Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - How Can You Not Be Romantic About Joe Flacco? | Flacco leads Bengals to HUGE TNF Win

Starting point is 00:00:00 How can you not be romantic about Joe Flacco? Bengals win Thursday night football. 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 on on Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. I'm Jake Liskow.

Starting point is 00:00:32 He's James Rapine and we've been covering your Cincinnati Bengals here through the thick and the thin, and now we're back in the thick of it with the Bengals climbing back into this AFC North race since 2016 here on Lockdown Bengals, the best one-stop shop for all things, Bengals on the internet. We've got you covered from postgames to the offseason and the draft, and today it's a post-game show in which the Bengals have gotten back into things in the AFC North, not letting the Steelers run away from it. Joe Flacco and Aaron Rogers having an absolute spectacle of a time on Thursday night football James and Joe Flacco playing excellent football, dare I say, an elite Joe Flacco game. Joe Flacco is elite? Is that the answer to the question

Starting point is 00:01:20 after all these years? We just had to wait until he was older than 40 and playing for the Bengals. Welcome back, by the way, to the everydayers and all of you who make us your first listen. This will be a fun one, James. Yeah. What's not fun? about a team that had their backs against the wall, hadn't scored a first half touchdown in four games. It was outscored 79 to 9 coming into this. And the game turns in the final five minutes of the first half. They own that time.

Starting point is 00:01:54 And so for them to get a 33 to 31 win, one, I think it's season saving. It doesn't mean that they're going to make the most of it moving forward, but it gives them new life, 2 and O in the division. All of the things that we talked about the other day are true. Significant, significant development for this Cincinnati Bengals team to win. For Joe Flackle to play the way he did, for Jamar Chase to continue to play the way he has. By the way, double-digit catches 100 plus yards with three different quarterbacks already. It's week seven.

Starting point is 00:02:28 That dude is just insane. Obviously, team records for reception. targets, and there's a bunch of other things we could talk about with your mind that we can do. But the story is Joe Flacco to me. I mean, for Joe Flacco to go 31 to 47 against that defensive front, against that team, and to give the Bengals the advantage and give them the lead, and then have to still lead them back down field two minutes to go and do it with ease. I'm stealing from Dan Horace.

Starting point is 00:03:00 Joe Calm just delivers. Because he was calm, cool, collected, got the Bengals down there so quickly that they had to chill. They had to calm the waters, and Evan McPherson delivered the win. It's just huge, huge win for the Bengals to not just stay interesting, but to keep all of the sites, all of the things that they wanted to accomplish this season. It felt like it went out the door week two. And tonight was a reminder. Joe Flacco has been a reminder that don't close the door on this Bengals team just yet.

Starting point is 00:03:30 And what resiliency from this team tonight? From 10 down, 20 straight points, the defense throughout the night could hardly get a stop. The entire game. But DJ Turner, after giving up a deep ball to DK Metcalf, that's the last I think we heard from D.K. Metcalfe in this game, takes one away from D.K. Metcalf on the sideline, does DJ Turner? Jordan Battle cleaning up a terrible throw from Aaron Rogers.

Starting point is 00:03:58 it was left way inside that Turner could have also picked off. Turner also had a pass breakout coming off his guy in zone. So Turner continuing his awesome run of play of late, even though he got beat for that one deep ball. And the reason that I bring up the defense that we'll circle back to at some point either today or this week, because there's work to do on that side of the ball, is that they gave the Bengals those shots early. And despite what the defense did in this game overall,

Starting point is 00:04:26 DJ Turner taking that ball away from. DK Metcalf for one of the best interceptions you'll see this year. One of the most physical plays from DJ Turner who gives up like 50 pounds, 30 pounds, some amount of crazy weight. Maybe I'm going a little bit too high with the 50, but a lot of weight to DK Metcalf and a lot of height to DK Metcalfe to just muscle that thing out. And then Joe Flacco and the Bengals are able to go steal three points at the end of the half before they get the ball back.

Starting point is 00:04:53 And that's where they get to the 20 straight. They're able to kind of maintain that two score lead for a while in the second half until eventually the Steelers take a lead. Like those takeaways helped that got the Bengals back in the game where they had drops early. They had Chase Brown drop a ball with tons of grass in front of them early in this game. They had Andre Yosevash drop a ball that could have potentially gotten close to or been a first down on a third down play.

