Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals FINALLY trade for QB | Does Joe Flacco move the needle?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Simply had to do something at quarterback, and that something is a trade for Joe Flacco. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We've got breaking news for you. Maybe not quite breaking by the time you listen to this, but James Rapine and myself, Jake Lusco, your host of Lockdown Bengals, have you covered as Joe Flacco is joining the Cincinnati Bengals,

Starting point is 00:00:42 continuing his tour of the AFC North at 40 years old, making the trip down the interstate from Cleveland to Cincinnati. And we'll see if that's the move the Bengals need to get back on track. We'll have you covered on that story in this episode, why they couldn't continue with Jake Browning, why Joe Flacco was the target. And that is the discussion as the Bengals make their move at quarterback. Welcome back to all of you who make Lockdown Bengals your first list and all of you who make Lockdown Bengals

Starting point is 00:01:15 part of your daily routine, all the everydayers and all of you who make us your first list. And appreciate all of you very much in today's episode brought to you by a fan duel where you can bet just $5. And if you're about wins, you'll get $300 and bonus best to use across the app. James, it's Joe Flacko for the Cincinnati Bengals. not a name that we discussed in

Starting point is 00:01:34 division trade, a trade with the Browns, the first that we've heard of a trade attempted with the Cleveland Brown since Sashi Brown tanked the AJ McCarran trade years ago. What was your first reaction to seeing the name Joe Flacko?

Starting point is 00:01:51 A couple of things. One, surprised because it was in division, but certainly when you look, and I looked at like just the options. There aren't many teams. that would be willing to trade their backup because they're contenders and because they don't want to be in the position the Bengals are in now where they're scrambling. And so I just don't think there were many options out there. Joe Flacco is certainly one where you look at that Browns quarterback

Starting point is 00:02:16 room and they clearly want to get those rookies involved and it makes sense. And they weren't able to strike lightning in a bottle with Flacco like they did a few years ago in 2023 when they made the playoffs. And I think that was pretty clear. And so it made sense for every reason, from a trade possibility outside of the division part. And shocker, Mike Brown isn't necessarily a big Browns fan since all of the family history there. And so that's why these inner division trades are, I wouldn't say common, but they've become more common over the past few years.

Starting point is 00:02:52 But I never really wrap my head around or think about Bengals Browns because there's just so much history. And yet they decided to make a move. And it's a move that as we were recording, it's official now. The Bengals, they plan on starting Joe Flacco Sunday in Green Bay. So he's going to make his Bengals debut right away, hit the ground running here. He's less than two years younger than Zach Taylor. And so that might be part of it too, is they think he's a veteran, someone that completed nearly 65% of his passes last year, is a fast learner and can hit the ground running with.

Starting point is 00:03:30 the Bengals. I, man, there's a lot of layers to this, Jake. But yeah, that first one, it is surprising to see them make a deal with the Browns. But when you look at Joe Flacco, the player in his experience, I get why they would be willing to go that route, especially when you look at the cost. He played against the Bengals in week one, played pretty well in that game. He was the victim of a ton of drops. So Browns are dropping 10% of the passes thrown their way this year, which is kind of crazy. that was a drop rate for Joe Flacco in Cleveland. He's obviously played for a bunch of teams in recent years and has played partial seasons for a bunch of teams in recent years.

Starting point is 00:04:10 It was pretty solid for Indianapolis. Last year was pretty solid for Cleveland two years ago. There's another year later now. It's pretty solid against the Bengals in week one. Can't really move all that well. And is going to be in Cincinnati as he was in Cleveland behind a pretty bad defensive or offensive line. He was being pressured on 40% of his dropbacks in Cleveland.

Starting point is 00:04:31 And when he was pressured, that's when things really went haywire for Flacco, really embracing the Yolo life when he was pressured. He had a 6% big-time throw rate, according to PFF, and a 6.6% turnover-worthy play rate when he was under pressure with the Browns. The yards per attempt numbers, not very good. The Cleveland offense obviously limited by its offensive line, limited by its weapons. They had some good tight ends, the receivers, leaving a lot to be desired.

Starting point is 00:04:59 And like I said, those drops really hurting him. And overall, like take the Cincinnati game for Flacco for an example, he was a bit unlucky with some of the interceptions. He has thrown six interceptions this year. But a little bit of that, at least against the Bengals in particular, was some bad luck and some bad bounces and some bad receiver play that led to that. So there's all that about Joe Flacco. But to me, this comes back to James, the idea that they saw Jake Browning and finally decided enough is enough.

