Sunday Morning Sports Talk with Ken Broo -- 10/19/25

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On news radio seven hundred W L Downe. Well, what
a day, What a day, What a day in college football.
Unbelievable turn of events at various places in college football yesterday.
We will get into all of that today, as well
as a little Bengals talk, because I think we're all
still kind of in awe of what happened on Thursday
night at pay Corpse Stadium. And I don't know about you,

(00:22):
but it was one of the more entertaining football games
I have seen in my life. Just what it looked like,
the Bengals might be down and out, up off the mat,
they come deliver the knockout blow and what do you know?
This team has got some life again, and a lot
of it obviously is all because of Joe Flacco. So
we'll get into that several times between now and twelve thirty.

(00:45):
We have an NFL doubleheader today, two games beginning at
twelve thirty. Not sure which games those are, but nevertheless,
two NFL games at twelve thirty today, One I guess
one is at twelve thirty. One is at four o'clock.
And no Bengals until a week from today, so they've
got time to rest up. But we need to press on.

(01:07):
I was up late last night watching several things. I
was watching the UC game out at Oklahoma State. I
was watching the UK game down in Lexington, their game
against Texas goes into overtime, and also watching FC Cincinnati.
So there was a lot of flipping back and forth.
But I'm going to start with UC because they've got
it going on right now. Now. Look, Oklahoma State is
in the middle of a bad year. They fired their

(01:29):
coach about three or four weeks ago. They're not a
team really that can deliver a lot of points. In fact,
I think they had scored seventy two points in their
last five games. And you see just takes care of business.
You're supposed to beat teams that you are better than,
and they did on the road last night in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

(01:49):
The University of Cincinnati goes out there, takes on Oklahoma
State and comes away with a forty nine to seventeen win.
Forty nine to seventeen. U see goes to five and one,
three and zero in the Big twelve. Okay, there were
a lot of stories inside this game, the biggest of
which is that is win number six for UC. They

(02:10):
went in there five and one, they come out six
and one. Six wins means your Bowl eligible. What was
UC not last year? After starting the season five and two,
they never got to that sixth win. They have gotten
to that now, although they are certainly setting their sights
on more than just a bowl game. Here is Scott

(02:30):
Saderfield after the game in the UC locker room talking
to Tony Pike.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's just it's an awesome feeling.
Number one, just the way they prepare. We had a
really good week of practice last week. You know, going
on a road in the Big twelve is tough to win.
I know, you know, Oklahoma State hadn't had a great
year this year, but it's still extremely difficult to come
out here and win homecoming. You know, they played inspired
football on that side over there, and you know it
was a battle. I mean, we had four possessions in
the first half and you know, fortunately we scored on

(02:57):
all of them. And then the second half they came out,
they stopped, they went score. Now is a ball game.
So I'm proud of our guy. Is the way they
continue to fight and how they won the fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, it was a game of ebbs and flows. UC
goes to the locker room at halftime up twenty eight
to ten, and then fires a blank in the third quarter.
Then rallies to outscore Oklahoma State twenty one to nothing
in the fourth quarter, adding up to a forty nine
to seventeen win. Brendan Sorosby again workmanlike and spectacular at moments.

(03:26):
This is a guy that certainly has been the shining
light at that position. I mean, really, you've got to
go back to Desmond Ritter to find a guy that
has had control of this offense and given his team
a chance to win. Now they finally got him players
to throw to. That was a major step forward in
this past offseason. But Soreersby goes twenty to twenty nine,

(03:47):
two seventy three touchdowns, no interceptions. He also rushes for
a touchdown and talking about the ebbs and the flows
and how things just seem to spin off big moments.
Matthew mcdous one hundred yard interception returned for a touchdown,
the longest in UC School of history. It was one

(04:09):
of three turnovers that this team forced last night, and
cheering him down the sidelines was not just his team,
but also his head coach. Yeah, It's incredible.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
We've been talking about it for a long time this season,
you know, trying to score on special teams for defense,
and you know, since I've been here, we haven't. I
mean it, I think it's the thirty first game we
finally did. And uh, and to do it on an interception,
and not only that, but to break the school record up.
I mean, you know, was in the end zone and
we all know that I McDoom can run, and he
hit that sideline and he tiptoed a little bit there

(04:40):
and it kept going.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
I mean, that was incredible. We felt we fell. I
heard on the head sets like he's gonna score, He's
gonna score, and uh.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
And then once he broke free, we knew he was.
And so just an incredible play by him and really
proud of him.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Again. The U see coach Scott centerfield in the locker
room after the game with Tony Pike again, you see
is six and one. They go to four and oh
in the Big twelve and they got Baylor coming in
for a four o'clock kick next Saturday, forty nine to
seventeen final. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, things are not going well
for Luke Fickle. This is a very, very disappointing year

(05:12):
for Wisconsin. That got even more disappointing after last night
because Ohio State, the number one team in the country,
goes into Wisco and wins thirty four to nothing. Thirty
four to nothing. Julian's saying, it's amazing what he's doing
up there in Columbus and last night, of course in
Madison to Wisconsin. But the freshman comes in thirty six

(05:35):
of forty two, three hundred and ninety three yards and
four touchdowns, doesn't throw an interception forty two times, saying
put the ball up. I'm just saying, yeah, I think
it's you know, what the game called for.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
You know, they were very stout in the box, and
you know we saw the ability to you know, take
advantage of plays outside with the RPO game, and I
think the receivers did a good job of you know,
spacing out and catch knifing and they made some great plays.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Maybe guys mess after that. Yeah, And he's distributing the
ball as well as any quarterback in the country right now.
Carnell Tate for that matter, six receptions one hundred and
eleven yards and a couple of touchdowns one hundred yards
and a couple of touchdowns. And you know there was
some moaning on Twitter yesterday, Well what about Jeremiah Smith.
You know where did he go? Hey, he had a

(06:22):
big game too, He just didn't get in the end zone.
But Tate did. And they asked Tate after the game. Look,
you guys are motoring right now. You got seven wins,
and are you starting to think about you know, maybe
you're thinking a little bit about the playoff now, maybe
you're thinking a little bit about saying and the Heisman

(06:43):
Trophy and all this and that, and Carnell Tate shut
that talk down.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
It's always sorry.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
There's a lot of destructions out there in college football,
a lot of teams out there losing. A lot of
things are extact. But then you also got to live
in a present moment and you can't affect the future.
You only can affect what's going on now. So we
just got to play football now. Word, But what's going
on now and what's in front of us next week
or a week after that.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's the way you play it.

Speaker 6 (07:04):
Man.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
You just can take care of what's in front of
you. You can't worry about what ifs Penn State is coming
to Columbus one week from this coming Saturday. OSU is
off this coming week. Penn State in two weeks. Penn
State lost again yesterday. This is this is an absolute
disaster and Happy Valley not happily named this year. But

(07:25):
number one Ohio State goes to seven and oh thirty
four to nothing over Wisconsin. Now, as I said, I
watched the Kentucky game last night, Mark Stoops has tried everything.
Mark Stoops is a guy on the ropes down there.
He's been there a long time, but it has not
gone well the last several years. I don't know if
it's talent, if it's coaching, if it's not enough in

(07:46):
the portal, I don't know what it is. His teams
play hard. If you're a Kentucky fan, you can't look
at his team and not say it plays hard. You
can't look at his team and say it is not
getting better week to week. It is it's just not
getting good enough to win big games inside the conference.
And they lose again last night in overtime in Lexington

(08:06):
to Texas sixteen to thirteen. Here's look, Kentucky was a
twelve and a half point underdog going into this game,
but they get it to overtime on a last second
field goal. They left points on the field. They got
inside the red zone in the first quarter, they couldn't
convert turn it over on downs. They missed a field

(08:28):
goal earlier in the game, so you can make the argument. Look,
it shouldn't have gone to thirteen thirteen heading to overtime,
but it did. So Texas gets the coin. It wins
the coin to us. They decide they're going to defer.
They give Kentucky the ball first. Kentucky rips off first
play at overtime, rips off a great run down to

(08:50):
the Texas five, and that's where things bogged down for
stoops in Kentucky. He goes four straight run plays in overtime,
four straight, including two dive plays on third down and
fourth down doesn't get in, so it's on first in
goal from the Texas five and overtime. So then Texas

(09:10):
gets the ball back uh the Kentucky's defense. They made
a few good plays and overtime, but it wasn't enough.
Texas has got a great place kicker kicks the field
goal wins the game. Kentucky goes to two and four.
They're winless so far in the SEC. And of course
after the game, the question of Stoops was was it
you know, was it were those plays like designed, particularly

(09:31):
the last two, which were just leaps over center that
got the running back got stoned. Here's Stoops.

Speaker 7 (09:38):
No, I mean it wasn't. I think on the first
one he was very close so on that leap, you know,
and you know, on the next one that felt like
they were they were ready for the lead, you know,
but they were definitely creating some push down low as well.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
He was very emotional after the game. He knows the
heats on him down there really is. But two and
four and oh at two and four overall, zero to
four inside the SEC and now Tennessee up next in
Lexington on Saturday. Indiana is making a case on a
weekly basis for being the best team in the country.

(10:15):
Now I know Ohio State, I know all about it,
but Indiana, who does not play Ohio State in the
regular season, is making a case. Indiana went to seven
and zero overall, four and oh in the Big Ten
last night with a thirty eight to thirteen win over
Michigan State. Michigan State is oh, it's they're okay, They're
not great, but they play well, but they again, I

(10:38):
think it's a talent problem with Michigan State Indiana seven
and oh after a thirty eight to thirteen win for
Nando Mendoza. You need to hear that name and understand
what he's doing. Fernando Mendoza. I believe he's a Cuban
born quarterback. The quarterbacks the Indiana Hoosiers twenty four of
twenty eight three hundred and thirty two yards and four

(11:03):
touchdown passes, did not throw a single interception, and this
was a really solid start for them. They scored on
their first four drives, first five drives of this game yesterday.
Here's Mendoza on that start and just the way things
are clicking.

Speaker 8 (11:21):
We really made a big emphasis, I mean, to every
game to have a hot start. We've seen teams come
up with big win and be complacent, and coach Signetti
made that a point throughout the week and never be complacent.
Treat this team, which there's an amazing team, to treat
them like every single play is.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
The game winning play.

Speaker 8 (11:38):
And so I think that when we had that mindset,
we knew we need to start a hot We didn't
want to be complacent and Michigan State had a great
scoring drive. We knew that we need to go down
there and help our defense because our defense helps us
so many times throughout the entire season.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
And the head coach, Kirk Signetti, signed a big extension
at Indiana and they basically a look at Penn State
and saying you're not getting this, dude, it ain't happening.
Big extension to his contract this past week. Signetti on
Mendoza and what he saw yesterday. Listen to this.

