Cincy 360 Hour 2 -- 10/16/25

Austin talks Bengals with John Sheeran, takes your TalkBacks, discusses what we have in common with Michael Jordan, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cincy Shirts. Cincy three sixty About Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored
in part by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts All Cincy, all Day.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
No better place to get geared up for a white
Bengal night than at Cincy Shirts. Check them out each
of their retail locations. You can get a shirt custom
made on the spot at Cincy Shirts. Go check them
out ahead of tonight's game. If you need to get
something white, like our guy Moegger most still looking for
something white. He does this every single year. Figure it out.

(00:36):
You're a grown man. Another grown man is joining the show.
Now our guy John Sheeran, who talks Bengals with me
every single Thursday, and he joins us. Now I had
a Thursday night football, Johnny, got you got any white on?
You got any white Bengal gear for you? Just watch
the game? Or what are you going to the game?
What's going on? John?

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Don't know?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
What's good?

Speaker 4 (00:53):
Said?

Speaker 5 (00:54):
I appreciate you asking, Austin, because I am going to
the game. Let's go to the game with another I'm
going to the game with another girl. Man whose name
is my dad. And he also forgot to wear white today.
And I'm like, come on, Dad, like everyone knows what
this game is. So I'm actually in the parking lot
of Dick's Morning Goods about to get him like a
cheap white shirt so you can wear it tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's awesome and it sounds like something my dad would
do as well. So let's start with the matchups tonight
this game. When you think Bengals Steelers, when you think
about this game, what's the first matchup that comes to
mind in what will determine the outcome?

Speaker 5 (01:28):
It's always the Pittsburgh defensive line, is it not. It's
been the staple of them for how many years?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Fifty?

Speaker 5 (01:34):
Yeah, something like that. But they've always had good pass rushers, right,
They've always had good guys up front, and the Bengals
offensive line has always struggled against them no matter what
the personnel is. I remember, you know, in the last
year's to the Jonah Williams this year, like he got,
you know, beating like a ren and mule against Alex
Higsmith and company. Alex hig Smith is still there, and
I think that's a really good matchup for Pittsburgh against
Ernanda Brown Junior, who's not having a really good season,
and I think he's the type of pass rusher that

(01:55):
can get under your pads, you can win around the edge,
and that's always been the player archetype that is, you know,
caused Lean Brown, You're going to struggle. So when you're
talking about Steelers defense line that has not just Alex
heismanth obviously t J. Watt and Cameron Hayward are the
main guys there. And Cameron Hayward, you know, baptized as
a rookie guard for the Bengals basically every single year,
and now you have two of them, and Dylan Fairchild
and Jaalen Rivers going up against them for the first time.

(02:16):
That's just the grown man in Cam Hayward, who's thirty
six years old and still is one of the very
best players in this position. So it's always been a
mismatch for the Bengals up front trying to block these guys.
And now that you have a quarterback and Joe Flacco
who should be more a little bit more comfortable in
this offense after being here for a week instead it
just a handful of days. But still I'm interested just
like I was last week, and how Flacco handles the
pressure and how the Bengals offense line, make sure that

(02:37):
they mitigate, you know, the obvious mismatches there to make
sure the ball gets out. Make sure that the defensive
lineman don't ruin the game like they typically normally do
in this matchup.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Now, I did think that Flacco looked a little bit
slow when he was trying to avoid the rush against
Green Bay, But I also thought that was okay, Like
that was good enough of a performance. There's something there.
What did you like about what you saw from Flacco
against the Packers?

Speaker 5 (03:03):
I mean, you needed to see what he did in
the second half, right, because the first half obviously wasn't
good enough. This team still hasn't scored the first half
touchdowns since Week two. Right, Joe Burrow was in there,
and you'd like to see him get into rhythm and
just just trust the playmakers on the outside. I think
the majority of his targets went went to Jamar Chase
and Tiggins, and with Mikaseeki out for the foreseeable future,
that should remain the case, especially with andre yosabauch not

(03:25):
necessarily having a good season on his own, but taking
advantage of one on one matchups when you get it
with Chase and Higgins on the boundary. If Flaco still
trusts his arm, he's still accurate enough to get the
ball where it needs to go, and he's been a
lot more efficient with getting the ball out under two
a half seconds. I believe Paul and her Junior had
pulled up some great stats in this Leaves article with
the Athletic about how much more efficient the offense is
with Flakka getting the ball out within the first tree

(03:46):
half seconds compared to Jake Browning. And that is going
to be the base of this offense because again, you
can't trust pass protection against matchups like this, so Flacco
needs to be sustained rhythm to identify, you know, where
the matchups are at his disposal, and just take advantage
of Jamar Chase and Chigins because they're going to be
advantages against most quarterbacks that they play, especially tonight, like
Darius Slay Junior and Joey Porter Junior and Jalen Ramsy.

(04:07):
They're all really good quarterbacks, but you still don't want
to take advantage of Jamar Chase when you have him,
and I think seeing that connection grow last week against
the Packers, that was a really promising sign.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, I agree with you one hundred percent. The other thing, too,
is being able to run the football. They weren't great
against the Packers. They haven't been great all season. The
Steelers sixteenth ranked run defense, allowing over one hundred yards
per game on the ground. Do you feel like tonight
is a chance for them to get it going at all?
Even though that Steeler defensive line is good, Like you mentioned, it's.

