Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals fall (very) short in measuring-stick game

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Bengals fell well short of the mark in what we called a Proving Game, a measuring stick game. Well, they failed that test in a bad way. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. One up Bengals fans. And welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Lisco.

Starting point is 00:00:32 He's your host, James Rapine. We come to you after a tough. game for the Cincinnati Bengals in which they failed a test. We were hoping to see them pass and hoping to see a game go very differently than we saw today. We're part of the lockdown podcast that work here on Lockdown Bengals covering your team every day. And we're on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast.

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Starting point is 00:01:15 James, we got a promising start from the Cincinnati Bengals, getting out to a 10 to 3 lead before things really spiraled out of control. They had a 10-minute opening drive to the game, scoring a touchdown. But then, boy, was it bad pretty quickly thereafter. What are your big takeaways after watching the Bengals? get trounced and drop to 0 and 4 at home? Well, first things first, they outplayed the Eagles in the first half, and they were tied 10 to 10.

Starting point is 00:01:45 And that just can't happen. When you outplay this team that we talked about, had a ton of talent, and I really tried to hammer that home, how dynamic they could potentially be on offense when called upon. And look, this was the, you're right, the make us believe game. And I think the Bengals made a lot of people believe. I do.

Starting point is 00:02:05 that they're a bad football team because that's how they played in the second half. Bad football. I mean, Joe Burrow was 10 of 13 for like 65 yards in the second half. I forget the exact yardage. It was under 70 yards. Had the one interception. The offense really couldn't get going outside of the lone touchdown drag they had. And the defense gave up scores on every single possession.

Starting point is 00:02:26 It was commanders week three defense. And Jalen Hertz had plenty of time. So much so that our old buddy Fred Johnson literally, had Trey Hendrickson run so far downfield he ended up in northern kentucky i mean this guy had to run so far to get the edge on that devonthe smith touchdown he was 14 yards into the backfield before he was able to get around fred a little bit and that's way too much time and that that's the theme i think we've seen is the defense being inconsistent fun well then can the offense pick it up And early on, it looked like the offense was up to the task.

Starting point is 00:03:08 And obviously, that fizzled really after the opening drive. But after that, they showed some flashes. Joe Burrow made some plays. It just obviously wasn't enough. It was really two drives, though, where it was okay. But the second drive took magic. Like you said, it required Joe Burrow to evade an unblocked pass rusher on a mishandled stunt on the left side. Stop me if you've heard that before.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Well, don't stop me because I'm going to keep talking. Then they get a miracle conversion on the Burrow scramble. throw to Gaseki uncovering late in the play who's able to get up field for third and 22. They even get a deep shot to Jermaine Burton in this game and are unable to do anything afterward. You get another missed 50 plus yard kick for Evan McPherson. That's a topic now that is getting louder and louder. And where you score on a 17-play 10-minute, four-second drive to start the game, there's good and bad there, right?

Starting point is 00:03:59 I was both encouraged and a little bit trepidious, let's say, a little bit hesitant after that first drive because I'm thinking on the one hand, it looks like they're seeing it really well. Joe Burroughs finding the answers to Vic Fangio's coverages or getting just enough, but they're also not able to get the ball downfield and the run game looked really bad. Sometimes though the run game looks really bad at the start of games,

Starting point is 00:04:21 and then you can figure it out later. The Bengals held Saquan Barkley for much of this game to the low three-point-something yards per carry before the final offensive drive for the Eagles, or maybe the second to last, I don't remember which one anymore, leads to a lot of big runs for Barclay. Sometimes the run game looks bad early and recovers later. Not the case today. Run game, absolutely dreadful, all game outside of Chase Brown's touchdown run and maybe one other run,

Starting point is 00:04:47 a toss play that goes for four yards, or maybe it wasn't a toss. But those are their most successful runs of the day. And so on the one hand, you have some concerning signs for the run game early. You have the appearance of Joe Burroughs actually playing really, well distributing it really well. They're seven for their first seven on third downs, but at the same time, well, that's really encouraging to go seven for seven on third downs. You had to get to seven third downs in two drives and eight because they didn't convert the last one. And when you're forced to convert on third down time after time after time,

Starting point is 00:05:20 your early downs are so bad. And they were early in this game. And obviously they didn't recover late in the game and had their own issues late in the game. There are some signs there that maybe this thing isn't going to be sustainable. So while it looked like maybe they had some answers early, it was just like taking a very long time to get to plays. And while they had a couple of awesome plays in this game on offense, there are highlights. There's a highlight reel for Joe Burrow in this game.

