Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens Week 5 First Look: Why a fast start could be key for both teams

Starting point is 00:00:00 The first AFC North game of the 2024 season features two of the best offenses in the NFL, which will blink first. Let's break it down. You are Locked-on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, folks, and welcome on into a crossover episode on the Locked-on Podcast Network, Cincinnati Bengals, hosting the Baltimore Ravens. and so we've got Lockdown Bengals hosted by myself, Jake. Let's go along with James Rupin and Lockdown Ravens hosted by Kevin Ostriker. Here to bring you the biggest stories and the keys to victory for both teams

Starting point is 00:00:48 as the AFC North doesn't have its first game until week five of the 2024 NFL season. Those games all backloaded this year. As always, crossover Thursday is presented by prize picks. You can download the app and use promo code Lockdown NFL to win 50. $50 instantly when you play $5. Shout out to the everydayers out there. Shout out to all of you who make your respective lockdown podcast. You're first listening.

Starting point is 00:01:15 If you're new to the Lockdown Podcast Network, you can find Lockdown Ravens and lockdown Bengals everywhere you get your podcast and on YouTube. Kevin, let's start with the Baltimore Ravens offense. The addition of Derek Henry that I kind of scoffed at when we did our preseason preview has proven to set the Ravens off to a near historic start running the football this season. Is that the biggest story for the Baltimore Ravens offense, or is there something else that supersedes the running success the Ravens have had early this year? Yeah, I know that Devante Adams' conversation is kind of taking the cake here for a lot of these teams, maybe Baltimore included,

Starting point is 00:01:54 but this is a run for his football team. And Derek Henry, outside of Lamar Jackson, obviously, is the focal point of this team. The run game is what they are, it's who their identity is, And for me, you look at what happened last week against Buffalo, 199 yards, just one yard shy of that elusive 200 yard mark. But the Ravens were just gashing the bills in so many different ways. Where for Derek Henry, he starts things off with that 87-yard touchdown. And Buffalo obviously has to pay manpower, put manpower on Derek Henry in that possibility, Lamar Jackson and that possibility plus the play action game.

Starting point is 00:02:31 And what Baltimore has been doing more effectively over the last couple of weeks, has really been working play action off of their successful run game, where obviously the Ravens have both the leading rusher in the league in Derek Henry and the ninth leading rusher in the league in Lamar Jackson. That is who they are. But when you're able to play heavy like they do, out physical teams like they have over the course of the season, with heavy personnel, two tight end looks,

Starting point is 00:02:55 and even though Mark Andrews isn't necessarily doing a ton this year so far, I know fantasy owners probably feel all the pain from that, but he's out there blocking. Isaiah likely he's out there blocking. These guys are getting physical. They've done a much better job of getting to the second level. But a lot of this also has to do with the fact they get out to these early leads. They're in positive game scripts and the Ravens have thrown the ball just 32 times combined over the last two weeks.

Starting point is 00:03:19 And that bodes obviously a lot towards what they can do later in the season if they can continue in this positive game flow. But of course, with a good offense in Cincinnati, it might not be as easy to do that against the team that if they are able to stick. case with Baltimore might be a bit more balanced effort for the Ravens on that side. The Ravens rushing attack has obviously been insane. I think those that saw Derek Henry sign with the Ravens were like, well, does he still have something left? I know I passed on him in a couple of fantasy drafts, probably regretting that right now. Also might regret drafting Mark Andrews in fantasy drafts, but we can get into him a bit more in a second. I think these two tie directly together because when you look at the Bengals, you think of Joe Burrow and you think of the offense.

