Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Can Bengals Lean on Run Game While Defense Desperately Searches for Answers?

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

In a week where the main story is the Bengals' defense being a mess, they'll be searching for answers against Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. As Cincinnati wraps up its pre-bye homestand, Jake Liscow and James Rapien discuss the dire situation on defense, while the offense could lean into its rejuvenated rushing attack with questions at the quarterback position looming ahead of Week 9.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.

The Cincinnati Bengals are desperate for momentum heading into their byweek. Can they find any answers on defense against the bears? Let's break it down. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up 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's James Rapine and we've been locked on Bengals. here on this podcast since 2016 between the two of us, making it your best one-stop shop. We're here for you every day of the week with everything going on with your Cincinnati Bengals. Every dayers already know that they've heard the film analysis of all the reasons this Bengals, the events is struggling this week, to the crossover, to the historical discussion about how they got to this point, what could be next for Duke Tobin. That's what we've been covering this week as the Bengals are coming off of one of their worst losses. one of their, and they've had a lot of those lately in the Zach Taylor era and are currently putting

out the worst defense that we've ever seen in the Duke Tobin era. Today we talk about them being desperate to get back on track against the Chicago Bears and an offense that has found its footing with Joe Flacco in questions around Joe Flacco's ability to play quarterback against the Bears. This episode brought to you by Mazda who wants every detail because when you make every move count pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda move and be moved. And speaking of pulling off the unexpected, James, the Bengals defense sure would benefit

from pulling off the unexpected and showing us something, especially in a week, that Joe Flacco dealing with that AC joint sprain, aka a separated shoulder to some degree or another, and whether or not he'll be able to play through it at what level he'll be able to play with that shoulder injury remains to be seen, but injects an abundance of questions, a quarterback in an offense that's been pretty dang good with Joe Flacco running the show. It's funny. You use the word inject because that's what they're going to do. They're going to shoot that thing up and he's going to be out there.

I expect Joe Flacco to play. No one has told me that that is going to happen. But when you're around the team, you get a vibes element to it. And so as we record this, it's before. practice Thursday. I know the plan is for him to take part and practice at some degree on Thursday. And based on everything that I've heard, it's very much a, we are going to do everything we can to give Joe a chance to play through this and play because the Bengals know. They know what this is, Jake. Like, they feel it. They know how big of a heartbreaking rip your heart out,

fatality, mortal combat loss that was against the Jets. And so if you lose Sunday, well, then it puts a lot of things in order, put it that way. And so you got to find a way to win, which part of that is giving Joe every opportunity to play. So I think that's the plan. And what that involves, what that involved probably when he returned to the game on Sunday, And this is seeing, I know Dr. David Chow put something out on this. There's been a bunch of reporting on this behind the scenes. But they shoot it up. They give you some medicine that's going to make that shoulder feel better so you can get through it.

And I think that's Joe's intention. So assuming he looks okay and can make the throws he needs to make on Thursday and then gets to Friday without the pain, you know, unbearable pain or anything like that, I think that will be. be the plan for Sunday. And that needs to be the plan because I don't think anyone would sign up for Jake Browning against the Bears defense. And we covered this with Lauren yesterday of Lacked on Bears. Just how turnover centric that, I mean, they force a ton of turnovers. And that's the thing that they've done consistently. And so it's weird to say this because Joe Flack was kind of known for his turnovers, but you want him out there because he's taking care of the football.

And you need this game. So I think Joe has a shot to play, a good shot to play. We'll see that could certainly change over the next few days. But as of now, I expect him to play. Yeah, Flacco playing turnover-free ball for the Bengals, despite a couple of balls that could have been intercepted last week on some tight window contested kind of plays for Jamar Chase, for Andre Yosevash. So while Joe Flacco isn't perfect, obviously, he's certainly running the show significantly better than what we saw with Jake Browning,

where he couldn't keep the ball away from the opposing defense. In fact, I looked at this right before we started recording, James, because a big part of the offensive success, when Joe Flacco has been at quarterback, has been the flourishing run game. But when Flacco has been a quarterback, overall, the Bengals' offense has been in success rate in the entire NFL in the last three weeks.

And obviously three weeks is a pretty small sample size, but in the entire NFL second behind Kansas City in offensive success rate at 53.1 percent, Kansas City at 53.4%. They've been second in rushing EPA per play at 0.252 EPA per play, which maybe doesn't mean anything to you. Point is they've been a very productive run game in that time behind just the Indianapolis Colts. They've been first in rushing success rate ahead of Indianapolis. They've been ninth in passing success rate, 10th in passing EPA per play.

