Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Locked On AFC Squad | Can Cincinnati Bengals Climb Out of 1-4 Hole?

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

In the debut episode of Locked On AFC Squad, the New York Jets decision to fire Robert Saleh in favor of Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rodgers was discussed by our host of AFC team representatives. Plus, which AFC teams are on upset alert for Week 6 and which team in the AFC in the bottom of their division has the best chance to make the playoffs? Join the Locked on Bengals Subtext Community: joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBengals?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL For your next listen, check out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast. Get daily insight to the best Fantasy draft strategies so you can win your league this season. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Hillsdale College All of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started. Zbiotics Go to zbiotics.com/LOCKEDONNFL to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use LOCKEDONNFL at checkout. PrizePicks Download the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. LinkedIn LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. BetterHelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month. Robinhood The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold Terms apply, for product specific disclosures visit robinhood.com/gold. Investing involves risk. Rate may change. Gold membership is offered by Robinhood Gold, LLC. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Robert Sala is out. Aaron Rogers is old and the AFC is looking a little bit like a hot mess through five weeks of the NFL season. It's time to get the squad together for Locked-on NFL-AFC squad. You are talking ball with the AFC squad. From the Chiefs to the Bills, the Ravens to the Texans and everyone else around the AFC, it's the local experts of the Locked-on podcast network bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming weekend for hard-hitting AFCs. football with our harder hitting takes. Buckle up.

It's the AFC squad and we have a seat for you. No hurt feelings allowed. Squad up. You're part of the AFC squad. What's up everyone? Welcome into the locked on NFL AFC squad. It is our debut episode here as we get a little bit of some fiery takes around the AFC.

This is supposed to be fun, laid back some banter. So sit back. Grab your favorite beverage. And more importantly, join us as we get you ready for another wild week. across the AFC. Today's show is brought to our friends over there at Price Pick. Go to Pricepix.com slash Lockdown NFL and use code all lowercase

Lockdown NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. I'm Cody Rourke. I host the Lockdown Broncos podcast joined alongside by Marcus Mosier of Lockdown Dynasty. He also covers the Cowboys as well, Lockdown Cowboys. Tony Wiggins does some work over there. Obviously locked on NFL in the second slot of the day on top of Locked on Jaguars.

Kevin Ostriker, another host of Lockdown NFL and host of the Lockdown Ravens podcast. Mike DeBate of the Lockdown Patriots podcast, Chris Clark of Lockdown Chiefs. And gentlemen, obviously it's great to see all of you here today as we debut this new style. You're going to get this every single week. Designed to be fun laid back. So hopefully you guys have your drink. People watching home have their drink. We're kicked back.

I think there's something big that happened in the AFC this week that has really nothing to do with any of our teams. But let's get it out of the way. what is going on with the New York Jets? Robert Sala can. Like to be honest with you, Jets, and Marcus, I'm going to throw this to you to start here. This kind of surprised me that Robert Sala was fired as quick as he was,

but more importantly, I think it showcases that Aaron Rogers is running the Jets. I think the timing was the surprising part. I don't think anybody was fired or surprised that Robert Sala was fired that he didn't make it to the end of the season. But this Jets team has a chance to be in first place in the AFCE, after Monday night. It's kind of shocking that they didn't even give him that chance.

But to me, that shows that Woody Johnson, the Jets owner and Aaron Rogers, who is really the Jets owner, believes that he's lost the locker room, right? It feels like that Robert Sala has lost the locker room. He's lost the team and they had no choice but to move on. And look, gentlemen, feel free to chime in, whoever, wherever, your thoughts as well. You know, Tony, Kevin, Mike, Chris, like this is, we're just going to let it all out. here. Listen, man, yeah, he probably lost the locker room, but, oh, I wonder who cost it. You know what I'm saying? You got a Hall of Famer, and the way players think, man, you know,

they're in all this dude, man. Look, Aaron Rodgers, one of the most talented people to ever play the quarterback position, right? They seen what he's done. A lot of them grew up watching him. You come in there, your coach trying to hug you on the sideline, and you're pushing them off, and then now you got to, he lost the locker room. No, you took the locker. rule problem. That's what it was. It was Game of Thrones. And you came in and you snatched it. That's, that dude, that old dude in that gown and that cave, the people that didn't take a visit. We're religious people on Game of Thrones. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, like they play the reins of Casimir. Like, that's what Robert Sala heard when he went to

his office this morning. That's exactly who Aaron Rogers was, the people that made seriously walk and go shame, shame, shame, shame. I see. Out of the building saying, shame, shame, Kevin, what do you got to say on this? For me, it's just, I love the cycle that happened on Tuesday because there were like 15 different reports of everything that went down where it was like, okay, Sala's out. But actually, Sala had decided to demote Nathaniel Hackett five minutes before he was fired. And then Aaron Rogers was blindsided by it and all cool with it. And I'm just like, okay, not everything adds up. I think everybody here knows what really went down.

