Hi, get everybody.

I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.

The this goes out to the underdog addition, as the Bengals look to knock off one of the hottest teams in the NFL and end the Patriots eight game winning streak.

Coming up, my one on one conversation with t Higgins, who tells us why he's thrilled to be a Bengal for years to come.

Former NFL quarterback Trent Green.

Will be in the booth for CBS this week and shares his thoughts on the Jos, Joe Flacco and Joe Burrow.

And in this week's Know the Faux segment, we'll hear from the voice of the Patriots, Bob soci The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corp, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.

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It's the greatest thing since Dorothy Lane Market.

On Wednesday, Dave Lapplman and I did a live broadcast to the Bengals game Plan Show from Dorothy Lane Market in Mason, the official gourmet grocer of the Cincinnati Bengals.

It's a family business that started in the Dayton area in nineteen forty eight and recently opened its first location in the Cincinnati area on Mason Montgomery Road.

I'm here to tell you it is the nicest grocery store I have ever been to.

Dorothy Lane Market is a place for people that love food and you can eat while you're there burgers, pizza, sushi, steak, and much more.

Plus there's a wine bar and a craft beer bar, and with Christmas approach, they have great food gifts for the holidays.

We'll be back there in a few weeks for another edition of the game Plan Show and our special guest will be Anthony Muno's So come out and join us at the Dorothy Lane Market in Mason on Wednesday night, December tenth, and whatever you do, be sure to bring your appetite.

As you probably know by now, the Bengals will not have Jamar Chase for Sunday's game against New England.

He's been suspended for one game for spitting at Pittsburgh's Jalen Ramsey, a notorious agitator.

Nobody condones what Jamar did, but Zach Taylor was quick to defend the character of his all Pro receiver.

I think Jamar Chase will go down as one of my favorite all time players and favorite all time leaders and everything he's about.

So I keep hearing this.

It's like we're trying to make something out of the situation that it's the only thing that's kind of upset me as I'm sitting in here, because for a guy that has done everything we can to build our organization around, he's been off not perfect.

I'm not perfect, I trust me.

I made plenty of mistakes yesterday people don't see on camera.

Unfortunately his what was and so he's gonna have to wun up for that and that will be part of his journey.

He's still in some ways he's a veteran.

He's still I think he's going to play a long time.

And so when you look at the overall part of his career.

This will be the beginning of his career.

In a lot of words, well a lot of ways.

I hope you understand my position on this, because he's a guy who's done everything he could possibly could to help us win and do things the right way.

Jamar has missed five previous games in his career due to injury, and the Bengals have managed to go three and two, scoring an average of twenty four point six points.

To win on Sunday, the team's other offensive weapons are going to have to come through.

Here's offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher.

You know that was a message to them this morning when we talked to the team, is you know when you don't have Jamar available.

I mean, everybody has eyes in their head.

They can see how big of a piece he is to what we try to do week in and week out.

So we can look at that and sorry for ourselves, or you know, there should be seven or eight guys walking around this building with some energy today knowing that those opportunities got to go somewhere.

There will be a lot of guys with chances to make an impact on this game.

Of course, the number one guy is t Higgins, who's caught touchdown passes in nine straight home games and has played well in Jamar's absence before.

We discussed that and much more in this one on one conversation.

Tee, You are not going to have your guy, Jamar Chase out there with you on Sunday.

How does that affect you?

I don't feel like it affects me too much.

You know, at the end of the day, I said, I gotta go out there and do my job.

So whether he's out there or not.

In the games he's missed in the past, you've averaged one hundred and two receiving yards.

I know he's your guy and you want him out there, but is there a tiny part of you that looks forward to the challenge of when he's not.

Yeah, it's always a tone when he's not there, obviously, but you know, I just look forward to help my team get a win at the end of the day.

That's that's the overall goal here, and not necessarily you know, looking for you know, the opportunities because he's not there for myself.

But you know, obviously they're gonna be there and the opportunity is not gonna just be there for me.

They're gonna be there for Andre Mitchell, Charlie Mike, you know, all the other guys that's that's past catchers, even Chase Brown.

So you know, we just gotta take a uh, take advantage of those opportunities that we that we got this weekend, you know, and try to come out with.