Starting point is 00:05:46 There's a highlight reel for Mike O'Recki in this game. There's also low lights for those guys. And while I think Burrow was good in this game, and did everything he could to put the team on his back, there just wasn't enough surrounding him on the field, on the sidelines of the front office. you can go all the way up, and we'll have plenty of time to do that. There just wasn't enough there to beat a team that was honestly in a very similar spot

Starting point is 00:06:07 to the Bengals we talked about coming into this game. And now after this game, the opinions of the Eagles and the Bengals, both, I think, between us, James, and the trajectory that they're on and around the league couldn't be more different. Well, I guess, yeah, sure. I'm not going to overreact because the game got away from them in the second half. I mean, it was bad. Yeah, it got away from them in the second half.

Starting point is 00:06:34 Like, that's what happened. But the thing that's more alarming to me is when Joe Burrow did put on the cape, does make a third and 22 play, does take them downfield on a 17 play, 70-yard touchdown drive, and it's tied. That's where I'm like, oh, no. Like, if they don't get a stop coming out of halftime, this doesn't feel good. because Joe is human. They don't have T.

Starting point is 00:07:00 They don't have Orlando. Those things do matter, even though we can pretend they don't. It would have mattered if the Eagles didn't have Devante Smith, for example. It didn't matter about their left tackle because Fred Johnson had Trey Hendrickson. It just gave him a fit all game for whatever reason. And you tie that together, and they came back to Earth a lot. And it is frustrated because to me, I mean, they're right in it. It's 2417. And the play of the game is that fourth and one.

Starting point is 00:07:33 And you have to get that play. It's a got to have it play where you have to get that for, because if you don't, if you punt it, you know the Eagles are probably going to score. And they're certainly going to score if you don't get it. And they did. And now the game's over. You hold them to a field goal somehow. I don't know how the defense did it, but they did. But you have to have that play. They didn't have it. There were a couple turning points. Evan McPherson missed field goal was a huge one. he makes that it puts him up 10 just feels different it feels like they have they have a double digit league and it feels like they deserve a double digit lead and they didn't have it and go into halftime tied so there's one and then two it's that fourth down and man oh man like we'll we'll talk about the defense because i think that devonthe smith touchdown was a big play too but after that you're like all right well the offense has to go score and fourth and one you have to get that and that isn't the play I dial up and it got to have it in a moment. I just don't.

Starting point is 00:08:28 And throw it three yards behind the line of scrimmage. I just don't like that, even if it is to Jamar Chase. I'd rather you throw a goal to Jamar Chase on fourth and one. Well, that's a trend too, right? Obviously it didn't work out. The throws short of the six, it throws behind the line of scrimmage. We've seen that from them before. They haven't learned that lesson.

Starting point is 00:08:44 The way they got there was running the ball in second and two when their running game has been dreadful all game. Then they bring an extra lineman out and telegraph run. And then they run it on third and one. And then they throw it behind the line of scrimmage on fourth and one. That entire sequence is terrible. And it starts with the first and 10 where Burrow is flushed immediately on a play fake from shotgun. As soon as he's done executing that part of the play, he's running and he has to scramble it.

Starting point is 00:09:07 And a good play for Joe Burrow to pick up eight yards, nearly had the first down if Zach Bond doesn't get him by the shoes. But then after that, you can't run it in this game. And this is such an issue. Like the passing offense is still good. It's just not enough. When you're running the ball for one yard, zero yards, and then throwing behind the sticks, on a bad decision. And maybe that's Burrow, maybe that's the coaching staff.

