Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - First look at Brian Callahan's Tennessee Titans: Cincinnati Bengals preparing to face their former OC

Starting point is 00:00:00 Week 15 cross over Thursday. Locked on Titans, Locked on Bengals. It's been a sad season for both teams. We're going to break it down. Locked on NFL crossover, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome in, folks, to a crossover Thursday edition of Locked on Titans, locked on Bengals.

Starting point is 00:00:36 I'm the host of Locked on Titans, Tyler Rowland here with the co-hosts Locked-on Bengals, Jake Liscoe, and James Rapine. We are going to be diving into this week 15 matchup with plenty of connections between these two teams. Before we dive in, though, I do want to thank you for making Locked-on Titans and Locked-on Bengals, your first listen each and every day. Today's crossover Thursday is presented by prize picks. Download the app, use the code Locked-on NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5.

Starting point is 00:01:06 We're going to hit some of the big storylines, talk about some matchups, some keys to victory for both sides of this game. We'll start with Cincinnati, though. I'm a gracious host here, you know, a little southern hospitality for you guys. I got to ask, is it just outright disappointing to see how great Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase have played

Starting point is 00:01:29 based on where the team is at, or is there still some level of joy to watch this team play with how well those two are playing right now? Both. The answer is both. It's equally painful and beautiful at the same time, right? I mean, Jamar Chase has made it clear, at least this season, that he's the best receiver in the NFL and playing like it week in and week out.

Starting point is 00:01:53 And then you have a guy in Joe Burrow who five months ago, we're like, all right, well, how much is he going to throw in training camp? How often is he going to be able to push the ball down the field? What are we going to see from him this year? And so for him to play the way he is where he's on pace, to set multiple franchise records, passing yards, passing touchdowns, nearly 5,000 yards, 43 touchdowns. And Jamar Chase, same thing.

Starting point is 00:02:19 He's set to break the receptions record for the Bengals, leading the NFL in receptions yards, touchdowns. If you would have told me that, Tyler, I would have said, oh, well, then they're definitely, they're one of these elite teams. They have nine wins going into this Tennessee game. Our 10 wins. We're talking about the one seat. We're talking about playoff positioning.

Starting point is 00:02:40 And instead they're five and eight. And it's like how in the world are they five and eight? And there's a bunch of reasons why. And that makes it painful because these seasons that you're seeing a season from Joe like this, it's hard to get your quarterback to play at this level. It's hard to have a receiver like Jamar Chase's talented as he is to play at this level consistently for 13 weeks. And that's what we've seen. And what do they have to show for it?

Starting point is 00:03:08 They're five and eight. they got to win out and pray to the football gods for a lot of football help and we haven't really talked playoffs for a couple weeks here on lockdown Bengals. Is that your sentiment as well, Jake? Yeah, I think that at this point, being someone who wants to enjoy watching Bengals football is an exercise and enjoying watching Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and occasionally T. Higgins Chase Brown, who are also good players, do really fun things on offense. and trying to at this point take that one day at a time kind of approach,

Starting point is 00:03:43 enjoy the little things because the big thing, which is the Bengals falling far short of their preseason expectations, is a lot and it's frustrating. And it's been an excruciating season in many ways with the way they've lost a lot of close games, the way their defense is underperformed, the way we've seen guys regress on that side of the ball in some cases. is that's all terrible and very unfun to watch if you're someone who has a rooting interest in the Bengals. But on the other side, at this point, you do find a little bit of enjoyment on a week-to-week basis

Starting point is 00:04:18 and enjoying an MVP-level season. You compare Joe Burroughs trajectory this season and those numbers that James was talking about. Those are numbers generally reached by MVP candidates in the NFL's history. And Jamar Chase doing potentially record-setting stuff as well and potentially triple-tenth. crown stuff, which would be really cool. We were talking actually about this very topic in the last couple of days on lockdown Bengals in terms of like, they're still fun to watch. That was the takeaway from the game and a big point on lockdown Bengals. But, you know, if Jamar Chase can hit that 20 touchdown mark this year that we talked about on yesterday's show, that's something that's only

Starting point is 00:04:55 been done by Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. So that would be a pretty cool thing. And so it's that sort of thing that we're talking about with the Bengals this year in a year that we should have been talking about meaningful December football. Well, I can tell you, your team could not be a playoff team and also not be fun to watch. And then things might be a little bit worse. I might know from experience, but I do want to move to that side of the ball that you just mentioned, Jake, with the defense. You know, everyone hears that the Bengals defense has not been good this year. You look at the scores, how many points they're putting up.

