Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals Film Takeaways: More Of The Same, No Obvious Answers

Starting point is 00:00:00 At 4 and 8, the tape has not been pretty for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024, but what did we see in that Pittsburgh Steelers loss that tells us more about what's going on with this coaching staff and team? Let's get into it. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake. Let's go along with your host.

Starting point is 00:00:35 James Rupin, joined today by Mike Santagana at Bengals underscore Sands on Twitter as we dive into the film for takeaways in that ugly loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're on the Lockdown Podcast Network here on lockdown Bengals covering your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast. Shout out to all the everydayers out there sticking with the podcast here into December and all of you who make us your first listen. We appreciate those of you who make us part of your routine. And if you're new to the show, you can always subscribe and make sure you don't miss out on any Bengals news and analysis the rest of the season and into the offseason, which promises to be dramatic and quite interesting with a lot of these coaching changes we're talking about. Went into it yesterday in quite a bit of detail. It'll come up again today, I'm sure, and throughout the rest of this season. But as I said, we're joined by Mike Santagena today for a dive into the film.

Starting point is 00:01:28 You can find him on It's Always Game Day in Cincinnati, his podcast, or on. on Bengals TalkS-I to find some of his film breakdown writing. And as I said, on Twitter at Bengals underscore Sands. Mike, we're going to start with the defense. It has been a very dreadful year for Lou Anarumo's unit. During the biweek, we talked about assignment soundness and what's going on with some of these players in terms of regression and what's going on with scheme.

Starting point is 00:01:53 When you watch that Steelers game, is it just more of the same? Is there like anything new that came out of that bi-week that you say, like, oh, at least they tried this thing or that thing. Is it still that they can't get to the right calls at the right time and the players still aren't assignment sound? Or what was your high-level takeaway on that side of the ball? I think it was more of the same. You saw him go through the Rolodex of answers

Starting point is 00:02:17 that he thought he could try to give them, you know, we're not getting pressure. Let's send five. And the Steelers just dice that up for an entire half of just dump-offs and screen passes. This ball was out quick. So then they move and they try to find another answer and the Steelers able to take advantage of that.

Starting point is 00:02:32 And they also weren't doing a great job on the round game. So you're never in situations where you get to have fun as a defensive coordinator, really in least third and long situations. So obviously they were an assignment sound. You could look at the very last play where I would assume an NFL defensive coordinator saw Justin Fields go in that game and told the corner, the safety, somebody, like your guy is the quarterback. like if there is a read to your side, your guy is the quarterback here,

Starting point is 00:03:03 especially you should know there's going to be a read to your side because they only really read on the running back side. So that, I don't know. It didn't go through. I'm assuming that he told them because it didn't look like that's what happened. The cornerback goes down the line like he's going to go close the back door on the play as if that's necessary on third and four compared to the guy that's in there just to run the ball, keeping the ball on a reed play.

Starting point is 00:03:28 So they were an assignment sound. It felt like the linebackers really struggled without Logan Wilson there in coverage. I thought that was obvious. I thought the corners had mostly a bad day. I mean, Can't Taylor Brett was all right, but it was a bad day from Hilton and it was a bad second start for Josh Newton.

Starting point is 00:03:45 It's hard to point to too many guys who had good games in this one. But yeah, it was a lot of the same. Missing assignments, missing communication, and Lulu scrolling through the roll of decks of different fronts,

Starting point is 00:03:59 different coverages, different blitzes, whatever, so you could try to find something and nothing works. That final play, that last play, I obviously,

Starting point is 00:04:08 as you know, saw your tweet after that play and in the moment, I felt the same way. To me, that's the kind of play that sums up

Starting point is 00:04:17 the 2024 Bengals defense where it's like, all right, well, regardless of what's happened, you have this chance to get off the field and potentially give Joe Burrow the ball back with the chance to go win the game

Starting point is 00:04:30 and you rally from 17 down at one point just be disciplined and do the easy things and the easy things are to be there. Making the tackle, I'm not saying that, but at least be in the right spot, it seems like there are so many times week in and week out where this defense just isn't in the right spot.

