Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - FILM TAKES | Cincinnati Bengals Offense STRUGGLES in Elimination Game—Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase Not in Sync

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's been a season of missed opportunities for the Cincinnati Bengals, and Sunday was a microcosm of their season in one game. 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 up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. I'm Jake.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Let's go join today by a lot of. Mike Santagana, our weekly film analysts, our weekly film expert guest here on Lockdown Bengals. We've had you covered on Lockdown Bengals since 2016, your best one-stop shop for all things Bengals for any podcast out there. And welcome back to all the everydayers and all of you who make us your first listen. Today we dive into the film, which reveals just a whole bunch of missed opportunities, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And on the defensive side of the ball. It was honestly a result that you would take multiple punts, only 17 points for the Ravens at the end of three quarters, only 17 points for the Ravens

Starting point is 00:01:13 overall as their foot came off the gas pedal after a pick six in the fourth quarter. They actually barely possessed a ball in the fourth quarter, but there's a defensive effort that you would take overall. Some of those blemishes still there. We'll get into the nuanced conversation about the defense later in the show, but we're going to start, Mike. with this Bengals offense that just felt like left a bunch on the field, left a bunch of plays on the field that they often make. And that is our first topic of the film breakdown today in an episode brought to you by Fandall, where if you want to be right in the middle of the action all season,

Starting point is 00:01:49 long visit Fandle.com and get your NFL live bets in this December. Mike, a lot of throws that Joe Burrow usually makes in this game. He did not make. didn't even attempt to make the accuracy at times was a little bit off on a couple of plays there were multiple drops in this game as well as you watch this offense it felt like on tape it did watching live that there were missed opportunities for the bengals in this game what was going on with joe burrow in the early part of this football game it felt like very early he was okay where that first drive, he's dissecting the defense pretty well.

Starting point is 00:02:33 He's getting every play into the right protection, into the correct call, killing it when he needs to, making the right rees, making the right throws. And it felt like it all changed when Jamar Chase dropped the slant, and then there was the penalty that offset a first down. And then he took that sack. And it felt like from there it kind of spiraled, where that sack that took him out of field goal range

Starting point is 00:02:56 because he kept running backwards in that scenario, where they ran a form of mesh. It looked like a mesh flood combo. And Burroughs never really felt like a mesh guy to me. But I don't think he, I think he turns that down quite a bit. And also that being a third down call, just it's there to beat man. But they ran zone. So had a free run on the B gap, and it was zone, not man like they were expecting.

Starting point is 00:03:19 So ends up getting kind of screwed there. After that, it felt like the Ravens had a good game plan in terms of bringing up a lot of guys. to the line scrimmage playing the run well from too high and playing the blocks well. I feel like this was a game that the Bengals offensive line can't point to as one of their better games as run blockers. So they didn't really get much of a run game going to punish these too high shell coverages, but then also showing pressure when they got into passing downs and being able to work to any coverage from there.

Starting point is 00:03:52 A lot of times it's something that's going to give help towards Jamar Chase, but there's just a lot of missed opportunities in terms of despite the help, Jamar had a chance to have a long touchdown down the left side line. He had a couple of drops himself, like we talked about, like I just mentioned, that slant. But then also, it felt like Burroughs a little keyed in on him at times, where there's a play where they have a simulated pressure going on. Bengals pick it up well, but it's supposed to roll into a cover too.

Starting point is 00:04:23 And the safety starts in the middle of the field, so Jamar chase up by himself on the side line, three by one formation, gets the snap, looks immediately to Jamar, but that safety rolls over the top of playing cloud coverage over there. There's no other safety on the other side. Nobody drops back. Yoshivas is running clean down the left sideline. And if, and I just feel like normal Burrow would have seen may have thought pre-snap, okay, one-on-one, let me take Jamar. But see the safety sprint over there and go, don't have Jamar. Let's read the three wide receiver side of this formation. But he never looks over there. And it ends up being. like an okay play he runs and picks up a couple of yards on the broadcast you don't think

Starting point is 00:05:02 anything of it but when you watch it back you go if he just glances to his left and he could set his feet because the protection was good he can make a throw here and if it's not a touchdown it at least can hang up there and be an explosive play for yosovas um you know sovos also had the drop which was an underthrown ball just like a ton of missed opportunities because placement wasn't good reading the field wasn't good and then multiple protection issues as well and i attribute a lot of that to burrow because he's making a lot of protection changes at the line and we know he has the autonomy to do that as well so if the protection call is bad he can get them into a better one two different plays end up with a free runner through the B gap that's just a bad protection plan and

