Monday Midday Quarterback w/ Tony Pike & Austin Elmore -- 9/14/26

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Speaker 1: This is the Monday Midday Quarterback Show brought to you in part by A.E. Door & Window Company. They sell the best and service the rest. Cincinnati Tax Resolution. Powered by Toph Sheldon. O'Connor, Achani & Levy. Attorneys you know. Attorneys you trust. Visit OAL-Law.com. Donato's, the official pizza of the Bengals. Quality black topping, Cincinnati's most trusted company.
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Speaker 2: And by Thomas More University.
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Speaker 1: Make it more at Thomas More University on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. Come on now. The sweet taste of a victory Monday.
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Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
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Speaker 3: A Monday midday quarterback. On ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. Yes, a victory Monday in many forms. Bearcats win. Bengals win. We all win. That's how things go around here. Um, With that being said, I send my best to the Kentucky fans who thought maybe this was going to be different. And early on, I did. Alabama prevailed. I send my best to the Ohio State fans who, at 23-3, probably thought that this one was going to be different. But it's probably not. I also send my condolences to the Cleveland Browns fans, Austin, who probably watched their season come to an end quicker than any other NFL season ever has. But here we start with winners. And here we'll start with what we watched at Paycor Stadium yesterday. That would be the Cincinnati Bengals, the revamped Cincinnati Bengals winners over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bengals put up 33 points.
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Speaker 2: Oh.
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Speaker 4: What's that?
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Speaker 3: What is that?
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Speaker 4: What's that noise?
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Speaker 3: What is that?
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Speaker 4: I'm asking you.
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Speaker 3: Is that on your end? No. It's not on my end.
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Speaker 4: I don't know what that is.
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Speaker 3: This is real?
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Speaker 4: Is it your TV?
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Speaker 5: No.
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Speaker 4: It sounds like it's coming from you.
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Speaker 3: Nothing's on in here.
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Speaker 4: What do you hear?
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Speaker 3: I hear like a club. What is going on right now? Hold on.
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Speaker 4: All right, so I turned Tony's mic off and I can't hear it anymore.
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Speaker 3: Turn me back on. You're back on. What was that?
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Speaker 4: Is there an ad playing on your desktop?
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Speaker 6: No.
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Speaker 4: Do you have any tabs open on your desktop? I have one, but I'm on it right now and nothing's playing. I heard a commercial there.
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Speaker 3: That's what I thought. With like upbeat music. But I didn't hear it. I only heard it through you.
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Speaker 7: Oh.
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Speaker 4: So something was going into your.
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Speaker 3: Okay. headset perhaps well wouldn't be the first headset to malfunction in the last 24 hours i don't think our listeners probably could even hear that do we need to do we need to have the whole conversation about headsets again someone else may be controlling them baker couldn't hear anything yesterday we're having headset issues to start the day you are If this show were being broadcast on the dark side of the moon, would we have these issues?
00:03:36
Speaker 4: Maybe it's just washed up quarterbacks that have had solutions.
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Speaker 6: Wow.
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Speaker 3: $ 55 million Baker Mayfield washed up?
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Speaker 4: Dude, he was horrible yesterday.
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Speaker 3: Can you imagine being a Tampa Bay Bucs fan and knowing that you just inked him to $ 55 million a year? And now he was efficient in the air, 23-28. Three fumbles, four sacks. And we will get into the Bengals' defense and how they played a significant role in that. But if I'm a Tampa fan and I'm watching that yesterday, that's not a $ 55 million quarterback fumbling the ball away multiple times.
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Speaker 4: Indecisive, late, underthrowing some guys. He was okay at kind of the midpoint of the game. But for the most part, just unacceptable level of play from Baker Mayfield. And the Bengals made him pay. They deserve a ton of credit for that.
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Speaker 3: Let's go through this game, and we'll do a lot here on the Bengals in the National Football League in hour number one. We'll get to some college football scores and look at some of the games of impact to start hour two. Of course, your talkbacks on the Monday midday quarterback. Austin will have the third hour as I will travel to Twin Peaks to join Mo Egger. That's for the Tony and Mo football show. So a lot to cover. Let's start off with Austin, obviously, on the defensive side of the ball. What was it, three times last year the Bengals scored 30 or more and lost the game? Mm-hmm. Bengals put up 33 yesterday, and while we'll talk about the offense, I don't think it was particularly a strong day for the Bengals' offense. Would you go as far as saying, Austin, that the defense won the game yesterday for the Bengals? No.
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Speaker 4: I would say Baker Mayfield lost the game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Speaker 3: Okay.
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Speaker 4: Like the... There were certainly some plays made. Obviously, when you sack a guy and you force a fumble and all that, but I think you can look at that as poor quarterback play, but the Bengals capitalized on it. It's what makes Baker who he is. Is Josh Allen going to make those mistakes? Is Patrick Mahomes going to make those mistakes? Is Joe Burrow going to make those mistakes? And he did make a mistake. Well, if you watched yesterday, maybe C.J. Stroud will. And maybe C.J. Stroud will. I don't know exactly... the right way to say it, but the Bengals capitalized on his mistakes. And because of that, and because they weren't so fundamentally and structurally obsolete like they had been in years past, they were in a better position to capitalize. And so they made the most of it.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, let's run through it on the defensive side of the ball. TJ Slayton, Boye Mafe, Brian Cook, Demetrius Knight, all beneficiaries of a fumble recovery. On the game itself, Boye Mafai also forced one. Brian Cook forced a fumble. Miles Murphy forced a fumble. Barrett Carter forced a fumble. So active on the defensive side of the ball. We kept it pretty simple, Austin, going into the game on defense. Can the defense get the offense two to three more extra possessions a game? They did that and the Bengals won. About four extra possessions. They did that and won. So I get that Tampa didn't punt. They did turn him over four times. They got the ball back four more times to the offense. And if you do that throughout the season, you're going to win a lot more than you're going to lose. I thought every addition to the defense made an impact. Jonathan Allen had a sack. I thought for Dexter Lawrence Austin, he didn't flash in the stat sheet. In fact, he only got credited with a quarterback hit on the day. But I thought he wreaked havoc on the game, and I thought he wreaked havoc on the pocket for Baker Mayfield.
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Speaker 4: The play that Baker got out of the sack, I still don't understand how that happened, but I'm glad it did because it ultimately ended up being a fumble that the Bengals recovered. But you're right. Dexter Lawrence was just a lot to handle for that Bucs offensive line.
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Speaker 8: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: It created chances, I think, for Barrett Carter, who played his best game as a Bengal. Especially in the first half, I thought Barrett Carter was fantastic. And you could see the immediate impact of having a competent defensive line, especially on the interior in front of him. And he played with confidence. He played with speed. And I think that is a direct result of the Dexter Lawrence impact on the inside of that offensive line.
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Speaker 9: Yes.
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Speaker 3: Linebacker play was phenomenal. I thought Boye Mafe, I thought was very good at times. I think he had a couple misses, but I think he was giving Tristan Wirfs some issues.
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Speaker 4: How about Tristan Wirfs having two false start penalties? The Bucs, I think, had two delay a game penalties as well.
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Speaker 10: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Which, you know, Zach Taylor said it afterwards, credit to the Bengals fans, which you were there.
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Speaker 3: It was loud, man.
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Speaker 4: John was loud yesterday at Paycore Stadium, and the fans had an impact. And to get a dude like Werfs, who, by the way, Werfs had his hands full with the way the Bengals defensive line played against him, an uncharacteristically difficult game for him, that type of stuff right there is what gets me excited.
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Speaker 3: Chris Jenkins played eight snaps. One of those snaps, he recorded a sack. Boye Mafe recorded a sack. Jonathan Allen recorded a sack. Half sack for Barrett Carter and Miles Murphy. I think it's a good thing, Austin, that I don't recall many people talking about the corners. It's kind of like the offensive line, right? Corners, you don't really have to talk about them unless they're getting beat or coming up with interceptions. I thought the secondary was solid yesterday outside of some questionable mistakes covered situations with Jalen Davis. I thought overall safety and corner played well yesterday.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I felt like early on Tampa was going at Jalen Davis and just trying to see what all they could get away with. You think their second play of the game, they had a motion with Emeka Abuka where Jalen Davis follows. Abuka puts a double move on him, and quite frankly, it should have been a touchdown, but Baker Mayfield, again, didn't get the ball out soon enough and didn't throw it far enough, and Brian Cook and Jalen Davis are able to make up some ground and end up it being an incompletion, which it also felt like to me that the Bucs were trying to do what other teams had done, which is get those Bengals linebackers out of position. I felt like every time Baker Mayfield dropped back to pass, it was off of a play action from under center or a play action from shotgun. It felt like that was their entire offense. I don't know if that's just something they've been working on, but that can get guys in trouble. The corners played really well.
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Speaker 3: There wasn't many times as well when he would complete a pass that there was opportunities for yards after the catch.
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Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
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Speaker 3: I thought that they were connected as a defense. The one thing I will say, four offsides penalties. Yeah, very strange.
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Speaker 4: All by the interior defensive line. You're right over the ball. Jonathan Allen had two.
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Speaker 3: Yeah. B.J.
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Speaker 4: Hill had one.
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Speaker 3: T.J. Slayton had one.
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Speaker 11: T.J.
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Speaker 4: Slayton had the other. I don't know if I've ever seen that.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Four offsides penalties by D-tackles.
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Speaker 3: Incredible. Defense, again, in Tampa, you're screaming ball protection defensively. They still give up 5.4 yards per play. You want to cut that down a little bit. But on a day where you register four sacks, you take the ball away four times, regardless of how you do it, you're going to give your team a chance to win. And in this instance, they got the win, even though Joe Burrow threw a pick six. Jamar Chase was essentially a non-factor. So I thought yesterday, something we don't talk about a ton or haven't talked about a ton, complimentary football for the Cincinnati Bengals. 21 points off the three consecutive turnovers that Tampa dealt with. Again, we'll get to things to clean up on the offensive side of the ball as we kind of wind down our conversation on the defensive side of the ball, Austin. Where do you want to see them take the biggest step forward next week?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the big thing still is going to be tackling. There was a handful of those missed tackles, especially early, that you want to be better at. And the linebackers each, I think, had three, which is a far cry from what it was a year ago. Uh, but I think tackling is still going to be a big part of that. And, um, yeah, I think, I feel like they ran a little bit less man coverage than I thought they were going to. I haven't watched the entire game, but I just think closing on the ball, especially down in the flats felt like Tampa had a lot of success in the flats, uh, is something that they need to improve on and then tackling an open space.
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Speaker 3: Um, Before we break and get to the offense, I think we should shout out. It was a quiet day for the punting units. Only one combined punt. Ryan Rico had a 51-yarder. We do need to take a second and tip the cap to Evan McPherson. What a weapon that Evan McPherson is. Four for four for field goals yesterday. Made all three of his extra points. His long of 58. He completely changes how an offense operates when you get to the 40-yard line. Because you know, at this point, you feel like you have three points on the board. McPherson has been awesome. And I know at times we don't talk about special teams until it's like a game winner or something goes wrong. In a game like yesterday, I thought it was very good early on in the season to see the weapon that Evan McPherson is. Because as a quarterback and an offense, you understand that and it changes everything. maybe your thought process on a third down inside the 35-yard line because you know you already got points on the board. Shout out to Evan McPherson and the day he assembled. Let's take a break. The Monday midday quarterback just getting started. When we come back, let's switch to the other side of the ball because I think there's some differentiating opinions on what we saw for the Bengals' offense yesterday, albeit a 33-27 win. A victory Monday on the Monday midday quarterback on the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:13:37
Speaker 1: This is Football in the Natty, brought to you by A.E. Door and Window Company on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Speaker 5: What a coincidence.
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Speaker 3: We're talking about football right here in Cincinnati on the Monday Midday Quarterback. ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. We started our victory Monday with the play of the defense for the Cincinnati Bengals. Let's switch it to the offensive side of the ball, Austin. Joe Burrow, 25 of 35 for 254, a touchdown and a pick six. He was sacked once. We'll get into that in a few moments. Chase Brown carried the ball 16 times for 56 yards and a touchdown. Last year in the opener, 21 carries for 43 yards. The Bengals were led. with Mike Kosicki leading the way at receiver five catches, 78 yards on seven targets. Tee Higgins was targeted six times. He caught three, although, Austin, you could convince me he had four catches because I left yesterday's game still not understanding what an actual catch is in the National Football League.
00:14:41
Speaker 4: I thought, let's spend a second on that. I thought that he had caught the ball and taken some steps and gone to the ground and had been down by contact with And then the ball came out.
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Speaker 12: Yep.
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Speaker 4: That was my interpretation of the play.
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Speaker 3: And it was called a catch on the field.
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Speaker 10: Right.
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Speaker 3: I don't understand it.
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Speaker 4: So are they saying that the ball was moving, but there wasn't an angle of the ball moving?
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Speaker 3: That's, I guess. I guess that's where we're at. I don't quite understand it. It's, you know, death, taxes, and what is a catch? Exactly. Again, offensively, the Bengals gave up the one sack, but I will say this, Austin. I thought on the sack that was given up, That was more Joe Burrow saying, okay, I'm not going to force the ball into a window because you have points on the board. With Evan McPherson, I think he gave up that sack. And again, still took a hit on it as the pocket collapsed. But the O-line gave up one sack from a pressure rate. I thought the offensive line held up really well. Let's start up front with the big boys in the pass protection game. Any gripe with what you saw up front?
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Speaker 4: No, none whatsoever. No, I was very happy. I thought all of them played pretty consistently. I think there was maybe one or two plays where Dylan Fairchild, it kind of felt like somebody got the best of him.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: But I think that was an incredible game from Amarius Mims.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Dominant, you would say, from Amarius Mims at right tackle. And it wasn't just in the pass game, too. I mean, in the run game, he was getting to the second level when he needed to. He was out in space on a sweep. Like, Mims, you could make the argument that Amarius Mims had the best game of any Bengal yesterday.
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Speaker 13: Mm-hmm.
00:16:22
Speaker 3: Easily. They limited the Bucs. Vita Vea, who we talked a lot about going into the game, was credited with one quarterback hit. That was it on the day. did a really nice job on Vita Veya. The one player that wrecked the game for Tampa's defense was Josiah Trotter. He led the team in tackles. He had their only sack, two tackles for a loss, and had to pick six as well.
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Speaker 4: He was awesome.
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Speaker 3: He was great.
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Speaker 4: And that's what, you know, when we talked to Jenna Lane last week, that was the name she brought up as a guy that has really turned some heads for them in training camp. And he had, we talked about how he had been promoted to the starter on their depth chart and everything. And That dude was all over the field and really made a nice play on that pick six where he read Burrow's eyes and beat the receiver to the ball, basically.
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Speaker 3: The running game as a whole, we saw a couple different runs from Joe Burrow. One, I think a design quarterback run where he checked the play at the line of scrimmage based on the look. That's where they added the 15 yards with the personal foul. He also scrambled on a third down, took a good shot over by the sideline, but was able to pick up the first down. Chase Brown ran for three and a half per carry and a touchdown. P. Ryan gave you four yards a carry. What did you make as a run game as a whole? I thought it looked pretty solid. And there was a bunch of different stuff, different motions, different formations. Eye candy all over the place, which I think is something that is very much going to be a big part in their game against Houston next week.
00:17:52
Speaker 4: But I liked what I saw. I saw play action from those looks. I saw play action from those motions. But I also saw a run game that just had a lot for you to have to account for if you're a defender. Is it going to be this motion? Is it going to be this guy pulling? Is there a misdirection coming here? And then, oh, by the way, you still got to tackle Chase Brown, who is really, really difficult to tackle and elusive. I thought Chase played pretty well. It wasn't maybe the explosives that we've been wanting to see from them, but that touchdown run that he had. If that was a play at the 35-yard line, he's taking it 65 yards to the house. That's how well they blocked it. And so there's still some stuff in there. It's like, okay, yes, this is an improvement.
