Tony Pike's Cincy 360 -- 10/23/25

Tony and Austin break down Bengals/Jets, chat with John Sheeran and Chad Brendel, take your calls and TalkBacks, and more on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Tony Pike sincey three sixty about Cincinnati. From Cincinnati,
sponsored in part by Skyline Chili. Stop by Skyline Chili
for a three way or cheese cony today. Feeling good,
it's Skyline Time. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good afternoon, Happy Thursday, and welcome in to Cincy three
to sixty thanks to Skyline Chili. Anytime you're feeling good
and hungry, it's always Skyline time. But I didn't get
to ask you, Austin, did you finish? Did you complete
the babble headset? No? You did not.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
After our attempt at one time, that was this futile
I gave up.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, it's crazy how easy it was to get to Borough.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm thankful that Burrow was the first one. Yeah, but
I do have that one.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
I was going to try to get Higgins, but you know,
just didn't happen. Didn't happen all right?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, thanks to our friends at Skyline Chili. I can't
wait for next year. Thank you for listening in, and
we got a heck of a Thursday show ahead. Phone
lines will be open five one three seven, fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
I have an idea for Skyline Okay special Edition Joe
Flacco bobblehead Man, how quick can you get a printed?
Except instead of it's you know him right there, it's
just him. It's him sitting at the bar by himself,
eating a three way, eating a three way.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yep, boom, You're welcome. While immediately resonnated with so many
people by just a press conference yesterday. I don't know
if I've ever seen someone stardom shoot up so much
higher in the span of a day. It's ours.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Really, It's been cool to hear Ravens fans be like, yeah,
like we love this guy yep, and just to he's
just so genuine, so refreshing.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
It's been awesome. Yeah. It just to me, it just
seems like a dude who just appreciates an opportunity that
he has, that he's still getting to do what he loves.
And uh again, just people Joe cool. I think so
much about what makes him Joe cool is that he's
relatable to a lot of people, and uh man, yesterday

(02:07):
was awesome. We'll play some Joe Flacco audio from yesterday today.
We also have some Wes Miller audio about five minutes
of what Wes Miller had to say a big twelve
media day. We have John Shearon aight is E Sports
is going to join us at one o'clock this afternoon,
and uh so much more. We're gonna read and react
today to everything Bengals. What else is happening in the

(02:30):
sports world? NBA night too, last night Austin, NBA Night two,
Here come the Chicago bull Yeah. I mean that's out
of everything that happened last night, that's easily the lead Bulls.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
We'll talk about Luke and Cooper, flag wimb and all
these great young players. They can't hold a candle to
Matas Boozalis. How about that of the Chicago Bulls. Shout
out Matas. Yeah, shout out what he was able to
put together. Shout out to our guy Liam as well,
who apparently as a Pistons fan.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Good. Yeah, oh and one pal good. Shout out to
Liam man. Uh. There is a lot going on in
the NBA.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Victor Webbin Yama last night Austin forty points, fifteen rebounds,
no turnovers, three blocks. I think people forgot because he
was out last year. How dominant that dude is. I
also just want to say I appreciate that. I haven't
heard a lot of complaining from people that we've been
talking about the NBA. Yeah, how about that?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
And maybe that's just because they're appreciative because of what
happened a couple of weeks ago, so that they don't
want to complain. But I've also, like I've seen some
people in our mentions about the NBA. Yeah, we like
the NBA, absolutely, we like talking about the NBA. Uh
and we hope that maybe you'll give it a chance too.
Had put a couple wagers on your favorite team.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Had some debuts last night? Jock what was it? Jocks
of the night? Jos had some debuts last night. I
work on getting a sounder. My jock of the night
did not do well. Cooper flag Austin at one point
was one for nine in the game. He finished four
of thirteen ten points. He rocked up some rebounds, but
he even said about his debut not great. Vj Edgecomb

(04:12):
though he was great for the Philadelphia seventy six ers
thirty four in his debut coming off being Big twelve
Player of the Year at Baylor. Third most points by
an NBA player in his first game and the most
points in a first quarter by an NBA rookie. Did VJ. Edgecomb?

Speaker 3 (04:31):
I heard a crazy stat this morning about Brandon Jennings.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Do you remember him? I do?

Speaker 3 (04:35):
In his fifth career NBA game, he had fifty five points.
He never scored more than forty the rest of his career.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
So VJ.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Edgecomb's gotta keep it going, pal And then news broke today.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Oh boy. Other NBA news, Terry Rogier, Scary Terry as
he's known, has been arrested in gambling investigations. Also, Portland
Trailblazer head coach and former Detroit Piston Chauncey Billups also

(05:13):
arrested related to illegal sports betting for Terry Rozier and
rigged poker games backed by the mafia for Chauncey Billups.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
There's a lot going on with this man. There's like
special X ray poker tables and cheating technology that scanned cards,
and some guy at a separate location called the quarterback
and insider information and overlap. And some people are speculating
that Gilbert Arenas, who has busted for poker games not

(05:45):
that long ago, has apparently spilled the beans on everybody
to crack this case wide open. Oh I don't know
if that's true or not, but there are a lot
of moving parts right now. You when it comes to
the NBA, which continues to have a gambling problem, why
why is that? Why in today's sports, knowing what we've seen,

(06:08):
is it? Is it just a sickness that people can't
stay away from because you know that they're watching for
it now because you've seen others arrested for it. Sure,
it's definitely a sickness, like gambling is a legitimate addiction,
and it's a major issue. But I also think that
the league itself, the NBA, is probably not doing a

(06:30):
good enough job of helping out their players or their
teams or taking this as seriously as they need to
take it. Because the NFL, Yeah, there's been issues with
guys gambling, but it's never been them gambling on the NFL.
It's been them gambling on other stuff, you know, on
company property and stuff like that. Major League Baseball we

(06:52):
saw it obviously many years ago with Pete Rose. We've
seen it a little bit recently with those Guardians pitchers.
But I mean, you don't see this with the top
league in the world, in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Nope. Groundbreaking stuff in Major League Baseball as well Austin.
We've got new managers across baseball. On one end, the
Angels have a new manager. It's Kurt Suzuki, longtime Red's Killer, Curtins,
longtime Red's killer, not longtime contract with the Angels. He's

(07:26):
given a one year deal. First time manager has been
given a one year deal by the Angels. That is
their Austin sixth manager in eight seasons. Really weird. The
Angels are just a weird organization.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
They deserve credit because they were like the only organization
who was willing to let Shoheo Tani try to do
both when they came up, and has turned him into
what he is. But other than that, I mean, they're
just dealing with stuff constantly. Like the Tyler Skaggs case.
He was killed due.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
To the drug over and was apparently being facilitated by
a team trainer of the Angels. That case is still ongoing. Yeah,
Mike Trout just testified in that case like two days ago.
Like that organization's just in shamble. Suzuki said, I've been
playing on one year deals my whole career.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
It feels like so there's a series he was playing
with the Nationals. Honestly, it's early on in the season.
A couple of years ago might have been on the
Reds opened up with them. I can't remember. But Kurt Suzuki,
I feel like, was seven for twelve in that series
with like four homers.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Dude, own the Reds. Yeah. And then Austin, you get
this Tennessee volunteer coach Tony Vttello, how about this? Wins
the men's College World Series in twenty twenty four, now
makes the leap and as the manager of the San
Francisco Giants. It's the first time a big league team
has hired a manager directly from a college program without

(08:52):
any experience as a professional coach. I Austin, commend the
Giants for this. Sure, I've talked about this before. There
are too many times in sports it just feels like
guys are just recycled. Guy gets let go, He ends
up somewhere else, even though his track record but the
previous spot wasn't great, but he's been around it for
so long. Go get somebody new, Go get somebody fresh.

(09:13):
I like this approach from the Giants. I commend them.
What do you think about the Pro Bowl games moving
to Super Bowl Week.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Good makes sense, supposed to be that way. Yeah, all
the players generally end up traveling to the super Bowl
city anyways for their promotions and radio row and all that.
So if you can basically get it there and kill
two birds with one stone and make that a big
part of Super Bowl Week, I think that's a good thing.
I think the NFL do a good job marketing it.
My question is, now, what do you do in that

(09:41):
extra week leading up to the Super Bowl. How does
the NFL turn that weekend into a profitable weekend? Because
I can't imagine them just giving something up. They don't
want to ever give up weekends. They don't care about
college football. They're not going to give up a week
indo college football. Hell, they played some of their most
important games at the end of the year on Saturdays.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
They don't care.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
So to me, I'm curious to see how does the
NFL now turn this into a profitable week will Because
maybe it was that the Pro Bowl just nobody was
caring and nobody was watching, and if it's super Bowl Week,
you'll get more eyes on that and maybe it increases
the significance of it. But how do you turn it
into something else I think is interesting.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, Leonel Messi has been extended Withinner Miami. There was
a rus for f C Cincinnati. It was a conversation that,
you know, maybe when the contract was up, maybe he'd
go elsewhere, maybe he'd be done. He has now signed
a contract extension to stay at Inner Miami through the
end of the twenty twenty eight MLS season. So more

(10:42):
Messy in the MLS, yeah, and more hell is real
coming up on Monday for FC Cincinnati. Yeah. Wait, it
is going to be a phenomenal sports weekend here locally.
Bearcats are home, Bangles are home. FC Cincinnati is home.
Much in between all that, Nate Bargatzi's in town. Oh,

(11:02):
your guy Nate's in town. Are you going to go
see him? He's in town Saturday and Sunday. We're going
to go Sunday night to see him. Wow. So we
were looking forward to that. Yeah. I think tickets are
still available. Not with you though, Yeah, yeah, you know
the way the tickets are set up, right, Mo was
giving away this week on his show, I was giving
away Bargatzi tickets, So, uh that is that's cool as well. Uh,

(11:26):
Today I want to talk a little bit about what
Luayna Rumo's got working with the Indianapolis Colts, and look
at some other defensive moves that were made this offseason
for the Cincinnati Bengals. Speaking of the Bengals, will take
an update to look at playoff odds and where those
chances sit. As we do on Thursdays, we will read
and react. That's right, read and react. Yeah, what are

(11:49):
we are? We are we reading reacting to NFL or
we've been reacting to college football.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
We're reading and reacting to Bengals Jets there.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
It is as we always do, John Shearon at one o'clock,
whoever they play, Miller will play some of his audio.
We have the Joe Flacco audio and we will we'll
read and react to that as well.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Thursday Night Football Tonight, Thursday Night Football.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
Kind of snuck up on me. Who do you like?

Speaker 3 (12:11):
Vikings Chargers. I'm gonna go Chargers based just off the uniforms.
M they're going with their old school. It's like a
mix between old and new. It's their super Chargers alternates.
Which is that dark blue.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's not the it's not the the yellow that they
wore the other day.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
It's not those Savannah banana jerseys that they wore. It's
like the dark blue with more of a golden yellow
than their typical yellow. Okay, kind of think early two
thousands Ladanian Tomlinson Philip Rivers type of Chargers uniforms. That's
what they're gonna be wearing. I'm excited about those. I
think that looks cool. They got the alternate helmets and everything.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
You know.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
It actually makes me think I was, as you know, Tony,
I got this new iPad and what I do is
I just write down notes constantly, and I wrote down
the other we just a random thought and it was
a question, and I'm gonna ask that question to you now, Okay,
would Ladanian Tomlinson be as dominant today as he was
in the two thousands? Because Bjeon Robinson keeps getting compared

(13:13):
to Ladanian Tomlinson, and I think that's a good comparison.
Would he be as dominant now lt as he was
in the two thousands?

Speaker 2 (13:21):
I still think so. I mean, I think his game
transcends through time. I mean, I did he was so
good with the ball. In today's game, I think the
most effective guys are the one that can get the
ball and get it in space, and I think that's
the job of coordinators in today's game. It's weird with

(13:44):
Bjeon Austin because I wondered this all the time. There
are games that feels like he's targeted, and then there
are games that feels like he's an afterthought. Ladanian Tom
was always targeted, right, he was always the show. Yeah,
I think in the past game, I think his game
would translate well.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
What I thought was offensive line play. I don't know
that it's ever been worse than it is right now
in the NFL. Like there is very like the depth
of great linemen in the NFL, very very few. And
I feel like back then, running the football and that
being a run first team, that was what the NFL

(14:21):
was built on at the time. Sure the college game
was built on that, and I think that's why it
translated to the NFL so much, specifically with the development
of offensive linemen. But then I was thinking about it.
How many Charger offensive linemen from twenty years ago could
I name?

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Right? Not one, right?

Speaker 3 (14:37):
I still haven't thought of one. And I wrote this
down five days ago. I can't think of a single one,
which maybe just says how good Ladanian Thomas.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
It was. But it is interesting because I don't think
there's this is a tangent. I'm sorry, I've been thinking
about this for days.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Bijon is probably the closest player I've seen to LT
with that movement ability, pass game ability, and like the
game that they played on Sunday or Monday whatever, the
Sunday night game against the Niners, I mean, their whole
game plan was just throw it to Beijon in the
flat and let him make a dude miss yep like that.
If I played the Bengals and I was the Falcons,

(15:12):
that would be the game plan the entire time. Yes,
And that was kind of what the Steelers did at
the Bengals last Thursday. And I wonder, I mean, we'll
see what happens with Garrett Wilson, We'll see what happens
with Breece Hall. I wonder if it'll be a similar
game plan from the Jets on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
That See, that's what makes it interesting to me. With
when you talk about Tyrod Taylor or Justin Fields. Tyrod's
been around long enough, he's gonna take the checkdowns every
time they're there, almost annoyingly, like if Tyrod Taylor plays
I could see that being a game where like Brice
Hall has ten catches and they're all just checkdowns over

(15:46):
where he's sitting over the ball, defense dropped back. Brice
Hall leaks out, they drop it down to him and
he just gets easy yards. You're in that bend, but
don't break mold. I just that's my concern with Tyrod,
Whereas I feel like Justin Fields is still going to
hold onto the ball and try to make those bigger plays.
Tyrod's been around it long enough. He's going to get
the ball out of his hands, especially if he's a

(16:06):
little bit compromised. I would worry about Breese Hall in
the passing game. Let's take our first break. Our phone
lines are open five to one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. Football in the NATI is next on ESPN
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Now your chance to win Football in the NATI, brought
to you by Postman Law on ESPN fifteen thirty, the
official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
Welcome back, Cincy. Three to sixty. There it is thanks
to Skyline Chili. Thank you for listening on the Home
of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. I'm
looking right now going into week eight of the NFL
season here Austin, and we'll look at some of the
marquee games coming up this weekend. Playoff odds available right

(16:58):
now for the NA Any guess on your behalf where
the Bengals playoff odds sit as we sit today, I
wouldn't even know where to begin. Probably not very good.
Nineteen percent. Yeah, for what it's worth, twenty nine percent

(17:21):
is where the Baltimore Ravens sit. Lamar Jackson returned to
practice yesterday. Why and I'll pull up the schedule. It's
pretty easy. I know it's easy. What about what the
Ravens have done through this point. It's not like Lamar
has missed all of the year. What about what the

(17:43):
Ravens have done on defense? Has people still believing that
they can turn this thing around?

Speaker 3 (17:48):
I think the big thing is the schedule and the
offenses that they'll have to face. Miami is a complete
train wreck. Now, Chicago's obviously good offensively in our getting
better in the right direction. But Miami's a train wreck.
Minnesota's a train wreck, with or without Carson Wentz, Cleveland's
a training wreck. The Jets are a train wreck. The

(18:09):
Bengals okay, solid, the Steelers okay but not great, and
Green Bay.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
And New England, like.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
There's a couple of difficult offenses that they have to face,
and I feel like the sports books are betting on
the idea or most people however you want to describe it,
or whatever metric you want to use, are thinking, Okay,
the defense will get better over time, and with Lamar back,
that makes their defense better, and him in and of

(18:40):
himself as a multiple time MVP makes the the every
game viable for them.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, I just I'm not buying in at this point
to the Ravens. Now, for what it's worth, the teams
currently listed the AFC Austin with higher playoff chances than
the Bengals the Ravens, Texans, Jaguars, Chargers, Steelers, Broncos, Bills, Patriots, Chiefs, Colts,

(19:16):
any of those teams that you view the Bengals better
than right now?

