the Dalai Lama became available, you'd really have to consider
that, right? I don't know.
Anybody on the webinar, you will be pretty broad.
Pretty broad, but hey, you know, the Bengals are doing
exactly what they did last year they were five and four
entering the by
exactly like last year.
And even though, and this is so weird.
They go to the Super Bowl.
Usually when you go to the Super Bowl, you acquire
on the back of your jersey,
a Target
that every team shoots for every week, you become
the measuring stick game, you become that team where Danny
Green used to say,
everybody brings their a game. Everybody we play
brings their a game we have to deal with it every single week
when you're one of those teams that has that Target and the
Bangles to me miles. It feels like they didn't enter the season
with that Target. The bills were the ones.
I remember just talking about at the beginning, the seems
like the bills had to be think of, what the hell did we do to
get all this pressure on us? We haven't even been to a Super
Bowl in 30 years. Why are we the ones
that everybody's gunning for?
What about the Bangles
go after them
and it's playing out perfectly. They just keep checking boxes.
They just keep winning games. Yesterday was very impressive
to me. They go in to Tennessee is
And a half Point favorites.
I thought the Titans would win, especially with Jamar, Chase,
not yet back, Joe. Mixon
out with a concussion
and the Bangles
overcome. This idea that the Titans it, some level are going
to want to get revenge
for what happened in the playoffs, even though it's
Apples to Apples and it's really not Revenge. I don't
like that idea of what we gotta get revenge. Well, why would
they do? They come to your house and throw eggs? They did
their job and they won the game. There's no Revenge to be
had but still
I thought the Titans would have a little something. More. And
if they did the Bengals, overcame it. I got to give
the Bengals a ton of credit talk to Sam hovered after the game, who
was part of the defense of shutdown, Derrick Henry and
the idea was we're just gonna,
you know, we're just gonna
not let him
continue to run the ball once he gets hit. Because that's
when he says most dangerous and they coupled that with a great
offensive performance from smudge appear on to Higgins,
had 114 receiving yards,
Joe burrow, doing Joe Borough things only got sacked once on
the day after getting sacked.
In times in that playoff, win over Tennessee
and no Jamar Chase. No Joe Mixon, no problem, but there
they are getting to the ball with Derrick Henry and the idea
was
we have to get into the ground, when he's hit the first time,
we can't let him run off of contact. And after that long
play that we saw, where he fumbled the ball on the screen,
pass at the end zone and trail on Burke's recovered for
the touchdown. Sam Harper told me that the defensive players
looked at each other and said, that's it. Not another one
today. And there wasn't another Other play like that the rest
of the day and that's one of the big reasons. If Derrick
Henry doesn't kill you, you've got
a pretty good chance of beating the Titans.
It was a really impressive performance in that they were
just swarming Derrick Henry. So, I mean hear what he said to
you about that. I mean, that that's really the way it played
out on the field. They did not allow him to get going, running
the
ball at all. And that's why the Titans had to involve Derrick,
Henry more in the passing game because that's their best
offensive weapon. That's the guy that they know that they
can turn. You would when Derrick Henry gets the ball in
space and he's running with the head of steam, that's where he
kills you.
And that's what the Bengals basically prevented him from
doing the entire game aside, from that long screen that
ended up in a touchdown. Because, Derrick Henry fumbled,
and he fumbled it into the end zone. And trail on Burks was
here, Johnny on the spot, and he, and
he falls on, and it's a touchdown. But,
I mean, it was just really impressive defensive performance, and
when you have that on the road and you allow your offense, to
you, it's thing when it's missing. It's top guys to that
really says a lot. I think about where the Bangles are
right now
and how are they can go? I mean,
you cannot count the Bangles out of winning the AFC North
right now and it sort of looked like at the beginning of
the Season. Like, oh my gosh, what's going on there? They
found themselves.
They have been able to win games and I won five of their
last six. And I mean,
I feel pretty good about them hosting. The Kansas City Chiefs
next week in that really, really, really critical game
for What could
Have a lot of AFC playoff them locations
with Derrick Henry.
For as great as he is. And he's the closest thing. The current
game has the Jim Brown. Some people get upset. When you
compare him to Jim Brown, find me another guy in the NFL right
now that would even become.
And I know that this may be sacrilegious for a Browns fan,
but I have one of the top of my mind because his name is Nick
Chubb and he plays in Cleveland so, oh yeah. But but I did,
I feel like, Derrick Henry has been that. He's done it on
a higher level over a longer period of
time. My point is, this
he doesn't have An explosion, it takes him two or three
strides to really get to his most dangerous point. So,
that's when you got to get him on the ground, he doesn't just
when he gets the ball, it's not just pow and he's gone.
He's got that one, two, three, and then he's gone.
And if you get him in that 123, as he's really getting that
body up to speed. That's when you have your chance and that's
what the Bengals did. And I own one of the things I said to Sam
Hubbard,
do you feel like you're being disrespected and do you like it
that way
and what he said, sounded a lot like what Played at the very
top of the show.
They gotta play us. We're not worried about the schedule.
We're not worried about those other teams they have to play
us. And yeah, I mean, with the Chiefs on deck, that that's,
that's an opportunity to remind everyone.
To the extent that they're comfortable reminding everyone
that they're still there and they're still pretty good.
Again, I think they kind of like flying under the radar
because when you are the top dog, when you are the team that
everyone's pointing to say, And
they're the ones we want to be there, the ones to watch out for,
it's a little harder to operate.
They've been able to operate
on their own without that extra Spotlight, but they're getting
closer and closer to the glare returning to the Cincinnati
Bengals. Because, you know, just the last year, the way
they did in the playoffs,
it just it felt like a rabbit out of the Hat one game after
the other like how can you replicate that. But they just
they have something about them that and this is Joe burrow
leading the way they step up in those moments. And They just
get it done
when the time comes to win those big games and now they're
doing it as we get closer to December. And, you know, it's
fun to watch.
hit, subscribe for the latest news and Analysis from pro
football talk.