Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals face TOUGH test with Detroit Lions in Week 5

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

Can the Cincinnati Bengals find a way to upset the Detroit Lions in Week 5? The Bengals have lost back-to-back games by a combined score 76-13. Meanwhile, the Lions have won three-straight games and are one of the NFL's best teams.James Rapien and Matt Dery of Locked On Bengals preview the matchup. They discuss Jake Browning's struggles, the importance of getting the ball to Ja'Marr Chase, DJ Reader's return to Cincinnati, why the Lions have been so tough this season, Aiden Hutchinson, their skill players and so much more!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYEnough with boring, flavorless caffeine, it’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in-store and online at https://www.5hourENERGY.com or Amazon today.PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.RugietReady to level up your confidence in the bedroom? Head to https://www.rugiet.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNFL for 15% off your first order. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.SquareTo learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.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.

Are the Bengals going to actually score points this week? They're going to need to if they're going to stay in the game against the Detroit Lions. It's time for our week five crossover. Locked on Lions, Locked on Bengals right now on the Locked on Podcast Network. You are Locked on NFL crossover. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hi again, everyone.

And welcome in to another Locked On crossover. I'm James Rappin of Locked on Bengals. He's Matt Derry of Locked on Lions. it's a huge, huge matchup this week. Well, at least for one team. I think Bengals fans are really down mad. I'm not going to lie to you, but there's plenty to discuss when it comes to this matchup in today's crossover Thursdays

presented by prize picks. Download the Price Fix app today and use Co-Lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Let's start with the good. Let's start with the Lions. How are things in Lions country right now? What's the biggest story when it comes to the Detroit Lions? James, things are great.

I mean, they've won three in a row. They feel good. I know. It's the complete opposite of what you guys went through is Lions fans tuned in on Monday night to do a little scouting of the Bengals and saw that atrocity. But no, to be honest, the Lions started the year very slow. Week one in Green Bay was an unmitigated disaster. They played very poorly.

And the Packers took it to them. And everybody started panicking. And what about the new coordinators? And oh, my God, Frank Rag now retired. What are we going to do at Center? And the last three weeks, the Lions have really established. their will, and it starts with the offensive line. They battered the bears, beat up on the Ravens in Baltimore and Monday night football.

I know you saw that. And then last week took care of the Browns. It wasn't pretty. But as you know, the Browns, as they did with the Bengals in week one, junked it up and stayed in the game for a while. Then the Lions pulled away. But Detroit feels good. This was a game, like you said earlier in the year, you went, all right, 425 on Fox at Burrow and the Bengals.

Now without him there, I think the Lions can breathe a little bit easier. But again, anytime you go on the road, it's going to be tough. And then there's some storylines here. DJ Reeder coming back. David Montgomery is a Cincinnati kid. So, and the Lions have some issues of cornerback that we'll talk about. Yeah, I think the Montgomery factor is so interesting to me being a Cincinnati and knowing he went to Mount Healthy high school.

And well, my University of Cincinnati Bearcats didn't recruit him and all those things. But yeah, it's, there's definitely something there. How is, you mentioned DJ Reader. How is DJ Reader overall? I know Bengals fans think about him off. Well, you know, I talked to Dan Horde last year, the Bengals radio voice and an old Syracuse buddy of mine, and he was like, man, we miss him so much.

And he hasn't had the kind of impact maybe on the field. I think last year was banged up a lot, and the numbers kind of, you know, the PFF numbers weren't great to him. He was fine. I see a better DJ reader this year. He's healthy, he's in a contract year, obviously, and he's been kind of the leader of that interior of the defensive line

with the injuries to Aline McNeil, and Levi owns Zerike. And he just seems like such a good dude and is a force in there against the run and has been better. And I think coming back to Cincinnati this weekend for him, I think, will be a nice showcase for him. And I know the Bengals have been struggling. I got to ask you, James. I mean, you know, I know what the feeling is in Cincinnati. I can see it on your face here as we record.

But, you know, do you worry more about Reader? Let's say Reader and the Lions is getting after that old line? Or is it just that there's a quarterback problem there? Like, what's going on? Man, it's everything. Yes. You know, it really is. And what I've tried to focus on so far this week is, all right, well, what can you fix?

