Bengals Prepare for MUST-WIN Primetime Game vs. Steelers | Enter the Jungle

Bengals Prepare for MUST-WIN Primetime Game vs. Steelers | Enter the Jungle

Joe Flacco and the Bengals have to get a win on Thursday night to keep their season alive. The importance of Thursday. Plus, well, how nice it is to throw to T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, and much, much more right now on Enter the Jungle. [Music] Hi again everyone and welcome in to enter the jungle on a short week a special live edition here on YouTube. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Renee and we are proudly part of the big play network. Catch us every single Tuesday right here on the YouTube channel Cincinnati Bengals talk weekly on FanDuel Sports Network. And obviously shout out to FanDuel, one of our well awesome sponsors. Also drink a garage beer today. Perfect for Thursday night. And of course, Lakesur Marketing. And uh the Bengals, they’re going to need Lakespur Marketing desperately if they lose on Thursday night, Andrew, because well, they’re two and four. They’re reeling. Joe Flacco has injected a little bit of excitement. But if they fall to two and five, there’s no, oh, well, the season’s still alive. This is a mustwin. Uh could be a season defining win if they can somehow beat the 4-1 Steelers on Thursday night. improved to three and four on the season. It’s what everyone’s saying. It feels like you’re right. Mathematically, it makes sense to feel like things are absolutely dire if they lose this game. Although, remember last season, James, how many times it just felt like this is it for them and then it was like, oh, oh, there’s still signs of life. I know Joe Burrow was there at this time, but I’m treating this exactly as you said, and I think fans should as well, but man, I have this team. I don’t know. They could just still be clawing and it’ll Who knows? Who knows? Yeah. Mathematically, like I I had someone tweet me on Tuesday like, “Oh, well, they could still go for the wild card or they could still Look, when you’re two and five, I’m not going to be talking about playoffs.” a three and four team that stubbed their toe when they lost their starting quarterback and started to find themselves at at Lambo and then beats a 4-1 Steelers team that is really on a roll right now and playing confident ball. That is something I could get behind. And so that’s why this is so crucial. Like it’s really easy to see the path to to winning football if you beat the Steelers because then the Jets come to town after the mini buy over the weekend. The Jets come to town next week and then after that, well, it’s the Bears at home and so you have some winnable games before the buy. I I am very aware as you are of the the travel that this Bengals team has underwent over the past month and a half. Four of their first six games on the road. So now they have three straight games at home. So when I put together the the path for Joe Flacco, Jamar Chase and company to be a winning football team, it starts with winning Thursday night. It starts with gaining a game in the North. And if they do that, well then you could start to see the path to them turning their season around. But this idea that, oh well, they still wouldn’t be eliminated all those things. Well, sure, because because of the week, because of the time of year it is, but if you’re two and five in the middle of October, that’s an awful awful place to be, especially because that would have meant five straight losses. So, it to me this is a must-win and it’s a a major pivot point for the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals and maybe the entire Bengals franchise. I mean, it you could convince me of a a lot of directions and a lot of things that change mindset wise and mentality-wise with a win versus a loss this week. Obviously, it means that they would have to win more games after this week, but Thursday night is huge. Yeah, I agree. I feel that in my mind this is absolutely must-win. Do I think that this show Enter the Jungle is just going to be airing B-roll for the rest of the season if they end up losing? No, I don’t feel that way. There’s going to be plenty to talk about and there’s still always possibilities out there. But I will say that you mentioned travel. I traveled to one road game most recently with you being to Green Bay against the Packers. I can’t imagine what they’re going through because I’m exhausted from that. Like I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to wake up for this this show. By the way, also they hold on hold on. They are traveling private jet style. They’re okay. They are fine. I get it. I get it. But I I get it. But I mean I even if it was a fraction of what I it the exhaustion from our trip to Green Bay. But more on that another time. I will say though that while walking outside of a restaurant across from Lambe because I couldn’t find tickets to the game and seeing the fireworks go off because the Packers won. I was kind of like, good for them because I knew this game was so important. It was all I was thinking about in that moment. Yep. It’s it’s the season when it comes to being a a a playoff level football team. I think the path you look at it, there aren’t a lot of good football teams right now. there’s not a lot of good football being played around the league and so maybe the Bengals can get on that path or maybe they go in the direction a lot of people already have them on the Joe Burrowless Bengals continue to lose. I asked Joe Flacco on Tuesday about this very topic and Jamar Chase naturally was asked about it as well but I asked Joe if this feels like a must-win given the situation and given the standings in the AFC North. Hold the clip. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I came over the sideline a couple times and was telling Jake like just the way they plucked the ball out of the air like Oh, wrong one. My bad. Every game is a must win. You want to win every game, but when you look at the standings, does it feel like this one is even more crucial given where they are and where you are? It’s tough to put that kind of pressure on yourself and your team. You know, you just got to go out there and you got to take it each play at a time and each one of you has to do your do your own job and focus on that. And I think I think the more you can focus on being in the present and just doing your job, then then the results take care of themselves the best way. I would say we need to win back just because like you say, it’s four straight. Uh and and when we know we close to winning if not just winning, just getting a lot of wins. We know we close to it. Um and and it’s right there. It’s in our reach. We got to face we got to finish it and build it off the right way. Been hearing this 5 years I’ve been here. I’ve been hearing it every week. um something y’all say a lot out here, you