Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: TOP 10 JOE BURROW and JA'MARR CHASE GAMES, CURRENT STATE of the ORGANIZATION
Episode Date: June 16, 2026To celebrate the Locked On Podcast Network's 10th Anniversary, we're ranking the Top 10 Joe Burrow games and Top 10 Ja'Marr Chase games. Alex Frank, Jake Liscow and Coach Art Valero discuss Alex's lis...ts for Joe Burrow's and Ja'Marr Chase's Top 10 Games. Which games made the lists, and which didn't? Then, Alex, Jake, and Coach discuss the current state of the Bengals' organization after a resurgent offseason and excitement building for the 2026 Season. Plus, a poignant question as it relates to the Bengals' pursuit of their first Super Bowl Championship. Photo Credit: USA Today Network Join 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/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! Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. 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. 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. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase have established themselves as the best quarterback wide receiver combo in the NFL.
And today, in honor of the 10 year anniversary of the Lockdown Podcast Network, we're giving you our top 10 Joe Burrow and top 10 Jamar Chase games.
We've seen them break a lot of Bengals records, and it stands to reason that we can see them break even more.
And coach, 10 years, the state of the organization, definitely feels like they're all in.
Well, you know what?
The road has been paved.
Let's see how long that road goes.
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 Lockdown Podcast Network can.
From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now.
It is June 16th of 2006.
Today is the 10-year anniversary of the Lockdown Podcast Network,
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With Jake Liscoe, the co-host of the Daily Lockdown Bengals podcast with Joe Goodberry,
Coach Art Valero.
I'm Alex Frank.
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Coming up on today's show, it's a 10-year anniversary special.
Top 10, Joe Borough Games, top 10, Jemar Jaze games.
Jake, you and Joe Goodberry did your top 10 performances of the last 10 years today,
which is a very good listen this morning.
Plus, we're going to give a kind of a state of the Bengals organization as they stand going
into minicam today.
That starts today.
It just got underway about 15 minutes ago.
and then a poignant question, Super Bowl or relevancy.
What matters more?
There's an obvious answer, but there is also a discussion worth to be had.
But we begin with the top 10 Joe Burrow and top 10,
Jamar Chase games.
Gentlemen, I've got my list.
You're going to react to them.
It's okay if you disagree with me.
I've had people disagree with me already that I've shared my list too.
But I want to ask this question first.
Is there any doubt in your mind that Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase are the best
quarterback wide receiver combo in the NFL?
I think that other teams would probably argue with you a little bit,
but I don't personally have that doubt.
So no, I agree with you.
I think that Jamar and Joe are two that are some of the best of what they do in the NFL,
if not the best of what they do in the NFL on any given Sunday,
and putting them together with the chemistry they have.
I'm with you on that one, Alex.
Coach, they've completely changed the way the Bengals play offense.
We've never seen this prolific connection, and the Bengals have it.
Well, you know what?
There's a reason why they, former teammates, great connections,
the reason why they were picked back-to-back years as their ones.
You know, like Jake, I think every team in the NFL is going to argue that fact.
But the great thing is, is that's why we play on Sundays.
And we can see how many of these things come to fruition.
And they've come to fruition a lot with Burrow and Chase.
All right.
So here's what we're going to do.
I'm going to go 10 through 6 and then we'll react to where I have these games,
what games I have 10 through 6, and then we'll go 5 through 1.
This segment will be a Joe Burrough segment, top 10 Joe Burrow games.
And there are a lot that didn't even make the list that could have made the list.
That's how good.
That's how great he is.
We begin with my number 10 Joe Burrow game of the last, or of his career, I should say,
2022, week 11.
Bengals 37, Steelers 30.
This was the game and the best soundbite,
the most notable sound bite from that game,
Joe Burrow on the sideline famously proclaiming,
We the Big Dogs, the Bengals went into Pittsburgh at 5 and 4,
Jamar Chase was out.
Joe Mixing got concussed in that game.
He threw four touchdowns in that game,
three of them to Samajai P Ryan,
another one to Treadin Irwin.
He threw for 355 yards.
That game proved that Joe Borough could put
up big numbers, even without Jamar Chase, and then eventually without Joe Mixon.
Number nine on the list, the 2021 AFC divisional playoff game.
Bengals 19, Titan 16, the birth of Joe Scheisty, as someone once pointed to me, he
overcame nine sacks in that playoff game to lead the Bengals to their first ever road
playoff win in franchise history, throwing for 348 yards on 28 of 37 passing.
and he also had a key first down rush in the third quarter that led to Joe Mixon's rushing touchdown,
the Bengals only rushing touchdown of the game and also made that big throw to Jamar Chase
to set up Evan McPherson's game winning field goal.
Number eight, 2020 week eight, Bengals 31 Titans 20.
This was Joe Burroughs coming out party.
Remember that past Jake that he threw to Tyler Boyer where Tyler Boy wasn't even looking
when Joe Burrow released the ball.
Joe Burrow threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
Mike Tariko mentioned him on.
Football 9 in America highlights that night.
That let people know, okay, the Bengals got a real dude at quarterback.
Bengals won that game, of course, as well.
Number 7, 20, 24, Week 17, the Bengals beating the Broncos 30 to 24 in overtime.
They're facing the number one defense in the NFL, one of the top defenses in the NFL.
Joe Borough put the team on his back.
He made some big time throws, including the throw to T. Higgins in overtime to set up the game
when he touched down to T.
It was an MVP caliber performance, 39 to 49.
four 12. Three touchdowns also rush for 25 yards on four carries and a touchdown.
Number six, this may be my favorite Joe Burrow game, and it's not my top game.
But week eight of 2023 against San Francisco, 3117, the big escape from Nick Bosa on the
Bengals first drive, they go down and score. It sent a message at the time that Bengals were coming,
the Bengals went into San Francisco, beat a team that obviously we know has a lot of history
related to the Bengals.
28 of 32, 283-3 touchdown,
six carries, 43 yards.
At the time, he had the calf injury behind him.
He looked healthy.
He was playing to the top of his game,
and only the Bengals had managed to go on a run after that game.
That's 10 through six.
Your reactions.
I like that Denver game for a top five game, personally.
That one is very impressive to me,
and it's one that was one of the reasons that I put his 20-24 season.
atop of my top 10 single season performances in the last 10 years for the Bengals on our episode
of Locked on Bengals, that game emblematic of everything that Joe Burrow went through in 2024,
where the offensive line couldn't protect at times.
He put the team on his back throughout that season, and he had to be perfect for them to win games,
the way that that season was going.
And he was as close to perfect as you could be in that game against Denver.
and given the quality of the competition in that game,
everything at stake in that game,
the amount of perfect plays from Joe Burrow,
getting rid of the ball less than half a second
before getting hit and dropping it in the bucket,
or perfectly placing a pass under extreme duress
with everything at stake, like I said.