Starting point is 00:05:31 And you heard that from Zach Taylor in his postgame and Monday pressers that they're considering options. The way that they're turning the ball over isn't okay. And I think the fact that Jake Browning made it through that entire game tells you what they think about their other QB options. Mike White was also released as part of this series of moves from the Bengals on Tuesday. they had to do something. They could not continue to just throw Jake Browning to the Bulls the way he was playing this year. The way he was playing late,

Starting point is 00:06:02 the way he was playing inaccurately, the way he was playing, just entirely breaking down at the hint of pressure, making rash decisions. Couldn't keep doing it. The whole idea here is try to buy yourself the chance that Joe Burrow can get back. Just try to find a way to give yourself that chance.

Starting point is 00:06:21 And I think rightly the Bengals decided that Jake Browning wasn't giving them that chance. We'll see if Joe Flacco is the right direction. For sure. It's a couple of things. First things first. Joe Flacco is going to turn the ball over too. But what they're banking on is he's also going to deliver some explosive plays.

Starting point is 00:06:38 Like you can deal with some turnovers if you also get touchdowns with him. And Jake Browning, the only time he's throwing a touchdown as a starter for this team is when they were already out of the game. And in his three starts being outscored, one. 13 to 37 with that fourth quarter quarter flurry that makes it look way better 21 points in the fourth quarter the other day and the Drew sample garbage time touchdown so like 28 of those points being in garbage time yeah I mean they just haven't been competitive and so like I see some people saying oh well behind this line or I get it it's not perfect it's flawed it sucks that we're here to be honest it sucks that we're talking about a Joe playing quarterback that isn't

Starting point is 00:07:23 Joe Burrow. But that's where they are. And if you keep trotting Jake out there, you're right. The season's over. And I'm telling you, I've tried to hammer this home and I'm going to hammer it home one more time because there's going to be so many people that say, pun on the season. Joe Burrow is working his ass off right now to try to get back. He's told everybody that will ask, everybody. And I'm not saying me because I haven't asked. But you know he's trying to come back this year. His plan is to come back this year. And so whether you look at Joe. in the eye or you look at Jamar Chase in the face or T. Higgins or you could go down the line. T. Hendrickson, keep going and say, hey, we are going to, because I think the offensive line has

Starting point is 00:08:05 done enough the past two weeks to give them a chance in the games. And Jake Browning has not given them a chance in these games. It's, you had to do something. And if Joe Flacco is the guy, and I think we need to peel back more layers, I think there's logic behind this. but why they went after Joe is to do sort of the Russell Wilson idea. The reason why I mentioned Russell Wilson multiple times over the past couple of weeks is because I think moonball Russ and check down Russ. I think that could make sense. Maybe that's what Joe becomes.

Starting point is 00:08:40 And they become this big play. Man, Jamar's down there somewhere offense. And if he's not, then check it down. And there's going to be some interceptions. But if you can get your guys in space around the line of scrimmage here and there, and connect on some big plays, maybe you can look up and beat some of these teams

Starting point is 00:08:59 that are on your schedule. And look, Green Bay and Green Bay is a heck of a place to start. But then you have Pittsburgh. You have the Jets. You have the Bears. You have Pittsburgh again. You have the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:09:08 It's not like you're playing five straight Super Bowl contenders. Maybe they can turn it around. And so I'm not going to knock the Bengals for making a move here. And maybe Joe has enough with these weapons. These are the best weapons. Joe Flacco has probably ever had. Maybe there's enough there to get the most out of 40-year-old Joe Flacco. They needed to make a move.

Starting point is 00:09:31 I think we could all agree on that. This was necessary. Why it was Joe Flacco, that I think is an interesting conversation to expand upon why it wasn't Russ Wilson, why it wasn't a call to New York Giants who reportedly they did not even call, according to Diana Rusini. We'll get into the why behind the Joe Flacco decision coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandul, and the Bengals, well, they were 14 and a half point underdogs going into this matchup against Green Bay. Now they have a starting quarterback, Jake.

