Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - This edition of Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens is one of the most important regular season games of the Joe Burrow era

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

For many obvious reasons, it is critical for the Cincinnati Bengals to win their first AFC North game of 2024 against the Baltimore Ravens. The guys break down the obvious importance of the game before diving into how the offense may need to put the team on its back this week, and what we can expect from a struggling defense that may get some trench reinforcements this week.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsFor 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!PrizePicksGo to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code lockedonmlb 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.GametimeDownload 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.FanDuelNow through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.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.

For the first AFC North game for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024, this game is as important as any regular season game I can remember in the Joe Burrow era. Let's dive it. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Lisco. He's your host, James Rapine.

We are part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. We're covering your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast. Welcome back to the everydayers and shout out to those of you who make us your first listen. We appreciate those regular listening habits so very much. And today we're going to get into why this game is so important for the Cincinnati Bengals, beyond the obvious. Maybe there's nothing that's not obvious. It's very obvious.

This game is as important as it gets for a week five NFL game for this team. Talk about the paths to victory for the Bengals in this game, what they must do to win as well. This episode brought to you by Fandall where you can place a $5 bet to get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit fandle.com to get started. And James, can you think of a game, a regular season game in the Joe Burrow era that compared significantly, compared in significance, I mean, to this game for the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5? Not this early. And I think that's the importance is, and we can go through games if you want.

There's been a lot of important games in the Joeboro era, but not this early because this, put it like this. If the bills had beat the Ravens the other night and they didn't come close, we're talking about an elimination game here at Paycourt Stadium. And I know it's not mathematically that way, but one in four is really tough to dig out of. it's it's really tough and you could play really really good football and be four and five and look up and be like man we've been playing great and we've won three out of our last four and you're still under 500 it's just it's a tough hole to dig out of and and they put themselves in this position by laying an egg against new england by not getting a stop against Washington and coming up a couple plays short on the road of kansas city like we know how they

got here. And so to dig out of it, it can't be to go deeper into the hole. And that's what you do if you fall to one and four. As good as it felt for this team, I think, to get a win. I think they know that. And that would be the vibe here at Paycor Stadium over the past couple of days that I've been here in the locker room and around the players is just seeing how dialed in they and I think they know that. They might not say it's an elimination game, certainly with a mic in front of their face, or even no player said that to me, to be clear.

But I think they know it. Like deep down, you know how unlikely it would be. Now, if they fall to one in four, you know what, athletes bounce back and in their minds, they're going to find a way to dig out of it too. Like, that's part of being an NFL player. And so I get that.

But I also think that they know the significance that this would mean, that this could help, turn around a season that started awful, and it doesn't have to be awful. And in the path to it, not being a disappointment, not being a letdown, it started. Small start with a winning Carolina, it's got to continue with a win over the reigning MVP, Derek Henry. And there's a comma there, reigning MVP, Lamar Jackson, comma, Derek Henry, and the Baltimore Ravens.

Yeah, it's a difficult thing to imagine to be one in four and to make the playoffs from that spot. You got 17 games in the season, right? So they could win out. And even if they finished the season on whatever kind of winning streak that would be, that's likely not enough for the kind of situation we thought they would be in at the beginning of the season. When we're talking about competing for a one seed, right? And that involves winning out and winning all the games you're supposed to win and even if their games you're not supposed to win. That's what happens when you lose your first three games, even if they're by close margins, a couple of those games, you really should have won based on preseason expectations,

based on your own expectations for the team. If not all of those games, you feel like the Bengals should have won. At some point, whether it's during the game, you feel like they should have won it or going into the game, you think they should take care of business this week, including two home games, can they get a home win? They're only win this year. I know they've only won one game, but they're only win this year on the road. and those home games dry up.

They have won fewer home game this year because of the way the 17 game schedule goes back and forth. So after this game against Baltimore, it's five home games, seven road games to finish up the season, including one West Coast trip, and that's their only big travel of the year in week 11 to Los Angeles. But the challenge to get to where you want to be

if you drop this game gets that much bigger. It's an AFC North game. You're starting 0 in the division if you drop the game versus 1 in O in the division, which gives you a chance to claw back into things because Baltimore would also be two and three if the Bengals win the game. And I think the betting markets and all the advanced stats are pretty right about this. Baltimore is probably still the favorite at this point to win the AFC North. The Bengals win this game.