Starting point is 00:04:08 But to me, the biggest storyline for the Ravens is exactly why the biggest storyline for the Bengals this week is their defensive front, is how healthy they are going to be on Sunday. Because regardless of what Joe Burrow does, regardless of Jamar Chase, regardless of those guys, they have to be better than they were against the Panthers or against the commanders or against insert whatever team that they've played this year in the trenches to have a shot at slowing down Derek Henry, to have a shot at slowing down Lamar Jackson, what he's able to do because of that potent rushing attack. I mean, we're talking about Dax Hill's brother now for Bengals fans, Justice Hill, being a real factor on this Ravens offense. And so I do think that that's a huge

Starting point is 00:04:54 storyline coming into the year. And obviously the Ravens have delivered with their run game. Kevin, how much of the Ravens running game is predicated on the option stuff that you can do with Lamar Jackson versus straight up running the ball? Because there are clips going around that I've seen on social media this week that are, you know, praising Lamar Jackson's ability to ball handle and the misdirection that he can create with hiding the ball in some of those options situations. How would you break down the breakdown? What is the split of Lamar Jackson led rushing attack versus traditional rushing attack for the Ravens? Yeah, we're certainly seeing more under center this year. obviously it's not a bunch. But this team, whether you want to throw patch of a card out there

Starting point is 00:05:35 and have him either in line or just in the eye at the full back spot, just that traditional role, the way that Lamar is able to orchestrate the option game, it is that deception. And with Gus Edwards there in the past, with J.K. Dobbins there in the past, those are two good running backs. Obviously, it's no disrespect to those guys. But Derek Henry just has that different type of gravitational pull when you're a defensive.

Starting point is 00:05:57 Oh, we actually have to pay attention to this guy. It's a choice between Lamar and Derek Henry, whereas before it was you might always kind of lean towards Lamar because you knew that that's the guy you had absolutely had to take. Now, they also like to just run straight at you. And Derek Henry does give you that, especially with his underrated foot speed and surprisingly good change of direction. I think people look at Derek Henry and they just see this big, like massive human and like, oh, he's just a bruiser.

Starting point is 00:06:24 He's just a powerback. But they do more straight handoffs than we've seen in other. years, at least early on in Lamar Jackson's career. It was a lot of the option, read option, zone option stuff or zone reads, and they do a lot of that still. And that's why their offense can be so successful. But they're also just doing straight handoffs at times and working play action off of that. And that has been effective for them, both the option game and just other handoffs in general. Yeah, I think that's why the Bengals' defensive front in the health of it. And it does feel like they're going to get some guys back. I think BJ Hill is going to play

Starting point is 00:06:59 this week. Trey Hendricks in practice Wednesday. At this point, I expect him to play, even though he left early. You need these guys to, and we'll see on Miles Murphy. And he's probably the only one that has a shot. I think he has got a decent shot to play. But they have to be so much better to have a shot at limiting this group. I mean, you don't think the bills knew what the Ravens wanted to do. I think that that's the, I don't even want to say intimidating factor. that combined with being able to shorten the game, keep the ball out of Joe Burroughs hands, that's tough. And so this Bengals defense, they're going to be tested. And that's the biggest

Starting point is 00:07:40 storyline is how healthy will they be? I expect, like I said, Hill, Hendrickson, thumbs up there, Miles Murphy, probably on track. And so you're going to be about as healthy in the trenches as you've been up your Cincinnati in recent weeks. Will that translate into being able to slow down Lamar Jackson, slow down Derek Henry. Not let Derek Henry get going, because if he has that runway, go luck. No one's catching him. And we saw that on Sunday night. Coming up next, we will flip the script and talk a little bit about the Bengals offense,

Starting point is 00:08:09 the Ravens defense, the biggest stories when the opposite teams are in control of the ball. That's next. Today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Game time is the app you need to download right now because if you're a Bengals fan and you're still looking for tickets for Sunday's game, well, game time is going to make it fast and easy. And Ravens fans, if you're coming to town, coming to Cincinnati, well, welcome, use game time. Game time is going to make the process so much easier. They have panoramic views

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Starting point is 00:09:08 Download game time today. What time is it? Game time. All right, guys. Let's talk Bengals' offense, Ravens' defense. Big changes, Kevin, on the Ravens' defensive side of the ball. with Gino Stahl. And that's really what I'm talking about,

Starting point is 00:09:24 the departure of Patrick Queen as well. The departure of a lot of coaches. It was a little bit rocky early for that Ravens defense, not reprising their top performance that we saw from them largely last year. Is there confidence that the Bill's game got them back on track to being more of the unit that they were last year?

