November 24, 2025 • 45 mins
Austin takes over for Tony and share's his fear for the rest of this Bengals season and the future of Zac Taylor on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback show. Broot to
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(00:24):
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Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hi, Hello, Welcome in final hour of Tony Pike's Monday
Midday Quarterback Here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
My names Austin Elmore.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Tony back alongside Moegger about forty minutes from right now
for quick hits ahead of the Tony and mo football
show that'll come your way this afternoon from three to
six at Twin Peaks in Florence. News of the day
is that Joe Burrow, according to Zach Taylor, is anticipated
to start on Thursday night, Thanksgiving Night in Baltimore for
(01:13):
the Bengals. The Bengals now three to eight following a
loss twenty six to twenty to the New England Patriots yesterday,
a game that certainly was winnable. Cincinnati, when having a
ten point lead in the Zach Taylor era prior to yesterday,
was thirty six and six. We blew that ten point
lead and lost by six to New England to make
it thirty six and seven in the Taylor era and
(01:37):
three and eight on the season. Now you might be
saying too little, too late for Joe Burrow to come back,
and I don't necessarily disagree with that. It's nearly impossible
for this team to go on a run and to
make the playoffs. I get it, and you can make
the argument, and I think it's a fair argument when
there is a team that needs a lot of holes
(01:58):
and they need all the help they can get. When
it comes to drafting young players, it's a fair argument
to say this season needs to be about next year
and the year after that and the year after that,
so you should give other players a chance to play,
whether it be Jake Browning or Jermaine Burton or Mitchell
Tinsley or any of the myriad of young players on defense,
(02:23):
I get it. I understand that, and I would have
a hard time arguing against it. That being said, Joe
Burrow is the face of the franchise. He's the best player.
He's being paid fifty five million dollars. The players on
that team respect him. They I think, have a renewed
(02:44):
focus and a renewed energy when he's on the field
and in the locker room and engaged in the meetings
and around. I think that he in and of himself
raises the standard for everybody, not just the players that
he plays next to, but the coaches all the way
on down and all the way on up. I believe
(03:06):
that that's the type of impact that Joe Burrow has.
And this has been a season that feels like it's
from hell. Nothing seems to go right. They can't seem
to make the the right plays and the right moments
for winning football. They always seem to make the mistake
or get that penalty, or drop that pass, or you
(03:27):
don't go forward on third and one, or you don't
go forward on fourth and one, or the punt goes
through the back of the end zone, or the fumble happened.
It's just nothing has gone right for this team. They
are in this weird situation where they could very easily
be ohen eight or oh in eleven, or they could
(03:51):
be eight and three. Like the difference is not that
crazy when you think about this Patriots game, when you
think about the Bears game, when you think about, you know,
the Jets game, like, things could be so different. And
that's what I'm kind of afraid of with the idea
of Burrow coming back, because without him it has exposed
(04:16):
the various issues on the roster, and I think in
the coaching staff. And if you're Mike Brown, and you're
the ownership group, if you're Katie and Troy and Elizabeth
and Caroline and all the members of the family that
operate this franchise, you surely have been taking note of
(04:36):
what has happened this year and the ways in which
things have gone wrong and the reasons for which they
have gone wrong. And Joe Burrow not being there is
not a good enough excuse. Whether or not Burrow is there,
many of this stuff was going to happen, especially defensively. Now,
(04:58):
could the offense maybe play more complimentary football? Absolutely, the
turnovers from Jake Browning against Detroit and Minnesota inexcusable those things.
You know, that's a fair argument to say that's just
kind of a bit of a you know, an outlier,
and in the Minnesota game, for sure, I get it.
(05:18):
But there are plenty of issues top to bottom with
this team. There have been a lot of things that
have gone poorly. There have been a couple of things
that have gone well. I think the development of the
offensive line has been a good thing. Dylan Fairchild especially
that appears to be a hit on a draft pick.
(05:41):
The Bengals when it comes to running the football are
the best in the National Football League over the last month.
I think they're up total to like second in the
NFL in expected points added per rush and one of
the best, if not the best, inefficiency in the run game.
That I think is testament to good offensive line play,
(06:03):
good play calling, and good coaching. That's a positive because
that run game was atrocious to start the season. And
I get that. There are gonna be people out there
that say, well, that's because of Joe Flacco, and that's
because of under center, and that's because of blah blah blah. Well,
Chase Brown has been running from shotgun and under center
(06:23):
at nearly the exact same split this season as he
was a year ago, so that argument is invalid. And
I do think, and I heard Charlie say this Friday
when he was talking to Tony, that the idea of
the shotgun versus under center thing is one of the
more wildly overblown topics about the twenty twenty five Bengals.
(06:43):
I'm not saying that there's no merit to it at all.
I just think that it's become a crutch in the
argument for criticizing the offense and maybe at some points
criticizing Joe Burrow. Here's what I'm afraid of, though, if
you go back to that twenty twenty four season and
(07:04):
Burrow played out of his mind and Chase played out
of his mind, and there was so much good stuff offensively,
but there were just a couple of plays. There were
Evan McPherson having a down year and an injury in
a fumbled snap. There was Tanner Hudson fumbling going into
the end zone on opening Day against the Patriots. There
was the Dejohon Anthony pass interference against the Kansas City Chiefs.
(07:28):
There were a number of things that just went the
other way for the Bengals. And because of that, they
missed the playoffs narrowly by one game, and going into
the offseason, the conversation by Duke Tobin and those around
the team basically said the quiet part out loud, which
(07:51):
is that we got unlucky this year and we're not
going to get that unlucky again. And because of that,
we're not going to make lot of changes. I promise
you the only reason Trey Hendrickson is a Bengal this
year is because the Bengals thought they were close enough
to win a Super Bowl. They thought they could supplement
(08:13):
the losses of a Keeam, Davis Gaither and Jermaine Pratt
with two new linebackers. They thought that the issues on
defense were because of the coordinator, not because of the
players themselves, and they thought that all of this would
end up being a net positive and it would be
just enough for Burrow to lead the Bengals to the
playoffs again. Well, what happens when Joe gets hurt. Your
(08:36):
backup quarterback gets exposed for what looks like it was
probably a fraudulent twenty twenty three season in which he
came in for Burrow and had a much better defense
behind him. You trade for a forty year old guy
who's a great dude and has been fun to watch,
and a guy that's easy to root for and put
up some fun numbers. But even he couldn't overcome the
(08:57):
deficiencies of your defense. And now he's playing compromise with
a bad shoulder and out with a bad finger. You
came to realize very quickly this season that last year
wasn't just about being unlucky. Last year was about you
don't have the talent or the development at those main positions,
(09:19):
and you didn't do a good enough job to fix
it defensively, and it's become an issue now. Offensively, I
think you could say took a step forward with the
running backs, took a step forward with the offensive line,
took a step forward with the tight end room. I've
loved the addition of Noah fan I think offensively, you know,
without Burrow, obviously it's a little bit different, but some
(09:41):
of those key spots that needed to be addressed, needed
to be.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Fixed, have been fixed.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
The detractor there would be Jermaine Burton is still completely useless.
Andre Yoshavash feels like maybe he took a step backwards,
but there's the potential development of Mitchell Tinsley. I think
that's a position that needs to be taught in the
off season. I think left tackle is a position that
needs to be talked about in the offseason. But your
guard play got better, your center play got better. Amarius
(10:09):
Mims has gotten better and he stayed healthy. So offensively overall,
I think you're pleased with what you got, even you know,
without Joe Burrow and all the different issues that you
had to fix and get better at, you got better
at even in the absence of Joe Burrow. I'm okay
with that. There aren't Joe Burrows that grow on trees,
(10:30):
and there was at one point a serious group of
people that thought that Joe Flacco was better than Joe Burrow. Well,
over the last couple of weeks, injured or not, you've
seen the difference between the two. And so what I
don't want to happen is Joe Burrow to come in
this Thursday night against the Ravens and play elite, ridiculous
(10:53):
football and the Bengals rattle off six straight wins and
that's used as an excuse for inaction in the upcoming
off season. Now, trust me, I want them to win.
I would love nothing more than for this team to
rattle off six straight wins and sneak their way into
the playoffs and see what happens. There's nothing I want
more I honest to God, I mean that. But you
(11:16):
cannot allow that to be an excuse for inaction in
the off season. What you've learned about the team through
these first eleven twelve weeks, that's not or should not
change from the takeaways you have at the end of
the season. Yes there can be turnarounds, Yes there can
(11:38):
be development, Yes there can be good Yes there can
be change, But let us not forget what we've seen
over the last eleven games, and don't let a few
more games five or six or four, whatever it might be.
I just accidentally threw my pen across the room. Don't
let that be a detractor from action in the offseason.
(11:59):
You've heard me at all. I've said it extensively. The
Bengals have the cap space and the flexibility to improve
their roster next year. One of the big issues with
the Marvin Lewis era starting in really if you go
from like two thousand and nine through that twenty fifteen
or sixteen season, is that they built a roster that
(12:20):
was capable of winning and getting to the playoffs, and
each year they didn't do enough to improve it because
it was almost as if, oh, we're good enough to
get to the playoffs. If that's the case, who knows
what can happen. If we're good enough to get to
the playoffs, something's finally going to go our way. If
we're good enough to go to the playoffs, we don't
(12:42):
need somebody to put us over the top. And so
each year the Bengals would kind of do the same thing.