And plus, to me, this is like, how does this fix the offense for the Jets? I mean, the defense was fine, Robert Sala, defensive guy. And I'm just like, what does this mean for the offense? And honestly, to me, the whole other big storyline is Devante Adams. And we've been all talking about how, okay, this is the Jets and maybe the Saints and maybe sprinkling the Ravens or the Steelers or whatever. But now it's apparently, well, this hasn't really affected the Jets interest in DeVant. And so it's like, okay, who is really running the Jets?

We all know it's Mr. Aaron Rogers. Kevin, I want to ask you, how do you think this went down? Because part of me thinks this is like Game of Thrones style, like Tony mentioned, like probably Rogers got wind that Hackett was going to be gone. So he wouldn't put a power play on Johnson said, hey, if you get rid of Hackett, I'm gone as well. I'm out of here. What do you think happened here?

Yeah, I mean, that would make sense because obviously the chain of events is usually you get rid of a coordinator. you see if you can fix it that way and then it's the head coach that maybe falls after the season or a little bit after that. But it's like we, nobody, nobody questions the relationship that Rogers and Hackett have. Everybody knows the relationship that they have. So I think to me, I would agree with you, Marcus, where it probably some level of the, I came in here to New York because I was promised X, Y, and Z.

And we know how difficult it was for the Packers to even move Aaron Rogers to the Jets and everything that they needed to get, you know, Lazzar came into, and they were a conversation at Rampo Cobb, what's that going to look like? I think it was some level of, hey, you know what, you bring in a future Hall of Fame quarterback, and you're kind of screwed without him, and you might be screwed with him now, but like, at the end of the day, he's going to get what he wants. And Woody Johnson kind of was like, all right, well, I kind of have to do this or else I don't know what the heck's going to go on. No, Mosul.

Ask me how it happened. I want you to be, I want you to be leaving your office with you. your box, right? And I'm going to say, what's wrong? And you say, he demoted me and then watch what I do. And I'm Aaron Rogers. So you coming out of your office, I'm like, what are you doing? What are you doing? I got fired. By who? By what are you? Like hell, you did. Go put your stuff back in that office and watch what I go down here and do. You ain't getting fired. And then I want you to look out there window in 15 minutes. And I want you to see who bopped into their car with security around. You ain't going nowhere. That's how it went down. So, Tony, I got to ask you, do you think there's

any chance that this works, right? Like the Jets are, they band together as a locker room and they suddenly start to play better. Is there any chance that now that the bad guy is gone, things start to get better over New York? Temporarily, and I'll tell you why, because it always happens like that. But when you remember when, you all remember, Chris, you remember this, you remember where Romeo Cornell took over and then all of a sudden the Chiefs won some games and then they put him in head coach. And what happened?

They meet the Packers. Yeah, but then the next year, what happened after day? Oh, yeah, horrible. Yeah, so that little quick switch, it kind of always works, right? But see, the thing, the reason why I know it won't work is because Aaron Rogers won't stand in front of anybody answer tough questions. And when you're the facto leader, that's part of leadership. You can't just go out there, cause all this mutiny and then have everybody on your side. But then when things get tough and they will, when somebody like Baltimore or Kansas City start smacking them around on the field, now what's going to happen?

okay, boss, it's going to be somebody in there that was very, very loyal to Robert Sala, and they're going to go on the defensive side. The interim. Oldbridge. That's right. And they're going to go, okay, coach, what we do now. And he ain't going to be nowhere. He's going to be on McAfee.

That's where he's going to be because people that lead de facto, they always pull these strings behind the scenes, but they don't want to answer tough questions in front of people. And the New York media is really, really tough. Can you remember how that worked with Antonio Pierce last year in Las Vegas, how everything was sweet with him? And, you know, they were playing for him and everything was great. And now in Las Vegas this year, there's the quarterback drama. There's the Devante Adams drama. So, way, you're spot on right there.

And again, is that all Antonio Pierce's fault? No. But like, it's that, okay, it's the initial new coach comes in. Oh, is this the guy that can be the guy? And then all of a sudden, sometimes it works and then sometimes it doesn't. Yeah, Mike, I mean, Mike, you're a guy who covers the Patriots. You see the Jets two times per season. I mean, your thoughts on this and really how it impacts, obviously, the Patriots

who now making a change of quarterback themselves. Like the news got stole, like the Jets came out and stole the Patriots. I mean, obviously the Patriots buzz here on obviously Tuesday. Yeah, there's nothing Patriots fans love more than seeing a Jets implosion. And anytime you can steal headlines from Gang Green down there just south on 95, that fans are going to love it. Look, bottom line, there's a lot to lament in Patriots. nation. So nobody's laughing at anybody right now in a Patriots uniform. They got their own

problems and plenty of them. But I think it's interesting. You look and you guys have made such great points about Aaron Rogers now kind of taking the reins and really kind of being that alpha in the coach's room in on the field and really kind of taking that mantra with the New York Jets from a New England Patriots standpoint. This is interesting because you're looking at a team now that all of a sudden could be on the verge of imploding, maybe not. not who knows. I mean, there's a lot that could go wrong. There's a lot that could go right on this. But I think the white elephant in the room is everybody's wondering who's waiting in the wings. We know Jeff Obrick is going to get his opportunity, but there's a guy right now that knows that division very well who is looking for a job next year.