Speaker 5 (04:40):
Really tough to imagine at this point, they are on
track to maybe one of the worst rushing offenses in
the history of the league. And it's troubling to see
how Chase Brown can't get anything going in front of him,
and the fact that they can't utilize his athleticism and
his burst and everything like that. It still remains a
really porous scheme. And I think the stuff in the

(05:00):
games that the Steelers defensive line typically run it makes
things a little bit more complicated, like that, there are
high risk, high reward opportunities when defensive linemen kind of
slant in the rushes a little bit and screes up
some gaps. But if you don't have the confident bodies
up front to give them out of the way and
displace them then it ends up disrupting you more more
times than not. So it's always been tough to run
against the Steelers again, they cause a lot of chaos

(05:21):
up front, and I just there's not a lot of
confidence right now for me in the personnel upfront for
blocking to these guys. You like how hard somehowoip around
runs and you like the fact that Chase Brown he
can't get a full head of scene when you have
a little bit of space, but there's just not a
lot of space to be found and it's hard for
me to see any space being found at night.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
How do you expect the offense to change, if at all,
with Mike Giseki being out.

Speaker 5 (05:45):
Yeah, I think we saw how Tanner Hudson could fill
that role a little bit. He caught the touchdown last week,
but now he's in the concusion protocol. Right, So you
go from an offense that had five fight ins at
the disposed of down to three, and with Kaseki out,
that does mean that yose Vash is going to play more.
You could see more snaps for a guy like Mitchell Tinsley,
who's now wide receiver for Charlie Jones, is still dealing
with an injury, and Jermaine Burton he's in limbo obviously,

(06:07):
so you would expect to see, you know, more usage
deeper into the wide receiver group for the guys who
are active. I would like to see Noah Fan get
some more opportunity as well. It seems like in the
game three he's involved. He's always at at least four targets,
which I think is a little bit more than even
I expected for a guy who was signed so late
in the offseason. But you know, this is an interesting
night to see who Flocko trusts in those opportunities. Because

(06:28):
obviously Drew Sample and Cam Grandy, we know who they are.
They're just in there the block and catch and catch,
you know, short passes and try to run up to
the catch. But Noah Fan, I think needs to take
another step up, and I'm interested to see if Flacko
trust him.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Enough to do that. Talking to John Sheeran covering the
Bengals A is the Sports Johnny wrote your Bengals report card,
and you mentioned DJ Turner as being a pleasant surprise,
and especially the way he's played over the last month
and the way he played against Green Bay. What have
you seen from him? That makes him or has led
to a little bit more consistent and an uptick in

(06:59):
his level of play.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
I think when you have an elite athlete like DJ Turner, right,
the number one thing for him at cornerback is to
control that athleticism and matching mirror the speed of the
guys that he's going up against, because that allows him
to stay in position to make plays in the ball.

Speaker 6 (07:13):
Right.

Speaker 5 (07:13):
It's one thing to be fast enough to you know,
be able to stay with a guy on a vertical round, right,
but your change the direction, your balance, your ability to
stay in the hip hocket these guys and be physical.
I think Dj has shown pretty much all of those
qualifications and all those attributes, and now he's finding the
ball out better. Like you don't get five passes defense
in one game out of pure luck, right, Like quarterbacks
are obviously testing you. But I think DJ really showed

(07:36):
a lot last week and not only staying with guys
but then finding the ball making a play on the ball.
That's Those are the impact plays that you don't always
see from this secondary, and you haven't really seen from
a cornerback in the secondary in a while. You saw
a little bit flashes with that of Cam Tailberg when
he was on his game, but obviously he hasn't been
on his game for quite some time. So it looks
like Turner is the guy that they would trust the
most going up against you know, whoever the opposing number

(07:58):
one receiver is this week. Is really interesting because DK
Metcalf is a you know, physical freak who definitely outsizes
DJ turn in that reguard. But they may have the
most trust in Turner to stay with him and try
to make plays in the ball because he's doing that
better than anyone in the secondary right now.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, I was gonna ask, like, would you imagine he
would he would follow DK Metcalf around. I know the
Bengals don't do that often, but if Calvin Austin is
out and that's their best weapon and maybe their best
performing corner, do you think they would do something like that.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
I'm really interested to find out. I think this is
this would be such an opportunity for Cam Tobert to
earn back trust. I think back to two years ago
when he played DK Metcalf for the Seahawks. That was
one of his best games ever. He really got into
his head. He got the interception and everything like that.
Of course, you're gonna give up a big plays to
Metcalf because he's playing like one of the best receivers
in the NFL, and he's basically like the entirety of
that Pittsburgh passing game is running through him right now,

(08:47):
So you know they're going to feature him and involve him.
So I think it comes down to just more than
just one guy for the Bengals. I don't think you
want to have Dj Turner following in around for six
he plays a game. I think this could be a
situation where quarterbacks stay on their sides and you just
maybe try to brack it Metchalf a little bit, gets
some help from the safeties. But yeah, if it's gonna
be Dj Turner against Metcalf all night, like, there's gonna
be some goball opportunities and Metcalf is going to try

