Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - FILM TAKES: Bright Spots For Bengals' D, Run Game EXCITES, But LBs STRUGGLE Again

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Bengals defense is showing signs of life. Let's talk about who stepped up on the Bengals defense and the jekyll and hide of the Bengals offense against the Patriots. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. your team every day, now the number one sports podcast network in the land. I'm Jake Lisco, one of your hosts of the lockdown Bengals podcast covering the Cincinnati Bengals daily since 2016, your best one-stop shop online for all things Bengals.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Join today by Mike Santagena, our resident film expert, who you can find breaking down film on Twitter, or you can find writing over at Bengals Talk with weekly film breakdowns. He's also part of our new Bengals squad show on the post game show hosted by Alex Frank along with long time NFL coaching veteran Art Valero. That show is supplementary to Lockdown Bengals, but you can find it on our channels as well as our daily show. That'll be two times a week, post game, a midweek show for you. Just new programming over there in case it is surprising you.

Starting point is 00:01:23 If you're in every day or you're clicking on Lockdown Bengals today, you don't hear James Rapine, my normal co-host and myself, well, that is what that new content is. Lockdown Bengals still doing the day. daily thing for you, though. And today we dive into the film and thank you for making lockdown Bengals your first list. And we're going to get into first a continued look at the individual players on defense that are helping to give maybe a little bit of hope that there are some pieces to build around there. This was a Bengals best defensive performance of

Starting point is 00:01:52 the season. We'll get into the players that helped that happen. And eventually, the flaw that continues to show up on the defense that hasn't shown, unfortunately, the significant strides of improvement that you would hope for this late into the season. Also, the offense was a tale of two phases of the offense, let's say. The run game to me was exciting and fun and cool and effective. The past game left a lot to be desired, a lot of that on Joe Flacco. We'll go there later in the episode. But like I said, we're going to start with what made this defense go?

Starting point is 00:02:27 By EPA per play, Mike, this was the Bengals' best defensive performance of the year. By PFF tackling grade, this was a Bengals' best performance of the year as you were watching the film trying to figure out, okay, what worked on defense? What do I need to confirm that I watched on the game day live copy versus what shows up on tape? What jumped out to you in terms of guys that maybe exceeded expectations? Yeah. So for at least meeting the high expectations he set himself for the entire year,

Starting point is 00:02:56 I thought DJ Turner played a really good game again, which he's really done all year. he was the guy that got targeted on that OPI play so like that I'm trying to think of any big plays that happened the only one I can think of is that third down where Stefan Diggs beat him but losing one matchup really over the course of the game and getting targeted that's that's a great day in the office for a corner and I felt like as well as DJ Turner played they might have found finally with Cam Taylor out who they want to be that third guy because they've tried Josh Newton they've thrown other guys at this issue and felt like Jalen Davis is the guy that played the best for them in this game. He can blitz well. He plays it in the run game pretty well. And his coverage was up to, it was up to par. So if you're looking, if I'm looking for a guy that can give you a fraction of what Mike Hilton was able to do, it's more Jalen Davis than anybody else in this corner room, especially because when you go nickel, Daxhill could be inside. could be outside. If he can play outside, then you have a larger group of bodies that you can put on

Starting point is 00:04:07 the interior like Jalen Davis. In this game, Daxhill only had two reps in the slot for the entire game. So the move to put Daxhill back outside, let Jalen Davis play the slot, was in full effect. Dax Hill struggled in this game. On the outside, I thought it was probably his worst game of the year. The penalty is certainly a big part of that. Not going to. to dwell too much on Dax here. We'll see how that adjustment continues. You would obviously like to see him finish the season stronger in coverage than we've seen from him kind of up and down throughout the season for Dax Hill.