Starting point is 00:05:22 And despite that, despite what they went down early. And maybe this should have been a sign because on the very first drive, Joe Flacco converted a third and 14 with an awesome anticipatory pass to T. Higgins. Maybe that should have been a sign for the way the offense was going to go once they found their rhythm. And Flacco did find a rhythm. And Zach Taylor for all the fire we've put under his seat lately. And I think he remains on a bit of a hot seat.

Starting point is 00:05:47 He found a rhythm in this game with Joe Flacco with the run game. Chase Brown averaging 9.8 yards per carry in this game with two explosive runs. What team am I talking with? about. It was that kind of day for this offense that bounced back from that slow start. And then it was Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and Chase Brown. And heck, even Somaget Pirion and Noah fan and Andre Yostovush, like redeeming themselves for some plays early in some cases or just otherwise being too much for the Steelers defense to handle. Yeah, it was, I mean, the Bengals scored on seven of their final eight possessions on offense. This is an offense that was

Starting point is 00:06:28 just awful. I mean, just awful. Up until the past six quarters, the past six quarters, they've been really good. And honestly, the first quarter, so I should take that out, I guess, because the first quarter was bad again. And it was another quarter, you're like, man, they're almost going to go another half without scoring a touchdown. And then the dam broke. And they were able to just keep the pedal on. And Jamar just being so, there aren't many guys with his explosion in NFL history that can turn any play into a touchdown from anywhere on the field that can also be possession receivers this dude can be randy moss and west woker like he he can do all of those things and that's why like joe flacko was talking after the game like oh it's

Starting point is 00:07:14 just a little out route to jemar a little another outr and it's so simple but you don't want to get beat over the top by jimar and so that's that's part of it his his yack um was a huge factor and ability to break tackles. T. Higgins put on the jets. I mean, he got a mushroom. You know Mario Kart. He catches that ball. He got a mushroom and it was like a jet pack. He just went into the end zone. I mean, either the Steelers secondary is the slowest secondary in the planet or T. Higgins hit that jet pack because that was a heck of a play too. This is just I don't think you can overstate the significance of this win because if they had lost, if they don't go down and get that field goal late.

Starting point is 00:08:00 And it's 31.30. I promise you all of the negative stuff that was really being set on social media at the start of the game. All of that turns into a full weekend. Turns into all the way up until next

Starting point is 00:08:16 week, into the Jets game. Even if they beat the Jets, it doesn't matter. It's still going to be there. Still going to be there. Like this win gives the Bengals a chance to change the perception of the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals. And there aren't many wins that can do that when you lose four straight the way they lost four straight, but this one did that and it gives them a chance to turn things around, which is a huge, huge

Starting point is 00:08:38 development for the home team. And more importantly, it builds confidence and maybe that's the changing narrative. It gets them back into the division race instead of five and one and two and four, or two and five being the difference between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. It's now three and four Bengals and four and two Steelers. Bengals right where they were last week, last year in week seven, three and four. And it feels like last year in some ways when you think about this defense, but just getting back into the thick of things with the upcoming schedule gives them the ability to build on this. And now we've seen that Joe Flacco, yeah, he can actually put up incredible numbers with these guys.

Starting point is 00:09:22 He's laughing after the game about how good Jamar Chase and T. Higgins are. He's pulling out the Ryan Finley Keeper against the Pittsburgh Steelers all these years later, which I think we called in one of our shows on this channel. I think we joked about it. Yeah. I couldn't remember which show it was, but I'm pretty sure it came up. Maybe it was you in Sands, actually. It might have been me in Sands.

Starting point is 00:09:47 I can't remember. It was a quick week, quick turnaround, a lot going on this week. What day is it? I have no idea. Not a clue. But an awesome win for the Bengals to get right back in to the mix in the AFC North. And we have so much more to talk about in this game, the run game, the offensive line. I have more to say about Joe Flacco, I'm sure.

Starting point is 00:10:11 We've got to talk about the defense more as well. We'll continue those topics here coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is sponsored by Better Help. October 10th was World Mental Health Day. year we're saying thank you therapists life can be tough on and off the field and behind millions of mental health journeys are the therapist who showed up listened and helped people take a step forward better help is shining the spotlight on those connections while making it simple for you to find support wherever you need it whenever you need it therapy moments can be life changing whether it's

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Starting point is 00:12:23 Because I want to say this part. nine days ago he was traded nine days ago we did the emergency episode now people are listening to this it's on friday or watching this it's on friday but he goes out there and over the past two games had 219 yards against the packers and gets really hot in the second half goes for 342 tonight and so now you're talking about what is that 561 am i right 561 5161 yards no He entered his Bengals career with six interceptions this year. Hasn't thrown a pick. Hasn't really throw many interceptable balls that I can recall.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Five touchdown passes in these two games. Three tonight. One to Jamar, one to T, one to Noah Fant. I just, like, will you say all that out loud? It's just, it's wild because it's not like he went up against, like, awful defenses. These are awful defenses. These are good defenses that he's going up against. And they found a groove here on offense with Joe Flacco.