They'd sign some mid level guy on the third or
fourth day of free agency who really wouldn't have that
much of an impact, but they could kind of say
they did something. And back then they drafted halfway decent.
But because they put the same plan in place every
(13:04):
off season, the same result would happen.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Every season.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
They'd get to the playoffs and they'd lose because they
didn't do enough to build the roster around the players
that they had. And that's what I'm afraid of happening
with this iteration of the Bengals. Now that they've paid
the quarterback, now that they've paid the wide receivers, now
that they've gone through yet another feud with Trey Hendrickson.
(13:30):
Are you able to build a roster around the players
you have? Are you able to develop the young players?
Are you able to actually execute your plan? The Bengals
plan has been pretty clear, young players, young defenders, spend
money on offense, draft and develop on defense. The plan
is clear, and I can understand the plan, and I
(13:51):
appreciate the plan. It hasn't worked. And you cannot let
nine to eight last year lead to an off season
of inaction. You cannot let no matter what happens this year,
whether the Bengals go on a run and do the
same thing this year as they did last year, or
whether they go winless the rest of the way with
(14:12):
or without Joe Burrow, you cannot allow yourself to think
that this play against the Bears, or that play against
the Jets, or this play against the Patriots, or that
moment against the Steelers, or that moment against Denver or
that moment against Detroit, that's enough to say, Okay, that's
not going to happen next year. We've got the things
(14:33):
or the people, or the places or the coaches that
we like, so let's go forward with them. You cannot
afford to have another season of inaction, another off season
of inaction, and you cannot look back at the moments
or the bounces or the luck of the twenty twenty
four season or the twenty twenty five season and say,
(14:55):
you know what, we're closer than people think. And I
don't know that that would work for Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Again.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Now we all know that Duke very rarely speaks. And
I've said on this show, and I stand by it.
A guy who allows someone else to get up there
and take the arrows for his failures, allows someone else
to answer for his shortcomings, A guy who never goes
(15:24):
up there and takes accountability for his own actions. I
think that's a reflection of poor character. I don't know
Duke Tobin. I don't know anything about Duke Tobin, but
just from what I do know and what I do
see of him, that to me is a reflection of
poor character. And I hope that Duke Tobin is starting
to feel the heat, and I hope that Mike and
(15:46):
Katie and Troy and everybody up there is putting the
heat on him and on Zach Taylor, because you know
what's weird about this whole thing, with Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Really, over the.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Last twenty five years since he's been here, his name
has not really been brought up. It's not really been
raked over the coals, it's not really been on the
hot seat. Nobody's really pointed the finger at him. But
I think because of the job Zach Zach Taylor has
done coaching the offense, and what Joe and Jamar did
(16:19):
last year and what Flacco to an extent, has done
this year, and the fact that that's an offensive minded
coach with really good offensive players and they haven't been
able to draft and develop on defense, That to me
means that most people are looking around saying, hey, wait
a minute, Zach Taylor's doing his job. Joe Burrow and
those guys have done their job offensively, Why is this
(16:41):
defense so bad? And you fired Louis in a rumon
he's having success in the fingers start coming back towards
Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
This is new for us.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
This is uncharted territory, uncharted territory for the Bengals because
Duke Tobin's never been in the crosshairs before and now
he is. A couple of weeks ago, Mike Florio Pro
foot pro Football Talk says there are rumblings about Duke
Tobin getting fired. I read in The Athletic this morning
(17:13):
that there are NFL insiders wondering about the future of
Duke Tobin. I read on ESPN a list of four
NFL executives that should be under the hot seat, and
Duke Tobin was one of them. I hope he's feeling
the heat. He should be feeling the heat. He's not
(17:35):
the only one. We'll get into Zach Taylor in just
a moment, but I hope that that spurs some action
from this group. And you don't look at what happened
last year and look at what happened this year and say,
you know what, we're really not that far away, because
I don't know if you've watched this defense play, and
while they have been better the last two weeks, they
(17:56):
are still miles and miles and miles and miles and
miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away
from being a championship caliber defense. And if we're taking
ourselves seriously, if we're telling the truth, if we're in
all this for the right reasons, it's about championships and
nothing else. The standard has to be upheld. That's why
(18:17):
I'm glad Burrow's coming back, because I think Burrow holds
people to a standard, and I hope and I think
in the past we've seen it a little bit that
Burrow can put the pressure on the organization to uphold
that standard as well. I'm not just talking about the
ownership group. I'm talking about Duke Tobin. I'm talking about
Zach Taylor. Let's keep talking about Zach when we get back,
(18:39):
ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Hey, it's ma Legger.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
What a miserable football weekend in Cincinnati. We have a
lot to talk about today on the Tony and mol
Football Show. Join us at Twin Peaks in Florence, starting
at three ZHO five on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station,
Man Truck Mean.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback ESPN fifteen thirty on Austin
No More. My apologies for my voice not quite as
strong as it's been in the past.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I one of.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
My best friends got married this weekend, and you know,
I'm in the wedding party, and you know, there's a
lot of fun that's had, a lot of drinks that
are had. It's a little bit cold November air. But
I also had the honor of doing the introductions for
the wedding party into the reception, including my own name,
and I got I really got into a flow state.
(19:34):
I reached a flow state. I turned into like the
nineteen ninety five Chicago Bulls, you know, bringing those people out,
saying the man in the middle and all that. I
couldn't speak for like hours afterwards. I really did a
number on my voice. But we've recovered greatly, I think,
better than I expected. So I appreciate you bearing with me.
(19:54):
Hopefully back to full strength tomorrow, because I'm gonna go
nonverbal from three pm and till noon again tomorrow, at
least hopefully by the way. At Audiel Moore a U
t y E L M O ri E On Twitter,
I put up a poll question, if the Bengals move
on from Zach Taylor, would you consider his tenure a success?
(20:17):
You have two options. You vote yes or you vote no.
Those are the only two options. I don't need a
reply explaining something else. I want yes or I want no.
If the Bengals move on from Zach Taylor, would you
consider his tenure a success? While you go vote on that.
We'll get to Zach in a minute. We've got time
for a couple of phone calls. Let's start with Brian
(20:38):
in Fort Thomas. What's up, Brian?
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Oh Hey, what's going on? How you going?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I'm good man, what's on your mind?
Speaker 6 (20:46):
Oh? So, I agree? Like my biggest fear about the
next the rest of the football seasons that they go
they win out because Joe's just he's the best player
I've ever seen in the Bengalis uniform. And then they
find out as seeds excuse to not do anything with
Zach or Duke or anything, and it's going to be
(21:06):
the status quo, and then we're going to be in
the same situation. I don't just want to make it
to the playoffs. We should have like a real chance
to win a Super Bowl, like one top teams in
the league. And I just don't understand how, you know,
anything else is acceptable, Like just sneaking in the playoffs
isn't good enough for we have we have a top
(21:27):
five quarterback in the league. We should be able to
be one of the top teams and you know, one
of the top seeds every single every single season. So
that's that's my concern about the upcoming week. I don't
want to root against the Bengals, but I surely don't
want them to go into terror. I mean, I feel
terrible saying that because I'm like, you know, I'm a bit.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Of fan my whole life.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
But it's I just really think, Zach, it's just time
to move on.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
We just not.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
His tenure has in success. So I yes, I'm not
on the socials, and I think he's you know, very successful,
you know, tenured. He's brought me my great my best
moment as fans ever, So like it's a it's that's
just how I feel. And this is not the worst
sports week in Cincinnati history. I mean, oh five, when
(22:16):
Carson got hurt, that was much much worse than us.
Like we knew, we knew the Bangals weren't going anywhere
this year, we knew the bear Cats aren't going anywhere
this year.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
FC.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Yes, that was terrible, that was a shilling, But oh five,
when Carson got hurt, that was just wow. It Yeah,
took all the all the way out of our sales
because that team was incredible. They were probably the.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Tables won Super Bowl. Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I think they could win the Super Bowl that that
five team could have won. A Brian, thank you for
the phone call. Yeah, you're exactly right, Like you're stuck
between wanting things to happen that demand the change that
you think can take the organization to the next level,
and also being a fan in one your team to
win and wanting your players to do well. And it's
(23:04):
been like seventy five days since the Bengals last won
a game. I think coffee tastes better on Mondays after
the Bengals win on Sunday. I love that feeling. I
love waking up and reading about it and blah blah
blah instead of I'm reading about losses and this just
happened this year.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So I get where you're coming from.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
I've always kind of taken the stance that you should
never root for your team to lose. I think I
still feel that way, but I certainly understand that mindset.
One more quick phone calls, go to Dave and reading Dave,
what do you got?
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Yeah, Austin, I was a you hit Mike on before
you're talking about he's talking about having Marv A. Lewis one.
There's talking about defensive backs. My Bikers junior highlais back.