00:18:40
Speaker 3: The running backs combined for eight catches on the afternoon as well. I thought Tampa was just dropping so far in their coverage that Joe Burrow was just happily taking what they were getting. Mike Gesicki led the team in receptions. I thought Mike Gesicki did a good job of finding the open spot in the zone. You know, when T. Higgins and Jamar Chase are lined up wide as a backer or as a safety coming down into that hole, you have to get wide to get underneath the Jamar Chase and T. Higgins throws. And I thought Gesicki did a really good job of inserting into those openings and Joe Burrow found him.
00:19:15
Speaker 4: I think it was like a classic Samaj P Ryan game too. It's like, Hey, we just need somebody to come pick up this block. I'll do it. I need you on a third and four. I'll do it. And I'll pick up the yards. I think it was a third and seven. He ends up getting like 12 yards. Half time. He was like the second leading receiver.
00:19:29
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:19:29
Speaker 4: I mean, Samaj is just this do it all player. It's so important. I thought him and drew sample had a good game. I mean, drew sample had three catches for 19 yards, but those were big plays. And, and obviously what he brings to the offense in terms of protection is is vital as well. And Eric All had a really quiet game, didn't get targeted, didn't catch any passes, but was really good in the blocking. And a part of that, I still think that's a part of the offense that's yet to be unlocked. It was very impressive. T. Higgins only had three catches. All three were meaningful. One to give him a first down down in the red zone, the second on a key third down. and then the play to seal it late in the game. One of the best catches you'll find across the National Football League. On a dangerous throwing catch, too, because if the ball hits the ground, it obviously stops the clock. Just great, great connection there. The one thing that I'll ask Austin in the passing game is the one thing that stands out to me. Two catches, 12 yards, four targets for Jamar Chase. Is there anything we need to make out of that? I don't think so. I mean, you saw this against New England a couple years ago, too. where Jamar, he was obviously frustrated about the way the game had gone, and understandably so. I think the first series of the game for the Bengals offense, third down, and they run one of their bread-and-butter plays, which is like a little hook with a backside in, and they love that play. And Joe's looking at Jamar Chase, and Jamar didn't really sell the route. Now, I do think the defender got there early, And I think it would have been either way if you call it on the field a penalty or if you don't, that's fine. But I do think the defender got there early and ultimately Chase doesn't catch it. But the reason the defender got there early is he didn't get fooled. Jamar didn't feel like ran the route that were typical of seeing Jamar. We also saw Joe miss him on a slant down in the red zone that ultimately led to the Bengals stalling out and kicking a field goal. He did have a nice sideline grab. I thought he was used as a decoy a couple of times that was actually effective, one being on a screen to chase Brown. It was just kind of a weird game where it didn't seem like Jamar was a big part of the game plan.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: Could that be stemming from the injury on the last day of camp? Could he maybe just not be 100% yet?
00:21:57
Speaker 4: Hard not to look at it and think that that might have something to do with it.
00:22:01
Speaker 14: Right.
00:22:02
Speaker 4: He also didn't practice Friday, right?
00:22:05
Speaker 6: Right.
00:22:06
Speaker 4: But he was a full participant in all the others, and they just said it was rest.
00:22:11
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:22:12
Speaker 4: I feel like, especially with the fact of him not practicing Friday, kind of feels like to me, okay, he was on a bit of a snap count. I don't know what his total snaps were. But there was one drive. Where it was Colby Young, Dante Myers, Yosef Ash, Taj Brooks, all those dudes. There was one or two drives like that where I was like, okay, we've got the second team offense basically in here.
00:22:35
Speaker 3: It is worth noting, Dante Myers, outside of returning kicks yesterday, was given the ball on a jet sweep. He made the first guy miss, got 10 yards. On the last possession of the game, the Bengals up six, get the ball back with just over three minutes left. Tampa has all their timeouts. The first play, Tampa loads the box. Joe Burrow sends Dante Myers in motion. He has the confidence in that moment to give Dante Myers a catch. And what does Dante Myers do with it? Makes the first guy miss and gets 18 yards.
00:23:03
Speaker 4: I'm curious your thoughts on that play because it felt like, to me, that was a play that was drawn up for Dante Myers.
00:23:10
Speaker 11: Yeah.
00:23:10
Speaker 4: Like he was supposed to get the ball.
00:23:11
Speaker 5: Yep.
00:23:12
Speaker 4: And for them.
00:23:12
Speaker 3: Specifically for him.
00:23:14
Speaker 4: On that drive, when you need to put the game away... Your first play of the drive, you're giving the ball to him.
00:23:21
Speaker 3: And the second play, they went empty and threw a hitch to Samaje Pirine. So you go Myers-Pirine on your biggest drive of the game.
00:23:30
Speaker 4: And I think that drive is so important. That's the drive that has been talked about nonstop for this team. Go win the game on offense. Go finish it on offense. And they were able to drain that amount of clock that last three Was it 3-14? 3-something, yeah. That, I think, is the drive that we have been asking for, and they have been trying to figure out how to close games out, and they were aggressive. They stayed aggressive. They went to Dante Myers. They went to Samaj AP Ryan. I think that's so important. And also, the thing with Dante Myers, when you make guys miss, like you did, you mentioned on the jet sweep and on the play he caught the pass out of motion, I don't know how you don't give him more opportunities just based off the separation that he can create. And I don't think Andre Josavas played poorly yesterday. I thought Josavas was fine. But there is just something about when Myers gets the ball, you feel like it could be going to the house. That's crazy to say for a dude that's played 15 snaps in the NFL.
00:24:38
Speaker 3: You almost assume that he's going to make the first guy miss. Just how good he's been.
00:24:43
Speaker 4: And that, I think, also leads to separation when it comes to route running. And I'm sure that that's something that he's still working on, defining his route running and what works best for the offense. But I do think as the season goes along, we will see a bigger sample size of Dante Myers just because, gosh, why not?
00:25:03
Speaker 3: A couple thoughts on Joe Burrow. First, I thought he looked comfortable, and I thought they ran more under center than I expected them to. Agreed. But I thought a couple times he was asked to turn his back. I do think there's a correlation. I thought yesterday, outside of a couple rare occurrences, I thought they were getting the plays in much quicker. I felt like there was more times yesterday where I saw Joe Burrow operate at the line of scrimmage with like 18 seconds on the play clock.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: They didn't burn a timeout in the first quarter for the first time in... Ten years?
00:25:33
Speaker 3: Now, they did one in the game where you could tell the play came in late and Joe just couldn't get his work done at the line of scrimmage.
00:25:39
Speaker 4: Was that the first drive of the second half?
00:25:42
Speaker 3: But if you're asking him to go under center more, the quicker you can get the play call in, the better opportunity you're going to have for him to diagnose things and then be more comfortable turning his back on some of those play-action fakes, which we saw yesterday.
00:25:54
Speaker 4: Friend of the show Joe Goodberry tweeted out some next-gen stats about Joe Burrow. He had a 2.54 second time to throw. That was the fastest of all quarterbacks in week one. He saw pressure on 24% of his dropbacks. That was the fourth least of all quarterbacks. He was blitzed 48.6% of his dropbacks, which was the third most. And he was 28th in play action rate, 13.5%. And I think that's something that they might try to balance out a little bit next week.
00:26:27
Speaker 3: Yeah. Because.
00:26:29
Speaker 4: they were under center a lot and there was a lot of, of just running the ball under center. I think we'll see a little bit more of that play action next week against Houston.
00:26:38
Speaker 3: Yeah. I thought in typical, I don't think it was the cleanest offensive game as a whole. And we've seen that in years past, but there's not to me, there's not a panic. I'm still like, okay, they'll figure it out eventually. Yeah.
00:26:51
Speaker 4: I feel the same way. And like the, the, the pick six that burrow through, what was your interpretation of that? Because it, to me, it was just like, He didn't really look the linebacker off?
00:27:03
Speaker 3: Outside of missing Chase, and he spoke about it after the game, it's the one you want back because I love what Zach Taylor and the offense did. They went no huddle on that play, and Joe Burrow essentially had 28 seconds at the line of scrimmage. He was calmly getting guys set, setting the protection, identifying the defense, which tells me he knew it was a zone coverage. And in zone coverage... You can't eyeball the receiver. He never took his eyes off Andre Yosivash. Trotter made the read. It's a play that he knows he can't make. And I was surprised he made it because he had so much time to diagnose things at the line of scrimmage because they prevented Tampa from being able to sub by going hurry up. It was easily his most disappointing play of the day.
00:27:47
Speaker 4: I also think like the point that you've kind of been driving home throughout training camp and and you just did again there about getting up to the line of scrimmage and having time to diagnose what the defense is doing and getting the play call in early and all that like yeah for for the most part that i felt like was a strength i mean i'm i have the game on in here right now and the play came up where he audibles to an empty formation and takes the qb draw right up the middle yep and like He needed the time at the line of scrimmage to be able to say, yes, I got to do this. Here's the look they're giving me. Here's the best play to get into for that look. So on and so forth. That sort of stuff is incredibly important. I think will be especially important with all the looks that Houston's going to give you up front. What did you make of Burrow using his legs a couple of times?
00:28:33
Speaker 3: I was good with it.
00:28:34
Speaker 4: Multiple QB sneaks, one scramble, the QB draw.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, he talked. It's so big in his game. It's an important part of his game. You don't want to take that away from him. You know... I think protecting himself is obviously a key and understanding that not every play has to be a home run is going to be a development that he's going to have to continue to work on. But those plays with his legs are part of what makes Joe Burrow who he is. And you can't take that away. And I thought he was good with that yesterday as well. There's a lot of other things going on around the National Football League. Let's start to dip into some of those as we continue on the Monday Midday Quarterback. on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:29:15
Speaker 1: You've been listening to Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:29:23
Speaker 15: Touchdown, Bengals!
00:29:28
Speaker 16: The Bengals travel to Texas to take on Houston in a Lone Star Showdown, which raises an important question. What style of chili do I prefer? Hmm, I'm not sure, but they both make me gassy. Can the orange and black handle Houston more? Will the Texans defend their home turf? Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Or on ESPN 1530, the official home of us Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Texans.
00:30:04
Speaker 17: Mike's Cincy 360 continues now on ESPN 1530. Third down and 14.
00:30:11
Speaker 18: The play clock down to seven.
00:30:16
Speaker 3: Mayfield in the gun. He catches the shotgun snap.
00:30:19
Speaker 18: Mayfield under pressure.
00:30:20
Speaker 3: Checks it down.
00:30:21
Speaker 18: Bucky Irving to the 30. And he is tackled now toward the first down by Brian Cook.
00:30:28
Speaker 19: Let's see who has it.
00:30:31
Speaker 3: The ball did come out.
00:30:32
Speaker 5: Tug of war down there now. Strongest hands win.
00:30:36
Speaker 3: Brian Cook dislodged that ball from Bucky Irving.
00:30:40
Speaker 20: Bengals a million times have signaled their ball.
00:30:43
Speaker 3: The Bengals have it.
00:30:44
Speaker 17: Yes, sir.
00:30:45
Speaker 3: At the bottom of the pile.
00:30:46
Speaker 12: Yes, sir.
00:30:51
Speaker 18: The crowd gets into it here at Paycore Stadium. Mayfield back to pass on third and ten.
00:30:59
Speaker 3: Away from a possible sack.
00:31:00
Speaker 21: Now it's drilled.
00:31:02
Speaker 5: Ball comes out.
00:31:03
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:31:04
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:31:05
Speaker 3: Running it back for the end zone. And a touchdown.
00:31:09
Speaker 15: Demetrius Knight with a scoop and score after the ball was punched out by Miles Murphy.
00:31:18
Speaker 4: We didn't have time for the other two. Incredible stuff.
00:31:22
Speaker 3: Incredible stuff from a Bengals win, four turnovers forced by the defense, all four fumbles, three from Baker Mayfield, one from Bucky Irving, and it leads to a 33-27 win for the Cincinnati Bengals. Let's start to take a look at what else happened across the National Football League. Let's start with the AFC North Austin. Season started, season ended all in one afternoon for the Cleveland Browns. More about how bad the Browns are or how good Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence are. Four touchdowns on the day. Spread the ball out. Parker Washington had a monster day. Jacoby Myers. I think Jacksonville's a really good team. I think Cleveland is an abysmal team. Yeah, I think defensively, you expected to see a little bit more from Cleveland. I don't know that you expected them to be as good as they've been in years past, but you didn't expect them to be that bad. And Deshaun Watson, obviously... throwing an interception on his third pass of the game, which was the same, basically, thing that he had been doing on the same type of play all throughout training camp. Had some Browns fans scratching their head, but yeah, I mean, I thought they would be better than that. I didn't think they would get blown out in Jacksonville, but that's exactly what it was. I mean, what was it, 34-10? I don't know that it was ever even that close. Yeah, it wasn't. The Pittsburgh Steelers, they win 20-13... They get a pick six from TJ Watt. I thought TJ Watt. Played really well.
00:32:50
Speaker 4: Such an annoying.
00:32:51
Speaker 3: Because I thought we were at the point with T.J. Watt like he's starting to go downward in his career.
00:32:57
Speaker 5: He had been.
00:32:57
Speaker 4: Every seeming, every statistic, every next-gen stat, every single thing that you would look at was like T.J. Watt is going away. Thank God, finally. And then he does that dumb thing that the Watt brothers do, which is intercept those passes and take them to the house.
00:33:13
Speaker 3: Also added two sacks, three tackles for a loss, two quarterback hits.
00:33:17
Speaker 4: With the touchdown. What do you think is going through Kevin Stefanski's mind with his quarterback nonsense?
00:33:23
Speaker 3: I mean, Pennix, Tua, then you got to land on Cooper Rush. It's unbelievable stuff. Aaron Rodgers was 24 of 40 on the game.
00:33:33
Speaker 5: 221 yards.
00:33:36
Speaker 3: I think it'd probably be a little alarming if you're a Pittsburgh fan that they were only able to run it for 2.8 yards per carry against the Falcons.
00:33:43
Speaker 4: What did Rico Dowdle do in that game?
00:33:45
Speaker 5: Anything?
00:33:45
Speaker 3: Eight carries, 15 yards.
00:33:47
Speaker 4: Oh, so nothing.
00:33:49
Speaker 5: Nothing.
00:33:50
Speaker 3: Two catches for six.
00:33:52
Speaker 4: I'm fascinated to see what the Steelers offense ends up looking like.
00:33:57
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:33:58
Speaker 4: I don't admittedly know a lot about Atlanta's defense.
00:34:01
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:34:01
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously I know that they have Jesse Bates is still there and they got a couple of of decent players like AJ Terrell, Xavier Watts. Their secondary, I think, is all right, but I don't know about the rest of it. And Pittsburgh, I don't know, man. Their offense just fascinates me. Michael Pittman was their leading receiver, their big acquisition in the offseason. DK Metcalf didn't really do anything.
00:34:26
Speaker 5: Weird game.
00:34:26
Speaker 19: It is.
00:34:27
Speaker 3: It was certainly a weird game. And then there's a team in which I think a lot of people, including us, didn't know why they were getting so much of the love they were getting. Baltimore impressed in week one on the road under Jesse Minner. They put up 41 points against the Colts. Lamar was really good, 17 to 25. He threw it for 324 and a touchdown. King Henry, we keep saying he's going to take a step back. 24 carries, 144 yards, three touchdowns on the day. Lamar added 40 yards rushing and a touchdown as well. Zay Flowers left with a hamstring injury injury haven't got an update on that yet but he had five catches for a buck 50 and a touchdown um more about how impressive baltimore started or indy just not that good.