Starting point is 00:04:49 And I don't know how you don't look at the coaching when that's the case because it's not just physical. stuff, it's the right spot in being where you should be. Yeah, and it's it's just

Starting point is 00:05:04 embarrassing because everybody knew what was about to happen. They just did this against the Ravens. When they bring Justin Fields in the past two weeks, the past three weeks, it's just been for one reason. He's just going to run a zone read. Like, not even anything complicated. There's no poolers. There's nothing that's going to make you go, like, think in this situation. You just have to be, if you are responsible for the

Starting point is 00:05:24 quarterback on this play, which I assume somebody was just responsible. They didn't surf anybody, meaning that the defensive end wasn't playing both. He was just playing the back. Then you have to have a guy for the quarterback. And whatever way Lou told them, it didn't click. They didn't realize that whoever it was, I think it was the corner, but we don't know. They didn't realize, I just have to go hit the quarterback. I just have to go stop the quarterback. Hold them up. There were three guys unblocked and ended up being very much remind me of the three stooges because Akeem Davis Gaither runs into Jordan Battle

Starting point is 00:05:58 and they kind of like look at each other as Justin Fields was running around them and it was like there's there's Curley and Moe and then Larry is the one that's running the wrong direction he's running down the line instead of at Justin Fields and then he runs around for a first time it's like goodness graciously this is the defensive performance you're putting out there with the season on the line

Starting point is 00:06:20 on this one play that's what happens And that is a microcosm for the Cincinnati Bengals defense in 2024. Who is Lou then, if that's Larry Curlea, Mo? You know, the boss who hired them. Yeah, how deep does your knowledge of three students characters? I figured I would try, right? That's the question, because that's it for me, those three guys. The concerning thing for me when I think about this defense, I mean, there are many concerning things.

Starting point is 00:06:52 But the maybe most concerning thing is that it's just getting worse where they put together a game against the Chiefs. And against some bad offenses earlier in the year, there were games where they looked like a fine defense. They held the Giants to seven points. It wasn't like the best game, but it was a seven point outing against a bad offense. They held the Browns to 14 points.

Starting point is 00:07:15 Again, we talked a lot about the quarterback that the Browns chose to start in that game and how it might have been different if a different quarterback was starting in that game. game for the Browns. But that was a solid performance against the bad Raiders offense. They did some nice things on defense, particularly in the past rush. But then their last three games, Ravens, Chargers, Steelers, some of their worst defensive performances of the year. And when they've been desperate, they haven't been able to find any answers. And you can point to injuries to

Starting point is 00:07:44 cornerbacks if you want to cope. But the trend is not positive. And you add on to that issues with the Washington commanders in week three, which is that Ravens kind of esk offense in many ways, where they had issues with another quarterback who was athletic. And the Ravens in week five, you have three really bad performances in the division, Steelers, Ravens twice, the Washington game, the commander's game, where you have that Ravens light quarterback, Ravens light quarterback, maybe you could say. And then this trend of where they really needed it in their last three games, they've had just no answers on the defensive side of the ball

Starting point is 00:08:26 outside of, I guess, the second half against the Chargers. That's what gets me. It's like we've seen all year. They can't string it together for an entire game. And it's just been getting worse. And that's where it's like, where can it get better? How can it get better at this point? Is there a way to recover?

Starting point is 00:08:44 I mean, we're probably. past that point, but in your mind, if there were still something to play for, how would you go about recovering from there? The thing about the corners is like, if they were beating the corners nonstop, maybe you could cope, but they're not just being the corners. They're beating everybody. The outside corner is kind of the least of the issue. Like slot, the linebackers, the safeties, the front. I don't, I feel like you've gone through every possible answer. I mean, start your young guys, but that's not even just an answer. That's just like a, Let's see what they have type of situation because we know watching Sam Hubbard this yet his first pressure since November, early November.

Starting point is 00:09:25 And it resulted in a touchdown for the Steelers because he didn't get a hand, didn't grab Russell Wilson enough or really affect him. Just kind of push the pocket a little bit. They started to, you know, they benched Bell, who I think would be Shemp in the three Stooges thing here because, you know, that's the guy replaced Curly. I had no idea, had no clue that was. So thank you. Yeah, expert here. But yeah, I don't think there's an answer because you've tried everything schematically. Like the answer would be guys just stepping up, like Cam Taylor playing as good as he did last year suddenly, or Miles Murphy taking a step, or Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson taking a step and becoming these guys you need them to be.