Speaker 3 (19:21):
No, I mean we had this conversation the other day. No,
even the Texans.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Maybe better than the Texans, but their defense is good.
And I don't think Houston's going to get into the
playoffs just because of the way that their division works out,
but their defense is still really good. Yeah, one of
the best front sevens in football. Jacksonville.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
I'm still I'm not ready to give up on I've
been high on them, high a couple of weeks ago. Yeah,
I've been high on them. I'm not going to give
up on them yet. A young coach, young quarterback, a
lot of changes there. Still still not ready to give
up on them.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Team tams that have a greater than fifty percent chance
to make the playoffs Colts, Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Broncos, Steelers, Chargers, Jaguars.
Which of those is the most fraudulent Steelers Probably? I
think so too. Seventy two per chance right now for
the Pittsburgh Steelers to make the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
But they're also a team that if their front seven
plays well and Aaron Rodgers gets on a heater, they
could go on a run like Rogers. Still has that ability,
I believe, And if they continue to get Pat Fryermouth involved,
and if they find any semblance of a run game
like that can be a good team.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Offensively. Yeah, defensively, I can't believe how bad they are.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
They have question marks and Tarah Austin has never been
a good defensive coordinator. It's amazing he still has a job.
But you know, if TJ. Watt and Alex high Smith
and Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer and Cam Hayward, I mean,
that group right there, in and of itself should make
you a better football team.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah. Speaking of Deficus smoked on Sunday night. Though it'd
be nice, wouldn't it. Oh, Jordan Love goes nuclear. Speaking
of defenses, the Bengals in the off season, Austin move
on from Louena Roumo. I don't know if you've followed much.
Lowen Rumo's doing pretty good job with the Colts. Yeah.

(21:18):
There was an ESPN article today that kind of highlighted
what what teams did in the offseason and getting the
early returns. What do you make so far about what
you've seen from TJ. Slayton. He's been fine? How was
I thought he was going to be a bigger impact player?
Is it more demoral? I think he's been bad. Just

(21:40):
to clarify, I don't think he's been a bad player.
They are thirty first and EPA allowed in the NFL
against design runs. I mean Slayton was brought in to
stop the run. Sure, they also got two rookie linebackers. Yeah.
They also went and drafted Shamar Stewart, and I mean
he's missed most of the season. He has Hendrickson's not

(22:02):
a good run defender, and Chamar had I thought Shamar
had a golden opportunity on Thursday and did not show
up in the statue. Yeah, I mean I don't. And
it's too early to say that that that's a mispick.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
Him coming off of an ankle injury after not playing
for a few weeks. I didn't necessarily have high expectations
for him. Sure, I'm not expecting to go out and
have four TFLs and two sacks, but you would at
least at least like to see him have more of
an impact.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
One of the players that is actually having an impact
Joseph Osai nineteen pressures on the year, good for twelfth
in the National Football League. Gotta turned pressures into sacks. Yeah,
I mean that was the conversation around drafting Shamar Stewart.
You know, a lot of pressures, not a lot of
sack numbers. I think the Bengals problem is, and it's

(22:51):
what you just highlighted, Austin. You've got two rookie linebackers.
You've got TJ. Slayton, who assigned to stop the run.
Hendrickson has not been in Even when he's played, it's
not like he's playing ninety percent of the snaps. They've
not gotten much from Miles Murphy. They've not gotten much
from Shamar Stewart. Yeah, same old Steart. If Osaia is
getting the pressures, you would like that to mean that

(23:13):
the quarterback has to adjust and there's someone else there
to finish. The problem with the Bengals they don't have
multiple guys winning on every snap up front. One guy
might win. It's easy. I'm not gonna say it's easy.
It's easier for a quarterback to navigate that in the
NFL if you've got to move around just one guy.
The problem becomes if you've got to push up and

(23:34):
now there's pressure up the middle, or you push up
and spin out and there's another pressure waiting for you.
Far too many times, in my opinion, the Bengals have
that initial pressure where it needs to be, and then
there's just no secondary help. They can't find guys that
win multiple times on a play, and that puts them

(23:57):
in a tough situation. Now, Lawson tweeted last night, you
or him? I do.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
Carl Lawson tweeted back where it all started, praying hands emoji.
Oh so what I did is, of course, the former
Bengals draft pick out of Auburn. I went over to
the NFL transactions and I call him. Through all the workouts,
the tryouts, the visits. Carl Lawson nowhere to be found.

(24:23):
But he was okay last year with the Dallas Cowboys.
He said that he was thankful for the opportunity he
got in Dallas. He believes he's twice the player he
was even last year due to a healthy offseason. So
would you take a flyer on Carl Lawson?

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yes, take a flyer on anybody. I mean, based off
of the conversation we just had. I mean, it can't
be any worse. Can't be any worse. Carl Lawson last year,
according to Pro Football Focus, fifty nine point seventh grade. Okay, right,

(25:03):
kind of in the middle of the pack of defensive
ends in the NFL. It's probably not that much worse
than most of what the Bengals have. No, and if
it was him coming home, sign me up for it.
Bring him home. You'll be having those conversations.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
I do think the Cedric Johnson thing is is noteworthy
because he did play well towards the end of last
season him and Joseph said both and I would imagine
they'll Bengals would stick with Cedric Johnson over Cam Sample
because Cam Sample really just hasn't been the player I
expected him to be coming off of that. Butteller tendont
injury and hasn't. I don't know if he's gotten a

(25:37):
fair share of it of opportunities. But yeah, these are
the things we talked about a lot this week. Of continuing,
continuing to make your team better and improve the bottom
of your roster, you got to consider, you know, Cedric Johnson,
Carl Loss and those type of guys.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
Depth is a major conversation in the National Football League.
As we talked about yesterday, something that everyone's talking about
from yesterday, what Joe Flacco had to say when we
come back, Let's get the Joe Flacco audio and let's
react to that as well. ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Thanks to our friends at Skyline Chili.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
You've been listening to football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN
fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Welcome back. It is since he three sixty our number one,
that's right, ESPN fifteen thirty. That's the home of the Bengals.
You still say it's sixty. Say whatever we want, Lets
go with it. I'll tell you who's speaking in a
way that I think a lot of us can appreciate

(26:56):
is what Joe Flacco had to say yesterday. And not
just a comment that we're going to get to about,
you know, getting out to dinner and being able to
sit by yourself and kind of collect your thoughts, but
what he had to say from his press conference yesterday Austin,
I believe what do we have six or seven minutes
of Joe Flacco from yesterday? Yeah, we got a few
minutes of Joe Flacco. Let's dive into some Joe Flacco

(27:18):
speaking to members of the media yesterday.

Speaker 6 (27:20):
Yeah, for sure, it was nice to have a little
like to be able to breathe a little bit this weekend,
and you know, it feels like I was we were
just out in the practice field and it feels like,
you know, I've barely been there it, so, yeah, it's
good to kind of get back in the normal rhythm
of a Monday, Tuesday and now actually going out there
in the practice field on Wednesday field and prepared with

(27:42):
a normal week.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
You feel like you're operating the way you want to.

Speaker 7 (27:46):
You know you're not going to get a full training camp,
but how do you feel like you're out there?

Speaker 6 (27:49):
Yes, I mean so far, still learning and trying to
pick up everything, and you know, just play as fast
and as smooth as I can and using just the
same I'm going to try to keep my process the same,
you know, and use these walkthroughs and the practices to
get used to calling it and seeing it, and you know,

(28:11):
just try to keep keep it at a basic level
and keep going from there.

Speaker 8 (28:17):
So much focused kill you getting accustomed to your weapons,
running backs obviously, the wide receivers.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
What about the offensive line, what side.

Speaker 8 (28:27):
You know, getting use to them, playing in front of them,
and life.

Speaker 9 (28:32):
Well, it's been great.

Speaker 6 (28:33):
I mean, I think you can tell that those guys
are a hard work, hard working group. And I think
the biggest thing is for those guys to get comfortable.

Speaker 10 (28:39):
With each other.

Speaker 6 (28:40):
And now, you know, the way you get good at
playing with each other is just trust, you know, trust
between everybody trust that they're going to do their job.
They have the trust that I'm going to do my
job and get the ball out and and you know, no,
you know, maybe know when we're getting the ball out
in quick game, know when we're maybe dropping a little
bit deeper. I think as long as they'rebody can do

(29:00):
that and trust each other to do their job and
not try to get cute and make up for something
here and make up for something there, you know, then
we'll grow together and be happy with it.

Speaker 11 (29:11):
Hey, you guys avoid the obligatory letdown game that comes
after a mini by facing a winless team. How do
you guys keep the moments and going on offense from
what you had in Vintsburgh.

Speaker 6 (29:23):
Just go out and take every day by itself, prepare
Wednesday like you always do, Thursday like you always do Friday,
and then ultimately win the football game. A lot of
that stuff is just talk, and you know, you don't
have to answer it unless you don't go out there.
You know, unless you don't go you go out there
and don't play well. So it's simple. You can't worry

(29:45):
about what the result is at any point, but definitely
not on Wednesday. He's got to go out there and
prepare and then on Sunday, same thing. You got to
go play each play and you know, just keep getting
up and doing the same thing over and over again,
having the best play that you can possibly have in
that moment. The results come when you when you're able

(30:06):
to be in the moment and focus on the task
at hand.

Speaker 8 (30:08):
So your offensive line, have you had a chance to
kind of weapop with the Orlando and just a kind
of shaking heads and saying, well, here we are, And yeah,
I've been able to have that moment yet or.

Speaker 6 (30:20):
A little bit, Yeah, because he's very willing to come
up to me and talk about certain things like that
and just kind of ask me how it's been going
in Cincinnati and yeah, So like I think he's probably
driven that conversation, but we've been able to talk a
little bit about it.

Speaker 12 (30:35):
You mentioned one of the game has struggled for the
most part this year before you got here suddenly starting
to click a little bit. And do you think what
you've done in the past game has opened up the
run game or the one game open up some things
for you Thursday.

Speaker 6 (30:45):
Night, the past game, it's tough to say it's it's
one game. I do think the run game early on
in that, Like, I think initially the run game did
spark us that little that thirty yard run we had,
and that was our first scoring drive, I believe, and
then and the next one we came out and have
another little chunk run. Anytime that you can, you know,
get some of those games in the running game, it's

(31:08):
going to help your offense out a lot. So I
think in Thursday's case, the run game definitely helped us out.
But we just got to, you know, like I said,
we got to just continue to work at it and
have faith that you know, we're getting better, and you know,
one game doesn't necessarily indicate what the next is going
to be. And and just like I said before about

(31:29):
you know, the process of it all, I don't think
we can really worry about that. I think we just
got to continue to work on getting better and trust
that we're doing the right things and then on Sundays
it'll show up.

Speaker 13 (31:39):
Is the biggest way a quarterback can help a run game,
un to think of it that way, but the other way,
beyond you obviously talking and running again in that way,
you know, what are the biggest ways quarterbacks can help
keep a running game efficient.

Speaker 6 (31:53):
Well complete passes when you get the opportunity to do it,
you know, stay ahead of the stakes, you know, of
the sticks, you know, first, first and second down, especially
first down. When you have easy completions and and you
can keep your helpself ahead of the sticks, then it
gives you the chance to be multiple and and not
you know, be kind of forced into being one dimensional

(32:17):
because you weren't able to do what you were supposed
to do on early downs. I think that's probably the
biggest thing. Other than that, maybe I would say just
the just the operation of it all, gett into the
line of scrimmage, snapping the ball, having good rhythm with that.

Speaker 10 (32:30):
This is obviously a very unique situation where you have
to leave your home and income here the way you did.
How are you navigating a dad?

Speaker 6 (32:40):
Well, the good thing I guess, I guess you could
say is that I was in Cleveland by myself, you know,
my family was in New Jersey. We decided to do
that this year because last year we decided to do
it the other way, and this year we just said, hey,
let's keep the kids in their routine, and you know,
see how that goes and there's been a challenge.

Speaker 14 (33:00):
Just with that.

Speaker 10 (33:02):
You know.

Speaker 6 (33:02):
I love being there and around them and doing all
those things. But at the same time, like they get
in their routine and they're having a lot of fun
back at home, and early on in the season they
came out to Cleveland and they're gonna come out to
this week's game. And I think there's always a challenge

(33:23):
of sitting in a room by yourself and being lonely.
So for me, it's trying to find ways to maybe
stay over here a little bit longer, and then you know,
just kind of take myself out of that mindset, call home,
go sit at a restaurant by myself and realize that, man,
that's pretty enjoyable to do, you know.

Speaker 10 (33:43):
After there's not.

Speaker 6 (33:45):
Too many situations I tell you, I tell people all
the time. I used to see guys sitting at a
bar by themselves, or you know, just sitting by themselves,
eating and grabbing a little meal, and like, man, I
feel so bad for that guy. You almost want to
go join them. And now I realize, like that dude
was in heaven and and and not to say that
that's that's obviously not what I want. I'd rather I'd

(34:08):
rather be at home sitting at the dinner table with
my kids and hearing what the hell they were talking
about all day. Uh, but there are but but if
but if you have to do it, then you might
as well take advantage of it.

Speaker 9 (34:18):
So, you know, just little things like that.

Speaker 15 (34:20):
Or Cincinnati and is starting to see you at restaurants
and take pictures and say hello.

Speaker 9 (34:27):
I guess so maybe a little bit.

Speaker 16 (34:28):
I try to get there early.

