NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bengals-Ravens TNF Recap

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Wesseling to recap the Bengals and Ravens facing off on Thursday Night Football. The guys start the show with a recap of the wild finish to the game and Joe Burrow's play (01:15), followed by how the Bengals let the Ravens back in the game (09:58), Ja'Marr Chase (24:35), and the state of the Ravens (35:16).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. On the five-yard line, Burrow catches the shotgun snap. He throws it into the end zone. Chase makes the catch on the back line for the touchdown. And it looks like the Bengals will go for two with 38 seconds to go to try to win the game. Burrow takes the snap. Ravens bring bliss pressure. Burrow throws to the end zone.

It's incomplete. It's incomplete. And with 38 seconds left to play, the Hayes and Lema Oh, what a wild way to end it tonight as the Ravens will sweep the series from the Bengals and improve to seven and three. A game so good, we couldn't start it with just one call. 35, 34.

Ravens get the win in Baltimore. That was Dan Horde on WCKY. It was Jerry Sandusky on WB. a game that we're going to be remembering for the rest of the season, maybe for a few years as two incredible quarterbacks have two incredible performances and a failed two-point conversion is what ends it and not without some controversy. And I'm here with one of the most controversial guests in NFL Daily History.

It's Nick Wesleyan from Cincinnati. What's up, Nick? Oh, not a whole lot, Greg. I think you touched on everything in that game there. had big momentum swings if you believe in that sort of thing and yeah perfect throw from Burrow at the end there to score the touchdown

great catch by chase and then yeah I mean you could you could complain about the calls and it was a bad miss call but it is what it is that those things happen you can't leave it in the hands of the refs there and the Bengals had no reason to lose this game they should have been winning they should have won this game they had a couple of bad plays that turned the game around

a couple of penalties early in the first half that put them behind the chains when they were unstoppable otherwise. So, you know, they could have easily won this game by two touchdowns, but, you know, what it coulda, you know. Yeah, it's been the story of their season, and we'll get all to that.

Of course, Nick Wesleyan, our friend, the brother of the namesake of our studio, Chris Wesleyan, of course, and famously not a Bengals fan, not even just like a little disappointed tonight. moment. That's what Nick says. I tell you all the time, I'm a casual bandhouse fan. I'm not a diehard.

I don't really live or die with it. It is what it is. Yeah, it is. And I cheer for them, but... I feel bad for your bride, and I hate the Thursday night football guest's curse. I keep having on a guest that is on the side of the losing team, but we'll go through it all. And I thought

you made a good point that yes, you can get mad at the calls. And I thought the missed hit to the head of Burrow is the egregious one on that last call. They should have gotten another chance at the one yard line. I think Ryan Fitzpatrick made a fair point right after the game on Amazon that, look, Burroughs not looking to Gassicki's side. For them to miss that call, it doesn't affect how that play happens. The officials, you know, sometimes miss it when the quarterback's not

look into that side or throw into that side, it's kind of understandable. It ultimately didn't really impact that play because Burrow was going the other way anyways, threw it a little high, one of the few throws all night that wasn't exactly on target. But you got to catch the hit to the head on Burrow and get another chance. And it's disappointing because what it does, Nick, is it just is another talking point instead of what we should be talking about, which is this back and forth and the missed opportunities that the Bengals had and the Ravens ability to just keep answering down the stretch and the Bengals defense collapsing. But what I'll remember, more than anything, I think, is how incredible Joe Burrow was on that last drive. That's why it's a shame

for it to end that way, because I'm watching on the Prime Vision version of the broadcast, and they got the sky cam now. They just installed the sky cam last couple weeks. A few of those throws he made on that last drive were cinema. I mean, that 21-yarder to Chase with anticipation as he's getting absolutely blasted, throwing that thing blind in a perfect spot. That's amazing. That final touchdown to Chase, there's two defenders between him. You can't really see it on the side angle. They showed it again on the broadcast. I don't know if any quarterback wide receiver combination in the NFL is completing that pass, then those two LSU dudes who are so insane. Chase goes for 264 yards and three touchdowns in the game, and they hit it.