Speaker 9 (12:09):
This is the sharpest you know, we've seen him up
to this point, you know, in a game. But he
continues to improve, he continues to prepare like nobody I've
ever been around, and he's getting better and better.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
He was terrific yesterday again, thirty five seven, I'm sorry again,
thirty eight to thirteen Indiana over Michigan State. UCLA going
to Bloomington to play this coming Saturday. Miami with a
forty four to thirty win over Eastern Michigan that was
in Oxford yesterday, Miami goes to four and three Miami.
You know, they start off and they play these big

(12:46):
time teams and then they scrap and they fight and
they get good week by week and They're now three
and zero inside the Mac. Jordan Brunson twenty three receptions,
one hundred I'm sorry, twenty three carries one hundred twenty
two yards and a touchdown to Kwan Finn two touchdown
passes in a rush. Watch out Miami as again figured

(13:07):
it out. They dropped it into third year. Yesterday over
in Athens, Ohio forty eight Northern Illinois twenty one. That
was homecoming in Athens, so Ohio bounces back from losing
to Ball State a couple of weeks ago. At bluffed
in Yesterday, Mount Saint Joe thirty five, bluffed in seven.
But Tiffin goes in and plays Thomas Moore last night

(13:30):
and in Northern Kentucky Tiffin forty five, Thomas Moore ten.
There you go college football last night. The local stories
wove it in and around what happened nationally. Big night
for FC Cincinnati last night. We'll talk about that and
what their future holds, and it cannot be more dramatic
than what it is on this Sunday morning nine two

(13:53):
Sunday Morning Sports Talk seven hundred a w LW sold
out Class TQL Stadium as per usual, and FC Cincinnati
ends the regular season by beating c F Montreal three nil.
That's twenty wins on the season for FC Cincinnati, sixty
five total points, good enough per second overall in the

(14:16):
entire league, and they miss out on the Supporter Shield
by just one point. Nick Kaglan terrific header from Evander
made it one nil, and then Evander with his eighteenth
of the season in the fifty seventh minute, and that
was more than plenty. Evander, you don't need to tell
Pat Noonan what he means to this roster.

Speaker 10 (14:37):
He's been pretty consistent all year with his production. He's
been pretty consistent in his play and you can see
when we're able to get him on the ball in
the right moments. He's the game changer. He's the one
that you know when when you're not on and you

(15:02):
need a moment, this is where he steps up.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
He did last night in the eighty eighth minute Brenner
in transition. That was the final goal of the night,
three nil over c F Montreal. Roman Celentano out since
the end of August, clean sheet and now the MLS
playoffs begin, and guess who they face in Round one?
Columbus the hell Israel Derby will go on for at

(15:27):
least two more games this year. It's a best of three.
Don't have a date yet, don't have a time yet.
Playoffs begin no earlier than this coming Friday, two more
against Columbus. In a moment, Kevin Wallace from the Sincy
Post will pick up on the FC Cincinnati story. Then
it's nine thirty on news Radio seven hundred at wl

(15:50):
WINE already on this Sunday morning, Good morning, Sunday Morning
Sports sot right till twelve thirty today, and we've been
too an NFL doubleheader, a lot of Bengals talk, and
we're going to get into little FCC talk. Lee Sterling
is going to stop by with his five picks to
win you major money today in the NFL, and coming

(16:13):
up in about a couple of hours, I'll be joined
by the lead singer of one of the most influential
bands from the nineteen nineties and they are still cooking
today and they're coming to town in about two weeks.
I'll be joined by Art Elisakis of Everclear. That's at
nine thirty I'm sorry, eleven thirty five later on this morning.

(16:37):
So it is now onto the MLS playoffs, and it
is FC Cincinnati against Columbus in a best of three
series pat noon, and after last night's win over c
F Montreal, on the upcoming continuation of the Hell is
Real Derby.

Speaker 10 (16:57):
You know, if you don't get excited about that and
those opportunities on top of being a playoff team and
playing in front of our fans, you know, in the
first game, there's something there's something missing there. So we'll
take a night to enjoy this, and then we turn
our focus to Columbus.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Someone who took probably last night and well into this
morning to enjoy yesterday's three nil win is standing by
to join us right now. He is one of the
three hosts on the wildly popular since he Post podcast,
and yet with all of that to do, Kevin Wallace
has taken on yet another job. They got another They
got another podcast that's out that looks at the MLS

(17:41):
and Toto. We'll talk to him about that as well,
But for now, Kevin Wallace, how are you on this
glorious Sunday?

Speaker 11 (17:49):
Oh feeling good? Team finishes second by a point over
the course of the season. You gotta love it. It's
a good day for Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
It is a good day for FC Cincinnati. You know
I would that supporter shield, but that's okay, that's no problem.
Twenty wins, sixty five points, second overall in MLS, and
Columbus waiting in a best of three. Let's talk about
last night. A couple of things happened. I think that
we're good. Besides the win. Celentano's back, he's been out

(18:19):
since the end of August, and Obi is back. I
think that's good because he's been out it seems like
since the Reagan administration. So you got some key players
back last night, and that's good, right.

Speaker 11 (18:32):
Yeah. You love to see the team starting to get
well healthy with some key contributors in Obi and Roman.
Den K wasn't out there for yellow card suspension, so
he'll be well rested going into the playoffs. A couple
of injuries popped up going into this week that I
don't think we're on anybody's radar. Lucas angle was one

(18:55):
that I thought wou would have been healthy for this one,
but it does. Does it sound like anything is too
terribly serious from anybody else, And we are a week
closer to the return of Matt Miosga. Teams getting healthy
at the right time. You love to see it. It
was really, really, really good to get a solid, decisive win.

(19:16):
And yeah, no, no, nobody got injured, no red cards
last night. It was looking good from that perspective.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Do we know definitively if mi Osga will be back
for the playoffs for this first series against Columbus or
is that still up in the air.

Speaker 11 (19:32):
So the timeline has him missing probably the first game,
that first home game against Columbus. He would then potentially
be available for the away leg or the potential game
three of the best of three series. That was according
to the original timeline. I don't think we've had an
update since then.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Though another stellar performance last night. Goal assists. You know,
I'd asked noon and after the game about him and
an MVP and what he thinks goes into being an MVP,
and I thought the answer was a little evasive. Is
he would you? Let's put it this way, He's certainly
a contender for MVP, There's no question about it. Is

(20:15):
he like a solid contender? Would he be top three?
Where do you think Vander is in the MVP chase
inside MLS?

Speaker 11 (20:24):
I think Exander is solidly top five. Unfortunately, that's as
good as I can get him right now. The unfortunate
thing is for Exander is Lionel Messi, A couple of
people may have heard of him, has put together probably
the greatest single season in the history of Major League Soccer.

(20:47):
He did not set the all time goal scoring record,
but he got very close, played in way fewer games,
and also was number one in assists this year. Unbelievable
full season from him. And then you have to look
at Anders Dryer, who had really pushed Messi in a
lot of those metrics. But for an expansion team, San

(21:09):
Diego finishes as the number one seed in the West.
I think, on balance, MVP vote is going to look
at that, but I think Evander has as good, if
not better, of an argument than anybody else outside of
those two. Sadly, I think the MVP is going with
one of those two, and I bet on Messi.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Right now, FC Cincinnati and the Week all have qualified
for CONCA Cap, which is the major tournament in North America,
and I think that's I think that's good. We know
they're in. What does that mean do you think for
soccer in this city?

Speaker 11 (21:44):
It's nothing but positive. It on a very practical level,
the teams that make that tournament get a couple extra
bucks towards the salary caps to help build their roster.
And we've seen, according to the salary releases, that this
team has max every penny that the league lets them spend,
so any wiggle room's gonna be beneficial there. But it

(22:06):
also means bringing some of the biggest and best teams
in the region to Cincinnati. We've seen Monterey and t
Grace and Chievas come to Cincinnati over the last couple
of years. And also, I mean, this is a very
good FC Cincinnati team. They will be returning a very
solid core next year. It would not shock me for

(22:30):
this team to do very well next year, and a
first place finish obviously, or even a second or third
place finish, depending on how the rest of it shakes out,
can actually get them into the Club World Cup next
time it comes around. So there's a lot to play
for in that tournament. It's early in the season, so

(22:50):
even if it does detract a little bit from the
regular season, it shouldn't derail them too much. They were
in it this year and again just missed the supporter
Shield by one point, so it is nothing but positive.
It's it's all good things for the team and and
for the region and for the city like that is
that is a really really cool accomplishment to be in

(23:11):
that tournament three years running. It's hard to do in
this league. So good on them for getting it done.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
All right, back in that and now we know what
lies ahead and that's round one of the playoffs against Columbus.
What do they have a tie and a loss to
Columbus this season? Columbus, I don't know. They don't seem
to be a very good matchup for FC Cincinnati. And
everybody gets worked up about the hell is real thing
and and all that, but I'm I mean, I just
I just look at players and positions and markings, and

(23:40):
it just it seems Columbus's style and the way they
mark on the field, I just it's in my opinion,
it's just not a good matchup on paper for FC Cincinnati.
What am I missing here? Now?

Speaker 11 (23:53):
I think you're right. I think I think the coaching
style of Wilford Nante has always been the sort of
antithesis of Pat Noon, And even when Nansei was at Montreal,
which was not a very good team, a very low
spending team in this league, the Montreal f c Cincinnati
games then were wild four to three with a constant

(24:17):
score line, with wilfrid Nance getting the best of Pat
Noon in there. So I certainly think the style of
play is not great. What is helpful, though, is that
the Columbus crew have utterly collapsed down the back half
of this season. I think they've won two games over
the last month and a half. It's been rough for them.

(24:39):
They've had key injuries at a lot of big positions there.
They lost their big designated player for the rest of
the season. They're in a bad spot. So while the
matchup on paper isn't great and I would never discount
wilfrid Nance at all, I I think if you had

(25:01):
to play them this year this this is the exact
moment you want to be playing them.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
And conversely, FC Cincinnati's put a lot of money into
its front line, you would hope that they can have
a little bit better result in terms of goals scored
against Columbus three last night against Montreal. I'm not comparing
Montreal to Columbus, but the fact of the matter is
three goals in one match that was probably at one

(25:28):
point this season four matches for a Cincinnati So I
mean it's the scoring has improved. I think it's imperative
they win game one. You've got you can't let Columbus
go back up North hosting game two if you're down
a game to them. If I'm if, I'm pat Noonan.
First of all, I'm getting more excited about this match

(25:49):
than he was in his postgame news conference last night. Well, secondly,
I'm telling him, look, dudes, we got to win this one. Somehow,
some way, we got to get game one. We're not
going up to Columbus down a game. I think it's
imperative that they win. They don't win that first game, Kevin,
I think they're in deep deep doo dooo. What do
you think?

