Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Squander Big Lead in PATHETIC Loss to Jets

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

This might be the Bengals' most pathetic loss of the year. The New York Jets came into Week 8 with the worst offense in the NFL, and effectively ran the ball in the second half on their way to overcoming 31-16 and 38-24 deficits as Al Golden's Bengals defense couldn't do anything right. Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down the wheels coming off for the defense that couldn't look worse if it tried against a bad offense missing two starting receivers. Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLRugietReady to level up your confidence ? Head to https://rugiet.comand use promo code LOCKEDONNFLfor 15% off your first order.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you look like that against Justin Fields, New York, Jets without Garrett Wilson, you're simply the worst defense in the NFL. And it's hard to see how it can get better. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. One of our Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Jake Liscoe. He is James Rapine, and we've got you covered here on Lockdown Bengals.

every day since 2016, every day, through the thick and thin, including this season, which is getting thinner and thinner by the day, which I'm sick of saying, James, as the Bengals drop a disastrous, disastrous game to the New York Jets. Anemic, pathetic New York Jets make the Bengals look even more anemic, pathetic, inexcusable, a deflating loss, whatever you want to call it. but a game in which we called this a spot where the Bengals had to stay on track, an opportunity for the defense to get right. And they kind of did neither of those things.

They definitely didn't do that on the defensive side of the ball. Every day is heard us talk about that going into this show, which is sponsored by GameTime, where you can save $20 on tickets in the app with promo code locked on NFL in your first purchase. But James, a game where the Bengals scored 38 points, against a New York Jets team that hasn't scored a meaningful touchdown in about a month was what Mike Greenberg said about the New York Jets after the Bengals lost this game.

Outscored 23 to 7 in the fourth quarter and the Bengals dropped to 3 and 5. Unacceptable, unbelievable to a degree to be that bad. This is the worst defense the Bengals have ever had. Ever had. Like ever, like ever. certainly in the Zach Taylor era, and I don't want to hear about 2019. I don't want to hear about last year with Lou. Jermaine Pratt, what mistackles, would have made more plays on Breece Hall today.

I mean, there's one guy that can meet you, Jake. One, there's one guy that coming in, you're like, you can't let 20 beat you. And I talked to multiple guys about that. And now for the third straight week, the premier running back for the other team goes off. Seven plus yards of carry the last week to Jalen Moore in the year, the week before that, Josh Jacobs had over five yards per. carry in over two more yards per carry against the Bengals than he came in averaging and then you got Breezhal doing what he did today. In the fourth quarter, when you have a double-digit

lead, that's how you know you have the worst run defense maybe ever, is when you're down to scores and you're like, we still have time to run the ball. Joe Flacco hasn't stopped scoring. They keep scoring on our defense, but guess what? We still have time to run the ball because they're going to give us chunks. And boy, oh, boy, did the Jets get chunks? and this Bengals defense, well, they blew chunks throughout the game. I mean, it was just unacceptable as one of the many words, but like this is the type of game that switches where let's just say they win 41, 39, and somehow kick a field goal late, and they win.

Well, then you're like, well, at least they found a way to get the four and four. And all of those other things that are major, major issues, they live to fight another day where maybe they can rebound. now at three and five with all these issues it just feels so much different and i think a couple of things one this out golden thing who doesn't feel good because they're just not even doing basic things that they should be doing they're not in the right spot they're not tackling it with basic fundamentals all of those things and by the way the man that picked out is that taylor and boy oh boy when it got tight and they needed to go get points they didn't

feel good. It didn't feel good down the stretch there with Zach Taylor calling the... Like, I just... There's a lot of reasons why they lost and folded and couldn't put this Jets team away and then ultimately lost this game. But the more I think about it, the more it's an indictment on Zach Taylor, on a coaching staff. You can always go a higher level with personnel and all of those things. But I don't give a damn who's playing linebacker. If Jake Litz goes in there, I'm going to need you to tackle with pretty sound technique and be where you're supposed to be. And that's a reflection of coaching. You're up 31 to 16 going into the fourth quarter.

You just scored a touchdown. You're playing against the Justin Fields, New York Jets. And you get run over. Like you said, they're running the ball to beat you in the fourth quarter. Down two scores. That's crazy. That never happens in the league. Like I watch a lot of NFL football.