So it does feel a little anticlimactic that the very next play, they don't get the two points, and there's a potential penalty that's missed. Yeah, I, you know, Phil and my brother Phil and you and I are on that group text, and I almost texted it, but I said, I'm going to save it for the after show here. Oh, yeah, way to go. I almost text you that it was Shades of Tom Brady the way he was hanging in there and just timing it, floating the ball, perfectly to a spot, knowing his receiver was going to be there.

It looked just like him on that last drive. Only, I guess, Tom Brady and Patriots would have gotten that two-point conversion in their prime. They would have gotten the call. I'll speak for all Bengals fans that say that. They would have gotten the call, and then they would have run it in with, like, James White, and yeah, you're right. Yeah, and that's to your point that these bad calls, I mean, I know Cincinnati fans

are a little tired, and there's this narrative that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs get all the calls. And that's one that you would assume they would get. And maybe that's the difference in what they're complaining about. I mean, I didn't see anything outside. I mean, I know those calls are there and they're missed. I didn't see anything too, too egregious, except one holding call on, on Trey Hendrickson where the guy, he's about to stop Lamar Jackson and they absolutely tackled him. I can't know. I'm losing the left, left tackle's name there for the Raven Stanley. Ronnie Stanley, yeah. He did a great job on Hendrickson, game, by the way. I told you that was the talking point before the game that I thought,

you know, the Bengals needed to get pressure or they would get destroyed. And that was, he did a great job the whole game on Hendrickson, except for that play where he tackled him. I guess you could say in the end he did do a great job. Right. He got away with it. I'm glad you brought that up. There's a lot we can get to. But I think the difference in the pass rush is really important when comparing the two quarterbacks. So yes, Lamar Jackson ends finishing with four touchdowns was absolutely clutch in the biggest moments like he's been all year. So overall, a really good performance. But through two and a half quarters, they weren't getting anything done. And Lamar was protected well all night. The Bengals totaled one quarterback

hit all night, zero sacks. So he was just sitting back there with time to throw and not finding a lot of receivers open for much of the game. Would you like to guess how many quarterback hits the Baltimore Ravens had tonight? 11. 13 quarterback hits on Joe Burrow. I believe he was pressured over like 45% of the time. I'm bringing up the stats here on next gen. And Burrow was, it was one of if not his best games of the season.

I actually think Burroughs season has just been like a hair overrated because I've heard a lot of Bengals fans say like, oh, he'd be the MVP if they had a defense and he's been the best quarterback in the league. only thing I would say is that their offense has directly contributed to their previous three late and close losses that they had where they had chances to go win the game and they made pretty big errors and sometimes it was burrow making it the first time against the ravens they had a chance to put the game against the chiefs away with a fourth quarter drive and they just didn't and they left open the door and they didn't get the call and I know that happened the same thing with the Patriots

they had a chance to go win the game and they had their worst drive of the game against the Patriots so that happened. And even tonight, it wasn't Burrow who made the mistake, but it was Chase Brown whose fumble kind of opened the door and really changed this game around. But tonight, I can find no fault through Joe Burroughs performance. That was freaking incredible. Even the fourth and ten on that final drive to Yoshavos, where again, his offensive lineman Volson got beaten so fast off the snap. It was by Travis Jones that any other quarterback, I think, is not completing that. He had to throw it a half second early. he's getting blasted all game long.

He's fighting through injuries. Yoshabas makes the tough catch to keep that drive going. And he just, he was electric all night. So he deserved better. And somehow I think a quarterback playing this well is going to find his way to the playoffs. The season is not over, Nick, at four and six. Yeah, I've talked to you about this before. I think the Bengals' offense, if you look historically over the last three or four years,

they're a rhythm offense. And when they're in rhythm, the play calls seem easy. Everything seems easy. Joe Burr made it look easy today. I don't think it was. No. But really, people are going to point to the Brown Fumble. They have to Chase Brown Fumble there as the turning point.

But it was really that mistackle by Cam Taylor Britt and then Logan Wilson. And I don't remember which safety it was that whiffed on pushing a guy out and pushed him Wallace out of bounds on that big long touchdown. But that, you know, they were up 217 before the fumble. They give up the touchdown on the short field. It happens. But then you just let them, that should have been a six-yard. game, easy tackle, and instead it goes for 70 yards in or 80 yards in a touchdown. You just can't do that and expect to win games.