That game, for me, ranks very highly,
but I'm glad to see that it hit your top 10 at least
and close to cracking the top five.
Francisco game also really good. There are a couple of good San Francisco games in Joe Burroughs history as well.
Yeah, I definitely did think about that week 14 game in 2021 where he had two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter that brought the Bengals back from now 20 to six.
They should have won that game. I mean, Zach Taylor, obviously, we criticize him for taking the ball out of Joe Burroughs hands in overtime.
But the throws he made at Jamar Chase, the throw he made to Tyler Boyd over the top just before he got hit.
That's what makes Joe Burroughs special coach is the ability to make any throw in,
any situation. Well, you know, and this is coming from somebody that didn't, hasn't had a
great history with the Bengals. But you know what? You knew it right away. He can literally,
as Jake mentioned, you can saddle him up and you can ride that horse until it drops because he
can carry a football team. Even with key players out, even at the times with not having a
a stellar O line.
And you know what?
He's able to take control of a game.
Give him the ball and you know great things are going to happen.
With all of those numbers, not a lot of turnovers.
And I think that is the key to his percentage numbers in each of those games.
He's throwing for a high percentage of throws.
So if he's throwing it, he's not throwing it to the other guy.
he's throwing it to the guys in the black or white shirts.
That's what you want.
And coach, it's interesting because you probably have seen Joe Burroughs playoff games in January.
You go back to that playoff game against Tennessee where he was sacked nine times.
Any other quarterback might be so rattled that he throws a bunch of interceptions.
Well, the one interception, Jake, you remember this, that Joe Burrow threw in that game,
I still contend it hit the ground.
It actually was a pass intended for Samage, P. Ryan, sort of in the flat, a checkdown.
P. Ryan tipped it, deflected it in the air, and it was intercepted.
But Joe Burrow and that game coach was still 28 of 37.
You could sack nine times and only throw nine in completions on 37 attempts.
We're talking about a different specimen of quarterback, right?
Oh, you know, absolutely.
First of all, anything over three?
Way too many.
You're not even in the game.
But that same person kept you in the game and eventually won the game.
You know what? I mean, that is crazy. And I guarantee you, I think Frank might have been the O' line coach at that time, Frank Pollan.
He was. I guarantee you, instead of jumping up and down, he probably walked straight to Joe Burrow and thanked him personally for and apologized for all the abuse he took during that particular game.
I was at that game. It's still one of the best games I've been to. Jake, what do you remember about that game when Joe Burrow got sacked nine times, but yet still managed.
to make all the big plays for the Bengals in their first road playoff win in franchise history.
It was obviously embarrassing after the fact to see that the quarterback have been sacked nine times in a
playoff game, but while I was watching the game, I don't remember feeling the impact of those sacks
to the degree that you should feel the impact of the quarterback on the team getting sacked nine times.
It didn't feel like some unsurmountable task.
And a lot of that is to who Joe Burrow is as a competitor and how that team was put together.
that the defense was there to help out too, but Joe Burroughs' resiliency on full display in that game
and one of his top traits that he's been admired for by his peers and teammates since then,
since his rookie season even, is his toughness and on full display in that game and really earns
the respect, I think, of all those around Joe Burrow and shows you the kind of mindset he can bring
to playing the quarterback position.
You know what else I remember about that is I believe that was just 14 months removed from his devastating ACL injury in his rookie season.
You withstand nine sacks and you lead your team to their first road playoff win in franchise history.
That said so much about the different quarterback that Joe Burrow is and we found that out that day.
I remember there were sacks and he was taking a beating.
But yet there he was at the end of the game.
He was fist bumping.
He was high-fiving Bengals fans on his way back to the locker room.
That's when you knew that, okay, Joe Burrow is Joe Shisty.
Now, I could have put honestly, Jake, you brought up an interesting point that Denver game in the top five.
I mean, it's one of the best performances.
Like, Coach, I talk about withstanding nine sex, but facing the number one defense in the NFL, knowing they have two great corners,
you throw the ball 49 times.
you complete 39 of them for 412 yards.
I mean, that's unbelievable.
You know what?
The confidence level of this kid is incredible.
And it's been that way his entire career.
You know, even when he was in college.
I mean, he just has such faith and such trust in his arm and what he sees that there's no really,
there isn't a lot that can stop him.
if he's put in a situation, especially with those two wideouts, you know what,
who knows what he is, they are capable of doing.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
And Jake, I think about it, you brought this up on the show today,
if only that game, and I thought about this, if only that game against Denver,
the Bengals would have improved to nine and seven because then they would have been tied
with Denver.
They would have had the tiebreaker.
they could have gotten into the playoffs.
And then we're remembering that game so much more.
I could say fondly, but like, yeah, it's a memorable game.
But if only the Bengals would have been in better position to make the playoffs
after all the devastating losses that year.
Yeah, I mean, they had three incredible performances from individual players in 2024.
And unfortunately, it's a forgettable season when you look at the long history of the Bengals.
And so it's memorable right now because it was so recent.
but a lot of that year where it was like, man, if only, if only it was just a little bit better,
would have been a lot more fond with those memories.
Yeah. Coach, how frustrating can it be when you see a bunch of great individual performances
over the course of a season, but knowing that you let a lot of games get away?
Have you been around a team like that?
Absolutely. You know, it's you're constantly reminding the players that this is a team game.
And even though you have great individual performance,
it takes a team to win games and win championships.
And, you know, with all the numbers that Joe has put up,
all the great games that could have possibly been in that top 10,
there was always something about it on either side of the ball
or special teams that kept them from getting over the top.
And, yeah, he's the face of the franchise.
But it's time that now, and I believe me,
he's probably the first one to say, hey, you know what?
I am, but you need to be.
You know what?
Let's share the space and let's pick up on both sides of the ball so we can win as a team.
And I think that he would probably trade those, all those great individual games,
to have a ring on his finger.
No question about it.
I mean, there's so many games over the last two years, even in 2023 that I thought about,
where he played great.
but unfortunately the Bengals didn't come out on top.
I mean, in my list, I had 2024, week 5, 10, and 11 on that list.
I didn't put them on there, though, because we all remember those games
because the Bengals couldn't get it done in the end.
I could have put it on there, but at the end of the day,
what I remember more about those games is how the Bengals lost, unfortunately.
That leads me to the top five performances for me.
And again, this is open to debate, and that's what we're.
we like. We like debates. So I have Joe Borough games in his career. And you'll notice a theme here.
Number five, 2021-AFC championship. Down 21-3. He had two first-down runs in the fourth quarter,
one of which escaping Chris Jones, that famous scramble for the first down. I have a coffee
mug with that exact play diagram on it. 23 of 38, 250 yards, two touchdowns, five carries for 25
years.