Before Joe Flacco, the rushing numbers were kind of middle of the pack, but the passing numbers were 31st, 32nd. if you look at only the Jake Browning game. So the stability, the veteran presence to get them into the right looks, the ability to just execute and the flourishing run game, a big part of why Joe Flacco has had success running this offense and maybe the quality of the opponents, right, where they found something late against Green Bay, but Pittsburgh's defense, not what we thought it was going to be this year.

They've actually been a pretty bad defense this year. New York had actually been a good run defense, but we'll come back to the run game, I think, because it will be a big question for me this week. The reason I bring that up is just to illustrate the run game has been a big part of why they've been working with Joe Flacco. And Flacco has played some outstanding ball at times as well. The Pittsburgh game, a great example of this.

I think the second half against Green Bay, he was really good. Against the Jets, I started to notice a few cracks in the foundation, right? There's a little bit of like, okay, not on the same page as frequently here, locking it on Jamar Chase a little bit here. The late throw over the middle to Andre Yosevash that leads to a contested catch that Andre can't come down with that could have been intercepted, the ball to Jamar Chase on the sideline.

There's little things starting to show up a little bit as teams are getting some tape, I think, on what Flacco is doing. And so you will have to continue to take care of the ball because in this game you're facing a Chicago defense that the underlying stuff, when you look at the Chicago defense, doesn't look great.

And Chicago is dealing with a bunch of injuries right now. But they have been so consistent, like you said, in creating turnovers. There's maybe some juju going on there, some voodoo going on there. Not sure what the consistent mix is to them producing those turnovers, but got to take care of the ball this week, I think, more than ever. Because that's like one of the things that's been keeping them alive recently is ball security in the last few games. For sure.

Well, when your defense just gives up your. and points and can't find anything and is going to go up against the bear's offense that is certainly explosive. We'll see who they have and who they don't have out there. But yeah, it's something you can't do is put your defense on a short field and and give the bears another opportunity that they shouldn't have. And so, yeah, I mean, that's not going to be confident if Jake Browning's there. Now, the run game could help and could help with that some. I do think Jake is better than what he played like during that three game stretch. I do think that's true. Like, I think he was awful. But they needed,

they needed a jolt. And that's where they're at again now, just to be very, very clear. Like the jolt that Joe Flacco gave them, no one really expected them to beat Green Bay, you and I included. And they didn't. But that second half gave us confidence that, oh, well, maybe they could be Pittsburgh. And then they did. And then they take a big step back. this needs to be sort of the start of them earning that back. And it's going to take a couple of games, not just one after losing to the Jets. And so the path to that, I really don't see the path without the offense playing at a high level and not turning it over and doing all of those things. From run game to Joe Flacco, not just locking in on Jamar.

Jamar's going to have to have a big game and be a big part of it. But it can't just be him. It's got to be T. Higgins. It's got to be this other core of guys that really outside of Noah Fant hasn't shown up. Like I need Andre Yosefash to play well. I need Noah Fant to make the catches that he needs. I say that, but Samadji Piron and Chase Brown broke both got going. That needs to continue.

So, yeah, there's a lot of things on offense because the margin for error on defense is what it is that need to go right. And we knew that. It's an offensive driven team. And so let's continue the conversation. you mentioned the run game, we can get to that because it is a really important part of what the Bengals are going to do, regardless of who's at quarterback on Sunday. We'll do that coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Mazda's moving the game forward. And for those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it.

There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. this week's moment that moved the game forward is none other than Samajai P. Ryan's 32-yard touchdown run. I thought when this happened the other day against the Jets, Jake, I thought that was it. I was like Samajai P. Ryan channeling his inner 2021 Kansas City Chiefs score at Arrowhead. He does it against the Jets. And I really thought that that was bam, bam, bam, shout out the Dave Lapham Ring of Honor, coffin nails. And it wasn't. And so that's the Mazda.

highlight that stands out because when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight. There's more to every Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved. We're also brought to you today by Fandul and the NBA is back. Maybe you're looking for a break from the Cincinnati Bengals. There's no better place to get in on the NBA action than with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA, even if you missed the start of the game. You want to ride the hot hand. Fan duel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. You can even combine those live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It'll keep every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push.