Maybe they change that math, right? Depending on the way it looks, especially. And so big opportunity this week to write the first. the ship to avoid that hole and avoid a nearly unprecedented mountain decline. Like, it's not impossible that they lose this game and still finish the season they want, the way they want to finish the season. It just gets that much harder when you create the space between you and the Baltimore Ravens, who we still see as the chief competition to the Bengals and the division, you drop to,

what, 0 in three in the conference with losses to New England, Kansas City, and if they would lose this week. So the conference record would be bad. The division record would be bad. And the one in four record, most important of all, would be a very, very big challenge to overcome. And they would really have, they already really have no margin for error. They would need help most likely at that point to get to where they want to go in the postseason. Well, look, they were one in three last year in what they do.

They won four straight. And it felt much different, right? After that, they go to Tennessee, they get clobbered. They fall to one in three. It's Tennessee on a short week. after somehow winning that Monday night game with Joe Burrow, not able to move. And then you win four straight,

and it felt like the Bengals are getting in gear. What we're saying here, ladies and gentlemen, not that the season is on the brink one way or another on Sunday, because you're right mathematically, they would still be around. But if you're going to make a run, now is when it starts. The good teams, the great teams,

and last year they were flawed, but they were really good. during that four-week stretch, right? And this is when they need to start making their push. To give themselves a little bit of margin for error, at some point they are going to stub their toe again. It's part of life. Even in that stretch when they were really good last year,

they played a really good game against Houston, and they still lost because there was a mistake, right? And so even when things are going well, that's why the margin for error is so important. And, well, that's stubbing your toe. It's a perfect example. is you can't, because it's easy to play the schedule game and be like, oh, well, then they can win this game and this game and this game. And now, now suddenly they dig themselves out a one in four hole. But there's always that matchup, that game that you're not expecting. And then you're in it. And it's a dog fight. Washington. Washington. How many people, I thought they were going to be Washington. I would probably pick them to beat Washington if they were playing them again this Sunday. But they didn't. Obviously, the whole world thought they were going to beat New England. So you, you have. have to start winning games. The Ravens are the next opponent. And I think, Jake, what we should do now.

Obviously, we know how important it is. How do they do it? The how? What is the path to victory? The Ravens are beatable. Marvin Lewis and the Raiders beat them. So how can the Bengals do it? We'll discuss that coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by prize picks. Prize picks is the app you need to download right now. You can now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. So what you do with price picks is you say, I think Joe Bro is going to throw for more than the prize picks projections for passing yards. And you can combine that with, oh, I think that Derek Henry is going to run for more than his prize picks projection for rushing yards. Am I foreshadowing? Maybe, maybe not.

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when you play your first $5 lineups. That simple. The Price Picks app code locked on NFL to get $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. Multiple ways. for the Bengals to win this football game. And one of them could be the potential return of some defensive linemen. And we will get there and talk about what we can realistically hope for from this Bengals defense

against a Ravens rushing offense that is nearly historic in its early season success. But to me, it's hard to come away from this idea that Joe Burrow and this Bengals' offense just need to go score more points than the Baltimore Ravens. and Joe Burrow has said this this week. He will need to be near perfect. The offense may need to be near perfect. Obviously, there are paths to the defense carving out a margin of error for this offense, but the way they played early against Carolina, the way they played against Washington,

that is the kind of performance they will need this week. They need to capitalize on their red zone opportunities. They need to capitalize early and try to put the Ravens in an early hole if they can and control the tempo of the game, and that all comes back to the way the offense plays early in this game. And again, we'll talk about the defense, but it feels to me like the likely outcome this week, the thing that everything points to is that this offense needs to rise up

and elevate this team. When I think of Joe Burroughs saying, you know, he's striving for perfection and be, you know, damn near perfect, I think it then South Washington. Remember the title's perfection. Anyways, yeah, they look, if Joe Burrow is the Joe Burrow that he can be, they'll win. There, how about that? Because if he plays damn near perfect, the margin for error for this defense is going to be big enough that I think that they will get that one stop that they need or that one turnoff.

But that's the key, is asking Joe to do this. And I did think, and we will never know, I did think that they were going to beat the Ravens on Thursday night when he suffered the wrist injury. They had just taken the lead on the road, prime time. Who knows if it would have happened. But it felt like that this offense was solving that Ravens defense. And now Mike McDonald is away, away, away in Seattle. And you're facing a defense. And I asked Joe about this.

