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From the five-yard line, Burro catches the shotgun snap. He throws it into the end zone. Chase makes the catch on the back line for the countdown. It looks like the Bengals will go for two with 38 seconds to go to try to win the game. Burro takes the snap. Ravens bring bliss pressure. Burro throws to the end zone. It's incomplete. It's incomplete. And with 38 seconds left to play, the Hayes in the barn. Oh, what a wild way to It's going to end it tonight as the Ravens will sweep the series from the bangles and improve to seven and three.

A game so good, we couldn't start it with just one call. 35, 34. Ravens get the win in Baltimore. That was Dan Hoard on WCKY. It was Jerry Sandusky on WBAL, a game that we're going to be remembering for the rest of the season, maybe for a few years as two incredible quarterbacks have two incredible performances, and a failed two-point conversion is what ends it, and not without some controversy. And I'm here with one of the most controversial guests in NFL Daily history. It's nick Wesling from Cincinnati. What's up, nick?

Oh, not a whole lot, Greg. I think you touched on everything in that game there. Had big momentum swings, if you believe in that thing. And, yeah, perfect throw from Burrow at the end there to score the countdown. Great catch by Chase. And then, yeah, you could complain about the calls, and it was a bad miss call, but it is what it is. Those things happen. You can't leave it in the hands of the refs there. And the bangles had no reason to lose this game. They should have won this game. They had a couple of bad plays that turned the game around. A couple of penalties early in the first half that put them behind the chains when they were unstoppable otherwise. So they could have easily won by two touch downs, but what a coda.

Yeah, it's been the story of their season, and we'll get all to that. Of course, nick Westling, our friend, the brother, the namesake of our studio, Chris Westling, of course, and famously not a bangles fan. Not even just a little disappointed tonight in this moment. That's what nick says.

I tell you all the time, I'm a casual bangles fan. I'm not a diehard. I don't really live or die with it. It is what it is. Yeah, it is.

I cheer for him, but... I feel bad for your bride, and I hate the Thursday night football guest curse. I keep having on a guest that is on the side of the losing team, but we'll go through it all. I thought you made a good point that, yes, you can get mad at the calls. I thought the missed hit to the head of Burrow is the egregious one on that last call. They should have gotten another chance at the one-yard line. I think Ryan Fitzpatrick made a fair point right after the game on Amazon that, look, Burrow is not looking to Gussicki's side. For them to miss that call, it doesn't affect how that play happens. The officials, sometimes miss it when the quarterback's not looking to that side or throwing to that side. It's understandable. It ultimately didn't really impact that play because Burrow was going the other way anyway. Threw it a little high, one of the few throws all night that wasn't exactly on target. But you got to catch the hit to the head on Burrow and get another chance. And it's disappointing because what it does, nick, is it just is another talking point instead of what we should be talking about, which is this back and forth and the missed opportunities that the Bengals had and the Ravens ability to just keep answering down the stretch and the Bengals defense collapsing.

But what I'll remember more than anything, I think, is how incredible Joe Burrow was on that last drive. That's why it's a shame for it to end that way, because I'm watching on the Prime Vision version of the broadcast, and they got the sky cam now. They just installed the sky cam last couple of weeks. A few of those throws he made on that last drive were cinema. I mean, that 21-yarder to Chase with anticipation as he's getting absolutely blasted, throwing that thing blind in a perfect spot, that's amazing. That final touch down to chase, there's two defenders between him You can't really see it on the side angle. They showed it again on the broadcast. I don't know if any quarterback-wide receiver combination in the NFL is completing that pass, then those two LSU dudes who are so in sync, Chase goes for 264 yards and three touchstones in the game, and they hit it. So it does feel a little anticlimate that the very next play, they don't get the two points, and there's a potential penalty that's missed.

Yeah. Phil and my brother Phil, and you and I are on that group text, and I almost texted it, but I said, I'm going to save it for the after-show. Oh, yeah.

Way to go.

I almost text you that it was Shades of Tom braided the way he was hanging in there and just timing it, floating the ball perfectly to a spot, knowing his receiver was going to be there. It looked just like him on that last drive. I guess Tom braided and the Patriots would have gotten that two-point conversion in their prime.

They would have gotten the call. I'll speak for all bangles fans that say that. They would have gotten the call, and then they would have run it in with James White Yeah, you're right.