Starting point is 00:04:44 And you got that big fifth year option. But tell me more about Jalen Davis's game. What stood out to you? Obviously, he timed up that nickel blitz well. The slot blitz well gets the Bengals loan sack of the day on Drake May, who is generally quite evasive in the pocket, but was dead to right. on that one and Jalen Davis did a great job of cleaning it up. But what did you see from Davis in coverage?

Starting point is 00:05:07 Because this is a guy that this team is very familiar with. He's been around the Cincinnati Bengals for years now. He's been kicking between the active roster and the practice squad. Currently on the practice squad, I think. Maybe I need to check that. Maybe they signed him out to practice squad when Cam Taylor Britt went down and I didn't notice. But should he be part of the team's plans for the rest of the year?

Starting point is 00:05:26 And why? Yeah, I think he should because one, you mentioned that Blitz. I think he kind of opens up the Al Golden playbook maybe a little bit, where if he could trust his guys on the outside in Dax Hill and DJ Turner, he has a guy on the inside that can time up these snaps, plays the run well, Blitz as well. Then I think that helps him because for the first time, I think all season,

Starting point is 00:05:48 Al Golden ran a concept that he ran a ton at Notre Dame. That blitz that got the sack was cover one behind it, with, I believe it was Gino Stone capping him and taking his man. He blitzes off the edge, comes free. and gets a sack. That's something he did so much at Notre Dame, and it just hasn't been present whatsoever for this Bengals team where he seems like he wanted to run replacement pressures,

Starting point is 00:06:10 and he wanted to, you know, if he's going to blitz, he's going to send everybody, which he did in this game too, and I actually liked that, but he wasn't willing to send pressure before this game all that often. I thought in coverage, he did his job more than anything. I don't think he, like, exceeded expectations in coverage, but he also looked like he belonged, And I think that's important because you've kind of cycled through some guys who, at times in the games that they play, don't look like they belong on the NFL field against this level of competition.

Starting point is 00:06:40 PFF credits him with two catches allowed on three targets for 18 yards with one pass breakup sprinkled in there. They did dig him for a mistackle, but also credited him with a couple of stops. One of those might have been the sack. But when you get that out of your practice squad call up corner, and I did confirm that was a practice squad call up. for Jayland Davis. He's been on the practice squad all year. We'll see if that lands him on the 53-man roster this week because the adjustment in terms of snap count was Josh Newton down to just five snaps this week. Marco Wilson might have been part of the game plan this week, but on his one defensive play, he appeared to pull a hamstring was immediately declared out. So we will not

Starting point is 00:07:20 know what the plan is for Marco Wilson unless a coach has asked this week. Going on down the list, though, Mike, for other stuff. standouts. Gino Stone, certainly the chief among them. Anyone watching this game live, noticed Gino Stone making a number of plays, especially in run support. The pick six was a gift of an interception, but I've credited him everywhere that I've been able to for a good job on the return. What stood out with Gino Stone in this game? What light bulb turned on for Gino? Well, the pick six was like the cool, flashy play. His, what he did in the run game stood out, because it's just not the Gino Stone that we've seen that off in this season.

Starting point is 00:08:02 He was physical. It was one of the first plays of the game, and he just shocks the wide receiver, I believe, that's trying to block him and makes a run stop. It's like, oh, Gino, he might have heard what was going on, or at least he sees everybody posting that Darnell Washington clip from last week where he misses the tackle and it's not all that physical. Or maybe the coaching staff told him he needs to be more physical if he's going to keep his job.

Starting point is 00:08:24 I don't know. But he came in there with a newfound energy and physical. that he brought to the safety position. And it was surprising because I think it was the most physical he's played since becoming a Cincinnati Bengal. Yeah. I think that is a big reason that the run-D did what it did. They had really good run-d-support from the secondary in this game. Jordan Battle was tackling well in this game.

