Friday Football Frenzy w/ Austin Elmore -- 10/17/25

Austin breaks down and reacts to the Bengals huge Thursday night win over the Steelers, takes your calls and TalkBacks, chats with Charlie Goldsmith and Tom Gelehrter, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

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Speaker 2 (00:37):
Come on now. Victory Friday Football Frenzy on ESPN fifteen thirty. Hi, Hello,
Welcome in. The Bengals victorious over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday.
We got a victory Friday to celebrate. Been a long week,

(01:05):
It's been a tense week. Been a lot going on,
but the Bengals make everything better with a big win
last night and Cincinnati now three and four two and
Ozero in the AFC North and the season very much alive.

(01:28):
Who to thunk it? Joe Flacco three hundred and forty
two yards last night through the air, and the Bengals
found a way to outduel Aaron Rodgers and it's good vibes.
Good vibes on a Friday. Thank you for being here
and for being on the show with me today. Phone
lines are open at five point three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty all of our number one to get your

(01:50):
reaction to what you saw last night, what you heard
last night with the Bengals beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. I
just got off the air. It feels like a couple
of hours ago, doing the postgame sports talk show until
two thirty in the morning, and I'll tell you what.
People were fired up. I always love it when there's
home games because people are driving back to wherever they

(02:13):
may have descended upon Cincinnati from and everybody's juiced. Doesn't matter.
If it's one thirty, doesn't matter, if it's two to four,
doesn't matter. People are juiced after the Bengals win. And
we're gonna try to keep that energy today. Coming up
at one o'clock, Charlie Goldsmith from Charlie's Chalkboard in Fox nineteen.
Charlie's gonna join us as he normally does. We'll do

(02:34):
our regular segment with Tommy g as well as FC
Cincinnati is getting set to finish off their regular season
and get set for the playoffs. They play Montreal tomorrow.
We'll talk to Tommy g about that at two o'clock.
And we've got quick hits as well. No mode today.
We've still got Bengals pep rally in its normal spot
on a Friday, and I'm sure it will be a

(02:56):
relatively pep pep rally for the Bengals today down there
at the Kroger over the Rhine. So looking forward to
listening to that as well. We will have talkbacks in
our normal spot and football in the Nattie and all
of that. But last night, man, they were calling it
the Icy Hot Bowl, they were calling it the Unk Bowl,

(03:19):
the unction, just a couple of forty year old quarterbacks
getting after it. And I'll tell you what the way. Listen.
You know, if you've listened to this show for a
long time, you know that I have been a long
time Zach Taylor apologist. And you also know that a
couple of weeks ago Zach lost me and I think
he still has a ways to go for him to

(03:40):
earn my trust back. But I thought last night was
the best game Zach Taylor has called as a play
caller since the Divisional round win in Buffalo in the
twenty two playoffs. Like he was sensational, he had great feel,
there was great balance, There were just easy concepts for

(04:02):
Joe Flacco. There were RPOs, there were quick slants, there
was under center play action, there was moving the pocket,
there was some creativity in the run game with a
few different blockers pulling and moving around. Like all of
it huge, huge for Zach Taylor. He did a great
job and the Bengals were prepared on a short week Thursday,

(04:24):
divisional opponent, and that, to me is a huge testament
to Zach Taylor and his coaching staff. So I'm gonna
give credit where credit is due again to perform the
way that Joe Flacco did in the second half against
the Packers, and then to come out and perform the
way they did even though they kind of got punched
in the mouth early by the Steelers last night and

(04:45):
Pittsburgh goes up ten to nothing and the Bengals are
struggling and there's a penalty and they're dropping the ball.
The Bengals didn't flinch. They made the most of two
interceptions by Aaron Rodgers that they immediately turned into touchdowns
fourteen points each or fourteen points off those two interceptions,
one by Jordan Battle, one by DJ Turner. We got

(05:06):
to talk about DJ Turner. We might have something with
DJ Turner. Anyways, that happens, and then the Bengals come
out a halftime and get points to go up two possessions,
and Pittsburgh's playing catch up the rest of the way. Now,
the Bengals still have a long way to go on defense,
but for them to operate the way they did, one
hundred and forty two yards on the ground for the

(05:29):
Bengals probably would have been one hundred and fifty if
not for Joe Flacco taking knees At the end of
the game, Jamar Chase breaks his own franchise record with
sixteen receptions for one hundred and sixty one yards in
a touchdown. Jamar was targeted twenty three times. How about
t Higgins last night, six for ninety six. He easily

(05:50):
could have gotten one hundred and a second touchdown, but
he put the team above himself and slides down inside
the ten, meaning T Higgins and the Bengals had a
chance to win that game. Higgins was targeted ten times,
so of the forty seven passes that Joe Flacco threw
thirty three of them were to Jamar Chaser t Higgins. Again,

(06:12):
I think that's a credit to Zach Taylor in that scheme.
How about andre Yosavas with a big thirty seven yard
completion that helped this team get some points in the
third quarter. Noah Fant had a twenty five yard completion.
We saw some explosives. Saw some explosives from Chase Brown
as well. He had a thirty seven yard run and
went over one hundred yards for the first time. Now,

(06:35):
on defense, there's still a lot to clean up. They
can't tackle. Going back over my notes from last night,
every single drive I wrote down tackling, tackling, tackling, tackling.
Now I get it. Thursday, short week. Your body's probably
not fully recovered from last week. I expect some misstackles,

(06:56):
but go Lee. Were those some bad misstackles by the Bengals.
They had missed nineteen if I'm not mistaken against the
Packers last week, which I believe was the most ever
in the Zach Taylor era. I haven't seen an official
number for last night yet, but it had to be
up in that it had to be close to nineteen
or twenty missed tackles, and a lot of them seemed

(07:17):
to come from Demetrius Knight Junior, the rookie linebacker who
just doesn't ever seem to be playing under control. There's
some work to be done on Demetrius Knight. There's some
work to be done with Barrett Carter. He did, though,
lead the team in tackles with twelve total, a couple
of passes defense Geno Stone Jordan Battle of course, had
the interception. Logan Wilson. He showed up in pass coverage

(07:40):
with a nice play. Joseph Osai had a tackle for loss.
Cam Sample had a tackle for loss. And they did
all this without Trey Hendrickson. That was the other thing,
number one, the tackling. Number two, the inability to generate
pressure whatsoever on Aaron Rodgers. Rogers had seemingly all day
to throw. Aaron finished the night twenty three to thirty

(08:03):
four to two hundred and forty nine yards four touchdowns,
including a long win to Pat Fryermoot that gave Pittsburgh
the lead. But he had those two interceptions at the
Bengals were able to camp capitalize with points off of turnovers.
Then the other thing we talked about it going into
last night. Pittsburgh run game not very good. It was
right there with the Bengals towards the bottom of the league. Well,
Jalen Warren got going last night sixteen carries for a

(08:26):
buck twenty seven. As a whole, the Steelers ran the
ball twenty times for one hundred and forty seven yards,
averaging seven point four yards per carry. Not good, Ernie,
not good. They are going to have to be a
lot better than that, uh, if they want to compete.
And I will say this, and I'm not trying to

(08:47):
pour cold water on a victory Friday, but I know
we're all kind of excited about what the next couple
of weeks would look like with the New York Jets,
with the Chicago Bears, and then the bye week before Pittsburgh. Again,
I will say this, if you tackle the way you
tackled against Green Bay and Pittsburgh, against the New York
Jets and the Chicago Bears, you will get beat. They

(09:09):
have got to tackle better. You can't expect Joe Flacco
to throw for three hundred and forty two yards and
three touchdowns every single time he takes the field. It's
just not realistic for that to happen, and so I
get it, like, we're happy, we're excited, but we also
got to learn some lessons from a game like last

(09:31):
night and apply that moving forward. Bengals, though, get the
mini by and they are able to get a couple
of days off before those New York Jets come to
town Ring of Honor game next weekend, honoring Dave Lapham
Leap and Lamar Parrish. What other storylines, Well, how about
Cam Taylor Britt. That's an interesting one. I give the

(09:51):
Bengals credit. They're not afraid to ruffle some feathers, They're
not afraid to send a message. And by the Bengals,
I mean Zach Taylor and his coach staff. Because Cam
Taylor Brit quite quite frankly, has not been good enough.
I think it's fair to say he has hurt the
team much more than he's helped the team. And so

(10:12):
that being said, it was not a surprise to see
that last night. Well I guess it was a surprise,
but like when you come to like, actually, what's happening
on the field, not that big of a surprise. Cam
Taylor Britt was a healthy scratch. He was inactive last night,
didn't even play. The Bengals said, we'll go with Josh

(10:34):
Newton and dj Ivy and Marco Wilson instead of Cam
Taylor Britt sending a message, perhaps to him, sending a
message to the rest of the team. I mean, hell,
they've done it with Logan Wilson, They've done it with
other players, why not do it with them. I thought
it was also interesting the starting offensive line last night.

(10:54):
Dylan Fairchild and Lucas Patrick. Those guys started on opening Day.
They were both healthy and able to play, and they
weren't in the lineup. It was Dalton Reisner at left guard,
Jalen Rivers at right guard. We'll see what the PFF
grades have to say and what the general consensus is
on that once we get a chance to, uh, you know,

(11:17):
look over the tape and everything from last night. So
either way, exciting day, exciting moment for this franchise. We
talked about it being a turning point. We talked about
it being a pivot point, and now is your opportunity
to go. Now is your opportunity to make it happen.
And on top of all of that, there was some

(11:39):
good news prior to the game yesterday, it was from
Ian Rapaport saying that there have been no setbacks in
Joe Burrow's recovery, no setbacks in his rehab, and he's
telling people that he absolutely intends on coming back in

(12:00):
December if he's able. This is a good thing. We
also got a chance to see Joe Burrow for the
first time in a while last night. Did so on
the sideline walking boot backwards, hat headset on all of it.
Good to go for Joe Burrow. He was involved sitting
on the bench talking to Joe Flacco and Jake Browning.

(12:21):
You're gonna hear several highlights from the game, including Joe
Flacco tucking and running. Was I the only one who
had flashbacks to Ryan Finley in that game against Pittsburgh
a few years ago? The way Joe Flacco took that
and then come to find out after the game that
wasn't the play call. Joe just did that himself. Oh

(12:42):
my goodness. Unbelievable. The Bengals were aggressive, they were they
were very in control, like they were calm. They didn't
let it unravel. They didn't let one penalty turn into two,
turn into three, turn into four. They didn't let one,
turn into two, turn into three, turn into four. And
I don't know what was going on with the footballs

(13:04):
last night, but it felt like it felt like to
me that those bad boys were slippery. Jamar Chase had
a couple that slipped out of his hands, one that
he bobbled and caught and made a guy miss in
an unbelievable catch, one that Andre Josuvas should have had,
one that Chase Brown should have had that could have
been a thirty to forty yard game. Like all these
little things happen over the course of a game. And

(13:26):
Chase Brown said afterwards he felt like the offense left
a lot out there, scored thirty three points, flatco threw
for three touchdowns. You feel really good about it. And
the Bengals still feel like there was more that they
could have had out there, And I agree with him.
And if you're able to put some of that together,
especially against a team like the Jets, especially against the
team like the Chicago Bears, you're gonna have an opportunity

(13:49):
to win football games. And so now the narrative of
the entire season feels like it's shifted, because yesterday you're like, Okay, well,
Trey Hendrickson's not playing and the Steelers are getting healthy
and it's Aaron Rodgers, and it's never easy to go
up against the Steelers, like, surely, surely they're gonna lose
this game, right, all the numbers said so, And then

(14:13):
they found a way to win, and they deserve a
ton of credit for that. And now what that means
moving forward for this franchise for this season, how do
they get on track, how do they be consistent, and
how do they fix that tackling in that defense because
Al Golden's gonna have to find something. Now we've seen

(14:34):
them make two end season trades, one last year for
Khalil Herbert, one this year for Joe Flacco. I would
argue that the desperation on defense is just as bad
that you would need to make a trade to get
somebody that can help you this year. Because I think
you like the idea of Shamar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson together,
I'm I'll sign up for that. I think you like

(14:56):
the idea of the ascendants of DJ Turner and Dax Hill.
But everything else you gotta figure out. And I hope
the Bengals are considering making a move for somebody like that.
Right now, we'll take a break. We'll come back your
phone calls. We got football in the Natty. We got
a big, big, big day here on a Friday. That's
a victory Friday football frenzy right here on ESPN fifteen thirty.

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We've talked about this a lot. He's got what you want.
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Speaker 2 (15:56):
Welcome back. It's a Friday football frenzy, Football Nattie time
here on ESPN fifteen thirty. And you know what, let's
not beat around the bush. Let's talk to you. Five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty. That's the phone number. Your response,
your reaction, how you feeling on a victory Friday here

(16:18):
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Let's go out to Boston. Talk
to our guy John, John, Happy victory Friday. What's up?

Speaker 6 (16:25):
Happy victory Friday, Austin. Great job on the postgame show
last night.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
By the way, thank you.

Speaker 6 (16:30):
I was going to call in, but that should be
reserved for people that live in the region and hopefully
attended the game, right because you don't want to hear
some crazy guy from Boston chiming, even though I you know,
I had a great time watching that game last night.
That was awesome.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
I got a call last night from a guy in
la I got a call from a guy in Atlanta.
I heard from somebody in England, so you know what,
we're international around here. John, don't be afraid.

Speaker 7 (16:55):
Okay, sounds good. Keep on winning.

Speaker 6 (16:57):
I'll start calling again, absolutely, But since I'm from Boston,
we have to have a couple of mentions of negative
things and then we'll get to the positive. I know
it's positive Friday and everything else, but I come from
the city where the team's won thirteen championships, and on
talk radio we still bash them. So a couple of
things that I thought could have been a little bit better.
First of all, I think they got away from the

(17:18):
run a little bit too much in the second half,
partly because I think Pittsburgh went to an eight man box,
which is idiotic. And then you left Jamart Chase one
on one with Jalen Ramsey, who is five years past
this prime in about twenty pounds over his playing weight.
That was a mismatch that was like elderly.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
Him all night long. Didn't matter who it was.

Speaker 6 (17:38):
It's no, it didn't matter. I mean, and I'll make
a case and I put it on Twitter. Jamat Chase
maybe the best player in football when you really think
about it. I know, hyperbolic, but that guy does everything
on a football field. He's not a diva receiver. He
earns his yards in the middle of the field. He's
like the best slot receiver in the sports. And you
can right out of the X, out of the Y,

(17:58):
out of the Z, whatever.

Speaker 8 (17:59):
He's He's that good.

Speaker 6 (18:01):
The other thing that was a little bit bothersim Boob
Science and did mention it this morning on his show.
They left too much time on the clock. When Flacco
took the final kneed, it was about eighteen seconds left
on the play clock. Should have bled a little bit
more so that the kilgo was a walk off instead
of given of all people, Aaron Rodgers one last throw
to the end zone, and that dude can still sling it.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
I mean he had the last night. That hail Mary
was sixty nine point eight yard. Yes, the longest recorded
throw since twenty seventeen. No, he's I mean, I you know.

Speaker 6 (18:33):
I was planning on being out there for the game
last night because Rogers and Borrow my two favorite quarterbacks.
I thought it would have been awesome, maybe they'll beat
the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Who goes?