That's to your point that these bad calls. I know Cincinnati fans are a little tired, and there's this narrative that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs get all the calls, and that's one that you would assume they would get, and maybe that's the difference in what they're complaining about. I didn't see anything outside. I know those calls are there and they're missed. I didn't see anything, too, to agree, just except one holding call on Trey Hendrickson, where the guy, he's about to staff Lamar Jackson, and they absolutely tackled him. I can't remember how I'm losing the left tackle's name there for the Ravens. Roni Stanley. Roni Stanley, yeah. He did a great job on Hendrix in all game, by the way. I told you that was a talking point before the game that I thought the bangles needed to get pressure or they would get destroyed. And he did a great job the whole game on Hendrix, except for that play where he tackled him. I guess you could say in the end, he did do a great job.

Right. He got away with it. I'm glad you brought that up. There's a lot we can get to, but I think the difference in the pass rush is really important when comparing the two quarterbacks. So yes, Lamar Jackson ends up finishing with four touch downs. Was absolutely clutch in the biggest moments like he's been all year. So overall, a really good performance. But through two and a half quarters, they weren't getting anything done. And Lamar was protected well all night. The Bengals totaled one quarterback hit all night, zero sacks. So he was just sitting back there with time to and not finding a lot of receivers open for much of the game. Would you like to guess how many quarterback hits the Baltimore Ravens had tonight?

Eleven.

Thirteen quarterback hits on Joe Burrow. I believe he was pressured over like 45 % of the time. I'm bringing up the stats here on next Gen. And Burrow was... It was one of, if not his best games of the season. I actually think Burrow's season has just been a hair overrated because I've heard a lot of Bengals fans say like, oh, he'd be the MVP if they had a defense, and he's been the best quarterback in the league. And the only thing I would say is that their offense has directly contributed to their previous three late and close losses that they had, where they had chances to go win the game, and they made pretty big errors. And sometimes it was Burrow making it the first time against the Ravens. They had a chance to put the game against the Chiefs away with a fourth-quarter drive, and they just didn't. And they left open the door, and they didn't get the call. And I know that happened. Same thing with They had a chance to go win the game, and they had their worst drive of the game against the Patriots. So that happened. And even tonight, it wasn't Burrow who made the mistake, but it was Chase Brown, who's fumbled, opened the door and really changed this game around.

But tonight, I can find no fault through Joe Burrow's performance. That was freaking incredible. Even the fourth and 10 on that final drive to Yoshavas, where, again, his offensive lineman, Volsson, got beaten so fast off the snap. It was by Travis Jones. The Any other quarterback, I think, is not completing that. He had to throw it a half second early. He's getting blasted all game long. He's fighting through injuries. Yoshavas makes the tough catch to keep that drive going. And he was electric all night, so he deserved better. And somehow, I think a quarterback playing this well is going to find his way to the playoffs. The season is not over, nick, at four and six.

Yeah, I've talked to you about this before. I think the bangles offense, if you look historically over the last three or four years, they're a rhythm offense. And when they're in rhythm, the play calls seem easy. Everything seems easy. Joe Burr made it look easy today. I don't think it was. No. But really, people are going to point to the Brown fumble. They had to chase Brown fumble there as the turning point, but it was really that mistackle by Cam Taylor-Britt and then Logan Wilson. I don't remember which safety it was, that whift on pushing a guy, pushing Wallace out of bounds on that big long shutdown. But they were up 21-7 before the fumble. They give up the shutdown on short field. It happens. But then you just let them... That should have been a six-yard game, easy tackle. And instead, it goes for 70 yards or 80 yards in a countdown. You just can't do that and expect to win games.

Yeah, that's the thing about this loss is when you lose, the bad plays get magnified. And I did think about all the other ways they've lost games this year. And that play, you're absolutely right. Let's actually listen to it from the Baltimore radio broadcast.

Jackson in the gun. He wants to throw on third down. Quick release, and it's complete. Tyler Wallace breaks a tackle. He's on the 30. Steve arms a man. 35, 40. Midfield down the sideline and play 30, 20, 10. Touchdown, Ravens. Tyler Wallace. His biggest play since a walk-off punt return a year ago. Eighty-four yards, and the Ravens are right back in it.