Starting point is 00:10:09 You could cope about Sheldon Rankins and maybe it would be very bangles that Sheldon Rankins finally comes back and then he is a dominant pass rusher, these games that. don't matter. I don't know. But that would be your answer. It's just guys playing better because you've tried everything else. He doesn't have the Brian Flores blitz package that he can just get to with anybody with fans off of the street and be able to create pressure. He doesn't have the Vic Fangio where it feels like, well, I guess not Miami, but everywhere he goes, like his D.Bs are all playing as a hive mind. He hasn't had that this season.

Starting point is 00:10:47 last season, really, but really this season is kind of hit a low point of he doesn't, there's nothing. Like the defense doesn't play together. They're all trying to do a little bit more than they should on some of these plays. He doesn't get the most out of these guys right now. And he's tried every answer. He's tried to be a quarters team, a Tampa team, a single high team. He's tried to blitz more. He's tried to drop eight. He's got nothing with any of those answers. So I am very doubtful that the next few games he's going to suddenly turn something on and it's going to strike a light. But the times that the defense has looked good is just because quarterbacks can't read the field. Danny Dimes and Watson and Minshu, like none of them could see the open receivers.

Starting point is 00:11:32 That was the real issue. I know especially in that Giants game, I was like, yeah, I don't know about this being a good performance. Like there's guys running open all over the field. Same with the Browns game. I think the Raiders was the closest they got. And even then, Jacobi Myers looked very good for them because, of who that was guarding him. So I don't really have more.

Starting point is 00:11:50 Yeah. We have more to get to on the defensive side for sure. How they get better. You better play better, Bengals. We'll continue coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is sponsored by Mint Mobile with big wireless providers. What you see is never what you get somewhere between the store and your first month's bill. The price you thought you were paying magically skyrocketed.

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Starting point is 00:13:52 price picks app and use code locked on NFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download prize picks, use code locked on NFL and you'll get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Price picks run your game. So I said the thing that concerns me most, but maybe I made that up. Maybe there's another thing that concerns me most talking about this defense. You made it up. Where is the piece that you're building around for the future? Is there anything that we've seen from these guys on the defense that we're like,

Starting point is 00:14:28 yeah, that guy can be part of the defense next year. And you think about that at a high level. Trey Hendrickson obviously is a good player. Logan Wilson has been a good player this year. B.J. Hill has been a good player this year. But where are the young building blocks? Where are the pieces that you're like, yeah, we need to extend that guy coming up? Or like, where are the questions that we still need to answer?

Starting point is 00:14:44 because to me I feel like we know who most of these guys are at this point, right? And we're talking about cuts, not talking about extensions when we're thinking about roster moves for currently under contract Cincinnati Bengals defenders. I think the three guys you'd look at would all be the corners and they're fighting for two jobs. Where Cam Taylor Britt last year you would have said yes, he is a guy that you're probably going to have in the next five years on this team as a starter. And then this year happens. DJ Turner had a better year this year than he had last year. Maybe you could think that he keeps improving. And Dax Hill looked pretty good before he got injured.

Starting point is 00:15:22 So two of them are on IR, and you don't know if this guy is actually somebody you can build around. Other than that, I don't really have an answer for who's the guy you're building around. And once Trey Hendrickson leaves, how many guys do you have that actually change the game for the better? Like you have guys that can perform at a starter level, but how many guys you have that can make an impact that goes above that at this point? And I don't think you can point to anyone. Yeah, that's so tough. It's why, by the way, I know we weren't planning this.

Starting point is 00:15:57 It's why I would have claimed Emmanuel Forbes anyways. Because they have, there's no, like, it would have been great. Like if Daxon stayed healthy, you'd feel like, all right, well, maybe he's a piece. But Cam's regression really hurts. Gino Stone stinks. And so that's why I would, and Lou said he would bench, or he's not going to bench Gino, and he's doing it. He really wants to tackle, was kind of the paraphrased version of what Lou said on Monday. He was supposed to be the solution, the non-Nick Scott.

Starting point is 00:16:34 What would you do with him, Sands, if the season ended today? Do you try to keep him because you think there's promise there that I'm not seeing? Or is PFF right and in the eye test right and everything like that? Because obviously we're not going back and diving into the film like you. And that was supposed to be one of those guys. Like Rankin's, you could see age, all those things. But Gino Stone is a second contract guy. It should be in his prime.

