Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - The 2025 Bengals Defense is a DISASTER: Who's to Blame?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Many Bengals fans are witnessing the worst defense they have ever seen the Bengals field. Who's at blame? Whose fault is this? 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. Well, not Bengals fans. And welcome to another episode of the Locked-on Bengals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:33 your team every day. I'm Jake Liscoe. He is James Rapine, and we've been covering the Cincinnati Bengals here on Lockdown Bengals since 2016. I've been following and covering the Cincinnati Bengals much longer than that. And today that is more relevant than ever because we're going to be talking about a historically bad Bengals defense, how they got here and what needs to change. There's going to be several bits of Bengals history that are going to come up in this episode of Lockdown Bengals. As we get through the blame game as the Bengals defense is dooming. yet another season and somehow is worse so far than what we saw from this unit in

Starting point is 00:01:10 2024. And doing what they did against the Jets means there's no signs of it getting better. Because like we said in yesterday's episode, that Jets defense offense, one of the worst, if not the worst in the NFL coming in to the game. Welcome back to the everydayers who caught that postgame show. Welcome back to everyone who makes a lockdown Bengals your first listen. Like I said, we're diving into the blame game today in an episode brought to you by Fandle where new customers can bet just $5.

Starting point is 00:01:35 And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. And James, as we look at this defense and consider the role of Duke Tobin, of Zach Taylor, of Al Golden, of Luanarumo, I think we start with the top down. That's where it is for me. If we're thinking about how we got to this point, the series of mistakes, where does this start for you. Oh, I mean, it goes way back, right? I mean, you could you could take this back to Jesse Bates, you know, if you want to and go that route and say, well, you paid Logan Wilson and Jermaine Pratt. You could have just taken that money and paid Jesse Bates and you'd be much better off

Starting point is 00:02:17 for it, right? So we can go wherever. But if I had to narrow it down to like present and like why the 2025 Bengals defense stinks, why I'm not sure. Really not sure if they're tackling Jake Lisco in open space. I'm not sure, man. Like, I think that's a question at this point when I saw Demetrius night. I went back and watched him try to contain Justin Fields. And I get it. Justin Fields is athletic.

Starting point is 00:02:46 Looking like, looking like he's got two cinder blocks tied to his feet and three backpack strapped to his back. I mean, it's just ridiculously bad angle taking, which you were all over during our post game. But this 2025 Bengals defense, everyone is to blame to start, everybody. And where the front office is to blame from the jump. And we said this back in March. This is not hindsight. I think that's what's so frustrating about where they're at right now, considering where

Starting point is 00:03:16 they could be. They should be four and four and a half game back behind the Steelers. We should be talking about renewed life and optimism. And who knows what this 2025 Bengals. five Bengals team could be. And instead, because their defense is so bad. And by so bad, I mean so, so, so bad that their last in points given up, last in yards allowed, multiple other categories in the NFL where they rank last or close to it.

Starting point is 00:03:40 It's so bad, one, because the front office seemingly decided, oh, we're going to get Jamar and T done during free agency and not focus on actually adding to our team, adding to our roster. And, like, that's where it started. That's where after you bring in the new defensive coordinator, after you make the decision that you needed to move on from the Jermaine Pratt's of the world, and even though he was still on the roster, we all knew that he was gone. And it was, okay, well, what are you doing to add?

Starting point is 00:04:14 And it's the same guys. Everybody is the same. Everyone is the same unless you're a rookie or T.J. Slayton. That is unbelievable. And so that's where this starts. That's where the blame is. And I think that's Duke Tobin for sure, but that's above him. Hey, open up your purse strings a little damn bit because season ticket prices have gone up time and time and time again in the Joe Borough era.

Starting point is 00:04:37 You're adding new club suites and all these things and you're generating more money than ever. Like, yeah, of course you needed to pay Jemar and T. Did you have to do it that week when you could focus on adding to the defense and giving your new defensive coordinator some real dudes? That's where this failure really starts from a personnel standpoint. When you hone it down to this calendar year, we could go back farther. But that's my focus. That's where the problems began. It goes back farther than this year, though, right?