Week, excuse me, number four, week four of 2021,
Bengals 24, Jaguars 21.
I was at this game.
The second half of that game,
he was in such a zone that you had confidence that he was going to bring the Bengals
back from down 14 nothing, which he did.
In the second half of that game alone, he was 17 at 20 for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
You saw what was possible with Joe Burrow was the Bengals quarterback with the Bengals
in that game in that season.
The Bengals improved to three and one.
overall in that game, 25 of 32, 348 yards and two touchdowns.
Number three, week seven of 2021, the game that made Jake and James famously do the
gritty to open their show afterwards.
Bengals 41, Ravens 17.
Joe Burrow proved he was big time in this game.
He sent a message that the national narrative about the Bengals was starting to change
in terms of how good they could be, 416 yards passing and three touchdowns against
the Ravens defense.
And of course, Jermar Chase, we'll talk about his performance in that game coming
enough. Number two, this was tough, two and one were tough. I went week 16 of 21 and number two.
Joe Burrow sent another message in this game to particularly former Ravens defensive
coordinator Don Martindale to not mess with me and make snarky comments in the week leading up
to the game. He had a vengeance to him and a mission in this game. 525 yards, still the single
game passing record in terms of passing yards for the Bengals, four touchdowns. Coach, how about this?
525 passing yards, 37 to 46. That's 80%.
You want to talk about accuracy and proficiency.
That's what Joe Burrow is.
And then my number one game for Joe Burrow, 2021, sorry, my phone going off.
Week 17, Bengals 34, Chiefs 31, the Bengals with an impressive win over the Chiefs,
you saw in this game that Joe Burrow could lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl,
be Patrick Mahomes, go toe to toe with him.
He made all the big time throws, 30 of 39, 446, and four touchdowns.
That two-week run, Jake and Coach, against the Ravens and the Chiefs.
I mean, here are the numbers.
67 of 85 for 971 yards, eight touchdowns, no picks.
When you hear those numbers, we're talking about,
I mean, I remember there was a column after the game that Joe,
that said that Joe Burroughs playing like Brett Farr,
and Drew Brees at the same time.
That's how great he was just two years into his career.
Hey, those are the kind that you could put in the bank for a long, long time.
Those are incredible.
You know what?
You got to hand it to not only Joe, but those receivers, the protectors,
got to hand it to them because it takes an accurate arm,
but it takes an entire offense to get yards after the catch
and get those either over 400 or 500 yards.
That's awesome.
Jake, in those two games, how did your opinion and perception of Joe Burrow?
Did it change in any way?
Did you know that he was this grade?
Like, what did those two games confirm to you about the Bengals franchise quarterback?
Confirm, I think, is the right word.
I don't think my perception of Joe Burrow changed at that point.
Sky's been the limit for him for quite a while, certainly by that point that my perception for Burrow is that the sky was a limit.
So those games were, as you say, confirming the suspicions that this guy could do some pretty substantial things when given the opportunity and he's done it over the years.
There are a couple of other games that I'm surprised and make your list as well that we can talk about if you're interested.
Let's do it.
The Buffalo game, his what, second to last full game in 2023, 31 for 44 in that game, 348, 2 touchdowns, flawless game from Joe Burrow and a game.
that they really controlled against Buffalo the entire way.
And going back to the 2022 playoff run,
I thought he was really good in that playoff run,
especially compared to 2021,
where the defense did have to pick up a little bit more
for the whole team in 2021 in the Super Bowl run.
But again, Buffalo in particular,
that game really stands out where in the snow, right,
that was a snow game.
Jamar Chase had the ball punched out at the back of the end zone
and a ball that I thought should have been a catch.
And still to this day,
when I look at that play, I see a catch.
Anyway, neither here nor there.
Those couple of games against Buffalo really stand out
because the Bengals have been so good against the Bills.
The Bills finally got one on them last year with the year going the way it was,
but Burroughs even pretty good in that game.
So I think those couple of games stood out for me,
the couple of Buffalo games.
And the playoff games are worth including, though,
that you included,
of the moments that they were, how important they were for the franchise.
And that takes me to one other game from 2021, which would be the Vegas wildcard game
and the Bengals first playoff win in my lifetime, I believe.
So that was a big one too.
And Burrow played quite well in that game as well.
Instead of, you know, absolutely the late comebacks were crucial in some of those other
playoff games.
But it wasn't as clean of a performance from Burrow as it was.
was against Vegas.
It was a little bit cleaner.
And I also really liked the week for Jaguar shoutout.
That was a great one to include.
I was also at that game, which is rare for me because I'm coming from a day away,
traveling by plane.
But that was a heck of a game for Joe Burrow where first half didn't feel so good.
Second half was incredible.
Yeah.
I mean, to come back off the mats from down 14, nothing against a team that was 0 and 3,
it was Ring of Modern Night, you would just be beating the Steelers.
And you're thinking, oh, my gosh, here we go.
again, the Bengals can't ever build on anything, but then you saw Joe Burroughs greatness in the second half.
He was throwing the ball to whoever he wanted to, wherever he wanted to.
And the Bengals, I mean, they jumped on us back.
That was the game.
I can't believe I didn't mention this.
Jake, that was the game where Joe Burrow famously said, put in my hands, it's over.
And he also famously said, you can zero me.
And then he said after the game, well, you guys know I have the playbook memorized like the back of my hand.
Like that's where you saw the confidence that Bengals fans resonate with Joe Burrow coach.
I think, Jake, you're pointing to an interesting theme here.
Some of the games I didn't have on this list,
it also speaks coach to Joe Burroughs floor,
is still throwing for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
It's just like you should expect him to do that every game.
And sometimes other quarterbacks struggle to do that.
Absolutely.
You know, and that puts him above an awful lot of quarterbacks.
And I think there's probably arguably five elites in the National Football League.
that are constant.
And Joe is certainly amongst that crowd.
And you know what?
The incredible thing is Joe's the one that has been playing
with a lesser team overall than those other guys.
And you know what?
Just think what he could do.
Maybe the only other one that's possibility is in L.A.,
the Chargers.
of Hilbert. I mean, he's probably the only other one that he has got a great chance.
They just need to build it around him. You're absolutely right. That's a great point there too.
And I mean, you can talk about comparing Joe Burrow to other quarterbacks in the NFL.
And, you know, we can have those conversations throughout the summer. The point is,
there are so many Joe Burrow games that could have been on this list that are on this list that are
just, it shows you the legitimacy he is brought to this franchise. It shows you the
possibilities that he gives you as a Bengals fan.
It shows that the moment is not too big for him.
He was uniquely prepared to come in and transform the Bengals franchise, which he has.
Now, he hasn't accomplished the ultimate goal yet, but hopefully that is coming in the not
too distant future.
Up next.
You know what I'm sorry, Alex.
