Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals Film BREAK DOWN: Joe Burrow's Elite Plays and Critical Interceptions, Defense's Regression

Starting point is 00:00:00 It was another brutal loss for the Cincinnati Bengals, the likes of which we've seen too many times in the last couple of years. But we learned some things about this team. And the film tells us that Joe Burrow was actually pretty good. And this defense, well, it is what we thought it was. Let's break it back. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:34 What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on. Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the land. I'm joined today by Mike Santagana here on Lockdown Bengals, and I'm your host, Jake Liska. We've been bringing you Cincinnati Bengals content here on this podcast since 2016. Every day, your best one-stop shop for all things, Bengals. And Mike is our resident film expert, and you can follow him on Twitter at Bengals underscore

Starting point is 00:01:02 Sands to find some of the clips we're going to be talking about in this episode. you can find his writing, his film breakdowns over at bengals talk.com. And we're going to dive into what was really an elite performance from Joe Burrow in this game. We're going to talk about his interceptions and how exactly they happened, why they happened, and discuss that blame game a little bit. The offensive line had another great game in pass protection, which means something, I think, about the future of the Bengals' needs along this offensive line, at least as it pertains to 2020. And I've been giving Al Golden a lot of credit in the last couple of weeks for figuring some things out on defense, finding the right buttons to push at the right moments.

Starting point is 00:01:44 And that really did not occur against the bills. We'll talk about the defensive meltdown that we saw in the second half, the inability to get key stops and key moments too often against the bills to finish up the show. And that is the plan for today's film breakdown in an episode brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be in the middle of the action all season long, visit fandle.com and place for NFL live bets with the best in the business to do it. And Mike, let's start with Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow in this game overall played really well. The deep ball accuracy, the processing, the intermediate accuracy,

Starting point is 00:02:23 the getting the ball to the right place at the right time, the decision making. There are a few balls that he kind of sprayed, especially when it was heavy. wind, heavier snow right before the half, right after the half. There are a few balls that I think he probably would want back from an accuracy perspective. But overall, he was really good. And then there's those interceptions. And I think people are really curious.

Starting point is 00:02:47 And we're going to start with the interception that he had some control over or a particular amount of control over the first one, the picks next for Christian Bentford. Can I understand the process there after you watch it on tape, but the result, the execution, are not there. So it's a run call there. It's duo. And the thing that's going to kill the duo, so this wasn't Burrow didn't notice the corner.

Starting point is 00:03:11 This wasn't Burrow just messed up. And the play call was a pass play on play action or anything like that. With the actual issue here is Burrow sees the corner blitz, looks at Jamar, because Jamar's on the same page, and basically says when that corner comes, I'm going to throw it over his head and get you six, seven, eight yards. The issue starts in that, from an under-center snap, he didn't seem to have a good handle

Starting point is 00:03:38 of the ball, which is strange, because when you snap the ball as a center, under-center, you're getting the laces to the quarterback. That's part of you turn it, and you put it right into his hand, his dominant handle be on top, laces hit that hand, and then he goes back. So something got messed up there, whether that's a wet ball situation, he didn't seem to have good grip. His feet get all messed up. So despite seeing it and knowing what he's going to do,

Starting point is 00:04:02 he doesn't set himself up mechanically to do this correctly. So the mechanics have a look all off. Instead of being able to put it over the corner, which is what he planned on doing, he leaves it too low. I think that's a situation where you look at the situation of the game, right? First and 10 in the plus side of the field, there's some reward here, right?

Starting point is 00:04:24 This is probably going to get you another first down soon, unless you guys can't run the ball for, what, three, four yards over three plays, two plays. So I think situationally, it's just not a risk you need to take. If this was second and ten and you're running the clock out and you get into that, I get that more. But first and ten, I think you could pump that and hand it off or just hand it off and just lose a couple of yards because it's going to kill the play. Benford coming off of there. He's not accounted for in the run scheme. There's nobody that's an extra blocker that can take care of him.

Starting point is 00:04:56 he's just unaccounted for on this play. It's part of the Blitz. That's why it's going to work for that's why it's a good call from Buffalo in the situation. And I think they're also prepared for Burrow is trying to, you know, beat the Blitz cerebrally. And they are kind of prepared for like, we know Burroughs going to try to do that too. So they're kind of preparing as well on the back end to get guys over from the place he vacates. But like you get the process. It's just I don't think we need to take that risk in this situation.

