Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals vs. Washington Commanders | Monday Night Football FIRST LOOK

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Bengals, it's commanders, it's Monday night football. It is also crossover time on the Locked On Podcast Network. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hi again, everyone. And welcome in to a special crossover, Monday night football edition. I'm James Rapine of Locked on Bengals. He is David Harrison of Locked on Commanders.

Starting point is 00:00:33 and we are part of the Locked On a podcast network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by prize picks. Go to Pricedx.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. And yes, it is crossover Thursday brought to you by prize picks. David, let's dive into a way too early look at Monday night football. It still feels like we're a ways away with that extra added day. What's the biggest story? for this commander's team going into a Monday night showdown against the Bengals.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Yeah, I mean, for the Washington Bears offense, at least, right, the biggest story has to be the continued development of Jane Daniels. And the good news there is there's visible signs, there are visible hints that the development is happening in real time. So, you know, week one going on the road, open the season against Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a very aggressive playoff caliber defense that, you know, just in week two, even with all the injuries they suffered against Washington and week one was still able to. to defeat the Detroit Lions who were, you know, arguably a coaching decision away from going to the Super Bowl last year. So kind of just, you know, kind of adds on to the mystique of that Buccaneers defense. But Jaden was visibly rushed, right? Like there was, I wouldn't say it was panicked because that's not something we've seen from Jaden yet. But you could tell his internal clock was accelerated, right? It was it was operating on a level that that you don't necessarily want a rookie quarterback's

Starting point is 00:01:56 clock operating on. And even that first pass that turns into a 15-yard fumble. That's kind of a sign of just how Juxt and now amped up he really was. And since then, and even at moments in that game, you kind of saw that, okay, there's that calm, you know, poise, just decisive, you know, quarterback. We've been watching all training camp in preseason. But in week two, you really saw a bigger return

Starting point is 00:02:18 to that normal version of Jane Daniels. And it's interesting because looking at early trends, and obviously those numbers can be incredibly deceiving. But looking at early trends, stylistically, the Giants defense, Vangels defense, have kind of approached things somewhat similar to what they showed, Jaden.

Starting point is 00:02:34 So Jaden could be coming into this situation, kind of having a little bit of experience, at least seeing the same type of structure as far as what he's going to see pre-snap. And so in theory, that could possibly should make him feel even more comfortable. You might see that clock slowed down just a little bit more. I know one thing during the pre-draft process. Everyone talked about his size, of course, and just how lean he is.

Starting point is 00:02:56 But the hits he took at LSU, he took some big hits. of whether it was in the pocket trying to extend plays, obviously he can run as well. How has that, has he adjusted to life in the NFL yet? Is he still taking those kind of hits two weeks into his NFL career? Yeah, he's taking a couple. You know,

Starting point is 00:03:12 the big one that everybody's talking about is, is there was, I think it was third and, I didn't want to say it was third in the 11, maybe third and 10. It was somewhere around there, and, you know, he drops back to pass,

Starting point is 00:03:22 doesn't find a target, so he takes off and runs. And he takes on two giants defenders and ends up getting the, the wind knocked out of him. Now, of course, as he's laying on the surface of, you know, now newly named Northwest Stadium and Landover, Maryland, the fans just go silent. And you can almost like hear the ringing of people saying it's RG3 all over again. And he takes too many hits and he's too reckless and all those other stuff.

Starting point is 00:03:44 And then he kind of points to his chest and everybody in the press box. Like, oh, he got the wind knocked out. He's going to be fine. He gets up, leaves for a play, comes back on. The crowd goes wild. He ends up leading them on a field goal, you know, scoring drive on that drive. So that, you know, everything goes well. but it's really kind of one of those things where Jaden,

Starting point is 00:03:59 like Jaden is going to be a competitor. At the end of the day, like that's what got him here. That's what he's going to be. That's who he is. And on a third and 10 where he gains 11 yards and takes that hit, like you just kind of have to kind of live with that. You're not going to be able to tell him not to do that. And honestly, you know as well as like no NFL coach is going to tell him

Starting point is 00:04:15 not to do that, to be quite honest with you. They're going to tell him like you got to go out there and do what you got to do for your team. Now it's the two-yard sack where you ran 15 yards and then get hit as you're going out of bounds. that you want to see him get rid of. And I do think that he's obviously cognizant of it. You saw it more so in the Buccaneers game than the Giants game, but he is aware of it.