Starting point is 00:09:43 Yeah, I think that certainly had a big part to do with it, especially because you go out against an offense that coming into week four had put up almost 38 points per game, albeit not necessarily against teams like this Ravens offense. I mean, obviously Miami's floundering Jacksonville looks all but gone at this point. And, you know, Arizona has had moments. But it's the misconception of Baltimore is that they were 0 and 2 because they wore a bad football team. They were 0 and 2 because they lost by a toe in week one.

Starting point is 00:10:13 And then in week two, they blew the game against Las Vegas. They are what their record says there. They're a two and two football team. but to me, this defense, there were always going to be questions about the replacement guy. So Trenton Simpson stepping in for Patrick Queen, guys like Eddie Jackson stepping in for Gino Stone. But the thing that has carried this defense so far, it's actually two things I'll say. One is the run defense, part of which we talked about in the first segment, which was a lot about, well, it's just about the game script. First of all, the Ravens just aren't having a lot of runs run at them because over the past three weeks, they've been in positive games.

Starting point is 00:10:48 So teams have to abandon that run early, but that's why I judge yards, total yards, I don't really do. I do yards per attempt because that means in the opportunities that you are given, are you stopping the run effectively? Baltimore is first in run defense across most categories, first in total yards and first in yards per attempt. But they're getting great performances out of these pass rushers. I mean, both interior and exterior,

Starting point is 00:11:13 Genevian clowning leads for Carolina. They bring back Kyle Van Nuoy and everybody's wondering, well, what is he going to do this season? and is he going to have another magical year? Well, so far, he certainly is. He's second in the league in sacks right now behind only Aidan Hutchinson and has six of them, and that is two sacks in each of the last three games. And IFA OA has stepped up.

Starting point is 00:11:30 He has three and a half sacks. Travis Jones looks like a beast on the interior. So for these opposing offenses, they've had to have essentially perfect offensive line games to be able to let their run game work and make sure that their quarterbacks stay protected. So on the offensive side of the ball for Cincinnati guys, I mean, we've seen this Bengals rushing attack. I think, you know, Joe Mixon was the big name. But I think Zach Moss and Chase Brown have kind of fit in what they need a lot better with that tandem.

Starting point is 00:11:59 I've been really impressed with both those guys. And look, I'll admit, I put a lot of stock into them during fantasy. So even though it's the Ravens Divisional matchup here, that to me I kind of called. How was the run game looked and how was the offensive line able to open up holes for those guys? And even them as receivers has been a really interesting part. to how Cincinnati does things. No doubt. I think efficient is how I would describe this run game. They've been really efficient. It's not like they're running the ball a ton. Now they did last week. They ran it 30 times between the two running backs. And so could that happen again this week?

Starting point is 00:12:33 I would be surprised. I don't think both guys are going to get 15 carries apiece. But Joe Burrow mentioned it on Wednesday. They want to be efficient. And what that does is that makes life easier on an offensive line because of the Kyle Van Nuys, because of the guys that are going to try to get after Joe Burrow, because they are a passing team. And I think it is good to bring up the, the Zach Moss Chase Brown as receivers. Chase Brown hasn't made a ton of big plays in the passing game yet this year, certainly capable of doing so. Zach Moss made a great play with really a huge momentum swing on the line against the Panthers. And it gave the Bengals the lead for good on Sunday right before halftime.

