Rapien: Bengals Are Still Alive For Postseason

James, how are you? I'm well, how are you?

I'm very well, thank you for taking the time. Well, I mean all things considered, here they are at 0-3. What are your thoughts on the Bengals and their prospects for the rest of the season? Yeah, I think 0-3 is not something anyone could have predicted for this Bengals team, especially given how Joe Burrows played the past couple of weeks.

I think after the week one loss to the Patriots, all eyes were on him. And now it's kind of flipped, and Joe Burrows played well and had his best game of the season by far last night, and yet it still wasn't enough to out-duel Jayden Daniels and beat a commander's team that I think a lot of people had as a win early in the season when the schedule came out. So this Bengals team, their back is against the wall going into Carolina this week, and I think that there's as many questions about them as answers through three weeks of the season, and that's not typical for a team that a lot of people here in town thought would contend for a Super Bowl. James, you talk about Joe Burrows' performance and how well he's played. I mean, when you think about giving up 38 points, and the rookie looked damn good, he was selected number two for a reason, but 38 points, what can they do with that defense, if anything at all?

Yeah, I mean it's honestly, 24 hours removed from it, I think it's even worse now. Like they could not get pressure on Jayden Daniels, he just had so much time and was so comfortable in the pocket, and that's why they converted five of nine third downs, three of three fourth downs, and we're moving the ball with ease up and down the field, and so they have to find a way to get pressure. That's the key, and I'm not sure what the answer is, because outside of Trey Hendrickson, there's no one on this defensive front that has consistently gotten pressure this season, or even occasionally gotten pressure this season. So does defensive coordinator Lou Anaromo switch it up and try to blitz more?

Well, that's not really their identity, and when you start to go against what you do, what's worked, what's gotten you to a Super Bowl, to a back-to-back AFC Championship games, it starts to hurt you. So I think they have to find something in that defensive line room that can make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable, because Jayden Daniels, heck, he could still be there moving the ball up and down the field if they were playing. James Rupien is joining us, covers all things Bengals for Sports Illustrated. We heard a defensive back. Cam Taylor-Bret have some words to say about the offense of Washington, said he would eat his words after, but it still looked like a college offense. We know head coach Zach Taylor wasn't a fan. Are we just going to expect Cam just to talk the rest of the year, or is this just kind of a one-off? Has he learned to shut up? I think, I think Cam says what's on his mind, and like last week he was asked about the Chiefs and, you know, made some comments as well.

I just think that that's, he's not even, in his mind, I'm not even sure if he's talking trash. Like, I think he's like, well yeah, that's a college offense. That's what they're running. Now, clearly they're running it to perfection, right? But in his mind, he's like, yeah, that's, that's what they're doing, so I'll say it.

But to your point, it does create headlines. Obviously, Jayden Daniels and the commander saw it. I saw comments today, Zachert said that they were well aware of it, and it gave them a little extra motivation, and that's why if you're Zach Taylor, you don't necessarily want that.

In our business, Jayar, of course we want that. I love that Cam Taylor Britt is willing to give an honest opinion on things. At the same time, I'm not sure if the Bengals were too crazy about his comments last week with Kansas City or this week either.

No, not, not at all. Speaking of comments, it was a little curious that Joe Burrow, among his comments, despite how well he's played, he says he needs to evaluate himself as, as a leader. What does that mean? Is he going to change his demeanor inside the room? What do you think that means?

I think he's searching here, and, and that, that's what that means. I, I agree with you that it's interesting because Joe Burrow, the leader, I don't think anyone really questions it, how he leads his style. He's one of those guys that leads by example, only speaks really when he, he needs to. It's not like he's the loudest guy in the locker room, but when he does, obviously everyone's listening and has just kind of done that throughout his career, but he's never been 0-3 before in the NFL.

He's never been 0-3 in his life until now, 24 hours ago. And so I think he was in a moment, at least like, all right, well, what do I have to do to figure this out and get it right and become a winner again? And is it, is it leading by, leading this team differently?