Yeah, that's the thing about this loss is when you lose the bad plays get magnified. And I did think about all the other ways they've lost games this year. And that play, you're absolutely right. Let's actually listen to it from the Baltimore radio broadcast. Jackson and the gun. He wants to throw on third down, quick release, and it's complete. Tyler Wallace breaks the tackle. He's at the 30.

Steve Farms, a man, 35, 40, midfield down the sideline and play 30. 20, 10. Touchdown, Ravens. Tyler Wallace. His biggest play since a walk-off punt return a year ago. 84 yards. And the Ravens are right back in it. And that's a microcosm of the Bengals' defensive season because Kim Taylor-Brit

doesn't take a good angle, doesn't get him out of bounds to begin with. Not a great play by him. But the bigger problem to me was Logan Wilson is just kind of jogging over there for a while, realizes, oh, the play's still going, has kind of a half-hearted shove, and then it's, Thailand Wallace is gone. And then their safety play has been bad all year. Von Bell was bad in this game. Gino Stone has been not good. They missed Jesse Bates, and it was Stone that takes a bad angle there. And so that's early in the fourth quarter. And they're cruising midway through the third, Nick, before that Chase Brown fumble. Suddenly a couple plays later, the Ravens finally, you know, get a quick touchdown. And just a couple minutes later is that defensive

breakdown. And that's the sort of stuff that's been happening to the Bengals defense this year. Yeah, they haven't been good. And I know people are saying, well, they've played better in spots but it's been against bad teams they've looked really the defense looked very stout against bad teams and against the good offensive offenses they've been absolutely torched this is another game now i i really was you know halfway through the third say it going to be like man i was completely wrong about my evaluation of this game i thought it was going to be a shootout it didn't turn out that way and i'm thinking is something going to happen here and like you said like because even on that even on that uh drive with brown they had already gotten one with brown fumble i think

They had already gotten one first down. They were going for another one before he fumbles it. It would have been, I think, second and one or third and one on that play if he doesn't fumble it. They looked unstoppable, really, and it's these long, drawn-out drives that they were doing. And then they get the quick hits because of it. So what are you looking up there, Greg? I'm going through our long text thread here, Nick, because that feels like 15 hours ago. At that point, it was 21 to 7 Bengals.

They had the ball. They had just gotten another stop. and they're starting deep in their own end. And I'm thinking, wow, this is really set up for the Bengals to just grind them into dust with some long, slow drives. And you're right. Burrow hit a big third down early in that drive. And I'm saying, like, okay, this is it.

Like, I'm rooting, you know, let's go nickel and diamond into death, and now it's over. And a second later that fumble happens. And as good as the Bengals defense was, and it was really good. Let's review it. Through midway through the third quarter, this is what had happened. They had given up seven points. They'd given up the touchdown drive. They had forced four three and outs on the Ravens, the best offense, not just in the league,

but one of the best offenses through nine weeks in NFL history. They had forced five punts that already was the season high in any Ravens game. They haven't punted five times in any Ravens game. game and then suddenly the next four drives on a short field touchdown the tile on wallace blows it touchdown and then it was just over the next two touchdown drives after that were just more regular ravens just looking like an awesome offense at a spot where look if the bengals had gotten a stop either time there joe burrow was showing them he was probably going to keep scoring and they would have won that game and they couldn't and they gave up four straight touchdown drives

to end the game. Brutal, and got to give the Ravens credit, too, for getting off the mat after not really having any answers for a while. Lamar did some amazing things. Yeah, having Mark Andrews playing 100% now is great to see. He looked tremendous in this game. He's a great security blanket, and he's just fast enough to beat those linebackers over the top.