Starting point is 00:05:26 And for them to have the record that they do, obviously, it's not just what people say. The defense has not lived up to expectations. but what is the biggest issue with the Bengals defense that is causing them to break down in this way? I know that's, you know, it's probably a lot of things coming together, but that is the question. Why is it so bad? Yeah. Well, man, Jake, we could go a bunch of different routes. Can I answer this with one word?

Starting point is 00:05:51 Yes. Sorry, James. Go ahead and talk about the details. Well, that's it. It is yes. You can't point to any unit and be like, oh, well, they've been positive. You can't say, oh, well, yeah, the secondary struggled, but, no, it's literally, but Trey Hendrickson leads the NFL in sacks.

Starting point is 00:06:10 Right. No one can get pressure. No one can cover consistently. No one can take away the big play. They don't tackle well. And the list goes on and on. But if there was a number one thing, Tyler, it would be pass rush. I would say they had zero pass rush, even with Joseph Osai now a sack and three straight

Starting point is 00:06:27 game, zero pass rush outside of Trey Hendrickson. And that's why they are where they are. I think that's why they've struggled to close games to get stops in key moments where they fall and they've had seven losses by one score. It's because you need that key sack or that key turnover. And the key to that is usually creating some chaos, making a play or two. They don't have enough playmakers. And that to me usually starts with pass rush.

Starting point is 00:06:54 A close second could be tackling to the pass rush. I think I agree with James. Like pass rush can cover up a lot on. a defense. I think you can see that with many teams in the NFL. But second to that is the Bengals are suddenly one of the worst tackling teams in the NFL this year and also an unathletic team on defense at this point where they've got some veterans on this team that have been part of a good defense in the past and this year look either stiff or slow or both. And when you couple that with a secondary that hasn't been a assignment

Starting point is 00:07:27 sound and a defensive front that relies on Trey Hendrickson far too much and puts way too much responsibility in terms of actually generating some sort of havoc for the quarterback on his plate. You end up with the results like you've had. I will say one caveat is they've put together some games where the results have been better against bad quarterbacks, this Dallas game on Monday night football recently an example of that. And so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out with Will Levis being the quarterback on the Titan side of the ball this week, because where they have had these performances that have been, oh, they didn't give up 30 points this week. What happened? Oh, Cooper Rush was a quarterback or Daniel Jones was a quarterback or

Starting point is 00:08:08 Jacoby Resett was playing quarter. You know, is that kind of thing. Well, good news for the Bengals is the Jacksonville Jaguars defense is terrible and the Titans could only muster six points at home. So that does bode well for a Cincinnati Bengals defense that has been struggling throughout the season. But with that being said, we will talk some Tennessee Titans because I'm sure you guys got some questions about how things are going for your boy Brian Callahan down in Nashville. Before we do that, though, do want to let you guys know that today's crossover Thursday is brought to you

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Starting point is 00:09:26 That's fandle.com, never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandle, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Today's episode is also brought to you by game time. Game time is the best place to buy tickets, period, because they have the best features in the industry and they just got a new feature called GameTime Picks that makes getting tickets to see your favorite teams play live even easier.

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Starting point is 00:10:18 Create an account. Use the code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FL for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. What time is it? It's game time. Let's talk about those Tennessee Titans guys of Bengals making their seemingly annual road trip to play the Titans down in Nashville, despite these teams no longer playing in the same division. I think it's been a couple decades on that one. But this time, a familiar face on the opposite sideline to the Bengals in Brian Callahan, former friend of the lockdown Bengals podcast and obviously an offensive coordinator that had a lot of success when he was in that role with the Bengals now as a head coach with the Titans.