Starting point is 00:05:05 It goes back to their first opportunity to extend Mark Chase, their first opportunity to extend T. Higgins and the amount of money they could save by beating other teams and other receivers to the market for market resetting contracts. And instead, those numbers continued to go up. And yeah, you credit the Bengals for eventually getting those deals done. They had to. We talked about that. But they cost themselves money in the process.

Starting point is 00:05:33 And we've talked about that over the years as well, trying to save a dollar and up costing themselves $10 or $100 or whatever the analogy is that we've used in the past because they're trying to negotiate so hard. They're trying to win these negotiations. They're not willing to do guaranteed money and all these things that other modern NFL franchises are doing. but I think another reason we have to go further back is because you're talking about how bad this defense is

Starting point is 00:05:58 talking about their ranks in the NFL this year. How about in the last 25 years? For a lot of Bengals fans, for me, that's about as long as I've been paying attention to the Bengals. This goes back to the beginning of the Marvin Lewis era. If you go back to 2000, in the last 25 years, this Bengals defense is eighth worst. Out of like 800 defenses, eighth worst,

Starting point is 00:06:19 in EPA per play. There's a lot of season. and left that these numbers could change. But their eighth worst in EPA per play after playing the worst offense in the NFL in the New York Jets and looking pathetic in doing so. Their third worst since 2000 in points allowed per game. 13th worst. Since 2000, again, out of like 800 defenses over the years in yards per play,

Starting point is 00:06:45 11th worse in yards allowed per game. No matter which way you cut this, this is the worst Bengals defense. that we've seen since Marvin Lewis took over the team. There's one year where they allowed more yards per game, and that was Marvin's last year. But in all these other categories, the worst this defense has been in modern history, like post-lost 90s.

Starting point is 00:07:09 This is the worst we've seen from a defense. So like when I say we have to go back further than just this offseason, when they could have done things, you're right. They could have done things in a different way to build this defense, give Al Golden a little bit more to work with. And the decision to hire Al Golden is going to be under scrutiny for the rest of this year, assuming he's still the coach.

Starting point is 00:07:32 He is now surviving. If he survives this week, he's surviving things that Terrell Austin didn't survive in the Marvin Lewis era, one of the only in-season coordinator firings in recent Bengals history. He's not going to be fired today. Just I'll end that. Like he's scheduled to talk. We're recording this before he is, but he's scheduled to talk on Monday. And like, that's so I, not that I thought that was going to happen, but it's not going to happen.

Starting point is 00:07:57 Which isn't what I'm suggesting either, but you know, you say if just in case something unperseen happens as we record this and it stands the test of time, like this stays on the internet after other events have happened. And so giving context is good. You're right. The point is that this is a historically bad unit that had opportunities to make other moves in the offseason to give themselves a little bit more of a fighting chance that has a front office have waited until the last second on key contracts that restricted their ability to spend on that side of the ball, as you point out, that seemed to be unable to multitask in free agency this off season. And then you throw in the draft and some of the draft decisions over the last few years

Starting point is 00:08:36 and all the picks spent in the top 100 over the last several drafts on the defensive side of the ball and the way that those guys haven't come together to produce a defense that works. And then you get to the point that we're at this year. So you do need to go back more than that. than just this year. Well, for sure. No doubt. No doubt. Because Jesse Bates should be a bangle, DJ Reader should be a bangle. That alone. Like if you just put those guys in, that matters. They matter. It feels different. And yet here we are. But you're right. You bring up a good point with the draft. And I think the good to certainly great teams, the true contending teams, know how to marry free agency in the draft. And the bengals talk like they do, know how to marry them.

