beat, who have we have had on the show, they are really, really excited to see

what he is going to do in this offense. Unsung hero. It doesn't even have to be in the stat sheet. It can be a block. It can be a chip. It can be anything that helps this offense be more multidimensional. Ticario Davis looks like he belongs. You know, we talk about DJ Turner and Jordan Battle, Brian Cook, and Daxil. Where does Sicario Davis fit in? Maybe he comes in and makes an impact play. Pass breakup. interception. And B.J. Hill, he's been on this team. This is his sixth season with the Bengals. I really think this year you're going to see a rejuvenated version of him because his team made from the Giants and NC State Dexter Lawrence is here. He is going to have a rejuvenation to him.

And I think he's going to remind everybody why he's still such a valuable part of this team. Got about 60 seconds, guys, final thoughts on the unsung heroes and the captain's name today by the Bengals going into this season. Well, you know what? I mean, BJ Hope? Yeah, there's no better motivator than they'll be watching everybody else play, number one. Number two, hey, they replaced you. They replace you with two bona fide studs. So if that doesn't light your fuse, I don't know what will. So I'm hoping he does, I mean, I'm hoping he has a great year. And the snaps in that wave of defenses that goes out there, that you don't skip a beat and you can't tell when the other two are in and when he's in. And I think that that's an awesome, or with Landon being in as well.

The other guys, Dante Myers, there's a motivated self-starter that you can only root for. Now, he's not going to probably be a starter. But when he comes in in packages, I think that people are going to see him play. because he is a very, very motivated young man as you want them all to be. And because he is playing for his life right now. And I think that you're right with the other guys. I mean, Eric, all, yeah, I'd like to see him play more in the preseason. But, you know, once upon a time, we were talking about Eric all.

And I said, yeah, I'm really excited about watching this kid play. He's got a great upside. And I think the more he actually plays, the less injury prone you become because you're used to the speed. You're used to everything else. And I'm excited to see this young men play. Yeah, I think going back to the captains, I think two of the biggest players that the bang was brought in defensively, Dexter Lawrence and Brian Cook, are both captains year one with the team. And I think that makes a huge difference, bringing the leadership that they brought.

I think that's something that people don't talk about is that that's going to be a key piece and why the defense bounces back this year. And I think both of those guys becoming a captain is pretty impressive and really good for the Bengals. Absolutely. I think that was probably the biggest thing from last year's team. They seem to not have any captains. No. Especially on defense.

And they need some leadership because the closest that Al Golding guest shows is about 30 yards away when they're on the near ash. and you know what they can't get help all the time so you got to have some leaders out there that are going to take it by the reins and write that thing home so I think it's important that they brought that kind of leadership in and I know when they brought them in we talked about it on a previous show that the leadership one knows how to be a pro bowl player yeah the other one knows how to win a Super Bowl championship that unbelievably valuable, unbelievably valuable. Well, Coach, the first comments you ever made on this show is you've got to get guys out of the training room.

If your leaders are in the training room or if your leaders are being traded away, then there is no leadership on the field. The best ability is availability. The Bengals have that going into week one with their captains and with their unsung heroes. Bengals, Buckingneur, Sunday 1 o'clock, Paycor Stadium on Fox. Bengals Squash will come in your way after the game. your Struly coach Evan and Mike Santagina. Up next, this team says they're ready, but are they really?

Fast start is a must. We explain how they do it coming up next on the Bengals Squad Show. Bengals Squad Show Monday night football edition brought to you by Gusto. You know, running a small business means wearing a lot of hats and payroll, HR, and benefits can quickly become some of the most time-consuming tasks on the list. Will Gusto help simplify those responsibilities with one platform designed to make managing a team easier? Gusto is an online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses. It's all in one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use.

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Bengals Buckingnear Sunday 1 o'clock on Fox, Kevin Cougler. Darrell Moose Johnston and Allison Williams will have the call coach. I'm sure you remember Darrell Moose Johnson from his playing days with the Cowboys on those dynastic teams in the 90s. Oh, absolutely. Great fullback. Really did a great job with the headlights for arguably one of the best greatest running backs in NFL history in Emmett Smith. Well, you want to talk about blocking for Emmett Smith and Troy Aikman? That's a pretty good job to have. Of course, Dan Hort, Dave Lapham, Tony Pike, Bengals, Radio Network, their coverage beginning at 1130 a.m. Eastern, our show coming your way after the game on Sunday. Okay, I don't want to spend too much time on this because we've got some great content coming up,