Starting point is 00:13:15 So they trust him in the passing game. So they've been a big part of it. And I do think, yeah, it's Burrow and you're going to need him to be awesome. He said he's going to have to play darn near perfect on Sunday for the Bengals to win the game. And to a large degree, I agree with that, even though I spent a lot of time talking about the defense. I think that what it's going to come down to from a running game standpoint, can you have a couple explosive runs in there or passes to these running backs, but you're just efficient throughout the game where you can pick up four, five, six yards and put yourself ahead of the chains. If they can do that,

Starting point is 00:13:52 that would be a success. The Bengals have been one of the best teams in the NFL on first downs this year. When you look at first downs, when teams are picking up first downs, the Bengals are second in number of first downs achieved on first down. And part of that is because of the running game, because of their ability to run more successfully this year. They're challenging teams a little bit more when they want to stay in those two high looks and they're forcing defenders down into the box a little bit more. And as long as Joe Burrow is able to diagnose defenses in the passing game the way he is, and the running game is actually threatening teams enough and the usage of 12 personnel, which the team has shifted in a huge, huge swing toward 12 personnel this year after being one of the top

Starting point is 00:14:31 11 personnel teams for years, the departure of Tyler Boyden additions of Eric Al and Mike Keseki make them the leading team this year in 12 personnel, you might be shocked to believe, it means that there's a bit of a different identity for this Bengals offense than we're used to. But one of the big themes that I'm hearing as we're talking about this game is, which defense will slow down the opposing offense? And on the Bengals side of things, as James alluded to in our first segment, it's can these reinforcements on the defensive line help at all? Because the Bengals defense has been struggling with run games this year.

Starting point is 00:15:05 and on the other side of things, the Bengals offense has been really good the last couple of weeks. But GameScript to me sounds like a huge factor. I think it's a big factor for both teams. Joe Burrow emphasized that in his presser on Wednesday as well, discussing the importance,

Starting point is 00:15:21 the critical importance of getting out to an early lead. But the way Baltimore likes to play games, that part of the game will be very interesting. If a team makes a crucial mistake early, how does that impact the rest of this game? How does that impact the defensive side of the ball for these teams that has kind of gotten accustomed to different kinds of games perhaps. Kevin, can you speak to how you think that might go if Baltimore finds itself behind early on

Starting point is 00:15:45 defense? Yeah, I think that what we saw, for example, if we want to go back to the AAC championship game, Baltimore abandoned their identity pretty quickly in that game. And we even saw it a tiny bit in week one as well, where Baltimore had to play that game from behind. And they ran Derek Henry five times on the first possession. They scored a touchdown, but then Kansas City came back with a couple of scores. and all of a sudden they were this errant out football team.

Starting point is 00:16:08 But over the past couple of weeks, I think with bigger trust in their offensive line, and also with the ability that we have seen out of some of these other receivers to come up with timely catches. You're not necessarily still a volume passing offense. That's not what this Ravens team is. But to be able to work the run game in without abandoning it completely if, let's say Cincinnati gets out to a 10-0 fast start or 14-3, That's going to be something where the Ravens will have to lean on their passing game more, work over the middle of the field and get guys involved. But I think that they'd be foolish and we've seen them do this and it hasn't worked.

Starting point is 00:16:44 If they just say, all right, we're just going to air the ball out 40 times in this game because part of the allure of this offense is the guessing game that these defenders have to play each and every single week, whether it is an edge defender picking the right guy on an option play, or are you coming up, you putting guys in the box? If you take that element out, if you make any offense one-dimensional, whether it's Baltimore, Cincinnati or whatever team, that's going to be a huge detriment to what that offense is trying to do. So I would still say working play action off of that would be their best bet

Starting point is 00:17:17 because you still want to have the threat of the run game if you're the Ravens and make sure that the Bengals or any other team is still respecting that. Because if you just do straight dropbacks the whole time, obviously that takes away a big part of what makes your offense. dangerous. And we know guys what makes this Cincinnati offense so dangerous is, we know who Jamar Chase is. We know who T. Higgins is. Those are two stud star receivers. But it's been some of the other guys stepping up, especially T. Higgins having to miss some time early. You mentioned, Jake, they're running two tight ends. That's a little more and even working in some passes to those guys.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Who have been the guys you've been most impressed with, not named Jamar Chase, that you think that people should be looking out for this week? Well, there's a bunch because every week, it seems like someone different on offense, at least the past three weeks. Andre Yosebosch, against the commanders, had a really nice game, had a couple of touchdowns as well against the Chiefs the week prior, and Mike Gassicki had a big game against the Chiefs. Eric All has been really steady. And as Jake mentioned, with the 12 personnel, big part of how they are blocking and protecting and doing things that we haven't seen in the Joe Burrow era.