Starting point is 00:09:19 in reality, these two couldn't be far more disconnected. What they did in the draft versus what they did in free agency or what they didn't do in free agency. So I want to share that as we continue to unravel this because it isn't it isn't just one person. It starts with the front office. They need more talent on defense and they didn't put themselves in position to get it by the decisions they made. We'll continue the conversation coming up next. I'm Cody Ward from Lockdown Brock. episode is brought to you by Peloton. Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new

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Starting point is 00:11:15 You want to back that up with adding talent. And the Bengals, they went and got T.J. Slayton, which was, a very big need having a true nose tackle fine but then they bring back b j hill and you look at this defense and i'm just going to read names how many new names do you hear here here joseph o's i t j slay slayton b jill cam taylor britt jordan baddle gino stone dj turner dx hill all the same guys miles murphy chris jenkins trey hendricksson obviously all the same guys logan wilson and and so the the one is T.J. Slayton, the one veteran, T.J. Slayton. So then you get to the draft. And with your first pick, you take a guy who's considered a project, not a instant plug-in-play going to make a ton

Starting point is 00:12:00 of impact right away type of guy. And I think we've seen that so far with Sir Mar Stewart. Debt with the ankle. It's tough. But clearly, he's trying to feel out his NFL life. then you take a linebacker with limited experience in round two and you think he's going to be an instant impact guy or you're banking on him and you give him the starting job from the jump in Demetrius Knight Jr. And so who did you pass on? Well, Jihad Campbell was considered a plug-and-play guy, a defensive playmaker, a potential game changer, someone that you could build around defensively. And I don't know what their medical set on him. All I know is is we talked about him plenty. And he was available in round one.

Starting point is 00:12:40 at round two. We've talked about Tate Radley-Jaton. He was available in round two. Like the instant impact, by the way, he's a really, really good. He's like 12th in run blocking, according to PFF. He's been a really good run-blocker as a rookie. You needed instant impact players, and it didn't have to be those guys. But with the way your free agency went, you needed guys that would be plug-and-play impact playmakers.

Starting point is 00:13:02 And their draft strategy did not align with that. And I think that's where it is. It's like, if you're going to do one thing and free agency, sit on your hands, well, then you better get instant impact. And if you're going to be aggressive in free agency, well, then, yeah, you can take some swings on some developmental guys that don't have to play right away. All of their rookies have to play right away. And none of them really, I mean, you could say Dylan Fairchild, I guess, to a degree,

Starting point is 00:13:25 but none of them are truly delivering the way you would want a starter to deliver on defense, especially. Well, and part of that is just, like you said, if you go into the draft and you need these guys to be instant impact, that's putting yourself in a hard place. in the first place. Rookies in the NFL have a learning curve at just about every position and the positions where they are relying on guys to start,

Starting point is 00:13:49 Shamar Stewart, Demetriusite, Dylan Fairchild, Barrett Carter, Jane LaVerve, all starting or in significant roles if Shamar Stewart isn't technically out there for the first snap of the game. Those are positions where it's hard to get that instant impact. It's hard to hit the ground running at those spots.

Starting point is 00:14:07 And sometimes you see guys do it, Carson's Westinger in Cleveland is doing it. Jehagg Campbell's doing it, a linebacker. There are guys doing it. Tate Ratlidge, you reference him. I think Donald Fairchild's been okay and has had plenty of nice moments, but he's a rookie. Looks like a rookie, right?

Starting point is 00:14:21 But it goes beyond this year as you're naming the guys currently playing significant snaps on this Bengals defense. There was a changeover at some point where the Bengals realized, you know, after drafting Joe Burrow T. Higgins, Jemar Chase, that, hey, we need to, probably get younger on defense and cheaper. And we need to make sure we have guys performing on rookie deals. And then they spend how many consecutive picks on the defensive side of the ball? Dax Hill, Cam Taylor, Britt, Zach Carter, Miles Murphy, DJ Turner, Jordan Battle. So six straight