Starting point is 00:04:35 He knows it needs to do it. It's just a matter of him just kind of going through and just picking and choosing. And then watching on film, you know, there's going to be opportunities where the coaches say, look, right here, really great play escaping the early sack, but maybe throw the ball away instead of taking that hit, you know, later on. What else about this offense has worked or not work? you mentioned the field goal drive and there were plenty of field goal drives against the giants and that's it it obviously stalled out when you want to get seven and you're settling for three

Starting point is 00:05:05 bengals fans certainly recall austin cybert and stripes once upon the time and he saves the day for washington but what uh why have we had not seen more touchdowns what what's been the issue yeah i think it's just it's again it's some of it is uh jane daniel's getting more comfortable with what he's seeing, right? So I go back to that very first field goal, the first of seven field goal drives of the Washington commander is orchestrated. And it's second and 10 in this scenario. And Jaden drops back. He's at Austin Echler hitting a slant. And it's really interesting because the look that they actually gave, Jaden kind of fakes a swing pass to the running back by design to get the defense moving that way to open up that gap in that alley for him to be able to hit that slant to Zach

Starting point is 00:05:51 Kurtz. And Zach Kurtz has inside position on his defender. So if J. and puts the ball in the right spot, which he's been able to do while training camp again. And then Zach is going to, it's going to be a contested catch. Like there's going to, he's going to have contact behind them. He's the linebacker or whoever, the safety that the Giants defender is going to hit him. But Zach's a veteran. He knows that's coming. He knows how to protect himself to shield the ball and all those things.

Starting point is 00:06:10 So you deliver the ball there, give your guy a chance to make the play. If he catches it, worst case scenario, you're looking at third and one. Best case scenario, he breaks that tackle and actually gets into the end zone. Mid, mid scenario is your first and goal at the three yard line. of the Giants. And now you've got three opportunities to use a Brian Robinson or an Austin Echler to put the ball into the end zone. Instead, he doesn't fire the ball.

Starting point is 00:06:32 Again, he's not going to tell us bluntly why he didn't fire the ball. Pretty much can tell you it's just one of those rookie quarterback things that he's going to see on tape and kick himself for. But that's the kind of opportunity that ends up getting a squander. He ends up rolling out. I think he gained like two yards on the scramble. And they end up, actually, I'm gaining a good amount of yards on the next play and ended up with a fourth and one that they were going to try and go for

Starting point is 00:06:53 false start one of five in the red zone in week two sets them back they take the field goal and again that's just one of those moments that jaden's going to want to rewind and do better and that's where facing a defense that may be similar again Cincinnati bangles are surely going to try to bring out some sort of new wrinkle to confuse the rookie but if in that similar situation he gets a similar look and a similar call maybe that gives him more confidence and he fires the ball in there that time that leads to a touchdown let's get to the defense the biggest storylines facing this defense, a unit with Dan Quinn at the helm. I'm sure they want to be much better, much improved.

Starting point is 00:07:30 And they kept Daniel Jones and company in check for the most part the other day. Yeah, I mean, three scoring drives, you know, as a defense, anytime you have an NFL team and you hold them to three scoring drives, you feel like you've given your team a chance. So you're not going to be happy that all three of those are touchdowns, but you're going to feel like you at least gave your team a chance to win. And, you know, you're only seven field goals away from getting a win in that case, right? Usually I say the secondary here, and I think certainly the secondary is a major part of this.

Starting point is 00:07:56 And I think how good or bad the commander secondary plays on Monday night is going to have a big role in this game. But truthfully, like Bengals fans, if you want to hear about the commander secondary, turn on almost any locked on commander's episode for the last month. And you're going to hear about it. So let's talk about lack of pass rush, right? Because this Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, Dan Quinn, Joey Jr., who's the de-coordinator coming over with Dan Quinn from Dallas, that was kind of one of their main things in Dallas was getting after the quarterback. And you hear Dan Quinn talk about it. I hear Joe A Jr. talk about it, like creating takeaways, getting at the quarterback. That is their MO everywhere they've been, whether it's been together or separate.