Starting point is 00:18:26 But obviously, it starts with Jamar. I will say this, T. Higgins, he has 99 yards in the two games since he's been back. They could use a T game. They could use T adding, you know, a triple-digit receiving yards game for sure. So be on the lookout for that. But yeah, I think Eric is certainly someone that Ravens fans should know that Bengals fans have gotten to know over the past few weeks. They understand the impact he's made and the rookie tight end. He's a Cincinnati native, by the way. He's made a huge impact and made the Benfic.

Starting point is 00:18:59 Bengals' offense much more physical. You might have a guess as to what the keys to this football game, or at least one of them might be for both teams. We will discuss those keys to victory to finish up. Crossover Thursday coming up next. First, this show is brought to you by FanDuel. Hey, Ravens fans, hey Bengals fans. You can start the season with a big return on FanDul America's number one sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:19:58 fanbook.com. All right, guys, let's talk keys to victory in this game. This is crossover Thursday on the Locked-on Podcast Network, crossover Thursday presented by prize picks, where you can download the app and use code locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. Kevin, from the Ravens perspective, what are the three things that need to go right for the Ravens to come out on top?

Starting point is 00:20:28 I think first of all, this team has to be able to establish their ground game early like they did against the bills. Obviously, I'm not expecting an 87-yard touchdown again. I think that Raven Spares a little spoil with that one. But I think that if they can get Derek Henry going early, pick up some early first downs with that, and get Cincinnati to either bring more guys into the boxers, be more wary of that, like we've talked about over the course of this show. That's going to be huge in terms of keeping that in the back of Cincinnati's defense.

Starting point is 00:21:00 defense's mind for the entirety of the game. And so this team, they've been working through a bunch of different offensive line combinations. They lost three starters. And obviously we've talked about Cincinnati on the defensive front. What is that going to look like on Sunday? If Baltimore can out physical Cincinnati on the ground, especially pushing them off of their spots,

Starting point is 00:21:20 getting to the second level, that run game is going to, because that starts everything for this Ravens team. So the run game is going to be the first thing that I'm looking for for the Ravens in this. one. Second of all, it is shutting down Jamar Chase. Obviously, Marlon Humphrey did not play in both of the Cincinnati games last year. And Brandon Stevens did a pretty fine job on Jamar in both of those games. And with Marlon back, Marlins playing at a really high level right now, but they'd like to use

Starting point is 00:21:48 him in the slot. What they've been doing is they've been putting Marlon in the slot using Brandon Stevens and Nate Wiggins, their rookie on the outside. Now, there's a possibility that Arthur Millett, their starting slot corner is going to be able to come back this week. He returned to practice after spending the first four weeks on IR. So I'm very curious to see how the Ravens end up defending Cincinnati. But they have, as we talked about, a lot of other guys not named Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, if you want to throw him into the conversation, that they're going to have to worry about here. But Baltimore's defense has been very suffocating for the most part.