Starting point is 00:11:04 Has it been the results? I'm sure that he was hoping for in his first season. But catch Bengals fans up, Tyler. How are things going for Callahan? What's the perception of how this season is gone and the perception of Brian Callahan as a head coach? Well, I would say probably half the fan base wants him fired now. Just done. He's in over his head. Can't do it. I think that's ridiculous. Personally, I think you go back to, you know, it's not like, it's like when every bad quarterback gets compared to Josh Allen. And they're like, oh, look at Josh Allen. He's an outlier. So my bad quarterback can turn into a good quarterback. A lot of people are doing that, but you do have to point to Dan Campbell was three and 13 in his first season with the Lions. And everybody

Starting point is 00:11:47 said, this guy's a moron talking about eating kneecaps. He's terrible. And now look where the Lions are at. Zach Taylor had his struggles. What were the Bengals in his first two seasons? I mean, they had like 26 losses in the first two seasons or something like that. It was not. 625 and one. Yeah, 625 and one. Like it was not a great start. So I think there needs to be a level of patience, but people who are frustrated with Brian Callahan aren't completely off base. I think he's done a good job as a play caller. Now, I think some of the fans who don't quite understand things as well.

Starting point is 00:12:23 Don't like the play calling either, but when you watch the tape and you see the separation generated, the guys open generated, the opportunities that he's creating with this scheme and his play calling. I think Brian Callahan has done a great job as an offensive coordinator. The problem is I think he has struggled with game management situations. Like when to call a time out, when we need to kneel the ball and go into halftime, when is a good time to run a run play on the goal line, like we're going to throw four straight passes on the goal line and on the one yard line and not get a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:12:55 Like I think there are just like small micro decisions. And then the big thing is Cole Anderson is a plague on the universe. Like Cole Anderson is entirely over his head as a special teams coordinator. He recently said last week that his problem early in the season is he assumed that guys would know what they're doing. That's like a teacher saying I assumed my students would know the answers to the test. Like every time Cole Anderson speaks to the media, it's more of a black eye on Brian Callahan for employing him. So I think the big problems with Brian Callahan are head coaching things, not necessarily the offensive design and the play calling and things like he just needs to grow as a head coach.

Starting point is 00:13:39 I think he's already a really great offensive coordinator. And maybe if he would have had the time to call plays and do that on his own before becoming a head coach, it would have been a quicker pickup for him. But I personally still believe in him because I think the scheme and the design is ultimately most important and you can grow into your leadership ability as a young coach.

Starting point is 00:13:59 I mean, he's only 39 years old. So there is rightful criticism to place on Brian Callahan for some of its management decisions this season. But I think overall from an offensive perspective despite the results, he's done a good job scheming guys open and developing Will Levis,

Starting point is 00:14:17 played his best football of his career over the last month. Yeah, let's talk about Will Leveson this offense a bit more because they added, you go get Calvin Ridley, you sign Tony Pollard, obviously names that Bengals fans know, trade D'Andre Hopkins, how has this offense held up given where they were at, say, a year ago versus now with an offensive-minded head coach, a young quarterback in Will Levis and some okay pieces, I would say, around him. Well, sadly, the numbers aren't going to tell you that they're significantly better than last year, but they've scored 30 points twice this year, which is something the Titans didn't do for three straight seasons until Brian Callahan.

Starting point is 00:14:59 Yeah, it was over a thousand days that the Titans didn't score 30 points in the game. Like Brian Callahan. See, it can get worse. Yes. See, it could be worse. I promise you that. So I think the big problem with the offense is personnel. It's not the coaching at this time.

Starting point is 00:15:18 I mean, the reality is the Titans have a poor offensive line. They have some bright spots and against teams without high-level edge rushers. They do okay. But the offensive line isn't near good enough to support the way that Will Levis plays. Will Levis, you see Joe Burroughs pocket move. People don't look at Joe Burrow as like a mobile quarterback,

Starting point is 00:15:38 like a Lamar or Jalen Hertz or a Josh Allen. But you watch Joe Burrow move in the pocket, and he is elite with his pocket presence and his movement to get away from rushers and to find areas to throw the football. Will Levis is the opposite of that. Will Levis is clunky. He looks like an action figure, the way he like has a lack of flexibility. His feet are so noisy, so loud.