Starting point is 00:05:25 But I don't think it was a. play call issue in terms of it doesn't look like there's anything tagged there it doesn't look like there's an out route tag it's not duo in an ex out tag or something it's just duo and you sees the corner coming right down the backside there and says i got to beat this corner blitz so we can keep the chains moving yeah it's just a reaction play from joe burrow a play that we saw joe flacco make kind of the package play idea a little bit different here because it's not a slam this is just a i'm going to throw it over the blitzing slot corner's head and he just doesn't get enough on it. And if Jamar catches that ball, he's in space, depending on where the throw goes, if it's a good

Starting point is 00:06:03 throw, maybe it leaves him toward the sideline. Can he beat one safety and pick up a first down on that play? Can he make a guy take a bad angle in the snow, get 15 yards? Can he maybe take it for a touchdown? You never know what Jamar, right? Like you get Jamar chase the ball in space and he would have been in probably eight yards of space from a radius perspective, like the closest guy is probably a linebacker. There's a safety over the top that's rotating.

Starting point is 00:06:30 He's probably 10 yards off when Jemarke catches the ball. If the ball gets over, Benford's head there. So again, you understand the process, but I guess it's in that split second when Burrow is deciding, I can't actually grip this ball. I need to push it because it looks like a push. It looks like a shot put kind of throw. Comes out wobbly. Does he have the wherewithal to say, ah.

Starting point is 00:06:53 I don't actually have the confidence that I can get this over the corner set here and to pull it down. And that's the split second kind of processing that we're honestly used to Joe Burrow having and making the right decision in those moments so frequently. But he thinks he has a play there. And that's why it's understandable. The other thing that I wanted to clarify here, and you said it, but I just want to really hammer this home because I've seen multiple writers actually talk about this and characterize it as a screen play. This is not a screen. This is not a called screen. This is not a called pass.

Starting point is 00:07:24 This is 100% a called run. Go look at the offensive line on this play. I think cover one, which is a Bill's account, has a tweet of this play from the tight. You can see the offensive linemen are all blocking downfield. It's very clearly a run play called. And it's just a decision that Joe Burrow makes after the snap. Like you said,

Starting point is 00:07:46 and trying to capitalize on the chemistry, which of Mar Chase and the way that, those guys see the game through the same eyes. And yeah, just an unlucky play. The other interception, again, really hard to, well, much harder, I should say, to fault the quarterback here. The first one, we can explain the process and understand the process, right? And we can talk about risk or word.

Starting point is 00:08:07 I think we've discussed the nuance of that first interception. The second one is just, it's about a pass. And it goes right to another defensive lineman. Not much you can do about that. Jamar Chase is very open. The throw is there. And it's a good play from the. defender a bit of a lucky play from the defender to bat the past a bit of a lucky play from

Starting point is 00:08:24 the defender to bat the past right to his teammate yeah and everything's so timing based in the NFL because windows are so tight so the idea that you could see that hand one hold yourself back from making the throw that you see the guys open and then two wait and wait and then throw it around him yeah that play might not be open anymore it actually is probably not any not open anymore so it's just unfortunate it's a good way to throw an interception to yeah to try to wait outside a window and yeah just be late at that point yeah it's an unfortunate one that it happened on back-to-back plays bengel still would have had a shot there perhaps what happens is they leave buffalo too much time and josh allen just needs to go down the field and score again which maybe he does

Starting point is 00:09:08 anyway that's why the first interception is such a gut punch because you're first and 10 buffalo 33 you have a run play called and you throw pick six to end the game like that that sequence just to imagine, I don't know, I know that there's a lot of Iyer directed at Zach Taylor and we're going to talk about Zach Taylor a little bit, perhaps when we talk about Al Golden and that higher and the Al Golden experience that has been this season, understanding that the players on that side of the ball haven't

Starting point is 00:09:36 been good enough, but I'm just imagining being Zach Taylor on that play. Like, all right, we got first and 10 on the Buffalo 33. We're moving the ball. We've got a first downs on this drive. We've got a run play in. We're burning clock. After this run play, we're going to have used three minutes already. We got two more downs before we have to figure out if you got to go for this thing or, you know, if we need to maybe kick a field goal here and not have to make a hard decision.