Starting point is 00:05:40 you can't be having that so that your back is either picking up a defensive back that's coming from eight yards the other side or on the other side let the end man go and block everybody down if you're uncomfortable with what's what it looks like on one side you want the slide to go that way. You need to be able to pick up stuff in the A and B gaps. C gap, that's where a free runner can come from because you just have more time, just thinking straight line in terms of how far away each defender is. And that would often be the quarterback's responsibility. And if you look at the way that the Bengals beat the Ravens the first time around, Joe Burrow was awesome at getting them into

Starting point is 00:06:16 the right protection, understanding this is my guy. These are the guys that should be accounted for from the offensive line. I think the offensive line executed a little bit better the last two weeks and they did today as well when it comes to their one-on-ones when they were in the right protections. But that 15-yard sack before the field goal, Burrow said after the game, yeah, that's on me. I had a mental mistake on the protection call, but you go back and look at it. And I mean, that must be a real brain fart. Like just said the wrong word or something, maybe because the protection call really, there are no threats that would institute or instigate Joe Burrow to call a slide right on that play. There's just nothing.

Starting point is 00:06:54 on the right side and the offensive line does what they're told there. Dylan Fairchild slides right and there's no one to block. And that lead the free runner in the B gap, the later one on the pick six, it's a different issue. It's the same spot where they end up with the pressure. It's a simulated pressure from the Ravens there. Dylan Fairchild starts to engage with Kyle Van Nuoy,

Starting point is 00:07:13 who is head up on him essentially. And then the defense event from outside the tackle ends up looping inside or crashing inside as Kyle Van Nuoy drops out, and there's no help. And they end up with essentially what plays out like an overload pressure situation on the left side because the simulator pressure works perfectly. Then the Bengals only have two guys to account for three. Dylan Fairchild tries to block the immediate threat, Kyle Van Nuoy, who then drops out. And it's a good play from the Ravens there, a bit of a different protection issue.

Starting point is 00:07:45 But like you're saying, could the back have been assigned to help in that situation? Yeah. can you put the back either in the A gap with Van Nuoy or can get him just try to chop down the end on the opposite side because you just don't have the guys in pass protection right now. He was in pass protection. Like that's the other part of this. He wasn't free running, but he's picking up a defensive back towards the other side that's coming from depth. That guy doesn't matter in this play when you have immediate threats in front of you. And I think the other thing that's frustrating is that play you talked about where they slide right. Sliding right. Actually, if you're just running like a basic scale. or jet protection where you got three guys sliding to the right against this front and you're got a sort on the backside with the two left guard and left tackle you pick that pressure up you pick up it's not even pressure you pick that up you get then fairchild to work with brown to pick up the two most dangerous threats on that side but it felt like burrow makes a change at the line of scrimmage and fairchild's just blocking it as he's told so he's sliding and protecting that backside a gap

Starting point is 00:08:47 with an handout, you can't leave free runners in the B gaps. But that's just football 101. Yeah. And in the past, we've often attributed this to offensive line mistakes. And I think it has been offensive line mistakes in the past. But you can actually hear on the broadcast of Roger call on the 15-yard sack that takes him out of field goal range right before the snap. And on the pick six, he's trying to set the protection right before the snap again. And it's late in the play clock.

Starting point is 00:09:15 And I feel like Burrow just was a step behind the Ravens defense, Zach, or whether it's or's play calls, whether it's Roquan Smith, making adjustments, whatever it is. And then on top of that, there are a couple of penalties to get called on the offense. The drops really don't help things. We'll continue on the topic of this offense and some of the other missed opportunities and let down performances, I think in some cases, as we've seen a really high level of play from this offensive line with the last couple of weeks that did not persist on Sunday against the Ravens,

Starting point is 00:09:48 and it had to have a game. And instead, the offense gets absolutely blanked. So we'll continue on the offense here a little bit longer coming up next. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play. Everything feels different. We've talked about that with the Bengals too many times this season where there's one big play and suddenly it feels like they're out of the game. And that's what gives you an opportunity with Fandul.

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Starting point is 00:10:42 If you want to be right in the middle of that action all season, long, you can visit fandle.com and place your NFL live vass fandul where the game moves fast, and so can you. Mike, I felt like Joe Burrow was confused a lot on Sunday. And I want to also get to some of the individual performances from some guys in protection as well, and we will, but I feel like you talked about Joe locking in on Jemar Chase a couple of times. It felt like his processing superpower, which he apparently talked to Adi Kinkabwala about before the game.

