WhoDey All Dey!
Smart, passionate and reasonable Bengals fans have the conversation you'd have with your buddies over lunch or a beer. WHODEY for life. Please subscribe!
WhoDey All Dey!
1-0
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What a way to start of the 2026 season! After a convincing 33-27 Open in Orange win over the Tampa Bay Buccanears, time to give out some Game Balls!!!
Bergs, Brian, and Brant also share some Game trends they loved seeing and some they hope improve.
Finally, the Fellas look ahead to week #2 in Houston.
Who Dey ALL Dey!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, happy September 16th, 2026, and welcome to the Hood A All Day Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Berg, sitting along the beautiful front range of the Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake City, Utah. Brian, I think I can see you from a hotel room waving to you. It's good to be here. How are you doing, Brian?
SPEAKER_00Great. Welcome to town. Uh it's been a minute, fellas. Uh, we've got some good things to talk about coming off uh week one wins. So excited to be here, fellas.
SPEAKER_02Agreed. Speaking of week one wins, Brant, Northern Kentucky. How are you?
SPEAKER_01It's good to see you again. Dude, I'm still riding that high from uh being down there at the stadium with you. What a great experience, and I'm excited to talk about it with uh with everybody and you guys and and share the share the week one win because those have been a little hard to come by in the past past uh recent years.
SPEAKER_02It was a blast. I'm sure all of you that had the opportunity uh to go or see the videos were incredible, the views, the pictures. What a great way to start the season. But you all know the drill, we're gonna go four downs, first down game balls are back one and oh, like Brant said. Second down. Want to know something that stood out to you in the game that you liked that you're hoping that we carry, obviously, through the rest of the season. Third down. What didn't you like? What are you a little bit maybe concerned about or want to see us improve? And then fourth down. I know Brand and I covered the orange out. Brian's headed down to Texas to make sure that we keep this train rolling in Houston. So want to get your thoughts on how we beat the Texans. So, Brian, kick us off. Game balls one and oh, win over Tampa. Who you got?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm gonna give my game ball to none other than Money Mac, Evan McPherson. Uh four for four on field goals attempts. Was he even impressive? Was two were over 50 yards, one being a 58-yard banger. His his 55-yard attempt looked like it could have been good from 60 plus, maybe. Uh, but just what a weapon. Uh with with today's NFL, with the kickoff rules, and where the uh you know our offense where they're at. Uh it almost feels like we should have an automatic three every time we possess the ball. Um with when you've got McPherson, obviously that may uh be something we talk about as too many threes, but uh Gabe Bogos and Evan McPherson. He did his job, uh, which was great. And like I said, hitting 250 plus, that's that's such a weapon. So glad he's on our team. Um I think it was Dexter Lawrence or Jonathan Allen. They asked Jonathan Allen about Evan McPherson, and Jonathan Allen said he he makes sure he tells Evan every day that he loves him and loves having him. And he because he kind of mentioned he's been a part of a few teams where you didn't quite trust the kicker. And he's like, it's it's so nice to, you know, when Evan's going out there, we're putting three on the board. You know, he's gonna do his job and put three on the board for the Bengals. So uh it's awesome that he got job done, get the game ball from me, and and uh obviously his teammates love him, so that's a major hoot day for uh other than Evan McPherson.