Starting point is 00:08:48 For Dax's issues in coverage, he was still contributing in run defense. We've talked about Jalen Davis already. Gino Stone, a big part of that as well. I think McKinley Jackson acquitted himself and looked like. like a fine rotational player in this game. People are going to see the PFF grade. There are a couple of plays he made, but when he was on the field,

Starting point is 00:09:06 even when he wasn't making necessarily the splashiest plays, he looks like he belonged on the field, and that's good news. And I think the same continues to be true for Joseph Osai, who's actually on a bit of a heater in terms of level of overall play, just looking like a fine rotational defensive end. He's not giving you a ton of juice as a pass pressure,

Starting point is 00:09:23 but he's been solid overall. And I think Miles Murphy continued that stretch of solid play. that seventh round pick was going to be forced to play more for the Patriots at right tackle after Morgan Moses briefly left the game. It could be talking about a huge Miles Murphy game, but Morgan Moses more than cromulent and held up and was a solid player at right tackle for the Patriots. And despite that, I thought Murphy was still playing with the motor that we saw from him last week and was still solid in the run game.

Starting point is 00:09:52 Pass rush in general this week, I thought took a step back, but there's one more topic here. You talked about those blitzes that I want to make sure we get to a on the defensive side of the ball before we shift gears and talk about the run game that I loved for this offense and the past game that I loathe. Mike will do that coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is brought to you by Fandall. The NBA is back. There's no better place to get in on the NBA action than Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And that is a great option if you're looking for a little bit of an escape from the NFL, the Bengals season not going great.

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Starting point is 00:11:07 the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Mike, the last topic I want to get to on the defense here before we discuss the run game that I liked, Joe Flacco's tough day at the office and what could be his last start of the year here for the Bengals, and we'll see what that looks like, is those couple of third down zero calls from Al Golden, dialing up pressures that, and maybe this is again to play to credit Gino Stone on where he flip sides, starts on the last. left side of the defensive formation gets over to the right side. He's a free runner on that first zero blitz and manages to force a throw from Drake May earlier than he wants to throw it.

Starting point is 00:11:43 When Drake May hasn't settled into the game, the Bengals get off the field early on that zero look. And later in the game, they dial it up again to Zalh Golden and they managed to get a free rush for the A-Ga-Gafts with Barrett Carter. Just want to credit Al-Golden for finding some calls there in key spots at work. They generally, I thought, were not as good as I wanted them to be on third down. At least that's how it felt to me watching the game. Patriots end up only going 5 of 13 on third downs in the game overall. They did have issues with the tight ends. We will circle back.

Starting point is 00:12:12 Don't worry for everybody that wants to doom and gloom and wants to hear about why the tight ends were an issue. We will get back to that topic later. But I want to credit Al Golden for those play calls. And the nice thing about it to me, Mike, is that it really challenges the Patriots protection rules enough to get the free runners. And that's something that we've talked about a lot this year with Al Golden's defense is, But can we dial up a free runner once or twice a game? And they managed to do it twice in this one. If you need to get a free runner, if you're going to dial up zero,

Starting point is 00:12:42 I think that's the big difference here is before he kind of tried to be, you're not going to be the guy getting free runners on those creepers, replacement pressures, whatever, unless you're one of the best at knowing the protection scheme and beating it. When you're running cover zero, you don't need to know the rules of the protection scheme. You're sending more than they have. If they've got six in the block, you send seven. And they are dropping guys out.

Starting point is 00:13:03 They're running that rain pressure that Luana Rumo liked, where they send everybody, but based off of where the center slides, that defensive tackle and a linebacker will drop out of there, so they're not just wasting bodies inside of this giant wall, because that can happen on zero, where you send so many guys, but they just wad it all up that you end up too tight to get through. They're creating that room a little bit by backing off and forcing those linemen to block guys one-on-one, and it creates everybody's one-on-one. You have one extra than them. and he's able to get home.

Starting point is 00:13:35 I think those hot droppers, whatever you want to call them, also helped a little bit in terms of where Drake may try to throw the ball and where he wanted to look and maybe holding the ball an extra second on those plays because he doesn't have the general answer. Zero, you think slant. You think something that's just quick out of your hands. If there's a guy in that window, the whole reason he's dropping there, then you can't throw it.