Starting point is 00:22:21 It's been that past defense that has been a little bit suspect over the course of the first four weeks. so maybe not last week against Buffalo, but the other three. And then finally, I'm going to say control the clock and establish yourself so that you have a lead late in this game. Not that Baltimore can't play from behind, but at the end of the day,

Starting point is 00:22:41 we know that this team, if they have, say a 14 point lead, 17 point lead, the book is somewhat out on the Ravens. I think that's kind of the strategy for some teams, hey, let's give them a big lead and see if they can hold on to it towards the end because they have not been great about,

Starting point is 00:22:55 you know, in those leads. It's been difficult over the past five years or so for this team. But more often than not, you would at least hope, especially after what we saw in week four against Buffalo, they can just ground and pound, keep your foot on the gas. That's something that the Ravens has been echoing really this entire past week. Didn't do it against Dallas, didn't do it against Las Vegas. They made sure to do against Buffalo. So that's their new identity is even if they're up by 17, they're not going to slow down. You have to keep that identity if you want to be to team like Cincinnati because they can put up points in a hurry.

Starting point is 00:23:26 I know all the concerns kind of on what the defense is right now in Cincinnati. The offense, there are no slouches. We know what they can do. Yeah, I think a lot of that makes sense. But what's interesting to me about the Ravens is the Bengals and I'm at Paycor Stadium right now. We're recording like you could say play with a lead, but if you're the Ravens, part of your explosion is running the ball. So I don't know if you're ever going to get the Ravens out of it.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Like, Kevin, is there a scenario where they, they abandoned that. They should never abandon there. I know you mentioned play action, but I would always run Derek Henry. Like if you're down 10 in the fourth quarter, I'm still giving Derek Henry touches, because that might be the 80-yard game that you want or you need. It's so funny because there is a very fine line between being too conservative and then not being conservative enough. And obviously when you're down, you just have to abandon all that. You know, you're just like, all right, we have to get down the field. So if the Ravens are down, like you said, James, let's say 10 points and there are nine minutes to go left in the game,

Starting point is 00:24:26 you still give Derek Henry touches, right? I think, you know, maybe first down run, second down run. The thing that they can't do is you can't throw an incompletion on first down, being second and 10, then hand the ball off and then get like two yards or in third and long. Even second and long situations kill you at that point. So you have to be able to run it effectively, but when you're down, you don't abandon Derek Henry. The other thing that you can do is be a factor in the screen game. So I'm really curious.

Starting point is 00:24:50 I mean, the Ravens have been terrible. terrible at screens. You can go back however many years you want to. It's been, it's been pretty bad. But they've actually been a very effective screen team this year. Part of which is because Derek Henry has come in here and done a really good job of that. So I'm not abandoning the run. But once you get down to that nitty gritty fourth quarter, you're down by two scores. You have to do quick throws. Make sure you pick up chunk yards because teams are going to make you pay if you can't get chunk yards and that clock is still running. Yeah, I think, go ahead, Jake.

Starting point is 00:25:20 Well, let's talk Bengals keys. I have nothing else to add there. I agree that Kevin's analysis is pretty spot on. And there are keys go hand in hand, right? James, we're going to talk about the Bengals' defensive line here. We're going to talk about controlling the game. We're going to talk about the Bengals defense in general, the offense's ability to keep up against a higher level of competition.

Starting point is 00:25:40 Do you see it the same way, James, are those the areas you're looking at? Or where do you differ when you're thinking about the three top keys for the Bengals? Score 35 or more. Yeah. That's it. Tell me if you're, do you have? have 35 or not. Maybe 40.

Starting point is 00:25:52 They haven't done it this year. Yeah, right. And I was going to say 40. I feel like that that's, it's just almost unreasonable in this day and age to say that. So 35 is the mark. So key number one, score 35. Key number two, get off to a fast start. I do think that matters.

Starting point is 00:26:09 I'll say why in a second. And it isn't because the Ravens are going to abandon their bread and butter. And then number three, it's four, like when, the turnover battle handily. And I think all three go hand in hand. And here's why. If the Bengals get off to a hot start on offense and end up scoring 35 plus,

Starting point is 00:26:29 Lamar and the Ravens, they might be able to keep up and stay with their ground game, but they're going to pass a little bit more. They're going to try this defense a little bit more. And the less you have to deal with Derek Henry running between the tackles, the less you have to deal with Lamar Jackson in that ground game, I think the better.