Speaker 6 (34:30):
You know, I'll go eat the four thirty dinner and
and and and beat and and beat everybody up, beat
everybody out, out of work and out of the house.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
So all right, so that is uh so much good
stuff from Flacco. Let's start with what the end there.
It's such a relatable thing, and I I really do
think relatable because Austin, I know you tweeted out about
it and and something that you actually will do to
to go sit somewhere, watch football, have a couple of drinks,

(34:57):
eat and and at times not have to say anything. Yeah,
you know, there's something in this line of work as well.
My wife would probably totally disagree if she's listening right now.
But there are times like when you get done talking
for three straight hours on the radio. Sometimes I just
want to go home and be quiet, and sometimes that
can get like construed as are you upset or you
in a bad mood or like no, sometimes you know,

(35:19):
just sitting in your silence is a good thing. Yeah,
And you know for Flacco, because I used to think
the same thing, man, what's that? What's that person? Known
by themselves? Why are they eating by themselves? And now
you see that? Or now even if I have a
chance to do that, it's like and this is kind
of nice right now. And he did a good job
because he he went back and you know, if he

(35:41):
had the choice, he'd obviously love to be with his family.
But to make the most of a situation and be
able to sit in silence sometimes is something that I
think a lot of people relate to.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Yeah, and I think a lot of people understand, like
part of what he was trying to say is to
alleviate the loneliness of the ice you might feel just
going out in public and being in that environment, even
if you're not with somebody else, can still be really enjoyable.
To your point, though about after you get done talking

(36:12):
for three hours a day. So, like my schedule normally
as I do this, and then I go produce another
show for another three hours, And so I'm constantly listening
to the radio, and I'm listening for if something's going wrong,
if there's silence, if there's a word, if I'm hearing
myself talk or you talk, or other people talk. I'm
constantly monitoring that. And so my drive home every afternoon

(36:37):
is complete silence. It's the best thing in the world
to just have that complete silence. But yeah, man, I
mean like this past weekend, I went out to a
local establishment that's my favorite wing place in Cincinnati to
watch the Ohio State game. And I was just had
a couple of beverages, had twelve wings, just watched football,

(36:58):
didn't really interact with anybody on me. It was so nice,
but also alleviates that, you know, loneliness that I feel
from you know, doing and living alone and all that. Yeah,
So that sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
It's where it's just a like people all the time
are like, what else do you listen to? And I'm like, honestly,
I don't listen to a ton I When I'm done
with this, I'd like the quiet. I like listen In
the morning, I listened to Mo in the afternoons usually
if I'm on my way home or doing it, I'm
out and about. But outside of that, I don't mind
the silence. And that's different for me because I used

(37:30):
to be one that like always has to be going,
always has to be active. You learn as you get
older to appreciate the silence too. Yeah, and I thought,
I think that's I think that's why that resonates from
what Joe Flacco said and why it's blown up the
way it has.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
It's also like fun for me again, just looking from
our perspective on all of this thing is like I
can't tell you how many times I'll come home and
I'll sit down on the couch or lay down under
whatever and have my phone or my iPad or whatever.
I don't even turn a TV on. Yeah that's crazy.
I don't Or if I do, I'll mute it. It'll
be on in the background and I'll just like if

(38:05):
I'll look up or whatever. Yeah, you know, there's I
appreciate how genuine and refreshing and open Joe Flacco is. Yeah,
and I do think you know, a lot of people
want to immediately want to start talking about Joe Burrow
because everybody thinks that this has to be a comparison.
First of all, comparison is a thief of joy. Second

(38:25):
of all, is it not a good thing for Joe
Burrow to have an older, wiser, veteran quarterback around, right,
somebody that has been there and seen it and has
lived the life both the life that Burrow's living right
now in an entirely different life over the course of
his twenty plus years. It seems like in the NFL,

(38:45):
like everybody wants to say, oh, there's a quarterback controversy.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
No there's not.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
Or this guy's such a better person than Joe Burrow.
No he's not. They're different personalities. They can both be
good for each other and ultimately good for the football team.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
Right, if Joe wanted to do it, I would do
everything I can to have him back next year. He's
a backup, I agree. I mean, just what a perfect
role that would be if he wants to continue on there.
There are some other things he said too that I
thought are are interesting. He talked about the process of
still learning. He used the term the process a lot.
What's different about Flacco than I think a lot of
other quarterbacks. Austin it doesn't have to be like a

(39:21):
normal live practice for him to be getting better, just
normal walkthrough stuff where he can just get a play
call in his ear and talk that play call through
in the huddle. Yeah, like that's hard for him. He's
still learning that he's seen everything else, so just the
process of learning working on his calls. And then he
mentioned one of his biggest things, play fast. Even if

(39:44):
that's dumbing it down, even if that's simplifying things, We've
talked about them before on the show. There's something to
be said about playing fast and not over complicating things.
Jamar Chase is really good, te Higgins is really good.
Your running back's good. Don't over complicated, simplify it and
go play fast. I thought it was interesting.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
Earlier this week they I guess Joe had previously talked
about getting the play call in from Zach and like
certain F and X and other parts of the play
call sounding familiar due to Zach's accent. I never knew
Zach had an accent, right, but apparently he does. And
those little things they called an Oklahoma accent. This is

(40:27):
the first I've ever heard of that. Yeah, is that
what thing?

Speaker 2 (40:29):
But when he was talking about the other day, I'm like, man,
those letters do sound like.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
I had never heard of that. You know that that
little stuff is interesting, those little intricacies of how you're
learning a playbook and spitting it back out or I'm fascinated.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
By that stuff. I also think his his comment about
you know why why the running game success, It's also
something we talk about a lot. Staying ahead of the sticks,
you know, finding ways to get in second manageable, third
manageable where they've run is just as much an option
as the pass gives you an opportunity to succeed. Jets
defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes Austin said of Jamar Chase, a

(41:06):
potential Hall of Famer. Let's get there and work our
way down. Also said on Joe Flacco that you could
pretty much put him in Canton as well.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Okay, I don't know about that, but also sure.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Also, Jets will likely be without Sauce Gardner for this game, okay,
but linebacker Quincy Williams should be back.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Well, Sauce needs to take as much time as possible.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
Take your time, be healthy, come back for enjoy homecoming,
maybe on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
Yeah, play a long career. He could yeah, I would
imagine the Jets would be here by that time. I mean,
come on in, if he travels with the team, you
don't have to worry about playing on Sunday. Yeah, relax.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Can he play for the Bearcats against the number one
against the number one passing attack in the country. He
might need him healthy enough to do that. Great question.

Speaker 3 (41:55):
Yeah, man, Joe Flacco forty seven thousand yards in the
NFL in sixty four touchdown nuts, super Bowl champ, Super
Bowl MVP, Comeback Player of the Year. I don't know
that he's a Hall of Famer. Forty seven thousand yards,
that's insane. That's twenty six miles. He's thrown twenty six

(42:18):
miles of passes. That's pretty good. Let's take a break.
We'll finish up hour one.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
Next. John Shearon from Ada his Esports will join us
at one o'clock. We have talkbacks when we get to
our number three. We've got some West Miller audio, we've
got read and React, and we've got your phone calls
as well. Five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty
on the whole of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 9 (42:43):
What's going on in Baseball.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Getting ESPN fifteen thirty from iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Welcome back since he three sixteen, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station, Skyline, Chile. Anytime you're feeling good and hungry,
It's Skyline at the time. From the Pro Football Hall
of Fame, Austin. Following a second reduction vote of candidates

(43:16):
in the seniors category, thirty four former players remain under
consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of
twenty twenty six. Out of those thirty four, Isaac Curtis
Leap and Lamar Parrish and Ken Anderson all move on.
Oh wonderful, so they are in to at least the

(43:37):
round of thirty four. It was hogwash earlier this week
when they went down to the fifty disgusting for the
modern era and the only Bengal candidate was Willie Anderson.
It is nonsensical that Geno Adkins did not get at
least past that fifty two. Now, I didn't expect Gino
to be a first ballot Hall of Fame. I don't

(43:57):
know that anybody did.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
But some disrespect from Geno Atkins is it's a bunch
of hogwashes.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
What it is I saw this floating around earlier because
we always asked the question, like, you know, if you
could bring back one player to today's team, who would
it be? And there are so many Bengals of the
past that would make sense. I don't know how you
could ever go against just bringing back a guy like
Anthony Munhos to a team. I think there's something about

(44:24):
this year's team where you could make the argument that
if you could bring back one, it would be Geno Atkins.
Oh yeah, no doubt. I mean, based on how we
talked about this team and their inability up front to
do much right now, he might be at the top
of the list.

Speaker 3 (44:40):
Pass rush from the middle of the defensive line, yep,
would change this.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
Defense, especially with Trey Hendrickson and the pressure rate we
just talked about earlier with Joseph Oosai. Who would be
some others on your top of your list? Munyo's obviously, Yeah,
I mean that's a good one.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
If I could bottle up twenty or two thousand and five,
Odell Thurman on the team, Okay, sideline to sideline linebacker
at with that guy was a beast.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
I thought Logan Wilson was a sideline a sideline guy.
Who was a couple of years ago. Can I get
twenty twenty one Logan Wilson. I'd take him the Rocks, Yeah,
I mean if we just replaced him. I'm trying to
think of some other.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
I mean obviously Ken Riley, Yeah at corner, if you
were to pair him with DJ Turner right now.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
Yeah, the way Turner Turner's playing. Yeah, I don't think
anyone on the offensive side of them thinking all defense. Yep.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
Maybe Jesse Bates maybe, Yeah, Jesse Bates would be a
good one. Tyler Eifert from twenty fifteen would be a
fun one.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
With offensively, Yeah, I think we forget how good that
dude was. Health man, yep, just the health Uh. John
Shearon eight is e Sports standing by to join us
when we return on this the Home of the Bengals,
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 17 (45:57):
Cincinnati to make us the number one pre set on
your car ready and on the free new and improved
iHeartRadio ad Free never sounded so good, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
This is Jeff for tri statementy.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
Pike Cincy three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati, Sponsoredman Park
by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts all Cincy all day. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Shout out to the folks at Cincy Shirts. Welcome to
our number two, Cincy three sixty. Thank you for joining us.
Your talkback's coming up in just a few moments. We'll
still talk some Wes Miller and UC basketball later on
in hour number three, we'll read and react. We'll look
ahead to the college and NFL slate coming up starting
tonight at the NFL level as well. But before we

(46:44):
do any of that, let's go to our guy from
ada Z Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals. John Sharon is
with us. What's up, John, Hey, Tony, good to talk
to you again, man, Always always good to talk to you. John.
Before I even talk to you about the Cincinnati Bengals,
how about the Cincinnati Barricks. Are you buying what the
Bearcats are putting together right now? And are you buying
the Bearcats as Big twelve contenders?

Speaker 18 (47:06):
I really don't want to, but I also really really
want to. So you know what, I'm just gonna I'm
just gonna let go.

Speaker 10 (47:12):
I'm gonna let go. I'm gonna let them hurt me again.

Speaker 18 (47:14):
You know I've put off these walls they're tearing down
right now.

Speaker 10 (47:18):
I'm just I'm just going with it.

Speaker 18 (47:20):
We'll see what they do against Utah and a coup
in I guess a week or so. Yeah, I'm just like,
let's just ride out.

Speaker 10 (47:27):
Let's just see what happens.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Take care of business against a very talented offense on Saturday,
and uh and see what happens on the road in
Utah against a good squad. We know what happened last Thursday,
Bengals pick up a win against the Steelers. Joe Flacca
was amazing. He is now the darling based on his
press conference from yesterday, where it feels like so many
people can relate to what Joe Flacco was talking about

(47:48):
as it relates to the field. John, where did you
see the ability for Joe Flacco to have as much
success as he did.

Speaker 18 (47:55):
I think the more time on TAC that he had
in practice his receivers, the better the timing was. And
I just think it's so impressive how quickly he was
able to get the ball out of his hands, but
also to be able to push the ball down the
field and hit some of those windows and some of
those in breaking routes to either Jamar Chase or t Higgins,
So the offensive line looked better because the ball was

(48:16):
getting out quicker, but also he.

Speaker 10 (48:18):
Knew where to go with the ball.

Speaker 18 (48:20):
And I think that's just what the Bengals had envisioned
with bringing in a new quarterback instead of Drake Jake grinding,
someone who played on time and just you didn't have
to be he doesn't have to be completely accurate, didn't.

Speaker 10 (48:30):
Have to have Joe Burrow type accuracy.

Speaker 18 (48:31):
To make this offense work, but recognizing when he's got
when the receivers have inside leverage and knowing that you
know those windows are going to open up in a
fraction of a second, and getting the ball out and
just still putting it on, you know, on other guy's hands,
like they're some of the best hands catchers in the NFL.
So it's just it's all about just making sure that
you're into on time and in rhythm, and that's just

(48:52):
how you.

Speaker 10 (48:52):
Had that success.

Speaker 18 (48:53):
And obviously, you know, the Steelers did him a favor
by just spamming man coverage over and over again and
just not really adjusting in.

Speaker 10 (48:58):
That regard, and that's kind of how that day happened.

Speaker 18 (49:00):
But I was very impressed by how well he played
on time and in rhythm throughout the entire game. That's
just what allowed the consistencyccesps to keep lowing.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
You mentioned the Steelers playing man coverage. I was surprised.
Not only that, but when you think about a team
playing man, you think that they're committing more to the
box to stop the run. And yet Chase Brown ran
for nine point eight yards of carry. They ran it
as a team for six point two yards per carry.
Anything that you can point to as to why they
were all of a sudden able to find success on
the ground.

Speaker 18 (49:28):
I think the blocking was just better. I think they
found some concepts with Flatko under center, because obviously the
Bengals run game was Burrow. It's been mostly in the
pistol around the shotgun because he doesn't have.

Speaker 10 (49:40):
As much comfort you under center.

Speaker 18 (49:41):
But Joe Flacko, obviously he's played a long time, He's
been around that scheme a while, and I think he
finds some comfort in it, and they can kind of
marry the pass and run game a little bit coming
out from that formation. And you know, they were able
to kind of stretch steel It out a little bit
horizontally and I think Donal Ryther had a good game
walking next to round A Brownd and that opens up
some holes for Chase Brown. So you know the Steelers,

(50:03):
we talked about it with Austin last week. They're really
aggressive and how they defend the run. Sometimes they can
get a little bit over aggressive, and I think the
Bengals just found a nice rhythm and flow with some
of the concepts that they had under center.

Speaker 10 (50:12):
And that's what led to that success.

Speaker 18 (50:14):
It didn't really matter where in the game it was,
or the Bengals were up, or if they were trailing
or anything like that.

Speaker 10 (50:19):
I think walking was just better.

Speaker 3 (50:20):
You mentioned Dalton Risner. Zach Taylor has not announced or
won't announced exactly who his starting guards are going to be.
Do you expect there to be a short leash for
those guys and the Bengals kind of keep rolling through
whoever they feel like is playing good at the moment.

Speaker 15 (50:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 18 (50:35):
I was a bit surprised that Riisner got to start
last week, considering that Fairchild he seemed to be practicing.

Speaker 10 (50:41):
And able to play, he was active.

Speaker 18 (50:43):
I think it was more just the fact that it
was a short week and Fairchild was coming off that
knee injury and maybe they didn't think they had enough
time to actually practice enough to play. But then Riiser,
you know, even natural left guard, that's where he's played
ninety percent of his snaps, and I think he looked
better and there compared to right guard in some of
the first couple weeks where he was starting. I would
imagine that fairy child is going to take that spot

(51:04):
back now that he's fully healthy, just because I don't
think he was playing bad enough to warrant being benched,
and I think they value Risener just being the guy
that can fill in either spot in a pinch if
some guy gets hurt. I'm really interested to see in
the least.

Speaker 10 (51:18):
With Jannon Rivers.

Speaker 18 (51:19):
I think that's a case where they really liked what
he did in preseason, and then the first chance that
they felt like he deserved in the regular season in
Week four, that he got that chance, and I don't
think they wanted to take him out until maybe something
drastic happens.

Speaker 10 (51:33):
But I would imagine that we're.

Speaker 18 (51:34):
Going to see both rookies out there this week when
they're both healthy, and maybe it's just about giving Rivers
a little bit more time to see if he can
kind of stabilize himself, and if not, then that's where
you have Lucas Patrick or Dalton Riisers to fill into
that spot.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
One other thing on the offense, and then I'll switch
it over the defensive side of the ball. You mentioned
Joe Flacco and the ability to go under center in
the running game. We've seen this now from different sample sizes.
When Jake Browning took over years ago, they did found
some success, find some success in the running game, and
a lot of it was drawn to the under center run.
I know that Joe Burrow doesn't want to get under

(52:09):
center much. You watch what he did at LSU. They
were rarely ever under center. When it comes down to
Zach's scheme versus what Joe Burrow wants to do. How
did those conversations eventually go, Because I wonder if if
Zach has tried to do more under center, and you
speculate as if Joe doesn't want to do that and
just wants to stay and gun, or how do you

(52:30):
think that dynamic works or needs to adapt when Joe
Burrow is healthy to find success in the running game.

Speaker 18 (52:37):
Still, you know Zach Taylor, We knew that he came
from the seaw mcbaby coaching tree, and that entire offense
is just based off of being under center and just
having blu legs and playofttacking wide zone.

Speaker 10 (52:50):
And we saw that the first year that Taylor was
here in twenty.

Speaker 18 (52:53):
Eighteen with Amy Baldon, and we knew that the offense,
like you said that Burrow was coming from with Joe Brady,
it didn't really feature in that and try to maximize
the strengths of that offense with its receivers in the
passing game and the ability for Burrow to examine the
defense from the gun, to never turn his back from
what the defense is showing him, and to know where

(53:14):
the ball is supposed to go at all times, which
is how he can operate behind a bad offensive line
and he can just still have an efficient day out
there even without a reliable running game, because it is
hard to find a reliable running game when you're never.