Starting point is 00:16:03 He looks like a duck underwater, like his feet going 100 miles per hour. It's concerning, you know, that's the big downfall in his game is the, It's a muscular duck. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he really does move like an action figure. Like there's just not a lot of flexibility, not a lot of mobility there. Straight line, he's a good athlete, but kind of dip, dive, duck, dodge, and dive, you know, like he can't do those things to get away.

Starting point is 00:16:31 And when you have an offensive line that's not great, it just kind of magnifies that issue. I mean, Levis took 22 sacks in four weeks. And you look at the numbers for Mason Rudolph, like the pressure to sack, percentages. Mason Rudolph is around like 11% and Will Levis is like 22%. You know what I mean? He just can't avoid pressure very well and with the current system. And then you look at wide receivers and Nick Westbrook Aquinae has eight touchdowns this year and he's like a folk hero to Titans fans. He has like 22 catches and eight touchdowns on the year. And to me, I like it's a good story. He's a good player. He should be on the team. But you need people who can separate against man

Starting point is 00:17:13 coverage. You need explosive ability in the past game. And outside of Calvin Ridley, who really, in my opinion at this time, is a high level number two wide receiver, not a true number one. Like, I think that, you know, Calvin Ridley is it like in the T. Higgins area of ranking wide receivers. Like he's right there as high level number twos who maybe would be a low level number one. And the Titans just need more at wide receiver to get open quicker. They need better offensive line play and Will Levis has improved this year, but they need better quarterback play too in the modern NFL where second reaction playmaking is so, so important. So there's just a ton of issues that I think Brian Callahan is truly doing his

Starting point is 00:17:56 best. I do. I think he's done a good job, but not everyone agrees. And with so much going wrong, it's just easy to get lost in it. On the other side of the ball, Tyler, the Titans bring in a defensive coordinator from Baltimore who had a hand in really stymie. being this Bengals offense in the past. Jeffrey Simmons, obviously a big piece of that defense. Devonre sweat, an object of Bengals fans' attention in this year's last year's draft process. Tell me a little bit about what's going on on that defensive side of the ball. Well, the Titans are better in coverage.

Starting point is 00:18:30 I believe they're still the number one team in pass yards allowed this year. They've been better in coverage, but the problem is they give up the 27th most points in the NFL. they're terrible in the red zone because they're good at limiting those explosive plays. But that doesn't really do you any good when you're on the five-yard line. Like I don't need to not give up a 20-yard pass when I'm on the five-yard line.

Starting point is 00:18:52 I need to not give up a five-yard pass. And the problems that you mentioned with the Bengals are very similar to the Titans. It comes down to me, in my opinion, to the pass rush. The Titans have great coverage schemes on the back end. They run a ton of cover four man, which is a coverage that I learned a lot about this year. with it's basically quarters coverage,

Starting point is 00:19:12 but man principles on the outside with the outside cornerbacks. And they do a really, really good job in coverage on the back end, especially Cheeto Ouzier's been out for most of the year. He just came back last week and got an interception, though, so that's great. Legerius Sneed, it's been a disaster. He hasn't played in two and a half months.

Starting point is 00:19:29 He's not going to come back. They lost Cawandre Diggs early in the year. So they've been playing with a lot of backups in the secondary and still been a great past D. defense. But up front, Harold Landry has always been a one-trick pony rusher. He's kind of like a Bud Dupree style rusher where he's a cleanup sack artist, not a guy who wins with pass rush moves. He had that dip and bend that he would use with a speed rush. And now he's gotten a little older. It's not quite as effective.

Starting point is 00:19:57 And Arden Key, super inconsistent pass rusher. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Arden Key. Devonre Sweat needs to get better in his pass rush. Something coming out of college that a lot of people thought needed to improve. He's been a great run stuffer, but not a very consistent pass rusher. And Simmons has been up and down at times this year, quite honestly. So the Titans just don't have enough in the pass rush to help out the secondary enough, despite some good coverage in the back end. And it's my personal football philosophy that without pass rush, you can't win.