nine defining players for this season, game and record predictions, but starting fast. All right, it's one thing to talk about it in the off season, there's nothing to actually go out there and do it. And with the tough schedule the Bengals have for the first four weeks, how do the Bengals start fast, gentlemen? I'll tell you what, you know what, I think when you start fast, to have the ability at least the first three or four games you win the first two games by conditioning because it's usually hot whether you're on the road or at home it's going to be a little bit warm

and it's whoever is able to battle through the the attrition of a game without getting fatigued I think is the team that's going to be. be the most be in the best position to succeed at the end of the day. Now, with the Bengals defensive line, they could roll them in. So I don't see them wearing out. It's some of the other positions that either A, haven't done a lot of playing in the preseason or practice. It's going to be a little bit more difficult. They got to wait for the game to speed up. And I think that that's the case. I think everybody wants to win, but are you prepared to win? Then the second thing is, is to go in there and, you know what, every game is a championship game and go out there and play.

Yeah, I think the Bengals need to establish an effective running game early. I think the offensively, usually the first few weeks of the season, Joe included kind of slow. You know, Joe's had a few games where he's had multiple bad turnovers that are uncharacteristic and the offense kind of looks and I think, you know, Chase Brown last year against the Browns, I think average two yards of carry in that week one game. And I think if you can get him going and, you know, if under center, if that's progressing and looking good, that will open it up. And I think if you can establish the run early, you know, we've talked about it, how that opens everything else, that opens the passing game, play action game, all that stuff. And so, and I agree with coach, I think with how the defensive line is

structured having those waves of defenders you can bring in and out keeping guys fresh early in early in the season when like we've talked about the last week where you know a lot of these starters didn't play a whole lot in the preseason so we don't know exactly how their conditioning is going to be so having being able to have multiple guys who can come in on the defensive line and you know wide receivers you know I think we've talked about how deep this bangles team is and I think that could prove huge early just because of the conditioning and everything and so I think establishing the run and making sure that you, I mean, like coach said, winning in the trenches is big and making sure that every game is like a championship game because I think Burroughs talked

about the urgency he has and the urgency he's trying to build in this team and I want to see that week. Well, so the urgency, definitely because you're going up against Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in week one. And Baker Mayfield's going to come in with a ship on his shoulder. I mean, because the tumultuous offseason that he had with the Buccaneers for an office, He's got a message to prove to them and also the rest of the NFL. Then you got Houston in week two, and those defensive linemen are going to come right at Will Anderson Jr., Daniel Hunter, Sheldon, Rankin's, Aziz Al Shire.

Their secondary is also really good. Then you're staring down in Pittsburgh, you know their defensive lines good. And even Jacksonville's got some dudes on their defense. So clearly running the football, having that sense of urgency up front. You know what also I want to see the Bengals do in all four games? When the time of possession? win the time of possession because if it's close early and look most games in the NFL coach I'm sure you would agree with us on this they are close so can you win the time of possession by

four minutes five minutes and you know what that tells me the bangles are going to do at the end of the game they're not just scoring daggers or game winning scores they're running out the clock that's where it comes down to can you finish games early you've seen the Bengals have these flashes early, right? Unless they're playing Cleveland and Tennessee in 2023 in the first four weeks, which those games were abominations. Most of the time in the first few weeks of the season, you see the Bengals play well in flashes, but that's not what's going to win games in the first four games the season. Can you win the games in the fourth quarter? Can you score in the fourth quarter? Can you move the ball? Can you get stops? That's what I want to see from this team,

not just running the football, not just being able to go under center, not just being able to, you know, protect Joe Borough. Win the time of possession. State your mark that you're more than just Burrow, Chase, and Pickens, that you can win a game up front. You can mull people in the line of scrimmage because that ultimately is where games are won. Absolutely. And you know what, Alex, the one thing. And you know what? I've only been on staff for last year and so far this year. You think you'd be on it for 15 years with your knowledge, coach. Well, the single biggest thing. If the Bengals can finish, if they can finish the game offensively by scoring, it doesn't matter if it's a field goal, touchdown, and then the defense in turn can finish

by keeping the opponents off the field and on their side of the 50, then that's a defense that, that wins championships. I think that's the biggest thing in my take is that they come out and they are able to, A, just like you talked about, Alex, put points on the board early. B, when you win games, you win them, you don't win them in the first quarter, second quarter, or third, you win games in the fourth quarter. Can you score and can you hold them? If you do that, then you've got a great chance.