Speaker 11 (26:11):
Yeah, I agree with you. The one, the one little
sliver I would push back on is f C. Cincinnati
has been unbelievable on the road this year, like twice
as good on the road ten versus at home. I
think there is certainly a path for them to draw
at home and win on the road, and that would

(26:33):
be enough to get them through in two games. But yeah,
I think mentally though, that that is going to be
key for this team. I mean, the last time Columbus
crew came to Cincinnati f C CINCINNI went up like
two goals to nothing in the first I think it
was ten minutes, only to lose four to two in

(26:54):
that game. It was. It was a disaster. I think
mentally it took some time for the team to recover
from that. Yeah. I think even going down early in
that first game could could be devastating for this team
and their psyche. So I agree with you though that
that first game is really going to set the tone

(27:14):
on whether or not this is going to be a
Cincinnati team that just rolls and pushes over a bad
and broken Columbus team, or if we're going to have
to dig in and see three matches of gut wrenching soccer.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yeah, and that's what I worry about too. When you
have the kind of matches you've had against Columbus, regardless
of what state Columbus is in here in the last
couple of months, it plays to your mind. You know,
you play, you know everybody, you know. It's like anything
else in life, Kevin, Right, you remember the bad things
more than you remember the good things, right, And so

(27:50):
you don't want to get into a situation where there's
like wonderment inside the head of Obi or well mea
Osgar whoever. You don't want that like playing into it.
It should be focused time on task and if you
if you get that first game, I think a lot
of those demons go go away. But you know what,
on paper, twenty nine to five is a terrific season.

(28:12):
Sixty five points a terrific season. They've acquitted themselves well
against most of these teams in the East in the
in the regular season to make you think they've got
a great shot at getting out of their conference and
into that MLS Cup. We'll see. First things, First prediction
from you on this first round against Columbus. Who wins

(28:34):
and in how many games?

Speaker 11 (28:37):
I think FC Cincinnati's got this, and I think they
got this in two games. But I hate to say
I think it's going to go the way I just
laid it out. I think it's a draw at home
and a win in shootouts and then a win up
in Columbus. So the TQ of faith Ball will be
robbed of seeing their team beat columbs This in regulation,

(29:01):
but I think overall it will be the result that
they want. And if I may just peeking ahead a
little bit on the path to MLS Cup Final. I
really like how this FC Cincinnati team matches up against
Nashville and Miami, and we would be facing one of
those two after this one. I like the path. I
like how it's laid out. I'm picking. I'm picking the

(29:24):
Origin Blue to get through in two.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
All right, we'll see. We're like every other Cincinnati in here, Kevin.
We expect the worst and hope for the best. It's
a way of works in our town. What is the
latest Cincy Post podcast coming out? For all the faithful listeners?
What is that out?

Speaker 11 (29:41):
Yeah, we will have a new episode out tomorrow morning.

Speaker 12 (29:46):
They usually go.

Speaker 11 (29:46):
Up around seven in the morning, but yeah, we got
a new one coming out. It should be fun recapping
this looking ahead to Columbus a little bit unfortunately thanks
to the brilliance of Major League Soccer. Don't you know
when that game is? Could be Friday, could be Tuesday
next week. But we'll be breaking it down.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
For you, all right, Kevin Wallace, The Sincy Post, it
is out there right now, and it's one of the
great listens for all things about the beautiful game. Kevin
and his co host Grayson and the Chef and you've
got to tune it in to really understand what it
is all about. All right, Kevin, stay well, you know
we'll be calling down the road.

Speaker 11 (30:26):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (30:27):
Thanks, Ken, have a good.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
One, sir. Big win last night, second overall in points.
Not a bad season so far, but you gotta win
in the playoffs. Nine to fifty four. News Radio seven
hundred w WELW.

Speaker 13 (30:42):
Well W presents Sunday Morning Sports Talk with your host
Ken Brew on News Radio seven hundred.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
W l W. Yes, Yes, good morning, even on a
dreary Sunday, Good morning, we gather around the lemonade stand
here to try and make sense of it all over
in London, fourteen nothing winning moments, first quarter as the
Jaguars are scrapping to get back in this game against
the Rams. Jags have the ball on a third and
one Rams fourteen Jags zip with about thirty five minutes

(31:13):
to thirty five seconds to go in the first quarter.
And of course, a plethoro of games later on this
afternoon and into tonight. Of course, the Bengals don't play today.
They played Thursday night and they won Thursday night, as
we know. In a thriller against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nobody,
and I mean nobody expected sixty four total points in

(31:33):
this game, but that's what we got. You know what
else we got is after the game, as the faithful
were pouring out of pay Corpse Stadium, we heard this
chant black, go Flack, Go Flaco. Flaco. Who would have
thought even a month ago that Bengals fans would be
cheering Joe Flacco in Cincinnati. Unbelievable, but we all know

(31:57):
the turn of events that brought him here. But you
know it's kind of I think, humbling and yet exciting
for a player, it doesn't matter who it is, whether
it's a quarterback, could be a guy at the end
of the bench that made a huge playing the game.
It's got to be thrilling to hear that from the crowd.
Flacco has always been one of the more cerebral quarterbacks
in the league, and he was asked after the game

(32:20):
about that, about the enthusiasm, the embracement that you've provided
for him as he has come here to try and
save this season until Joe Burrow gets back. Here's what
he had to say. This is one of the best
answers to a question I have heard in a very
long time.

Speaker 14 (32:36):
I feel like that's what fans do. They want their
football team to win, and it just happens that I'm
the guy right now that's behind the center. You know,
the same thing with players, like, yeah, you're loyal to
the guys that you're in the locker room with, and
you're loyal to the game of football, and you really
enjoy playing in these cities.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
I mean, there's such.

Speaker 14 (33:00):
I feel so fortunate to have been able to now
play in so many different cities and just see that
different people and how they react. It gives you a
new appreciation for these fans. Like I honestly never really
loved coming here and playing That was unbelievable tonight, you know,
like and Cincinnati would kind of put.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
It on us.

Speaker 14 (33:17):
I feel like most of my career, especially when we
came here, so I didn't necessarily love here. But now
I get to have a new perspective, at least for tonight.
And the fans, I mean even just around town, they've
been great. I mean, you know, saying what's up or whatever.
So they're obviously very quick to forget and happy to.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
You know that we're going through this, and so am I. Well,
there you go. Next up the Jets one week from today.
The Jets are not good. They're at home today against
Carolina and the Jets are getting a point and we'll
see how that one turns out with maybe some mild
interest as we build towards the next one seven days
from now. But it was a big night Thursday night.

(33:56):
If you were there, you know that you witnessed it.
Not very very many black and gold decked out people.
And that's an anomaly too here in Cincinnati. Normally when
the students come to town, you see a lot of
black and gold in the stadium. Didn't see that. It's
a lot of white. It's a white out night at
pay Care at pay Corps. And it worked out. But

(34:17):
the road behind us and the road ahead now becomes
the topic as we welcome in one of the finest
sports writers in the country, somebody that understands the game
inside out, what works for one of the most analytical
websites that's out there, but does not let those metrics
make your eyeballs roll in the back of your head
when he starts talking about, well what they talk about

(34:39):
on Pro Footballfocus dot Com. He is a good guest
of this program. He is Bradley locker, and he is
standing by to join us right now. And Bradley, how
are you on this glorious sunday you and very well.

Speaker 4 (34:50):
Ken really appreciate you having me on. I'm excited to.

Speaker 15 (34:53):
Break down what was definitely a very encouraging result in
any ways for the Angles on thres.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
Yeah, uh, okay, let's let's just dive right into it. Nobody,
I think expected eight hundred and sixty six yards of
total offense between the two teams, let alone the point
total in excess of sixty. I know you didn't. I
certainly didn't. Did this game simply get out of hand
or was there something else going on here?

Speaker 15 (35:17):
I think you're right that no one really just sated
it was going to be this highest scoring, and there
was a lot of fanker coming in about the age
of the quarterbacks. But I think it really just stems
from the fact that I really did not think that
this is a good matchup at all for Cincinnati's offense,
in particular its offensive line, which really really had struggled
to pass per sacks for the vast majority of the season,
and on top of that, run the ball with any

(35:39):
type of efficiency. And both of those were really, really,
I would say mitigated in this game against the Steilers
defense that had certainly started to find its rhythm over
the last few weeks. And I think a lot of
credit does have to go to Joe Flaco, of course,
and I think there's been a lot of attention on
his performance with the Bengals, but just a really analytically
sound performance by our metrics at eighty one point one
PFF passing great, two big time throws, zero turnover where

(36:02):
he plays, and he gets a BOT in an average
of two point two seven seconds, which is a really
strong way to mitigate a pass rush as good as
what the Steelers have.

Speaker 4 (36:11):
But on top of that, I.

Speaker 15 (36:12):
Think a lot of plauts are in order for how
good this Bengals rushing game looks. Chase Brown secured a
ninety point seven PFF rushing great, and he averaged eight
point nine yards after contact per atten. That's a really
astonishing number considering that you're getting almost a first down
every time he's getting touched by Steelers defender. So of
course a lot of it is as a Steelers defense

(36:32):
looks probably as bad as we've seen all season, and
quite as bad as you've seen in a long time.
But conversely that the Bengals offense is maybe starting to
play like the un know we anticipated in terms of
rushing the ball and passing with efficiency.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
And you flip it on defense. Now, when you have
this much offense in these many points, it's it's not
a good night for anyone, really, But the Bengals defense
with a couple of drive stops, an interception that leads
to a touchdown, another innerception that leads to a field goal.
My point being is this was a game that for
Pittsburgh cried out for a stop, cried out for a turnover.

(37:08):
They didn't get it. The Bengals got them what was
just a horrific throw by Rogers. The other was just
as strategically great play by the Bengals secondary. So I
guess turnovers matter.

Speaker 15 (37:21):
No, It's a really really salient point. And talking about
that dead interception, I think one of the really bright
spots for the Bengals defense, as he said, in a
game where maybe there weren't a lot of stanafs defensively,
was actually DJ Turner and this is now the third
straight game that he has really played like a fatuous player.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
In coverage.

Speaker 15 (37:37):
He recorded an eighty eight point eight PFF coverage grade.
He was only targeted. He started five times and only
allowed two catches for forty three yards and had that
tremendous interception against DK Metcalf and also knocked away another pass.
Just a thirty one point seven pass rating when targeted.
And I think this is a really prompting sign for
a Bengals defense that needs kind of young, stayn aful

(38:00):
tributar as players who can be building blocks on the
defensive side of the ball moving forward. And I think
at the same time, it is fair to acknowledge that
the Bengals pass or us really really languished without Trey
Hendrickson totally just really ten pressures on the entire night,
and no Bengal had above a sixty seven point zero
be a best passed rush grade.

Speaker 4 (38:18):
So the fact that Cincinnati could at.

Speaker 15 (38:20):
The very least maybe makes them, as you said, his
crucial kind of defining plays on a night when it
was not as the best player. Has to feel somewhat
good about that.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
Yeah, I mean, the Steelers defense just couldn't penetrate Flaco
got great protection. Let's talk about that. Why did we
see that Thursday night? Why haven't we seen that before this.
Was it strictly Flacco and maybe his ability to release
the ball as quickly as we just talked about, or
was it just Flaco with his ability to see the

(38:50):
field whereas maybe Jake Browning didn't get to see the
field the same way.