Starting point is 00:14:56 picks in 22 and 23 in the top 100 on defensive players. Zach Carter no longer on the team, Cam Taylor Britt on and off the bench this year. Miles Murphy hasn't developed. DJ Turner, them for that one. He's had a good year this year. Jordan Battle still riding a roller coaster. Dax Hill was asked to play three different positions in the last four years. It didn't get on the field in that first year after being their first round pick, which is what led us to talking about getting first round players that can get onto the field as rookies. So Dax Hill has had a up and down developmental track and this year has had his struggles, despite looking like an NFL level athlete,

Starting point is 00:15:40 looks like he can play in the NFL compared to some of these other guys. And Zach Harder not on the team, I don't know if I already said that one. So that's six straight picks on the defensive side of the ball, and you got one guy that you feel particularly good about and a second that you feel reasonable about. You go to 2024, they spend a second round pick on Chris Jenkins, a third round pick on McKinley Jackson. McKinley Jackson can't get active this year.

Starting point is 00:16:03 Chris Jenkins has not taken a step as a pass rusher. more top 100 picks on the defensive side of the ball. We're up to eight in the last four years on a defense that hasn't seen development. You add to that this year, the Shamar Stewart-Demetrius Knight, you're up to 10 picks in the top 100 in the last four years, Barrett Carter at 119 in 2025, and the track record of drafting defensive players in the last four years for this team, just absolutely futile.

Starting point is 00:16:31 You can go back a little bit further than that if you want. Joseph Osai is still on the team from 2021. had a lot of hopes for him throughout that rookie contract, had some injuries that maybe hampered his development, but never really took that next step. Cam Sampo was a fine player on that rookie contract, got hurt. Tyler Shelvin didn't make it very long on the team. They haven't been able to find any cornerstone pieces

Starting point is 00:16:58 on the defensive side of the ball in the draft, almost at all in the draft at any position, but especially on the defensive side of the ball where there are all these players that they've tried to make future quarterstones that haven't developed haven't worked out so whether that is talent identification and acquisition in the draft whether that's development plan whether that's a chasm between the front office and the defensive staff whatever the reason is I don't see how you separate this from Duke Tobin we

Starting point is 00:17:28 talked about ownership's role in it but the drafting has certainly not been good enough from this team over the last four years, which leaves you in such a talent deficit, development deficit on that side of the ball. And here's what sucks is, and Duke deserves blame. I'm not defending Duke, but I don't know whose guy is who. Like, and you know it as well as I do that draft wise on draft day or when they're having those draft debates. Like it doesn't just go, all right, well, Duke make the decision.

Starting point is 00:17:57 These coaches have input. Like I know specific players that this coach really loved and that was it. You go get them. And that's what's really tough is like the whole process is you have to question it top the bottom. Because really what's the last guy? Like Amarious Mims, like I get it. But like last dude, like the Jamar Sewell, you couldn't get it wrong. They went with Jamar and they nailed it.

Starting point is 00:18:25 Burrow really straightforward, really easy. T falls into their lap. I think that was lucky that he fell there. But like, you look at it and it's really since 2020 after the first round on offense. And since 2021 period on defense, it's been brutal. Can you imagine saying we're going to take Christian or pass on Christian Barmore for Jackson and Carmen? Because that's what the Bengals were going to do if they couldn't trade down. They would have just taken Jackson Carmen.

Starting point is 00:19:00 Like that there's there's no planet where that's acceptable in my mind just to fast forward to now there's no planet where taking demetrius night with the 49th overall pick should have been acceptable none and i don't care i don't care how much they liked him or how much they studied him and did all those things like when i found out that they were making that pick and it was before the pick was made started to write the article and i was like what the are they doing like if linebacker is such a need that you feel this way, go get one, go pay for one, go pay for a proven one, and not a guy who's really searching right now. It's just, it's so frustrating because you could see this coming from a mile away and no one needed them to be good. You just needed to be good enough to not let the Jets run the ball in the fourth quarter down 14. And they're not good enough to do that, which is unbelievably bad.