Speaker 10 (53:26):
Under center, right.

Speaker 18 (53:27):
So that's always been the weird thing that they've tried
to balance. And I think Taylor in his offense is
in a scheme, has really adjusted to what Burrow does well.
But it is hard to sustain that success over years
and years because eventually defenses are going to be able
to pick up on it, and it's just easier to
defend because there's not as much the diversity.

Speaker 10 (53:45):
It's a lot more predictable to defend against.

Speaker 18 (53:47):
So I think the conversations has always been how can
they maximize Burrow because he's the most valuable person in
that building and they want to make sure that he
plays it as best and he's in a scheme that
maximizes that. But it's always been a weird thing to
balance in terms of trying to do what is best
for just you know, countering what defenses are doing to you.

Speaker 10 (54:05):
But also making sure that you're not.

Speaker 18 (54:06):
Putting him in a position where he's not like at
his best. So I think when we see sometimes when
different quarterbacks are in there and they have different strengths,
sometimes we see different aspects of the offense, and that's
kind of what we're seeing right now.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
How do you characterize what's going on the defensive side
of the ball right now? We have talked for weeks
now John about at times Logan Wilson's snap count cam
Taylor britt is now a healthy scratch. It feels like
at points there they're going to the young guys. They're
giving them as many opportunities as possible, yet at the
same time guys are being held accountable. But Gino Stone
is still playing a lot and he struggled at times.

(54:39):
So how do you categorize what you're seeing on the
defensive side of the ball as a whole. With Al Golden, I.

Speaker 18 (54:45):
Don't think it's too dissimilar to when lu Narumo first
took over. After you know, the coaching change there, we remember,
like obviously what happeneding Carlo has done that right, Like
that was a guy that was phased out, someone who
is well respected in the locker room, and unfortunately, you
know'sf diference of what the defense the new defensive coordinators
fall in him.

Speaker 10 (55:03):
I think that's kind of what we're seeing.

Speaker 18 (55:04):
A little bit with Al Golden and Logan Wilson and
some other guys as well.

Speaker 10 (55:08):
It came to the rec could be another example as well,
even though he was benched obviously by the.

Speaker 18 (55:11):
Previous if that's the coordinator, so again it's it is
still surprising to see what is happening with Wilson, But
I think that's just the reality that they're accepting and
they deemed that Bear Carters is better in that role,
and I think in general the defense is still really
trying to find himself and just really they're capitalizing on
the times when they do find the ball, and like

(55:32):
their best games have been when they can capitalize on
turnovers and when they can, you know, really make the
most of those opportunities. It is still a matter of
trying to find consistency in terms of getting stops when
they need to.

Speaker 10 (55:44):
That's what they did against Pittsburgh at the end of.

Speaker 18 (55:46):
The day and at the end of that game, and
that's how they're able to get their offensive chance to
kind of win them at the end. But yeah, it's
still I think, very much of a work in progress
of figuring out which players are best there. And with
Gina stone it is tough to put a new safety
in there and try to make sure that the communication is,
you know what, the same as it is. So, you know,

(56:07):
I think Stone Neat still needs to just prove it
himself and be more consistent.

Speaker 10 (56:11):
But it meant something that.

Speaker 18 (56:12):
He was he's still here and that they brought him
back and retained it even just by the.

Speaker 2 (56:16):
Pay cut, I do wonder, you know, I saw there's
the back and forth this week about preparing for Tyrod
Taylor or preparing for Justin Fields. I know that's difficult,
and you can speak to maybe what that challenge presents
itself for the Bengals and not really knowing who's going
to be the quarterback. But against a team like the
Jets who are struggling in the passing game, could you

(56:36):
make the point that maybe now would be a good
opportunity to give someone else an opportunity if if it's
not the most elite passing game you're going to go
against on Sunday.

Speaker 18 (56:45):
I think the counter actually makes a lot more sense
if you. I mean, obviously there's respect.

Speaker 10 (56:50):
For everybody that you go against, right, and I don't think.

Speaker 18 (56:52):
The Bengals can afford to look anybody in the eyes
and say we don't respect you.

Speaker 10 (56:56):
And this is going to be easy, right.

Speaker 18 (56:57):
I think when you're facing a team clearly struggling and
is trying to find answers, that's a good time to
really test the guys that need to prove themselves, like, hey,
like this is an opportunity for you to really shine
because admittedly, like this should be a game.

Speaker 10 (57:13):
That you should do well against.

Speaker 18 (57:15):
And I think when it comes to Geno Stone and
other guys who have a lot to prove. This is
the time for them to really show why they should
still be on the field. And I think even like
last year when the defense really ended things on a
high note, in those final five or six games, they
did not go against the best offenses or the best quarterbacks,
but you saw their abilities really show themselves in those opportunities.

(57:35):
Because sometimes in the NFL, when parody is king and
everything like that, there's still, you know, massive disadvantages that
your opponents may have to deal with. And I think
that could be a case this week where you really
give some of those guys a chance to just just
play their hearts out and play above what they've been
doing so because that should be the expectation against teams
like the Jets who are winless.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
We saw the Bengals struggle to get any type of
pass rush with Al Trey Hendrickson on Thursday. I expect
him to be on a bit of a pitch count
against the Jets. How can they do a better job
of getting passed rush? Should Al Golden blitz More when
Trey Hendrickson is not on the field, or just blitz
More in general to try to speed up the quarterback.

Speaker 10 (58:15):
It's tough.

Speaker 18 (58:16):
I feel like these kinds of questions are always to
ask in the middle of the soon, and the answer
is that some of these problems needed to be solved
in March and April, where they just don't have like
the bodies that can, just like it is hard to
scheme pass rush when you don't have guys who can
like they should be in avotated situations anyways, because it's

(58:37):
a lot easier being a defensive lineman than an offensive lineman.

Speaker 10 (58:39):
That's just an inherent advantage in.

Speaker 18 (58:41):
Today's games, despite how clickly the ball is getting out
of your hands, and if you don't have guys in
the building who can just win one on one as
pass rushers, there's not much you can do schematically as
a coach to get around that. You can try games
and stunts and blitzes and twists all you want, but
teams can also adapt to that, and if you just
don't win in a quick man or if you don't
have the guys who can do that, it is really

(59:02):
tough in order to do that. So that's why it
still comes down to the players actually performing up to
their draft status, and that's still not quite what we've
seen from the most part of of the likes of
Miles Murphy and Schmarsti and everything. And there's still time
for those guys to continue flashing and turning those slashes
into consistency. But that's why we're not really seeing it,
and it's just not that much that the coaches can do.

Speaker 2 (59:23):
We are a couple weeks away now from the deadline
fore or trade deadline in the NFL. The Bengals obviously
sit at three and four, but a winnable game on Sunday,
I think the Bears is going to be an interesting matchup.
What do you need to see over the next two weeks,
and if you see enough over the next two are
you buying at the deadline?

Speaker 18 (59:42):
If you're the Bengals' on the Bengals, I would always
be trying to make proactive moves. It's just not what
I quite expect them to do. I think they're only
their definition of proactive is, Oh, a travesty happened in
terms of an injury.

Speaker 10 (59:56):
And we need to find a quick solution to that.
I think that you can equip.

Speaker 18 (01:00:00):
To what happened with Joe Plato, right I think when
the opportunity arises when they can offload a player that
is no longer a value to them for a player
that they could find value. We talked about Billy Price
for bj Hill, right, that could be what they look at,
and maybe a potential Logan Wilson type trade.

Speaker 5 (01:00:15):
Right.

Speaker 18 (01:00:16):
I think those opportunities are always there and they're always looking,
But I don't know if I'm really looking for anything
in the next two weeks in terms of like, yes,
they need, they.

Speaker 10 (01:00:24):
Absolutely need to be buying here.

Speaker 18 (01:00:26):
I think if they find ways to win without a
reliable pass rush, that's still something that I would like
to see, but we've yet to really seen them explore
that position in terms.

Speaker 10 (01:00:36):
Of these deals.

Speaker 18 (01:00:37):
But yes, finding additional pass rush, whether it be on
the edge or the interior, that should be somewhat of
a priority, just to see, just to test the waters,
to see if there's anything out there that they can get,
because I think still this defense needs to take that
next step and just finding a better pass rush. But
other than that, I'm not really expecting much in terms
of them buying regardless of the next two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Ago, John, You're the absolute best man. It's so good
to catch up with you and look forward to doing
it again next week. What's the easiest way to follow
along with everything you got going on with your coverage
of the Bengals.

Speaker 18 (01:01:05):
Absolutely a sports dot Com, backslash, Cincinnati Eies Sports Cincinnati
on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, wherever you get your short form
video content.

Speaker 10 (01:01:12):
We're all over the place.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
Love it, John, Thanks you, John, appreciate you. Man. Go
bear Cats as well. Cat. Let's go, all right, we
need to get the talkbacks. Yeah, sorry that long pause there,
I uh my microphone on my uh headphones unplugged. You
did that yourself? Yeah, accidentally pulled them. Yeah, I've done that,

(01:01:36):
pulled the chair out, and it's a plan. It's a
panic because it goes from just complete silence. Yeah, like
I did. I don't know if John was still talking.
I don't know if you said something. So there's just
awkward silence. Done that, You're like, all right, we're gonna
get the talkbacks. Uh next, even though I had no
idea what was said in the last four seconds. Those

(01:01:57):
are next. Thanks to our friends at Cincy Shirts, thank
you for listen. Neil The Home of the Bengals ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 4 (01:02:03):
Now your chance to win up bouts, Go and grab
your phone and record a message.

Speaker 14 (01:02:09):
Just hit that microphone.

Speaker 19 (01:02:11):
Please keep it clean and nope mean and those spreakael
sprinkle drip drip drips.

Speaker 14 (01:02:18):
It's up Tispert topbacks.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
It's stuck. Favorite party since three sixty.

Speaker 20 (01:02:25):
Austin Buddy, play those talkbacks on your screen and please
drive now to sabotage it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:31):
It's it's so good, it's refreshing. It almost has a
holiday type jingle to it as well. Yeah, that's what
I think that when I think of like the holidays,
much like Joe Flacco. It's a breath of fresh air.
It really is. Yeah, thanks to our friends at Sincy shirts.
Uh these are talkbacks.

Speaker 21 (01:02:50):
Shout out to you two Gee's big pimping there at
the Kinwoods Studios and shout out to the fifth but
Warriors En. If you do short Army Audi, we can
get you a leading show or a drive home show
Actor mo Egger, we can call it since the four
twenty we sponsored by your local dispentary.

Speaker 2 (01:03:11):
Okay, what do you make of the We mentioned the
fist pump yesterday? I use the term alligator arms to
kind of just because you described the Oh you're pimping
fist pump. Why No, it's a bump, not a pump.
Why does no one who's different? Why wouldn't you want
to extend on a fist pump? I don't know. I

(01:03:32):
don't know why that person does. I feel like the
best fist pumps are those where both are extended.

Speaker 3 (01:03:36):
Yeah, and you extend out at the same time, Matt,
it feels like you're sharing a connection. Yes, it's a
moment if I've got to reach like Crew far in
awkward basically gotta put my hand in your pop losing balance.

Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
Man.

Speaker 19 (01:03:48):
I do feel bad for Joe Flacco, just sitting here
thinking about him missing his family and his children, and hell,
he just made the entire Pittsburgh Steelers secondary his step
chill an last Thursday and then day up and leave
town too.

Speaker 22 (01:04:03):
It's just just sad.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
Feel back that guy. Yep, step children.

Speaker 23 (01:04:09):
Hey Tony, Hey Austin, Jeff, and you Richmond. Happy Thursday, guys,
hope you've had a great week so far. Tony, welcome
back to the radio. It's awesome to have you. I
am really excited about the Bearcat scheme this weekend. Tony,
I'm excited to see you get inducted into the Hall
of Fame and finally I might be coming around on

(01:04:34):
the Scott Saturday an apology.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
He's doing it. Yep. Wow, cold day in health. It's
apology season. Whold day in health. Yes, it's apology season.

Speaker 15 (01:04:46):
Hey, thank you for the kind words yesterday, Evan from Evandale.

Speaker 10 (01:04:51):
What a nice sentiment.

Speaker 16 (01:04:54):
Can't we all just get along?

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
Unfortunately not in today's world.

Speaker 24 (01:04:59):
Yeah, Tony, I loved the Marshall story yesterday. I put
a smile on my face. Man, you you want to
keep a receipt longer than ninety minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
I know you know.

Speaker 24 (01:05:10):
I'm sixty one. I'm running out of time. You still
got time. You can be a full flat adult. Let's
scout out to wem beIN Yamba and edge Combe.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 24 (01:05:21):
I think Jimmy Clausen was a great quarterback in the
eighth grade.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
He probably was nasty and he had to be, had
to be. But yeah, hey, I normally keep her septs just.

Speaker 7 (01:05:33):
Hey, ton I wanted to mention to you yesterday. You
know I've lived in my house for twenty three years
with no issues. And the day that Jenna and Roman
move across the street. My car is stolen.

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
What's going on? Is Jimmy back in town?

Speaker 5 (01:05:46):
See you?

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
The Voice cut? His car stolen? Can I just can
I tell a story real quick? We're putting we got
a little brotherhood work. Let me tell you this. So
uh before today's show, I was at, unfortunately a funeral
a good, good family friend of ours, Abbie Morgan, who
lost her dad, Richard Morgan, who a lot of people
know here in the city, especially if you're reading or Cincinnati,

(01:06:07):
and a terrible loss. She lost her mother recently as well.
We had a funeral earlier today for her. And Abby
has been so awesome to our family that my sister,
like Abby lives like two blocks over from where my
parents live, and we did that benefit for Roman to
get Roman and my sister somewhere where they can deep

(01:06:29):
clean and keep somewhere that's kind of like a place
for themselves, so she can keep it clean, sanitary and
not rely on what everyone else is tracking in. And
so she is now renting Abby's parents place. So awesome
of Abby to help make that happen. But it happens
to be right across the street from the Voice. The

(01:06:51):
voice has lived in his place for twenty three years,
has never had any problems. The day that Jenna and
the Pikes started moving stuff in his car was stolen
from his driveway.

Speaker 3 (01:07:05):
I don't mean to laugh because I've experienced it myself
and it sucks.

Speaker 2 (01:07:10):
There's nothing worse, but he said, from for twenty three years,
nothing and on the day the Pikes came into the
neighborhood stolen and I loved it. First thing, let's leave
a talkback. He was there this morning. He said, I
hope you know I'm leaving a talkback because the riff
raft that's coming into the neighborhood can't stand. That's fantastic.

Speaker 25 (01:07:32):
I just one thing on the Bengals too. They just
talked about Ted Carris. Obviously he's a great dude. He
comes from a great line, great people. I mean, besides
the fact, I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:07:43):
Know what he's talking about. He left his talkback yesterday too.
I'm just not gonna play it. I don't know what
he's talking about. Later on in the in the talkback,
I just.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
One thing on the left it again. Listen, he's still
with his mom.

Speaker 3 (01:08:05):
But he left it three times. According to this all right,
We're gonna.

Speaker 9 (01:08:08):
Keep moving, Gary del High.

Speaker 26 (01:08:10):
Hey, shout out to Joe Flacca with one of the
best Bengals quotes of all time.

Speaker 27 (01:08:16):
Uh.

Speaker 26 (01:08:16):
On a side note, I meant the Core earlier, but
a couple of weeks ago, I tuned in late and
I thought, what was Austin telling Tony's eulogy? I thought
he died. I didn't hear the first part of the show.
I had to go on Twitter and find out he
was still alive. But anyway, welcome back, Tony, back from
the dead. I guess great to have you back on
the show.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
I clarified you did about halfway through. I clarified halfways.
Have you ever seen We're six alive?