Starting point is 00:11:15 and saying, yeah, it's cold, so guys' bodies are moving slower, but my mind doesn't. It felt like it was a little bit on Sunday as I watched the game. Did you have that impression as you watch a tape, or was it just something that I felt when I was watching live? No, I felt like, I feel like you're correct here. It didn't feel like he had the processing superpower. Like I mentioned, the first game that these two teams played, he's given them the right protection. He's getting to the right play every time. And I thought he did that on the first drive up until the sack.

Starting point is 00:11:40 And I don't know if that's what did it, but it just felt like after that the processing speed slowed down. He wasn't able to hit the same windows he normally does. He's turning things down because he's late on them. He's throwing things a little bit late, and then the yak opportunity isn't there. So it just felt like the timing, the processing, et cetera. It also slowed down in the cold. And there was a point in the game where it felt like the Ravens started to hit explosives. The Bengals are averaging five yards per play.

Starting point is 00:12:09 And they end up at four point something yards per play. There's a point when it's not quite over in the third quarter where the Bengals were at like three and a half yards per play. And it felt like it because they're gaining three yards on first, second, and third down, then going forward on fourth down, gaining another three yards on that play kind of thing. Like it's, yeah, we'll go three yards every play down the field. And if you can't stop us, we're going to score a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:12:31 But you're down at that point. You can't afford that much time. What was it that the Ravens did that prevented or confused Joe or got Joe's eyes going in a certain way that, that led him to turning down some of these explosive opportunities. Or do you think it's like, I don't trust Andre Yosevash. I'm not going to look his way on this play. I think I like Jamar here because the first time these teams played,

Starting point is 00:12:56 Jamar Chase did a really good job on a number of occasions of beating brackets, of beating doubles, and they were on the same page so consistently. Can you distill it into something simple or was it multiple things going on? It's multiple things. I think that there might be a little bit of a lack of trust, like his main trust is Jamar Chase. but I also feel like we've mentioned the processing, the Ravens did a good job of changing the picture and showing a lot of pressure and not bringing a lot of pressure,

Starting point is 00:13:21 but doing just enough to keep them honest too, and then like that pressure with Van Nuoy. So I feel like it was just a lot probably on Borough mentally and just wasn't up to the standard that he normally sets for this team mentally. Yeah. And let's talk about some of the individual performances along the offensive line as well, some of the running back performances. Chase Brown a little bit better this week,

Starting point is 00:13:46 but the running game in general, like you said, wasn't what it had been. And it really hasn't been the last couple of weeks kind of since Joe Burroughs return. It's something that I'm starting to think that thing we often hear, yeah, like, why can't they just keep some of that Joe Flacco offense? Which specifically is more of that run game.

Starting point is 00:14:06 I feel like every time they were under center in this game, they're running the ball. But let's start with pass protection where Gotey Ford obviously was a disaster. when he was on the field, and I think you tweeted this, like underlines that they really should not be going into a season with Cody Ford as a primary plan, a backup tackle. Dalton Reiser had his worst game in a few weeks.

Starting point is 00:14:26 Orlando Brown had his worst game in a while, I think, and it leads to Draymont Jones talking in the media after the game about the Bengals not being ready to play. Draymont Jones, the first time these teams played did nothing. Got blanked. This time was one of the Ravens' best players on defense. consistently beating Orlando Brown. And he was mostly rushing over Orlando Brown in this game.

Starting point is 00:14:50 What was going on with these guys on the offensive line, Mike? Yeah. I think Reisner had an issue a little bit with some stunts, passing those along, and then also got beaten a one-on-one opportunity with Travis Jones. Like, it just felt like maybe it's the cold, maybe it's whatever, but kind of harder. It felt like it was harder for him to,

Starting point is 00:15:13 block Travis Jones than normal than at least it was a couple weeks ago and Travis Jones is a pretty good player just got paid so you know good players are going to win from time to time Travis Jones also had a win against Dylan Fairchild but I thought Fairchild depending on how you would chart the B gap pressures that came in free we seem to think more a little bit more protection issue than anything but when you got his one-on-one opportunities I thought he was okay and one of the better Bengals past protectors in those scenarios because when it comes to Brown, he was playing better. I thought he still did a good job on stunts with Fairchild. And at him, it was more of the one-on-one opportunities that he was struggling with.