Starting point is 00:19:52 Yeah, and maybe those guys eventually work out, right? But recent, we can't write the, you need them to win now. You're supposed to be in win now mode. No doubt. But I just throw that out there. Like maybe some of these guys eventually developed. The other part of this is they haven't developed anyone, really. So, you know, how much hope can you really have? We'll continue the conversation. I want to get into why it's difficult to discuss the idea of replacing Duke Tobin or adjusting his role in any way. We don't really have a precedent for that in the Bengals' entire history. And we obviously have to get to Zach Taylor as well coming up next. Let's be real, making excuses doesn't solve anything. The Bengals know that better than anyone right now. We've all heard those excuses before. It's just stress.

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Starting point is 00:23:14 what would it take for the Bengals to think about Duke Tobin's role, we don't really have an answer. The history of the Bengals' general manager job or de facto general manager job is Paul Brown, Mike Brown, Duke Tobe. Duke, Tobin hired in 1999 to be the director of player personnel. Before him, it was just Mike Brown for the 90s. Before him, it was Paul Brown from the inception of the team until 1990.

Starting point is 00:23:42 So while you can look at their recent draft history that we just talked about, or look at the way that they've put the team together, and some of that goes to ownership, right, in the way that they're structuring contracts or willing to structure contracts or how much money they're willing to spend you can look at where they've gotten on defense to be literally one of the worst defenses we have seen from the Bengals in the last 25 years, the worst defense of the last 25 years.

Starting point is 00:24:10 The worst defense of the Duke Tobin era. And you can point to all of that. And the offense suddenly working under Joe Flacco, not mattering, just like last year, right? this week feels so much like all those games last year. And despite all of that, you can say, well, we don't know if the Bengals' ownership is thinking about Duke Tobin's job at all. If they're thinking about their player personnel department at all, they're talking about changing any of their processes or expanding or taking the coaches out of that process.

Starting point is 00:24:47 We have no idea what it would take for them to consider those changes because they've never done it. but you would think that two years of this, and it getting worse, would start to push them in that direction. But again, we just have no precedent to know what their threshold is for this kind of dysfunction on that side of the ball or any side of the ball. Yeah, it's, I don't think they're thinking that, but I don't know that. I don't think they're thinking that.

Starting point is 00:25:16 I think they told you that their picks are better than they think that they were performing. And so they go get a new coach in here. And Zach's like, oh, well, this is going to be it. And so I don't think it's fall guy necessarily because I think the coaches do have some impact here. But I think the hot seat would be Zach and would start from there because now they're paying Al Golden for three years and all these other assistance for two plus years. And Zach has a year left on his day after this year. Like that's where the microscope is.

Starting point is 00:25:53 Now, I will say this, this offseason, we were really loud. And by we, I don't mean just you and me. I mean, the entire Bengals community was really loud about what the hell are they doing in the draft. And we saw the path with Shamar Stewart ahead of time. And I've never really seen a fan base react the way they did after Shamar gets picked, like on the elevator. Guy says, anybody but Shamar Stewart two hours before they take Shabar Stewart. Like, that's just wild. I've never experienced that.

Starting point is 00:26:24 And yet that's how the fan base was looking at it. But then round two, you know, Demetrius Knight. Like the Bengals are very aware of how everybody was talking about that pick. It wasn't just me going to everyone in the media. Like media members that are credentialed like in that room, hate when it gets brought up because I lose it every time. Because I still can't believe it. I still can't believe that they went with that. But my point here is you could kind of read between the lines and notice.