SPEAKER_02That is definitely a hoodie game ball. Brian, you would have loved it every time he comes onto the field, as soon as he starts running towards the field. The uh shout out to the whoever is running the PA system, they start playing Slim Shady from uh Eminem when he's out and you know exactly what's happening. I've never been to a crowd where they get excited for a field goal kicker to come onto the field because you're right. Probably we're gonna get those three points. I want touchdown, I want seven, not three, but in some of those cases, instead of us punting, it is such a weapon. Brent, who you got?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so great minds think alike. Brian was all over my pick. Money Mac. I mean, uh, I don't know, Brian. I maybe you maybe I missed it. Uh you guys didn't yeah, maybe you didn't see he was actually named Special Teams Player of the Week. Right, that's right. So, fifth time he's actually been named that. So pretty awesome. Uh, yeah, he's climbing the leaderboard for the Bengals. So I'm trying to think on my feet quickly here and come up with a new one. And I think I'm gonna ride the uh the fan wave. And how about we throw uh a little credit to the Bengals for taking care of the fans as well, since Mike and I were able to uh partake in in the week one win. So I'm gonna give credit to Mike on this one. He got us uh tickets to the care source uh climate-controlled lounge area in the 200 level, the new care source area. And man, it was the it was the right day for it because it was hot. And so big credit to the to just all the Bengals fans coming out. I even mentioned it to Mike during the game. Like these are just seeing all the orange in the stands, that's the stuff that I don't remember as a kid growing up, and the unity it you know with the fans, uh, just the amount of support that you know collectively everyone showed the team, how engaged they were uh during the game. Uh, it I think we did have an impact on a few plays at least. Uh, I know some people that I follow on social media were saying that you know they thought Paycore was rocking. So I think you got to give a huge credit to the fans. And then I would also, like I said, highlight the Bengals, the newly renovated stadium. The AC came in clutch, saving a lot of people. So uh great job by Mike getting those getting us those seats. We were so close to being in the shade, too, by the way. So just something to consider. Yeah, just something to consider. And maybe if you really struggle with those hot days, maybe try to find something on that west side of the stadium if it's early in the day. But uh, if you need, if you can't find anything, the east side, that care source area, that's where it's at.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely agree, Brian. It would that was the great takeaway. I think Brant and I, I mean, minus obviously the win, but the work that the Bengal brass have done to make the game day such a better experience. Brant, Brian, you both have been to Denver. We sat in that kind of similar type club area. You're sitting outside, but you can come inside and a little climate control, a little cleaner bathrooms. And to have that and to be a big kit program, I'm not gonna lie, the first time I grabbed bottle waters for Brant and I, I actually checked to make sure that they hadn't taken the caps off and put the caps back on, circa whatever that was, like 2003, the first year that Paul Brown opened. What year was that?
SPEAKER_01Was that was it 03 or 02?
SPEAKER_0201, something like that, around that time. It was some rough years. They got so hot. For those of you that you have to look it up, the Bengals ran out of water, and it was so hot on the opener that they were taking bottled water, uh, empty cans of bottled water, and filling them back up and reselling them, not giving them out, reselling them. That's old bank, and that was about 2001. Whenever Paul Brown Stadium opened, the days have definitely changed. So massive shout out. Brad, you want to say something?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, I just I didn't even remember that. So yeah, not a good look, but they've definitely stepped up their game since then.
SPEAKER_02And so on to I'll I'll pile on to that. Um I love that Duke got a game ball from uh coach because every single defensive player they brought in affected the game. Dexter Lawrence, holy cow, does he open up the defense at a whole nother level? But I I'm gonna go the offensive line. We heard all offseason, you got to keep Joe Burrow healthy. Defense has to be better. Defense clearly was better. Four turnovers, five sacks, scored a touchdown. But per pro football focus, Joe Burrow was the least pressured quarterback in week one. Going under center helped the dominance of Americas Mims, and as well, watching Orlando Brown and watching some of those clips back. There's even one time his guy was totally off sides, and Orlando still pushed him all the way around the edge, wasn't a part of the play. So offensive line, keep that going. I know Burrow took that hit on the sideline. We had the little scare today. His back shoulder area looks like it was flaring up a little bit. I'm glad he's resting, but our man's ready to go for Sunday. So second down, Brandt, what did you like from this team that you want to see continue on that you know will help us continue to get W.
SPEAKER_01So I I swear we're not sharing notes on this, but uh I I had everything written down about the O-line. So keep it going. So I just want to highlight that is a good Bucks defensive line. Yes, they got some players on that side. Uh Vitavea, I mean, he's about as good as it gets after uh sexy Dexie. Uh, you know, Ruben Bain, the job that Amarius Mims did on Ruben Bain, you know, arguably the top guy coming out in the draft this year from the edge, and just how strong he is. I mean, Mims made it look easy, quite honestly, against Bain. So I love what the offensive line did. I thought Fairchild, he might have maybe maybe been the one that graded out the worst, but run game, he looked really strong. He had uh a couple plays where he just kind of manhandled his guy. Uh, I thought, like you said, Orlando, uh, you know, the struggles that we maybe saw last year, they didn't, I didn't really see a lot of you know any of that pop up. So hopefully that continues. Uh the high the stat I'd like to throw out about Mims, uh Joe Goodberry threw this out earlier, so credit to him. But a little great nugget uh he put on social media saying the last eight games, so going back to last year, Mims has given up only one quarterback hit in 315 passing uh plays, one quarterback hit. So Joe got hit once in 315 plays with Mims uh playing right tackle. So uh he's setting the tone for a monster year, fellas. He's on the way to a Pro Bowl at least. So love what I'm seeing from Mims, and uh it's exactly what you want from that unit. Uh, quick shout out. Maybe you guys, I don't want to steal Brian's Thunder here, but quick shout out to Dante Myers. First game, and that guy locking up, you know, first play of the last drive. Uh, I got to make sure we we mentioned that guy because he came up big in the game, even though he only touched the ball twice. So great job, Dante Myers.
