Tony Pike's Cincy 360 Hour 1 -- 12/2/25

Austin talks college football, Bengals/Trey Hendrickson, takes your calls, and more on ESPN 1530!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
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 cheeze Tony today. Feeling good,
It's Skyline time. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hi, Hello and welcome in two Tony Pike's Cincy three
sixty here on ESPN fifteen thirty. My name is Austin Elmore.
I am not Tony Pike. Once again, Tony Pike not
here for the show that bears his name. Tony will
be on seven hundred WLW tonight from six to nine

(00:42):
for sports talk. He's in for Lance McAllister. So the
schedule for right now, if you want sports talk in
this city, it's me twelve to three right here on
ESPN fifteen thirty, followed by Moe Egger from three to six.
I believe Moe is back at Oakley Greens again today
from three to six, and then you can flip down

(01:03):
the dial to seven hundred WLW at six o'clock to
hear Tony and see what he has to say. A
loaded show for you today. Our typical Tuesday guest will
be Joe Danoman at one pm, and we'll talk a
lot of things with him, most notably, of course, the
Bengals big win over the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving and

(01:26):
now moving forward into the Buffalo game. But there's a
myriad of topics to talk to Joe Danniman about. We'll
also talk to Joe Goodberry multiple Joe's on the show
today and I want to get his perspective. Who's a
great analyst. He's got the YouTube show Bengals on the Brain.
If you're a Bengals fan, chances are you follow Joe
Goodberry on social media and you've seen his content. I

(01:48):
want to know from his perspective, why has the Bengals
defense gotten better and is it sustainable going up against
Baltimore again Buffalo this weekend and the stretch run of
the season with the Bengals playoff hopes right there in

(02:08):
the cross there. So we'll talk to Joe about that.
We'll talk to Mo at the end of the show
for quick hits as well. Talkbacks will happen at their
normal time, and we'll get some audio for you from
last night because there were a couple of basketball games
in the city of Cincinnati last night. Let's start with
everything that happened last night. Cincinnati the Bearcats victorious seventy

(02:29):
eight to fifty six over Tarleton State. The Bearcats were
up by just two at halftime, and I was thinking,
Oh Lord, here we go again. This is not going
to be good. I think Bob I had like eight
turnovers or something like that in the first half. It
was ugly, but the Bearcats ran away with it in
the second half. In their final tune up ahead of

(02:50):
the Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout with Xavier, and so you
see wins by the way, spotted at the game former
UC guard Jisel James. Don't know if that means anything,
but Gisel James was there. He was one of about
fifty two people that I think were at the game
last night. The crowd shots that I saw from fifth

(03:10):
third Arena not great, not great, which maybe indicative of
the standing that this program is at with its fan base.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
Right now.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
You'll hear from West Miller and what he had to
say after the victory last night coming up later in
the show. Meanwhile, down the road, Xavier won ninety six
seventy four over Saint Francis. They did not necessarily play
well in the first half, either did Xavier, but they won.
You'll hear Richard Patino in what he had to say
about his team. I think they only had eight turnovers

(03:41):
total in the game against Saint Francis. So the final
tune ups for both Cincinnati and Xavier are in the books.
And this coming Friday night it'll be you See and
Xavier in the Skyline Chile Crosstown Shootout. We will continue
covering that for you coming up this week Monday Night Football.
Last night it was the New England Patriots over the

(04:02):
New York Giants thirty three to fifteen. The Patriots have
won ten straight. They are now eleven and two. They
have a bye week coming up, and as they enter it,
are the number one seed in the AFC and Drake
May right there with Matthew Stafford as the odds on
favorites to win the NFL MVP Award. It is unfathomable

(04:25):
that the Patriots go from Belichick and Brady to a
couple of lean years to Vrabel and May, and they
seem to be in a very good position moving forward.
They hit on their draft picks, they hit on their
free agents. They still have plenty of money. They've got
a rookie quarterback on a rookie contract. The Patriots, I
think have some staying power. They're not a perfect team

(04:47):
by any stretch of the imagination, but they have some
staying power in the AFC. That was a fun game
to watch last night, not necessarily because of the score,
but because it felt like an old time football game,
like there was some real hitting going on in that game.
There was a returner for the Giants that was hit
so hard the paint came off his helmet. It was ridiculous.