And that's a microcosm of the Bengals' defensive season because Kim Taylor-Britt doesn't take a good angle, doesn't get him out of bounds to begin with. Not a great play by him. But the bigger problem to me was Logan Wilson is just jogging over there for a while, realizes, oh, the play is still going, has a half-artet shove, and then Tyler and Wallace is gone. And then their safety play has been bad all year. Von Bell was bad in this game. Gino Stone has been not good. They missed Jesse Bates, and it was Stone that takes a bad angle there. And so that's early in the fourth quarter. And they're cruising midway through the third, nick, before that Chase Brown fumble. Suddenly, a couple of plays later, the Ravens finally get a quick touch down. And just a couple of minutes later is that defensive breakdown. And that's the stuff that's been happening to the Bengals defense this year.

Yeah, they haven't been good. And I know people are saying, well, they've played better in spots But it's been against bad teams. They've looked really... The defense looked very stout against bad teams. And against the good offensive offenses. They've been absolutely torched. This is another game that I really was halfway through the third day going to be like, hey, man, I was completely wrong about my evaluation of this game. I thought it was going to be a shootout. It didn't turn out that way. And I'm thinking, is something going to happen here? And like you said, even on that drive with Brown, they had already gotten one with Brown fumbled. I think they had already gotten one first down. They were going to another one before he fumbles it. It would have been, I think, second and one or third and one on that play if he doesn't fumble it. They looked unstoppable, really. And it's these long, drawn out drives that they were doing. And then they get the quick hits because of it.

So what are you looking up there, Rick? I'm going through our long text thread here, nick, because that feels like 15 hours ago. At that point, it was 21 to 7 bangles. They had the ball. They had just gotten another stop, and they're starting deep in their own end. And I'm thinking, wow, this is really set up for the bangles to just grind them into dust with some long, slow drives. And you're right, Burrow hit a big third down early in that drive. And I'm saying, okay, this is it. I'm rooting, let's go nickel and diamond to death, and now it's over. And a second later, that fumble happens. And as good as the bangles defense was, and it was Really good. Let's review it. Through midway through this third quarter, this is what had happened. They had given up seven points. They had given up the TD drive. They had forced four three and outs on the Ravens, the best offense, not just in the league, but one of the best offenses through nine weeks in NFL history. They had forced five punts that already was the season high in any Ravens game. They haven't punted five times in any Ravens game.

And then suddenly, the next four drives on a short field, TD, the tile on Wallace blows it, TD, and then it was just over. The next two TD drives after that were just more regular Ravens just looking like an awesome offense at a spot where, look, if the Bengals had gotten a stop either time there, Joe Burrow was showing them he was probably going to keep scoring, and they would have won that game, and they couldn't. And they gave up four straight TD drives to end the game. Brutal. And got to give the Ravens credit, too, for getting off the mat after not really having any answers for a while. Lamar did some amazing things.

Yeah. Having Mark Andrews playing 100 % now is great to see. He looked tremendous in this game. He's a great security blanket, and he's just fast enough to beat those linebackers over the top. He had a great game. I've told you in the past that I think flowers is incredible. He's nifty in space. He can make people miss. He's a good route runner. He seems to always be open, whether they give it to, throw them the ball or not. Yeah, it was a wild game. I didn't want to talk all about the bangles because the Ravens did come back and play a great game.

Oh, don't worry, nick. I don't know how many Thursday Thursday Night, you've listened to. We're just getting started. Let's actually listen to one of the crazy moments of this comeback, which was the Lamar Jackson scramble that got them to the one-yard line where he had backed up all the way to the 30. Next Gen stats say he traveled 58.1 yards on this scramble. Let's take a listen.

Lamar wants to throw from the shotgun. Drifting to the right, backpedaling the 30-yard line, spreading, coming down the near sideline, tiptoeing down the sidelines. He's in the 15, 10, 5. Lamar still on his feet. He's in the 1, and he stopped there. What a play by Lamar Jackson.

I mean, that's just you don't see anyone but Lamar Jackson do that play. And that was after the fumble. There was no guarantee that suddenly they were good on track. That play kickstarted their offense finally playing well.

Yeah, I agree. When I texted you, I won't say the exact words, but when big guys are trying to chase down Lamar Jackson, it's not going to end very well for the big guys. Not speaking from experience or anything there, because I'm very fleet afoot. But Are you, though?