Starting point is 00:08:29 That's been part of their identity. And that's not happening here in Washington. We've got one takeaway. And truthfully, that one takeaway was actually created from Bobby Wagner getting pushed out of position, Benjamin St. Jude's losing outside contain, Jeremy Chin, taking a terrible top angle on Devin Singletary as he's trying to bring the ball carrier down, but allowing Ben St. used to recover from that terrible contain that he didn't have and punch the ball loose. Jeremy Chin is able to come back from his terrible tackle, it's under recover a fubble.

Starting point is 00:08:59 So it's like this comedy of errors that ends up in the first takeaway of the season. So the coaches are going to celebrate the result. But man, that that operation's kind of get cleaned up. And that while that's not a pass rush entity, it's just kind of an overall kind of part of this team that's just not clicking right now is that defense. And obviously, anytime you have a defensive-minded head coach with an aggressive defensive reputation. That's a little bit worrisome in the early parts.

Starting point is 00:09:24 Like, okay, you got the offense kind of, I don't call it nailed, right? But you got it running smooth. The defense, though, is like an embarrassment. And that's supposed to be your calling card. So I think that is what I would want to talk about in this arena more so than the secondary because, like I said, yeah, any episode of Locked on Commanders, go ahead and flip it on. You'll hear plenty about it. The Bengals certainly want to keep it that way.

Starting point is 00:09:44 Keep it the embarrassment level and the secondary issues level. We'll see if we can do that. We'll flip the script here and start the Bengals conversation coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Arena Club. For most of us that like collecting cards, the idea of spending two grand or more on an L.A. Dela Cruz rookie or Patrick Mahomes rookie or Jayden Daniels rookie or Joe Burrow rookie. Well, it's just not in the cards. And if you love collecting, but you don't want to drop serious money, thanks to sladpacks from

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Starting point is 00:10:52 ArenaClub.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL. Again, that's arena club.com slash locked on NFL code locked on NFL for 10% off your first purchase. If we were to tell you coming into week three that the two Heisman trophy LSU quarterbacks are combined one and three for the season, you would probably respond with, oh man, which game did the Bengals lose? But it turns out it's actually the game that the commanders lost. is in that conversation and the win that the commanders have versus the Bengals continue this locked on crossover Thursday episode of Locked on Bengals,

Starting point is 00:11:26 locked on commanders. James, what's going on with Sinty, man? What's going on in the jungle? Man, that week one loss is just going to hover until they start winning games and get over 500 and look like the team that really,

Starting point is 00:11:40 to be honest, we saw against the Chiefs. And that's the downside. You can't lose the games that you're supposed to win early in the year. when you have the Chiefs week two. Because now you're 0 and 2 for a third straight year. And that is the biggest storyline, is the fact that this Bengals team

Starting point is 00:11:57 that clearly prioritized getting off to a fast start. In 2022, it was Joe Burrow in the appendectomy right as training camp started. His appendix burst, and he loses a bunch of weight, and he's playing catch up, playing catch up, playing catch up, and just not himself early in the year. They ended up in the AFC championship game.

Starting point is 00:12:17 They turned it around, but they started 0 and 2, 2 and 3 last year. They started 0 and 2 as well, dropped a 1 in 3. Then they get to 5 and 4 or 5 and 5 when Joe Burrow goes down. They have the lead against the Ravens on Thursday night football when he suffered that wrist injury. So it looked like they were going to get out of that hole that they dug themselves into. And now it's the same story, whether it's fair or not, regardless of how it felt against the Chiefs versus the Patriots. and it's a complete 180.

Starting point is 00:12:48 You lose to the Patriots, and it's like, oh, the world is ending. And then you come this close to beating the defending champs, and it's like, oh, well, maybe the Bengals are good. And so now it's up to them to go prove it. And it has to start with a win on Monday night football against the commanders. Yeah, I mean, look, I think that, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:07 Tony Wiggins and I, on Locked on NFL Wednesday, had this conversation of who is the best O&2 team in the NFL. And hands down, it's either the Baltimore Ravens or the Cincinnati Bengals. and there's arguments to be made on both sides. And I remember coming into the season, everybody kind of said, like, don't forget the Bengals have this tendency to kind of start slow.