(05:09):
Baseball news the New York Mets and closer Devin Williams
remember him, former Milwaukee brewer, former New York Yankee. They've
agreed to a three year, fifty one million dollar contract.
If you remember, at GM meetings a week or two ago,
a couple of weeks ago, the Reds were one of
the teams that were in on Devin Williams. Well, he

(05:30):
gets three years fifty one million from the Mets. And
so the guy that the Yankees changed their facial hair
policy for, Devin Williams is gone a year later and
joining the New York Mets. By the way, speaking of
the Reds, no reds Caravan this year. That was announced
yesterday that due to the timing of Reds Fest, which

(05:51):
was moved back into January to coincide with the new
opening or the reopening of the Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati,
there will be no Red's Caravan this year, So Reds
Fest still scheduled for January. Some college football news, by you,
head coach Kilani Sataki is the top candidate for the

(06:13):
Penn State head coaching job, and apparently there is a
big back and forth going on right now between Penn
State and BYU for the services of one Kilani Sataki.
And oh, by the way, BYU getting set for Texas
Tech in the Big twelve championship game coming up this weekend.
Speaking of Texas Tech, you're gonna hear later on from

(06:34):
their head coach Joey McGuire. I'm gonna get into this
topic here in just a moment, but with the whole
Lane Kiffen nonsense and the college football calendar and where
we're really at, Joey McGuire, the head coach at Texas
gave a reasonable take about a sensible solution to the
college football calendar. I want you to hear that you'll
hear that coming up in just a little bit. By

(06:55):
the way, overnight as well, Kentucky found their head football
coach that didn't last long. They are hiring Oregon offensive
coordinator will Stein. Will Stein will be the new head
coach of Kentucky. You may have heard there were reports
that Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline was going to
interview for that job. Today. Well looks like he's not
even going to get a chance to interview, as they've

(07:17):
settled on will Stein. By the way, Mohler quarterback Ohio
mister football Matt Ponatowski, who's committed to Kentucky, he seems
to be all systems go with will Stein posted a
picture with Stein when he was at a visit at
Oregon and said, yeah, I can rock with this. So
it seems like Matt Ponatowski, who I believe is playing

(07:37):
football and baseball at the University of Kentucky, is going
to stay put at UK. He does plan to sign,
I believe in January, because a lot of people are
wondering are you gonna sign? Are you going to sign?
Because tomorrow is the early National signing Day, which is
kind of hard to believe college football playoff rankings coming

(07:59):
up tonight the latest as we head into conference championship weekend,
and that's kind of what I want to start the
show with a topic about about college football. And I'm
going to open the phone lines at five point three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. They'll be open all day if you want
to be a part of the show. But just over
the last week or two, or really the last couple

(08:21):
of weeks, I've just kind of been following the Lane
Kiffen thing from the sidelines. I've not been diving too
deep into it. I've not been focusing, you know, on
every little thing that's happened. But over the course of
the last week in this thing finally coming uh to
an end with Lane Kiffin going to LSU and leaving

(08:42):
Ole Miss and the details coming out and reading the
articles and all this other stuff. I've always said that
eventually college football will get to the NFL model, which
means they'll be a commissioner, there'll be a conference, they'll
have playoffs on each side of the conferences, and it
will look basically like the NFL and be a minor

(09:04):
league for the NFL. And my opinion on that has
kind of changed over the last couple of years because
there is no one who can really take control of
college football. All of college football is a power struggle,
and to an extent, all of college athletics are a

(09:25):
power struggle. But college football specifically is its own beast,
and it feels like an untamable beast. It feels like
there's no possible way for there to be a governing
body that actually can control TV networks, head coaches, conference commissioners.

(09:48):
None of it seems viable to me. There is nothing,
almost nothing about college football that makes sense in my mind.
I don't like the rule book. I don't like the calendar.
I don't like the timing of the portal. I don't
like the way coaches moves. I don't like scheduling. I
don't like conference realignment. Like to me, it is this

(10:09):
absolute chaotic mess that I don't see any solutions too,
and yet it is as popular as it's ever been.
Ratings are through the roof. We always joke about how
it just means more to the Southeastern Conference down in
the SEC. Well, that's true. That is their life. They

(10:31):
live and die by college football in the South. I
can speak from experience being an Ohio State fan that
I know people who live and die by Ohio State football.
It means everything to them. There is this level of
pride and this die hard feeling about certain schools and

(10:54):
certain college football conferences that you just don't quite get
in the NFL. There are rabid fan bases in the NFL,
for sure, but there is not that almost maniacal fan
base or part of the country when it comes to
NFL football. And you know, the league in and of

(11:16):
itself and the commissioner and the parameters and the way
that it's been built. It is a very buttoned up,
structured league that has set rules. And I think the
biggest issue in the National Football League right now is
I think two things. Number One, I think they're trying
too hard to be an international sport. I don't think
that's necessary. And number two, officiating is a complete mess.