He said, yeah, it's pretty similar. All right. Well, how similar is it? How much did you master it? And is that the fact that you've seen it enough combined with how versatile this offense is? And whether it's Joe talking about it, Zach, we've obviously talked about it a ton. But even Jamar Chase bringing it up today. He's like, yeah, we've had this stuff in there since I've been here, but we've never executed it like this.

And shocker, it's different when Earf Smith Jr. is out there versus Eric Hall or insert whatever guy. And sorry, Irv, I'm not trying to give you a stray there. But clearly this offense is in a good place. And I'm with you. You know me. I always think offense. That's it. When I go lay my head down on the pillow at night, it's a pillow.

And it says offense and wide receivers are the most important position in any sport. So it's really important that my pillow case says that. So yeah, I'm thinking points. But I think that's how this team, at least not the defense, of course, but this team, Joe Burrow, the offense, Zach Taylor, Dan pitcher. that's got to be their mindset going into Sunday. And it's not just Joe Burrow that has to play perfect either. The offensive line will need to play near perfect.

The wide receivers will need to play near perfect. We can't have drive-killing drops and put the Bengals behind the chains because when this Ravens defense is at its most lethal is when they make you diagnose which of the eight guys they have in the line of scrimmage are going to come blitz. And then none of them come blitz, but you've kept seven guys in for protection and suddenly you only have three guys running routes into eight defenders or seven defenders. I can't do math. But that challenge for Joe Burrow will be there throughout the game.

So in the Joe Burrow bucket, it's execute the plays, obviously, but also he has so much to do pre-snap against the Ravens, in terms of diagnosing pressure, setting protections, understanding where my hot is if I've got the protection set the wrong way and the pressure comes from the other side because that's the way this Ravens blitzing attack is designed to show all the pressure and try to figure out, okay, this is how you set your protection. We're going to make you waste those guys with protection

and send a blitzer where you're not expecting it. That's a challenge, right? And so for Burrow to be on his game pre-snap, the way we've seen him in the last couple of weeks, very important. He's been great getting protection said. He's been great figuring out where to go with the ball at the right times. And then the increased challenge for Burrow this week, I think,

is finding the opportunities to attack the corners outside when they present themselves. The Ravens this year aren't playing a ton of too high stuff. They're playing a lot of cover six. They're playing a lot of cover three, a lot of cover one. They're going to get to cover two. They're going to get to those two high looks a ton. They're going to get to quarters a ton.

They're playing a lot of quarters too, which is a too high look. But Joe Burrow needs to be able to take advantage of that. And so in addition to the efficiency that they're getting into, they need to be able to take those opportunities downfield in this game in a way that they haven't gotten to quite as often as we would like them to. this year, that could be a key this week. And in addition to that, can they continue the success of the run game they've had against two really bad defenses in the last couple weeks?

And then this week, a much, much better rushing defense in the Baltimore Ravens. And I shared this graphic this morning, James. You might be interested to know this if you didn't see it. The Bengals have the most diverse run game in the NFL schematically. This is a graphic from Sam Hoppin, where on one axis you have the predictability of run concepts, which is how much they mix up their running scheme. and on the other axis is the rushing efficiency. One of the most efficient rushing attacks in the NFL up there with Detroit,

just behind Baltimore and Washington, who are two of the most efficient rushing attacks in the, or the two most efficient rushing attacks in the NFL this year, but neither more diverse in the way they're attacking in the run getting to the Bengals. So not only are they personnel diverse, the run concepts are diverse, which you've heard me talk about on this podcast before. I now have a graph to prove it, which feels great for me, confirming my priors there.

but I come back again to challenging outside and using T. Higgins and Jamar Chase to the effect that we have seen them be used in the past when they have big games and can put the offense on their back. And so it's not any one thing. A lot of it is on Burroughs shoulders, I think, but that's kind of the conceptual idea that I'm coming into and into this game for the Bengals offense. Yeah, by the way, for those wondering, that's why they get Zach Moss. that's why they want Chase Brown to carry the ball. I know people want him to have every touch, but it's because how well it fits and because it unlocks levels of the playbook

that they haven't had or been able to use for whatever reason in the past. This is a unique backfield. And it isn't the big name or pro bowl level players. It's not first round pick. We've talked about Jemir Gibbs in the past, right? I wanted Jemir Gibbs prejohn. They're not that.

but they're freaking good. They fit. It fits very well right now. And so that is exciting. It's exciting to say, all right, well, you can be efficient. Can you go be efficient against the Ravens? And it would be huge if they could. Like, if you're Joe Burrow, you know how nice it would be to be in second and five?