Starting point is 00:26:52 that people were putting a bit more on Duke and saying, ah, well, you know, Duke is, is running it. Duke is this and Duke is. And so what I wonder. That's why Duke gets paid to make those hard decisions. Those were, that was a quote that we heard so much, I think. And so that, that is where I wonder has ownership. And it's just really hard to gauge because they've done, they've done so many things differently. trading for Joe Flacco is something they would like sounds ridiculous on on many levels to

Starting point is 00:27:23 to them on paper based on their history and yet they did it and and there's examples of that like i just i don't want to fully dismiss it because i do think that one like last year i think zach taylor seat was much hotter than people realized especially after that steeler's game and it wasn't just awa or not al lou like i do think it was hotter then but is there is there enough now where there was the Duke, not finger pointing, but the, hey, Duke makes those calls, picks a linebacker, that's his age. Like, does that, I'm so mean. I'm so mean.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Who wins in a fort? All right, I'll stop. But I just, I wonder if that changes the conversation at least a little bit because of the talk after the draft. That really did seem unique. And it kind of gets lost in the shuffle, but you and I, certainly behind the scenes, made note of it. And now I think it's worth bringing up because it did feel like that there was some real debates in that draft room. And it was defaulted to a certain way.

Starting point is 00:28:27 And it's like, hey, not my pick, not my pick. And they didn't come out and say that. I'm not saying that. On record or off record. It's not like someone called me and said through Duke under the bus. That's not what I'm saying. But on record, it just felt like he was brought up more than we're used to hearing. That's all.

Starting point is 00:28:43 And then there are new titles for a bunch of guys this off season, like a little bit. bit of that restructuring for some of the some of the lieutenants if duke is the general some of the top lieutenants getting different roles assistant GM rules etc etc it's it's just you know we'll see how it plays out the the challenging thing to me is just like people ask these questions all the time right hey do you think they're thinking about duke and it's just so hard to answer those questions because there's like I said literally no precedent for the Bengals to make a change or a real significant change at that spot. It's been over 25 years. The last thing that we have to get to here, James, and maybe this bleeds into the next couple of weeks, certainly the rest of the

Starting point is 00:29:33 season, is Zach Taylor's role in all of this. Is Al Golden was Zach Taylor's guy and we talked about it when they fired the coordinators, usually when that happens, it's kind of the last chance for the head coach. The thing that makes it tricky is, again, since they traded for Joe Flacco, the Bengals were fifth in yards per game, ninth in yards per play, third in rushing yards per play, fourth and first downs per game, second and total EPA, third in EPA per play, fourth in points per game. And that features games against the Jets and the Steelers, two of the worst defenses in the NFL, but the offense, since they got Zach Taylor functional quarterback, and Joe Flacco before the Bengals traded for him was not seen as a functional quarterback in Cleveland.

Starting point is 00:30:15 With Jake Browning, this offense was just defunct. But suddenly they have one of the better rushing games in the NFL, some of that a product of the opponents they face. But the offense has largely done his job for the last couple of weeks at least. Against Green Bay, it took a little bit of time for them to get going. Second half was pretty good for the offense. But Zach is the head coach, not the offensive coordinator. delegates a lot of those defensive responsibilities,

Starting point is 00:30:40 but that defense ultimately traces back to Zach as well, and so do the coaching hires and all the things that land you in the spot, which is why at the beginning when I was like, where does this start for you? And you said, it's everyone. You're right. It is everyone. And that includes Zach.

Starting point is 00:30:56 Yep. And Zach needed to get this defensive coordinator hire, right? Zach needed to win. Like, let's just say Zach wanted, let's just say Zach wanted Jahad Campbell. 17th overall. And I don't think that's the case. But let's just say, well, win the argument.

Starting point is 00:31:14 Like, if that's what it comes down to and you feel like you need a real playmaker on defense and you don't have one and they weren't willing to get you one in free agency. Like, my man, you got to win the argument somehow. You got to feel good about it. And by the way, I don't think that was the case. I think that the staff was in on Shamar as well. And Shamar may end up being really good, by the way. I think he's, again, it's just tough to put these guys in. and the win now mindset that they're supposed to be in as rookies.

Starting point is 00:31:40 And so, yeah, Zach, if Zach needs to be on defense this week to fix the defense, well, then that's where he needs to be. Like, it's that simple. Like, you can't just be offense and then Al Golden is the defensive head coach. Like, yeah, I get it. And that's basically how it was with Lou. And I think that was the plan with Al. But you're the head coach.