You do too. That does not happen. That's not a thing. It's not a thing. And the Jets average nearly seven yards per carries a team in this game. 37 carries 254 yards in total runs of 35, 50, 25 other explosive runs that I'm not naming as well. Those are just some longs for each player. Isaiah Davis, who I wasn't too aware of before today, going for that 50-yard run.

Also have five catches for 44 yards in this game. the Bengals on offense averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Actually, a yard better than the Jess, and they lost. And again, they were leading. Justin Fields also 21 to 32 for 244 yards in a touchdown, adds 11 carries, including a kneel down for 31 yards. And I just, in a couple of two-point conversions, I don't have anything good to say about the defense today, James.

Like, even in the last couple of weeks, There's been at least something, PJ Turner, who was probably the least egregious, but was involved in one of the touchdowns with Bengals gave up this game. What was the bright spot last week? We've had some ties with like, Tray Hendrickson has been a bright spot or, you know, there's been a big takeaway here or there. No takeaways in this game to save you. They get one fourth downstop early in the game, which is almost enough for them to win the game.

Just that one stop on fourth down that gets the Bengals, positive field position. They scored a touchdown like 10-0. lead early in this game. Should have been enough, right? Should have been enough then to put this team away. But what's crazy is, and we're going to spend a lot of time talking about how bad this defense was, the lack of a pass rush, a tackling issues, the coverage issues, the inability to take good angles to get runners on the ground, and you don't even get a tackle attempt, Justin Fields outrunning seven different Bengals on a two-point conversion attempt at one point.

when the Bengals did force punts in this game, and they forced two. One, in the first quarter, when it was 10-0, the Bengals forced a punt, have an opportunity to go take a 17-0 lead. The Bengals go three and out on offense. The second half, the Bengals forced one punt. The Jets' first drive of the second half they force a punt. The Bengals go three and out. And despite them, despite them not taking advantage of the few stops that the defense did get on offense

and the lack of complimentary football, you're still up 31 to 16 at the end of the third quarter because you did score another touchdown to get to 31 points. And then you score another touchdown to get 3824. And it's reminiscent of some of those Baltimore games last year, right? James were talking about multiple two score, two touchdown, second half leads. But it's not Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry on the other side.

It's Justin Fields and Breeshall and no receivers. And despite that, the Jets go touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, out to finish the game and convert multiple two-point conversions. Yeah. And your offense wilts in the fourth quarter, which has been really good until that. The Jets had 502 yards of total offense. 5.02. It's just the second time since 2000 that they've done.

The other time was Mike Flight White, dunking on the Bengals a few years ago. Yeah. And now this time. So Lou Anirumo, shake hands with Al Golden. you guys are both taking huge Ls for this one. And I'm not comparing the two. I'm just saying like neither one of those should have happened. This one is much worse.

Like I like this could end up like if Zach Taylor gets fired, this is the game we point to. Like if Al Golden doesn't make it. If this, if this season just goes sideways, like if we don't see Joe Burrow again this year, this might be the reason why. And that really sucks. Like when you put it in that perspective, it really sucks because they should have won the game. It's embarrassing that they didn't win the game for a bunch of reasons. And there's some stuff on offense that I definitely want to talk about. But we have to get more on this defense that is just, I mean, when you have me citing Jermaine Pratt what mistackles as almost a positive,

you know things have gone bad. And that's where this 2025 Cincinnati Bengals defense is. We will continue the conversation about this defense coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by prize picks. You know what I would do, Jake, on prize picks from now on. I'll be honest. You make decisions every day and on prize picks, well, being right, gets you paid. Next week, any running back the Bengals have to deal with.

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I think that's a line that Bengals need to use. Stop making excuses and start making the right moves. And the right moves are, find someone that can tackle. I'm done with this. I am so done with the tackle issues. What's the backup? Was Isaiah Davis?