Starting point is 00:20:30 It's the second most important thing outside of quarterback play in football. So the pass rush hasn't been good enough for the Titans, and their red zone defense hasn't been good enough either. All right, guys, let's dive into this matchup to finish up this crossover. We'll get into some keys to victory for a couple of teams playing football that may or may not be remembered in a few years here this December. No doubt. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Bill Rewards.

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Starting point is 00:22:22 It's week 15. We've talked Titans. We've talked Bengals, but now we need to actually focus on how to win this football game for both of these teams. We'll do some keys to victory. What are you guys looking for in this matchup

Starting point is 00:22:35 to make sure that the Bengals get another win? Three things that stand out more than the rest. I would say, and we'll list them quickly here, and then we can go. pass them and break him down a little bit. But you got to protect Joe. And that's going to probably be the case every single week. We know the Bengals are going to throw the ball a ton on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:22:53 And so protecting number nine is super crucial. I mentioned chaos early in the show. This Bengals defense hasn't created enough chaos. They need to take advantage of Will Levis in this offense that's been up and down this year. You mentioned the offensive line issues. And then number three, well, if the Titans stink on special teams, the Bengals took advantage of a huge special teams blunderer. against the Cowboys, and there was a lot of luck involved there, but maybe take advantage of

Starting point is 00:23:19 that third phase and win that third phase. So for the first time, I think this year, keys to victory. How about you dominate Cold Anderson in that special teams unit for the Titans? So I think those would be the three things and the three ways, the most important ways, I would say that the Bengals could win this game. Incidentally, I think this is a couple of weeks in the last several that we've talked about special teams in some capacity, that we've talked about kicking. the biggest thing though Tyler I think just to add on there to me from a focus perspective like when we talk about the rest of this vengal season is can we minimize hits on joe burrow and that's why that's where james started is he's thinking way too many hits this year that continued

Starting point is 00:23:59 last week he was pressured on 37% of his dropbacks took some extra extra shots uh late in plays at times that it's just when the games aren't necessarily getting you closer to a playoff goal are especially tough to watch so one thing that'll credit the bengal for against the Cowboys is they got to fewer true pass sets than they've been putting Joe Burrow in throughout the season. More play action than we've seen from them and a lot more screen game than we have seen from them in that game. Whether that's an adaptation that sticks or not, we'll find out. I am still worried about this Tennessee pass rush after you spent a lot of time telling me about how it's been disappointing. But when I look at the trenches on both sides of the ball,

Starting point is 00:24:40 both of us are talking about disappointing pass rushes and offensive lines that have been leaky. And one of those things is going to get. We have stoppable force meets movable object on both sides in the trenches this week. And it'll be interesting to see which of those forces or objects ends up being the opposite of what we're expecting. Yeah, that's fair. I think on the Titan side of things, the number one thing on offense is red zone. they have to find a way to take advantage when they're in the red zone. They had multiple red zone opportunities against the Jaguars that they simply didn't convert

Starting point is 00:25:17 a fourth downstop late in the game as well. There's just plenty of opportunities that they had to score in the red zone after moving the ball pretty decently up and down the field, and they just weren't able to take advantage. So if the Titans don't find ways to punch it in, and that's been a problem all year long, quite frankly, for the Titans offense is, you know, They don't have enough opportunities in the red zone,

Starting point is 00:25:40 but also their bottom six in the NFL and red zone conversion rate right now as well, 47.1%. So it doesn't really matter how well you move the ball if you don't score when you're in the red zone and against the Cincinnati Bengals offense that will put up more than 10 points this week. Like they are going to put up more than 10 points, which I say that, but the Bengals put up three points the last time they played in Nashville. So you never really quite know. I just have a feeling that the Bengals are going to put up more than 10 points.

Starting point is 00:26:11 And if the Titans settle for field goals or they just outright have turnover on downs in the red zone, they're going to be in trouble, which I think they might be in trouble anyway. I felt pretty good about the Titans being able to compete in this game and win this game, honestly, a couple of weeks ago. But after that performance against Jacksonville is just completely sapped any confidence I had in this team. On the defensive side of the ball, you've got to get pressure on Joe Burrow. You just have to because you could sit here and say, stop Jamar Chase, okay, and then T. Higgins probably going to go crazy.