And only by fluke, do you, I mean, because like you, like you, said, Alex, they're all close. And you don't want it to come down to a homer team like, you know, Michigan ended up beating Western Michigan. Oh, we could spend the whole show talking about the ending of that game, Evan. Yeah, I'm going to withhold my comments about that. But I think you're an Ohio guy. You're an Ohio guy.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a little biased. Okay, today I spend time with Ohio. Are we all Ohio guys? I mean, I mean, I'm from Ohio. Evan, you are our coach. You, I mean, you, Coach, well, you have me, heck, I mean, it was my Labor Day today that I spent and I brought that up and, boy, you thought that I just lit a bomb off. Well, you'd set off a powder kick. I mean, coach, what are your stopping grounds is Columbus?

I mean, you're in fuck guy, coach. True. I think we spend too many seconds on that. Evan, go ahead. Yeah, I think time of possession is definitely going to be big. I think, you know, goes back to what I said about having an efficient run game. And I think, you know, the 14. teams at the Bengals play in their first four games.

You know, you have the Jags who offensively looked really good last year were a playoff team. The Buccaneers, we know with Baker Mayfield and new offensive coordinator, Zach Robinson, they have a lot of weapons as well. So you're facing two pretty good offenses. And then, you know, we'll see how CJ Stroud and the Texans look and, you know, how 41-year-old Aaron Rogers looks. But, you know, keeping the ball, I think, is big, especially against, like,

these high-powered offenses. And like coach said, being able to close out games offensively, And Evan McPherson, we just talked about him, could be a big piece in that and making big kicks. And, you know, once you get past the 50, being comfortable that you have a guy who can get those three points to, you know, extend the lead or make you feel a little bit more comfortable. And we saw in the joint practice against the Bears that the defense was the one that finished out that practice and really dominated. And that's something that the Bengals haven't had in a few years. So if that's a sign of things to come and the defense can close out games and really be a big force. and the defensive line can get pressures on the quarterback,

make a errand throws, create turnovers. That's big, and that's, you know, that's the recipe to win. And so it's going to be tough. You know, the teams that they play early on are not the Titans, the Browns guys that they played in the past. They're, you know, I think three of these teams were in the playoffs last year. And so it's going to be tough. Look, it doesn't matter who you're playing.

What matters is you go out there and play your game. If you say you're ready, unleash. Don't hold anything back. You can't feel it. You can't feel the opponent out. I mean, as you said, Evan, three of the teams that the Bengals play in their first four weeks from playoffs teams last year,

Tampa Bay won four straight NFC South titles prior to last year and probably should have won it last year. So, yeah, I mean, these first four games are going to really show us a lot about this team of what we hope for them to be, which of course, our game and record predictions coming up in segment four. But up next, nine defining players for the 2026 Bengals, without mentioning. any of the stars. Bangal Squash out tonight brought to you by Home Chef with schedules getting

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Who wouldn't want that? Just go to homecheft.com slash lockdown NFL for your shot. That's homechef.com slash locked on NFL for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Again, home chef.com slash lockdown NFL must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Coach R. Fillero and Evan Stacey, Alex Frank here on the Bengals Squad Show on this Monday night. get into nine defining players for the 2026 Bengals. You know, like, this is our last like preview show of the season because we got our game preview show on Friday with the Bengals and Buccaneers on Sunday.

We'll get more info on what time the show will be on that day. So for today we're going to do is nine defining players, but they don't include Joe Borough, Jamar, Chase, T. Higginson, Dexter Lawrence, because, well, those are obviously, those four are obviously going to define the season. we're going the rest of the roster. You know, the bottom 43, which really could, I mean, it's not really the bottom because that's actually a majority of the roster. So we'll come up with another name for that, maybe.

So I don't know if you guys have a list of nine defining players or if you just want to react to mine either way is great. Did you guys make lists for this segment? Okay, if you did. Yes. You did. Okay. There we go.

So what we'll do is we'll go three at a time. We'll list our nine defining players three at a time. So I'll start with my top three. Number one, Orlando Brown Jr., number two, Boy, Maffa, and number three Miles Murdo. So a left tackle and then two edge rushers. Look, Orlando Brown Jr. We talked about him a lot extensively, it was kind of redundant, on our first post-game show of the preseason. Because he didn't have a great night.

But ever since then, in practice, pretty good. Now, last year's just practice, this coach. I'm sure you'll kindly remind us. But he plays such an important role. What version of him do we get? Do we get the 2024 version before he got injured or do we get last year's version where you kind of felt like there was a lot to be desired and left on the field? He's protecting Joe Burroughs blindside.

I mean, he's a big guy, 6-8-3-50. He plays a very important role in this team. So what version of him do we get? Boy, my fan, Miles Murphy. But boy, boy, Maffa is the Super Bowl champion. You watch Super Bowl 60 against the Patriots. He was everywhere. He was causing disruption, even if it didn't show on the statute.