Starting point is 00:15:53 He did a solid job, I feel like, against like a Mike Green or David O'Jabo, which seems like in theory, the thing that would give him a little bit more trouble, the speed, but it was Draymont Jones's power and be able to go speed to power and work inside that I feel like gave him more trouble than anything else. So you never know. It feels like Brown hasn't had a lot of issues with his anchor over his career, but you can point to a few times this season. I think you have that bears, I can't remember the name of him,

Starting point is 00:16:24 but the third pass rusher they have that put him on his butt with a speed to power move. It just feels like things are kind of slowly getting away from him as a player. I don't think he's terrible, but I do think you look at this and think, like, the warning signs are there. And as you often mention, when you are working with players at reach like H-30, it's kind of like a fog and you don't know where the edge of the cliff is. This would be like kind of kicking up some rocks and stuff like, hey, we're not in the forest anymore.

Starting point is 00:16:54 There could be something coming here, whether it's a steep drop-off or not. But I think, yeah, just some of that has been showing up over the course of the year today and a few weeks ago, although like you mentioned, And he was pretty good the last few weeks before this. Yeah, the last couple of weeks for two of his best games, if not his best games of the season. And he's had plenty of games where it's like, yep, Orlando Brown looks great.

Starting point is 00:17:19 And then he's had games like week 11 against Pittsburgh, week five against Detroit. We talked about the Chicago game that featured a lot of pressures. They dropped back 53 times in that game. So a little bit different. And then this week where the Ravens don't have the guys that should be beating Orlando Brown one-on-one. and those things start to show up a little bit.

Starting point is 00:17:39 But he's been more inconsistent than anything on a game-to-game basis. He's just, he has some games where he's really good. He has some games where the cracks are there. And it definitely will be part of the conversation, I think, in the offseason. I don't think they're moving on from Orlando Brown this off season based on what he's done because he has put together enough good games and really had a stretch from week 12 to week 14 where it was really good. Week 8, week 7, pretty good.

Starting point is 00:18:05 but then, you know, week 15, week 11, not so good. And I think that that definitely underscores a need for like something in the future. The last thing on the offensive line I wanted to get to, Mike, because I thought that Amarius wins was playing a really good game before he went down with the injury. It doesn't sound like it was anything too bad for him. Ted Harris continues to be solid plus. And I think he has been really since the early part of the season when there were more concerns. But Amarius Mims, the last few weeks in particular, showing that second year leap, I think, starting to see that really crystallizing with him.

Starting point is 00:18:42 Did you have that takeaway as you watched Amarius' game? I thought he played about as well as he has the past couple of weeks. And those couple of weeks, to me, were a big indicator of this leap that he seems to have been taken. Ever since Reisner came back, and a little bit before that, too, with Rivers. But with Rivers, he would have some issues communication-wise. And I mentioned Reisner and him struggled on a stunt, but it felt more physically and technique-wise struggled on the stunt than it did communication,

Starting point is 00:19:07 where Reisner is turning his hips to the sideline to pass the guy off. And then you can't turn your hips, and then unless you're a really good athlete, also spinning them back around and pick up the other guy. You got to stay square in that scenario if you're not the best athlete at guard. When it comes to Mims himself, did think he played well. I don't know if it was perfect.

Starting point is 00:19:27 I think there were some plays where he's a little close, to the quarterback in terms of where he ends up in past protection. Don't know how it gets charted, but it does, it would make you a little uneasy. Not sure if it would be considered a pressure, but let's say if the ball wasn't out and the guy had another quarter second, would that become a pressure? Maybe.

Starting point is 00:19:47 But overall, him and Fairchild, two of the better performances of the offensive line this week, specifically in pass protection. I thought Mims had a couple of run blocks, which were nice, which is, I think, the biggest leap for him, is that he looked at. looks like an NFL player while run blocking, which you could not say last year. Just nice to see some young guys developing on the offensive line, as Ben Baby tweeted on

Starting point is 00:20:09 Monday about Mike Jordan down in Florida for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with one of the better pass block win rates all of a sudden for guards in the NFL as he's become a starter for that team due to attrition. We'll continue with the defense here, Mike, as they had some plays and they overall had a good result, but there are still some of the same underlying issues with this defense. We'll wrap up the show there coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bank was sponsored by Rocket Money. And if you ever feel like your money just disappears each month, it happens fast.

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Starting point is 00:21:37 Again, that's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Mike, the defense in this game was highlighted by a couple of sacks for Miles Murphy, who made a number of promising plays in this game and also took responsibility for the Ali touchdown where it's a zero pressure, but he's got to peel and stay with the running back. Honestly, I think that's just a play where the play call gets got. The running back sells the pass block and gets by Miles Murphy. Tough spot to be.