Speaker 6 (18:42):
But it was it was, Yeah, you just don't want
to give back guy any time left that he finds
a way to curl at seventy yards and right into
one of his receiver's hands. But the positive stuff was
just great. Getting the quarterback under center, being able to
run because if you can't sustain blocks, you have to
run from under center because you can't run from the shotgun.
Then you had some stretch plays where you know Flacco

(19:03):
would have play action and then he would boot out.
There was one play that Jamar Shase was wide open on,
so the kind of opened up all the offense, which
I thought was really really good. And here's the thing too, Austin.
You look at last year they went three and four
when they scored thirty three or more points, which is abysimal. Right,
three and four were scoring thirty three or more points.
This year they're two to zero in those situations. And

(19:24):
while the defense isn't the eighty.

Speaker 7 (19:26):
Five beers, I get it.

Speaker 8 (19:27):
They're creating turnovers.

Speaker 6 (19:28):
They had three turnovers against Jacksonville they were able to
win that game. They had two last night, able to
win that game. So if you have a defense that's
not very good. But if at least did you get
one stop but you need to, which they did in
the fourth quarter, and also come up with a turnover too,
you could win. And that's what they were able to
do last night. So I think that those are all
positives to take away from it. And you have the

(19:48):
Jets and Bears coming in, and if they just tread
water till number nine comes back, no one's going to
want to play this team in the playoffs. I no,
on't get ating ahead of ourselves, but why not?

Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, and John, thank you for the phone call man.
You make a lot of good points. And yeah, again,
the creativity of the run game the way that Zach
stayed aggressive. I know that you know that series where
they somehow get the punt from Mike Tomlin and they
have a chance really to go put the game away
on offense instead of running it three times and just

(20:20):
trying to get out of there. I appreciated that Zach
stayed aggressive. Went a deep ball down the sideline to
Jamar Chase and he got a hand on it. We've
seen Jamar make those catches before. We've seen him snag
a ball with one hand, and it wouldn't have been
a surprise to anybody if he would have caught that.
But that was a tough play to make. Then you
see Flacco keep it and run around the edge for

(20:42):
tit or twelve yards. The dude just to run plays
incomplete pass didn't drain as much clock as they would
have wanted to. But I was appreciative that Zach stayed aggressive,
He stayed with the hot hand. He didn't just try
to run the clock down and see what happens in
punt it back. He went right back to the well
and what you know, dance with who he came with,
right and then then after that same situation, get the

(21:08):
ball back and he stays aggressive again, takes the deep shot,
goes down the field to t Higgins, team makes the
slide and next thing you know, you're setting up for
a game winning field goal. Like I just that was
awesome to me to see that level of aggression consistently
from Zach Taylor in the play calling. How about Jamar Chase?
Last night, Jamar joined Randy Moss and Jerry Rice as

(21:32):
the only players in NFL history in their first five
seasons with six thousand plus receiving yards and fifty plus
receiving touchdowns. He is an absolute menace in every shape,
in every way, shape and form. Let's go to Independence.

(21:53):
Let's talk to Mike. What's up, Mike?

Speaker 9 (21:56):
Hey, what's going on outie?

Speaker 8 (21:57):
Hey?

Speaker 10 (21:57):
Man, my voice is is kind of gone, but we'll
get through this. H I tried to give you a
call last night. I know, the great show after the game.
I got home at like three point thirty from the game,
after getting all the secret ball broken down and shipp
back home and Datium was lit up and great to
hear the crowd into it again.

Speaker 7 (22:18):
And the White House's always big.

Speaker 6 (22:20):
But that was awesome.

Speaker 10 (22:21):
And then I agree, the aggressive this throughout the game.
The offensive line in the second levels of some situation
running the ball, so had some passing, you know, Turnstiles,
but you know, as far as running the ball, they had.

Speaker 8 (22:36):
A great job I thought blocking for that.

Speaker 10 (22:40):
Just a just a great experience all around yesterday and
missed it needed that for sure.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, man, And it seems like the atmosphere was as
good as it's ever been at paid Court Stadium. And
you know, it was noticeable how few Steelers fans were there.
So normally that's a complete takeover when in town, but
it didn't really seem like that. Like you could hear
him a little bit on the big play to Pat Fryermouth,

(23:06):
but like, other than that, it didn't seem like the
Steelers were the the cockroaches inside paid Course Stadium like
we've seen him in the past.

Speaker 10 (23:13):
Yeah, it was pretty scattered through the tailgate lots too,
and throughout the stands not very many at all. And
then I don't know if you may touched on this.

Speaker 9 (23:20):
Or not, but for the pregame.

Speaker 8 (23:24):
Lineup coming out.

Speaker 10 (23:25):
Offensive starters, they had Jamar Chase come out last.

Speaker 7 (23:29):
They had third to be announced Dan T.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
Higgins.

Speaker 10 (23:32):
I mean, Jamar Chase was the last win reduced so
that I was fantastic. I thought it was a good
good uh symbol there with things that come for that game.

Speaker 11 (23:40):
So that was awesome.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, that's cool, Mike, thank you for the phone call. Man,
I appreciate it. Yeah, that is Mike and independence and yeah, Man,
Like I wrote down on the notes for today's show,
the Jamar Chase Conversation, I think it's fair to say
he's the best player in football. I don't know that
you would get like there's some arguments to be made there.

(24:02):
I think he's, without a doubt, the best wide receiver
in football. Is Jamar Chase already already the best wide
receiver in the history of the Bengals franchise. Is he
already to that point? It kind of feels like he
is right, Like, that's not crazy to say. And for
him to over the last couple of weeks, and we've

(24:24):
seen see him do it in the past, just take
over a game. We need help offensively, we need somebody
to turn to. Jamar Chases here And it didn't matter
if it was the same out route he ran four
times previously he was open, or if it was a
quick slant or a bubble screen, or how about that
call late to get them into Pittsburgh territory, the mesh

(24:47):
concept where he kind of comes on that shallow cross
and when Flacco gives him the ball, there's not even
a Steeler player in the frame. He's so wide open.
That was a great play call and play design as well,
finding ways to get the ball to Jamar Chase. And
what's impressive about him as well, like, yeah, you know,
these other great receivers in Bengals history have had some
pretty good quarterbacks to go along with them. But Jamar

(25:11):
Chase has done this with Joe Burrow, He's done it
with Jake Browning, He's done it with Joe Flacco. I mean,
he's found ways to do it over and over again,
has Jamar Chase, And he deserves a ton of credit
for that. He might just be might just be already
the best receiver in Bengals history. You'll hear from Jamar
coming up in just a little bit half an hour

(25:32):
from right now, Charlie Goldsmith from Fox nineteen and Charlie's
chalkboard is going to stop by when we come back, though.
More phone calls five, one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen
thirty victory Friday Football Frenzy on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (25:45):
You've been listening to Football in the Natti on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 7 (25:57):
Hey, Alexa, what's going on in baseball?

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Speaker 2 (26:07):
Welcome back Friday Football Frenzy here on SINCY three sixty,
ESPN fifteen thirty. Getting your reaction to the Bengals beating
the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. Let's go back to the phones.
Let's go to Jay in Cincinnati. What's up, Jay?

Speaker 11 (26:24):
Hey, what's up? To hear about giving Paul from that place?
I hate to hear that he was pretty good, but
you know, fire moved tied in for the Steelers. Why
didn't he go down on that play? I mean because
the Steelers hadn't really been stopping the Bengals.

Speaker 9 (26:42):
The whole game?

Speaker 2 (26:43):
True, Yeah, that's a good point. You know, he could
have probably applied the same thing that the uh the
T Higgins did.

Speaker 9 (26:50):
Yeah, and I was like, why are you trying to score?
You haven't about the Bengals since probably the first quarter
of the series. And then and then you out of
did a Deshaun uh uh, what's his name? The guy
who's played with the Eagles. I ran from end zone
to end zone until.

Speaker 7 (27:09):
Somebody Jackson, Yeah, Jackson.

Speaker 12 (27:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (27:15):
One of my concerns about the beingles is their lack
of return game on kickoffs, you know, And I like Burton,
Why won't they put him back there activating? Well, what's
going on with him? If are we gonna have to
see him again?

Speaker 2 (27:31):
That's a good question, man. The Jermaine Burton sagas is
one of the more curious ones because it felt like
he was doing well and then maybe he wasn't. And
I just don't know if they feel like they trust him.
And you know, it was strange last night Charlie Jones
had been dealing with rib with rib injury, was questionable
and is activated, but isn't returning kickoffs, only is catching punts. Basically,

(27:54):
it wasn't really returning punts either, So felt like they
were kind of one arm behind their back on that
one is well, and Pete Ryan has been okay. I
think it's good to get Taj Brooks a look, But
you're right, that doesn't really feel like a threatening position
right now.

Speaker 9 (28:08):
Yeah, right now, it's not and also what happened to
the Steelers pass was did the Bengos offensive line finally
play like we expected him to after all that money?
And what about the right was it guard or tackle River?

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah? Yeah, he had he had one one play early
on where they they uh, he missed the stunt and
Flaco ended up getting sacked. But like through the first
three three and a half quarters, t J. Watt didn't
register a single statistic, didn't pad a pass down, didn't
make a tackle, didn't have that sacked till late in
the game. So they got the ball out quickly and

(28:47):
for the most part, Flacco had a really good pocket
and the fact that they were even able to get
those deep passes down the field as well, the protection
held up long enough, which that's what was my biggest
concern going into the game. Honestly.

Speaker 9 (28:59):
Yeah, the past protection. I mean, they overachieved. Thanks, so
I had to give it to him. Thanks for taking
my call.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Thanks for calling man, I appreciate it. Yeah, anytime you overachieve,
you'll take that. Let's go to Mason. Let's talk to Scott.
What's up, Scott, Hey, Austin, how you doing. I'm wonderful.
What's talk mind.

Speaker 13 (29:17):
Hey, we watched the game from the backyard last night
with the bonfire and TV and all.

Speaker 9 (29:24):
That was great.

Speaker 13 (29:26):
My observation hasn't been covered yet. Was I just felt
and kind of had a little bit. But you know,
with Flako in there, I never was worried that he
was going to get hurt. You know, It's funny over
the last couple of years with Burrow, whoever's out there,
just and I'm sure a lot of it has to
do with the O line, but it also has to
do with his just his calmness, his his six foot

(29:49):
six stature and the way he just sees down the field.
And I was just really impressed with his check offs
and the you know, frandit. He had Chase a lot,
but I just study did a masterful job.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, he was so calm.
He said kind of after the game that like he
didn't really know half the plays he was saying, and
was screwing up some of the formations and wasn't entirely
sure what he was looking at when he got to
the line of scrimmage, which makes it even more impressive
that he was able to operate the offense like that.
But He's just seen and been a part of so
much football, and specifically seeing like a Mike Tomlin style

(30:25):
of defense or a Tarot Austin style of defense so
much that you kind of know some of the answers
to the test. And it's a lot easier when you
got a cheat sheet like Jamar Chase and t Higgins.

Speaker 13 (30:35):
Yep, I'll give him that for sure. But I just
thought it was it was great to kind of watch
a game and only worry a little bit about winning
and losing and not losing your quarterback.

Speaker 8 (30:44):
So I just never once felt like he was going
to get hurt.

Speaker 14 (30:47):
So I thought that was just that was great.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Yeah, that's interesting, Scott, And thank you for the phone,
cause yeah, I mean I feel that way about everybody,
Like every time Jamar touches the ball, I'm terrified, Like
I just don't want him to get hurt, just because
you've been bitten by that bug so many times in
the past. But you're right, like the calm demeanor of
Joe Flacco is much is certainly what this team needed,

(31:12):
because there were times where it felt like it could
unravel or felt like, oh here comes Pittsburgh again. They
gave up ten points right away, how are we going
to get back to this, like, how is this going
to get fixed? And they just they were able to
like really look at it and settle it down with
the play calls. Once that run game got established, I'm

(31:35):
telling you, man, once you get a run game, it
opens up everything else on the offense. I've been saying
this for months. I've been preaching it over and over
and over again. Once you get a run game, it
opens up everything else on offense.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
It does.

Speaker 15 (31:51):
And so.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
When you have even the slightest threat of a run game,
and the Bengals had some successful runs early on, you
have to force the defense to respect that. And so
when the Steeler started respecting that, the Bengals would throw
those quick passes out to the outside, they would do
a quick slant, they would do a quick out, and
then you start bringing those guys back outside the box
a little bit. Then you'll run it again. Then you

(32:15):
start running ourpos and if it's there, you run it
for a positive game, and if it's not, you flip
it back outside. Like putting the defenders, specifically the linebackers
in a dilemma and then taking advantage of whatever they
do wrong and on top of that, it negates the
pass rush. It wears out those guys on the edge,
they never even get close to the quarterback or they're

(32:35):
just chasing the running back from behind the entire game.
And then obviously Flacco, you know, pulling it and running
late in the game was a huge play. It ultimately
didn't have an impact because of the drive stalling out,
but that in and of itself is part of how
the operation overall of the offense was really clean and
really smooth last night. And the other part, you know,

(32:58):
it's funny. We can talk about this maybe when we
get back, is what Kirk Kerbstreet was talking about. That
the feeling inside the stadium, or the feeling for a
lot of Bengals fans, was that you're waiting for something
to go wrong. And I think we all know that feeling.
I think we've all been there. I think we all
understand that pretty well. And that's how I was feeling

(33:20):
as well. But like in the midst of that moment,
I was thinking, gosh, this is what makes being a
sports fan so much fun. Is when you're on the
edge of your seat and you've got a pit in
your stomach and you don't know how this is going
to end, and if it ends your way, it's going
to be elation, and if it doesn't, it's going to
be a gut punch. And that's the beauty of being

(33:42):
a sports fan and being on the edge of your
seat like that is so awesome, so fun for a fan,
and so it's been cool. Last night was cool to
experience that, and more than anything, hope Like when you
have hope, when you have belief, when you can see
the path, it makes it a lot easier to be

(34:04):
a fan as well. Now, the other thing here is
the Bengals have to really consider getting somebody to help
their defense. I don't know if that person's out there.
I don't know if it makes sense from a draft
pick standpoint, I don't know. But they can't keep running
this group out there and expecting something to work, or

(34:26):
Al Golden has got to come up with better ways
to rush the passer. If Trey's not able to go,
you can't be relying on Miles Murphy. You can't be
relying on bj Hill, who basically did nothing last night
to my recollection, Chris Jenkins, When the last time you
said his name, McKinley Jackson was inactive again. Jordan Jefferson
was active over him, like the defensive line, just no

(34:48):
pressure whatsoever. Shamar Stewart. I mean, that's a tall task.
That's a tough ask for him to come in and
immediately have that type of an impact. But you know,
they have to find better ways to pressure the quarterback.
The good news is on the backside, Dax Hill playing
pretty well playing SODO. He's certainly far from perfect, but

(35:11):
he's playing well. And then DJ Turner had two passes
defense last night, including that interception that was just a
crazy play, falling out of bounds, wrestling the ball away
from DK Metcalf, getting a foot and a knee in
and holding the ball, holding on to the balls you
go to the ground. I mean, god Lee, what a
play by DJ Turner. Going into last night, he was

(35:33):
the league leader in passes defense and he's still obviously
the league leader in passes defense. It means teams are
thrown at him and he's responding and for him to
be able to make the plays he made last night
up against a guy like DK Metcalf, who size, speed,
stature is one heck of a beast to have to
go up against I mean kudos to DJ Turner for

(35:56):
fighting like hell over the course of that game. So
you feel good about Henderson, you feel good about Stuart,
you feel good about DJ Turner. I think you feel
fine about Dax Hill. Everybody else. There's just a lot
of inconsistency. And we saw a lot more Logan Wilson
last night due to those heavy sets that Pittsburgh was
going with on offense. And by the way, I thought

(36:18):
Pittsburgh had a really good plan too, And I think
you'll see a lot of teams mimic this against the Bengals,
especially next week with the Jets if Garrett Wilson's able
to go. I think Garret Wilson's gonna miss this week
for the Jets. If he's able to go, the Jets
are gonna do everything in their power to get the
ball out in space to their playmakers on the perimeter.
That was Pittsburgh's entire game plan last night. It was

(36:40):
run the ball off the right edge. It was quick
passes and forced the Bengals to be able to tackle,
and the Bengals couldn't tackle and they missed a bunch
of tackles, and that's how Pittsburgh kept drives alive. But
I legitimately believe if the Steelers wanted to, they could
have run that toss off the right side every single
play and won that game last night. At one point

(37:01):
they ran it three times in a row, and we're dashing.
The Bengals run defense has got to get figured out.
We'll take a break, We'll come back. This is Friday
football frenzy on a victory Friday right here on ESPN
fifteen to.