But I was always taught, it's your beat, you get
your you gotta get your head around, and I'm gonna
call pass their forth most tabo. You can tell the
(23:57):
ball's coming by looking at the eyes receiver. It's just
automaically the ball eyes get bigger when they come. But
what I want to talk about, though, was Tony was
asking if there's ever a more miserable weekend and sports,
I can give you a day that was more miserable
and the old times, you guys will remember. It's being young,
but hopefully Mike's listening, he might remember if he's in
(24:18):
the United States the time. But the Reds were playing
the Oakland A's in Game seven of the World Series,
and back then they had for some reason, they had
they had the games all in the afternoon in the weekends.
NBC had the game. And the Red of the course
lost the heartbreaker off every game by one run that series.
(24:39):
And then they so then the NBC also had the
AFC games football games, so they had the game, they
had all this cell brace and all this stuff. They
switched to the Bengals football game. You had. They're playing
the Rams, a big game of time they're showing the
video of the game, but they got the audio of
the Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders game and the Raiders fans,
(25:03):
they said, the open Raiders, you know, the Oakland fans
just found out their team won the World season cheering.
You're hearing this while you're watching the Bengals fumbling the
opening kick off and he lost the kickoff, and it
was a big game. Anyway, you might even known about
this game is notorious that the Bengals actually came back
and Horse Muleman missed like three twenty five thirty yard
(25:27):
field goals in a row toward the end of the
game when it was tied twelve to twelve, and they
wound up losing that game on a field goal. They
had a roughing up Passerpelly It said them off like
a foty eight yard fieldal. Their ticker made it and
the Bengals lost that game. You just imagine how miserable
was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Definitely, yeah, definitely some salt in the wound after experiencing that. Dave,
thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. Yeah,
that's what Tony was searching for. Some of those those
awful Cincinnati Sports weekends. I mean, anytime you lose World Series,
that certainly would go into it. I obviously think back
(26:05):
to the Bengals losing against the Rams in the Super Bowl,
which was part of my poll question, if the Bengals
move on from Zach Taylor, would you consider his tenure
a success? Updated results Fifty five percent say yes, forty
four percent say no. Now for me, I say yes.
He was part of the team that drafted Joe Burrow
(26:25):
and Jamar Chase and t Higgins, part of the team
that signed Trey Hendrickson, won back to back AFC North titles,
went to back to back AFC Championship games, won an
AFC Championship game, broke the playoff drought well in five
playoff games in two years, the Hubbard Yard Dash, and
obviously a Super Bowl appearance. All those things I think
(26:46):
mean his tenure was a success. And I don't put
all of the blame of their failures on him. He
deserves it some of it, a chunk of it, not
all of it. And I think that's kind of in
a nutshell how I feel about Zach Taylor this year.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I like Zach.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
I've said that many times. I think he's a really
good offensive coach. I think he's a smart offensive coach,
But I don't know that Zach really is the one
who moves the needle. I don't know that the Bengals
win games because of Zach Taylor. I think he's done
a good job building scheme around players. I think the
(27:25):
emergence of Jamar Chase's an example of that. I think
Joe Burrow to an extent is an example of that.
I think the way that they've rebuilt the run game
multiple times, both in that twenty one season so far
this season, I think that's an example of his ability
as a head coach and his ability to adjust the offense.
I think he's hired some smart people like Dan Pitcher,
(27:46):
like Justin Roscotti, like Troy Walters. I think he's also
failed in hiring people. By the way, you can add
Louis Ruin to that list of good people that he's hired.
I think he's also failed in hiring people offensive line
coaches like Frank Pollack and Jim Turner. Marion Hobby, the
defensive line coach to an extent, al golden right now,
(28:07):
maybe not exactly what we expected him to be. There
have been issues with staffing. There continue to be game
management and clock management issues. Feel and momentum and understanding
of the moment not great, analytics not great. All of
these things make me feel like, yes, Zach Taylor is
(28:28):
a good coach and there's something about him that works
with this particular group of offense. However, it's hard to
argue that this whole thing with Zach hasn't run its course.
The way that you feel after a game, a game
like yesterday, where it's like, damn, if the head coach
would have been buttoned up, maybe we had a chance
(28:49):
to win this game. You should never feel that way
about your coach. And I think the point that Mark
brought up earlier is a good one. Indecisiveness. Maybe I'm
were fully sure of who he is and what he
wants and who he wants to be and how he
wants to do it, and not a good enough consistency
or feel of that part of his game I think
(29:11):
has led to the Bengals losing games. I don't know
that there's a bunch of times where you point the
finger and say, yes, he's the reason they won. It's happened,
but not a lot, and that's a major issue. But
I think one of the other issues here is if
the Bengals decide to move on from Zach Taylor, who
do you want to replace him? I have a list,
(29:33):
I have three different lists here that I'm really curious
to know what you think or if you think any
of these guys are an upgrade from Zach Taylor. Clint Kubiak,
Chris Shula, Eric b Enemy, Dion Sanders, Mike Zimmer, Matt Eberflus,
(29:55):
Cliff Kingsbury, Antonio Pierce, Brian Daball, monkn Arthur Smith, Zach Orr,
lou An Arumo. What about Mike McCarthy, Jeff Halfley, John Gruden, Vance,
Joseph Doug Peterson, Brian Flores, Joe Brady, Robert Salah, Jesse Mintter,
(30:18):
Dan Pitcher, Ajiro Evero, Sean McDermott, Mike McDaniel, Kevin Stefanski,
Brian Callahan, Pete Carroll, Raheem Morris, Jonathan Gannon, Brian Kelly, Chip, Kelly,
Shane Bowen, Lane Kiffen. That's every possible available coach or
(30:45):
potentially available coach that I could come up with. In
that list, I think there's maybe five guys that I
would be mildly interested in. And I do think that
the idea of the ex experience, having worked with Duke Tobin,
having worked with the Brown family, that counts for something.
(31:09):
And I think that is part of the reason why
they might want to hang on, or he might want
to hang on, or why it ends up where those
two sides stay together, because I don't think there's a
name on this list that really jumps out at you,
is like, yes, you have to have it. If Kevin
O'Connell was out there, maybe i'd feel differently. If Sean
(31:32):
McVeigh was out there, maybe i'd feel differently. Or Andy Reid,
i'd feel differently. But I don't know that that name
exists on this list. I don't know that Zach Taylor
qualifies as one of those names either. I just don't
know if they're in a good spot altogether. And it
almost feels like we'll see what happens this year, and
(31:55):
we'll see what happens next year before we make that
type of decision, right, wrong, different, That's the vibe that
I get about this Now. If they completely unravel with
Joe Burrow and it continues to be this ugly, I
think maybe there's a chance that that it does happen.
I just don't know if it will, but I certainly
(32:17):
can understand it. And I feel like Zach and his
time here has run its course. I do consider his
tenure to be a success. But it just feels like
they they win in spite of him more than they
win because of him, and he in his hand in
building the roster and scouting the players and building the
(32:40):
coaching staff, all that together, you know, I think that
plays a hand in the shortcomings of this team and
how it feels like the only way they win is
if they're damn near perfect, and that's no way to
survive in the National Football League.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Take a break. We'll come back ESPN fifteen thirty at
a need fueling.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Short segment here because we're gonna go out the Twin
Peaks in Florence and talk to Tony Pike and Moe Egger.
Tony and Mo Football Show coming up this afternoon. They
will have in its entirety the press conference with Bengals
head coach Zach Taylor. Zach said earlier today he anticipates
Joe Burrow to play on Thanksgiving Night in Baltimore. Joe Burrow,
(33:34):
posting on his Instagram story earlier today that he's back.
The photo famous photo of him when he was in
high school with the lebron James Jersey on in the mirror,
with the caption saying He's back. You know who else
is back today? Jamar Chase back in the Bengals facility
off his suspension for spitting on Jalen Ramsey. I thought
(33:58):
this note from Dan Hord was in said because Jamar
Chase was not allowed in the Bengals facility last week,
he worked out privately for several days at the University
of Cincinnati's new Shakeley Indoor practice facility. Dan said he
asked Chase about it today, said he came away impressed
(34:18):
with that facility. So that's cool that the Bengals and
Bearcats come together there and they allowed Jamar Chase a
place to work out while he was away from the team. Jamar,
of course, expected to play a big role in Baltimore
on Thursday night. We'll take a break, we'll come back.
We'll talk to Tony and Mo next. This is ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Thirty WCKY Cincinnati and iHeartRadio Station Guaranteed Human ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
iHeartRadio from the Any Weather, Heating and dared Temstar Weathers Center.
Here's your forecast. This report is sponsored by Chumba Casino
dot Com.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Cincy three sixty Quick Hits on fifteen thirty was.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Looking for Mo.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Well, I think we found Mo and I think we
found Tony. The Tony and Mo Football Show coming up
from Twin Peaks in Florence. Hello, fellas, Audie.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Hello?
Speaker 3 (35:16):
You know I'm not doing too bad?
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Mo.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
How was your weekend?
Speaker 4 (35:19):
M Let's see. Got to spend some quality time with
my family Saturday morning. That was fun. Yeah, took my
daughter out for pancakes.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
It was a good time.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
That's about it. The rest of it wasn't awesome.