Like, right? Because you're getting five yards of pop or have Zach Moss in his instincts. I mean, his ability to pass protect. And then also peel off and make plays in the passing game and also be able to run that the shotgun runs. Like everything that they need him to do. And then you have a guy in Chase Brown who he's close to breaking one. Maybe this is the week, Jake. Maybe this is the week that he breaks one, a big one.

They could certainly use it. So, yeah, it's exciting. I mean, how many times have we talked about how exciting the Bengals rushing attack could potentially be? And it's exciting because it's working. and it's working the way they're hoping and hoped it would work. And what that's done is that's made Joe Burrow, Dan Pitcher, Zach Taylor, it's opened up things for them. And so, yeah, this big plays, you're going to need them.

When you said that, like, oh, not many too high looks. Obviously, every team's going to do that against the Bengals, but it's like, oh. Yeah, it'll be different. You'll get a lot of quarters that they will rotate to cover two. They'll disguise it. That's what Baltimore has done in the past against the Bengals. And so it's like, all right, well, Joe Bro has these running backs. He has these tight ends.

Is this a Gisiki game? Is this a Yoshi game? Is this a, not like, that's what's fun here is they're diverse enough that they should still be able to have the answers. And I think a big part of it that I don't want to gloss over it. The offensive line is going to get tested this week at a high level here. And you mentioned it. I just want to hammer at home. They need those guys to play it.

at a high level because they're going to throw it 40 times. Book that. This is not going to be a 31, 31 Joe Burrow attempt game or a 36 dropback game or whatever it was last week. I mean, I hope it is. That would be probably good. It would be great, right? If they're playing with the lead and can run for six yards again. The Baltimore defensive front is a better defensive front than probably any of they faced this year, including the Chris Jones led at Kansas City defensive line. Oa and Kyle Van Nuoy both playing really well on the edges. Travis Jones having the kind of year you expected if you were Travis Jones pre-draft Stan, which I certainly was.

Justin Matabike is still a good player on that defensive interior. So those four guys to lead things off are a much bigger challenge for this Bengals offensive line, which has been good this year, and they will need to keep that up against a much stiffer test. And on the other side, what can the Bengals defense do? Can they slow down the Baltimore Ravens? How can they slow down the Baltimore Ravens? Where are those hopes?

Plus some injury updates, mostly on that side of the ball to finish up the show next. This episode of Locktime Bengals is sponsored by Fandul. Fandul knows that with the start of the NFL season, you're looking for big returns if you're a sports better, and you can get those big returns with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Right now you get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed with your first $5 bet on Fandul. Right now, maybe you think that despite all. this talk about offense and Joe Burrow needing to be damn near perfect and the running game of the Baltimore Ravens and all the success they had last week against the Buffalo Bills, you're thinking,

ah, you know, I don't quite buy that. This is an AFC North game. I think there will be a scoreless quarter in this game. You can get plus 410 odds to make a bet on any quarter in this game, ending scoreless. Or maybe you want to do something more traditional. The Bengals are home underdogs after all. You can check all of that out at Fandul.com right now, and you'll get those $200 in bonus bets guaranteed with your first $5 bet. Again, you can check it all out today at Fandual, America's number one sportsbook. All right, Jake. Let's get into the injuries, and then we'll dive into the defense, how it looks with Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson in the same backfield. Obviously, we've heard about it all week long, but we'll talk about it a little bit more.

B.J. Hill, I think he's going to play. back-to-back days, Wednesday, Thursday, feels like he's going to play. Vives are he's going to play. We'll see if he actually plays. Expect him to play. McKinley Jackson and Miles Murphy, both practicing full for a second straight day. Their windows to be activated are two days in. I've leaned this all week long.