Starting point is 00:22:08 If you're Miles Murphy, you're looking for the fast release from the running back to the flat there. You don't get it. So you're thinking, I can run over this running back and go get Lamar Jackson. That's a tough play for him. But outside of that was instrumental in getting the Bengals off the field on the Ravens first drive of the game, Demetrius Knight on the second drive of the game. Demetrius Knight on a number of occasions takes great angles to Lamar Jackson when he's kind of watching him as a spy player or a late rusher or staying home on a play action boot

Starting point is 00:22:35 and understanding that the ball isn't handed off there and going and get Lamar Jackson. So a few impressive plays for those guys. And then there are run fit issues and some tackling issues. And well, Gino Stone still is Gino Stone. And there's still not much. And T.J. Slaten had a couple pressures. But there's still not a whole lot coming in the way of pressure from the interior of the defensive line. So while it overall might look like a game for the Bengals that, you know,

Starting point is 00:23:06 they only give up 17 points on defense, you would expect the Bengals to have a chance in those kinds of games with Joe Burrow. And we've talked a lot about why it was so disappointing on the offensive side of the ball. Did you come away encouraged with anything as you were watching this defense? Mike, what stood out to you in terms of building blocks for the future here? Because that's kind of what we're talking about now. Yeah, Murphy, the first one, not the perfect game. And I want to bring up, too, the Ravens set that up well, that peel pressure touchdown,

Starting point is 00:23:34 where these aren't pressures where Murphy's getting picked up. But they blocked him with tight ends and the fullback a few times. And he got both his sacks against tight ends. And there was no offensive linemen coming to help out in that scenario. You can't control what they block you with. So he wins, gets sacks in those plays, and gets a pressure on another one. But that probably sets you up where a lot of times, A team will just run a play like that, and they're doing it suddenly.

Starting point is 00:24:04 And the alarm bells are going to go off if you're a defensive lineman, where, okay, I've been blocked by the right tackle this entire game. And now you're going to just throw the running back at me as if, like, this is how you normally block things. It kind of was how the Ravens were normally blocking things, not the running back, but Ricard, the fullback, but all the tight ends. So I assume he also didn't think too much of it. So he didn't slow down. He just tried to crush the running back. So a little bit unfortunate.

Starting point is 00:24:29 more than anything. It's is what it is because at the same time, two sacks against the tight ends and the pressure there. He had another pressure that came against Rosengarten, but they had nobody able to contain because they ran a botched stunt on the other side of the field. So Lamar just runs out the back door that way. His hand usage looks better, limited opportunities in this game, but he hits a swipe move that's really nice. It feels like he is developing as a pass pressure. I think there's still at times some run game stuff, had a really good run stop against Pat Ricard on a play that got them into a third down

Starting point is 00:25:03 where he then got the sack on the next play that was on that first drive. But overall, a little up and down at times. I think some of the down is hard to place as a him issue, like the peel pressure and some of what's going on and where he has to align at times. Because he also got crack blocked on one play, and it's not like he got destroyed on it,

Starting point is 00:25:23 but also wasn't able to get over the top. and the guy who's really good over the top on that play is Juno Stone, who runs right into a wide receiver and just stands there. So goes for an explosive play, ends the game. That was right before the end of the game. That got them their first down so they could just kneel the ball. But overall, I liked his performance.

Starting point is 00:25:42 I think night too, night wrapping up is big. I feel like he wasn't always wrapping up in the past and the angle is big too. I think not jumping. Lamar gives a little fake on the boot where he kind of like face leasing through and instead of jumping night is kind of box out or closing out like an NBA player

Starting point is 00:26:02 hand up while running at him not slowing down hand up like Jordan Battle may have weeks and weeks ago but running full speed at him with his hand up just like if you do throw this there's a chance you hit my hand and then also making the sack by wrapping up doing a little gator roll a few times to kill the engine the legs

Starting point is 00:26:20 and then be able to bring them to the ground thought that was nice. I also think there was just plays that have happened to him all year, whether they are bad run fits, busted coverage. I don't think he busted too much coverage in this game, but there really wasn't that much opportunity. But I do think the run fit stuff showed up at times.