The backup running back for the Jets? Yeah. Yeah. Isaiah Davis. There are a couple of Isaiah's. Isaiah Williams also having a revenge game out there. Ridiculous that he had like five catches or whatever he had. But Isaiah Davis versus Barrett Carter,

I just hear the other day, and I'm talking to Zach Taylor, and we're talking to him, and he's like, yeah, we really like Barrett and all these things. You better make the play on Isaiah Davis. I almost said Isaiah Thomas. On Isaiah, on the backup, that's not Breeze Hall.

all and instead it's a 50-yard run. Like, those are the type of plays that swing the game and give the jets momentum and keep the jets in it when they're done. It's over. And those plays just can't happen. Like if those are going to continue to happen, well, then get his ass off the field. And I like Bear. But it's the same thing for Demetrius and it's the same thing for anybody else.

Like if you can't tackle, you shouldn't be on the field. And it's that simple. And there are guys that might be too slow that that might. not have the athleticism, but they damn sure are going to tackle when they're in a whole one-on-one with someone. And I would rather have that than whatever the heck I watch today. Because what I watch today, Joe Flacco is going to be able to overcome it? Jemar Chase and T. Higgins aren't going to be able to overcome it. They're just not going to be able to overcome it. It's going to be too much. And it's, again, I keep going back to the coaches because personnel is personnel, but it's

October. And being able to tackle and being in the right spot. those are two things that it's just, it's a common theme with this defense, time and time and time and time again. It's definitely a huge part of the problem. But the thing this week is like it's everything. Everything was bad this week, right? Tackling was a problem for a number of guys. You got miss tackles for five different players on defense at least.

And that's the initial charting from PFF. I'm sure it will feel worse than that when you watch the tape. the Justin tackle bill either in this game and Somaget Pirine and Chase Brown, a lot to do with that. But the lack of a pass rush, even if they could tackle, if you pressure the quarterback like five times in a game, and Justin Fields, again, according to PFF, Tarting, pressured six times on 37 dropbacks, 15% of his dropbacks.

And on those dropbacks, by the way, completed a touchdown pass on a fourth and two when Jordan battle for whatever reason did not just run through the quarterback on that play. You're going to have a bad day. Your secondary is going to have a bad time when Justin Fields can sit back there for what we got? Like three seconds, three and a half seconds per pass and just wait for a guy to get open.

I mean, he's still inaccurate. He's still spraying the ball on some of those when he's sitting in a clean pocket. He's still Justin Fields. but now you're two issues. You have no pass rush. And Trey Hendrickson leaves the game after he takes, I would call it a very borderline shot,

very easy to call it dirty. Wouldn't blame me if you did. I don't know if I would go quite that far myself. But Trey Hendrickson leaves the game aggravating his hip injury and is not himself in the first place. Nobody else is winning. Nobody else is winning in this game. They get a couple of pressures with blitzes.

and like I said, one of them turns into a touchdown because your safety doesn't run through the quarterback when he's a free runner. So you have a pass rush issue, you have a tackling issue, and then your young linebackers are getting picked apart in coverage. Barrett Carter targeted 10 times in this game, according to PFF, gives up nine catches for 84 yards. Logovolson targeted twice in this game, gave up two catches on those two targets for 43 yards,

only on the field for 20 snaps in this game. Dax Hill, not his best game, seven targets, six catches, 66 yards. And so you've got gap issues in the run game. You've got tackling issues all over the field. You've got coverage issues. You've got pass rush issues that make your coverage issues worse. And there's just no salvation. I don't know where it comes from.

All these guys, we're talking about coin flips. Like are anybody, or any of these guys are going to step up as pass rushers? Answer's no. Chris Jenkins, Miles Murphy, Samar Stewart, Joseph Osai. You can throw BJ Hill into the mix as he came back this year on that extension. and nobody is getting after the pass around this team. And that makes everything else so much worse. Yeah.

If you look at the defensive stats, right? Like if I see the Jets, I see, oh, two pass breakups, two pass breakups, one pass breakup, one pass breakup, one pass breakup, one pass breakup, one pass breakup, one pass break up, one pass tackles for loss. And Joe Flackos kept relatively clean. You look at the Bengals, it's four pass breakups, three tackles for loss, one quarterback hit. that was Cam Taylor Britt, like one. No pressure, no disruption, no nothing. Like Jordan Battle didn't even get a quarterback hit on that Justin Fields play. Like that's impossible.