He was helping guys like Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence and Jaron Reed and Byron Murphy, and anybody else you want to throw on the Seahawks defense, get after Drake May. So he plays an important role and collapse in the pocket. Now he's playing with Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen. Miles Murphy's ascending. We know that. But is he going to be able to carry that into this season? And if he is, then this defensive line is even deeper than we thought it was.

Brown, Maffay, and Murphy, my tap three. Hey, excellent. Those are all excellent people for that top, for that group that we're picking out. I tell you what, I started on the defense and I said, Dax Hill, number one. You know what? We haven't seen him. He's been injured, a little bit injured. So he's going to come back and win.

and he does get his feet underneath him, I think that he is going to be extremely important. One, because if he is that shut down corner, just like his counterpart on the other side, boy, that pass rush is going to get to people. The second one that I had was, I want to see Eric, All Jr. I want to see what he is capable of doing. And more or less, I know what kind of

kind of player he is, but I think he's kind of a catch-all to everything. He's not just a pass receiver. He's just not just a run blocker. I think he's got the capability of being both. And I think when you have that kind, you don't have to transfer, you can play more 12 personnel and you don't have to substitute particular down in tense and situations. My third, I think that is going to be very, very important was just who you named, which was Miles Murphy. I think that very, very important that he comes out, guns ablazing, he worked on his past rush all in the offseason. I think, and if he can be that player that doesn't have to be an every day play down player, but this year can be an every down player, I think that that really allows them to come

off and create that wave that is that much more important. Plus, if he can't be an every down player, well, then you're going to get Cassius Howl in there. Or Shamar Stewart. Oh, yeah. Well, you know what? We don't know anything about Jamar yet. But with the other one that, hey, Cassius Hell, he's just, you know, chomping at the bit that if Murphy can't rush to pass her, you know, he's down on third downs.

Well, you hope the competition reading competition and iron sharpening iron is going to to come into play, particularly the guy like Miles Murphy, Evan. I have the same three as you do, Alex. I have Miles Murphy and Orlando Brown. So great minds think alike. I think, you know, Orlando Brown, obviously we saw the one mishap in the preseason and everyone kind of freaked out about it. But he's your left tackle.

He's your blindside anchor and he's going to be a guy that you need to play at his best. And I think if he can, you know, he's been a pro bowler before and been one of the better tackles in the league. And if you can return to that or get close to that, that's going to be big because, you know, we want to keep Burrow up right this year. We want to make sure that he plays all 17 games. And that starts with, you know, not getting hit. And I think he's a big part of that and also in the run game as well.

And defensively with Maffey and Murphy, you know, losing Trey Hendrickson, that was a lot of sack production that left with him on the edge. And I think, you know, Maffay, like you said, Alex, who played really well in the Super Bowl. When you look at his stats, it was two sacks for a guy who you pay all this money for kind of sounds, you know, a little interesting, but he had a 13.2 pressure rate, which is pretty good. And so you expect his numbers to jump as he's in his second contract. Miles Murphy had a great end of the year last year, finished with a career high, five and a half sacks. You're looking for him to continue to improve as a pass rush.

So there's a lot of sacks that are out there floating around. And I think those two guys are going to be some that really take a lot of those numbers and take big steps up because you're going to have to get to the pass rush. Dexter Lawrence obviously is going to do that, but you're going to need explosive edge rushers like Cassius Al Murphy and hopefully Mafei to go and disrupt the quarterback, get into the backfield, make life hard for these guys. And I think if they can both step up and generate, you know, productive sack numbers, then the defense is going to be pretty good.

Well, this defense, I have total confidence, is going to be much better than it was last year because the guys they brought in, but also the guys. that they still have that have gotten better because of the guys they brought in training camp. Four through six for me, number four, Chase Brown. And when I say Chase Brown, I'm talking, he can't wait until week six or week seven to get going. Now, part of that is the entire offensive line and run game coming together early. But if Chase Brown is running the football as well as he did to end last season early on

this season, good luck stopping this offense early, which has been, you know, something that the Bengals have not been able to be as a team. hard to stop offensively. If Chase Brown is running well, and he's making an impact as a receiver out of the backfield, this offense is going to take off earlier than later this year. Number five, Jordan Battle. You know, he is your playmaker on defense in terms of taking the ball away. If that's his role on this team, he may give up, he may give up a play here or there.

And there. That's fine. As long as he makes up for more so with his interceptions, past breakups, those kinds of plays. Number six, Jonathan Allen. We've been talking about Dexter Lawrence since April. Jonathan Allen's been here longer than that. Fun fact. So what's he bringing?

