2024 NFL Preview: Will Cincinnati Have a Bounce Back?

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00:00When it comes to the north, it's trying to separate what is always a tough division.

00:06Every single team last year above 500, which of course includes the Pittsburgh Steelers.

00:11I refuse though to start with that team.

00:15And I do believe we have to start with the Baltimore Ravens individually.

00:19The number one seed who once again, you leave the playoffs being like, man, I don't know

00:26if I can trust this team.

00:27Me though, I shouldn't really be the one to talk about this, Donnie.

00:31Last year, a Ravens future backer, the whole way.

00:35You watched that game play out in the conference championship against Kansas City.

00:40What did you take from that game and how do you apply it to the Ravens moving forward?

00:43A lot of irrationalness for myself, if I can use that as a word, because I was so angry

00:47watching what was taking place, saying, if you just play decent football, you win that

00:52game, you're going to be Super Bowl champions.

00:53At least you're going to take on the San Francisco 49ers and rightfully so.

00:57Because maybe the best team in football, you expect your MVP quarterback to step up

01:02in the biggest moments.

01:03And guys, I'm not even talking about, I need 350, four touchdowns and no interceptions

01:07trying to carry my team.

01:08How about just don't make dumb passes, right?

01:10Now granted, I understand.

01:12There were plays where young rookie wide receivers were diving for the goal line.

01:15If they scored touchdowns, the game's different.

01:17I get it.

01:18But there were throws in the double coverage that had absolutely no business being made.

01:21And I think I can probably find my Twitter profile to this day saying, I can't trust

01:25this guy.

01:26I don't know how you got out of him.

01:27I can't believe I trusted Lamar Jackson.

01:29And it's right.

01:30Look, until he proves he can do it on the biggest stage.

01:33I don't mean being an MVP.

01:34I don't mean dominating Monday Night Football or maybe having the best overall team in the

01:37regular season.

01:38You gotta win in the playoffs.

01:40And he hasn't done that, Joe, yet for me.

01:42Agree 100 percent, Donnie.

01:43I mean, I've been the biggest Lamar Jackson fan coming out of Louisville.

01:47I think he was deserving of being taken in the first round.

01:50I thought he would evolve to be the player that he is.

01:53But again, you get judged in terms of playoff type of situations.

01:56When the game is on the line, two minutes or less, and you need a touchdown or a go-ahead

02:01score, can Lamar Jackson deliver?

02:03And he didn't.

02:04He did not deliver.

02:05In garbage time, he delivered.

02:07After the game was already in doubt.

02:08They brought in OBJ to help out that passing attack.

02:11They never utilized him until the game was signed, sealed, and delivered for the Kansas

02:15City Chiefs.

02:16Zay Flowers is a good wide receiver.

02:19I don't think he's elite in terms of top five.

02:21He's certainly not a Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase type of wide receiver.

02:25Maybe it changes this year, but until their identity changes, even though Derrick Henry

02:30is there, they can win 13, 14 games in the regular season.

02:33But I'm not betting this team to make an AFC championship or bet them.

02:37There's so much that came out of that final game with Kansas City.

02:42I do think, all in all, it did serve as a reminder that Lamar was an atrocious MVP.

02:48He's a great quarterback.

02:50I, like you, Joe, have been super high on Lamar.

02:53He just wasn't deserving at all of the award and was handed to it.

02:57No, no.

02:58Don, they should have given it to Josh Allen because I know you're thinking about MV Purdy.

03:00No, no.

03:01Because...

03:02No, nothing about him.

03:03No, no.

03:04Well, who did you think?

03:05Stroud.

03:06Like, you were on a little...

03:07No, Stroud 100% was more deserving of it than Lamar Jackson.

03:08I mean, not to go down that rabbit hole again, right?

03:12It's the offseason.

03:13Yeah, I know.

03:14I mean, we got some time to stretch our legs, but Don, if you look back at what CJ did last

03:18year, and you look back at what Lamar did last year, CJ's season was more surprising,

03:24impressive, I think checked more boxes, but ultimately, ah, the Ravens won more football

03:29games.

03:30It's true.

03:31The game that made Lamar Jackson the favorite for the award was the Niners game in which

03:37Purdy fell apart due to that Ravens defense.

03:40And that's why I say there's so much stuff to take out of the Kansas City game where

03:45It serves as a reminder the Chiefs dynasty is not singularly about Mahomes, no matter

03:50how much some people try to make it.

03:52And it's also a lot to do with Andy Reid, because you never would expect Andy Reid to

03:57go into a football game and put forward the most ridiculous game plan of all time.

04:02The problem with what the Ravens did against the Chiefs is not, oh, Lamar had shortcomings.

04:07It's that if I would have started Donnie in the game, we would have been fine, because

04:10all you had to do against the Chiefs was run the rock.

04:13And somehow the Ravens got into that game against a team that couldn't stop the run

04:18and stop running the football.

04:20And then they lost their superstar defensive coordinator.

04:22I know being low on the Ravens is a dangerous thing, but I leave that game and everything

04:27that happened this offseason, and I have no reason relative with the rest of the division

04:31to be high on the Baltimore Ravens.

04:33No, I'm not.

04:34Big picture.

04:35Again, can they be a playoff team?

04:37Absolutely.

04:38But, you know, in terms of the division, I'm still betting Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati

04:41Bengals.

04:42Why?

04:44I think he's the most proven quarterback in the division right now, and he's taken his

04:47team to back-to-back AFC championships, he's taken his team to a Super Bowl, went toe-to-toe

04:52with Matt Stafford, and again, with Jamar Chase now in that lineup and all the playmakers

04:56that he has, as long as Joe Burrow is 95% healthy, I'm betting on the Cincinnati Bengals

05:02to be not just division champions, but potentially at 7-1 to win the AFC.

05:07So that's where I'm looking.

05:08Again, it's a crowded division.

05:10I can't believe the lack of respect, though, Donnie, Cleveland's getting.

05:14I know it hinges on the success of Deshaun Watson, but 20-1 to win the AFC is absolutely

05:19ridiculous.

05:20Yeah, no, you're right about that.

05:21And this, for me, is probably the best overall division in football with a lot of ebbs and

05:25flows where you can make cases for each one of these teams, possibly to win the division.

05:29Maybe you question the Steelers a little bit, but they're still a formidable opponent now

05:31that they have a veteran quarterback.

05:33We'll see what they do.

05:34But let's get back to here, where we're starting to, you know, start to talk about the Cincinnati

05:37Bengals.

05:38Am I the only one that's low on them, I guess?

05:40I really think so, because from a psychology standpoint, I'm just trying to understand

05:45what I'm getting out of the Bengals.

05:46Their defense is okay.

05:47I love the defensive coordinator, don't get me wrong.

05:49You know, in big games, he's going to come up with concepts and schemes.

05:52But now I take a look at a quarterback that seems like he's more injured than not, who

05:55can't get through off-seasons at this point and be healthy.

05:58I don't even know if he's thrown a pass yet in OTAs, and here we are about to head into

06:02training camp.

06:03Then you have a wide receiver in Jamar Chase who says he's not showing up to camp, so I

06:06don't know when that's going to end.

06:07Then you have a wide receiver, which stunned the heck out of me, in Tee Higgins, that signed

06:12his say, oh, I'll play for $20 million when everybody else has $80 million in their account.

06:16I don't know where the headspace of this team is, which is why I can't battle them to win

06:20the division.

06:21Just can't do it.

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