Starting point is 00:09:27 It looked like that was the design. There was potentially an option for Eric All coming across the formation. Maybe Burrow predetermined the chase could get that corner too quickly. And they had a good play from the Eagles to shut it down. And it was rookie corner, Cooper de Gene, who made that play. Maybe they just got got. But it's a critical moment in the game. The plays leading up to that critical moment in the game, I thought were, at best,

Starting point is 00:09:50 questionable decisions to try to run the ball when you haven't been running the ball. and then they don't get the critical play they need. And that's the way this team has gone too often this year, not making critical plays on repeat. And that's what they are at this point. That makes you mostly a bad team. But like I said, we'll have plenty of time to talk about the big picture stuff, more to talk about in this specific game

Starting point is 00:10:10 and how it got away from them. We will continue to bemoan this game, unfortunately, coming up next. This episode of Blacktown Bengals is sponsored by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find the quality professionals that are right for the role, and I wish the Bengals would do this too. You fortunately can learn from their mistakes and check out LinkedIn jobs to find the right professionals for your team faster and for free.

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Starting point is 00:12:28 Lane Johnson injured in this game, came back, played through whatever he was dealing with. But this offensive line was down some guys and in pure passing situations on paper and going back to their recent performances looked beatable. But when Jalen Hurst dropped back to pass, he was unharassed, had massive pockets. And you reference that play to Devante Smith, where Trey Henderson has run 14 yards deep. It's also a play action play that leads to double teams on your defensive tackles who are reacting to the flow of the offensive line and the run play. And Sam Hubbard getting handled after hesitating and playing the run at first by a tight end one-on-one. The pass rush in this game was not existent, afforded Jalen Hertz way too much time and let Hertz play honestly, perhaps his best game in over a year, maybe going back to 2022 when the Eagles made their Super Bowl run.

Starting point is 00:13:17 Yeah, that play was a nightmare, comedy of errors. I mean, from every angle. I mean, you have Trey Hendrickson running to Covington to try to get the edge. Sam Hubbard can't get by a guy that he should just throw out of his way to make a play. Jalen Hertz is hanging out in the pocket. And then he throws a ball so high that Kang Murphy Jr. in his prime would be the only one that could track it down. But Jordan Battle just can't see it. has no idea where the ball is and looks lost coverage-wise deep and you give up the touchdown that's

Starting point is 00:13:52 such a huge play because the bengals come back after being down 17 to 10 they respond they score and so that drive is so huge and for the defense to have no resistance i mean that drive was five plays i believe i'm i'm going to pull it up right now a three plays there's a three-play drive with two first downs, Jake. That means two first down plays and then a touchdown play. That's zero resistance. They might as well not even have been on the field. And so that describes the second half, that play for sure.

Starting point is 00:14:30 And when that happened, I'm like, all right. Like I still thought that the burrow magic early, it just felt like to me like one of those games like, oh, they've, and in the past they did, they have done this. they find ways to win games like today. And I think that's a big difference between the 21 Bengals or the 22 Bengals or last year that mid-season run where it felt like Joe Burrow was playing like Joe again and this team was still really good.

Starting point is 00:14:59 Today, they just kind of fizzle and they lose 37-17. And it plays like that are a big reason why. Momentum shifts like that are a big reason why. You get it to even, 17 to 17. and then the Eagles take the lead, three plays, two first downs and a deep touchdown to Devante Smith. And to get it to 17 to 17, you have a really nice drive to do it. 13.70 yards, six minutes, and it looks efficient. They only faced two third downs on that drive, and one of them was after a very tough drop from Andre Yosevash,

Starting point is 00:15:30 which put them in a position that they've been an option in this game where they got into these third downs, but they were able to convert them. They converted two on that drive. One of them, Joe Burrow passed to Mike Gaseki on third and six. the other one, that third and eight, where Burroughs scrambles and gets there with a massive individual effort. And this is when it's like, yeah, Joe Burroughs putting the team on his back. And again, like I said, they come back out.