I mean, he said that he still has a lot of juice left in him. I'm excited to see what he can do. If you got two guys up front that you have to worry about as an offensive line, that's going to make this defensive line very easy to get to the quarterback and stuff the run. Absolutely. You know, Jonathan Allen is one of the guys I had picked. I think that he's gone under the radar. I think he's got a lot of gas still in the tank.

He would be a guy that I would wonder why he's not a captain because he brings that kind of leadership and that kind of maturity to a very young defense. And I think he is in for really a breakout year, kind of erring himself out from Minnesota. And I think he's going to be pretty good. Jordan Battle was, the other.

Then I think that, you know, he's a ballhawk. The one thing he can, he can guess because he knows behind him, there's another guy that can cover a lot of his mistakes in Brian Cook. The other guy that I had was Dylan Fairchild. Oh, there we go. I think Bill and Fairchild in year two, he has learned a lot. He's been going against some extremely good players in practice. So he has only gotten better.

His hardest work is going to be during the week. Game day will be very, very relieving for him because he's not going against the same creatures that he does day in and day out. Relieving, I like that. And my four was Jonathan Allen. I think, you know, coming off of a down year with Minnesota, there was a lot of problems going on down there.

but he's expected to be a pass rush specialist in the defensive tackle room. And I think he is in line for a big year, I think, because with Dexter Lawrence, creating a lot of double teams that's going to open a lot of one-on-ones for Jonathan Allen. And I think he can, I'm expecting him to win a handful of those and get to the quarterback, get to the running back before, you know, he breaks free. And so I'm expecting him to have a big year, I think, with all the pieces around him, the entire defensive line,

it's going to have a lot of better opportunities to get to the quarterback and get to the backfield. My fifth one, Barrett Carter, second year linebacker. He's wearing the green dot again this year. So he's a guy that needs to elevate his play from last year. He had some tackling issues and some coverage issues last year. But with the upgraded defensive line, again, I think he's going to be much improved and looking to see a year to jump from him. And I think if linebacking play can get to where it's about average,

then this defense is looking really scary. And so I'm hoping that Carter and Knight can improve. And I think Carter being the green dot guy is going to be big for a guy who's in the second year. And my sixth is Dalton Reisner, the guy I said who's one of the unsung heroes. If he can do what he did towards the end of last year, carry that over to this year, especially with the Bengals looking like they're going to be running more under center. Those interior guys are going to play a big part in that. And so I think if Reisner, especially as a leader in this offensive line group,

only being here for a year. It seems like his leadership is on point, like Alex said, he could have been a captain as well. I think he's looking for, looking to have another big year after he ended last year on a positive note. I'm hoping he can carry that over. And this offensive line is looking a lot, a lot better with five returning starters for the first time.

Yeah. And again, that's a key element going into the season. We've talked about that a lot this off season. So coach mentioned Dylan Fairchild and the release. that he may experience on game day. There's another offensive lineman who may already be experiencing that, and that's Ted Karras.

He's number seven for me. Okay. The way his manhood has been challenged in training game by Dexter Lawrence, he, listen, I'm not worried about him going up against Ruben Bain or Sheldon Rankins or Cameron Hayward or whoever Jackson wants to throw at him in the first four weeks this season. Okay, Ted Karris is ready to just let out all his hands. banker having gone up against Dexter Lawrence and training camp. He's number seven for me.

Number eight, Andre Yosebash. Is this finally the year we see the full potential of Yoshi unleashed? And number nine, Evan McPherson. You know, I think he's, I'm expecting a big season from him. You know, and if the Bengals' offense is scoring, he will be too. He could be one of the best scorers in the NFL this season. So, Karras, Yosey Vash, and McPherson for me are my seven through nine. Hey, those two, hey, great choices. You know what? I picked as my seven, and I am, excuse me, I keep forgetting what the punter's name is.

Ryan Rico. Yeah. Well, it's kind of funny. It's spelled different. So, yeah, no, he is my number seven. With the past stats that he has, if he can just repeat. those, you know, by keeping people in the, so-called in their territory, back inside the five like he has done with his average, it's almost been 50 yards a kick. You know what? With the offense, the way that they are dialed up, you know what, they may turn the ball over, but they're going to turn the ball over somewhere around the 50. So you got your choice. you can either put McPherson out there to try a long one, or that's if you trust your defense.