(11:39):
And I think Roger Goodell views officiating as more of
a pr problem more than a competition and a football problem.
But that's another topic for another day. Those are the
two biggest issues with the NFL right now. Other than
that the way it's run, the rules, the owners, all
of it. For the most part, makes a lot of sense.
You got to vote on rule changes to get certain

(12:01):
stuff approved. Stuff gets denied. There's calendars, there's tampering, there's
you know, discipline that happens. There's somebody that is governing
the league. You don't have that in college football. Nobody
does it. The only time we hear about the NCAA
is when they are investigating someone and maybe they'll take
away some wins, or they'll take away some scholarships or

(12:23):
something like that. They don't really do anything. There is
a major issue with the structure of college football. And
while I don't look at the Lane Kiffin situation and
view Lane Kiffen as a victim, I do understand and
acknowledge that he is in a way a victim of

(12:44):
the calendar itself because there's no rules against LSU for
pursuing him as hard as they are, and there's really
no rules for jumping and leaving your job no matter what.
And because of this long drawn out playoff, and because
of different schedules and different TV partners in different months

(13:05):
of the year that certain teams play this and it's
just a complete chaotic mess and there's nothing to really
go by. But I think that's what people love about
college football. I think that's what the TV networks love
about college football. If the product is what it is,

(13:29):
which I don't think it's a better product from a
football standpoint than the NFL, but it is a good product.
It is an entertaining product. It is filled with drama
at seemingly every turn for a good chunk of the country,
not all of it, but for a good chunk of
the country. And it is filled with this drama and

(13:52):
these coaching decisions and these firings and tracking planes and
snapchat accounts and burner accounts and all these different things
that you're going through as a fan of a college
football program. Is the chaos, not what fans like. Is
the TV partner that is in bed with college football

(14:14):
really thinking, ah, we got to change this calendar, or
are they thinking, man, Lane Kiffin. That's great for our numbers,
that's gonna be great for the college football playoff, that's
gonna be great for our television deal. That's gonna be
great for our social media. That's gonna be great for
our advertisers. It means more money. So because of that,

(14:36):
when there's really nobody who's in charge other than quite frankly,
the TV networks themselves, they pay the bills, they kind
of get to decide what happens in each conference. And
because you've got these egotistical, power hungry conference commissioners and
the Big Ten and the SEC and across the country,
no one's willing to relent. No one's going to give

(14:59):
up power. No one's going to look out for other conferences.
They're only going to look out for themselves. And so
this repeated behavior over and over and over again over
the last several years, as college football has continued to
explode nationally, has only led to that growth. And for

(15:21):
a long time, the product with the NFL was if
it's if it's not broke, don't fix it. And that's
kind of where the NFL is at right now, which
I think is kind of the issue with going to international.
But for the last twenty years, really since the last
thirty years, it's been sensational the growth of the NFL,

(15:42):
the popularity of the NFL, the explosion of the NFL,
and it's across TVs and social media and everywhere imaginable.
In the United States, college football is experiencing that same growth,
but they're doing it in an entirely different, unstructured, maniacal, chaotic,
messy way. So if you're them, if you're the people

(16:06):
that are benefiting from this, if you're the TV networks,
if you're the conferences, why would you change what you're doing?
And by conferences, I really mean the biggest conferences, the
Big Ten and the SEC. Why would you change what
you're doing? Why would you want there to be a
change to the calendar? Because the SEC doesn't care about

(16:27):
a level playing field, the Big Ten doesn't care about
a level playing field. The unfortunate reality is people like
UC fans and schools like Big twelve schools and ACC schools,
they're the ones who get caught in the crossfire here
and don't benefit because all the rules are basically centered
around what those two conferences do. And I see that

(16:52):
as unhealthy for college football. But if everybody's getting paid,
and if everybody's getting their money college colleges, players, coaches, everybody,
is anything actually going to change? And if your popularity
and your growth has been exponentially expanded based upon this chaotic,

(17:17):
messy mess that we're all in with no governing body
and people only looking out for themselves, is there ever
actually going to be changed because it's not about student athletes.
It's never been about student athletes. Don't let anyone tell
you that lie. It's about dollars and cents. It makes
no sense for a student athlete to go on the

(17:40):
current college football schedule. The transfer portal makes no sense,
The early signing days make no sense. Coaches leaving without
any sort of discipline or ramifications makes no sense. None
of that is good for the actual football. None of
that is good for the actual game. But it's good

(18:01):
for the clicks, and it's good for the advertising dollars,
and it's good for the eyeballs, and it's good for
the conversations and the discourse. And it just makes me wonder,
is that potential, like NFL model that has been floated
out for the last five or six years, is the
direction that college football is going. Is that actually possible?