know. I mean, at the end of the day, we know we got to win um certain games. We know we got to beat division teams for us to put ourselves in position to to be number one in the division. Um but, you know, at the end of the day, we we got to actually put the work in and do it when it’s game time. Got to do it. Got to do it. And I agree there. I like Joe Flacker’s approach. He’s been here officially a week as we’re doing this show. So, it’s not like he’d come and say, “We better win this freaking game or else.” Like, it’s that’s a tough spot to put him in. And I still had to ask the question. But for those that doubt it, like doubt the path and think that, you know, we’re we’re being hopeful for no reason, I just want to point out a win would mean two and0 in the AFC North, would mean three wins in the AFC. It would gain a game on the AFC North leaders in the Steelers. If you’re not sold on the Steelers being really good, which I think a lot of people feel that way, that they’re they’re fine, but they’re not a great football team. Well, then why not? Why not think that all right, well, this this is still a winnable division. And it is as long as they handle business Thursday night, which I’ll say it for Joe Flacco, is a must-win. Okay. Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Look, we could say must win all we want. And I know we’ll be talking about odds through FanDuel and the the division odds and so on and so forth. How are you feeling going into this game as far as the challenge that the Steelers will present at home for the Cincinnati Bengals in prime time? How are you feeling right now based on how we we saw Flaco play against the Packers? I think the Steelers are beatable. They’re really talented. Great pass rush, great front. I I think that their secondary has improved with Jaylen Ramsay. He’s he’s helped them in a bunch of different ways and playing well and embraced life under Mike Tomlin, as has Aaron Rogers, as has DK Metaf. Like, they’re a good football team. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. But are they beatable? Of course they’re beatable. Of course, this this team can beat them. And if they are, and this is why it’s such a good measuring test, because with the Bengals backs against the wall, with their season on the line, with competent quarterback play, can you go win a game at home with your season on the line? If they’re a good football team or or trending toward that, they will win this game. If they’re not, and they’re the the team that’s going to be drafting in the top 10 and the team that just stinks without Joe Burrow and all those things that very well may be the case, well, then they’re going to go out there and lose. And it’s it’s not that black and white, but for me it kind of is. And it’s this fork in the road moment where you’re either this or you’re this and show us what you are. And we’ll see. I I I think maybe I’m overhyping it, but I I don’t think I am. I do think it’s pretty close to that black and white and the significance of Thursday night. Yeah, this is one of those games where I feel as though there’s so many things that need to be fixed on this on this Bengals team on both sides of the ball. This isn’t one of those games being against the Steelers where I feel as though everything has to align perfectly. Far from it. So, if you can get an offense that operates and can move the ball down the field like we saw in the second half against the Green Bay Packers, I’m feeling pretty good. If you have a defense that can at least, I don’t know, not get gassed because they’re constantly out on the field or have just the inconsistency at times that we saw even in the second half of that Packers game. I’m feeling really, really good. Do both of those things have to happen 100% of the time? No. And I would have felt like they did with Jake Browning under center. So maybe that’s saying something about Joe Flacco. Maybe that’s saying something about this Steelers team being not quite the threat that we’re used to. But at the end of the day, we say it all the time, James. AFC North football can go either way. It can. I’m going to point this out because a lot of people have said what you’ve said and you’re not wrong. Like the Bengals defense being gassed. That defense had halftime, right? I’m just saying they got their orange slices in Capri Sun. No, they did. And then Joe Flacco goes out there and has a 10-minute drive, a 17play drive like and then they go out and give up a bunch of yards and eight plays or whatever it was to the Packers and they go score like, “All right, defense just play better. I’m done with this.” Like, oh well, the offense hasn’t complimented the I think the offense is going to be competent mostly because of of what Joe Flacco brings and the weapons they have. And we’re going to get to those weapons in just a second. But this idea that oh the defense just play better. The standard for playoff teams and playoff football is higher than what the Bengals have played like really all season long. But certainly in that second half against Green Bay. So we’ll see if the defense can rally and rebound against Aaron Rogers who I think is older than you, Andrew. Regardless, let’s uh let’s get to a quarterback who is not older than you. I know that Joe Flacco slightly younger than you. Uh we’re going to hear from him on what it’s like throwing to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins coming up next weapons. All right, let’s see if you can get the cut right this time. Oh my god. Get that set up. There’s nothing to get set up. It’s just right there. You just click it. Uh hey everyone. We’re recording for FanDuel, but we’re going to keep it rolling here. We’ll answer some of your questions after the the live ends. All right, that’s still wrong. Why do you keep hitting that? I’m getting it ready for the next one now. I’m ready. I got it. Okay. Okay. I I can hit I’ll hit the video clip of Flaco talking about what it’s like throwing to the best receiver on the planet, T. Higgins. Ready to go? I’m ready. All right, Andrew’s ready, everyone. So, we’re probably at like 121 something. It’s all right. There’s plenty of stuff that you can clip. Yep. All right. Welcome back to Enter the Jungle. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James and Joe Flacco. Let’s just say the 40-year-old might have might have a new lease on life. He gets out of Cleveland where he was benched for Dylan Gabriel who’s my height. He comes here to Cincinnati and he gets to throw to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and well has a chance to put up big numbers and maybe turn this Bengals season around. You’re going to hear from Joe Flacco in just a second, but this segment brought to you by Lakespur Marketing. Make sure that you check out Lakespur Marketing. Their team is well awesome. They have a broad range of experience regardless of industry and they pride themselves on building partnerships. They’re confident that they’re going to deliver results and more importantly they’re going to build the right relationship with their clients. So make sure you check them out lakesmarketing.com today. And a couple of guys that don’t need much marketing, Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. I I think Joe Flacco. What I I don’t want to say surprised, but certainly excited after his first game throwing to the the two guys. T. Higgins had a season high, which kind of speaks to his his struggles this year so far. Season high five catches, 62 yards, was a yard away from a touchdown. And Jamar Chase, 10 catches, 94 yards, arguably the catch of the year. That that was a touchdown that brought the Bengals within one score against the Packers in the fourth quarter. Here’s what Joe Flacco had to say about throwing to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I came over the sideline a couple times and was telling Jake like just the way they plucked the ball out of the air. Like I threw a I threw like a quick out route to to to Jamar. Um, and I didn’t get the ball great and it was like an awful spiral and he still just caught it like with both hands. And then the one the one one that I can think about to tee uh we hit him on a like little like inside slant route for a third down on I think on that first drive of the second half and a lot of guys would go down and kind of catch it with their body and slide and he just plucked it right out of the air with with both hands. It’s pretty impressive to see those guys go. That is why the Bengals still have a chance, Andrew. It’s why they have a chance Thursday night. It’s why they they have a chance with Joe Flacco at quarterback is because their strength, their team is built around Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and those guys are that good. And now they have a guy that can get them the ball. Yeah, I was looking it up and Jamar had or sorry, uh, Flaco had 45 pass attempts. Jamar Chase and T. Higgins were targeted on 20 of his throws. They accounted for 52% of his completions. And it was a uh 156 yards of his 219 passing yards were Jamar and T. That’s not extraordinary. It’s not like Jake Browning didn’t target Jamar and T close to 50% of the time, but what we wanted from Joe Flacco was getting the ball to his playmakers. And I think that illustrates that especially in the second half, great things were coming out of it. And I think you saw it right there. Flaco is realizing it. He’s like surprised. He was reacting almost like the rest of us like, “Oh, they they are doing that because how many times did he even throw him the balls during practice?” You know what I mean? So to go out there in a in the game really within reach and to witness it all in real time from under center, it’s crazy to think about that he’s just processing it still. And that’s what’s kind of exciting to me as I think about Flaco. And his longest pass the other day was 19 yards. The next step for this offense, obviously you want to be effective in the first half and they need to score early and often in the first half moving forward. They haven’t scored a first half touchdown since week two when Joe Burrow found Jamar Chase for a touchdown. They they need to be able to hit on the explosives. And now that Joe Flacco sees what Jamar Chase and T Higgins can do in contested catch situations, he’s going to trust them more. He’s going to be willing to throw it up. Not that he wasn’t before, but it’s just a chemistry thing where it’s like ah if is he covered? Well, Jamar was covered on that touchdown and it didn’t matter, right? The guy’s holding him. I was DPI all day long and it should have been thrown. Didn’t matter because Jamar said, “I’m going to go make a play on fourth down.” I think that matters. The other thing that I want to mention here with Joe Flacco real quick is how calm he was on the road. Lambo crazy 78,000 plus. that matters because there’s going to be a point Thursday night against the Steelers and really moving forward where you can get rattled and it feels like Joe Flacco is just uh Dan Horde coined the name Joe Comm and I like it. He’s not Joe Shy. He’s he’s he’s not all these other names that Joe Bar, but he’s Joe Comm. And Joe Comm can matter a lot and be a big deal when he’s thrown to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Up next, Mike Tomlin not happy with the Cleveland Browns for sending Joe Comm to Cincinnati. We’ll discuss that next. Welcome back to End of the Jungle. I’m James RP. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. And and let’s dive into these Mike Tomley comments because last week when the Joe Flacco trade happened, Andrew, I think there were a lot of people in the fan base like 40-year-old Joe Flacco, that guy is going to help. And there was like some real debate. I didn’t feel that way. I like the move. I think you like the move on the surface at least. Mike Tomlin hated the move. Hated that the Bengals were able to land Joe Flacco him. He said, quote, “To be honest, the trade was shocking to me.” Andrew Barry, the Browns GM, must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn’t make any sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think is good enough to make and be your opening day starter to a divisional opponent that’s hurting in that area. But that’s just my personal feelings. I’ll translate that for you, Andrew. We were going to, and this is we, this is Mike Tomlin talking. We were going to kick the crap out of Jake Browning and the Bengals and instead you give them a real quarterback that can utilize their weapons and they’re much more competitive now than they were a couple of weeks ago with Jake Browning as their starter. Yeah. Yeah. Two things. One, as someone who roots for the Bengals, this gives me great joy. Let’s get that out of the way. And then two, to your point, can you blame him? Can you blame Tomlin? Like about a week ago, he thought he was facing Jake Browning. We all saw what was going on with Jake Browning. I I I’m sure it got to a point where he was thinking he wouldn’t even have to watch tape on Jake Browning in that next week. And now now Joe Flacco’s Joe Flacco is coming out the tunnel and getting cheers for the first time from Bengals fans in in Por Stadium. It’s it’s got to be wild for him. And Flacco led the Colts past the Steelers last year. He didn’t start, but came in led the Colts past the Steelers 27-24. If you count that game, he’s 11 and 11 against the Steelers in his career. So, Mike Tomlin unhappy, which you’re right, everybody watching and listening, that probably should make you in fact happy. Fire up the Tomlin memes. Let’s go, everybody. The Steelers are 4- one. They’re clearly in control right now of the AFC North. So, what are the AFC North odds? The Steelers, well, they’re favored, but not by much. We’ll dive into those coming up next. All right, we’re in good shape here. Cool. Welcome back to Enter the Jungle. I’m James RP. He’s Andrew Fox Miller and we’re about to dive into the AFC North odds because well, the Bengals still in the mix, although there’s a couple of teams ahead of them. The Bengals are in second place, but there’s a couple of teams ahead of them in the odds. We’ll get to that in just a second. But you got to know right now about FanDuel’s latest offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. You bet five bucks. Maybe you think the Bengals on the money line. They’re going to handle business Thursday night. Throw five bucks on that and boom, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets if you win. You can build parlays, player props, ride the live lines. Whatever your style, FanDuel has you covered. All you have to do is visit fandle.com/bigplay. That’s fandal.com/bigplay to download the FanDuel app and get started today. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable. Bonus bets which expires 7 days after receipt restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandal.com. Gambling problem. Call 1800gambler. Visit fanduel.com/rg. Call 1888789-77777 or visit ccpg.org/hat Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org. And Maryland hope is here. And right now I look at these odds, Andrew, and the Steelers, they should be favored. They’re 4-1. They have a huge lead on everybody else in the division and can really take a strangle hold in the AFC North with a win over the Bengals on Thursday. But the Ravens odds are the ones I want to focus on. And the reason I think they’re important because at plus 175 oddsmakers clearly think that there’s still a path for the one in five Baltimore Ravens to win this division. And if the one in five Baltimore Ravens who are on a buy in week seven are going to win this division, guess what that probably means? That probably means the Bengals win Thursday night and open up the door for themselves and open up the door for the Baltimore Ravens. And so I want to note that because yeah, the Bengals plus400, the Browns plus 3,300. The Browns have no chance, it’s a three-team race and if the Bengals are going to keep that door open at all, much like we said earlier in the show, must win time. You got to handle business against the Steelers on Thursday. Here’s the crazy thing. You know, we look at the the odds here amongst all these four AFC North teams. And I’m sitting here thinking to myself what you said about the Ravens. I’m thinking about Steelers being a top the uh you know the standing so to speak when we talk about betting odds here. But then throwing in the Bengals and I’m sitting there going, “Okay, what about that? Would I bet on this? Would I bet on that?” I don’t know if I want to bet on any of these 14 right now. Like regardless of the odds because it’s so fluid. It feels everything just feels off. And uh I don’t envy anyone that has to come up with these odds. I would say this, if you think there’s even any chance of the Bengals rallying, get them now. Yeah. Because it’s plus,400. So if you think now, I’m not saying that that that that you should. I think that that Ravens line is really that tells a ton. That says a lot about how they view the Steelers. And so, can the Bengals handle business? And if they do, I think these odds are certainly going to change and flip. Now’s the time ahead of Thursday night. And uh like I said, FanDuel.com/bigplay is where you go to uh make that happen. But uh Andrew, it’s huge. It’s a huge week. And if the Steelers if the Steelers win, they’re five and one and the the Ravens are are one and five. like it’s it’s it’s really hard to see the path where the Steelers don’t handle business in the division. Ravens schedule’s getting softer, the Bengals schedule lightening up a little bit if you handle business on Thursday night. So, all eyes on Thursday night. Obviously, we’re going to have you covered on the YouTube channel Cincinnati Bengals talk for Andrew Fox Miller. I’m James Erin. Thank you so much for watching and listening to Enter the Jungle. Don’t go anywhere, everybody. We’ll we’ll answer a few questions here. We’ll answer a few questions here. We just uh wanted to get through that. I think we’re okay time wise. I think we are. I’ll cut it down to 22 minutes for FanDuel. Now, by the way, James, if the Bengals lose this week, I’m going to blame you because you didn’t you didn’t go white out like I did. Oh, yeah. I didn’t. And I don’t like I have some shirts here that I put on like for recordings. I’m sure you you’re aware of like I have gray, I have orange. I don’t have white anywhere. Yeah. So, all right. Let’s get some No white to be found. I had a white shirt in here yesterday actually and I uh I threw it in the laundry. So there you go. There you go. Behind the scenes look a behindthescenes look here. How you feeling about Trey Hendrickson James? Well, I just said it was a mustwin and season’s on the line. So I mean feeling I mean you better you better give him you better give him everything that he I mean if he can play he needs to play, right? And I think he will play if he can. But uh yeah I I think that’s a huge factor. I know Shamar’s gonna play or I’m confident he’s going to play. That’s been the plan to be clear. Like even last week that was the plan. I I I think um I think they’re going to do everything they can to get Trey right. And so whatever whatever you need to do to his back or his hip or whatever else and I I haven’t seen the injury report today. The Bengals Let’s see. All right. Though they sent out a practice estimation. Uh was Trey Trey’s a DNP again. Look, I don’t think that matters cuz Zach is especially on a short week not going to push any guys, but you need him. And it it says hip injury now, which I think is interesting. It was a back initially. That caught my eye, too. I figured I missed something, but yeah. Yeah. Um, so yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see. But, uh, you need him. Put it that way. You need him. It’s hard for me to see the, “Oh, well, they won without Trey Hendrickson.” I don’t know why comments are begging you. Cam Taylor Britt. We must talk about Cam Taylor Britt. I don’t know what there is to say about Cam Taylor Brit at this point. No, I mean it’s tough. It’s I mean I mean Yeah. What is there to say? Like you hope he can rekindle his success against DK Metaf last week or last or what two years ago? Uh this week, but Cam Taylor Britt has has really struggled and he’s been inconsistent and uh it’s hard to bank on him right now. So you’re looking at DJ Turner who’s playing great. Daxo is playing really well and I I I could see Josh Newton out there and and them going that route. But yeah, I mean how many snaps I have the snap count up in front of me. How many snaps did Cam play Cam played? I