Speaker 4 (37:14):
Thirty, Cincinnati, Maybard.

Speaker 16 (37:17):
Since he three sixty carries on on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 17 (37:29):
Red defensive backs begin retreating about thirty yards down the field.
Three seconds left the Steelers sixty yards from the end zone.
Rogers catches the shotgun stamp. Now he'll run around, allow
his receivers to get downfield, and he launches it into
the end zone and it is broken up incomplete.

Speaker 18 (37:49):
Don't knock the way by djivy have The Bengals have
knocked out the Steelers on Thursday night by the final
score of thirty three to thirty one. The AF seed
North gets tighter and the Bengals outlook gets brighter with
a tremendous closing finish and a game winning field goal

(38:14):
with seven seconds to go.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
How about that Money Max?

Speaker 19 (38:17):
So many heroes in this football game, offensive, defensive, and
special teams when you include money Mack.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
All I could say is Bengals.

Speaker 19 (38:26):
Beat the Pittsburgh Steelers two division wins, two to zero
in the division.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
That could be a factor as the season progresses.

Speaker 19 (38:34):
An unfold Bam, Bam bam, Bengals win thirty three thirty one.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Dan Horn Dave Lapham on the call last night, after
that Hail Mary from Aaron Rodgers was batted away by
dj Ivy sixty nine yards in the air. Was that
throw from Aaron Rodgers? Everybody was nervous. You know you
were nervous because Rogers is so freaking good at that stuff.

(39:02):
That is our call of the day, brought to you
by our good friends at wind Shoolers. Gets your wind
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watch party. Maybe you're gona watch a little Bearcat football
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no better cheese spread to get than wind Shoolers for
your tailgate and or watch party. There was another thought

(39:26):
I had over the course of the Night last night,
and it was what on earth are the people in
Cleveland thinking watching this game? From Joe Flacco, especially considering
you know, Dylan Gabriel, Schador, Sanders, the circus that is
the Cleveland Browns right now? What are these people thinking

(39:46):
in Cleveland? And I saw this clip from the Tony
Rizzo Show from ESPN Cleveland. It's us in Cleveland, and
I had to play this because this is just brilliant.
And I'm not trying to give free pub to anybody else,
but this is the Tony Rizzo Show on ESPN Radio

(40:08):
in Cleveland after last night's game and the Bengals beating
the Steelers. Take a listen.

Speaker 3 (40:14):
How could you do that?

Speaker 14 (40:16):
Andrew?

Speaker 2 (40:16):
How could you do it?

Speaker 20 (40:18):
Why on earth did you feel the need to trade
this guy to a division opponent for a fifth round
draft bick fireable offense?

Speaker 3 (40:29):
That is a fireable offense. I want to know how
much longer the.

Speaker 20 (40:33):
Owner's gonna watch this crap because the fans.

Speaker 13 (40:37):
Have had it.

Speaker 20 (40:37):
We deserve better. You just worried more about your stadium
than you are your football team. That's the perception, Jimmy,
and you allow these people to do this. You have
the worst offense in the league. Your GM screwed this
quarterback thing up like I've never seen in my life.
I've never seen anything like kids to play. Madden could

(40:58):
have done a better job, truly, that's not hyperbole. It's
a joke. It's a joke. This franchise has become a joke,
and I'm sick of it.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
I love that. I love a good old fashioned crash
out on the radio. We've all been there, we've all
experienced it. And I would imagine inside the walls of
the Cleveland Browns facility this morning, there's probably some murmurs
from the former players, or from the players, the former
teammates of Joe Flacco. There's probably some murmurs up and

(41:31):
Andrew Berry the GM's office. That's who he said at
the beginning, Andrew, how could you let this happen? And
then of course the big office upstairs with Jimmy Haslam,
the owner of the Cleveland Browns, and you know, to
be able to just to see Mike Tomlin again struggling

(41:53):
on Thursday nights. He has not won on a Thursday
night in quite some time, certainly hasn't won in the
division on a Thursday night that win last night from
the Bengals, by the way, was the tenth straight Division
Primetime Thursday win. I think I said that correctly. For

(42:13):
the AFC North, that's going back to twenty fifteen. Mike
Tomlin in his career on the road Thursday night football
is two to ten overall and zero to seven against
the AFC North. That is hard to believe. And yet
the Bengals got the best of Mike Tomlin and the

(42:36):
Pittsburgh Steelers. When we come back, we'll talk to Charlie Goldsmith,
who is down at pay Corp Stadium right now. Zach
Taylor just met with the media, and we'll get the
latest from Zach in that conversation. And I'm always curious
to see how Charlie saw things because he sees things
through such a different light I feel like and the
rest of us, and I'm curious what stood out to

(42:58):
him from last night's game. Again, it's the Pittsburgh Steelers.
We'll talk to Charlie Goldsmith when we come back. Phone
lines are going to be open five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty after the talkbacks, which are going to be
after Charlie Goldsmith. So here's the schedule, Charlie Talkbacks Football
in the NATI phone calls, Tommy g phone calls, and

(43:18):
then we'll do quick hits. And we got some audio
from postgame, including Joe Flacco what he had to say
and trying to have some good vibes on a Friday.
I don't know about you, but trying to have some
good vibes on a Friday. Thank you so much for listening.
We will go into hour two when we come back
on this victory Friday Football Frenzy on ESPN fifteen thirty,

(43:38):
U s K.

Speaker 16 (43:38):
Wise Cincinnati, Make us the number one pre set on
your car radio and on the free new and improved
iHeartRadio app. Free Never sounded so good, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Joe brought to you by Fellow Windows and Door, Making
life brighter. Hella now Hey Later, Skyline Hillie feeling good.
It's Skyline time. Encore Technologies. Visit OnCore dot Tech, Hudson
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Men's Health, Start your best life today and.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
By the Creation Museum.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
It's more than a museum. Visit Creation Museum dot Org
today on ESPN fifteen thirty, The official home of US
Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Hi, hello and welcome in our number two of a
victory Friday football frenzy here on ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm
Austin Elmore, with you until three o'clock today. We'll turn
things over to the Bengals pep rally after that, And
as we do at this time every single Friday, we
talked to our guy, Charlie Goldsmith from Charlie's Chalkboard. Also

(44:41):
Fox nineteen is a little bit of Everywhere is the
Growler podcast Network. His name is Charlie G. And he
joins us, Now, what's up, Charlie?

Speaker 14 (44:48):
How are you? I'm good?

Speaker 8 (44:50):
How are you? I am?

Speaker 2 (44:51):
I'm doing all right? Who in the hell saw that
coming from Joe Flacco and the Bengals last night? What happened?

Speaker 14 (45:00):
It's funny, like the visuals that keep going back to
are like the moment where Chase Brown just let loose
and celebrated after his big run, or Orlando Brown did
that himself after one of Chase Brown's runs where Brown
had a big block. Josevash did that after his ball
down the scene like these were a bunch of guys

(45:20):
who just felt beaten down and felt like the season
was lost and flat was not an MVP level quarterback
or anywhere near that. But he's just good enough to
let these guys believe they can be good again and
succeed individually and collectively. And then they saw it. They
had those moments and the end result was a game,

(45:43):
a program win. That was their biggest win I think
since they beat the forty nine Ers in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
Yeah, that's a good point. And I keep going back
to the performance of Zach Taylor. A lot has been
made about his play calling, but I thought last night
he had good feel, he had good balance, and he
did a great job attacking the various weaknesses that the
Steelers had. What did you make of Zach's performance as
the head coach and play caller last night.

Speaker 14 (46:11):
Let's get into the weeds here. The Bengals ran three undercenter,
no play action, straight drop back passing, including one that
was a for a touchdown of the t Higgins. One
actually almost was a deep ball down the field of
Jamorrow that could have put the game away, but the
Tea one was obviously massive. The straight drop back under center,

(46:35):
the Bengals don't do that. That is a the Bengals
do not do that. That's like, you know, I don't know.
In Cincinnati we put chile on spaghetti. We don't put
chile on salad. Like, we don't do that. That's not
how this thing worked, but they did. Zack credited Dan
Pitcher for recognizing something, and the Steelers tied it to

(46:56):
the idea. They put a package of those plays in
the plan. That also helped open up the run game
because it was kind of a tendency breaker. The thing
I keep going back to, too, is the way the
run game in the past game complimented each other. There
aren't a lot of runs that are plays that were
called runs that Flacco kind of read out of whether

(47:18):
they'd be an RBO or a check or something like
that turned into an important pass. Like the run game
in the past game were matched up, maybe as well
as they've ever been in any game in Zach Taylor's career.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
Yeah, I would agree with you, and it felt like
he had really good feel of that the entire night.
When you talk about the run game, is there anything
specifically that you saw that triggered that or was it
just as simple as you're breaking some tendencies and you're
doing some things differently than you normally.

Speaker 14 (47:46):
Would you know what on Chase Brown's explosive runs. I
just think it's something that we haven't talked about because
the team has let him down. And that's the Chase
Brown's just really good at this. Like there was like
there was a screenshot you could make that it's almost
like like Jamar Chase against the Panthers where on one
of Chase Brown last year, it's kind of chased like

(48:07):
Grokes seventy five tackles and scored in Carolina. There was
a play last night where the Steelers have Chase Brown
wrapped up and he spins, he jukes, he cuts, he goes,
and he gets like twenty more yards. Like this guy's
just really good and he had been getting no help
for five weeks, but when you give him help, he
is a standout borderline star caliber running back who Brownham

(48:33):
couldn't even get the ball to in the right spots.
Flacco is helping set up to be better, the scheme
is helping set up to be better. There were some
nice blocks. I noticed Orlando Brown Junior a lot as well,
by far his best game of the season, and they
got the run game going and.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Start with that offensive line as well, because I think
some people were surprised that Dalton Reisner started at left
guard instead of Dylan Fairchild and they stuck with Jalen
Rivers instead of Lucas Patti, who was activated before the game.
What did you make of the way that the offensive
line is currently constructed and overall their performance both run

(49:08):
and pass.

Speaker 14 (49:10):
No one's directly told me this, but my reading they
didn't have any real practices leading into a short week,
and Patrick and Fairchild both hadn't played in a bit
because they've been hurt, So they just wanted to get
the guys who at least at some level of continuity
where they go from here. I think it's just going
to be week to week. It's going to be a
game we play every week who's starting a guard because

(49:31):
those four guys are in a very similar bucket. But hey, now,
the Bengals, following this win, you're not just by the
fault playing the young guy anymore, like you're not a
rebuilding developmental team, which was at risk of being the
conversation of what they should be doing if they had
lost this game against the Steelers. So I'm sure, honestly
We'll see all four of these guys back in there

(49:53):
at some point over the course of the season. You'd
like fair Child to give you the highest steeling and
hit on that, but Ras has been Okay, le's see
what happens.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Talking to Charlie Goldsmith, Charlie's chalkboard. Let's go to the
defensive side of the ball. The emergence of DJ Turner
continues to be really fun to watch. Is there anything
specific that he's doing differently that has led to this?

Speaker 14 (50:16):
Yeah, I'll start here. I've DJ Turner is the Bengals
player I've been the most wrong about. And yesterday it
was the day he won me over. It had been
repetitive earlier in his career where on slants and curls,
just his physicality at the top of routes, at the
catch points just wasn't there. And he was great as

(50:38):
a rookie when teams weren't throwing at him. But he
was a shadow corner when you challenged lost And now
when you challenge him, even if you're fifty pounds heavier
than him, like DK netcap is, he'll just rip the
ball out of your hands and show the instinct playmaking
and just corner makeup that you need to win at

(50:58):
that position. I could not be more impressed with the
added level of oop in his game for a guy
who also like, it's not like he put on twenty pounds,
it's just he developed that through technique and resilience too handling.
You know, he wasn't a starter this year, he wasn't
a starter last year. That Taylor just raved by the
way he navigated all that and said, all right, I'm

(51:20):
just gonna get that spot back. And he did, and
again I was dead wrong. He won me over. DJ
Turner's a really good corner.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
The other cornerback that didn't play last night, Cam Taylor
Britt was a healthy scratch. Were you surprised by that?
And what could that mean for his future with the Bengals.

Speaker 14 (51:41):
Well, Cam played himself into this position thirdin eight against
the Packers. They call it double team against Matthew Golden,
and frankly, Cam Taylor Brick just kind of wanders off
and roams around, and then Matthew Golden down towards the
right sideline, makes that catch, make the field goal. A
couple of plays later, game over like that felt like

(52:02):
not the last straw, kind of moment. But in that ballpark,
in that tier, in that realm, and I mean I
was fully expecting them to bention for Josh Newton. I
wasn't expecting the inactive. But when I thought about it
for a second, and I recognized that Cam had no
special teams experience, and I recognized that on third down
some packages. You know what, my guy, Marco Wilson is

(52:23):
a more reliable man corner than Cam Taylbert right now,
I do like Marco Wilson is like a fun back
of the roster guy. He's more reliable in that spot.
So why we can't be active over him? I think
Cam is gonna have earn this back. We all know
his ceiling, but he's going to have to make some
massive changes to re establish some trust that's been lost

(52:43):
and just earn the job back to practice habits, to
attention to detail through discipline. But this spot, you know,
worse or deservingly wasn't his on on Thursday.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
How did the guys who replaced him, Josh Newton, Marco Wilson,
as you mentioned, how did they play in his place?

Speaker 21 (53:03):
Well?

Speaker 14 (53:03):
The problem is, and I haven't done the full defense
film yet, but watching it live The problem is that
the Steelers have one receiver and they're not going to
throw the ball to Scottie Miller and Roman Wilson. That's
why Logan Wilson played so much yesterday, because they just
load offensive linemen and tight ends onto the field because
they have no faith in their wide receivers. And at

(53:23):
least Garrett Wilson's hurt, so we won't see that next
week either. So now it'll leave really until the Beer Game,
until we'll have a real feel of how these quarterback
cornerbacks stand. I think Newton, I love what he's about,
but just has to get more confident and comfortable in
man coverage and just his fluidity there. I think Wilson

(53:44):
can guard guys and run in man coverage on third down,
but obviously isn't a good enough tackler or guy in zone.
So it's not a strength. It's not where you want
to be. But they've got They've got I don't even
want to call them pieces, but they've got enough pieces
to with stand benching Cam. One more thing about Cam.
I want to say this too. Cam was inactive often.