A w We're chatting to T Higgins.

We're having this conversation.

On the Wednesday of the Patriots game.

Nine days ago, Joe Burrow returned to practice.

Were you legitimately surprised to see him out there?

Yeah?

I was surprised to hell.

You know, I didn't even know that he was even practicing.

And Jamar came up to him, was like, non practicing.

I said, what what you mean.

He's like, yeah, you wanna see because I ain't see him in the locker room and everybody already walked out, and I'm just like, all right, so I walk out there, I'm like, oh not.

But it was good to see him out there.

Man.

He clearly wants to play, regardless of the Bengals record going forward.

How do you feel about that?

I mean, this is this type of competitor that he is.

You know, nobody wants to sit out and just you know, watch their team play and keep competing when you're an ultimate competitor yourself, you know what I mean.

So I'm pretty sure he's been eating him alive ever since he got hurt that you know, he can't be out there with his guys, you know, grinding through all the hard practices and then you know, running games and stuff like that.

So yeah, since Joe's been out, Joe Flacco has done a remarkable job.

You guys almost have the same birthday, although his is fourteen years earlier.

But what have you grown to admire and respect about Joe Flacco?

Oh?

Yeah, man, you know I admire his hard work, you know, because I mean he doesn't have to, you know, be out here at a at his age.

You know, he loves the game, man, you could tell.

You know, he came in with you know, with his head high, you know, not down because you got traded anything like that.

He came in with his head high, and you know, been playing elite quarterback you know, since he got here.

So you know, you know, I look up to him.

You know, if I have any you know, questions and need advice, you know, I go to him because he's been here and done it.

So yeah, man, he's a great guy.

He's coming along.

At first, you know, he was a little quiet, but now he's opened up a little bit, you know, getting a tho his teammates a little bit more.

So pretty cool.

We're chatting with t Higgins.

He's throwing you five touchdown passes over the last four games.

How quickly did you feel like the two of you had good feel and chemistry for each other?

Really?

Just in practice?

Man, you know the balls that he was just giving me and Jamar you know, all the receivers, so you know, it was just like man.

Jim and Jamar even talked about it.

Man, we're just like, man, this guy can really put the ball in the right places where we needed to be.

So and he makes sure he puts the ball where he wants us to be, you know what I mean.

So, and then you know, once the ball's in there, after that, you know, the job is on us to come down with it.

And you know we've been able to do that a little bit lately, so you know, it's been good.

The last time we sat down for one of these one on one pregame show interviews, it was late last year, and it almost felt like a bit of a goodbye.

We didn't know about your contract situation at the time.

For most of last year, did you play with the assumption that you wouldn't be back?

Oh for sure, Yeah I did.

If I've being honest, I did, because obviously, you know, previous years me trying to get a contract extension just wasn't happening to them.

The tag, you know, I just didn't see it, didn't see fit.

I thought, you know, for sure that you know, me and the organization was going to see, you know, be on different levels instead of seeing eye the eye.

But you know, I was able to make it work.

And man, I'm happy, you know what I'm saying.

I'm happy to be here.

I always wanted to be here, so, you know, being here with my guys, came in with Joe, it's just been It's been one hell of a ride.

For sure.

After the final game last year, when guys emptied out your locker, emptied out their lockers, did you say goodbyes just in case?

Oh?

Yeah, yeah, man, I said.

I said a few goodbyes to a few people.

You know, I took up a lot of my cliques and in person of the longest you know, so just just being prepared to you know, just because anything can happen in this league.

You know, you never know, like the situation with Joe, you know, he's a captain in Cleveland, ended up playing.

With us, you know what I mean, So you never know.

But definitely said Michael Bye's and then when I came back, I said my hellos again.

In handshake lines after games last year, did guys quietly say to you, dude, we need you over here next year?

Oh?

It was few, you know, you know, you get that a little bit when when when guys know your situation.

But yeah, man, it was good.

You know, I guess to know that other guys wants you on the team.

So I think another sports team like baseball, for example, if your team is having a rough year, it's still easy to do your job.

You go out there, there's no pain involved.

But football is such a hard physical game.

How challenging is it when your playoff odds aren't good?