If not, you're going to punt it and he's going to back people up and make them drive the length of the field, which usually means you get a short field as an offense because they have to put. So he is my number seven. Number eight, I went with Yoshibati again, waiting to see consistency and waiting to to see that he is capable of making plays while he's in the game with T. Higgins and Jamar. And if he is capable of doing that, I know that there are some other guys behind him that are chomping at the bit for that opportunity and for those plays that they'll make them big. And I think that that's, I think this is all on him. He needs to push all the chips in the table

and cut it loose and go. My ninth, you know what? Probably kind of just out of thinking about things would be Kobe Young. You know what? Here's a big body, athletic body, long, lanky body. And I'd like to see them be able to just serve it up and throw in the ball and let him do some things. So I think they got a lot of versatility in that wide receiver room that you could end up in four wides or you can even end up in three wides and put different people in different spots to create matchup problems. And I think that is the key going to be coming forward because everybody knows what Jamar and T can do.

when they line up in the same spots all the time, it's easy to play cat coverage. You cover that cat, I'll cover this cat. But when you move those pieces around, now of a sudden, now you create matcher problems with linebackers, with safeties, now they've got to play zone, and that's when somebody like Kobe Young

really comes to play. You know, I think that they're going to pay so much attention inside or so much attention to those other guys. I think this this young man can really come out and play. Yeah, I agree. I think I like the Ryan Rico call out. I think he's a really big piece that I don't think we talk about enough. My seven is Dax Hill already mentioned, but I think we know what DJ Turner is.

We know what he did last year. Hope he can repeat that this year in a contract year. But Dax Hill also in a contract year looking to, you know, continue because he was kind of floating around. They couldn't really figure out where he's stuck. And then it seems like he's stuck at that other boundary corner. So it'll be a good to see him again. And, you know, obviously he's been hurt in practice.

But hopefully, because like coach said, if DJ Turner, we already know what he is. If Dax Hill can improve and be a really good corner, then there's defense is going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams. And so I think he could be an X factor. If he can take that next step and really, you know, solidify yourself as with him, to Carrio Davis and Dax Hill. That's a lot of length and speed on that secondary. Number eight, Eric All, I think, you know, I've talked about the tight ends a lot,

but I think he is a titan that can really transform the offense because of his blocking and his receiving abilities. And the Bengals don't really have one who's good at both. And I think, like you said earlier, Alex, we saw what he could do in 2024. And now that he's fully healthy, he said he's ready to go. Zach Taylor said he's going to unleash him. He's got no restraints. He's going to be a big part of this offense, it sounds like.

I think if he can, you know, with the under center stuff, 12 personnel, all that, I think he can be a big piece and can really transform the offense because of what he can do as a blocking and receiving tight ed. And number nine is Evan McPherson. We talked about him a lot. Just him being a complete weapon and, you know, being a guy who can add points to the board in big spots. And, you know, I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time because we heard to talk about at length

about him. But I think he can, I think he will win the Bengals a lot of games. because of what he can do in the clutch and being able to, you know, make kicks when needed to. So I think he's going to be a big piece for sure. Nine to fighting players after Joe Jammar, T, and Dexter Lawrence. Well done, gentlemen. Up next, the moment you've all been waiting for our game and record predictions. Bangal Squash out tonight brought to you by Cal Shee.

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markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshy.com. slash regulatory. All right, so we're running a little short on time here. We've got about, we'll say seven to ten minutes here. Don't want to run too long here on the Bengals Squad Show. Monday night, September 7th, back on Friday. Then, of course, on Sunday for our post-game show.

Let's run through the schedule, gentlemen. Let's go game by game. Win or loss predictions for the 26th Cincinnati Bengals. Start Sunday, of course, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bengals start 1-0 for the second straight year. I say yes, I'm going 31, 28, Bengals win. I say no. And I just don't feel real good about what kind of shape they're in.

Evan? I say yes. I think they need a big start. I think Joe Burroughs talked about urgency, and I think they're going to show that in week one. I also have the Bengals winning on a 43-yard fuel by Evan McPherson. Keep that in mind. Week two, the Bengals go to Houston.

Not feeling great about this game. I don't think the Bengals will play Portland. poorly though, 2320 Texans get to win in a 39-yard field goal by Kayami Fairbear. Coach, how do you about this game? You know what? This right here, this game here, I think the Bengals will play well, but going to Houston, that's a pretty hostile place. Yeah.

You know what? I can't say, I don't want to say either way, but I know it's going to be close. Okay. It's fair. Evan? I think they're going to lose this one. I think just with the Texans defense being as good as it is, one of the best, if not the best in the league.