And a lot of people are wondering if those types of feelings, those, that animosity that exists right now at one Patriots place between the former own and between the former coach, Bill Belich. and that owner, Robert Kraft, is bad enough for Bill Belichick to go back to Gain Green and the Jets. I don't see it happening, but you never know. Stranger Things have happened. The WWE could not have scripted this any better. I mean, I can see Bill Belichick coming out on halftime when the Jets can't make a third down stop. The glass breaks. You got Jim Ross yelling, by God, that's Bill Belichick's music.

And he comes out and saves that defense. I'm telling you, Triple H definitely, call me, I could script this out. be well, guys. No, and look, obviously, the AFC right now, there's a lot of ups and downs. And speaking of that, some things can change. We've seen it's been a week-to-week league so far through five weeks of the season. As we all go into week six, which teams in the AFC should be on upset alert? You're going to get that much more here on this debut episode of Locked-on NFL AFC squad. Today's Locked on AFC squad is brought to you by our friends over there at Zbiotics. Z-biotics, pre-alcohol probiotic is the world's

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And look, there's a wide slate of NFL games happening this weekend. And game time is the perfect place for you to go in and get the best prices, best deals on NFL tickets. And on top of that, game time, they just launched a brand new feature called Game Time Picks that makes getting tickets to your favorite live events even easier. Game Time Picks, they filter out the fluff to show you only the incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste your time searching through thousands of tickets. If you want to go to one of the bigger games this week on the AFC side of things, game time will give you the best price guarantee inside the app so you can go even deals up to the last minute inside the app. Obviously, GameTime picks is something we touched on here, but I like the seat view feature inside of the Game Time app because I want to know exactly what the vantage point of the field is going to be like when I'm going to a football game. Or if I'm going to an MLB postseason game, you're going to see the seat view inside the app of Game Time.

That's one thing. That's one benefit that Game Time brings to the table. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code, locked on NFL for $20 off. Download game time today. What time is it? Game time. As we jump into the deeper action on today's episode of the Locked-on NFL AFC squad rule highlight which teams in the AFC might be on upset alert, but also highlighting some key performances from week five around the national football league. I'm going to throw this first and foremost here to Kevin. Kevin, obviously, the Ravens, a team that you cover. They were in a little bit of dire straits going to. into that fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, they find a way to claw back in it and win it in overtime. What's the vibe right now for the Ravens is they're certainly hitting their

mark a little bit after a little bit of a slow start. I'd say probably at one point, the best one and two team in the NFL at one point. Now they're getting some momentum here. What's it like in Baltimore right now? Yeah, you know, it's good. Wigwin, let me talk about him yesterday. I'm locked out NFL. So I'm going to talk about them right here on, on AFC squad. Look, I mean, a game like that, I'm still kind of coming down from that game emotionally, just with everything that happened. It's back and forth, back and forth. People are feeling pretty good in Baltimore here, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, in the secondary, they have had their fair share of issues, miscommunications,

and just poor play in general, Marcus Williams, who they signed to a huge deal a couple off seasons ago from New Orleans as graded out as one of the worst safeties in the league so far, and that's been a pretty big detriment to them. but Lamar Jackson's playing like an MVP again and ranked in the top five in plenty of categories. And I think the conversation around Baltimore, and look, especially with Jane Daniels coming to town in week six, obviously no one had that match up circled on the calendar when the schedule came out. It's kind of like, oh, okay, the Ravens will kind of stop that match. Is this the upset alert of the week?

I'm not going that far personally. I'm sure maybe other people will. But I think the things it doesn't. Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. Could the Ravens cover Cody and I right now if we were out on the field? Because that's my biggest concern. Hey, you're going for 200 in the touchdown, man.

That's the thing. It's like, Washington can turn this into a shootout. Yeah. And if it gets into one of those games, you just never know. Yeah, I think the thing that encouraged me, though, is in Lamar's done it before. This is not new. But the fact that they were in negative game script this time and they were able to keep it close, where Cincinnati was scoring on every single possession,

Lamar matched them. I mean, that was pure cinema quarter. back play between Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow in week five. But the thing that I like about what the Ravens are doing this year, particularly on offense is one, they've figured out how to use Derek Henry against the chiefs. Chris, I know we had talked about it beforehand. A little bit of weird usage with them running them five carries on the first drive

and then not really running them again after that. But they've figured out that. And the offense in the past guys, we know in Baltimore, they just run through the tight ends. So it was kind of Lamar throwing it up and Marky Andrews it down the time. and let me chuck this thing up and see if he can go get it. But now Lamar spreading the ball around. So I expected to be a shootout, Marcus.