Uh, it's very tough.

Obviously we played the game, win and go to the super Bowl.

Let's let's the ultimate goal here, mister winning go to the super Bowl.

Obviously, when that's not happening, Yes, it's challenging because we are putting our bodies on the line each and every single day, and yeah, we're gonna get banged up, knocked up and stuff like that.

So yeah, I feel like it's it's it's it's pretty tough, you know, mentally and physically.

But you know, but you just got to look past that and and if you love the game and you just gonna go out there anyway.

So, I mean a lot of the guys love the games, so especially though you know, obviously we didn't make the playoffs past few years, but you know, all the guys still played with grit and dedication.

So I mean, we saw it at the end of the season last year.

We got that win the last game.

So you face the Patriots this week.

They've got nine wins in the last two years combined.

They had eight in your rookie year.

The Bengals won four games.

The next year you went to the Super Bowl.

Because it give you the hope and optimism that things can turn around very quickly and you can be right back in the thick of things.

Yeah, man, you never know, man, because obviously, like like like you said, my second year, we ended up turning things around.

Ended up going to the super Bowl, So, I mean the division.

Obviously, we felt a little bit, you know, losing that last week game.

But man, I mean we just got to keep playing hard and go out there and and try to get away each and every single week, and I feel like we being we'd be all right.

Good luck catching a touchdown pass at home for the tenth consecutive game.

That would tie an NFL record.

It's pretty cool.

Whether tie it or break it.

I'm under the impression it would tie it with Chris Carter and Bob Hayes each caught touchdown passes in ten straight home games.

Okay, yeah, that'd be pretty cool, you know, being the you know in the category with those guys.

Obviously, that's those two guys are are you know, great receivers.

But I just want to go out there just just me and just try to help my team get a W at the end of the day.

You know, if I do get that touchdown, well, Jamar probably made it a little harder this week.

But yeah, man, I'm just gonna go out there and do what I do, do what I do best, and just chatting in that box.

Appreciate your time, Thanks to you, Thank you, now time for an update on Joe Squared, Flacco and Burrow.

Joe Flacco is still dealing with a shoulder injury.

In recent weeks, He's rested his arm on Wednesday, practiced on Thursday, and rested again on Friday.

It looks like that's the protocol again this week.

Some of the snaps that he didn't take on Wednesday went to Joe Burrow, the first time that Burrow has taken part in eleven on eleven work since returning from his toe injury on a limited basis last week.

The Bengals aren't saying when or even if Burrow will return to action, but it is abundantly clear that he wants to.

In the meantime, Flacco has done a remarkable job of filling in, particularly in home games.

The Bengals are averaging thirty seven point two points in Flatco's three starts at pay Corpse Stadium.

Cincinnati is Joe's sixth NFL home in eighteen seasons.

And I asked him about playing here.

Being in Ohio, like, and you can just tell you know how much football, you know, means to people in this part of the country, and you know from the time they're probably young.

So everybody has that good knowledge of football, and you can tell they care about it a lot, and they have those expectations and they get themselves excited to come in and cheer for us in those games.

I've played here a good amount, and honestly, I probably missed that part of it a little bit, you don't, you know.

But when when you're here and you know, you kind of walk around the city and you know, you get to see people from here, you can tell how into it they are, just with the little who days on, you know, on the side of the road and things like that.

I'm not quite sure how to respond yet, I still feel a little funny saying it that I'm getting there.

If he wants to stick around next year as Burrows backup at age forty one, I suspect the Bengals will be interested.

Now let's get to another quarterback who will be in the booth for CBS this week to call the Bengals game for the second week in a row.

We are joined by two time Pro Bowl quarterback Trent Green.

The proud dad of a University of Cincinnati women's volleyball player.

Is your daughter enjoying being a bear Cat.

She is.

Yeah, she is.

She's in her second year.

She red shirted her first year, so she's a redshirt freshman.

She's a setter, and she's really enjoyed the campus, enjoyed the girls on the.

Team, the whole U.

SEE experiences has been good for She's found a great group of friends both on and off the court, and yeah, where it's worked out well for enjoyed it.

Great to hear.

Let's talk football.