And I think he's still thinking about that and who knows, maybe he will. Ultimately though, I think he is the leader in that room and he doesn't necessarily need to be more vocal, but that is something you always hear, right? When teams are struggling, oh, they need to be more vocal.

They need to be more motivated. I'm not necessarily sure it's that, but Joe's certainly gonna leave no stone unturned in his quest to get it right and figure it out. James, one of Joe Burrow's weapons, T Higgins, we saw him last night only hauling three catches for 39 yards. It certainly, I guess, you know, opened things up for Jamar. What are your thoughts on what we can expect from T Higgins the rest of the year? He had to answer questions as to whether or not he was legitimately hurt and he's dealt with hammy issues in the past. Yeah, it's, it's tough for T because I thought he had his best training camp and just looked awesome.

Like I thought he was going to have a huge year and still could, of course, we're only three weeks in, but he suffers that hamstring injury three days before the start of the regular season. And so, yeah, it's tough because you miss two games, you come back yesterday, close to a touchdown there, it's a little off target by Joe, couldn't get that second foot down. And I just think they were a little out of rhythm with Joe and T. So you got to get back into that rhythm and they don't really have time to figure it out.

They just got to figure it out. And so I expect him to be productive and it's for me and really for T, as long as he's healthy, I think he's going to produce. Yesterday, it was more Andre Josovas behind Jamar Chase, but I think T Higgins will produce his fair share of big plays this season. When you think about the rest of this offense, especially now with Trent Brown going down and Marius Mims gets thrown out into the fire.

What does that mean? Is that a massive concern for Joe Burrow and the offense and the line as they continue on or is there confidence that they'll be able to continue putting up these points? Yeah, I think that there's confidence. Amarius Mims is probably that he has the highest feeling of any offensive lineman in that room, put it that way. I don't want to say he's the best, but from a talent standpoint, he's right there. And so I'm not sure you're downgrading talent wise.

Now you're downgrading experience wise. And I think having a guy like Trent Brown with Amarius behind him, you just feel so much better about your depth. And now that depth is tested a bit. But Amarius had a great training camp before he suffered a pectoral injury and missed basically most of the preseason. He played in that first preseason game, but I didn't notice him much yesterday. The broadcast obviously highlighted the sack that he gave up shortly after entering the game. But after that, I thought he settled in and I think expectations are pretty high for him that he can be the pass blocker that they need. So no, I think the Bengals offense will plan on operating like normal, throwing it all over the field with Joe Burrow like normal, even though Amarius Mims will make his first start on Sunday at Carolina. Well, James, we know Andy Dalton at his little one time show there. They're going to beat the Panthers, right?

Come on. They have to beat the Panthers. They better beat the Panthers.

They better beat the Panthers. You want to talk about there's no recovery from 0-4. I don't need to look at the stats.

I don't need to go that route. 0-3 is one thing, and I think you can slowly dig your way out of that. But 0-4, you're not digging your way out of it. And yeah, facing an old friend coming off of a 300-plus yard, three touchdown game. At least he did that last week, right?

So you have some film on him. But yeah, they better get some pressure on him because if they don't, he just showed. I mean, some of those throws he made the other day were elite throws. That Adam Thielen touchdown was an elite throw. So Andy Dalton can still swing it, no doubt. We know Adam Thielen is going to be out for a while. Are you telling me that there's a story that could be written where Andy Dalton throws some dirt onto this Bengals season? Is that the story that people are trying to write by the time Monday swings around?

It could. Oh, for sure. I mean, and if you're Andy, you're looking at that like, oh, this is my shot.

You want to bench me on my birthday in 2019? You want to cut me for this number one pick? Who's like, you know, Joe is much different than Andy from a personality standpoint and has obviously become a huge NFL star. Yeah, this is quite an opportunity for Andy Dalton. There's no doubt. Well, James, what is your thought process as it stands today on the rest of the Bengals season?