Starting point is 00:13:56 Even if it's a defensive tackle and he's probably not going to catch the interception or anything, he's still in your window and making you hesitate. and to throw that ball. I also thought, heck of a job from DJ Turner on the, I think it was the last zero blitz that they called. Because I do not think that was his guy that he helped make that play on. I think he's just eye on the quarterback knowing this ball is going to come out quick.

Starting point is 00:14:18 So when he sees him go to throw the out route, he leaves his assignment and gets in there to help make a PBU. So should have missed it at the top. We're talking about Turner, but that sparked my memory of, oh, yeah, that was his one play. It's like one pass breakup.

Starting point is 00:14:30 And if he didn't get targeted the rest of the game, we've been zero targets, It's one PPU. Yeah. So credit Al Golden for finding a couple of answers there in a year that it's been really tough for Al Golden, but credit where it's due. And like I said last week, so if you're wondering why we're focusing on positives, like I said last week, we're kind of in evaluation mode here in a lot of ways because the Bengals are three and eight. And while there's technically still a path of the playoffs, that is a very, very, very perilous

Starting point is 00:14:57 and thin path that they will fall off as soon as they slip up next. And so that being said, we're looking for the things that are showing signs of progress and especially at the players who are going to be part of the team next year. But Geno Snow and obviously has to get shouted out, even though he's, I would say, unlikely to be part of the team next year just because he's taking a lot of heat and he's been bad. But when you're good, you're good. And the film don't lie about any of that stuff.

Starting point is 00:15:21 On the offensive side of the ball, Mike, I thought it was a nice game for the offensive line. I think we've seen continued steady improvement from them all year. I think the reinsertion of Dalton Reisner in the lineup of right guard was a smart decision. and hopefully they continue with that, especially if Joe Burrow is back this week. But I think between the offensive line playing pretty well and Chase Brown playing pretty well on all but maybe one or two, probably just one play that he would probably like back from what I recall off the top of my head. Really fun game for the run game. And I talked about this a lot on the post game show. The unscatted book that they offered the 22 personnel stuff with Taj Brooks and Chase Brown on the field at the same time, having sequencing and plays off of that stuff.

Starting point is 00:16:01 and getting to those things effectively, I was really impressed with the approach and design of the run game this week. Even that little pitch play early that gets Chase Brown to the edge, little misdirection pitch play. What did you like about the running game? What was new? What was different? How did you think the Bengals approach just creatively this week?

Starting point is 00:16:20 Yeah, they had some interesting wrinkles. And I thought the pitch play and some of these other stuff, it's really just dressing for stuff they like to do. And they still hammered with their meat and potatoes there. They were still running a lot of duo. They're still running. It's still the run game, man. There's still only so much you can do.

Starting point is 00:16:35 But they dressed it up better. And when you run something like pony personnel to running backs and a jet sweep and you're running a counterplay at the same time, you hand it off on the jet sweep game five yards. But now you have dressing for that play that can help you out a little bit. It can make people believe that you're actually going to hand off these jet sweeps because they hand one off to Yosevas as well. I believe that had a wide zone behind it. And they've been running jet sweep with wide zone.

Starting point is 00:17:00 So it's just one of those keep them honest. You have to, I think of, it's two separate things. One, the handoff to Yoshavos is kind of got to keep them honest on these wide zone plays that we're not just, you know, trying to get the linebacker to take a false step. So we have to hand it off once in a while to keep them honest. And also, Taj Brooks just running right up the middle for one yard. You got to run that play to run the fun stuff off of it. It's one of those, yeah, take your medicine, whatever you want, whatever thing you want to say about it.