The Texans are looking like a Super Bowl team with the projection. And so I think going at Houston, week two, I think it could be tough. Yeah, no question about that. Week three, they go to Pittsburgh, the Bengals. I have them winning this game. I think the Bengals, when Joe Burrell's healthy and playing in Pittsburgh, he's played very well, his last three times. He's won.

I'll say Bengals 27, Steelers 20. I take the Bengals on this one. I think that the pass rush is too much for a 41-year-old quarterback. Yeah. Yeah, I have the Bengals winning as well, and we know how these AFC North games are. They're low-scoring, tough, gritty, and the Bengals now have the defense to win those games. Evan and I have the Bengals are two-in-one. Coach didn't make a concrete prediction on the Houston game.

We'll say he thinks the Bengals win that game. I'm one-on-one. Okay. We're going to do ties. Listen, this is not soccer. The World Cup already happened this summer. All right. Let's go to week four against Jacksonville.

There's always one game, one home game a year in the Bengals lose. They shouldn't. I think this is that one. Jacksonville, the Bengals beat them last year at home in that weird game when Joe Barrow gets hurt. Don't think the Jaguress I've forgotten about that. I say Jacksonville wins 30 to 27. I'm going with the Bengals. in this one. I think that they

start to pull themselves together. I think that in the locker room of Joe Burrow and his presence takes over and he throws, he's not the only one talking about it. I think the other ones come to bat and jump on his bandwagon and jump

on his boat and they all start rowing at this particular point in time. I take the Bengals. I'm taking the Bengals as well. I think the Jags are expected to be a good team again, but I think this is going to be of the defining wins early on in the Bengals season. All right.

So a little more confident you two are in this game than I am. that's totally okay. One game that we should be universally confident and is the Bengals going down to Miami and winning that game, I think they will, 4117 for the sake of time. Coach Nevin, I assume you are in agreement on that. Okay, very good. Week six, Bengals on a buy. So that's good.

Week seven, they go to the Ravens. I think they win this game. I think this is the game that really sets them on their way. give me the Bengals 3831. I'll tell you what, this, you know what? I'm hearing an awful lot about the Bengals, or excuse me, about the Ravens and what they've got going. And, you know, with Derek Henry, he's talking the same as Joe Burrell. He's, you know, he's got the same thing.

And he's a big leader in that bulk in that clubhouse. And I think that this one down here, I think the Ravens who's got it. Okay, that's fair. On the road in Baltimore. Not in prime time, though, Evan. Yeah, I think the Ravens win as well. I think, you know, they have a new coaching staff. I've heard positive things about Declan Doyle as the offensive coordinator,

and at Baltimore is always tough. Coming off the buy, I think Baltimore is. Well, you know what? The other thing about this Ravens game, I have heard multiple sources talk about the camp that Trey Hendrickson's had. And I think that he was going to be chomping at the bit. Yeah, that's an interesting storyline, probably the biggest storyline of that game. Even in Baltimore, forget when he comes here.

That's going to be really even more intriguing. Week 8, the Bengals host the Titans. It's the Ring of Honor game. Is it a trap game? Yes, but this team is ready to take on trap games. We're in agreement that the Bengals win this game. I'm going 3821. Same with the Falcons week nine in Madrid.

I mean, I don't know what the Falcons are doing. A quarterback. They're starting to attack by Loa. Give me the Bengals, 42, 24. week 10 at home against Pittsburgh. So you come back from Madrid, first primetime game of the year, Sunday night at home against Pittsburgh. I think this is a tough spot for the Bengals. Pittsburgh's coming off a by.

You're coming back from overseas. I think the Steelers nipped the Bengals just barely, though, 2824. I'll tell you what, with all of the scenarios you just talked about, you're playing an opponent with a buy, previous buy. So they're rested. You're playing a tiger team coming back from. overseas. And in my opinion, you beat them the first time. So this is a must win for Pittsburgh.

I would say that it's the Steelers. Okay. Yeah, this is going to be a tough one for the Bengals, but I actually have them winning this one. I think, you know, obviously with the buy and the travel, it's going to be tough. But I just think at home, prime time, the Bengals are going to, I think it's a whiteout that game, I believe.

It is. Bengals are going to want to show out for their, for their home fans. And I just don't feel great about Pittsburgh this year. Pittsburgh's interesting. I have them in the playoffs in my season predictions that I've brought on my substack earlier today. So that's going to be an interesting game.

For the sake of time, I'm going to run through the other, the final eight games in the regular season. I have the Bengals going to Washington on Monday night football winning that game, 412. I think this could be a really fun game against the Saints and Coach. Your son's a coach on the Saints week 12. I say the Bengals win that game.