Starting point is 00:13:25 The narrative coming into this game was that the Steelers should blow out the Bengals and the Steelers defensive line should make Joe Flacco want to retire and the corners are the best they've been in Pittsburgh and they'll be able to hang with these Bengals receivers a little bit better than we've seen them do in the past and you know Aaron Rogers is figuring it out and D.K. Metcalf is a terrible matchup for DJ Turner, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Jaylon Warren is going to be impossible to tackle. That was true. They had a tough time tackling Jaylon Warren in this game.

Starting point is 00:13:55 Jay Lamar was probably the best player on the field for the Steelers, at least on offense. But despite all these narratives, despite what all the advanced data said about how bad the Bengals had been and how this offense had looked defunct, it was more of the same from Joe Flacco that we talked about when the Bengals went out and acquired Joe Flacco. This is the good outcome that you were hoping you would get

Starting point is 00:14:16 when the Bengals acquired Joe Flacco, that he would be able to quickly read the defense, figure out what they were trying to do, especially in the division, where he's played a ton of AFC more. football. And Mike Tomlin spent time this week lamenting the Cleveland Browns being stupid enough to trade Joe Flacco to a division rival because he knew that he had to deal with Joe Flacco instead of Jake Brown in this game. And that's exactly how it played out. He continues to make

Starting point is 00:14:39 quick decisions with the football. His pocket presence and pocket movement has been honestly significantly above my expectations, James, the small movements in the pocket, the understanding of when the ball has to come out, when pressure is bearing down on. him his feel for blindside pressure when someone might be turning the corner and he can't see him. Those aspects of his game really good. The accuracy in this game on a number of balls, a Yoshi ball, which is one we're probably going to talk about on the film breakdown the next time you hear from us, which is a throw

Starting point is 00:15:12 that we asked Joe Burrow to make more. I'm pretty sure that's an alert ball. That's not usually a choice that Joe Burrow makes, but Joe Flacco quickly processed and dropped it in the bucket to Andre Yosovash, the fade to. to Jamar Chase, Jamar Chase's touchdown. That's a perfect fade ball in that situation. Great play from Jamar as well to go get under it. But a number of throws from Joe Flacco in this game to the intermediate part of the field

Starting point is 00:15:39 and even to the deep part of the field with that Yoshi catch were just fantastic. And in addition to that playing with great timing, these are a lot of the same things that I've said about Joe Burrow in the past when Joe Burroughs had good games and mitigating the potential impact of the Steelers pass rush by playing with that great timing and the subtle movements in the pocket and understanding when the ball has to come out where it needs to go.

Starting point is 00:16:07 Yeah, it's everything you could have hoped for and then some, you know, is what he's been able to do and what he did against the Steelers. I do want to mention, as far as old guys go, Jalen Ramsey looked really old trying to guard you Marce. that man looked oh there's a clip of of jalen on one of these podcasts and i forget i didn't try to find it during the game but he was like i think it was the pit i don't know but it was uh he was like

Starting point is 00:16:38 i got jemar like he made that no you don't jamaar made that clear tonight i i don't know if there was a more one-sided i think if you would have said one-sided matchups a lot of people would have taken the steelers defensive line over the bengals offensive line and that would have been the most one-sided matchup that wasn't it It was Jamar Chase versus Jalen Ramsey because it was barbecue chicken all night. He was serving him. I mean, that fade. Jaylin's grabbing him.

Starting point is 00:17:02 It doesn't matter. Gets call for DPI. And then on the next possession, gets called for DPI again. And it was just easy for Jamar and deserves a ton of credit there for making it look easy. I'm so surprised. Like I thought that this would work. I was like, but work means like have a functional offense and have a chance. If you would have told me the defense stunk it up

Starting point is 00:17:26 When they acquired Joe Flackle like hey the defense is going to stink Outside of forcing a couple of turnovers they're going to stink I would have been like well they're not going to be able to beat the Steelers doing that They're going to have to get more stops and they're not going to have Trey Henterton If you would have just told me that stuff nine days ago I'd be like oh well At least you got Joe it's going to be a little more fun on offense But these guys were so great so dialed in so focused And Zach called a really good game

Starting point is 00:17:52 that they all deserve credit. So offense, obviously they won them the game. The defense did force the turnovers. I'm not trying to poo-poo what Jordan Bad or DJ Turner. I'm trying to think of anyone else that I should be mentioning here on defense. It was rough. It was a rough game for the defense. Logan Wilson had a nice pass breakup at one point.