Speaker 15 (38:55):
I think part of it definitely stems from from what
I was talking about that Flaco did an outstanding job
of getting the ball out of his hands quickly, as
I talked about, kind of that ability to that average
time to throw two point twenty seven seconds, but sixty
seven for three percent of his dropbacks on Thursday night
came within two point five seconds or less than on
those plays, he recorded eighty one point two PFF passing grade,

(39:18):
whereas even when he held the ball for longer, it
still was a pretty solid returning with a seventy point
three PFF passing grade. But quick, decisive, accurate quarterbacking is
the best way to mitigate a pass rush. But I
think even just looking at them the other offensive line metrics,
Blaco was kept clean on sixty five zero point three
percent of his dropbacks, and when he was kept clean,
he was fabulous. Was he went twenty four for thirty

(39:40):
two with two hundred and forty seven yards, three touchdowns
and the ninety one point four PFF passing grade. And
I thought even Flacam made really tremendous series under pressure
as well. He had that I think it was that
dime down the field to Andre Yoshi vas and overall
Flaca wasn't quite as stupendous under pressure. But even the
Bengals offensive line I think does deserve from credits, particularly

(40:01):
on the edges Orlando Brown Junior and Mary As the
man Is combined, who allowed six pressures and only one
stack in the team, and considering the quality of the
opponent and the Steelers boasting probably the best pass rush
in the NFL with t J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and
Nick Herby, I think that's the result you'll take every time.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
Oh they ran the ball too, didn't they? Bradley. I mean,
we have not seen a running attack at all this season,
and in this game Thursday night, the average six point
two yards per carry Chase Brown, he was missing in
action eleven carries one hundred and eight yards. I'm just
we talked about the ability to protect Flacco, there was

(40:37):
the ability to create space for this running game to
get going finally, So overall, I guess, and I don't
have the numbers in front of me, maybe you do.
This had to be the best game the Bengals offensive
line has played all season.

Speaker 4 (40:52):
Yeah, I think definitely offensively.

Speaker 15 (40:54):
I was double checking before we hopped on that was
indeed the highest EVA for play mark by the Bengals
offense altogether, and in terms of offensive line trying to
see what type of data we can gather, there were
I guess a few week spots along the offensive line
in terms of PFF grading available here, but even Dalton
Risner the left guard with a sixty one point two

(41:14):
overall PFF grade, I think Jalen River did right guard
was probably the low point. I had a thirty eight
point six overall PFF grade and did struggle in pass protection,
allowed one sack and five pressures and getting massed up
with seemed like Cameron Hayward for much of the night
was not really a strong suit for the Bengals rookie
right guard. But I think as the team, Cincinnati's offensive

(41:36):
line produced fifty five point nine PFF pass blocking grade,
which is probably not on par for what this team
has been so far this season, and just overall fifty
nine point zero overall grade.

Speaker 4 (41:47):
For the Stngals offensive line.

Speaker 15 (41:49):
So I guess that that is revealing in and of
itself that the offensive line maybe wasn't quite as spectacular,
and that sense to lend to the thoughts that flackout
did a really strong job of just getting the ball
out of that and even too looking at some of
the rushing metrics, and one of the things I really
love doing is breaking down yards before and after contact.
Before contact more of a representation is good blocking, and

(42:10):
after contact, more of the player doing its strong job.
And consider that the Bengals average five point one yards
or five point one additional yards after contact compared to
only one yard before contact, and I think it's clear
that it was more Cincinnati's running backs, in particular Chase
Brown just shedding a lot of tackles by Pittsburgh as
opposed to great run.

Speaker 4 (42:31):
Blocking by Cincinnati offensive line.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Bradley Locker, ProFootball Focused dot Com or guests talking about
this past Thursday night. Now, let's look ahead for the
Bengals right now. Cincinnati looks good. They were back on
their feet. They played the Jets here next Sunday. That
looks like an eminently winnable game. Then the Bears come
to town. The Bears are good. I wouldn't call them great,

(42:54):
but that looks like it should be a winnable game.
Then they go to Pittsburgh, then they come home and
play the Patriot. So then they go to Baltimore. I'm
just getting things looking ahead here. Here they stand out
three and four. Do you think Thursday Night is the
start of a trend or do you think the road
that has been bumpy the last four weeks before Thursday

(43:15):
Night continues to be bumpy for them.

Speaker 15 (43:19):
It's a tough question to definitively answer. I think if
your Cincinnati at this point, you want to just give
yourself a fighting chance by when Joe Burrow comes back,
which seems like it's probably about two months away. But
I think one thing that is on the pluck doc
for Cincinnati is that according to the metrics the PFF
has that the Angles actually played one of the easier
schedules left.

Speaker 4 (43:38):
The Bengals rank twenty sixth in.

Speaker 15 (43:41):
Scheduled difficulty remaining, which is the seventh easiest in the NFL.
But I will say it is behind the Browns and
the Ravens as well, and the Steelers are a little
bit on the harder side, have the eleventh hardest schedule left,
But I think I want to say this is a
kind of more flash in the pan for Cincinnati. This
offense was seemed supremely better than what we have seen

(44:03):
over the last few weeks, and I don't necessarily know
that the Bengals are going to get this type of balance,
in particular from the run game against any other team.
And I think it's also fair to point out that
the Steelers historically have just been really, really bad on
Thursday night on the road against the divisional opponents, and
that did not obviously change the past Thursday against Cincinnati.
So I think it will be a tougher assignment for

(44:24):
Joe Flacker to maintain this type of play that he
is on, and in particular to have the least as
I talked about, a rushing game that can comment, we
know that Blacko and T Higgins and Marshes can do
through the air. So I think at the very least,
the Bengals this is the game that they have to
win if they wanted to stay relevant by the time
Burrow comes back.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
And I think they're shaping up to do that and
maybe try to make a lay push at the postseason.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
It was a great night for senior citizens everywhere Thursday
night in Cincinnati, Bradley Locker, who was still decades away
from being a senior citizen, we thank you for your time.
Stay well. We need to hear your voice.

Speaker 4 (44:59):
Okay, yeah, of course, thanks the much for having me
like that.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Should absolutely the look the only the only caveat I
would put to all of that. On Thursday night, Pittsburgh
had one hundred and forty seven yards rushing. One hundred
and forty seven yards rushing, that is, Jalen Warren had
one hundred and twenty seven of those. So again, defensively,
this team isn't there yet. It's a It's a team

(45:24):
that is predicated on making big plays taking the ball away,
but consistently play to play. I still need to see more.
I don't want to see a team get dragged up
and down the field and then have to rely on
an interception or some other kind of play to get
the ball bag.

Speaker 10 (45:42):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
But I think other you know, the other thing trying
to get better against the run, and I don't know
how you do that in the middle of a season.
This was this was a game. Defensively, I thought that
was that was ok it was okay, It was good
enough to win. And it was much better obviously in
the second half than it was in the first half,
There's no question about that. But yeah, you got to

(46:03):
clamp down on the run. He gave up three almost
four hundred yards to Pittsburgh overall. Yes, you ran up
over four hundred almost five hundred yards of offense for
the Bengals, but you got to get better against the run.
Not being able to control the run allows teams of
lesser talent to hang around longer in games. The more

(46:26):
you can run, the more you can hang around longer
in games. And you don't want to do that with
teams like the Jets and to a lesser degree like
the Bears coming up. But nevertheless, it was a win
and a magic night in Cincinnati. Black Omania has engulfed Cincinnati.
Who would have thunk ten twenty three News Radio seven

(46:47):
hundred wl W, Lee Stirling and the Bullpenoty with this year.
In about six or seven minutes, He's got five games
he's convinced will come home as winners for you. Today
in the National Football League, the Rams and the Jaguars
play on second quarter over there across the pond in England.

(47:10):
Fourteen to nothing, Los Angeles. As the Jaguars lineup for
a field goal to at least try and make something
happen offensively, and it hooks wide left, six point fifty
eight to go. Second quarter, it remains fourteen to nothing Rams,
fourteen nothing Rams. We have an NFL doubleheader for you

(47:30):
beginning at twelve thirty today. Since there's no Bengals games,
why not why not have a little doubleheader action here.
It's also a night where the World Series could be
could be settled, and they're playing games six tonight and
they're playing it in Toronto, and quite frankly, this is

(47:52):
a big game for Toronto. They win and they play on,
they lose, they go home. Series is three to two Seattle.
Right now, Seattle's going to start right hander Logan Gilbert.
Trey is Savage for the Toronto Blue Jays. This guy
had a decent outing against the Yankees in the division

(48:12):
series and that was kind of a surprise when the
Blue Jays decided to start him. But nevertheless, he gets
the follow up act here to try and keep the
Blue Jays alive. In the American League Championship Series. The winner,
of course gets the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is at
eight o'clock tonight, first pitch. This is Game six Seattle

(48:34):
at Toronto. Stand by at least Stirling is next on
seven hundred WLW. They won nothing lead over the Jaguars
still from time on the clock second quarter. They got
a game in the NFL has a game in Madrid
and Berlin still to come this year. They try to
take the game internationally, and I understand the way the

(48:55):
NFL wants to do things. They want to market globally
because the number one thing that's important to every single
NFL owner is not winning a Super Bowl, it's making
as much money as possible. And so this is a
way to grow the game globally and make more money.
That's the name of the game in the NFL. Make
more money, even if it puts you with a fan
in some sort of inconvenience taking home games away from teams.

(49:19):
You know, you think you're going to get eight nine
games at home, and you wind up with one fewer
than that be interesting to see in publicly funded stadiums,
or as they say in proper English, in publicly funded stadium.
It would be interesting to see how much revenue is
lost by losing one home game to a venue like

(49:43):
in London or Madrid or Berlin, and what that means
for the city itself. The devil and the details of
these leases on publicly funded stadiums. I'm sure have language
in there that if a game is, for example, chosen
for a London game or Berlin game, there's some sort

(50:04):
of rebate to whoever holds the lease, be it a county,
be at a city, be it whomever. But what does
it mean for the ansidary business around the stadium, the restaurants,
the bars, the parking and all things like that. That
would be an interesting deep dive story that I would
expect from one of the many great journalists here in

(50:26):
the greater Cincinnati area. So we got a lot of
great NFL action around the league today, a lot of
good games at four h five, a lot of interesting
games later on, including Atlanta at San Francisco. The forty
nine ers are giving two in that game against Atlanta.
That's the Sunday night game. And of course there are
two games tomorrow night, two Monday night football games here

(50:49):
To give you five winners that he is convinced will
bring money into your coffers if you listen to him.
Is our good buddy from Paramount sports dot com. Least
it's early. All right, let's go, Lee. How are you
on this glorious game day?

Speaker 6 (51:05):
I am great, and hopefully the winning continued. So been
one of maybe the greatest one we've ever had Paramount
Sports history. So four weeks ago on the five games
we have available on Sunday, won five and oh. Three
weeks ago five and oh, two weeks ago five and

(51:26):
oh again, and then I let everyone down last week.
I only went four four and one on a nineteen
and one run. So anyone wants to get involved. I
think we're seeing in the NFL pretty well. We also
had Cincinnati on Thursday night wins outright plus five and
a half.