You played in the NFL until you were thirty eight, so I'm sure you can identify with Joe Flacco, who's doing this at age forty.

What impresses you most about what Flacco has done in his first five games with the Bengals.

Well, I think the biggest thing is how quickly he's picked up the offense.

You know, I know he's been at it for a long time, and the terminology is different, and anytime you start with a new system, new team, it's being able to pick up the terminology and even calling the plays in the huddle.

So that's the first thing that jumps out, is how quickly he was able to adapt to that.

The second thing is, you know, just getting connected with your receivers, getting connected on the timing of your cadence, the rhythm of play calling and getting the snap count before you know the play clock runs out.

There's so many intricacies to playing the position and all of those small details.

Joe's been very good at.

The other part is at that age, I know what I felt like at thirty eight play nearly as much as what Joe's doing at age forty.

So being able to recover, that's that's a hard part.

We all learn that as we get older and the bumps and bruises take a little longer to heal up.

So the fact that he's been able to stay healthy and play play the way he has is impressive at any age, let alone at forty and over.

Then there's the other Joe, Joe Burrow, who took part in eleven on eleven practice drills for the first time since coming back on a limited basis from his toe injury last week.

What do you think of the possibility of Joe Burrow returning to action this year.

Well, here's the thing.

It's it's one thing as a player, it's another thing as a coach.

It's another thing as an owner.

It's another thing as an organization.

There's so many different things, and the doctors obviously have the finals say so, as a competitor and as someone that's dealt with many injuries throughout his career, I was always get me back on the field as soon as I can.

I wanted to be out there.

I want to be with my teammates.

I don't care what the rect is, what the score is.

This is what I do.

This is my job.

So I can understand, you know, how Joe Burrow's looking at this is Hey, I'm just this is this is my career, this is what I do.

This is what I that I that I want to do, and and so he's doing everything he can from a rehab standpoint, a recovery standpoint, and I know talking to to Zach last week, he was fired up about the way seven on seven looked and the way the ball was coming out of Joe's hands, and he felt really good about that.

I know, as you mentioned, he was able to get some teamwork and felt pretty good about that.

I just think there's so many factors.

I understand where Joe Burrow is coming from on this.

I think there's so many factors though, that have to go into it as an organization, as a head coach, as doctors.

You know, there's there's so many things that need to be answered before you all of a sudden, you know, put it back in there.

Uh, sometimes you have to protect players from themselves because as I many times over the years, I had coaches telling me, yeah, I know you think you can, but we're going to have to protect you know, And I was upset about it, like I would, I would get mad about it, and I have, you know, some some heartfelt conversations, whether it be with the trainers, the doctors, the coaches, whoever it may be.

But so I definitely can understand where Burrow's coming from.

But I do know that from an organizational standpoint, there's got to be some balance to that as well.

So if he plays this league.

That is great for us, you know as a broadcast team, that that adds a lot of juice to the game having Joe Burrow on the field.

But there's a lot of things that need to be answered over the next few days.

If the doctor gives Joe the greenlight to return and the organization is comfortable with it, do you think it would give the team an emotional boost?

One hundred percent.

One hundred percent.

I remember we had the game game right after Joe Flacco was traded here, and just in those three four days that he was here.

I remember talking to Al Golden, I remember talking to some of the defensive players.

I remember talking to the offensive players and staff.

There was just a burst of energy right when Flacco came out on the field, the way the ball's coming out of his hands, the energy that it brought.

It didn't translate to winds, obviously, It's translated to the offense playing a lot better, a lot more points.

Going up, a lot more yards going up.

But I remember talking to the team at that time after just a few days, the difference of him walking out on the field and the energy that it brought.

Now, all of a sudden, you take it another step and it's Joe Burrow, a guy that's accomplished so much here in St.

Ccinnati and for the Bengals what he's been able to accomplish, and a guy that you thought was done for the year.

All of a sudden, he walks back in the locker room, walks back in the huddle, takes the field.

It would be a huge boost, not only to the offense, but I think it's to the defense and the team and the city and the fan base as well.

We're visiting the former Pro Bowl quarterback Trent Green from CBS.

The Bengals are not going to have Jamar Chase this week.

In your playing days, how did you approach it when you went into a game and didn't have one of your best weapons.