Starting point is 00:15:53 And it's this thing that we've talked about time and time again. It's that drive that I just talked about before we finish our first segment. Right after that Eagle's explosive touchdown drive where they go 26 yards or sorry, 23 yards to A.J. Brown with Camp Taylor Brick giving up a time. of space respecting the vertical ability when A.J. Brown's able to just snap it off and the open pockets allow all these deep developing routes to be uncontested essentially for Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense and then they get that deep ball to Devante Smith. The very next drive is when they can't throw a pass until they throw it behind the sticks. And this is just so

Starting point is 00:16:34 frustrating to watch play out again and again where yeah, maybe they're worried about protection because Joe Burroughs scrambling right after a play fake on that first downplay. And Cody Ford's in the game at this point. And, you know, things are a little bit touch and go in protection in this game against a good Eagles defensive front. But then they run it again, like the run game was just awful. They run it for a yard. They take it out of Joe's hands. Run it for a yard.

Starting point is 00:16:56 Run it for no game with an extra line. And they don't go back to that reverse wishbone thing that we saw from them last week where they were getting advantageous matchups. And maybe that's because they don't have tea. But you can't just turn. into this turtle offense that can't run the ball for a yard and won't let Joe Burrow throw it because you don't have tea. And so while missing T does matter, you cannot have a sequence where in a critical moment of the game, you go one yard run, no yard run, throw behind the line of scrimmage when you have Joe Burrow quarterback. No doubt. No doubt. I was fine going for it. I was fine with them throwing it.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Not fine with a freaking basically a pitch to Jamar Chase. When you're motioning him, in trying to move him. And it's kind of, it's similar to what the Miami Dolphins have done historically with Tyree Kill, where they do that. And then they get him to in space and he can just kind of run to the sticks or run to the right corner of the goal line. It's really hard to do. It's really hard to do. And Cooper DeGine made a good play, but it doesn't matter. I just don't like it there.

Starting point is 00:18:03 It's not your bread and butter. It can be other people's bread and butter. It can be Tyreeks, but it's not the Bengals. And yeah, I think that that's where the game was right then. It's like, all right, this is on life support. And they force the field goal. So it's 2717. That's the one win for the defense there, I would say, of the second half, forcing or holding the Eagles to a field goal there.

Starting point is 00:18:29 That is a good job. I know it's not a complete stop, but it's a good job. It keeps them in the game. What did you think about the interception? Joe talked about it. he said he laid it out a little short. It gets batted. It's a bad block that it gets picked in my eyes.

Starting point is 00:18:45 So I don't really fault them for taking a shot there. But sometimes things start to snowball. And I thought that was the snowball effect. You're like, oh, man, this is unraveling quickly. Yeah, he threw one earlier in the game over the middle that could have been picked. Yeah. Cooper DeGine dropped it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:02 Yeah. And then this one is Isaiah Rogers on Jamar Chase's hip on a go ball. And I'm pretty sure it's single high. I haven't seen a replay to confirm that. But where the safety was where he caught the interception on the deflection is generally where you see a safety coming over from playing single high. I think he was. I think it was.

Starting point is 00:19:18 And so I'm never going to be upset with Joe Burrow taking Jamar Chase one-on-one with a backup corner because Darius Slate in dealing with an injury in this game, who also had an awesome play against Jermaine Burton in the end zone on a play where you'd like Jermaine Burton to make the play, but Dariusley made a good play there. I mean, you tip your hat to the backup corner, I guess, Isaiah Rogers, for sticking with Jamar Chase. Maybe it's a tad underthrown if Joe's saying so. I guess I'll take his word on it.

Starting point is 00:19:42 I haven't gone and watched it again, but it looked like it was relatively accurate ball. Jamar didn't have any separation there. You would expect him to against a backup corner. Isaiah Rogers does have the speed, obviously, to keep up there. But yeah, I think that's just a bad break at that point in the game that really tells you about how the game is going. But honestly, when you only get one stop the entire game

Starting point is 00:20:05 you're the Bengals, even if the Bengals convert that play and go score and don't get to stop the rest of the game, they still lose because they're down 10 and they're giving up points on every drive. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, it's tough. It's tough when you're giving up points every drive. Let's continue the conversation. It's been rough, but we will finish it off coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by game time. Marvin Lewis is coming to town this week. That's right. Marvin Lewis will be back here at Paycor Stadium, where I'm I am right now on Sunday for a week nine matchup that, dare I say, oh, yes, I will say it's must win.