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New customers get $300 in bonus vets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to Fandall.com to play your game and sign up with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right. Let's talk about this run game, Jake. And, uh, well, turns out Chase Brown's still good. I don't think we doubted it, but, uh, Chase Brown has certainly performed well. The offensive line has.

has done better. And I think it's been a whole group effort here when you look at the explosive runs that they've had. I mentioned Samad J. P. Ryan's run during the Mazary. Chase Brown has had three explosive runs at least over the past two weeks that I can count in my head. So like that's what they need.

That's what we've talked about. We love explosive runs. I know the Bengals do too. And that's something that has given their offense a big boost. Yeah, the last three weeks with Joe Flacco, a quarterback, really the last two weeks especially, this run game has really been moving. We've talked about tackling a lot. We're going to talk about it again today for the Cincinnati Bengals defense. And it hasn't looked good for the Cincinnati Bengals on defense, right? And somehow, despite that in the last two weeks, the Jets missed 10 more tackles

according to pro football focus in the Cincinnati Bengals last week. That's 17 to 7. Now, some of that is the Bengals not taking angles and put them in a position to even attempt to tackle. And that happening too many times. But a lot of these broken tackles, yeah, some of it is Jamar Chase, but a lot of it is a running back. Same was true against Pittsburgh, where Pittsburgh two weeks ago on Thursday night football missed more tackles than the Bengals in that game in a game that we were immediately like, man, they can't tackle. Tackling is a huge issue for this defense. The Bengals running backs largely are doing this to the opposition as well. Yeah, the run blocking has been better. For sure, it's been better in the last three games. And in fact, it's been on a

relatively steady trajectory in the last five weeks or so at slowly taking steps toward getting better. They just had their best game blocking. I would say against the New York Jets, but it's not perfect. So when you credit Chase Brown, you credit Samajé P. Ryan doing what he's doing at 30, doing what he's doing as a veteran in this league at a position that chews him up and spits him out and you don't see longevity in the careers of running backs. What both of those guys are doing at the running back position, making guys miss, making the most out of nothing, making the most out of nothing, making the most out of something when they do get that good blocking and pulling off those explosive runs when they're available.

And you credit the offensive line at times for getting to the second level to help spring some of those plays. But those guys are playing a really high level of football in the last couple of weeks. And you can write off the Pittsburgh game if you want because Pittsburgh's defense has underachieve so much this year. And that includes in the run game, despite all those dudes that we talked about on the Pittsburgh defensive line. the Jets had been a really good run defense coming into this Bengals game in week eight.

And the Bengals didn't care. They rode that run game. The run game is why they were going in the second half when Joe Flacco only completed a handful of passes. And a lot of those were very short, quick completions, not pushing the ball down field. They were still able to score a couple touchdowns in the second half largely because of that run game, which, by the way, included Joe Flacco at one point to convert a third in long. So I'm looking at that run game this week, especially with Joe Flacco's shoulder, James,

and can they keep that up again? Chicago has a solid, not great defense in my eyes. Like I said, the underlying stuff for Chicago outside of the turnover suggests that the offense should be able to keep it going this week, in my mind. And I think a big reason for that is that suddenly you're confident in this run game. I don't know if it's going to keep being the best or second best run game in the league like we've seen the last couple of weeks.

but they've shown that they can be something that is a weapon for this offense, especially if teams are trying to dedicate resources to taking away Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Do you think you're faster than Joe Flacco? Honestly, man, I have so much respect at this point for 40-year-old Joe Flacko doing what he's doing every week, playing through an AC joint issue, playing through all the hits he's taken. I probably don't. He's tall, man. That guy probably can leverage those legs and get going. I think he hit.

I think that's all he hit 16. miles per hour. Did he? I think that's what I saw. All right. I think him being a professional athlete, like it just kind of shows the separation between the average person.

Sure. Like professional athletes, even Joe Flacco, who is not the peak of NFL athleticism, like they're built different. Even Joe Flacco. No doubt. Like most people listening and watching and I'm not trying to be, would have never hit 60 miles an hour. You know, like maybe

when they were in high school if they were in good shape and you know, that's the point. I mean, I don't, know what I would be at. I want to get time now. But the point is, get clocked. Your point about the run game is good. It's just you mentioned Joe Flacker running. And then I thought about the 12 yard 13 yard run on third and 12. And I was like, that's another moment that could have been the Mazda moment, because that should have been the Mazda moment because it led to the Samadjapirine. Oh, that game is going to freaking hot. If this season goes bad, Jake, that game is going to be