That was always a problem.

And generally when you're missing someone, it's it's because of an injury related thing.

And knowing that this was self inflicted that makes it frustrating.

Especially doesn't matter which Joe's going to be quarterback, you want Jamar Chase on the field.

I mean, that's just the simple truth about it is he's you can argue that he's the best in the league.

He won the Triple Crown last year.

I mean, what he's able to do.

So you've just got to have other guys step up.

You know.

You hear that mentality from coaches, you hear that mentality from players all the time, and next man up, next man up, next man up.

And it's hard to replace a guy like Jamar Chase.

Just because of how talented he is and what he's accomplished up until this point.

But what it does is it creates an opportunity for someone else to be that playmaker, to be not Jamar Chase, but to be the best version of themselves and all of a sudden give themselves an opportunity to showcase their talent in those tough situations that we're so accustomed to seeing Chase handle those things.

It's obviously been a challenging year for the Bengals on defense.

You did the game last week in Pittsburgh.

The defense only allowed twenty points in that game.

Did you see any improvement?

I did see improvement.

I thought the tackling was better.

I know that's been a big issue during the season, is misstackles.

There were some, but not nearly at least in my mind, not nearly as many mistackles as in previous years or in previous games.

I thought another issue that had been with some of those explosive big runs.

The Steelers did have a couple of those, but I thought for the most part kept those in check.

As far as like big pass plays, those kinds of things, I thought there were less big plays, less mistackles.

I love you didn't see, or at least I didn't see.

I guess I wasn't sure what to expect right, because this has been a frustrating thing, especially especially with the defensive side of the ball.

There was great energy on that side.

Saw guys flying to the ball, The effort was there, There was excitement when big plays were made.

You see team You see teammates rallying and excited for one another.

Those are all things you can keep the tabs on, or what I did as a player and now as a broadcaster kind of you kind of get the personnel or the vibe of the team based on the energy level that guys are bringing.

You can pick it up right away and warm up.

She can pick it up on special teams.

You can pick it up on the way the bench responds when a big play happens.

You know, there's lots of things that you can tell about a team, and I saw all those things last week.

Even though it was a frustrating outcome and I know the defense wasn't happy with what they did, I did see some improvement on that side.

The Patriots come to town with an eight game winning streak.

They won a total of eight games in the last two years combined.

Are you mildly surprised or stunned?

I'm gonna say surprised.

I don't know if I would say stunned, because I have a lot of faith in Mike Rabel and what he was able to do in Tennessee.

I believe in Josh McDaniel and what he's done in terms of developing quarterbacks.

You know, I go back to Mac Jones his rookie year.

His best year was his rookie year and that was with Josh McDaniels prior to him leaving to go to the Raiders.

So he does a great job of developing quarterbacks.

I think he's done a good job of developing Drake May, putting him in positive positions.

And then what I think people forget is the amount of money.

You know, it wasn't a very New England Patriot kind of off season.

This was they put a lot of money into both sides of the football, bringing in personnel, spending money over the last couple of seasons, but especially this year, so bringing in the coaching staff, bringing in the personnel they have, and then the direction that Mike Rabel as a leader as a head coach.

So surprised a little bit, but not like completely stunned.

No, it's and then you also, I know a lot of people have brought up the fact that who their opponents have been, like the strength of schedule and some of the teams that they've played.

I had a head coach.

They used to say, listen, you play who you play, whoever, whoever the NFL puts on the rout or that's who you're playing.

It could be, you know, you may be playing all team or a bunch of teams with winning records.

You may be playing only a couple.

So never make an excuse from a schedule standpoint.

Played the guys on your schedule and attack it, and that's what the Patriots have done.

Drake May is one of the leading candidates for NFL MVP.

What's jumped out about his play in year two?

Wow, there's a bunch his completion percentages jumped I gave once again, I give a lot of this to Josh McDaniels.

I think putting him in good position.

His completion percentage is over seventy percent, maybe even seventy one and a half percent.

His yards per game is up nearly seventy seventy five yards.

He's already got more touchdown passes and half the interceptions that he had a year ago where he only started twelve games as a rookie, so and here he is going into his twelfth game this year.