Starting point is 00:16:58 Six months ago we would have thought he's part of the future and the present. Right now it doesn't look like he should be part of the present. And he damn sure it doesn't look like he should be part of the future. Yeah, I'd go. It's not working. Just making sure I'm not missing anything. I know it seems obvious, but I just want to make sure. Yeah, and like he gets blamed sometimes for stuff that's not his fault.

Starting point is 00:17:17 Like there's a play that everybody's blaming him for. And he didn't make a good play on this. It was that screen the pickens. And he runs down the alley, misses the tackle. But the real issue was that Kim Taylor-Brit, instead of actually forcing him back inside is just fighting the blocker and gives up the outside. So when you're the forced guy,

Starting point is 00:17:33 you have to force that back inside to the guys that are coming down to try to make that play. So it's not really his fault, but at the same time, there is a lot of stuff that is his fault. And he's played pretty poor. So I think you get out of the, I think the red alarm belt or the red flag might have just been the contract based off of like maybe didn't have the market that we were all thinking, even though he had a great year. I think it's, I mean, we've talked about this a lot on this show. There's a Mike McDonald's separation from Gino Stone and that defensive structure that. that he had, Mike McDonald got the most out of those DBs with the Ravens. And you see the massive difference in that past defense this year now that it doesn't have

Starting point is 00:18:16 Mike McDonald putting guys in position. And I think that's part of it. I mean, this was a guy that was a seventh round pick, right? But he looked like on paper a coverage specialist that you could put in that deep safety role and find a way for him to help your defense. And whether it's that he can't be a single high safety and the Bengals were asking to be a single high safety too much or whatever lose trying to do is from a from a structural perspective which doesn't seem terribly complicated but maybe i'm missing something there isn't

Starting point is 00:18:45 clicking for gino stone what do you think would you bench him janeau stone yeah for tyson i don't i don't see what you lose by doing so i bench him but i don't know if i'm too close and biased because i think tyson's a good i don't know if tyson anderson's good i don't know if dajon anthony's good i don't know if those guys would actually make you better, but like, I don't see what the downside is because I don't think Geno Stone is a part of the team's future. And I don't think Louana Rumo is a part of the team's future. So like, if on the front office, I'm like, okay, let's see what these guys that are under contract next year could do, right? I think with Tyson, I know he runs a sub four, four, and I know he's willing to tackle. And so like that is already better than what you're getting.

Starting point is 00:19:29 It's not like Gino's taking away the deep stuff. So, because we've seen it as a gunner. I mean, I know you're watching grinding the special teams film Sands, right? I mean, Tyson Anderson gets down there and he makes a pro bowl gunner to me. Yeah. When you talk about like the deep safety thing, if he was just bad in single high, you could point to that. But he's been bad in every coverage. There's some like what Lou has been good at in the past.

Starting point is 00:19:56 One of the things Lou has been good at in the past is besides like the game plans. stuff, which is what he's the best at. That is his primary skill set, is he has gotten more out of his D.Bs in the past. Like, the strength of the unit has generally been that he's been able to put D.Bs in good positions. They've had good fronts, obviously, DJ Reader, a big part of allowing him to do more with that back end,

Starting point is 00:20:19 and maybe that is a key piece. And we've talked about that before. But this year, whatever the D.B. coach background he has that he was bringing and was getting a lot out of those guys in the past is just not a fit for their personnel or the message isn't working or whatever it is and more of the same, right? That's where we started. It has been more of the same.

Starting point is 00:20:39 It was an interesting game, let's say, for the offense. And I know people maybe don't want to hear so much about that nitty-gritty right now. But there were some positives, I think, on that side of the ball that we can talk about a little bit. But the same question exists on that side of the ball, too, is where are the building blocks that aren't the superstars? And we'll go to the offense to finish up the show coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle. It's America's number one sports book, and you've heard us talk about Fandul a lot here on Lockdown Bengals,

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Starting point is 00:21:58 Anything else on the defense, James, before we talk about the offense here, just want to make sure. It's just, yeah, Tyson time. Tyson time. It should have been Emmanuel Forbes time.

Starting point is 00:22:09 By the way, if Tyson struggles or Jordan struggles, then it should be Dejan time. I just, I think getting these guys in matters.