Starting point is 00:26:49 I think that this secondary, if there is an area where you would be like, okay, well, they have a shot here, it would be being able to contain this passing game for the Ravens. And so maybe that does lead to turnovers. That does lead to the Ravens fumbling as they're driving downfield for the game tying score and it forces them to press a little bit. I think it all goes hand in hand there. defensively, it's unrealistic, even though I spent a lot of time talking about the health of these guys to expect BJ Hill who's going to be back. Trey Hendricks, expect these guys to stop Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson. So if you're playing from ahead and you're winning the turnover battle, you give Joe Burr a few more touches,

Starting point is 00:27:37 then could he put up 35 plus? I think it's realistic, and he has done it against the Ravens. He scored, led the Bengals to a 41-17 win over Lamar and the Ravens at M&T Bank in 2021. want. So they need something similar to that. That's the Jamar Chase spin move game. Yeah, it's a whole task. Let's say for this Bengals defense right now. I think that it's kind of cliche to call it a key, but these big momentum swings, the turnovers, points off turnovers. If that kind of happens early in this game, team steal possessions here, there, I think that's significant. Teams have been very willing to go for it against this Bengals defense early in the

Starting point is 00:28:14 season two. I would expect the Ravens would be in the same situation if they get into fourth in shorts near midfield. And so if they can get a fourth down stop for once and count that as a turnover, those sorts of plays, I think, are pretty significant for the Bengals as well. But I think that the thing for me is keep the offense going because I don't have that confidence in the defense right now, right? You got to find something to help with Trey Hendrickson. Trey Hendrickson needs to play at more of a level that he did in week two against the

Starting point is 00:28:42 chiefs and we've seen from him the last couple of weeks and coming off an injury. and he practiced, as you mentioned James on Wednesday, but that's a lot to ask of Trey right now. So it does feel like a challenging game for the Bengals, but it is at home the first of these two matchups between these teams and hopefully the home field advantage plays to the Bengals favor if you're rooting for the Bengals in this one. Kevin, any closing thoughts from the Ravens perspective?

Starting point is 00:29:06 I think that the big thing has really been the evolution of Zach Gore over these first four weeks where I know we talk about it all over the past couple of year guys that Joe Burrow and the Spengal's offense could not figure out Mike McDonald's. And that was something where it's like, can you finally get over that Mike McDonald's, Mike McDonald's gone. And Zach was the first time play call. And we have seen that he's not necessarily a super aggressive blitzer, at least not as much as McDonald was, and nearly not nowhere near Don Martindale. That's a whole different stratosphere. But I think what we've seen is he's being able to adapt his personnel better. And over the course of these first four weeks,

Starting point is 00:29:42 We've seen him come in with an identity, and these players are playing for him. And it's been a group effort of there are a lot of questions about this group of could they bounce back? They were a historic defense last year. I don't think anybody was expecting that again this season. But especially in the run game, they haven't fallen off there. In the passing game, they're improving. So it's just a matter of being able to, you're not going to stop, I'd say this Cincinnati offense. But can you do enough to slow them down to where you can play your game?

Starting point is 00:30:12 And I agree with you guys, too, fast start. I mean, for either of these teams, whichever team gets off to a fast start, could be the team that establishes momentum. But regardless, these AFC North matchups, you know they can get kind of weird at times. So I'm not ruling out any Tom Fuler in this one either. Yeah, that's exactly where I'm going to close things. This is the highest over under of the week last time I looked. I'm expecting as a result a 14 to 3 final score somehow.

Starting point is 00:30:38 No, I'm joking. I don't actually think that, but things can get weird. these games. For more on these games, we'll have you cover from the Bengals perspective on Lockdown Bengals. Kevin will have you covered from the Ravens perspective on Lockdown Ravens, and that's going to do it for this episode of a Locked-on crossover on the Locked-on Podcast Network.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens Week 5 First Look: Why a fast start could be key for both teams

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