00:35:14
Speaker 4: Of a team i don't think indy is very good uh so i think that's the biggest thing but at the same time i mean there was no shortage of explosive plays for that baltimore offense uh so and there may be more hype in Baltimore about Declan Doyle as their offensive coordinator than there is nationally. And I think nationally, a lot of people just think of, of Jesse mentor and understandably. So based off the way the chargers defense played yesterday, did anybody say anything about the chargers about how they don't believe in them? Anybody mentioned that at all? Anyways, Derek Henry, 125 now career rushing touchdowns yesterday. He surpassed Marcus Allen. Who's in the hall of fame, by the way, For the third most rushing touchdowns in NFL history.
00:36:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Chargers.
00:36:02
Speaker 4: Only Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson have more rushing touchdowns than Derrick Henry. Think about that. But there's more. Henry has 26 career games with at least 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He passed Jim Brown and LaDainian Tomlinson for the most such games in NFL history. And there's like four more bullet points about how he's etching himself into league history. He's obviously going to be a Hall of Famer. Gosh, he just doesn't stop.
00:36:35
Speaker 3: Unreal. What else happened in the National Football League yesterday? You mentioned those Chargers. Fraudulent. Fraudulent.
00:36:43
Speaker 4: How many people took the Chargers in their survivor pool yesterday? Had to be a ton. Had to be a ton. I think I would have taken the Raiders if I were the type of person to be in that. Raiders looked good, even though Kirk Cousins threw to the other team a couple of times. Ashton Ginty looked really good in that game. And also, shout out to Michael Mayer, who got the contract extension over the weekend and had a pretty decent game as well.
00:37:08
Speaker 3: Early action. Lions hold off the Saints in overtime, 31-30.
00:37:13
Speaker 4: Big blown lead there for Detroit. And credit to Kellen Moore and the Saints offense. They were trying to go for two to win it.
00:37:21
Speaker 3: Yep, I love it. Love the idea of going for two.
00:37:24
Speaker 4: Tyler shucked through for 410 yards in that game.
00:37:32
Speaker 3: Jets beat the Titans. What are the Titans doing? I don't know, man. They get steamrolled by the Jets yesterday at home. I thought the Titans would be a little bit more competitive offensively. I did too. Maybe they will be.
00:37:45
Speaker 4: How do you think Robert Sala feels?
00:37:48
Speaker 3: Not good. Losing to the Jets.
00:37:50
Speaker 4: Can't be good. Did you see Aaron Glenn in the postgame locker room? They have a saying with the Jets. Who want to fly with the bleeping Jets?
00:38:01
Speaker 6: Oh.
00:38:01
Speaker 4: It's funny because they say it right after this team prayer.
00:38:06
Speaker 19: Right.
00:38:06
Speaker 4: And then they're dropping F-bombs on everybody.
00:38:10
Speaker 3: Who want to do it? Who want to fly with the Jets? What do you make of what happened in Charlotte, North Carolina?
00:38:16
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:38:17
Speaker 3: Oh, man. Ben Johnson said he wanted to lead the league in scoring. He doubled down on it after the game. Oh, by the way, they just hung 59. I don't think the Panthers are going to be bad.
00:38:27
Speaker 4: I don't think so either.
00:38:28
Speaker 3: But the Bears hung 59 on the board.
00:38:32
Speaker 4: And Carolina had what, 40?
00:38:35
Speaker 3: 37. 37. So I'm sure you've seen this by now. Over 1,000 yards of offense combined. I'm sure you've seen this by now. There's obviously one more game to go tonight when Denver and Kansas City play. But the teams going into Sunday night had combined to score over 700 points. That was on pace for one of the highest scoring kickoff weekends in NFL history. The week one record is 791 in 2012.
00:39:02
Speaker 11: Wow.
00:39:06
Speaker 4: Ten teams, Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minnesota, and New Orleans all scored at least 30 points. Tied for the third most such teams in a week one in NFL history.
00:39:19
Speaker 3: Come on.
00:39:19
Speaker 4: It has been points galore. Come on. Speaking of points, what happened to my Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter?
00:39:29
Speaker 3: Yowzers.
00:39:31
Speaker 4: Is Matt LaFleur the Ryan Day of NFL coaches?
00:39:37
Speaker 3: I think so.
00:39:38
Speaker 4: Took three points off the board, then did not get the conversion, and then completely melted down in Minnesota at the hands of Carson Wentz.
00:39:48
Speaker 9: Yep.
00:39:49
Speaker 4: I think there's some fraudulence there. With the Green Bay Packers?
00:39:52
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:39:53
Speaker 4: I'm not there yet. But I do think it is amazing the national narrative around Matt LaFleur is as positive as it is. Because a lot of Packers fans hate his guts.
00:40:06
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's interesting what's happening there. And if they don't win this year, what that looks like. I got a text from a Packer fan this morning. I worry about Packer fans today.
00:40:17
Speaker 4: And it was Mike Tomlin photoshopped into Packers gear on the sideline at Lambeau Field. So that's where they're at after week one.
00:40:25
Speaker 3: That's tough.
00:40:25
Speaker 4: That's not a good place to be.
00:40:27
Speaker 3: Real quick, Eagles beat the Commanders because Stephon Diggs doesn't know how to celebrate a touchdown. What an idiot. Mentioned the Cardinals get the win.
00:40:39
Speaker 4: That dude is legit dumb.
00:40:41
Speaker 3: He's a legit clown. Raiders won 27-13. I think a team, Austin, a lot of people were very high on the Dallas Cowboys come up short against the Giants.
00:40:49
Speaker 4: I was very high on Dallas. That might be one I'm wrong on. Also, the Giants just look like... They look good. I was listening to somebody this morning. It might have been Tony Reale talking about how the Giants just look like a much more professional operation.
00:41:01
Speaker 22: Yeah.
00:41:02
Speaker 4: And I agree with that. I can see that. And I think that is the John Harbaugh effect. I thought just the difference in Jackson Dart, especially at the line of scrimmage, was noticeable last night. And I thought that the Dallas defense would be a little bit better, but they still seem to me like they have a long road ahead of them to get back to where they want to be. But it's week one, and week one is a liar.
00:41:24
Speaker 3: That's right. When we come back, let's wrap up the hour briefly. on what transpired between the Texans and the Bills, that obviously being the next opponent for the Cincinnati Bengals on a Monday midday quarterback on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports.
00:41:39
Speaker 16: The Bengals travel to Texas to take on Houston in a Lone Star Showdown, which raises an important question. What style of chili do I prefer? I'm not sure, but they both make me gassy. Can the orange and black handle Houston? Or will the Texans defend their home turf? Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Texans.
00:42:14
Speaker 3: Happy Victory Monday. The Monday midday quarterback on the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:42:22
Speaker 4: Does chili make you gassy today?
00:42:24
Speaker 3: What is that? Gosh.
00:42:27
Speaker 4: I love those promos, man.
00:42:28
Speaker 3: Unbelievable.
00:42:30
Speaker 2: One more game.
00:42:30
Speaker 4: I got to see you yesterday. We did see each other.
00:42:33
Speaker 23: In line.
00:42:34
Speaker 4: I saw you getting some skyline.
00:42:35
Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.
00:42:35
Speaker 3: How's that at halftime?
00:42:36
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:42:37
Speaker 4: I mean, it was gone within seconds.
00:42:38
Speaker 3: Because halftimes go quick as well, so you got to get that in and out. Yeah.
00:42:42
Speaker 4: It's the fastest 12 minutes of your life.
00:42:44
Speaker 3: Yes, it really is. One more game tonight, week one slate. It is Monday night football, Broncos at Chiefs. The next opponent for the Bengals, the Houston Texans. I don't think it's surprising to say, oh, Houston lost to Buffalo. I think it's surprising when you see what the score was in that loss. 36-31, Buffalo gets the win. Buffalo only ran 52 plays in the game. They did next to nothing on the ground. Josh Allen threw for over 300 yards, dropped back 29 times. Texans registered only two sacks. How surprised are you? Not at just the result, Austin, but the way in which Buffalo racked up points. Yeah, I mean, I.
00:43:28
Speaker 4: Didn't expect that at all. I thought this was like a 17 to 10 type of game. But if there's one thing we know about Joe Brady, he can coordinate an offense. I mean, he was the offensive coordinator of the LSU team in 2019. which is the best offense in the history of college football. And obviously when you have Josh Allen, I thought with, with there being some new faces like DJ Moore on that offense and just in general, the change from McDermott for so long, I didn't know what it was going to look like, but Allen was efficient. He didn't turn the ball over and for them to be that good without really running it that effectively.
00:44:06
Speaker 3: James Cook really didn't do anything.
00:44:08
Speaker 4: I mean, Allen only had 23 yards on the ground. So two of them went for touchdowns and, 21 of them came on one play, which kind of just goes to show just how much, I don't know, it was a death by a thousand cuts. Yeah, that's what it felt like. And that might be how you have to beat Houston.
00:44:23
Speaker 3: But they gave up a 40-yard pass to Dalton Kincaid, a 43-yard pass to DJ Moore. They gave up a 34-yard completion to Josh Palmer. Khalil Shakir for 19, so they did get gassed in the passing game. So it almost seems dominant offensively. Right.
00:44:35
Speaker 4: But you mentioned it, Buffalo only ran 52 plays.
00:44:38
Speaker 12: Yeah.
00:44:40
Speaker 4: Houston ran 73 offensive plays. And C.J.
00:44:43
Speaker 3: Stroud throwing it wasn't bad. 26-38, two touchdowns. He did lose two fumbles, though. David Montgomery.
00:44:49
Speaker 4: There it is right there.
00:44:50
Speaker 3: Yep, David Montgomery, the new addition to the Houston Texans. 60 rushing yards, two scores. Also caught a pass for a touchdown as well. He registered three touchdowns. Nico Collins scored the other. The Texans actually had the ball inside the, what, 15-yard line? With under a minute to play, and C.J. Stroud fumbled. Again, so I think Austin also brings the importance of yesterday getting to 1-0 because now it was already a test going to Houston. Now that's a Texan team squarely with their back against the wall after now starting 0-1.
00:45:23
Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt about it. And then it was looking at the sack numbers. They had two sacks on Josh Allen, if I see that correctly. One half from Will Anderson, half from Mario Edwards, and then Jadavion Clowney had one. And then one of their good players, Henry Tuoto.
00:45:38
Speaker 3: That's right. I don't know.
00:45:40
Speaker 4: You're going to have to practice that this week. You're the one that has to go to Houston.
00:45:43
Speaker 3: 2-0.
00:45:45
Speaker 4: I don't think it's 2-0 anything. I think it's 2-0-0-0-0.
00:45:49
Speaker 3: I'll let Dan handle that. Yeah, Dan will take care of it. He's known as Henry to me. Yeah, Henry.
00:45:53
Speaker 4: Number 39. Anyways, I think he got hurt. So I think he might be– his status is up in the air. I know D'Amico Ryans was talking earlier. He was wearing a sling after the game, and he's a good linebacker for them who's been good for them.
00:46:08
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:46:09
Speaker 4: That's something to keep an eye out on going into next week. We'll have to keep an eye out. We were talking last week about how the pressure that is put on the Bengals in week one against Tampa because Houston is lingering. Well, Houston probably feels the same way.
00:46:26
Speaker 3: Cincinnati's coming to town.
00:46:31
Speaker 4: And they obviously probably don't see the Bengals the way they see the Bills, but they're still like, gosh, if we lose to the Bills, we've got to be able to beat Cincinnati at home?
00:46:39
Speaker 3: Yep. See how it goes? It's going to be interesting. It's one of the two games all year in which the Bengals are currently installed as an underdog. Right now, just a three-point underdog. That wasn't the only football happening. Over the weekend, though. Yeah, it was. Nope.
00:46:54
Speaker 5: It wasn't.
00:46:55
Speaker 4: Nobody else played.
00:46:56
Speaker 24: Oh, yeah.
00:46:56
Speaker 3: We're going to talk about it. There was no other football games.
00:46:58
Speaker 25: Now, don't worry.
00:46:58
Speaker 4: I didn't see any other games.
00:46:59
Speaker 3: You get a little more time because, as tradition on Mondays, winners go first. So we won't get to the Buckeyes until a little later in this segment coming back from break.
00:47:12
Speaker 4: Take your time.
00:47:13
Speaker 3: It happens next. We'll focus on the college football scoreboard on the Monday Midday Quarterback on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:47:21
Speaker 2: WCKY Cincinnati. Make us the number one preset on your car radio and on the free new and improved iHeartRadio app. Free never sounded so good. ESPN 1530.
00:47:34
Speaker 1: This is the Monday Midday Quarterback Show. Brought to you in part by A.E. Door and Window Company. They sell the best and service the rest. Cincinnati Tax Resolution. Powered by Toph Sheldon. O'Connor, Achani, and Levy. Attorneys you know. Attorneys you trust. Visit OAL-law.com. Donato's, the official pizza of the Bengals. Quality black topping, Cincinnati's most trusted company.
00:48:01
Speaker 2: And by Thomas More University.
00:48:04
Speaker 1: Make it more at Thomas More University on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:48:15
Speaker 5: Well, all right.
00:48:15
Speaker 3: Welcome into the Monday Midday Quarterback Hour No. 2 on the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. We have done an hour on the National Football League, a heavy focus on what the Bengals were able to do yesterday. We'll get to your talkbacks in just a few moments. There was other football happening over the course of the weekend. The Cincinnati Bearcats advanced to 2-0 on the season. They beat up on Western Carolina in a big way. It was close early on in that game on Saturday night. It was 7-3 after one quarter of play. At one point, the Bearcats led Western Carolina 14-10. After that, 62-10 was the final. The Bearcats poured it on in the second, third, and fourth quarter. They had 283 yards of offense alone in the third quarter. As a team, Austin, they ran it for 418. And I get Western Carolina, I believe it was the most rushing yards since they ran for 450 or ish against Xavier many many years ago Wow JC French a lot of questions about him as a passer 21 of 24 245 yards on the day completed a 56 yarder a 50 yarder so I expanded the field uh i think checked a lot of boxes in the passing game which was necessary we talked about that coming out of week one where he only threw it 14 times he gets 24 pass attempts throws it for 245 they get 418 on the ground over 49 rushes so the one constant right now for this bearcat team through two weeks they can run the ball They have success running the ball on the left side of that offensive line because of the power they have there, which has set up some good play-action passes, and they saw some success on the right side of the line as well. All in all, a very good night for the Cincinnati Bearcats. They will prepare now for the battle for the victory bell, and it's going to take place for the first time ever. You're going to be able to see a football game, not football, a football game at TQL Stadium. It's going to happen Saturday, 3.30, Miami, UC. For what it's worth, Miami comes in a winner against Holy Cross after they fell at Pitt 59-14 in Week 1. So you get the battle for the victory bell coming up between the Bearcats and the Miami Redhawks. Some other local happenings.
00:50:53
Speaker 4: By the way, I bet Cincinnati football could beat FC Cincinnati in soccer.
00:51:03
Speaker 3: Did they lose again?
00:51:04
Speaker 4: No, but they dropped a point.
00:51:06
Speaker 11: Oh.
00:51:08
Speaker 4: Dropped two points.
00:51:09
Speaker 3: Not good. They should have won. Should have got three.
00:51:11
Speaker 4: Pat Noonan was all hot and bothered.
00:51:14
Speaker 3: Uh-oh. You know, it's interesting, and it's probably a good thing, Austin, that this is the Monday midday quarterback because it prevents us from really diving into the Reds trying to sweep news under the rug yesterday.
00:51:26
Speaker 4: Oh, that's going to be talked about tomorrow. For sure.
00:51:30
Speaker 3: For sure. Yeah.
00:51:33
Speaker 13: Yeah.
00:51:34
Speaker 3: Interesting timing from the Bengals, but we digress. Some of the other things that happened in week two of college football locally, it was a great start for Kentucky. Couldn't ask for anything else. From there, after holding a 17-13 lead at the half, they were outscored 32-0 in the second half. Alabama 45, Kentucky 17. Not good for the Kentucky Wildcats. Some other local Ohio State falls at the hands of Texas. Now, Austin, I was not trolling you on Saturday night. I know you weren't. I left the booth at Nippert Stadium to go interview Scott Satterfield for the post-game press conference. And the Buckeyes led 23-3. That was the last score I saw heading downstairs. I assumed at 23-3, I didn't even think to check it like after postgame. I didn't check it at all on the ride home. And then I got home and I saw the final. And I could not believe what had happened. You are obviously a Buckeye fan. You picked on Friday the Buckeyes to lose this game.
00:52:54
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:52:55
Speaker 3: What went wrong on Saturday night?
00:52:58
Speaker 4: Well, In a way, it was kind of exactly what I thought was going to happen, which is that in the trenches, Texas would wear down Ohio State. And I do think for the most part, that's what happened in the second half. There are large segments of the fan base that will blame Ryan Day.
00:53:16
Speaker 3: For what happened.
00:53:18
Speaker 4: I would put it 50-50 on Ryan Day and on the players. Let me start with what is not Ryan Day's fault. It is not Ryan Day's fault that Julian Sane missed a wide-open Devin McEwen for a touchdown. It is not Ryan Day's fault that Julian Sane missed a wide-open Jeremiah Smith and threw a ball four yards behind him. It is not Ryan Day's fault that Julian Sane in a one-on-one with Jeremiah Smith couldn't throw a competitive pass. Those things are not his fault. It is not Ryan Day's fault that a kicker can't make a 40-yard kick, although you could argue that it is probably partially Ryan Day's fault because for some reason he doesn't care about the kicker position. I also don't know that I would necessarily blame Ryan Day for the offensive and defensive lines. However, you could go back to the recruiting and say, how does Ohio State not have dudes? They are soft up front. S-A-W-F-T?
00:54:19
Speaker 3: Yes. Soft?
00:54:20
Speaker 4: S-A-W-F-T.
00:54:22
Speaker 9: Okay.
00:54:23
Speaker 3: Up front.
00:54:23
Speaker 4: Now, defensively, I think their plan was basically to cage Arch Manning. They wanted Arch to just kind of sit back there and screw up, basically. And they had a lot of respect for his legs. We've seen teams do this. They tried to do this with Lamar Jackson at times. We've seen teams do this before. Ohio State was not trying to rush the passer like crazy and throw a bunch of blitzes at him. They wanted to keep him in the pocket. Um, maybe a questionable decision, but that was their plan. And for the most part, I mean, they had him in hell until Texas was just like, okay, screw this. We're going to run it down your throat.
00:54:58
Speaker 3: And they did.
00:55:00
Speaker 4: Now, what was Ryan Day's fault? You could argue in the first half that he was chasing points going forward on a fourth down. I didn't mind it, but he was chasing points instead of taking the field goal. We all know field goals are not automatic. He at one point punted from the Texas 39.
00:55:15
Speaker 6: Hmm.
00:55:18
Speaker 3: At what point in the game?
00:55:19
Speaker 4: Late in the game.
00:55:20
Speaker 21: Oh.
00:55:21
Speaker 3: Oh.
00:55:22
Speaker 4: What are you doing?
00:55:23
Speaker 3: Was it fourth and what?
00:55:24
Speaker 11: Four?
00:55:24
Speaker 4: Fourth and four.
00:55:25
Speaker 3: Yowzers.
00:55:26
Speaker 4: Punted from the Texas 39. Don't quite understand that. But again, maybe that's because he doesn't trust his quarterback. Doesn't trust his offensive line. I don't know.
00:55:39
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:55:40
Speaker 4: And then Texas down inside the five and you decide to try to play defense. Knowing that if Texas scores a touchdown, they're going to be up by one. And you can have, with at least a timeout, 60, 65 seconds. Instead, he decides to try to play defense and just allow Texas to run the clock out.
00:56:05
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:56:07
Speaker 4: That was a dumb decision. And it feels like every time they lose one of these games, it's the same thing.
00:56:16
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:56:17
Speaker 4: Now, I do give Ryan credit because I felt like on the last drive of the game where they had a chance to put it away, he was aggressive. And they did move the ball a little bit, but it fizzled out, and then he punted. The start of that drive was not just run, run, pass. It was, let's throw the ball to our best players. Let's move the ball here. Let's go finish this game on offense. And ultimately, it didn't work out. But his clock management, his decision-making, all of that is very much questionable. And that's what cost them. And now moving forward, I'll just keep going. Moving forward, you have Oregon on the schedule. And Oregon got beat by Oklahoma State.
00:57:19
Speaker 3: Who'd Oklahoma State lose to in week one? Oklahoma State lost to Tulsa 24-10 in week one.
00:57:25
Speaker 4: You can't lose a game against Oregon now.
00:57:27
Speaker 5: Yep.
00:57:29
Speaker 4: You have to go to Indiana. I don't know if you can lose that game. You have to play Michigan, who all of a sudden woke up against Oklahoma.
00:57:38
Speaker 3: Was that more about Michigan or more about how bad John Mateer is? John Mateer was... Fraudulent?
00:57:44
Speaker 4: Double-cheeked-up booty.
00:57:45
Speaker 11: Yeah.
00:57:46
Speaker 4: But at the same time, Michigan up front was dominant. And that, obviously, after what I just saw, makes me nervous about that game. You also have to go to USC on Halloween. That's all the way across the country. I mean, USC is 14th in the country.
00:58:03
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:58:03
Speaker 3: Put up 49 over the weekend.
00:58:04
Speaker 4: You've got to go play in front of 15,000 people at the Coliseum.
00:58:07
Speaker 3: That's tough.
00:58:08
Speaker 4: That's not going to be easy. So now you've put yourself, you've backed yourself into a corner because you blew a 20-point lead to where... You can't really have any more false steps. And I just don't know that I trust them up front to be able to win these games, especially if they get into the playoffs. Do I trust Julian to win a game? Do I trust that they can just shut somebody down? I don't know if I do.
00:58:33
Speaker 3: That Oklahoma State win, Drew Mestemaker, the quarterback for Oklahoma State, Threw for. 317 and ran it for. 109 on six carries. Made some big boy throws. Made some big boy throws. You want to talk about a little fraudulent. Dante Moore, 14-29. He has looked bad. He's looked bad through two weeks. Interesting to keep an eye on for Oregon. Any other noteworthy scores? LSU was only up 10-7 at the half over the Louisiana Tech. They blew them out in the second half, but a little interesting there. You mentioned the Michigan win. BYU in a Big 12 showdown knocked off Arizona. That is it from me. the college football world over the weekend. Week three now. Again, we mentioned the battle for the victory bell. Friday night, Houston-Texas Tech pair top 25 teams. Kent State, they're going to travel to Columbus and take on Ohio State. See if they can block those guys. Doesn't get any easier for Kentucky. Kentucky travels to No. 9 Texas A & M. Another top 25 matchup, SMU Louisville on Saturday.
00:59:37
Speaker 4: Speaking of Louisville, you know who one of the first people I saw yesterday was when I was in Pecors Stadium?
00:59:42
Speaker 3: Who? Pat Kelsey. You know one of the first people I saw?
00:59:46
Speaker 4: Marvin Lewis?
00:59:47
Speaker 3: Marvin Lewis.
00:59:47
Speaker 4: I saw Marvin too.
00:59:50
Speaker 3: Good to see Marvin. Marvin looks good, man.
00:59:51
Speaker 4: First person I saw when I walked into the press box was Marvin Lewis. And then I went down on the concourse to... to go talk to somebody and Pat Kelsey was standing there. Stars were out.
01:00:02
Speaker 2: Yeah.
01:00:03
Speaker 3: The, uh, the highlight of this upcoming college football weekend will be the return of Lane Kiffin to Oxford, Mississippi.
01:00:10
Speaker 14: Yes.
01:00:11
Speaker 4: We might need the national guard for that. You might need the national guard for that one. AP top 25 came out yesterday. Texas moves up to number one, Texas, number one, Georgia, two, Notre Dame, three, Indiana, four, Miami, uh, Ohio State drops five spots to No. 6. LSU is 7. Ole Miss, 8. So it's No. 7 versus No. 8 at Ole Miss. It is Texas A & M, 9. Alabama moves up two spots to 10. BYU moved up four spots to No.
01:00:41
Speaker 3: 11.
01:00:41
Speaker 4: USC is 12. Texas Tech stays at 13. Penn State up to 14. Tennessee, 15. SMU, 16. Utah, 17. Where is Oregon? Iowa, No.
01:00:52
Speaker 3: 18.
01:00:53
Speaker 4: Iowa looked pretty good. Michigan, number 19. Missouri up to number 20. Oregon, number 21, dropping 15 spots. Houston is 22nd. Louisville moves up a spot to 23. Oklahoma dropped all the way down to 24. And Virginia is the last team in at 25th in the country. Others receiving votes are Washington Huskies, Florida Gators, Boise State, Oklahoma State, Western Michigan got 35 votes.
01:01:24
Speaker 3: I do not. Western Michigan. Weren't they 1-1?
01:01:27
Speaker 4: Tulsa. Well, Mississippi State, who had a dominant win over a once-proud program in Minnesota. Did Rutgers lose.
01:01:37
Speaker 5: Again, too?
01:01:38
Speaker 3: Yes.
01:01:38
Speaker 4: To Boston College. To Boston College.
01:01:41
Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh. Western Michigan. How about the also we had over the weekend, the Akron fan? That's right. That got the call plays. They fumbled on the first drive. Fumbled on the opening drive. By the way, Kansas State.
01:01:53
Speaker 4: Who was on the UC schedule after the battle for the victory bell, they got one vote for the top 25.
01:01:59
Speaker 3: Get them ranked. We'll take it.
01:02:01
Speaker 4: Rank them.
01:02:02
Speaker 3: We'll come back with the Monday midday quarterback edition of your Talkbacks on the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:02:10
Speaker 6: It's that time for Talkbacks. Press the microphone and record your message for Austin and Tome.
01:02:17
Speaker 4: Please keep it clean and don't be mean.
01:02:21
Speaker 23: Add a sprinkle, sprinkle, drip, drip.
01:02:24
Speaker 4: It's that time for Talkbacks. It's our favorite.
01:02:27
Speaker 6: Part of Cincy 360.
01:02:31
Speaker 22: Austin, buddy, play that Talkback on your screen and please try not to sabotage it.
01:02:39
Speaker 3: The Monday Midday Quarterback edition of your Talkbacks. The first Monday Midday Quarterback Talkbacks also coming on the first Victory Monday of your Talkbacks. They're happening right now. Did the coffee taste a little bit better this morning? Everything was a little better this morning. What did you have for breakfast? I don't eat breakfast. I'm an anti-breakfast person.
01:03:06
Speaker 14: You're really going to give Joe Burrow More confidence when it comes to the defensive side of the ball?
01:03:14
Speaker 4: Come on, baby.
01:03:15
Speaker 26: Who said that Houston was our kryptonite with third defensive line?
01:03:25
Speaker 2: We got this.
01:03:26
Speaker 3: Super Bowl, baby. Who day? Okay. I like it.
01:03:31
Speaker 4: That was left at 1236 a.m.
01:03:33
Speaker 3: I love it.
01:03:34
Speaker 4: Feels like it might have been the end of a long night.
01:03:37
Speaker 6: Yeah.
01:03:37
Speaker 3: And hopefully for Marcus... didn't even see the Reds news yesterday.
01:03:40
Speaker 4: Maybe a long couple of nights, considering what happened in Lexington.
01:03:46
Speaker 3: The world is a vampire.
01:03:49
Speaker 2: Who day?
01:03:53
Speaker 3: Fellas, sweet tea from the SAV.
01:03:56
Speaker 4: What up, though?
01:03:56
Speaker 10: Who day?
01:03:58
Speaker 3: Great win.
01:03:59
Speaker 15: Tony Pike, congratulations on the Bengals gig.
01:04:02
Speaker 2: I thoroughly enjoyed listening.
01:04:05
Speaker 3: To that yesterday. No TV audio for myself. All right, guys. Have a great week.
01:04:14
Speaker 24: Happy Victory Monday, fam. How about that Bengals defense? Four sacks, four turnovers, even a scoop and score. I am thoroughly impressed. There are things that work on both sides of the ball. Absolutely. You know, when I started out the first half, I thought they were going to smoke the bucks like one of Mo Egger's victory cigars.
01:04:33
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know if week one's a lie or if week one's overhyped. I don't care. You can't win them all if you don't win the first one. Hooray! Preach on that.
01:04:42
Speaker 22: Hey, fellas. I'm just trying to call in a little favor here. Do you still have the phone number for Twice Statement's health laying around? I got a little excited during that second Fumble Recovery yesterday, and I know they helped with getting it up, but I need a little help getting it back down. So please let me know.
01:05:03
Speaker 3: I'm starting to get a little concerned.
01:05:05
Speaker 20: Thank you.
01:05:06
Speaker 3: I think there's a hotline number you can call in. Oh, my gosh. Well done.
01:05:13
Speaker 21: TP15, I'm Andrew Boyage in Silverton. I am the sicko that hasn't listened to the show in a while but had to tune in for Austin and his Buckeyes. I mean, one in three in their last four can't get a kicker to save their lives.
01:05:28
Speaker 6: They just can't.
01:05:30
Speaker 4: Jamar Chase, gone missing. Someone needs to find him.
01:05:34
Speaker 21: And then lastly, I mean, the main thing from this weekend, not the Bearcats, But if Hunter Green comes back, do they make a playoff push?
01:05:43
Speaker 3: Oh, boy. B-Day, everybody.
01:05:48
Speaker 27: I feel like this week was a get-it-out-of-your-system game. Kind of like when you come back from an injury, you need to take that first hit and know you're okay. Well, they took that first hit.
01:06:00
Speaker 3: They know they're okay. And I think it is time to roll.
01:06:05
Speaker 27: And I am superstitious about making a prediction, but I think.
01:06:10
Speaker 6: We are going to be very happy after.
01:06:11
Speaker 3: They get home from Houston. Oh, I thought you were talking about Ohio State. Kind of going through the punches. Yeah, yeah. I think, man, you want to talk about, Austin, getting the attention of a lot of folks. Go to Houston and win this and start 2-0. You're going to get that attention.
01:06:28
Speaker 10: Holy cow! What a weekend for Cincinnati sports! The Bengals' defense had Baker Mayfield looking like Baker Mayday. Running around crazy. Kept him from connecting with his number one receiver, Buchanan Beppo. You know, that guy's pretty good. I have a little concern with Dexter Lawrence. I had more penetration after 14 beers than he did all game.
01:07:02
Speaker 3: Oh, gosh, man. Goodness, goodness.
01:07:05
Speaker 14: Hello, this is former President Ronald Reagan and Well, Joe Burrow didn't have his best game, but it was good enough for a win. But he better step his game up because, if anything, week one proved that Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Dak Prescott are already in postseason form.
01:07:27
Speaker 3: They are. Especially Jordan Love. Guy's not very good. Jordan, no. What, penalties? Penalties. Yeah.
01:07:35
Speaker 4: Are we going to call the refs? We can't ignore it.
01:07:38
Speaker 3: Officials?
01:07:39
Speaker 4: Jordan Love played pretty good until the officials decided Minnesota was going to win the game.
01:07:45
Speaker 14: Okay.
01:07:46
Speaker 28: I got a belly, got a belly full of skyline.
01:07:48
Speaker 3: I got a belly, got a belly full of skyline.
01:07:51
Speaker 6: Oh. Oh.
01:07:53
Speaker 3: Four takeaways. It's a Bengals day.
01:07:57
Speaker 2: And a Bengals way.
01:08:03
Speaker 3: Hey.
01:08:03
Speaker 4: That wasn't too bad.
01:08:05
Speaker 6: No.
01:08:05
Speaker 4: No. Hey, guys.
01:08:07
Speaker 3: Baker Mayfield here.
01:08:08
Speaker 24: Oh, Baker.
01:08:09
Speaker 3: Just wanted to call in and clear the air. Despite the rumors that are going around, my fingers are indeed not made of butter. Hey, somebody block that guy.
01:08:23
Speaker 2: Sorry.
01:08:24
Speaker 3: That was a bus. I thought it was Jonathan Allen. But anyway, yeah, just wanted to make that clear. I like it. I like it.
01:08:36
Speaker 12: Man.
01:08:39
Speaker 4: Trying to get all these in here.
01:08:44
Speaker 14: Austin, what's going on with these Ohio State kickers in these big games?
01:08:49
Speaker 3: It happened in Texas.
01:08:50
Speaker 22: It happened against IU in that Big Ten Championship game going back to the Georgia semifinal.
01:08:57
Speaker 3: And this Robbie, we have a new special. teams coach, right?
01:09:01
Speaker 4: What's going on?
01:09:03
Speaker 3: It's a great question. But don't worry, they'll bounce back this week. They'll be fine.
01:09:07
Speaker 28: Monday when we scored 33 points and actually won.
01:09:11
Speaker 19: Let's take it roughly.
01:09:14
Speaker 28: Big Z, Mo, Johnny from Mount Hale.
01:09:16
Speaker 3: Something wrong with the microphone there.
01:09:18
Speaker 20: Some mic's not working there.
01:09:20
Speaker 3: What up?
01:09:23
Speaker 29: A win is a win is a win is a win, and I will take it every single Sunday. Gotta give credit to the defense. They looked 1,000% improved. Both sides of the ball still need a little bit of work. Tony, I got a bone to pick with you yesterday on the broadcast. Cough and nails, bam, bam, bam, and then silence. No bring out the hearse, no rest in peace, no six feet under.
01:09:42
Speaker 3: I don't know what to do. Come on, man. I know.
01:09:45
Speaker 4: I got to figure something out. I don't think you do. I think you just stay quiet.
01:09:49
Speaker 3: There's also like.
01:09:52
Speaker 3: So, Friday night, and I'm worried that if this comes out at some point, this is not going to be good. Oh, no. Saturday night, they put a booth cam up with me and Dan in the booth. There was a booth cam up yesterday. And I know Saturday night, there were times where UC scored and I didn't even make a reaction. Probably because it was their 60th point.
01:10:11
Speaker 8: But.
01:10:13
Speaker 3: I'm just nervous to see how those play out because I get so caught up in the play and then I look and I'm like, oh boy, that's filming.
01:10:19
Speaker 4: Who knows what that's going to look like. So you're worried that you're not animated enough?
01:10:23
Speaker 19: Yeah.
01:10:25
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:10:25
Speaker 4: I mean, that's, I don't know. I mean, that's how I am.
01:10:28
Speaker 14: Yeah.
01:10:29
Speaker 3: You're like that montage of Bill Belichick. I mean, I'll throw like some fist pumps in and things like that.
01:10:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's fine. I mean, every play can't be like Pike to Ben's.
01:10:42
Speaker 3: You're right. You know? You're right.
01:10:45
Speaker 4: Glad we could work that in today.
01:10:47
Speaker 3: Thank you. You did it. How about our kicker? Buddy Mack with the foot. Yep. Kickers, baby. Kickers.
01:10:58
Speaker 11: Hey, guys.
01:10:59
Speaker 10: Jeff in New Richmond.
01:11:01
Speaker 11: One down, 13 to go.
01:11:03
Speaker 30: They looked good yesterday.
01:11:05
Speaker 11: 13 to go. Defense, we just need them to be middle of the pack. What I saw yesterday is a defense that's probably a fringe top 10 defense. So as long as they perform to that level, I think we're in good shape. You guys have a great Monday. I appreciate it.
01:11:25
Speaker 31: Take care.
01:11:26
Speaker 3: Thank you. You too.
01:11:29
Speaker 5: T-Pike.
01:11:31
Speaker 3: Austin.
01:11:32
Speaker 5: C-Note from the NKY.
01:11:36
Speaker 4: Who day on the Bengals win? I'm going to try to be positive about it. Decent win.
01:11:43
Speaker 32: But your defense got a pick, you know, a scoop and score, four sacks, like two interceptions, all these turnovers, and you still only won by six.
01:11:57
Speaker 3: He said they only did what by six?
01:11:59
Speaker 8: One.
01:11:59
Speaker 3: That's it.
01:12:01
Speaker 4: What about that?
01:12:02
Speaker 3: Allow me to reiterate. That's all that matters is the end there, that they won by six. Yes, I'm cat strutting. I'm repping the natty out here in sunny hot zona. What up, Tony?
01:12:13
Speaker 5: What up, buddy?
01:12:14
Speaker 25: To my Bearcats and Bengals. Man, we looked great this weekend. I got to give it to the UC Bearcats. I think we found ourselves a running back with Tab. I'm liking him. Tony, you're doing a great job on Saturdays and Sundays, my G. Keep on repping. Got to give the Bengals D-line.
01:12:28
Speaker 5: Credit, man. They look good.
01:12:29
Speaker 4: Mafe, Murphy, Dexter, they all look good.
01:12:32
Speaker 25: And I ain't worried about that pick six.
01:12:34
Speaker 3: And Chase was just a decoy.
01:12:35
Speaker 5: Not worried about that neither.
01:12:37
Speaker 3: On to Houston.
01:12:37
Speaker 2: Time to dominate them.
01:12:39
Speaker 3: Everybody eats on this Bengals defense.
01:12:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, Trucker.
01:12:43
Speaker 3: Yeah. Everybody. Everybody in it. Yep. Tony, B-stick.
01:12:49
Speaker 31: I'm out of hibernation like the NFL season. I was down at the game on Sunday. Like what I saw, defense looked pretty good. Still gave up a few too many points. Lots of turnovers. Just need to get that offense to run a little smoother than it did.
01:13:07
Speaker 3: And hopefully, we're in good shape.
01:13:10
Speaker 26: You guys have another best day ever.
01:13:13
Speaker 2: Pew, pew.
01:13:16
Speaker 3: Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Trying to just get all these aligned here. I know what you're trying to do. Hey, Pike. Hey, Audie.
01:13:29
Speaker 14: Oh, hi.
01:13:30
Speaker 3: Went to the Bengals game yesterday. Yeah?
01:13:32
Speaker 23: And man, did we have a good time.
01:13:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was hot.
01:13:35
Speaker 23: No doubt about that. But luckily for us, it was $ 7 bottle water day. Caught a break there. And I'm going to tell you something. That orange out, that thing was popping. I don't know if TV did it justice, but it was popping.
01:13:48
Speaker 3: Hootay. Go Bengals. Yeah, it did well. That was awesome. Well done. Yeah, McPherson was awesome.
01:13:59
Speaker 33: Carter and McKnight played well. Boye, Moffay. Chase Brown and Piran, solid, consistent. Miles Murphy. Jonathan Allen shouldn't be offsides twice. Were you surprised Sample had three receptions and Eric Hall none?
01:14:21
Speaker 3: No, I think they're just going to continue to work Eric Hall in like that. Eric Hall will end up having some key receptions this year.
01:14:28
Speaker 4: Once Eric Hall can do what Drew Sample does, it'll be in the offense a little bit more.
01:14:33
Speaker 31: Yep.
01:14:33
Speaker 4: But you got to wake up awfully early in the morning to get one pass Sample. You know what I'm saying?
01:14:38
Speaker 3: I heard it. Yeah, I know you would.
01:14:43
Speaker 32: Man, oh man, what a great win that was yesterday.
01:14:46
Speaker 6: Can you imagine if they had gone.
01:14:48
Speaker 32: 0-6 on that road trip?
01:14:50
Speaker 19: They were able to salvage.
01:14:52
Speaker 3: That one victory.
01:14:53
Speaker 19: And that Geno, he's getting hot just at the right time.
01:14:58
Speaker 10: 24 home runs now.
01:14:59
Speaker 3: And the best part, I heard that crawl and the whole front office is coming back next season.
01:15:06
Speaker 19: Boy, what a great time to be a Reds fan.
01:15:09
Speaker 3: Might be one of my favorite Ken talkbacks of all time. Don't let him get anything past you, Ken.
01:15:18
Speaker 4: The Bengals were last against tight ends last year.
01:15:23
Speaker 26: Yesterday, Tampa Bay's tight ends had three catches for 26 yards.
01:15:29
Speaker 3: That's true.
01:15:29
Speaker 4: One big drop.
01:15:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kate Otten. Thank you.
01:15:32
Speaker 4: From Kate Otten. Baker's best throw of the day. Probably was, actually.
01:15:36
Speaker 3: It was, easily.
01:15:39
Speaker 11: Optimism entering the week two of the Bengals season is at an all-time high.
01:15:43
Speaker 2: I mean, how many times did we say throughout the.
01:15:44
Speaker 11: Offseason that to combat a slow start for the offensive unit would be a defense that props them up and you can win some games because of your defense?
01:15:52
Speaker 2: Finally saw that. That is massive. And in that four-minute offense, that can't be talked about enough. I sat there watching that game going, they will lose too many of these games. And the fact that they could pull it out, kudos.
01:16:06
Speaker 19: Thank God.
01:16:07
Speaker 4: Yep.
01:16:08
Speaker 3: Four-minute offense, complimentary football. Good stuff. What's up?
01:16:14
Speaker 5: Snackhead.
01:16:15
Speaker 6: Yeah.
01:16:16
Speaker 3: This is Garth Brooks. Damn it, Tony.
01:16:21
Speaker 7: You couldn't have been any better on the radio yesterday. With two Hall of Famers, I mean, you knocked it out the park. You got good things in front of you, and it was fun to listen to.
01:16:34
Speaker 3: Good job. Well, thank you for listening, Garth.
01:16:38
Speaker 19: Dirt.
01:16:39
Speaker 3: Dirt.
01:16:43
Speaker 32: Been a long time coming.
01:16:46
Speaker 12: In Cincinnati.
01:16:48
Speaker 3: Come on.
01:16:49
Speaker 21: Sunday's watching Lee slip away.
01:16:54
Speaker 3: Throwing touchdowns.
01:16:56
Speaker 34: Putting up numbers.
01:16:59
Speaker 32: And the defense giving it away.
01:17:02
Speaker 26: Something feels different.
01:17:06
Speaker 3: Down by the river, orange and black, finally looking right. Man, a little Dixieland delight? Come on now.
01:17:19
Speaker 4: I need Ryan to do some full versions for us.
01:17:23
Speaker 3: Gosh. Yeah, it is just a tease.
01:17:24
Speaker 4: It's a tease, and I don't like that. I don't like to be teased.
01:17:27
Speaker 5: Yep.
01:17:27
Speaker 4: So, come on, Ryan.
01:17:30
Speaker 3: Hootay, I'll take a win however I can get it. But I would like.
01:17:35
Speaker 5: To say, when Joe threw that.
01:17:38
Speaker 3: Pick, I'm sure me and millions of other Bengals fans were thinking, uh-oh, here's the epic Bengals collapse that we all expected. Anyway, Hootay, I'll take it. Four turnovers, me. I love it. Offense will come along. Hootay, love you guys. I bet at some point yesterday there was a little tightness.
01:18:01
Speaker 4: Love you. Austin Tone, it's Krug.
01:18:07
Speaker 3: What up? Krug.
01:18:11
Speaker 10: I'll just say it.
01:18:13
Speaker 26: I think that they very well will end up being better than the 21-22 Bengals as a whole.
01:18:20
Speaker 3: Wow.
01:18:21
Speaker 26: Keep them upright. I think we're going all the way. It can only get better.
01:18:29
Speaker 9: Okay.
01:18:30
Speaker 4: We've got a long way to go.
01:18:33
Speaker 3: I was going to say, maybe some overreaction, maybe some underreaction Mondays.
01:18:37
Speaker 34: Oh, man.
01:18:38
Speaker 30: What a beautiful sight.
01:18:45
Speaker 3: Maybe they finally got it right.
01:18:47
Speaker 21: From Burrow in the defense.
01:18:50
Speaker 12: Oh, the whole family better just hold on tight.
01:18:55
Speaker 3: Number nine gets held. Oh, on Sundays.
01:19:01
Speaker 31: Yeah, we're winning the Super Bowl this time.
01:19:05
Speaker 12: Thank you.
01:19:08
Speaker 4: I guess that was the continuation of Dixieland Delight.
01:19:11
Speaker 3: So good.
01:19:11
Speaker 4: Make us a real record, Ryan.
01:19:14
Speaker 6: Yep.
01:19:15
Speaker 31: I have a question.
01:19:16
Speaker 3: Why did Joe Flacco come in for that one play? I didn't quite understand. Me neither. I didn't get that one. Were they trying to, like, show that they really wanted to run the sneak and thought they were going to get him to jump off sides? I don't know. Was there ever any shot of him snapping that ball? The one thing, like, last year, they did that in the Cleveland game. Mm-hmm.
01:19:38
Speaker 4: He came in off the bench. He ran a QB sneak. He went back to the bench. I don't know why, when you'd already run a QB sneak with Burrow.
01:19:48
Speaker 3: And also.
01:19:48
Speaker 4: I don't understand.
01:19:50
Speaker 3: When else would a backup quarterback entering the game get as much of a roar as Joe Flacco does?
01:19:56
Speaker 5: It's ridiculous.
01:19:57
Speaker 3: I wonder what's going through Burrow's head. Burrow came off the field at paces going nuts.
01:20:03
Speaker 22: Flacco.
01:20:04
Speaker 4: Flacco talked about that in quarterback. He's like, do you understand how stupid this is?
01:20:09
Speaker 3: Yes.
01:20:10
Speaker 4: Hey, guys, I guess I'm stupid or something.
01:20:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course I'm stupid. Stupid is, stupid does.
01:20:15
Speaker 34: That's the role I play on this godforsaken talkbacks. Anyway, what's the arm movement from T. Higgins where he kind of unfolds his arms? I guess it's like unfolding like a first down.
01:20:32
Speaker 3: But I don't know. I think we'll go with that. Seems kind of lame. Yep. I think we'll just go with him unfolding the arm to signify a first down.
01:20:39
Speaker 4: Jamar Chase did it after a first down as well. And you need to go back and look. Go watch the film of the sweep to the outside with Chase Brown, where Marius Mims is the lead blocker.
01:20:56
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
01:20:57
Speaker 4: And he cleans up. And behind the play, Amarius Mims does the same gesture.
01:21:05
Speaker 24: Yep.
01:21:07
Speaker 3: Yep.
01:21:10
Speaker 4: Just leave it up to your imagination. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. Whatever you want it to mean.
01:21:16
Speaker 3: First down.
01:21:16
Speaker 29: Hey, fellas.
01:21:17
Speaker 19: Happy Victory Monday. It's DJ Pro.
01:21:20
Speaker 3: What up?
01:21:21
Speaker 5: My bad, Pike, yesterday.
01:21:23
Speaker 19: Hollering at you as you're crossing the street with the family.
01:21:25
Speaker 25: Going into the stadium.
01:21:26
Speaker 19: It's probably bad timing on my part. We were having a good time in Lot B. I couldn't help but notice, though. Did you have trouble getting into the stadium?
01:21:33
Speaker 13: But, yeah, great day, guys.
01:21:35
Speaker 19: The Orange looked great in there. Super excited.
01:21:38
Speaker 6: 1-0.
01:21:38
Speaker 19: We'll take it.
01:21:39
Speaker 21: Hootay.
01:21:40
Speaker 19: Let's go.
01:21:41
Speaker 3: No, I didn't have an issue. I was making sure that the wife and Wilder were able to get in with their tickets. And then I went in. Done for the day. That's it. We're done.
01:21:56
Speaker 4: With talkbacks.
01:21:57
Speaker 3: Oh, okay. We got Football in the Natty coming up. Oh, Football in the Natty is next. The Monday Midday Quarterback. ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:22:05
Speaker 1: Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530. The official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:22:14
Speaker 3: Football in the Natty. The Monday Midday Quarterback. ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. Some news around the NFL, Austin. What about the Miles Garrett thing?
01:22:26
Speaker 21: Yeah.
01:22:26
Speaker 3: Surgery.
01:22:27
Speaker 4: Came out right before the 1 o'clock games?
01:22:29
Speaker 3: Yeah. Missed a significant amount of training camp with a knee injury. Thought he could play through it. And as Sean McVay said, they thought we would take an approach where he'd be feeling good enough to contribute. That wasn't the case. The next right thing is for us to get it fixed. So it's an arthroscopic surgery. He's going to go on the injured list for at least, obviously, four weeks later.
01:22:56
Speaker 4: Um it's similar situation happened with brock bowers right yes las vegas where he got a trim on his meniscus so he might be out for three or four weeks as well.
01:23:07
Speaker 3: Also love the fact of ben johnson doubling down after their 59 point statement when opener he said they'll uh of leading the nfl in in points and offense. He said, that will always be the goal. We want to be the highest scoring. We want to have the most wins. We want the Super Bowls. That's what we do. We didn't get into this profession trying to be mediocre or average. I love it. I love everything about what Ben Johnson's doing. Seems like Chicago's got things going in the right direction. And I feel like, Austin, and again, it's hard in week one because you don't want to overreact. It feels like Caleb Williams has things figured out now. I thought early on with Ben Johnson, there was just a lot going on, a lot of moving parts. I feel like Caleb Williams has settled in as the quarterback of the Bears nicely with that Ben Johnson offense.
01:23:57
Speaker 4: Who you got tonight? Monday night football, the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead against the Kansas City Chiefs. Chiefs are favored.
01:24:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, Chiefs are favored. I still want to see more of the running game from Denver, and I got to see more of Bo Nix. Until then, I'm still taking the Kansas City Chiefs.
01:24:16
Speaker 4: According to ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor.
01:24:20
Speaker 3: What does that say?
01:24:21
Speaker 4: They've got Kansas City as a 59.6% chance to win over Denver. We'll find out tonight. Give me the Broncos tonight. I'll take the Broncos.
01:24:32
Speaker 10: All right.
01:24:33
Speaker 3: We'll do a quick injury report to wrap things up in hour number two. I will skedaddle. I'll head up north to Twin Peaks and Westchester. Austin will have hour number three. Skedaddle. More of that next on the Monday Midday Quarterback ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:24:47
Speaker 1: You've been listening to football in the natty on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:24:56
Speaker 4: Welcome back.
01:24:59
Speaker 3: Cincinnati 360 Monday Midday Quarterback. On the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station. It is time for our O'Connor, Achani, and Levy injury report. Attorneys you know, attorneys you trust. Visit oal-law.com to learn more. Austin, on the Bengals' side of things, they left yesterday's game very healthy. The one thing that continues to loom over is the Shamar Stewart. He was obviously not active yesterday, but he is, I think, just by the sheer fact that he was doubtful and not listed as out during the week. He's doing the practices. I think he's closer than maybe we had expected, but a relatively healthy group right now for the Cincinnati Bengals as they get set to head to Houston next weekend to take on the Texans.
01:25:49
Speaker 4: For the Reds, I.
01:25:51
Speaker 3: Saw that Spencer Steerer was cleared Friday to begin range of motion activity.
01:25:54
Speaker 5: That's cool.
01:25:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's also allowed to swing a bat.
01:25:57
Speaker 3: Matt McClain was out of the lineup. Do we know what he was out of the lineup for yesterday?
01:26:01
Speaker 4: A sore left shoulder.
01:26:02
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:26:03
Speaker 4: He said, quote, I think it needs a day or two.
01:26:05
Speaker 3: Okay. So that's that.
01:26:07
Speaker 4: One other thing that I did notice in the Bengals game the other day, on the play where Takario Davis got an interception, but it was called back, the reason Takario Davis was in the game is because DJ Turner, I think, dislocated his finger or something, had to go over to the sideline and get that bad boy popped back in. DJ, of course, played the game, but it was kind of ironic that the next play... Bobo Davis picks him off. I don't know if that was DPI.
01:26:36
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, it was. It definitely was.
01:26:39
Speaker 8: Yeah.
01:26:39
Speaker 3: It would have been nice for that play to be like, boom. Yeah. There he is.
01:26:43
Speaker 4: I'll just come in and pick this ball off.
01:26:44
Speaker 3: Let's go.
01:26:45
Speaker 4: Not that I heard any other things about DJ Turner, but that was something that happened during the game.
01:26:51
Speaker 3: Reds are back in action tonight against Tariq Scooball and the Dodgers.
01:26:54
Speaker 4: They're going to face Scooball again?
01:26:56
Speaker 19: Yep.
01:26:56
Speaker 3: Okay. But they got Lodolo on the mound. Oh, good. And, well, let's see if they can. Can I hold the Dodgers under 20? Apparently, I'm doing the inside pitch tonight. Oh.
01:27:06
Speaker 4: Clearly, I'm very well prepared.
01:27:07
Speaker 3: There you go. For such a thing. All right. Well, if you're prepared, what do you got coming up in hour number three?
01:27:12
Speaker 5: All right.
01:27:13
Speaker 4: Here's what I got coming up. Overreaction Monday. Yes.
01:27:18
Speaker 3: 513-749-1530.
01:27:19
Speaker 4: We heard a little bit of it on Talkbacks. People are saying, we're going to the Super Bowl. Start buying your tickets now. Get a kryptonite. No, don't do that. That's a Pittsburgh Steelers thing. The Bengals are going there. No, you don't be singing the Pittsburgh song. We could take anything we want from Pittsburgh now.
01:27:37
Speaker 3: They stink.
01:27:37
Speaker 4: Damn right. Take that, Dave Wanstead. Anyways, you'll also hear what Zach Taylor said in the locker room after the game. Phone lines open just in general. Continue to talk about the game yesterday, and we'll talk to you and Mo from Twin Peaks in Westchester. If you can make it to Westchester, come on out for the show. It's always a fun one, the first show of the year, especially after a Bengals victory. And after a Bearcat victory. And after a Bearcat victory. And after an Ohio State loss.
01:28:04
Speaker 5: Oh, baby.
01:28:05
Speaker 4: You guys are going to have the time of your life. I hope you enjoy it. That's called the trifecta, the cat's meow. I hope you enjoy it.
01:28:11
Speaker 3: You're sick. Austin's got the Monday midday quarterback next. You're a bad guy. Tony and Moe football show starts at 3. Come see us at Twin Peaks till 6 on the home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Daily.
01:28:22
Speaker 2: This is the.
01:28:22
Speaker 1: Monday Midday Quarterback Show, brought to you in part by A.E. Door & Window Company. They sell the best and service the rest. Cincinnati Tax Resolution. Powered by Toph Sheldon. O'Connor, Acciani & Levy. Attorneys you know, attorneys you trust. Visit oal-law.com. Donato's, the official pizza of the Bengals.
01:28:45
Speaker 2: Quality black topping.
01:28:47
Speaker 1: Cincinnati's most trusted company. And by Thomas More University. Make it more at Thomas More University. On ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:29:00
Speaker 3: Hello, welcome in.
01:29:00
Speaker 4: It's a Monday midday quarterback on ESPN 1530. I'm Austin Elmore. Thank you for being here. Bengals victorious yesterday, 33-27 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game in which you were just waiting with all this anxious anticipation leading up to this season. It's going to go every, everything's going to go right. We're finally got a chance. We're going to be right back in the conversation. And it starts now. with Tampa scoring three points on their opening drive, and the defense struggling to cover Emeka Abuka, and Bucky Irving getting loose, and they score three, and then the Bengals' offense immediately goes three and out, and you're thinking, oh, dear Lord. Oh, my goodness. How is this season going to go? Are we going to do this again? I heard people booing after the opening drive for the Bengals' offense. People all hot and bothered, angry about what they had seen.
01:29:56
Speaker 5: And then.
01:29:58
Speaker 4: On Tampa's second drive, the defense showed up. Here is what it sounded like in its entirety.
01:30:05
Speaker 18: The crowd gets into it here at Paycor Stadium. Mayfield back to pass on third and ten.
01:30:13
Speaker 3: Got away from a possible sack.
01:30:15
Speaker 5: Now he's drilled. The ball comes out.
01:30:17
Speaker 15: Spangles scoop it up.
01:30:19
Speaker 5: Running it back for the end zone. And a touchdown.
01:30:23
Speaker 15: Demetrius Knight with a scoop and score after the ball was punched out by Miles Murphy.
01:30:30
Speaker 5: Hell of a play.
01:30:32
Speaker 20: Baker Mayfield with his patented create and extend, get out of pocket, buy time, trying to make a play. This time it backfires, blows up in his face. Ball's knocked out of his possession. A scoop and score. How about a defensive touchdown? If you went to Vegas and you played a defensive touchdown to be the first score of the season for the Cincinnati Bengals and their explosive offense with all the weapons they have offensively.
01:30:56
Speaker 4: You'd make a bit of money. Dave Lapham, Dan Hoard on the call. Place was coming unglued. Baker Mayfield came unglued as well. And really, the Bengals benefited from bad quarterback play. Let's just call it what it is. Baker, if you look at his stat line, you might think, okay, he was 23 of 28 for 216 yards, a QBR of 98.8. That's not that bad. You look at their receivers, Emeka, Buka led the way, five catches for 63 yards. But you look at those turnovers. Four of them, three coming from Baker Mayfield, all three of them, that was the one that was the most understandable because he was trying to make a play and he got flushed out to the right. The other two, one where he just loses the ball going into the end zone, one where he just waits too long and gets hit from behind. I don't know that those ones are as understandable as the first one, but the Bengals' defense showed up. they immediately created more opportunities for the Bengals' offense. And it was a weird day because Jamar Chase didn't quite seem like himself, and it didn't really seem like the plan was built around Jamar Chase, which is the exact opposite of what we've come to know. There were times where Jamar looked frustrated, and it made you wonder, okay, are there still some lingering effects of what happened with the hyperextension of his knee a couple of weeks ago? And it would be understandable if there were. But there were times where Jamar Chase felt more like a decoy than the number one option of the offense. And that's strange. And that's something that I'm going to earmark moving forward as they go into Houston. Because they're going up against one of the best corners in the NFL and Derek Stingley Jr. coming up this weekend. And Jamar Chase, if he's at 100%, I'm going to take Jamar Chase every time. But I know that's going to be a good battle. And if Jamar Chase is not at 100%, Do they move Derek Stingley to a guy like T Higgins? There's a lot that we can get into about the matchup coming up this weekend that we will over the course of the week. But like I told myself going into this year, I'm going to lean in to the Bengals being good. I'm just going to accept it that I'm excited. I'm going to accept it that the fan base is excited, that the organization is excited, that they've done enough. And like, let's just see what happens. Let's just, let's just enjoy it. And I'll tell you what, 21 to 3, I was enjoying it. And I'm kind of looking around thinking, man, this might be too good to be true here. How is this happening, right? Is this really going to be, are we going to be this good? Is it going to be this easy? And surely it's never that easy. But if you just look in game number one, what were the biggest impacts on the game? And pretty much every single one of them was an off-season acquisition. Boye Mafe, Brian Cook, Dexter Lawrence, who didn't have a ton of stuff on the stat sheet, quote-unquote, but had a massive impact on the game. Barrett Carter wasn't necessarily an addition, but played his best game as a Bengal. Mike Gesicki played his best game as a Bengal. These are two guys who had kind of down, disappointing seasons last year, who stepped up in game number one. Like, The guys that they are counting on that they brought in, guys that they were counting on to take a step forward, took a step forward. And if you're a Bengals fan, how are you not overwhelmingly excited about something like that? You should be. You absolutely should be. I thought it was cool in the locker room after the game, Zach Taylor was talking to the team and gave them a little bit of a pump-up speech right after. Here's a couple, about a minute or so of Zach Taylor.
01:34:56
Speaker 30: The goal in week one is to be 1-0. You've worked all summer. You've worked all training camp. You've put it together. There's a lot of excitement and anxiety as you come.
01:35:04
Speaker 4: On the field week one.
01:35:06
Speaker 3: You guys found a way to get it done. Big time.
01:35:07
Speaker 4: We're just a really good team.
01:35:08
Speaker 5: They got my respect.
01:35:09
Speaker 30: And you did it because you won the turnover battle. Our defense created four turnovers. We did it because we talked about on offense finishing the game in four minutes for what feels like nine months. And that's exactly what you did.
01:35:25
Speaker 4: That's exactly right. That was a big takeaway for me, too. The fact that they were able to finish the game because it was that situation that they talked about all offseason. Like, we just need to be better at finishing the game on offense. Let us finish the game and see what happens. And that's exactly what they did. They got the ball with 319 left in the game and Tampa didn't get it back. Tampa had all three timeouts, down by six, 319 left. That was the situation the Bengals couldn't put teams away in the past. That was it right there. And so you have first and 10 at your own 24. You get an 18-yard completion to Dante Myers. A play called for Dante Myers. Aggressive play to help put the game away.
01:36:23
Speaker 29: Then.
01:36:24
Speaker 4: You throw a pass to Samaj P. Ryan, 18 yards. Boom, there's a chunk right there. A minute off the clock, and Tampa takes their first timeout. You run one up the middle, doesn't get anywhere. Tampa takes their second timeout. You throw a deep ball across the middle to T. Higgins for 18 yards. Tampa takes their third timeout at 208. You've got another Chase Brown run. Did not go very well. You get the timeout. Then Joe Burrow gets him to jump off sides for a neutral zone infraction. And back-to-back runs, one from Chase Brown, one from Joe Burrow, to pick up the first down and put the game on ice. Finishing games. Just giving your defense, not putting it in the hands of the defense. I think the defense has a long way to go.
01:37:17
Speaker 5: They really do.
01:37:19
Speaker 4: I wasn't overwhelmingly impressed by the defense. game that they had. Tampa still didn't punt in the game. They were still averaging, I think, six yards a play at halftime. Baker Mayfield at one point walked them down the field way, way, way too easily. On the play that he ended up scoring the rushing touchdown, that one was just the easiest play in the world, it felt like, for Baker.
01:37:49
Speaker 3: And so.
01:37:52
Speaker 4: There's still things to clean up. And week one is a liar. Last year in Cleveland, week one, Bengals defense against Joe Flacco and the Browns gave up 17 points, had a couple of takeaways, including a big one that won them the game, looked so much better, and they went on to have one of the worst seasons in franchise history. I'm not putting all my eggs. The whole season is not a takeaway of what's happening in What happened yesterday is I'm not going to judge the entire season based off of that. But if those players can. have an impact, even just like that, a little bit, this team's going to go a lot further than they did a year ago. And at the end of the day, we always talk about starting fast. Give yourself a chance. They've done that. They've taken a little bit of the pressure off themselves going into Houston. But they've also probably.
01:38:50
Speaker 4: Feel a lot more confident. You got that monkey off their back. And now they know it's not going to be easy going to Houston, but they believe they can win. Won all three of their preseason games. Won this one. That's part of the culture. Even if we know those preseason games don't count, there's something to that. The process works. There's a payoff. They're getting that. They deserve credit for that. Also, Duke Tobin deserves credit. I thought it was also cool in the locker room after the game, Zach Taylor was giving out game balls, and he gave one to Duke Tobin.
01:39:24
Speaker 3: Take a listen.
01:39:25
Speaker 30: There's a reason all you guys are here in this room, okay? You've been all brought here because the qualities you have, the talent you have. And that's our scouting department has done that. Duke Tobin's done it a long time. Today was Duke Tobin's 200th career win.
01:39:39
Speaker 5: As a Bengals.
01:39:48
Speaker 4: How about that? Duke Tobin getting acknowledged by Zach Taylor and subsequently by the team with Duke Chance. Think about where we were at a year ago. Where were we at a year ago with the sentiment around Duke Tobin, with the sentiment around the scouting department, where everybody was kind of hot and bothered about contract issues and extensions in the future and this, that, and the other. I think that says a lot about the cohesion between the front office, and the locker room, that reaction right there. So I want to get your reaction.
01:40:28
Speaker 3: 513-749-1530.
01:40:29
Speaker 4: Make it an overreaction Monday. Or you can underreact if you want to. I want to hear from you.
01:40:34
Speaker 11: 513-749-1530.
01:40:34
Speaker 4: You can tweet at me as well, at Audi Elmore.
01:40:36
Speaker 3: It's A-U-T-Y-E-L-M. O-R-E.
01:40:43
Speaker 4: Let's go to the phones. Let's go to Boston. Let's talk to John. John, you're on ESPN 1530.
01:40:49
Speaker 3: What's up?
01:40:51
Speaker 35: Happy Victory Monday, Austin.
01:40:52
Speaker 19: How are you?
01:40:53
Speaker 4: Likewise, John. Thank you. I'm doing well.
01:40:56
Speaker 35: Well, I'm Italian American and I'm from Boston. So we're by nature somewhat negative. So I'm going to be a little bit nitpicky today. I think this team is good enough to go to and win a Super Bowl. I have no doubts about that. And a lot of it was shown yesterday because the quarterback was good, not great. Jamar Chase was pretty much a non-factor and he still won. That didn't happen a lot in the past. I mean, normally you need Burrow and Chase to go off you know, off with 400 yards passing, 150 yards receiving, that type of thing. They didn't do that. That's like winning a baseball game when your two top hitters didn't contribute a ton. I mean, Joe was good yesterday. Obviously, the pick six wasn't good.
01:41:33
Speaker 19: But as far as.
01:41:34
Speaker 35: Just a couple of things on defense, really one thing on defense. problems covering backs out of the backfield.
01:41:39
Speaker 19: That could be a problem.
01:41:40
Speaker 35: They did a better job against tight ends, which was an issue last year. As far as special teams, pretty much perfect, except for the kick return late in the game that got it to midfield. That's like the last thing that you make happen. McPherson was just tremendous yesterday. And I think overview, as far as the coaching staff, I love the fact that They kicked the field goal up 21-10 right at the end of the second quarter. I thought that was the way to do it, right? Because that's the difference between winning and losing a game.
01:42:07
Speaker 19: Yeah.
01:42:08
Speaker 5: I agree.
01:42:09
Speaker 4: You have the ball coming out of the half. And so I thought, okay, you can put yourself up 14 points right here, right now. Now's the time to take the points and see what happens when you get the ball to start the second half. I thought that was the right move. Now, I've discussed it with some people since who felt like that's the time the Bengals should have went for the jugular. But I thought since you're guaranteed that next possession, I would have taken the points.
01:42:36
Speaker 26: Mm hmm.
01:42:36
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
01:42:37
Speaker 35: You get the field goal to end the half, and then you get the ball to start the second half. And look, we saw an AFC championship game five years ago that turned when the team was up 21-3, decided to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal.
01:42:49
Speaker 4: It worked out pretty well for the Bengals, right?
01:42:51
Speaker 19: Yeah, exactly.
01:42:52
Speaker 35: And again, those two short field goals, the difference in the game.
01:42:55
Speaker 19: I mean, kick four of them, they kick a kick too.
01:42:57
Speaker 35: So as far as the offense, I just... As far as what they were doing, I thought Mims was awesome. I mean, he is as good an offensive lineman.
01:43:05
Speaker 2: As there is in the league.
01:43:05
Speaker 35: My only thing with Burrow right now is he's in a little bit of a, I wouldn't call it a slump, but he's in this little space where he's about thrown four pick sixes in his last six games. He played into a pick six and three of his last.
01:43:17
Speaker 19: Five games last year.
01:43:18
Speaker 35: Then the pick six yesterday, this isn't a guy that throws interceptions or certainly pick sixes. So I don't know if it's just a patch that he's going through and that he has to just work his way out of that. I mean, you know, the quarterbacks obviously go up and down as great as he is, but that's just something you want to avoid because other than that, I thought it was pretty solid game.
01:43:38
Speaker 3: For them yesterday.
01:43:39
Speaker 14: Yeah.
01:43:39
Speaker 4: John, thank you for the phone call. I appreciate it. You have a couple of things on that. Um, Yeah, the Burrow thing, the interception, I thought it was just bad by him. Like, just didn't really look off the linebacker. I thought there was a couple times yesterday where Burrow's eyes were in the wrong spot. And I don't know the read. I don't know what his keys are. But from my perspective, it was like, that didn't seem right. Now, based off the way it's taught and the design and the look, I'm sure he was doing what he thought was the best thing to do. But it led to some missed opportunities and the pick six He he explained it tried to explain it after the game and he was obviously frustrated by it Also, sometimes players make good plays if you go back to the pick six in buffalo It was an unbelievable play and the ball kind of slipped out of the hand to joe burrow The pick six against the ravens long like 95 yarder I have no idea what burrow was doing on that throw and the fact that it got 95 yards is unbelievable, but it did um So I'm not overwhelmingly concerned about Burrow. It feels like he always just needs to be kind of eased into the season. The game against New England a couple years ago, he was coming off the wrist injury, but that was the most scared I'd ever seen him play. It was the worst game I think I've ever seen him play. The game week two, 2021 against Chicago, week one against New England, the game against the Steelers in week one a couple years ago where he threw four interceptions against It feels like he needs a minute to get one under his belt before he gets fully locked in. And I talked about it in the lead up to the season. In the first two weeks of the year, he's just not been very good. That's the unfortunate reality with Joe. To kind of go back to one of the other points that John made about the defense, I still think tackling needs to be improved, especially tackling in space. Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter were both charged with three missed tackles. For the most part, though, I thought they were much better. I think the edge rushers setting the edge in the run game, there was a couple of times where they got out of position and kind of came down the line of scrimmage, and that allowed Bucky Irving or Kenny Gainwell to bust it outside. You saw that on the touchdown run by Irving. You saw it early on in the game as well. So I think those two things, that and and especially just setting that edge, which they did better. There was one point, I think first drive of the game, I think for Tampa where boy, a mafia just kind of tries to cheat a little bit and Bucky, Bucky Irving made him pay, jumped it outside, got like 12 yards for a first down. So little stuff like that, that's, that can be cleaned up. Like that's easy stuff to fix. And so I feel pretty good about where they're at. I feel like the, they will continue to ascend as a defense. Um, But yeah, as is customary in a week one, there's still stuff that has to be cleaned up.
01:46:40
Speaker 3: All right.
01:46:40
Speaker 4: Mark, Drew, others coming up. 513-749-1530. Overreaction Monday. I want to hear from you here on the Monday Midday Quarterback. It's ESPN 1530.
01:46:53
Speaker 34: Bengals!
01:46:54
Speaker 16: The Bengals travel to Texas to take on Houston in a Lone Star Showdown. Which raises an important question. What style of chili do I prefer? Hmm, I'm not sure, but they both make me gassy. Can the orange and black handle Houston? Or will the Texans defend their home turf? Coverage begins Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Texans.
01:47:28
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01:48:29
Speaker 2: Where Bengals Nation lives.
01:48:41
Speaker 5: Welcome back.
01:48:41
Speaker 4: Monday, midday quarterback ESPN 1530. I'm Austin Elmore. No quarterback. Tony on his way to Twin Peaks in Westchester for the Tony and Mo football show coming up three to six this afternoon. Your phone calls over reaction Monday, 513-749-1530. You can also tweet at me at Audi Elmore. If you want to be a part of the show that way, let's go out to Mark in Mason. Mark, you're on ESPN 1530.
01:49:09
Speaker 3: What's up? Hey, Austin.
01:49:13
Speaker 6: I was at the game yesterday, and I had a few things I wanted to share with you. First being constructive criticism. You had mentioned it earlier a little bit, too. I sit in the north end zone, and I was watching the game, and it seemed like Tampa Bay's running back was involved on, like, it seemed like 50% of the plays, a lot of plays. And so I started watching him, like, what's going on? And it started bothering me because when he wasn't handed the ball to run, he would just drift off into the flat and just stand there.
01:49:51
Speaker 3: And Baker, if.
01:49:52
Speaker 6: He didn't have anything downfield, he'd just flip it over to him. And there was nobody within 20 yards of this guy. And he was getting like a six or seven yard gain every single time a cornerback would have to come running up and get him. And it just happened like, Twice on every drive, it seems like. And they just never adjusted. And it was, like, driving me crazy.
01:50:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that was one of the things they have to get better at as well is covering the flats. Like, it was there for Tampa most of the time. And they didn't really utilize the flats for their receivers much at all. It was basically only the running backs. And so, yeah, I think you're exactly right.
01:50:35
Speaker 3: Yeah.
01:50:35
Speaker 9: Yeah.
01:50:36
Speaker 6: Uh, another thing is interesting. It happened was, uh, uh, we bought season tickets off our, our kid couldn't afford it this year. So we bought them and we went to the preseason games and I just fell in love with Dante Meyer. And, um, we're sitting there watching the game and I didn't see him come in. And all of a sudden there he goes running a jet sweep. And my wife goes, who is that guy? And I said, that's that new guy. I really like. And, um, Anyway, there's a lovely young lady sitting next to my wife. She goes, Oh, that's my brother. And I'm like, what?
01:51:12
Speaker 4: That's cool.
01:51:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
01:51:13
Speaker 6: And so I said, well, don't you get free tickets from the players or something?
01:51:17
Speaker 20: You know?
01:51:17
Speaker 6: And he goes, well, she goes, yeah, my mom and dad's got them, but I decided to come up from Atlanta at the last minute. And so I did buy a ticket. So at least she ended up sitting next to us.
01:51:28
Speaker 3: Nice young lady.
01:51:29
Speaker 6: So that was kind of fun for me. He's one of my new favorite guys. And then, uh, third, as the team came out, we said the North end zone and the players, I'd say at least 10 to 15 of them go into the end zone right away and pray. And, um, when, uh, um, when, when, um, night got, uh, that, that scoop and score. Um, my wife said to me, he was the last guy in the end zone praying. And, uh, We just thought that was neat. So I don't know if he was praying for a scoop and score, but that got answered.
01:52:09
Speaker 4: Well, thank you, Mark, for the phone call. I appreciate it. Glad you had a good time.
01:52:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
01:52:13
Speaker 4: Uh, yeah, that, that was, uh, they got to cover the flats better. And, uh, those are some cool experiences picking up, uh, from stuff watching, uh, watching the game. Let's go back to another Mark. Let's go to Mark in Florence.
01:52:25
Speaker 5: What's up, Mark?
01:52:27
Speaker 8: Okay, how's it going? I got concerns about yesterday, but I'll just bring up one of them today.
01:52:34
Speaker 4: Okay.
01:52:36
Speaker 3: You remember the drive.
01:52:37
Speaker 8: Before when Tampa Bay got that touchdown, that last touchdown they got?
01:52:44
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
01:52:45
Speaker 8: It looked like to me they found Dax Hill. I believe if they hadn't got that ball back again, they probably would have went down and scored again.
01:52:54
Speaker 3: I think he found him. on that last drive.
01:52:58
Speaker 8: Cause you even mentioned that how they went down the field so easy. That's because they found the weakest corner back.
01:53:06
Speaker 4: And do you think that's the weakest corner?
01:53:09
Speaker 3: Well, yes, yes.
01:53:11
Speaker 8: They found him. If you look at that last drive, I'm sure you look at tape over and over again.
01:53:17
Speaker 3: Look at that last drive.
01:53:19
Speaker 4: Ted, Ted Hearst, right? That was the driver. Ted Hearst made three catches in a row.
01:53:25
Speaker 31: Yeah. Yeah.
01:53:26
Speaker 4: Dax Hill was on coverage in two of them, and then the third one was somebody else.
01:53:30
Speaker 3: But, yeah. Okay.
01:53:33
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't think Dax had a bad game. I don't think he's the weakest corner by any stretch.
01:53:39
Speaker 8: But I think in critical situations like that, I think veteran cornerbacks target him.
01:53:46
Speaker 3: So let me get off.
01:53:47
Speaker 8: And then I'll listen to the rest of the show.
01:53:49
Speaker 4: Mark, thank you for the phone call. Yeah, I mean, early on in the game, they were going after Jalen Davis. And I was a little bit confused because one of the questions I had prior to the game was, is DJ Turner going to follow Emeka Abuka around? And I know that this can be a complicated thing, but if you're in man coverage, which I expected the Bengals to run a lot, and I don't know if they ended up running it as much as I thought they would, then I would put DJ Turner on Emeka Ibuka as much as possible. And there were multiple opportunities in which Tampa had something there with Ibuka on Jalen Davis. I thought Jalen got better as the game went on. I thought DJ played pretty well. He had a couple of missteps here and there. I thought Dax played pretty well. except for a couple of plays here and there. I have talked endlessly about how worried I am about the depth of that room. I don't think they were a huge issue yesterday. But that's Mark's takeaway. Let's go to Drew in Cincinnati.
01:54:49
Speaker 3: Drew, what's up?
01:54:51
Speaker 2: Woo-hoo!
01:54:53
Speaker 25: You can't hide money.
01:54:54
Speaker 32: We got a defense now.
01:54:57
Speaker 3: My goodness.
01:55:00
Speaker 9: I've been doing this song and dance with you guys for so many years.
01:55:03
Speaker 28: I've never felt this good in my life.
01:55:06
Speaker 3: I don't know why we are complaining about the.
01:55:07
Speaker 8: Defense right now.
01:55:09
Speaker 4: Four turnovers?
01:55:10
Speaker 9: Are you kidding me? And we might owe an apology to the Bengals because Knight and Carter looked great. Maybe they just didn't need a year, or maybe they needed a defensive line so they weren't getting everything blown back in their face the whole time.
01:55:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, like, maybe it is that simple, where it's just like, okay, these dudes played for a year, now they have better players in front of them, boom, the light bulb comes on.
01:55:36
Speaker 9: I've been really busy today, so I'm sorry if I'm asking a question that's already been answered, but my one question was, why were they so hesitant to throw the pass interference flag onto Marques in the beginning of the game? He was getting mauled.
01:55:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I talked about that a little bit, so... I felt like Chase, number one, did not run a very good route. It kind of looked lazy to me. I hesitate to throw that word around, but it kind of looked lazy. And so the corner jumps it because he knew exactly where the route was going. And he did make contact a little bit early, but they didn't call it. For the most part, it wasn't that penalized of a game other than some offsides and some pre-snap stuff.
01:56:27
Speaker 9: Yeah, I just, I mean, he was getting, like, tackled. I think it was the second one. He was, like, getting tackled from behind before the ball even got there. And I'm just, right in front of the ref, I was like, come on, throw the flag. But that's my only complaint. I'm super happy and stoked. Thanks for your time, Austin.
01:56:40
Speaker 4: Drew, thank you. Yeah, I mean, it did feel like they let him play a little bit in the secondary. I could have gone either way on that first one with Jamar. The second one, if I remember correctly what he's talking about, it probably should have been one. but every crew is different. Let's go to Wyatt in Boston. What's up, Wyatt?
01:57:04
Speaker 5: What's going on, dude?
01:57:05
Speaker 32: Who day?
01:57:06
Speaker 4: Who day? What's on your mind?
01:57:09
Speaker 28: Ryan Cook is everything they said he was and more. I mean, dude was perfectly horizontal on that forced fumble, shoulder to ball, instinctual, and those linebackers were feeding off of it.
01:57:23
Speaker 3: I mean.
01:57:24
Speaker 28: Here's my.
01:57:25
Speaker 19: Big take for the week.
01:57:27
Speaker 28: Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight will be top five.
01:57:30
Speaker 6: Linebackers in the NFL by the end of the season.
01:57:33
Speaker 4: Top five in what way? Tackles.
01:57:37
Speaker 28: I'm talking all around. They're playing more instinctual, more confident. I loved everything I saw. There's definitely some things to clean up. I'd like to see the D-line maybe try to... try to maybe make a little bit better close on the pocket instead of pushing it in. It looked like it was all Dexter Lawrence, but man, what a great defensive play.
01:57:59
Speaker 19: I loved it.
01:58:00
Speaker 28: Brian Cook, the man.
01:58:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, Wyatt, thank you for the phone call. There may not be a single bigger upgrade at any position than going from geno stone to brian cook at safety there may not be a single bigger upgrade at any position at any team across the nfl this year than going from stone to cook for the bangles on that back end i just don't think i don't think it's ever gonna It's amazing the difference. And the unit just seemed so much more cohesive. Brian's such a better tackler. He was really good yesterday. We'll take a break. We'll come back. We've got Rob and Robbie both waiting on hold. That's next, ESPN 1530.
01:58:45
Speaker 5: Hey, what's up? It's Mo Eggert.
01:58:46
Speaker 12: Join Tony Pike and me this afternoon at Twin Peaks in Westchester for the first Tony and Mo football show of the season as we talk about yesterday's Bengals win. The fun starts at 3.05 on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:58:59
Speaker 5: My name is.
01:59:03
Speaker 10: Tony Eggert.
01:59:04
Speaker 4: Monday, midday quarterback ESPN 1530 on Boston Elmore. 20 minutes from right now, Tony and Mo football show. About five minutes from now, Tony and Mo stop by for quick hits. We've got a couple of phone calls to get to first. Let's start with Robbie in Covington. Robbie, what's on your mind?
01:59:22
Speaker 19: Yeah, thanks for taking my call, Austin. And I apologize. I'm going to switch gears on you just a little bit.
01:59:28
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:59:28
Speaker 19: And it's about the UC Miami game this week. I'm an old dude, but I've been to a lot of football venues, probably 60 or 70 in my life, college and pro. Old, new, remodeled, et cetera. Nippert is an outstanding venue to watch a game. And no doubt, TQL is a wonderful stadium. but it's half the seats. I don't get it. It's a rivalry game. I mean, are they, there's going to be much less student tickets. Um, you know, they're taking the game off campus. Um, you know, I wonder if there'll even be seats for the band. It just seems ridiculous to reduce the seating from, from 40,000 to 20,000, you know, tell me what I'm not thinking about.
02:00:18
Speaker 4: Well, I, I'm, was always under the impression. It was a part of the deal with Miami that they ones at Nipper ones at Jaeger. And then there's a neutral site. And then the process repeats because this game was originally supposed to be played at pay core stadium. And for whatever reason, it got moved to TQLC. I'm like, I thought this was the year that it was supposed to be at a neutral site. And so that's what they ended up choosing. Um, And Nippert holds 38,000 and TQL holds 25. So it's 13,000 difference. It's not that significant. I'm curious to see what it looks like.
02:00:52
Speaker 5: I mean, I agree.
02:00:53
Speaker 4: Nippert is an unbelievable place to watch a game. And if anybody's never been, you got to go. It's awesome. But I just thought that was part of the agreement that one of them is a neutral site. But I could be wrong.
02:01:03
Speaker 3: Okay, well, no, no, no.
02:01:05
Speaker 19: Maybe that explains at least in part. Maybe Tony has a take on it. But, you know, it sure would have seemed– and obviously they weren't going to fill out pay court. But, you know, there would be a lot more seats for the students.
02:01:17
Speaker 4: Sure.
02:01:19
Speaker 19: You know, and it's a rivalry game. It's got wonderful history. And, you know, in these teams, you know, Miami's very good this year. And, you know, I think it's going to be a really good football game. It just seems– I didn't realize the reduction or the difference was 13,000. I thought it was greater than that. But it just seems that, you know, they would reduce it that much.
02:01:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, I hear you, Robbie. And thank you for the phone call. And I'm sure somebody out there knows more than I do on that. Admittedly, I'm not all that well versed in that topic and why they got to that point. Last phone call. Let's go to Texas and talk to Rob. Rob, what's up?
02:01:58
Speaker 3: How you doing, Audie?
02:01:59
Speaker 13: Everything's going great here. Yesterday was a lot of fun. I was like you in the first half. I was like, it can't be this easy, but I kind of.
02:02:06
Speaker 5: Knew it wouldn't be.
02:02:07
Speaker 2: Right.
02:02:07
Speaker 4: Tightened up.
02:02:10
Speaker 13: A couple of things that I'm very pleased. This team has a lot of things to build on and a lot of things to work on. Too many penalties on defense, especially lining up offside.
02:02:24
Speaker 4: That stuff's no good.
02:02:25
Speaker 13: And the offense was not smooth, even though 33 points, and I expect that to improve. What I did like, I do think Tampa has a really, really good defense. defensive front and our offensive line did very well against them and I also think Tampa has a very very good offensive line and our defensive line was getting pressure all day we got four sacks and I think that bodes well going into Houston which is where I live so they better win the game this week are.
02:02:55
Speaker 4: You going to the game Rob.
02:02:58
Speaker 13: No, and I got to tell you something else. I offered Tony the best lasagna. He's talking about getting Taco Bell. What's wrong with him?
02:03:05
Speaker 4: That sounds like Tony. Rob, thank you for the phone.
02:03:07
Speaker 3: Call, man. I appreciate it.
02:03:09
Speaker 13: You got a great job.
02:03:09
Speaker 3: Thank you. Yeah, you're right.
02:03:12
Speaker 4: Those two matchups, the two offensive lines, they obviously played a difference in the game. And, I mean, Tristan Wirfs had two false starts. You count on one hand how many times that's ever happened. So, you know what? Give the credit to the crowd at Paycore Stadium for getting those guys A little off their mark. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back. Tony and Mo join next ESPN 1530.
02:03:37
Speaker 17: Now it's time for a quick hit on Tony Pike's Cincy 360.
02:03:44
Speaker 4: Welcome back in. Monday, midday quarterback.
02:03:47
Speaker 3: And we are looking for Mo.
02:03:49
Speaker 4: Looking for Mo. The Tony and Mo football show coming up this afternoon from Twin Peaks in Westchester.
02:03:55
Speaker 5: Hi, fellas. How we doing? I am wonderful. Audie, how are you?
02:04:00
Speaker 3: I'm great.
02:04:00
Speaker 4: It's Victory Monday, Mo.
02:04:04
Speaker 12: I've heard. Are you wearing your shirt? I've got my Victory Monday shirt on. We've got Victory Monday, Victory Cigars and OTR Cigars, where if you go in today, I will buy your second cigar if you buy one of my favorite cigars. The list is at the store, so swing by then. Come on up to Twin Peaks in Westchester and hang out with us.
02:04:25
Speaker 4: What kind of special cigar outside here?
02:04:29
Speaker 12: I don't know if you can. Is it doable out there? I don't believe. I think that's still considered indoors.
02:04:35
Speaker 3: It would be nice today.
02:04:36
Speaker 5: You could sit on your patio tonight.
02:04:38
Speaker 12: You could sit on your patio, watch Monday Night Football or the Reds game tonight.
02:04:43
Speaker 3: The what?
02:04:45
Speaker 5: The Reds game.
02:04:46
Speaker 12: It must win for the Reds. Tragic numbers down to two.
02:04:49
Speaker 3: It's a smart organization as well. Those news dumps that the Reds are making, they're smart with what they do.
02:04:55
Speaker 5: Sunday.
02:04:56
Speaker 3: They buy into continuity as well like this Bengals coaching staff.
02:04:58
Speaker 5: Absolutely.
02:04:59
Speaker 4: And you saw the value of it on full display Sunday. Very quickly, Mo, what was your big takeaway from Sunday? I know obviously you'll get into it.
02:05:08
Speaker 12: It's a different looking team week one, a different looking defense. And they weren't perfect. The team wasn't perfect. The defense did allow Tampa Bay to move the football. But I just thought there was a physicality to the defense. And I thought there was a preparedness to the team as a whole that I think has often been missing, right? We talked a lot about, you know, for me at least, week one, if they're truly different, they look prepared the first game. Again, they didn't execute to perfection. Joe Burrow throwing a pick six certainly doesn't help.
02:05:38
Speaker 5: But I thought the.
02:05:39
Speaker 12: Team looked prepared, and I thought the defense just looked like a legitimate NFL defense. I don't know that they're going to be able to rely on Baker Mayfield or whoever the quarterback is against them fumbling the football three times. I don't know that they can live off turnovers, but they looked physical, they looked prepared, and they finished a game on offense, and at times that has been an issue.
02:06:00
Speaker 4: Tony, what are you most excited to discuss with Mo this afternoon?
02:06:06
Speaker 3: Oh, man.
02:06:07
Speaker 5: How is it not the Washington Commanders? The Commanders are up there. How is it?
02:06:11
Speaker 12: I mean, I've got to be honest with you. I could do three hours on that, and I couldn't give a riff about the Washington Commanders.
02:06:18
Speaker 3: No, I think just the operation offensively. We talked a lot on training camp about urgency. I thought for the first time, barring one play where they had to burn a timeout, I thought they got to the line with enough time.
02:06:30
Speaker 5: For Joe Burrow to operate.
02:06:32
Speaker 3: And we talked about that, the under-center play.
02:06:35
Speaker 5: A ton during training camp.
02:06:36
Speaker 3: More importantly than that, we highlighted so many defensive players. How rare is it for those additions to all make some type of splash play in week one? What a sight to see.
02:06:47
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, we could talk about the defense, but on my sheet of paper here, I've got nine names of dudes that we've got to talk about what they did.
02:06:55
Speaker 5: And at the top of it is Barrett Carter.
02:06:58
Speaker 4: Yes, your guy.
02:07:01
Speaker 5: Who I thought looked awesome yesterday.
02:07:04
Speaker 4: I think there were three guys who had their best games as Bengals yesterday. Barrett Carter, Amarius Mims, and Mike Gesicki.
02:07:12
Speaker 5: Boy, Amarius Mims was terrific.
02:07:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, those pass sets, that video clip going around of his pass sets against Reuben Bain Jr., and I liked Reuben Bain Jr.
02:07:23
Speaker 5: Coming out.
02:07:23
Speaker 8: Sure.
02:07:24
Speaker 5: He engulfs the guy.
02:07:25
Speaker 3: Yeah. Just unbelievable stuff. But there are individual performances, but I thought Chase Brown said something after the game as well. He said, last year we won the first two, but you didn't really feel good about winning the first two. Especially that first one. Yesterday, it wasn't an A-plus game. It wasn't a B game. It was probably their C game, but yet there's so many good things that you can pick, and they found a way to win, which not every team across the NFL can say in week one.
02:07:53
Speaker 5: You know, from a content perspective, it was a game that gave us a lot of stuff.
02:07:56
Speaker 12: Not all that stuff is great, and that's okay, but I'll take yesterday ahead of like last year against Cleveland.
02:08:03
Speaker 5: I sat here. I think you were here for that.
02:08:06
Speaker 14: Yes.
02:08:06
Speaker 5: I sat here with you. I think that was the one I was trying to, there was, there was a week that you missed.
02:08:11
Speaker 3: No, because normally I miss week one.
02:08:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right.
02:08:14
Speaker 3: That's right. I was at golf.
02:08:16
Speaker 12: Our friend and former colleague filled in for you. But I remember telling him, like, I feel like they lost because they should have lost.
02:08:23
Speaker 5: I don't feel that way yesterday.
02:08:25
Speaker 12: Again, maybe the game got a little bit closer for comfort than a lot of us would have liked. But I thought it was for the most– I'll go C-plus performance by the team as a whole, but I'll give the defense a B. And how many times last year did any one of us want to give the defense a B?
02:08:40
Speaker 3: And I do think when it got cut to seven– For many in attendance, there was probably a little tingle in the ass. No doubt about it. That makes a lot of sense.
02:08:47
Speaker 4: Before I let you go within about a minute here, how much blame, speaking of losing, does Ryan Day deserve for what happened in Austin, Texas Saturday night?
02:08:57
Speaker 3: Victory Monday for me sometimes hits a little bit differently. It's one thing for a UC and Bengals victory Monday. Sometimes a victory Monday can be a loss from a team combined with a win from a different team. Ryan, I feel like we have the same conversation around every game Ohio State loses. Well, I shouldn't have lost that one or got a little conservative in that one. It's like the same script. It's never like, oh, that other team was just way better than them.
02:09:24
Speaker 12: I think it's the same themes. Obviously, there haven't been many instances where they've blown a 20-point lead. I think you can blame him for coaching conservatively. I think you could question whether or not they should have allowed Texas to score with about a minute and whatever it was, 10, 20 to go. And you've got Jeremiah Smith. You've got to tie him out, let him score, go down, put yourself in a position to make a field goal. I do understand the previous drive, Ohio State had missed a field goal.
02:09:50
Speaker 3: Maybe spend money on a kicker.
02:09:51
Speaker 5: It's his team. It's his program.
02:09:53
Speaker 12: But, like, there were defensive execution errors where if they get a stop, they probably win the game. If they get the successful kick, they probably win the game. But I come back to the fact that, like you said, Tony, it feels like in a lot of these losses, and they've lost three straight games to P4 schools, that we talk about some of the same themes, and the common denominator is the head coach.
02:10:13
Speaker 3: Three or four.
02:10:14
Speaker 4: Tony and Mo, football show coming up this afternoon, Twin Peaks in Westchester. Fellas, thank you.
02:10:20
Speaker 5: Thank you.
02:10:21
Speaker 3: Thanks, Austin.
02:10:22
Speaker 4: This is Tony Pike and Mo Egger. Tony is out tomorrow. I'll be riding solo. We'll talk to Joe Dannemann, start to turn the page a little bit, start looking ahead to the Houston Texans, and so much more. Hope you'll join me tomorrow on Cincy 360. Tony and Mo are next for the Tony and Mo Football Show right here on the home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
02:11:00
Speaker 2: WCKY Cincinnati. Make us the number one preset on your car radio and on the free new and improved iHeartRadio app. Free never sounded so good. ESPN 1530.