I think a lot of people have. Expect Miles to play. Maybe that's unfair, but I think Miles Murphy will play. I'm not sure on McKinley Jackson. I just, it's one of those things. honestly where it's like, all right, is he ready? He hasn't practiced since August 8th, and now he's coming back. Will he be ready to go? I'm not sure. So I would lean towards no there. And then Sheldon Rankin's second straight day on the rehab field. I think he might

play against the Giants. Doesn't feel like he's going to be ready to go this week. So reinforcements on the way, not fully healthy, but certainly feels like the Bengals' defensive front is in a much better position than they were, say, a week, two, three weeks ago. And another big one to watch on the defensive side of the ball is Mike Hilton, who hasn't practiced for two straight days this week. Of course, he is a very useful run defender. He's very linebacker in a slot corner's body sometimes coming off the edge, making plays in the run game, especially against the Ravens where he's generally been outside of the first game last year, pretty good against the Baltimore Ravens in the Cincinnati Bengals career.

So that is certainly one to watch. And then what the Bengals do there if he can't go will be interesting as well after DJ Turner had a pretty good game. when the secondary was getting diced up by Andy Dalton last week. And I say secondary. Dax Hill was pretty good in coverage as well. But they had some issues in the secondary last week. You would think DJ Turner would be the first guy off the bench there, but I will be interested to see where Josh Newton fits into the equation as well.

I don't expect it to be a ton. But if they need somebody a little bigger, a little bit more physical, and DJ Turner talked about you got to get big and tackle against this team. And you got to just make the plays and make those run defense tackles. that's where you can see maybe them up for a little bit more size. But I mean, if you're Baltimore, you're not a team that's putting three wide receivers on the field a ton. So where in the past we would talk about they're taking a wide receiver off the field, which often would take Mike Hilton off the field.

Maybe we're just not talking about that as much this week. And the Bengals are in their base package, which it'll be interesting to see what direction they go there. They've been kind of between the five, two, and the four, three. They're doing a little bit of both. They've used the King Davis Gator. certainly against the Baltimore Ravens in the past. They've also liked to get five defensive linemen on the field for these matchups from time to time. So it'll be interesting to see what approach they take there this week.

But the most important thing is you started this, James, is one, you got Trey Hendrickson practicing as well. I couldn't remember if you mentioned that. But signs are pointing in the right direction for Trey. I forgot it. He's going to play. There you go. I forgot about Trey. Things are looking good for Trey, which is important.

Forgot about Trey. Yeah, can't do that. Probably should start there. And I did understand. say the reference for those of you that think I'm glossing over it. But if you can get Miles Murphy back into the rotate, yeah, of course I did. And if you get Miles Murphy back into the rotation, you get BJ Hill into the rotation, you amp up the snap count for Chris Jenkins, who earned more trust from this coaching staff last week, suddenly you're not forced to play J2File

and Zach Carter so much on the defensive interior. You're not forced to play Sam Hubbard so much in past rushing situations on the edge. And hopefully Miles Murphy takes a little bit of that second year step that we were so anxious to see this preseason, and those things can help make this defensive line look night and day different. That's where your hopes would lie if you're thinking this isn't the real Cincinnati Bengals defense. This is an injured Cincinnati Bengals defense we've seen in the last few weeks. Getting some guys healthier on the defensive line could make a big difference. I think that's a little bit of wishcasting, James. But if you were painting the picture for how this would be a bounce back week for the defense, I think that's where it starts.

Yeah, I Honestly, I've thought about this all week, right? Like the path for this defense and it's like, okay Well, if the offense are scored, defense hold up enough Which means like twice, you know? Like, well, I don't think you should ever go into a game that are Plet praying for two stops. Like, they are mortal.

Like, you know, like it is, and I get your point and I get the feeling for sure. after watching this team. They'll make me call Andy Dalton in here. I'll throw for three tuddies. But it's like, can you force a couple turnovers and a couple punts? Like, is that insane to think? Pretty close. Pretty close.

You can't have Lamar. You can't force a Lamar fumble. Like, Akeem, knock it out. Germain, you've done it with guys way stronger. Like, knock the ball out. Like, that. And then they have been pretty solid against Derek Henry. So I think it's a mixture here.

