Shohei's Unreal Game 4 & Chase, Bengals Keep Season Alive

Nick (00:00)
We're here on a Sunday. It's the height differential. That's the 6'6' Neil I'm the 4'10' Nick. We did it. We missed the last two Sundays, I think. Your wife got on and said, hey, we can't be slacking.

Neil (00:15)
We're back on a Sunday. It's about time. Feels good to be back on a Sunday.

Nick (00:19)
I will say the Bengals played on Thursday night helps the Makes it a little easier. But yeah, it's good to be here on a Sunday and a lot of things to talk about. We'll talk about some Shohei, we'll talk a lot of college football, some NFL. But I mean, I think we got to start off with Shohei Ohtani's performance in game four of the NLCS. Six innings pitched, 10 Ks and three home runs. I don't know.

Neil (00:22)
yeah, definitely.

Nick (00:48)
in the history of sports, if we've ever seen anything like that.

Neil (00:53)
No, it is without question in my mind, it's the greatest individual single game performance I've ever seen. I mean, like you said, not only do you hit three home runs in a clinching game of an NLCS for your team to go to the World Series, you hit three bombs in itself, like that's just, that's impressive. And then not only that, you go on the mound, you pitch six innings, only give up two hits, no runs and 10 Ks and get the win as a pitcher.

I mean, if you think about like in Major League history, pitch, the players that have been the two way players and Babe Ruth comes to mind because she's probably the most famous to do ever do it. But Shohei Ohtani performance in game four is in my mind, there's no question. The greatest single game performance I've ever seen.

Nick (01:37)
Well, to prepare for the show, I got on chat GPT and I asked the same question I asked you to open the show. And chat GPT says, utterly unprecedented in modern professional sports. Cause I was just wondering if there's something else even out there comparable like in maybe a sport that I don't follow. And maybe there's just something that exists. ⁓ The closest comparisons they talk about Babe Ruth in 1918.

in 1919 where he once pitched a shutout and hit a home run in the same game. But that was a regular season game and that was a game in June. ⁓ So not the same, not getting you to the World Series, but pitching nine strong and hitting a home run is pretty crazy. And then they also talked about Ohtani's World Baseball Classic Final where he closed the game for Japan and struck out. ⁓

might try out to win the title. But he didn't hit three home runs in that game. ⁓

Neil (02:40)
No, he did not.

I mean, there's nothing that comes to mind. It's like this to me, it stands out as in any sport, like in any sport for somebody to do what he did. It's not been done. It's just, he's just a machine. He's an absolute machine. And he's probably, he might be the best baseball, pure baseball player of all time. He's on his way.

Nick (03:02)
He's two players. He's two players. I know the whole salary thing with him is odd because it's all deferred. But no matter what you're paying him, you are getting two players when he's bitching. ⁓

Neil (03:04)
Yeah. Yeah.

It's money well spent. I mean,

I know he's making a lot of money. Like you said, it's all deferred, but it is money that's well spent. Well spent.

Nick (03:24)
there's like it still boggles my mind how the angels just like all right, let him go like

Neil (03:32)
How the Angels never were anything, they were not good with him and Mike Trout on the same team. They never even made the playoffs with those two guys. Like don't know what was going on in LA as well, with the Angels organization, you have that much talent, those two guys on your team, and then not even make the playoffs. That's pretty bad.

Nick (03:52)
It's, it's asinine. Like, but it just shows you baseball is different. Like if you had those two guys on a basketball team, you're going to the finals every year. If you've got two of the best players in baseball, I mean, they just got to have so many elements to be a good team. But also was like, it gave me an analogy, give me a different sport that would be comparable to Ohtani's performance. And they gave me one for basketball.

And they gave me one for football. I think the football one is better.

Neil (04:25)
I mean, it's probably

gotta be like football. It's gotta be like a Deon Sanders going playing both ways and catching two touchdowns and having a pick six or something, know, like something like that kind of route. But I mean, I don't know.

Nick (04:38)
So the basketball one they said is like LeBron's going 45 and getting eight blocks in tennis. I don't and being a lockdown defender, don't, that's not comparable because that's what a basketball you have. Everybody has to play both sides. Now, so football is really, you can compare it because players play offense and defense. So they said it would be like Mahomes or Josh Allen or Burrow throwing for 350 and four touchdowns and then intercepting two passes as a starting safety.

Neil (04:49)
Correct. You have to both sides. Yes.

Yeah, I agree, yes. No, of course not. mean, Travis Hunter right now is the only one I know that actually plays both ways. And so like I said, he's got to catch three touchdown passes on offense and probably have two interceptions on defense. And the Jaguars have to win like 50 to seven if he does that. there's nothing comparable.

Nick (05:08)
Which, that would be comparable. But we're never gonna see that.

Yeah, and the Dodgers didn't have the regular season that they've had the last couple of years, but I mean, they're just waltzing through this postseason. And now they'll just wait and see if it's gonna be the Mariners or the Blue Jays as they try to win back to back World Series.

Neil (05:50)
Yeah, I mean, I don't see any way of stopping the Dodgers. mean, the starting pitching that they have, the three headed monster, and the rotation, and then the offense that they have, it's gonna be a tall task for whoever comes out of the AL.

Nick (06:04)
No, and I mean, that's the thing too. It's not just him either. Like their rotation has been incredible throughout the whole postseason. We went through the numbers on that in our last podcast and in an era where we're seeing starters not, you know, go six, seven, eight as often as they used to. They're kind of old school in the way they're pitching is set up and the money they spend allows them to do that. yeah, whoever wins, you know, in the ALCS, don't.

the Dodgers just roll and I don't see how they're gonna get knocked off.

Neil (06:36)
And then speaking of the ALCS, we talked about the Mariners lineup and who was hitting and who wasn't hitting on the last podcast. And I was rooting for my guy, Gino Suarez, and he had had quite that good of ⁓ ALCS up until game five. And in game five, he came alive, didn't he?

Nick (06:56)
Well, yeah, I mean, they needed him to.

Neil (06:58)
Yeah. yeah. What? Two bombs had that grand slam in the bottom of the eighth. What tied it to hits that grand slam basically puts them up three, two in the series. So they're on the doorstep now.

Nick (07:10)
Well, he's always been a streaky hitter. So you got to hope that he keeps that hot bat as they come out to Toronto for game six tonight. But we talked about it. If he got his bat rolling, mean, the Mariners are going to be dangerous. And now they're one win away from getting their first ever World Series. I mean, it'd be fun to watch the Mariners try to beat the Dodgers and get that first World Series. But just playing in it for the first time, that fan base deserves that.

Neil (07:37)
No, there's no question. Like they, they would be awesome to see. There's no doubt.

Nick (07:43)
And always fun to watch the big dumper, watch him get a few more A-Bs in the fall classic. So we'll see if the Mariners can clinch their first ever World Series tonight. And I guess we need to get into a little college football, a lot of good games. I think we need to start off with the one on Friday night as our own Louisville Cardinals took care of business and knocked off the previously undefeated Miami Hurricanes.

Neil (07:47)
That's right. yeah.

How about that? I mean, what a game. What an absolute game. Jeff Brohm 4-0 now against top five teams when his team is unranked. You know, he pulled some tricks out of the bag, started off that first drive with ⁓ the fake field goal, up the first score, and you know, like got a little creative with the offense, took a 14-0 lead, you know, they played well. The defense especially played well. Miller Moss played well. Chris Bell, like the entire group.

Nick (08:38)
Yeah, I mean, the thing with Miller Moss is, I mean, yeah, he threw for 250 yards. It's probably his best game of the season, but he didn't throw any picks. And they won the turnover battle four to one. They had the one Isaac Brown fumble, but you pick off Carson Beck four times. And it's gonna put you in a good situation to win the game. Isaac Brown didn't look to me like he was 100 % healthy, but he still had over 100 yards and average almost eight.

Neil (08:44)
No turnovers. That's right.

Yeah, 15 from 15 carries 113

yards. So I mean Isaac Brown. He looked good for most of game. You know minus that mistake he had late, but he did look like guys at Isaac Brown of old.

Nick (09:14)
Yeah, and Chris Bell looked like one of the best wide receivers in the country. everybody had 135 yards and two tutties, so.

Neil (09:19)
Yeah, I Chris Bell.

Nine,

yeah, nine for 136, first Cardinal with three straight, 100 yard receiving games since Tutu and 2-2 Atwell in 2019. So Chris Bell, he's making some money now. I mean, he's proven with his size and his speed. I mean, that's the name you're gonna see on Sundays, know, years to come.

Nick (09:40)
And even dating back to his Purdue days, these are the games that you see Jeff Brom figure out a way to win a lot. And he's continuing to do that with Louisville and on the other side, Cristobal. It's the 10th time that Miami's lost as a favorite in his tenure. So if you kind of broke down the numbers going into the game, I don't know if the result would actually surprise you.

Neil (10:03)
No, I mean, we've been talking about the Louisville offense, but let's give some credit to that Louisville defense. absolutely. I mean, four picks, they held Miami to 63 rushing yards on 24 attempts, which was 2.6 per rush. And coming in, Miami averaged 163 yards on the ground. So they stopped the run, they forced Carson Beck to actually have to throw the ball. And when he did, I mean, the coverages were great. mean, some of those picks were absolutely, how they caught it, I mean, was, I mean,

Nick (10:11)
Well, I said they have four pegs.

Neil (10:33)
incredible TJ Capers with that last second or that last drive pick where he caught up with his fingertips. I mean, the defense were in great positions. Like I said, stopping the run, making Beck throw the ball, and it was just a great game plan all around.

Nick (10:48)
Yeah, and we talked about where we thought maybe the cards would be in the poll and 19, right? So, and now they get a BC team next week for homecoming and gotta keep the train moving.

Neil (10:54)
Nineteen? Nineteen?

Keep it moving. That's right.

Nick (11:04)
So looking at what game you want to talk about next.

Neil (11:08)
I mean, we got the Hoosiers

Nick (11:12)
Well, you wanna talk about your

boy's extension first because we talked about this a lot last week how it was very likely that he wouldn't be at IU and they broke out the piggy bank.

Neil (11:16)
you

They sure did. mean, eight years, 93 million. So it's 11.6 per year. Third highest paid coach now in college football behind Kirby Smart and Ryan Day. So, I mean, they're serious about it. They ponied up, you know, they said, we're serious about this. We want football to have long-term success, even as a basketball school. So good for them, locked them up. So all those rumors can be put to bed and, you know, like they came out and took care of business against Michigan State. I mean, they...

They struggled a little bit early on the defensive side. were down 10-3, but then after that they just put it on them, ended up winning it 38-13. And I mean, once again, Mendoza, he might be the Heisman favorite.

Nick (12:05)
He's up there. ⁓ But I just going back to Cignetti, like you really do just have to give the administration credit credit for just absolutely unloading and give giving him that contract because what he's done for that program is it's unprecedented. I I talked about last week how, you know, they've been mediocre at best throughout the pretty much their tender. And now for two years, they're going to go to the playoff both years. And if he loses your

there's a very good chance you're going back to where you were. And the administration didn't want to risk that. they haven't been, they're a basketball school, but they haven't found the success in basketball that they, you know, yearned for recently. So you've got this guy, football coach, and lock him up and do your thing there and good on them because it's pretty crazy to watch with IU being one of the best football programs in the country.

Neil (13:02)
Number

two in the new poll, IU football ranked number two in the country. Who would have thought that would ever be a thing?

Nick (13:10)
No, it's, ⁓ yeah, I never thought I would know. Like not even, not even a question, but it just, makes you, makes you realize if you can get a coach and a QB, you can win in this NIL era, but you, gotta get those two things right. And obviously you've got to have other pieces as well. But if you can get those two pieces and then plug in everything else, you've got a chance to win. It's just, that's a really hard thing to do.

Neil (13:40)
You're right.

Nick (13:42)
So the number one team is still Ohio State and nobody can score against them. Like shut out Wisconsin. And here's the scary thing. Julian Sand is getting better and better every game. Three for 400 yards, four touchdowns. Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith combined for 200 yards and Tate had two receiving touchdowns. Wisconsin had 144 yards. So and they are what? One, they're seven and

And in those seven games, Texas scored seven, Grambling scored zero, Ohio scored nine, Washington scored six, Minnesota scored three, Illinois scored 16, and two of those touchdowns were late. Wisconsin did not score. They have allowed 41 points in those seven games.

Neil (14:26)
That's that is insane. That's just insane how good that defense has been all year. I mean, they're they're just you know, they're just whooping teams left and right every Saturday. I don't there's nobody that's in my mind. There's nobody that's going to slow them down. They are by far and away. I think the favorite right now to repeat is a national title.

Nick (14:46)
Well, and their offense is just getting better. A.N.'s getting more comfortable. And if that offense gets clicking, you know the weapons they have on offense. And if their QB's figuring it out and playing the way he played on Saturday, they're going be tough to beat. But I will say one team, Alabama, looks like a team that might be able to play the way Ty Simpson's playing right now. You know, they just went through this incredible stretch.

Neil (14:49)
They are getting better.

Nick (15:16)
of they're the first team in SEC history to win four straight games against right teams with no buy when and they beat Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee. And you know all this talk about Kaelin DeBoer, his record against in ranked matchups, he's 15 and two with the 882 win percentage was the highest winning percentage of all time.

Neil (15:40)
I mean, yeah, like they, after that, whatever that was against Florida state to start the year, I don't know, but they quickly fixed whatever was wrong with them because they are just rolling teams right now. Like I said, like Tennessee was a good team coming in Tennessee ranked number 11 and Alabama just goes out and beats them 37 to 20. I mean, they just took it to them. And like, as you said, Ty Simpson, two more touchdowns through for 253 yards. And then, you know, it was a decent game early.

And then that last play of the first half and 99 yard pick six ⁓ kind of put that game away. ⁓ Took it to a three score game at halftime when Tennessee was driving to make that a one score game. But Alabama is just rolling teams right now and outside of Ohio State, they've got to be probably in my mind the second best team.

Nick (16:27)
Yeah, I don't think there's question. And, but yeah, you're right. That 14 point swing at the end of the first half is just, you're going into score and instead they're straightened down the sideline and getting six on their own. It's just, it's hard to overcome something like that. ⁓ we saw, we saw it at the beginning of the Georgia Tech Duke game where Duke was going into score and on the first drive of the game and they had a scoop and score where they ran at 98 yards and those plays where they just go the other way. It's just, they're demoralizing and

Neil (16:46)
Yeah, yeah. Double six, yeah.

Nick (16:55)
When you're playing a team as good as Alabama, that's something that's really tough to overcome.

Neil (17:01)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, if you don't play in your perfect game, you're against Alabama, you're not going to have a chance. And Tennessee was not perfect and they found out.

Nick (17:11)
And the Georgia Ole Miss game, you're wondering if anybody's ever going to get a stop. Just going back and forth. Saw both Curvy Smart and Lane Kiffin with their antics on the sideline. Not sure who burned more calories, but they both were very animated on the sideline. I mean, it looked like Ole Miss had that 10-point lead, and then all of a sudden, everything flips in the fourth quarter.

Neil (17:16)
That's a lot. Very ice-cold.

Nick (17:39)
Georgia outscores them 17 to nothing. Ole Miss had 13 yards in the fourth quarter, and Georgia kind of cruises there to win. ⁓ Stockton was 12 for 12 for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the second half.

Neil (17:53)
Yeah, I mean, Stockton played like, he played well. He mentioned like in the second half, but he only had five incompletions for the game. He was 26-31, 289, and four touchdowns. No picks, four touchdowns. Like that's getting it done. And Georgia, like you said, Ole Miss looked like they had it. They had a good game plan. They were up going to that fourth, and then just looked like they ran out of gas. I don't know. But high-scoring game. A lot of fun to watch.

Nick (18:20)
No, it was great. it was the first road SEC game for Trinidad Chambliss in the first three quarters. I he played great. And then I don't know if Georgia switched things up defensively or what in the fourth, but it just was a totally different game. And Georgia goes on to win ⁓ by eight in that one.

Talk about the Vanderbilt game going on at home and beating LSU. It's their first season with multiple top 15 wins.

Neil (18:52)
Yeah, I mean, it's the first time that they've been six and one since 1950. I mean, think about that. So it's 75 years. This is the best record they've had in 75 years. I mean, they've got it rolling. mean, Pavia, another great game. You know, had one touchdown throwing, but ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns. I mean, the confidence in Vandy, like they're a confident team and they're good team. So I mean, if you don't bring it, like they're going to beat you and they're probably, if you think about in the SEC landscape.

They've gotta be probably one of the top three, four teams in the league.

Nick (19:25)
I mean, I don't know. It's such a good league. We haven't even talked about Texas A yet, who's still undefeated. I mean, what they're doing at Vandy is incredible. And if Pavia plays the way he played yesterday, mean, they're going to give Bama more of a challenge than they did a couple of weeks ago. ⁓ And like I said, he only had one rushing touchdown, but he had the...

Or he had one passing touchdown, but he had the rushing touchdown to give him the lead late. And then at the end of the game, he makes that smart play and slides down at the three to just let the clock run out. And I don't know, and ⁓ LSU got their offense rolling a little bit, their offense has struggled, but I just don't know how good LSU really is, to be honest with you.

Neil (19:59)
Yeah.

No, mean, Vandy had a good game plan. They ran for 240 yards on LSU and LSU came into the game, the 21st ranked rushing defense in the country only giving up 102. So Vandy just took it to them and they just straight out bullied them and beat them. You said, I don't know how good LSU is. Their offense has struggled for most of the year. They finally did put up some points. They put up 24 points yesterday, but the defense couldn't stop them. So you fix one problem and all of sudden you have another.

Nick (20:41)
I know, just, wonder if the fan base is getting a a little tired of Brian Kelly up there or down there in Baton Rouge. But we need to talk, well, that fake accident, yeah. We need to talk about Texas A ⁓ And I think Mike Elko probably loves it that they're sitting there undefeated number four in the country and not too many people are talking about him. But they go to Arkansas, they're playing.

Neil (20:49)
He's got that accent going though.

Okay.

Nick (21:08)
know, Petrino in his second game as the interim head coach and figure out a way to win that one 45 to 42. But we've talked about it time and time again, no matter how you win, as long as you can get that W, that's all that matters.

Neil (21:20)
Yeah, and they're they are racking up the W's. There's no doubt about it. Like you said, nobody's really talking about him. They're not. They don't know. They're not blowing teams out. They're not. Like a sexy style of football, I guess. I don't know, like they're just kind of quietly there and their top five teams. I guess they're up to number three now, probably in the polls with Miami dropping out, but nobody's talking about him. It's probably like you said, how they prefer it. ⁓ You know, I don't know what their remaining schedule looks like, but they haven't played, you know, the Georges or.

They haven't they haven't played Vandy yet. And like I said, Vandy is probably one of the best teams and they haven't played the Ole Misses of the world yet. you know, coming down the stretch, I don't know what their schedule left to look it up, but yeah.

Nick (22:01)
They have LSU, Missouri,

South Carolina, then non-con game against Samford, and then they close at Texas. So for really, I mean, as far as being in the SEC, their schedule's pretty light.

Neil (22:08)
for nothing, really nothing, but it's too tough.

Yeah, I'll say it's nothing too tough the rest of the way. So they're in the driver's seat to get to Atlanta for that title game.

Nick (22:19)
Yeah, I I would imagine they're gonna be favored in every game. Looking at that schedule, so.

Neil (22:24)
Yeah? Yeah?

Nick (22:26)
And Oregon, after the loss last week, absolutely rose, Rutgers 56 to 10. Georgia Tech remains undefeated with the 27 to 18 win at Duke. They got 17 points in the fourth quarter to kind of put that one away. Notre Dame gets a late kick return touchdown to kind of get some separation in the USC game. They ran for 300 yards. Love ran for 230 yards in a touchdown himself.

Oklahoma got back on a winning track against South Carolina 26 to 7. BYU remains undefeated with the 24 to 21 win over the Utes. And you got to love Bear Bachmeier Freshman QB, doesn't look like a conventional QB, was committed to Stanford, never played there, transferred during the spring season and ended up at BYU and wears number 47 as a QB.

Neil (23:02)
Yeah, the whole world.

Nick (23:23)
You gotta like that.

Neil (23:24)
I do love that. I do like that.

Nick (23:27)
And he's got a brother on the team. His name is Tiger.

Neil (23:32)
Okay, I like tigers. Bear and tiger. Do any other animal siblings? Do have a lion in there or maybe a giraffe?

Nick (23:32)
So bear and tiger. Yeah. So.

Well, they might have a brother named Giraffe. I'll have to look that up. I'll have the information on the next show. We'll talk about Snake and Giraffe, the two younger brothers.

Neil (23:54)
Thanks.

Nick (23:57)
⁓ Texas beats Kentucky in overtime.

They had a hundred and what, seventy nine yards.

Neil (24:10)
Hmm.

Nick (24:11)
and they had eight first downs. Kentucky had 26 first downs to Texas's eight. Kentucky had 395 yards to Texas's 179. And in a Kentucky fashion, they figured out a way to lose.

Neil (24:27)
Yeah, like if you're a Kentucky fan, you're looking at that and you just like, how did you lose this game? Like it's almost unfathomable when you look at those stats on how you only had 10 points or 13 points in regulation. Like you need to win the game. Like you dominate a game like that, you have to find a way to win. And they did somehow.

Nick (24:47)
Well,

and you get a 22 yard play on the first play of overtime. You get down to the three.

Neil (24:52)
And then you just,

and then you try to jump over the goal line from the five yard line twice. So same play. Yeah.

Nick (24:58)
They run the same play twice. And

it clearly was not going to work on third down. And first off, if you're going to jump into the end zone, you jump from the one or the two, not from the five. And then you do it twice in a row.

Neil (25:17)
The first one wasn't even close not even close yards short and then you're like hmm That was try this one again, and you're still two yards short like I don't know. I don't understand it. That's that's how you lose but They had no business losing that game and somehow

Nick (25:19)
No!

But if I blindly

told you before, if you didn't watch this game, and I said one quarterback was 12 to 27 for 132 yards, and one quarterback is 31 to 39 for 258 yards, which one are you gonna think is Arch Manning and which one are you gonna think is Cutter Bully?

Neil (25:51)
there's no question you would think that the second one would be Arch Manning, he, you know, like some of these throws he was making like the Texas receivers were open and he's just throwing it behind him. He's throwing it at their feet. It's like, I don't know what's going on for like the hype that he has and the talent that he has. He was just off yesterday.

Nick (26:12)
I mean

I don't know, there's just so much pressure on him and it hasn't been the product that everybody had expected it to be. But I just can't imagine having that amount of pressure to be so good at what you're trying to do when really you haven't done anything before this year and he walks into that the Ohio State game in the first game of the season expected to be one of the best players in the country.

mean, it's not even close right now to that.

Neil (26:46)
No, it's not. It's I don't like they they come off a big win last week, you know, against Oklahoma in that in that rivalry. And you know, you go into Kentucky and Kentucky hasn't played well, you know, this year. Do you expect them to kind of dominate? And you know, have it. And Arch Manning was a big part of why they struggled yesterday. So I, yeah, I don't I don't know if there's an answer. I don't know what the fix is, but maybe it was just an off game. But he he's had a couple off games, you know, this year. So.

But like you said, the pressure of being a manning and all that came with it and him being a preseason Heisman favorite and all that, it's tough to live up to. He's not, to this point, he's not living up to that.

Nick (27:26)
Yeah, and I mean, just the media and I mean, everybody wants to talk about it because he's a manning and it's just it's part of the business, right? ⁓ But it's it's got to be tough for him right now.

And I guess next week, big noon kickoff is going to Bloomington for the Hoosiers and the Bruins on Saturday, the noon game.

Neil (27:46)
I

mean the Bruins three straight wins since Arian Foster was fired. So you know like they they're they're they're better now than than what we thought they were. So you know I you can't sleep on them. So they've got to come play the play play a good game if they're to go out with a win.

Nick (28:04)
So yeah, a lot of good games in college football. It's hard to believe we're over halfway through the season already. But and then to get in the NFL, think we got to start off with Thursday Night Football. were there. The Bengals rallied late and Evan McPherson's field goal with nine seconds to go puts him up 33 to 31 as the Bengals knock off the Steelers and keep their season alive.

Neil (28:16)
Yeah. Yeah.

Do we get like a commemorative Icy Hot Bowl trophy? they, know, is Joe Flacco get a one year supply of Icy Hot to rub on his muscles or how's that work? Cause Joe Flacco, he came out and he was fired in all cylinders, man. And he played a great football game threw for 342 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. Like he had this Bengals offense looking like the Bengals offense should look, you know? And Tee Higgins and Jamar Chase were on point. Jamar Chase setting the franchise record.

16 catches, had 161 yards in a touchdown. Tee Higgins got in the end zone. I mean, this Bengals offense finally got a running game going with Chase Brown, who was over 100 yards on only 11 carries for 108. So this Bengals offense looks like the Bengals offense we expected them look like with Joe Burrow. It's just a different Joe that's under center.

Nick (29:19)
Well, that's I mean, the running game is a huge key, huge part of it. I mean, this first time they ran the ball a year, but I want the trophy. You talked about the trophy. There should be a big giant bottle of Icy Hot and it should be presented by like Shaq. Like he should have been there at midfield at the end of the game and a big bronze bottle of Icy Hot within like the lid could come off of it and the light could shine. But yeah, we'd like you saw Louisville. had Howard Snellenberger's boots trophy.

Neil (29:30)
Why not?

Haha.

Yeah.

boots. Yeah.

Nick (29:49)
So they could have done something similar to that, but I think it would be really cool if it would have been Shaq that presented it to them.

Neil (29:56)
Yeah, mean, Shaq is the most famous spokesman for Icy Hot. So yeah, I would agree with that.

Nick (30:01)
But no, just, we talked about the struggles of Jake Browning and you see Joe Flacco in his second game as a Bengal The weapons that he has, he's just absolutely giddy right now. And he's getting the ball out quicker than Jake Browning was, which I mean, he's a veteran. knows, the offensive line has looked better because I don't think they had to protect as much, but.

We throw it to your guys, dude. That's what he's doing. That's why you paid Jamarr and Tee the money that you did because they are both number one wide receivers and they both need to get the ball. And Joe Flacco did that on Thursday night and they were able to establish their run game with Chase Brown averaging 10 yards of pop, which prior to tonight or prior to Thursday night, we, they were lucky to get him average two to three yards of pop. So

Neil (30:37)
Yes.

Nick (30:56)
If you can get the run game going with the weapons that they have, that makes the offense really scary. mean, and Joe Flacco is just going to sit back there with the experience, make the throws that they're open. I Jamar Chase was just running the same route over and over and Pittsburgh couldn't do anything with it. I mean, you said it's 16 catches, dude. He had a million, like a million targets every single time. Just throw it to Jamar.

Neil (31:14)
Now, Here.

Yeah,

he absolutely abused Jalen Ramsey on Thursday night. I Jalen Ramsey was turned around. He didn't know what was coming. He couldn't stop him. They put him on T Higgins and T Higgins made him look silly as well. you know, but credit credit to the gameplay. I mean, I'm hard on Zach Taylor. I don't think he's a great coach. I think that the talent that the Bengals have the talent of the Bengals have mask a lot of his deficiencies, but he he called a good game and I don't know how much of the game he called because after the game Joe Flacco said he didn't understand half the plays that were being called.

They kind of improvised half of them, whatever. But I think most of it was probably Zach Taylor, the kind of the game plan that he called and he said getting the ball out quick, not relying on that offensive line to have to protect the quarterback for three, four or five seconds in the pocket. So I'll give Zach credit his flowers, Zach Taylor, his flowers for this week. Hopefully, moving forward, we see more of this.

Nick (32:09)
Well, yeah, this like this team's not going to win if they're not scoring points and they really hadn't scored points all year. I mean, I guess in the Jacksonville game a little bit, but they really hadn't scored points all year and it's just their defense not going to be good enough to win 13 to 10 games. ⁓ But you talk about Zach Taylor and you talk about the T play, the clincher where he slid down at the three yard line where he easily could have went in and scored and

Neil (32:36)
Yes. Yes.

Nick (32:39)
You know, it's a very unselfish play, but you can't let your defense go back out there with a minute to go or how much time was left? Like 20. Yeah. Yeah. You can't let them, they're, they're going to score and you're going to lose. So yes, but, but you talk about giving Zach Taylor credit, like he's in their ear during the play call saying, Hey, if you get loose,

Neil (32:40)
very insult.

There's, when he slid down, was over a minute, it was about a minute 30.

There's no doubt in my mind that that defense would not have held up. would have won that game.

Nick (33:08)
get down inside the five. And because you know your defense isn't very good, know Trey's not out there and they make that play. And I mean, you just feel so much better about Evan McPherson kicking a 35 yarder than you do with the defense stopping the Steelers for the last minute.

Neil (33:27)
Yeah, no, there's no question. Your best chance to win is exactly what happened. as you said, credit goes to Zach Taylor for reminding the guys, like, hey, if you are loose and you are breaking away and about to score, get down because the game is gonna basically be over. And even with seven seconds left, I was holding my breath because Aaron Rodgers just launched the ball 70 yards like it was nothing. I'm like, ⁓ damn, like, uh-oh. And then the defense made a good play, knocked it down.

Nick (33:56)
I mean, everybody talked like how they're both 40 years old, it's the second time and well, the second match up Breeze and Brady did it several times, but I mean, they both look really good. Both Flacco and Rogers look really good.

Neil (33:56)
No breathing.

Yeah, man, I just

moved around. We didn't get much pressure on. had no sacks, but sometimes we actually did get a little pressure up the middle. I mean, he just ran to the outside. He escaped the pocket like he was 25 years old and just flings the ball. He throws the ball so effortlessly and throws it so far so effortlessly and accurately. It's it's incredible what he's doing at his age.

Nick (34:27)
Yeah, and I think you also need to give the fan base their props. After the stripe out two weeks ago against Detroit where there were so many Lions fans and a lot of blue in the crowd and the stripe out was terrible. The white out was, it was awesome once again.

Neil (34:36)
great

Yeah, and this

is we've been to multiple Bengals Steelers games and this to me, and I'm assuming a Thursday night had a lot to do with it. This is by far and away the fewest Steelers fans I've seen in Cincinnati in any of the games that I've been to. So credit to Bengals fans for not giving away their tickets and selling their tickets. Coming out, sell out crowd wearing all white. It looked great. The fans were great. The atmosphere was great. So kudos to the Bengals fans.

Nick (35:09)
And kudos for the Bengals for saving their season because you lose that one. It's ⁓ the Steelers are pretty much running away with it. And Mike Tomlin now, I mean his comments before the game where he talked about Cleveland and how ridiculous it was that they traded Joe Flacco to an indivision of rival, which I mean, I agree with him. I agree with him. It's wild to me, but he's hating that trade even more now.

Neil (35:31)
He's right.

No, he's right. If he was good enough to be your starting quarterback, what are you doing trading them to a division rival in their one position of absolute need? It makes no sense. But thank you, Cleveland.

Nick (35:45)
Yeah, Joe Flacco and the Bengals saved their season and what game stuck out to you today?

Neil (35:54)
⁓ I think it's more of the domination that the Kansas City Chiefs put on the Oakland Raiders. I mean, they got Rashid Rice back and he's in the end zone twice today. Unfortunately, the Chiefs once again are the Chiefs and they're good. So I think the domination of the Chiefs says a lot about where they are and where they're going. And, you know, they're looking like probably one of the favorites in the AFC once again.

Nick (36:16)
Well, mean, domination kind of is a key for a lot of these games today. The Rams just absolutely dominate the Jags in London 35 to 7. The Browns put it on the fish mammals 31 to 6. Yeah, Mike Vrabel and the Patriots after being down early just completely put it on the Titans 31 to 13. So a lot of blowouts today and what the Cowboys.

Neil (36:30)
We need a welfare check on our guy Carl.

Nick (36:44)
put it on the commanders 44 to 22. So a lot of blowouts today.

Neil (36:49)
Yeah, a lot of blowouts and another one that was ⁓ a 14 point game, but once again, I gotta give myself credit. The Indianapolis Colts on the road against a pretty good Chargers team put up 38 points. They win that game 38-24 in a game that really wasn't close throughout. Like the Colts dominated from start to finish and they're looking like a team that they can do some things.

Nick (37:00)
What?

Can we just point out the fact that you opened that by saying, I got to give myself credit. I got to give myself credit. But no, The Colts, mean, week after week, they just keep doing it. Justin Herbert threw for 428 yards. But I think a lot of that when they were down big in the second half.

Neil (37:18)
I do not give myself credit. You won't give me credit, so I'll give myself credit.

And he had some, he'd do that

pick in the end zone, he had some mistakes that really cost the Chargers in that one.

Nick (37:45)
But I mean, Daniel Jones once again throws for almost 300 yards and Jonathan Taylor rushes for just under 100 yards and just, I don't know.

Neil (37:54)
They're

doing it. I don't know how they're doing it, but they're doing it.

Nick (37:58)
I think they're going to move up on our top 10 list when we do that again on Wednesday.

Neil (38:02)
Yeah, yeah, they'll climb and the New England Patriots. I mean, I know that like you mentioned, like it was a dominated instrument in Tennessee and Tennessee is just absolute garbage. But how good does that feel for Mike Vrabel going back to Tennessee and just sticking it to the team that let you go a couple years ago?

Nick (38:19)
I mean, it's got to feel really good. ⁓ But I mean, everybody knew that the Patriots weren't going to win that game. know, ⁓ the Titans weren't going to win that game. The Titans are terrible. They got off to an early lead, but they weren't going to maintain that. ⁓ Since Vrabel was fired by the Titans, the Titans have four total wins in 24 games since he was fired.

Neil (38:31)
Titans.

Oof.

Nick (38:49)
The Patriots have five wins this year.

Neil (38:51)
It's probably, one of the most baffling. if you're a Titan fan, you've just got to be like, what are we doing? Like, what is the plan in tennis? I don't see a plan. I don't see a way forward for them. Like it's, a down in Nashville.

Nick (39:08)
I mean, they've changed GMs two or three times in last five years. They changed head coaches. Like, like they're gonna have a hard time finding somebody who wants to come in there and be a head coach with the volatility in that front office. And I mean, it's just, it would be really hard to be a Titans fan right now. I'll just say that.

Neil (39:32)
I know a guy who might want to take that job because I don't think he's going to be coaching college football much longer. Chapel Bill. Put Chapel Bill down there in Nashville.

Nick (39:43)
Yeah, I I'm sure they take him. And I'm sure he'd, I mean, I guess he'd do better there than he's doing to North Carolina because you can't do much worse than that.

Neil (39:55)
Maybe his young girlfriend will take him out to the honky-tonk, teach him how to line dance a little bit. It'd kind of fun to see Chappell build down there with some cowboy hats on down in Nashville.

Nick (40:05)
Yeah, she also might find her country music singer and move on from O'bill. So not sure he wants to do that.

Neil (40:09)
I could be.

I could be.

Nick (40:12)
⁓ who's who's as bad as the titans the jets

Neil (40:18)
The Jets, the only team that has not won a game in the NFL is the New York Jets. And once again, they don't put up, they don't score a touchdown again. Two straight games now with no touchdowns.

Nick (40:29)
Yeah, and Justin Fields was benched. mean, the Jets were favored in this game.

Don't ask me. They were favored by a point and half. ⁓ But yeah, the Jets are terrible. The Bengals get to see them next week. Hopefully they remain terrible for at least one more week. ⁓ And another team who's joined in that list is the Miami Dolphins. I mean, one and six, two of today had 12 completions for 100 yards and three picks.

Neil (40:48)
That'd be nice.

And he got benched too. saw that they brought in, yeah, Quinn Uers came in. So, I mean, I don't see McDaniel, if you lose that badly to the Browns, like, do you have a job tomorrow?

Nick (41:05)
viewers.

I mean, there's speculation. I don't know. I mean, you just never know with these things. But it's not like the Browns lit it on fire. mean, Dylan Gabriel threw for 116 yards. Jutkins was the star as he ran for 84 yards and three touchdowns. But not a ton of offense in that game, but man, the Dolphins just look awful.

Neil (41:35)
But like, no, but like,

when you heard Tuas comments last week after their game about how players are skipping, you know, meetings and nobody knows if it's mandatory to go to this or voluntary to go to that and players aren't showing up for this and that, players are late to this, there's just seems like there's no leadership, there's no direction. it's just, nobody cares down there is basically the vibe I'm getting based on what Tuas said. So.

If the culture is that, how do you not make a change?

Nick (42:08)
I don't know. I mean, two years ago, he was one of the hot young coaches in the NFL. And it's just gone. And when you're, when you're winning, you can wear those high capri pants with your, your tags still on your shoe and you don't look ridiculous. But when you're getting beat as bad as they did against the Browns and you're dressing like that, you kind of look like an idiot.

Neil (42:32)
Yeah. ⁓ he does look like an idiot. There's no doubt.

Nick (42:34)
So and

I mean, two is, I mean, he just signed his extension. So I don't know what they're gonna do because I don't think he's a terrible quarterback. I don't know what's happening down there. I don't think the weather was great and he's kind of struggled in bad weather games in the past. So maybe that's just kind of what it was, but they got issues down there in Miami.

Neil (42:53)
Nah, I don't think he's very good.

I don't think too was very good, to be honest with you. I think he's regressed a lot from when he first joined the league. He's finally healthy, and when he was healthy in the past, he was good, but something's wrong, but he's not very good.

Nick (43:13)
Yeah. And I guess another one we need to talk about is the Broncos rally from 19 down going into the fourth quarter to win 33 to 32. They scored zero points in the first three quarters and then put up 33 in the fourth. Jackson Dart, they got a pass interference at the one Giants did with under a minute to go. And then Jackson Dart sneaked in with 37 seconds left.

to go up 32 to 30 and then the Broncos get down in field goal range and Lutz hits a 39 yard at the buzzer to win 33 to 32 but 33 points in the fourth quarter to win the game after not scoring in the first three.

Neil (43:58)
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of reminiscent of what they did in Philly two weeks ago when their offense was just non-existent. Then all of sudden in the fourth quarter, they came back from what, 17 or something down against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road and got that W two weeks ago. So I don't know. I hate it because I don't want the Broncos to win because they're going to be right there with the Bengals. If the Bengals have any hopes of making the playoffs, they need NFC teams to beat these AFC teams.

I don't know.

Nick (44:26)
The Falcons and the Niners playing right now and then tomorrow night there's two of them, but one of them is really interesting as the Bucs go to Detroit. I think we had in our top 10, we had the Lions and the Bucs as one too on Wednesday.

Neil (44:41)
Those are one too.

That's right. Where is that game in Detroit or is it down in Detroit? Yeah, I mean, Baker Mayfield, talked about him being one of the MVP front runners. So this is the chance for him to set himself apart from others in the league if he can go up there and get that win ⁓ with Tampa. Tampa's played all these close games. I expected another good one tomorrow night. So now this is a chance, another opportunity for Baker Mayfield to show he's the real deal.

Nick (45:11)
Yeah, but I do, where you started, think that is the story of the week. The chiefs are kind of back to being the chiefs that we're accustomed seeing. And I mean, I don't think the Raiders are very good, but just to put it on them the way they did. they did commit a penalty this week too. That's so they committed, they committed five. ⁓ We did get a lot of comments on those posts saying, they had four penalties, but they were declined.

Neil (45:30)
Hey! Look at that!

Doesn't Nope, doesn't matter. That's when the official throws the flag after, know, ⁓ they already got a game, we'll throw a flag, just throw the, throw them a bone just to say that we threw one and knowing it's gonna be declined. Nope, not buying it.

Nick (45:40)
Those don't go into box score people. Those don't go into box score.

Yeah, so good weekend of file action. Looking forward to the Bucks Lions game tomorrow night and we'll be with you on Wednesday to talk about that one. But I guess, you know, to kind of close, had the Giants are looking for a new manager and looks like they're getting closer and closer to potentially making a hire like we haven't ever seen before as

Neil (46:14)
Yeah.

Nick (46:25)
the Tennessee Volunteers head baseball coach, Tony Vitello. Looks like he might be the guy for the job, which Buster Posey's doing things a little different in San Francisco because we've never seen anything like this.

Neil (46:39)
No, this would, I mean, this is unprecedented. This would be the first time in Major League Baseball history that, you know, a college coach takes an MLB managerial job with no prior professional experience. Never coached, managed or anything in professional baseball. I think you mentioned, what is it, this Tennessee job was his first head coaching gig of, if anywhere.

Nick (47:00)
Yeah, he took the job in 2018. And since then, they've been to those supers three times, 21, 23, and 24. And then of course, they won it all in 24. Before that, he was an assistant at Arkansas TCU in Missouri. And he played at TCU. He's only 47 years old.

Neil (47:20)
Yeah, no, like I'm good for the Giants. I actually think this could be a great hire. He's a very fiery guy. I mean, very passionate. Like if you look at the, what some of the things he does and you know, he's very animated and dug out, hook it after the manager. So you fire up his team. He'll go after the other team sometimes do and the other team's manager. So very fiery guy. ⁓ I think he's probably will resonate well with the players. They could be a players manager. So, you know, instead of recycling some of these fired managers that are out there in Major League Baseball.

Why not go for a new younger guy that, you know, who's had success ⁓ in the college game and see what he can do? Why not?

Nick (47:57)
Yeah, I mean, to me, the college game is so different than the bigs. It'll be a huge adjustment. And that's probably why we've never seen something like this before. I do wonder if there's like a previous relationship between Buster Posey and, you know, Vitello. Maybe they already kind of know each other. Maybe that's playing a role in this. I'm not sure. ⁓ But let's be real, the college game and Major League Baseball are so different.

Neil (48:01)
It is. Yeah.

Nick (48:26)
every aspect of it. But it'll be interesting to see. if it works, maybe it'll become something that happens all the time. college basketball and football are more similar than baseball to Major League Baseball. And you don't always see college coaches have a ton of success at the pro level in those sports either.

Neil (48:46)
No, you don't. Even the greatest college football coaches like Nick Saban goes to the NFL and kind of fails. So, no, it doesn't work out very often, but like I said, we've never seen this in baseball. So maybe it'll be different for that sport, but I'm anxious to see. mean, it's not official yet. He's not hired. It could come within the next couple of days, hopefully, but I'm very anxious to see how this turns out because I think it could go well.

Nick (49:15)
Maybe you could be the Pete Carroll or the Larry Brown. There's been coaches that have done it, that have had success with it. It's just more often than not, it's not successful, so.

Neil (49:19)
Yeah? Yeah?

now.

Nick (49:29)
But now, exciting week in football and I'm excited to watch Shohei, whoever they play in the World Series next week. See if maybe he have four home runs and go seven innings and strikeout 13.

Neil (49:41)
I wouldn't put it past them. I think you could do it.

Nick (49:43)
Yeah, so you got anything else?

Neil (49:47)
Nope, nope, we're approaching college basketball season coming up, so, you know, got the.

Nick (49:52)
Dude,

that is something to talk about. Like these exhibition games. What's your thought process on it? Like Kentucky's playing Purdue, Louisville's playing Kansas, and these exhibition games where normally, I mean, you remember when we played athletes in action, like when we were kids, you know?

Neil (49:54)
Yeah. Yeah.

athletes in action and

yeah, we have who else do we have athletes in action and. ⁓ Globe global all stars or something like whatever they were called. Yeah, no, I think this is absolutely great. ⁓ It's it's a good test for your team. See where gauge where you're at before the season starts and you know you'll get exposed like if you have flaws they will get exposed and it gives you a chance to fix them because you know some of these teams that you used to play. I mean, it's.

Nick (50:15)
Yeah.

Neil (50:33)
What do we do? It's a practice basically. Like you don't know if something's wrong with your team or they're not good in one area. Like it doesn't show up, but it will show up when Louisville plays Kansas and Kentucky plays Purdue and some of these teams I think Vanderbilt already played Virginia. I saw Nebraska played BYU and that freshman from BYU was, how do you pronounce his last name? DeBonse had 30 points in that game. He was the number one overall recruit. ⁓

Nick (51:00)
I'm gonna let you tackle that one.

Neil (51:02)
Yeah, I I can't pronounce the last name. But anyways, they these these early season, you know, exhibitions good for the NCAA for allowing these finally to happen. It gives fans. When's the last time that Louisville had 20,000 fans for an exhibition game? Like they're not coming for Kentucky Wesleyan. No, but people are talking about this Friday night. The Yum! Center is going to be the place to be because number one, the expectations that Louisville has. But number two, we don't see Kansas. We've never seen Kansas come in to Louisville. So it's something

Nick (51:18)
Never, never.

Neil (51:31)
something fresh, something new. It gives the fans to see their first look at this Louisville team and see how good they are.

Nick (51:38)
I think it's awesome. like a lot of people don't know these games are happening already. They're just they're just closed. So like Louisville might potentially play a Kansas where they but they just do it in their practice gym and nobody sees it. But if you're going to play teams like this, you might as well do it in front of the fans and get them a chance to see both teams. And they're making money and they're going to a lot of them are raising money for charities with these games. Right. ⁓ So.

Neil (51:50)
Yeah.

some money and you make some money.

Yeah, Louisville, Louisville second

game against Bucknell is a friends of V cancer foundation ticket money from ticket sales goes back to the V foundation on that one. So yeah, you're right.

Nick (52:18)
So lot of good things coming from this and it's better basketball too. And don't expect it to be pretty because it's probably not gonna be pretty. But it'd be like that on both sides but.

Neil (52:30)
And

in win or lose, if Louisville beats Kansas or Kentucky beats Purdue, doesn't mean that they're going to win the national championship. And if they lose to Kansas and they lose to Purdue, doesn't mean that they're a terrible team. So like, you can't really read much into it. I think I saw in the Vanderbilt Virginia game that just happened, they played for 48 minutes, they did quarters. Like it was, it wasn't just like your normal. So I don't know what to expect on Friday and how they're going to do it. But it's not your normal game and you're going to see different lineups and it's not really.

going to be what you're going to see in this regular season, but it will be entertaining.

Nick (53:03)
But you know what, that's another maybe fun thing for the fans. Because in these close scrimmages, like you might play three quarters and then just like, hey, let's just blank the board and let's just run out of bounds plays. So you might see stuff like that, which fans might get a better look at kind of what goes on behind the scenes a little bit too, which could be exciting. Because you're right, I bet they don't just go out there and play two 20s. So, but.

Neil (53:31)
job.

Nick (53:33)
It's ⁓ kind of wild that college basketball is almost here, but we'll have plenty of college basketball coverage here on the height differential as we are in the Mecca of college basketball country.

Neil (53:47)
And gotta give a shout out to our favorite women's basketball team, the Jeff Walls led Louisville Cardinals preseason number 20 in the AP poll.

Nick (53:54)
Let's

go. Yeah, excited for that team too. A lot of new faces. See how they gel and they get the privilege of starting the season out in Germany against the defending national champions.

Neil (54:07)
Well, that's

TBD with the government shutdown. So they're still working on that. So we'll see where they play. They'll play Yukon. There's no doubt about it. It might not be in Germany. We'll see where they end up, somewhere on the globe.

Nick (54:11)
Yeah, for sure.

Just not sure where it's going to be.

So now basketball's almost here. We're in the height of the football season. It's a fun time to be a sports fan and just make sure you're coming back every week to the height differential. Subscribe on all of the platforms who are everywhere. Spotify, Apple, YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcasts, we are there and we appreciate all of y'all listening. But I think that's all I got for this one.

Neil (54:45)
Yep, that's all I got. Yep.

Nick (54:46)
But

for the tall idiot over there, I'm the short idiot. That's Neil. I'm Nick. We'll talk to you on Wednesday.