And yet he didn't. And maybe you disrupt the throw enough if you run straight through him. Who knows? Maybe you sack it. Maybe you force a fumble. Who knows? And I don't think that would have happened, but maybe. And so you're right.

I don't know what they do well. Like I can't say, oh, well, at least they'll be able to do this. and that's why I keep coming back to like the basic stuff. Because even if you suck, at least get the basics down. Like you might not be the most talented whatever writer in the world. But if you know how to type on a laptop, like you know, at least build a right sentence, right? It might not be the best sentence.

Mark Twain might not that, you know, but it would be a sentence. They can't, they don't even know how to turn the damn thing on, let alone type of sentence, let alone pull up Microsoft Word. Like, they're so far behind it. And I just, it's all bad. It's all bad. Like this should have been an impossible game to lose after you get the lead. Like after you did the thing that, it wasn't like Justin Fields came out.

There was a broken play, 80-yard drive, then Flacko Strip Sack and Quinn and Williams recovers. Like those things didn't even happen. So how the hell did you lose this game? And you peed down your leg on offense late and your defense was so Swiss cheese. and there were holes everywhere. And I agree. I don't know how you plug even a couple of them realistically moving forward.

And it's a tough spot to be in. The fact that it's happening against the Jets makes it feel irrecoverable to me. Right? Like this is the worst offense in the NFL. And your defense today was worse than it was against Jordan Love in Green Bay, was worse than it was against Aaron Rogers in primetime. And just no resistance, right?

We talked about the suspect interior offensive line for the Jets. They played great in this game. Talked about the opportunity of left tackle with Foshanu having some struggles and pass protection. There's no pass rush in this game. The Jets have one of the worst past protection offensive lines in the NFL.

If you can't pass rush against one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, and you can't stop a team that's had the worst offense in the NFL, what hope is there against teams that are actually decent on offense in other games? I know every game is going to be different any given Sunday. The Jets have all their motivation to finally win a game, the Bengals are coming out Thursday night football where they're still winless, by the way. Can't overcome that, Juju. I just don't know where the hope is on the defensive side of the ball right now, and that is just brutal. Meanwhile, the offense, like you said, had chances

to finish a game, and I am not going to be too hard on the offense in this game. They largely did their jobs, right? They scored 38 points. But we can talk about Zach Taylor finishing the game. I think throughout this week, because we're not going to get to it today, there's going to have to be more conversation about Al Golden. I think this does go to the top. You mentioned it. It does go to Duke Tobin and the way they're approaching the draft and free agency and the way they've missed on those players, player development. But what we'll have to get into it another day is we can get to the offense here, the way the Bengals finished this game and inexcusable loss to the New York Jets coming up next. Today's show is brought to by Game Time. I use the GameTime app and, well, you should too.

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Let's get to a word Zach Taylor used. Humbling. It was humbling. And then DJ Turner used it. I assume because Zach did. I don't know why in the world. they should have needed to be humbled. I don't know why.

Like they were three and four. Their defense has stunk all year. Early on it was, oh, well, Joe's hurt. Jake stinks and the defense is on the field the whole time. Well, that hasn't been the case, and you still stink. I don't know what. The humbling word makes no sense. I don't know why you would need to be humbled when you, did you think you arrived?

Like this was a get back to 500 game. I keep pace in the North game. I, man, hopefully the Steelers lose to the Packers and we're only a half game out in the north and instead it's a oh man you all can't do anything right game at least on defense and uh so yeah i didn't get that so that's where i'll start the zach taylor conversation yeah i don't i don't get it i mean it's a better not lose game was what we called it right a stay better win a better win you better win this thing say on track better not lose must win whatever phrase you want to use and just laid an egg.

Zach did some good stuff in this game on the offensive side of the ball. There were some cool plays. There's a play action play where Jamar Chase is at running back and they fake a screen to him. They go Noah Fantam on the other side on a screen. They get a first down there. Play action game in general in this game was awesome, including T. Higgins' touchdown. Run game. Awesome.