Speaker 10 (01:08:41):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:08:42):
Never mind.

Speaker 28 (01:08:44):
Hey, good afternoon, fellows, run Wisconsin to say, I'm glad
to hear Tony Springfield Pike is back on the air.

Speaker 2 (01:08:54):
Wow.

Speaker 9 (01:08:55):
Love listening to you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:08:58):
And uh go Springfield Pike. I like that one too.

Speaker 29 (01:09:02):
Okay, Hey guys, Hey, anyways, keep my name out your mouth.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
Or I'll pour a bottle down that throat. Be Ah.

Speaker 30 (01:09:19):
I don't know what that means either, Tony Austin Shotty Austin,
did you say a couple of days ago that like
they should let their kid have a choice.

Speaker 10 (01:09:27):
Of what team they root for.

Speaker 2 (01:09:29):
Man, you really aren't a Bengals fan.

Speaker 31 (01:09:31):
Some days you gotta just ruin that kid's life and
make him a Bengals man. Come on, Columbus three to
sixty as a finess. That's why they took the football
away from you, Austin. That's why Tony's now Tony pist
three sixty. Tony can force all his kids to be
Bengal fans. To be miserable, you won't.

Speaker 3 (01:09:50):
Wilder's gonna play in the NFL. There is gonna play
for a different team.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
Have you seen this clip going around about the Jets
fan who's like a teenager. No, so he's going into
the game and he's essentially asked, like, you know, why
are you a Jets fan? He said, I have to be,
He said, I've been one my whole life, even though
I hate this team. They make me sad, they make
me miserable, but I'll always be a fan. And I'm like, man,

(01:10:14):
that hits different. I think I get that. I think
you should allow like give your kids. Again, I'm not
a parent, so what most people have already stopped listening,
give your kids a chance to choose between well run organization. Yeah,
like we let Wilder decide the Eagles the Packers. You

(01:10:36):
know some team that is well run, highly functional. My
wife's a Buckeye fan. I'm a bear Cat. I said, Wilder,
you could pick whoever you want. He despises the Buckeyes.

Speaker 3 (01:10:47):
Okay, and for that reason, he's going to spend a
lot of time in the fall, you know, just trying
to do the math on how he can get into
the college football playoffs at six to seven wins.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
Math is mad. I'm in the coffee.

Speaker 32 (01:11:00):
Shop, so I'm trying to whisper the best I can.
You know, I'm reading about Socrates and trying to understand
the meaning of life. I understand my spot in the world,
and just goes with the NBA. What's going on today
and all these crazy charges against these athletes and gambling.
Tony Pike, I know you were a college athlete when
all of it was offshore gambling. Did you have any
experiences with people asking you to throw a certain amount
of passes and no prop becks and everything weren't as

(01:11:21):
big twy, not one hundred years ago but fifteen or
if you had any experience people asking you about plays.

Speaker 3 (01:11:27):
You don't have to answer this. I don't you should.
I would at least wait until you're officially in the hall.
Should I recuse myself before you answer this question?

Speaker 33 (01:11:36):
That new chicken chili from Skyline looks foul?

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
Well you're oh, I get it. Foul like fowl nice.
It's awesome play on words. We love those.

Speaker 26 (01:11:50):
If this is a double please go ahead and delete me.

Speaker 34 (01:11:53):
I'm just trying to figure out why the Bengals seem
to never give up on players that.

Speaker 10 (01:11:56):
Have never shown anything on the field.

Speaker 21 (01:11:59):
Yet they're put a guy like cam Tiller Britt in
the doghouse and seemingly not working on his confidence or
his abilities at all.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
And he's shown it on the field.

Speaker 22 (01:12:07):
And I know DJ Turner is good.

Speaker 35 (01:12:08):
Bugs with him and he's getting him to watch film
with him and trying to keep him motivated.

Speaker 10 (01:12:12):
But the kit coverage team.

Speaker 26 (01:12:15):
Really, why are we giving up on the guy he's
at least shown up before.

Speaker 2 (01:12:18):
Special teams aren't important.

Speaker 3 (01:12:20):
I would say there's probably something more to the story
that we don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:23):
I would agree.

Speaker 14 (01:12:25):
Hello, this is former President Ronan Regain.

Speaker 26 (01:12:28):
I'm just sitting here at Skyline in Florence eating a
wonderful lunch alone.

Speaker 2 (01:12:35):
Mister President, mister President, leave me alone, Leave me alone.

Speaker 19 (01:12:42):
Man, man, somebody go check on Logan Wilson because that
was nasty work by John to compare him to Billy Price.

Speaker 2 (01:12:50):
I thought, I'm having a rough day man, Billy Price.
Good people. Oh no, you know who just went in
the Ohio State Hall of Fame, Billy.

Speaker 16 (01:12:57):
Price, Donny Audie.

Speaker 30 (01:12:59):
What up?

Speaker 34 (01:12:59):
It's a great interview with my man, John Sheer, and
I literally just had him on my podcast yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:13:06):
Everybody should be.

Speaker 34 (01:13:07):
Following him at a disease sports With that being said,
like he was talking about with this past rush, I
don't know what you do. The only thing that we
can hope for is maybe Shamar Stewart is the pass
rusher we drafted him to be.

Speaker 2 (01:13:28):
Yeah, I think there's obviously still time with Shamar, Like
I don't think anyone's hitting the panic button yet, But
you want to see some production here at some point.

Speaker 28 (01:13:40):
Yes, Seth and Siems Township. Last week was the best
week of my life. It's back to normal now. Everything's
back to same old, same old Boston. I met my
second wife at the Oval office. My third wife is

(01:14:02):
from Wisconsin Dolls. But anyways, talk to you later.

Speaker 36 (01:14:08):
Thanks. Thanks, Hey Tony, it's old man grumpy, old up Austin.
Hello to Tony. I don't know what in the world
have happened these last couple of weeks, but it was
sad when you left, and I'm certainly pleased at your back.

Speaker 37 (01:14:22):
Austin.

Speaker 36 (01:14:23):
This is the week Friday Night Piqua gets its revenge
against the Yellow Jackets. For all the nonsense you've been
talking for years, go in.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
Yeah, whoa story for you?

Speaker 16 (01:14:36):
WHOA?

Speaker 3 (01:14:38):
I was in high school. We were really bad. I've
told this before. We lost twenty straight games, and one
of those twenty was a loss at the hands of
the pickw Indians, which are our big rival. We are
not their rival, but they are our rival. It's a
little man center, but they put up seventy five on us.

(01:14:59):
They could if they wanted to Friday Night score one
hundred against Sydney. I'm whatever the Pickwood team total over is,
take it because they are going to beat Sidney to
a pulp.

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
What was the when the twenty game streak was ended? Yeah?
What was the what was the aftermath?

Speaker 10 (01:15:16):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:15:17):
Oh man, it was legit like this. I know this
is gonna sound ridiculous. It was one of the best
days of my life. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:15:23):
I couldn't even play though I had a broken arm.
But Andre Spillers kicked the game winning field goal in
overtime on the roads to uh the Custodian. We called
him the Custodian, Andre Spillers, and uh he cleaned up
the mess and uh put us back into w column.
And then we beat belle Fountain next week, so we

(01:15:43):
go from I thought it was Bellefonte, not even close
bell Fountain. We'd lost twenty straight and then rebounded with
back to back. Yeah, you better watch out here come
the Jackets finished four and eight after that or whatever?

Speaker 9 (01:15:57):
What about twenty thirteen?

Speaker 2 (01:15:58):
Vontees perfect? Get him back to the Bengals. I still
think I'm a Godell Thurman over him.

Speaker 10 (01:16:04):
It's a good one, Tony. I top in Virginia.

Speaker 16 (01:16:08):
Really great to have you all together.

Speaker 2 (01:16:09):
Got a question, Tony that I've.

Speaker 10 (01:16:11):
Never thought i'd ask.

Speaker 2 (01:16:12):
Okay, is Brandon soarsby a Hasman candidate? This is legit.
This is for real boys playing out of his mind.

Speaker 10 (01:16:19):
Love to hear your take. Thanks guys, go cat.

Speaker 3 (01:16:25):
I think who's the favorite to win the Heisman right now,
let me pull up the current Heisman odds. Because it's
not Jeremiah Love and it's not Arch Manning. It shouldn't be.
Julian saying, not yet right now, Ty Simpson, Oh, the
kids from Alabama. Fernando Mendoza, all right, who's he played for?

(01:16:45):
He's the Indiana quarterback? Okay, Julian saying his third.

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
Oh, Diego Pavia interesting is currently fourth. Okay, let me
see if they even have They have Gunner Stockton listed
as fifth. I think if you're going to put all
those guys on the list, you can at least put
Sorsby on. Sworsby right now is plus ten thousand, Okay,
Sprinkle sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, drip drip. Hey, Mike an Independence.

Speaker 38 (01:17:12):
I know, earlier in the show, you guys talking about
Baltimore's chances of making the playoffs, and I don't think
Lamar is gonna be playing this week. I know he's
taken reps at practice, but I think they're you know,
second string reps, not with the first team.

Speaker 23 (01:17:26):
From what I understand, it could be wrong on that.

Speaker 38 (01:17:29):
And then mister Pip, you're a fifth bump guy, doesn't
he listen to the show? Sure he figured out by
now you are talking about them during the last two
shows listen.

Speaker 2 (01:17:40):
He definitely does not listen. There's there's not a guarantee
that even if you work in this, So there are
some people that may work here that don't even know
this shows on from noon to three.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
Yeah, I mean there is what just yesterday, somebody thought
that we go on at twelve oh six. They thought
we had the same clocks as the other stations. We don't, yep,
So which might just be beautiful peak into our world.

Speaker 15 (01:18:02):
Tony Austin, Why is nobody noting that Shamar Steward is.

Speaker 2 (01:18:10):
Coming off an injury?

Speaker 15 (01:18:11):
I said that, you know, maybe he just wasn't able
to really go on and maybe he can be that
past rush disruption we need. I kind of think he's
got that in him.

Speaker 2 (01:18:26):
For sure, He's got that dog. Ian puts your ears on,
big boy, you think he's got that dog? Said that already.
Shamar Stewart on the season less tackles than Jamar Chase.
For sure, he has two tackles on the year.

Speaker 9 (01:18:42):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:18:42):
Now, he's only played in three games, so I get
that that he doesn't has not had a lot of opportunities. Correct,
it was our last one. Let me see some more,
give me a little bit more. Let's look at what's
coming up on the weekend ahead, College and NFL coming
up next. He SPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station with.

Speaker 27 (01:19:01):
Dave Lapham's enshrinement into the Bengals Ring of Honor. We
pay tribute to the life of lap presented by Skyline.

Speaker 2 (01:19:08):
Feeling good against Skyline Time. Now Here's Dan and d Lap.

Speaker 39 (01:19:13):
You were the starting left guard in the Bengals first
Super Bowl appearance. Describe running out of the tunnel to
face the forty nine.

Speaker 9 (01:19:20):
Ers that day in Detroit.

Speaker 40 (01:19:21):
Man, I don't think my feet at the ground one time. Really,
it was such a surreal experience. I mean, put me
on cloud nine. I was definitely on cloud nine, maybe
ninety nine. It was amazing. Thing I remember most about
that year, not that family wasn't a big part of
the football, in playing football, They obviously really were excited

(01:19:43):
about watching me play at whatever level it was high school,
college or NFL.

Speaker 9 (01:19:47):
But to play in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 40 (01:19:49):
And I remember my grandfather saying, I cannot believe and
I'm watching a grandson of mine play in the Super
Bowl in the National Football League?

Speaker 9 (01:19:57):
What is going on?

Speaker 27 (01:19:58):
For more on the life laugh keep it here on
ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:20:06):
At Genesis Diamonds. We tell you the inside secrets.

Speaker 1 (01:20:09):
This is Football in the NATI, brought to you by
bug Light on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:20:20):
Yeah, welcome back. Football in the NATI is right thanks
to Cincy Shirts as well. Whatever type of football you're
wanting to watch this weekend, college, NFL or football with
FC Cincinnati, you can go to Cinci Shirts and they
can get you fitted for everything you need for game day.
Visit Cincishirts dot com or head to the Loveland or
Fort Mitchell location and get yourself fitted up for game day.

(01:20:43):
Now do it now. College and NFL Slate coming up.
We mentioned Thursday Night Football Tonight Austin. As you look
through a week eight schedule in the National Football League,
any specific games stand out to you, Like is Buffalo?
Are people at all worried about Buffalo at four and two?

Speaker 3 (01:21:06):
I think Buffalo fans are worried about their offense. I
don't know league wide that anyone's really worried about them. Yeah,
back to back of trust that they'll figure it out.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
I mean that their wins, they put up forty one, thirty,
thirty one and thirty one back to back losses, scoring
twenty and fourteen. They do go to Carolina and take
on the upstart four and three Carolina Panthers this weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:21:25):
Andy Dalton lead Panthers can't be out for a smidge
due to a high ankle sprain. But outside of that,
I mean, obviously the big one is Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
I want to see Aaron Rodgers up against the Packers.
Packers have changed. They're now going to wear their all
white uniforms because of too much yellow on the field
because of the Steelers wearing their throwbacks with the yellow helmets.

(01:21:46):
Outside of that, though, I really am not that interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:21:50):
Commander's Chiefs loses a little bit because Daniels is out.

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
Jayden Daniels isn't playing. To me, it's it's how does
Baltimore look against Chicago, And obviously, looking ahead of the
Bengals playing Chicago next week, how those two teams face enough.

Speaker 2 (01:22:03):
I'm looking about that game more about Chicago than Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (01:22:06):
Yeah, well, okay, fair enough. Yeah, Baltimore is still six
and a half point favorites, which I'm still confused by.
But it does look like Lamar's coming back. And then
Giants for real? Okay, they are going into Philadelphia against
the Eagles, who aren't great right now. They do this
every year. They go through this low where they're trying

(01:22:26):
to figure it out and then they get hot towards
the end of the season. So can Jackson Dart rebound
from costing his team the game last week? And can
they go into Philly and win? And if they do,
I think the NFC East becomes a lot more interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:22:40):
When does maction start? Is that soon? I think it already?

Speaker 14 (01:22:44):
Did?

Speaker 5 (01:22:44):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:22:45):
Really? Okay? The RedHawks take on Western Michigan at Yager
Stadium on Saturday. I know there's a bunch of Tuesday games. Yes,
there's a lot going on. Does UCLA keep this ride?
Do they keep things close against Indiana?

Speaker 10 (01:22:58):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:22:59):
Twenty five and a half is comfortable? No, Old Miss
Oklahoma feels like a playoff elimination game. Would you agree?
It would be both teams second loss in the SEC?

Speaker 3 (01:23:08):
Are we surprised that Oklahoma is favored by five and
a half.