worse to me than it like memorable wise than the Patriots game. And they had no business. If it continues to go bad, it's already started to go bad. Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah, yeah. If it continues to go down the path that it does. Anyways, that's me going off the cuff here. Look, I think Chase Brown is running harder now. And I think part of why he's running harder is when you get him going and he has a step

or two to get some momentum and he gets into a little bit of a rhythm, it doesn't take a lot of touches for him to be productive. And I think that's been the beauty of the past couple of the weeks. It's not like Chase Brown has 25 carries and 25 carries. He's been effective right around that 10 carry mark, which is great because then you also do have the bowling ball on Samaj-P Ryan, and they compliment each other really well. And they have confidence in both of those guys in past protection, and they have confidence in both of those guys.

And basically doing everything from catching out of the backfield, obviously they're different players stylistically, but from catching out of the backfield to past protecting. And when they weren't able to run the ball, and the offensive line deserves a lot of credit for this, when they weren't able to run the ball, that's a whole piece of the offense, that especially without Joe Burrow, that is just completely missing. And dynamic athletes that need to touch the ball, need to have the ball in space. And shout out to Samadjapiron, because the first couple days of training camp, I was like, I don't know. And it's just, it's just the veteran getting those legs going again because he still got it. I mean, he still looks like,

like he did a few years ago. I don't think it's really different. And so for him to be that, and obviously Chase Brown to remind everyone what he did last year wasn't a fluke, it's been huge. And it's going to need to continue. Even if Joe Flacko is completely healthy and you wave a magic wand and he plays and then he comes back from the buy and he plays really well,

they need this run game to continue to do that just to take pressure off of a 40-year-old quarterback that is going to throw it a lot, is going to have to carry this team to a degree. take a little bit of pressure because he's not that other Joe. He's Joe Flacco, which is great at times. But there's levels to this thing. So the run game, outside of not turning the ball over, it might be like number one key, if you want to say a key on Sunday,

because it would also keep the Bengals defense off the field, which goes a long way towards winning. Yeah. I think another factor here that, you know, we're not going to get into, I think, a ton here today, but can they get T. Higgins going a little bit more? Get back to that T. Higgins, Jemar Chase, getting a lot of targets, not just Jemar Chase, getting a lot of targets.

We talked about in the film review episode, they need to find something behind those two guys, whether it is Andre Yosevash stepping up and being the kind of wide receiver three that we thought he could be coming into the season based on what he did last year versus a rough season that he's had this year, whether it's no effect getting more of those routes, trying to get him more one-on-ones with some linebackers,

getting him to actually run some routes downfield instead of him being this run-after catch kind of player, which he's been good at, but there's probably more meat on that bone. So it will be like a full, well-rounded offense thing. The play-action game has looked good with Joe Flacco, the under-center game is looked good with Joe Flacco.

So taking care of the ball, probably number one, you're right. I think probably number two is keeping that run game going and all the things that the Bengals have been able to do off of that run game. And if they do that, they should be able to keep the ball moving against the bears. The question is then, can they stop the bears, like at all? Please, find something. We'll get to this defense here coming up next.

Lockdown Bengals is brought to you today by Ruggia. Let's be real, making excuses doesn't solve anything. Players only meetings. Maybe that solves something. We'll see. We've all heard those excuses before, though. It's just stress. I'm tired.

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Ruggiet, stop making excuses and start making moves. This defense, Jake, let's dive into it. Clearly, I'm excited to talk about this defense. Boy, oh, boy, where do we start? I'll start with Trey Hendrickson and what I know. Like I said, it's ahead of Thursday's practice. They don't need to see him practice. Maybe he's dressed for practice.

I know behind the scenes, much like he was on Thursday night a couple of weeks ago, he's pushing to play. Will he be able to play or not? It's a big factor. Because if he doesn't play, where does the juice come from? They might need to put Joe Flacco in with that 16 miles per hour sprint, juice on the edge. Like, I'm joking, but like, it can't be worse. Like, they do not affect the quarterback at all without Trey Hendrickson.

And I don't want to give, because I think Caleb Williams has his flaws, but I don't want to give him all the time in the world because if he knows he has all the time in the world, guess what? Even if they're down a weapon or two, he's going to be able to move the ball consistently. One of the big questions is how many weapons will he be down? Because as a bear started practice this week, they're missing their top four wide receivers, which includes DJ Moore, Roma, Duna Zakaas, and the rookie who now I'm confusing with Golden, It's not golden.