SPEAKER_02My favorite thing about that play was uh they knew it was going to him, and it was a critical moment. Was there like two minutes, 14 seconds left, and or three minutes, 14 seconds left in the game? Yeah, we needed to keep the clock going. They had three timeouts. We needed to stay in bounds, run the clock, and they trusted Dante Myers, free agent rookie signing. Crazy stuff.
SPEAKER_00Love that. Brian, uh, Brian. Yeah, the thing that stood out to me was the physicality of the team. Uh, I think it's it's been years where I've been, I think we've all been dying for the Bengals to hit people to where like you you can feel it in the stands, right? And the hit that Murphy put on from behind uh that caused that that first fumble and and Knight picked it up. Uh Murphy rocked him. Uh you know, and granted Barrett made Mayfield stop in his tracks, but Murphy did came from the opposite side, didn't quit on the play and and put a hit on him. Hard hit like that caused his turnovers. Uh, and then um I think it was Eric all on on uh Brown's touchdown run. Uh they put him in motion, and he, I mean, he didn't knock the guy in the next week, but just squared him up, solid block. Brown runs right off of him, walks into the end zone or jumps in the end zone. So the physicality, and then the other thing that stood out, and I hope it keeps going, is and you mentioned it before, Mike, on a previous podcast is one thing that Zach harped on after that first preseason game was having the ball with a chance to run out the clock and just end the game. And that he said he was like you for he was foreshadowing the season. We have when we have those opportunities, we have to capitalize and we have to be able to run out the clock. We have to be good enough to do it. And they did it on Sunday. Uh, a lot of big plays on that final drive. You guys mentioned Myers, T. Higgins climb climbing the ladder and making an incredible catch. Uh, and then and then Joe finishing it off with that that sneak wasn't super pretty off the middle, but Joe found found a little bit of just enough inches on on the side on his left side there to pick up the first down and enable the team to run out the clock and enjoy uh week one victory. So see that's a sign of a that's a sign of a mature team is they're they're taking what they're you know, they're the things that they need to learn, improve upon, and getting it done. Um, I said as soon as we took put possession there at the end of the game, I looked at my son and said, Hey, we got to run out the clock, just end it. Tampa shouldn't touch this ball again. And sure enough, they did it. So kudos to Zach Taylor sending the message, practicing that situational football, uh, and getting the W.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02That again, speaking of sharing notes was gonna completely go on to that. How many times last year did we have the ball left with three or four minutes and could have just finished it out or get one more score? We give it up, they go down and score, ball game over. It was the complete opposite of what happened. I think that was very positive for the team to experience and to feel that. Love you bringing that up.
unknownP.
SPEAKER_02Ryan throughout the game. He made a big play on that drive as well. Throughout the game, that guy is just such a rock. Special teams picking up the blitzes, absolutely love seeing that. But I want to go back to the beginning of the game. Three and out, first drive, a little clunky for the Bengals. The defense had given up an opening drive of 11 plays. That play was so that place was so turned up. They wanted the defense to be out there. Brian, when they introduced sexy dexie last, I turned to Bran. I said they were doing player intros. I was like, no way they're gonna do sexy Dexie last. When he came out and did the sexy Dexie, that place went berserk. It was awesome. But I was surprised the defense, hey, at least they bent, they didn't break uh 11 plays on the first drive. They gave up a field goal. The offense comes right out and just three and out. But Rencap or uh our punter one punt, and that was the only punt the entire game. That 51-yard punt set up the defense, the strip sack, the fumble recovery. The game completely flipped on its head at that point, what led to the 21-3. So to answer, I want to continue to see one punt a game. I want to see scoring drives, less pick sixes. We'll talk about that with Joe. That's I I have a feeling that'll get a lot better. But so much good to take away from this game. So third down, Brian. What was something that you saw in the game that you know we can improve? You didn't like, don't want to see it continue to trend.