Speaker 1 (51:45):
How about this?

Speaker 6 (51:46):
The next four weeks of NFL games, five games every
single Sunday, just one.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
Hundred and ninety seven dollars.

Speaker 6 (51:53):
So you want to get It's called Lee's NFL Sunday
Golden Ticket. Four weeks total, twenty games, five a week
for the next month, just one hundred and ninety seven dollars.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
One place. Paramount Sports dot com man, you are our role.
By the way, how about that Battle of the aged
huh on Thursday night? Was that great to see two
forty year old guys going at it? That was one
of the Bengals won. It was wonderful, But it was
wonderful to see that, was it?

Speaker 4 (52:18):
Not?

Speaker 12 (52:20):
It was?

Speaker 4 (52:20):
It was?

Speaker 6 (52:21):
So I think we know now the arms obviously go last,
maybe the league before that, but there are both both
quarterbacks arms look pretty darn good.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah they did, they did. All right. Let's talk about
a team where you live. Dolphins one and five at
the one in five Browns. Browns are giving two and
a half, the Dolphins twenty ninth and the league in
points allowed, and Cleveland is averaging just under fourteen points
a game. Is anybody going to score in this game?
That's the big question? What do you think?

Speaker 6 (52:49):
Well, I think Cleveland's actually going to score because I
think Miami defense is that bad. So I would not
consider taking Cleveland on the road. Went against them last.

Speaker 4 (53:00):
Week, but the Steelers got nice big win.

Speaker 6 (53:01):
That was one of our five wins. And Miami right
now is a mess. This roster construction they put together,
This team maybe the worst we've ever seen. Everyone knew
about the cornerback position being a problem and on offensive
offensive line, but front seven is horrendous. I mean they
allowed Carolina doll Will run for over two hundred and

(53:21):
then of the Dell last week, commanding Madell from the Chargers.
He runs and he's your number four running back for
one hundred and twenty four yards on eighteen carries. That's
six point nine yards for carry.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Here.

Speaker 6 (53:35):
I just can't back the Dolphins. They should make this game.
Who whichever team loses the GM head coach, goodbye. You
got to find your if Miami, you got to find
your own way home. I love Cleveland here seventeen to.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Ten, seventeen ten Browns in a barn burder. A little
bit different game out in Los Angeles. You got the
Chargers at four and two hosting the five and one Colts.
Chargers are giving a point and a half Sandy. They
got to worry about tight end Tyler Warren, he's having
a fantastic year and Jonathan Taylor Indianapolis. Though they can
get to Justin Herbert. They got tackle problems on that

(54:10):
side of the ball in San Diego. But San Diego
is at home. What do you think.

Speaker 6 (54:16):
They are at home. But you know when you got
tackle problems eventually, and they're good players. They're talking about
their best two offensive lineman usually shows on the other side. Indianapolis,
no problems at all. They've got the NFL leading rusher
and Jonathan Taylor.

Speaker 4 (54:30):
Some people will be fooled.

Speaker 6 (54:31):
Into thinking your Chargers are fine. They won last week,
but they were playing the Dolphins, and I think this
Indianapolis team generating the NFL defenses that get run against
the least are on teams that have the most success,
and the Colts opponents have running on them for only
thirty six point two percent of the snaps. Jonathan Taylor

(54:52):
is in fine and form. Danny Dimes working the play.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Action here, run team favorite who Colts straight up?

Speaker 4 (55:00):
Twenty four to twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
Four to twenty cold straight up? All right, man, they're
on a roll. You go to six and one. The
Chiefs get received rice back today and that's a huge
thing for them. They got the Raiders in Kansas City,
and the Raiders are getting a big fat twelve in
this game. I see double digit numbers, Lee, I don't.

(55:22):
I just kind of like stay away from them. Where
are you on this one? With that fat twelve that
the Chiefs have to give up.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
Well pretty cup to back them here, because when you
lay that kind of lumber in the NFL, you're going
to hit barely a little above forty percent over the
last decade. I know Chiefs receiver Received Rice is coming back,
but the week to play them is not the first
week when key players come back.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
It's the second week.

Speaker 6 (55:46):
Teams after facing Tennessee thirty four to twenty and two
against the spread, So everyone gets right after you play
the Titans. And that's the Raiders in Kansas City.

Speaker 16 (55:56):
Is the team multiple multiple Super Bowl appearances, titles, and
they're just fourteen and eighteen against the spread last thirty
two at home. Raiders always play the Chiefs tough, especially.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
In Kansas City.

Speaker 6 (56:09):
Here Kansas City escapes.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Twenty eight twenty three, twenty eight to twenty three KC.
But Raiders with the points, I guess is what you're saying, right, yeah, right, gotcha? Okay, Okay.
The Broncos Man, we had the Broncos here about three
or four weeks ago. They bring it with the pressure,
they lead the lig in sacks. But here come the
Giants today at two and four, and they got the

(56:31):
one two punch. It looked pretty good last week, Jackson
Dart cam Scattibou seven is what the Broncos are laying
in this game. That doesn't seem enough to me for
the Giants, But how does it seem to you?

Speaker 6 (56:44):
You know, one of the ten rules I have I
had ten rules I always go by is to never
lay points when the offense is struggling. And that's the
Denver Broncos.

Speaker 4 (56:56):
I mean, there's a.

Speaker 6 (56:57):
Lot of high flash year with boon Nicks, but this
offense is bottom third in the league, scoring twenty one
or fewer points here in for the six games. So
I'm gonna take I'm gonna take the g Men plus
to seven.

Speaker 1 (57:09):
Oh okay, not a bad deal there. Before we hit
our last game again. That's Lee's NFL's Sunday Golden Ticket
Buck ninety seven. And where does that get your lead? Again?

Speaker 6 (57:23):
What that gets you is you're gonna get four weeks,
five games a week, one hundred and ninety seven dollars.
My twenty best play is going over the next four weeks.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Twenty games, twenty games. Okay, Bucks at Lions is our
last game. Bucks five and one, lines four and two
Lions are giving five and a half Detroit thirty points
plus in five straight home games going back to last year,
and historically they play well after a loss. Here they
are today giving or tomorrow giving five and a half

(57:51):
to the Bucks who are who are red hot. How
do you see it? Yep?

Speaker 6 (57:57):
And the Bucks are hot and their NFL's road warriors
thirteen and five against the spreading that role under Todd Bowles.
But when they played last year in Tampa Bay one
twenty to sixteen, Detroit was one for seven in the
red zone. How about this ster pin and two after
a loss under Dan Campbell. Here, sometimes you got a
little bit when you want to play it Detroit Big

(58:18):
thirty four twenty one.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
Wow, Okay, I was shake it up. Baker comes back
to earth. All right, hey Lee, good luck this week.
I don't need to wish you that. You seem like
you're just on a red hot roll. And we'll visit
again next week. Stay well, okay, thanks Ken, take care
you bet? Yeah, And they get Mike Evans back tomorrow night.
It looks like Mike Evans is going to be back
for the Buccaneers and a Mecca Abuka may play. They're

(58:43):
talking now that he may play in this game tomorrow night.
He was injured last week. But god Win is out
for Tampa. But if they get a Buka back and
they get Evans back, that's night and day compared to
what it looked like for them a couple of days ago.
But still Lee likes the line. Give the five and
a half. He says, Lions thirty four to twenty one.

(59:03):
Other picks you just heard. He's taking the Browns at
home today over the Dolphins. The Dolphins are awful, awful.
The Browns aren't that much better on offense. They're laying
two and a half. He says, seventeen to ten. Browns.
They not only win, they cover. He likes the Colts
going to play at Los Angeles at the Chargers. He

(59:23):
said they're going to win straight up, twenty four to twenty.
Don't worry about the point and a half. He likes
the Chiefs to win, but he thinks the Raiders win
with the points. That's a hefty number. Twelve, And he
takes the Giants on the road at the Broncos. The
Giants are getting seven, says he's not going to need them.
Take the Giants. Take the gm in in a Broncos

(59:46):
with a Broncos team that is struggling offensively. So there
you go. That's his picks. We'll let you know next
week exactly how he did. There's a couple of other
games that I think are interesting today, and some of
them are, you know, downright difficult to handicap. You got
you got the Eagles playing at Minnesota, and Minnesota is

(01:00:12):
they're not ready to go back to McCarthy. Wentz is
going to start Philadelphia. To me, although not the Philadelphia
we saw last year. I think it's going to be
a big day for Saquon Barkley. I just do, and
so I don't. I'm not even sure you're going to
need to worry about that two point that two point margin.

(01:00:34):
I you know, I think Philly wins that game and covers.
That's that's one of the games. I'm looking at. The
other game I'm looking at and honestly, it's it's it's
another tough one to handicap. You got Atlanta going to
play at San Francisco. Now Atlanta san Francisco. It's interesting

(01:00:57):
in this, In this, in this standpoint, San Francisco is
finding how to win somehow, some way without its starting quarterback.
The line on this game is San Francisco minus one.
Michael Pennix is is having a really solid year. Mac

(01:01:20):
Jones is resurrected himself. I don't know how. I just
I don't. It's a system, certainly. I think he's out
there and he's he's flourishing in the system. McCaffrey really
hasn't dropped it into gear yet. He's got three touchdowns.
He's catching the ball out of the backfield. I mean
he's but he is. He has not really been the

(01:01:43):
kind of guy that he was before he got hurt
two years ago. Over last year, actually forty nine ers
are banged up. Fred Warner's on ir he's not playing
terrific linebacker. Uh, you got Kevin Gibbons their their terrific
defensive tackle. It's got a peck problem. Not expected back

(01:02:09):
may It's probably going to be uh next week before
they get him back. And on the UH and on
the Atlanta side of things, you've got you got the
the offensive tackle, Tyrone Wheatley. He's out, he's on I
r been there will be there. Not expected back at

(01:02:29):
all this season. And uh Tae Kwon Graham is another
missing piece for them may They they were thinking maybe
he could answer the bell this weekend, but he's questionable.
We'll see at the end of the My point being
in all of this is there's so many players that
are banged up. San Francisco at home four and two,

(01:02:51):
and I just I just sense that with the way
the way Jones is playing, with without you know, with
without brock perty, the way Jones is playing, it is
more of a controlled type of offense. The big plays
really aren't there. I'm just thinking, I'm just going to
take San Francisco at home, you know, I'm I'm going

(01:03:14):
to give Atlanta to We're going to take San Francisco
going home, and just you know, say look it's home.
Jones is now at least reliable at quarterback. That's the
other one I'm looking at, in addition to the games
that we've already talked with with Lee Stirling. But there's
some there's some there's some mismatches, there's some blowout games.