Starting point is 00:26:42 You'd stop T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, probably go for 200 yards. So for me, the only way to eliminate that as an issue is just to get to Joe Burrow early and often and not let him throw the ball, not let him get it out of his hands because I just have a hard time thinking that Cheeto or Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., or Roger McCreery, or Darrell Baker, Jr., these guys can't cover Jamar Chase. So if you let Joe Burrow get the ball out of his hands, it's going to be trouble. So I think the Titans need to consider blitzing. I know you're playing a dangerous game with an intelligent quarterback like Joe Burrow, but if you just sit back and give him time,

Starting point is 00:27:15 he's going to pick you apart anyway. So at least be the aggressor, bring it to his doorstep and try. I think the final thing for me is this team needs to come out and play for their coach. Like, it's not even scheme. It's not, you know, Bengals have a bad rushing defense. So run the ball. It's the Titans need to play for their coach. I know this isn't a revenge game because there's nothing to be mad about with Brian Callahan,

Starting point is 00:27:42 but it's an emotional game is what I'll call it. It'll be extra emotional for Brian Callahan to see all his former co-workers across the board. You have a guy like Cheeto in there. You have a guy like Tyler Boyd in there. There are connections and not even to mention all the games that these teams have played against each other in the past few years, the playoff game, the game in Cincinnati, even before that, where Tyler Boyd catches. the game winning touchdown pass and the crazy wind, which I was there is a terrible game.

Starting point is 00:28:10 These teams have played very physical, intense matchups against each other. And if the Titans don't come out and match that and even play with a little extra for their coach to get this win for Brian Callahan, I'm going to be incredibly disappointed. So they need to come out ready to play and give their best effort of the season, along with all the actual football stuff. Yeah. And I do think you mentioned losing faith after for Jacksonville. I think Brian is really, really, really, really going to want this game.

Starting point is 00:28:42 Yes, I agree. Bengals don't either. But like I do think that there's that no one really outside of maybe Zach Taylor knows Joe as well as Brian. So I think that dynamic is quite interesting as well because I'm sure he's impressed with Joe at the same time knows how to potentially affect them. Yeah, one of the thieves you talked about, Tyler, that's set out to me getting the pressure to Joe Burrow. It's not enough to get that pressure there. It's also like, don't let him escape through the B gap. And he talked specifically about that.

Starting point is 00:29:10 It's not only get pressure, but don't give him escape routes because you talked earlier in the show about this too. His pocket management this year has been exceptional and has taken a real step from something that I thought was already good. And this year has been part of his toolkit that has truly separated him from many of the QBs in the NFL. And quite honestly, the Titans have had. had a lot of struggles with getting pressure on the quarterback and then getting them on the ground. Like there are multiple games this year where they have had six or seven almost sacks where they literally get contact with the quarterback and he doesn't, they made Sam Donald look like Mike Vick, the way he was escaping pressure in the pocket and they couldn't get him down.

Starting point is 00:29:50 It's it's incredibly disappointing and it's one of those things where there's no like technique thing or something like you just got to get it done. You know what I mean? And they haven't been able to do. that. So that'll certainly be not just getting the pressure for sure, but converting that pressure into sacks will be critical. But obviously, connections between these two franchise will make for an emotional matchup, no matter what. Should be at minimum an interesting game to watch. But that's going to do it for crossover Thursday. Again, I'm your host, Tyler Rowland of Locked on Titans with Jake Liscoe and James Rapine, the host of Locked on Bengals.

Starting point is 00:30:24 Great show over there, Locked on Bengals. Titans fans should definitely check that out. and if Bengals fans want to subject themselves to it, obviously, I'll be over there on the Locked on Titans podcast, doing my game plans on the next episode. But this is crossover Thursday. It's part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day, and everybody, stay safe out there.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - First look at Brian Callahan's Tennessee Titans: Cincinnati Bengals preparing to face their former OC

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