Speaker 2 (01:23:11):
Yes, that is surprising to me. A lot of buzz
Austin as a playoff contender outside of that power grouping
South Florida. I think this is a tricky one for him.
They're only four and a half point road favorites, but
they head into Memphis. If South Florida takes care of
business against Memphis, I don't know if they lose the

(01:23:34):
rest of the way. I think this is their toughest
remaining game. South Florida's good. I mean, they are a talented,
talented team. That's a game of note. Remember how much
buzz South Carolina had to start the year. That's all gone.
They're one and four in the SEC. And remember how
much negativity was around the Alabama football program. All of

(01:23:55):
a sudden four and zero in the SEC. Fourth ranked
team in the country, Missouri travels to Vanderbilt. I would
say I would say that as well. Austin as an
elimination game for the playoffs, both teams with one loss
fifteen Verse number ten BYU, the eleventh ranked team in
the nation and undefeated in the Big Twelve, goes to

(01:24:16):
Iowa State. B yu's got back to back road trips
at Iowa State at Texas Tech. That's a tough stretch
right there. Wisconsin team total seven and a half travels
to Aughtson Stadium to take on Oregon. That's a thirty
one and a half point number. Texas A and M

(01:24:36):
and LSU another big one over the weekend. Texas A
and M is a favorite. That's the third ranked Texas
A and M team in the country. If LSU loses this,
austin validitally Brian Kelly might lose his job, I hope.
So yeah, I want to start rooting for LSU again.
I can't do it with him at the Helm. The
Louisville coming off a win over number two Miami host

(01:24:57):
Boston College, Michigan Michigan State, Kentucky welcomes Tennessee to the
Commonwealth as well, and UH Arizona State rounding out the
top twenty five slate host six and one Houston, Ohio
State gotta buy this week they do? Okay, what's their
remaining schedule? U Penn State, But yeah, that loses a

(01:25:21):
little bit of luster. Yeah, it's not quite the same.

Speaker 10 (01:25:24):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:25:24):
And then I don't Purdue. You see game focused, one
game at a time, getting ready for the Nitney Lions
and yeah, all that sort who's coaching them now? Knowles,
I don't know what a fall from grace that guy's had.

Speaker 3 (01:25:42):
I'll be honest, like I outside of like a little
bit of Ohio State and paying attention to you see,
I feel very disconnected to the rest of college football.
Like I've obviously been watching the Big Twelve because of
the NFL Ohio State a little bit. Yeah, I mean
I've been I've been down in the NFL. But all right,
college football it's tough for me because there's it's tough

(01:26:08):
to follow because I don't know any of the players
anymore because they jump around everywhere and the SEC every
team is the exact same, so you never know what's
going to happen on a week to week basis, which
is entertaining at the very least. But like there's more
the regular season feels less important.

Speaker 2 (01:26:28):
Yeah, there's more parody, but I think there's validity to
what the voice said yesterday when he called in about Xavier.
So he was listening in the car the other day
and baskets were being made and he's listening to Byron
and Joe and didn't know if the basket was made
by Xavier or the other team. Like it's hard to
follow now, Yeah, it's it's a lot different in today's

(01:26:48):
day and age of college athletics.

Speaker 3 (01:26:50):
And not every school has like a dedicated beat reporter
that is there every day and can make it easy
to at least in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (01:27:03):
I don't know, phyllbe, I'm wrong. Let's uh, let's finish
up our number two. When we come back. We'll close
the door on hour two. We've got west Miller audio.
An hour three, we've got some read and react to
our number three, and we've got your phone calls five one, three, seven,
fifteen thirty. All still ahead on this the Thursday edition
of since E three sixty on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:27:23):
You've been listening to Football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 37 (01:27:34):
Still us here every show at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:27:45):
NA A strong one.

Speaker 9 (01:27:46):
I gotta have some fun tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:27:50):
This welcome back, finishing up our number two since the
three sixty Home of the Bengals ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station. We'll grab some phone calls in our number
three five, one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. How
about this, Austin, I saw this. Kirk Kurbstreet was talking
about this just a few moments ago. Veteran SEC official

(01:28:11):
Ken Williamson has been permanently suspended from officiating conference games.
The decision to remove the longtime referee comes in the
immediate wake of an SEC review of eleven complaints against
Williamson and his crew during the Auburn Georgia game earlier
this month. Nine of those complaints were validated. This is
something Austin we've not seen much of, Kirk Krbstreet said,

(01:28:34):
I can't remember seeing something like this happening in the
middle of the season. It's an eye opener and interested
to see what this leads to.

Speaker 5 (01:28:41):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:28:41):
We've talked for years about the accountability for officials. Like
the officials, I've always thought for years they should have
to ask answer questions after games, just like players and
coaches should.

Speaker 3 (01:28:56):
Well, they do talk to the pool report, right, at
least in the NFL they do. I don't know if
they do that in college football.

Speaker 2 (01:29:02):
It's rare. I do think that this happens.

Speaker 3 (01:29:06):
It's rare that we hear about it now, a full
fledged suspension where a guy just stops working. Maybe not,
maybe we don't hear about that, or maybe that doesn't
happen as frequently. But I mean, I know that they're scolded,
I know that they're graded, I know that they're talked
to about their performances. It must have been pretty egregious
to do this. That was my thought. I also wonder too,

(01:29:29):
in the light of everything that's happening in the NBA
right now, you have to be on top of this, yep,
with your officials, even if they're not doing anything bad,
you cannot create the image that this person may or
may not be connected to gambling.

Speaker 2 (01:29:45):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (01:29:46):
That was part of the deal you signed up with
when you got into bed with these companies, is that
everybody's going to have to be cleaned up. And even
if what's his name, Ken Williamson, Yes, even if he's
not involved in gambling whatsoever. If you even show the
perception that you're so bad at your job that that
conversation starts popping up, you got to get rid of that.

Speaker 2 (01:30:08):
Yeah. That was a game at one point that Auburn
led ten to nothing, eventually lost the game twenty to
ten eleven penalties for one hundred and three yards were
called on Auburn. In that game, six penalties for sixty
yards were called on Georgia. Again, if if nine of
the eleven complaints made were kind of cooperated by by

(01:30:32):
those that listen to those complaints, I would say that
that is substantial and something we have definitely not seen
a lot of. And to your point with where sports
gambling is and where that looks like, I think it's
something we might see more and more of because, as
you mentioned, you can't give the you can't give any
indication that something like that is happening or could even

(01:30:55):
happen in today's sports world. Let's take a break our
three your phone calls, Read and React. Coming up next
on the Home of the Bengals ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station. More than a few of our patients have
talked to me.

Speaker 1 (01:31:08):
This is Tony Pike, Sincy three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in hard by Penn Station East Coast Subs. Handcraft
It hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries and lemonade. It's
all about good taste. Penn Station East Coast Subs orderum
Line today This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 36 (01:31:35):
Here we go.

Speaker 2 (01:31:36):
It is the third and final hour of today's show.
Thank you for listening, Thank you for being a part
of it. We'll get to your phone calls in just
a few moments. We'll check in with mo Ager as
we go at the end of our number three and
quick kits. But for now, we do this each and
every Thursday. It's called Read and React. Austin, what do

(01:32:02):
we have for this week as it pertains to Jets
the Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:32:06):
We got four of them. Jets, Bengals, Insights from our
friends at NFL Pro and next Jin stats. Are you prepared?

Speaker 2 (01:32:15):
Let's go? All right?

Speaker 3 (01:32:16):
Let's start with Jamar Chase and T Higgins. Jama, Jamar
and t have each averaged over twice as many receptions
per game and receiving yards per game with Joe Flacco
as the starter, then with Jake Browning as the starter.
Chase has averaged one hundred and one hundred and twenty

(01:32:37):
seven point five receiving yards per game. He had sixty
one with Browning. Higgins has averaged seventy nine receiving yards
per game with Flacco as the starter. He had twenty
three with Browning Man your reaction, I.

Speaker 2 (01:32:52):
Go back immediately to what we heard from Joe Flacco
today talking about he's still learning, he's still working on
the call, but his goal is to play fast and
simplify things at the very simplest form. Austin, what gives you,
as a quarterback on the Bengals the most chance to succeed?
Get the ball out of your hands, Get the ball

(01:33:12):
out of your hands and throw it to those two guys.
And as lucrative as it's been for Jamar Chase, and
you could argue it's helped Jamar more than anyone, how
big has this been for T Higgins? You said twenty
three yards per game with Jake Browning, twenty three yards
per game with Jake Browning to the guy you just
gave that contract to. Like that to me? This is

(01:33:37):
I think a good spot for T Higgins. Jamar AFC
Offensive Player of the Week sixteen catches, twenty three targets.
Sauce Gardner likely not going to play in this game.
You're down your starting corner. You're not going to go
man against Jamar Chase. You're gonna send help to him.
I think, Austin, this is a big week for T Higgins.

(01:33:59):
Joe Flack understands double teams. He obviously understands brackets and
what defense are trying to take away. I think this
is one of those vintage T. Higgins games where a
lot of the attention goes to Chase and Higgins thrives.

Speaker 3 (01:34:11):
Well, you mentioned man coverage. That's the subject of our
next insight. The Jets have played man coverage at the
seventh highest rate in the NFL OH thirty five point
eight percent of the time, and they have allowed six
point nine yards per play when they are in man coverage.
That's the seventh highest amount of yards per play. Entering

(01:34:33):
Week seven, Jamar Chase was targeted on just twenty one
percent of his routes against man coverage, and he averaged
less than a yard per route, the third lowest mark
among receivers with at least fifty routes run against man
coverage this season. However, in Week seven, Chase was targeted

(01:34:54):
on half of his routes against man coverage, twelve targets
on twenty four routes, totaling eight for seventy six yards
and a touchdown against man coverage.

Speaker 2 (01:35:06):
I think so much of the struggles of Chase. I
hate to do it because it's the easy target, but
I put more on Jake Browning ball placement, timing, when
the ball's coming out. I look more at what Chase
did last week. And we've mentioned a lot. Why did
Pittsburgh stay in man to man? Maybe because Pittsburgh was
going off those insights as well. Maybe that's what they

(01:35:28):
were reading into and they obviously didn't react during the game. Look,
it doesn't matter manners own. Jamar is gonna have success.
It's just how can you mitigate that success that he has.
What I think is interesting, Austin, you said the Jets
play man at the seventh highest rate. That's correct, but
they allow the seventh most yards per play win in man.

Speaker 3 (01:35:50):
Correct, And as you mentioned a moment ago, I'm gonna
have sauce Gardner this week more than more than likely
not gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (01:35:57):
Yeah, by all reasons, then that number has to go
way down. You would think there's no way. There's no way,
seeing what the Bengals did against Man last week, knowing
that you might be without sauce Gardner and you're giving
up the seventh most yards per playing man, no chance
you go against this Bengals team and Joe Flacco and play.

Speaker 3 (01:36:14):
Man, and after what we saw last week, especially towards
the end of the game, if you go man, I mean,
Flacco's just gonna tuck it and run. It's just gonna
take off your back to him.

Speaker 2 (01:36:24):
That's it. You blink a couple times and he's gone.
Two more. Let's go to the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 3 (01:36:30):
In Week seven, without Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals averaged a
time to pressure of three point two seconds, their longest
time to pressure of the season and nearly half a
second longer than their average entering the week, which was
two point seven to four. Entering week seven, Hendrickson accounted
for twenty four point seven percent of the Bengals pressures,

(01:36:54):
generating twenty total. Joseph Osai now leads the team with
twenty one pressures entering week eight. The next closest Bengals
defender is bj Hill, who has generated ten.

Speaker 2 (01:37:07):
Pressuresy I think that encapsulates every single thing we've talked
about this week about the Bengals defense and where they
struggle for what it's worth. The average time to pressure
in the NFL is about two point eight seconds. A
quick pressure is defined in the NFL as two point

(01:37:28):
five seconds. To put that into perspective, the average time
to throw in a clean pocket for quarterbacks about one
point four seconds. So three point two zero not good enough.
What was more demoralizing about the three point two zero, Austin,
is it came against Aaron Rodgers forty one years old,
not nearly as mobile as he used to, and he

(01:37:50):
was able to stand in the pocket and dance around
as long as he wanted. That is a staggering, staggering statistic,
and it's an indictment on everyone on this defensive line
not named Trey Hendrickson. And we did talk Joseph Osias
twelfth in the NFL in pressures. He's not getting home
nearly enough. But they're just not putting multiple pressures together

(01:38:11):
on any given play. You might get one guy to win,
you might not. They rushed three a lot last week. Also, Austin,
does you you watch a lot of football? I watch
a lot of football. Do you see as any other
teams dropping defensive ends in lineman into coverage as much
as we see from the Bengals.

Speaker 3 (01:38:29):
I don't know if i'd say I see it as
much I do see it.

Speaker 2 (01:38:33):
You'll see it, but not I mean that much is incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:38:36):
I know Joe Barry, who was one of my biggest
fears on Planet Earth last year at the Bengals hiring
Joe Barry, Yeah, I think he's with the Dolphins now
that he used to do that a lot with the Packers.

Speaker 2 (01:38:47):
But no, I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:38:50):
I don't see it as much maybe as I do
with the Bengals. And again, I think that is a
reflection of the personnel.

Speaker 2 (01:38:56):
Yeah, there's I think Al Golden is trying to figure
something out. Yeah, you can tell that by personnel. You
could tell by scheme. You can tell by who they're
starting and who they're benching there. They're just I like
that they're operating with urgency, but there's not a lot
of rhyme or reason to back it up right now.

Speaker 3 (01:39:12):
And going back to the conversation with John Sheer, and
I asked if he thinks the Bengals should blitz more
just because of how much they have struggled to get home.
And I think it's difficult when you don't have a
ton of faith in Geno Stone to be in the
right position and Jordan Battle to be in the right position,
Cam Taylor Britt and Josh Newton and Marco Wilson and
that disaster on that side of the field. You really

(01:39:35):
have confidence in Dax Hill and Dj Turner. That's like
the only people you feel confident and especially if you're
gonna be playing two rookie linebackers, and so that makes
it more difficult to blitz. One of your best blitzers
is Dax Hill, and do you really want to take
him out of coverage. So it is again looking at

(01:39:56):
the personnel that the Bengals have. This is beating a
dead horse over and over and over again. But it's
a fact of the matter. They don't have good enough
players to be able to do exactly what Al Golden
wants to do or maybe what would be best for
the defense. Yeah, final one, and to your previous point
about a potential get right game for this defense, the

(01:40:16):
Jets starting offensive line of Fashanu Simpson, Myers and Tipman
and membu Oh has played a league high ninety seven
point four percent of plays together. Wow this season. Some
continuity on that line. However, they have allowed a pressure
on nearly half of the Jets dropbacks forty nine point

(01:40:40):
eight percent of dropbacks. That's the second highest mark among
offensive line combinations who have played at least one hundred
snaps together.

Speaker 2 (01:40:51):
Well, if not this week, then win because you know
we've said a lot of the year Austin Shamar Stewart
Legacy game. Well, we've set a lot of the season
just bad matchups, bad matchups. This isn't a bad matchup.
This is a matchup where you should be able to
win more often than not. And if you go up

(01:41:11):
against an offensive line who is giving up pressures on
nearly half of their dropbacks and you can't find a
way to get home consistently on Sunday, I don't know
how you figure it out. If you're out golden with
the current roster makeup, you would have to go get
help because there's nothing that can overcome a like that.

(01:41:33):
And I think the reason they highlight the continuity. There's
an a lot of offensive lines where you're just rotating
guys and you're trying to figure out the five, you're
dealing with injuries. These guys have been together and they
still stink like you gotta win. You got to win
matchups this weekend, Let's read and react. Bengals Jets. Let's

(01:41:53):
react to what a phone call has to say. John
is calling in. What's up John?

Speaker 16 (01:42:00):
So the room fell us?

Speaker 2 (01:42:00):
How are you good?

Speaker 9 (01:42:01):
How are you We're hanging in there.

Speaker 30 (01:42:04):
That clip that you retweeted yesterday with Flacco was awesome.
He is such a likable feels like just a normal
guy that you know, goes through things like any forty
year old with kids and the wife and the career
and kind of juggling at all. And I think he's
a breath of fresh air. And I really hope that
he stays on as a backup going forward, even in
the next year, because I think it'd be great for

(01:42:25):
Joe Burrow to have a veteran quarterback like that who
in a pinch can come in for a game.

Speaker 9 (01:42:30):
Or half and do such a great job.

Speaker 30 (01:42:32):
But also maybe to be kind of like a big
brother to him and maybe talk some sent into him
in terms of, you know, look, it's better that you
get under center somewhat. This offense is very quarterback friendly,
and this is to keep you upright and look at
what we can do with you hundred center.