(54:06):
Do you know who Jordan Jefferson is.

Speaker 8 (54:08):
I do.

Speaker 14 (54:10):
He's on the Bengals he was inactive or excuse me,
he was active? Yeah, Jordan Jefferson's. He was their fifth
string nosed tackle who is active, who played zero snaps
as a tense defensive lineman did not need to be active.
They made a point to make Cam inactive. They could
have used that depth and more corner than defensive tack

(54:30):
You don't carry.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
Five defensive tackles, right.

Speaker 14 (54:32):
The fact that they carried Jordan's showed me how much
in the doghouse Cam was.

Speaker 2 (54:38):
Do you feel like that's directly sending a message to
Cam Taylor Britt, like to to try to wake him up,
or or like, how do you interpret that move and
the communication the Bengals are trying to give to Cam
Taylor Britt.

Speaker 14 (54:51):
From a communication standpoint publicly, I mean Cam was very
short with his answers, and so is Dak Taylor. It's
extremely short from both of them, so it's not like
there's been some public message being sent. But how I
read that is, yes, they were trying to send Cam
a message that the inconsistency is something we're not going
to accept a loss of trust and Cam just even

(55:15):
to the pure man corner and his ability to run
the place see third and eight, and I mean still
just a massive loss. Like I know, he's been playing poorly,
but this was supposed to be one of your best players.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Now, the other part of the defense was the tackling.
And I'm not trying to pour cold water over a
big Bengals win here, but the tackling has to get better.
Why are they so bad at that?

Speaker 14 (55:38):
It's funny they were good for a month because they
were fine for the first month. Zach Taylor was just
his answer to that question just now is youth And yes,
you know to their worst tacklers are Bark Carter and
Demetrius Knight in terms of what we've seen, and Jordan
Battle's been volleatable. I guess this is just a part
of the plan of rebuilding the defense, which makes you

(55:59):
wonder why they were so passive and conservative with that
plan in the first place, when they had and planned
to have Joe Burrow and those high expectations for what
this season could be entering the season. I think that's
probably right. I think it is use I don't like
that you want your defense to be farther along for
a team that should be thinking more hilly of itself,

(56:20):
there's just a lot of good old fashioned coaching and
player developments that has to happen now, like they you know,
situations and techniques and recognizing keys, and there's just a
lot of coaching that needs to happen right now because
they're not there yet and it's going to be vulnerable.
And aside from DJ Turner in some moments from Dat Hill,

(56:42):
the playmakers haven't emerged and they need Trey Henderson back,
and there's way more questions than answer is still with
this defense.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
To get back to maybe some of the more positive
things from what happened last night, what was your favorite
play of the game, Because there's a few I feel
like you could go to and sliding down Andre Joseavash,
the long run by Chase Brown, DJ Turner's interception. When
you think of that game, what stands out as your
favorite play from last night.

Speaker 14 (57:11):
I'm a nerd, so it's the under center drop back
to Tea for a touchdown. But I'll give you a
better answer that I was talking about earlier, because they
never do it, I'm gonna go with I'm calling it
the bibble head. I don't know why, but Chase bobbles
it he turns and Patty's in it was one of
the coolest things I've ever seen on a football field.

(57:31):
I'll throw DJ Turner's picking there as well. Just moments
where guys are just so instinctually athletic and talented and
good that coaching almost doesn't even matter. Like those are
my favorite moments in any sport, and Chase his bobble
spin and DJ's pick were perfect examples of that.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Yeah, I'm right there with you, just an I believe.
Paul Dayner described it as an absurd skill set that
Jamar Chase has to be able to do that sort
of stuff. The T Higgins slide, obviously, as an unselfish play,
puts the team first. What does that say to you
about t Higgins and maybe about the mindset of the

(58:12):
team as a whole, for in that moment to think
like that and make that play.

Speaker 7 (58:18):
Well.

Speaker 14 (58:18):
We talked about this in August, like more than the
slow start narrative. The real thing was that the Bengals
were terrible at closing games in twenty twenty four, and
they spent a lot of time on that in the
off studies, research and analysis steep dives, and you saw
the flip side of the coin of the Baltimore home

(58:39):
game known as the run, run, run, long kick, Rico
drops snap, Bengals lose moment where they took a shot
on second down. Now they also took a shot very
similar to the Denver game in Week seventeen. But then
when they got down near the goal line, they did
a run and and Chase Brown got hurt, so the

(59:01):
time out got called and that changed the play clock
situation and that left too much time for Denver and
the game goes overtime. This time, they didn't do that
first down run. They just went Neil, Neil, Neil, their
research and their analysis and their studies and all that
kind of stuff against the Giants. Last year, they didn't
tell Chase Brown to slide, he doesn't, and the Giants

(59:22):
get the ball back when they shouldn't have. Like there
were there were these moments where they failed situationally last year,
and those are three right there. You saw the Bengals
do the right thing yesterday, and that is that.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
Is a good job.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
Yeah, And again I think that goes towards Zach Taylor
and having them prepared, especially to not like when things unraveled.
You know, one penalty didn't turn into three or one
or two drops, didn't turn into five drops and all
that and overall, do you feel like that was a
game and you talked about the significance of the win,
Like going back to that game against San Francisco, do

(59:56):
you feel like it was one for Zach Taylor to
kind of take a deep breath and for maybe the
entire team to just relax a little bit.

Speaker 14 (01:00:06):
Well, it's funny, like that San Francisco game. They rode
off that high for like a year and a half. Yeah, man,
the amount of times that heard like remember the San
Francisco game and eventually that runs thin. And obviously now
we're way past the point where that had any relevance
for these Bengals. What were the examples of this team
proving it could be a good team in a meaningful
game and have that sort of life. Well, now the

(01:00:28):
Bengals feel like they're better than the best team in
their division, and they have an easier schedule, and I
can tell you there are a lot of guys in
there who feel pretty good about the Bengals chances. Now,
whether or not those are realistic and whether or not
the defense is good enough for that to matter. We've
got like eleven more weeks to sort all that out.
But a game like that can carry you for a while.

(01:00:50):
You know, when it's Sunday and you've lost too straight
and you're facing the I'm just making this up the Patriots. Hey,
you know, remember that way we played against the Steelers, Like,
let's get that like that kind of stuff matters because
the Bengals hadn't had one of those types of games
in like two years, and they had one on Sunday,
and that that gives you culture that you believe in.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Now, I know you're a big basketball fan, and I
can't get over this found out yesterday according to Chris Collinsworth,
apparently that Michael Jordan grew up a Bengals fan. Now,
I would expect you to do a deep dive on
this because of your NBA connections and obviously being a
big Michael Jordan fan like yourself. What's your reaction to here?

(01:01:35):
I can't stop thinking about it. Michael Jordan Bengals fan.

Speaker 14 (01:01:40):
The big takeaway from me is, and I know Michael
Jordan's quote unquote working for NBC. I don't believe that.
I'm sure he's getting a check in helping out with
some But what is this Michael Jordan Chris collins Worth
connection is my real question. Has Chris started to mentor
Michael as a broadcaster That would be interesting. Did they
have a couple of conversations, did they have a passing interaction.

(01:02:03):
I'd like to know the extent of this Chris collins
with Michael Jordan relationship.

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
That's a great that's you know, That's why we have
you around, Charlie. That curiosity is what makes you so great.
All right, Many bye week for the football team, Many
bye week for Charlie Goldsmith. What are you going to
get into? Man? You got your plans for the MANI bye?

Speaker 14 (01:02:21):
I don't know. I guess we'll see. We'll see what
I We'll see what I come up with.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
All right, Charlie, thanks for the time, man, have a
great weekend.

Speaker 14 (01:02:29):
See it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
That is Charlie Goldsmith, Charlie's chalkboard, Charlie g underscore Underscore
Fox Nineteens coverage as well. Good to talk to Charlie.
He did mention that Zach Taylor just spoke.

Speaker 8 (01:02:41):
He did.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
We'll have some of that for you in the final hour.
And of course Bengals pep rally coming up three to
six this afternoon as well. But when we come back,
it is the Friday Football Frenzy edition of Talkbacks right
here on the Home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 22 (01:03:01):
Let me hear you good loud, Oh World, Oh too, Ohfrey.
Let's listen to some talk backs left, listen to the Clouds.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Get me a budant s Prad Jukes.

Speaker 22 (01:03:24):
We hope those other two divert come back over the
room fo totally.

Speaker 14 (01:03:32):
All thefhing comes close to the show.

Speaker 22 (01:03:38):
We got hack right, Hello the stars over talk back show, Rads,
Weld Rats.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Well, well, the Reds didn't win, but I figured we
might as well bring Harry in because it's, you know,
good Friday vibes. It is a victory Friday, so you
know what, let's go with Harry. Let's use him for
the talkback intro. It's time for talkbacks right here on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Let's not waste any time. Let's get started.

Speaker 23 (01:04:08):
Bengals win always makes a weekend better, especially over Steelers flat.
If you were running Wild and New Day Nation, Jamia
Chase goes off, Chase Brown finally gets going Tee Higgins.
Such a smart move to get down there to defense. Well,
that's the defense. DJ Turner paid this man. Now, it's
what we're gonna cost you more later. Take care of
everybody and always remember, oh dude day.

Speaker 2 (01:04:32):
Indeed, I don't know if I'm ready to pay DJ
Turner yet, but I guess that's that's kind of the
way to do it right. Get it on the ship early.
Hey you Austin Marcus from the groove. What's up, Marcus,
Bengals win, Baby.

Speaker 7 (01:04:48):
Flacco.

Speaker 24 (01:04:49):
The way he's looked in the second half of last week,
the way he did today this season is far from
over come on. We've got this, get us the five
wins before Burrow comes back against Miami and we're in
the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
Baby who Day? Okay, all right, I'm with you, Marcus.

Speaker 23 (01:05:10):
Hey, Whoda Nation.

Speaker 25 (01:05:12):
I'm still happy about that win this morning, still celebrating it.
Maybe not catch strutting there like Ronnie ron but I'm
still strutting about it. Nonetheless, Zach Taylor, do not touch
his starting off at the line combination. It's worked pretty
well the last couple of weeks. You got the run
attack going this week against a good Steelers defense, Blacko's
been pretty clean. Risonor seems to be helping Orlando brown

(01:05:33):
out pretty good on that side.

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
It's good. That's a good point from Kevin right there.
I did think it was interesting the way Charlie answered
that question that basically it was that they didn't have
any practices together in short week and just kind of
stick with the same group that was there last week.
So maybe there's something to that. Maybe they catch lightning
in a bottle. We'll see, But yeah, I think that's

(01:05:56):
an interesting little side, you know, storyline that the way
that they've played the last couple of weeks.

Speaker 26 (01:06:01):
Uniform number sixteen, Joe Montana, fly Go, he looked like
plus he shows some Wheelborough isms, Trapball Burgaday.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
That's right. Good to hear from you, Jeff. Yeah, he
kind of played like Montana last night.

Speaker 27 (01:06:22):
Happy Friday, Audie. I was a little off of my prediction.
I still gotta win, Though's rappy about that, And you
were right. They stumbled and bubbled into a good running game. Finally,
it's about time busted off a couple of big runs
twenty something yarder and a thirty something yarder. Let's hope
this is the way that things are going to go
in the future.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
Hood amen, who feen day whoa.

Speaker 12 (01:06:48):
When that game began last night, I thought they were
in no way in hades they were going to win it.
But Joe Cool and Jamar Chase and Ti Higgins came through, baby,
And does it kind of make you wonder is the
reason that Joe Burrow is so good is because he
has all those weapons? I mean, look at Joe Flacco

(01:07:10):
last night. So who dai, let's keep it going.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
Yeah, I mean we're talking about a little bit on
the postgame show last night. I mean go back to
like twenty fifteen, maybe the last time Joe Flacco had
weapons even in this realm, and that's when Steve Smith
was with the fount or with the Ravens. I believe
Tory Smith was there as well, Like there were some
good players then, but yeah, with this group, pretty amazing.

Speaker 6 (01:07:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 28 (01:07:36):
So I haven't from my sources, all of them unreliable
that Flacco was calling coverage protection changes, was calling audibles
to runs, all things that maybe Burrow hasn't done in
the past.

Speaker 7 (01:07:48):
One do you think that's true to why hasn't Burrow
done that?

Speaker 2 (01:07:52):
No, I don't think that's true at all. I thought
Flacco operated the offense very similar to the way Joe
Burrow operates the offense. And we're not going to do this.
We're not going to do this whole narrative thing that
Joe Flacco runs the offense better than Joe Burrow because
a bunch of people wanted to say that about Jake
Browning and he fell on his face for three weeks
in a row. No, just these they can both be good,

(01:08:15):
like you don't have to tear one down to build
another one up. Joe Burrow last year put together the
single best season in the history of this Bengals franchise,
and if not for a few freak plays, would have
been in the playoffs and would have had a chance.
And these injuries have all been freak injuries as well.

(01:08:36):
The offense looked better than it has the last few
weeks because Jake Browning was terrible. He was not any good.
And I have no doubt in my mind that Joe
Burrow would have put a similar performance together if he
were on the field and fully healthy, no doubt in
my mind. What's up?

Speaker 4 (01:08:52):
Also, this is Joe and Baltimore up.

Speaker 6 (01:08:54):
Joe, the Bengals are one and oh since we found
out Michael Jordan as a fan.

Speaker 4 (01:08:58):
Yep, coincidence. I think not uh loses.

Speaker 2 (01:09:04):
Joe. I like the way you think just I mean,
how about the Michael Jordan Probably right now he's at
his house on Lake Norman in North Carolina, probably smoking
a Victory Monday cigar, probably listening to Sincy three sixty,
just dialing up Joe Flacco highlights. Michael Jordan's just like us.

Speaker 29 (01:09:23):
Hey, I just want to get on here and say
that I was gonna start a GoFundMe for DJ Turner.
I heard he got picked up by the CPD last
night on pickpocketing charges.

Speaker 7 (01:09:31):
A Jalen Ramsey man.

Speaker 29 (01:09:33):
Then boys put him in the toaster for a little
two longs uh just turned him into straight Burt toast man.

Speaker 2 (01:09:39):
I'm here for every bit of that. I don't know.

Speaker 29 (01:09:41):
You talk about not liking somebody for no reason.

Speaker 4 (01:09:44):
He's well, maybe we do have a reason.

Speaker 29 (01:09:46):
But that guy, I just root on his downfall every
single time I see him play.

Speaker 2 (01:09:51):
Yeah, Jalen Ramsey is a demonstrative guy. He's uh, it's
he certainly can elictit some emotions from time to time.
But yeah, man, the way that he uh, the way
that the Bengals kind of picked on him. That was
fun to watch. He did make that one really good
play down on the goal line on t Higgins and
batting that ball away. But for the most part, it's

(01:10:13):
always a battle with Jayalen Rams.

Speaker 11 (01:10:14):
It was fun to watch, Audie, you are a rock
starting that post game show in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:10:21):
Thank you.

Speaker 30 (01:10:22):
I'm not working to that.

Speaker 31 (01:10:25):
That was a crazy night.

Speaker 30 (01:10:28):
So I'm kind of thinking that Joe Flacco being on
this team, it's gonna.