Starting point is 00:32:04 And that's what I said last year when we were talking about, Oh, well, Lou, should they make these changes? And I was like, well, it can't start with there. Like, you need to reassess Zach and make sure that he's the right guy and go from there. And that's where I think people are with Duke. It's like, it can't start with Zach. It needs to start with Duke. And that's fine.

Starting point is 00:32:24 But regardless, is Zach the guy? Regardless of what Joe Burrow thinks, that conversation is certainly going to be had behind the scenes, especially if they fall to three and sex. I'm not sure anything would happen in season, but that's just a hell of a loss, man. I mean, we're 24 hours after it, and I'm still like, I cannot believe they lost that game. When you consider how bad the Jets have been on offense, that performance just gets worse and worse and worse on defense in so many ways. They weren't going to start Justin Fields, and he threw six for six. He completed 65% of his passes. Like, it's just unbelievable.

Starting point is 00:33:04 Yeah. unbelievable. And that's why these conversations happen, right? I was ready to have these conversations when Jake Browning looks, you know, a few weeks ago, you're like, how we got to wait, see if they make a trade. You're right. We did have to wait, but the defense has gotten worse since then. How?

Starting point is 00:33:21 How? It's crazy. And that's why we are where we are. And part of this, you know, I think the one thing that we haven't really talked about in this episode, we're out of time, is ownership. But ownership isn't. Sure. What do you want, you know, like, yeah, they need to this.

Starting point is 00:33:35 spend more money and structure the contracts better and hire real GM and delegate some of those responsibilities so they can do more than one thing at once. But we said all that before. And ownership, yeah, we'll continue to try to talk about the shortcomings, especially during free agency. But they're not selling the team tomorrow. You're not going to get a new owner in there that's going to decide to revolutionize things tomorrow. They're not selling the team in the foreseeable future. So it's, you know, you can ask for them to make changes to the ways that they're in business, but that's about all you can realistically ask for from ownership of a team that's held accountable to no one but the fans.

Starting point is 00:34:13 Yeah. Yeah. I agree with you. They still need to loosen up their purse strings more and modernized. Like even basic stuff that is just simple. They should do. Hey, by the way, Jesse Bates makes you better. Shocker.

Starting point is 00:34:30 It'll be a dark day, Luana Rumo said. If they lose Jesse Bates and Bonbel and Free Agency, well which one was more valuable everyone knew it was jesse so figure out a deal like those are the things that are maddening when it comes to ownership but a lot of blame to go around and man oh man was sunday a missed opportunity because they should be a half game out in the north that's what we should be talking about right now and that's where i should i think uh ending the show they shoulda coulda woulda didn't let them off the hook and now we're talking about potentially a complete tear down because this defense can't stop jake lisco to james rippine in the open field baby we will

Starting point is 00:35:04 hey we route them up now it's out them up now it's it's two years of this is trending in the wrong direction too and and the frustration and and the decrepit performances from this defense just piling up I don't know how you can continue to tolerate it I don't know how they continue to tolerate it as as bad it as this for us like we're not making those decisions and having to live with it we're just watching them make those decisions and having to live You know that that clip of Joe Burrow when he's watching the chiefs just get crushed in week 18 last year and they need the chiefs to win to get to the playoffs. And he's like, there's nothing I can do about it.

Starting point is 00:35:42 Yep. Just got to sit here and watch. That's all of us. Just got to sit here and watch. We will dive into the film. We're out of order this week if you've been with us all season. So we will dive into the film of this game. I don't know what we're going to see.

Starting point is 00:35:57 That's any different from bad geometry. But boy, it's going to be tough. We'll also talk about what's going well in the run game and the last couple of drives of the game as well. Some of the answers of Bengals' offense still needs to find in those clutch moments. Again, hard to blame the offense after they score 38 points. But that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening and have a good one.

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