(09:07):
to use the size to win that matchup for sure.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
Logan Wilson was benched against the Packers in favor of
Barrett Carter. He handed it really well. I don't know
that it entirely makes sense. What do you make of
Logan Wilson's benching.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
It's very interesting. I think it would make more sense
like he said, if the rookies were playing significantly better
than him, and I just don't think there's anyone really
in that position group that is standing out above the rest.
I think identifying and drafting two linebackers in the first
four rounds it definitely means more now than maybe what
it did, you know, back when the draft was happening,
and you think that Breck Carter is just going to

(09:42):
be this long term replacement for Logan Wilson. It's not
like Logan Wilson is playing significantly great. Obviously, he's playing
less for a reason. But I just don't I don't
see why this makes sense other than the fact that
just giving the young guys a lot more reps to
prove themselves unless there's things in practice that we're not seeing.
And there's a lot of flashes and a lot of
promise from Bark Carter, you know, between Monday and Saturday, right,

(10:04):
and they want to give him chance to prove that
on Sunday. But at the same time, you're paying a
lot for Logan Wilson. I don't think he's that much
different of a player than what you would have expected
him to be. So it just seems like a really
aggressive move by this coaching staff to really see what
their return on investment for these rookies are. And if
it works out, it works out great, then they have
bear Carter for the next handful of years and then
they can slide with what to do with Wilson. But
if you're not seeing it from Carter yet in terms

(10:25):
of just a consistent player, I'm not sure it makes
entirely a lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Ian Rappaport reported this morning it's a long shot for
Trey Hendrickson to be able to play short week with
the hip injury. If he doesn't, how can the Bengals
dial up some pressures against Aaron Rodgers. What would be
the plan for Al Golden? Do you think?

Speaker 5 (10:43):
Well, he said that schmar Siwver is going to play
a ton, and I think the more that you move
him around and the more that you get him maybe
almost in the two point stands to just use as
much speed and explosion that you can. I think that's
the best way to compensate for not having your true
difference maker out there. I think Golden saying that about
Stewart was kind of foreshadowing how he felt about Trey

(11:05):
in this game. And whether or not he plays or not,
he may not be able to play the whole game
even if he is active. Right, So Miles Murphy's probably
going to start. Schmart Stewart's probably gonna be that third edge.
He's gonna be not only lying up on the edge,
but he's also gonna be inside. They're gonna use him
on all three downs because he's really good and really
chaotic against the run. So it's gonna be tough. You
definitely need to do things differently because you just can't
expect the pass ruses that you have to win every

(11:26):
single one on one matchup when really only Trey Hendrickson
could do that consistently.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
How good are the Steelers really?

Speaker 7 (11:32):
Like?

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Are they legit contender in the AFC? Are they a
product of their schedule? How do you view the Steelers?

Speaker 5 (11:41):
I think the Steelers have some different faces every single year,
but they always are pretty much the same team. And
sometimes they start the season really slow and then they
entered the playoff race in November December and they make
it into nine and eight. Sometimes they started in this
in this case four and one and then they fall
back down to nine eight, But they always end up
around nine to eight, ten and seven are always in
the conversation, always physical, They don't make a lot of

(12:02):
critical mistakes, and they typically have an offense that's just
barely good enough to complement their defense, and I think
that's pretty much been the case this year. I think
Aaron Rodgers is about the quarterback that the Jets should
have expected at you know, thirty nine to forty years
old at this point, and obviously he was a tremendous
disaster for the Jets, but he clearly still has just
enough to be a competent quarterback and run a competent offense.

(12:24):
But you know that passing offense again is entirely run
through DK Metcalf. They're really desperate for maybe a guy
like George Pickens if they had him. They don't have
a ton of great success with running the football right now,
and that's a little bit different compared to years past.
But I think they're just a solid team. They're obviously
not I think, going to be finished with more than
like ten or eleven wins necessarily, but definitely serious enough
to make the playoffs and definitely win this game for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Let's say that the Steelers do win the game, do
you anticipate any dominoes falling for the Bengals afterwards, like
a coach losing his job or a Trey Hendrickson potentially
getting traded. What domino's do you anticipate to fall if
the Bengals can't win tonight?

Speaker 5 (13:06):
You know, the Bengals are never the sellers, right, They're
never the ones that want to just liquidate assets for
the sake of liquidation, for the sake of a last season.
I think the fact that they traded for a quarterback
not even two weeks ago it means that they still
feel like they can do something with the season. I'm
not sure if two and five in this AFC climate
is going to make them immediately feel that. I think

(13:28):
the only reason we're talking about is because A this
is a divisional game against the divisional leader, and b
because it's going to be a long week of rest
after the Thursday night game, so that's naturally a time
could make changes. But I don't think you're going to
see a coach firing after this game. I think it's
still a little bit too early in the season for that.
And the one thing I am curious though, is that
if Logan Wilson is truly just ten snaps a game. Guy,

(13:50):
how much injuriest could you get for him on the
trade deadline, because at the end of the day, you're
paying a lot of money for guy who's not playing
a lot. So that could be an interesting domino based
on how the next two weeks ago. But I don't
think anything significant is going to happen from this game, specifically.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
On the flip side of that. If they do win
and obviously perform the way they are expected to, at
least against the Jets and maybe the Bears, could you
see them dipping their toe into the trade waters again.
Could you see them be a little bit more aggressive
if they feel like there's a chance to get you know,
back in it in this conference with Burrow coming back
later on.