And I do think that there are some realistic options that could be better at quarterback. Jake Browning left a ton on the field this past week. I mean, when you have Jamar Chase in T. Higgins and all of these other weapons, I mean, Chase, I mean, Chase Brown, and you could go on and on, guys that can make plays. And you're scoring 13 points in eight quarters. And the one touchdown you've scored in those eight quarters was garbage time when the Vikings had put in their practice squad backups. You know, I mean, it was very much a game over type of garbage time situation. It's such a, I would say, demoralizing feeling.

And that's what I think is interesting. As we record this, I haven't been in the locker room yet. and it's because of the Monday game, everything's kind of pushed back. How do they respond now? Because that Monday game was supposed to be their response after laying the egg in Minnesota. And I think that's what's so tough is now 48 hours removed

from that Monday night debacle is it's like, all right, well, what answers do you have because you need them very, very quickly because you have one of the best teams in the NFL coming to Paycourt Stadium on Sunday. and you were already supposed to respond, and now the competition gets tougher. In my mind, the lions are better than what they've seen

over the past couple of weeks. And yeah, they were on the road, but it looked awful. You get outscored 76 to 13. So they have a ton of issues. Yet I look at it and I say, well, you're not going to necessarily be able to just fix the trenches, but you should be able to get more out of this offense,

given the skill guys that you do have, and given where the strength of this roster is. And they haven't done it over the past couple of weeks without Joe Burrow. It's crazy because it seems like yesterday you guys were in the Super Bowl. I mean, it was a lot of the same players. It was the head coach. I watched Monday night, James. I'm like, what is this?

And I know they started off okay. I think they went up three nothing. But my gosh, it was the penalties. And they didn't even accept all of them. How many penalties that they have that weren't even accepted? It was like 15. total or something? Yeah, yeah. So at halftime, it was 11 penalties

that they were called for in eight of them. Eight were accepted. And they finished with more penalties than first downs. They had four first downs on the opening drive, five the rest of the game. I mean, just historically bad offense. And they have the best receiver on the planet, in my mind, right? And maybe he's second or third or whatever.

But that's just, it's really, really hard to do. And that backup receiver, they have or their second receiver, how do you want to say it? In T. Higgins, he's really good too, right? So they have to find a way to get those guys involved. And that's where my focus is. Like, yeah, they're a young defense. They're not going to be great. They're going to give up points and yards and things like that.

The offensive line, I don't think anyone expected the offensive line to be world beaters this year. But with Jake Browning, they should still be able to score points and they haven't. And so that's the thing where you look at Zach and Zach Taylor, the head coach. And you look at this team and you're like, all right, How do you fix this at least somewhat so you can be competitive in a game like Sunday? It's interesting, too. You mentioned before I could see it on the screen, you know, on our graphic there, slowing down the Lions' offense.

The Brown's defense, really good, really good. I mean, this past week was the last, the first time of a while I can remember a game at Ford Field where the Lions just didn't cruise down the field on most possessions. Now, it's not every possession. There's going to be some puns. The Lions have a good one in Jack Fox, and he pins people deep. but man, Miles Garrett and that crew,

and Garrett didn't have a sack. Obviously, he kind of forced Taylor Decker of a pretty low PFF grade. But all in all, I thought the Browns defense did all they could do. I mean, they were on the field most of the game, especially in the second half. But the Lions, I feel like, you know, not saying they left some points on the field, but I think they will tell you they can play better offensively,

and that's pretty scary with how they've been playing lately, and they did a nice job against the Ravens. So your question about slowing down the line, you said the Bengals, defense is young. I think the Lions are ready to kind of break out again this week after this past week where they really couldn't do everything that they wanted to do. And Montgomery had, what, nine carries 12 yards?

That's not going to happen again, right? I don't think so. I love the Lions offense. I love how they're built our everydayers know how big of a fan I was of Jemir Gibbs pre-draft and Gibbs and Montgomery together. It's a heck of a one-two combo. Yeah, San Leporta. Monross St. Brayn. I mean, they just layers on layers. And then let's just say you contain all those guys.

Well, Jameson Williams is a dude. He's a real guy. I know in that draft, it's fun. I get to share some of this knowledge now that isn't necessarily relevant to the Bengals. The Bengals had James and Williams is their number one receiver in that draft. Now, they weren't in the wide receiver market at that stage, but for the lines to trade up for him, they weren't alone in thinking, hey, this guy's awesome. And I know they really like Jemir Gibbs as well. So to see those guys come to town, yeah, it's a huge challenge. And I think the Bengals, there's one clear issue that their defense needs to solve. And I don't know if they have the personnel to do it.