Speaker 8 (01:10:34):
Be good for our boy Joe Burrow.

Speaker 30 (01:10:36):
Just somebody with them experience and longevity.

Speaker 2 (01:10:41):
Its yeah, you know, I think that's a good observation.
I was thinking something about that too, is is you know,
in the past, Joe has always been this great quarterback
with levels of fame that he can't really relate to
his other quarterbacks can't really relate to a Brain Allen
or a Ryan Finley or a Jake Browning, And Joe

(01:11:05):
Flacco is kind of the opposite, you know, where Burrow
is the leader in the room and the old man
in the room and the guy who basically has been
around the block. Well, Flacco can now be that in
the quarterback room. And I just think that overall presence,
that calming leadership that he can bring. I think it's
already worth the Bengals considering keeping him around next year
if he still wants to play, because more than anything,

(01:11:28):
like if you can just be helpful to Joe Burrow
and take some of that stuff off his plate and
in a way of just having that leadership and that
calming presence in the room where it's like, Okay, Joe
Flacco is here to help me. Joe can help me
whatever it might be. Like, I think he can have
a positive impact on Joe Burrow. And I think we

(01:11:50):
all agree we kind of were worried about Joe Burrow.
And we saw the first shot of him last night,
the way that hair was looking and the expression on
his face. I was a little worried about Joe.

Speaker 18 (01:12:00):
Audie George from the Valley actually go from Btown, Bendelli,
you know where that is. Last night was awesome of
Jungle was rocking.

Speaker 32 (01:12:08):
I loved how little amount of yellow I saw in
the stands as you looked around the stadium.

Speaker 12 (01:12:12):
It was beautiful.

Speaker 21 (01:12:13):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
Joe Flacco, he said, you know what I figured out.
All I got just to the ball up to Chase
and guess who catches his chase. I mean, what a
novel concept that is.

Speaker 3 (01:12:21):
Who day?

Speaker 2 (01:12:23):
That was one of the best games I've ever been
at Broye. Have a good day, man, Thank you, George.
I appreciate that. George. Of course. In Vandelio, Home of
the Aviators and the Sack the Student Activity Center. Yeah,
you know, Kirk Kirk Street and Al Michaels made a
point to say, you know, there's not that many Steelers
fans here tonight, so maybe every time the Steelers come,

(01:12:43):
if they just play on a Thursday night, that'd be great.

Speaker 33 (01:12:46):
Happy Friday already, Twin from the height last night's game,
I'm telling you the best NFL game I've seen by
far all year long. AFC North battle with two of
the oldest quarterbacks in the NFL. A you couldn't be
surprised it was gonna be a duel, but the Mingos prevailed.
Old line actually did a job running game was on

(01:13:07):
point and Jamara Chase man, oh man.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
It's pretty good wide receiver in the league. By four.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
Yeah, he's pretty good. And uh, I'm drinking the Bengals
kool aid right now. Sounds like Twan is two let's
go okay, happy for the Bengal fans. Here we go
Jemmie for Joe Flacco. Happy to all our receivers. They
actually have someone experienced throwing to them. But art the
defense man are tackling. It seems like when one of

(01:13:38):
our secondary guys comes into tackle, they like tackle and
then go off to the side. They don't run through
people and get them to the ground.

Speaker 23 (01:13:48):
It's basic tackling.

Speaker 9 (01:13:49):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
Yeah, I think that is a legitimate gripe. I feel you,
and I've said it multiple times now. If you tackle
like that, you will get beat against the Jets in
the period, point blank and it has to get cleaned up.
And as Charlie said that the idea that they're just youth,
it's just young young players not being able to tackle,

(01:14:11):
that's not a good enough excuse.

Speaker 30 (01:14:15):
Happy winning Friday body, Gino Stone.

Speaker 2 (01:14:21):
Yeah, the guy is horrible, not a good player.

Speaker 30 (01:14:23):
Do they not have anyone else that can play safety?

Speaker 2 (01:14:25):
Not really?

Speaker 30 (01:14:26):
He got burnt, he got singed, and he looks hurt.
Let me know what you think.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
Yeah, it's it's very great weekend. It's very boom or
bust with Gino Stones. Sometimes it's like, all right, that
I can see the vision and other times it's like
has he played football before? And it's just a very
inconsistent player that I don't know that he fully trusts
the guy next to him. In Jordan Battle, I don't
know that the communication there is at the level it's
supposed to be. And obviously, you know, the the dismemberment

(01:14:58):
of the corners in front of him outsid to DJ Turner,
Cam Taylor, BRIT's there sometimes, and Josh Newton's there sometimes,
and DJ Ivy was out there at one point, and
then it's Marco Wilson. You know, just the the continuity
of the defense in and of itself I think leads
to some of those mistakes. But Genostone's a poor tackler.
He's often out of position, he doesn't have great closing

(01:15:20):
speed or range, and so I'm not a big fan
of Genostone right now. But I don't know that that
if you go to Tyson Anderson or Dejon Anthony that
you're gonna see that sort of difference right away or else.
Why wouldn't the Bengals do what they did with Barrett
Carter or with or like like Benching, Logan Wilson or Benching,

(01:15:41):
Cam Taylor britt or any of those guys, Dylan Fairchild,
whoever it might be. Why wouldn't they like so clearly
there's something about Genostone that they like or that they trust,
and maybe something about those other guys that they don't.

Speaker 14 (01:16:00):
Thing I have an answer.

Speaker 34 (01:16:01):
I'm really wondering these guys that are on the Bengals
that played football as soon from pe on through high
schooling to college, as as the pros, how is it
at this point they don't know how to tackle? Don't
they tell you to wrap your arms around the guy
and take it down. They seem to want to just
run into them and hope they fall. Why don't they

(01:16:24):
they have to tackle at this point.

Speaker 2 (01:16:25):
Yeah, it's a good point.

Speaker 9 (01:16:26):
Ray.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
I think sometimes there's a little bit too much emphasis
put on trying to dislodge the ball and trying to
create turnovers, and I get it, there's a place for that,
but at the same time, you got to prevent them
from getting extra yard. It's prevent staying ahead of the sticks,
prevent consistent first downs, and sometimes that means wrapping up

(01:16:47):
and taking the conservative play. The same thing can be
said about you know, t Higgins catching the deep ball
and sliding. Yeah, he could have scored a touchdown that
could have benefited the Bengals. It could have been a
great moment. But all so, the long play here is
let's drain the clock, kick the field goal and win
the game instead of You know, when you apply that

(01:17:08):
to tackling, it's like, yes, if I hit this dude
really hard and I get my helmet on the ball,
or I punch, we can get a turnover, we can
get the ball, we can go the other way. But
if I miss, he gets seven extra yards and all
of a sudden they're in field goal range, or they
pick up a first down to drain the clock, or
whatever might happen. Is nobody near me to make the
tackle to help me out. There's not a good enough

(01:17:31):
or consistent enough approach from the Bengals tackling, and I
don't understand. There's no excuse for it.

Speaker 12 (01:17:36):
It's the Lord.

Speaker 35 (01:17:37):
Happy Victory Friday talkback nation. You know, those Bengal night
games are a killer. It's like eating Skyline chili or
white castles. It's good going down, but the next day
is a killer.

Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
I disagree with you, man. The next day, after reading
some Skyline Chili is normally a beautiful.

Speaker 21 (01:17:58):
Day for me.

Speaker 36 (01:18:00):
What I heard from Flaco was that was a Taylor's
call for the bootleg. It's just when Jamar didn't go
where he was supposed to go. That's when Flacco said, well,
I'm going to run it anyway. Zach called a great game.
I don't know what we do now, because I was
with you and I was ready for him to go.

Speaker 8 (01:18:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
I mean, I thought, honestly, if they came out and
embarrassed themselves again this week and were flat on their face,
there was a chance Zach would be let go. And
I thought that prior to the Flacco acquisition, and then
once they traded for Flacco, I thought, Okay, maybe there's
a bigger grace period here than I thought, and trading
for Flacco will create that. And I do think that's true.

(01:18:44):
And the way that they've performed, Zach has definitely bought
himself some time. But all that progress can be lost
if you don't beat the New York Jets. I was
so nervous that whole game.

Speaker 30 (01:18:55):
Man, I had heart palpitation. But wow, what a game.

Speaker 2 (01:18:58):
I have a Questionnati.

Speaker 5 (01:19:00):
So when Flacco has been playing second half of green
Bay and then the game yesterday, it seems like the
offensive line protects him better.

Speaker 2 (01:19:10):
It just seems like Flacco is not getting pressured. Is
it something that.

Speaker 31 (01:19:15):
He's doing because it doesn't seem that way when Joe
Burrow's out there.

Speaker 33 (01:19:19):
So what's the difference.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
Well, I think the biggest thing is that Joe Flacco
gets the ball out of his hand quicker than Jake
Browning or Joe Burrow did. And part of what makes
Burrow great is that ability to create, is that ability
to extend plays, is that ability ability to go off script.
So you don't want to completely eliminate that from Joe's
bag of tricks to be able to do it. However,

(01:19:43):
sometimes it can get him into trouble, It can lead
to the offense being off script. It can create some
issues with Jake Browning in and of itself. He just
held on to the ball too long and didn't have
the confidence to fit it into that tight window and
all that. So it's a little bit of that just
in general, getting the ball out quickly. And then secondly,
the game plan specifically for Pittsburgh, I thought was what

(01:20:05):
it's supposed to look like most of the time, more RPOs,
more bubbles, put the defense in a predicament and make
them choose, and then you attack whatever the opposite is
that they choose like a lot of those RPOs. It
gets the ball out quickly to Jamar Chase. It's those
quick slants, it's those timing one, two three throw get
them to the out route like These are all staples

(01:20:26):
of the Bengals offense that I think need to just
be a bigger part of the game plan as a whole.
These are the things I've been asking for. They tried
a couple screen passes. Those didn't work. There's some data
right now on screen passes that are suggesting they're becoming
less and less effective because they've become so common. That's
a whole nother story, But overall, it is getting the
ball out quickly. I think Flacco knows he's not mobile,

(01:20:51):
and if he sits back there and doesn't get rid
of it, he's going to be a sitting duck. Burrow
and even Browning know they have the ability to make
some guys miss, and they're willing to risk it or
stay in that pocket just a little bit longer so
that they can make that throw or get to that
extra read or check that ball down, whatever it might be.
So it's just it's very fractional, you know, marginal differences

(01:21:13):
between the two and the way they play the position.

Speaker 37 (01:21:16):
Audie TJ my Son called from college Wednesday night, Dad,
I need a tight end this weekend. Son, pick any
tight end from Pittsburgh. The Bengals have not stopped his
Dealers tight end in thirty years. All throw Zach as
flowers for week seven. He finally looked competent. We'd be
four and three right now if you could scheme like
he did last night for Jake Brown and quick slam
short ends. That's one game, Zach. He's still behind the

(01:21:38):
sticks minus the lem me stick, one arm mountain try
to tackle. That was a fun game to watch, especially
not seeing all those stupid yellow towels.

Speaker 2 (01:21:46):
Yeah, not a lot of yellow towels and also not
a lot of yellow penalty flags. It was a relatively
clean game from that sense. Bengals had a couple of mistakes.
Pittsburgh got docked for a couple of pis that were important.

Speaker 29 (01:21:57):
So yeah, hi AUTI, this is Richard from Evendale, and
I say that I love Joe Flacco.

Speaker 7 (01:22:06):
I was at the game last night and I was
channing Joe elite.

Speaker 4 (01:22:10):
I think that Joe Flacco is elite. Donald Trump thinks
that Joe Flacco is e laite.

Speaker 7 (01:22:14):
Oh wow.

Speaker 30 (01:22:14):
I love all Mike Sinz QBS.

Speaker 29 (01:22:16):
I love Joe Burrow, I love Tony Pike, missing Man,
love you see your Friday night.

Speaker 14 (01:22:23):
There you go?

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
Yeah, I uh, I always forget. There's a video from
twenty fifteen. I think when Trump started his first campaign,
he was doing like a Q and A on Twitter,
and I think it was PFT commenter from barstool asked him,
is Joe Flacco an elite quarterback? And it was one
of the questions that Trump answered. And I saw that

(01:22:45):
video popping back up again last night about Trump saying
that he's an elite quarterback. So funny the memory on
the internet. Hey Austin, it's the common toughback matters.

Speaker 7 (01:22:56):
Guy.

Speaker 38 (01:22:57):
I just want to first of all, I have had
a chance to say, I miss Tony, but I think that.

Speaker 3 (01:23:04):
You're gonna do an incredible job.

Speaker 38 (01:23:06):
Even though sometimes I don't agree with like ninety nine
percent of the stuff you do, You're still really you're
dedicated to your job, and we appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:23:16):
And the Bengals.

Speaker 38 (01:23:17):
They played a hell of a game last night all
the way around. Have a great weekend.

Speaker 7 (01:23:22):
Well, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:23:23):
I appreciate that. It's very kind of you. And uh yeah,
how can you not be pleased with what happened? Obviously
the tackling is an issue, but find a way to
win a game like that, huge.

Speaker 39 (01:23:35):
Let me be the first to offer twenty dollars to
build a Joe Flacco statue outside a.

Speaker 2 (01:23:40):
Paycorep Okay, all right, we can get that gone, little
Joe Flacco statue action. All right, I'm alright with that.
All right, let's take a break, let's come back. Phone
line still open. Five one, three, seven, four nine, fifteen thirty.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. This is what it sounds, Ynny.

Speaker 5 (01:23:56):
Blunt, you in part by blood Light and by Greens
on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals, a.

Speaker 2 (01:24:06):
Very quick version of football in the Natty. To get
me back on the clock here and then we'll wrap
up hour number two with a couple of phone calls. Quickly,
go over the stats once again. Joe Flacco thirty one
of forty seven, three hundred and forty two yards three
touchdowns last night. As we've talked about, the offensive line
performed well, sacking him or allowing him to be sacked
just twice for fourteen yards. Chase Brown eleven carries for

(01:24:29):
one hundred and eight yards, Smaj p ryand seven for
thirty one. As a team, Bengals ran at twenty three
times for a buck forty two. Jamar Chase sets a
Bengals franchise record, breaks his own record for receptions in
the game with sixteen, had one hundred and sixty one
yards and a touchdown. He was targeted twenty three times.
T Higgins five catches or excuse me, six catches ninety

(01:24:50):
six yards on ten targets. Andre Yoshavash had a big
catch a thirty seven yarder. He had three total for
forty nine. Noah Fan with a twenty five yarder had
four for forty four, and Chase Brown, as I mentioned,
had those difficult screen passes. He had two catches for
minus eight yards. Barrett Carter led the Bengals and tackles.
He had eight solo tackles twelve total. Geno Stone had

(01:25:12):
three solo, Jordan Battle had three solo, Demetrius Knight just
two solo tackles. Four total tackles on the night, two interceptions,
Jordan Battle, DJ Turner. Evan McPherson was a perfect four
for four, including a game winner. He also blasted a
forty nine yarder and was three for three from the
extra points, and as a whole, scored fifteen points on

(01:25:36):
the night for the Bengals. All right, we'll take a break,
we'll come back. We'll wrap up our two with phone
calls next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:25:42):
You've been listening to Football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati BENGALSKY.