(18:23):
Is that actually going to happen? I can't see a
world that it does. There's too much ego and too
much money. And while the Lane Kiffen thing is the
greatest example of the dysfunction within college football, I think
it's also the greatest example as to why people can't
get enough of it. Especially in the South, they sink

(18:47):
their teeth into this everywhere you look. The absurdity of
Lane Kiffin, whether it's Nick saban and Kirk kerb Street
carrying his water and oh, by the way, the fact
that that's even a headline goes into my point that
this is all this big connected mess that saban In,
herb Street and Kiffen all have the same agent. That

(19:10):
means they're all connected in some way, shape or form,
and they're connected by the television network in which those
games are broadcasted on the mess the chaos of college football.
Is it ever actually going to change? And do we
want it to? Do we accept it for what it is,

(19:33):
this broken, messed up, illogical, chaotic sport that just provides
headline after headline after headline and you know, ah, it's
just college football. Or do we care about the people
that are involved in it, the game itself actually being

(19:53):
played on the field, the developmental aspect for it going
to the pros? Or do we just care about the
entertainment value and all the drama that comes with it.
I think there are people that would be legitimately split
on that. I don't know the answer, but it really,

(20:14):
really seems like to me that nothing's going to change
because of the people that are in charge really have
nothing to do with academics or football anymore. So that's
my rant about college football again. You'll hear from Texas
Tech head coach Joey Maguire later his thoughts on how
you could actually fix it if there were people to
actually fix it. Phone lines open five, one, three, seven, four, nine,

(20:38):
fifteen thirty will also talk some Bengals, what Zach Taylor
had to say about Trey Hendrickson, t Higgins, Joe Burrow,
and Moore Got football in the Natty? Coming up next?
This is Tony Pike's since he three p sixty on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Hey Alexa, Who's gonna win it?

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Football in the Natty? Brought to you by Postman Law
on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Welcome back in ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Austin Elmore. This
is football in the Natty. Not a lot of football
happening at pay Court Stadium yesterday, just a typical light
walk through on a Monday to get everybody back in
the building following a Thursday game. The Bengals are gonna
try to nip that trend in the bud, which is

(21:26):
they're not very good after many buys. You might remember
earlier this year they lost following the mini bye. On
that Thursday game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they lost to
the New York Jets, so hoping to end that trend.
On Sunday, there were a couple of injury updates from

(21:47):
head coach Zach Taylor. I'm gonna play some clips from
Zach for you in just a little bit, but the
most notable Trey Hendrickson still doubtful. T Higgins, he was
in uniform for walkthrough, but he's in concussion protocol and
as is TOAJ Brooks. Meanwhile, for the Buffalo Bills, they
just played last week without their all pro left tackle

(22:09):
Dion Dawkins. He also remains in concussion protocol. Linebacker Terrell Bernard,
right tackle Spencer Brown, and wide receiver Joshua Palmer, alongside
tight end Dalton Kincaid are quote all improving end quote.
According to Bill's head coach Sean McDermott said, we'll see
where it leads this week. Joey Bosa aggravated his hamstring

(22:32):
in Pittsburgh quote. We'll see where that goes. So not
a lot being said from either head coach Zach Taylor
or Sean McDermott when it comes to the injury report
for those two teams. I'm gonna play in the next

(22:52):
segment the first thirty seconds of Zach Taylor's press conference
from yesterday when he was being asked to about Trey
Hendrickson and the Trey Hendrickson situation to me is very,
very weird and there's got to be something that we
don't know about Trey. You know what, Let's actually let's

(23:14):
play it now. I am fascinated by this exchange between
the reporters and Zach Taylor. Again. This is the first
thirty eight seconds of Zach Taylor talking with the media
yesterday at pay Course Stadium.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
He's great, He's still in protocol, so him and Tage
we'll keep working through that probably in the week, so
we'll see.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Where it is up Trey in the next This week
is backful? This week? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (23:42):
Is this?

Speaker 2 (23:43):
I think this will be a Tree's fourth game? Is
there any consideration to put them a high arch?

Speaker 4 (23:47):
Now?

Speaker 2 (23:47):
We'll just keep taking a week tweek. He's still doing
all the normal meetings and behind the scenes that mostly rehabs.
So with the trainers, you just by getting them back
at all of this season. Yeah, we'll just keep taking
a week tweek. So there's a pause there at the end,

(24:09):
and this is where everybody is typing out and tweeting
and posting that Zach says Trey is doubtful. You go
back to that first question. He cut the guy off
before he could even finish asking the question. He's doubtful.
Cut him off to the point where I think it
was Kelsey had to follow up and said, you said doubtful, right, Yes,
is he going through all the typical stuff, mostly behind

(24:32):
the scenes stuff with trainers. Huh? And then Zach has
this look on his face while he waits for everybody
to send their post, basically of this smirk of like,
here we go, yeah, tired of this? Isn't this weird?