52-49 in a shootout game in Cincinnati. Bengals are Browns, week 13. Bengals will win that game 31-17. I think they beat the Chiefs in week 14, 34-31, strike the jungle. They'll go to Carolina win that game, 35-21 in week 15. I think they get tripped up by the Colts of week 16, 30, 27. The Colts are a sneaky team this year.

The White Bengals strike game against the Ravens. I think this is where they just completely unleashed the Bengals and take it to the Ravens at home. 48-28, when the A.F. C. North, and then they beat the Browns and Home Week 1838 to 20. So I've got the Bengals at 13 and four this season. Record predictions for you guys. 10 and 7. 10 and 7. Do you have them making the playoffs coach? Yes. Okay. Now do you have them winning the division or as a wild card? I believe that I think that this, you know what, I think it's between them because I pick

them beating, splitting with the Steelers, and hopefully, you know, I think Baltimore still got some quality people on it. I see them going as wild card. Okay. Evan, how about you? I have the Bengals at 12 and 5,

winning the AFC North and being one of the top seeds in the AFC. Okay. Now... I will say this, so, Alex, you had a lot of those real shoot-up shooting at games. Last year, I would have said the 38-31. this year, I think it's more like 3817 because of the defense they put together.

Well, that's the hope. And I think a lot of this is, is Aaron on the side of caution because the defense was just, it just was not good last year. So I'm kind of setting the bar low and understanding that there may be points scored by opponents. That was a horribly worded sentence, but you get the point against the Bengals this season. All right. So I have the Bengals going all the way to the AFC championship game, losing an overtime. to Denver. How far

you think that Bengals guys can go in the playoffs this year? I believe that they can go, even though they get in as a wild card and there's been plenty of wildcar teams that have won it. I can think that they can get to the divisional round. Okay. Evan, how about you? I'm going to say aFC championship too.

All right. Fair enough. Well, gentlemen, we have made it to the in-season part of the year. This is the best time of the year. If you're a football fan, if you're a former coach, if you're me who, you know, just loves the game and Evan, it's doing a great job on our lockdown. Megal Sit. We've got two games, two NFL games. It feels so great to say that in between tonight's show and Friday show. NFL kickoff Wednesday night Patriots Ciyadhs rematch a Super Bowl 60. Seahawks racing their Super Bowl 60 championship. And our coach are still great friends with Seahawks, general manager,

John Schneider. The state new looks. Seahawks defense, but darn it up front, they can still get after it. But the Patriots also had an offseason of change for the better. This could be a very good game on Wednesday. Who do you two like on Wednesday night? I got to go with Seahawks. I think that the additions that they've had with the exits that they've had, I think they better themselves.

And I think that they're back on a roll. I like the things that Mike McCarthy does. in, I mean, in Seattle. I think he runs a first class operation. And I think that they'll be ready to play. That's Mike McDonald's Ciox, head coach, Evan. Thank you. I'm going to Seattle as well.

I feel like no one's really talking about them as, you know, they just won the Super Bowl. Everyone's talking about the Rams and stuff. So I think they're going to put the NFL and the nation on notice that, hey, we're the defending champs for a reason. I do believe this game is much closer than Super Bowl 60, but I'm going to go with Seattle because I have. believe they have the better team currently. Real quick, Thursday night down in Melbourne,

Australia, first game in the land down under for the NFL 49ers and Rams, who you two got. Oh, I got to go with the 49ers. I don't like it because Kyle took him down there early to get acclimated. When you're going over, that's a long, long trip. And I know that Kyle had mentioned a couple of times about the trip going down there. And he did. not want to get fined so he said he was really looking forward to it and i believe that that's a long time going and a long time coming back i'm going to go with the rams uh just because the 49ers have a few guys that are kind of banged up right now and i don't really know what their status is going to be um and so i think some of those injuries might might cost them against a really good rams team

even though they're banged up the niners for some odd reason have success against the rams i think they will in this game Thursday night. We're back on Friday. Gentlemen, thank you, as always. It's been a great show in the night. Hope you all enjoyed it. I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. Have a great week.

We'll talk to you Friday afternoon right here on the Bengals' Squash. A part of lockdown Bengals and the lockdown podcast. Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Lockdown podcast Network is the number one sports podcast in America and the world. For Coach Art Fillero, Evan Stacey, at Lockdown Mangles, hit at Evan Stacey 3. I'm Alex Frank and Frankie underscore Natty. Have a great best to your night. Have a great week.

We'll talk to you on Friday. Three days officially into the NFL season, two days away from the first Bengals game of the season right here on the Bengals squad show.