Speaker 5 (14:22):
It has to be the right deal, right, It has
to be potentially like a player for player trade or
another pick swap, like they've already sacrificed a little bit
of draft capital. A little bit draft capital for them
is a lot of draft capital for them, So that's
always relative, and it may depend on any other injuries
that they may suffer. I think they expect to get
healthier as the weeks go on. Obviously, the Aseki injury
kind of ruins that a little bit, but I think

(14:43):
they have what they feel like is quality death at
that position room, and once Tanner Hudson comes back, that's
someone that they trust. So I'm not really foreseeing them
being buyers. Again. I think Flato is probably the biggest
splash that you're gonna get because they did feel the
pressure in the urgency to do something other than Jake Browning.
But yeah, the next handful of weeks are going to
be very interesting.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
His name's John Scheron covering the Bengals for eight to
Z Sports and also the Orange and Black Insider podcast. John,
thank you so much, man, really appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (15:09):
Thanks guys.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
That is John Shearon from A to Z Sports. Good stuff.
Good stuff there. He about to go get some white
Bengal gear going to the game tonight. You can do
that too at Cincy Shirts, Cinti Shirts app and obviously
their stores as well. Get your custom shirt made. You're
a oh gonna get Flacco shirt ahead of tonight's game.

(15:31):
Get that in white for the white Bengal night. All right,
we'll take a break, we'll come back. Talkbacks, Yes, talkbacks,
I asked for your predictions about what's going to happen
tonight at pay Course Stadium. I can't wait to see
what all of you are predicting on talkbacks. That's next.
This is Cincy three to sixty hour two, brought to
you by Cincy Shirts on the Home of the Bengals, Cincinnatis,

(15:52):
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Now SINC three sixty Here every show at ESPN fifteen
thirty dot com.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Talkbacks Hour two brought to you by Cincy Shirts. It's

(16:33):
a game day here in Cincinnati. I asked for your scores,
your predictions, and more. Let's get to it with talkbacks,
starting with the first one of the day came in
at nine am.

Speaker 7 (16:46):
Hey, I was thinking from Alex here. Set out to
Kevin from Northern Kentucky for my shout out yesterday. Yes,
I was on Mo's show a couple of days ago
and I mumbled and fumbled my way through my comments.
But Moby and the pro that he has bailed me out. Also,
I'd like to put in my recommendation as for Drew

(17:08):
as your producer. He's an articulate and a nice guy. Also,
hope they gave you a raise.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Thank you, Ken. I appreciate that. Yeah, I love Drew.
Still trying to figure out what exactly that's going to
look like. Hopefully that's figured out by Monday, but yeah,
I appreciate that. And speaking of stumbling and bumblin, did
you hear me try to ask John Sheer in the
first question. That was maybe the worst I've ever actually
stuttered and stumbled on the radio. So that's good. Start.

Speaker 8 (17:36):
Born in Austin, Jeff, and New Richmond on Thursday to
Happy Hooday Game Day. Yes, I'm gonna take the Bengals tonight.
Let's go twenty four to twenty one. Oh, I think
Evan gets a field goal at the gun and gives
us the win. I just have the feeling tonight it's
gonna be different. Okay, So we'll see what happens. Hopefully

(17:59):
we'll be able to celebrate it all tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Have a great day, Thank you, Jeff. Yeah, victory Friday
would be much needed, much needed for the Vibes.

Speaker 5 (18:09):
Hey, Audi, I'm I'm excited.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
I think the Bengals will do well tonight and I'm
gonna call it Bengals twenty four, Steelers twenty one. That's
two in a row. That's two in a row twenty
four to twenty one Bengals. That might be the common theme.

Speaker 9 (18:21):
Audie, what up? Jacob? Here?

Speaker 2 (18:23):
What's up?

Speaker 10 (18:23):
Jake?

Speaker 11 (18:24):
I'm thinking that the Bengals are gonna build off of
that second half in Green Bay from last week. We
need the offense to get in the rhythm, move the ball,
hopefully to night Shamar Stewart's coming out party. Yes, I
don't think the Bengals win by a big margin, but
I think they win. Let's go get that dub tonight.
Who day baby, Let's go all.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
Right Shamar Stewart coming out party. I would sign up
for that.

Speaker 12 (18:46):
Hey, Audi, remember you asked what I think is gonna happen,
not what I want? Yes, and what I think is
gonna happen is the Bengals may surprise people.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Whoam.

Speaker 12 (18:55):
I think they're gonna come out start fast. They might
even jump out to a or fourteen point lead, two
scores something like that. Okay, but regardless, at some point,
Zach Taylor is gonna go painfully conservative. Now allow them
back into the game, and the Bengals are gonna lose
a heartbreaker by.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Two or three points.

Speaker 13 (19:13):
But probably true.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
I appreciate honesty that it is important. What you think
is going to happen, not what you want to happen.
And I do appreciate that honesty.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
What up, Hotty?

Speaker 5 (19:24):
What do I want to see tonight in a forty
something bowl?

Speaker 9 (19:27):
I want to see the office put up points.

Speaker 5 (19:29):
In all four quarters.

Speaker 7 (19:31):
I want to see the defense can get off the field.

Speaker 9 (19:33):
I'm third down.

Speaker 5 (19:34):
I'm wanna see Jamais he go off tonight.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
I want to see yo yo yo, see actually catch
some passes. Yeah.

Speaker 14 (19:45):
I want to see this team get the dub wall.