Starting point is 00:09:58 Got a run play call. Man, this is going great. And he throw pick six. I mean. Yeah, he called duo. It was like, what are the bad things I could have here? We could fumble. I could go for negative yards.

Starting point is 00:10:11 That's probably about it. Yeah. Pick six. Lose the game on the spot. I mean, that's the nature of the NFL. That's what I was thinking existentially for those of you that saw my, insomnia tweet last night like man this game is so fickle Joe Burroughs playing awesome all game had a couple of inaccurate throws maybe at worst and then just one little decision and the game turns on

Starting point is 00:10:34 its head coming up next let's talk about some of the good things that Joe Burrow did in this game the offensive line pass protecting at an elite level for the second straight week and maybe turning the corner there will continue that conversation coming up next we're brought to you today here on Locked on Bengals by Fandul. Fandul knows that NFL Sundays move fast. I was just talking about how the Cincinnati Bengals lost of the Buffalo Bills turned on a dime. One big play and everything feels different.

Starting point is 00:11:02 And that's what makes live betting with Fandul exciting. It's the other side of the despondency that I felt when that Joe Burrow pick six occurred. You're not just watching the game. You're reacting to it in real time with Fandul. You can place your bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment, and it's the best when the game starts to shift.

Starting point is 00:11:24 When a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up or the momentum flips after a turnover, if you notice a film tell that you think will be exploited by one team or another, Fandul lets you jump into the moment with live spreads and money lines that adjust instantly. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandul.com and place for NFL live bets all season long, Fandul where the game moves fast, well, so can you. there was a lot of good in this game for Joe Burrow. And I mentioned that at the top,

Starting point is 00:11:56 it was an elite quarterbacking game for the most part for him. The bad throw really, really emphasized by a pick six from Christian Benford. We spent six minutes talking about that play at least. There's one other play where it could potentially be a pick. The cover two corner gets a hand on a ball that Burroughs trying to fit into the cover two honeyhole on the right side line. And like I said, there were like maybe three passes that came out. a little bit high or wobbly when he's maybe having some issues gripping the ball. But man, some of the downfield throws in this game, some of the processing from Burrow in this game,

Starting point is 00:12:30 some of the plays under pressure from Burrow in this game were pretty phenomenal. And you have a great cutup of this. So make sure, again, you're following Mike on Twitter at Bengals underscore Sands. You can find these cutouts. You can find the cutup of the elite quarterback plays from this game. You'll hear some of the ones we're going to talk about. You can stop watching when it switches to Josh Allen if you don't want to see that part. But there was a lot of good from Burrow in this game,

Starting point is 00:12:54 a lot of elite level quarterback play from Burrow in this game in addition to the picks. Yeah, but, I mean, he was surgical, right? Like the defensive structure, every time the bills ran anything in this game, it felt like he had an answer, he got his team into the best play call possible, had the answer, and was delivering. It was just prime, it's what you expect out of peak Joe Burrow,

Starting point is 00:13:18 where every time, whatever the defense plays, it doesn't matter. Like, I'm going to get to the right spot. I'm going to get to the right answer every time. He's not like Allen in that he breaks the play by breaking the structure. And now out of structure, can you contain a quarterback and cover and do this? It's just within the structure of the play, it's kind of, he's just always correct. So that's short, that's down the field, I felt like he was making pinpoint throws.

Starting point is 00:13:44 I know he said there was some sprayed throws. There was also some really well-placed throws. No doubt. too thinking of some of them they didn't even come down with the ball so like the chase brown wheel route down the right sideline but just continually finding and against what was a good pass defense there were a bad run defense coming in the bills but they were a good pass defense and just always found the right answer i felt like they did the bills did a good job of giving a lot of help to anybody that was covering jimar chase playing a lot of you know half field coverage to that side

Starting point is 00:14:16 playing cover to that side to cloud it and then the other side they'd play quarters or something over there where T. Higgins actually has more of a one-on-one opportunity. I think that's how you end up with the type of split that they had in this game, where Higgins is getting a lot of targets, a lot of yards, and two touchdowns, and Jamar Chase isn't seeing the ball as much. But Burrow just always had the right answer. And that works with Gaseki, too. I feel like that was a big help for him, which just, I think Gaseki and Higgins really show

Starting point is 00:14:41 how good the pinpoint accuracy can be on placement. Because part of catching all these contested catches and making these crazy plays is that the has to be put where only he can get it and the defender can't touch it first. That's pinpoint accuracy. Think of the T. Higgins' back shoulder play. Mike Keseki getting the ball in a few of those spots where only he can get it. The seam ball to Mike Keseki with a guy trailing him and a safety over the top was a great throw.