You say you are. You talk a lot of trash about the athlete that you were when you were younger.

When I was younger, I was very fast. Now, in a straight line, I can still run fast for a big guy anyway.

I'm not buying this at all.

I'm sure there's video evidence out there somewhere. You could ask my wife or something. But anyway, I wanted to make one point about Lou Aneromo. He talks a lot about three and outs when he's in front of the press, and that's the key to this defense. And you saw it tonight, and when they got him off the field, you saw heads hanging on the Ravens, hardball looked confused and angry on the sideline that they couldn't move the ball. But that's what I say, the offense and the defense aren't jiving really well because they're not in sync. And when the defense has played well, the offense hasn't really put teams away.

Right. Because look, the Bengals get a shutdown on the very first play of the third quarter. That was a 67-yarder to Chase. We'll listen to the Chase touch downs in a minute. But after that, actually in the second half, after the fumble, they let the Ravens back in this game because they had a quick punt there. For all the issues that the Ravens defense had in this game, and there were many, they actually did force three punts and had the bangles turn the ball over on downs twice, and there was a fumble. So it reminds me a little bit of that classic, I think it was Thursday night game between the Rams and the Chiefs, where the score was absolutely bonkers, but there was actually more defense than you remember played in it, a lot of key stops. And one of the things that was interesting is three So there's a lot of different times in this game, nick, the Bengals passed on really long field goals. One would have been 58, one would have been 57. The other one would have been 51 to go for it. And they weren't successful. They don't really have a lot of faith right now, maybe, in Evan McPherson, I guess, from over 50.

And it's funny because three years ago, this was the matchup of the best two kickers in the league. Right now, it's Justin Tucker who's really struggling. He missed extra point, could have loom large in this game. And then Evan McPherson, who's maybe not what he once was. Nick, not a lot of faith there.

They have reason not to trust him. He's been very inconsistent. Even the short field goals, sometimes are just sneaking in. I don't know. Chris used to say that kickers were head cases. They get on a roll and they can't be stopped. And the first kick they miss, suddenly they're in their heads. So maybe Chris had a point there. They are streaky. It's just like any other position. You get on rolls and you go. We've gotten spoiled because we've seen so many kickers just nailing 55 yarders on regularly now. Fifteen years ago, you would question whether you'd ever even kick a 55 yarder unless the game was on the line. I think we have high expectations of those two, and they've just let us down this year.

It was an interesting night by Zack Taylor. Early on, he goes for it on fourth down. He gets it, and Then I brought up the two times where they passed on the really long field goals and then failed on the fourth downs. They end up two for four on fourth down. He also had a very gutsy, I think it was Tanner Hudson sneak over center at his own 39. That's one of those plays that if they didn't hit it, he would have gotten killed for it, and they barely got it. It was a good effort by Hudson, but they did get it, and then they go for the two at the end of the game. It was interesting because I don't think Zack Taylor from a few years ago is going for all these fours, but I do give him credit for recognizing the team that he has, and I think playing to it. And ultimately, we didn't even talk about this. I think it was the right decision to go for two at the end of the game. The The only argument against it was there was still a lot of time on the clock.

So even if you got a two, I'm not counting out the Ravens from getting a field goal there, but that speaks to also why you go for it, because if they lost the coin flip in overtime, and they might not win the game anyways, even if you get the two, it's like you got to be aggressive.

We also in the first game played very conservatively for that long field goal in regulation and in overtime. I think it was maybe it was just overtime.

I might have been in both. He threw the interception. Burrow, that was one of the things that was sticking in my head, where he had just a couple of plays, even in great performances. He had the interception in regulation, and then in overtime, yeah, they got conservative.

Yeah, but then they got conservative in overtime. And either you trust your guy to be a world-class quarterback or you don't. And that's my problem in the first game. This game, you're right, the defense wasn't stopping anything. So if the Ravens got the ball back, I think they score. Yeah, I don't know about 30 seconds left. I don't know how many. I think the Ravens still had a timeout or two there, but they weren't going to... I don't know. The bangles weren't going to stop me over time.

I wouldn't count it out. The way they were going now, I don't know if Tucker hits that kick, but it would not have been that difficult to get into field goal. We've seen it.