Who's the Bears rookie wide receiver? Luther Burden. Burden. Not golden. Missouri. Yeah. And DeAndre Swift. So everybody.

You know I know my receivers, baby. You know I know the receivers. He was like, oh, James, you want to talk about a receiver? I see what you were doing there. I see. Yeah. You know these guys. But like all five of the Bears' top weapons at receiver running back didn't practice to start

the week for the Bears. We'll see how that shakes out. how that progresses. DJ Moore, kind of a nightmare on paper to me for this Bengals defense in terms of guy that can make you miss after the catch, a guy that can be really effective in the screen game will challenge you to tackle something that Bengals have really struggled with lately.

DeAndre Swift has been a good fit in that offense. Roma Dunzei has taken a step as a second year wide receiver and can certainly make your corners look bad. Caleb Williams can buy time and is another one of these quarterbacks. even if they do get pressure, can buy time. The problem is that this bear's offensive line is more than respectable in pass protection. Joe Tunney has been Joe Tuny at left guard. Drew Dalman has been an amazing pickup for the Bears at center.

Darnell Wright has been a first round pick level, a top 10 pick level tackle. He's been good and right tackle. The big vulnerability that you're looking at is can they get a good version of Trey Hendrickson this week going against the bear's left tackle Theo Benedde. Benedet, not actually sure, might be a French name. But he's one of those two tackles out of British Columbia in 2024. Yeah. Right across the ocean for me is where this guy played his college football.

And they've actually faced both of the UBC tackles this year because the other one was with the Packers. But if there's one week link is what I'm trying to get to here on this Bears offensive line. in the passing game, it's that left tackle spot. And you're probably listening thinking, like, man, the Bengals can't rush a pass. It doesn't matter who's out there. The Jets's had the worst pass protection of league. They couldn't get a hand on Justin Fields. And I hear you.

But if there is a spot this week, it is that left tackle spot. Because other than that, yeah, like this is a good offensive line. And if the Bengals can get some pressure this week, great. But I am not expecting it. I am not sure where the Bengals are getting a stop against the Bears' offense, even if they're missing a lot of these go guys. And I assume some of them are going to play. But like, who's getting the stop, man?

I just at this point, until we see where it's coming from, it's really hard to figure out where you should expect it to come from. Yeah, it's a Dunezay, by the way. I'm just going to really hit you on the names. Roma Dunezay. He was a 10th pick or whatever. Like, get that name, right. Come on.

I mean, at least I pronounce the E. Come on, Jake. Come on, Jake. Get that one. No, I think, we said all of that. And we talked about the pass rush and we covered all of that. And I agree it's a huge concern. And I do think the Bengals defense is going to play better this week because it's really

hard to be worse. Like I think they're going to be a little bit better. I mean, is it hard to be worse? So that was the worst offense in the NFL, you know? That's true. That's true. And so point noted, I will say this. My biggest concern might not be the pass rush.

And that's where it really stinks. It might be the fact that Josh Jacobs three weeks ago ran for five plus a carry when he entered averaging just over three yards of carry. And then the following week, Jalen Warren averaged, what, was it 7.7, 7.9, something like that, yards per carry. And then last week, oh, my goodness, not Breece Hall, the only guy, Breece Hall, y'all, the only freaking guy on the Jets that you're like, oh, man, don't let him beat you. In Breece Hall, guess what?

Breeze Hall, Breeze Hall, three touchdowns in the fourth quarter when you include the pass. Yeah, yeah, was that a pass? Was it a touchdown a pass or was it a two-point conversion? It was a touchdown pass. It was the touchdown. You had a mason. There was too many points to remember in that fourth quarter for Brees Hall. You cannot let D. Andre Swift and whoever else.

And speaking of names, I think it's that running back out of Texas that you liked a lot, right? Is he a lot of guy, I think? Oh, no. So not that guy. But okay. There's a guy. Blue? No, no, no.