You know, it's very, when you hear of the great numbers and what he's capable of doing,
they're all early in his career when the defense was.
static, I mean, was pretty good.
And they kept them in games and allowed him to get the ball back.
And they were all early and weren't necessarily in the last few years.
And they should have said, hey, you know what?
We build the defense up at the same time as we're doing this.
And shoot, who knows what Joe Poro should be, could be, and wants to be.
Well, you hear the conference he's been speaking with this offseason.
And when it comes to breaking the Bengals record for touchdown passes in a career,
it's because the Bengals front office has given him a competent, not just offense,
but defense to compliment him.
And I also think Jamar Chase feels the same way.
And there are some very, very memorable performances that are on his list of top 10 games.
We'll get to that conversation coming up next right here on the Bengals Squad Show.
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With Jake Liscoe, co-host of lockdown Bengals with Joe Goodberry and Coach Arbor.
I'm Alex Frank, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the lockdown podcast network today with our top 10 Joe Burrow games, top 10 Jamar Chase games.
And then two overriding questions and conversations surrounding the Bengals as minicamp gets underway today.
And the 2026 season is now just 89 days away.
The Bengals first regular season game, I should say, 89 days away.
All right. Top 10 Jamar Chase games.
Now, let's go back a little bit before I get into it.
The NFL draft in 2021.
Jake, you were co-hosting with James on lockdown Bengals.
Coach, I'm going to turn to you first.
What do you remember about that draft and the debate between Jamar Chase or Penae Sewell and the Bengals saying, oh, you got to give Joe Borough an offensive lineman?
But then those who are saying, if you can give him a generationally talented,
a wide receiver that he played with in college, you do it. What do you remember about that?
I remember being on the other side of on the Penae's soul side of it because they don't come
around very often and that talent pool is not real big. And so I was on the, okay, you've been
looking forever. You have, there's a lot of other offensive tackles that you have tried
some of which I worked out that the Bengals brought in and for whatever reason did not pan out.
I'm saying this kid right here is a surefire, surefire tackle.
Now, right tackle, although, but a great player.
And I'm saying, you know what, as good as Jamar Chase and as threatening as he is.
And plus, he's playing with his high with his college quarterback.
Their chemistry is already there.
I can see, and I know why, the Bengals decided to make that pick because of the fact that, you know, they would rather light the scoreboard up than not.
And they, you know what?
For the Bengals, great choice.
For Detroit, great choice.
Yeah.
I think they both worked out well.
Jake, what side were you on going into that?
draft. It was a deep draft, I thought, on the offensive line. And so my theory at the time was that
if you execute the plan of taking Jamar Chase and with the fifth overall pick, you could come
back and get an offensive lineman in the second round that could help you a whole lot. And the Bengals
had an opportunity to do so and did not execute on that opportunity. They could have stuck and
picked just Christian Barmore, who was picked with that very pick and could have helped them on
the defensive interior. But if they were insistent on picking an offensive lineman,
Jenkins goes one pick later to Chicago.
And he's had a bit of a bumpy career of late, but was good in Chicago and not necessarily
a tackle, but has been a good NFL player.
Sam Cosby goes a handful of picks later, 51, to the Washington commanders, really like
his draft prospect as we were evaluating the second round targets potentially in the
2021 NFL draft.
And the Creed Humphrey, all the way at the end of the second round, another player who
scored out incredibly highly for us.
and our pre-draft process, there were a number of potential targets for the Bengals to pick from.
And part of what happens in the NFL with every team is when you do wait to make that pick
and you don't take the Blue Chip player at the top of the first round,
there's a lot more variance that comes into play with that second round pick when you wait
until you see who else has been picked.
And what are the team evaluation is going to be?
The Bengals land on Jackson-Carman.
That unfortunately turns out to be the wrong selection.
but the thought process at the time was certainly that there's an opportunity to accomplish both things.
And maybe you don't get the blue chip level tackle in Penae Soule, but you could instead at a very viable offensive lineman,
or in the case of Creed Humphrey, the best center in the NFL, the other guys I talked about,
certainly capable players that could contribute for you and also get Jammar Chase.
It wasn't an either or proposition to me because the second round is usually a pretty okay place to get
quality, not elite offensive line play. And I thought that that was in play. And the Bengals,
unfortunately, like I said, did not have the correct evaluations to make the right pick in the
second wrap. Yeah, only two players remain from that draft class on the current roster,
Jamar Chase, obviously, and Evan McPherson, who was drafted in the fifth round that year. And we didn't
even know if Evan McPherson was going to be the starting kicker going into training camp,
but he beat out Austin Cyber for that position. That turned out pretty well. Here we go. Top 10
Jamar Chase games. And I do think it's a different.
interesting when you look back on that draft class. You look at the wide receivers that were drafted in
that year. Jamar Chase, Devante Smith, Jalen Waddle, Ammanra, Sam Brown, just to name a few.
Top 10 Jamar Chase games. Now, I do have some games that Bengals lost in this list, unlike Joe
Burrow. So here we go. In fact, number 10 is a game that Bengals lost. It was 2021 week five, one of the
craziest games, if not the craziest game I've ever been to. Bengals lose to the Packers,
25, 22, and over time. But what I love about that game is,
is Jamar or Devante Adam, Green Bay at the time, Green Bay's all pro wide receiver said,
these aren't the same old Bengals.
Jamar Chase in that game had six receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown,
almost had over 200 yards and two touchdowns.
There was a catch he made over the middle of the field that he bobbled and caught.
He then took off because he thought he wasn't touched.
The official said he was.
I kind of still think he wasn't.
He had that long touchdown before half time.
Joe Burrell just literally threw it down and Chase caught it.
He had that toe drag swag catch and overtime that should have set up the game when he'd
feel a goal, if not for a phantom gust of wind that came in from the south end zone of Peacor Stadium
or at the time, Paul Brown Stadium.
Still a tremendous game from Jamar Chase.
Even Stephen A. Smith had some props to the Bengals the next day on first take.
Number nine, his debut game, 2021, week one, Bengals 27, Vikings 24.
Something felt different on that 50-yard touchdown before halftime from Borough to Chase.
You felt something different.
The effortless nature of it, the big play nature of it, the explosive nature of it.
He quieted any narratives in that game about dropping passes in the preseason that he was going to be a bust.
All he did in that game, five catches, 101 yards, and a touchdown.
Number eight, I was also at this game in New Orleans, 22 week six.
