Death Knell: Bengals CRUMBLE in Pittsburgh , Offense FAILS in Loss to Steelers

Death Knell: Bengals CRUMBLE in Pittsburgh , Offense FAILS in Loss to Steelers

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. It was pathetic again. Except this time, maybe there’s more on the offens’s side of the plate. Let’s break down a death note for the Bengals in Pittsburgh. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Now, the number one sports podcast network out there. We appreciate all of you who make Lockdown Bengals your first listen and all of you who make Lockdown Bengals part of your everyday routine, even in this rough season. He’s James RP. I’m Jake Liscoco. We’ve got you covered here on Lockdown Bengals. We have since 2016, since this show launched, making it your best spot on the internet for all things Bengals, even in like I said, down seasons like this one that for all intents and purposes may have come to an end in Pittsburgh in a week that Joe Burrow returns to practice and there’s an opportunity in front of this team to get back into the thick of things in the AFC North to give themselves a shot to show that they can find ways to find solutions over the by-week. They really fall flat on their face in Pittsburgh, James, and that’s what we have to discuss today is a game that could effectively end their season as the Bengals fall to three and seven with the 9-2 Patriots coming to town next week. Well, it does. It’s what it does. They’re not making the playoffs. You can book your Latin vacation. I don’t know why I said lat wherever. Spain, wherever you want to go overseas. That’s just the last time I remember is you going overseas uh when you went on vacation, Jake. But uh yeah, you can book that for mid January if you want. Uh we we can plan that uh because that’s what’s happening. The Bengals are a bad football team. That’s what bad football teams look like. I’ve watched plenty of them during my my 34 years in existence here in Cincinnati. And this is what bad Bengals football teams look like where it’s like, oh, well, they’re hanging around or ah they’re ah well no, they’re one and seven in their past eight games. a got to have it. Everyone in the building said it was a must-win. You had the broadcast talking about how their Saturday night meeting was all about what how they had to get this win. This is how it would stack up. This is the path. You have Joe Burrow coming back. All these things and they do that. They score one touchdown. They never have the lead. It never feels like they’re they’re in control even if they are in the game. And and I think there’s a big difference between the two. It never feels like they’re the aggressor even though the score was a onepossession game at times, right? And in Zach’s Zack Taylor after the game, that’s not indicative. The score is not indicative. Well, the 27 to 12 score was certainly indicative of it. Maybe not the final touchdown, but it was it’s indicative enough, man. That’s a crazy quote. That is terrible optics from Zack. I’ll say that for sure because they were dominated. Yeah. Like it never felt like they were the better team ever. Never. Ever. Never ever during that game. Not now when they went back and they scored on their opening drive it was like, “Oh, well, they’re in it. You know, we’ll see.” And then the defense gets some stops and then the offense forgets how to offense. This offense that everyone thought was just going to be superhuman, leave Joe Burrow aside, they’re just going to be great forever. Well, they scored 12 points today. And and so, by the way, I think a lot of that is on Zack. You better have some answers when they take away Jamar Chase because I could have told you all week long that Jaylen Ramsay is going to come out and want to go after Jamar and so is Joey Porter Jr. in this this secondary. They got embarrassed on national TV a month ago. Of course, they’re going to want to come out and and make sure that Jamar doesn’t beat them. So, there’s so many things that we can peel back and we’re not going to get them all into one show, but they’re a bad football team and that’s how it looks. That doesn’t mean they don’t have some talented players, but when their best player isn’t superhuman, they can’t score or they don’t score. And uh in their defense, I still don’t know if they can tackle you. I And they’re certainly afraid to tackle anyone above 6’5 apparently. Yeah. I mean, you got to be able to tackle a 300lb tight end who catches a checkdown on third and 17. It’s imposs like how how does that happen? I’ve never seen that happen. Other teams don’t deal with this. How do you tackle Darnell Washington? Well, tackle him. It’s your job. That’s how it’s the slowest guy on the field. Anyways, there’s there’s a lot in this one to unpack. Like you said, there’s going to be ramifications obviously that we talk about for the rest of the week and for the rest of the season as we try to figure out the things that are worth watching for the rest of the season because we’re going to continue to watch this team. We’re going to continue to cover them. And so that’s our job is to tell you the things that are important for this team down the stretch. And that’s what we will do the rest of the season. But in this game, one of the things that felt frustrating to me, James, is it was kind of exactly what we thought in a couple of ways. One, we we talked this week about how the Steelers had changed their defense because of what the Bengals did to them. We talked about the the kind of blueprint that’s out there. Not that it’s worked, but the idea that if you can double Jamar and T and you cloud bracket those guys or you give them true double doubles and you say, “Okay, Andre Yosvage, okay, Chase Brown, okay, Noah, okay, Drew Sample, who’s invisible to Joe Flacco as he is to Joe Burrow, you guys beat us in the passing game.” And they didn’t. Yosvage did a little bit early and then after that there there weren’t answers for Joe Flacco when the pressure ramped up a little bit. The offensive line didn’t play as well in this game. Orlando Brown really struggled on the left side against Nick Herbig. Jaylen Rivers really struggled on the right side before he left with an injury late in this game. Mario Smins had his share of issues with TJ Watt who once again batted two passes and had a roughing the passer called that really changed the game. I I do think that Joe Flacco looked significantly worse and maybe he would have anyway but correlation anyway looked worse after taking that hit from TJ Watt. So, we knew that the Steelers were going to try to take away these top weapons for the Bengals. And it was going to be a situation where Joe Flack was going to have to win when his guys didn’t uncover quickly and get open quickly. He couldn’t go to that quick game, hit Jamar quick, hit T down the sideline quick, whatever it was going to be. They needed somebody else to step up. Didn’t get enough of that early. Chase Brown finishes the game with 127 or so scrimmage yards. I think it was 127, 99, and 28 and had one explosive run, but it wasn’t consistent enough for them. They didn’t get anything from the backs behind them. Kendall Milton getting run ahead of Taj Brooks, which is kind of crazy in this game. The the practice squad call up at running back ahead of the sixth round pick who’s on the 53man roster. But was he did was he just on the field for more snaps? Is that what you’re saying? Yeah. So, he was on the field before Brooks. He got a carry before Brooks and he had more carries than Brooks. I didn’t see the the final snap count. I might still have it up somewhere and I can check that. But uh just just an aside point that I’m trying to make here is is when the defense was getting stops early and one of the reasons it’s so frustrating is because Aaron Rogers gave you those chances like the Pittsburgh worries that Aaron Rogers was falling off a cliff and that he maybe just didn’t have it did kind of come true in this game and they couldn’t take advantage because the offense fell off its own cliff and and as we as we’re saying like really came back down to earth and some of those cracks that they were showing really showed up. Yeah, that’s that’s when you you needed to be prepared for this one for the offense to come back a little bit, but two have some kind of answer. And and it feels like maybe I’m wrong, maybe we’ll feel differently in another day. The most creative thing they did was go wildcat with Chase Brown in a situation where I hate doing that. Hated that because hated that. Guess the the one thing the Steelers are great at isn’t their secondary. Regardless, Joey Porter Jr.’s not a great corner. Jaylen Ramsey is not great anymore, but that defensive front’s great. And so to say, “Hey, we’re going to take the ball out of Joe Flacco’s hands. We’re going to put him at receiver and our offensive line is going to beat your defensive front for a yard and we’re going to do it right now.” Like a lot of people would be like, “Yeah, football.” I’m like, “Uh, probably dumb. Probably not the smartest thing to do. That’s not where you win.” And Wildcat just doesn’t work anymore, man. It just I hated that play goal. I didn’t mind the decision to go hate Michael. Me too. Hated it. And and and so those are the type of moments. Yeah. I I love the idea because it felt like it was going to be a shootout at that time. Yep. You you go up 87, you feel like you get a little momentum. You only need to go one. Like I get it. Chase Brown, by the way, wasn’t throwing that at all. Like I know some have said, “Oh, he should have thrown it.” It’s like that wasn’t part of it. Maybe maybe one day, but it was not it. But, uh, it’s frustrating because I I think the offense probably knew they were going to have to get to 30, take care of the ball and get to 30. That’s probably where they were at. And they scored one touchdown. And that’s just it’s not going to get it done. This defense isn’t unless you get handed three turnovers and two of them go for for scores, that’s just not going to work on offense. only gave up two touchdowns, which you know, game’s over by the time the second one comes around. But the defense, honestly, for all of the flak we’ve given them, and rightly so, in the way they played in the second half as a continuation of this, they could not get a stop in the Bengals, continued to need it in the second half when Mason Rudolph entered the game. I I joked at the time that it might not be a downgrade, and it wasn’t a downgrade. Aaron Rogers was not playing well. They the offense for the Steelers got better when Mason Rudolph entered the game. That cannot happen. But the defense early in this game did give the Bengals some qu some some some chances. There are a few performances I do want that I do want to highlight on that side of the ball. But it’s another example of complimentary football just not existing for this team as we continue the conversation as the Bengals season effectively ends in Pittsburgh. Coming up next, today’s show is brought to you by Mint Mobile. If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to say yes to saying no. 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The defense did not finish this game well, but at one point there were like six straight punts early in this game, which is a which is what happens when your offense doesn’t capitalize. But the Steelers after scoring an opening drive punt touchdown went punt punt punt field goal aided by like three defensive penalties that were automatic first downs. Mhm. So, they didn’t finish a half great, but those three punts in the first half and and one of them coming after a very questionable spot on a fourth down conversion granted to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was wild to me uh in the moment and still is. That offense really didn’t. They didn’t. That was a huge moment though. It was for an offense that stunk if you give them the ball and the Steelers 38 and that kind of momentum. Well, maybe Jamar does make a play. Maybe they do find a way to magically scheme him open and and get him open when the Steelers are trying to take him away or it’s T or maybe it’s Noah Fan over the middle or Chase Brown breaks one and scores and just like that the game feels much different. So, I I did think that was a huge moment. You’re right, the spot was ridiculous. I don’t know what they were seeing. The review shouldn’t have had to have a review like that that they shouldn’t have had to challenge that. So, just ridiculous. but doesn’t change the point. You’re right. The defense forced three straight punts. Gave this offense a chance to to seize the moment on the road. And they did that. The last time we’ve seen the defense do that was against the Steelers at the end of the first half a month ago when they forced a couple of turnovers. And the offense, what did they do? They did take advantage of it. They did score points. They did put pressure on Pittsburgh. And the Bengals didn’t. They they they could not get going on offense. And uh that’s when I was like, “All right, how how is this going to work?” Like, if this isn’t the Jamar day and it it didn’t really feel like the Jamar day uh even early on. All right. Was it going to be T? Well, they’re they certainly don’t want to get beat by T again. They just gave up a 28 yard touchdown to him. Andre Yosvage on their opening drive had two of those third down conversions over the middle. I’m like, “All right, well, maybe it’s Yoshi time.” And it was just no time for nobody. And and that’s painful because that’s really when you look at the game, that’s when you got to go get points. And if you get points there, then maybe it flips it a little bit. Not that you weren’t in it, not not that you didn’t have other opportunities, but that stretch where you force three straight punts and you don’t get anything. Painful. And my Murphy had a really good game, which is maybe crazy for some people to hear. I noticed him. I noticed him multiple times, even in the first drive of the game when they gave up the touchdown. compressed the pocket multiple times, including on that first drive of the game, was making things uncomfortable for Aaron Rogers. Was part of the reason that Rogers was misfiring on some of those throws. I don’t think Rogers was good in this game, even when he wasn’t pressured. But when Rogers was in the game, the Bengals were getting pressure to him consistently. And at one point, I looked and he had been pressured on like 40% of his drop backs or so according to PFF live charting. That finished it at that finished at 60% of of Rogers drop backs where he was pressured. and and that’s all obviously early in the game. The the problem becomes when Mason Rudolph enters the game, the Bengals only get home on 12% of his drop backs. And Mason Rudolph’s throwing the ball on average less than three yards downfield. And despite throwing the ball on average less than three yards downfield, and converting checkdowns into third and 17 conversions, third and 10 conversion, third and 10 conversion. The leading receivers in this game for both teams were Kenneth Gainwell and Darnell Washington. And this is a game that features Steve Higgins and Jamar Chase. and what Chase Brown has done lately. And you could even throw some of the Steelers guys into the mix with DK Metaf, but the the tale of two halves really an issue. The defense was more of who they were in the second half. Barrett Carter had issues throughout this game again. But I did want to credit at least Miles Murphy and I thought Joseph Osai at times was was showing a little bit more in this game when in the first half when Aaron Rogers was in the game, the Bengals were getting consistent pressure home. The penalties were not great penalties. Osai hits Rogers in the head. Murphy falls into his butt. And that’s a questionable call perhaps, but um but don’t do it like Yeah, you know. Yeah, for sure. Avoidable avoidable plays. They uh there were some bright spots and that’s what sucks. That’s what sucks about being three and seven, right? If if they had handled business against even the Jets, then it it feels a little different because we could look at the bright spots and you’d be like, “All right, well, there’s next week and well, there will be a next week and the sun will come up tomorrow and all of those good things. They’re three and seven.” Yeah. Like it it just it’s it’s painful. And and the the thing that’s frustrating for me about this defense, they invested so much at linebacker. I think they have the worst linebackers in the NFL by like a large margin. I think Barrett Carter was What’s worse than awful? You know more words than I do, Jake. Do it. Describe Barrett Carter today. How about despicable? I fine with despicable like Pat Frier’s got your ankles. Yeah. What are you doing? Like what what are you do? Kenneth Gainwell looked like prime Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, he just just jogs out there. Just jogs out there. Nothing fancy. No. And and so there were some bright spots and I’m glad you hit on them. But man oh man, I put Miles Murphy at linebacker, too, because he’s going to react the same way Barrett would. It’s unbelievable. He’s The inability to to get guys on the ground in this game for the guys that have been unable to get guys on the ground throughout the season continued. Barrett Carter missing a bunch of tackles. Gino Stone missing a bunch of tackles. Orin Burks who played a little bit more this week. Well, unfortunately, he’s also missing tackles. Josh Newton missing tackles out there. Bit of a redemption game for Jordan Battle in the tackling department at least. He did miss a couple snaps. He left with injury for for a brief moment in the game, but I thought it was a better game for Jordan Battle, especially as a tackler. Demetrius I thought also in in a reduced role looked a little bit better and and we’ll see if that can can persist for him. But the bottom line is is when you have Aaron Rodgers kind of reeling in the first half and then Mason Rudolph enters a game and I can say unironically and like only halfway joking like Rogers isn’t playing great. This might not be a downgrade. That’s probably bad news. And and when Mason Rudolph can go out there and they can get under, they can they can start handing the ball off a bunch, running screens, going play action, then you have no answers. Like I said, Mason Rudolph, we we have him at 8.1 yards per attempt on an average depth of target of 2.9. That’s a whole lot of missed tackles and yards after catch. And that includes a third and 17, third and 10, third and 10 conversions on checkouts, which is impossible. You know, the defense reverted to form in the second half, which is like what can you even say after a game like this other than how you started, which is to say that they’re not a good team and at three and seven, you have to accept that this is who they are. It should be impossible for those third down conversions. Like you stumble into that if you if you take control in Madden you the computer will stumble into a tackle on one of those checkdowns like to to force you to punt like even if you put the controller down on defense computer will get you a tackle. I uh it’s it’s wild and I I do think that there were a few different turning points or potential turning points that the Bengals didn’t take advantage of that could have been major turning points. And uh I I want to mention a few. I I also I just ripped the linebackers and it’s not just Barrett Carter by the way. I mean Orin Burks tackle Kenneth Ganw uh Demetrius Knight. You notice Demetrius Knight out there? I I thought he was a little bit better today. Yeah, I did. I did think he was a little bit better today and we’ll see if that continues. We’ll see. He certainly wasn’t the worst of the group, which there you go. There there there’s little positivity, but uh there’s a couple turning points. Yeah. That or potential turning points I want to get to. And then I I got to talk about uh our guy Gino because I don’t know what the hell he was doing. We’ll do that coming up next. The NBA is back and if you don’t want to focus on the NFL season right now, well, FanDuel is going to spice up the NBA. I watched Jake, I watched Steph Curry just go nuclear the other day on Victor Webbyama and the San Antonio Spurs and and that’s the beauty of the NBA. The Spurs were in control of that game and then Steph Curry said, “No, I’m going to drop 49 and I’m going to score a bunch of points and I’m going to lead my team to win to a win.” And that’s the fun part about FanDuel. If you bet on the NBA, let’s say you missed the start of the the game, that’s all right. FanDuel has live bets from everything on. Who’s going to score next, fourth quarter comebacks, same game parlays, live same game parlays after you missed the tip, doesn’t matter. They have it all there for you. And that’s why they’re America’s number one sports book. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. All you have to do is head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel. Again, that’s fuel.com, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, Jake, let’s get to I I Gino. Let’s start with Gino. I was going to get to the turning points, but Gino real quick. You ever seen someone that doesn’t want to tackle as much as him? I get that you’re giving up 100 pounds in that match up with Washington, but that was going to be my next set of words. Like, you got that’s your job, man. That’s your job. Push him out of bounds. you he’s so he’s so light on his feet that you have no like he’s on the sideline. So the first one the first Darnell Washington one is the one that infuriates me the most when he stiff arms Barrett Carter. I would much rather be Barrett Carter on that play than Gino cuz it looks like Gino’s like please don’t make me a highlight. Please don’t make me a highlight. Come on, man. And then it sets DJ up for a nightmare. But guess what? DJ at least stood up to him. You get thrown. Who cares as long as you get him out of bounds? And he did. So, Gino, you’re killing me. I think people know that. I I don’t know why you would I really don’t at this point. I do not know why you would stick with him because you need someone that can tackle. Like, that’s it. And they don’t have it. Yeah. You wanted to get some turning points as well or potential turning points that did not turning point, I guess. Well, you were talking about the Mason Rudolph stuff and like how does that not how does that not become a oh man well this defense we’re not going to be we’re not going to regress to who we were. We’re not going up against Aaron Rogers anymore. This is Mason Rudolph. Let’s fly around. Let’s make tackles. Let let’s make him beat us and force two second half turnovers and get the hell out of here with a win. Like the moment that Aaron Rogers doesn’t come out for the second half and you realize you’re going up against Mason Rudolph, that defense should have been salivating like crazy, they should have been so hungry to get back on that field and face Mason Rudolph. And it just didn’t feel like at all. It just felt so easy. And I don’t know. I I I assume everyone is to blame. players, coaches, skate, like everything because this was supposed to be the oh my god, we have to get this game and you let Mason Rudolph just dump it off 12 12 of 16. Dump it off 12 times and rack up a bunch of yards and and points and and enough to to lead the Steelers to victory. They had no business doing that. When Mason came in, it was 10 to9. He left the game, it was 34 to2. Another thing that should be impossible and yet it happened. The Steelers had two offensive possessions in the second half. They had 17 plays with Mason Rudolph before taking a knee to end the game. Those 17 plays went for 127 yards and 10 points. In between those, uh, we had Joe Flacco’s first interception, a Bengals field goal or sorry, the pick six, the field goal, and then the Noah touchdown. So, it’s not like there were a ton of opportunities there, but uh the Bengals also didn’t get a stop as soon as Mason Rudolph came into the game and and that should have made things easier. You’re right. But the Steelers were able to run the ball. The Bengals stopped tackling. They were already having tackling issues. I think they got worse. And I I was going to mention another one. If we’re talking about turning points, the Bengals did not take advantage of. Yep. Uh the the the referee intervention aside, which we talked about earlier, after the Bengals called a timeout with a minute 37 left in the first quart or in the second quarter with uh Yeah. Steelers facing a third and four, the Bengals got pretty good pressure to Aaron Rogers on that third and four. Yep. And then Aaron Rogers escaped and scrambled for eight yards. The Steelers would go on to draw a defensive pass interference penalty on the next play, commit an offensive pass interference on the following play, but then Miles Murphy falls into Aaron Rogers butt for a free 15 yards and a first down for the Steelers. And a couple plays later, Joseph Osai hits him in the helmet. Pittsburgh eventually scores a field goal. If instead you get that stop, you get the ball back, perhaps you steal some points before the half and get the ball back out of the half and perhaps things go a little bit differently with Mason Rudolph in the game, maybe needing to chase instead of trying to defend a lead. Who knows? I mean, maybe things really go off the rails down the stretch anyway. Maybe Joe Flaco still throws a pick six. Who knows? But those are moments that the Bengals had opportunities they didn’t take advantage of. And that’s obviously a big one is the pick six. Just not seeing Duggar there throwing it. I mean, it completely changes it. You’re in scoring range. Yeah, to to be fair, he did get hit. That affected the throw. He had a quick win from TJ Watt on the play. He had a quick win up the middle on that play, I think, Jaylen Rivers. So, that pressure definitely affected that throw, but sure, rough interception. Um, the other one is, and we haven’t talked about it yet, but it’s the Jamar Jaylen Ramsey. Yeah, that’s going to badly for the Bengals when Well, when you get 15 when you get a 15 yard penalty and the guy So now Aaron Rogers is out and now Jaylen Ramsay is out who’s literally the the identity of that secondary like clearly he’s come in there and he’s trying to make embrace it and be a big part of what they do and he’s out. All of the stuff aside, what what who did what, all those things, throw it aside. I’m talking about football. That’s That’s a huge moment. And I don’t think they picked up another first down. They had to settle for a field goal and they used two timeouts. Yeah, it was worse than not getting another first down. They have to immediately take a timeout because they’re trying to draw the Steelers off sides and then they get the 15- yard penalty and then they can’t get a play and they have to call a timeout. And I think they end up losing guards because they had some penalties. Yeah. I mean, after that it was really bad. Awful. Oh yeah, there was a sack and then a penalty. Yeah. So they did go backwards after after the ejection. So that that could have been a moment too and it wasn’t it was the opposite. It was oh then the Steelers calmly went down I believe one. You’re right. They didn’t have many possessions but then they scored. So yeah it sucks because th those are the the moments you need to take advantage of and uh and they didn’t. And you’re right, it is gonna end up bad for the Bengals because Fox 19 I think has the best Yeah. video of this. Austin just crushing it. I believe Austin’s the one who posted it. But uh yeah, just um it’s pretty clear what happened. Put it that way. There were allegations after the game from Jaylen Ramsey that Jamar Chase spit on him. There appears to be video evidence of this. If there is a precedent, and there is, Jaylen Carter earlier this year would not be shocked if there’s a oneame suspension coming for Jamar Chase. So, insult to injury there, however you want to phrase it. Not uh something that Jamar Chase is going to be proud of, I think, but um things were obviously heated between those guys the entire game, James. Yeah. Yeah. And I I saw that people were were kind of saying, “Oh, that’s what happened.” I don’t know how anyone would have known that without having that kind of angle. Like I saw like grainy TV stuff and I was like, I can’t tell anything. You just can’t tell. But um yeah, I think hefty hefty fine, but would not shock me if uh a suspension is coming. And by the way, I’m surprised that wasn’t like video reviewed in the moment because had they ejected both of those guys then, then I don’t think Jamar would be suspended next week. Like I I I would completely rule it out. But now that he stayed in the game, which didn’t end up mattering at all because they didn’t take advantage of that moment, now could cost them against uh against New England next week. I believe Carter was sus was was ejected from that game in the first quarter and then suspended the following week anyway. Was he? I’m not sure about that. He was ejected in the first quarter. I I didn’t realize he was suspended in the following week. I believe he got a oneame suspension. He did not appeal, but I could be wrong. If you hear me typing, it’s because I’m looking it up. He received a oneame suspension. Considers his objection before the first play to have served the suspension. So, you’re right. He did not serve an extra game of suspension. They counted that game as a suspension. So, who knows how that would have worked out, but uh we’ll we’ll obviously have eyes on that process kind of secondary. I mean, technically their playoff hopes aren’t over, but realistically they are Jamar missing a game against the 9-2 Patriots. Uh isn’t going to make that any easier. Now, what’s going to be interesting is like how we view it versus how they view it. how they act and react. Like Masiki is getting close, obviously we know about Joe Burrow. Yeah. Like they’re gonna try like Trey Hendrickson, we have we have more on him to dive into, I think. So there’s there’s a lot of it’s going to be interesting. I don’t know if it means anything. I I still think your your mid January vacation is safe, Jake. But overall, I do think it’s there’s going to be plenty of storylines and intrigue because of Joe Burrow and Zack Taylor and and all of the things that go into the 2025 Bengals. Yeah. Like how drastic are changes that could potentially come this off season. There are guys that even like I I said this earlier like even if they do everything that you’re dreaming ownership that they could do this offseason, hire the coach of your choice and if you want them to move on from Zack Taylor, hire the GM of your choice if you want them to move on from Duke Tobin. And this is a bigger conversation we’ll get into another day, James. But even if they do all of those things, there’s players on this roster that are going to still be on the roster next year. And so those guys are going to be guys that we’re going to be watching as well as these storylines you’re talking about like Joe Burrow’s return, other guys that are getting healthier, how Zach and this coaching staff handle the rest of the year and how this ownership group handles another season that’s got to be way off of their expectations and and really doesn’t show signs of life or hope. Like what what are you really hoping for the rest of this way from from the ownership perspective? like what is what is their like you’re talking about how they see it like what what are they hoping to see the rest of the season versus you know the best long-term case that potentially fans envision. So they’re probably hoping seven and0 of course and uh sneaking playoffs. It’s just it it’s just so unrealistic. Yeah, it’s so unrealistic. Well, and we talked about it this week, right? The defense has kind of shown us who they are. Worried about things falling off of the offense. Eventually those things come to fruition, but they still have what, seven games to play. So we will of course continue to have you covered here as the Bengals continue to play football games. We’re not going anywhere. As part of the number one sports podcast network out there, you will find Locked on Bengals everywhere you get your podcast, of course. But that’s going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. We’re back with you for the rest of the week, of course. Until then, thanks for listening. Have a good one.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ season is all but over after dropping to 3-7 in Pittsburgh. The Steelers effectively shut down Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and the Bengals’ offense that couldn’t capitalize on early opportunities before the entire team wilted in the second half. Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down how it all went wrong in a frustratingly predictable, crushing loss.

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