He had a great game. I've told you in the past that I think Flowers is incredible. He's nifty in space. He can make people miss. Messy's good route runner. He seems to always be open, whether they give it to, throw him the ball or not. Yeah, it was a wild game. I didn't want to talk all about the Bengals because the Ravens did, you know, come back

and play a great game. Oh, don't worry, Nick. You know, I don't know how many Thursday nights you've listened to. We're just getting started. Let's actually listen to one of the crazy moments of this comeback, which was the Lamar Jackson scramble that got them to the one yard line where he had backed up all the way to the 30 next gen stats say he traveled 58.1 yards on this scramble. Let's take a listen. Lamar wants to throw from the shotgun drifting to the right back peddling the 30 yard line

sprinting coming down the near sideline tiptoeing down the sidelines he's in the 1510 5 Lamar still on his feet he's in the one and he's shot. Stop there. What a play by Lamar Jackson. I mean, that's just, you don't see anyone, but Lamar Jackson do that play. And that was after the fumble. Like, there was no guarantee that suddenly they were good on track. That play kind of kick started their offense finally playing well.

Yeah, I agree. You know what I texted you. I won't say the exact words. But when big guys are trying to chase down Lamar Jackson, it's not going to end very well for the big guys. Not speaking from experience or anything there, but, you know, because on very fleet of foot but uh you know are you though you know you say you are that's like you talk a lot of trash about the athlete that you were when you were younger well i was younger i was very fast when now in a straight line i can still run fast for a big guy anyway i'm not buying

this at all i'm sure there's video evidence out there somewhere you could ask my wife or something but anyway i wanted to make one point about lou aneromo um so he talks a lot about three and outs when the press when he's in front of the press and that that's the key to this defense and you saw tonight and when they when they got him off the field I mean you you saw heads hanging on on the ravens our ball looked confused and angry on the sideline that they couldn't move the ball but they you know that's what I say like the offense and the defense aren't jiving really well because they're not they're not they're just not they're not they're not in sync and and when the defense has played well that the offense hasn't really put teams away right because

Because, look, the Bengals get a touchdown on the very first play of the third quarter. That was a 67-yarder to chase. We'll listen to the chase touchdowns in a minute. But after that, actually, in the second half, after the fumble, they kind of let the Ravens back in this game because they had a quick punt there. For all the issues that the Ravens' defense had in this game, and there were many, They actually did force three punts and had the Bengals turn the ball over on downs twice, and there was a fumble. So it reminds me a little bit of that classic, I think it was Thursday night game between the Rams and the Chiefs,

where the score was absolutely bonkers, but there was actually more defense than you remember played in it. A lot of key stops. And one of the things that was interesting is three different times in this game, Nick, the Bengals passed on really long field goals. One would have been 58, one would have been 57. The other one would have been 51 to go for it. And, you know, they weren't successful. They don't really have a lot of faith right now, maybe, in Evan McPherson, I guess, from over 50.

And it's funny because three years ago, this was the matchup of the best two kickers in the league. And right now it's Justin Tucker, who's really struggling and missed extra point, could have loom large in this game. And then Evan McPherson, who's maybe not what he once was, Nick, not a lot of faith there. They have reason not to trust him.

He's been very inconsistent. consistent. Even the short field goals sometimes are just sneaking in. I don't, I don't know. You know, Chris used to say that kickers were head cases. You know, they get on a roll and they can't be stopped. And the first kick they miss, suddenly they're in their heads. So maybe Chris had a point there. And they are streaky. It's just like any other position. You get on rolls and you go. And, you know, kickers, we've gotten kind of spoiled because we've seen so many kickers just nailing. 55-yarders on regularly now. You know, 15 years ago, you would question whether you'd ever even kick a 55-yarder unless the game was on the line, you know? So, you know, I think we expect, we have high expectations of those two, and they've just let us down this year. It was an interesting night by Zach Taylor.

Early on, he goes for it on fourth down. He gets it. And then I brought up the two times where they passed on the really long field goals and then failed on the fourth downs. They end up two for four on fourth down. He also had a very gutsy. I think it was Tanner Hudson sneak over center at his own 39. That's one of those plays that if they didn't hit it, he would have gotten killed for it.