I don't think this is going to be a very defensive battle. I think Baltimore has better defensive personnel, but they're not showing that they can use that personnel effectively through five weeks so far. But man, this Baltimore team, I'd say overall, the vibes are good heading into a game against the commanders. There was a week five upset, so to speak, a little bit. The Houston Texans obviously beating the Buffalo Bills. Mike, the New England Patriots, making a chance. change the quarterback, Drake May is going to get to start for them.

Now they play CJ Stroud and the Texans. This game right here also has it as potential upset alert here. Obviously, according to our friends over there at Fanduals Sportsbook, the Patriots are seven point underdogs in this game at home. So, I mean, what are we feeling here, gentlemen? All of you chiming in, like, is this the upset game of the week? Mike, we'll start off with you. I think this is going to be a tough one to get an upset on,

if I'm very honest with you. The New England Patriots right now, we're going to be feeling a little bit of extra juice with Drake May in the lineup. And look, the Patriots really have nowhere to go but up when it comes to their offense. You look at what they did against the Miami Dolphins, the team that really was reeling defensively coming in. They were without their top pass rusher and Jalen Phillips. And that defense looking for a little bit of an identity. Patriots managed only 148 passing yards.

They converted only four of 13 third downs. That's not going to cut it. It's just not sustainable. And that's why you're seeing Drake May in the lineup against the Texans. But it's a curious time to bring him out. The Patriots offensive line is yielding a league best 48.3% pressure. And that's a lot. I mean, you talk about the team now that is generating the most pressure in the NFL.

It's the Houston Texans, 42%. Danielle Hunter, leading the league with 29 pressures. That's a lot of pressure to put on a kid like Drake May. Drake May is good with off script. He can definitely make the explosive plays. he can make the throws downfield that Patriots fans have been wanting to see. But at the end of the day, is that offensive line giving him enough time? That worries me.

And this defense right now is reeling a little bit as well. The Patriots has some off-field problems this week with Gibbons. Obviously, he will not be in the lineup this week. And you're looking at Kyle Dugger, probably still missing some time as well. It's going to be difficult for the New England Patriots to stop that Houston Texans offense. So it's going to be a lot of era of good feelings in the, Foxborough on Sunday with the red threads and the Patriots with the red throwbacks and Drake May finally getting his start but they're running in with tough Texans team I don't

see an upset coming the Patriots offensive line play like they don't like uh jacobossoe they like they like they got a hit on that man man it's like oh yeah y'all go ahead you go that way i'm gonna go this way you go ahead and knock him out the game i ain't a lot of people are saying man they were playing like they don't like dude man i i was going to say like, you know, maybe Marcus and Jacoby Brissette were best friends there for him. And he's like, hey, man, I can't be talking about my guy, Jacoby. But Mike, I wouldn't be surprised if the offensive line does look a lot better. Like, listen, Jacoby is a fine backup quarterback, but he cannot move, right?

You get a quarterback in there that is willing to escape a little bit that will stand tall in the pocket. Watch how that offensive line looks better. I actually think this is a game that the Patriots can win because Nico Collins is going to be out with the hamstring injury. This offense is just not the same without Nico. Tank Dell does not look like the same player that we saw last year. He's just not the same athlete. This Patriots defense, if they can keep this game around 17, 20 points, you just never

know. And with this being Drake May's first game, this is probably a good time to catch a team like the Texans before there's more tape on them. That's a good point. Don't forget, though, that Stefan Diggs knows this team very well, knows that defense very well. This is a guy that torches them on a regular basis. when he played for the Buffalo Bill.

So that's still a concern. I understand that definitely, you know, not having Nico in the lineup is going to hear that Texan's offense. But there are other circumstances and other factors to consider. But I do think you're absolutely right when it comes to the masking of the problems on the offensive line. Drake May much better equipped to do that than Jacoby Brissette without question. Chris. They want to rush with four, too.

Yeah. They paid DeNeil Hunter a lot of money and Will Anderson. They drafted him and used a lot of capital. to go up and get him. This is just not a good spot because I don't think they're going to blitz. That means they're going to cover. And when they cover sideline to sideline in that D'emico Ryan's defense, that's going to give him more things he has to look at.

And that's going to make him wait. And if you wait with the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson, with a bad offensive line, that is a recipe for destruction. They should give the ball to Ramandre Stevens and 35 times to make it easy on their quarterback. Hopefully no fumbles there, by the way. Cody, can I give you another game that I think is going to be an upset? Yeah. I was going to ask Chris if the by week was going to get the Chiefs this week.

That's the only time. That's the chance that I'm stopping the Chiefs, right? I want your guys' thoughts on the Sunday night football game between the Bengals and the Giants. Everybody's talking about how good this Bengals team is despite being one and four. And I think you look at this game against the Giants and you just pencil it in on the road as a win for Cincinnati. I don't see that. I see a defense with the Giants that can get pressure with the front four, drop seven in coverage. And then you look at this Giants offense the last two weeks.