We can dive into that in some of these matchups that are going to be really interesting and probably challenging for the Bengals coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandul. Fandual is America's number one sportsbook for. a reason. And right now, well, you got to take advantage of, well, a $5 bet because you can bet just $5 and you'll get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right. You pick a bet, put down five bucks. And if it hits, you unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. That's same game parlays, live bets, live parleys. If you want to go that route, you could think of multiple

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Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda, move and be moved. All right, Matt. Let's dive into some of these. matchups. I think the reason why this Bengals defense, but my biggest issue with it, and it's not going to shock many people that have watched this Bengals team, they can't get any pressure. They cannot pressure the quarterback. Trey Hendrickson has a pass rush win rate of just over

20 percent. Obviously everyone knows about Trey. He led the NFL in Sacks last year. Shamar Stewart, the Bengals first round pick is at 14 percent, but he's missed the past couple of games. No other defensive linemen in double digits from a pass rush win rate perspective. or defensive linemen for the Bengals. They've just really struggled in that area. And it's not like they're great against the run. And so when you put that together and I look at this matchup with the Lions, if you're not going to pressure Jared Gough and you're not going to completely shut down the run,

that's a pretty, it could be tough sledding against this Detroit Lions offense. Let me ask you this. How much of that is, number one, the whole Stewart Circus with the signing him and he missed time. And then how much of it is the Hendrickson circus? I mean, is it just that their sea legs aren't under them because they didn't have training camp? Or how much of that played a role in this? Or are they just not playing well? Well, no, I think those two guys are for the most part.

I think Shamar Stewart's played about as well as you could imagine or expect of him. Now, he's only played two of the four games. It got hurt at the end of that Jags game. But Trey is the only guy. And so he commands all the attention. Yeah. And in the Bengals desperately need someone else. And that's why it's a big, big story to follow.

I don't think by the time everyone sees this or listens to this on Thursday, Wednesday, Thursday, that we're going to know about Shamar Stewart's status. I think he's getting closer, and they certainly need him. But that's kind of it. You know, Joseph Osai is someone they signed hoping that he would kind of break out his relative, but be that. productive defensive end across from Trey Hendrickson in his fifth season. He's a former third round pick out of Texas. They thought maybe he would be able to put it together. Miles Murphy in his third season,

first round pick. The same year, Jamira Gibbs was drafted by the Lions in 2023. And so they took him 28th overall. And those guys just haven't done that. They've had little flashes at times, but not enough consistency. And so you talk about that lion's offensive line getting going.

And I'm like, oh, man, it's a tough, That's a tough matchup there. And that's the matchup right there. So if you're talking about, okay, what to watch, let's start there with Stuart and Hendrickson against Decker and Sewell. I mean, whoever lines up against Penae Sewell, good luck.

I mean, he is the best right tackle in the game. We could argue with other people, but I truly believe that two weeks ago against the Ravens. Again, I sound like I'm a PFF slappy here, but, I mean, his nearly grated out at 100. I mean, that never happens. He's that good, and he's just nasty and is just so solid at that right tackle spot. And no one talks about Taylor Decker, but he isn't practiced in weeks with a sore shoulder yet every Sunday.

He's out there and does a pretty good job. And again, held Miles Garrett without a sack. So it was the interior of the lion's offensive line that was a concern earlier in the year. But there was never a doubt, excuse me, that the tackles were going to get the job done. And I think that the matchup certainly with Hendrickson and Shamar and Osai and whoever you throw out there, I loved Miles Murphy coming out of the draft. It's obvious the Lions didn't because they had a need there and didn't take him. But the other thing to watch, too, on the other side is, and I mentioned before,

is the cornerback situation with the Lions. DJ Reed has been a huge pickup for them, but now it's going to miss multiple weeks with a hamstring. And there's a likely chance Tarion Arnold's going to need this week off with a sore shoulder. Now, Terrion's not played well. I mean, it's a first round pick that for the last two years, they keep saying he's coming. It's going to get better.

second half of last year was better. But he's not played well. So Amick Robertson was kind of taking some of his snaps at outside corner anyway. But now this week you're talking about if they could get Jamar Chase and T. Higgins up and running and they're going to go up again, you look at it and go, wait a minute, no Arnold, no Reed. Who's playing? Well, Amic Robertson would play one outside corner. He's really good, mostly in the slot, but can do it.