Speaker 15 (19:47):
You need it.

Speaker 9 (19:48):
I got a fee way and they own a prescription.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's more blackouts. It's a good one from Kevin. He said,
we need it. You know, I was before the show today.
I normally in the last ten or so minutes, we'll
go sit in the newsroom just to kind of clear
my head and go banter with the folks in the newsroom,
and our buddy Nick Rick yu Chino was saying, we
need this, like I need this, just mentally need a

(20:12):
Bengals win tonight. I think a lot of people are
in that boat.

Speaker 16 (20:15):
Hey, Austin George on the valley fired up from the
game as name as well. I just wanted to you know,
such that Tony's gone, But in reality, I think what
they heard was the talent you have. I'm not trying
to blow your head up here, but I mean that's
what it is. Tony was on the radio with you,
and that just wasn't a good place for him to be.
You're abound to get your own show anyway.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
Good luck to Tony. We all love them. Whoa who Day.

Speaker 16 (20:40):
Could be a fun night tonight. The Jungle Boys.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Well, George, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
I do appreciate that.

Speaker 17 (20:47):
Yeahdia, it's Jane case here. I just wanted to say,
I hope you're able to take advantage of this opportunity,
even though it's not under the circumstances you want, just
like I'm hoping Osai and Shamar Stewart are able to
take advantage tonight.

Speaker 18 (20:59):
Make job.

Speaker 17 (21:01):
I really wish you had not gone over those rushing
stats at the beginning of the game. Makes me feel
like the Steelers are going to rush for two hundred
yards tonight, just because that's.

Speaker 5 (21:09):
What we do.

Speaker 17 (21:11):
And my heart won't let me pick anybody but the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
All right, fair enough, heart wants what it wants.

Speaker 19 (21:19):
Yeah, I like the jury update. Austin, their number two receiver,
not playing their safety, probably not playing Hendrickson, probably not
playing some good knowledge there.

Speaker 6 (21:32):
I don't know.

Speaker 19 (21:32):
I want the Bengals to win so so bad. I
think that this might be a bad sign. But hopefully,
hopefully we'll get to w.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
When you go a month without winning is hard. Man like,
time moves slower. Coffee doesn't taste as good. It's difficult.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
I turned enough.

Speaker 20 (21:53):
Since he three sixty, I was half past dead. Yeah,
I just need it. Sounds fags ractic cleaning my head. Hey, Aughtie,
can you tell me now the team he's gone on?
Tompbacks done. He just grinted and shook my hand on

(22:18):
the nose, was.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
All he said him beautifully.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
Dot take a load, doll, body.

Speaker 20 (22:29):
He's there on the trust in you and me, take
a load doll rolling on with since he three sixty?

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Wow, thank you, Hey Audie TJ.

Speaker 21 (22:49):
He sided it was out last week during the Tony fallout,
some guy named Drew didn't play my talkback right compared
to you and Tony did the great dudes of all time. Tony,
You're gonna do great, Bustin. When I first started listening.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
I thought some of.

Speaker 21 (23:02):
Your opinions were really sucks, but you all defended him
with a stute, rational and good logic. I always appreciate
that and respect it as a listener. Well done, keep
up the good work. Go who Days. But if we
lose night Zach and Tobin gotta go who Day.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, it's if you're
gonna have an opinion that you know may not be
that popular, or you know, we'll ruffle some feathers, you
got to at least have a good reason why. And
I always tried to do that.

Speaker 20 (23:32):
Shoot up and why.

Speaker 22 (23:36):
We need this when we can this color Roger Joe
Hodaydayday Day Whydayday Show.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Wow, you're on a heater today.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
It's the Lord.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
What up?

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Happy Thursday? Talkback Nation is great. Hearing Eddie Z yesterday.
He's hilarious. He should be talkback President. Hey Austin, is
there any truth about the Bengals looking at Derek Carr
as a quarterback option?

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Bengals twenty Steelers sixteen.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, thank you for that prediction. I like that. The
list was revealed by Albert Breer in Sports Illustrated earlier today.
He said that the full list that the Bengals reached
out to are considered were Stetson Bennett, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins,
Tommy DeVito, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo, Josh Johnson, Drew Locke,

(24:56):
Tanner McKee, Davis Mills, Anthony Richardson, Russ for Wilson, and
Jameis Winston. They ended up landing on.

Speaker 23 (25:03):
Flacco still wrapping the city out here in Sonny hot
Don and what up?

Speaker 9 (25:07):
Hoddie?

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Y'all real talk.

Speaker 23 (25:08):
Not only are the Bengals under pressure, I'm under pressure,
oh being here only since he fan at my job,
got everybody in the world at my job asking me questions, tonight,
are you ready for this nice game? Do you think
the Bingal's gonna win? Got a call from the boss
man to come to the office. He asked me questions
about tonight's game. How you putting money on the Bengals tonight?
I looked at him like he was fourteen kared crazy,
But I ain't telling him that since he throwed that

(25:29):
me down.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
I want to come to work tomorrow. Cat strutting on
these clowns, you feel me? Who days? That is the
tough part about wearing your team's hert on your sleeve.
Theyre ridding round. Everybody wants a piece of you.

Speaker 13 (25:41):
All right, Mike from LA You heard John Michael's impersonation
of you. Oh no, let's hear your version of him.