And they barely got it. It was a good effort by Hudson, but they did get it. And then they go for the two at the end of the game. It was interesting because I don't think Zach Taylor from a few years ago is going for all these force. But I do give him credit for recognizing the team that he has. and I think playing to it and ultimately we didn't even talk about this I think it was the right decision

to go for two at the end of the game. The only argument against it was there was still a lot of time on the clock so even if you got the two I'm not counting out the Ravens from getting a field goal there but that kind of speaks to also why you go for it because if they lost the coin flip in overtime

and they might not win the game anyways even if you get the two it's like you got to be aggressive we also in the first game played very conservatively for that long field goal in regulation and in overtime they I think it was twice or maybe I'm maybe it was just an overtime I might have been in both he threw the interception burrow that was that was one of the things I was sticking my head where he's had just a couple plays even in great performances he had the interception and regulation and then in overtime yeah they got conservative maybe

yeah but then they got conservative in overtime and either you you trust your guy to be a world world-class quarterback or you don't. And that's my problem in the first game. This game, you're right. The defense wasn't stopping anything. So if the Ravens got the ball back, I think they score. Yeah, I don't know about 30 seconds left. I don't know how many.

I think the Ravens still had a timeout or two there. But, you know, they weren't going to, I don't know. The Bengals weren't going to stop me over time. I wouldn't count it out. The way they were going now, I don't know if Tucker hits that kick, but it would not have been that difficult to get into the field goal range. So we've seen it. Certainly not over time. I wouldn't trust the Bengals.

I don't trust the Bengals to stop anyone anytime, but, you know, it is what it is. And to your point about the conservative calls from a couple of years ago, we could do that because it could rely on his defense to get stops. So, yeah, you do punt the ball away or kick field bills because you know the defense is going to come up and make big plays. They don't make any plays. It's the biggest difference between this Bengals teams and and in the good ones from the past few years, the turnovers are killing them, and they're not turning the ball over in these key games.

So, like, you know, they're giving them up and they're not getting them. The first Ravens game, they had that interception. I know they got that fumble late in the game that could have scored, or an overtime or late in the game, I'm getting confused, but, you know, they had that fumble late in the game where they could have scored, and then they got conservative and didn't.

And in this game, they're down again. You mentioned the Patriots game earlier, beginning of the game. They had two fumbles in that game. And one was going into the end zone. Another one was a big momentum killer because they would turn the tide of that game. That's the biggest difference. They're turned the ball over too much and they're not getting turnovers on the other side. Right. Ultimately, you're up 21-7. You've played a nearly perfect game midway through the third quarter in Baltimore. You can put that all in the defense, but that's that's on everyone. That's a team that's finding ways to lose this year.

year, which is surprising and why ultimately, I'm not giving up on them because their offense is just that good. And the defense has shown flashes, but they're at four and six. And their best case scenario is going to be the team that no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs because they are not winning this division at this point after being swept by the Ravens who are now seven and three. And they're just not going to be able to catch up. They're at L.A. next week on Sunday night football. That's a really intriguing game that has been flexed. Then they have a buy. Then they play a good Steelers team at home. Then they're at Dallas, at Tennessee, home for Cleveland, home for Denver. That is a nice stretch. So if you can get this Chargers and maybe Steelers game,

this Chargers game really looms large, then you finish the season in Pittsburgh, which could be a fascinating, like, that could be the week 18 Sunday night football game for, like, like, like the Bengals trying to get the 17th. I don't think it's over, but if they had just won tonight, Nick, it would have just felt so different. The division would have felt possible and it really would have felt like,

okay, we got wind in our sales. Every time they get close to having to happen this year, it's like these games, they find a way to not make it happen. Absolutely. This is what the Bengals do. This is why I can't be a fan. I'm sure you saw it with the, you know,

the Patriots for years and years, they did everything right to win these close games when it came down to it or these big games. And you're seeing it with the Chiefs now. The Chiefs, the Chiefs don't look like a good team, but they keep winning, I shouldn't say it. They don't look like a great team, but they keep winning games because their defense is making plays, and they have Pet Mahomes making just enough plays. Right. And they're stacking and they're figuring things out as the season goes along, which is, it's not what this Bengals team totally feels like, although I do feel like the offense is getting better and better. I do want to just give some love. He did it without P. Higgins tonight, too. Right. That's huge. Because you look at

the box score, and it does tell you the story. Like, Chase ends up with 264. Chase Brown ends up being the number two receiver on a bunch of checkdowns, nine for 52. He had a couple routes, but it was mostly checkdowns. And then it's Tanner Hudson and Gassicki, who get 42 on 30, not that efficient on 16 combined targets, nothing out of their other receivers. You know, he goes to Germain Burton in a couple really crucial spots. He makes one catch in five targets. There was a sequence where they still had the lead late in the game. And Burrow made some kind of curious decisions to go very deep, once to Chase into double coverage.