Like they've just been dominating the time of possession. The Bengals can't get off the field. I think this is a dangerous, dangerous spot for this Bengals team. I agree. Anytime you're one and four, it's a dangerous spot. Yes. Because you know your season is like getting away from you. And they've had some games where it looked like they probably should have won some shootouts.

They're real close to not being, they'll be real close to being just like Baltimore. Let me explain it. Baltimore is the team of smiles and cries. Think about this. The throw Lamar made, he got criticized in Kansas City. Like, you don't, you know, the one he missed and then the one he made, where you're never going to, it's not sustainable. You can't win like that, right?

And then they have a lead against Dallas. And then that goes away, right? And then the other day, if they could hold the ball on a field goal, ain't nobody talking about Lamar and all of those dudes being all happy. That's two or three games that could have just flipped. the other way. But that just shows you how close things are in the NFL. The bingles, the flip side have been the victims of it, the jinks and KC that they have all the time. They always get the better. Every single week, it's like something else. You see them just hold

their head down like, we lost again. They got three games this year. They could have won each and every one of them on the last play. And they'd be the Ravens and the Ravens could be the Bengals. Yeah. They're not, though. They lost it. I mean. A crazy thing to be is you look at the Cincinnati team, and Zach Taylor has made some mistakes this year, and I think that's really what's cost them. And you get in a situation where you get gifted a fumble.

Sorry, Kevin, but that's really what that was. They got gifted the ball in overtime, and you hand the ball off. You take the ball out of your best player's hands, and don't let him even throw the ball when he's been playing lights out the entire game. It's a horrible decision on Zach Taylor's part.

And this Bengals team, I agree with you, Marcus, this could be a trap game for them, and they could be overlooking the Giants. But right now, the Bengals defense can't stop anybody, so who knows what's going to happen in that game? And Daniel Jones has played well. He played pretty well in the Cowboy game on Thursday. He was awesome against the Seahawks in Seattle in that game.

Without Malik Neighbors. Without Malik Davis, we'll be back in this game. If Daniel Jones plays an average game, they're going to put up 27 points. And I think there's Joe Burroughs been awesome. He's probably been the best quarterback in the league through five games. he's due to have an average game. And if he has an average game, there's no way the Bengals can win.

And I agree about Zach Taylor, Chris. I was shocked that the Bengals decided to run a three straight times and what was the Ravens 38 or something. I mean, Joe Burr would torch them, but the Bengals were coaching scared the entire game, especially on that sequence at the end of the first half. They didn't want to get the ball back.

They wanted to bleed that clock down to halftime. John Harbaugh was the one that called the timeout for some reason to give the ball back to the Bengals. and Zach Terrell's like, oh, all right, I'll take this. All right, okay. If you're going to give it to me, I'll take it. And then they capitalized on it. So the Bengals offense has been awesome.

Joe Burrell's been awesome, Jammar Chase, et cetera. But also that defense is just so bad. It adds up too when you're losing games like that and it's close and it's one or two plays that define it like at what point. Like the mental energy and like you have to exhaust to climb yourself out of that hole is crazy. Denver somehow did it last year at one in five. able to get to five and five. That right there, though, you ask players,

that probably drained the most energy out of them, especially and it impacted them later on down the stretch of the season. It's a challenge. Denver didn't probably expect to get to five and five or have a good season last year. They weren't expected to have a good year. Cincinnati was looked at it as a team that could be a contender this year. Yeah, if Joe Burroughs.

And Tony made this point earlier, the amount of pressure that they're going to be on the rest of the season, just to have a chance to win, and just to have a chance to get into the playoffs is going to be huge. And that could play a factor, especially this week or in any game going forward for Cincinnati. Speaking of playoffs, one thing we are going to talk about here on the debut episode of Locked-on NFL-AFC squad, which team at the bottom of their division as it stands here after week five has the best chance to make the playoffs. We'll break it down.

We'll share our thoughts here on today's episode of the show. Today's Locked-on NFL AFC squad show is brought to you by our friends over there at Fanduil. And as we all know, Fanduel is America's number one sportsbook. And NFL fans, you can start off this season with a big time return inside of the Fandual app. So when you get the hunch that's going on in the middle of a game, as you're watching, you can check out the latest stats. You can view live play by play. And you can do so much more on the same exact page where you place your bets.

You have a hunch before a game that you feel like one player is going to go off. You can go to the player prop section and you can choose over or under on passing yards, different props like rushing props, receiving props, or you can even go through in what I like to do personally. I like to go through the morning games, sometimes I like to go through the afternoon games. I just like to do a parlay where I do the pick straight up on the money line inside of the Fandual Sportsbook app.