Everybody saw him in Week 18 last year, shut Justin Jefferson down. when Carlton Davis got hurt. And then the other corner is Khalil Dorsey, who has never started an NFL game. So that's something to watch there. Do they decide, all right, where's Dorsey? Where's number 30? Do we just pick on him and see if he can play?

Lions like him. He's been a depth piece, but now he's going to be sprung into action on Sunday. Yeah, I think that's a matchup, just you describing it. If the Bengals want to hang in this game, you just have to get your start. involved. It was a real big theme for me last week. Jamar has to be, he has to have one of those 12 to 15

target games. T. Higgins has got to get plenty of opportunities. And when these guys have that 6 to 8 target range and Jamar's averaging five yards a catch, well, you're just, you're not going to win with that. So can the Bengals take advantage of that? We'll see. I think that is, that does give some Bengals fans some hope right there that, oh, well, the Lions are banged up in the secondary, let me ask you this. How is their pass rush? Because there isn't much confidence in this Bengals offensive front right now. Well, I mean, we made a mistake, James, and our listeners should be mad at us. We're 16 minutes and 36 seconds in and haven't said the word, the words, Aidan Hutchinson yet. No doubt. And that's a massive mistake on our parts because that

well, I knew he was coming. He's a friend. Yes. Yes. I mean, maybe we just teased it, but that dude is balling right now. And slow start coming back from the broken leg. last year, first game against Green Bay. Like, where is he? He was a no show. But really the whole team was. First half of the Bears game week two, you're like, where's Hutch? And all of a sudden, there he is in the second half, getting in Caleb Williams' face, forcing some bad throws,

some pressures. And in the last two weeks, I mean, two sacks of Lamar Jackson, this past week, a sack on Joe Flacco, which, look, you and I could sack Joe Flacco, but strip sack and just making plays. And I mentioned this on my Tuesday show, I believe here on Lockdown Lions. I mean, he is now the difference maker. Everybody's talked about the edge rusher opposite of Aden.

Why didn't Brad Holmes go sign anybody? Why didn't Brad Homes go draft anybody? Wait until the sixth round to take another edge. They've had Marcus Davenport. He's been hurt. Al-Qadine Muhammad has been really good as a backup, but is now filling in and starting. But it all starts with Hutchinson.

If he's just on, it doesn't matter what the rest of the D-Lines is doing. It's going to open things up for them. But he's been an absolute monster. the for the last two weeks. And I have a feeling you're going to see the few Bengals patented false starts because they just know, uh, oh, 97, where's he located? And, uh, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, what's so interesting about this matchup is, is, is can they contain?

These tackles have had, had their issues over the past couple of weeks. And so Aiden Hutchinson is going to get his. Can you contain him enough to where you're able to get the ball, to Jamar and T. And last week, it was kind of the opposite. Nick Bonito is a real guy, of course. Yeah, yeah. But the Broncos are a bunch of guys.

And it isn't one start, isn't Miles Garrett and then the rest of the crew. It's there's a lot of guys that you're going to have to worry about and devote attention to. And they just win with the Lions. Yeah, you're thinking it's like the Miles Garrett treatment where it's two guys. Sometimes it's probably going to be three guys. And you just don't want him. to wreck the game. That's usually what I say during Cleveland week. You don't want Miles to wreck the game. I think that's the same thing here with Aden Hudson. No question. You guys aren't

running the ball at all well. I saw dead last. Don't remind me. Is that just because teams now are just loading the box because they know it's browning or is it not borough or what's going on there? No, they have not been good. They have not been good run blocking. And that's that's scary too. is it's like, all right, well, if you're not going to pass protect at a high level, which that's what these guys were brought in to do to protect Joe Burrow, and now you have Jake Browning in and you need to lean in on the ground game a little bit more than expected, can you? And the answer so far has been no.

Now, the other day, Chase Brown did technically average four yards of carry, but they scored three points. And so how effective was he really? It wasn't that effective. It wasn't that much of a factor. And I do think that if there is any path for the Bengals to hold up against Aden Hutchinson, but to also be consistent on offense with Jake Browning and a quarterback, they have to get more out of the ground game and be more consistent and efficient.