(01:03:35):
There's some games that have absolutely no interest. I think
to anyone Carolina, the Jets, who you know, who cares
about that? Green Bay Arizona? Green Bay should roll that team.
But there's a couple in there because of injury and
because of the way they're starting to play in and
around their talent that I think are really interesting. That

(01:03:56):
Las Vegas Kansas City game is a really interesting game
only because of the number. Kansas City giving twelve, the
other get rice back, but they're giving twelve anyway. Over
across the pond, twenty one nothing, Rams one, twenty eight
to go in the half, A couple of four and
two teams Rams and Jacksonville. It's ten fifty four. News

(01:04:19):
Radio seven hundred WLW on News.

Speaker 13 (01:04:22):
Radio seven hundred w l JEM.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
It's eleven h eight and welcome on in as we
cruise right to a doubleheader of NFL football beginning at
twelve thirty today. No Bengals today, obviously, after the win
on Thursday Night, Big Night, last night out in the
planes out in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the University of Cincinnati goes
to six and one, four and oh in the Big

(01:04:46):
twelve with a forty nine seventeen win over Oklahoma State.
Brandon Soresby strong again, twenty of twenty nine, two seventy
three touchdowns, no interceptions, and he also had a rushing
touchdown as well. And now you begin to look at
the landscape of the Big Twelve for a number of reasons. One,
the University of Cincinnati is right there at the top.

(01:05:09):
Texas Tech. Texas Tech goes down a Texas Tech number
seven in the country goes down eight to Arizona State
twenty six to twenty two this weekend, and all of
a sudden, now it seems like there are a number
of teams that are sitting out there, including the University
of Cincinnati, that are saying to themselves, hey, why not us?

(01:05:31):
Why not us? As Big Twelve champions and having a
chance to play for a spot in the College Football Playoff?
Someone who follows the Big Twelve intently about to join
us right now. Chris Hummer writes for cbssports dot Com
has a good story, really good story up there right
now on that Texas Tech Arizona State game, and he's

(01:05:51):
kind of enough to give us some time here on
seven hundred WYLW. Chris, how are you on this glorious Sunday?

Speaker 11 (01:05:58):
Doing great?

Speaker 17 (01:05:59):
Yeah, it's going to be a busy sunday in college football?

Speaker 1 (01:06:02):
Yeah it is. You watch a lot of football from
what I can piece together. You're a Texas guy born
and raised in the lone Star state. Am I right
about that? Yeap?

Speaker 12 (01:06:12):
Correct?

Speaker 1 (01:06:13):
All right?

Speaker 4 (01:06:13):
Raised in the Dallas area.

Speaker 1 (01:06:14):
All right, So you know a lot about college football.
You watch a lot of college football. How good is
the University of Cincinnati in your opinion?

Speaker 12 (01:06:24):
Ah?

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
Good?

Speaker 17 (01:06:25):
But I think we're going to know a lot more
about Cincinnati in the second half of the schedule than
we do in the first. But I think there are
several NFL players on Cincinnati's roster. I think they've done
a really good job restocking that roster through the transfer
portal and developing. And do I see some potential concerns
from Cincinnati, Sure, but they're certainly a big twelve contender

(01:06:48):
at this point. If you can go three and two
the rest of the way on the schedule, like give
a legitimate chance of making it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
Darlington, Okay, let's talk about what you like. What do
you like about that team? Then we'll get into the concerns.

Speaker 17 (01:07:01):
I think Brentan Summersby be one of the best quarterbacks
in college football. I think they do an excellent job
scheming things up offensively. I think they're going to score
on anyone. I think that offensive line is so much
better than it was a season ago. I think you
have NFL talent at receiver, particularly just Caldwell. Defensively, I

(01:07:22):
think Jake Goldie might be my favorite player to watch
in the Big twelve period, just so fun. And that
side of the ball is better this year.

Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
So yeah, those.

Speaker 12 (01:07:33):
Are those of things I like about Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
Yep, they're capable of electrifying plays. And you're right about Soersby.
I just every week he seems to do something different
that helps his team win. All right, what are the
concerns what you say that you have concerns about them?
What are the concerns you have, Chris about them?

Speaker 17 (01:07:52):
Well, Cincinnati has a habit of losing leads. Cincinnati has
a habit of giving up many yards defensively, and it
can be different things each week. Sometimes it's against the run,
like it wasn't Saturday, I gets Olhoma State.

Speaker 11 (01:08:07):
Sometimes they get caught up through the air.

Speaker 17 (01:08:09):
Soorsby, as good as he is, makes one or two
play a game that really make you scratch your head
a little bit. And situationally, I wonder about some of
the play calling and how they handle those moments. But
I think the team is really good and I god
be surprised if they didn't win eight or nine games
this year at a minimum.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Okay, So you say, if they go three and two
over this back half of the schedule, these final five
games in the schedule, they would be right there in
the mix for the Big Twelve championship. Okay. So I
think what you're saying is you don't anticipate any of
these teams that are unbeaten so far in the conference.
You don't anticipate any of them going unbeaten the rest

(01:08:51):
of the way. Am I right about that?

Speaker 17 (01:08:54):
I would be very surprised just Cincinnati or BYU finished
the season.

Speaker 4 (01:08:58):
I'm beaten in conference.

Speaker 11 (01:08:59):
Play, the reality of the Big Twelve.

Speaker 17 (01:09:02):
This is a year of parody in college football, and
the margins are tighter than they've ever been in a
league like the Big Twelve, and I think it's gonna
be hard for either one of those teams to run
the table. I honestly, even with BYU and Cincinnati, I'm
beating at this point, I would still be surprised if
there wasn't at least one two loss team in the
Big Twelve championship game. I think that's just going to

(01:09:23):
be the Yeah, I think that's just gonna be the
reality of the league. And I mean, like Cincinnati or
Cincinnati or BYU is going to take a lost guarantee
no matter what since they play each other. So it's
a it's a difficult thing. And TCU plays both of
those teams down the stretch. I think TCU is very
capable of beating at least one of them. BYU still

(01:09:43):
also play Texas Techs. That could very well be a loss.
Like there's a lot of central hazards along the way
for both teams.

Speaker 1 (01:09:51):
Okay, So Baylor up next in here on Saturday at
four o'clock for homecoming, and then I'm just going to
run through the rest of the schedule at No. Umber
twenty three, currently number twenty three Utah back home against
Arizona home against number fifteen BYU, and then finishing the
season at TCU on November the twenty ninth. I'm just

(01:10:11):
looking at this schedule right now. Every one of those
teams the University of Cincinnati should be competitive against. That's Saturday,
November twenty second game against BYU, even though it's late
in the year here in the Upper Midwest, that is
screaming for prime time viewership. Would you agree, Yeah, I don't.

Speaker 17 (01:10:32):
I don't know what the rest to the games that
week look like, but yeah, Like if I was a partner,
I don't. I guess ESPN in this case, I'd be
very interested in having that is a night game potentially,
and depending on how those two teams finish the rest
of the way, Like maybe it's a situation for game
days in town, Like you could legitimately see that depending

(01:10:52):
on how like it goes. If BYU's unbeaten in Cincinnati
is still unbeaten at that point in conference play, like, yeah,
it's going to be a top ten, top twelve showdown,
and you could have like cause game Dantown depending where
things go.

Speaker 1 (01:11:06):
You're not ruling out Texas Tech at this point, right,
even given what happened the other night, I.

Speaker 17 (01:11:11):
Still think Texas Tech's the best team in the league.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
So definitely not Okay, So Texas Tech could conceivably run
the table, right and and and could win this thing.
I think what I think, what I'm hearing for you
is BYU, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Arizona State, maybe Houston. The
winner comes from that group of teams. I mean, then
you get into the Iowa States and the TCUs of

(01:11:35):
the world. I'm just I'm wondering. Is the cutoff line
at three to one Houston right now?

Speaker 12 (01:11:43):
I don't.

Speaker 17 (01:11:43):
I don't think so. I think Utah could still run
the table. I think, depending on how things go, I
think TCU could still run the table. I'm not as
bullish on like a Kansas, Kania State, Baylor, Iowa State,
but I think depending on how things go, like, I
would not rule out tc YOU or Utah. I think
both teams are really good, and I don't know if

(01:12:05):
it'll be Houston. I think Houston just has own some
issues offensively that are are going to hurt it against
the better teams of the league.

Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
All Right, So the Baylor is in here for homecoming
this coming Saturday. TCU took care of Baylor in a
terrific game, actually, forty two to thirty six. Other two
and two over their last four Baylor can score points.
We know that there's no question about their offensive ability.
What do they specifically here at UC What do they specifically,

(01:12:38):
in your opinion, have to worry about with Baylor this weekend?

Speaker 17 (01:12:44):
The offense, I mean, Baylor scores on anyone they run.
It's not like a traditional air aid, Like what do
you think of with Mike leachs by Jake Savata. Their
offensive coordinators run that's probably the closest thing to it
in current college football. And they're going to throw forty
or fifty times a game. They tend to go for
it on fourth down almost every time. Like they're one

(01:13:05):
of the more aggressive teams in the country. Like, you
got to you gotta tackle well in space is what
Cincinnati really has to do in that game. And I
would I don't know what the over is going to be,
but I bet it would be seventy plus. Like this
is going to be a game where points are going
to be at a premium and you got to take
advantage of every scoring opportunity.

Speaker 1 (01:13:22):
Right, Okay, Chris hummercbssports dot Com, AR guests, we've been
talking about Big twelve football, University of Cincinnati. I want
to hit you with a couple of other things. How
good is Fernando Mendoza And is he top three for
the Heisman or even better than that? In your opinion?

Speaker 4 (01:13:41):
I think he's really good.

Speaker 17 (01:13:43):
I think he's going to be a guy that next
April is going to be in the converstation to be
a first round pick, and yeah, I mean, I don't know,
he's not first, second, or third on my imaginary Heisman ballad,
I suppose, but he's in the top five or six
and he has a chance to really make push down
the stretch. But yeah, he's really good. He was really

(01:14:04):
good for Cal last year. I just don't think a
lot of people pay attention. And then you put him
in Kurt Secondaty system where he has I don't want
to say easy throws, but like it's an RPO based offense,
where like they scheme it up as well as anybody
in the country, and you put somebody that talented in
that system and the results are the results are pretty obvious,
Like they're really good.

Speaker 1 (01:14:25):
Was the best off season acquisition portal included was the
best off season acquisition Ohio State hiring Matt Patricia as
their defensive coordinator.

Speaker 17 (01:14:40):
I don't know about that. I guess we'll see the
rest of the year, but there's no question that I'llhio
State's playing as good of defensive football and anybody in
the country. I think I thought stat that they're one
of only like five teams the last like twenty years
to allow less than seventy points through their first seven games.
So yeah, playing awesome football and outside of the ball,

(01:15:02):
we'll see what it looks like. Went Ohio State State's
better offensive competition. If you look at the teams they've
played this year, it hasn't exactly been stellar. But I'm
not trying to take anything away from Ohio State's defensive effort.
They've been really, really good. I don't even know if
we'll find out into the playoffs, to be honest, like
Penn State, Perdue, UCLA, Rutgers, Michigan don't scare you offensively,

(01:15:23):
so we'll see what that unit's really good.