And then once, when Chase was coming open on fourth down, instead he goes to Burton one-on-one down the field and he misses the throw or the timing just wasn't there to Burton. So that was a weird decision. People are blaming Zach Taylor. And I'm like, you can't blame Zach Taylor on that. Joe Burrough is a big boy. And he's making decisions on what to do.

and he went for the riskier throw and it didn't work out and you got to take the good with the bad when it comes to that. Both of those plays, he had pressure and he had to release the ball when he had to release him too. So if he's got that extra quarter second,

maybe he sees chase or maybe he just did made up his mind. I see this coverage. I'm going there and he got the coverage. So I don't know. I wasn't watching the Prime View. I should have been. Prime Vision.

The new SkyCam's crazy. The old Prime View, which is like the All-22 if you get, you know, game pass or whatever. that's cool. I mean, I like it, but the sky cam is so unique. I just haven't seen anything quite like it before, live during a game, you know, and I recommend everyone check it out. Yeah, talking about the pressures. Let's give a shout out to the Ravens Pass Rush. Seven pressures

for Madabweke today, his best game of the season, three sacks, OA with seven pressures, Van Nuoy with five, Travis Jones with five, a couple more players with two apiece, and a lot of those were quick pressures. So they were ultimately better on the line. They missed Orlando Brown in this game. And yet, they were incredible. Burrow, the first drive of the game, hits a bunch of third and longs in a row before setting up what was the first of the long touchdowns to Jemar Chase. Let's listen to that. Burrow will look to throw. Moving to his right. Now he throws over the middle and it's caught on the run. Chase at the 45, angling toward the far side of 30, 20, 15, 10, 5. Boom.

Touchdown. Jamar Chase does it again. He's dancing in the back of the end zone, turning a short pass over the middle into a 60-7-yard highlight. Okay, that was not the first drive of the game. That's my fault, of course, setting that up. But it was the first long, Chase touchdown pass. And that dude is just so special.

He has the vision of a running back. It's just crazy how he weaves and he sees it all before it happens. While we're here, let's just listen to both long touchdown. throws to Chase. Let's listen to the first play of the Bengals' offense in the second half. Burrow back to throw. Guns at deep down field. Chase is open. Catches at the 30. Middle of the field, 10, 5. Touchdown. 70 yards. As Jamar Chase is putting on one of the great shows in Bengals history, how the heck did the Ravens let Jamar Chase run right past him? Here's how Marcus Williams has been killing the Ravens all season.

He bites and, like, doubles Mike Gassicki, thinks Burroughs going to Gassiki over the middle and let's Chase get over the top. What did you think of Chase stretching that play out for about 10 seconds? Like our, like Chris's old favorite player Steve Smith used to do back in the day. I think, I mean, yeah, talk about it all time or there. Anyway, I think it was in response to Lamar doing his little dipsy do into the end zone on the previous thing. He stuck all out. and then pulled it back

and then whipped it into the stands. I think it was just in response to that. I don't know. You could just jog into the end zone at that point or you can show off a little bit, whatever you want to do. I mean, if you're the world-class athlete, you get to make those decisions.