Starting point is 00:18:12 I guess. Third linebacker, Logan Wilson. Yeah, we'll get to the defense. Maybe it'll be in a minute. Maybe it'll be later in the show. we got to talk about this one game as well. Let's do the right game. Let's stick with the positives.

Starting point is 00:18:26 But I want to just go back to the Steelers' DBs in this game. Was it five DPIs or four DPIs between Joey Porter and Jalen Ramsey in this game? It was at least four. It might have been a fifth. I lost track at one point. And that's in addition to T. Higgins and Jamar Chase combining for 33 targets. 33 targets for the Bengals top two receivers in this game. game, 22 combined catches, over 250, 257 and two touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:18:56 It could have been three if T didn't have the wherewithal to smartly slide down and reduce the amount of time with which the Steelers would have to answer what could have been a go-ahead touchdown for T. Higgins. In addition to that, Noah Fant four catches on his four targets in this game, including a nice catch and run, including a touchdown on a nice pick play from the Bengals. So seeing his productivity tick up a little bit, talked about Yoshi, great redemption catch on that deep ball. It was a 37-yard gain on what I believe was an alert post from Joe Flacco.

Starting point is 00:19:32 We'll talk about, again, like I said in the film episode. But let's get to the run game, James, because Chase Brown had multiple explosive runs in this game. Joe Flacco had a 12-yard run in this game on that keeper, called his own number. And generally speaking, I think you have to be pretty dang pleased. with just about every facet of this offense against a really solid Pittsburgh defense,

Starting point is 00:19:55 especially that defensive front. Managing to get the fun game going against Pittsburgh, wasn't on my bingo card. We'll get to that topic here to finish up the show coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety picks and awards than anyone else.

Starting point is 00:20:19 And man, the way this Bengals offensive line was played, And Jake, well, maybe they could be a top safety pick for Joe Flacco, from footwork to breathwork and everything in between athletes sweat, all the details. Mazda brings the same intention to how they craft every single model and you can make everyday drives feel like anything but from smooth handling to intuitive controls like our players. The Mazda sweats every detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Move and be moved. We're also brought to you today by Ruggiet, who knows that when you cross a bald eagle, standing on top of a silver baccarilla, riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex, you get confidence, pure confidence. And if you're looking for something beyond the usual pill, it's time to meet Ruggiet go long.

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Starting point is 00:22:05 bay got that confidence going boom they start they start getting in the end zone and then boom popped a few more uh right before thursday night football like that might have happened anyways you wanted to talk about the run game uh and we need to i do want to chat johnson was in the stadium speaking of Ruggie yet at halftime. But yeah, sorry. For sure. And I know you want to talk about the wrong. I just want to say one thing.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Yeah. Because a lot of time when the Bengals lose in the AFC North, it's like, oh, well, they're not built to win in the AFC North. They're not built to win. They just won a huge AFC North game and they're two and O in the division. Now, I get it. You know, there's a lot. There's a lot to say, but like, building around Jamar and T makes sense because they're that special. And I think that's why they can.

Starting point is 00:22:51 can get 33 targets from a quarterback that wasn't here 10 days ago. Right? Yeah, I was thinking about that. I was thinking about that meme, you know, like Joe Burrow behind an offensive line that doesn't exist, getting sacked and not getting the ball to Jamar. And then I was thinking, like, just put Joe Flacco behind the line, giving one and a half seconds. Because the ball came out quick tonight. And that helped make the offensive line look better. So Joe Flacco, Joe Flacco, not Joe Burrow, Joe Flacco, one and a half seconds.

Starting point is 00:23:21 and Jamar and T. And you can have an offensive performance like you had tonight. Not to take anything away from Joe Flacco, he was awesome tonight. But to your point, Jamar and T made a huge difference in this one. And no fan contributed too, but the run game was a big factor here. That run game getting going,

Starting point is 00:23:37 it was just like last week. They picked up a couple first downs in their first couple of drives. So the first quarter was a little bit better than we seen from them in the first half the last few weeks. But not much better. They still in score. They're still punting the ball away. One of which was a pretty cowardly punt for me.