Speaker 1 (01:15:27):
You don't said it doesn't, I mean, it doesn't say. Okay,
maybe I think what you're saying was an overstatement on
my part, but you're not discounting the fact that that
team that has been searching for some defensive stability over
the course of the last four or five years is
a hell of a lot better than what it's been.
But you're not ready to annoying Patricia yet. Is that
what you're saying.

Speaker 17 (01:15:48):
Well, I mean, I thought say had the best defense
in college football last year. What I'm impressed by is
their front. Like Larry Johnson, their defensive line. Coach had
to replace four starters three NFL Raft picks, and they
haven't taken a step back. That is really impressive. And
I think Matt Patrich has done a really nice job.

(01:16:09):
But there have been a lot of important additions in
college football this year. You mentioned Fernanda Mendoza being one
of them. Sure, I know Carson Beck just had a
really rough game at Miami, but he's been very important.
John Mattier has transformed Oklahoma's offense. You could go a
lot of directions with that, but yeah, Matt Patrick has
been really, really good, and I think the tests for

(01:16:31):
him will come later in the year. I think it's
better offensive competition.

Speaker 1 (01:16:34):
You and I visited earlier in the week, and Sundays
are busy for you, not just because of the results
of Saturday and the polland that comes out and whatnot,
but also we're in that part of the year when
coaches lose their jobs and there's been a lot of
buzz around Mark Stoops at Kentucky. Kentucky played text as
well last night. The play calling in that overtime period

(01:16:58):
I don't think was the best. They lose in overtime
sixteen thirteen. Mark Stoops and his press conference last night
with the media was really worked up emotionally and just
seemed like he was almost questioning his own future at Kentucky.
How much of that do you think is real? And

(01:17:18):
how much of that do you think is just the
normal stuff that happens at this time of the year
all over college football?

Speaker 17 (01:17:27):
Could he repeat the last part of that question, I'm sorry,
how much do I think what is real?

Speaker 8 (01:17:31):
Well?

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
How much of do you think the Stoops? There was
a rumor out a couple of weeks ago that he
tried to get a buyout done, and he denied it
vehemently that he said, I'm not a quitter. I'm not
that his buyout right now is an inorted amount of money.
My question is, is he was really emotional at his
news conference last night after the game, and I'm just

(01:17:52):
wondering how much of it do you think the buzz
around his tenure in Lexington is real or how much
of it is just what pops up every at every
point at this time of the season, every year, at
this point in the season about coaches and stability. I'm
just wondering where you think he is from a ten

(01:18:12):
year standpoint at Kentucky.

Speaker 17 (01:18:19):
I mean, I think Kentucky, when was the last time
they've lost like like ten conference camps in a row?

Speaker 1 (01:18:25):
And mine?

Speaker 4 (01:18:25):
Yeah, I'm making that.

Speaker 17 (01:18:26):
Up right, like I'm looking at it. They've lost, yeah
about they haven't won a conference camp since Old Miss
last September, right, So I would imagine that's where a
lot of emotion comes from. That was a very winnable
game from them last night. They outplayed Texas. They just
didn't execute at the end and get that game done.
And although I think Kentucky suned some additional signs of life,

(01:18:47):
I think Cutter Bowlie said much better the last couple
of weeks. There are certainly questions about his tenure throughout
kind of the industry. He may have Vie a million
denied it, but questions are going to continue about Mark
Jus's future.

Speaker 11 (01:19:02):
Hey do you.

Speaker 17 (01:19:03):
Mind if I I'm sorry, I need to take a
call here in a minute.

Speaker 1 (01:19:08):
Sorry you say take out you uh door dash something? What?
What uh I mean? If you gotta go? You gotta go, man,
I'm not going to keep you. I just I was
just wondering your thoughts and all that. But no, no,
take the call. Don't worry about it, and uh maybe
we can visit next time.

Speaker 17 (01:19:23):
Huh yeah, Hey, I am so sorry. This is this
is a very busy Sunday morning.

Speaker 1 (01:19:30):
Okay, you go ahead and do that and then we
will tell you what we'll do. We'll go to CBS
Sports and we'll see what it's all about here in
a little bit. Maybe if it's a big deal, it's
a big deal. Okay, sounds good.

Speaker 17 (01:19:41):
I am so sorry.

Speaker 1 (01:19:43):
All right, stay well good. I had to take a
call now. It's kind of like when you gotta go,
you gotta go. But anyway, I thought his insight on
UC was good and we'll see about Kentucky. Stoops look
very worked up after the game last And it might

(01:20:04):
have been the emotion of losing a close game like that,
and it might have also been the fact is he
pointed out that he hadn't won a big twelve I'm
sorry an SEC game since oh miss the year ago September.
But it was some odd play calling in that overtime.
You get first in goal on the five and then
the four straight running plays, two dives over the center,

(01:20:25):
and it was just like, what not sure about that?
Sixteen thirteen Texas beats Kentucky yesterday. All right, it's eleven
twenty four, it is Sunday Morning Sports Talk. It is
seven hundred WLW.

Speaker 13 (01:20:37):
OH News Radio seven hundred w l W presents Sunday
Morning Sports Talk with your host Ken Brew on news
Radio seven hundred w l L.

Speaker 1 (01:20:47):
Yeah, donus tamp hour here today we're leading into some
NFL football. Bottom of the hour. It's the Patriots at
the Titans, and Tennessee is getting seven at home in
this game. You'll hear all of that. And then afterwards
Indianapolis against the Chargers at of Los Angeles where the
Chargers are giving two at this point to the Indianapolis Colts.

(01:21:11):
Both those games on WLW, and for good reason why
we have no Bengals game today. The Bengals, of course,
on Thursday night a thriller. Both teams Bengals and Steelers
lit it up. Sixty four total points, eight hundred and
sixty six yards of total offense in that game was
Thursday night. A stabling of the ship was Thursday night.

(01:21:35):
Confidence that until and if Joe Burrow gets back this
season was Thursday night. Some sort of leveling the playing field?
Was it an anomaly? What does it all fit in
the grand scheme of the seventeen game NFL schedule in
the AFC, which looks eminently winnable for probably seven or

(01:21:57):
eight teams right now. Certainly the angles are one of them.
If Thursday night was the real deal, Let's check in
with one of the finest sports writers God ever put
on this earth, somebody who knows the NFL inside out,
someone who can write about the intricacies of that game,
make you understand it with out your eyeballs rolling back

(01:22:18):
into your head. He is the wildly talented NFL writer
from cbssports dot Com. Our good buddy, Brian Diardo. How
are you on this glorious Sunday.

Speaker 12 (01:22:31):
Glorious and rainy Sunday, Ken, But I'm doing well. Hope
you guys are staying dry down there in Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 (01:22:35):
No, it's I was just on I seventy one, coming
in this morning. I saw a guy with a big
boat looking for two of everything. It's raining down here too.
It's raining down here too. All right, So you watch
the game on Thursday night. I think you and I
were both I'm guessing on your part not expecting sixty
four total points, eight hundred and sixty six total yards.
But I think what we saw from Joe Flacco from

(01:22:58):
the Cincinnati standpoint a guy that just, you know what,
he knows how the game is played. Just get the
ball to the playmakers and let them do their thing.
And my goodness, if he can do that on a
consistent basis, this season, which look lost two or three
weeks ago, looks something like that. It can be turned
around and turned around quickly. What were your impressions of

(01:23:21):
Flacco as.

Speaker 12 (01:23:23):
Somebody that's seen a million Joe Flacco versus Steeler games.
That game brought me back to a nineteen ninety movie
with the other Malushi called groundhog Day. Not a bad
film on a rainy Sunday if your team's not playing,
I may recommend, but I it was he gets into
groove like that, He gets in a rhythm that he
could just play. Tomlins defense is like a fiddle, and I,

(01:23:44):
you know, you set it up for me great?

Speaker 4 (01:23:45):
You know?

Speaker 12 (01:23:46):
Was that an anomaly or is that we can Was
that kind of a writing, a writing of the ship
for this team? I think ken with this does is
it puts them back in the trajectory to kind of
be where they've been the last couple of years nine
and eight, ten and seven on the periphery of the
playoffs possibly making it. But this team, as you alluded to, Ken,
this is it's a wide open AFC field. I mean,

(01:24:08):
let's just say this. Let's say they get that seventh seed.
There's a good chance they would likely play the Colts,
who I think we could all agree or beatable were
the Steelers who they just beat. So this is indeed
one of those years where if they were able to
make it with with nine or ten wins, I think
they're certainly capable of doing something, especially if Joe Burrow's
back for the last three games. Four of their next

(01:24:29):
six opponents have winning records, which that's obviously not great.
A rematch with Pittsburgh one of them, a game against
the Bills, who are always really good.

Speaker 4 (01:24:36):
One of them.

Speaker 12 (01:24:37):
Last four opponents, though all have losing records. Joe Burrow
should be back for those last three if they're still
in contention. As you also said, last night or Thursday night,
wasn't expecting that kind of game as far as all
the points being scored. But as they said, Joe Flacco
is great at taking away into opposition's strengths and feasting
on the weaknesses. His quick releases basically made the Steelers

(01:24:58):
pass rush, which is their stre a non issue. And
he really went after a steer secondary that had some injuries.
And that's where I somewhat pause to say, okay, now
we're off and running. He took advantage of Stewart secondary
that's been banged up. Darius Slay apparently, I think his
career is basically over, and Jalen Ramsey's had some hamstring problems,
so you know, so take it with a grain of salt.

(01:25:20):
But if you're a Bengal fan, though, you celebrate anyone
you can get right now.

Speaker 1 (01:25:22):
No, I think the only red flag for the Bengals
is the running game. They I mean defending the running game,
not the ability to run the ball. They gave up
one hundred and forty seven yards on the ground of
the Steelers, And I said earlier in this show, with
a lot of these games look very winnable. The Jets
are terrible, There's no question about that. The Bears are better,

(01:25:45):
but I wouldn't call them great, but teams that you're
supposed to be if you let them hang around the
running game from those teams will get you. It's not
necessarily their ability to pull off huge plays and burn you,
but it's the ground game that will churn you up
if you don't learn how to cap down on the run.
I don't know where they go for that kind of

(01:26:06):
help at this time of the year, because you kind
of are what you are defensively. But other than that,
I thought I thought it was a terrific game. I
like the fact that you have DJ Turner and you
have Dax Hill back there now. I think Cam Taylor
Britt needs to be where he is right now, inactive
on Thursday night and sitting on the bench probably going

(01:26:27):
forward until he learns how to give it every single
play in practice in a game. So I kind of
like what they're doing. They're not accepting any nonsense from
any players here. You know, the adult seems to be
back in charge there, and he doesn't seem to be
he being al Golden, doesn't seem to be beholden to
anybody that was here before he got here. So I

(01:26:48):
like that too. But that running, defending, the running attack,
I think is a major major point of emphasis and
focus as to what this team can do in terms
of wins. And losses going forward. Almost every team has
had their way on this Bengals defense running the football.
That's a red flag, is it not? It is for sure.