No, a couple years ago. Pass protector in round three. Oh, Roshon John. Roshan Johnson. Yeah, Jordan Battle Draft because that was the area where we were talking about him. Anyways, not that they should have, but as a past protector, it made sense. The point is, I don't want to be hearing about the Bears running game. And fine, you're not physically gifted enough to get juice on Caleb Williams. Well, stop letting these dudes run through you and actually tackle and actually be where you need to be. And I'll say it again, actually tackle. That's what I need to see. Like how do they get better? that's the first one. Make Caleb Williams throw it is a big one. And yet I say that and I think about it. I'm like, well, Justin Fields started six for six last week. So like it's tough sledding. But they have to stop the run or at least slow it down. At least Caleb Williams might give you a chance. I mean, I thought Justin Fields would give you a chance at a takeaway too. But if you can get Justin Fields to like stare something down and undercut it, like maybe DJ Turner. Because that's where they've been able to. find anything. It's like, can they get a couple of swinging takeaways? And we're talking about a bear's team that leads a league and turnover differential, as Zach Taylor pointed out. I just looked. DeAndre Swift has one passing attempt in his career. It was back in 2021 with Detroit.

He did not complete that pass. So maybe the running back pass is a little bit less scary this week, we can hope. The other stat that this stood out to me, James, as I was preparing for this game. I was looking through the old true media database looking for some of the stats that stand out. The third down passing defense, you would expect the Bengals to be pretty bad in these categories, right? The Bengals are given up 108.8 passer rating on third downs. They're given up 9.3 yards per attempt. Both of those are worse than the Bengals on base downs. Third down should be a good passing defense down because you know they're passing, right? You can pin your ears back. You can do weird things. You can confuse a quarterback. Benzles have been terrible on third downs and

pasty. The Bears have been really. good passing the ball on third down. So third downs feel like just statistically based on what they've done this year, big advantage bears on when the Bengals are on defense. Meanwhile, when the Bears are on defense on third down, third down and passing situations, bears are giving up a pass rating of 52 and a half on third downs in the passing game. Opponents are completing just 52% of their passes against the bears on third downs for just four and a half yards per attempt.

That is a chasm of difference between the Bears third down passing defense and the Bengals third down passing defense. And third downs were obviously a big factor in that second half against the Jets last week where the Bengals just could not get off the field despite having some opportunities. And that's against Justin Fields. The Chicago Bears were for all of Caleb's issues, he can create off script. He can make crazy throws. And he has been really good this year on third downs when he's had to throw the ball.

Yeah. And that's, it's just scary because this Bengals defense, in this, this is, really explaining why you need Trey for these type of plays. It'd be great if Shamar showed up and made some big plays, right? He's taken a lot of criticism this week. And I think

that's the other thing. I know they're feeling it. And I haven't had any conversations with any of the players as we record this about it. But I know they're feeling it. And I hope they're feeling it. Like they should. Like it should be, this should be like the worst week ever if you remember that Bengals

defense. like the worst week and coaching staff and you could go down the list right but like in the worst week ever as in you put everything you can into finding a way to beat the bears and standing up and showing everyone that yeah

you guys can be a competent defense like I get it people are laughing and they're a punch line and all of those things but like internally like I hope they feel all of it and it really they can flip that into fuel and we'll see right you have the players only meeting

and all these things and these high-level conversations about the roster, and I get it. I understand all of it. But if you think about from their perspective how it should be, they should go out there. There should be two mistackles total, and it's just because DeAndre Swift was just insane on that play, right? Or whatever.

Roma Dunzee makes an insane player, DJ Moore, whatever. But they should be so lights out and come out ready to go. we'll see if they do but like this should be the kitchen sink we're putting everything into this because our seasons are on the line in defensively because the whole world thinks we suck like that that needs to be the mindset is let's let's show everyone how wrong they are about us and we'll see if that happens but i just we're getting ready to wrap up and i just i think that that's that's really the only approach that's acceptable for my money for how this this really this team, but certainly this defense should be approaching Sunday.

Should be. It's one of those easier said than done things, right? Like you can come with that approach and still be bad because maybe that's just who they are, right? And you can come with that approach and you still got to do it on the field. By the way, the Bengals last year were three and five. I actually went back and looked. The Bengals have won in Week 9 every year since 2021. They didn't win it in 2021.

So the last three years, 22, 23, 24. They have won in Week 9. And last year, the reason I looked and then started going back further is because there were three and five going into week nine last year. Of course, after winning a week nine last year, they then rattled off another three game losing streak and got to four and eight before winning their last five games and getting to nine and eight last year. Big game this week going into the buy. For a couple of reasons from a field's perspective, you're wrapping up a home sand, you're going into the buy. If they go to three and six and you're feeling that for the entire buy week. that's a real bad place to be for a number of reasons, right?

And maybe that's who this team is this year. We will find out on Sunday. We'll be with you after the game with those takeaways. Bengals just looking for something against the Chicago Bears to try to stabilize this season. Until that, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Hootay and have a good one.