Speaker 9 (25:50):
What's up, Austin, Joe and Baltimore?

Speaker 2 (25:52):
What up, Joe?

Speaker 9 (25:53):
My prediction for tonight Cincinnati twenty eight Pittsburgh twenty four. Okay,
Bike Placo leads a late fourth quarter touchdown drive to
steal the game. Jamar's over one hundred yards receiving, and

(26:14):
Chase Brown has his best rushing game of the year.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Just all right, bang, all right, I got you.

Speaker 13 (26:22):
This is a guaranteed prediction for Tonight's game. At some
point during the game, somewhere near midfield, the Steelers will
do some type of misdirection trick play that will end
up being wide open and it'll either steal the game
or it'll put them up by at least two scores.

(26:46):
Who day, Pittsburgh does this every freaking time.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
That's a man that's been hurt and broken, Right there,
Austin gets from great job so far running the show.

Speaker 6 (27:00):
My predictions for tonight Steelers twenty seven Bengals fourteen hikes
and just a side note, little sprinkle, sprinkle, drip drip.
I got Noah plus one seventy four at five receptions. Okay,
I think that's easy money.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
All right, there's a little lock of the night for you.
Five or so over four and a half receptions for
Noah fanse Okay.

Speaker 24 (27:25):
Did you guys see Wes Miller saying that the team's
not ready to play today?

Speaker 13 (27:31):
Is he already.

Speaker 25 (27:32):
Setting UC fans up for a failure of a season?

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Oh well, it's a good thing they don't. He's not
ready to play today because they don't have to play today.
So first of all, Second of all, my favorite thing
about yesterday was that Xavier announced this new beer called
the Muskie Logger if I have that correct, And the
branding and everything is awesome. It's very similar to like

(27:57):
Ryan Geist and the Sincy Light thing and just doing
the same thing. It's for the all for one fun
for Xavier and just seeing UC fans get so mad
about it was awesome. I love that rivalry so much.
I love how petty each side is. Yeah, Xavier kind
of rips off Cincinnati with the beer thing, and then
Cincinnati fans are all mad about it. I just I

(28:20):
love that rivalry so much. I cannot wait for December.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
Bengals win by three?

Speaker 2 (28:33):
Boy today, all right, Bengals by three. I'm in favor
of that.

Speaker 5 (28:40):
Hey, Audie micing independence.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
What am I prepping for this?

Speaker 6 (28:43):
Seafood ball?

Speaker 26 (28:44):
We gotta go on the starting at four o'clock today Airbay.
Swing on by a lot one if you want to
partake in the goods. We're going with twenty four to
sixteen for the score today.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Who day, that's in favor of the Bengals. Baby, all right,
beg seafood boil Mike with in lot one, going with
to Bengal victory.

Speaker 27 (29:04):
Hey, Austin Paul Fromcleeves here, I'll actually chime in and
give you my two cents worth on the game tonight.
I think the Bengals won twenty eight to ten or
thirty one to ten.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
I don't think it's even going to be close.

Speaker 27 (29:15):
I think the biggest issue is going to be turnovers
for the Steelers.

Speaker 5 (29:18):
I don't think they're gonna be able to handle the ball.

Speaker 27 (29:21):
And yeah, I'm pretty I'm pretty sure that the Bengals
are gonna come out and they're gonna come right out,
then drive the field and score the first toushout.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
So whoday? Okay, all right, I mean the twenty eight
to ten thirty one to ten will blowout. Okay, let's
do it.

Speaker 25 (29:38):
Yeah, I mean I think we got all the momentum.
I think that with flat Goo now feeling more comfortable,
and there's gonna be the unknown about our defensive line
that Rogers isn't going to be able to anticipate. I mean,
this could be a really, really good night for the Bengals.
As for my prediction, I'm thinking it's probably gonna be
forty two to twelve Steelers.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
Oh that's the beautifully jaded Bengals fan gate fan base
hot take.

Speaker 28 (30:10):
As an in person fan, a white out is the
worst spent eighty five dollars on a Bengals pull over
and all day you risk the chance of spilling beer
or skyline dip on yourself and just.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Looked like a slob. Yeah, but on TV it'll look great,
you know, I hear you. A pro move though, is
you gotta go. You can't put it on until you
get in your seat, basically like you carry it with
you or you keep it in the car whatever. Nobody
cares if you're wearing white when you're tailgating. Once you
get in your seat, though, like then it has it

(30:45):
should be on. So I hear you though, What up body,
space monkeys? What's up? Space? A w tonight another one?

Speaker 5 (30:54):
We get back on track when next week? Move on
to four and four?

Speaker 2 (30:58):
Okay, seasons, Bay, let's go. I'm smelling what you're stepping in.
What Austin Ryan Samar Stewart two sacks, Oh Banks twenty
three twenty one. Oh, all right, let's do it. I'm
in favor of that, Patty.

Speaker 18 (31:20):
I think I think Flacco's gonna find his find his
rhythm tonight. Okay, two weeks into the offense. He's got
a little bit more time to work with all the boys,
and I'm predicting a Bengals win thirty one twenty one.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Okay, offensive explosion thirty one twenty one.

Speaker 10 (31:45):
All right, Well, you're sitting down watching the Bengals game
and Joe Burrow gets sacked. He's got the turf toe
and he's gonna miss time. Since the nation is screaming fire,
sac QB's of must backup is a buzz time for
oh Joe Flecko.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Beautifully done there by.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
Mark Hey Austin.