Starting point is 00:13:25 It's usually some kind of weird reason. And I mean, you know, a ball getting punched out, the goal line going in for a touchdown and things like that that are somewhat fluky plays that don't happen week in, week out, are kind of those things. But there's this perception, James, outside of Cincinnati, that is going to come up later in this episode from me. But I want to know just up front,

Starting point is 00:13:46 with this offense is, is there, is there attention brewing? Is, is there kind of, I don't want to say like Philadelphia Eagles level of like dissent, right? But is there is there attention brewing there in the Cincinnati Bengals offense because of these repeated slow starts? I don't think there's a tension. But I think that there's definitely some urgency. And it's, it's a tough spot because you have Jamar and you have his situation. And I get it. everyone saw him erupt the other day.

Starting point is 00:14:17 I think Jamar Chase is going to be fine. I think he obviously super frustrated about his contract status, but I'm not necessarily sure that's why he lost his mind. I think he lost his mind because he thought he was almost out of fear, and I'm speaking for him because he didn't really have much to say about it. I think he thought he was this close to getting seriously hurt. Right. And then the official probably stood up to him a little bit,

Starting point is 00:14:42 and he's like, what? and then he just saw red and lost his mind, which you can't do, got flagged for it in a big moment, hurt the Bengals. But offensively, it would be nice to get T. Higgins back. We'll see if they can do that. But the key here,

Starting point is 00:14:58 and we saw a lot of good out of Joe Burrow against the chiefs and a lot of batting from him against the Patriots, you need him to continue to progress and move forward. And at the same time, if T. Higgins is out, which we won't know probably until Sunday. You know, we might not. I think he's going to be very tentative with how hard he pushes this

Starting point is 00:15:22 because he has a history of hamstring injuries. It's like, all right, well, the commander secondary is beatable. Well, can these other receivers if Tia's out win and win consistently and win downfield and all of the things that you think about the Bengals' offense doing, but they haven't had a ton of explosive plays up to this point. Yeah, and that's the other question, man. Like so with, you know, with with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, Higgins being out so far.

Starting point is 00:15:46 And obviously the commanders are going to encourage the Bengals like, hey, just give tea another week of rest. You know, you got a long season ahead of yet. Go ahead and just let them have the weekend off. It'll be okay. Um, bring it back week four. But from, from, from, from what I've been able to watch so far, and I haven't watched every single snap just full transparency out there.

Starting point is 00:16:02 But from what I've been able to watch so far of how the Kansas City chiefs attacked Jamar Chase. Um, it's almost like a triangle defense, man. Like, it's really something that I haven't seen very often and watch. film. And in a lot of reps, there's literally a triangle of chiefs defenders around Jamar Chase and there's downfield contact. They're not grabbing, but they're bumping. And it's almost like, it almost kind of reminds me like hackashack, right? And like to a certain extent, if you're going through that all game long and then like that tackle that you mentioned happens if you're

Starting point is 00:16:29 Jamar Chase, I get why you're upset. You're like, dude, like these guys are bumping me 12 yards downfield and they're running into me. And they're, and they're smart about it because they're doing things where they're like, oh, look, I'm going to cover this tight end. Oh, no, I ran into Jamar. My bad. You know, it's a mistake. And obviously, the defender has the right to their own ground as well. How do the Bengals, if T. Higgins can't go Monday, how do the Bengals prevent the Washington commanders from being able to, because, you know, this is a copycat league, I think they're going to see that triangle defense, for lack of a better phrase, on Jamar Chase's.

Starting point is 00:16:58 How do they prevent the commanders from being able to try to stop Jamar Chase with the village of defenders? Yeah, I think that's something Zach Taylor and offensive coordinator, Dan Pitcher, they have to figure out because it can't matter. like Jake and I talked about this on yesterday's show a little bit. You have to find ways. As hard as it is, as hard as it is, you have to find ways to take advantage of having Jamar Chase on your roster.

Starting point is 00:17:23 And it can't just be, oh, well, he's tripled or he's doubled. They're taking him away. So let's take advantage of these one-on-ones. A lot of times that's the case. But finding ways to get him in one-in-one situations where Joe just throws it to him. And you expect Jumar to go make a play. you need to find ways to do that.