Again. And the Jets have a good run defense. So the fact that it worked again this week, maybe they're starting to figure something out in the run game. Does it matter? I mean, can we feel good about that, really? When you're still losing a game where you put up 38 points, one in three in your last two years when you give up 38,

when you score 38 points, sorry? I mean, that's just ridiculous. It's impossible. That's impossible. Preposterous, whatever word you want to use. How? If you're watching on YouTube, you see that the on today's show is just a list of adjectives.

And we've come up with a few more on this show. But like, I don't know how else you describe giving up two touchdown leads in the second half against this version of the New York Jets. But like for all the good things that happened in this game that I want to credit Zach Taylor in the offense for, right? Because it is always multiple things. Nobody wants to hear about that right now. It's Zach Taylor hired Al Golden to come fix the deuce. defense. It's not working. Zach Taylor's made personnel decisions, supposedly.

I'm sure the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach specifically in that spot have had something to do with it. But like coaches heavily involved in the draft process in Cincinnati, right? And I think this does go to Duke Tobin as well. We'll get into that another day. The way the team is put together, the way it's been coached, when you lose a game like this, it all comes under fight because this was the worst team in the NFL, the 0-N7 New York, jets and we thought they might be able to run the ball but that's all we thought they'd be able

to do and they were able to do way more than that getting those stops in the second half where I think flacco changes it to a pass on that second to last drive the one that goes incomplete to jemar chase the little screen that's built in there and a run pass option but then they go three and out and then you get that second and long run to set up a third and nine on your on your drive where you need a field goal yeah and now your play calling is under fire too even though you've scored 38 points in the game and we shouldn't have to talk about play calling when you're 38 points in the game, but last few times, they weren't able to do it. They, I hated the run call on second down because it just really gets away from you.

You have momentum. You're at the 45. You're 20-ish yards away. I didn't mind the shot that Joe Flacko took to Andre on the first down. And Andre doesn't catch it clean before he gets hit. Like if you watch that slow, I'm not sure he catches that if he's just out there by himself. I'm like, that's what sucks. It's like, if you're ever going to have a chance to catch that ball and absorb the hay,

you better catch a clean with strong hands and hold it. And that didn't happen. And I know it was a tough catch and he had to tweak, tweak his body or twerk his body back and all those things. But still, it's that second down run, like you have to get yards there. Like whether it's a run or not, you have to get something because otherwise it's third down, third and long, and you know they're teeing off, and they did, and Joe had to throw it away. Now it's fourth down. Suddenly the game's on the line and all the pressure and the weight of the world's on your shoulders

when you were just up 38, 24 a few minutes ago. And that's a hell of a place to be. I mean, it's very similar to like what the Bengals tried to do in Green Bay, but the Jets got that stop. They got the sack on third and eight, essentially, that the Bengals couldn't get. And then they're able to get the ball back to their offense, and the offense goes down and scores. and takes the lead. Look, I agree. I think Zach in this Bengals offense,

they've done a lot of good things. And running the ball in general was really good. But game on the line, you know they're going to double T. You know they're going to double Jamar. And it's not just this week, it's every week. So what's the answer? And you need to have an answer.

And if it's Andre, fine. Andre, better make the play. If it's someone else, then someone else needs to make the play. But they need to figure that part out because that's a huge. And like the got to have it moment, it did not feel or look comfortable for anybody, anybody involved. And that includes a second down run to Samadjapirai,

and that went for one year. Honestly, for me, it was all the way back in the third quarter. And they end up scoring a touchdown on this drive. But when they get to that third and 12, it's like, oh, yeah. The things they want to do aren't working. It felt like a big play. It was a huge play for him to do that. Yeah.

It prevents them from punching the ball back to the Jets and keeps the Bengals, honestly, keeps the Bengals in the lead into the fourth quarter. And to get to that point, and then it was really good after that, after they got that first down. But to get to that point, you have the negative yard on first down,

incomplete pass on second down. It was like, uh-oh. Our alarm bell's starting to go off because you go three and out, and then you have five straight unsuccessful plays on offense between the first drive in the third quarter and the second drive in the third quarter. And then they figured out.

Then they figured out running the ball in the next drive. They scored two more touchdowns. They get to 38 points. Great. But like the cracks were starting to show a little bit for Flacco early in this game. Wasn't great to finish the game. Took a bad hit, which isn't his fault. But left the field altogether, went to the locker room, came back out and got back on the field for that final drive.