(24:54):
Am I crazy for thinking this is weird? Thirty seven
days now, I think since the Jets game, he hasn't played.
He has been ruled out almost immediately at the beginning
of every week. He has not spoken to the media
since the trade deadline. He has not traveled with the

(25:14):
team anywhere he apparently, according to Zach here is not
involved in team meetings or practices in any way, shape
or form and is just doing mostly rehab stuff with
the trainers. What are we missing about Trey Henderson? And oh,
by the way, in his absence over the last three games,

(25:36):
Miles Murphy and Joseph Osai have flourished. Could those two
things be related? Could those two things be connected? I
don't know, but you have a guy that you fought
with all off season and a guy who led the
National Football League in sacks last year, and a dude

(25:59):
who pounded the table to come back to Cincinnati and
made a big circus and show out of himself during
OTAs and tried to air out Zach Taylor and talked
about how much he loves Cincinna, threw a fit and
put his little stuff on Instagram. All this nonsense that
has been nothing but our sports talk during the offseason
following Trey Hendrickson, and now all of a sudden, Mum's

(26:22):
the word. Nobody says anything. If the Bengals thought that
Trey Hendrickson was going to be out for five or
six games, you know what they would have done. They
would have put him on injured reserve. That's the move.
They did that with Shamar Stewart, they did that with

(26:44):
Joe Burrow. That's what NFL teams do to open up
a roster spot. When a player is down for sure,
four to five, six games, whatever it might be, you
designate him to return. The Bengals have none. That isn't
that weird to you? For an injury that has had

(27:05):
like three or four different names. There's been a hip,
there's been a pelvis, there's been a core injury. There's
been a sports hernia. Number one, which is it? There's
no clarification on that. Number two. Why isn't the guy
on IR if he's this unhealthy, and if this is
a team captain and a guy who has pounded the
table for wanting to be a team captain, why on

(27:27):
God's green earth is he not in the meeting? Why
is he not doing all the stuff he would normally do,
especially if he was even remotely close to being able
to play a game. The question I'm asking is what
are we missing here? I think there's a couple of options.
Number One, I think Trey Henderson could quit on the team,

(27:49):
which is basically I got my money I need to
heal up. I turned thirty one. I think he turns
thirty one Friday, by the way, Happy birthday, Trey. I'm
gonna heal up and get ready for next season now.
I don't want to be franchised tack here again. So
if I don't play, they'll let me go. Okay, that's possible.
Just kind of pack it up. Season's over. In his mind,
I'm done. Other option is he's legitimately hurt to the

(28:13):
point that he can't walk. We know that's not true.
He was walking around the sidelines last weekend and his
pain just won't go away, and it's a difficult injury
that is, you know, really difficult to come back from. Well,
if that was the case, wouldn't they have put him
on IR like they did with Shamar Stewart, like they
did with Joe Burrow, like they've done with others. Or

(28:35):
the other option here is the Bengals gave Trey the
same treatment that they gave Logan Wilson and the other veterans,
which is, you're done. We got to figure out what
we have in Miles. We got to figure out at
the time what we have in Shamar. We got to
figure out if we want to reinvest in Joseph Osai,

(28:56):
you don't want to play, We're not gonna play you.
See you later. You've been nothing but a pain in
the ass over the last twelve months, so you know what,
it's no big deal. See you later now. I would
hope that's not the case, right, Like, surely a player
of his talent has not just given up, And surely

(29:18):
the Bengals have not looked around and acted the way
they've acted, and with the playoff path still there, just
wash their hands of Trey. Those two things can't possibly
be true, right, That would be foolish for both him
and for them. But again, it feels like we're struggling
to find the middle ground here. Those two things can't

(29:43):
possibly be true, But there really isn't any other indication
as to what could be going on, And so most
people around the team feel like they've seen the last
of Trey Hendrickson. Bengals fans feel like they've seen the
last of Trey in a Bengals uniform. And I don't

(30:07):
know if this is Trey's way of, you know, winning
the stare down with ownership, winning the stair down with
the front office, finally getting his win. I don't know.
I guess that's possible. But for a team that has
stood behind Joe Burrow and talk so much about how

(30:30):
much they like Joe and how the energy changes when
Joe is around, and how much they needed him back
and how much they miss him and how much they
love him, and how much it means to them that
Joe has come back and worked his butt off to
try to find his way back on the field. You
ever hear teammates talk about Trey Hendrickson. You ever hear

(30:52):
Joseph Osaya say, damn man, we gotta have Trey back.
Hope he's feeling better. Do you ever hear Miles Murphy
say that? Does that come out of the mouth to
Jerry Montgomery? As Al Golden said that at any point?
Zach Taylor said barely anything. I'm just curious. This doesn't

(31:15):
seem to feel like there's that same energy around Trey
Hendrickson as there are for other great players. I just
find that interesting, and there's clearly something we don't know.
Maybe I'm over complicating things, but this just doesn't feel right.
And I don't know where we go from here or

(31:37):
what this looks like. But it's a shame that this
is a conversation that has to be had in the
middle of whether you believe it to be legitimate or not.
It is a playoff race, and what do we have
more Trey hendrickson Drama, Whoaho Your phone Calls? Next ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Thirty, You've been listening to football in on ESPN fifteen thirty,
the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. Your front row
seat to the fiercest debates in sports. Mo Egger Today
at three pm on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Fris the Bengals.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
Like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, Kenny.