Starting point is 00:15:06 I don't know if it ever got talked about because it came, it was the next throw after the two picks. Everybody's angry at that moment. But that's the whole reason they're able to score before the two-minute warning and give themselves a chance is that's an insane throw over the middle of the field. and then should have been an insane touchdown of Chase Brown, but they just keeps throwing dimes into the end zone, and they come up with a touchdown. So throughout most of this game, 98% of this game,

Starting point is 00:15:29 you would say Joe Burrow was phenomenal. And then you obviously have the 2% of like, why did you, why, if you couldn't get a grip on the ball, your feet aren't set, like just eat it. It's first down. That's what we talked about early. But I want to just point out later is just, it's hard to play defense against Burrow because he knows the defensive structure

Starting point is 00:15:46 so well that he's always in the right place. on the right time and putting the ball in the exact right spot with pinpoint accuracy. I know there were a couple sprays on the sideline and the cold, whatever, but generally, pinpoint exactly where the ball needs to be dropped from a drone, a drone strike downed into the receiver's hands. And it's not like he was bad out of structure either. He made some plays out of structure. The last throw before the first half that the T. Higgins doesn't get a great read on,

Starting point is 00:16:14 doesn't get a great jump for. Looks like T could have caught that ball. the Chase Brown touchdown is insane, especially when you watch it. Gaseki touchdown off the free runner, too. Oh, yeah, the Gaseki touchdown off the, yeah. He made so many throws under pressure in this game and off structure. The Chase Brown throw, there's some cinematic angles of that one out there that you can go find if you're looking on social media. Can't show him here on the show.

Starting point is 00:16:41 Unfortunately, if you're watching on YouTube, we are not allowed to show any film. Obviously, we would if he could. you're talking about a lot of plays, but if you're looking for those visual aids, just pull up Twitter. You'll find them pretty easily if you know where to look. But yeah, it was honestly a remarkable game from Burrow that he's doing this. Coming off the injury,

Starting point is 00:17:03 didn't look affected by that toe to me at all in this game. And, yeah, just for a few mistakes in there, but May plays out of structure, May plays in structure, like you said, had answers consistently. throughout the game. The Bengals caught five of eight contested catch opportunities in this game. With T. Higgins had three of five. He had two incompletions in contested situations. Chase Brown had one in completion and two contested opportunities.

Starting point is 00:17:31 So just speaking to that Joe Borough ball placement, enabling the Cincinnati Bengals a little bit to convert contested catch opportunities. The other thing to talk about here is that the pass blocking in this game was fantastic for the Bengals. I don't know how much time we'll have to talk about the run game here, but pass pro in the last two weeks, Mike, has been as good of a two-week stretch that we've seen from this team in the Joe Burrow era. Yeah, and I think it started before this, where they really turned it around.

Starting point is 00:18:02 Even with Jalen Riversender, who was a bit of a weak link among the group, after Rivers was taken out and insert Reisner, it lifted Mims' play a bit, I think, in pass protection, because Rivers and Mims, that was the main issue is that they weren't communicating super well, and Rivers also can get targeted a little bit. Now your weak link is an average player. I think that's where the Bengals are right now,

Starting point is 00:18:25 where the worst player on their offensive line is probably average. And that's a really good thing to have in pass protection. All these guys are playing up to a standard. Dylan Fairchild looks like a, heck, like a good starter already, at least getting to that point, like as a rookie looking good. Mims improved from last year. And again, I continued into this game. You've got Reisner playing at the level you expected from Dalton Reisner when you signed him.

Starting point is 00:18:53 Karis a little bit down in this game because I think they ran some more stunts and blitzes and stuff that he should have done a better job, been able to help pick up. But I didn't think he played bad. And Orlando Brown, as much as he gets maligned, you didn't see anything really coming off that left side besides the corner blitz that got him. And that guy's Joe Burroughs. There's been, what, two sacks over the last two weeks and they were both corner blitzes that were on borough or a running back. So the offensive line hasn't allowed a sack over two weeks.

Starting point is 00:19:21 It's exactly what you would want if you're the Cincinnati Bengals. I think the run blocking wasn't particularly good in this game, but ass blocking. More of the same. Exceptional stuff from them. I think the other thing with the run blocking, we talked about this a little bit before we were recording, one, didn't run the ball a ton. And two, Chase Brown was, this was probably Chase Brown's worst game as a runner that I can recall just looked wholly uncomfortable in the snow and it just like maybe didn't suit

Starting point is 00:19:49 his style where Somaget Pirine the downhill run through your kind of approach in the snow especially with this Bill's defense some of the tackling issues they've had which did not show up in this game to a significant degree looked like a Somaget Piran game the coaching staff didn't get there perhaps an overcorrection to the relatively even split that we've seen in recent weeks But either way, not a huge aspect of this game. It could have been a bigger one. If you don't get the picks and running to finish the game, maybe we see that a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:20:21 Maybe we have more to talk about there. But let's talk about this defense, Mike. I said on the post game show yesterday that they actually exceeded my expectations in some ways. And in others, they're just a catastrophe. And some of that is Al Golden, not finding the calls on money downs. Let's discuss this defense to finish the show next. There's no big reason to let wireless drain your wallet this holiday season. Right now, Mint Mobile is running their best deal of the year.

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Starting point is 00:22:01 when the network is busy and a capable device is required. Availability, speed, and coverage, variously, see mintmobile.com. for details. I've had some good things to say about this defense in the last couple of games, Mike. And not so much this week. The one thing they did well, I suppose, is that they got pressure to Josh Allen at a reasonably consistent rate, but they were tackling issues.

Starting point is 00:22:29 There were coverage issues as far as guys not being in the right place at the right time. They're guys freelancing, it seems, in the run game. At times, a pass rush scheme looks. just absolutely hairbrained. And the one that stands out to me is a play where Miles Murphy crashes hard inside on a third down. It's like third and four. And Josh Allen just gets to jog around the outside with no contain player. There was supposed to be a contained player.

Starting point is 00:22:57 Pick up a first down quite easily. And my thought at the time is where is a contain player? Who is supposed to be the contained player? And then let's talk about some of the money down play calls. Yeah, they ran a lot of stunts, right? And I think that helped them get some pressure because they were being, they're pretty effective with it. The point of that one is to flush Alan out to his right, and Joseph Osai is supposed to be

Starting point is 00:23:16 containing on that play. If you watch it, Chris Jenkins is also working inside. It's a three-man stunt. Jenkins and Murphy work inside. Osai is in an overload, so he's on the same side as them, but just on the outside shoulder of the center. He's supposed to just hold up the center, just put a punch into that center, and then once Jenkins crosses to him, come around and go, condes.

Starting point is 00:23:40 Tain Allen. Now, is that the greatest plan in the world for Josh Allen to get Joseph Osai and Josh Allen in space together? I don't know, but they never even got to that. With Osai chasing on third and four. With Osai chasing, it's third and four. Yeah. So I don't know if that's the best plan. But for some reason, also, Osai crosses the center's face to start the play, as if this is just a called complete slant. But then he starts trying to loop back over afterwards. So that to me was, is that Osai or is that Al, let's really set this center up and make sure he isn't able to recover. I don't know, but it certainly didn't help Osai because now you're not just chasing.

Starting point is 00:24:19 You're in a bad spot and chasing. He never gets there. So that's why it looked like on there, I mean, it's a busted play. It looked like on the TV copy, it's like, well, Murphy's dumb. He just went inside there. But what actually happened is somebody else busted and ruined the structure of the play. So it's frustrating, but like that's also where you kind of get some of it's kind of like the blitzes. The blitzes worked, right?

Starting point is 00:24:41 They also give a 40-yard touchdown on one of those blitzes where this is just really, you know, it's higher risk play calling than it is to try to just cage the quarterback and mush rush and just create that wall, which I think is standard for a quarterback like Allen. But as we have seen with like Lamar Jackson, sometimes all that does is just give the quarterback a ton of time and then he escapes anyway well and he threw a touchdown pass on a play where that he has like eight seconds of time to throw that was that a fourth down play fourth fourth and goal it was fourth and goal they lined up without miles murphy on the field they had demetrius night at that end spot standing up and they dropped osi right into they drop osi into coverage

Starting point is 00:25:28 so your three rushers are b j hill t j slayton and chris jenkins yeah it's those three and they are two of them are double teamed. And then you still lose the tight. You have eight man in coverage and you still just like nobody covers Jackson Hosley can out late. Because they put a spy on that play. They had Burks in a spy on fourth and goal from the four. But not.

Starting point is 00:25:53 With a three man rush. They're at a spy with Burks in the three men are guys that can't rush the passer for the most part. They're below average at best past rushers at defensive tackle. And they're getting double-team. seemed and it's brutal. Like that play call, anything else, anything, it just felt like when the moment got brightest,

Starting point is 00:26:13 Al strunk the most, I think is the most frustrating part of this defense. That's a chance to keep this a one-score game and get the ball back to Joe Burrow with over two minutes, right? That was the touchdown right before he ends up driving down the field and scoring one himself. And then the ball went back to Allen, he's able to convert on third and 15.

Starting point is 00:26:33 So it was one of the biggest moments. You could change the game by getting a fourth down stop there and then Burroughs to drive the whole field, but that's possible. You see him drive almost the whole field within less than a minute afterward. Didn't he do that in this game? I mean, they got a fourth down stop.

Starting point is 00:26:48 Oh, no, the fourth down stop they got was on the other side of the field and then the Bengals didn't score, of course. The one time in the first half that they didn't score. Yeah. They had four opportunities on fourth downs to get off the field in this game. I mean, to be fair,

Starting point is 00:27:07 they got the bills into four fourth downs yeah fourth and manageable but the bills only converted what like five of 11 third down something like that in that vicinity it's not very many third downs to face bengals were 10 of 12 on third down in this game and and they lost which is crazy uh that's an insane clip to be converting third downs and like the bills they didn't face very many third downs in the second half part of that because joe burrow threw two first down interceptions but The money down calls from the Bengals. Remember when in the national championship game last year, like cover one.

Starting point is 00:27:50 Cover zero. Cover zero, yeah, sorry. Which would be more understandable to me than that. Yeah, that was kind of a Greg Williams call. Like, I actually understood that. I was like, oh, yeah, you're just like, this is insane, but I get it. Now on 3rd and 15 with the game on the line, he's calling match quarters with a disguise. and he's slanting everybody up front.

Starting point is 00:28:09 And it's like, man, sometimes you get so complicated. I don't think Alan wants to throw this ball. Like, why are we doing everything to stop the pass? It's third and 15. I think Alan wants to run here, but they don't have a spy. They don't have any eyes on the quarterback. It's the old mantra. When defenses get complex, your simple answer is the best answer, right?

Starting point is 00:28:30 The defense tried to get very complex with the zone quarters and the disguise and they're stunting everybody up front. Alan's answer, I'm going to run for, word because you're doing all this to stop this. Nobody's looking at me. And it effectively plays out like man, right? Because it's a match coverage. So you got guys when they, you can explain this better than me. You just explain what quarter matches before I stumble over my words. So your idea is to have three over two on one side and two over two on the other. So because it's a trips look. And you're going to match based off of where the routes go. So what the Bengals end up get or what the bills end up doing is

Starting point is 00:29:07 stick to one side and then they just have like a flat route from a running back on the other side and that backup running back tie johnson ends up dragging out demetrius knight and night to me i think this is a situational awareness i know this is zone quarters i know that are zone match quarters here and i need to match this running back if it was me and i had the size and athleticism to be an NFL lineback and everything that that could put me in that position i think i would have eyes on allen there just like if he wants to make the throw to the backup running back 10 yards short of the first down and he picks it up. That is something that's not likely. What is likely, him running straight forward through the defense. So everybody ends up. So it's zone at first,

Starting point is 00:29:49 how you think of it. Spot drop, get to your spot and you're looking. But once the routes get distributed, you're going to match and essentially play man coverage. So that way you don't end up covering just grass. You end up matching based off of the route distribution. So the middle linebacker is taking that stick route to the right side. The overhang to that. side ends up going with the flat. The corner is taking it over the top with safety help. And the other side, there's a dig route that the corner DJ Turner is on. And you have Gino Stone coming down on that because he has to come help on it. All the routes are covered. But you used up all seven of your resources to do that without a spy. And it does play out like,

Starting point is 00:30:27 man, you're thinking of this. They are matching based off the routes. You can't have eyes on the quarterback and then also see the wide receiver and play off of that distribution. Because if there's any type of switch. There's different calls they have to make. It's kind of a complex call for this situation. Whereas I think a lot of defensive coordinators would some of them would Greg Williams just call cover zero there. And then some of them would also just play really soft. Like you're you don't want to throw this ball because if you throw an incompletion now Joe Burr has a full two minutes to get down the field. Like the risk reward isn't there. But it is there for a run. So what it is is just it's zone until it's not. It's zone until it's man. Which is a.

Starting point is 00:31:06 essentially like a zone for the first second of the staff. Just to be clear about like the time windows we're talking about here. Like a zone for a brief amount of time. And then these guys match that kind of lock on and they convert to man for the most part. And Geno Stone ends up playing. He's in a quarters area of the field where he's playing as he's dropping out from closer to the line of scrimmage. But he effectively ends up doing nothing on the play like schematically. Like yeah, he helps on the dig.

Starting point is 00:31:35 maybe if he's not there, Alan throws a dig and they convert it on a 15-yard pass in-breaker, the BC DJ Turner, maybe. But yeah,

Starting point is 00:31:43 not having a spy is one thing. Like, I don't, like, you put Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight on Josh Allen as a spy.

Starting point is 00:31:52 You'd have to do something Al doesn't want to do and pull one of them off the field and put a defensive back type on the field for Alan. But who? Anyway, point I'm trying to make here is,

Starting point is 00:32:02 is there a single player that you actually like as a spy. Not really. No. Like I was like, Dejohn Anthony Tyson-E Anderson type.

Starting point is 00:32:10 Just like you're fast enough that you can slow it down. And you're in the snow. So like a single cut and you're probably flying by him. We saw this happen for both teams on defense in this game, trying to change direction on quarterback movement. But like that's why I'm not as big of a spy proponent in this spot as much. It's just like.

Starting point is 00:32:30 Just have eyes on the quarterback. Play spot drop. One spy? Seven spies. Yeah. Just like everybody. everybody read out the quarterback here and just maybe not everybody, but at least like everybody in the middle of the field.

Starting point is 00:32:42 And to the Bill's credit, you know, they're running outbreakers. There's nothing in the middle of the field. There's all this eye candy, all this temptation, rightly so to pull the Bengals defenders to the outside here. So if the throw isn't there. And I think I imagine he's thinking either check down, stay in bounds, or if that digs open, that's my opportunity to throw first down here. Or if the Bengals are going to fly up field in the pass rush,

Starting point is 00:33:05 all these outbreakers, maybe there won't be a defender in the middle of the field, and that's what plays out. And then Alan just has to run forward. It's not like he has to make anybody miss or run through somebody or do any Josh Allen Superman stuff. He just has to run forward. He starts from, I think it was, I was looking at this play yesterday. He's like 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage when he sticks his foot in the ground

Starting point is 00:33:25 and decides to run. And he isn't contacted or doesn't come into any sort of encounter with the Bengals defender until he's 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, 20 yards before he even has to consider making Gino Stone miss. And yeah, Gino Stone can make the play there, sure. But that play call killed me. And there are a lot of dumb things that happened in this game, and I think I've said this three times now on different shows.

Starting point is 00:33:48 But that play call is just such a dumb way to end it after all the dumb things that happened in that game for the Bengals. Can find Mike's work at bengalstalk.com. Find them on Twitter at Bengals underscore sands, where you'll find a lot of clips of all the play. that we talked about today. That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.

Starting point is 00:34:08 Until next time, thanks for listening. Hootay.

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