Starting point is 00:17:43 We saw Justin Jefferson with a 97-yard touchdown the other day. He gets doubled, too. He gets treated, you know, maybe not like the chiefs did, but obviously he commands as much attention as anyone. And so you have to find a way to unlock him. Because I agree with you. That's the other point is it's not like he was having a huge game. And so when you're getting bumped and hit and grabbed and all of those things,

Starting point is 00:18:06 guess what? The commander saw that. They're going to try to get in Jemar Chase's head too. It's not going to be the other way where it's like, oh, we don't want to bother Jamar. They're going to want to bother Jamar. And so, yeah, it's up to this offense to find ways to unlock him. And then the other element of it is relying. And I think they did find something last week in their tight end usage, whether it's Eric

Starting point is 00:18:27 all. Obviously, Mike Gisicki is the name everyone knows. And then Drew Sample. These guys combined, we're on the field together as a trio and the Bengals never really run 13 personnel, but they were doing that some. Mike Gisicki had seven seven catches and they combined for 14 grabs together

Starting point is 00:18:46 Eric all had four, sample had three. So that's another element if they don't have T. Higgins, I think they'll lean on. Yeah, absolutely. That's an interesting concept. And there are things,

Starting point is 00:18:56 I'm not going to give it away too often or too obviously, but there are things that the Bucks and Giants both did to certainly explore the Washington container secondary that I'm sure the Bengals are, they've got the people in the building. They don't need me to give it away anyway, but they're going to be able to look at those things.

Starting point is 00:19:08 If they're going to be able to look at those things, lower the defensive side, James, I was reading a very well-written article on Cincinnati Bengals on SI. You might be familiar with that publication about some of the defensive struggles injury-wise and some new players. How are these frontline injuries going to impact Monday night's game? Wow. I mean, we'll get to it in Keys, but yeah, I think can you stop the run? Can you do it without potentially a BJ Hill? You're starting nose

Starting point is 00:19:36 tackle essentially, even though he's really a three tech. And And a guy in Sheldon Rankins, both guys dealing with hamstring injuries. And you're already without Chris Jenkins, who knows if he plays this week, he missed the first two games, McKinley Jackson as well. So you're starting with your fifth defensive tackle, essentially. And you're going from there. They signed Lawrence guy this week. I think he will play a decent amount right away.

Starting point is 00:19:59 And so it is going to be really interesting to see how they can contain the run. Because what do you want to do rookie quarterback on the road prime time? If you're Washington, you want to run. you want to run the ball. And the Bengals, they're going to have to try to stop the run, prevent explosives, make Jayden Daniels try to beat them with his arm and push the ball down field, all of those things. The Bengals' defense hasn't given up any explosives.

Starting point is 00:20:22 And so I think that that's a huge, huge key for Sunday, or for Monday, rather. And it might be in the keys to the game. Let's continue this conversation, tie it all together. We will do that Bengals commanders coming up next. And we're going to do that on this crossover Thursday. Thanks to our friends over at Fanduel. And over the last couple of years, you've heard us talk a lot about Fandul.

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Starting point is 00:21:15 You can cancel that thing at any time. And James, even though I'm working every Sunday, almost every Sunday, not this Sunday, obviously. I still took advantage of this deal. And I've got my phone sitting there with YouTube TV up on NFL Sunday ticket. And I just on timeouts, half time, right? I catch up with what's going on around the league. It's a great deal. Right now the Washington commanders, seven and a half point underdogs in week three against Cincinnati Bengals was an eight and a half point.

Starting point is 00:21:38 line at one point in time. So people are taking the commanders with those points. So the odds makers are kind of adjusting things. The over under is 48 and a half. Even if you don't want to bet on the Bengals of commanders, again, drop a $5 bet by September 22nd on anything and get that free trial. Just go to fandual.com to download America's number one sportsbook. It's Bengals and commanders on Monday night football this crossover Thursday presented by prize picks. Go toprice.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. All right, David, let's dive into on the commander's side, the three most important things. If they're going to win, if they're going to improve to two and one and send the Bengals to somewhere

Starting point is 00:22:25 that even though they've started 0 and 2 in back-to-back years, and this is their third straight year at 0-2, they've never started 0 in 3. So the pressure is on the Bengals to keep that street going as much as it is the O. and two starts that they always seem to get off of. But what are the three most important things for the commanders to win on Monday night? Yeah, I mean, I think the pressure is on the Bengals. I think that's something to remember heading into this matchup as well. I think the three things the commander's got to do continue to get Jane Daniels,