So I think the thing probably the biggest thing that's jumped out.

He's been smart with the football, hasn't turned it over for a young player.

That's always difficult to do, especially with someone with an arm like his.

You feel like you can make any throw.

You're young enough to where you think he can make any throw.

But sometimes it's making the right decision that helps your team the best.

So protecting the football, his accuracy has jumped out.

He has the ability to make big plays, but doesn't force it when those opportunities comes in makes he makes sure that he's mindful of the football.

Final question for Trent Green.

You've called games with Kevin Harlan now for the past several years on CBS.

I am the president of the Kevin Harlan Fan Club, actually co president with my son Sam.

Do you have a favorite Harlanism or a call that Kevin Harlan has made since you two guys have been together.

Oh my gosh, there are so many, and probably the most memorable year for me, and I know it wasn't for everyone.

The COVID year.

Where there were majority of the time there were no fans in the stands.

Some of the stadiums allowed a few fans in there.

His energy, it didn't matter if there were fans in the stands or not.

His energy level and what he was able to bring, he brings it every single broadcast.

Uh.

It's just a true joy to work with with Kevin.

He's the best.

As you said, you know, he's phenomenal, whether whether he's called on TV or radio.

Uh, it's it's pretty phenomenal.

So my my best one, just because it's the most current one and I hate to do it to the Bengals defense, is the the one this week with Washington, the mat on the windshog, Like, what did you just say, you know, when he when he said that this week about Washington, Uh, you know, rumbling down on the sideline.

I just it's some of the some of the times in the booth, I'll just kind of shake my head and and chuckle a little bit.

And sometimes that chuckle.

Goes out over air when it's not necessarily supposed to.

Uh.

But but yeah, he's always uh he's always coming up with the one liners and the perfect quote, whether it's detailing two games at once, whether it's detailing a squirrel that's out on the field or something something going on in the stands, or a player, you know, having a phenomenal play.

So now he's been I've been blessed.

I've worked with with Greg Gumbel for six years and you know, and now I've had six seasons with Kevin Harlan, So truly some not only great announcers, but great people as well.

Try this has been fun.

I really appreciate your time.

Best of luck to your daughter and the University of Cincinnati women's volleyball team.

I appreciate it.

Dan, good talking with you.

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The New England Patriots come to town on Sunday, a team that's already won more games this year year than the last two combined.

After back to back four and thirteen seasons.

The Patriots are nine and two with an eight game winning streak under first year head coach Mike Rabel.

The voice of the Patriots, Bob Socy, joined Dave Laphaman and me on the Bengals Game Plan Show this week, and I asked Bob if he expected something close to this, if he's mildly surprised, or if he shocked yet.

I'm somewhere between mildley surprised and out and out shocked, especially after a one and two start for the Pats, losing to Pittsburgh for example, in Week three, turning the ball over five times, losing the opener to Las Vegas as well, and we've seen how poorly the Raiders have played since that Week one game.

I thought the Patriots would be much improved Mike Rabel taking over coaching staff, with a lot of cohesiveness and chemistry and experience you could see in training camp.

But the Patriots were headed for a much more competent and competitive season.

Drake may certainly looked like he was poised to improve, not as much as I believe today is as he has.

I think you know his rapid growth in Josh McDaniel's system has been really startling in a lot of respects, and they certainly upgraded the roster considerably.

The free agent class that they brought in certainly added a lot of talent in spots where they last year were barren, and I think the draft class you could see that there was some athleticism there with Trey van Anderson for example, in the preseason that they've been lacking a potential playmaker.

But the way this season has gone from that one and two start to beating the Bills on Sunday night in Buffalo and the bounce they got from that game, and the way they have consistently competed, and that's a big thing.

This is a team that's where it's at because they continued to compete.

The defense gives up an opening drive score with regularity, but then they find a way to turn things around.

Drake May for the most part, is taking care of the foot.

They haven't beaten themselves.

They've taken advantage of bad football, and they've made a lot of big plays, something that was not existing in recent years.

I've joked with people around here for the last few weeks that we've had more offensive highlights you know in week ten, in Week nine and week eight than we had in two seasons combined for the Patriots in twenty twenty three, twenty four.

So the variety of ways in which they've done.