Starting point is 00:17:26 those one to two yard gains don't seem like much, but Kyle Shanahan and a lot of coaches have talked about this, like that plays pivotal because I have three plays off of that. And that's what it felt like in this game where they had some fun, interesting stuff baked into this run game, even if they're really just running kind of their staple concepts, they're not reinventing the wheel in the run game. And they're not going back in time to run something that Dan Casey would pose to be like,

Starting point is 00:17:53 1934 was the last time we saw this concept. The lions will do that, but, you know, not the Bengals. I thought they did a good job of dressing it up. And the run game results were really good, too. I think the one play Chase Brought really went back because that time the safety was the last man to beat. Oh, make that guy miss. And that could have been a 70-yarder.

Starting point is 00:18:12 Yeah, maybe there's two then. That one's, I had forgotten about that one. The one I was thinking of was like a run stuff on a second and two where it looked like there was space. And I haven't seen the end zone of it yet, but it looked like there was space. And Chase Brown ends up getting tackled for like a minimal gain, if anything. I think it was maybe a no game. They ended up punting after a second and two, which they were pretty bad on third downs in this game.

Starting point is 00:18:32 And part of that was that the past game was just atrocious in this game. But to wrap up on Chase Brown, he's up to 4.3 yards per carry now on the season. But since Flacco started playing quarterback for the Bengals, so in the Flacco games, against Green Bay, four and a half or 4.7 yards per carry against Pittsburgh, 9.8 yards per carry, banana's explosive game for him in that one, seven forced mistackles in that game. Against the Jets the following week, 6.1 yards per carry against the bears.

Starting point is 00:19:04 That was a weird game. I thought they were going to be able to run the ball in that game. They took a step back in the run game that week, only 3.4 in that one. But then against the Steelers the second time around last week, still 5.5 yards per carry for Chase Brown and against the Patriots this week, five and a half yards per carry for Chase Brown.

Starting point is 00:19:20 So they're finding the efficiency and they're finding the volume at this point with Chase Brown. also using him in the past game. You do have to get to the struggles of Joe Flacco in the past game, the struggles of the linebackers in dealing with tight ends, because that continues to be an issue for this defense. We'll finish on the down note. Unfortunately, there are some down notes still that we well get to here

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Starting point is 00:20:42 It counts your reps so that you can do it smarter, safer, and more efficient. Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton, cross training, treadplus at one peloton.com. Mike, we got to talk. About the unfortunate situation of the passing offense this week that led me to ask what ifs after the game, like what if Zach Taylor had gone for it on fourth and won? What if Joe Burrow had played in this game? What if Jamar Chase had played in this game? Any of those things may have tipped this in the Bengals favor.

Starting point is 00:21:15 But a lot of the reason that the Bengals struggled in this game was that Joe Flacco was unfortunately not very good and was fooled a few times throughout the game. Maybe it's just the shoulder that's just too much for him to overcome at this point. because we saw week six to week nine, Joe Flacco playing at the very least competent level quarterback and in other cases really quite good quarterback in many of those games. Last couple of weeks, not so good. The adjustments from the Steelers last week were very difficult for the passing offense to deal with, obviously,

Starting point is 00:21:50 a lot of that Joe Flacco. And this week, again, a lot of Joe Flacco not seeing where the ball needs to go. And some guys, in some ways, you know, some of the passing concepts not working as well as you would hope for them to work. Given the absence of Jemar Chase, I think that's to be expected to some degree. But what did we see in this game from Joe Flacco that kind of held the Bengals back? And I don't want to dwell on this too much because Joe Flacco came in here and was really good, gave them a shot to win some games here.

Starting point is 00:22:21 But as Joe Burroughs potentially gearing up for return, what did we see in the last Joe Flacco game, potentially? felt like he didn't have a good feel for the timing in this game. Felt like he was rushed sometimes, then sometimes felt like he was a late, but he wasn't really perfectly on time. Like you'd expect a good burrow game to be. I also feel like his eyes were just in the wrong place. A lot of these reps.