I don't. I like it. I mean, I like it. They're a little spicy. I saw Burrow and Lamar with a great exchange after the game. I mean, the mutual respect is off the chart. So if you can add a little spice and a little back and forth,

it's fantastic. Yeah, you mentioned, That was the two-point conversion that Lamar Jackson, I believe you're talking about, went in on, which was a huge play in the game, too, because otherwise that Tucker missed extra point would have been massive. And there's a lot of differences you can come up with in this game, but the fact that the Ravens kind of hit their two, and they have that ability of Lamar to run on a night where Derek Henry was fine, but one of his quietest games of the season, 16 for 68, early

in the game, they were really hugging the line of scrimmage, a lot of defenders up there. And that's the thing. The Bengals offense was pretty tough and did get the Ravens a little discombobulated for a while. They did a good job. Even in the first game, they did a very good job against Henry until that long run and overtime. That kind of scaled it for the Ravens. I think at that point, they had only had 40 or 45 yards before that big run in that first

game. And you saw something similar. I mean, they're not afraid. and that defensive line isn't afraid to play the run. Again, they didn't get enough pressure when Lamar dropped back, but they did contain Henry well. I don't even know why they were bringing Hill into the game every time he got the ball.

He got tackled for a loss. So, you know, just beat it to Derek Henry all game long. I don't know why. I don't know why. Every third down he would go out, and I get it that he's a better receiver and all that, but I don't know. I'm not afraid of that guy.

I'm afraid of Derek Henry. All right. Let's take a quick break, and we'll be back in just a second. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?

That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be in four. and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and player development. To team-building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape,

talk to decision-makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze match-ups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction,

and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard, fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the

IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Before we go, and I appreciate you, Nick, one of my favorite people on Earth. What a week this has been for me personally. I have, you know, your favorite, Lakeisha Jackson, Wessling at the house last weekend and got to see her at work a couple days this week, which is such an amazing treat, something special when she's in town.

It was so great catching up. And we were talking about Chris and just catching up on old times and everything. And now seeing you in a typical, not so typical Bengals loss, but a heartbreaking Bengals loss. I wish Chris could have seen more of Joe Burrow because I think he would have gotten. Oh, yeah, he knew it. Yeah, Chris knew it. That even before that Super Bowl run there,

he talked about it early in that season. And he was just built different. So, yeah, I wish he would have too. Yeah, and he did know that things were changing. Just a couple of just like little notes here. Emptying out the notebook here before we go. Kyle Hamilton, unfortunately, left this game with an ankle.

in the first half, that would be devastating for a secondary that's not playing well. The fact that it was an ankle, if it is just an ankle, quote-unquote, maybe that's good news that it's either a one-week injury or a high ankle sprain, it's a three-week injury, whatever it is, hopefully it's not something more serious where they're going to have him back. They're seven and three now. They're fighting with the Steelers for first place in the AFC North. It's officially a two-team race now, and they're going to be going to be going to the playoffs. So as long as they can get Hamilton back at some point,

that's going to be really important for them. They had another acquisition recently, Deonte Johnson. We'll see how this thing goes. It's off to a slow start. Do you remember that play right before the half where Deonté Johnson just is not urgent at all, getting out of bounds on a play, on his only catch? And then another play where he's on a scramble drill

and trying to make a big play, he slips and falls and isn't on the same page of Lamar Jackson. So we'll see. but Deante Johnson, like, I was excited for this pickup. It was, they didn't give up anything for it and give it some time. But he's also been an up and down player. There's a reason why I think the Steelers didn't want him around. So we'll see.

We'll see how that turns out. It did not turn out well tonight. Yeah, that Kyle Hamilton, when you saw it happen live, you couldn't see the contact originally. And I thought it was one of those non-contact injuries. And I was really worried. And then they share the replay and you see him step on, I think Logan Wilson's foot there and turn his.

ankle. So, yeah, I was a little bit of a relief. I mean, we'll say have to wait. I'm not a doctor, but we'll have to wait to see what happened. He had a walking boot, they said. He actually returned to the sideline with a walking boot. A good sign that it's some version of a sprain. Of course, a high ankle sprain would be very serious. So we'll see what he is. And then, yeah, it was interesting. Germain Burton has been more of a headline newsmaker in your neck of the than nationally, but it has been quite a story in Cincinnati, how he didn't show up for practice after they were going to really feature him in the game plan. And I kind of thought, like, doesn't that mean they should just not activate him this week? How can you count on a dude