Speaker 24 (32:11):
I wanted to get your thoughts on what your conversation
was at the top of the hour with the Bengals
not being able to do anything with their front office
and compare to the Tennessee Titans and their rotating door
and the Baltimore Ravens and how they always seem to
do things right but seem to be in the same,
if not worse situation than the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, the NFL is difficult, and there's not really an
exact science. I mean, the way the Chiefs have built
their dynasty is not the same as the way the
Eagles have kind of built over the last couple of years.
And the Eagles in the middle of struggles and they've
dealt with coordinators leaving and all this other stuff. And
Baltimore has been the model of consistency for a long
time and it's gotten them close but never over the hump.

(32:55):
And even Cleveland has had the same people in place
for a long time and they just kind of keep
in their tires and going nowhere. And the Bengals have
They've changed a little bit here and there, and they've
done a few things differently, but mostly it's still the
same process. And the Bengals, for the most part, are
always competitive. They're at least you know, in it, and
I believe are a well run organization. It's just that

(33:17):
there's no exact science to it. It's difficult. Like even
if you look at San Francisco, I think John Lynch
and Kyle Shanahan are a great example of like what
a quarter or what a coach and a GM relationship
should be. And yet they just get ravaged by injuries
every year and it's held them back. Even in a

(33:37):
year like this year where they're supposed to be competitive,
their injuries are killing them. I look at a team
like Tampa where just Jason light I think, is O gosh,
what's the GM of the Bucks. I'm blanking on his
name right now. But he has full autonomy and full

(33:58):
control and again feeds these players to develop into Todd Bowles. Like,
there's all these different ways to do it. Some teams
are really good at it, some teams are not. There
is no exact science, and you know, it's easy to compare,
but it's not really easy to execute. All right, that
was our last talkback. We'll take a break. Phone calls

(34:18):
are open five one three. Phone lines are open to
five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty. We'll take
a break, We'll come back. Get well. Football in the
NATI and more. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Oh.

Speaker 29 (34:30):
In the NATI, brought you in part by Bod Blight
and by Oakley Greens on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official
home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
Yes, indeed, it is Football in the NATI. ESPN fifteen thirty.
I'm Austin Omore. Welcome back. Let's go to the phones
quickly for another score prediction. If I'm not mistaken. This
is Northern Kentucky Orange cab who says he has a prediction.
What do you got?

Speaker 14 (35:01):
Wow, black lins own get at first, Stillers and the
head coaches may have up the tree and the Bengals
fifty nine Thestuer seventeen for five hundred and eighty yards
and seven touchdown.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Oh my gosh, five eighty seven touchdowns, setting records and
fifty nine points. All right, I'm down, Thank you.

Speaker 5 (35:20):
I will call you back tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
I'll talk to you then. Thank you very much. If
that were to happen, Oh my goodness, I really do
I kind of want. I want it to be a
track meet, Like I just want the old heads to
just get after it and just start, you know, going
back and forth, high scoring and see what happens. Got
time for another phone call. I don't know who this
person is though, caller. If you can hear my voice,

(35:45):
you're on the air. What's your name, Robert? What's up? Robert?
What do you want to talk about? Man?

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Hey Austin. Yeah, just a quick train of thought on
the hope, on the Bengals issues and helped and your
help and uh, you know, making some sense of it
if you will. So my my thought is, you know,
I guess in today's NFL whe to be in such
big business and everything, the uh general managers and all

(36:14):
are just becoming more and more significant in the equation, uh,
you know, for for some of the reasons that you
talked about on the regular basis. But then coaches, of
course you know the face of the franchise to most
of the rest of us. So anyway, the thought is,
you know, I didn't do the research, uh, so hopefully

(36:36):
you can help me with that too. But like the
three the three Super Bowls that we've been to Forst.
Craig of course Zach and then who was again? Yeah, Sam, Yeah,
weren't they all within like their first two or three years?
And is there anything to that? That's all I got, Thanks.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
For letting me all right, Yeah, thank you Robert for
the phone call. I don't I don't know if there's
anything to that. I think the biggest thing is that
those coaches all had MVP caliber quarterbacks Ken Anderson with
Forest Gregg, boomerasiaz In with Sam Weish, and obviously Joe
Burrow with Zach Taylor. But you're right, it was Forrest

(37:16):
Gregg's second year with the Bengals that he went to
the Super Bowl. It was Zach Taylor's third year with
the Bengals that he went to the Super Bowl. And
it was the fourth season for Sam Wish that they
went to the Super Bowl. I don't know if there's

(37:37):
something to that or not. Maybe that's something we'll look into. Yeah,
I don't know. It's good thought, it's fun thought. I
want to finish up the football in the Natti segment
with something I talked about earlier. There was this word

(37:57):
coming from Chris Collinsworth, the Bengals legend that Michael Jordan,
the sixth time NBA Champion, the goat the greatest basketball
that's ever played, basketball player that's ever played the game
was a Cincinnati Bengals fan. And this was apparently told
on k Adams Show, and I've obtained the audio. Here

(38:20):
is Chris Collinsworth telling the story of Michael Jordan saying
he's a Bengals fan.

Speaker 15 (38:29):
Yes, so I was sitting there.

Speaker 20 (38:30):
It was great.