Speaker 16 (01:25:55):
Cincinnati since he three sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:26:05):
Wrapping up our two on a victory Friday football frenzy
Here on ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Austin Elmore. In ten minutes,
Tommy g for a brief update on FC Cincinnati. We'll
talk to him as they get set to finish out
their regular season, but we continue the Bengals conversation until then.
Let's go to Dent and talk to Robert.

Speaker 21 (01:26:24):
What's up, Robert, Hey, Austin, thanks for working overtime to
bring home a win and chopping it up today.

Speaker 2 (01:26:31):
Man, great job, Thank you, Thank you man. I appreciate it,
of course.

Speaker 14 (01:26:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 21 (01:26:35):
I just wanted to hit on two or three things,
whatever you got time for the first one, I want,
do you pick?

Speaker 7 (01:26:42):
A good poll question might be.

Speaker 21 (01:26:45):
Who do we think is going to be here longer?
Joe Flacco or Zach Taylor.

Speaker 2 (01:26:52):
Zach Taylor, thank you?

Speaker 21 (01:26:54):
Yeah, hopefully both will be here.

Speaker 7 (01:26:57):
A while longer.

Speaker 21 (01:26:58):
So yeah, and then I want to ask you about
the special teams.

Speaker 15 (01:27:03):
Last night money Back had fifteen points, which is awesome,
of course, and I was hearing a little bit about
return kick returns, but I feel like I'm a little
more concerned about our kick coverage teams than I am
our returns teams at this point.

Speaker 2 (01:27:19):
Yeah, it feels like there's a lack of speed on
that unit, and maybe McPherson needs to put a little
bit more hang time on those balls. I don't know,
it's I think everyone's still at least the Bengals are
still trying to figure out exactly how they want to
approach the kickoff rule. I've never been a big fan
of the Bengals special teams. They've never really been an
elite unit under Darren Simmons, and so yeah, they're not

(01:27:44):
great tacklers, because those guys aren't great tacklers on special
teams either. But yeah, I mean the field position has
been a bit of an issue.

Speaker 7 (01:27:54):
Gotcha.

Speaker 21 (01:27:55):
And a quick follow up on yesterday, I asked you
about the Super Bowl coaches.

Speaker 40 (01:28:00):
And then usually being early, fairly early in their tenures,
and you brought a great up, great point up about
their quarterbacks. So I just looked at that again today
and I was like, Okay, you know, early eighties with
Forrest Ken Anderson was here when he got here and
here when he left, and then Boomer and Sam Weiss

(01:28:21):
kind of came in the same time. Boomer was here longer,
and now of course Joe and Zach. But you know,
I've been looking at it like that was the pinnacle
of those first two regimes careers and we're just hoping that's.

Speaker 15 (01:28:36):
Not the case here, right, So hopefully the best is
yet to come.

Speaker 7 (01:28:40):
Thanks Austin.

Speaker 2 (01:28:41):
Yeah, Robert, thank you, I appreciate the phone call. Yeah,
hopefully the best is you have to come. And obviously
the Bengals were able to get back to an AFC
Championship game the second year which I don't think should
be forgotten about. And just how hard of a feat
that is. I mean, obviously I know it doesn't count,
but I don't think we should just totally brush that aside.

(01:29:02):
Let's go to Mike in La to wrap up hour
number two. What's up, Mike?

Speaker 4 (01:29:06):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (01:29:06):
Thank you?

Speaker 2 (01:29:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:29:07):
I didn't get to hear your show last night. I
was a bit out of it. From the old morpheme, yeah,
ain't a bad to me. That's a good good drug.
It helps when I So I watched the I kept
going back between the Dodger game and the Mariner game
and the Bengals game. I was joining myself nuts and

(01:29:30):
but it appeared to me DJ didn't DJ I kind
of saved the game with that breakup.

Speaker 2 (01:29:36):
He bat at that last hill mary down. Yeah, that
might have been his only snap of the game. I
don't know.

Speaker 8 (01:29:42):
Well, he made it count, didn't he He made a
count big time. But Demetrious Night Austin, I ain't no
good man.

Speaker 2 (01:29:53):
No, he's not. He doesn't play under control like he
plays fast, but it's not under control, which means he's overrunning,
you know, ball carriers. He's out of position when it
comes to tackling. His form is not good. I don't
know if he can play fast and under control, and
that would be an issue because if you can't play
under control, you're just running around, hitting people and doing

(01:30:15):
nothing really, And that's really what Demetrius Knight is doing.

Speaker 8 (01:30:18):
Like a little kid running around in the house, trying
to find you, get his mom and dad to play
with him or something. Get trying to get That's the
way I picture. But boy, how things can change. Right,
all the hype about the AFC Central before the season
and now it's not looking so good. It's crazy, isn't
it how this league has went. I'll tell you twenty

(01:30:39):
twenty four the chalk the favorites dominated as far as
a wagering perspective. This year, the dogs are are dominating.
It's it's crazy. It's almost a fifty percent difference. And
it's great for parity for the league, don't you think.

Speaker 2 (01:30:59):
Yeah, it's a very star the league. There's a ton
of parody and I think it's funny too, is you know?
Baltimore I think is still like just barely behind Pittsburgh
as the betting favorite to win the AFC North. I
think Baltimore is like plus one fifty and they're one
in five and without Lamar Jackson right now. So that
tells you how much they still think of Baltimore on
their upcoming schedule. But yeah, it's just a strange year

(01:31:20):
to say the least.

Speaker 8 (01:31:22):
Baltimore is gonna If Baltimore loses again this week, they're
going to have to go on almost too hard to imagine.

Speaker 13 (01:31:29):
Run.

Speaker 8 (01:31:29):
I would think, don't you.

Speaker 2 (01:31:32):
Yeah, yeah, I would say okay.

Speaker 8 (01:31:35):
And real quick, I got to mention my guys, the
Dodgers finally got healthy, got reasonably healthy now and it's
really shown, and I wouldn't want to play him right now.
Their depths is what really puts him over. Max Monty's
playing turn based like Brook Robinson. I mean, he's turning

(01:31:57):
in some great plays even with his beer bellies. Hell
he does, he does.

Speaker 2 (01:32:01):
Yeah, I'll go Yeah, Mike, thank you for the phone call.
I appreciate it. We'll take a break, we'll come back.
We'll talk to Tommy g a little FC Cincinnati before
we go from We're going to go from football to football,
back to football. This is the Friday Football Frenzy on
ESPN fifteen thirty at Genesis time.

Speaker 1 (01:32:17):
Shoe brought to you by Pellow Windows and Door Making
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(01:32:38):
Creation Museum It's more than a museum. Visit Creation Museum
dot org today. On ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home
of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:32:50):
Hi, Hello, Welcome in our three victory Friday football frenzy
here on ESPN fifteen thirty. And that doesn't change what
we always do on Fridays, which is talk to our guy,
Tommy G. The voice of the Orange and Blue FC Cincinnati.
Getting set to wrap up the regular season coming up
this weekend. We're gonna talk to Tommy about that. But first,
if you've listened to this show for a long time,

(01:33:12):
you know that our guy, Tommy G is a lifelong
Cleveland Browns fan, grew up in Cleveland, and Tommy, I
just want to be the first to tell you on
behalf of all Bengals fans. Thank you for Joe Flacco.

Speaker 32 (01:33:27):
You are so welcome And what is up, my guy,
Happy Friday. Look at this life is beautiful as than not.
The Leeds are starting to change colors. The sun is
shining upon the Queen City Bengals fans are all wound
up thanks to my boy Joey Flacco. And it's three
hundred yards a couple of touchdowns along the way. FC

(01:33:51):
Cincinnati Max and I'm thirty four. I don't know what
else you get asked for.

Speaker 7 (01:33:55):
Right now, you and I we are here. Let's get
to it.

Speaker 2 (01:33:59):
What if you been doing for the last couple of weeks.
I know it's been an international break? How do you
stay sharp during that? Do you just start calling your
kids baseball games or soccer games?

Speaker 21 (01:34:09):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:34:09):
How do you stay sharp?

Speaker 7 (01:34:11):
Everything? Everything?

Speaker 32 (01:34:12):
I'm calling games, I'm watching, you know, Australian fourth Division
soccer games. Just trying to keep my brain sharp, trying
to you know, relax a little bit on the weekend.
Actually I went to of all places, I got to
go to Lovely Toledo, Ohio last weekend on my off
weekend for the JV water.

Speaker 7 (01:34:30):
Polo State championship.

Speaker 2 (01:34:31):
Oh my god, for my son. So that was that
was interesting. Did you bring like a com rex and
just set up.

Speaker 7 (01:34:40):
Oh, I took some photos.

Speaker 21 (01:34:42):
You know.

Speaker 32 (01:34:43):
I had asked the station if they wanted me to
do a live broadcast. I didn't get an email back,
so I don't know. I don't know what happened there.
Probably just didn't work out but next year. But yeah,
so no, I've been I've been busy. I've been missing
you guys, obviously, and it's nice everything now the Stars
field line again to be here in this two o'clock slot,
that's and talking orange.

Speaker 41 (01:35:03):
And blue and and Joe Flacco and everything else. You know,
I knew this was going to be the lead off,
so I was I was ready for you today. Yeah,
I mean, I mean I texted you at halftime last night.
It's like, so two o'clock tomorrow, after the way Joe
Flacco ended the first half. Okay, did we learn anything
about FC Cincinnati over the international break? Phyllison, were their injuries,

(01:35:26):
were their roster moves? Like I know, Philly won the
supporters Shield. What have we learned about f C Cincinnati
over the last couple of weeks?

Speaker 32 (01:35:35):
Well that the supporter shields out now honestly, with Philadelphia
winning it, that's not to be played for.

Speaker 7 (01:35:42):
But now everybody. Finally, I mean, for how many weeks
or months.

Speaker 32 (01:35:46):
We had these conversations that talked about, well, Miami has
six games in hand, they five games, and they four games,
and they got two games, and now we know how
things play out in the East. A win and f
C Cincinnati is the two seed, which is nothing to
shake a stick at by any stretch of the man donation.
They just can't catch Philadelphia for that one seed. They
win and Vancouver drop some points and then they are
ahead of all the teams in the West, which is important.

(01:36:08):
If you make MLS Cup, you want that game to
be across the way over at TQL Stadium and not
having to travel to Vancouver or anywhere for that matter.

Speaker 7 (01:36:16):
So we've we've we learned that via the extra.

Speaker 32 (01:36:19):
Games that took place during the international break, and Cintanni
had a lot of guys who were out on break.

Speaker 7 (01:36:25):
Unfortunately, they had a couple of guys go down.

Speaker 32 (01:36:27):
If you go back now thirteen days to that New
York Red Bulls match, if you remember Andrew at Shamik
made a big run. He left the match with an
upparent injury and has been working his way back into
the group this week. It really was a bummer for
him because he got caught in the Venezuelan national team.
He was supposed to join them, he did and then
was sent back because he wasn't able to go. So really,

(01:36:51):
you know, so much disappointment. Now he's a young star
and I'm sure he'll be called back again, but that's
that's really tough for him. And then Luga Orsona was
a player who had come in to replace him. Luca
had been working his way back from a little bit
of hamstring tightness. He made a big run and his
hamstring acted up. So he's been, you know, missing from
some training sessions this week.

Speaker 14 (01:37:11):
H So you have those guys.

Speaker 32 (01:37:12):
There's been reports that at that Lucas Tanngle missed some
training sessions.

Speaker 7 (01:37:15):
Man, he's in contention.

Speaker 32 (01:37:21):
Uh, you know, rightfully, so Pat new Clay about who
is starting goalkeeper would be for this match, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:37:28):
But great to see that Roman is back healthy again.

Speaker 2 (01:37:37):
I think I think we're losing you, Tommy. We've uh
you might be you might be hitting a dead spot.
Are you still with me?

Speaker 14 (01:37:44):
I may have?

Speaker 7 (01:37:45):
Am I am I here?

Speaker 32 (01:37:46):
I can hear you now to make my way through
just a little before Jesus, I'm in transit.

Speaker 2 (01:37:53):
That's all right, assuming we can, uh, we can stick
with this connection finishing up the season and with the
fan appreciation Day tomorrow at TQL Stadium up against Montreal.
What exactly is FC Cincinnati playing for their seating? Who
could they play? Who could they not play? How exactly
does this work out and what the objective is going

(01:38:14):
to be or what should the objective be going up
against Montreal tomorrow?

Speaker 7 (01:38:20):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 32 (01:38:21):
I mean you win the game, and as I mentioned earlier,
you're the two seed, and that means that you'd be
home for sure in an Eastern Conference semifinal should you
get there, and the way things are stacking up, it'll
probably be the two and I mean it would definitely
be because it's locked inn. But the two and three
seeds are gonna be Miami and Cincinnati. So you got
to make sure that you're a head of Miami. You

(01:38:41):
don't want to go down into that be High. You
want them come into c QL Stadium where you beat
them earlier this year. So yeah, you definitely want to
make sure you get the two seed. And then when
you're looking at opponents, it's kind of a toss up.
There's probably four different teams that could land, and it's
also going to depend on what seed you are, but
either way, you're looking at probably the same teams as

(01:39:03):
the six and seven seeds. Nashville's in that mix right now.
It's Orlando, which has been a tough matchup for since
sure sit fall that far. I don't expect that they will.
Columbus could jump up, so you can see Hell's real
for the first round. Chicago could jump up in the
seventh seeds.

Speaker 3 (01:39:21):
So there's a lot of.

Speaker 32 (01:39:22):
Teams that are in content that the seating. I mean,
there's a lot to play for. I liked what Pat
ninnen Centator's press conference. Hey, he said, we're not scoreboard watching.
It's not that they need to win in Philadelphia. Lose
and they win the supportership, that one's going away. So
he said, look, we know what we do. If we win,
then it's taken care of. And you're playing in Montreal

(01:39:43):
team and I'm sure we'll talk about it in the moment.
That's down and they're eliminated from playoff contention. So you
gotta come out, you gotta punish them, you gotta win,
you gotta get that two seed and then you'll start
your scouting report for whomever falls into that seven.

Speaker 2 (01:39:55):
So you mentioned that Orlando has been a tough matchup
for FC Cincinnati historically. Is there any of those group
of four teams that is a good matchup you feel
like on paper for the Orange Blue.

Speaker 21 (01:40:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 32 (01:40:07):
I've talked to Kevin about this quite a bit the
last couple of weeks, and it came up in the
office today as I was at training, And I think
for me it's Nashville and Chicago are probably the two
best matchups. And I would probably say Nashville over Chicago,

(01:40:28):
but yeah, I think those two are best matchups.

Speaker 7 (01:40:32):
I think Columbus is they have a lot of injuries
and and had a really bad run of form.

Speaker 32 (01:40:39):
But man, that would be a one with a you know,
a brilliant coach at Wilfrid Nancy who always has that
team for pare you know, So as much as I
would love it and TV would love but it would
be terrible for our Hearts to go best I think
with Columbus and and fight that one out. So Orlando

(01:41:00):
been a bad matchup, Charlotte's been a bad matchup this
year in New York City, So I probably don't want.

Speaker 7 (01:41:04):
To see Orlando New York City and Charlotte, and.

Speaker 32 (01:41:07):
I want to see Nashville in Chicago, So like, just
book the Orlando best of three, right how I feel
it in my.

Speaker 3 (01:41:13):
Heart right now?

Speaker 32 (01:41:14):
But you know, I mean it was the same in
New York City last night last year. You know, New
York has been a tough matchup for this club and
and they proved to be that in pulling off that
upset in the first round.