like this at all? And instead, they activate him, play him a ton, throw him five targets in key spots, and it didn't go great. Yeah, I mean, you saw this stuff in college, the rumors that were coming out of his schools that he didn't try that hard or he wasn't engaged very much or he wasn't interested in learning the playbook and I don't know what's true and what's not but yeah in town people are there's some people that are up in arm saying they should be playing and more because you know you can see some of the talent you couldn't preseason but I don't know I didn't see much separation at all except the one the one completion he had and that was more burrow just launching it and as soon as he turned around it hit him in the hit him in the numbers

and he had no choice but to catch it on that one. I'm not seeing the explosiveness that everyone else is apparently seeing. He's getting, he's okay. We'll see what happens. But yeah, is he worth the headache? I don't know. I'm not inside the room. But yeah, to not show up on a walkthrough on Saturday,

when it's your first chance to shine to shine in a game plan all year. I just don't understand it. Yeah, obviously, I don't know what's going on with him, but we'll see. we'll see if I if I hear anything else I'll let you know yeah and the Ravens you know they came into this game they knew it was a big game I didn't love that Harbaugh set this sort of tight like I'm a little nervous because it's a big game not really playing like being a calm coach early with this terrible challenge and then a really stupid timeout when they had 12 men

on the field when the penalty there would have only moved them like a yard anyways like some bizarre just it was reminding me of like a Ravens playoff game not to bring back like bad memories where just everyone seemed a little tight in that first half and obviously they got on track and now they are seven and three and man their schedule coming up is fascinating they're at Pittsburgh in week 11 and so that that is for first place and then they're at the chargers in week 12 that's a Monday night game and then they're home for the Eagles in week 13 before they're by. So get ready.

To me, the Bengals with that, I mean, the Ravens with that schedule, like they are in the center, the very center of the NFL. I do like how the schedule shapes up for the lions and the Ravens kind of coming up where they're all in a bunch of really big games against big teams.

And this was a big test pass. They've been kind of the opposite of the Bengals. They're coming through these close games when they're in them this year. Yeah, except for the couple they didn't. But yeah, it's a great point right when I said that I was like

was that a stupid thing to say because yeah that the Raiders and the Chiefs game to start the year especially were not in the Brown's game recently you're right they could have just been losing two out of three games if they had losses so shut up yeah no you see chatter on Twitter

and things like that I don't know how serious it is that people don't like Harball I think he does a good job of featuring his best players and when you have Lamar Jack and Derek Henry. It's probably pretty easy to coach, I would imagine. But, yeah, he does a good job of featuring his players.

Now, the defense hasn't been great this year, especially against the past. But I think they'll be fine. And the people that are saying that he needs to go or he's not as good as people are acting like he is, they're crazy. They're crazy. They're crazy. Todd Munkin is doing a great job. This actually was the least I've seen, like, the receivers open and

while. So the Bengals did something right. The route distribution was a little weird. But they're doing a great coaching staff. And they're a coaching job. They're a team that usually improves as the season goes along, especially defensively in December. So that's something to watch. I've kept you up late enough, Nick. Appreciate you. Hope to reconvene at some point again on NFL Daily this season. And in the meantime, hope all the Wesselings in Cincinnati and Columbus, although, you know, you don't seem as nice to the Columbus crew. You've got to be nice to your brother, Phil, Nick. I mean, I'm always nice to Phil.

Me and him are bros. No, I'm not nice to him. And he's a big Columbus crew fan, and they got tossed from the playoffs early this year. So, you know, they can go somewhere else. I'm on, like, the Wesleyan Brothers text thread, and we're getting Columbus crew trash talk. I was like, I don't even know. You're speaking a different language. It sounded like you might have had a couple.

You had thrown back a couple at the bar that day, you never know with me. I don't remember, but yeah, probably something like that. Appreciate you, Nick, for hanging out.

We will be back on Friday, on NFL Daily, and Cynthia Freeland joins me to make some picks. I was hot last week with 3 and 0 with my picks against the spread. You want to throw out a pick just last second.

On the spot, you have two seconds, Nick. I don't even know who's playing this week. Okay, so tune in Friday. When Nick can't come up with a pick, you know football is back.