Jamar Chase playing in his hometown, 132 yards and two touchdowns,
both of which came in the second half, including the game winning 60-yard touchdown from Joe Burrow
that won the Bengals a game they really needed to.
to win at the time. They were two and three going in. They got to 500, never fell below 500 again,
the rest of the regular season. Number seven, 20, 23, week five. Now, this game may be a little
lower. That's because there are so many great games. Bengals 34, Cardinals 20. Jamar Chase set the
Bengals record for single game receptions in this one with 15. It also came one week after he famously
said after the Bengals were drubbed by the Titans 27 to three. I'm always effing open. Well,
house 15 catches for 192 yards and three touchdown.
in that game. Number six, 20, 23, week 13, the Bengals going to Jacksonville and stunned the Jaguar's
34, 31 and overtime. I vividly remember him with Scott Van Pelt after the game, saying he chose
to be evil that night, and well, it led to 11 catches for 149 yards in a touchdown. He had an
incredible catch over the middle of the field to set up the game when he field goal, and he kept
the Bengals playoff hopes alive, even with Jake Browning as a starting quarterback in that game.
In a game, the Bengals badly needed to win. There were those who,
were saying the Bengals should tank because they had Joe Burrow on injured reserve.
I was not one of those.
None of us were any of those people.
But it just felt good to see the Bengals still in the playoff picture,
even with the dire circumstance of Joe Burroughs injury.
10 through six, your thoughts.
Jamar has so many great games to choose from.
Can't quibble with any of those.
And there's some fun ones I'm sure you got in the top five.
Well, there are.
It gets a little nutty from there.
I like the inclusion in particular of his premier game.
I was thinking about that one as you were talking about Week 5 Green Bay, 2021,
and there's a couple other 2021 games that I'm sure you have on the list here.
But the week one game was also fun because of all the narratives in the preseason.
And it was a strong start for Jamar Chase kind of bursting onto the scene.
As soon as the game started counting, Jamar was ready to go.
Yeah, no question about it.
Coach, when you hear all these performances for a guy who sat out,
the 2020 season due to COVID-19 to prepare for the NFL draft.
And after the preseason battles of him dropping pasts,
you don't hear about that anymore.
Well, you know, that just shows you what kind of player he is.
You know, and he's been very, very, very consistent throughout the time.
And he's got big play potential all the time.
It's funny how probably his top 10 coincide with Joe's,
top 10. And they are a great dynamic between the, you know, duo between the two of them.
They are really, really very exceptional. And I think that, hey, just keep feeding the studs.
I mean, that's what this offense is, is FTS. And let's just keep giving them the ball.
And, hey, let's let the other side of the ball kind of do what they do. And hopefully you're
always in the game. Yeah. I mean, with the wide receiver, like, just,
Jamar Chase, you're never out of it, as I'm going to talk about here coming up, because
he's one explosive play away from completely changing the outcome of the game.
Top five, here we go.
These are some good ones.
Number five, this is a painful game to remember for all of us.
2024, week 10, Thursday night football in Baltimore.
He was virtually unstoppable in the second half of that game.
11 catches, 264 yards, three touchdowns.
This was Jamar and Chase at the peak of his powers.
against the team he has torched throughout his career, if only the Bengals have been able to finish and win that game.
Number four, this is a game the Bengals won and won convincingly.
2021, Week 7, Bengals 41, Raven 17.
My favorite memory about that day is Chris Collinsworth on it on Sunday night football that night,
said that Jamar Chase may be the best wide receiver in Bengals history, and this was only seven games in.
Now, Michael's literally was like, what about you?
Because obviously Collinsworth played wide receiver for the Bengals.
Eight catches, 201 yards and a touchdown.
He was setting rookie records.
He was setting NFL records in just seven games into his career.
Number three, 2024, Week 14, Bengals 27, Cowboys, 20, Monday night football.
They had the Simpsons alternate broadcast and Joe and Jamar shoving donuts in each other's faces after the game.
During the game, all Jamar Chase was was dominant.
14 catches, 177 yards, two touchdowns, including the game winner off of a crazy
fluke play that went the Bengals way. And Joe Burrough said after the game, we needed a break.
And, well, they got one. Number two, 2025, week seven, Bengals 33, Steelers 31, Thursday night
football Joe Flacco's second start in five days after being traded literally the Tuesday
prior, set the single game record for receptions with 16, 23 targets with a backup quarterback
in his second game in five days. That night, he validated why he's the best wide receiver.
in the NFL 16 for 161 and a touchdown.
But let's be honest.
And Jake, I'm sure you'll agree with me on this.
Jamar Chase, the greatest game he's ever played.
The best game so far, week 17, 2021, Bengals 34, Chiefs 31.
That game you saw that the Bengals finally had a guy who was leading highlight show,
Sports Center, NFL Game Day Final, et cetera.
He was on our team, the Bengals, 11 for 266 and three touchdowns,
Third and 27, that will long live in Bengals' lore.
The first touchdown where he ran away from the entire Chief's defense.
You're like, oh my gosh, the Bengals have that guy, completely flipped the game.
In a game that Bengals were underdogs, the Chiefs had won eight straight games,
and Steve Spagnolo and the Chiefs defense had no answer for him.
It was 14-0 when Chase got going.
And coach, like I said, that play, that 72-yard touchdown where he outran the entire Chief's defense,
it flips momentum, and it flips seasons.
and it did for the Bengals on that Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati.
Yeah, you know what I tell you, those amazing output of, you know, I remember watching
because I worked for Steve Spagnolo, and I remember watching the game, and I went, whoa,
you don't see that every day, not necessarily against the Chiefs, but against anybody,
where somebody can actually outrun the whole defense.
And this is talking with safeties, with angles and everything else.
That was phenomenal.
I went, whoa, what a talent to have on your, now the key is protecting them enough to get him the ball.
Yeah, no question.
Jake, any thing you want to add to the top five list?
Those are some great games.
I feel like I 100% agree with number one.
I feel like there are 200-plus yard games, like 200-plus-yard receiving games that didn't make your list, right?
Did you get all of us 200-yard?
I don't think you did.
I think like if you just did Baltimore games, you could come up with a list that would be a top-five number of games for any number of receivers in NFL history.
If you only looked at certain Baltimore games, you go back to the 193-yard two touchdown performance against Baltimore in 20.
It's the same season he had 264 and three touchdowns against Baltimore.
Go back to his rookie season where he had a 201-yard game in week seven.
And that's the same season.
He goes for 125 in week 16, which isn't even all that impressive.
And I agree with the Steelers Unk full game to include from 2025 as well.
But the fact that I'm pretty sure there were at least two, 200-yard games that didn't make your top 10,
unless I completely lost track of the games you included.
Like, that's crazy that a guy, and it's like reasonable almost to not include some of them, too,
because he has so many special games to pick from that maybe there's a little bit more for,
you know, for Jamar 101 on five catches and a touchdown is pretty pedestrian.
That's his first game in the NFL.
I mean, if you're just looking at just the stat line and removing the context from it entirely,
that's just kind of a ho-hum game for Jamar.
And that does make the list.
And I agree with it being there.