Speaker 10 (01:42:46):
Rather than just being in the gun.

Speaker 30 (01:42:48):
And I know compared Burrow a lot to Brady He's
got a little Aaron Rodgerson too, in terms of he's
extremely smart, maybe a little stubborn, and do we know,
smart people could be tough to move off of the
way they feel. So maybe this could be a breat
thefesh air and get him to be a little bit
more simplified in the offense. You talked about that with
flack of simple and quick. Well, I would like to

(01:43:10):
see more of that when number nine comes back, because
I think at times not that he complicates things, but
he's so bright. If he's playing chess and everybody else
is playing checkers.

Speaker 10 (01:43:19):
What good does it do?

Speaker 5 (01:43:21):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:43:21):
It would help that they were all on the same page.

Speaker 30 (01:43:23):
So I think Flacco could be a guy going forward
to be kind of like a conduit of assistant coach
who's won a Super Bowl, and you know, the quarterbacks
respect each other more so than say the coaches or
anyone else. I think he'd be a valuable, valuable weapon
going forward. And one final thing Tony is obviously you
guys comment on this. The whole idea of you have
to turn you back when you're under center. I mean,

(01:43:46):
I'm ancient. You go back and look at some of
the old quarterbacks, they would be under center and then
they would take the snap and then they would go
back parallel to the offensive mind they would still be
surveying the entire field while looking at it rather than
turning it back on. So, I mean, it's one thing
that we don't see a lot now with quarterbacks, but
it is an option. I get that when you're going
to run play action, you do at some point you

(01:44:07):
have to turn to fake.

Speaker 5 (01:44:08):
To the handoff.

Speaker 30 (01:44:09):
But even if you're in the center and you don't
have a run play action, that is also an option
to go back to look at old Terry Bradshaw stuff
and then they did it then and you know, a
five step drop. I think that that's something that could
also work.

Speaker 2 (01:44:22):
Yeah, I'm I'm one hundred percent with you, and I
do agree the mentorship, John, thank you for the call.
I want to I want to dive into that here.
The mentorship Austin I think is so valuable for Burrow
because we've heard in the last couple of years Burrow
talking about, you know, taking on more role as a leader,
you know, kind of getting out of his comfort zone.

(01:44:42):
It's not like Flacco is this like uber, out going guy,
but He's just got this sense about him that, you know,
I think there's a little bit of resembment like that.
They call Burrow Joe cool for a reason as well,
you know, just never never able to affect them and
pressure all. He's keeping the same mentality. But I think
there is a lot and I'm not just talking about

(01:45:04):
what's on the field, and that could could be vital
as well, but I think there's a lot that Joe
Burrow could take in and learn from a guy like
Joe Flacco as his backup. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:45:15):
I mean what I think about, and you would know
much better than me, is what are those meetings like,
Oh yeah, you know, the meetings in the quarterback room
with you know, having him to lean on if you're
Joe Burrow or Jake Browning or whoever is critical because
you got Zach Taylor in there. And he's just a
smidge older than Joe Flacco. Right, Brad Cragthorpe's the quarterbacks coach,

(01:45:39):
he's thirty three years old, Dan Pitcher's thirty eight Yearshd's
the veteran, Joe Burrow is twenty seven or twenty eight
or whatever it is, and obviously the other guy. So
like there's not that you know, being an older person
automatically makes you better at the at the job or
gives you a leg up, because age oftentimes doesn't matter,
but agent do this experience does. And having been there,

(01:46:03):
done that, and gone throughout your career in so many
different ways and stops and places and offenses and people,
just that as a resource in and of itself is
helpful now and will be helpful in the future. With
Joe Burrow as the quarterback, or if Joe Flacco is the.

Speaker 2 (01:46:21):
Quest I think the point that John brought up, like, hey,
you know, I never like to go under center either,
but this has really opened some things up for me.
You should try it. Or man, we ran this, We
ran this concept eight years ago, and I ran this
twelve years ago. We ran this in the Super Bowl.
Like they don't have anyone on this staff that can
have that conversation with Burrow.

Speaker 3 (01:46:42):
Or even if Joe Burrow is like, hey, I don't
I've never loved turning my back to the defense.

Speaker 2 (01:46:49):
How do you deal with that?

Speaker 3 (01:46:51):
Those are the questions Joe should be asking Flacco yep,
And it's like, why do you feel more comfortable turning
your back to the defense, and how do you like,
what do you base that off of or where do
your eyes go or how do you approach this? And
again this is not saying Joe Flacker is a better quarterback,
but it's like, oh, there's a different way of doing things.

Speaker 2 (01:47:11):
I think there's something to be said Austin along the
same lines of Andy Dalton with Bryce Young. Different stages, sure,
but you know, Bryce Young sang the praises of Andy
Dalton of the role that he played in the leadership,
and when asked, Dalton went in and did the job.

(01:47:33):
But you know, with a guy like Flacco, if your
burr like, you're not looking over your shoulder, you're not
worried about him taking your job. But and again I
don't want to make this take a shot at Jake Browning.
How much can Joe really lean on Jake and say, hey, Jake,
what do you think here? What do you seen? Have
you seen this before?

Speaker 10 (01:47:51):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:47:51):
You just can't do that with Joe Flacco you can.
And I think that just makes so much sense for
this organization. Uh, let's take Mike is calling in as well.
What's up, Mike?

Speaker 22 (01:48:04):
Hey, what's going on? Guys? I was just sitting here
thinking we're a whirlwind for for Joe Flecko. I mean,
he gets binged for Dylan Gabriel. He's the man here
and now he's on podcast. Everywhere I turned on social media,
he is talking on Whiting Fit story. He's got clipped
from his uh, from his interviews going on. His media

(01:48:26):
days are posted all over the place. I mean, his
kids are probably, you know, just soaking it all up
with just so much going on with him right now,
just right back into the limelight. Just amazing what has
happened in a couple of weeks for this guy.

Speaker 2 (01:48:40):
Yeah, and again I just think he I think the
reason it's coming across that way is he is just
one relatable, but two he's just he just seems like
a guy who's genuinely grateful and living in the moment
and very appreciative of where he's at. Nothing things too

(01:49:00):
big for him. He's not big time in anyone. He's
he's just kind of savoring the moment that he's in
and I think for a lot of people to just
make him it makes him so relatable.

Speaker 22 (01:49:11):
Yeah, he's really enjoying himself for sure. All Right, y'all,
have a good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (01:49:15):
Mike appreciate it, man, Thank you. All right, a break,
come back, Let's switch gears just a little bit. Austin.
Yesterday was Big twelve media day. We talked to Keegan Nicholson.
We did not hear any of Wes Miller from yesterday.
We have about five minutes of that. We'll get to
that next on the Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty,

(01:49:36):
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 16 (01:49:37):
Now your chance to.

Speaker 37 (01:49:39):
Win Upton Sincy three sixty is back on ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati's Sports station.

Speaker 2 (01:49:55):
Welcome back, since he three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
These Sports station misspoke, Austin Moe is not in today.
That's correct, right, It's Chad Brendle who's in today. Correct.
I just saw Chad a moment ago. So Chad is
in for quick hits today. Chad Brendle quick hits more

(01:50:18):
talking about the Bearcats coming up this afternoon. By the way,
Brendan soorsby leads the Big Twelve in total QBR and
PFF raigning. He also leads the country in total touchdowns.
Just throwing that out there. Brendan Soarsby doing big things
for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Obviously, it's a Bearcat team Bowl

(01:50:39):
eligible for the fifteenth time in twenty years. You see
right now in conference games, leads the Big Twelve in
scoring thirty six per game. Baylor is number two in
that as well. Baylor is a team though, that has
scored two defensive touchdowns and can throw it around. They

(01:50:59):
lead nation in passing. Brendan Soorsby is tied nationally with
Baylor's ear I'm sorry Leeds now because they moved one
of the rushing touchdowns to a passing touchdown. Swersby's twenty
four touchdowns one behind Baylor and their quarterback Robertson, who's
got twenty three touchdowns. That's number one and number two

(01:51:22):
in the nation. So it's gonna be a good one
on Saturday between the Baylor Bears and the UC Bearcats.
It's also going to be good to be able to
see more of the Cincinnati Bearcats coming up. Their season
just ready to get underway. I believe November three is
the first official game of the season, but before that,

(01:51:43):
the Bearcats are in Arkansas. They take on John Jan
John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks. That is a exhibition that's going
to take place tomorrow night as well. And for the
UC basketball program, I believe much different than the vibes
that we have discussed with Xavier. Yesterday doesn't feel like

(01:52:04):
a get in the tournament and it's a success. It
feels like get in the tournament and figure out a
way to win a game in the tournament for Wes Miller.
This year, for the UC Bearcats, they have already lost
Big Slime. They're projected one of their projected big man's
no timetable on his return. But this is a talented roster.
They need to win and they need to win now.

(01:52:26):
Wes Miller caught up with folks at Big twelve media
day yesterday. Here's a couple of minutes of what Wes
had to say.

Speaker 14 (01:52:34):
The depth of the league.

Speaker 33 (01:52:36):
It's not just great at the top, which it is,
it's great all the way through. There's unbelievable coaching. There's
unbelievable players. There's a lot of older players in this league.
I mean, you get guys in their fourth and fifth
year that are old, tough, talented and smart. And then
this year we're going to have so many great young
players as a part of that. It's awesome though, Like

(01:52:58):
there's challenges every single night, but it's an awesome opportunity
every night. I think more than anything, after two years,
there's just a better perspective of how to prepare for it,
and I think that's what we've been excited as we
tack our preseason at Cincinnati.

Speaker 20 (01:53:13):
I just happened to be at Cincinnati last week for
two days and spend time with this gentleman and was
very impressed with the team depth. He lost a player
in Jalen Haynes, but you have so much depth this year.

Speaker 14 (01:53:25):
How will that impact how you play? Trying to play
with the unbelievable pace.

Speaker 33 (01:53:31):
We've always wanted to try to push the pace as
a program. This should be the fastest we've ever played.
I mean that we've done that throughout our summer and
our preseason, and some of its depth, some of it
is our personnel. You don't bring kerk Crisha to your
team if you don't want to play fast. I mean,
he he wants to play fast every possession, but he

(01:53:51):
also makes people want to play fast with him because
he advances the ball so well.

Speaker 14 (01:53:56):
So I think pace will be big.

Speaker 33 (01:53:58):
We're going to be trying to be very nected on
both sides of the floor, and it's intentional, like we're
not just saying be a connected group. We're trying to
be intentional about it from day one. And then there's
an aggressive We're at Cincinnati, there's an aggressive approach to
our community. When it comes to sports, We're going to
be an aggressive team. So whether that's being aggressive offensively,

(01:54:20):
being aggressive on the offensive glass, making sure we do
some things to make our defense more aggressive, and I
think we have the versatility defensively to do that as well.

Speaker 41 (01:54:28):
You talked about pace at times last year your offense
got stuck. How is this year's roster difference just besides pace,
What are the pieces look like that make you believe
that when the game does get slowed down or gets
tightened up in conference play, your guys are going to
execute in those moments.

Speaker 33 (01:54:43):
We had our first exhibition and it's just an exhibition,
and you guys know this stuff that don't count in October.

Speaker 14 (01:54:48):
But we scored one hundred.

Speaker 33 (01:54:49):
I don't know if we could have scored a hundred
against anybody last year. So I think we have much
more skill across the board. I think we have more
decision making just with some of the pieces that were added.
So I think we can generate offense in different ways.
We can play through the post with Mustapha Cham I mean,
he can score down there and that's been exciting because

(01:55:11):
he's evolving as this young player. But you can throw
it to him and he can do things over both shoulders.
Jalen Haynes was a guy we were going to do
that with a lot. But we can score in the
front court Baba Miller, through the post. We can generate
through pick and roll, or through space. We can generate
with cutting, and then we have a lot more shooting
as well. And you know, listen, I want to get
easy ones early in the clock and we're going to

(01:55:33):
really try to push the pace.

Speaker 14 (01:55:34):
I think that's where we can be different in all
those areas.

Speaker 35 (01:55:36):
And then you've got a good returner in Dana Thomas
returning with some big twelve experience, fifty games that he's
played there with Cincinnati gets the extra year with the
DJUCO grandfathered in a clause. What does he bring back
and how important is it to have him?

Speaker 33 (01:55:50):
And Fran knows this, but every question about Dada Thomas
makes me smile and makes me.

Speaker 14 (01:55:55):
Appreciate the question what he means.

Speaker 33 (01:56:00):
Like somebody said, you don't have many returners, we have three,
but Daday's worth three himself. I mean, he's been in
our program now for two years, he's played two years
in the Big twelve. He represents everything that we value
in Cincinnati basketball, and he's learned now how to lead
and project those things onto his teammates. So he is
so important to us. I will say this as a player.

(01:56:21):
He's playing his best basketball of his college careers healthy again,
so I'm really excited. And then Fran knows this. In
our league, you're just gonna have possessions that get stalled,
and we don't want to have as many as we
had a year ago, but it's sometimes the chips are
down and you have to have guys that can go
make a play without an advantage. Dada can do that,
and he's doing it better now than he ever has.

(01:56:43):
And then we have a young player in Sean Abaya
that can do that as well.

Speaker 14 (01:56:45):
So we have a.

Speaker 33 (01:56:46):
Couple guys for the first time that the chips will
be down, and it's going to be fun to watch
them go create offense when offense isn't there.

Speaker 20 (01:56:53):
Sean had fifteen I think in the first half against Michigan,
what did you see from him, both good and bad,
that you're excited about, and then you're looking for improvement
as he becomes more experienced.

Speaker 33 (01:57:06):
I saw a confidence he has a and I want
to say this first, the most impressive thing about SHAWNA.
Bay of today is the way he's walked through the door, humble,
head down. He's challenged our our locker room to be
the hardest worker on the team as an incoming freshman,
and he's earned the respect of his teammates Keishan Tillery

(01:57:27):
or other freshmen to fit into that same category as well.
I've been so impressed with the way they've walked in
the door as highly touted recruits. They've earned the other
players respect. But in the game, you see the shot making,
you see his confidence in the moment's not too big,
even this early.

Speaker 14 (01:57:44):
But the little things have to get better.

Speaker 33 (01:57:45):
Friends the stuff he can control, how hard he runs
the floor, the way that he defends, which, by the way,
is improving all these things at a rapid rate. But
I think he'll have some really good moments here early.
Wait till January and February. If he keeps his coach
the same way. I think he could be very good.

Speaker 2 (01:58:02):
All right. So that's some stuff from Wes Miller at
Big twelve Media Day. Two things that stand out to me, Austin. One,
how many times last year did we talk about the
pace at which they played and just not finding easy shots.
I think moving and pushing the pace should help them
a lot. Second, and I think the biggest question I

(01:58:23):
want to know, Austin, if the shot clock's winding down,
do they have a dude that you can throw the
ball to then go get his own bucket? Right? Like
I remember Jared Cumberland. I knew that if things were
breaking down, you could get Cumberland the ball with eight
to ten on the clock and he could go find
a way to get a bucket. He could create a shot.
Do they have that on this roster? Because if not,

(01:58:46):
regardless of how good of a team you are, regardless
of how much you do push the pace, you have
got to be able to have someone that can go
get his own basket. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:58:58):
I mean, thinking back to last year's team, some of
those possessions were like pulling teeth.

Speaker 2 (01:59:02):
Oh, just you can tell what's coming.

Speaker 3 (01:59:04):
Yeah, And I thought they played way too slow, So
it's good to hear Wes say we want to play
fast and we want good shots early in the shot clock.

Speaker 2 (01:59:12):
Not being afraid to doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (01:59:15):
If there's twenty five seconds left, I got an open shot,
I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna hit it like that
sort of pace, that sort of get it moving quickly,
get those open shots, good shots early in the in
the shot clock.