Starting point is 00:23:51 midfield on fourth and fourth. Hated it. Hated it, but yes. Then they got the ball back and the running game got going. We saw explosive runs from Chase Brown. We saw Chase Brown getting contacted for the first time way downfielder, maybe a desperate arm tackle from the Steelers. And the Steelers, we talked about that defensive front. Their linebackers have had some issues.

Starting point is 00:24:15 Patrick Queen, I think, had a terrible game. There's one point where when you're watching it from the Bengals perspective, as we do because we're covering the Bengals. You're counting all the missed tackles. Demetrius Knight missed four tackles. Barrett Carter missing tackles. Geno Stone bouncing off of guys. Got guys on the defensive line.

Starting point is 00:24:32 Man, so many missed tackles for the... The Steelers actually miss more tackles than the Bengals in this game. A lot of that was Jamar. Well, at least the last time I looked at BF Charter. A lot of that was Jamar. Some of that was Chase Brown. A lot of that was Jamar in this game. But Chase Brown busted off a couple of big runs in this game.

Starting point is 00:24:50 a long of 37, averaging 9.8 yards per carry. Only 11 carries for Chase Brown in this game, but went over 100 yards for the first time in, I was just looking at it on Next Gen stats. The first time in quite a while, a career high, 101 yards after contact in Chase Brown in this game. I thought, I mean, they must be defining contact

Starting point is 00:25:12 pretty liberally, like maybe a little arm tackle because he did run through a couple of those. but what an awesome game for this offensive line to establish some confidence. Like there were a couple sacks that gave up. Jalen Rivers had a holding penalty when Patrick Green jumped to snap at one point. Okay. But when your run game averages 6.2 yards per carry, including all of Joe Flacco's kneels down,

Starting point is 00:25:35 and his 12-yard run. And Joe Flack only takes two sacks against the Steelers. Good step in the right direction for this running game. Somaget Pryans out there jukeen guys, James. It's that kind of day for the, this running game to offensive way. Yeah, I mean, Chase Brown entered tonight with a long run the other day for a season. He did it the other day, 13 yards. And then he ran for 28 yards tonight. And it's like, oh, new season high. And then he runs for the 37 yarder. And it's like, oh, my goodness, what is going

Starting point is 00:26:07 on with this ground game? And you want to talk about rerounding from a drop. I mean, his drop was like a 20-yard game that he dropped. And it derails a drive. And he rebounded in such a gigantic way. And so I always believed in Chase Brown from a talent standpoint. I think he's got it. I think he can play at a really high level. And I'm just glad that that happened now because much like the team, you need to see some success at some point.

Starting point is 00:26:34 You need to get that win. You need to get that explosive run. So you just can have some belief. And the offensive line, they deserve credit. I think the tight ends deserve credit. Yeah, actually, it's not out Drew Sample. Drew Sample had a nice game blocking, I think. That was my instinct watching the game,

Starting point is 00:26:51 and I've given him a lot of crap this year on this show. So shout out for Drew Sample, the contribution in the run game tonight. Yeah. So it's important because if you can do that, it's going to open up bigger plays for Joe Flacco in this passing game. And it will. It will if they keep running the ball consistently and effectively. Nate Tice also pointed out the Bengals had an under center non-play action play,

Starting point is 00:27:13 and that was the T. Higgins touchdown. That's just Joe Flacco, underscern. center, three-step drop, hit the back foot, get it out on time to T. Higgins, between four Steelers, defenders. Not many teams around the league. I can't remember the last time I saw the Bengals. I mean, they probably did it a couple times last year, put Joe Burrow under center on a non-play action play where he didn't hand the ball off and he just hit a quick, quick game throw. That's kind of ball Joe Flacco is playing tonight. Flacco, I'm going to say it again, how can you not be romantic after you watched what Joe Flacco did?

Starting point is 00:27:46 Tonight, I mean, what a fun game. And also great on a mic, like incredibly likable. You don't really notice these things when he's playing for other teams, but Flacco incredibly likable, that veteraniness. And I also said this after or during the game, like nothing like lived experience to make you realize the value of having a good veteran backup quarterback on your team. We'll see how this shapes the Bengals philosophies with that going forward.