And when you do that, you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Once again, when you place your first $5 bet, you'll get $200 and bonus bets guaranteed inside of the Fandual Sports Book. app. Make sure you check it out today. That's fanduil.com. Once again, fandual.com. As we jump on the fourth quarter of today's Lockdown NFL, AFC Squad, the debut episode on YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. We appreciate you all so much. We're going to break down what we think in terms of

the teams right now in the AFC North, AFC East, AFC South, and AFC West, which teams at the bottom of their division right now have the best chance to make the postseason? I think that this could go a multitude of ways. I look at the AFCC standings right now. I mean, on paper, there's some ugly performances from some of these teams, but everyone's within one or two games right now of that third spot inside the conference in terms of seating if the playoffs were to begin today. But right now, the teams are at the bottom of their divisions. You've got the Patriots, you got the Bengals, surprisingly, the Jags and the Raiders, which team of this group has the best chance of making the playoffs? We'll start with anybody.

Anyone that wants to, okay. Tony. Tony, take it. Take it. Take away. What do you got? It's us. It's the Jaguar. And I'm being real with this. Outside of the Buffalo game, and that was the one that was on national TV in prime time, which was, it was like the bad news, bears, right? 34-7 at halftime. All of the other games have been real, real close, and they should have won all of them. And they were not playing well. And now they go to London for two straight weeks. I know there's a joke in there somewhere, but now we've got a new stadium being built, so shut up. We ain't moving to London. But they're gone over there for two straight weeks. weeks. And they got Caleb Williams, a rookie, and Drake May now. They could be three and four in two weeks, easily, if they play the way that they played outside of the Bills game. And remember, they've done this before. They were two and seven, and they ended up making the playoffs. And then last year, they did it up. They did it the other way. They were eight and three, and they missed the playoffs. So they have been the biggest ebb and flow team and team of streaks over the last two seasons.

And I think they have a little bit of a favorable schedule. They already beat the Colts once. Just imagine they can do it again. And I think they'll beat the Titans twice. So now you talk about four wins in the division, even if they lose their next game against the Texans, who they were beating with a minute to play two weeks ago. So I do think that they have the best chance of those teams that you mentioned.

And I would say the Bengals, but the problem with the Bengals is they play in too tough a division. Tony, I want to mention really quickly on your team. Your schedule is pretty easy over the next couple of weeks. But you look at the end of that schedule and the quarterbacks they play, Will Levis, the corpse of Aaron Rogers, Garder Minchew slash Aden O'Connell, Will Levis, and then probably Joe Flacco at that point for the Colts. Like if they can just survive for the next month, get closer to 500,

they could easily go 5 and O to finish out the season. And we're right back to nine wins like we've been over the last couple of years. And I think nine wins is probably going to get you the six or seven seat in the AFC. You mean Russell Wilson is not going to be the Raiders quarterback by the trade deadline at this point? Come on. Somebody. I mean, I hope we'd ever see Russell Wilson again this year. It's setting up for it.

I mean, like if you're Devante Adams, do you actually want to go to New York now, knowing that that organization is just a little bit more dysfunctional? Look, of course, you're going to have Aaron Rogers, your boy. You're going to have Nathaniel Hackett. That team stinks. That's one of like watching that team operate. I mean, for them to do Robert Saul the way that he did with the whole report about, you know, potential security stuff, I just think the fact that everyone sees that Aaron Rogers, Nathaniel Hackett are doing terrible and going to keep their jobs.

And Robert Salo, look, he's the head coach granted that responsibility. But he's the guy who's getting the sword dug into his back in this situation. You want to go, like, Devonty is going to go there. If I'm the Raiders, I'm saying, I'm going to send him somewhere else. I think, I think, for example, Steelers might be able to give them better capital and better overall return. And if they give them Russ, not saying it's going to make a difference for the Raiders. But man, at this point, that run's going to potentially play itself out here. The crazy thing about the Jets potential trade for Devante Adams to me is you look at that situation.

And I agree with you. It's a horrible situation. I don't think that I'd want to be going into that situation. Who wants to go close here? Especially with look at what he's doing with Garrett Wilson right now. Garrett Wilson looked like he was one of the best young wide receivers in the NFL. And he can't do anything right for the Jets. That is a bad situation.

And the other situation that he was looking at trying to go to was the Saints. Do you really want to go to a Saints-led team that doesn't have Derek Carr probably for the next two weeks and is probably going to drop the next two games because of it? I mean, there's not a good situation for the Raiders. And you started talking about Pittsburgh, that's going to be a big question mark because I don't know that they have a number one wide receiver on their team with the way George Pickens was playing this past week. Adams for Pickens, there you go. Yeah, there's a perfect place for him.