Not that they're going to run it 30 times a game. That's just not who they're built to be, but they're probably going to need to run it 15 to 20 and be effective on those 15 to 20 rushes. And that's not something we've seen so far this year, even though Chase Brown was an emerging star, and they thought he was going to be one of their breakout players this season, that just hasn't been the case so far. Crazy, crazy.

Well, I mean, I think that lions are in good shape. But like I said, DJ Reader will be motivated to come back. I don't think there's any animosity toward the Bengals, but I know that happens a lot. I think he, I think there was maybe at the beginning, but I think now it's been two years, but you never know. I feel sometimes I feel sorry for the Bengali. It seems like every time they play somebody that's left,

it's like, oh, let me tell you about the ownership. It's like, oh, oh, here we go, right? Yeah, without time and time again. No doubt. Yeah, let's discuss maybe DJ Reader, the David Montgomery storyline, and maybe some paths to victory. I'm going to have to really outline these past a victory for the Bengals

because I'm not sure if there are many. We'll get to that coming up next. Today's show was brought to you by game time. Game time, well, if you're making the trip down to Cincinnati, if you're a Detroit Lions fan, or if you don't have your tickets yet, Bengals fans, and you want to go watch Sunday's game, well, game time is the perfect place to go. And game time, well, it can take the frustration out of getting tickets to all of your favorite live events. And the app gives the advantage back to the fans. Game time is the fastest and easiest way, backed by the game time guarantee. You always

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Create an account. Use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that's promo code LOCK, E, D-D-O-N-N-FL-L-L-L-F, lock down NFL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket. it go download it game time today all right matt when i i think of paths to victory here and just things the bengals would need to do they got to jumpstart this offense somehow and i just

i naturally assume and lean on jemar what when when joe and jemar when their backs have been against the wall over the past four plus years when they've been teammates here in cincinnati i've always said well doubt them at your own risk because they always seem to come up big when their backs are against the wall. And obviously Joe's out. And so how do the Bengals give Jamar the opportunity? I don't even think he had the opportunity to, on Monday night, football against the Broncos because he just wasn't given the targets necessary when he was open.

When I went back and watched, he was open plenty. So you got to get Jamar involved. You got to be able to get him in position to be a game changer. Like if Aidan Hutchinson, it could be a game record. Jamar Chase can be a game changer. And so whether it's 12 to 15 targets, whether it's just a bunch of downfield targets, I don't know. But that's the first thing for me.

And so what goes into that? Well, you got to make sure Aidan Hutchinson doesn't wreck it. You got to make sure that Jake Browning sees Jamar and gets him involved early. And if you do that, then maybe you can get off to a quick start. Because I do think that that's going to be needed because the lines are going to be aggressive. They're going to put up points. and they're certainly not going to be shy on going forward on fourth down. Well, I think the best way for the Lions to stop all of that is ball control and keep the football and sustain long drives.

Two 90-yard drives against the Ravens, Kepp Lamar Jackson off the field. So you're right. The Bengals can make promises. Zach Taylor can say it all week. We've got to get Jamar Chase going. He's the key. Best receiver in the game. Number one, fantasy pick, T. Higgins, your tight ends.

All of that sounds great. And Chase Brown, too. It's good players there. but if they're not on the field, they can't, they can't score. And the Lions, I think, with Montgomery and Gibbs, that offensive line, running the football, let the clock run down. I'm not saying intentionally almost kind of just play keepaway, but that is what kept Lamar Jackson off the field two weeks ago

and gave the Lions a pathway to a win on the road on Monday night football. So I see that. I see ball control being key for the Lions. You're on the road, 425 game. Hey, let's run the rock and let's pound it with Montgomery. he's coming home. His sister's going to be in the crowd who's had a terrible car accident a few years ago and basically he's in a wheelchair. She has not seen her brother play live. I don't think in a long time. So an opportunity for him to come home and carry the football along with

Jamir Gibbs. Keep that clock running. It's been a successful way for the Lions to do business on offense, especially with the play action passing game. So I think that's going to be there for Detroit. And then, you know, we talked about it before, but I see a scenario where, all right, Browning back, just throw it up into the sky, play with some 500 and hope for the flags. Let's, the Bengals have to hope that the side judges and back judges pick on Kalil Dorsey and go, all right, Dorsey's being Hansy here. It's Jamart Chase and an unknown corner. A couple of, a couple of deep shots that turn into flags are just like catches, right? So I would watch for some DPIs against Dorsey.

that they pick on him and see if it works. I actually think that's a great point because you can't get those big plays if you're not trying them and you're not pushing the ball down the field. And they do need to find a way to do that in any way they can. And that's a scenario that could play out where the defensive pass interferences are making impact. You mentioned the run game and the ball control. The Bengals have to stop the route.