Speaker 8 (35:42):
I thought a time at the Grail was fun.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Time at the game with Ken Brew yesterday morning was
a blast. That was a good time. Yeah, yeah, I thought.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
I thought we had good broadcast.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
This weekend up to listen to the entire show that
you guys do with Ken. But I was able to
listen to the whole thing this week You guys were wonderful.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Well, thanks very much.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
My father in law told my wife that I sounded drunk.
I was talking about cheese spread he sounded.
Speaker 8 (36:09):
Drunk, so we had gift certificates available.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
We had we had plenty more the next one. But uh,
it wasn't a great weekend. But we're gonna have a
lot of fun today here at Twin Peaks in Florence,
and I'll pull back the curtain because some folks have
asked me, how do you decide which Twin Peaks should
go to? And it always revolves around this week. It's
(36:34):
kind of like Red's opening Day, like the baseball season
has to start in Cincinnati this week. We always have
to be at the Florence location because this week here
we're allowed to use the letter M and we can
call it the Tony and Mo Football Show, whereas on
the other side of the river, you know, it's that
week where you can't use the letter M, couldn't call
(36:56):
the show by its proper name.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Smart.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah, you may have missed the conversation I had with
Tony earlier, but I heard it. Yeah, I'm kind of
at a point now where it's it's I'm a broken
the game. Just please God win the game. I don't
care about anything else but please win the game. But
you know, I think a similar type of matchup with
TCU coming up this weekend, you know.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
You could feel it.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I am.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Game Day are big to kickoff?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, both, both for either UC football or u SE basketball.
Are there any silver linings to take from those losses
this weekend?
Speaker 5 (37:35):
I thought the Bearcats defend basketball, defended really well in
the first half, defended and rebounded like you expect a
UC team too. But Tony and I have talked about this.
At halftime, They're up four, and that just didn't feel
like enough. It felt like with as as much as
I thought they legitimately took a good Louisville team out
of their offense in the first half, you have to
(37:55):
build a ten to twelve, fourteen point cushion, So four
didn't feel enough. And then and frankly, offensively, in the
second half, it felt like much of the same from
last year. I think if there's a silver lining to
take beyond that, it's just that we're in November.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
The UC game.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Tony, you and I talked about this yesterday at Nippert
Stadium on Saturday. That is the most frustrating loss of
the last three years, because the mistakes, the missed opportunities,
the just mountain of self inflicted issues they continue to
have in a game that carried some decent stakes with it.
(38:35):
They're now one in ten in November since the start
of the twenty twenty three season. That to me, there
was no silver lining there whatsoever.
Speaker 8 (38:44):
Austin also alluded to the fact that under Scott's Saderfield,
when trailing at the half, they're zh to sixteen.
Speaker 5 (38:49):
Well, it's hard to come back when you trail at
the half, when you continually get outscored in the third quarter.
Speaker 8 (38:55):
Yeah, okay for me, I don't I didn't find much
silver lining. I was frustrated Friday night because I'm walking
out of arena and I had more UC fans tell
me that they were okay and happy with the fact
that we kept it that close, and well, you know
that's a good Louisville team only lost by you know what.
And I'm like, have we resorted to the fact that
if we just try hard but we lose them, we're
(39:18):
okay with that. That's what it felt like Friday night
to me. And I watched the same thing I've watched
for a couple of years now of an offense that
struggled to execute when it needed baskets the most and
then I watched on Saturday night a lot of the
same that we've seen far too much of. If you
look at how the season ended last year with five
straight losses, and you look at now how these three
(39:39):
straight losses have gone, offense has disappeared. Brendan Sorosby's not
playing it nearly as high of a level. They're not
utilizing their best players. They're beating themselves. They are doing
everything that good football teams don't do. I don't know
how you find the silver lining in those things.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
What about the Bengals? Any silver lining there? The defense?
They're tackling better, they're stopping to run better.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
They were good in the goal line and Gino Stone
took some great angles on the interception return.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Gino played a good game.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
Look, man, if you're just gonna rip on a dude NonStop,
then he got to point out when the guy does
the opposite. Gino played a good game yesterday, But no
no silver lining at all. It's it's it's game eleven
and we're clinging to well they tackled well. Like I
did a show preview video and I said, like, I
detect this surge of optimism because Burrow's coming back which
(40:33):
I get it. Joe Burrow is the best as far
as I'm concerned. When a healthy quarterback in the NFL
and the defense played okay yesterday. But I keep coming
back to same scenarios. Fourth quarter, down three, A good
defense gets a three and out or turnover. The Bengals
got neither. Instead, they allowed New England after a good
kickoff return gets the ball to the forty. They allowed
(40:54):
New England to kick a field goal, and then you're
asking Joe Flacco and his bum finger to go down
the field and make a miracle. So no, no silver lining. Yes,
they have some units that are playing well. I think
the offensive line is playing okay. I think Joe Flacco's
guts are admirable. I think the fact that he nearly
engineered to come back without two of the best wide
receivers in the sport is not insignificant. Chase Brown's a
(41:16):
good player.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Who but they're three and eight, Like I mean, you said,
who They've lost eight out of nine games. They're three
and eight. Well, I'm sorry, yeah, I'm there are no
silver linings when you're three in it.
Speaker 8 (41:26):
Who's Chase Brown?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
He is a running back, went to Illinois.
Speaker 8 (41:30):
They struggled yesterday from no pretty low. Yeah, yeah, I
don't there's no silver lining because every loss just seems
to be, well, this was better, but this failed or
situationally in this spot, they weren't good. It's just always something,
and that to me is just a bad football team.
It's always something. Well, the the defense was better. If
(41:53):
we have to like talk ourselves into like different parts
of the game that are better, you're already in a
bad spot.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Hey, but man, the defense tried hard.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
It's November, it's a professional football team. It's winning time.
Speaker 6 (42:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Hey, they they took a step forward to something I
might buy into in September. Yeah, well I might buy
into it if your record is better, not when you're
three and eight.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
I think we did learn though, that Geno Stone is
just better when deployed as a blitzer than as a safety.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Sure, that like actually could be his future. And you know,
while he's here.
Speaker 8 (42:28):
Here, well they could ask him to take a pay cut,
just bring him back and just play him in the box, just.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Run after the quarterback. By the way, Jalen Davis with
a sack before Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 8 (42:39):
Had that on the Bengo card. Uh, it's you hate
like I mean, I said it earlier, Austen. Here we
are in November twenty fourth, and for six weeks we're
gonna have a conversation about, you know, is it better
to win meaningless football games or is it better to
get draft positioning? And that's what this is going to
turn into. Yeah, you know, Joe burrovers to play verse,
(43:00):
not to play meaningless meaningless wins, but it's winning or
do you want to worry about your draft positioning? But
can they get the draft pick right? It's just I
feel like it's just going to be six weeks of
the same thing, and and I think that's the most frustrating.
Speaker 5 (43:14):
You know, last year, the goal was for the Bengals
to play themselves into the graphic right the in the Hunt,
which which network does sniffing around. They've changed in the
I believe that's Rich Eisen Show does Rich Eisen does
sniffing around. So the Bengals last night on Sunday Night
Football were not in the in the Hunt column. So
(43:34):
you know, beat Baltimore then then we're going to do
it every Well, let's go to.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
If Austin was doing it today. Yeah, let's be the
playoff simulator around the path at eight and nine. You
didn't send, You didn't press in on that message of
Jennifer Anderson.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Did you you know?
Speaker 2 (43:51):
I didn't much like Zach Taylor, you're a coward. That's
fourth and one and you didn't go for it.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Wow, Jennifer Aniston more cowardly approached. Jennifer Aniston has had
like legitimate stalkers in her life, like has had to
go to court and and like testify against people who
have stalked her.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
So her guard is probably up.
Speaker 5 (44:13):
Some rando's saying hey, want to go to a football
game is not what she Rachel Green doesn't need that now, Blase.
So no, I didn't hit tempted you know, shoot your shot.
Not sure how my wife would feel about it, although
I think my affection for Jennifer Aniston is is established
enough that she would go fine, she wants to go
(44:34):
to a Bankles Ravens game when you go for it.
But no, I I did not hit send because I didn't.
I didn't want to end up on like her Instagram
story going hey, here's what I have to deal with,
and I'm sure like me asking her to go to
a football game is Tippitt the Iceberg kind of stuff
compared to some of the weirdos out there. But I
didn't want to be made an example of, so no
I I refrained and I did not hit send on
(44:56):
the Jennifer Aniston Instagram message.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Fair enough, Well, I'm sure you'll well, as the kids say,
send it this afternoon from three to six for the
Tony and Mo Football Show. Thanks boys, the Toni and
Moe Football Show. Yes, not the Oh, it's Tony Pikes
Tony and Mo Football Show. They're to get in trouble
for that too, all right, see you guys. That's the
Tony Mo Football Show coming up next. This has been
Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback right here on ESPN fifteen
(45:21):
to thirty.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
This weekend at Genesis Diamonds.
Speaker 5 (45:25):
It's our
This is Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback show. Broot to
you and partby Ajoraned Window Company. They sell the best
and service the rest. Cincinnati Tax Resolution powered by Tope, Sheldon, O'Connor,
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(00:24):
Quality Blacktoping, Cincinnati's most trusted company, and by Thomas Moore University.