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Starting point is 00:21:51 trying to figure out, well, we can win seven out of nine. Zach Taylor is taking a little bit of accountability for a fourth-down play that didn't work, talking about the lack of meeting expectations as a team. And in the locker room, there's a clear understanding that what they're doing isn't good enough. But nobody seems to have answers. I don't have answers. I didn't hear a whole lot in the way of answers from anyone. And I think that's emblematic of being frustrated after losing a game, the way they lost this game,

Starting point is 00:22:24 where they felt like they probably had a beat on things early and it got away from them. But it really got away from them. And I think that makes it tough to feel like there are. answers available to you. And they looked so different this week than last week, too, from like a game planning situation and everything. And maybe that's because they lose tea. But where are you at from that perspective, from what you heard and saw after the game in the locker room? I think they're definitely searching, no doubt. I think they viewed it. Our theme coming into this game, I think they viewed it that way. I think it was pretty in lockstep of this.

Starting point is 00:22:58 All right, well, this is your chance to show everyone to make, make us believe was what we coined on our pregame show. And I think they believe and they're like, all right, we're going to make everyone believe. And we're going to go out there and show who we are. And if that's who they are, well, then they're going to miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

Starting point is 00:23:20 That's the bottom line. If that's what they are, that's the 2024 Bengals. Now, to Joe's point, is there a time? He got asked like, when is the hole too deep, essentially? And so he just gave a pretty straightforward. I don't think he's counting games. I think Joe is replaying like every play in his head right now. And it's probably really frustrated.

Starting point is 00:23:42 And it's probably wondering what a lot of people are. How good is this team? They can be good. I do think they can be good. But will they be good? And will they figure it out quick enough? It like needs to be figured out like now. And we can talk about the schedule.

Starting point is 00:24:01 what games matter more than others and all of those things. But they're three and five. And they had a shot today, Jake, to gain a game on Baltimore, Miami lost, like these teams that are like fringe playoff teams or teams division leaders, who knows what happens with Pittsburgh. Like they had a chance here to make up some ground despite playing an NFC team and you get the four and four. And it just completely unraveled and it doesn't feel even good.

Starting point is 00:24:30 because it's not like you can say, all right, well, the defense, they struggled so much because this guy was out. Or these guys were out. No, Trey Hendrickson lost to Fred Johnson today. Sam Hubbard lost to whatever tight end on that play. Jordan Battle lost to Devante Smith. All these guys have issues. Joe Burrow said it. They need to be accountable.

Starting point is 00:24:51 The self-accountability needs to be there. There isn't a guy on the roster that didn't make a mistake today. Even the guys that didn't get in the game. They messed up something on the sideline with the water. They had to look because there's no way you play that bad. All right, I'll stop the joke. But you get my point. It's like nothing went right in that second half.

Starting point is 00:25:09 Everyone from Germain Burton running and not being on the same page as Joe at the end of the first half, even though he makes a great play and nearly had to touch. Everyone has something they can improve on. And they need to look in the mirror. You mentioned this. Head coaches, maybe front office, we'll talk about that. certainly the players, the entire coaching stuff, they have to figure it out now.

Starting point is 00:25:33 Because you know what you can't do? I mentioned in the game time read, the Raiders are coming to town next week. You can't lose to the Raiders. And if you beat the Raiders by three, we're going to be sitting here, standing here next week, talking, and we're going to be like, what does that mean? The Raiders stink.

Starting point is 00:25:49 So they better get their head out of their rear and show us who they are. And if this is who they are, then all right, then just be this and stop teasing us. But if you're going to be good, then damn it, be good. And it better start next week. And this was the make us believe game. And if anything, it's making us doubt or just believe that they're a bad team after 37-17 loss. I mean, they are what they are right now.

Starting point is 00:26:16 And until they're not what they are, that's what they are, which is a way of saying they're bad team, right? Like they're not making the plays they need to make to win games except against the worst team. They are who we thought they were. and they're still on the hook. Trust me on that. There's a lot to talk about because to me, and we're not going to get very far into it today, there's just like,

Starting point is 00:26:36 it's screaming at me in my head, like the need to make some sort of big change and finding some sort of direction. You can still see the ghost of the teams that were good, 21, 22. And even last year in the middle of the year, they were good football team last year. They got to the point where they were a good team last year.