Starting point is 00:22:53 the opportunities to make plays for his offense. And Trump, that growth is going to continue to be their score at least three touchdowns, three touchdowns, which might be a tall task. And I think you got to frustrate Jamar Chase. You know what I mean? I think those are the three things. Again, get Jay and Daniels's opportunities to make plays, score those tuddies instead of those field goals,

Starting point is 00:23:11 and frustrate Jamar Chase in front of his own crowd in prime time. Yeah, I like it. I think if you're putting up points, especially early, you're getting, I don't want to say getting in Jamar Chase's head, but getting under his skin a little bit, not allowing him to get going early. Yeah, that's the recipe, especially if you can get that ground game going.

Starting point is 00:23:34 And that's, that goes into where I'm at, the most important things for the Bengals to win this game. Number one, it starts on offense for me. This offense has to do sort of what it did against the Chiefs, where they did produce some explosive plays. Jermaine Burton had a 47-yard reception. Mike Gisicki had a 30, I think it was 37 yards, but had a really big play as well, 35, something like that, to get them into the red zone. But the thing they didn't do is convert in the red zone, especially early. And so score touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:24:09 As simple as it is, it hasn't been easy for the Bengals to do. And even on one of the touchdowns they scored on Sunday, they had to go for it on fourth down inside their own five to get it. So you got to score touchdowns and generate explosive plays. That would be number one. Number two is stopping this run game. And that's Jane Daniels. that that's Brian Robinson that's Austin Echler out of the backfield that that's all of those things

Starting point is 00:24:35 from a a past catching standpoint I'll group all of those guys together you can't let that happen and in that get going because if it does then it's going to potentially open up stuff downfield and the Bengals have been good at containing that for for two weeks it has to be three the last thing you want is for Brian Robinson to be running for five and a half yards per carry or something like that, which isn't, isn't crazy when you look at the state of this Bengals defensive line. And then three, make Jane Daniels uncomfortable and get pressure on him. Don't let him stand in the pocket all day. And it's been a mixture because Trey Hendrickson has been good in back-to-back weeks.

Starting point is 00:25:17 Last week he was able to get to Patrick Mahomes. The week prior did not get to Jacoby Brescette. They had one sack on Breset. And it was where he kind of slid down and was tagged down by Dax Hill. You need to get some pressure on the rookie. make him feel it early. So he's questioning things a bit. And I wonder if they can.

Starting point is 00:25:35 Well, I know they can do it. I wonder if they will do it. And so if they can get pressure on him early and slow down the run, I think that would be huge. You know, I think if the Washington commanders make one request in that stadium on Monday night, it would be don't play the Monday night football music. Because here's the thing.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Jane Dan is a cool cat, right? I've actually had this analogy all through training camp. I shared it with Jane's mother and she loved it. She says she's like it was spot on. and I said, Jaden's the kind of dude that if his house, if he wakes up

Starting point is 00:26:02 one day and his house is on fire, he's going to collect all of his valuables, he's going to collect whatever pets or anything that he loves in his house, and he's going to walk very slowly

Starting point is 00:26:09 out of his house because nothing gets this dude to panic. Like nothing makes this guy panic. But again, first NFL game on the road, you saw that clock speed up. Again, I don't get to pan-

Starting point is 00:26:19 I don't get to the level where I say he was panicking, but you definitely saw that clock was running very, very fast and eternally. It's your first prime time game. It's your first prime time game. It's your first Monday night football game and any football fan grew up watching Monday night football.

Starting point is 00:26:32 You hear that Monday night football music. And James, I mean, you're human, man. It just does something to you and you're in the jungle. You got these Bengals fans. Yeah, man. So I mean, Jayden's got to keep that poise. So far he's been on keeping it. I haven't yet to see a moment where on the guard, he shook a little bit.

Starting point is 00:26:47 But if there's an opportunity so far in his career, this is definitely the biggest one. And if the Bengals can get after him early, maybe get a big explosive from Jamar Chase, right? Because nothing gets a young quarterback going more. and you see that other quarterback, that other LSU Heisman quarterback, throw a deep touchdown pass, you want to go out there and you want to match them one for one. That's obviously the biggest leg up. But for the commanders, there would be nothing greater for them than to hear Bengals fans booing at the half, right? That would be the biggest coup for them to get in the,

Starting point is 00:27:17 and during this game because that gives you the leverage coming into the second half, and that's exactly what they're looking to do. And I mean, I think I think I said Brian Robinson, they were able to run the ball really well against Dexter Dexter, Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kvon, Tibado, and this banged up Cincinnati Bengals front, man. I'm just going to be more of the same because, I mean, seven drives, seven to eight, if you count the kneel down at halftime, but seven real drives for the Washington commanders. Usually you get like 12 in an NFL game.