There's a perfect place for him, and nobody's mentioned it. I haven't seen anybody nationally mentioned it. But if y'all saw what Kirk Cousin did the other night, even with Donnell Mooney's drops, can you imagine him in Atlanta in that dome? In that dome with Kirk doing the swag surf and all those people doing the dirty bird, and then we're being willing to throw it 40 times,

and, you know, Kirk was spread it around now. And Atlanta is Atlanta, you know, for a young man like Devonte. I have too much invested in Cal Pitts for that to happen, man. I can't have any targets taken away from Cowell Pitts. I've heard one too many times. I have to keep the targets from Cowell Pitts. Yeah, I got it, but still, you see what I'm saying.

I don't know about their cap space and I don't know about all of that stuff. I just can't imagine him and Bejohn and Pitts and Drake London and Kirk Cousins, who it would be off, it'd be crazy. It's much fun to watch all those guys. Washington. Yeah, Washington. Oh, geez. That's the one that I keep thinking about.

Sorry. I think it would be awesome to have Adams in London and Bejohn and then just see Ray Ray McLeod get 13 targets in the game. That sounds like amazing. Can't wait for that. Social media will explode. Yeah. I mean, Mike, how do you feel about this too?

I mean, the Patriots, obviously, that division right now with everything that's going out to Miami Dolphins, I still look at Miami. And it's crazy to me. They flipped from last year at this point being the number one offense, and now being dead last 32nd, Denver having one of the top defenses now after giving up 70 points to them last season. The narratives and the storylines that kind of played out. I think the Patriots will finish in my opinion. I feel like they'll finish second in the division.

I think that the Jets are going to free fall a little bit. I don't have them beating the bills on Monday night football. Are you kidding me? Like, oh, Aaron Rogers is going to come out because he got rid of Robert Solow. Well, guess what? You still have Nathaniel hacked on the sideline. Like that right there is not going to change anything. I think really it's between, if we're looking at the,

these four teams. I think you make a great point about Cincinnati. Being in the tough division that they're in, I have a hard time believing it's going to be them that can claw their way out. However, they are probably out of these four teams, probably the most dangerous one and four team or like, you know, bottom of the barrel team in their division right now. Yeah, without question. Absolutely. And I think right now with the talent they have from top to bottom, they are going to be the toughest. I do agree with Tony. I think it's the Jags that do have the best chance of being able to make the playoffs because of the road ahead and because of the talent they have on both sides of the ball.

Look, I'd love to say that Blue England Patriots have a chance to sneak in and really surprise some people, go on a run with Drake May and make this happen for the Pats and get into a playoff race. But the thing that makes me a little squeamish on that is not so much what Drake is going to do for this offense, which will look better under Drake May. It's the defensive problems that the Patriots have been having. It's the discipline problems. They were whistled for a half dozen penalties, six of which were totally avoidable last week. have got to do a better job of coaching this team, getting them disciplined.

One of the things that they did the last couple of years under Bill Belichick and that regime was play undisciplined football. We were promised that was going to be not the case this year. It continues to be. And again, I think the loss of guys like Christian Barmore, Juwan Bentley, are so great on that defense. It puts such a strain now on the offense to score points. Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I'm thinking the Patriots are going to have a tough

road to do it, even though right now the division around them, is imploding with the exception of the Buffalo Bills. Okay. So let's get into maybe as we get ready to wrap up our first installment here, the Locked-on NFL AFC squad here today, wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube. I want everyone to go through and give a prediction for the week. It doesn't have to be for the team that you cover.

It can be a widespread NFL prediction on a player you think is going to break out this week or a team performance. Let's start off with you, Chris Clark, since your chiefs are on a by week. Man, to me, I think that this is going to be a situation where you look at what the Jets do in this game or in this week. And I think that they absolutely have to come out and they have to beat the bills. I just don't see it happening.

I cannot see them playing against Josh Allen and Josh Allen having a second game as bad as he had this past week. And quite honestly, that's probably the only way the Jets could beat him. They're going to get a boost for maybe a coaching change if they really lost the locker room. But at this point, I don't think that's going to matter enough. The bills are a better team and it's not even close. and Josh Allen, I think, is probably the number two quarterback in the NFL right now, or at least has been in the league for several years now. Joe Burrow probably has a case too, but I think that Bill's team is going to beat the Jets.

And it's going to be really interesting to see what happens after that, because after firing the coach, are they going to lose even more than just the locker room to the extent that they already have? Tony, you want to share your prediction of the week? Because everybody's sitting there all quiet, like, you know, we have to chat. I'll support office or something, so I'll go. No, Trayvon Walker is going to continue to bust out, and this is not me being a homer.

This is about me stating facts. Hutchinson's great. He's great. Got the pen on his face, teams winning, leading the league and pressures. But there's this thing that he's a, Trayvon is a bust. Let me give you some numbers. The Jaguars are one and four. They play five games.

Trevon has five sacks. He had 10 sacks last year in his second year. In his last 10 games, he has nine sacks. That is not a bust. and every coach seems to mention him as being violent. He sets the edge. He's a power pass rusher. He got three sacks last week and a forced fumble and caused another sack,

and there was nothing on social media about it. Yeah, it's quite a lot. No big man award on ESPN, no breakout mention or nothing like that. Those numbers I just gave you are real. He is a victim of not being the road warrior. He's a victim of not being Hutchinson. If you really pay attention to it, verify those numbers. He has five sacks and five games.