Starting point is 00:10:06 That's beat the Packers this year. And Joe Flacco, he's done it once. Can he do it again? We'll see. He was one in three as a starter this year for the Browns, and it was a win over the Packers, oddly enough. But regardless, FanDuel is perfect for you because new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets. if you win. So pick a bet, put down five bucks. And if it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app, whether it's same game parlayes, live bets, Thursday night football,

Starting point is 00:10:36 Sunday night football, Bengals, Packers, Sunday in Green Bay. It doesn't matter. Whatever you're looking to wager on. Check it out right now with Fandall. What are you waiting for? Visit fandle.com to download the Fando app today and get started. All right, Jake. Let's dive into the Y. And yeah, I think the Y is interesting. Russell Wilson is cringy as hell. Let's be honest, right? He's cringy. Everyone makes a face.

Starting point is 00:11:06 There's a reason why there are a lot of people not in on Russ, and a lot of it has to do with the cringiness and his lack of leadership. And James Winston is likable, and he says a lot of awesome quotes to the media. And from a media standpoint, I would really like it. But I'm not sure that either one of the, of those guys were guys that Bengals looked at and said, hey, it would be worth whatever asking price.

Starting point is 00:11:32 One, two, because this is a pick swap. It's not a straight up pick. It's a pick swap. Two, I think the leadership standpoint, I think that's a big factor here where they look at it and they say, man, if Joe navigated the Cleveland Waters in 2023 and all that dysfunction, can he come in here on a short week against a team he started? against a couple of weeks ago and give us a chance. And then on a short week, give us a chance against the team that he's really familiar with in the Pittsburgh Steelers and then keep it moving.

Starting point is 00:12:05 Like I think this is the Bengals saying makeup wise, mindset wise, the physical talent wise, like they know he can't move. They're not dumb. They know he can't move. All of these reasons and then some as to why they went after Joe. Is it the right decision? We'll see. but those are peeling back the curtain some of the reasons why they went after Joe Flacco. Yeah, I mean, I've seen people say that they weren't in on Russ specifically because of, like you said, the lack of genuine leadership qualities.

Starting point is 00:12:35 The lack of genuine personal. Because like that's the thing with Russ. He's so corny, but it's also so fake. Like that's the veneer that I think everyone in the NFL sees through at this point with the act that you get with Russell Wilson, not to spend too much time on that because he's not going to be a Cincinnati Bengal at this point. but I go back to remember the preseason people are asking Joe Flacco like hey you're going to be a mentor how are you how are you going to embrace your mentorship role with these young players these young quarterbacks around you in Cleveland and the impression I got from Joe Flacco answering those questions is like no nonsense approach like I'm here to win the job I'm here to win football

Starting point is 00:13:10 games I'm here to play football and that veteran enous I don't have a word for it he's gruff he's no nonsense and that's the approach that he's going to bring to a team that I think needs some of that. They need that experience at the position. They need someone who can command a huddle who has been there. I mean, is this, I've seen people ask this question on Twitter today, and I think this is true. Is this the first quarterback to play for the Cincinnati Bengals who had a Super Bowl ring?

Starting point is 00:13:41 Is that, is that a, I think? There might be a backup somewhere in there. That's the question. Is there a backup? But certainly the first starter, the first quarterback to have started in one, a Super Bowl, I think. Unless, again, there's a backup that I'm not recalling. No, I think you're right. I certainly know that there hasn't been a starting quarterback for the Bengals that won a Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:14:10 I'm looking at every starter in franchise history. Did one go on somewhere else and, you know, a backup on somewhere else? Yeah. It's tough, tough to see. But you put me on the spot there. I would lean no, but there might be a backup somewhere, a practice squad guy somewhere that's not through the cracks. The point is here is, yeah, I mean,

Starting point is 00:14:31 the Super Bowl is ancient history for Joe Flacco. That doesn't really matter. But at least he has that experience. And the fear with Browning is that he's just going to continue to just crumble in these situations. And the Bengals just couldn't have that anymore. They needed a quarterback who was at least going to be a professional. Maybe Joe Flacco doesn't want to be hit anymore.

Starting point is 00:14:48 asked one of our Cleveland resources, one of our good Cleveland film analyst friends, Jake Burns, about Flacco. And he didn't have very many good things to say about Flacco, to be fair. But one of them was that there's a little bit of shying away from contact at this point and just throw in the ball, the YOLO approach under pressure to try to not get hit at 40 years old. And maybe you live and die with that a little bit. But the plays where he isn't pressured, the numbers are totally fine for him. with Cleveland. Now, is it a very different offense between Kevin Sifansky's approach in Cleveland

Starting point is 00:15:24 and Zach Taylor's approach in Cincinnati? Is it a very different set of weapons? It's a very different philosophy. Yeah, so we'll have to see how Joe Flacco adapts to those things, especially in a short week. But I do think that, one, this could very well be one of those situations where the Bengals saw Flacko earlier this year. They've seen him a bunch throughout his career. They think that they know exactly what they're going to get with Flacco. They think that's better than Jake Browning. Two, he did play against Green Bay this year. And I think that's at least a little bit valuable. Green Bay's also played against Flacco this year. Green Bay is still going to be a significant test. But in the short term, that maybe provides you some value, right? Yeah. I think, I think so. I think a couple of things.