Speaker 7 (01:41:25):
So I don't know, it'd be very interesting.

Speaker 32 (01:41:27):
And listen, no matter what, Like you're in the playoffs,
you gotta expect tough matchups. You gotta expect tough games,
and you gotta be ready to advance and come up
with game plans that allow you to advance. So if
you can do that, then I think, you know, you
gotta be at your best, and part of that's gonna
be getting guys healthy and getting their best available players
out on the pitch, and you know, some of the

(01:41:48):
remains to be seen of what that best eleven is
and who will be ready for the playoffs. In the meantime,
win your last home game.

Speaker 2 (01:41:55):
Yeah, that's what I's gonna say, because you got this
game against Montreal, and you probably have to find a
balance between your gearing up and trying to set a
tone going into the playoffs, but also trying to get
back into the swing of things after not playing a
match for a few days. Like, how does Pat Noonan
plan to balance that and and also set the tone
in the standard that is FC Cincinnati going into the playoffs.

Speaker 32 (01:42:17):
Yeah, I think it's the best eleven that that he
has available that he knows can come out and and play,
you know, without any concern of say reaggravation. Right, Like
that's what happened to Luke Orishona. He had a little
bit of hamstring tightness. He didn't start that game against
New York. He came in and it got worse. You

(01:42:38):
look at Obina Wobbedo and and Roman cell Tano. If
that's a playoff game two weeks ago, then my guess
is that Obian and Roman play that game, but they
felt good about the personnel they had available, so they
weren't going to push them. And I think that's what
we'll see in this matchup against rodri Ols, that they're
not going to push anybody who might be on the

(01:42:59):
cusp being available for that first you know, game one,
round one playoff matchup, because they want to make sure
they're still available for round one game one in the
playoffs and that they don't aggravate it in this matchup
against Montreal. I mean, the beauty of it isn't We
talked about a weeks ago that this team put a
lot of work into, you know, create quite a bit
of depth at every position group and that's going to

(01:43:21):
be an advantage in the playoffs. But you got to
have those guys available in order to have that advantage
in the depth. So I think that that's how we'll
see the approach. But yeah, I think Passing canna play
the best eleven guys that he has suited up tomorrow
and go for this one and figure out how to
get to win.

Speaker 7 (01:43:37):
Against the Montreal team that they beat in Montreal earlier
this year.

Speaker 2 (01:43:40):
Yeah, you mentioned that Montreal is down, they're out, they're
not going to be in the postseason, but I'm sure
they're trying to finish the season on a high note.
What do you expect from the opponents tomorrow night at
TQL Stadium. What's the scouting report on them?

Speaker 7 (01:43:54):
Yeah, it's interesting.

Speaker 32 (01:43:54):
They're in thirteenth place, in the East, so well out
of the playoff picture. You know, they've had an interim
coach for more than half the season, which has been
kind of interesting, right, like this coach is available, they
haven't made a move, you know, for a coach, or
maybe they've made a move and failed and not gotten.

Speaker 7 (01:44:10):
That person in.

Speaker 32 (01:44:12):
But they have one goal scorer in in double figures
in Prince of Wusu, so you better know where he
is all the time defensively and shut him down, you know.
And then then after that they don't have a lot
of attacking options. The question for me is what do
they look like knowing that their season's over. Right, they're

(01:44:32):
on the road. You know, they're not playing for much
except for Pride at this juncture. But you look at
at how crummy they've been all year. Their road form
of late has actually been pretty good. They're three to
one and three in their last seven on the road,
And as I was kind of going through my notes
this morning, it kind of took me back.

Speaker 7 (01:44:54):
I'm like, dang, that means they were even worse before
those seven games. But they've been able to to find
some results away from home, which.

Speaker 32 (01:45:04):
Is interesting to me. And look, you know, you might
not be playing for the playoffs or seating or anything
like that. But those guys are playing for contracts, right.
Some of them may be waiting a waiting word, you know,
whether or not Montreal wants them back, and some of
them have been told that they're not back. But they
have an opportunity to you know, create one more game
film and get a contract somewhere else next year. Sure,

(01:45:24):
so I think they'll come in and certainly have you know,
more than pride to play for and and f C.
Sinans you have to be ready to attack them the
same way they did when they saw them back in
back in June up their way to.

Speaker 2 (01:45:36):
His name is Tommy g Tom glad or the voice
of the Orange and Blue A six o'clock kickoff. If
I saw that correctly, What do you guys got set
for the pregame show? What can people expect when they
tune in?

Speaker 7 (01:45:49):
Oh, of course we'll have a little chat with Pat
Noonan on the pregame show.

Speaker 32 (01:45:52):
Well, we'll take a look at the lineups once we
get those, you know, an hour before kickoff, and you know,
kind of kind of get some thoughts on how the
playoff picture is shaping up, because I think it's a
really exciting time of year. I love how MLS stacks
things up, you know, with this decision day format where
everybody in the East is playing at the same time
and everybody at the West is playing at the same time.

(01:46:12):
And look, this shid won't be determined, you know, the
year that since anyone, they won it well before decision.

Speaker 7 (01:46:18):
Day, and and Philadelphia, you know, the rightful winners of it.

Speaker 21 (01:46:21):
This year.

Speaker 32 (01:46:21):
They're the best team wired to wire across the uh
you know, course of the season. So all you could
do is chip your cap to them in what they
have been able to accomplish. But I do think it's fun, Like,
you know, Pat doesn't have anything the scoreboard watch because
if his team wins, they get that two seed and
there's nothing else that they can improve. But it's kind
of fun from our standpoint, you know, Kevin and I

(01:46:42):
sitting in there, like we'll keep the live scoreboard up
and and the live standings because as our game plays out,
the other ones will and that'll be okay. Now we're
playing Now, we're playing Columbus, Now we're playing Orlando, and
you know those seeds, you know, Cincinnati and Miami will
be the two and three, but then then that four
through nine is completely up in the air.

Speaker 7 (01:47:02):
Nothing's locked in there. So it's gonna be a pretty exciting.

Speaker 32 (01:47:07):
Finish for those teams that are trying to figure out
where they fit in the big picture and who they're
gonna be going to play and or who gets that
last home series as the four seed. So no, I
think it's a it's a very exciting format the way
that MLS does it, and uh, it's always a lot
of It's a lot more fun than you put it
this way the last four years.

Speaker 7 (01:47:28):
Than it was the first three when there was no
playoffs to talk about. So I much prefer, you.

Speaker 32 (01:47:35):
Know, the topics that you and I are handling and saying,
oh man, the two seed to look great and we'd
rather play Nashville than Orlando than saying, well, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:47:43):
Chris Albright's exit meetings start on Monday. So no, it's good.

Speaker 2 (01:47:48):
You never take it for granted. Winning always feels good,
no matter what. You always got to make the most
of it.

Speaker 7 (01:47:55):
We will be listening this weekend speaking for the whole
city right now.

Speaker 2 (01:47:58):
Yes, you forget sometimes when you go through a couple
of weeks, you forget sometimes what it feels like, and
you just got to appreciate it. You gotta enjoy it,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (01:48:07):
Yeah, that's right. Well, I appreciate being here with you, brother.

Speaker 2 (01:48:10):
I appreciate you making some time for me. Have a
great weekend. We'll be listening. Tommy. Thanks.

Speaker 8 (01:48:15):
All right?

Speaker 7 (01:48:15):
Perfect.

Speaker 2 (01:48:16):
That is Tommy g the voice of the Orange and
Blue FC Cincinnati getting said for the playoff picture this weekend.
All right, we'll take a break, we'll come back. We
go back to the Bengals conversation, including what Joe Flacco
had to say after the game yesterday and something that
Kirk Krbstreet said that really struck a chord with me
and I'm sure probably you too. That's next. This is

(01:48:39):
ESPN fifteen thirty. Now your chance to win it.

Speaker 16 (01:48:42):
F Thousandi is back on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (01:48:53):
Welcome back Friday Football Frenzy, ESPN fifteen thirty. My name
is Austin Elmore. With you until three o'clock today. Bengals
PEP rally three to six this afternoon. There will be
some pep in the step after a big win over
the Pittsburgh Steelers last night, and we talked about, you know,

(01:49:13):
the various plays of the game. There's a few different
ones that you could go to, a few that you
could lean on as your favorite play. For me, it's
hard not to look at the completion to t Higgins.
Here's what it sounded like last night with Dan and
Lapp Flacco and the gun chase. One of three receivers
out to the right. Placo is ready catches the shotgun,
snap blitz coming. Placo throws a fade and.

Speaker 18 (01:49:36):
It is call punning inside the ten and going into
a slide his T Higgins. That's brilliant, Patty run into
the end zone. It would have been a touchdown. We
all would have been excited, but it would have left
plenty of time for Rogers to answer. By going down,
he forces the Steelers to call another time out. Well,

(01:49:58):
a first and goal from this ya been won thirty
seven to go.

Speaker 19 (01:50:01):
One of the most unselfish players I've ever seen, I
just witnessed right there, Jalen Ramsey. Had him beaten, could
have scored great individual effort. He would have been like,
oh big time, would have made ESPN highlights, all the NFL.

Speaker 3 (01:50:14):
Highlights for the sake of his football team.

Speaker 19 (01:50:17):
But the good of his entire football team unselfishly slides
to the turf.

Speaker 3 (01:50:22):
What a play. T Higgins is a Keeam player.

Speaker 2 (01:50:26):
That was so awesome to see that in that moment
and to understand, like, you know, yeah, you can play
for the stats, you can play for the highlights, you
can play for all that stuff, but just to be
reminded of what exactly, you know, this is all about
and the mindset of the team and of a player
like T Higgins who is gonna be in Cincinnati for

(01:50:48):
a long time to come and a fan favorite and
a guy who's kind of often forgotten about or in
the shadow of Jamar Chase maybe not taken as seriously
for him to you know, make that play in that moment,
understanding the situation, the quarterback on the other sideline, the
way the defense had been playing, and knowing that that's

(01:51:10):
the moment you have to you know, sacrifice for the
betterment of the football team.

Speaker 21 (01:51:15):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:51:15):
Jamar Chase was asked about it after the game, you know,
he said, I think it was Jay Morrison asked him,
would that have been hard for you to do to
stop in that moment and slide, and Jamar said no,
not if you want to win. And that I think
is a perfect peek into the mindset because when things
had kind of been struggling a little bit over the

(01:51:36):
last couple of weeks, what did we say, Okay, Well,
maybe guys start thinking about themselves. Maybe guys start thinking
about their stats, Maybe guys start thinking about their contract.
You start making business decisions, You start doing things that
maybe isn't a team first mentality in the way that
you do them, But not T Higgins in that moment,
knowing the importance of that game and also the future

(01:51:59):
of this football team to go down and do that
the way he did. I thought that was really cool.
I thought that was really cool, and I think T
deserves a lot of credit for that. The other thing is,
and I was kind of talking about this with Tommy
g at the end of our conversation there, like you
can it's you forget sometimes what it feels like to

(01:52:24):
win when you go through a losing stretch like that
where your team isn't losing in the NFL, and every
Monday is difficult, or a Friday is difficult, or a
Tuesday is difficult, and you kind of forget the elation
of what it feels like to, yes, our team won,
and you go to work the next day, you got
a little pep in your step, or whatever it might be.
I always say that the coffee tastes better the day

(01:52:45):
after a win, and you know, you can you can
forget what that feels like if it's been a month
or so before that happens, or you know, a month
or so since that happens. And so to feel that
again and you know today is an awesome feeling, and
it makes you excited about the future and you just

(01:53:07):
can't wait for the next one. And that's what makes
being an NFL fan so fun. But I had noticed
over the last couple of weeks there was a certain
like level of being miserable that I had felt with
the Bengals. Obviously, the dread and the despair following the
Joe Burrow injury, that's one thing, and then too, the

(01:53:34):
way that Jake Browning played and the way that he lost.
And then they go and they get Joe Flacco and
nobody really takes them seriously with that, and they kind
of get beat around a little bit, and it's just
it feels like it's teetering on the edge of falling
off and so that, coupled with the years and years
and years of heartbreak as a Cincinnati sports fan, you
start to feel jaded. You're always waiting for the next

(01:53:57):
shoot to drop, You're always waiting for the next gut punch.
And so last night I'm watching and I'm preparing for
the postgame show, and I got my notes and everything,
and it's starting to get into crunch time, and I
can feel myself like leaning up on the couch, leaning
towards the TV, and I feel that pit in my stomach,

(01:54:18):
and it's a miserable feeling because you're like, all right,
here it comes, here, it comes here, it comes, and
it never came. And so like I'm reminded in that moment,
like sometimes, especially with this as your job, you can
kind of just get into a habit of Okay, here's
what happened, here's how I explain it, here's what we
want to talk about, baba, and it can kind of

(01:54:40):
get monotonous, and you lose sometimes the sight of being
a fan in that moment and that passion.

Speaker 21 (01:54:47):
And.

Speaker 2 (01:54:48):
In that moment sitting there leaning forward towards my television
on the couch, and I remember, like, this is what
makes being a fan so great. You don't know what's
gonna happen in the next thirty seconds. You don't know
if Pat Fryerm is gonna score a seventy yard touchdown,
or if DJ Turner is gonna pick Aaron Rodgers off again.

(01:55:10):
You don't know if Jamar Chase is gonna break another record,
or if Joe Flacco is gonna tuck and run for
twelve yards. That is what makes being a sports fan
so fun. And it was funny. Kirk krb Street, who
has formerly you know, lived in the city of Cincinnati
and his son went to Saint X and has grown
up in this area and around this area and is

(01:55:32):
a big Reds fan, kind of talked about this on
the broadcast last night with Al Michaels. Here's forty three seconds,
and I thought this perfectly summed up the way every
Bengals fan was feeling when it got into crunch time
last night on Thursday Night Football. The forty yard line
was six to fifty two left in the fourth.

Speaker 3 (01:55:50):
Yeah, plenty of time for Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 7 (01:55:53):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (01:55:54):
I grew up in Southwest Ohio.

Speaker 39 (01:55:56):
I know how Cincinnati fans thank whether it's the Reds
and the Bengals. There isn't a person in a white
T shirt for Jersey. It isn't thinking about a walk
to their car with a thirty one thirty loss. Right now,
I'm telling them, I'm getting texts from Cincinnati fans that
I have a text chain called pain that we are

(01:56:16):
a part of for being Reds fans.

Speaker 3 (01:56:19):
And it carries over into.

Speaker 2 (01:56:20):
Paul, you haven't let the sunshine in come on? So well,
I'm just saying, that's what you think is gonna happen.
It's a different night, right, Is that not the most
true thing you've ever heard from a broadcaster? Like yeah,
And we always talk about trying to be positive and
you know, getting excited and all that stuff. I get it,
But like every fan was feeling the same thing, and

(01:56:42):
they're showing shots of the crowd in that moment and
they're all thinking the same thing as Golly, just don't
lose this game. Don't lose this game. We're gonna lose
this game. And then they found a way to win.
And that's what makes those wins even sweeter. When something
so unexpected, like a Joe Flacco performance like that happens,
it makes it even sweeter and It was fun to

(01:57:03):
see that happen last night and to feel that and
remember what's great about being a sports fan. I had fun.
I don't know about you guys, but I really enjoyed it,
to say the least, last night. And obviously winning is fun.
Never ever ever take it for granted. Never take winning
for granted. You should always enjoy and savor the victories

(01:57:26):
because you don't know when the next one's gonna come.
We'll take a break, We'll come back. This is Friday
Football Frenzy on ESPN fifteen thirty. Loeger, there was some
pooling of the team last night. When it comes to sports.