But it's just one of those things that it really stands out that this guy has had so many 200-yard games that some of them not even in the list.
And maybe I'm wrong.
Stop me if I'm wrong, please.
Well, I think, no, you're not wrong at all.
Every 200-yard game is on the list.
He had, I did think about that week five game, Jake, against the Ravens.
and 24 because he was ridiculous in that game.
10 for 193 and two touchdowns,
including one where he caught like practically a screen pass
and outran the Ravens secondary for a 70-yard touchdown,
which should have been the game sealer,
but we all know it wasn't.
Another game that I almost thought about putting on there
was week seven of 2022 when he had eight for one, 30,
and two touchdowns against the Falcons.
And a lot of that came in the first half.
Remember, he ended up hurting himself in that game.
think with the hip injury that cost him the next four games. So there was that game.
Was there another game that I thought about putting it on there? I'm trying to think.
I mean, there's like he had 165 against Jacksonville this past year on 14 catches.
That game could have been on the list. I mean, there. And half of that's with Jake Browning at
quarterback. Yes. When the defense coach had to know the ball was going to Jamar Chase and they
still couldn't stop him. You know what? That makes the, he's had so much.
many great performances. You know what? I mean, between him and now you've got him another weapon
on the other side and T. Higgins and I mean, who do you double? If you double as a defensive
coach, you try to double Jamar, you're going to get burnt another direction. And I tell you what,
the offense, having Joe Burrell, having Chase, Jamar Chase, and. And I tell you what, the offense, you having Joe Burrell,
is it, it's ready to explode. Now, if they, they can't, a, knock on wood, they, they stay healthy
and they just keep the course and the defense against it and special teams get them great field
position. Shoot, who knows what can happen. Of the top 10, Jemar and Shea's games in terms of
receiving yards, eight of them made my list. That's, that says something. I mean, he's, he has, he has,
He has nine games with over 150 receiving yards.
He has six games over 175, all but one made the list for me.
And then he has two games with 200 or more yards.
Two of those games, the Bengals won.
And we're talking about the best wide receiver in the NFL.
And it's crazy to think that there were those that were worried,
and rightfully so, when he was dropping passes in training camp and the preseason.
because all he's done since then is just early on in his career show why he can be a pro football
Hall of Fame caliber wide receiver.
And he's so versatile too.
That's what makes him fun.
He can do just about anything you need a wide receiver to do on the football field.
I'm not going to nitpick.
This isn't the time to do so.
It wouldn't be about anything to do in the receiving game.
It would be about blocking.
But the things that he can do as a receiver as a route runner, vertical threat, slot inside after the catch are,
very few guys that can do what Jamar Chase does.
And perhaps making it even more impressive is the way he plays above the
rim at just six feet tall.
Yeah.
The guy is a complete package and he is a heck of a lot of fun to watch.
Excited to see him and Joe Burrow doing it again this year because, you know,
one of the things that stood out is we were reviewing the best performances,
the best single season performances for the Bengals over the last 10 years on lockdown Bengals,
Joe and I yesterday was those guys are still on the team.
Number one and number two, still on the team, still in their prime, should be a lot of fun to watch over the next few years.
Yeah.
You mentioned Jamar Chase versatility.
I had this conversation last night with my cousin when I was revealing my list to him.
He's a huge Bengals fan like me.
Jamar Chase is a blocker.
I think back to week six against the Lions in 2021 on that fourth and inches play, Joe Mixon's touchdown where Joe Borough rolls out to the right, dumps it off to Joe Mixen.
And Jamar Chase is literally carrying his defense.
20 yards down the field.
Jamar Chase is not only a great player.
He's also a selfless player.
That's something, coach, you really want in your franchise's number one wide receiver,
a guy who's willing to block and carry a defender to pave the way for a running back
to take it to the house on a fourth and inch split.
Absolutely.
You know what?
I mean, that is.
And that's why it was so uncharacteristic for him last season.
And you could tell just like it did with Joe Burrow and just like it did with so many others,
that weren't in the public eye,
they were just frustrated at the way that the season went out
or was progressing.
And, hey, they needed the fix.
And now, hey, they've gotten a fix.
And I think both of them,
and I think the entire offense feels so much better
about where they are as an offensive unit
and where they are as a football team.
No question about that.
Speaking to the football team in honor of the 10-year anniversary
the lockdown podcast network.
A state of the organization is what we're going to hit on next.
A little shorter segments we went really long on those borough and chase conversations,
which is totally fine.
We'll get to what we feel is the state of the organization headed into an all-important season
coming up next on the Bengals Squad Show.
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Back here on the Bengals Squad Show
with Jake Liscoe and coach R. Valera, Alex Frank, here with you.
State of the organization,
we'll do a little shorter segment here
as we get into our final two of the day.
Here's the thing when it comes to the Bengals.
I feel like for the first time in a decade,
in the 10-year theme here,
that the offensive line and the defense appear to be adequate,
both at the same time.
That's really key.
Hopefully it plays out that way.
That's what we're hoping, right?
There's all these hopes and dreams that are hinging on
the offensive line being what we think it is.
And I'm pretty confident that if they're healthy in particular,
that the starting five on the offensive line is a solid plus group.
The defense bears most of the questions at this point in time.
And we heard via several reporters who were in the room from Katie Blackburn and Elizabeth Blackburn on Monday making up for not talking at the owner's meeting.
Katie met with those reporters that traveled to the owners meetings in Arizona in a small media gathering.
No video, no audio, as Paul Dana Jr. pointed out.
But as they're discussing, I think Katie was attributed with a quote that was like, yeah, we have no glaring holes, no glaring issues.
And as Paul pointed out, as he was discussing with Jay Morrison on his podcast last night,
well, the no glaring issues conversation depends on how you see linebacker probably and what side of that conversation you land on.
But if you are looking at this team on the whole, the additions that they've made on the defensive side of the bowl,
how solid you feel about the offense going into this year, Joe Burrow acknowledging that by saying,
this is the most talented team we've had since I've been here, the front office, hey,
lay off, they did what I wanted him to do.
If you're on them because of me, hey, I'm happy with what the front office did this
offseason. Yeah, I mean, this is probably the most steam that the Bengals have had in June
since, what, 2020?
Something like that.
2023 maybe going into the season coming off of an AFC championship run.
It definitely feels like, I mean, Coach, look, you can say that this is the time of year for optimism,
but I feel like there has maybe never been a more genuine positive with also some hope in their feeling that this team can in fact do what they've never done throughout their history.
And that is win the Super Bowl.
But you know what?
I think this is, I am very optimistic about seeing actually them all play football and see how they gel as a team.
I think they have the, I mean, they went out and did a great job the front office.
of patching many, many holes that were obvious.
And I think that are they done?
I don't believe that they're done yet.
I still think they're kind of weighing their options through it.