Accelerate your career with a business degree from Thomas Moore
University on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hi, Hello, Welcome in final hour of Tony Pike's Monday
Midday Quarterback Here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
My names Austin Elmore.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Tony back alongside Moegger about forty minutes from right now
for quick hits ahead of the Tony and mo football
show that'll come your way this afternoon from three to
six at Twin Peaks in Florence. News of the day
is that Joe Burrow, according to Zach Taylor, is anticipated
to start on Thursday night, Thanksgiving Night in Baltimore for
(01:13):
the Bengals. The Bengals now three to eight following a
loss twenty six to twenty to the New England Patriots yesterday,
a game that certainly was winnable. Cincinnati, when having a
ten point lead in the Zach Taylor era prior to yesterday,
was thirty six and six. We blew that ten point
lead and lost by six to New England to make
it thirty six and seven in the Taylor era and
(01:37):
three and eight on the season. Now you might be
saying too little, too late for Joe Burrow to come back,
and I don't necessarily disagree with that. It's nearly impossible
for this team to go on a run and to
make the playoffs. I get it, and you can make
the argument, and I think it's a fair argument when
there is a team that needs a lot of holes
(01:58):
and they need all the help they can get. When
it comes to drafting young players, it's a fair argument
to say this season needs to be about next year
and the year after that and the year after that,
so you should give other players a chance to play,
whether it be Jake Browning or Jermaine Burton or Mitchell
Tinsley or any of the myriad of young players on defense,
(02:23):
I get it. I understand that, and I would have
a hard time arguing against it. That being said, Joe
Burrow is the face of the franchise. He's the best player.
He's being paid fifty five million dollars. The players on
that team respect him. They I think, have a renewed
(02:44):
focus and a renewed energy when he's on the field
and in the locker room and engaged in the meetings
and around. I think that he in and of himself
raises the standard for everybody, not just the players that
he plays next to, but the coaches all the way
on down and all the way on up. I believe
(03:06):
that that's the type of impact that Joe Burrow has.
And this has been a season that feels like it's
from hell. Nothing seems to go right. They can't seem
to make the the right plays and the right moments
for winning football. They always seem to make the mistake
or get that penalty, or drop that pass, or you
(03:27):
don't go forward on third and one, or you don't
go forward on fourth and one, or the punt goes
through the back of the end zone, or the fumble happened.
It's just nothing has gone right for this team. They
are in this weird situation where they could very easily
be ohen eight or oh in eleven, or they could
(03:51):
be eight and three. Like the difference is not that
crazy when you think about this Patriots game, when you
think about the Bears game, when you think about, you know,
the Jets game, like, things could be so different. And
that's what I'm kind of afraid of with the idea
of Burrow coming back, because without him it has exposed
(04:16):
the various issues on the roster, and I think in
the coaching staff. And if you're Mike Brown, and you're
the ownership group, if you're Katie and Troy and Elizabeth
and Caroline and all the members of the family that
operate this franchise, you surely have been taking note of
(04:36):
what has happened this year and the ways in which
things have gone wrong and the reasons for which they
have gone wrong. And Joe Burrow not being there is
not a good enough excuse. Whether or not Burrow is there,
many of this stuff was going to happen, especially defensively. Now,
(04:58):
could the offense maybe play more complimentary football? Absolutely, the
turnovers from Jake Browning against Detroit and Minnesota inexcusable those things.
You know, that's a fair argument to say that's just
kind of a bit of a you know, an outlier,
and in the Minnesota game, for sure, I get it.
(05:18):
But there are plenty of issues top to bottom with
this team. There have been a lot of things that
have gone poorly. There have been a couple of things
that have gone well. I think the development of the
offensive line has been a good thing. Dylan Fairchild especially
that appears to be a hit on a draft pick.
(05:41):
The Bengals when it comes to running the football are
the best in the National Football League over the last month.
I think they're up total to like second in the
NFL in expected points added per rush and one of
the best, if not the best, inefficiency in the run game.
That I think is testament to good offensive line play,
(06:03):
good play calling, and good coaching. That's a positive because
that run game was atrocious to start the season. And
I get that. There are gonna be people out there
that say, well, that's because of Joe Flacco, and that's
because of under center, and that's because of blah blah blah. Well,
Chase Brown has been running from shotgun and under center
(06:23):
at nearly the exact same split this season as he
was a year ago, so that argument is invalid. And
I do think, and I heard Charlie say this Friday
when he was talking to Tony, that the idea of
the shotgun versus under center thing is one of the
more wildly overblown topics about the twenty twenty five Bengals.
(06:43):
I'm not saying that there's no merit to it at all.
I just think that it's become a crutch in the
argument for criticizing the offense and maybe at some points
criticizing Joe Burrow. Here's what I'm afraid of, though, if
you go back to that twenty twenty four season and
(07:04):
Burrow played out of his mind and Chase played out
of his mind, and there was so much good stuff offensively,
but there were just a couple of plays. There were
Evan McPherson having a down year and an injury in
a fumbled snap. There was Tanner Hudson fumbling going into
the end zone on opening Day against the Patriots. There
was the Dejohon Anthony pass interference against the Kansas City Chiefs.
(07:28):
There were a number of things that just went the
other way for the Bengals. And because of that, they
missed the playoffs narrowly by one game, and going into
the offseason, the conversation by Duke Tobin and those around
the team basically said the quiet part out loud, which
(07:51):
is that we got unlucky this year and we're not
going to get that unlucky again. And because of that,
we're not going to make lot of changes. I promise
you the only reason Trey Hendrickson is a Bengal this
year is because the Bengals thought they were close enough
to win a Super Bowl. They thought they could supplement
(08:13):
the losses of a Keeam, Davis Gaither and Jermaine Pratt
with two new linebackers. They thought that the issues on
defense were because of the coordinator, not because of the
players themselves, and they thought that all of this would
end up being a net positive and it would be
just enough for Burrow to lead the Bengals to the
playoffs again. Well, what happens when Joe gets hurt. Your
(08:36):
backup quarterback gets exposed for what looks like it was
probably a fraudulent twenty twenty three season in which he
came in for Burrow and had a much better defense
behind him. You trade for a forty year old guy
who's a great dude and has been fun to watch,
and a guy that's easy to root for and put
up some fun numbers. But even he couldn't overcome the
(08:57):
deficiencies of your defense. And now he's playing compromise with
a bad shoulder and out with a bad finger. You
came to realize very quickly this season that last year
wasn't just about being unlucky. Last year was about you
don't have the talent or the development at those main positions,
(09:19):
and you didn't do a good enough job to fix
it defensively, and it's become an issue now. Offensively, I
think you could say took a step forward with the
running backs, took a step forward with the offensive line,
took a step forward with the tight end room. I've
loved the addition of Noah fan I think offensively, you know,
without Burrow, obviously it's a little bit different, but some
(09:41):
of those key spots that needed to be addressed, needed
to be.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Fixed, have been fixed.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
The detractor there would be Jermaine Burton is still completely useless.
Andre Yoshavash feels like maybe he took a step backwards,
but there's the potential development of Mitchell Tinsley. I think
that's a position that needs to be taught in the
off season. I think left tackle is a position that
needs to be talked about in the offseason. But your
guard play got better, your center play got better. Amarius
(10:09):
Mims has gotten better and he stayed healthy. So offensively overall,
I think you're pleased with what you got, even you know,
without Joe Burrow and all the different issues that you
had to fix and get better at, you got better
at even in the absence of Joe Burrow. I'm okay
with that. There aren't Joe Burrows that grow on trees,
(10:30):
and there was at one point a serious group of
people that thought that Joe Flacco was better than Joe Burrow. Well,
over the last couple of weeks, injured or not, you've
seen the difference between the two. And so what I
don't want to happen is Joe Burrow to come in
this Thursday night against the Ravens and play elite, ridiculous
(10:53):
football and the Bengals rattle off six straight wins and
that's used as an excuse for inaction in the upcoming
off season. Now, trust me, I want them to win.
I would love nothing more than for this team to
rattle off six straight wins and sneak their way into
the playoffs and see what happens. There's nothing I want
more I honest to God, I mean that. But you
(11:16):
cannot allow that to be an excuse for inaction in
the off season. What you've learned about the team through
these first eleven twelve weeks, that's not or should not
change from the takeaways you have at the end of
the season. Yes there can be turnarounds, Yes there can
(11:38):
be development, Yes there can be good Yes there can
be change, But let us not forget what we've seen
over the last eleven games, and don't let a few
more games five or six or four, whatever it might be.
I just accidentally threw my pen across the room. Don't
let that be a detractor from action in the offseason.
(11:59):
You've heard me at all. I've said it extensively. The
Bengals have the cap space and the flexibility to improve
their roster next year. One of the big issues with
the Marvin Lewis era starting in really if you go
from like two thousand and nine through that twenty fifteen
or sixteen season, is that they built a roster that
(12:20):
was capable of winning and getting to the playoffs, and
each year they didn't do enough to improve it because
it was almost as if, oh, we're good enough to
get to the playoffs. If that's the case, who knows
what can happen. If we're good enough to get to
the playoffs, something's finally going to go our way. If
we're good enough to go to the playoffs, we don't
(12:42):
need somebody to put us over the top. And so
each year the Bengals would kind of do the same thing.