mean he was still on the field for 80% of the snaps last week. And so if they feel like his body type suits them well against DK Metaf, you could see Cam out there a lot this week. But he’s got to play well. Like I don’t I don’t really care. Doesn’t matter. You got to play well this week. And uh hopefully that that swings in that direction. He’s been inconsistent. Obviously, he’s had flashes. They need one of those big flashes this week from Cam Taylor if he’s going to be out there. I saw a few people commenting on Mitch Tinsley and and how he needs to see more playing time. My I’m going to throw this out there and then you tell me if I’m right or wrong on this, James. My initial thought when I see that is uh Joe Flacco just got used to T. Higgins and Jamar Chase. And I say that loosely like being very conservative when I say the word, you know, getting familiar with Jimar and T. So I can’t imagine that they’re in a rush to throw more people out there. They’ll kind of ease things in as they get the, you know, play calling up to speed with Flaco. But yeah. Yeah. Well, here’s part of it is you got Tanner Hudson in concussion protocol. You got Mike Cassiki out. And so those are two guys that kind of played that receiving tight end role. Well, Noah Fant will do some of that, of course, but I I think you’re going to see plenty of Yoshi still and and you might see more Mitch Tinsley naturally and and he’s clearly uh wide receiver for now just from a an offense standpoint. Just Charlie Jones, his ribs, I didn’t look here. Yeah, he didn’t practice either and so we’ll see on him. I I know he was in pain after the game on Sunday and so that that’s a major factor, too. and and in and what happens. So, I I think that’s that’s one that certainly bears watching. But, yeah, I I think Mitch Tinsley is gonna get more reps because of the tight end situation minimum. And uh they like him, so it’s not like they’re they’re hesitant to put him out there. Sort of building off of what we posted last night on Cincinnati Bengals talk on YouTube. Yeah. Bill Callahan and I guess Brian Callahan if we’re saying what are the odds that the Callahans actually get brought in. Well, I I would bring him in. I would bring him in if it was me running the show. You know, I that’s that’s it. I I think if they coach again this year, put it this way, if they coach again this year and I was running the Bengals, money wouldn’t matter, the the role I’d figure it out. I’d be willing to to move a lot to get Bill Callahan in here. And and Zack Taylor has a great relationship with him. And I think the Bengals will have a shot at it if they want to go that route. But it is dependent on the Calahanss wanting to coach again. They may want to go drink garage beer on the beach or my Tai’s on the beach. And I wouldn’t blame him. I won’t blame him one bit, Andrew. Um, so yeah, we’ll see. But yeah, if they want to be back in the mix, like I’m going to go on a Brian Callahan rant for a second here because I’ve seen a lot of this on social media and I know we’ve posted this live feed on Twitter and a lot of it is on X. Can we stop pretending like Brian Callahan was a crappy offensive coordinator because he sucked in Tennessee. Like, yeah, they sucked in Tennessee. They were 4-19. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad offensive coordinator. He was a big reason why they went to back-to-back AFC Championship games in the Super Bowl in 2021 despite having a dog crap offensive line. Like we understand that, right? We understand that a lot of why Joe Burrow trusts and believes in Zack, like Brian had a lot to do with that. Brian had a lot to do with getting Dan Pitcher uh in in and helping Dan Pitcher along the way, too. And so like, you know, you could talk about like like last year, I remember seeing the the Jamar Chase Jamar’s like, well Dan moves me around more. And the reason Dan Pitcher moved Jamar around more, I remember talking to Brian about this. It’s because of personnel. They didn’t have Tyler Boyd. Tyler Boyd was a slot only. Tyler Boyd leaves. His contract’s up. And so now you can move Jamar around more. It’s part of why they didn’t bring back Tyler Boyd. And uh it’s part of why they like Germaine Burton in the draft because they thought that he could do slot and outside, not just one or the other. Obviously, that didn’t work or hasn’t worked, but that’s why they like Andre and how Andre got on the field because he doesn’t need to just be slot only. He can play outside and run those routes. So there you go. I I would be in on bringing Callahan aboard. And uh if that means Callahans then then sign me up. I can’t speak for whoever was making the comments that you’re seeing out there, but I would imagine that there’s a probably a good portion of the people with that opinion of no Brian Callahan don’t bring him back or they think he’s not a good coordinator, coach, what have you. Part of that also may be coming from a place of there are people that are if they’re not on the fence, they’re very against Zack Taylor continuing where he’s at. If you just look at the fan base clamoring for the way that this team has performed and pinning it on Zack and if you’re feeling that way, then odds are you probably don’t want more of the same from his coaching tree, we’ll call it, returning to the team. They want something new. And that includes Brian Callahan in this instance. That’s my guess. But um yeah, if they’re a package deal, I don’t know if that’s been reported on as such or anything like that, but I guess it’s fair to assume maybe it could be. Yeah, honestly, it would my conversation would be all right. Hey, Brian. Do you want to coach again this year? Take a take a couple days. It’s not It’s not like he’s going to sign this week. Do you want to coach again this year? Yes. No. Uh in in Zack, who played for Bill at Nebraska. Hey, Bill, are you are you looking to coach again this year? Because if so, what? One, it’s the Zack connection. Two, Scott Peters worked handinhand with Bill Callahan in Cleveland. They’re great great friends. and and and by friends I mean they have a great relationship and even if it’s just a work relationship whatever uh and and so like it could fit even if Bill Callahan is like a senior advisor to the offensive line like make up a title right we’ll get with Lakes marketing and have them make up a really nice title that sounds great if that’s what the Bengals worried about like but just do it like I like can you imagine if you have arguably the best offensive line coach on the planet helping Jaylen Rivers and Amarius Mims and all of these guys that obviously Dylan Fairchild, but all of these guys that you’re hoping to develop and get more out of, like that would be huge. And so I want that. And however you can get that, I’m pretty much willing to do. Um and and so if that’s reshuffling the staff, fine. But uh hopefully they don’t have to do that and they can just bring those guys on. Speaking of reshuffleling, I know this comes up a lot and especially lately. Big picture, when do when do those discussions when should they be starting if you’re looking at trading key pieces for future picks? Next week. That’s what Thursday means. I mean, that’s literally what Thursday means is it’s it could be an era changing win or loss in my mind. Will the Bengals look at it that way? Not necessarily. But honestly, if they lose Thursday, they they could very well lose to the Bears. Yeah. like they who knows maybe the Jets get their first win against him because Justin Fields runs the read option and they don’t stay with him like the Steelers game last year. Who knows? But yeah, I I think we’re close to that. And that’s why Thursday is so important because if you get to three and four and you’re you have three wins in the AFC and two wins in the division and and you have some winnable games coming up and you don’t feel like the Steelers are that great and you believe in Joe Flacco and you you have the mini B like you can collect your breath and be like, “Hey, we’re close to 500. It was a really crappy three-game stretch in the three and a half game stretch for that first half in Green Bay as well, but we’re we’re bouncing out of it. And one thing that and I don’t know if Zack Taylor is going to be able to, but one thing that he has been very good at is navigating these times and finding a way to get them playing better to good. Well, it needs to happen now and it needs to happen Thursday. doesn’t mean they have to have their best game of the 2025 campaign as a whole, but they need to be complete enough to win that game. And uh and if they do, then that conversation changes to to all right, well, where can they go? But if they lose two and five, probably don’t have a shot at the division. And uh without winning the next two, yeah, I I don’t see how they wouldn’t trade some of these pieces. And maybe even if they did win those next two at four and five, maybe you consider it. But Certainly uh winning Thursday is going to help that a lot. And if not, you’re going to see my tone in tenor change a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Don’t I already know what that tone will be. I have ideas. Oh yeah. Yeah. Not short on ideas. A lot of Germaine Burton stuff coming up. Questioning it. Like what are we doing is basically what I would sum it up to. Yeah. We being Germaine. We being the organization. All Yeah. Well, third round pick. They clearly don’t feel like he’s ready to play and and not doing the right things by their actions. No one’s told me that. Like just and so until he does, like think about he got beat out by Mitch Tinsley. You think they want that on their on their side of it? Like they don’t want that. Some guy they signed this off season to to come in and beat out their third round pick. Like it’s but that’s where they’re at. And so it’s up to him and he’s got the talent. I mean, Germaine has a ton of talent, but the day in day out grind that is the football season is hard. It isn’t easy and and he’s got to get that part down. And so that that’s the issue right now. It’s not like the Bengals don’t want him or aren’t hoping that that that he doesn’t like of course they wanted him. That’s why they drafted him in the third round. They have egg on their face right now for doing that and they would love to to remove that egg and him play well, but he hasn’t earned that. And so, yeah, he’s he’s got a long way way to go. Now, will he be active this week if Charlie Jones is down? Probably. I would assume so. We’ll see. You’re saying probably. You need a fifth receiver. I I understand and I I would like to think you’re right. I just nothing has indicated that they have any intention of playing him anytime soon. But then again, we haven’t really heard anything positive or negative. So, I guess anything’s possible. I I will say this, it’s a kitchen sink game. So, whatever you have to do, you got to do. And so, now if you don’t trust Germaine and that, well, then then you’re going to see Kendrick Prior or, you know, that route and a practice squad guy and and they they can wait until game day on prime time games to to make that move. Um, hopefully Charlie can just play and then you avoid it. But yeah, they need I get why Germaine is still on the roster because you’re going to need a sixth receiver. But it it would be it it would make me question why he’s still on the roster if they elevated a practice squad player ahead of him. And so that that’s when I would get there. As far as like him being inactive every week, I don’t really flinch at that because they clearly have those other five guys ahead of him. But, uh, could Germaine help them from a talent standpoint? I think he could. He’s just got to handle this business, man. You just got to handle your business. Well, and it goes back to what I was kind of saying about Mitch Tinsley in that hand always. You don’t you can say kitchen sink, but there’s also a little bit, I imagine, a level of balance in terms of what are we throwing at Joe Flacco? Do we trust Germaine Burton out there given that Joe Flacco is still getting used to all the other personnel? You know what I mean? I don’t know. So, no, no doubt. And I think I think if if Germaine were to play any offensive snaps, you’re talking very basic. This is what you’re doing. Yeah. Do it. You know, because you can’t you can’t risk I mean, remember when they tried to feature him, was it in Baltimore last year? Like, it went it didn’t go great. And and so, you got to make sure that everybody’s on the same page. Couple more quick ones that we’ll we’ll get through here. So, one, I think this is a good one because I think we’re all we we talked about the time frame of Joe Burrow coming back and I know we’ve talked about this recently in the last week or two um when we did a live, but people I think are starting to wonder I think the sign of kind of hope aside from winning Thursday night is when do you see his sort of presence on the field? Obviously, there’s recovery that needs to take place before he can get there. But when do you get to a point where you’re healthy or visibly in a position to be able to confidently go out on a field, I suppose, for optics and be there on the sideline? Because regardless if he’s in a wheelchair or not, I think his input is valuable in real time on, you know, during the game. Fair. All right. So, let’s He’s walking. Let’s start there. I’m just giving up streams here. I know, but I just He’s walking. Look, I don’t really care if he’s on the sideline. Like I I know people do and like it’s like a an advice thing, but like you think Joe like I I think for Jake maybe it could have helped a little bit to be fair. Yeah. Less so with Flack. I’ll give you that. Like you think Joe’s Yeah. He’s going to go up to Joe and be like, “Hey, would like Joe Bro is gonna be like, “Man, you’ve been here for 10 days. That sucks. Like I need reps, too.” Yeah. You know, like I think it’s going to be like that. Like, so I honestly think it’s up to Joe. It feels like it’s up to Joe whether or not he’s on the sideline. Does he want to go out there just to get his picture taken and do all that stuff? I would just put him in the booth, you know, put him upstairs so he can watch the game. Like if he wants to do it and go that route, he obviously wasn’t there. Taylor Swift. Yeah. Well, he wasn’t there for the Detroit game. We’ll uh we’ll see. I I prime time. I don’t know, man. I don’t know. Would it be good to see him? Of course. But he is walking. I don’t know if you need him on the sideline. I mean, what’s what’s the real what’s the real point? Yeah. Maybe maybe using the the term sideline as a uh as No, but a lot of people that way. A lot of people and that’s fair. Yeah. I I but I I I’ll reiterate for flat the purpose of flat I we needed it more. Not that he could have done it, but we would have needed it more during this sort of concern of morale dipping and the performance of course dipping with Jake Browning on the field. That was when it I felt like, oh man, if he was out there, it would be I’d feel a little bit more like confidence and maybe that would help the team. I’m just speaking myself for myself in that instance, but with Flaco, no, I’m not as concerned about it. Um, yeah. So, a couple again, a couple more quick ones. Logan Wilson, I feel it’s fair bringing him up as well based on what we saw in the Green Bay game or say lack thereof when it comes to Logan Wilson. Where are we at with Logan? What comments can we account for? I have a clip on this of Logan that I’m literally uploading right now that I’ll play for everyone in a second. It’s like 50 seconds or so. Um, of Logan or of Logan. Okay. Of Logan for today and from today. And uh, he did get benched. Barrett Carter played all 61 defensive snaps. Demetrius Knight played 56 of 61. I just wrote about this for Bengals.com, so I got it all stored. Uh, so that was 92% of the snaps Demetrius Knight played. Meanwhile, Logan played a whopping 12 snaps. And let me look. I I forget what the percentage was, so clearly my memory isn’t that great, even though I was just trying to show off. Uh 12 snaps, 20% of the defensive snaps. Also had 13 special team snaps for Logan Wilson. Look, I think this is this feels like a mistake to me. I don’t think Logan was that glaringly bad. I know there’s been a lot of people that are like wondered about him losing a step and all those things and yeah, maybe he isn’t the Logan from 21 or 22, but is he worse than what we saw from Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight? Like it just seems like a weird time to do the youth movement thing. And I don’t know what else is going on. What I will say real quick is I do think that Logan, and you’ll hear it here, has embraced Barrett Carter and isn’t going to take it out on Barrett Carter. But then pay attention to the end when he’s asked about Zack Zack Taylor in the decision and it’s a much much shorter answer. Here’s Logan Wilson. I told him that like on Wednesday of last week. I found out we found out about this on Monday. And um you know I put my put my arm around him. I told him I said there’s going to be no hard feelings between us. Um just know that like I’m not going to change who I am. I still want to help you out. I know I’ve played a lot of football and there’s things I can still pour into you. And um I told myself I was not going to change who I am because of of a time of adversity in my life and you know and if whenever my career is done like look back at this time of adversity and be able to tell my kids how to how to get through how to work through adversity like this. And so um that’s what I’ll be most proud of by the end of the day. I’m still going to work to continue to get better um and just continue to support him as best as I can because that’s what a good teammate would do. Felt like you did some some good things against the Lions. Like I don’t like Do you feel like you were playing okay? I felt like I was. Um but obviously Zach felt otherwise. So is there I mean you’re not happy with it obviously. My bad. I forgot about the end. Uh but you get the point there. Do you feel like you’re playing okay? I felt like I was but Zach obviously felt differently. Those those moves stink. I think that the perception of Logan externally, at least by some, didn’t match the play. They they were much better against the run against the Lions than they were this past week against Josh Jacobs and the Packers. The Lions were a far better rushing team than the Packers going into those games. Logan was out there. And so I I do wonder how much that mattered or would have mattered. He had four tackles in his 12 snaps. I uh I just look at it. You have Al Golden. to have Mike Hodge as a new linebacker’s coach, new defensive coordinator. Like, it’s just it’s a tough spot to be in. I still think Logan is better than than Barrett Carter today. And that’s what’s weird about the decision. Yeah, it’s one thing to rotate in the young guy hoping for upside more often or increasing the snap count, but to just go all in, I mean, whether or not he’s going to be better, we saw the results on Sunday. Um, by the way, the rabbit is this live. James, would you please point below where you are standing? Yes. Like over there was was live. It’s live in today’s date. Right underneath James there. Yeah, it’s live. It’s live. We are live. Live. I don’t play Marvel Rivals, by the way. This is a a random question I’m throwing up here. I know, but I I Who knows? Is this is this the the developer of Marvel Rivals trying to get a plugin? And if it is, just reach out to us, please. I’m sure we would sponsor Marvel Round. No, I think it’s because of my It’s probably because of my background. Yeah. Um All right. I’ll download it right now. All right. Where Where is All right. It’s on All right. So, I got to download it on PS5. All right. I’ll download it. Yeah. I’ve never played though. Yeah, I haven’t either. Is it must be good if it’s If one person comment on it, it must be good. No, I don’t know. I must be good. Marvel Rivals review. Uh, eight out of 10 on IGN. Eight out of 10 on GameSpot. He’s laughing at us. You know, this is great. I mean, no, this is this is this is great. I This is This is my wheelhouse now. Let’s look here. Came out in December. I didn’t realize that. Net Ease Games. We’re We’re now promoting your product. I guess it’s it’s free. All right, I’m in. I’m going to download it. Jordan, no. No, the game is terrible. Hey, now. Yeah, look, Andrew knows this. There could be a game that’s amazing and I still struggle to play it. So, if you’re going to send me a terrible game, there ain’t no chance in hell I’m playing that. Put it this way. If James can beat me in it, he’s loves the game. It could be the worst game ever, but if he feels like he’s confidently beating me one, what worst game ever do we play? What worst game ever have we ever played? I’m I’m just saying I don’t think it would. I I know what you’re saying. You’re saying I’m competitive and you’re right. I am. I want to kick your butt and everything. Right. I’m saying I don’t know why I’m saying but I’m going to kick your ass in everything. But uh but that you’re not alone. Whatever rival Marvin rival Marvel rival guy would want to do that too, too. It’s no different. But not if the game stinks. Does the game stinks? How you going to recommend H? He was like, “You’re talking up Logan Wilson. I’m going to send you a bad game to play.” That’s what That’s what that was. That was a sneak attack. No, I’m seeing I’m seeing mixed mixed I’m seeing mixed comments. Some people are sort of of the of the fact that it’s a fun game. See, and here’s this is this is you’re doing Natron. You’re doing exactly what I do. It’s almost like you can like occupy like a toddler with like some sort of, you know, like flashy toy or screen or something and then they they go away for a little bit. James like I just throw things his way like hey I I if I I bet so and so could beat you in this or I could beat you in that and then he’ll just stew on it for a good 15 20 minutes and be occupied with the thought of you know nobody could beat me in this. I I haven’t played it in a while but I’d own both of you in Mortal Kombat one. There it is. So you just have Mortal Kombat one it’ll be slice and dice him up now. Finish him fatality. Mortal Kombat games are awesome, dude. Have you played any of the newer ones? Like with the story lines? Like the story lines have been really fun. Like the past like four Mortal Kombat games. They’re like must get. I haven’t played the newest ones. I’ve played newer ones. Newer as in like maybe five years ago or something. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, the story lines like the story lines are great. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, this dude’s coming. He’s He’s gonna 1600 hours on MK1. There you go. Uh he might he might whoop me then because I haven’t played I haven’t played like Jake Browning still Jake Browning was still good when when when I was playing Mortal Kombat one. Jake Browning was throwing touchdowns. Sorry Jake. I’m just saying I was just giving a timet. He said you never should have cut me as I as I had the like you know my last fatality. So it’s been a while because when it came out I played the story and then I played a little bit and it’s been a while. So, all right. Let’s uh one or two more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pull a couple here. Um a lot of Logan commentary. Some people kind of echoing things about Burrow in the field. We talked about that recently. If you’ve just joined, actually, I’m going to keep some of these comments out here. There’s some good stuff. I’m gonna more towards the end. Yeah, I I I I’m going to throw this out there. I feel like it’s a bit of a reach, but I’ve seen enough chatter where I guess we could address it, but a lot of people are kind of saying, and I can’t find the original comment, but some people are making comments of like, “Hey, can we can we dude fly?” I know. I know. Heck yeah. I agree with that. I mean, he signed for a million bucks or whatever it was. I uh No, I’m in in total agreement. And that that is going to be no matter what happens, backup quarterback is going to be a major topic this off seasonason. And uh Joe Flacco could very well be the guy. Like I I I love what he brings. I think it makes sense. He’s not going to be he’s not going to be thrown off if he gets thrown into a game or has to play for a month or has to play for two months. Yeah. And um but he’s still in it and he’s physically feeling good. I think he’s all those things though. Like I I I don’t think he’s like ready to stop and uh and so we’ll see between now and the end of the year. But yeah, would it be him or someone else? Totally on board. And I agree with you. Th this is the last thing that you want to be thinking about or having to do is is trade for a quarterback mid year because of one injury. And and so yeah, they need to make sure they have the right backup in place this offseason for sure. With that said, it’s good if we’re good. I just just more commentary. We don’t need to necessarily respond, but I saved a few things. Y’all are the best. Look, this this live was um pretty impromptu certainly for you guys. And uh it’s because of the short week made it tough. All the logistics behind the scenes. Uh we came we got back from Green Bay yesterday at like 6 am and uh by the way not to cut you off sorry but speaking of people saying hey love the show whatever I ran into so many people in Green Bay that like pulled me aside because they watched Cincinnati Bengals talk on YouTube. I met a I met a a kid I say kid he’s probably like maybe 13 14 but from Utah that was in Green Bay to see the Bengals play. And that that’s exactly why we do what we do anyone everywhere. It doesn’t have to be in market it can be anywhere. Bengals fans love seeing everybody gather around and and join these chats. But man, seeing people in Green Bay on the road was awesome. Yeah. And that’s that’s why we do what we do and try to give you the best coverage possible is because whether you’re in Cincinnati, whether you’re outside of C, wherever, uh you can access us and and watch. And uh well, we’re going to have you covered. We have plenty coming to you on Wednesday. If you miss Joe Flacco and uh and Jamar Chase, we already posted that. And uh yeah, Bill Callahan, get your butt to Cincinnati. Uh but we we have plenty coming on uh on Wednesday as well. Maybe uh Barrett Carter and a few other things. Of course, my prediction for Thursday. It’s a must win, Andrew. It’s a must win. I know. I know. I know. It’s a must-win, Andrew. You got to win. You play to win the game. Andrew knows. Now you know. We’ll talk to you soon. I’m James RP. He’s Andrew Fox Miller. Thanks for watching and listening here on Cincinnati Bengals Talk, a special live edition of Enter the Jungle.

The Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for a division matchup on Thursday night. James Rapien and Andrew Fox Miller discuss Joe Flacco’s comfort level on the offense, Flacco’s chemistry with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Mike Tomlin’s comments about the Browns trading away Flacco, AFC North Odds courtesy of FanDuel and more!

00:00 Bengals need HUGE win on Thursday night
12:22 Joe Flacco impressed with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
17:23 Mike Tomlin RIPS Browns GM for Flacco Trade
19:45 AFC North Odds
23:58 LIVE Q&A

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