Starting point is 00:27:43 They definitely look to reduce that game against the New York Giants. So if they're looking to do that against the Giants, you know they're going to look to do it against the Bengals. Yeah. And so starting fast in a game like that, where it is, it is slower. And there are going to be fewer possessions. The Bengals have to start fast. And that's one of the things that the Patriots did so well is they got off to their start. And it was just kind of 7-0, 7-0, 7-0.

Starting point is 00:28:08 And it's just kind of lolling. And that's what it was. And then you look up and it's like, man, if they don't score here, they're down two scores. If they don't score here, the game's over. And they're going to lose the New England. And that happened. And I'm not comparing commanders fans. I'm not comparing the Patriots to the commanders.

Starting point is 00:28:21 I think the commanders are a better team. But the point is the same. If you can shorten the game, get off to a good. start take the crowd out of it a little bit then man that like that is the recipe and just going back to what i said earlier that the pressure is on the bengals because they can not dismiss they they and joe bro certainly didn't dismiss the oh and two i mean he was as frustrated and is frustrated as the word i use frustrated as i've ever seen him outside of maybe super bowl 56 and and so it's not like he's brushing off O and two.

Starting point is 00:28:57 But I think there are some people that are like, all right, they've been in this position, they know how to respond. But you still got to go respond. And that's what I think is important here. If you're the commanders, you want to plant that seat of doubt midway through the first quarter and then have that doubt just extend midway through the second quarter. And then, like you said, does it get to halftime

Starting point is 00:29:15 where there's real pressure mounting? I do wonder now, do I expect the Bengals to come out and play well? I do. But there is no doubt more pressure on them going into this game. It's a must win because if you fall to 0 and 3, it's really, really tough to envision the scenario where they find their way into the playoffs of the AFC. Yeah, no, 100% is a must win for the Bengals. It's definitely a want to win. I kind of talk to commanders fan, Joe, the overrunner preseason was six and a half wins for the season. And I said,

Starting point is 00:29:43 I think they hit the over, but I kind of have them right at seven wins. And there were, there were eight games against playoff teams last year. There were two games against teams with winning records that missed the playoffs. And I said the commanders need to split those two games, go one in one. This is the first one of those games. So if they can win this one, you get that split out of the way. You already have that split in the bag going away for the rest of the season. So if you can pull this off and again, all the pressure is on Cincinnati because just look at the spread, man.

Starting point is 00:30:07 Washington is not supposed to win this game. And no offense intended for anybody, but in the grand scheme of the NFL community and the national ecosystem of football, commanders fans know the Patriots and commanders are kind of in that same community. They're in that same group of teams that nobody really respects and thinks much of. you beat the Cincinnati Bengals. And as much as Commander fans would love to say, well, now the national media will talk about Washington.

Starting point is 00:30:28 No, actually what they'll do is they'll talk about how bad Cincinnati may actually be the season, which is why there's even more pressure on the Bengals. And it's going to be a fun environment, man. I've never been to the Bengals Stadium for a game. So first time in the house on a Monday night, I mean, you can't ask for a better debut for visiting a stadium for the first time.

Starting point is 00:30:45 So I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too. It should be an exciting one. It's Ring of Honor Night. Bengals fans will have more on that. on Locked-on Bengals. Obviously, make sure you check out Locked-on commanders as well. And David, I'll see you Monday. Jake won't be here. He'll be in Canada. But I'll see you Monday. It's going to be a heck of a lot of fun. It's there. Absolutely. Really good stuff.

Starting point is 00:31:08 Again, make sure you check out Locked-on Commanders and Locked-on Bengals. Plenty of injury updates coming your way throughout the week. And until next time for David Harrison, I'm James Rupin. Thank you so much for listening to the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Cincinnati Bengals vs. Washington Commanders | Monday Night Football FIRST LOOK

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