They'd sign some mid level guy on the third or
fourth day of free agency who really wouldn't have that
much of an impact, but they could kind of say
they did something. And back then they drafted halfway decent.
But because they put the same plan in place every
(13:04):
off season, the same result would happen.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Every season.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
They'd get to the playoffs and they'd lose because they
didn't do enough to build the roster around the players
that they had. And that's what I'm afraid of happening
with this iteration of the Bengals. Now that they've paid
the quarterback, now that they've paid the wide receivers, now
that they've gone through yet another feud with Trey Hendrickson.
(13:30):
Are you able to build a roster around the players
you have? Are you able to develop the young players?
Are you able to actually execute your plan? The Bengals
plan has been pretty clear, young players, young defenders, spend
money on offense, draft and develop on defense. The plan
is clear, and I can understand the plan, and I
(13:51):
appreciate the plan. It hasn't worked. And you cannot let
nine to eight last year lead to an off season
of inaction. You cannot let no matter what happens this year,
whether the Bengals go on a run and do the
same thing this year as they did last year, or
whether they go winless the rest of the way with
(14:12):
or without Joe Burrow, you cannot allow yourself to think
that this play against the Bears, or that play against
the Jets, or this play against the Patriots, or that
moment against the Steelers, or that moment against Denver or
that moment against Detroit, that's enough to say, Okay, that's
not going to happen next year. We've got the things
(14:33):
or the people, or the places or the coaches that
we like, so let's go forward with them. You cannot
afford to have another season of inaction, another off season
of inaction, and you cannot look back at the moments
or the bounces or the luck of the twenty twenty
four season or the twenty twenty five season and say,
(14:55):
you know what, we're closer than people think. And I
don't know that that would work for Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Again.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Now we all know that Duke very rarely speaks. And
I've said on this show, and I stand by it.
A guy who allows someone else to get up there
and take the arrows for his failures, allows someone else
to answer for his shortcomings, A guy who never goes
(15:24):
up there and takes accountability for his own actions. I
think that's a reflection of poor character. I don't know
Duke Tobin. I don't know anything about Duke Tobin, but
just from what I do know and what I do
see of him, that to me is a reflection of
poor character. And I hope that Duke Tobin is starting
to feel the heat, and I hope that Mike and
(15:46):
Katie and Troy and everybody up there is putting the
heat on him and on Zach Taylor, because you know
what's weird about this whole thing, with Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Really, over the.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Last twenty five years since he's been here, his name
has not really been brought up. It's not really been
raked over the coals, it's not really been on the
hot seat. Nobody's really pointed the finger at him. But
I think because of the job Zach Zach Taylor has
done coaching the offense, and what Joe and Jamar did
(16:19):
last year and what Flacco to an extent, has done
this year, and the fact that that's an offensive minded
coach with really good offensive players and they haven't been
able to draft and develop on defense, That to me
means that most people are looking around saying, hey, wait
a minute, Zach Taylor's doing his job. Joe Burrow and
those guys have done their job offensively, Why is this
(16:41):
defense so bad? And you fired Louis in a rumon
he's having success in the fingers start coming back towards
Duke Tobin.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
This is new for us.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
This is uncharted territory, uncharted territory for the Bengals because
Duke Tobin's never been in the crosshairs before and now
he is. A couple of weeks ago, Mike Florio Pro
foot pro Football Talk says there are rumblings about Duke
Tobin getting fired. I read in The Athletic this morning
(17:13):
that there are NFL insiders wondering about the future of
Duke Tobin. I read on ESPN a list of four
NFL executives that should be under the hot seat, and
Duke Tobin was one of them. I hope he's feeling
the heat. He should be feeling the heat. He's not
(17:35):
the only one. We'll get into Zach Taylor in just
a moment, but I hope that that spurs some action
from this group. And you don't look at what happened
last year and look at what happened this year and say,
you know what, we're really not that far away, because
I don't know if you've watched this defense play, and
while they have been better the last two weeks, they
(17:56):
are still miles and miles and miles and miles and
miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away
from being a championship caliber defense. And if we're taking
ourselves seriously, if we're telling the truth, if we're in
all this for the right reasons, it's about championships and
nothing else. The standard has to be upheld. That's why
(18:17):
I'm glad Burrow's coming back, because I think Burrow holds
people to a standard, and I hope and I think
in the past we've seen it a little bit that
Burrow can put the pressure on the organization to uphold
that standard as well. I'm not just talking about the
ownership group. I'm talking about Duke Tobin. I'm talking about
Zach Taylor. Let's keep talking about Zach when we get back,
(18:39):
ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Hey, it's ma Legger.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
What a miserable football weekend in Cincinnati. We have a
lot to talk about today on the Tony and mol
Football Show. Join us at Twin Peaks in Florence, starting
at three ZHO five on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station,
Man Truck Mean.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback ESPN fifteen thirty on Austin
No More. My apologies for my voice not quite as
strong as it's been in the past.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I one of.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
My best friends got married this weekend, and you know,
I'm in the wedding party, and you know, there's a
lot of fun that's had, a lot of drinks that
are had. It's a little bit cold November air. But
I also had the honor of doing the introductions for
the wedding party into the reception, including my own name,
and I got I really got into a flow state.
(19:34):
I reached a flow state. I turned into like the
nineteen ninety five Chicago Bulls, you know, bringing those people out,
saying the man in the middle and all that. I
couldn't speak for like hours afterwards. I really did a
number on my voice. But we've recovered greatly, I think,
better than I expected. So I appreciate you bearing with me.
(19:54):
Hopefully back to full strength tomorrow, because I'm gonna go
nonverbal from three pm and till noon again tomorrow, at
least hopefully by the way. At Audiel Moore a U
t y E L M O ri E On Twitter,
I put up a poll question, if the Bengals move
on from Zach Taylor, would you consider his tenure a success?
(20:17):
You have two options. You vote yes or you vote no.
Those are the only two options. I don't need a
reply explaining something else. I want yes or I want no.
If the Bengals move on from Zach Taylor, would you
consider his tenure a success? While you go vote on that.
We'll get to Zach in a minute. We've got time
for a couple of phone calls. Let's start with Brian
(20:38):
in Fort Thomas. What's up, Brian?
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Oh Hey, what's going on? How you going?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I'm good man, what's on your mind?
Speaker 6 (20:46):
Oh? So, I agree? Like my biggest fear about the
next the rest of the football seasons that they go
they win out because Joe's just he's the best player
I've ever seen in the Bengalis uniform. And then they
find out as seeds excuse to not do anything with
Zach or Duke or anything, and it's going to be
(21:06):
the status quo, and then we're going to be in
the same situation. I don't just want to make it
to the playoffs. We should have like a real chance
to win a Super Bowl, like one top teams in
the league. And I just don't understand how, you know,
anything else is acceptable, Like just sneaking in the playoffs
isn't good enough for we have we have a top
(21:27):
five quarterback in the league. We should be able to
be one of the top teams and you know, one
of the top seeds every single every single season. So
that's that's my concern about the upcoming week. I don't
want to root against the Bengals, but I surely don't
want them to go into terror. I mean, I feel
terrible saying that because I'm like, you know, I'm a bit.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Of fan my whole life.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
But it's I just really think, Zach, it's just time
to move on.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
We just not.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
His tenure has in success. So I yes, I'm not
on the socials, and I think he's you know, very successful,
you know, tenured. He's brought me my great my best
moment as fans ever, So like it's a it's that's
just how I feel. And this is not the worst
sports week in Cincinnati history. I mean, oh five, when
(22:16):
Carson got hurt, that was much much worse than us.
Like we knew, we knew the Bangals weren't going anywhere
this year, we knew the bear Cats aren't going anywhere
this year.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
FC.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Yes, that was terrible, that was a shilling, But oh five,
when Carson got hurt, that was just wow. It Yeah,
took all the all the way out of our sales
because that team was incredible. They were probably the.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Tables won Super Bowl. Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I think they could win the Super Bowl that that
five team could have won. A Brian, thank you for
the phone call. Yeah, you're exactly right, Like you're stuck
between wanting things to happen that demand the change that
you think can take the organization to the next level,
and also being a fan in one your team to
win and wanting your players to do well. And it's
(23:04):
been like seventy five days since the Bengals last won
a game. I think coffee tastes better on Mondays after
the Bengals win on Sunday. I love that feeling. I
love waking up and reading about it and blah blah
blah instead of I'm reading about losses and this just
happened this year.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So I get where you're coming from.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
I've always kind of taken the stance that you should
never root for your team to lose. I think I
still feel that way, but I certainly understand that mindset.
One more quick phone calls, go to Dave and reading Dave,
what do you got?
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Yeah, Austin, I was a you hit Mike on before
you're talking about he's talking about having Marv A. Lewis one.
There's talking about defensive backs. My Bikers junior highlais back.