He has nine sacks in his last 10 games and nobody's saying anything about it. And Tony, I'll point out last week the Colts played the Steelers and Braden Smith shut out T.J. Watt. I believe T.J. Watt had one of one of the most technically sound right tackles in the league had no chance because of the lack of power. Was fighting for his life. Was literally fighting for his life. given that game. Yes. So I'm glad that you mentioned that one.

I've got an AFC prediction that I want to give out here. This is going to be our last week to watch Deshaun Watson as a starting quarterback to the Cleveland Browns. A little over there is going to be over. The Browns play the Eagles this week. They are eight and a half point underdogs in that game. And Philadelphia is a disaster. And they're eight to a half point under, sorry, favorites in that one.

I think if the Browns go one and five, they're going to have to make a change. They are going to lose a locker room. If they haven't already, I think. think this is the last week we see Watson before it's I think it's going to be James but don't rule out Dorian Thompson Robinson as being the starter moving forward yeah Marcus you stole mine that was going to be like I was I was predicting like the biggest Browns loss where the noise gets so loud they can't they can't justify it anymore I know it's kind of like the sunken cost fallacy with them right now there's just playing

them when everybody knows it shouldn't be him but I'll go Ravens I'll talk about Baltimore. And I'll say, because everybody's picking the commanders to upset Baltimore. And that's been the whole thing this week. I'm going to back the Ravens because of the fact that if you are a rookie quarterback, if you are a second year quarterback, even if you're a third year quarterback, playing this Ravens defense, whatever iteration it is, Don Martindale, Mike McDonald, or we haven't really seen it with Zach Ward yet. But generally, the style of defense, the Ravens play can be a struggle for rookie quarterbacks and younger players who have not seen that defense before. And with the way Lamar Jackson's playing, I'm not

saying Jane Daniels is going to, you know, not do anything in this game. I expected to be a pretty high scoring game. But I'm going to say the Ravens win that game by at least two possessions, if not three. That'll be my bull for. Okay. Mike, what about you? What do you got? Yeah, I'm going to, I'll continue the Homer trend.

I'll stick with the Patriots. And I'll say, you know what? I did say earlier that I do believe that they're going to have difficulty beating the Houston Texans on Sunday, but they will get their first. plus 200-yard passing game from a quarterback. And yes, you did hear that correctly. It's been that dismal in New England. They have not had a 200-yard passer all season.

They will have that in Drake May. And I think most of those yards will go to DeMario Douglas, who's been criminally underused so far for the New England Patriots. That connection between May and Douglas is going to be, I think, a springboard to watch guys like Jalen Polk and Javon Baker get more looks. and maybe you can start to see some budding talent in that wide receiver room for the New England Patriots. I'm going to go with maybe, yeah. I was just going to say, just so I can go on top of what Marcus said,

that means that Amari Cooper is going to get traded to the chiefs right after this week or during this week. So I appreciate that, Marcus, you know, getting. I'm a big believer that team should not trade within the same conference. Send them to the other conference. Just do that. you know, we'll stick with that. My prediction for the week's not necessarily going to be, I think, one that's shocking. I think that the Buffalo bills are going to mollywop the New York Jets on Monday night football.

I think that it's going to be a runaway. And I also think as well, Josh Allen, even on smelling salts, is better than what Aaron Rogers and Nathaniel Hackett are going to bring to the table for them. I think Buffalo's defense is going to fly around against Rogers. He doesn't look like the same guy anymore. The fact that they're willing to invest everything to giving him power over what they're doing, like Woody Johnson came out and said, Hey, to talk to Aaron Rogers last night.

This is not the reason why I fired Robert Sala. Who are you fooling? You're not fooling us. Buffalo Bills by at least three scores, I think, on Monday night football. That's my prediction. Love it. Tony, did, Tony, did the Gumby kick in yet? You're muted.

No, I didn't realize. I was waving because Mark's screen froze for about two minutes. And I'm sitting there like, that joke ain't blinked his eyes in two minutes. What the hell he got going on? An unofficial scarring contest. I was like, walking sitting there like this the whole time. I was looking at an episode to get out or something. I started talking about Amari Cooper and Marcus just went quiet.

I just saw it. I could try to envision Amari with the cheese and just broke my brain. Well, you know, folks, we appreciate you so much for rocking with this here on the debut episode of Locked-on, AFC Squad. You also want to check out after you listen to this and watch this, the Locked-on NFL NFC squad. It was a fun conversation in our first week. Obviously, we'll all be back next week to break down the state of the AFC after week six. make sure you get a beverage join us next time as well if you missed us this first time we appreciate you so much we'll be here next week and on top of that you can check out each of these respective shows

wherever you get your podcast or available on youtube part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day