Everybody is kind of, you know, like that meme where the dog is sitting in the house and it's on fire. He's like, everything is fine. Everything is fine. Do you believe that these Bengals are fine? Do you think they're going to the postseason? Oh, I think if any team is capable of digging out of an 0-3 hole, the Bengals can certainly do it. And what's reassuring about it is we're not talking about Joe Burrow's health here. Like 0-3 and Joe Burrow still playing poorly like that. That's much different. But the past two weeks, like I said earlier, it's been better.

It's been better yesterday. I thought he was really good. And I think there's another level he can get to. So if he can get there, then could he will the Bengals to the playoffs?

I think so. At the same time, you can't not force a team to punt and expect to win games regardless if he's playing quarterback for you. So the defense does need to figure out some things. And so, yeah, I think that they're capable of making a run here. I think that AFC is really tough though.

And so you can't wait around. You're going to have to beat some teams that you aren't favored against. Baltimore week five, I think is a pretty much a must win regardless of what happens this week. So yeah, it's going to be an uphill battle, but I wouldn't count them completely out yet.

I know it's tough to hit the fast forward button. But if we look at this year, Joe Mixon is gone. Looks like he appreciated some of what he saw last night. We know that T. Higgins, we can get wide receivers from anywhere. We can just draft them out the blue and they can be good. But T. Higgins is going to be gone coming off of this 21 mil franchise. Is there a concern that as they continue to move on, it's the Joe Burrow and Jamar show and trying to figure everything else out?

That seems kind of like stasis. No doubt. No doubt. I think keeping this championship window open is challenging and losing the Jesse Bates is and losing potentially a T. Higgins. Obviously they lost DJ Reader. They've lost pieces throughout the years.

It's tough and they're trying, but you got to press the right buttons. And part of that's the draft. And so when I think about their core, a guy like Amarius Mims, you asked me about him earlier by week 10, by week 12, you want to say, all right, well, he's a key piece of their core moving forward. He's going to start a right tackle for the next decade. Like that's what you want to see because usually it doesn't take long when you get it right with some of these guys.

And at the same time, you're right. Like it is one of those things where you can find receivers at the same time. How many receivers are T. Higgins when he's healthy out there and making plays?

Like it's still hard to find the next T. Higgins. So they they're going to have to draft really well, I think over the next couple of years, but you could say always, but they were really built in 2020 and 2021. Those two drafts really help them get to the Super Bowl and work their championship core. We'll see if they can kind of do that and continue to build, because if not, you're right.

There's going to be a lot of faces walking out that door. James, as we start to wrap things up, I know Jamar Chase didn't get the contract that he thought he was going to get, or he said he was approached about. Are the Bengals, are they still cheap? They still got that reputation?

Yeah, I think reputation-wise, there's no doubt that the reputation is there. And it's hard to argue it when they didn't get something done with Jamar Chase. And I think that's fair to say, because he's Jamar Chase, right? Like it's Joe Burrow, it's Jamar Chase. Like those are your two guys.

And so you can kind of defend them. Oh, well, they didn't want to spend a lot of money on a safety seat. You don't keep Jesse. Oh, they're not keeping T. Higgins. They're not keeping T. because they're going to keep Jamar. Well, they didn't get a deal done with Jamar. Now, what I think they would tell you is, well, it's because he has two years left on his deal. We'll get it done next off season, like Justin Jefferson did, like C.D.

Lamb. And so if they do, then no harm, no foul. But yeah, it is kind of uncomfortable right now because they weren't able to, or they didn't get a long-term deal done with Jamar Chase.

In a lot of cases, the price just goes up, but not my money, none of my business. Hey, James, where can people follow you and all the amazing work that you do following the Bengals and all those other great Cincinnati teams for Sports Illustrated? BengalsTalk.com. It's a one-stop shop for all things Bengals.

And then you can catch me daily on the Black on Bengals podcast and Cincinnati Bengals Talk on YouTube. I know you're a big fan of YouTube, JR. Just a little bit. Just a little bit.

Just about 15 years worth, something like that. Been around, James. Hey, appreciate it, man. Thank you so much. Of course. Thanks for having me.