Starting point is 00:16:11 One, the familiarity is huge. And the fact that, because last week, because I was thinking about this in waves. And I was like, well, if you acquire a quarterback last week, you're hoping to get him ready for Pittsburgh. But they clearly, because of the familiarity, because of what Joe Flacco, his style, and it makes sense. I do. I think that this is going to be. And Zach might not come out and say this, but my mind, my, my, this Wednesday gets so interesting, because hopefully we do hear from Joe Flacco on Wednesday. It certainly, oh, man, there's just so many layers to this as we react to it. But it might be as simple as, all right, we're going to go deep. We're going to have some easy reads, easy checks, easy ways to go about this.

Starting point is 00:16:57 And if it's not there, then throw that thing through the back of the end zone from the 30 yard line because you can throw it that far, Joe. Like, he does have the physical gift of being able to throw it still. Like Aaron Rogers, you see this too. He doesn't want to get hit either. but if he does have a second or if there is a receiver that's open, he can get it there. And I think that's what they're really banking on. And they probably looked at the Browns and said,

Starting point is 00:17:22 man, their weapons and what they're trying to do, Joe's going to be better with us in this environment with what we have and be familiar enough with the upcoming opponents to hit the ground running, which is really, really important. And so when you think of the why, bet that was a factor is not trading for a guy and then having Jake start against Green Bay. And if you trade for like a Russ Wilson or a James Winston, you're probably still starting

Starting point is 00:17:51 Jake. I mean, they play in five days from us recording this. And Joe, he's going to make a quick trip down 71, be at the Bengals facility today on Tuesday. And you can hit the ground running and get him there at practice Wednesday. Like it's not that it would be different for those other guys, he game plan for Green Bay two weeks ago, three weeks ago, whatever it was. And so I do think that that matters. I think a lot of people are going to question it. I do. And the other part of why, there weren't many options, not many great options.

Starting point is 00:18:26 And that's the downside of quarterbacks. And that's the downside of, one, losing Joe Burrow. But two, it's not like you've invested a lot of draft capital or anything like that into the quarterback position because you thought Jake Browning was. that guy. And it turns out he's not that guy. And so when you got to go get a guy in October, that's a tough ask. And I think they did a solid job there, even if they did have to move down, what, 40 picks or so in the draft. I think that's what it'll end up being. Yeah, we'll talk about a couple more reasons behind the why here. I have a couple more thoughts there as to why this is the

Starting point is 00:19:02 move that it ended up being. We'll cover that compensation in detail what Joe Flacko is owed this year. I think these are parts of the why. James, you have one more point you want to hit here? I have a fun fact real quick. It's just going to be a positive fun fact, or it's going to tell the tale of how old Joe Flacco is. By the way, I was in high school when he entered the NFL and was the 18th overall pick in 2008.

Starting point is 00:19:27 Bengals legend, Willie Anderson, loves this move. He blocked for Joe Flacco when Flacco was a rookie in 2008. So there you go. There you go. Got Willie's endorsement. We'll finish with a couple more thoughts on the why a little bit more on what Joe Flacco brings, what we can maybe expect to see from an approach perspective. How do things change with Joe Flacco taking over for Jake Browning to finish up?

Starting point is 00:19:53 This show is the Bengals have made a move at quarterback coming up next. I'm Cody Ward from Lockdown Brocko's. And this episode is brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton, cross-training, tread plus powered by Peloton IQ. This is Peloton's most advanced equipment yet, giving you real-time guidance and endless ways to move, whether you're running, lifting, or you're cross-training with your favorite instructors like Alex Touss. It's training reimagined to make your workout more personal.

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Starting point is 00:21:04 James, I have a couple more reasons that maybe we've alluded to, but I think that add to why this was a move for the Cincinnati Bengals. One is just a pick swap. They don't actually give up a pick. We've mentioned that a few times. The pick swap itself, a little bit worse than I thought when it was initially reported. I thought it was a fifth for the sixth. That sounds really good when it's the Brown's six.