In the scary part to me about the Ravens and fantasy owners probably all across the country, certainly, I have one of Zay Flowers or Mark Andrews or both or they went out and picked up Isaiah likely. Like all these guys are just kind of lingering and I hate it. I hate it because at some point they're not. Zay Flowers is awesome. He's a very good player. Mark Andrews, I refuse to believe he just. just can't play football anymore as from a past catching standpoint at some point he's going to get

going we saw what isaiah likely could do against kansas city a few weeks ago so there are other weapons to pay attention to as well and that's where it gets dicey for me is like if the bengals really need a stop and it's 2420 with three minutes to go and it's fourth and in two or third and a third and six, let's say. Do you trust that they're going to get that stop? That's what's scary. Because I don't know how you can trust that right now. And even with these guys back, I need to see it before I'm fully believing it.

I'm fourth and two. I think the Ravens are the team I'd want to face least in the NFL. And the second least might be Washington because of the quarterbacks. Like, and the way Washington's been going. But you have a couple pretty stylistically similar quarterbacks there. their ability to run. I'm fourth and two, that read option is real tough. Short yardage, read option.

You want to stop Lamar from getting two yards or Derek Henry from getting two yards in that situation and make that read right? I mean, that's a hard place to live as a defense. I don't have high host for this defense this week. I hope they prove me wrong, obviously. I hope the narrative I spun up about these defensive linemen getting healthy and improving the rotations on the defensive interior and getting miles. Murphy back. I hope that matters. But this Ravens rushing offense looks on paper coming into

this game to be a matchup nightmare for the Cincinnati Bengals. They need to tackle in a way they've tackled in one game this year. They were pretty solid tackling against the Chiefs. They got to be better than that. Even better than that. You're probably right. Yeah, they do need to be better than that. But then, like, you also have to deal with the play action aspect of things. And you can't get beat over the top of Isaiah Flowers. You can't lose Isaiah Likely. Isaiah likely, you talked about what he did this year. I mean, he's been at Thorne for the Bengals in the past as well. And obviously so too has Mark Andrews. So these teams know each other quite well. And so that's something that can lead to unforeseen outcomes. And that's something that could be interesting when I have joked a few times this week about, yeah, we're all expecting 50 plus points and they're going to go have a 14 to 7 game. But that is where you start to get some of the, unexpected, yeah, unexpected outcomes. No other way to say that when you get teams that are so familiar with each other as these teams are.

Yeah, you're right. And that's why I'm picking the Bengals to win 10 to 6. Well, there you go. No, I'm just kidding. 10 to 6. Evan McPherson kicks a field goal and Chase Brown has an 80-yard touchdown run. And neither guy can complete a pass. And it goes down to the lot.

No, I even checked the forecast. I was like, all right, well, they, certainly don't want it to rain against the ravens. That would not be good. And it doesn't sound like it's going to. So watch it a pour now. I am picking the Bengals, though, 3430. Back against the wall.

I remember saying this last year going in Arizona. Even coming out of that Tennessee game, I sort of felt this way. Yeah, it was that coming out of that Tennessee game going into Arizona. I said, doubt Joe, doubt Jamar, at your own risk. Do it. And this team is more multiple. There's questions on defense.

I think Lou has found answers in times like this. And the answer doesn't need to be perfect. You don't need to hold these guys to 10 points. You just need to put up some kind of resistance. And that would be better than we've seen in the past couple of weeks, certainly against Washington. And this is a quarterback that's at that level and then some. This is weaponry around him that's at that level and then some.

because of how well it fits as much as anything. And so I look at it and I think Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase put on a show. They play at a high level and the pieces around them do as well. And that includes the defense. So I'll take the Bengals 3430. I think a big part of the challenge this week for the Bengals is can they punish the Ravens for trying to keep guys out of the box to try to keep the ball in front of them in coverage? Can they punish that well enough with the quick game with the running game that has been so effective this year?

where Baltimore has a much better front than they've had rushing success with in recent weeks. But if the Bengals' offense plays perfect, they certainly have a shot. And that's where the other bit of the reservation comes in like, yeah, I don't want to bet against Joe in this offense. They've been going well lately. They've been bad defenses, but they're going well. They're feeling good. They feel diverse.

They're doing different things. And Mike McDonald's gone. But is that enough? And that's the question the Bengals will have to answer. this weekend. And I'm excited to see how they answer the call. It's going to tell us a lot about the team. Obviously, one in four, two, and three, two and three, very, very different places. And we'll have a very different tone after the game, as we talked about in that first segment, with this being such an important game for the rest of this 2024 season, the implications,

are far reaching. And we'll have you with those reactions and updates and analysis right after the game. on Sunday. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Ho day.

And have a good one.