SPEAKER_00You know, I think the uh the only thing I would say is well, there's kind of there's two things. One, you can't settle for field goals. Um, I mean, I get it happens as part of the game, but four field goals, love the you know, two of those to be touchdown drives instead. If they are that game, that game is is well well over. That pick six really doesn't even matter. Instead, it made everybody a little nervous. Um, and then the last thing is um, you know, it's hard to complain when you put 30 plus on the board, but we've got to find a way when teams are trying to take away Jamar or are taking away Jamar, we've got to f we still have to find ways to get him the football. Have to find a way ways. I was watching the Minnesota Green Bay game uh that that later that day, and what Minnesota started doing is they found ways to get JJ the ball. Uh Green Bay was taking him away down the field, but they were just putting him in motion, doing all sorts of things to get him the ball and and take advantage of their defense. Their defense created some turnovers as well, and then they got the ball to their their number one superstar playmaker and and got in the end zone and turned it. They were behind, and then I think they they won by double digits. So gotta find you gotta find ways to get your best player, and Jamar is our best player. We gotta find ways to get him the ball. It doesn't matter, you know, in the words of of Ocho Cinco, it doesn't matter if it's two man, man to man, single high, you know, cover three, give me the ball. So we gotta find ways to do that with Jamar.
SPEAKER_02Love that, and you heard Burrow talking today and saying that won't happen again. They asked Jamar's feelings after the game, and I love Joe's answer. Hey, he was high, he was super pumped. We won. Now, if we don't win and we only target him twice, two, three times, whatever it was, then then we've we've got a change. I'm not a fantasy football guy. I know Stingley is an awesome corner, but those LSU roots are gonna come out on Sunday, and I would definitely be playing Jamar Chase. He's gonna have a monster game, Brant.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'll jump on the bandwagon with Brian. Uh, specifically, I'll cite the uh the drive right before half. And we do a great job moving the ball downfield. I think we hit Gasicki. I think it was on that drive, maybe two, three times in a row, it seemed like. And you and I are sitting there high fiving, like, I guess they're just not gonna guard you know, Gasicki today. And Joe had something cooking. Uh, I think that's maybe the drive also where Joe checked out of uh a place. We we kind of saw that too. It was wide open in the middle. Joe decided to check to a quarterback draw. We got the penalty, I think, on that personal foul. And then so we're we're in great position. You you the clock is on our side. We can milk the clock. And I think you and I are both sitting there saying, like, hey, we're we're having success run the ball, running the ball. Let's just just run it up the middle and you know, sample and all. We're we're doing a heck of a job, you know, overall, of making uh, you know, taking care of their guy. We were getting, you know, what seemed like three, four yards a pop at least. We were just like, let's let's make a statement and run the ball and go up by three touchdowns and end this thing. And you know, we come out, I think it was second down, you know, we throw the ball. Was that the one to the back of the end zone, maybe that we missed, and then uh Geseki, but I think Joe had kind of got you know hurried a little bit. And then the third, uh, third down play to uh to Yoshi. Uh just Joe you know got rid of it early, thought he got a good read on it, and it wasn't the right read, I don't think. So I just would have loved to see us run the ball there, make a statement. We were doing we were doing everything we needed to do, um, even if they went heavy, just run the ball. Uh, we got the right guys now. So would have loved to see that. The second thing, real quick, uh, I thought Jalen Davis got picked on a little early and then really did a good job recovering. And then I think they transitioned to battle, moving like who they were picking on, and yeah, it and and I was waiting for battle to make the adjustment as well, and he just didn't seem like things sped up enough for him. He was a ticks tick late on on some of his, you know, um, on his coverage. He just needs to be uh, you know, sped up a little bit more. Overall, we just need to see more consistency out of battle this year. Uh, you got a great safety next to you, Cook. Just trust your eyes. I kept on saying it to Mike during the game. Battle just has to trust his eyes. He's seeing it, he just he doesn't want to believe it. So he's thinking too much a little bit. We need battle to really step up. So those will be the two things I want to see improve.
SPEAKER_02Brian, we joked during the game that uh first down, we stayed consistent and ahead of the chains and on schedule. But second and six seem to be our bugaboo. And I I like what Brandt is saying is look, if we can dominate second and six, I'll take four yards on first down every all all day, especially with this offense. But on second and six, run it again. Let's get another two, three yards and let's set up third and three, third and four. Heck, we might even bust one. It's gonna set up so many things with us running under center. Brandt brings up the point with battle. I love what you're saying about just reacting and going. He brandt talked about it weeks ago, is covering guys out of the backfield. I feel like teams are gonna try to exploit that. David Montgomery on Sunday, not to get ahead and talk about the Texans. But I think they're going to exploit any pass catchers out of the backfield. We are definitely tackling a ton better, but the reaction time should be faster. The pocket is so much cleaner and easy, Brian, to see with Dexter's push in the middle and those edges collapsing. You can see where they're trying to go with the ball. And those guys just need to go. And I will take battle almost over pursuing to rock to absolutely light somebody up or maybe cause a turnover. Then for the one time, maybe they burn them over the top. And so I think back to your you talking about the Minnesota Vikings is look, they blitzed a ton in the first half and got burnt, but they stuck with it. And then they started hitting, and it just completely snowballed. So I'll I'll pile on to some of those things that that that Brant said. One last thing, it's a big deal at the end of the game, and I'm sure it'll get fixed. But kick return coverage, they started at the 50-yard line. Can't have that at the end of the game with whatever it was, six minutes left. We're up two scores. Can't have that, can't give up the ball the way to midfield. All right, fourth down. Brandt, kick us off for your Houston preview.