Speaker 5 (01:57:38):
He's got something to say.

Speaker 2 (01:57:40):
Or just natural byproducts of and plenty of it.

Speaker 5 (01:57:43):
A poor play, Loegar to day at three on ESPN
fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:57:48):
Penn Station is turning up the heat.

Speaker 17 (01:57:52):
Here we go, a thirty six yard field goal try
for the league. With eleven seconds left in the fourth quarter,
the Bengals down by one point. Money Mack is ready.
He takes a deep rep, wait for the long snap
back to Rico. Rico puts it down to kick his up.

Speaker 2 (01:58:09):
Yeah, yeah, good gosh. Have the Bengals have a two
point lead.

Speaker 17 (01:58:15):
With seven seconds left on the clock.

Speaker 19 (01:58:18):
Nice gotta love it, Joe Flacco. Welcome to Cincinnati, my man.

Speaker 2 (01:58:26):
Dan Horde. Dave Lapham on the call last night, the
game winning field goal from Evan McPherson and gives the
Bengals their third win of the year. Two and Ozer
now in the AFC North. Jay Morrison wrote a good
piece for Sports Illustrated about Evan McPherson and his men's
small group group of guys from Crossroads that Evan goes

(01:58:48):
to church with and how they helped him through his
struggles last year. Really good stuff worth checking out. I
go to Crossroads, I know a few of those people
in that group, So really cool to see Evan McPherson
and kind of the comeback that he has had both
personally and professionally this year and was a huge part
obviously of last night and the way the Bengals got

(01:59:12):
that victory. Got a few minutes here, let's hear from
the victorious quarterback from last night, the Icy Hot Bowl,
the unction, the old fellas, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers getting
after it last night. I talked about it'd be fun
for it to be a track meet. Well, it kind
of was. It was Joe Flacco after the game.

Speaker 4 (01:59:29):
Man, it's a lot of fun, I'm you know, and
I mean, obviously it's a lot of fun towards the
end of the game when when you're getting ready to go.
But yeah, this is what we're do it for, is
games like that. It came down to the wire just
like we know it's going to and really really happy
about how the guys just kind of stayed with it

(01:59:51):
for full sixty minutes. And man, our offensive line was
going today. You know, we're running the football, protecting, you know,
doing a lot of things that we wanted to do.

Speaker 10 (02:00:02):
Joe, when they score there to take a lead, You've
been through a lot of situations two minutes plus, what
goes to your mind knowing.

Speaker 4 (02:00:09):
Yeah, listen, you gotta, you gotta. This is such an
emotional game. But like sometimes, especially as a quarterback, you
gotta take the emotions and and the want to of
like looking ahead at the results. You got to just
take that out of play and just go play football.
And you know, hey, we got Jamar on an out route,
Oh they're off of them. Just throw it, just simple,
the simple thing. It just goes back to the basics

(02:00:31):
and not worrying about the result in the moment, just
playing the play and getting our guys in position to
go win it tonight. It was a lot of fun.
But there's like, you know, you're still there's your mind's
not necessarily thinking that way for the full sixty minutes,

(02:00:51):
but obviously the last seven seconds, you know, or but
even that there's three seconds they got to hal marry off.
You're still you know, you've been through it. I've been
through enough of these to wait until that clockhead zero
to be excited.

Speaker 7 (02:01:05):
So but like it it.

Speaker 4 (02:01:08):
Listen, I love doing this. I've been doing it such
for such a long time. When you're out there with
the guys and you're and you're doing what you want
to do and you're having success, and you can look
at each other's eyes and just like you get that feeling,
uh you know, of you know, bonding with somebody else
and just it's a lot of fun. And it's a
lot more fun when that clockhead zero and you've gotten

(02:01:29):
the job done.

Speaker 30 (02:01:30):
Got here.

Speaker 31 (02:01:31):
Obviously you probably knew how good gimarchies because we're it's
from when fit in Cleveland and being a fan of
the game. But it is a game like tonight, when
you see what Tramar did and then what Tea was
able to do.

Speaker 5 (02:01:44):
Did that?

Speaker 31 (02:01:44):
Did that just open your eyes? Like these guys are
even better than I thought.

Speaker 4 (02:01:47):
Yeah, last week it opened my eyes just just with
the simple things, not not the fact that they went
for eight hundred yards obviously, but you could see it.

Speaker 21 (02:01:58):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (02:01:59):
And then today what I got to see was just
how a defense has to treat those guys and if
you don't treat them a certain way, they can hurt you.
And if you do treat them a certain way, well
maybe we have some other guys that can get the
job done. So you today, I think I got to
see just the problems.

Speaker 3 (02:02:13):
They create in general.

Speaker 4 (02:02:16):
Last week I said it earlier this week. Last week
we didn't do anything crazy, but you could see those
guys are different, and it's it's pretty cool.

Speaker 8 (02:02:24):
We got a throat.

Speaker 4 (02:02:27):
I mean to you tell me, I don't think so.
I don't think so.

Speaker 8 (02:02:33):
Well.

Speaker 4 (02:02:33):
We threw the ball forty seven times or probably dropped
back a couple more, and I mean I think he
ended up. I mean, look at the end of the
first half, we just out wrought out right, you know,
like it was. I don't think it was anything crazy,
pretty simple stuff underneath getting them one on one. So
we drew it up and it worked out.

Speaker 14 (02:02:56):
Like that.

Speaker 4 (02:02:57):
Yeah, well that really was kind of more of a
broken play. We just didn't line upright and it wasn't
really a true readoption, but I did. I've done a
few of those early, probably my first three years. I
did a few of those, like in certain situations, but
it's been a while and it kind of just happened.
It just happened. So I was like, all right, now,
how can I find somewhere to get down and you know,
not get taken out by one of these guys.

Speaker 8 (02:03:19):
A little bit?

Speaker 37 (02:03:20):
Yeah, kind of like your first question, that's right in
your nine or ten days here, when did you realize
that you could have this successful and offensive game like
this quickly?

Speaker 4 (02:03:32):
You're not thinking about it in that sense. I mean,
I think you're always like wanting to go do that.
But I think what being here in this situation has
done for me is it allows you to recalibrate and
not worry about those things. It allows you to just
focus on the basics, and it's a good reminder that
doing that is what leads to success in consistency. So

(02:03:53):
I think the bigger thing going forward is just continuing
to remind myself of that.

Speaker 2 (02:03:58):
I said, you had some issues with maybe as accent
when he was trying.

Speaker 4 (02:04:01):
To Yeahah, it's just like some of these words are
so new to me and when you don't get it,
Like I honestly felt like this week was probably a
little bit harder than last week, just because it's such
a short week. You're still putting in a full game plan.
You don't get to hear the play as much. So
there were certain things was like and I could picture everything,
but there's certain things with the formations and things like
that that you're hearing for the first couple of times,

(02:04:23):
and even though you've read the play a million times,
like when you hear it, it just wasn't hitting my
brain right. So there was there was a few of those,
and we were joking on the sideline like any time
that happened, and we broke the play and we broke
the huddle, and it was like, I don't know if
we're right here. I mean that play hit so like,
so we got lucky tonight in that sense, what did
you say? They played one on one? The safety didn't

(02:04:44):
really maybe he was cheating his way a little bit,
but not really, and I knew I had a conversion
to him, and it was a chance to basically end
the game. Hy I felt like they were kind of
playing back shoulders. So the one adjustment I made there
was maybe just throw it up a little bit more
and let him kind of bend into it if he
gets by him. And I think he got a good release,

(02:05:05):
so I could. I could kind of see that throw happening,
you know, as I was doing it.

Speaker 2 (02:05:08):
So you were here for that bulk of the four
game losing streat.

Speaker 18 (02:05:11):
Did you sense what this win meant the teammates had.

Speaker 8 (02:05:13):
Gone through that?

Speaker 4 (02:05:14):
Oh, for sure, that was an awesome sideline, an awesome
locker room after the game. But at the same time,
you got to give those guys with a lot of credit, Like,
it's not easy to lose four straight games and keep
your head into it. So the fact that they've been
able to do this and get to the point where
we got tonight and be a good football team is
also impressive.

Speaker 2 (02:05:29):
Joe Flacco is fun to listen to talk just a
true football guy, loves the game and is charismatic and honest.
It's just refreshing, that type of mentality and that type
of personality, and I've just been incredibly impressed by him.

(02:05:50):
And to see just the way he communicates with his
teammates and with the media and just being just a
genuine refreshing has been really fun to see and makes
you feel confident that the Bengals not only got a
quarterback that can operate their system but fits the style
and the culture and the communication and all the things

(02:06:13):
that Zach Taylor is looking for. Feels like they did
their homework, and while there may have been more talented
quarterbacks available, Flacco seems to be the right fit for
what the Bengals are trying to accomplish. And I thought
that that note at the end there about the teammates
and going through all that, I thought that was cool
and that was important. We'll finish things up with an

(02:06:34):
update on Joe Burrow what Ian Rappaport said about him
yesterday prior to the Bengals game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That's next. This is Friday Football Frenzy on ESPN fifteen
to thirty Cincinnati.

Speaker 16 (02:06:50):
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's sports station. It's time for Cincy
three sixty quick hits on ESPN fifteenth.

Speaker 2 (02:06:58):
They're looking for moll Mo's not here. Moe's off today
as he typically is during Fridays on the football season.
Mo getting set to travel out with the UC Bearcats
for their game up against Oklahoma State this weekend. Eight
o'clock tip from still Water. Looking forward to that Bearcats
last I looked twenty one to twenty one and a
half point favorites in that game and should be a

(02:07:22):
walk in the park for Scott Saderfield's bunch. At least.
I would expect that they're playing with some good rhythm
right now, and that offensive line is doing a great
job with Brendan Soresby and protecting him well. What about
the Bengals offensive line and their quarterback Joe Burrow and
protecting him well. Prior to last night's win over the Steelers,
Ian Rappaport joined Amazon on Primes or Amazon Primes or

(02:07:47):
Thursday Night Football on Prime's pregame coverage you get the point,
and provided an update on the Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

Speaker 42 (02:07:55):
Yeah, no doubt the biggest and most important question for
the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 7 (02:07:59):
Here's my understanding of where it stands for Joe Burrow.

Speaker 42 (02:08:02):
He is one month into a three month recovery for
Grade three turf dough head surgery. He is on track
doing while I've had no setbacks, which means if this
continues in this direction, he should be back on the
field mid December, and has told people close to him
he is absolutely intends to be back, just need the
team to stay alive until then.

Speaker 4 (02:08:23):
So there you go.

Speaker 2 (02:08:24):
There you have it. The first real update or report
on Joe Burrow comes from Ian Rappaport that Burrow is
planning to be back in mid December and is telling
people that he plans to be back in mid December,
and all right, let's ride. I'm down with that if
that's the move. And obviously the Bengals just have to

(02:08:47):
be able to have to be able to stay in it,
stay competitive and keep giving themselves a shot. And obviously,
if Joe Flacco performs the way that he did last night,
and if the defense starts to get things cleaned up,
and you expect the defense to be better against inferior
competition like the Jets and perhaps like the Bears, and

(02:09:10):
you expect the defense to be a little bit better
when Shamar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson are on the field
at the same time, then that you can start to
see a path. But don't let the win distract you
from the fact that they need better players. And if
they are serious about this, and there was an aggressive
move in going and acquiring Joe Flacco, they should continue
to be aggressive in acquiring players that help their defense immediately.

(02:09:35):
They there should be no difference in helping one unit
or helping another unit. They need better players. Now, if
you could tell me that the Bengals could trade for
Jeffrey Simmons right now from Tennessee, I'd be all about that.
Don't know if that's a realistic possibility, but they have
got to figure out a way to have linebackers that

(02:09:55):
can tackle edge rushers that can actually rush the passer,
rush rushed the passer, and safeties that aren't consistently out
of position like Geno Stone. They need help. Hopefully health
and continuity helps them. But if it's not been more
obvious than now, there's no depth on this team. So
at the bare minimum, you're gonna need some depth, and

(02:10:18):
hopefully the Bengals were able to figure that out. By
the way yesterday in Sports for some quick hits. The
Dodgers beat the Brewers to go up three games to
none in the American or in the National League Championship Series,
and it was the Mariners falling again to the Toronto
Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have even that series up

(02:10:40):
at two games a piece. Max Scherzer was unbelievable last
night for the Blue Jays. He was going absolute mad Max,
complete lunatic on the mouth last night in Seattle. That
series is evened up at two games a piece. James Franklin,
as you know, was fired, which means Kurt Signetti got
an extension from Indiana College Football News. Signetti signed an

(02:11:04):
eight year, ninety three million dollar extension. It is fully
guaranteed to keep him with the Indiana Hoosiers. How about
the NFL schedule this weekend? The other day we went
through the college slate. Well, there's another International Series game.
Oh my gosh, so tired of this. This is my
hot take. Maybe I'm a boomer, old man, get off

(02:11:26):
my lawn type of thing. I'm so tired of the
International Series, and I know it's going to continue to
get worse, and continue to get worse, and continue to
get worse. I get that, but nine to thirty am
every week, I don't think I love that. I love
football more than anybody. I'm not ready to say that
I love the International Series when it is as much
as it is already. Meanwhile, after that, that's nine thirty

(02:11:50):
Los Angeles at Jacksonville from Wembley Stadium in London. Then
it's the Saints at the Bears. At one o'clock, Dolphins
are at the Browns, Patriots at the Titans. That's the
Mike Vrabel Bowl. Titans, of course fired Brian Callahan, so
their first game without Brian Callahan. Oh, here comes Mike
Rabel and the New England Patriots. Patriots six and a

(02:12:11):
half point favorites in that game. Another big spread here
Los Angeles, or excuse me, Las Vegas at Kansas City.
The Chiefs, winners of three in a row, are twelve
and a half point favorites in that game. Philadelphia is
at Minnesota and Carolina is at the Jets. The Jets,
of course with the Bengals opponent next week, Carolina in
New York to take on the Jets. The Panthers are

(02:12:33):
favored by one and a half in that game. I
believe there's supposed to be some nasty wins in that
game as well. Meanwhile, four o'clock slates the Giants at
the Broncos Colts are in Los Angeles to take on
the Chargers. It'll be the Commanders at Dallas, Green Bay
at Arizona. Sunday Night football this week will be Atlanta

(02:12:54):
at San Francisco and then another Monday night doubleheader will
be Tampa at Detroit at seven pm and Houston at
Seattle at ten pm. So those are a couple of
good matchups right there. Two teams on a buy, Buffalo
and Baltimore. So that is your full NFL slate for

(02:13:14):
this weekend. All right, That pretty much sums it up.
That does it for me as far as I'm concerned.
Appreciate everybody listening this week and all the support that
I have gotten. And it's been fun to do this
for a week or so. And we'll see what happens
in the future. But yeah, just a lot going on
and excited for the Bengals who have turned things around

(02:13:39):
in a big way. Thank you so much for listening
to this episode. I guess of since E three to
sixty aka Friday Football Frenzy back at it again on Monday.
Until then, the Bengals pep Rally is coming up next,
from three to six this afternoon, right here on the
home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty

Speaker 40 (02:14:04):
P