Starting point is 00:22:19 I'm a few weeks away from saying it's Shaka Hayward time and he just joined the roster like 12 minutes ago. So that's where I'm at defensively because if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem

Starting point is 00:22:31 and the problem that has this team at 4 and 8. Yeah, again, I don't really, really see the downside at this point, considering what you're expecting on the defensive side of the ball this offseason. That's where I'm at for it. On the offensive side of the ball, we're also expecting a bit of tumult,

Starting point is 00:22:48 I would say, this off season. This offense right now, we've talked a lot this year that is Joe Burrow T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, those guys largely putting the team on their backs, winning their one-on-ones, creating outside of structure, whatever it is. Chase Round, I think has made a case that he, is the third playmaker in this offense right now but it's going to lose de higgins mike kaseki perhaps has made an argument to be kept around as a receiving tight end piece for this team i think he's been a solid piece for them three million four million something

Starting point is 00:23:20 like that i mean i don't know don't care beyond that what do you what do you have money yeah i mean they have a lot of money to spend this off these a lot plenty of time to talk about that but like it was a positive day for the offense against the Steelers. This is lost in the shuffle a little bit. Like we haven't spent much time talking about it. Besides like Joe Burrow was like all these guys were really good. They're really good games. But structurally it was like they had a good plan, I thought, against the Steelers.

Starting point is 00:23:51 And that Steelers defense has been good. They have an incredible front. Mike, when you look at this game from a structural perspective, nobody really wants to hear about this right now. but like what was working for the Bengals against the Steelers? Attacking the matchup that the Steelers provided for them and Joey Porter Jr. versus T. Higgins, they wanted that one-on-one matchup.

Starting point is 00:24:13 And I mean, these were an offensive yards, but the penalty yards from just attacking that matchup and other times that Joey Porter was on, guys, was pretty insane. I think the Steelers front is terrifying. And this is kind of my galaxy brain idea of why the Bengals had success. Joe Burrow is used to playing through all of that chaos, where the back end of the Steelers defense is pretty boring. It's usually like spot drop cover three or, you know, they're sound.

Starting point is 00:24:42 They're very sound. They play these coverages right, Tampa 2, and they're not playing a lot of crazy stuff back there that makes you think, and they're not playing the stuff that really gives the Bengals a lot of trouble in like that quarters, top-down type of situation. But so despite all the pressure and the hits, He's taking, I feel like Burroughs used to that. So the front part of this doesn't bother him as much.

Starting point is 00:25:05 I thought the offensive line was okay in pass protection at times, at least better than I thought they'd be. It was like Cody Ford against Cam Hayward for 70 snaps in this game. That's probably going to go terrible. He didn't give up a sack. But otherwise, it wasn't as bad as you could imagine. Amarius Mims got a lot of, I thought the one thing they did nice, kind of in the structure is they gave a lot of help to their tackles in past protection,

Starting point is 00:25:29 where they didn't want Amarius Mims on an island against, T.J. Watt, and they knew Orlando Brown was a little bit cooked going into this game, which a little bit. Yeah, a lot. Man, he's, he is not moving around very fast out there. He's dealing with, for those wondering, a pretty serious injury. Yeah, that's what we're referring to, by the way. No, I know. I know. I just, I'm doing it for everybody else. Good clarification. Because people are like, ah, he's cooked. You got to get a left tackle. So, um, pretty serious injury. Linder Brown's injured and he's not moving. very well and they gave a lot of help to them they ran to that i don't think i've seen them run that

Starting point is 00:26:05 formation where they kind of had those tight ends in like far back wings just to give chip help on the outside and then they'd go on to a route yeah like i was seeing that as like a variant on their splitback stuff that they did against baltimore a few years ago but the backs of like the two guys on either side of joe burrow neither were like in line with him they were in front of him which was a weird it was weird formationally i don't recall them doing that before either. Because they're not running like seven man pro where they're going to have two guys scan. They're just chip release and they still only get five guys out and stress this Pittsburgh pattern, but they just want to give help to these tackles. And that also kind of

Starting point is 00:26:43 gives the tackles a second to put a handout and just give a little support to their guards too. So I actually like that a lot. I thought a lot of the instructor stuff work because the Steelers coverage wise don't play a lot of stuff that gives the Bengals issues, although the Bengals have been good against like Tampa 2 and stuff like that. They've been bad at. back in 2021. Sometimes that just lingers as if that's an issue. So I think some of it is Burroughs normal through this chaos. We saw a lot of it, the jump passes, the throwing, getting hit a lot in this game, like usual.