And I think this, starting today, I think that during the mini camp,
they're going to make some decisions after mini camp to bring some guys in before camp.
And we had mentioned it before, even before the draft,
when free agency was going on, bringing some guys in that they know they can fill,
you know, actually not like putty and just fill in the hole,
but actually be major contributors to both sides of the ball.
And that includes offensive line and defensive, or excuse me, and linebacker.
And I think that they can go out and get themselves somebody.
And I think, hey, I'm optimistic about the season to see where they're going.
I would certainly like after OTA or after excuse me after minicamp to give the fans, including myself, a update on the play of the linebackers, a play of their draft choices and a play of who's in the mix to be that slot corner.
and tell us where they're at and who's competing for the job.
And you know what?
I would feel a lot more comfortable if somebody were to ask them those three questions
and have them answer them.
Sorry, Coach.
The good news is that we're going to hear from the Bengals coordinators this week.
We're going to hear from Zach Taylor this week.
We're going to, I think, on Wednesday here for both Dan Pitcher and Al Golden,
we're going to hear from Zach Taylor on Thursday after the conclusion of mini-camp,
which is going on as we speak.
I just watched Josh Newton pick off a pass intended for T. Higgins from Joe Burrow in training camp.
Braylon Lux, to answer your question about the slot corner conversation is in the mix,
along with Jaseer Taylor and Jalen Davis.
So it looks like a three-way competition going on there with a bunch of guys that don't have a long NFL track record.
But there's definitely some excitement.
We'll probably talk a little bit about Braylin Lux on the Lockdown Bengals podcast over the next couple of weeks about the potential there.
And so hopefully we get some of those answers.
We're going to hear from Joe Burrow later.
today as well and we'll have coverage for you on the daily show, the everyday show on
lockdown Bengals with Joe Goodberry and myself, of course, as mini camp continues.
And the reason that I'm talking, like, I'm about to leave is because I'm about to leave.
I'm having a dog dropped off for me that I need to sit for the next 24 hours and he will
be here in the next two to three minutes.
So that's going to do it for me for this episode of the squad show, guys.
Enjoy the rest of time.
Jake, hey, I appreciate to saying that because not only do I watch.
you every day with the lockdown broadcasts.
But that should give everybody out there that's thinking like I am, like, where are these
guys?
Because they get tired of hearing from the same people, you know, in the building.
I mean, I like to hear from Mike Brown and I like to hear from Duke Tovin again.
I mean, what do you got duct tape on your mouth?
Come on.
Tell us about what's happening.
Yeah.
Well, it is, it is.
I don't remember the coordinators talking at minicamp in the past.
Maybe they haven't.
I'm just not remembering it,
but that should be a nice addition this week.
It'll be about 20-ish minutes, I would guess,
with those coordinators tomorrow.
So we'll see what comes out of those press conferences.
Guys, enjoy the rest of the show.
We'll see you next time here on the squad show for me.
And if you're still watching,
make sure you stick with Alex and Art the rest of the way here today.
Jake, Liska, thank you.
As always, you can check him out on the daily lockdown bangles show
with Joe Goodberry.
I'm going to say this, coach.
I'm going to tease this for a Thursday show.
you, me, and our good friend Joe Daneman at Fox 19, I'll seize this really quick.
The pressure is on Zach Taylor and Duke Tobin.
If they don't deliver this season, there will be major changes.
I am convinced of that because this front office, as we have seen, this offseason is very serious about winning.
They understand what's at stake.
As I bring coach back in here.
The front office coach understands what's at stake here going into this season.
to the coaching staff to deliver. How hot exactly is Zach Taylor's seat? That's a conversation
we're going to have with Joe Daneman when he joins us on Thursday. Coming up, a game of would
you rather, and a lesson I learned while standing outside the Moreland Locker House this past week.
That's coming up next on the Bengals Squad Show. We are brought to you today by indeed. So
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I'm Alex Frank.
Jake, let's go with us up until just a few moments ago.
All right.
Coach, you're an 80s rock guy, right?
Absolutely.
You're a Van Halen fan, I'm going to guess.
You know what? I am.
Okay. There's an album, and I've always told people, if I were a major league baseball player,
my walk-up song would be Best of Both Worlds. It's the title song to their title album.
I believe that it's 36 tracks long, best of both worlds.
So ideally, in sports and in life, you want the best of both worlds whenever you can.
Fortunately, that hasn't always happened.
And it goes back to a question that I first read when the Bengals were on their Super Bowl run in 2022 in February of that year.
And it was easy for me to answer.
And yes, the answer to this question is obvious, but it also begs the conversation.
Would you rather, coach, the Bengals win the Super Bowl this year, but then dip back into mediocrity within three to five years.
Or would you rather the Bengals be relevant for the next 10 to 15 years and have several chances to win the Super Bowl, but maybe never win it?
There's an obvious answer here.
but the conversation coach is about relevancy and maybe what's more important.
What do you think?
Well, you know what?
I look at it this way.
With the investment that they've made and the age of some of their players that are,
we mentioned it earlier in the show, that are just dynamite,
you'd like them to win a Super Bowl within the next two years
because I think the window closes very quickly.
I think as an organization and as a fan base,
yeah, you would like to have a Super Bowl in your at home
because no one can ever take that away from you.
But on the other hand, you want to be relevant.
And you want to be in,
the spotlight, so to speak, for, you know, as long as you can.
And I think that that is a of not necessarily, I kind of refer it back to like the NIL.
A lot of people are going out and spend a lot of money on quality talent, and that's keeping them there.
But yet the Alabamas of the world, they're good forever.
And they're good, but they're not good enough.
you're never going to be satisfied either way.
Personally, no one can ever take the Super Bowl ring away from me.
And we went into a lull shortly after for whatever reason,
and they went into it for a long time until they got, you know, Bruce Ariens and Tom Brady.
I mean, so those are extremely hard to get.
To win a world championship, boy, that's very, very difficult.
And it's hard to repeat.
My hats are off to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots that were in, including the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings for getting there.
And how hard is that?
And they had some quality players as well.
So you don't know if you're ever going to get there again.
And so I would like to have Joe Burrow and some of these other guys, Jamar Chase, get their ring.
Get their ring and no one can ever take it away.
I mean, Miami Dolphins were good all the time.
But Joe Munner, excuse me, Dan Marino still is yet to receive.
He's got a Hall of Fame ring, but he didn't have.
the Super Bowl rate. No, and he got there in a second year and never went back and you hope that
Joe Borough doesn't follow that same path. You bring up several great points. I mean, you talk about
the Buffalo Bills. They went to four straight Super Bowl's coach, four straight. That streak should
be remembered in a much more positive light than it is. I do because you talk about losing the
Super Bowl three straight years and then getting back the next year. I don't think we understand the
mental fortitude that that takes because losing the Super Bowl is the most devastating feeling there is.
and you get back four straight years, that's pretty,
I'm impressive.