Starting point is 00:22:45 I could think of the third down miss that he threw, I think, to Tinsley. And on the other side is double slants against too high, but they spun to too high. So Flacco looked to his right to start this play, and maybe he didn't think he had time to start right and then go all the way left and shift his feet and everything. But there were multiple plays where it felt like, you missed an opportunity here. There's another one, kind of a flood concept. And the Patriots do a good job.

Starting point is 00:23:09 They get the corner to sink and get into the 15-yard out window. But T. Higgins also sees that and he settles down. And that's one of those I thought, Burrow probably went through this ball to Higgins because they would have just had the mind meld of like, we both see that corner. You're going to sit down here. I'm going to throw it a little low for you, protect you. and we'll pick up a first down. And then obviously the biggest one was, I think another sale type of concept, flood type of concept.

Starting point is 00:23:35 And no, it was play action. And they actually only had two guys on that route against quarters. And he throws the flat. He pumps the out. Like he's going to maybe throw this. And that makes him late on the checkdown. And he doesn't, I think he said, I didn't even look. Like I just, I threw them all over there.

Starting point is 00:23:53 Didn't see him. I basically just thought like, Oh, crap. Well, let's live to fight another day. And that lived to fight another day ended up being a pick six. That was one of the lowest roared highest risk plays that could have been made. And unfortunately, the high risk portion of it played out in that one. I also didn't love that concept.

Starting point is 00:24:12 But that was like a if it works and it gets to a one-on-one take it. And if it doesn't, the answer is probably throw this at his feet or over his head. Like just get out of there because there's nothing else on this play, which is unfortunate to have any play that's like that. Yeah, when you have three bodies just like at the line of scrimmage, they're receiving bodies around the line of scrimmage, and you're two on seven in the secondary. That does make a tough special when those are late releases. And yeah, the checktown telegraphed, unfortunately,

Starting point is 00:24:43 that goes for the play that at the time that it happened, I'd said this could be it. Flacco's not playing well. Drake May seems to be figuring it out. The Bengals obviously had chances after that, but that kind of mistake, in a close game more than this team could overcome. The other one that was rough was the sack he took when the Bengals were on the 35,

Starting point is 00:25:04 gets them to a fourth and long, fourth and 15. It's a 10-yard sack all the way back at the 45. Just got to get rid of that ball if you're Joe Flacco in that spot. But it sounds like as we're recording this, Zach Taylor's having his Monday press conference, and it sounds like Joe Burrow is expected to play this week against the Ravens. So just like everybody thought, that is the anticipation from the Bengals current head coach.

Starting point is 00:25:27 So maybe that's it for Joe Flacco. And if it is, tons of respect for what he did, how he handled arriving in Cincinnati after that trade, playing on a short week, playing well for the most part, playing through injury, and just gives you a new appreciation for a guy that's been around for 20 years, watching him do it up close for the team that you follow closely. We'll wrap up with the defense here, Mike, again, as the Bengals really struggled with Hunter Henry in this game that the tight ends have been giving them issues all year. And Zach Taylor's also already declared Trey Hendrickson out this week.

Starting point is 00:26:03 So there's no shot in the armor of Trey Hendrickson coming back to maybe give you some bailouts in terms of pass rush wins. We talked about the way that Miles Murphy and Joseph Macya played earlier, but why can't the Bengals cover tight ends? So I think when you get into your zone coverages, the tight ends over the middle of the field is going to attack the two linebackers in that scenario more often than not. especially because it feels like the Bengals have been trying to, a lot of times play a little bit more too high than I expected them to do,

Starting point is 00:26:32 which leaves only two linebackers in that middle of the field, or three if they're in a four three defense, but and maybe a nickel corner when you're playing your zones. And then when they play man, they went to some man concepts with either the linebackers matching or starting on these tight ends as well. I also felt like Hunter Henry did a good job when he did get matched up. There was one play against Gino Stone, has a physical release and is able to win that way,

Starting point is 00:27:01 but it feels like coverage busts. You can think of the big touchdown. And on that play, it felt like the Bengals used, and you can't know for certain without being in the room. But their response to Jet Sweeps was to rock the safety down and have him go all the way out to the flat, like hard, flat, cover that and get involved in this play. and that happens on that jet sweep, the fake jet sweep, touchdown where Gino Stone comes flying down, and he's playing the jet sweep.