Starting point is 00:27:16 But also, they had a good plan for trying to help out their tackles and slowing down this front long enough for their guys to take advantage of the coverage. All right. Speaking of cooked, is Kappa cooked? It's not great. I feel like he hasn't been the same since that injury that he suffered at the end of 22. And he was already like a limited athlete before that, but he was just good because everything else was fundamentally sound. But when you lose from like a limited athlete to a bad athlete, I feel like that's hard to overcome. And I wonder if he is dealing with something again this year because it's been mostly just getting worse as a year goes on.

Starting point is 00:27:59 And maybe some of that is quality of competition. And he was good in 22. Like if you have Orlando and Kappa healthy, you feel really good about those. Those got 22 Kappa, of course. And that's why I was so optimistic going into 23. And then I thought he might bounce back this year. And now it just doesn't feel great.

Starting point is 00:28:20 It didn't look great in camp either. Those who are everydayers who go back to when we were in camp, heard us talk about some of those concerns about Kappa back in camp. And the frustrating thing on the offense, just like the defense, is hard to see the future outside of Burrow and Chase and Chase and Chase Brown. And those are great building blocks. And Amari Smith, those are great building blocks to have. But when you're faced then with the idea that T. Higgins is likely departing this season. And Orlando Brown is still going to be the left tackle, but you need a couple of guards.

Starting point is 00:28:52 You have Ted Kairs for another year. They probably need to rebuild their tight end room again, right? to some degree with with free agent departures it's it's hard to see the future here too and we're i guess past their germane burton experiment for the year like are we going to see him down the stretch he was out snout by out snapped by isaiah williams in this game yeah what do we need to see on that side of the ball yeah those two are it is interesting what do you think about burton sands never been the thing that's frustrating with Burton is I think I can point to more deep balls that it looks like he either mistracked or didn't run full speed before it got thrown to him than I can

Starting point is 00:29:39 think of deep balls that he caught and like that's his thing if that's the thing you're supposed to be good at and if you're good at that like you could be some Alex Pierce type of just like that's all he does he just runs that's all they need him to do is be Alec Pierce you're right but it's all they need him to be but when you're not doing that it kind of hurts the point of like so why are you on the field if we're just going to lose a doubt like we lose we design the shot play to get you an opportunity and you slowed down in the middle of it and the ball got thrown where it's supposed to be and you didn't get there i think that gets frustrating probably for burrow that gets frustrating for the coaching staff and that was happening a couple weeks ago when you was seeing snaps so i think it

Starting point is 00:30:20 just got to the point of until you show us that you do that right we don't have a purpose for you on this team because other guys, you know, Yose Voss is going to try to block. And he'll make, he might make a tough catch. He's good in the low red zone. And I don't know. I didn't even know who Isaiah Williams was.

Starting point is 00:30:35 I just assumed that it was, I don't know, somebody else. He just beat out, he just took Trent Nervyn's job. He might take Charlies as the Parma Turner. Yeah. So they have guys that can do jobs.

Starting point is 00:30:48 And his thing that made him different was this deep ball stuff. And it hasn't translated whatsoever this season. And what's, when you point that out, it's so interesting because you think back to last year, I forget who the opponent was, but remember when Charlie Jones slowed up on the deep ball from Jake Browning

Starting point is 00:31:03 because he normally doesn't get it, it was a big deal inside the Bengals locker room. It was a big deal for the coaches. And I think Charlie had to earn, might still be earning to a certain degree, that trust back. That's one play. Germain had like five opportunities

Starting point is 00:31:19 it felt like in a couple of weeks and none of them hit. They had three in the Chargers game. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. Yeah, two on fourth down. The rest of the season is going to be a lot of, like,

Starting point is 00:31:34 looking for where the future is. Because we know two pieces. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase. We know Orlando Brown's under contract. We know Amarius Mims, right? He's going to be around. But there's so many questions on both sides of the ball, even though the offense has been great this year.

Starting point is 00:31:54 the future is very murky right now we need to have a tea conversation at some point it won't be on our next show but we can read the tea leaves yeah together all right that's going to do it for this episode of the lockdown bengals podcast you can find mike on twitter at bengals underscore sands for a bunch of good great to be frank good cutouts great cutouts of good and fun bengals film things You can also find him at Bengals TalkSci and on the Always Game Day in Cincinnati podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast, Hootay, and have a good one.

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