SPEAKER_01All right, just gonna jump around a little bit here, but uh so I don't know if you guys saw I I'm gonna butcher his name, but Henry Tuatuo. He went on IR yesterday. So does he wear the green dot for them? I believe yeah, he was one of them. I think he does. So, and I thought his backup is hurt as well. So would love to see us just throw a lot of motion shifts, just try to confuse whoever they got in there stepping in for Henry and try to make it more difficult on this defense. They got a great defense, everybody. Like these guys can play. This is Demeko Ryan's domain, right? Like he lives for defense. And the big thing, I think what you're bringing up, Mike, is Minnesota and Brian Flores out there. I mean, they're gonna just blitz you all day long. Where Demeko's a little bit more patient, reserved. He's got he wants his guys like just sticking to the script and then reacting. And like I said, trust your eyes, go flow to the ball and make a play. Uh, so I want to give them a little eye candy and think they're trusting their eyes. And then they're out of position. We can take advantage of that. So I think having a linebacker down is gonna help. Uh, I'm really excited to see the Mount Healthy owl competition between Brian Cook and David Montgomery. So, shout out to Mount Healthy producing two NFL players. Uh, you know, it's gonna be exciting to see those guys, really, really quality guys, too, out of that area. So uh gotta love that. But the other thing I'm gonna mention, uh, Reed Blankenship and Kamari Lasser really struggled the first game against Buffalo. Uh, so we have to take advantage. So I think that's gonna include our wide outs, Hudson and Gasicki specifically, and really making, you know, putting Reed Blankenship to the test in his new defense. And is he worth the money they paid him, or is he, you know, maybe a miss in free agency, and we can take advantage of of him struggling in that new uh in that new scheme. So we're gonna we're gonna see, fellas.
SPEAKER_00Love it, Brian. I think on on offense, like Brandt said, we got to take advantage of their other other linebackers. I'd like to see whether it's Yossi or even Kobe Young on the outside with T and get Jamar in the slot a little bit more and try to get a linebacker on him. And then we we've seen, I mean, it was one catch, but we saw what what Dante can do with the ball in his hands. And we need I I mean I love the 12 personnel, but I wouldn't mind going four four receiver sets with Jamar and and Myers in the slot and let Joe get the ball out quick. And that's uh because Houston's really tough against the run. That may be our run game, is just quick two, three-yard passes and let let Jamar and Dante you know get that yak. And then on on defense, uh CJ Stroud was sacked three times on Sunday. PFF has him had him getting pressured up to 33% of the time. Uh, so we need to dial it up. We gotta we gotta limit Montgomery on first and second down and then get after CJ. He will turn the ball over, uh, just like Baker did. He'll fumble the ball. He'll we saw in New England he likes to throw the ball to the other team, and we got to take advantage of it. The more opportunities we can give Joe on the offense, the better, and that we can hopefully quiet that place down. So the only person that you hear on Sunday is is me. And uh walk away with W number two.
SPEAKER_02Well, that it is it's a very loud stadium, big freaking stadium. I'm gonna go back to 2002, obscure Bengals. Great follow on Instagram, always has awesome clips showing the old prime time with uh Chris Berman and and uh what's his bucket? Tom Jackson, absolutely the best. But the Bengals were 0-7. Those were just rough, rough years. But Kittner was quarterback that day, 2002 in Houston. Kitna threw for four touchdowns. Burrow has a big day, four touchdowns on Sunday. I love what Brant was saying about the, I think the middle of their defense is going to be exposed by Jamar and Dante. I think those are great calls. I wish Noah Thomas would be active. He is a Houston boy, and I know that would be a big deal for him to come home. But instead, playing off of Brian with the two, uh, I mean, Brant playing off the two high school guys, uh, David Montgomery and Brian Cook. Brian Cook in honor of Archer O Hawkins having 102 yard, the longest interception return in Bengals history. Brian Cook is gonna match or exceed that with 103 yard return. Brian's gonna come home victorious. The team's gonna call us. They're gonna put us on the private jet to Pittsburgh next week. So we better get ready. You both are the best. Great to see you both. Safe travel and hoodie all day.