Starting point is 00:21:24 When it's, in fact, the lion's sixth that the Browns owned, it gets a little bit worse. People jumped on me for this saying, oh, they can't draft in the end of the draft anyway. Who cares about what they give up in day three? It just makes it a little bit worse. We're talking about probably the top of the six if it's a Brown's pick, probably the end of the six. if it's a lion's pick and it is a lion's pick. So that aside, I think that it's a pick swap. You're not giving up a full draft pick.

Starting point is 00:21:50 That's part of what makes us appealing to the Bengals. Another part of what makes it appealing to the Bengals is that Joe Flacco isn't owed much money. There was discussion around Kirk Cousins immediately after Joe Burroughs injury, for example. There's so much guaranteed money left for Kirk Cousins that that was a non-starter, I think, for the Bengals to even consider it south of $2 million. for Joe Flacco for the rest of this year between a veteran minimum salary and a per game bonus that he will, I think, be owed by the Bengals for the rest of the year for every game he's active. So not a whole lot of money tied up in this move for Joe Flacco.

Starting point is 00:22:27 And we've talked about the experience factor. I think that's a huge issue. And I'll expand on that here in a minute because I think that is a pretty significant reason that they're going with this move. I mean, I think that could also be true for a move for Russ Wilson. We've talked about the leadership factor. We've talked about the familiarity. We've talked about the fact that he has this reputation of being able to get ready quickly.

Starting point is 00:22:47 That's what every national insider has written today, which is kind of weird that they all got locks up on that, like expected to be a quick learner. That's something that Diana Rossini wrote. That's something that Adam Schaeffer wrote. I think that is in line with reality as the Bengals were expecting to start against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. So just a couple of extra reasons there, James, like financial and cost, that I think made this palatable to the Bengals as well in addition to some of the football reasons, some of the intangible reasons that we've talked about as well.

Starting point is 00:23:19 Yeah. And they, regardless of how you think he's going to do, and maybe he goes 0 and 6 as a starter, and we see Brett Rippin and then Sean Clifford. Right. Maybe Brett Rippin or Sean Clifford isn't on the roster or in the building by the time you hear this or read this too, or listen or watch. but but it's still a swing like it's a tough spot it's a really tough spot when you feel really good about your quarterbacks one and two obviously you think joe's the best on the planet he gets hurt

Starting point is 00:23:52 out for most of the season and jake comes in and gets his butt kicked like i know there are other reasons and people are mad at the organization and so they felt pretty good about their quarterback room two months ago when you were in town two months ago it's like oh well yeah joe and jake Like, that's pretty, it's not as good as James and Jake with Lacked on Bengals, but it's a pretty darn good quarterback room, right? And it kind of blew up in their face. And so I think in past years, they wouldn't have made a move. And so to make a move to not mortgage the future, that was what so many people give up assets

Starting point is 00:24:31 and mortgage, you don't really mortgage a future. You're right. It's something. It's not nothing. It's something. It's a pretty low price overall, for sure. It's a low price, especially, what if, what if they go four and two with Joe Flacco over the next six? I'm not saying they will.

Starting point is 00:24:45 What if they do? Like, then it's a steal. Regardless, it's a steel because he comes in and does what they, they're hoping in a perfect world he can do. And in there, they're probably saying, hey, this is a guy that in 23 was four and one with the Browns. Last year, completed 65% of his passes and had 13 touchdowns. was it eight picks seven picks last year um for the the colts 12 it was 12 and 7 sorry he had 13 and eighth year before but maybe he can still be that guy he still looks like that guy and the browns are a dumpster fire right now and clearly wanted to give the rookies the the rates like who knows

Starting point is 00:25:25 but if they're wrong it's not a huge price to pay and if they're right well then maybe we see the other joe the best joe on the field again this year and So am I okay with that? Like, I am. Now, whether or not that happens and whether you feel like it's going to happen or not, that's a completely different conversation that we have time for. But on the surface, Jake wasn't it. And I'll give you 113 to 37 reasons why.