Starting point is 00:27:30 So he can't midpoint. It feels like they are trying to match that on the back end. And Demetrius Knight just never gains depth and keeps gaining width, weirdly. Like, I just don't think he, maybe he just didn't hear whatever adjustment, or maybe he didn't know the game plan or something going into that. But it just felt like one of those plays was like, dude, you've got to be somebody on that tight end running the 16 yard corner route and not on the jet sweep flat controller that's two yards behind the line of scrimmage you can't have two guys going there and ends up covering grass you can't just be covering grass and there's other mistakes throughout the game but there's missed assignments all over for those guys in coverage and that feels like where the tight ends exploit them is because those they are trying to match onto those tight ends on paper but they blow an assignment or miss a coverage or or they're late to their responsibility, and the guy ends up open.

Starting point is 00:28:24 Barrett Carter targeted 10 times in this game, according to PFF, gives up eight catches. Again, according to PFF, 120 yards of the Patriots passing offense on Bear Carter. One of them notably, when he's a Tampa runner, the Tampa Pole runner. Yeah. That was what? Was that the first and 20 that they end up in? It felt like that was it a third and 11. It was an Ann Long, whatever it was, and just kind of does nothing.

Starting point is 00:28:50 on that play. He covers the width of his shoulders because he can't find the ball. I think that's the issue. Not everybody can actually run the pole from the line of scrimmage and know where the ball is and be able to get a handout. That's why those plays when they get posted about Kikley and Fred Warner, it's like it's so impressive. You can't just do that with everybody.

Starting point is 00:29:09 You got to make a choice there at the catch point too, right? You either commit to finding the ball or you play through the receiver's hands and Carter just kind of gets caught in no man's land. I feel like it looks like he starts to turn around to try to find the ball. and then doesn't quite commit to it or doesn't find the ball. And then he's just like kind of looking in a not very useful direction as he's unable to play through the hands of the receiver on that play. Maybe you can't rake it out of there anyway.

Starting point is 00:29:33 Maybe he still makes a catch. But yeah, I think the most frustrating thing about it is that even as we're seeing guys step up on defense, and we've been talking about this for a couple of weeks now where we've seen the DJ Turner games and the Miles Murphys and these guys that have been role players growing. this year, we're just not seeing it at linebacker and it continues to be exploited week after week after week, even when you do get some other things that have been good. And you know that this Ravens offense is going to challenge these linebackers.

Starting point is 00:30:05 And so we'll see how that goes this week. We'll, of course, be keeping our eyes on it and keeping our eyes out for the evaluation mode as the Bengals continue to look for players to build around here. That's largely the focus at this part of the season. They managed to win, let's say, four games in a row. Then we can start to look at those playoffs scenarios again in the playoff odds and see what's going on. But you've got to get through Baltimore, Buffalo, Baltimore,

Starting point is 00:30:31 before you can even begin to think about those things is my approach. But you can find Mike's workover at bengals talk.com. He's also part of our bengal squad on the postgame show, like I said, and on Twitter at bengals underscore sands where he'll have some film cutups posted as well for your viewing pleasure. many of which we may have talked about in this show. And that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. We're on a short week, so we've got another episode.

Starting point is 00:30:59 We've got the crossover for you. And then it's going to be game day already on Thursday. And we'll have you covered, of course, with both the squad and our regular postgame show with James Rapine and myself later after that Thanksgiving Day game. But until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast, Ho Day. Have a good one. Thank you.

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