I mean, that's the first thing. I talked about the pressure at the top. but given this line's offense, if you let Jared Goff just hand it off to these guys and they're getting five a pop, well, it's over because the play action is going to work

and everything's going to work and it's just going to be too tough to contain these guys. It is. And so I think stopping the runner slowing down that rushing attack for the line, so that has to be number one.

It doesn't mean that's enough to slow down that entire offense because Jared Goff can sling it all over. But I do think it has to start there is you make sure that David Montgomery and Jemir Gibbs just aren't running all over you because if they do that, then it's going to open the entire offense up for this Lions Lions team that can obviously score points in a hurry. I hate to do it, but is there a chance? Browning struggles early. The boo birds rain down. I mean, they wouldn't put Brett ripping in,

would they? I don't think so. I don't think so. And that's what's been kind of annoying to me. Like, I'm totally fine with Jake Browning starting on Sunday, but you need. someone that you feel comfortable putting in at some point. I don't think it's Brett Rippin. They have Mike White and Sean Clifford on the practice squad. I don't think that's realistic. They got here a few weeks ago. Yeah.

I mean, Brett Rippin got here the start of September after final cuts. He wasn't even here during training camp. So it's really tough to envision any of those guys, given their experience or lack thereof and when they got here. So, no, I don't think so. But yeah, you're right about that. Like if it goes, if the game goes a certain way, I definitely think the boo birds will be out. And that's why when I did that game time read, by the way, I was like, oh, well, Lions fans, if you want to come down.

Oh, they don't be there. Bengals fans, I'm not telling you not to come. I just, I know how frustrated Bengals fans are right now. That's all. Well, it's drivable for Lions fans to get to Cincinnati and they will be there. Trust me. Just asked the Colts fans last year when the Lions fans invaded Lucas Hoy. They'll be there.

They'll be there and loud. So that would be interesting. And I know how Bengals fans feel right now, as you said, over the last two weeks, and there's a lot of frustration there. Yeah, for sure. And so I think going into that last week's game, I said, oh, what pressure was on Denver to get to two and two.

You don't want to fall to one and three. The pressure's on the Bengals now, just to look competent. As weird as that sounds at two and two, like they just they've been so bad outscored 76 to 13 over the past couple of games and you're playing a team in Detroit that is among the NFL's best and so it's a it's a tough ask to go out there and win it's the NFL so you always expect to win but man you just got to look better than you have and I'm not sure they're going to but that that's where I'm at ahead of Sunday's game

and I think a lot of people here in town feel the same way yeah I don't see a scenario where the lose either, and it's not me being cocky or anything, like you said, I think they're the better team. I think right now without Joe Burrow, that's a tough ask, like you said. Unless the Bengals get pressure on golf and force a couple of turnovers and the Lions hand Cincinnati

opportunities, you know, I see the Lions winning as well. I think they've been real solid on special teams the last couple of weeks, return to punt this week with Khalif Raymond. Kick returns have been better. Like I said, Jack Fox pins you deep, and then you're asking Jake Browning and that offense to go

90 yards, 88 yards, whatever. That's going to be, that's going to be tough for the Bengals for sure. And it's nationally televised game. This one was on the schedule look cool at the start of the year. And now you're like, oh, man, no Joe Burrow, that kind of sucks from a matchup standpoint. But I'm sure the lions in their building in Allen Park aren't really too upset about it. No. Why wouldn't you?

Why would you be? Right. It's, yeah, this should have been an awesome matchup. I still am excited because there are, a lot of players in the lines that I've either followed or we've mentioned on the pod or obviously the David Montgomery factor, DJ reader, we'll if I get to see DJ. It's good. And by the way, I definitely think he's going to be out for revenge. I'm just going to go for it. I think he's definitely going to be out for revenge. But we're certainly going to have you covered here on Locked

on Lions and Locked on Bengals, win, loser draw. We're always here. So, thank you so much for listening and watching to a special crossover edition here ahead of week five. And until And next time, this has been another crossover Thursday on the Lockdown Podcast Network.