But I was always taught, it's your beat, you get
your you gotta get your head around, and I'm gonna
call pass their forth most tabo. You can tell the
(23:57):
ball's coming by looking at the eyes receiver. It's just
automaically the ball eyes get bigger when they come. But
what I want to talk about, though, was Tony was
asking if there's ever a more miserable weekend and sports,
I can give you a day that was more miserable
and the old times, you guys will remember. It's being young,
but hopefully Mike's listening, he might remember if he's in
(24:18):
the United States the time. But the Reds were playing
the Oakland A's in Game seven of the World Series,
and back then they had for some reason, they had
they had the games all in the afternoon in the weekends.
NBC had the game. And the Red of the course
lost the heartbreaker off every game by one run that series.
(24:39):
And then they so then the NBC also had the
AFC games football games, so they had the game, they
had all this cell brace and all this stuff. They
switched to the Bengals football game. You had. They're playing
the Rams, a big game of time they're showing the
video of the game, but they got the audio of
the Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders game and the Raiders fans,
(25:03):
they said, the open Raiders, you know, the Oakland fans
just found out their team won the World season cheering.
You're hearing this while you're watching the Bengals fumbling the
opening kick off and he lost the kickoff, and it
was a big game. Anyway, you might even known about
this game is notorious that the Bengals actually came back
and Horse Muleman missed like three twenty five thirty yard
(25:27):
field goals in a row toward the end of the
game when it was tied twelve to twelve, and they
wound up losing that game on a field goal. They
had a roughing up Passerpelly It said them off like
a foty eight yard fieldal. Their ticker made it and
the Bengals lost that game. You just imagine how miserable
was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Definitely, yeah, definitely some salt in the wound after experiencing that. Dave,
thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. Yeah,
that's what Tony was searching for. Some of those those
awful Cincinnati Sports weekends. I mean, anytime you lose World Series,
that certainly would go into it. I obviously think back
(26:05):
to the Bengals losing against the Rams in the Super Bowl,
which was part of my poll question, if the Bengals
move on from Zach Taylor, would you consider his tenure
a success? Updated results Fifty five percent say yes, forty
four percent say no. Now for me, I say yes.
He was part of the team that drafted Joe Burrow
(26:25):
and Jamar Chase and t Higgins, part of the team
that signed Trey Hendrickson, won back to back AFC North titles,
went to back to back AFC Championship games, won an
AFC Championship game, broke the playoff drought well in five
playoff games in two years, the Hubbard Yard Dash, and
obviously a Super Bowl appearance. All those things I think
(26:46):
mean his tenure was a success. And I don't put
all of the blame of their failures on him. He
deserves it some of it, a chunk of it, not
all of it. And I think that's kind of in
a nutshell how I feel about Zach Taylor this year.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
I like Zach.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
I've said that many times. I think he's a really
good offensive coach. I think he's a smart offensive coach,
But I don't know that Zach really is the one
who moves the needle. I don't know that the Bengals
win games because of Zach Taylor. I think he's done
a good job building scheme around players. I think the
(27:25):
emergence of Jamar Chase's an example of that. I think
Joe Burrow to an extent is an example of that.
I think the way that they've rebuilt the run game
multiple times, both in that twenty one season so far
this season, I think that's an example of his ability
as a head coach and his ability to adjust the offense.
I think he's hired some smart people like Dan Pitcher,
(27:46):
like Justin Roscotti, like Troy Walters. I think he's also
failed in hiring people. By the way, you can add
Louis Ruin to that list of good people that he's hired.
I think he's also failed in hiring people offensive line
coaches like Frank Pollack and Jim Turner. Marion Hobby, the
defensive line coach to an extent, al golden right now,
(28:07):
maybe not exactly what we expected him to be. There
have been issues with staffing. There continue to be game
management and clock management issues. Feel and momentum and understanding
of the moment not great, analytics not great. All of
these things make me feel like, yes, Zach Taylor is
(28:28):
a good coach and there's something about him that works
with this particular group of offense. However, it's hard to
argue that this whole thing with Zach hasn't run its course.
The way that you feel after a game, a game
like yesterday, where it's like, damn, if the head coach
would have been buttoned up, maybe we had a chance
(28:49):
to win this game. You should never feel that way
about your coach. And I think the point that Mark
brought up earlier is a good one. Indecisiveness. Maybe I'm
were fully sure of who he is and what he
wants and who he wants to be and how he
wants to do it, and not a good enough consistency
or feel of that part of his game I think
(29:11):
has led to the Bengals losing games. I don't know
that there's a bunch of times where you point the
finger and say, yes, he's the reason they won. It's happened,
but not a lot, and that's a major issue. But
I think one of the other issues here is if
the Bengals decide to move on from Zach Taylor, who
do you want to replace him? I have a list,
(29:33):
I have three different lists here that I'm really curious
to know what you think or if you think any
of these guys are an upgrade from Zach Taylor. Clint Kubiak,
Chris Shula, Eric b Enemy, Dion Sanders, Mike Zimmer, Matt Eberflus,
(29:55):
Cliff Kingsbury, Antonio Pierce, Brian Daball, monkn Arthur Smith, Zach Orr,
lou An Arumo. What about Mike McCarthy, Jeff Halfley, John Gruden, Vance,
Joseph Doug Peterson, Brian Flores, Joe Brady, Robert Salah, Jesse Mintter,
(30:18):
Dan Pitcher, Ajiro Evero, Sean McDermott, Mike McDaniel, Kevin Stefanski,
Brian Callahan, Pete Carroll, Raheem Morris, Jonathan Gannon, Brian Kelly, Chip, Kelly,
Shane Bowen, Lane Kiffen. That's every possible available coach or
(30:45):
potentially available coach that I could come up with. In
that list, I think there's maybe five guys that I
would be mildly interested in. And I do think that
the idea of the ex experience, having worked with Duke Tobin,
having worked with the Brown family, that counts for something.
(31:09):
And I think that is part of the reason why
they might want to hang on, or he might want
to hang on, or why it ends up where those
two sides stay together, because I don't think there's a
name on this list that really jumps out at you,
is like, yes, you have to have it. If Kevin
O'Connell was out there, maybe i'd feel differently. If Sean
(31:32):
McVeigh was out there, maybe i'd feel differently. Or Andy Reid,
i'd feel differently. But I don't know that that name
exists on this list. I don't know that Zach Taylor
qualifies as one of those names either. I just don't
know if they're in a good spot altogether. And it
almost feels like we'll see what happens this year, and
(31:55):
we'll see what happens next year before we make that
type of decision, right, wrong, different, That's the vibe that
I get about this Now. If they completely unravel with
Joe Burrow and it continues to be this ugly, I
think maybe there's a chance that that it does happen.
I just don't know if it will, but I certainly
(32:17):
can understand it. And I feel like Zach and his
time here has run its course. I do consider his
tenure to be a success. But it just feels like
they they win in spite of him more than they
win because of him, and he in his hand in
building the roster and scouting the players and building the
(32:40):
coaching staff, all that together, you know, I think that
plays a hand in the shortcomings of this team and
how it feels like the only way they win is
if they're damn near perfect, and that's no way to
survive in the National Football League.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Take a break. We'll come back ESPN fifteen thirty at
a need fueling.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Short segment here because we're gonna go out the Twin
Peaks in Florence and talk to Tony Pike and Moe Egger.
Tony and Mo Football Show coming up this afternoon. They
will have in its entirety the press conference with Bengals
head coach Zach Taylor. Zach said earlier today he anticipates
Joe Burrow to play on Thanksgiving Night in Baltimore. Joe Burrow,
(33:34):
posting on his Instagram story earlier today that he's back.
The photo famous photo of him when he was in
high school with the lebron James Jersey on in the mirror,
with the caption saying He's back. You know who else
is back today? Jamar Chase back in the Bengals facility
off his suspension for spitting on Jalen Ramsey. I thought
(33:58):
this note from Dan Hord was in said because Jamar
Chase was not allowed in the Bengals facility last week,
he worked out privately for several days at the University
of Cincinnati's new Shakeley Indoor practice facility. Dan said he
asked Chase about it today, said he came away impressed
(34:18):
with that facility. So that's cool that the Bengals and
Bearcats come together there and they allowed Jamar Chase a
place to work out while he was away from the team. Jamar,
of course, expected to play a big role in Baltimore
on Thursday night. We'll take a break, we'll come back.
We'll talk to Tony and Mo next. This is ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Thirty WCKY Cincinnati and iHeartRadio Station Guaranteed Human ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
iHeartRadio from the Any Weather, Heating and dared Temstar Weathers Center.
Here's your forecast. This report is sponsored by Chumba Casino
dot Com.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Cincy three sixty Quick Hits on fifteen thirty was.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Looking for Mo.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Well, I think we found Mo and I think we
found Tony. The Tony and Mo Football Show coming up
from Twin Peaks in Florence. Hello, fellas, Audie.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Hello?
Speaker 3 (35:16):
You know I'm not doing too bad?
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Mo.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
How was your weekend?
Speaker 4 (35:19):
M Let's see. Got to spend some quality time with
my family Saturday morning. That was fun. Yeah, took my
daughter out for pancakes.
Speaker 5 (35:34):
It was a good time.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
That's about it. The rest of it wasn't awesome.