Speaker 6 (32:29):
Sent to pick now kirk Resa penetrating into the paint.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
How are you tug? Tob By Baba Della del Friesa
turning the corner, recognized two came out to him, throwing
it up for the life of Bottle Miller, for the
Big Time Slam baseline.

Speaker 6 (32:42):
He races it across the time line inside the three
point Archie Spenzanies as the ball taken away, tried to
sport a double shots block.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
Blah blah blah, what a defensive play ran down the
shooter had knocked that off the backboard. Meanwhile, three on
the way on the right side. No good, those kind
of play, So that mere PanAm dismayed.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
There was a breakaway layup he could have very easily conceded,
but he chased it down and just punched it off
the glass.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
How about some Uc and Xavier for our wind Schuler's
Call of the Night Dan Horde, uh on the call there,
and of course Joe and Byron as well for Xavier
and that Call to Night brought to you by Win Shulers.
Fantastic cheese spreads. Elevate your taste game. Maybe get some

(33:29):
wind shoulders if you're gathering to watch the Crossdown shootout
coming up on Friday. More on that later on in
the show. But now let's get to your phone calls.
Five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen point thirty is
the phone number. We start in Mount Healthy and uh,
well no we don't. Johnny just hung up. Let's go
to Darryl in Batavia. What's up? Darryl?

Speaker 3 (33:52):
All right, I'm not satdye.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
How's it going? Not too bad? What's on your mind?

Speaker 3 (33:57):
It's the whole and it's not even just Trail. All
the players that are under contract and say well, I
need more money or I'm not playing and.

Speaker 6 (34:04):
Calls and all the drama.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
These guys are very well paid for what they do,
whether they're you know, the best or the medal of
the lane. If you're under contract, go play the game,
make your money that way, what calls in drama.

Speaker 5 (34:17):
And you do your job.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yeah, I agree with you, I think, especially like once
we get into the season, I really don't want that
cropping up now to well, you should always be negotiating
for for a fair deal and what's do.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
It behind the scenes, don't go so I don't make
it public.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Yeah, And that's what I'm saying. Like for Trey, since
he got that deal, he really hasn't said much. And
that's the thing about right now, nobody's saying anything, which
is what makes it weird from what we're used to.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
But how much how much has he actually played and
done well this year?

Speaker 4 (34:51):
Right?

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Very little? But do we know that that's contract related?
I don't know. That's what I'm saying, Like we don't
seem to know anything.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
But but that's not I mean, he could have played
on the same contract and had another record setting season.
You know, do you remember the movie the remake of
mister deeds.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
No, but go ahead, I'm.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
Saying with the quarterback saying, well, I thought if I
played well, i'd renegotiate my contract.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Okay, And he's like, well, what happens?

Speaker 3 (35:19):
You played bad?

Speaker 4 (35:20):
Are you going to.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Renegotiate and let us pay you less?

Speaker 2 (35:22):
He's like, no, I'm not right.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
It's just go do your job and earn your money
that way.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
Well, so that's exactly what happened. He went and got
he did his job, he got a raise, and now
he's performing poorly. Thank you Darryl for the phone call.
And he's not performing at all, and he's gotten hurt.
And it's been a tough situation for Trey. But all
I'm saying is like, clearly something's not adding up, and
I don't quite understand it because it's different from what
we're used to. Let's go to Florence. Let's talk to Mark.

(35:49):
What's up? Mark?

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Hey, how're you going? Some of the callers alluded to
this yesterday, but I think I'm looking at the d
unless my eyes aligned to me. When they included Kenley
Jackson into the rotation, and you know, Shamar Stewart got
hurt and Cam Taylor Brick got hurt. You know, them

(36:14):
two moves look like addition by subtraction, and they could
let the two ends play on every down instead of
rotating them in and out. I think that has a
lot to do with the defense improving. And you know,
they they're not completely stopping the run, but they look
like it's slowing it down. Teams are not running on

(36:35):
them like they were prior to them elevating with Kenley
Jackson and letting him get into the rotation and are
you seeing the same thing.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah, I think that's a I think that's a good
point mark because you know, overall they've tackled a lot better.
Is that directly because of those guys? I don't know,
But I mean I know the way that Jalen Davis
played against Baltimore, it was like, why hasn't he gotten
a chance all year? He's been stored on the practice squad.
But yeah, I think the more that that those guys

(37:04):
get reps, the better that they're going to perform. We
saw this happen with Osai last year. It wasn't until
the end of the year where he really kicked it
into gear. Now Murphy is playing really well. I think
consistent reps has voted well for both levels, really all
three levels of that defense. When you think to DJ
Turner to the linebackers performing better and those edge rushers.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
Yeah yeah, And as far as the offense goes, you know,
now that Burrow's back, I mean that that pretty much
saves Zack Taylor's job if the season plays out on
a positive note, because you know, when he's out there,
you know, all Zach has to do his call plays.

(37:47):
You don't have to do a lot of coaching because
Burrow can he can do what he can do, you know,
on offense. But I still have a problem in the
red zone. They they've always struggled the red zone, and
I think it's because they don't use the tight end up.
So I hope somewhere down the line he figures that
out to use the tight end to stop going empty backfield,

(38:11):
because I the field is condensed when you get down there.
I just think I like that play action corner of
the end zone of no offense like we saw in
the first game of the season. You know, I think
we ought to see that again. So I'll get off
and listen to the show.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, Mark, thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. Yeah,
I mean, go back to last year, if my memory
serves correct, the Bengals were a top five offense in
the NFL in red zone percentage, So I know that
they've historically been really good inside the red zone. They

(38:49):
were top ten and twenty twenty three, they were top
five and twenty twenty four, so they've they've been good
in the red zone. They clearly were not good in
the red zone against Baltimore, and I'm hoping that's just
Oh by the way, twenty twenty two, they were number
seven in red zone offense. So they've historically been really
good inside the red zone offensively. But I was confused
a little bit by some of the play calling. Didn't

(39:10):
love some of the play calling inside the red zone.
They I just think run game has to be more
effective and short yardage down there. And also if you
get down there and you spread them out, you have
the weapons, you have Chase, you have Higgins, you have
those tight ends, you're gonna get a mismatch somewhere. So

(39:31):
I don't really have a lot of beef with the
way that they've performed in the red zone. Obviously, they
didn't play well against Baltimore. That to me was more
of an outlier than anything else. Let's go to Boston.
Talk to John. What's up John?

Speaker 6 (39:43):
Hey, Audie, how you doing this afternoon?

Speaker 2 (39:44):
I'm good man. What's on your mind?

Speaker 6 (39:47):
Always doing a great job, especially when you're hosting along
for three hours. Never easy at all.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Great job, my friend. Thank you?

Speaker 6 (39:53):
Yeah you. First of all, you talk about lack of
leadership with Trey Hendrickson, I mean not attending meetings, constantly complaining.
And then he turned around and see the quarterback has
his toe operated on Friday and his back at the
meetings on Monday, planning next week's same plan. He's on
the sideline and all. He couldn't travel for the first
few games because they woudn't allow him to fly, but
he was all in to be part of the team,

(40:13):
and that's what true leadership is. So I think he
can see the difference there. If we touched on it yesterday,
how the defense has been better without Shamar Stewart and
to some degree with Trey Hendrickson. The last three games
that Shamar Stewart played in, the Bengals gave up thirty
one to Pittsburgh, thirty nine to the Jets and forty
seven to the Bears t one hundred and seventeen points

(40:34):
as a thirty nine point average. In the three ensuing
games without him, they gave up twenty to the Steelers,
nineteen to the Patriots, and fourteen to the Ravens. That's
fifty three points. That's seventeen point seven points per game.
So I reached out a couple of friends of mine
who are coaches at high school college level, and sometimes
they're the best people to talk to because they really
get inside what's going on on the field. And their

(40:56):
feeling has been that they now got more reps for
Osa and Murphy, but also the fact that they believe
Golden has kind of simplified the defense. And they both
told me that Cincinnati Bengals have a lot of really
good athletes up there. Let's them just go play. Let's
not make it too complicated. And you see the difference
in especially Golden maybe dialing up some pressures. It's worked

(41:18):
a lot better. And maybe these two young guys just
need to get reps and more reps.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Yeah, I think it could be that simple. I think
obviously the growing pains and the patients that we had
to go through to get to this point are could
be what ended up keeping them out of the playoffs.
But I do think also situationally, Golden has done a
good job of kind of forcing the offense's hand. If
they're going to line up in a shotgun and you're
going to crowd the line of scrimmage, you're going to

(41:43):
kind of force them to set their protection, maybe take
a guy out of the route, maybe dial up a
hot especially on a third and long, and then you've
got to be able to rally and tackle. So I
think situationally, al Golden has improved a little bit and
been a little bit more fearless with those different looks
at the line of scrimmage. And I think the confusion
of the offense has been a has benefited the defense

(42:06):
and those guys' ability to kind of to tackle a
little bit better and to know what's coming. So overall,
I think it's it's been better for the play caller
and for the players themselves, and reps have a big
part to do with that, and maybe knowing what the
offense is going to do as a part of that
as well.

Speaker 6 (42:22):
Yeah, without question, and then you also look at the
fact that this is going to be a tough challenge
this week against Buffalo.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
I mean, the Bills ran the ball like.

Speaker 6 (42:29):
The Nebraska Cornhuskers Circle nineteen ninety four last Sunday against
the Pittsburgh Feelers. And he's got Josh Allen. But now
you look at Osai and some other guys up front,
especially Miles Murphy. These are athletes that are as big
as Josh Allen and as mobile as Josh Allen. Those
are good guys to combat him and try to contain him.

(42:50):
If they can contain that running game, I think they
can certainly win in Buffalo because we know that Burrow
is owned Josh Allen at the head, so why not
continue that narrative going forward. So I'm optimistic about all
of this, and I think the defense being turned around
is just by making it simpler and getting those young
guys sure reps. It's like anything else. I mean, if

(43:10):
they only play three plays and then sit out for
a half hours then have to come back in, they
can't get into a rhythm. And that's any sport you play,
it's all about being in rhythms.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
Yeah, John, thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it,
and yeah, you're one hundred percent correct. And you know
it's going to be a challenge, and I think to
March's point, McKinley Jackson is going to be tested, you know, TJ.
Slayton is going to be tested in the interior of
that run game. Chris Jenkins is going to have to
be a part of that. And then those two guys
outside set in the edge. They did a great job

(43:39):
against Baltimore. They've done and had some flash moments in
the past. Can they be that consistent? Moving forward? Another
short break, we'll be back. This is Tony Pike since
he three to sixty on ESPN fifteen to thirty from
the Any Weather Heating and Darokom. Back Tony Pike since
he three sixty. Just a couple of minutes here before
we get to Joe Daniman from Fox nineteen. So we've

(44:01):
got time for Charles calling from Minneapolis. Charles, you're on
ESPN fifteen thirty. What's on your mind?

Speaker 4 (44:08):
Hey?

Speaker 5 (44:08):
Own you. I wanted to appreciate real quickly that information
you gave a sort of assessments, you know, state of
the college football address you gave if you will, very interesting, Kay,
haven't really thought of it that way, but actually I
agree with you, but haven't thought of that way. Here's
what I call about is what I call about.

Speaker 4 (44:27):
I am done.

Speaker 5 (44:29):
I love everything about the Bengals. Always been a Bengals
fan my entire life. My first game was Bingles against
the Browns, and I took the Bengals and never left
him as a ten year old guy. Very okay, Trey
Henderson done, Henderson Steven done, completely done. I think what
you said the extremes are probable. Actually, I think they're

(44:51):
more probable than what you are even suggested. I do
think that they one or both have decided. This is
where we all were done. Move on.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
Every other team.

Speaker 5 (45:02):
Everybody laughed at you know, Jerry Jones on the big
swing with the Michael Parsons. Are they still laughing now
that team is turning around. We need to take big swings.
Be done with Drey Hendrickson at the end of the year.
However we do that tag. I don't know about all
that stuff. I'm not well versed on that. Be done, Trey,

(45:24):
get rid of him, be done, get big swing. Secondly,
and very briefly, the offense is what it is. Zach Taylor.
I've always said since the beginning of Joe Burrow Zach
Taylor wanted to be the big guy at an offensive
groog and he kind of rolle his thing that way.
What I think we should do look at our draft completely,
and everybody knows how we draft Malachi Starts, who was

(45:46):
available at the time we took Shamar Stewart was not drafted.
He is now leading the rookies and the interceptions at tackles,
performing very well. Now I will say he's playing alongside
of the number one safety in the NFL, but at
the same time that brings more traffic to him. We
need to just draft better.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
Period.

Speaker 5 (46:07):
Yeah, thank you very much for the time.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
I always love the shows, Charles. Thank you so much
for the phone call. I appreciate it and appreciate the
kind words. And yeah, I think there's a lot of
people that feel that way done when it comes to
Trey Hendrickson. And if this team ever wants to get
back to where they want to go, drafting better is
a prerequisite, no doubt about it. Good take from Charles,
good call, good first hour, good guest coming up next,

(46:31):
It's Joe Daniman. This is ESPN fifteen thirty