Speaker 2 (01:59:25):
I think that's gonna bode well for you. Yeah, Chad
Brenda will join us for quick hits in a bit.
Before that, we'll grab a phone call or two. Next
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, with.

Speaker 27 (01:59:35):
Dve Lapham's enthriment into the Bengals Ring of Honor, we
pay Tribute to the Life of lap presented by Skyline
Feeling Good Eats Skyline Time.

Speaker 16 (01:59:45):
Now Here's Dan.

Speaker 39 (01:59:46):
And d lap You are known for your boisterous enthusiasm
in the booth, but there's no better X's and O's
analyst in the NFL, describe your approach as a broadcaster.

Speaker 9 (01:59:56):
It's probably a lot like yours, Dan.

Speaker 40 (01:59:58):
I mean, we both went to the New How School
of Communications at Syracuse University. The best there is preparing
people to enter the broadcast world knowing everything there is
to know about what you're doing, what you're broadcasting.

Speaker 9 (02:00:11):
I don't care if it's tittleywinks or you know, the
Super Bowl.

Speaker 40 (02:00:14):
Having an understanding of who the competitors are, what makes
them great and honestly, I mean it's just energing enthusiasm
for the game. Just comes from love with the game
and do it in a way that you know the
audience appreciates that. Oh man, he really likes the game.

Speaker 27 (02:00:29):
For more on the life of Lap keep it here
on ESPN fifteen thirty, The official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 37 (02:00:38):
Cincy three sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (02:00:50):
Welcome back, we are rolling. It's already Thursday, already nearing
the end of our three The hell of a week,
hell of a week, hell of a couple of weeks.
Chad Breundle standing by next. Got to talk to Chad
Brenda last night on his uh on his podcast with
barcat Jordan dot com Awston. They had their five hundredth episode,

(02:01:11):
the BCJ five hundredth episodes, The congrats and we'reder to celebrate.
He's in here today.

Speaker 3 (02:01:17):
Every once in a while. I don't know if I've
ever told Chad this, but every once in a while
I'll be on YouTube looking for something and I'll see
the BCJ is live, and so I'll just flip over
check out. I'll watch for a few minutes. Yeah, you know,
just peruse the comments, see what people are saying, and.

Speaker 2 (02:01:34):
Uh, yeah, I listen. I get once in a while,
I know what's going to get the Cats. We listen.
We listened to callers as well. What's happening Mike.

Speaker 5 (02:01:44):
Hey, guys, thank you appreciate it. Hey up talking about
the Bearcats. Uh. I think this prediction that Patino's gonna
finish eighth in the Big East is grossly wrong. I
think he'll surprise a lot of people. I'm not saying
they'll win the league the Big East, but he's going
to surprise some people. You know why, because he is

(02:02:04):
one hell of a coach and he had the best
teacher you could ever have. So watch out their catch
because his team. You might beat him this year, but
I don't know about next year. So I'm just calling
it like I see it. I think the Xavier gets
the short end of the stick sometimes here, but I
don't know why.

Speaker 2 (02:02:24):
That's what that's what rot for both teams. But that's
what shocked me yesterday is I opened it up because
I'm genuinely curious, and to hear a couple of Xavier
fans call in and say, you know, somewhere around the
five hundred mark, that surprised me a little bit.

Speaker 5 (02:02:39):
Yeah, and maybe it's trustance, it's this first year, but
once he gets settled in, this guy is as good
as it gets with the x's and o's. And he's
also a very good recruiter, very good. I mean, if
you can recruit recruit kids to New Mexico, for crying
out loud, so you can get him to the Big
East or wherever. The other comment one to make it

(02:03:01):
kind of shocked me Dat Wescott, who I'm not a
fan of anyone with the Cowboys, but this guy is
having a hell of a year.

Speaker 42 (02:03:09):
And when they run play action, he's sixty one for
seventy pass completions with seven touchdowns and zero interception.

Speaker 5 (02:03:19):
Is that impressive and not ever hear anybody talk about it.

Speaker 2 (02:03:25):
And not exactly dominant in the running game as well,
that you would think that teams are just having to
bite up on the run fake.

Speaker 5 (02:03:31):
Yeah, so uh, and Pickens has made a different form
and ceedee lamback of course is a big deal.

Speaker 2 (02:03:38):
They're a good offense, they're an elite offense. Their defense
not so much. But that's a good offense.

Speaker 5 (02:03:43):
Yeah. Their defense probably around like the Bengals defense, I guess,
Maggie probably probably somewhat comparable. I'll have to look at
up and tomorrow's Oar the World Series. Hallelujah. I can't wait.
I'm so excited. I just wish Vin Scully was still
around to be able to do play by because he's
the greatest I ever heard. Marty was good, but even

(02:04:03):
Marty will tell you Ben Scully's.

Speaker 16 (02:04:05):
The best ever.

Speaker 5 (02:04:06):
So go Big Blue and all you people have hate
the Dodgers. You know why you hate him because you're envious.
That's why you hate him. You're envy. You're break with envy.
You don't even like yourself. That's why you don't like
the Dodgers.

Speaker 2 (02:04:19):
They used to say, don't hate us because you ain't us.

Speaker 10 (02:04:24):
That's a good one.

Speaker 5 (02:04:26):
I like it. Thanks, guys, Thanks.

Speaker 2 (02:04:28):
I have a good one. Chad Brendle hanging by. We'll
join us next. Quick hits to finish off today's edition
to Sincy three sixty. You're listening on the Home of
the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station thanks to
Penn Station.

Speaker 37 (02:04:43):
Since he three sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's
sports station, it's time for Cincy three sixty quick hits
on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (02:04:54):
Was looking for Mo. Moe's not here. We know where
Moe is today, probably golfing. Oh, the company off outing,
I think so, I don't know if that's where. What
are we doing here working? Oh? No, they didn't know
you were a golfer. They probably didn't know I was
going to be with the company. That's right, you did,
so you were out in the invite days. Yeah, that
got changed around a little bit. Chad Breundle is in

(02:05:18):
for uh Mowgar today celebrating, but last night was number
five hundred, five hundred shows.

Speaker 4 (02:05:24):
Wow, it's a lot of It's like ten years where
me and Dave Simone dalking Bearcats crazy and now to
celebrate you're here today. You want to hear a funny story. Yes,
So when they originally like asked me to do this show,
it was right before everything happened.

Speaker 2 (02:05:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:05:40):
So they had asked me because Austin was going to
be going to Green Bay. They were like, can you
do Thursday? Right, and then also can you do October
twenty third? When everything happened, I forgot about October twenty third. Yeah,
completely was out of my mind.

Speaker 2 (02:05:56):
Right.

Speaker 4 (02:05:57):
My dad calls me last night and he's like, hey,
do you need me to pick Kel's you up from
school tomorrow?

Speaker 2 (02:06:02):
And I was like no, why. He's like, you're on radio.
I was like no.

Speaker 4 (02:06:06):
He's like, well, both thinks you do. I was like,
what do you mean. He's like, he's said on the radio,
Chad Brendle is in tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (02:06:13):
And I was like, I guess you got radio show
to plan. Oh yeah, if you could pick her up
that in planning said show, what do you got on
the show today? We're going to talk about the transition.
There's a transition, right, we are going from Joe cool
to Uncle Joe and the dynamic of like, look, you

(02:06:34):
know your cool cousin like that everybody wants to be
like your cool cousin, but there's also that cool uncle
that like you know, you're looking forward to as you
get older, Like with with the cool uncle.

Speaker 4 (02:06:50):
It's a different dynamic, but both everybody loves the cool
uncle and you look forward to learning from that guy
and being around that guy. And I think we're starting
to see that in the Bengals locker room, people being
impacted by having a different voice. Not that it's better
or worse. Sometimes different is okay.

Speaker 2 (02:07:10):
And it's it's interesting too because like, when you win,
it helps make this even sure if you lose, it's like,
all right, man, whatever, yeah, win anyway, it's awesome. Yeah,
and it just adds to it. And it's a.

Speaker 4 (02:07:23):
Big one this week because the vibes will remain high
with a win.

Speaker 2 (02:07:28):
You lose to the Jets, especially if Sauce isn't playing. Yeah,
you all just to the Jets.

Speaker 4 (02:07:32):
Uh oh, So it's it's an interesting week.

Speaker 2 (02:07:35):
Yeah, And again it opens up things to maybe do
it the deadline, if you can win another one, if
you can get yourself back to five hundred.

Speaker 4 (02:07:41):
I'm not I'm done trying to talk myself into the
Bengals are going to make it. Trade at the deadline,
that's fair. If you're not going to use them, trade
them the Bearcats. Yes, is this real? Because last year
we were in a similar spot right now five and two.

Speaker 2 (02:07:58):
They had just beaten Arizona State.

Speaker 4 (02:08:00):
We knew that the back half of the schedule was
the tougher portion of the schedule, but hey, there's some optimism.
Maybe Scott Sidderfield is getting some things figured out. What's different?
Why is it different? And again, the back half of
the schedule is by far the tougher portion of the schedule. Yes,
but what's different about this team that's going to allow

(02:08:24):
this team to navigate this better than they did last year?
Because look, I don't think anybody's really expecting this team
to go eleven and one, ten and two.

Speaker 2 (02:08:33):
Would it be great if they did? Sure? And track
record in the Big twelve two years ago, TCU came
out of nowhere one last year comes out of nowhere
wins it. There is a track record there that's that
somebody's gonna do it. And your toughest game on your
schedule remaining his home. Yeah, so's there's a path. But
what makes this team different? What makes this team able

(02:08:56):
to sustain that? I think it comes down to two things.
Special teams and taking care of the football. Yeah, I mean,
which they've been great at both. This team has been
historically good.

Speaker 9 (02:09:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:09:07):
Can you imagine making it seven games, Tony with only
one interception?

Speaker 2 (02:09:11):
No? No, I can imagine playing some yardage, but no,
like they've been so good in that. But at the
same time, like they've they've just found rhythm at the
right times. And I think the biggest thing they've played
from ahead, that's been like we talked about that the
last few years. Right, that's key.

Speaker 4 (02:09:33):
But but turnovers and special teams, why you get to
play from ahead?

Speaker 5 (02:09:38):
Right?

Speaker 2 (02:09:38):
And I'm I'm interested with an elite passing attack coming
in on Saturday, can they still play from ahead?

Speaker 4 (02:09:45):
I'm interested to see what what mother nature does to that. Yeah,
because did you see that the temperature in Waco yesterday?

Speaker 2 (02:09:51):
No eighty eight degrees. I was just reading right here.
We get these on our desk every morning. Uh the
nine first Warning Weather presented by Jennifer catch Mark. You
see game day Saturday, dry stayin Chili, high sixty one,
low forty one.

Speaker 4 (02:10:07):
So four o'clock, Yeah, it's supposed to be a little cloudy,
so that sun's not going to be you know, out
full perfect football weather as a fan, but a team
coming from Waco. The low in Waco yesterday was sixty four.

Speaker 2 (02:10:21):
Yeah, so I look like the South Florida teams in
the Big East would come up late in the year
and with the years.

Speaker 4 (02:10:26):
It would be fifty eight degrees and they would have
the jet engines blowing heat on the sideline. So I'm
interested in that because if it's if it's competitive and close,
that's not a factor. Sure the other team gets up
a little bit and it's cold, I'm cold. Those guys
want to go home, yep. So I think that's gonna
be fun as well. We're gonna talk to to Kegan Nicholson,

(02:10:46):
who was at Big twelve Basketball media days yesterday. You
guys talked to him yesterday, yep. I'm gonna talk to
him today. Why he's now on his way to Fayettville, Arkansas.
Oh yes, scrimmage for the UC. I don't want to
do this today. I don't want to get excited about
the exhibitions. It must be nice to be young again,
because you know what he's doing. Then after the exhibition
come back, he's getting in his car and he's driving

(02:11:07):
back to Cincinnati and planning to be at homecoming.

Speaker 2 (02:11:09):
At four o'clock. Good for him. In my twenties, like this,
This would have been the dream road trip.

Speaker 4 (02:11:14):
Yeah, right, days and Casey, then you see Arkansas on
Friday and then back home for homecoming against Baylor on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (02:11:23):
Like there would have been no doubt in my mind. Like,
let's go the sports weekend, the exhibition Friday, Bearcut Football Saturday,
Bengals Sunday, hell Is Real Monday.

Speaker 4 (02:11:33):
Yeah, that's a nice little week. It's a nice four day,
nice four day stretch.

Speaker 2 (02:11:37):
Four day. We'll get to all that.

Speaker 4 (02:11:38):
Like I said, Jeff Carr, talk a little bit of
Red's a little bit of Reds three hours, three f Jeff,
Jeff ff Car. Uh, he's gonna talk some Reds with
us the Black Hour. Wow, we've got Lee Stirling wagering
like it. And then Dan Klaskins to talk some fantasy.

Speaker 2 (02:11:56):
Football as well with uh, with this BEARCA game on Saturday. Yes,
what do you view as the hurdles going forward? Because
I look like I'm almost more nervous about Saturday, and
I hate putting this out there. I'm almost more nervous
about Saturday than I am against Utah because I've watched
enough Utah that their quarterback play just isn't great. Yeah,

(02:12:19):
and so I go into a game like, I think
UC's offense can score with anybody. That way's play. Really
it's good. But I'm more worried about a team that
can come in and put up you know, forty or
fifty on any given day. That makes me a little
bit nervous from a from a stretch standpoint, because again,
I think Arizona's an improved team. They're home. I think

(02:12:41):
BYU is a good football team Knippert Stadium, and maybe,
I mean, can we get a nip and night at
any point? Maybe, I don't know, maybe, but I will
take four though. Yeah, four is great, and then you
finish at TCU. But like, if you look at the
Big twelve right now, Arizona State's in third, Texas Text
and fourth, Houston's and fifth. You miss all those, yeah

(02:13:01):
that you don't play them in the regular season. So
the schedule plays out perfectly.

Speaker 4 (02:13:07):
Really, even if hypothetically you win this week, you go
to Utah and lose two losses, Yeah, so well.

Speaker 2 (02:13:14):
They have the two b y, you still got to
go to Texas Tech next week. Yeah, I've got Iowa
State at Iowa State this week. I just I think
there's a lot of openings the window. There's a window
for this team, Arizona State. I don't know what they
have coming up, but and look here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (02:13:30):
There has always been a surprise, right Like Fickles first
team was a surprise double digit win team. Now that
was right when UCF was rolling. Sure, so they didn't
make the conference championship, but that was a surprise team.
The two thousand and eight team came from nowhere, like
you were there, used why the season started the way
the season started, and then kind of on the ropes

(02:13:52):
a lot through that season and you guys endured and
found a way to get in. Is this that year
for Scott Sidderfield where they find a way to shock
everybody and have the type of season that that nobody envisioned?

Speaker 2 (02:14:06):
Yeah, I hope. So what I also hope is people
will quit just gambling on sports that are playing sports
or coaching sports. Well, in know a lot of this
like poker, illegal poker. Can you imagine like anytime like
Rosier I think is Rosier I think is a gambibling problem.
If you're Chauncey Billups and you're talking about ties to
the mafia poker, good luck, man, I'm out splashing the pot.

(02:14:30):
I'm out on that, and I'm also out now. I
have your next. Chad Brenda's next. We're done, Dock got
it again for the Friday football Frenzy tomorrow on the
Home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Have a great rest of your Thursday.

Speaker 16 (02:15:45):
Ucky Cincinnati.

Speaker 17 (02:15:47):
Make us the number one pre said on your car
radio and on the Free knew it improved. iHeartRadio ad
free never sounded so good.

Speaker 16 (02:15:54):
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (02:15:56):
Life Insurance, Why are you putting it all