It, Yeah, Bob, I look at the eighty five plus eighty five point differential you kidding me in the second quarters plus plus fifty three.

Yeah, in the third quarter, it's what is it plus thirty five or something like that.

It's it's crazy over plus over one hundred in the second and third quarter.

What's the reason for that?

What's what's the turnaround?

How?

What do you attribute it to?

Is it coaching?

Is it players, you know, responding to the to the great coaching?

Is it a combination?

What do you think?

Yeah, Dave, I think you do start with the coaching, and certainly, you know, the players ultimately are the ones who are responsible for the performance on the field.

And when people ask about Drake May and the difference that Josh McDaniels has made as the offensive coordinator and play caller, and the difference that Mike Rabel has made in ways that he's challenged him, I think you still go to Drake May's ability and his coach ability, and I think that's the case for the entire team.

I mentioned competence and confidence and cohesiveness for the Patriots coaching staff during training camp that it was evident, and I think that carried over to their players.

I think this is a team that was fully bought in when the season started, and their faith wasn't shaken after that one and to start, and as I mentioned the defense, you know they're they're not exactly you know, a team that racks up a lot of impressive numbers, yet they've given up a fair number of big plays.

They haven't gotten to the quarterback as often as we think they would, they haven't turned the ball over in the last two games, and they give up opening drive touchdowns or field goals in almost every game.

And yet you know they have guys out there that are competing effort and finish.

You watch the effort to the football on just about every play, and I think that's kind of a sign of this team as a whole.

Offensively, you can get the ability to distribute the football what Drake may has done in terms of his past distribution to players.

The first quarter might be Stefan Diggs who gets them going by the third quarter, it's Mac Collins who spent the first half blocking for them.

It's just seems like there's a you know, with each series, which with each quarter there is a different guy that is playing a pivotal role in terms of taking control of these games.

But I do think you start with Rabel, the culture he's built, the confidence that he's still He's been very careful in terms of always handled this team, including a guy like Romadarie Stevenson, just a quick acidey who hasn't played the last few weeks because of an injury.

You remember the fumble he had on Christmas Eve a few years ago, and those problems have persisted the last couple of years for him.

Talent is back, but the inability to hold onto the ball at fumbling issues earlier this season, Rabel stuck with him.

Rabel didn't bury him, and I think that's the way Mike has coached these guys as at hole and they've responded very well to it.

The voice of the Patriots, Bob Socie, is our guest.

The Patriots have done something this year that the Bengals need to do next year.

They fixed their defense in one year, because last year these two teams gave up nearly the same amount of points.

The Bengals gave up four to thirty four.

The Patriots gave up four to seventeen.

This year, the Bengals defense has gotten worse.

The Patriots are fifth in the NFL and points allowed.

How did New England fix the defense in one year?

Well, Dan, you look at a couple of things, and I mentioned the free agent class and you start right there, including the big ticket item that they got in free agency and Williams.

And you won't see him this weekend.

Of course, he's on injured reserve now.

But he's been a guy that came in coming off a Super Bowl and the performance he had against the Chiefs, a contract paying him an excess of ninety seven million dollars, playing in training camp with something to prove the way he worked, a guy that has been able to double his staff count from Philadelphia when he was in that rotation that the Eagles had up front as talented and as deep as they are, and they were with him in that defensive line.

He's become an instant leader for this team.

And he's going to be missed this week.

I think he's been interested to see how they respond these next few weeks without Milton Williams.

Harold Landry known commodity for my verbel former Titan calevon chase On has been a bit of a revelation.

Former number one pick has been a bit of a journeyman the last few years, already with a career high in sacks, and he's played with really a great motor that's shown up on special teams as well.

That's what Rabel points to when he talks about him.

And you look at the linebackers, Robert splaying former Titan Steeler, gritty Guy Jack Gibbons another former Titan, undrafted player, but he's come up big for them the last couple of weeks with some high volume tackle games in the secondary.

Carlton Davis another free agent signee along with Christian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez I think is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.

The numbers may not reflect that.

He's not one of those guys that gets a lot of interceptions, kind of like the outfielder with the good arm and baseball that people don't run on it teams.

But when you look at, you know, the free agent players they've acquired.

I mentioned several of them there up front, Williams, Chase on Henry or Landry, and you look at the cornerback Davis.

They haven't had many misses, if any at all in free agency this year and that's really a rare thing.

And the other point that has to be made to the schedule.

We thought going into this season, you know, in terms of media circles here, that the Patriots would have a soft schedule.

The numbers bear that out.

Now it's been a very favorable schedule for them to turn things around.

When you look at the caliber of the quarterbacks they faced on the timing of some of the games today, this defense hasn't really gone up against, you know, really a frontline player in you know, the opposing team's offense since Josh Allen in Week five.

When you really look at who they faced over the last weeks, they've gone up against some good running backs, but they've been able to shut them down in one dimensional offense and the run defense has been very good for them.

When you look at it, it all starts with the owner in Robert Craft.

Robert Craft is a winner.

Robert Craft doesn't accept anything other than winning in your best performance and so doing and you know, he had a great head coach that he teamed up with in Bill Belichick, that made beautiful music together in the in the Boston, New England area, and fans, I think, get a little bit spoiled, you know, with the success year after year after year that they were able to achieve.

How difficult is how tough was the task for able to turn the worm, so to speak, to flip the switch, to get this team turned around in such a short period of time.

You know, David, it's really interesting when Rabel came to New England a couple of years ago when he was still the head coach of the Titans, and you may or may not remember this, he was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame during a bye week for the Titans, and it was at a point in time where if the writing wasn't on the wall in Nashville, then it was about to be.

And Mike Rabel gave a halftime speech at Jillette Stadium and he said, I believe the words were, We've got a game to win.

Belichick was the head coach then Rabel was about to be fired at seasons and by the Titans, Torod Mayo was why it was, you know, in line for the Patriots job.

It was in his contracts as the heir apparent for Belichick to Belichick, and you know, it was at that weekend in Foxborough when it seemed like Mike Brabel made his his his desires clear.

And you know, when things didn't work out with Gerrod Meyo last year, and it was it was very apparent by season's end, you know, well before the season came to close, that the Patriots really were in a situation that they had ill advisedly put themselves in.

Not only would the head coach is inexperience, he didn't have any coordinating experience.

Really, he was somebody who hadn't coached outs or hadn't built up a rolodex so to speak of coaching candidates to build a staff.

So from the start last season, it was kind of learning on the fly and it was building a staff on the fly.

And then they didn't spend any money really in free agency.

The draft picks, including a second rounder is no longer with the organization.

Jalen Folk, outside of the selection of Drake May really didn't work out for them.

So things right from the start of twenty twenty four for the Patriots put the organization in the situation where by season's end, I think Robert Kraft came to realization that he had to make drastic changes.

And was interesting because when Belichick left in twenty and twenty four at the end of that season, the Patriots kind of changed their mo in terms of how they ran the organization from a football standpoint and more collaborative.

Belichick was all powerful when it came to football.

He was the decision maker at the top of the pyramid in football operations, and I think after he left, with Jewrod Mail the ownership, they wanted their football team back.

But when they went through that experience with girod Mayl, I think it convinced Robert Craft to go out and get Mike Rabel and to put more power in his lap.

Not to the extent that Belichick had, but certainly with a lot more influence over decisions.

Mike was able to bring in some people who had full trust in confidence who were with him in Tennessee Ryan Cowden, John Stryker, an Ohio State guy who's going to be a future GM.

When you hear about his resume and his credentials with people around the league.

So I think the experience of twenty twenty four and the failure and really right from the outset a season that was doomed for them put them in position because of robber Craft's desire not to relive that experience, but also to make the right changes and get the right guy.

And my variable made it clear a couple of years ago this was a job that he coveted, and the Patriots got him.

They're very fortunate to get.

Him, all right, thanks to Bob soci And here's a quick invitation to join Lapp and Wayne box Miller for the Bengals pep Rally show this week.

They'll be at the on the Ryane Eatery the food hall on the second floor above the downtown Kroger on Friday afternoon from two thirty to five thirty and their special guest in the final hour will be Bengals tight end Eric All.

That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider by Alta Fiber future Proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.

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I'm Dan Hord, and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast