Mike Petraglia | Cincinnati Bengals Insider

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. We're pleased to welcome Mike Petralia. Bengals insider from Cincinnati has the Jungle Roar podcast. As we look big picture, Mike, when did the Bengals get their groove back? Going into Arizona, they were one and three, and they absolutely, positively had to have a win because they knew that the rest of the division were winning their games. And I think they obviously felt that to keep up pace with Cleveland's, the Pittsburgh's, and of course the Baltimore's, they had to at least pick up one win and that would start to turn the tide a little bit. And as it turned out, they really got back on track in Arizona with the offense starting to click.

And certainly the Bengals defense is a character in the backbone of the team, but the Bengals are going to go as far as Joe Burrow takes him. And the reason that Arizona game aiming was significant and a turning point for this team was because that was the game we started to see Joe Burrow play like a healthy, closer to 100% Joe Burrow. Once that started to happen, I think there was a sense throughout the locker room that, you know, now we can get on a roll.

Now we can start playing the kind of football that we've come to expect of ourselves. And I think that's what you've seen over this four game winning streak is that the offense has gotten off to quick starts in each of the four wins. And that has really enabled them to kind of control the tempo in each of the four games.

Yeah. How important for them to finally figure out ways to score on their opening drives? Because as you point out that had been missing, but that's what they've had in these past four games.

No question. And I think a lot of that is, uh, Joe Burrow's ability to read the defense early in games, dictate to the defense, how he wants to run, you know, the first, let's say 15 scripted plays of the game. And, uh, he's done it at a very, very high level, you know, in the Seattle game, the offense kind of went to sleep for the last three quarters and nobody here in the building was very happy about that. Uh, and, but you throw that game out the second half of that game and the Bengals have been very good offensively. They've been very efficient. And what you've seen in the San Francisco game last week and the Buffalo game tonight is the ability to close out and good teams find ways to close out the opposition when, you know, Josh Allen finds Stefan Diggs, you know, for a touchdown late in the game with about three and a half minutes to go, it's up to Joe Burrow to kill the clock.

And that's what they were able to do. Joe Mixon didn't have any real long runs. He was pretty close to breaking out a couple, but ends up with shy of 40 yards, even though he had 14 carries, had the one touchdown, but he was really important getting that last first down so they could run out the clock. But in terms of balance between run and pass, what's the goal with this Bengals offense? Oh, I think run enough so that they are not pinning their ears back and coming after Joe Burrow every single down. The low point for this team was the game in Tennessee where the Titans really zero blitzed Joe Burrow to death because he couldn't get out of the pocket because he wasn't fully healthy. And the team did not want to take a chance and sign off on Burrow doing a lot of scrambling or, you know, darting to his left or right to avoid pressure.

He was kind of a sitting duck back there. You know, with that in mind, they really couldn't get the running game going in that game either. When you can't move in the pocket and you can't get the running game going, you don't have much of a chance to get your offense on track. But since that game, you know, as I said, starting with Arizona, they've been able to start games, get the run game going. You know, the last couple of games, San Francisco and tonight against Buffalo, Burrow's been under center much more and that's helped them as well in terms of getting the run game going downhill. And you can certainly see that he's able to scramble now and avoid pressure and extend plays.

That's clear now that he's healthy. We're excited to talk to Mike Petralia again. Actually, first time this season. So, here we are at the Midway Point, has the Jungle Roar podcast is at Cincinnati Bengals Insider and it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Pretty impressive the way the tight ends were able to rack up the catches and the yards on this particular night. Man, he really worked all of them into the offense. 10 catches, Amy, on 11 targets for 101 yards between Irv Smith Jr., Drew Sample and Tanner Hudson.

And, you know, a lot has been made around here. When is Joe Burrow going to get the tight ends involved? Or, you know, has Burrow forgotten about the tight ends? Did the tight ends even matter in this offense?

And tonight we got the answer. Yes, they matter very much because what the Bills did was they shaded the safety over to Jamar Chase. They really weren't going to let Jamar Chase catch many balls tonight.

He didn't. T Higgins caught eight passes for 110 yards, but he did a lot of damage in between the 20s. So, it was up to the tight ends to really produce in the red zone and that's what happened. You know, you saw Drew Sample actually just outside the red zone come up with what, Amy, I thought was the biggest touchdown of the game right before halftime. Buffalo's hanging in there just trailing 14-7 and the Bengals forced a punt from the Bills and they got the ball on a short field, 46 yards, and the 22-yard touchdown run after the catch from Drew Sample really changed the tenor of this game quite a bit as the Bengals led 14 points going into halftime. Also win the turnover battle. So, they are turnover free, but a couple, including one late that really made a difference for the Bills.

So, you mentioned the Bengals defense. Of course, they're not going to get the same attention as Joe Burrow and the offense, but what makes them tick? Well, that's a great question and I think Lou Annaromo, defensive coordinator, makes them tick. He's a Staten Island guy with a New York attitude and he's not afraid to show it to his players, good and bad. I mean, he knows how to motivate the players and I was talking to Jermaine Pratt after the game about that turnover that he helped create, that he punched the ball loose from Dalton Kincaid. He's like, Lou is going to get on us from start to finish in terms of every game, making sure we are trying everything in our power to create turnovers. In the last four games, they've created eight turnovers, seven interceptions and the one fumble tonight, of course, fumble. Those are huge plays if you can get them.

Lou Annaromo, by the way, has a great bond with Jermaine Pratt as Jermaine Pratt was really the first draft pick to be selected as a defensive player in the Lou Annaromo-Zach Taylor era. How much does it matter that they have won five in a row against the Bills? I think it does matter because whether it was in the playoffs in the snow last year, even in the game in which DeMar Hamlin had the event, the medical emergency on the field, they stopped that game. The Bengals were having their way early in that game. They were up 7-3. They kind of had that field tonight early on as well.

It was 14-7. Then the playoff game and then tonight, I think games like this matter when you know that you're going to probably have to go through a team like Cincinnati or Kansas City to get to the Super Bowl. I think with the Bengals exercising that kind of confidence over an opponent like Buffalo, I think it's a big deal. Mike Petralia is with us in Cincinnati after a Sunday Night Football win for the Bengals. They're now above 500.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Did the confidence waver at all after they started slow for a second straight year, Mike? I'm going to hedge my bets and say not really. No, because they did it last year and they brought back a team that was built to really get back to the Super Bowl and win it this year. They knew how good they were.

I think that's the best way to answer it. The Bengals knew how good they were. Were they capable of playing to that level?

Well, you know, I saw it all those years in New England. The Patriots would spend the first month figuring out what their strengths are and figuring out what their weaknesses were and stay away from those and play to our strengths. That's very similar to what I have seen from the Bengals the last two years.

And even going back to 2021, they played the same way. But the Bengals know their talent very well. I would say that about Zach Taylor and Duke Tobin, the director of personnel, they know what they have here and they just are patient in terms of letting the team play to that skill level. Let's talk about the schedule a little bit. They haven't faced any AFC North opponents since the first two games of the year that were both losses against Cleveland and Baltimore. What stands out to you about the AFC North at this point midway through, Mike? It's a black and blue division, Amy, and I think that appeals to the Bengals because I think they think their quarterback is a true separator. If Burrow is healthy, and that even includes maybe Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson is a different type of quarterback, but I think the Bengals like their chances if you put Joe Burrow up against Kenny Pickett or even Deshaun Watson.

I know Watson played pretty well today against Arizona, but I think Burrow is the separator and that's what I've felt all along about the Bengals in the AFC North. If they hang around long enough in the season and don't shoot themselves in the foot, I think they feel confident that they can beat any team, any place, any time. Who very much prepares these teams to be ready for the playoffs?

Well, it's also amazing, Amy. Right now, as we're speaking, all four teams are in playoff positions in the AFC North. It's a pretty remarkable occurrence given that it's nine weeks through the NFL season. Yes, we have a little under half of the NFL scheduled to be played, but still that's a remarkable testament to a division that Zach Taylor, every time he talked about the AFC North, called it the best division in football hands down and that was at the start of training camp. He said that through training camp. He said that through preseason and even at the start of the season when they played in Cleveland and Zach Taylor must have known something because the division is playing at a very high level.

All four teams above 500. Before I let you go, Mike, how would you describe the atmosphere, the attitude post game after their fourth straight win? Low key, but very optimistic. Optimistic because I think the team feels like they're starting to really play to their level and as long as they feel like they're playing to their level, they feel they are a championship caliber team.

But that being said, they are very focused on Houston this week because they know what's ahead of them on a short week after Houston. Mike Petralia from Cincinnati, longtime friend of mine, so I always appreciate having him on the show. You want to check out the Jungle Roar podcast. It's on YouTube and on Twitter at Trags, T-R-A-G-S. Great to connect with you. Bengals are red hot, so we might have to do it again soon. Thanks so much, Mike. I would look forward to it, Amy.

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