Starting point is 00:26:36 But he showed a lot of effort, and he's tackling better, he's taking better angles. So that was one of the first times I looked at Demetrius Knight and saw, wow, there's like some market improvement in his game this week. Yeah, I think maybe the role here is a better fit for him in the past game, where they did use him a couple of times as a past rusher. he ends up rushing the pastor three times,

Starting point is 00:26:56 gets three pressures in this game. Two of those are sacks. I think a couple of those are coming from spy situations. One of those are a rush three. Looks like Demetriusite is mirroring Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson tries to run the ball or tries to break contain. And it's a good angle. So I do appreciate that Demetri Sight is able to take these good angles,

Starting point is 00:27:19 close out on Lamar Jackson, not get stiff arm, not get juke, not get pumped, because that has been an issue for this team. And it's an issue for many teams trying to get Lamar Jackson on the ground. He's a pretty wily player. Did anyone else stand out to you on defense? I mean, the Gino Stone book has written at this point. I don't know that we need to harp on it. He was bad again.

Starting point is 00:27:37 You've alluded to a couple of play or you alluded to one play. The deep touchdown to Zay Flowers is another Geno Stone play where it's just like, what are you doing in that spot? I don't know that we need to get into that. I think they need very, very clearly an upgrade of safety there. Was there anything else from, you know, Barrett Carter or any of these corners or any of the defensive linemen that stood out to you for good or bad reasons? I think Jordan Battle stood out both ways where he made the interception off the drop pass, but then also he's in the open field against Derek Henry and gets shook out of his shoes. He missed a few tackles in this game, but then also would make a good tackle from time of time.

Starting point is 00:28:16 Kind of is the Jordan Battle story so far of his career where it's just a roller coaster. there's some highlight plays. He makes the best of his opportunities at times. And then there's just a lot of also negative plays that turned into explosive gains because he didn't get the guy to the ground. And you're the last line of defense. You have to be a little bit better at making that stop. Geno Stone, yeah, we mentioned it. I thought Turner had one of his worst games. I think they were able to throw against him more than you would expect when he was in man-covered

Starting point is 00:28:45 situations, especially considering the Ravens' bass catchers are not a group that I think Turner should struggle with other than, I think one of the first plays of the game, they threw to him against Mark Andrews. It's like, yeah, he's given up six inches of height or something. That, I understand, but losing Zay Flowers and D'Andre Hopkins in the route is not something that I expect out of him, especially because he played Zayflowers really well in the first game. Yeah. So what I'm hearing is we got some continued movement on Miles Murphy, and the priorities for the rest of the defense pretty clear. I mean, I'm still sticking with Dax and Turner probably next year. probably interested in potentially a slot corner,

Starting point is 00:29:24 but Jalen Davis, I think, continues to play fine. He didn't play much in this game. The Ravens didn't put three wide receivers on the field very often to get the Bengals into nickel. But big, big high-level picture here. Miles Murphy probably DE2, right? He's a guy that you're okay with being your second guy, if you have a really good guy across from him.

Starting point is 00:29:47 Like if you had Prime Trey Hendrickson right now and Miles Murphy, you'd feel pretty good about that duo potentially in the way Miles Murphy's played the last five weeks as his role has expanded. But sure are a lot of needs still on that defense. And nobody's really taking huge strides to say, like maybe if Demetrius Knight continues to make some plays in the last three games,

Starting point is 00:30:14 you can start to think, maybe we just need one linebacker there. But as a statement, right now. This game results, I think, better than the sum of its parts in terms of the individual plays that the Bengals made in this game. I mean, they escape with a field goal in the red zone because Zay Flowers, I think Zayflowers drops. Yeah. A touchdown pass in the same corner of the Mitch Tinsley dropped a touchdown pass. So a lot of the same issues on the defensive side of the ball, but at least we can continue to shout out some positive work for Miles Murphy in this one. And Mike has all

Starting point is 00:30:49 All of the notable plays that we've talked about, certainly cut up on Twitter. You can follow him at Bengals underscore Sands. You can find his long-form film write-ups at benglestalk.com. And Mike, appreciate you joining us every week for these film breakdowns. Now that the Bengals are eliminated from the playoffs, definitely back into that player evaluation mold a little bit here, maybe a little bit of coach evaluation as well. There's going to be big discussions about this coaching staff on this podcast for the next handful of weeks here. as the Bengals officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Starting point is 00:31:23 What else is there to talk about then the future of this team at this point? And we'll have you covered with all of that here on the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, we appreciate you listening to this episode of Lockdown Bengals, Hootay, and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - FILM TAKES | Cincinnati Bengals Offense STRUGGLES in Elimination Game—Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase Not in Sync

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