Speaker 12 (01:27:10):
I like what you said about gold and I agree.

Speaker 1 (01:27:12):
One thing.

Speaker 12 (01:27:12):
I didn't know Ken until I was doing some research
before last week's game. He's from the I'll Grow coaching tree,
who's from Bill Parcells coaching tree. So he so, in essence,
Golden is part of that lineage of Bill Parcells, who
is maybe the most no nonsense coach in league history.
So shouldn't be as surprise to anybody that kind of
knows Golden's background.

Speaker 4 (01:27:33):
But you know, I am with you.

Speaker 12 (01:27:34):
That's but I will say, as we both know, and
as two people that have you know, know football and
have watched it for a long time, the running game
is now not.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
What it was.

Speaker 12 (01:27:44):
And you saw it on Thursday night. The Steelers actually
under I think they underappreciated what they had with the
running game.

Speaker 1 (01:27:49):
They didn't really use it very much.

Speaker 12 (01:27:52):
This is still this is a passing league, and so
I think it's going to take a lot of discipline
for a team to just say, even though they know
that that's a weakness of the Bengals defense. We're gonna
line up and run it forty times that you see
if you can beat it, that's just not how the
game's play anymore. But again I agree with you, it
still is an issue they have to fix. But this
has been a recurring issue for them for a long time. However,

(01:28:13):
it seems like their ability to combat that issue has
always been their red zone defense, their ability to get turnovers.
As case the point Thursday night, with the two interceptions
of Rogers, I believe at least one of those, they're
able to parlay that interception into points. So it kind
of requires an offense to be disciplined running the ball.
But again, I would rather be bad at run defense
than pass defense, because again, this is a passing the league. Now,

(01:28:35):
how can they fix this? I got a guy in
Miami you might want to get. Maybe mister Tobin needs
to call mister Greer. Get Jordan Brooks in there, who's
been traveling around the league the last year plus, leaves
the league right now in tackles, and the Dolphins are
let's be honest, they're sellers right now. They're gonna be
sellers in the deadline. That's a guy you can get him.

(01:28:55):
And that's not indictment against Knight. I think Knight's a
nice player. He's just a young guy, right. And Logan Wilson,
we know, has had his struggles. He's been kind of
in and out of the lineup. So you could get
somebody before the trade deadline that can stabilize the middle
of that defense.

Speaker 4 (01:29:08):
That would be my perordy.

Speaker 12 (01:29:09):
If I was Duke Tobin here between now November second.

Speaker 1 (01:29:11):
Night plays fast, but he doesn't always play under control.
And you know, a lot of it could be a rookie,
but still, and oh he's an older rookie. Yeah, those
two interceptions led to ten points. It was it was
certainly the difference in the ballgame. You know, you know,
going back to Flacco for a second, I was watching,
you know, I like watching body language, who's talking to

(01:29:33):
who on the sidelines and whatnot. I think Joe Burrow
might have learned a few things on Thursday night, not
necessarily that he had to be a great quarterback. He's
a great quarterback. This is his team. When he's healthy,
he's going to be the quarterback. But what he's never
had is a veteran quarterback that could sit there and
work with him. He got Brandon Allen earlier in his

(01:29:55):
career and has has had Jake Browning lately, but he
never had that veteran quarterback. You know, the coach is
kind of like the dad, but you know, the older brother,
like in any family, is going to be kind of like,
you know, the guy that shepherd's the younger guy along.
He's never had that. And I hope there's somehow, some way.
And again I don't want to get too far over

(01:30:15):
my skis here. It was one game. I understand that,
but I hope there's somehow, some way that the Bengals
figure out. Look, Flacco's found money. If indeed he wants
to come back at the ripe age of forty one,
being a sort of player coach, maybe they draft another
quarterback that is a younger guy that's got a lot

(01:30:36):
of talent that maybe could be, you know, really the
number two guy. But you got Flacco there, the kind
of shepherds that that room around a little bit. You
know what I'm saying. It's almost like a family dynamic
that could develop there. I hope there's a way that
they could figure out to do that. If indeed Flacco
was interested past this season. What do you think.

Speaker 12 (01:30:56):
The bankers are listening? May I hire you for the
front office. This might be our last interview because you
may have another job in a week. And I love it.
I love it. And I always make this comparison with
Joe Flacco. I'm gonna you know, not that you need
quiz because you know it all. Cole twitterback that lost
Super Bowl three, that ended up winning a Super Bowl
with Miami, playing with Bob Greasy Earl Moral, remember him,

(01:31:18):
he Flacko to me seems like an Earl Moral, like
just the guy that plays forever he starts, he doesn't start.
He wins big games, He's lost some big games, but
just is always there. He's just always there, right and
and and I I think you absolutely nailed it. And
when I think about many many great quarterbacks over the years,

(01:31:39):
how many had an older guy that they could learn.
Big Ben had had, uh you know, uh the Tommy
Maddox and and Charlie Batch who weren't stars but veterans
that that knew the craft. Obviously, Joe Steve Young had
the best one ever in Joe Montana. But even even
uh you know, John Elway at times had like Steve
de Berg and guys like that. So no, I think
that's I think that's an im peccable point. And we

(01:32:01):
all know I mean Joe, and He's said this several
times even this year. I don't like being a backup,
let's be honest, but at this age you kind of
have to take what you can get to stay in
this league. So he's gonna embrace whatever role that he has.
And I thought that was one of the issues, or
one of the things that Browns lost when they traded him,
was that was the kind of the adult in the room,
so to speak.

Speaker 1 (01:32:19):
But no, I agree.

Speaker 12 (01:32:21):
I love Joe Flacco's temperament. And adversely, I actually am
not a fan of some of the things I saw
from Aaron Rodgers on Thursday now, getting mad that a
tackle tackles you have to a touchdown. I get it.
I'm not gonna I'm with him. I'm now over forty,
I got it. I don't want to fall down either,
yelling at Jalen Warren and calling him out after the
game for potentially not knowing the flea fook or a

(01:32:42):
gain that wrong. I'm not a fan of that personally.
You do that maybe behind closed doors, but again, Yeah,
I think Flacco's temperament is amazing. He is a team
player and listen, he knows his legacy is what it is,
and I think him and Joe can learn a lot.
And again that poise when they fell behind late in
that game, the Steelers made that comeback. There was no
shaking in Flaco. He was unflappable. Then. He's always kind

(01:33:04):
of had that moxy about him, which is one of
the reasons why he's had the success that he's had.

Speaker 1 (01:33:08):
One of the best side stories in all of this.
As we visit here with briandardocdssports dot com, they're mad
in Cleveland. I'm watching some of these shows out of Cleveland.
Listen to some of these shows. They've had what forty
one starting quarterbacks since they came into the leg in
nineteen ninety nine, and now they're left with Dylan Dabriel
and Shador Sanders, and you know, good luck with that.

(01:33:30):
And of course Deshaun Watson, who has basically nuked that
franchise from a salary cap standpoint, is still lurking around
out there. It just it's infuriating the Cleveland fan base,
and I think that's hilarious. I'm sorry. I shouldn't feel
that way, but I do think it's hilarious. You know,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 12 (01:33:49):
Well, I mean Vitbergers aren't happy either. I mean again,
the minute that this trade went down, I think a
lot of his Dewer fans went well, Okay, I mean
that's the thing. I mean, you could kind of see
it coming. I just yeah, on that point, a what
are the Browns doing? Because I do think Stefansy's a
good coach, I really do. I think he can serve
and I think the biggest darance between him Ken and Taylor,

(01:34:11):
I think Taylor does a better job keeping a locker
room engaged. I think that like last year, for example,
he could have lost that room once once they were
four and eight two years ago, he could have lost
that room. And I think that's one of tom Win's
greatest strengths is his ability to keep a team in
it right. I mean, Taylor hasn't had a losing season
since his first year. Now he has Joe Burrow, so
we got to add that caveat.

Speaker 4 (01:34:31):
But I don't know what Cleveland's doing.

Speaker 12 (01:34:33):
But I will say I think one of the things
that made Tom want upset, along with the fact that
he had to face Flaco, who has had his number
in Steelers number a lot. Is the competition value of it?
Tom was on the competition committee. It makes you want
to now. Also, let's take this a step further. One
of the Bengals need decides, you know, linebackers, some help
on defense, back up, running back. They could use. Cleveland's

(01:34:53):
got Jerome Ford. You know what, who's now not starting?

Speaker 1 (01:34:56):
So if Clayland's willing.

Speaker 12 (01:34:58):
To trade them Joe blacko, what you call to get
more help?

Speaker 4 (01:35:01):
Oh?

Speaker 12 (01:35:03):
Hey, okay, suck, he's on our Let's see if Djoko's
ready to drive down and have his wife drive and do.

Speaker 4 (01:35:08):
The whole deal.

Speaker 12 (01:35:09):
Let's just keep this train rolling, right, Why not trans
Brown Black and let's let's keep going.

Speaker 1 (01:35:14):
You go. Brian Diardo cbssports dot Com. Always great, catch
it up. Heyk my friends stay well and you know
we'll be calling again. Thanks.

Speaker 12 (01:35:22):
That sounds great, Ken you two.

Speaker 1 (01:35:24):
Yeah, yeah, open up I seventy one. Bring them all
down here. My god, they are apoplectic up in Cleveland
over this. Twelve twenty two News Radio seven hundred w
l W highlighting you see over Oklahoma State last night,
forty nine seventeen. Here now Scott Saderfield and the UC

(01:35:44):
locker room. After the game, we're going bowling this year, baby.

Speaker 12 (01:35:52):
Red West.

Speaker 4 (01:35:53):
Hey, but we want to go to one in good balls.

Speaker 1 (01:35:55):
So we got to keep winning right at stay going?

Speaker 18 (01:35:58):
Hey, Hey, but but I just want to correc congratulations,
come on the road in the Big twelve. It is
hard to freaking win, all right. It ain't never easy.
You gotta play your tails off. You gotta have the
right preparation what you guys do, and you did this
past week and it paid off out here tonight.

Speaker 4 (01:36:10):
All right.

Speaker 18 (01:36:11):
Incredible job, man, all the way through to the end,
all right, right through that fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (01:36:15):
Great job in the fourth quarter. All right, we did
something tonight.

Speaker 4 (01:36:18):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:36:18):
I've been waiting a long time, guys, been waiting a
long time. Now it was I think this is the
thirty first game since I've been here we have not
scored on defense.

Speaker 1 (01:36:28):
Or special teams.

Speaker 18 (01:36:29):
And this also happened to be the longest intercept return.

Speaker 1 (01:36:33):
In school history. Here you go, Matthew McDoom one hundred
yard interception return for a touchdown. You see now six
and one, three and ohero in the Big twelve. Keep
it up stand by, our NFL double hitter begins in
just a matter of minutes. Football all afternoon, right here

(01:36:55):
on the home of yours, Cincinnati Bengals News Radio, seven
hundred w LW

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