But I'm going to be curious on tape to see how much there was like that tunnel vision on Mar Chase in this game. It felt like that was the case a couple times. T. Higgins only with two targets in the game. That feels wrong, despite like all the cool stuff they did from a scheme perspective, all the success they had in this game. The way it finished, the T. Higgins box score in retrospect, and again, I don't want to blame the offense too much for this one,

but they did have chances in the second half to score more points. And, you know, we're in the same position we were in last year with Joe Burrow at quarterback, where the offense really has to be perfect. Like 38 points, not enough. They need to. I think I deleted the tweet before I tweeted. I was like, it's crazy to feel like you need at least 41 points to win this game when you had a 31-16 lead and a 38-14 league. And that's what they wouldn't do.

38-24. Yeah. I mean, it should have been over. But let's just go there. other way. Let's say it was the other way. And the Bengals rally, now they have the ball, and it's 39, 38, and they got to go score. We'll go score. And I know it's about momentum and all those things, but like, you just have to. You just, in that moment, you have to. And guess what? They did it last week against the Steelers. They went and they got their points. And so my fear

really is that. What happens? All right. So Jamar's double T's doubled. Where are you going to go? And right now I don't have the answer. Mike Gassickey's hurt. Andre Yosovash is off to a really poor start. This ground game was working, but you're only going to be able to do so much of that two-minute drill, under a minute left especially, unless you're the Jets, they probably would have been able to run it four times for a touchdown. So there's a lot. There's so much more we have to get to this week, man. I mean, more with Zach, more on what this could mean for him. I mean, there's a lot. I mean, there's a lot here that I've tried really hard to not dive into yet because I know it's meat on the bone for this week.

It's going to be a wild week. Stick with us here, Bengals fans, because I'm not going to say it's going to be a fun week, but we're going to definitely be able to vent with you because we have plenty of thoughts on it. Stuff that I wanted to get into weeks ago, honestly. And then they trade for Flacco inject a little bit of life back into this thing, but they've only won one game since then. They started two and oh, one and five since then. It's just not good enough.

and like there's small potatoes things we didn't get to today either that I'm going to want to get to the return game, kickoff return game. That last drive, Charlie Jones gets a 22-yard return to the 25. You get that out to the 35, which is a goal. That's a touchdown, touchback distance, right? You try to get that out past the 30, and then maybe you're in a position where you can play for a field goal. You're on the right side of the 50, and then maybe on that third and nine,

if that third and nine is that the Jets 49 or 45 instead of your own 45, then maybe you only need five yards. Maybe you don't need to get the first down. You're obviously trying to play to end the game and the timeout situation is different, but you don't need third and nine, fourth and nine conversions at that point. You have a chance to set up a field goal potentially. So like the return game, these are marginal things,

but the return game not good for them this week. And like I said, Isaiah Williams' revenge game, that extended to the kick coverage game too, which still has been bad for the Bengals. So it's everything. Like we got the offense not finishing despite scoring 38, points, which again, I'm not blaming the offense for this one, but the defense really melting down. The kick game has its own issues. Like everything is problematic right now, and that goes

to draft fix. It goes to the coaching staff. It goes to execution on the field. It goes to play calling on the field. And when you're three and five after losing to the winless New York Jets, dropping a game in the division, it doesn't even feel good to speculate at a battleborough return right now with the defense looking like it is. Because even if Burrow plays in this game, Like maybe you can make an argument that those last couple drives go differently, but they scored 38 points. And they lost those games last year with Joe Burrow, and they lost it again today with the New York Jets. This defense remains just pathetic. Like you said, James, we'll have more for the people this week.

Yeah, it's a good way to describe it, pathetic. I think that's the best word out of all the words. Well, there's some other ones, but I'm not going to use them. Choice words being avoided here at the end of the lockdown Bengals podcast. we're back with you. We'll have film to dive into. We'll have ramifications to dive into. We'll have how do we get here to dive into as the Bengals will try to rebound against the bears going into the bye.

That's next. That's this week on Lockdown Bengals. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.