Starting point is 00:25:55 And so taking this swing and getting a guy that you feel confident in could be ready Sunday in Green Bay. All right. Let's see how it works out. So generous of you to give it 37 instead of of nine. I still don't count I need to go every nine points. I agree. I agree with you. Part of it is that the Jamar Chase, the Jamar Chase plays

Starting point is 00:26:16 Jamar just a freak. So I think they deserve credit for those. Cancer base, what Jamar did. But the interesting thing here is how much doesn't move the needle, right? They had to do something. We can all agree there. We can say, hey, good

Starting point is 00:26:32 job. You did something. You recognized that this wasn't good enough. You tried to find something that would make it better. There aren't a whole lot of options out there. You're talking about Andy Dalton. You're talking about Russ Wilson. Russ Wilson is one of the quarterbacks that's down with Jake Browning and ESPN's QBR metric this year. Got bench for Jackson Dart.

Starting point is 00:26:51 People talking about James Winston, who's never been good in the NFL. But it would be fun. For sure, it would be fun. Were there other options that might have been better? Maybe. But it's not like you're going to be able to go trade for a middle of the pack quarterback in the middle of the season. And the other thing is, is you're not. Kyle Shanahan getting production out of Mac Jones the way that Kyle

Starting point is 00:27:12 Shanahan seems to be able to get production out of every quarterback like it'd be great if you were but if you can get something out of Joe Flacco throwing to these weapons and like he said potentially the best weapons he's had at least since he was throwing to Anquan Bolden right then maybe the offense at least looks more watchable maybe you're at least a little bit more competitive maybe it isn't this week against Green Bay a short week it's a good defense, it's a good pass rush. We're going to have to give Joe Flacco a couple of weeks here. And when we're reacting to this game on Sunday, if it's ugly, we're going to have to remember.

Starting point is 00:27:48 We might have to give Joe Flacco a couple weeks, but maybe he comes out and he's okay. Maybe he comes out and he's reading out the concepts the way you're supposed to read out concepts. Maybe he's playing with a better sense of timing than Jake Browning showed the capability of playing with. Maybe he's playing competent veteran backup quarterback for the Bengals. And if he's doing that, then the results should be better. If it still looks nonfunctional in like three weeks, then yeah, I mean, you're irreparably broken at that point. And we'll see how much better it gets, but they had to do something. You can credit them for that part of it.

Starting point is 00:28:23 And, you know, do I have skepticism about Joe Flacco? I do. Do I think that this is going to move the needle appreciably? We'll see. I'm not super confident about that, but they had to try something. They did. They did. And I just looking at twofold.

Starting point is 00:28:38 One, Joe was, Joe Flacco was 21 of 36 for 142 yards, no touchdowns in a pick against the Packers in week three. The Browns won that game 13 to 10. They had 66 offensive snaps. So just throwing that line out there. Two, you mentioned Kyle Shanahan. And this is just kind of teasing what will probably come up. I would imagine during our Thursday show, we have the crossover tomorrow with Peter, which is going to be fun. But Thursday show, Kyle Shanahan, yeah, he's getting a lot out of a lot of backup quarterbacks.

Starting point is 00:29:11 You want to talk about Zach Taylor? They went and got him a quarterback now. He said, oh, it's not working with Jake. We're getting you another guy. Make it work. So guess what? There is some pressure here. That's a whole other storyline that we'll dive into at some point.

Starting point is 00:29:25 Some pressure on Zach to make this work and be a competent, functional offense. Because Joe Flacko has been competent and functional when the pieces around it. have been competent and functional. So we'll see if he can get the most out of Joe Flacco. I do think that's an interesting storyline to bring out. Maybe we get to it Thursday. Maybe we get to it next week when we really dive into it in depth. But you're removing uses for Zach Taylor, right?

Starting point is 00:29:48 You're saying like, hey, make it work this year. We better be in this thing when Joe's ready to play or else, maybe. Maybe there's it or else. There are currently no odds for Zach Taylor in the list of coaches most likely to be the first fired. in this season. And I think that's for a reason. But I think that to your point, this maintains the message that it's like,

Starting point is 00:30:12 maybe it's a little bit late from the Bengals front office to figure out they needed to make this move. But it's, hey, we better figure this thing out this year and get this thing right this year and that pressure on Zach Taylor. Like you said, James, we've got a crossover coming up next. The NFL calendar keeps on moving. The Bengals play the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:30:32 and we keep going with our content schedule. We've got the crossover for you. Tomorrow we've got a game preview coming for you on Thursday, and then we're right into a game. So busy week here on Lockdown Bengals, busy week for the Bengals to get Joe Flacco up to speed and hopefully get them ready to start in their perspective against the Green Bay Packers.

Starting point is 00:30:49 Until next time, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Hootay and having a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals FINALLY trade for QB | Does Joe Flacco move the needle?

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