Starting point is 00:26:54 And then things fell apart down the stretch. they really fell apart after Joe got hurt. But even still, they were able to win some games with Jake Browning, which we didn't think at the time of the injury was a very realistic thing to consider. This year is not that. They've lost too much talent or they're too stale or the coaching changes that they did make or steps in the wrong direction, whatever it is. Things are not working right now.

Starting point is 00:27:20 And this game doesn't come with any of the closeness that some of their earlier losses came with that helped us to kind of rationalize them a little bit. And it comes with a lot of the same mistakes that we've seen year after year after year. And the theme this year specifically is just about not making the plays they need to make. You can go back to the first half when they get a third and 16 after an unnecessary roughness penalty that leads to eventually that Philadelphia touchdown and the back-to-back touchdowns essentially in and out of the half to take that 17 to 10 lead. you get off the field on that third and 16, well, maybe the game does go differently.

Starting point is 00:27:58 Maybe the defense does get some sort of momentum going, has something figured out. Instead, the Eagles start rolling at that point, don't get stopped the rest of the game outside of that one field goal you mentioned, James. I guess two field goals after the Bengals turned it over on short fields. Yeah, and maybe the offense gets it going too, right? And it's just like, that's what I meant earlier. It's like it unraveled fast. It doesn't mean that it was a close game.

Starting point is 00:28:25 Yeah. Go ahead. Well, I was going to say, it unraveled fast and it unraveled hard. Like, they were clearly outplayed in the second half. It was mistake after mistake after mistake from the coaching staff, from the bounce on the interception, from Mike Kiske's fumble. And it's not like it's like a last minute pass interference penalty where they have the game won instead if that doesn't happen against Kansas City. Or it's not like, you know, the pick from Joe Burrow against Baltimore where he's rolling and they have three separate 10 point leads in the second half. and one stop means they beat Baltimore.

Starting point is 00:28:55 And then we're talking about them beating really good teams. That wasn't the case today. There was no like one play you can point to because they got boat raced when things got away from them. No doubt. Yeah, it was today it's that one play where it helped cause things to unravel. And there's like three examples. You know, so yeah. And then it unraveled completely.

Starting point is 00:29:15 I'll say this. If they had lost by like three, I would have been like, okay. like if it was like 3734 like all right well we know the defense isn't that great but offense don't move the ball well it would have felt much differently I think and I think that's I'm getting the vibe from that's the processing part of this

Starting point is 00:29:37 is it's like it was 3717 they weren't close no it was not close and I keep going back to that first half man against good teams I thought that they played pretty darn well you cannot go into halftime without a lead there. I bet the Eagles felt like they were like, who-hoo-hoo! It's tied?

Starting point is 00:29:58 Especially the way it went. Like the Bengals get stopped, miss a field goal, and then they convert a third and 16. You get a penalty in the end zone to give them four. Like they had how many plays from like inside the five going into the half? So many. Yeah, it's just a really worst case end of the first half. So while they, the first four drives were great for the Bengals,

Starting point is 00:30:19 You prefer they finish that second drive with a touchdown. They get a field goal stop. They force two kicks in the first two drives of the game, and they score 10. And then after that, I mean, it's just downhill, downhill, downhill. To the point that I'm questioning a whole lot of things, James. And I think that's what we're going to talk about this week. Yeah, we have plenty of time to discuss that this week. Stick with us.

Starting point is 00:30:45 Make sure that you listen wherever you get your podcast. subscribe on YouTube and we'll get through this together. It is officially Marvin Lewis Week. Hooray! Right? Is that, I don't know how to react to Marvin Lewis week. It could be hooray if they kick the crap out of them. Yeah. If not, then it's a whole another discussion. And we'll have plenty of time, like I said, to talk about that. Yeah. That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Really, really bad game for the Bengals today. Until next time, Thanks for listening and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals fall (very) short in measuring-stick game

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