Speaker 8 (35:42):
I thought a time at the Grail was fun.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Time at the game with Ken Brew yesterday morning was
a blast. That was a good time. Yeah, yeah, I thought.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
I thought we had good broadcast.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
This weekend up to listen to the entire show that
you guys do with Ken. But I was able to
listen to the whole thing this week You guys were wonderful.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Well, thanks very much.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
My father in law told my wife that I sounded drunk.
I was talking about cheese spread he sounded.
Speaker 8 (36:09):
Drunk, so we had gift certificates available.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
We had we had plenty more the next one. But uh,
it wasn't a great weekend. But we're gonna have a
lot of fun today here at Twin Peaks in Florence,
and I'll pull back the curtain because some folks have
asked me, how do you decide which Twin Peaks should
go to? And it always revolves around this week. It's
(36:34):
kind of like Red's opening Day, like the baseball season
has to start in Cincinnati this week. We always have
to be at the Florence location because this week here
we're allowed to use the letter M and we can
call it the Tony and Mo Football Show, whereas on
the other side of the river, you know, it's that
week where you can't use the letter M, couldn't call
(36:56):
the show by its proper name.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Smart.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Yeah, you may have missed the conversation I had with
Tony earlier, but I heard it. Yeah, I'm kind of
at a point now where it's it's I'm a broken
the game. Just please God win the game. I don't
care about anything else but please win the game. But
you know, I think a similar type of matchup with
TCU coming up this weekend, you know.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
You could feel it.
Speaker 6 (37:19):
I am.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Game Day are big to kickoff?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, both, both for either UC football or u SE basketball.
Are there any silver linings to take from those losses
this weekend?
Speaker 5 (37:35):
I thought the Bearcats defend basketball, defended really well in
the first half, defended and rebounded like you expect a
UC team too. But Tony and I have talked about this.
At halftime, They're up four, and that just didn't feel
like enough. It felt like with as as much as
I thought they legitimately took a good Louisville team out
of their offense in the first half, you have to
(37:55):
build a ten to twelve, fourteen point cushion, So four
didn't feel enough. And then and frankly, offensively, in the
second half, it felt like much of the same from
last year. I think if there's a silver lining to
take beyond that, it's just that we're in November.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
The UC game.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Tony, you and I talked about this yesterday at Nippert
Stadium on Saturday. That is the most frustrating loss of
the last three years, because the mistakes, the missed opportunities,
the just mountain of self inflicted issues they continue to
have in a game that carried some decent stakes with it.
(38:35):
They're now one in ten in November since the start
of the twenty twenty three season. That to me, there
was no silver lining there whatsoever.
Speaker 8 (38:44):
Austin also alluded to the fact that under Scott's Saderfield,
when trailing at the half, they're zh to sixteen.
Speaker 5 (38:49):
Well, it's hard to come back when you trail at
the half, when you continually get outscored in the third quarter.
Speaker 8 (38:55):
Yeah, okay for me, I don't I didn't find much
silver lining. I was frustrated Friday night because I'm walking
out of arena and I had more UC fans tell
me that they were okay and happy with the fact
that we kept it that close, and well, you know
that's a good Louisville team only lost by you know what.
And I'm like, have we resorted to the fact that
if we just try hard but we lose them, we're
(39:18):
okay with that. That's what it felt like Friday night
to me. And I watched the same thing I've watched
for a couple of years now of an offense that
struggled to execute when it needed baskets the most and
then I watched on Saturday night a lot of the
same that we've seen far too much of. If you
look at how the season ended last year with five
straight losses, and you look at now how these three
(39:39):
straight losses have gone, offense has disappeared. Brendan Sorosby's not
playing it nearly as high of a level. They're not
utilizing their best players. They're beating themselves. They are doing
everything that good football teams don't do. I don't know
how you find the silver lining in those things.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
What about the Bengals? Any silver lining there? The defense?
They're tackling better, they're stopping to run better.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
They were good in the goal line and Gino Stone
took some great angles on the interception return.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Gino played a good game.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
Look, man, if you're just gonna rip on a dude NonStop,
then he got to point out when the guy does
the opposite. Gino played a good game yesterday, But no
no silver lining at all. It's it's it's game eleven
and we're clinging to well they tackled well. Like I
did a show preview video and I said, like, I
detect this surge of optimism because Burrow's coming back which
(40:33):
I get it. Joe Burrow is the best as far
as I'm concerned. When a healthy quarterback in the NFL
and the defense played okay yesterday. But I keep coming
back to same scenarios. Fourth quarter, down three, A good
defense gets a three and out or turnover. The Bengals
got neither. Instead, they allowed New England after a good
kickoff return gets the ball to the forty. They allowed
(40:54):
New England to kick a field goal, and then you're
asking Joe Flacco and his bum finger to go down
the field and make a miracle. So no, no silver lining. Yes,
they have some units that are playing well. I think
the offensive line is playing okay. I think Joe Flacco's
guts are admirable. I think the fact that he nearly
engineered to come back without two of the best wide
receivers in the sport is not insignificant. Chase Brown's a
(41:16):
good player.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Who but they're three and eight, Like I mean, you said,
who They've lost eight out of nine games. They're three
and eight. Well, I'm sorry, yeah, I'm there are no
silver linings when you're three in it.
Speaker 8 (41:26):
Who's Chase Brown?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
He is a running back, went to Illinois.
Speaker 8 (41:30):
They struggled yesterday from no pretty low. Yeah, yeah, I
don't there's no silver lining because every loss just seems
to be, well, this was better, but this failed or
situationally in this spot, they weren't good. It's just always something,
and that to me is just a bad football team.
It's always something. Well, the the defense was better. If
(41:53):
we have to like talk ourselves into like different parts
of the game that are better, you're already in a
bad spot.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Hey, but man, the defense tried hard.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
It's November, it's a professional football team. It's winning time.
Speaker 6 (42:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Hey, they they took a step forward to something I
might buy into in September. Yeah, well I might buy
into it if your record is better, not when you're
three and eight.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
I think we did learn though, that Geno Stone is
just better when deployed as a blitzer than as a safety.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:24):
Sure, that like actually could be his future. And you know,
while he's here.
Speaker 8 (42:28):
Here, well they could ask him to take a pay cut,
just bring him back and just play him in the box, just.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Run after the quarterback. By the way, Jalen Davis with
a sack before Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 8 (42:39):
Had that on the Bengo card. Uh, it's you hate
like I mean, I said it earlier, Austen. Here we
are in November twenty fourth, and for six weeks we're
gonna have a conversation about, you know, is it better
to win meaningless football games or is it better to
get draft positioning? And that's what this is going to
turn into. Yeah, you know, Joe burrovers to play verse,
(43:00):
not to play meaningless meaningless wins, but it's winning or
do you want to worry about your draft positioning? But
can they get the draft pick right? It's just I
feel like it's just going to be six weeks of
the same thing, and and I think that's the most frustrating.
Speaker 5 (43:14):
You know, last year, the goal was for the Bengals
to play themselves into the graphic right the in the Hunt,
which which network does sniffing around. They've changed in the
I believe that's Rich Eisen Show does Rich Eisen does
sniffing around. So the Bengals last night on Sunday Night
Football were not in the in the Hunt column. So
(43:34):
you know, beat Baltimore then then we're going to do
it every Well, let's go to.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
If Austin was doing it today. Yeah, let's be the
playoff simulator around the path at eight and nine. You
didn't send, You didn't press in on that message of
Jennifer Anderson.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Did you you know?
Speaker 2 (43:51):
I didn't much like Zach Taylor, you're a coward. That's
fourth and one and you didn't go for it.
Speaker 5 (43:55):
Wow, Jennifer Aniston more cowardly approached. Jennifer Aniston has had
like legitimate stalkers in her life, like has had to
go to court and and like testify against people who
have stalked her.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
So her guard is probably up.
Speaker 5 (44:13):
Some rando's saying hey, want to go to a football
game is not what she Rachel Green doesn't need that now, Blase.
So no, I didn't hit tempted you know, shoot your shot.
Not sure how my wife would feel about it, although
I think my affection for Jennifer Aniston is is established
enough that she would go fine, she wants to go
(44:34):
to a Bankles Ravens game when you go for it.
But no, I I did not hit send because I didn't.
I didn't want to end up on like her Instagram
story going hey, here's what I have to deal with,
and I'm sure like me asking her to go to
a football game is Tippitt the Iceberg kind of stuff
compared to some of the weirdos out there. But I
didn't want to be made an example of, so no
I I refrained and I did not hit send on
(44:56):
the Jennifer Aniston Instagram message.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Fair enough, Well, I'm sure you'll well, as the kids say,
send it this afternoon from three to six for the
Tony and Mo Football Show. Thanks boys, the Toni and
Moe Football Show. Yes, not the Oh, it's Tony Pikes
Tony and Mo Football Show. They're to get in trouble
for that too, all right, see you guys. That's the
Tony Mo Football Show coming up next. This has been
Tony Pike's Monday Midday Quarterback right here on ESPN fifteen
(45:21):
to thirty.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
This weekend at Genesis Diamonds.
Speaker 5 (45:25):
It's our
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