Speaker 15 (38:31):
So we're at NBC and we just played his golf course.
And so we're there and Mike was there, and all
the brass from NBC is, you know, literally begging him
to try and come work for NBC. So I went
up and just sat down. Well, another one of my
bosses came along. I won't say who, John, but he
came by and he was like, Chris, we've got a

(38:52):
table for you down here. And I was like, oh, okay,
you know, let me sitting with my Okay, no problem.
So I get up and I walk down to the table.
As soon as I walked away, apparently Michael said to
the group, you know, I grew up a Bengals fan
back in that era and we used to watch them
all the time. So now my friend had to come
back and say Hey, we really want you to come

(39:12):
back here.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
With Michael's.

Speaker 15 (39:16):
I almost said Nope, can't do it. Yeah means sorry
and not made. Can't do it.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
A very Chris collins Worth like story. But how in
the hell did that happen? If I got the interview
Michael Jordan, that would be the first question, Why on
God's Green Earth did you grow up a Bengals fan?
How did that happen? And how are we just now
finding out about it? And Lord knows, Michael was doing
other things in the nineties, so he thankfully probably didn't

(39:44):
have to watch some of those series or seasons that
the Bengals were going through in the Lost decade. But
I want to know everything about this because Jordan's at
North Carolina when the Bengals go to the Super Bowl
the first time, he in Chicago when they go to
the super Bowl the second time. In the eighties. I mean, okay,

(40:06):
I mean they were good in the seventies. They went
to the playoffs a few times in the seventies when
Jordan would have been a kid. Okay, all right, Michael Jordan,
one of us. Let's go this is since E thirty
sixty on esp AT fifteen to thirty.

Speaker 29 (40:21):
You've been listening to football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
Ky Cincinnati sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
I can't get over this. Michael Jordan, the greatest there is,
the greatest there was, the greatest there ever will be.
Cincinnati Bengals fan Mike Jordan, his airness, Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Wow,
Michael Jordan should be the rule of the Jungle next

(41:02):
week or, as our guy Ryan points out on Twitter,
Michael Jordan should be the rule of the Jungle against
the Chicago Bears in two weeks. No excuses for this, Bengals.
You gotta know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody.
You can get Mike Jordan the ruler of the Jungle.
And then if we could collaborate with Jordan Brand to
get some Bengals Jordan gear I will be the first

(41:23):
in line. You can have my money. Whatever it is
you can, you can have it. This is the coolest
thing ever. I'm freaking out right now. This is me,
by the way, this is who I am. I love
Michael Jordan and this sort of stuff. I am enamored
with Michael Jordan being a Bengals fan. Want, I have

(41:44):
so many questions, And that, by the way, is like,
if there's one guy I would want to interview one
person on planet Earth, it would be Michael Jordan. And
I know that's not a hot take by any stretch
of the imagination, but what a guy and a crazy life.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
Anyways, can I update you a little bit on baseball
before we talked to Brook Pryor here in a couple
of minutes last night, it was the Blue Jays all
over the Seattle Mariners in Seattle, thirteen to four, the
final score for Toronto. They still trail the Mariners by
a game, two games to one in the ALCS. Both

(42:24):
series in action tonight six ozho eight, first pitch will
be Brewers and Dodgers. The Dodgers lead that series two
games to none, and then at eight thirty three it
is Blue Jays Mariners from Seattle. Obviously, nobody in Cincinnati's
gonna be watching that because of the Bengals game. But
I was reading about the series between the Brewers and
the Dodgers, and Sho Heeo Tani is in the midst

(42:48):
of a slump right now. He took batting practice at
Dodgers Stadium Tuesday for the first time since he became
a Dodger in twenty twenty two. How ridiculous is that?
Shows show he's been there for three years. He never

(43:10):
took batting practice at Dodger Stadium until this NLCS. How
is that possible? That's got to be a typo, right,
But I read that from a source I trust. Since
the Wild Card Round show Hey is two for twenty
five with twelve strikeouts. His RBI single in Game two

(43:30):
of the NLCS snapped a fifteen at bat hitless streak.
So sho heey Otani actually is human and is struggling
right now, and UH could hopefully get back on track
coming up in this game against the Brewers. Other Major
League Baseball news, Albert Poolholse's name continues to circulate as
a potential manager across Major League Baseball. The Padres are

(43:53):
looking for a manager of the Angels, where pool Houlse
used to play, have certainly expressed interest in that, and
also of the Baltimore Orioles expressing interest in Albert Poolhols,
which I think is interesting and I believe he is
the manager of one of the World Baseball Classic teams,
blanking on which which country he's managing. It might be

(44:16):
Puerto Rico or Venezuela, not entirely sure, but that's that.
And then a shake up to the Reds coaching staff. Jr. House,
the Reds third base coach and catching coordinator, is leaving
the Reds to join the Arizona Diamondbacks in the same role. Jr.
House said that it just became too much going back
and forth to Arizona. He lives in Arizona, he used

(44:38):
to play for the Diamondbacks. His family is there, and
so it was opportunity for him to go home and
to spend more time with his family. So because of that,
he is leaving the Reds, and so the Reds will
be in the market for a new catching coordinator and
a new third base coach with Jr. House heading out west.
All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back. When

(44:58):
we do, we'll talk to Brooke pro covering the Steelers
for ESPN. That's next right here on the Home of
the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty