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And away we go.

Sincy three sixty Right here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Chad Brendle, not Tonypike.

I guess the boys will be back on Monday.

Wow, Tony gets paid on Monday for for the Tony imo Football Show, so they'll definitely be back on Monday, most definitely.

Is Audi here on Monday?

Is he making it back or is he taking an extended holiday break?

You know, that's a great question.

I think he's back on Monday, okay if I remember correctly, But I can find that out pretty quickly.

I mean, does it really matter it's the Tony Pike since he three to sixty correct, Moondo.

So does it really matter if Austin, Like I said, I'm Chad Brenda.

That's Drew Western, Heidi filling in on the ones and Tuesaday.

We have a lot to get to.

It's like I said, Friday football frenzy.

We got Bengals Cardinals coming up.

Nothing like the thrill of late season meaningless football.

Oh yeah, your chalk full of it.

Yesterday Bengals eliminated from playoff contention, Cardinals long eliminated from playoff contention.

A battle for draft position, which, if I had to guess, the Bengals are gonna win, ultimately they lose.

I don't know, though, it doesn't feel like there's a lot of jockeying for spots like where the Bengals would want to be.

The Giants are two and thirteen, the the Raiders are two and thirteen.

The Cardinals, the Browns, the Titans, and the Jets are three and twelve.

The Commanders are now four and twelve.

The Bengals, I guess, battling with the Saints at five and ten, the Falcons at six and nine, the Chiefs at six and ten.

Like this doesn't feel like a top ten pick.

Anyway that this goes.

Yeah, it doesn't feel that way, especially with the way things are going for Kansas City right now.

I don't think they're gonna win next week.

I think Miami might play the Jets in that final week eighteen game.

So that's that's another potential.

Yeah, that's a potential win there.

But yeah, you're kind of going to be in the grouping with you know, Kansas City, Miami, Atlanta, which is the Rams pick, the Atlanta's pick, which the Rams own.

Yeah, and and then from there you get into like the fringe playoff teams by Division Baltimore or Tampa Bay, things of that nature.

It's gonna be like twelve, yeah, thirteen.

If I if I had to guess what the Bengals would be picking right now, I would say thirteenth, which it can find a good player.

At thirteen you can find a pretty good but you're not you're probably not going to find a dominant player at thirteen.

You're not getting Caleb Downs there.

No, So like the hopes of like, okay, this was a lost season, maybe maybe just maybe at like you know, four and thirteen, Uh, you could land in that group of top six, top seven somewhere in there that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

It's it's probably gonna be in at kind of no man's land in the draft where where they do the thing drew.

When when a lot of them late.

No, I mean in the draft where they do the thing of like, oh, this guy was projected to be a top five pick, but he slid all the way to thirteen.

Well, yeah, he slid for a reason.

A toolsy defensive end spot right there.

Yeah, a toolsy safety, a toolsy defensive end like not, you know, we've we've done this many, many, many times.

It feels like that's always the story.

When they're not picking early early, the story is almost always like the Bengals took a guy.

They can't believe this guy fell to them on their board.

Yeah, right.

And you know it's especially when it comes to Duke Tobin's track record of taking outside of the top ten.

It's not great.

It's not very good.

No, it's actually bad for the most part.

So that's you know, that's one area you go, what do you value more?

Do you value a guy who produced well in college but maybe doesn't have quite that you know, high ceiling or do you take another swing on another Shamar Stewart kind of guy.

I think if we pulled Bengals Nation out there, I think I know which one, which side of that they lean on.

Well, if you were fortunate enough to listen to Keegan and I Keegan my Kegan Nickoson was my He was Santa's helper on Wednesday, and we were talking about like what you would gift each team for Christmas, each local team for Christmas.

And I talked a lot about the Bengals front office, the scouting department and why they continue to get caught up in what they do.

And one of the things that I'm fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes look at is when teams send NFL scouts to college football practices and why it ends up being so important.

And it's not to watch practice drue.

It is when practice is over, those scouts sit with the position coaches, those scouts sit with the player development people, they sit with the strength and conditioning coach, and they dig and they get information about these guys.

And you wonder a lot of times, why was this guy slotted in the mock drafts eight and he's available at fifteen.

It's because these real teams.

Did you I'm going to ask you a question, Drew.

Do you know, on average the size of a scouting department in the NFL?

On average, on average, how many people work in a scouting department in the NFL Twenty five that's pretty good, it's just under twenty four.

How many of the Bengals have, like eight, it's eight, It's eight.

Yeah, that's incredible.

So you're missing out on all these additional scouts.

Every day, every day there are scouts that you see football practice, especially in the off like in the camp portion, and then even during the season, the regional scouts are stopping by regularly and they're sitting with Nico Palazetti, and they're sitting with Zach Grant and the people in the player acquisition department, and they're sitting with position coaches, and they're gathering all this information.

That's every day.

The Bengals have ten guys that aren't that don't exist out there gathering information, and then you wonder why the draft happens, and we go through this vicious cycle of that that guy isn't what other teams were looking at, but because the Bengals, you can never convince me that they don't use mock drafts.

You can never convince me of that, because they don't do enough work to do their own accurately or adequately is probably the more appropriate term.

So that's one of the reasons that you see when they get outside the top ten that they don't draft well, it's because they don't have the information.

They don't have the people out doing the leg work getting the information saying well, maybe this guy, maybe this guy's agent isn't the guy that we want to deal with Shamar Stewart.

Maybe Shamar Stewart ends up being great, but if you did your homework, you knew that there was a potential problem there.

The Bengals didn't do their homework, they'd take him.

What happens, potential problem with the agent that lasts all the way up to the start of the season.

This guy never fully gets ready for his rookie year, and you've wasted a year of figuring out what you have with your first round draft pick.

It's that type of stuff that make people around the league say, this is a mickey mouse organization, right.

And if you do find yourself, let you know, you talked about the if you could gift all the local teams.

Let's strip away like from the organization.

Let's just focus on the you know, the team on the field.

Let's say the Bengals are picking twelve.

Yeah, what kind of like what player and or position would you like the Bengals to like take in that direction with like the twelve pick.

Uh.

And I haven't looked at enough mock drafts to know if this is like strong in this area and not strong in that area the area, I think that they are really weak right now, and I would probably lean more towards defensive end, but I think Miles Murphy has has opened some eyes that he can be a guy.

I definitely think their evaluations have shifted in the past several weeks due to the rise of Miles Miles Murphy.

For me, it would be pass rushing interior defensive lineman.

Yeah, I think I think a good stop gap defensive tackle.

You know, it's not a sexy pick by any means, but it is a necessary part of a good defense is having a really really good run stopping defensive tackle.

See I would, I would, Yes, I agree, And their run defense has been bad.

I think they need a three technique that can get after the quarterback.

Like, sure, if you look at the good quarterbacks in the NFL, the teams that give them problems are teams that can get them off their spot from the middle right.

Quarterbacks at this level can feel pressure from the edges.

They know when to step up, when to slide, when to move away because they've been trained that all their life.

There's never a quarterback that's existed that is great escaping from head on from face on.

Correct and that's what Like, I don't think it's a coincidence that Miles Garrett is a sack away from the record this year after the Browns got Mason Graham.

Yeah, like he's been Mason Graham's been really really good for the Browns this year, and I think that's ultimately unlocked a lot of what Miles Garrett has done on the edges this season.

Yeah, so that that would be if there was an adequate guy there.

And this is the topic that we're going to get into heavily Bengals today.

How much can you take from seeing this defense improve down the back half of this season, Because I do think there is something to be gained from that given a lot of young guys.

New defensive coordinator new system.

The coach is learning the players, the players are learning the coach.

I do think we have seen improvement, even though it hasn't been against some of the better offenses in the NFL.

But look, if you go back to the beginning of this year, they were they were trend to be the worst defense in the history of the NFL, and that was not playing the elite of the elite offenses in this league.

So they've turned some of that around.

You know, Miles Murphy, we've talked about DJ Turner has been a great story.

Dax Hill since moving to that other outside cornerback, looks like he can be a piece that you can kind of build around a little bit.

So it went from who the hell do you even build around on this defense?

Okay, we feel like maybe we got three or four guys that are starting to emerge, starting to play up to the potential that we hope that we had when we drafted.

Those guys are first and second round picks.

But also, how much can you look at it and say, do they have the wherewithal with I think the eighth most cap space in the NFL coming up this offseason, they don't have to sign Joe or Jamar they don't have that big contract floating out there.

How much can we say we believe in what we've got and we think they're gonna get better because they got better at the end of the year, or do they still need to say we're five, six, seven guys away on defense.

We can't be safe.

We can't continue to hope.

Hope is not a strategy.

We can't continue to hope that other guys continue to show improvement.

That we've got to be aggressive in free agency.

We've got to be in that first wave of free agency and go out and get guys that improve this defense.

Yeah, no doubt.

MO and MO and Paul Danner Junior talk about this a lot.

It's you know what, guys, do you feel comfortable with going into the twenty sixth season being on your starting defense?

I believe in Like October and November, I think they I think they had two and that was DJ Turner, and it might have just been him.

I think it was just him in the middle of the season at that point, it might have just been DJ Turner.

Now I think you can confidently say you can go into next season with Miles Murphy.

You can go into next season with DJ Turner.

Like we said, Dax Hill has been playing better as of late.

And I think if if you have the corner situation figured out.

And pass rush and you're in a pretty good spot, you're in, yeah you can.

That's when you can use that eighth most you know, cap space to kind of fill out the rest of it with, you know, maybe a middle of the road veteran linebacker to help out Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight, who you are hoping take significant jumps in your year two from YR one have to take significant jumps and the safety and the safety room is you know, let's call it what it is.

It's a disaster.

Yeah, that's I think if there's one room on the defensive side of the ball that needs the most work.

And I'm not necessarily saying via the draft, more so via free agency or trade.

No, I don't want to go young back there.

Yeah, Like I I would look at whoever the top end safeties are that are hitting free agency this year.

I'd be calling their agents as soon as I can to figure out, you know, what their market might be.

Yeah.

Yeah, so we're going to get to that.

I think there's a lot of good stuff there that needs to be talked about.

We'll recap the NFL yesterday, Cowboys over the Commanders, Vikings take down the Lions, both of those teams surprisingly sitting at eight and eight as we head into the final for them the final week of the regular season, and the Broncos twenty to thirteen over the Chiefs.

Was that the last game in Kansas City for Travis Kelcey, I think is the biggest question out of that one.

And based on the cutaways at the end of the game, you saw Taylor Swift there.

She had a very somber t swizzle that did not have the normal chipperness about her that she normally has.

You saw Mama Kelcey hanging out the window watching Travis walk off the field, a lot of guys from the Chargers or excuse me, from the Broncos coming over over and showing love to Travis, throwing the gloves.

In the stands.

I felt like it was it for Travis, didn't it.

It did to me.

It did to me too, it really I was.

We talked about this before the show today.

I was at our extensive pre show meeting.

Yes, right, I was kind of fifty to fifty on whether I thought Travis was going to retire it the after this year, especially with what happened with the Holmes and how disappointing their season is gone.

I thought, you know, you know, he brought it back, run it back.

I got one more left in me.

But watching him come off the field last night, he kind of made it a point to go up to a lot of the guys on the Broncos Yeah and tap.

Him up and you know and all that.

You know, like you said, talked about with Taylor and Mama Kelsey in the suite and his postgame press conference feels feels like Travis is probably gonna walk away and start his media mogul career or continue it.

I should say he's gonna make so much money outside of football.

I know it's gonna be insane, like so much thinking money outside of football.

I think he could get into acting.

Like if you've watched him on those SNL skits when he's been on, he's pretty good.

Like he wouldn't be, like, you know, an A list actor, but I think he could do movies.

Oh, he could be a tremendous character actor.

You know, you got a kind of a quirky character and mea head meat head character.

Oh he could, he could pull that off.

Yeah, very very easy.

Do they do they make rom comms anymore?

They do?

I actually think rom coms are kind of starting to, you know, make a comeback.

Travis could murder rom coms, yep.

So I'm very very interested to see, you know what direction he goes.

You know, obviously his brother went the you know, ESPN analyst rout.

I just don't really I don't see him as like as wanting to do that.

I think he just wants to do his pod and then you know, kind of explore other business ventures and opportunities outside of the game of football.

Agreed, Agreed, And that's you know, when you get into that world, like you're talking twenty twenty five weeks consecutively, that you're locked into that whatever role he ends up getting.

I think Travi's gonna take a lot of vacations, like I think he wants.

He's gonna want to enjoy, right, being mister Taylor Swift for a while, right, And I don't think he's gonna, you know, because a lot of it with those guys, it's, you know, you need something to fill your time, you know, just to do, needs something to do.

I don't think Travis is gonna be lacking in the like finding stuff to do department.

No, I think he's gonna be all right.

I think he'll be all right.

Uh, we're gonna get to some Reds today as well.

Who do you have confidence in the Reds running it back?

Because that's essentially there's gonna be different, you know, parts and pieces here and there, but they're they're not making a splash move.

Spare me on Luis Robert, who he'd be a perfect Cincinnati read though.

I mean, yeah, he doesn't hit home runs.

He strikes out a lot like he would fit in great.

But he's not gonna change, you know.

He He's not going to change who this team is.

They're not obviously going to add you know, they're they're adding some nice pieces to the bullpen that are replacing some nice pieces that they've lost.

But they're not going out and making a splash there.

They're not going out and making a splash anywhere.

They're in a lot of they're barely making a ripple, right, And.

The thing I think about it is we'll get into it more, you know, later on in the show.

But they are making good moves for a team that made a big signing, right, and they're doing all of it without the big signing right, like all these you know, in a vacuum, these are good moves.

But when you think about the total picture of it, it, yeah, it does.

I don't feel great about it.

Let's say that I don't either.

I want to.

I want to like this core, but man, I guess I look at it like this was the last time the Reds had a core that really carried them, right, and compare that core to this core, and that one was so much better Vado, Bruce Frasier, Phillips, Phillips, the pitching from Queto to Volcaz to you know, you go on having a veteran like Brownson, Arroyo, Scott Rowland is like a leader like you, look at that core compared to this corp.

I don't even think it's close.

No, and again, and this is what this is the position I didn't want the Reds to be in, but now it is what it is.

You're relying on leaps from guys like you, not jump Sleeps.

Yeah, you need south Stewart to turn into an All star.

Yeah.

Twenty five thirty thirty five home run guy is what you're banking on.

And you know, I don't feel great about banking on a second year guy who played you know, about a month's worth of Major League baseball.

Yeah, we'll get into a little bit of that, well, Drew and I will.

We'll have a college basketball segment, since we're both college basketball guys and we are on the cusp of conference season.

His team's probably not going to be playing in the Ncuablea Tournament.

The team I cover probably not going to be playing in the NCUBA Tournament.

You could make an argument misery loves company and this is going to pain me to say, Drew.

You could make an argument that Xavier is in better position to make the nc DOUBLEA Tournament than either Dayton or Cincinnati, and that xavier roster stinks.

Yep, it is an unfortunate reality we are currently living in.

And I look, I'm teasing when I say the roster stinks.

But you know what they have.

They have a guy that looks like he can really really coach.

Yep, they do.

That was one I remember when they when they went out and got him.

I remember saying, like, darn it, that's that's a good that's a good that's.

A good hire.

I'll go off the record here.

Don't tell anybody this.

I texted a very close friend of mine and coaching who is is connected to Richard Patino and said, I can't believe you let him do this.

I can't believe you let him do this.

You can fill in the blanks on who you think that min or might not be, but I think they've got a really good coach.

You lose to Creighton by a thousand, and then you go on the road and you beat Georgetown the following game.

That's a guy that has his team's attention, no doubt.

It pains me to say that we've gone way long.

We got a lot of we got a lot of stuff to get to talkbacks in their regularly scheduled time.

I'm a man of the people.

When I am in this seat, we do talkbacks the way that every the way that they should be done.

Hopefully they're very festive.

Yeah, let's get some festive.

What did you do for Christmas?

How was your Christmas?

Let us know what you What was your best what's the best present you got?

I got two really good ones, Drew or the best present that you gave.

Oh Ill, we'll hit that.

We're gonna take a break.

We'll get to that when we come back.

Since ants ESPN fifteen thirty.

This is since he three sixty the Friday Football Frenzy.

Football in the NATI brought to you by Postman Law on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

There we go, since he three sixty grader in Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

I did want to take a moment and send my condolences to Jay Morrison.

Just saw that, uh.

He posted his wife's obituary, which, having had to write that in twenty twenty three for my wife Kelly, is one of the two hardest things I've ever had to do, the other being something that I'm pretty sure Jay probably had to do last week as well, which was call your child and tell them they had to come say goodbye to their mom.

Thinking of you, Jay, it is not something I wish on anybody.

As you can tell three years later, I still struggle to talk about it, and it sucks that he has to go through this.

It's it's awful, and.

Jay's one of the good guys I've never had a chance to meet Jay, but I've heard so much about him through Paul Danner Junior Engineering most show on Tuesdays at Oakley Greens and Paul being there all the time.

Yeah, you know.

So, you know, I've never gotten the chance to meet him, but from what I've heard, he is a tremendous human being.

No one has said a bad thing about him.

After all this came out, writers, Zach Taylor himself made it a point to make a comment about it at the end of his media availability on Monday, and yeah, it's it's a tragedy and obviously our all of our thoughts and prayers are are are with Jay for this, you know, indescribably hard time for him.

It's awful.

It's awful.

Fortunately for Nikki, Jay was is a much better writer than me.

It's I sat there and stared at a computer screen for like three days.

Back to football, and I know that's what Jay would have wanted.

Back to football.

Yep, Bengals this week, Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals are bad.

They're three and twelve, They're they're in last place in the NFC West.

They are very much in contention for the number one overall pick.

The Bengals have Joe Burrow Like that should be enough, right, Drew, Like, Yeah, the Bengals are rolling Joe Burrow out there.

The Cardinals aren't even rolling Kyler Murray out there right like this, this this sits win.

The last time Kobe Brissette played quarterback in the stadium, he won the game.

True.

I think this team's a little worse than that one.

Yeah, Arizona losers of seven in a row coming into this contest, which i is the second longest streak in the NFL behind the New York Giants.

In Las Vegas Raiders, they have each lost nine in a row.

That one of those is going to go away after this.

Week is yeah.

Two those two teams play each other.

We'll get to that in our number three as we take a look at the rest of what's upcoming in week seventeen.

That is like the front runner, that is that game gonna end in a tie?

It would be very funny if it did.

Both teams moved to two thirteen and one.

Uh.

You want to see Burrow especially he had a rough week two weeks ago.

Yep, And then when's offensive player of the week this week?

If he's if he's going to put himself in this position where he wants to finish out the season.

He wants to play.

You want to see him look like Joe Burrow the rest of the way.

Yep.

In Sunday in Miami was a good you know, a good launching off point for that.

Yeah, let's take a break.

We'll continue with some NFL talk.

But an interesting twist here that in our again our very extensive and thorough pre show meeting, that Drew and I were discussing should the NFL back off on Christmas Day?

Because the NBA was awesome yesterday, awesome yesterday, Maybe maybe the NFL should just let the NBA have their day more after this, Sincy thirty sixty.

Since Any's ESPN fifteen thirty, you've.

Been listening to Football in the Natti on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Forty seconds to go in overtime.

The old kid's setting a scream, Murray, let me fly five seconds to go in overtime?

What an awesome NBA Day yesterday and just outstanding.

Yep, it was.

You had the I didn't.

I was catching it on and off.

How many Christmases do you do?

I have one with just my family, one with my mom's side of the family, and then I did a Christmas Day with my girlfriends and parents yesterday.

So three, so three, I had six.

That's many.

It's many, many, many, many Christmas stops.

So like you bounce around a lot, you don't get to like really dial in on anything.

But in between, we had breakfast at my house yesterday, uh, and then had a couple hours before the evening festivities kicked off.

I got to watch a lot of Nick's calves.

That was an outstanding game.

Spurs Thunder Ups have the Thunders number man do like Wemby that those two teams could be must watch in the in the post for a while, Wenby's already talking trash about chet.

Oh yeah, those two.

You want to talk about real hate between two guys.

That's real hate there.

I saw somebody compare it to like the way Michael Jordan would talk about like Clyde Drexler.

Clyde's pretty good, right, and Jordan's like he's not better me.

Sure, Sure, he's pretty good.

I'm not pretty good, Shay Gilgess Alexander had a season low in points.

Yesterday twenty two, the thunder are twenty six and five, the Warriors with a win over the Mavericks, the Rockets get the Lakers, and then last night I went to bed with Nuggets Timberwolves, like early in that game, my dog woke me up at like I think I remember that it was one thirty eight in the morning and that game was still going yep, And the Nuggets win in overtime one forty two to thirty eight over the Wolves.

Nikolai Jokich fifty six, sixteen and fifteen.

He's awesome.

And that's the second time he's had a fifty to fifteen to fifteen triple double in the last like eight months.

He was like April of last year he had another one of those.

My goodness.

So that begs the question should the NFL just stay away from Christmas Day?

That's the NBA's day and it has been my whole Like I don't remember when Christmas Day wasn't like an NBA day.

And now the NFL is trying to infringe.

They had three games yesterday, none of them really with any Lions Vikings I guess is relevant.

It was the Lions trying to keep their very slim yeah off hopes a lot.

Yeah, But other than that, like eh, you know, and now the Vikings and the Lions are both eliminated, correct, So none of those games really had much Like shouldn't that be the NBA day?

It's the unofficial start of the NBA season.

Just leave Christmas Day to the NBA.

Yeah, I agree with that.

And you know, when it falls like it did this year, on a Thursday, and if you want to have you know, one or two games on that Thursday, you know, because that's a natural scheduling progression for the NFL.

Sure when you play on a Thursday, play your one Thursday night game, fair, you know.

I I see both sides to that argument.

But like, we don't need teams gearing up for a Tuesday game in December right when we're getting down to the nitty gritty of you know, playoff implication football.

So you know, when it's on a Sunday, it's on a Sunday.

You know, that's the way it goes.

You're still going to have a full, full slate of NFL games on a Sunday, you know, Saturday.

Late late December Saturdays, there's a couple NFL games.

I get that exactly, So like just kind of keep it with your natural schedule.

Like I actually think the NFL scheduling has worked its way nicely into a nice scheduling progression with Thursday Saturday Sunday games once you get into the late late late stages of the season.

Yeah, but yeah, like some of my fine finest memories are waking up.

When I was a kid, we would open gifts at our house with my parents and my two brothers.

We would you know, we don't gifts about eight, you know, eight am or so eight thirty, we get done.

We would kind of hang out, play with our new toys or whatever, and then boom Nicks whoever, Yeah comes on at noon.

And pretty much.

Wherever we were at, whether that be at our house or another family member's house, you know, basketball was on the TV at all times.

Some of the guys that led their teams in scoring yesterday, yo, kid Anthony Edwards forty four, Luca twenty five and seven, Katie twenty five and eight, Cooper Flag really seven and six.

Really starting to play well.

Cooper flag is.

Daron Fox had twenty nine and you had Wemby in that game.

Brunson thirty four, Donovan Mitchell thirty four, seven and six.

I always laugh at like that they don't play defense in the NBA.

They are the best scorers in the world.

You can play elite defense and watch some of the Donovan Mitchell I had one yesterday at the end of the game where he caught like an outlet pass and he felt the defender coming from behind him.

They were down I think five, and he was able to stop.

He kept his tippy toe on the court, or like playing it, he kept his pivot foot on his tippy toe, was able to recover, get his balance right, and still hit a thirty five foot three to cut it to one or two.

The skill level in that league.

If you if you actually like basketball, and you say you don't like the NBA, like you're selling yourself short agreed.

You know, and I know NBA coverage doesn't You know.

NBA doesn't get a whole lot of coverage in this town.

And you know, I understand why we don't have a team.

We don't have a team.

The closest team is the Indiana Pacers.

Feels like a lot of people don't really care about that.

But man, like, like you said, if you're a basketball fan and he just you want to watch the best guys in the world play that sport, just turn on a game with some of these elite players.

Like watch Nicola Jokich play basketball.

I'm begging you.

I know he plays out in Denver.

I know it's I know it can be late, but like when you can catch Nicola Jokich on an East coast like seven thirty or eight o'clock, tip, just watch the man play basketball.

He looks like your neighbor.

He looks like he should be fixing your car, and he he does.

He does something on a basketball court every night where I'm like, I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Fifty six, sixteen and fifteen.

That was good for one hundred and eight fantasy points in a like regular scoring ESPN Fantasy Basketball League's.

He's what just a one hundred and eight, He's just a fraction under thirty a game.

He's almost averaging a thirty point triple double a game.

He is averaging a thirty point triple double in the month of December.

Yeah, he's like twenty nine and a half or whatever it is, twelve and eleven.

Stupid, and he still might not win MVP.

Right, it's gonna it's gonna be a fun NBA season.

It is.

I I really do think this is going to be a very, very especially the Western Conference playoffs between I think the Nuggets are a lot better.

The Spurs are ascending, the thunder or the champs.

You know, Anthony.

Once you get Anthony Edwards into April and may like the Wolves all of a sudden become a legitimate threat because of him, It's gonna be a fun a fun NBA year.

Yep, all right, let's take a quick break.

Well, one more segment in our number one.

We will keep this train rolling.

This is since he three sixty a service of Skyline Chile.

W c K one.

Here we go winding down our number one.

Oh, Mike's gone.

Kind of ruins that true.

Yes, our plans have been foiled.

Our plans have been foiled.

We were gonna go to Mike.

Now Mike's not there.

I guess we can hit on the big news of the day nationally.

Former soon to be former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham now all reports expecting him to be the next head coach at the University of Michigan.

Michigan was in a tough spot.

They lost their coach late in the cycle.

They did not plan on losing their coach, although you might be able to argue how much they knew that this was a possibility before it happened.

Apparently it was one of those worst kept secrets in the country in ann Arbor, what Sharion Moore was doing in his free time.

But Whittingham had stepped down at Utah.

The show before US acted like they had no idea.

Kyle Whittingham made it very clear, I'm not retiring.

On my way in.

They were like I thought he retired.

Then you didn't didn't pay attention to the situation at all because he said he joked he was entering the transfer portal.

I don't think Michigan could have done any better than this one.

They came into the process late, Drew.

Most of the good names were gone.

Yep, you don't want to go get like the twelfth best guy.

Winningham becomes available.

One he's a really good coach, and two stylistically he fits Michigan perfect aggressive defense, run the football, super efficient on offense.

Hard knows like he's not a Michigan man.

But as things stand like, I don't think they could have done any better than this.

No, I completely agree, And it's interesting.

I didn't think this was going to be one that was they were capable of getting.

But then when he became available and made that joke and lo and behold.

Here we are.

I mean what I guess they were waiting for Debor in that first round game, things could have been different.

Had Alabama lost that game, they get down big, they come back and win.

Michigan has to pivot.

I think Whittingham's a better fit than to Boor.

The only question you have here with Whittingham's age.

He's sixty six, but if you look at the guy, he does not look like a guy that's near the end.

I think he would have four or five six good years left in him.

Yep, So kudos to them.

I mean the style that they want, who they want to be, the like what they want Michigan football to be about.

This isn't a Michigan guy, But man, I think they might have gave themselves a couple of years wondering in the wilderness if they had made a bad hire.

I think they made a good one.

Agreed.

Did Mike ever show back up?

Mike's back, Mike's back if we want to go to Mike here we got we got a couple of minutes yet some time.

All right, Mike, we were waiting on you and then you were gone.

Are you okay?

Well I had time for a damn CT scam while I was waiting, brother, or now I'm good?

Well?

I mean, you know, sometimes Merry Christmas.

Sometimes we've got a show playing, Mike.

Yeah, I understand, but we don't know that as listeners.

No, you know, we don't get the inside pooped.

So I'll communicate better next time, Mike.

No, that's all right, brother.

You guys got me all jacked off at the beginning there with the with the cancer talk, because you know, I didn't tell you I lost my wife after nineteen years, five kids.

Yeah, and uh, not to cancer but something else.

So I know how how that goes.

It sucks.

Things are never the same after that.

Not really, they're not.

They're not.

They're not supposed to be.

But that's okay.

You've you've weathered the storm, at least, you know, on the out outwardly I think to tell you this many times, I commend you on how you've gotten through this, because I didn't do as well as you have outwardly.

I will say this, the first eighteen months or so, it was a blur, like it was just complete fog, complete fog.

And you just get up every day and you do what you got to do to get to bedtime, and you go to bed, and you get up the next day and you do it again.

And after about a year and a half it started to, uh, I started to feel kind of normal again.

But there was eighteen months that I was not myself in any way, shape or form.

No.

And initially, you know, you wake up like, uh, where where is she?

Right?

Stuff like that, because then that goes on.

Everybody's different.

But that went on for me for quite a while.

I mean still like Kelly and I are together for twenty three years.

Yeah, I think Jay thirty seven years with his wife.

Yeah.

I mean they become your part of you real yeah, and then they then you throw their children in and oh my god.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So my hat's off to you, brother, I.

Thank you, sir, to you.

I got a bunch of stuff for you here.

If you guys just more than a minute.

We got about two minutes, true, yeah, about two minutes here, Okay.

Thanks, I was going to bring up well, I'll go ahead and bring it up, but then I want to talk Patino Junior.

And then I want to talk some awesome food with you that I had over the weekend that won't take for the ten seconds.

Why are we I mean not, why are we?

Kind of we're always so tired of with our Red Bengals Next year, next year, next year, next year.

Because they never do enough this year.

I don't see, right, I don't see it ending.

Chad, I don't.

Think don't I don't either, Mike, Unfortunately, because they they want to do things halfway.

I hope, upon hope that the Bengals realize Joe Burrow's entering his late twenties, like this window ain't gonna be open forever, or almost exiting his late twenties, right he's twenty nine.

Yeah, like he's almost into his thirties.

If you're gonna get it done, it better get done in the next two three years or it's not gonna happen.

I don't think not here, Nora.

You know you want to win.

He's not if these people think that these guys are so committed to their home area team.

I mean he's from Anthems.

He ain't nowhere near from Cincinnati, right.

But if they think that, the long because these guys all want the money and they want that damn ring and it and the Allegiance is going to go bye bye, bye bye.

Mike, He's gonna have at the end of this a quarter of a billion dollars.

He doesn't need money anymore.

Some guys do, but he don't.

He don't.

And then it's a matter of he you know, he wants that ship.

Everybody wants that ship, and how can you blame him, especially when you know how good you are.

He knows how good he is.

Yeah, he knows.

He's one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Yeah, I mean, God, I've got to grind on you after a while, just does.

And the Reds I don't even I don't even know where to go with that.

We don't have anybody on the Reds like that.

So I don't even know where to start with that team Hunter Green or whatever does he pitched half the year?

Maybe Elie de la Cruz.

Now he's not Joe Burrow.

He's not the equivalent of Joe Burrow in football yet at least Oh yeah, well, they say will be.

I'll tell you what I'm with you about Patino Junior.

And the reason is one of the main reasons is, you know, is he just comes from such good stalk.

That doesn't always that doesn't always guarantee success.

But he has shown an ability to grow.

And I have to go Mike unfortunately, but he has shown an ability to adapt and grow.

His team looks and plays nothing like they did at the beginning of the year.

They have evolved, they have gotten better.

The arrow is pointing up.

So it's hard not to love the job Richard Patino has done at Xavier, even if I don't like to admit it, and Drew probably likes to admit it less.

Yeah and real quick one Christmas Eve, do you know what sweetbreads are?

Oh?

Yeah, yeah, I had Salamus glund Land out of the cow.

I had Burne.

I had sweet breads with Burnet's and puraid carrots at French restaurant in Pasadena called The Maria.

Following that up yesterday with coffee roasted rack of lamb with pureaid turnips laced with cinnamon and brown sugar.

On that note, Audios, all.

Right, thanks Mike, Mike, you had a great Christmas.

And uh let's take a break.

Hour number two coming up right after this Sincy three sixty right here on ESPN fifteen.

Thirty, U c Ky Cincinnati, make us the number one pre set on your car radio and on the free new and improved iHeartRadio app Free never sounded so good.

ESPN fifteen thirty.

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This is Tony Pike's Friday Football Frenzy Show, brought to you in part five fellow Windows and door making life writer pelenaw Hey.

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Visit Creation Museum dot Org today on ESPN fifteen thirty, The official home of a simpsonat Bengals.

Welcome back, Hour number two since he thirty sixty.

I am I'm not Tony Bike, I'm Chad Brenda.

That's not Austin Almore that's true Western Heidi.

Getting you through Boxing day the day after Christmas?

Did you did you have a good Christmas?

Drew?

What what?

What was your favorite gift you got and the favorite gift you gave?

So I'll start with with what I got.

I turned thirty this year, Okay, and it truly does feel like I've gotten older and wiser because I was extremely excited about a portable air pump and a new knife set.

I also got a new knife set, and boy am I ecstatic about it?

Yeah, I'm really happy with the new knife set as well.

And then as far as my favorite gift that I gave, my nephew turned three this year, so I got him his first t ball glove.

Nice for when he eventually starts to play baseball or.

What you know, whatever you know.

I wanted to wanted to give him a glove old uncle Drew, who was the baseball player the family.

Felt felt right, felt like a good time for it.

So that was that was my favorite gift that I gave.

Like to hear it, I I the favorite gift I got, uh, the knife set was right up there with the I got a new double basket air fryer.

Nice.

So I'm pretty I'm pretty excited about that.

We're gonna we're gonna crack that thing out of the box probably tomorrow and give it a test run.

Uh.

And then I've been needing a new knife set.

The knife set that I had it was it was a great knife set.

I was given that as a present for my wedding.

I got married in two thousand and seven, so I was in need of a new knife set.

It was time.

And then the favorite gift that I gave was to my daughter her.

She got the uh, the the dice in a hair dryer that.

All the women rave about.

Nice.

She's got really long, thick hair.

It takes her like an hour.

This is We're gonna be an honest, Drue.

It's a little bit for me because it normally takes her like an hour, hour and fifteen minutes to dry her hair.

She tried out the new dice and it was like fifteen twenty minutes.

Ooh, there you go.

So we might have cut an hour of lead time off of you know, going and doing things.

And they're a value there, that is future value and she's gonna use it right Like what you don't want to do?

You buy these expensive gifts and like, you know, your kid grows out of that gift, and that gift gets like three months of use and then you know it's it's tucked away somewhere to be found like ten years later.

I think she's gonna use the hair dryer a lot, So I feel good about it.

It was expensive, probably more than I wanted to spend, but again, future value there, there's there's your value.

Yes, there's ROI there's a return on investment on that type of Christmas gift.

And then I got the girlfriend a new comforter that feels like you're laying on a cloud.

So I'm gonna get some benefit and value out of that one too because we share the comforter.

So I feel pretty good about that too.

You got to you gotta make sure that there's some return on investment for the gifts for sure, unless it's like a little kid, right, like a little kid, although I was bad.

My girlfriend has a grandson.

He's like five, right.

I got him a DJ kit, okay, and it's got like the little like turntable wheel.

You can mix it and it scratches on the record that's playing.

And then I got him like a blaster gun that had thirty thousand uh bullets that came with it.

And I'm pretty sure my girlfriend's daughter is gonna hate me forever.

Oh, come on, maybe not forever, but at least until the next time she sees me.

Yeah, at least until the next time she sees me.

Let's get to a little bit of Reds here, Drew.

As we're through.

The winter meetings, feels like most of the splashy things that were going to happen have happened.

The Reds have done minimal.

We knew, look, they needed they had some holes in the bullpen that they had to fill that.

They still need a utility infielder, and you know they're probably going to try to do that on the cheap late in the process.

That is their mo They won eighty three games last year.

Is there some like can Matt McLain improved?

Yes?

Will it be nice to see like a Noel V.

Marte have a full season like the stretches that we saw from him last year.

I would like that maybe you get Ellie Da la Cruz healthy for a whole year, and if he is a little dinged up, little banged up, you you actually sit him for a couple of games to let him feel better, let him recover.

But man, I look at this roster.

I don't hate it.

It's not you know, it's not a tanking Reds roster.

We've seen plenty of those.

But it's it's not a it's not a championship.

It's not a roster I feel can win the division.

It's not a roster I feel can can make noise in the playoffs.

It feels like it's it's exactly what the Reds front office wants.

And as a Reds fan, that is incredibly frustrating because it feels like they want to be seventy five and seventy five and let the chips from the other.

You know, however, many hundred the other twelve games fall where they may to determine what their record is.

Yeah, I'm gonna I don't think they are.

They haven't least any projections or wind totals or anything.

But I'm willing to bet that the Reds will open with the win total of eighty and a half.

I was going to guess seventy nine and a half.

I think eighty and a half will be and I will I think I would lean over, but I wouldn't feel great about it, no confidence at all.

So yeah, it's and again, like I said earlier, they're going to go into next season relying on leaps, you know, not steps forward leaps.

You're you're hoping South Stewart turns into an All Star.

You're hoping Matt McClain.

And again, hope's not a strategy, but this is, yes, it is.

It is for the Reds.

You're hoping Matt McClain can regain the form he had in his rookie year.

You're hoping Spencer Steer can stay healthy, and you know, be that because there was a point there in the middle of the year where gosh, if the Reds needed a clutch hit spent and Spencer Steer found himself at the plate, he would find a way to do it.

So you hope you get that.

You hope Noelvie Marte being in the right in the outfield for an entire season, you know, elevates him as a player.

So it's and as I said earlier, it feels like they are making a bunch of very very good moves for a team that just made a splash signing, except they didn't make the splash signing at all.

So that's what is that is what's.

You know, the the big conundrum when it comes to the Cincinnati Reds.

Could they go out and win eighty six eighty seven games?

Yeah, I think it's possible.

I wouldn't bet on that, but I think they're capable.

I think they have talent.

I just I worry about the offensive consistency and the rotation staying healthy.

Serious question.

Let's hypothetically say all the right things happen, I still have I can't get myself the ninety wins with this roster.

I think seven.

I think if you everything going very well, that's when you get into how far does the rotation take you?

Like, if Hunter Green and Lodolo and Abbot are healthy for most of the season and they all have good years.

If Chase Burns starts to figure it out and he's your number four starter and he has a good year, what are you gonna get from Rehet Louder or somebody else?

Now?

Honestly, I think Brady Singer is back for another year now, all things considered.

Really, you know, obviously, Hunter Green dealt with some injuries last year.

Lodolo spent some time on the injured list.

Abbot missed at the beginning of the year.

But like all things considered, I thought the starting pitching health was pretty pretty solid last year.

You know, can you Rea, you know, can you get that to continue in the next season.

So that'll be, you know, a big question on that front.

You know, once opening Day rolls around, I'm gonna talk myself into this Reds team and how great of a season they're gonna have.

But right now, on December twenty sixth, I'm not exactly confident.

I have very little Like it feels like an eighty to eighty three, eighty four win team.

He feels like last year's team because a lot of respects.

That's what it is.

The question is do they actually replace the guys that that they lost in the bullpen that while they might not have been great, those guys ate a ton of innings, just devoured innings.

Now, look, I like the strategy.

I don't like it on on the human side, But you bring a guy in for the bullpen, you have him eat a ton of innings, and then you let somebody else worry about the effect on his arm the next year.

I don't mind that strategy, but boy, it becomes really tough to keep going out and getting guys that can pitch four or five nights a week.

It feels like in pretty high leverage situations you're not gonna hit on many of those guys.

So it's it's you know, when.

You're dealing with June and July and that middle of summer drag, do you have the arms?

Do you have the depth?

Do you have the guys that can eat enough innings to get you through that protect your starting pitching Because again, remember Brady Singer is the only guy that's thrown more than one hundred and fifty innings on this staff, Hunter Green one time through one hundred and fifty innings.

None of those other guys they're gonna be counting on have thrown one hundred and fifty innings in a season, Lodolo, Green, Ashcraft, louder Burns.

You know, you go on down the line, they don't have a lot of starting pitching depth.

I think they've got a lot of starting pitching talent, but man, you're counting on guys to do things they either have done once or haven't done before.

And Drew that scares the crap out of me when trying to project one hundred and sixty two games.

Yes, indeed, all.

Right, stake a break, talkbacks, get your talkbacks in.

Let us know what you got for Christmas.

Best gift you got, best gift you gave.

Let us know how things went, and chime in on the Bengals defense, chime in on the Reds Drew, and I'll get some college basketball talks.

If you're a Xavier fan, call and let me have it.

It's the first three sixty I've hosted since the shootout, So have your fun and we'll talk to you right after this.

Since that's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Hey, Alexa, who's out here?

All right, there we go, It's time for talkbacks Day after Christmas edition.

Real quick though, before we get on Drew, Zach Taylor reports JOSEPHSI and Charlie Jones are out Sunday against Arizona.

No offense, questionable, tough one for a cy.

I think he'd like to be out there trying to, you know, show what he can do to to work towards that next contract.

But we'll get to that later.

Let's let's get to some talkbacks.

Let's do it.

I agree one I would draft a defensive tackle with the first pick, no doubt about it.

Try to get the best safety you can in free agency.

Try to get a pretty good linebacker.

And free agency I would try to resign Osai.

I like the way Jaylen Davis has been playing lately.

Merry Christmas.

Appreciate you, loud talkback guy.

I feel good about things.

I always think loud talkback guy leaves great talkbacks when he agrees with us.

Drew that I think that's a good sign for where we're at.

Agreed, I agree with everything you just said.

There Shall we move on.

Let's smooth one.

Yeah, I agree one.

That was a double he Drew.

Chad.

Happy holidays, guys, Thank you taking me and my heart goes out to you, Chad and Jay.

I have been through it myself.

My wife also passed unexpectedly shortly before her twenty fifth birthday.

Oh, telling us are then six and four year old girls that they weren't going to see he again.

It's probably the hardest thing you'll ever have to do.

On the other end of the spectrum.

Uh, if you guys want to experience pure joy given an eight year old who loves music, their first drum set for Christmas is priceless.

Oh, I remember my drum kit Christmas.

Loved it.

Yeah, I mean I I ended up playing drums for a while, like into you know, so I yeah.

I don't know that I was.

It's it's the first Christmas with the girlfriend and her family.

I didn't want to go all the way to drum set right away, right fair enough, but like I figured, DJ.

Yes, it's a good that's a nice like middle grounds there it connects to a Bluetooth speaker yep.

Like he immediately was like, I'm DJing this party Christmas.

He like, I've got a picture of him.

He's got like one hand up in the air and one hand on the turntable.

He's like already knows what to do.

He told his mom, like, I'm djying the New Year's Eve party.

I'm like, I this is gonna It's not a drum set.

It's not gonna get me killed, but it's gonna make some noise.

I love it, and I know.

What everybody's thinking.

Give me an eight year old a drum set.

What the hell is that guy thinking he's never gonna sleep again?

Pro tip, it's an electronic set.

There you go headphones and they sell muting tips for the sticks.

So if you guys are thinking about it, trust me, it was the way to go.

Yeah.

Mine was the old school drum kit.

Yeah, but we we put that out.

We put that out in the garage and kind of soundproofed like a little corner of the garage as best we could.

I remember at one point I had an electronic one.

I've never had an electronic one, but I don't think they had gotten like I don't think headphones really were worked into it at that point.

So it was it was electronic, but it would sounded right like a.

Normal drum kit.

Gosh, I gotta think these electronic kits nowadays have got to be insane.

Oh they're my uh so, my uncle works in music and like his kids and grandkids, they have like the the really really advanced ones that'll like teach you how to play drums, like as part of the software or whatever.

Nice Hey Joe from Casey here asking if the NFL should let the NBA have the day first, they never will.

Second, i'd be curious to see hear what the.

Ratings are for yesterday, what the NBA did versus the NFL.

Third, I'd be willing to bet the NFL could a couple of three man teams together and have them play a little three on three basketball and it would get better ratings than the game.

Well, the thing about the thing about like the rating stuff is that the NFL wasn't on traditional TV, right, so you you know, these streaming services can see the numbers and they can choose to release them, but they don't have to.

They don't have to.

And I you know, I think I've read where like NBA ratings are up big time this year, and I think I think Amazon getting in on the NBA with their their new pre and post game crew, which they've done a very good job.

And I think at the NBA being on NBC again has played a big factor into you know, people kind of re engaging with the league and how it's discussed in the discourse around it.

So I actually think the NBA is having a pretty good season.

And look, look the NFL is it's the the Yeah, it's kids.

If they wanted to, if they wanted to put every have every team play on Christmas Day, they do it, and they could if they wanted to.

But I don't know, like I said, from a pure entertainment value, standpoint, the last couple of years, the NBA has been more better and more fun to watch than the NFL on Christmas Day.

Agreed, it's a it's a more enjoyable product on that day.

Now, maybe some of that's the NFL is not picking the right games, or sure you pick games before the season starts.

And I mean, I'm sure they thought Vikings Lions was going to be a monster Denver, Kansas City was going to be a monster.

Right, But that's the joy of the NBA.

It's like early in their season, right, those stories have not been told yet.

Right.

That's why I love Christmas Day for the NBA because you get the stars, you get the big name teams, and it's really like the first real look at these teams playing each other and you know, getting ready to get into like the heart of the season.

The NFL, there's a lot what there's there's two playoff spots in the a f C available and one playoff spot in the NFC available.

It's not a lot of teams left.

Everyone else is just playing out the string.

Yeah he has and so Bright and the boy anyways, anyway, Yea, for the longest time, I I thought your new girlfriend was the a d.

At UC Clifton.

I mean, you talk about that whole organization so glowingly?

Who I don't anyway, try though.

Longtime fan of yours, thank you, Sorry for the cheap shot.

Like that sounded like the Chappelle's skid at the end.

Kind of here's the thing, how could I possibly be talking glowingly about UC?

I was gonna say, I don't think i've seen you talk about U s the past month that I wouldn't use the word glowing to describe now discuss them absolutely not, Like I get it, Like, look, I've got relationships there, I've got a business.

I can't be.

Jim Bob thirty five seven four six twenty five on Twitter that can just say anything they want.

I've got to I've been doing this for a long time.

I intend to keep doing it for a long time.

If I just go around blow torching relationships all the time, I can be able to to buy expensive hair dryers from my daughter.

There you go.

That was it.

We were pretty.

We were pretty like today unsurprisingly unbelievable.

Fine, Uh, Drew, I guess we'll just take a break.

I guess we just take a break.

Uh on coming up?

We'll do some football on the Natty.

When we come up.

I'll tell you what.

If you guys want to leave some more talkbacks, well, like the last segment in this hour, will come back.

We'll do football on the Natty then if you want, if you want to get some more talkbacks in, we'll leave that last segment of the hour open for that.

All right, yep, I will keep checking periodically.

All right, now, let's take a break.

Nothing else.

Let's just let's go to break.

All right more after this Since he thirty sixty, ESPN fifteen thirty, I've all.

We ball in the NATI brought to you by Bud Light on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Buckle back Friday football frenzy right here.

On Sincenny's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Since the thirty.

Sixty, I am.

I'm not Tony Pike.

That's not Austin Elmore.

I'm Chad Brendle.

That's Drew Western.

Heidi, we are taking you through this wonderful Friday early afternoon.

It's gonna be sixty seven degrees tomorrow.

I saw that.

It's a shame, it's so wet.

I would look like, yeah, stuff like that.

I'd get out on the golf course tomorrow, but hold too much, too much moisture in the air to go do that.

Yeah, I'm thinking tomorrow is supposed to be dry.

I'm thinking I might get to do a fire pit tomorrow night.

There go.

Like I am a die hard fire pit guy.

Me too.

I love I love a good a good fire pit, some ice, cold, sincy lights, good fire pit.

Like.

I'm a happy camper.

So normally, you know, once you hit like November, especially like with my schedule, there's not a lot of fire pit like opportunities.

I think tomorrow night is a fire pit opportunity.

I think I'm gonna have to take advantage.

I'm looking forward to it.

So looking forward to it.

Uh did you see uh the press conference with Ryan Kennedy?

True, I can't say that I did.

You know Ryan Kennedy is, I can't say that I do.

He is the Lions fan.

Oh okay, yes, all right, I know you're talking about that got in the altercation with DK Metcalf.

He was on video saying, you know, that's that's what I got what I wanted, essentially, like I got him to react that's why I was doing it.

The thing he was doing was he was calling him to Kaelin, which is what DK stands for.

I guess he does not like his name.

He does not like to be called by his name.

So the guy this, you know, that wasn't the first time these two have had a little spat.

I read that.

Actually, yeah, yeah, last year he did the same thing, and I guess discovered that that's what got under his skin, so continued to do it.

At the game last week, Metcalf responded, I guess came over.

He didn't hit him, but he kind of snatched him, kind of grabbed him real good, roughed him up a little bit.

Maybe he got suspended two games.

Did you see that suspension can cost him forty three dollars.

I did see that that I could avoid his guarantees for the next two years.

Now, something tells me the Steelers will probably do right by him on that situation.

You would think so, but I mean, you never know.

But I have, Yeah, if you're.

Employee, the opportunity to void forty three million dollars or your hard earned money.

For sure.

But just looking at the video now, obviously I don't have any audio.

But I'm stunned that he doesn't have a neck brace on.

I would have.

I would have gone full neck brace.

Yeah, that's you got to I would have gone full neck brace, but backwards hat at the uh you know, the the folding table.

Yeah, with flanked by his by his lawyers.

That would have gone over so much better in Buffalo, right, like the folding table.

Can you imagine he's making his statement and then all of a sudden somebody just jumps off or he makes the statement from like on top of a bus and then jumps off and elbows the table on fire as the table breaks.

DK Metcalf has got to be smart, gotta be smarter than that man, Like you have to look like these a lot of times, these people, you know, it's like they think they buy a ticket, they can say whatever they want.

But by all accounts here this dude just knew what to say.

That wasn't derogatory, wasn't you know, personal?

Well, I guess you know his name.

He figured out his hot button, pushed it, and he pushed it.

And you know, now, DK Metcalf may have cost himself forty five million dollars in the future because of it.

You just got to be able to walk away from from something like that, and a teammate just to be like, yo, DK, like don't chill but just chill out, don't don't worry about that that fool in the front row, because I'm willing to bet DK Metcalf has heard worse things than he heard from that guy.

But for whatever reason, just being called his his name, and then you know, why don't you just go legally.

Change your name to DK?

Yeah, but I mean I think they probably could still figure that out.

Sure, but you can go that's not my name, bro.

You can do it.

At least at least you've got some line of defense, right, and that in that game, I mean, just come like, I just don't know how.

You don't know, Like when you see this guy for the second time, shouldn't it set off in your brain like, Hey, you know he's he's aiming for this, working for this, working to get you to do something stupid.

Don't give him the satisfaction of winning, right, It doesn't make any sense.

But I mean, you get baited, you get baited, and he sure did, he sure did.

I hope it doesn't end up costing him forty three million dollars, but you know what, it probably won't because he's been really good.

And that's usually like where the where the line is drawn on this right right Like if you're struggling, you just gave him a reason to bounce you.

If you're if you're.

Playing well, you got a little bit more leeway, a little bit, not a lot of it, a little bit more leeway in the way that things play out.

Let's take a break.

When we come back, take a look at the Arizona Cardinals.

Some of their numbers make you scratch your head on why they're so bad.

More after this, Since he three sixty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

You've been listening to Football in the Natti on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Wckble welcome back since he thirty sixty closing out our two Chad Brendle, Drew Wester Heidi and for the fellas.

That ice machine they got one of those nugget maker ice machines out in the kitchener.

That gets me from time to.

Time because I you know, I'll chomp on ice a little bit and then we come back from breaking My mouth's kind of still frozen.

Ice.

It's very convenient.

Oh, I think I'm gonna have to get one.

That's that's the best ice.

Like that was the one positive thing of all those.

Kelly was in the hospital for ninety nine days.

It's just ninety nine days of the best ice.

And they had different ice.

Like we spent a lot of time in the the oncology floor.

They didn't have great ice.

But at ic you ic you would bring you the good ice.

Yep.

Now the trade off was you were an ICU and that sucked.

Yeah, but at least we can do, you know, give good people.

And then I went back because I would always go back and like take the nurses lunch, even after Kelly passed, because they.

Have a horrible job.

Horrible job.

They do great at it, they do amazing things.

But I would never I couldn't imagine like working on a cancer floor.

Yeah, and that's what you do every day all day.

So I would.

And then I went back and they got the new ice machine.

They had the nugget ice.

I was like, he'k, that's some do do.

Drew.

Let's talk a little Bengals Cardinals.

When you look at the Cardinals numbers, This does not look like a four win team.

Though Jacoby Brissett has been good.

He's throwing for almost the hill surpassed I would assume three thousand yards on the season on Sunday.

They don't have a great rushing attack, but they do have the Bengals kryptonite, right They've got a an eleven hundred yard tight end and Trey McBride.

They've got some guys that can make plays on defense, Like they don't make a whole lot of mistake, They're pretty fundamentally sound.

But yet there they sit with four wins.

It's actually I think I don't think you could take a whole lot away against quinn Ewers and a Dolphins team that just kind of doesn't care right now.

In terms of what we talked about at the beginning of the show, like how to judge, how to facilitate in your mind, how much this defense has improved.

I don't think we'll see a whole lot in that front next week against the Browns, although they're playing a little bit better offensively with Shador.

But I think actually this is a decent test for this defense against a solid They're not a great offense by any stretch.

But you've got a three thousand yard passer, you've got a thousand yard receiver, you've got a balanced running attack.

There's no like main guy.

But it's a fair enough test for this defense.

I think they've got capable pieces on the offensive side of the football, like Trey McBride is a joke of a matchup playing some of the best football at the tight end position this year.

You know the receivers.

Marvin Harrison's been a little uneven.

He's been battling some health issues.

Wilson is that the other Michael Wilson I believe is the other wide receiver's name.

He he really blew up after Harrison got hurt and he started getting more more targets.

But man, I'm looking at the Cardinals' schedule.

This season has been brutal, brutal, and in this early part of the year they had some tough one score losses like they were not very They ended up being two and five after a twenty three to twenty seven loss to the Green Bay Packers on October nineteenth.

They could have varied.

There are some games in here they go a different way.

They could have been four and three, five and two and heading into their bye week feeling pretty good about themselves, and then they beat the Cowboys after their bye week.

Then the losing streak begins and they have gotten flattened in some of these games games too.

Yeah, that's the the like, what's the crux of that?

I wonder what's at the heart of this team?

Looking pretty good and look, man, sometimes losing just does this to you.

Yeah, and it does.

And they've given up.

You know, they've given up forty five to the Rams, forty four to the Seahawks, forty one to the Niners, forty to the Texans, who are not you know, what I would call an explosive offense by any means.

So I think defensively they are gonna they're.

Falling apart because they're defensive numbers overall aren't terrible on the season.

But the more you dig in, the more you see, like the last couple of weeks they have been they've been pretty bad.

And if you've been pretty bad, I don't know that Joe Burrow is that exactly who you want to see standing on the other side of the field.

I think what I'm getting at here is that I'm not sure what the over under is for this game.

But I bet I think that might be uh, I think that might be where we take it.

Yeah, we will.

We'll get to all the NFL games, including Bengals Cardinals coming up here in our number three.

But just in terms of this game, yeah, it feels like and look, if the Bengals defense, I do think this is the one game left, or if the Bengals defense again looks good, you can say, Okay, maybe they are starting to turn the corner.

Maybe they are.

You know, Al Golden is figuring out what he's got.

The defensive guys are figuring out this is what Al wants.

Sometimes, you know, that can take a little bit.

I know we all think like, well, he got here, and like, you know, he's been here since February, March whatever.

He's had plenty of time to work with these guys.

Why don't they have it fixed yet?

The line isn't always linear.

Sometimes it takes a little while to get from point A to point B.

And we live in a society where, you know, they think you have a high speed light rail from point A to point B, and sometimes you're just on an Amtrak train.

That's how you end up five and ten.

But when we're looking at this as big picture towards next year.

I do think, you know, depending what it is, I do think hopefully you can see this defense play well and it feels like it's translatable.

It's something that you can project forward to twenty twenty six, because if not, then you have to do a whole lot of resetting.

You got to do a whole lot of you know we've talked about.

You knew the Borough contract was coming, so you got to get young, and you spend all these young draft picks, first, second, third round picks over the past three even four drafts.

You hate to say at any point in time that you know it's time to cut bait on some of them and try to find somebody new, try to start over a little bit.

But that's where this franchise is at.

That's what these last two games can help to tell us.

I personally, because I've been rooting for it all along, I hope they revert to where the worst defense in the history of the NFL, because I think if you're gonna have a season like this, Drew, do you need something to hang a banner about worst defense in NFL history?

Slap that thing on the side of the building.

It would at least be memorable.

Yeah, be good or be interesting dre.

Correct wise, it's you know, it's not the Moeger Show.

But I still feel like, does Tony have wise words?

Sometimes he thinks?

He definitely thinks.

So what's that word he says all the time?

Is he an obviously guy?

He's not an obviously guy?

Is he?

I think he says obviously quite a bit.

Okay.

I know that the talkbackers make fun of him for some of that stuff.

Talkbackers make fun of somebody, please.

I mean they make fun of me all the time.

And I'm almost never a part of this show that Tony and Austin were like, we're getting Kegan for our weekly UC segment.

We're not.

Chad's been clowned too many times in the in the talkbacks.

He's lost all credibility on since he three sixty.

Let's take a break.

Can we come back our number three.

We'll talk some college football, We'll talk some college basketball.

We'll get into the NFL games coming up Saturday and Sunday.

And the phone lines are open, so if you want to talk five on three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty, we'll hear from you more after this sincey three sixty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Hey, it's ma Legger.

You've heard me Tony Bikes.

Friday Football Frenzy Show brought to you in part five, Hello Windows, Indoor Making Life Writer pell and out Hey.

Later Skyline Chilly Feeling Good.

It's Skyline Time Technologies, visit on coourt dot Tech, Hubson Oil Fielding Champions, on and off the field, Game Day, Men's Health.

Start your best life today and by that Creation Museum, it's more than a museum.

Visit Creation Museum dot org today on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here we go Friday Football Frenzy Hour number three, taking you into the Bengals pep Rally Show coming up from three to six.

Love that show always a good one.

Most got it nice, doesn't he?

He sure does?

Man.

I was I was telling my family this at our family Christmas, about how Moe has figured this entire industry out.

I mean, and then he'll take, like, you know, like the only time I'm really in during football season, mo popa Thursday, and then he's off already on Friday, and then he has Saturday and Sunday.

So just like a random, you know weekend in October.

Mo's got a four day weekend, right, He's figured it out.

And if he gets really frisky, though, he can't because Tony and Football Show.

He doesn't do Mondays.

He can't take off Mondays because he's got that.

But you know something, you wait for a bye week or something, you pop that Monday, you're off, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, you take two vacation days.

It's a good life for Moegar, pretty good.

It's a good life, pretty good.

You know, Tony and Austin, those guys got a grind.

They gotta work.

Except today, of course that was the I was being sarcastic.

It's being a little sarcastic.

Can I Can I tell you a fact?

A fact?

Yes?

I like facts.

Today is the last day without college basketball until Monday, March sixteenth.

Wow, seventy eight straight days of hoops starts tomorrow.

It's my jam love that I'm ready for conference play.

Yep.

Yeah.

Once once you get through Christmas and New Year's and it's the college basketball turns to conference play, that's when that's when the real go getters like myself and you we get after it.

Although I'm I'm not having as much fun.

Well, I'm after Dayton's lost to Liberty.

Nor am I worst loss Liberty or Eastern Michigan.

Eastern Michigan by a country, A long shot, A long shot.

I was pretty impressed with Liberty, honestly, and how they played.

I mean I was impressed with Eastern Michigan, but not really because of how I mean they took advantage of Cincinnati being bad bad.

That's that's right up there with like they lost to Wafford one time early in mc cronin's career.

They lost to a religion.

They lost to a toothpaste.

I've seen some bad losses over the years.

That Eastern Michigan won.

It was ten to nine.

Eastern Michigan went on like a seventeen to nothing run, eighteen to nothing run.

I was at the.

Cincinnati Cyclones game that night, because that was the night before Thanksgiving.

I was at the Cyclones game and a buddy of mine who was a UC UC fan, he went to the hockey game instead of the basketball game.

Smart guy.

He just he made the comment to me, he goes man, Glad I didn't go to the bear Cat game tonight.

I'm like, why he showed me his phone and it was Eastern Michigan up sixteen points or whatever it was.

I was like, whoa, yeah, whoa.

So we kind of kept tabs on that for the rest of the night.

Yeah, that was there was a stretch there.

I want to say, this was Ron Holmes's freshman year, Dayton lost to I think it was.

Was it lipscumb maybe I know you maass I always solid.

I know U Mass Lowell was one of them.

That's good they I think they finished the year in the three hundreds of Ken Palm.

Anytime you lose to a U Mass subsidy, right, it's a problem.

So that they lost three consecutive by games heading in to Orlando and then they beat Kansas.

Dayton's good for that.

They are they They just they find a way to torment me a year after year after year.

I'm thinking unless they go sixteen and two in A ten play, they are probably gonna have to win the A ten tournament to make the dance.

They haven't done that since two thousand and three when the tournament was at Dayton.

So let's just say I'm not really you know, putting that one in pen, that that's gonna happen.

Cincinnati would probably and this is if they beat Lipscomb Monday, Like that's not gonna be an easy game.

Lipscomb had the lead on Duke in the first half to last week, and then Dude kind of pulled away slowly in the second half, and Houston comes to town, and then Houston and then the Houston thing, like you kind of expect what's gonna happen there, right, But then they go to West Virginia and two UC which if you'd have asked two months ago, like, all right, you might Houston might take care of you at home to open league play, But then you got those two and then Colorado at home, Like, okay, you can bounce back, maybe start three and one in the Big Twelve if you're playing well.

And it's frustrating because I like Wes.

I like Wes.

I think Wes is a good guy.

He's about the right things.

He works hard, he recruits good kids, he cares about the program and the tradition and the history of the program.

But for whatever reason, he has not and this is year three in the Big Twelve, we're not seeing that progression we're not seeing the arrow point up.

And I've talked about this a lot on our content on Bearcat Journal.

Drew, you're ten eleven, twelve, about to be thirteen games in with a new team.

That's whatever.

You know, they got a new team.

Okay, Well, then things might be a little rough at the beginning.

Things might be a little bumpy.

But as you get into double digits, as you're thirty thirty two, thirty five percent into the season, you've got to show that that arrow's pointing upward.

And they just haven't been able to do it.

Yeah, and they've been I just wanted a watchable like a UC team that I could put on whether I'm at work during the game or if I'm just at home and just want to watch some college basketball.

I've really wanted to a UC team that I was looking forward to turning on the TV to watch.

And it just doesn't feel like that's it.

And you know, and I share a lot of the same similarities with you when it comes to West Miller.

I had the seems like a genuine dude, recruits well, says all the right things at times, and it just isn't translating to like translating to success for a program like Cincinnati who has not been to the two tournament in a long time and is very, very hungry to get back to that point.

I think unless it really gets turned around, Big twelve play this year, you're probably looking at a coaching search and I'm gonna predict that or Wes Miller will end up at an Atlantic ten program and I'm gonna have to deal with him for the next five years.

Yeah, I mean, here's the here's the ultimate problem true to get even on the bubble, right that they've dug such a hole.

They didn't win any of the the marquee and they beat Dayton, which isn't gonna isn't gonna go dating is not propping up your No, maybe if you beat Dayton on the road and it counts as a quad one, you can, like you lean into that a little bit.

But they lost to Xavier, they lost to Louisville, they lost to Georgia, they lost to Clemson.

You're gonna have to win at least minimum twelve of your eighteen.

Yeah, Big Twelve.

Even then you're probably probably still it depends on the winds.

Like you, if you pop a couple, I mean, there's the top.

Is this league stupid that there's opportunities to be had there, that's for sure.

But they've combined for fourteen wins in the Big Twelve the last two years, So to think that they're gonna go and get twelve probably requires a stop at your local dispensary.

What's more likely them winning over twelve or less than five?

Less than five?

I agreed, I just wanted to throw that out there.

I just don't.

I don't see a world where twelve is attainable.

Attainable, just doesn't know, especially when you got Houston twice, you play Arizona, you play Texas Tech, you play BYU, you play Baylor, you play Iowa State Tech and Arizona on the road, Yeah, Iowa State at Hull, Like, come on, let's be for real here, that's not going to be pretty.

If you had to put money on one Southwest Ohio team, so Cincinnati, Xavier, Dayton or Miami to make the NCAA Tournament, what team would you pick?

It might have been Miami, But then Evan Obsorrow got hurt and is out for the year point guard.

I don't know that trav has an answer for that.

I'll throw Northern Kentucky into that, into that grouping as well, although they've kind of gotten out to a slow start.

And yeah, I mean, but for them it doesn't matter, right, they played for three days in March, like they they understand, they they get that that is their opportunity.

So they're maybe a little more okay with slow starts than the others because the others have at large hopes every year, yep, for sure, Like does Xavier expect to win a big East with Yukon and Saint John's at the top, Well, they got Yukon coming to town next week New Year's Eve night, Yukon at the Centas Center.

Should I go see?

My buddy might have to?

Yeah, And that was and that was part you know, you discussed how you know, UC hasn't won any of their you know, marquee games outside of beating Dayton.

Uh, you know, Xavier they beat Cincinnati, but really outside of that, you know, they they lost West Virginia.

Yeah, they beat West Virginia.

That's probably their best win non Cincinnati.

It's honestly, what do you think ends up being a better win West Virginia or Cincinnati?

Probably probably West Virginia.

I think at the end of the day, it's going to be remarkably similar.

And yeah, because the thing with Dayton is is that they won a couple of those games.

They beat Georgetown, they beat Marquette, beat Florida State.

The problem is is that those three teams are having like historically bad seasons.

Yeah, I mean West Virginia's sixty seven and keim pom Cincinnati seventy two.

Yeah, so they feel right about Yeah even give or take a few spots.

West Virginia's one hundred and fourteen spots better on offense than Cincinnati and kem.

Bom whats Cincinnati sitting out on defense?

In Kem Palm I ten ten.

Yeah, I knew that they were pretty propped up in that category.

Two twenty five on offense.

Yeah, that that ain't gonna get it done.

Woof.

And look, you have to give a ton of credit to Richard Patina, oh, because they looked dead in the water and there they're still not.

I mean, they're at one oh two in Kem Palm.

They're they're behind Cincinnati, Are they behind Dayton?

Dayton is at sixty five.

Yeah, So Dayton's significantly higher in Ken Palm than than Xavier is but Za he's got the West Virginia in.

They've got the Cincinnati win.

Uh, they you know, Santa Clara's ninetieth.

That's not a bad loss.

Ioa was one oh three.

That's actually a little surprising that I was down that low.

Those two aren't gonna help you.

But the other losses to Georgia, to Creyton George's twenty five and kempom Creighton's forty four.

And look, this isn't a great big East, No it is not.

It is a down big East.

So they've got Connecticut at home New Year's Eve, then to Paul and Marquette away de Paul's one twenty one, Marquette's one fifteen.

Savior's rated ahead of both of those, projected on kempom both to be losses, but one point against DePaul, two points against Marquette.

Xavior can win either of those games.

Providence at home, Providence is not very good.

Butler at home, Butler's okay.

Creighton on the road.

We saw what happened last time those two teams.

Yeah, but sometimes when you get a weird outrier result like that, I hear you.

Uh.

Then Saint John's then Seaton Hall, both of them are playing well, but then to Paul again in Connecticut and Saint John's.

But there's enough games in there that if they can be more consistent than they've been, they could be on the bubble.

I don't think they make it, but I don't think Dayton and Cincinnati even sniffed the bubble.

No, I'd, like I said, barring Dayton going like sixteen and two in a ten play and those wins being there're Q one opportunities when they play VCU, Saint Louis and others on the road.

Yeah, yeah, outside of doing that, because you know, like the one thing Dayton doesn't have is a truly horrific loss, right, they don't have that, you know, they don't have that, you know, terrible stinker, yes, land mine as I like to call them.

But but the thing is is that now you've got to navigate the Atlantic ten where there's more more nights than not teams.

Yeah, it's quality teams, but you know teams that you know, because they don't get a Q one home game, they probably want to get a Q two home game.

If we're being honest, you know, there are only good win opportunities they're going to have to do on the road, which you know, I've seen some things I've liked with Dayton, and then that Liberty game just kind of threw cold water all over the good feeling I had heading into it.

But we'll see.

Like I said, that's I think that is going to be the requirement to even be in the conversation.

I'm not even saying they'd make it if they went sixteen and two in the A ten, but I do think they would become in the conversation if that were the case.

But ultimately, I think it's it's going to come down to whether they can win the A ten tournament, and if they don't do that, I think there are some legitimate conversations that need to be had about the head coaching position after this.

Season, and if Cincinnati's looking here in a couple months, I might need a full Saint Louis Scout Josh Shirts scouting report from you.

Down the line.

Saint Louis thirty nine and Ken Palm fifty three on offense, thirty nine on defense, fourteenth in the country in tempo.

Yeah, they they were pretty solid and don con play last year too, and then they kind of stumbled all over themselves at the beginning of a ten.

Year one for shirts and as I don't think he fully had his crew together.

Yep, I'm interested to see how they look in an A ten play this year.

Yeah.

I think it's gonna be a fun eight ten season.

I do think the A ten is pretty improved.

They're probably still only going to get one team in, which is a far cry from what they used to be, but I do think it is a better a better league overall this year.

Yeah, all right, let's let's take a break when we come back.

You want to do college football next?

Or do you want to talk about this trend of like guys that were drafted in the NBA and are now coming back to college.

I don't think we have enough time to cover all my thoughts and opinions on that.

Let's talk some college football.

Obviously, it's a big college football weekend coming up, so let's talk some college football.

We even talk college football at all today?

All right, let's do that.

We'll come back more after this SINC thirty sixty right here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

You said, Drew says sigtys ESPN fifteen thirty.

This is sin C three sixties.

Are you surprised there's no college football games today?

Well, there's three.

We have one going on right now, Central Michigan Northwestern happening on ESPN at the moment.

Really, why is this not?

Oh?

Never mind they put today at the top and then you had to scroll down a ton to get to tomorrow.

Just put them next to each other.

Agreed, I'm sorry.

Northwestern twenty one nothing over Central Michigan, New Mexico, Minnesota tonight.

Florida International and UTSA also tonight.

You like any of these from a gambling perspective.

Oh, I'm sure I could find something I like here.

Well, probably might.

Maybe it might be some value on New Mexico against Minnesota.

You're not a row the boat guy, a slight dog.

Although I do think the Big Ten has been cleaning up in bowl season, if I am not mistaken.

It's so random, like every year it's like, I'll look, the ACC had a big bowl season, like the ACC's donc and dude, you don't.

And you don't even know who's playing in these games anymore.

Like with all with the transfer portal and all that, it'll be interesting to see big slate of games tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Yeah, I'll run through them.

You tell me if anything jumps out.

Pitt East Carolina eleven AM ESPN pit a ten and a half point favorite, total of fifty two and a half.

You like any of those?

I Pitt probably feels like they've got some guys playing, feel like they were kind of an uneven team this year.

But it's not a bad way to kick off the day.

But the next game is the one, the Disappointing Season Bowl, or also known as the bad Boy moe ER's Pinstripe Bull Penn State versus Clemson in a game where with two programs whose seasons didn't not meet the expectation of where they thought they were going to not at all.

Clem's in a two and a half point favorite.

The total forty eight and a half.

For whatever reason, Like these are two pretty good defenses.

But I think I have a feeling things get a little sloppy here.

I like an underplay there.

Forty eight and a half.

It's going to be thirty two degree, some looks like some lights snow in the forecast.

Forty eight and a half seems a little high.

Agreed, I think if I was making a play there a leen, we'll call that a lean, A lean, We'll go the under forty eight and a half year.

Obviously, the biggest non CFP bowl is tomorrow the Pop Tart Bowl between BYU and Georgia Tech.

I'll never forgive Scott Sidderfield for not getting to like eight or nine wins so Cincinnati could have gone to the Pop Tart Bowl.

It's all I wanted.

It is awesome.

It truly is like it's a bummer that Notre Dame took their ball and went home and didn't play in that game, because I think Notre Dame BYU would have been an awesome three point thirty in the afternoon game b YU minus four over under fifty five and a half.

I like BYU there I it feels like they've just they're playing everybody that kept their coach.

Feels like they're gonna have a lot of the same guys back next year.

Give me give me BYU there on the number of minus four.

What about the RedHawks Miami and Fresno State.

Fresno State a five and a half point favorite total forty one and a half.

I would probably lean towards Fresno State.

Here, Kurt Warner's kid.

That's Kurt Warner's kid, right, I believe so, EJ.

Warner.

I believe so.

But I do want to give Miami, Ohio a lot of credit this season for the year that they had.

They lose their quarterback midway through their season.

The quarterback quit, yeah, essentially quit, and they still had a pretty solid end to the year, and.

So I just want to give Miami credit.

Although I think if I'm leaning somewhere, I'm leaning towards Presno State, Uh what else?

Anything looks super interesting LSU Houston Houston a one and a half point favorite LSU.

Lord knows who's play in that game.

Yeah, I can't imagine they've got I mean, that's got to be why Houston is favorite.

Here.

Connor Wegman, the quarterback for Houston, has had a good season.

Houston's defense has been solid.

They're predicting a low scoring game.

It'll be indoors in Houston and RG Stadium.

Houston's going to be able to get all seventy three of their fans comfortably into that game.

I kind of like the over here forty two and a half I do too.

I think there's some value there.

I think there's some value there in the over.

Like you said, in a dome, don't have to worry about any bad weather.

Yeah, I think I do like the over for that one.

So no college football playoff this weekend.

Obviously that picks back up on New Year's Eve, but still some good college football to watch.

If you're looking for something to watch this weekend, let's take a break.

We'll hit the NFL this weekend.

Coming up next Sincy three to sixty.

Right here in Sinceinny's ESPN fifteen thirty.

From the Court to the Cage, the Diamond to the Dome, he brings the heat.

Moegar Today at three pm on ESPN fifteen.

Thirty, Dan Hoard for exercise and leisure.

This is Football and the Nattie, brought to you in part by Postman Law and by Skyline Chile on ESPN fifteen point thirty, the.

Official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Oh We're back, We are back.

I was messing with John John.

It's one of my favorite things.

Let's keep it rolling as we take a look at what's to come this weekend.

Three NFL games in the books, some important ones.

Those weren't very important other than what the Lions got eliminated from the playoffs.

Yes, the Lions five chance to make the playoffs one from five to zero.

So not a whole lot exciting yesterday other than potentially, like we said at the beginning of the show, potentially Travis Kelcey's last game in Arrowhood.

I think it will be.

I think I agree with that.

I'm those two.

I mean I started covering UC in six, which I think is right when Jason got there or that off that coming that off season.

So like I've been doing this for nineteen years, I've been covering U see, one of those two has been playing football either at UC or in the NFL ever since.

That's wild.

Yep, it's wild.

A couple of Hall of famers.

I mean, nobody in their right mind would ever guess that and not like, look, this is not just a couple of Hall of famers first ballot, bona fide.

You're talking top three center of all time, top three tight.

End of all time.

Yep.

Indeed, insane, pretty remarkable, insane for those two knuckleheads.

They are knuckleheads.

I love them both to death, their knuckleheads, their knuckleheads.

That they got it figured out.

Brother They're gonna make a lot of money not playing football, So kudos to them.

If that is the end for Travis Tomorrow Saturday, four point thirty Texans Chargers.

Chargers are one and a half point favorite.

Thirty nine and a half is the total.

I kind of like the Texans here, Like I just I still don't I know Justin Herbert's really good.

I don't trust him.

Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of trust in the Chargers either.

The Texans have been rolling lately, and I like Jim Harbaugh as a coach.

I think he's a crazy person, yeah, but he can really really coach man.

But the Texans are just their defense is awesome.

Yep, awesome.

I think I'm gonna go Texans there.

I'll take the I'll take the points.

Yeah, I think I agree with that.

I think I would.

I think I would take the Texans there plus one and a half.

It's late, I mean, yeah, it's in San Diego, but the weather's gonna be great.

God San Diego.

But I just have a feeling.

Ravens Packers, Mar Jackson doubtful.

Green Bay four and a half point favorite.

I just there's such a wind out of the Sails feel to the Packers without.

Uh, you mean the Ravens without Lamar.

No, the Packers without damn it.

Michael Parson.

Yes, in terms of at least like like a legitimate, legitimate winning the Super Bowl.

Yes, I guess I'll go Packers here, just because the Ravens probably aren't gonna have Lamar.

I don't feel great about it.

Yeah, thirty four and cloudy and in Green Bay.

Yeah, I just home team.

No Lamar, give me the Packers.

We're gonna have to probably pick this up.

Well, there's a lot of games we don't have to spend a lot of time on.

When we get the Sunday Bengal Worred Sunday Bengals Cardinals Bengals seven and a half point favorite total fifty three and a half over, I think over, but I think it's close.

Yeah, that's a pretty big number there.

That's a I don't trust this team to beat anybody by seven and a half that at that's a lot of points there.

I think I would lean towards taking the points of Arizona.

But if I was making a play in this game, give me the over.

Fifty three and a half Steelers Browns bit Miles Garrett, one sack away from setting the all time record would be very funny if he sacked Aaron Rodgers, who he has not sacked before, to do it against t J.

Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We'll see if that happens.

Browns just keep on chugging along towards a top two pick and lose.

I think they make it interesting.

I think they win.

Well.

I guess it wouldn't matter if the Raven's lost.

If the Ravens win Saturday, I'd love to see the Steelers lose to at least make it.

Interesting mean something.

I don't see it happen.

I don't either.

Harold Fannon questionable for Cleveland too.

So that's that's good a game.

We don't have to spend any time on Saints Titans.

That's enough on that one.

Jaguars Colts Jacksonville five and a half point favorite.

Give me, give me the Jaguars.

Indianapolis is a sinking ship.

The Philip River story was fun, but that's a sinking ship.

There.

You know what's not sinking in Indianapolis Alec Pierce's bank account.

There you go, because Aleck is going to get paid this offseason Dolphins Tampa Bay five and a half point favorites.

I thought that would be bigger, Honestly.

I did too.

And there's something about that number that I.

Do not like.

You feel like they know something we don't like.

Well, the Bucks have been struggling Baker.

That shoulder injury Baker got against the Rams on his non throwing shoulder, similar to what he had in Cleveland.

Yeah, in twenty twenty one.

He hasn't been the same since.

If I was leaning anywhere in this game, probably would take the Tampa Bay minus five and a half.

But that is a That line stinks.

Do you see this Jets controversy that's been going on with their Uh they were gonna have a like a lady come out and kick a field goal at half time?

Yes, I see this for one hundred thousand dollars.

Her dad had been sick.

Here has been sick.

Then the Jets canceled it and it got went viral.

Pat McAfee tweeted it with the I emoji's like I'll let you come kick for one hundred thousand dollars.

And then a little bit ago, like an hour ago, the Jets reverse course and now she is going to kick at home.

Smart.

If there's one franchise in the NFL that just you look at and you go, they don't get it on the level of the Cincinnati Bengals, it's the New York Jets.

Correct thirteen and a half for New England.

They cover.

The Jets are dreadful.

Yeah, yep, give me the points with I'll lay the points with New England.

There Seattle a seven point favorite over Carolina.

I'll take I'll give me Carolina getting seven at home, Okay, I'll take the give me Carolina.

They need they need to win this game to keep pace with Tampa Bay.

I think Tampa Bay ends up beating Miami, so I'll take thee I'll take the seven with Carolina.

Here, the Seahawks are right in there for home field advantage, right, I believe.

So let's see here.

They are currently the number one seed in the NFC, so they got something to play for.

They do, but so do the Panthers.

And I think the Panthers have been tough at home this year.

Obviously, They've been kind of uneven.

They've lost to the Saints, beat the Bucks, They've beaten some good teams.

I just think seven I just think that's seven point a little too much.

Yeah, I mean, Kobe Bryant Seattle.

You know, I'm a big I'm a big Seahawks guy, so I give me.

I think the Seahawks win, but you're the points.

I feel like it's gonna be closer than that.

Giants Raiders the prison inmate game of the week.

Who gets the number one pick?

I'm gonna say the Raiders get the number one pick.

I'm gonna say the Giants win this game.

Okay.

Eagles Bills a super interesting, really good one here, Buffalo one and a half point favorite at home.

Are we calling for snow showers in Buffalo?

Is that what I'm saying?

Or is it rain?

I hope it's snow.

Snow would be cool.

Bills need this one to keep pace with the New England Patriots.

So obviously the Pats they play the Jets, so they're probably gonna get to thirteen wins.

So the Bills are gonna need need this game if they want to win the division and have a home playoff game.

It looks like we're talking a lot of cold rain for that one.

I feel like that feel like that kind of benefits the Eagles, which.

Should, but they haven't really exactly gotten Saquon Barkley that James Cook has had a much better year than Barkley.

Yes, for sure.

Bears Niners.

Good game, good game.

The Bears continue to surprise people.

It doesn't feel like they should be anywhere close to eleven and four, but they are.

Caleb Williams with thirty four hundred yards, twenty three touchdowns, six interceptions.

Ben Johnson's a mastermind the Niners.

If they win the next two weeks, they get home field advantage with the Super Bowl in Santa Clara.

Give me the Niners here.

I just I don't believe in the Bears.

Yeah, I'm with you there.

It's a smaller number than I would have thought.

I think I would lay the three with San Francisco here against the Bears.

But man, the Bears have been They've been a fun team to watch this year.

They've been one of my favorite non you know, when I'm just watching the NFL, I've watched a lot of the Chicago Bears this season.

Ben Johnson's awesome.

I think they're building the team the right way, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears won this game.

But I think I'm picking San Francisco.

All right, that does it for We're gonna get Rams Falcons.

Sorry, one more Rams Falcons.

Monday night, Rams seven and a half points improved their draft position by beating Atlanta.

Oh boy, all right, let's take our final break more after this.

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It's gonna wrap it up.

We appreciate you spending your day after Christmas, Boxing Day with us.

Drew, great job today, do you as well?

Chad?

Fun to do the radio program with you.

I agree.

If it can't be tarn, I want it to be Drew.

I don't much appreciate it.

Don't tell Sean McMahon.

I don't think he's listening today.

I think we'll be all right.

All right, good wow, that's gonna do it.

Austin and Tony back on Monday Moe and Tony for the Tony Moo Football Show.

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