Minnesota went to four Super Bowls in eight years in the 70s.
That's an average of every other year they're in the Super Bowl,
and they got spanked in a lot of them.
They still found their way back.
I mean, that is incredible mental fortitude.
But it goes to this point.
When a team wins the Super Bowl for the first time,
they are forever changed as an organization,
instantly forever changed.
It was like that with Philadelphia.
It was like that with Seattle.
It was like that with Tampa Bay.
So Buffalo, Minnesota are really good almost every year.
They still don't have a Super Bowl.
But then there are teams like the Raiders who have their Super Bowls.
They haven't won a Super Bowl since, I believe, 1983.
They're now irrelevant.
The Saints have won Super Bowl, but no offense.
Coach, I know your son coaches on them,
but it doesn't feel like they're a major player on the national stage right now.
Look at Dallas.
Yes, well, Dallas, coach.
Dallas is always relevant. Come on. I mean, I get relevant because they're made to be relevant.
Yeah, true. I mean, you get hit in the face. Jerry Jones is one of those guys said,
hey, even bad news is good news because it's selling the product. Yeah, well.
You know, but when was the last time they went?
1995. Oh, gosh. I won more yet. Yeah, that's a long time ago. Yeah. I saw a stat earlier this
month that the Cowboys last Super Bowl win is closer to the moon landing than it's closer to the
present day. That tells you what you need to know about the Dallas Cowboys and their lack of
success since then. But the point is, like, look at your Seattle, your former Seattle Seahawks,
right? They've won two Super Bowls recently. And every other year, they've mostly been very good.
They're relevant and they have two Super Bowls in the past 13 years. Now helps when you have
John Schneider running the show up there, which they do. So it's very, very,
hard to not only win the Super Bowl, but also maintain success. But what you don't want to be
coach is irrelevant. That's a lonely place to be in this league. Oh, it is. You know, not only as an
organization, as players, as coaches, you can become irrelevant real quick unless you win it all.
And then you hope that the mojo, the quam, the aura, the chi, whatever it is, is still all together.
And you can continue to build on that.
And I think that it's the worst feeling in the world to be able to not be able to follow up with that and sustain that tradition of winning.
Brett Farf went to two Super Bowls in the 90s.
he played a decade plus after that, never got back.
So it's this lesson I learned last week.
So during the Bengals Super Bowl run,
I was not only thinking about,
oh my gosh,
they might win the Super Bowl,
but I was also thinking,
man,
Burrow, Chase, Higgins,
I mean,
they're going to be great for the next 10 to 15 years.
Like I started thinking about,
you know,
all the other great quarterbacks in various cities,
Brett Farvin, Green Bay,
John Elway, Denver,
Peyton Manning and Indianapolis, Drew Brees down into Orleans, heck Steve Young in San Francisco, where they were going to be so fun to watch and they were going to be competing for Super Bowl championships annually. And in the moment you start thinking about that, and that comes with after 31 years without a playoff point, maybe that does have something to do with it. But what I wish I would have done was not think so much about that. I wish I would have been just so caught up in it. And look, I enjoyed it. But I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have because I started.
I started thinking about what the future of the organization is going to look like.
And someone asked me last week, where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
And that's a poignant question to ask anybody, especially in my age.
My answer is every time someone asks me that, my answer is this.
I don't really think about five to ten years because I just want to be present.
Because if you say, well, I see myself here, here and here, coach, you never know I may arise.
You got to be prepared for anything in life.
And I think with the Bengals, it's, yes, you want to be all in on this year.
In the NFL, it's different.
You want to be one eye on the present, one eye on the future.
But winning that Super Bowl changes everything.
Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase will be more bona fide Hall of Fame candidates if they have a ring.
And they'll get all the great players, coach, that don't have rings.
Absolutely.
And it changes everything about an organization.
Well, you know what?
It not only changes everything about the organization.
It changes an awful lot about the city itself.
Yes.
You know, hey, all of a sudden it becomes contagious that because, you know,
Cincinnati is a great town and it's got a lot of things going for it.
You know, it's got the Reds.
It's got the Bengals.
It's got University of Cincinnati.
It's got Xavier and college basketball.
It's got, it has the makings of a city of champions that is right there.
Now, that in itself makes them relevant, but let's bring home a world championship like the Reds did.
I know as a Dodger fan, man, I hated to see them when they had to play them.
And then thank goodness they took them out of the same division.
So, yeah, I mean, it will change the city and the way that all those people look at themselves.
And it's very easy.
When you're no longer relevant, people seem to go away and people, you're going to hear a lot more noise because of what could have happened.
And now all of us are, you know, nitpicking at what you do.
So that's a great thing about football is it's a show me game.
They've showed you that they paved the way.
Now, hey, let's follow through with that.
Sports championships can change an entire city.
That's the power of sports.
You know, I'm looking at what's happened in New York this past month
and the past two months and how united that city is.
Now, New York and L.A. and Chicago and your big cities,
they, yes, sports championships, they need them, and they're high impact.
But you know about them because they're New York, L.A. and Chicago.
But think about Miami, New Orleans, Nashville, any other fun city in the United States.
You may not know a lot about them, but if their sports team wins a championship, then you all of a sudden do.
I think about Cincinnati, who hasn't won a championship since 1990.
All right.
If they were to win, think about how much more popular Skyline is.
Think about Grader's ice cream, Montgomery Inn Ribs.
I mean, you're talking about it impacts the city, the economy, the culture, and the sports landscape overall.
You can never underestimate the impact that a professional sports championship has on a city.
We've been running long.
Got to get out from the show today.
I have a poorly worried.
Excuse me.
We've been running a little bit long.
We got to run.
We got a show to prepare for on Thursday.
Coach, you, me, and our good friend Joe Daneman from Fox 19 sports, Zach Taylor,
and how hot his seat is in a variety of other Bengals conversations.
So much to get to World Cup is this Friday, the U.S. playing Australia in Seattle,
your former neck of the woods coach.
So that's going to be fun to watch 3 o'clock on Fox.
We'll be with you on Thursday this week.
Thanks to Jake Lisco earlier.
Thanks to coach Ard-Fallero.
I'm Alex Frank at Frankie underscore Natty.
Jake Lisco is at Jake Lisco on Twitter.
You can catch him daily with Joe Goodby.
on Locked-on Bengals.
We're back on Thursday with the twice-week long-form conversational supplement to Lockdown Bengals,
the Bengals Squad Show.
All of this, part of the great lockdown podcast network, turning 10 years old today.
Shout out David Locke.
Shout out everybody.
Shout out you for making us part of your daily routine, your first listen every day.
We'll be back on Tuesday right here on the Bengals squad show, part of Lockdown Bengals
and the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