Starting point is 00:28:12 That's a topic for another day, I think. Let's quickly hit the defense here before. before we get out of here, James, because, well, you certainly can be pleased with DJ Turner in this game, Jordan Battle on that interception. Show good range. DJ Turner could have also made the interception, but it was good range from Jordan Battle on that play as well. There's a long way for this defense to go. A couple times, Steelers get way behind the sticks. Aaron Rogers converting a third and 18 near the end zone for a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:28:39 Can't have that. That's just cover two, and maybe Dax not getting enough depth. And then another bust, although it could arguably not be a bus. It could just be Geno Stone being out of position on another cover two play against fourverts. Both of those plays, fourverts against cover two. It's got to be better there. There's no pass rush without Trey out there. So still a lot of concerns on that side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:29:03 But it's nice to see that at least one side that the offense with Joe Flacco took a step this week. Just so much work left to be done for Al Golden in this defense. when we did our preview said hey if this team's going to be good guess what's going to have to carry them I'm not delusional enough to buy into this defense right certainly not without Trey Hendrickson it's a big part of it

Starting point is 00:29:24 Aaron Rogers and the Steelers they face third down third and long on the first drive of the game throw it up the DK. Metcalf and that was his big play but still throw it up the DK Metcalfe. Oh another big third down one second, two second three eight point six seconds Aaron Rogers had to throw. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:39 How many is eight point six both 40-year-old quarterbacks could have ran the 40 in the time that Aaron Rogers had back there just dancing around. I mean, it was, that part's frustrating. And I think that's why, when you look at the end of the game, that's why the Bengals, that's why Zach Taylor, that's why T. Higgins was on the same page, slide. We're not going to score touchdown.

Starting point is 00:30:03 We're not going to try for the touchdown. We trust Evan more than we trust our defense. No doubt. That's a right decision 10 out of 10 times. when you're that close to the end zone. No, no doubt. I'm not saying, but like that is also a reflection of my God, they do not believe that this defense is going to stop Aaron Rogers.

Starting point is 00:30:20 I mean, and I could hear the nervousness in their voice with the seven seconds on the clock. And then when that ball went up for the Hail Mary, you know there's a chance. No doubt. And we've seen it with Rogers, which makes it even tougher. And so, yeah, this defense has a lot to figure out. DJ Turner, bright spot, loved it. outside of that, the battle interception, that singular play.

Starting point is 00:30:46 But outside of that, there was at one point in the fourth quarter, next-gen stats, Ben Baby, gave me this stat. They had 15 missed tackles for over 100 yards. Dikes. Like, it's unacceptable. Jalen Warren was never getting tackled by the first defender ever. Demetrius Knight, multiple mistackles that I noticed. Barrett Carter, same thing.

Starting point is 00:31:06 Like, it's tough. So they need to figure. it out and at least do the basic stuff. If they do that with Joe Flacco, a quarterback, force a couple of turnovers, then I think they can be a pretty good team, but this defense has a lot to figure out. There's a bunch of great tidbits

Starting point is 00:31:21 on next gen stats now that you sent me down that rabbit hole. I'm going to read a couple before we get out of here. Joe Flacco completed 28 of his passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns from a clean pocket. That's the most passing yards in a clean pocket for Flacco since week four of 2018. T.J. Watt was

Starting point is 00:31:39 held to just two pressures according to next-gen stats in this game his lowest pressure rate in a game this season 5.4% pressure rate. MIMS allowed two pressures to Watt on 25 one-on-one matchups. Nice game for Marius Mims according to next-gen stats. Last one on the other side of things here, Aaron Rogers completed 17 of his 22 passes between the numbers for 170 yards and four touchdowns. So that's not so good. But in four touchdowns. Is that all? Yeah, that's... The beginning wasn't like, like it was awful, but it wasn't like in four touchdowns. Yeah. And some of that's Gino's still getting too wide in cover two. The Bengals play more cover two tonight.

Starting point is 00:32:23 Got beat twice by four verts in cover two, not a defense that they've called a whole lot this year with Al Golden. But Golden's play calling to me still leaving something to be desired from rushing three and dropping Osai on that eight point something second touchdown to go in zero pressure in the red zone on a number. third down later in the game that leads to a conversion and a touchdown, I believe on that drive for the Steelers. Some work to do all the defense, but there's a reason we left it to the end of the show.

Starting point is 00:32:51 Super encouraging on the offensive side of the ball. Joe Flacco is elite. Go get your Joe Flacco, Bengals, White Tiger jerseys, or whatever you want is. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see the white outfield still behind James Rupin. Looking beautiful. Until next time, that's going to do it for this episode. Thank you. Go to bed.

Starting point is 00:33:10 My man. That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Today. And have a give one. I am beautiful. You sure are, buddy.

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