Certainly not over time. I wouldn't trust the bangles. I don't trust the bangles to stop anyone anytime. It is what it is. To your point about the conservative calls from a a couple of years ago, he could do that because he could rely on his defense to get stops. So, yeah, you do punt the ball away or kick field goals because you know the defense is going to come up and make big plays. They don't make any plays. It's the biggest difference between this bangles' teams and the good ones from the past few years. The turnovers are killing them and they're not turning the ball over in these key games. So they're giving them up and they're not getting them. The first Ravens game, they had that interception. Now, I know they got that fumble late in the game that could have scored. It was an overtime late in the game. I'm getting confused. But they had that fumble late in the game where they could have scored, and then they got conservative and didn't. And in this game, they're down again. You mentioned the Patriots game earlier, the beginning of the game. They had two fumbles in that game, and one was going into the end zone, and the other one was a big momentum killer because they would turn the tie to that game.

That's the biggest difference. They're turning the ball over too much, and they're not getting turnovers on the other side.

Right. Ultimately, you're up 21-7. You've played a nearly perfect game midway through the third quarter in Baltimore. You can put that all in the defense, but that's on everyone. That's a team that's finding ways to lose this year, which is It is surprising, and why, ultimately, I'm not giving up on them because their offense is just that good, and the defense has shown flashes. But they're at four and six, and their best case scenario is going to be the team that no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs because they are not winning this division at this point after being swept by the Ravens who are now seven and three, and they're just not going to be able to catch up. They're at LA next week on Sunday night football. That's a really intriguing game that has been flexed in. Then they have a buy. Then they play a good Stealers team at home. Then they're at Dallas, at Tennessee, home for Cleveland, home for Denver. That is a nice stretch. So if you can get this Chargers and maybe Stealers game, this Chargers game really looms large. Then you finish the season in Pittsburgh, which could be a fascinating...

That could be the week 18 Sunday night football game for the bangles trying to get the 17. I I think it's over. But if they had just won tonight, nick, it would have just felt so different. The division would have felt possible, and it really would have felt like, okay, we got wind in our sales. Every time they get close to having to happen this year, it's like these games, they find a way to not make it happen.

Absolutely. This is what the bangles do. This is why I can't be a fan. I'm sure you saw it with the Patriots for years and years. They did everything right to win these close games when it came down to it or these big games. And you're seeing it with the Chiefs now. The Chiefs don't look like a good team, but they keep win. I shouldn't say they don't look like a great team, but they keep winning games because their defense is making plays and they have Patrick Mahomes making just enough plays.

Right. And they're stacking and they're figuring things out as the season goes along, which is not what this Bingo's team totally feels like, although I do feel like the offense is getting better and better. I do want to just give some love to Jamal Chase.

He did it without Tee Higgins tonight, too.

Right. That's huge. Because you look at the box score, and it does tell you the story. Chase ends up with 264. Chase Brown ends up being the number two receiver on a bunch of checkdowns, nine for 52. He had a couple of routes, but it was mostly checkdowns. And then it's Taylor Hudson and Gusecki who get 42 on 30, not that efficient on 16 combined targets, nothing out of their other receivers. He goes to Jermaine Burton in a couple of really crucial spots. He makes one catch in five targets. There was a sequence where they still had the lead late in the game. And Burrow made some curious decisions to go very deep, once to Chase into double coverage. And then once, when Chase was coming open on fourth down, instead, he goes to Burton one-on-one down the field, and he misses the throw or the timing just wasn't there to Burton. So that was a weird decision. People are blaming Zack Taylor, and I'm like, you can't blame Zack Taylor on that. Joe Burrow is a big boy, and he's making decisions on what to do. And he went for the riskier throw, and it didn't work out.

And you got to take the good with the bad when it comes to that.

Both of those plays, he had pressure, and he had to release the ball when he had to release them, too. So if he's got that extra quarter second, maybe he sees Chase, or maybe he just did made up his mind, I see this coverage. I'm going there, and he got the coverage. So I don't know. I wasn't watching the Prime Vision. I should have been.

The new sky cam is crazy. The old Prime View, which is like the all 22, if you get a game pass or whatever, that's cool. I mean, I like it, but the sky cam is so unique. I just haven't seen anything quite like it before, live during a game. And I recommend everyone check it out. Yeah, talking about the pressures, let's give a shout out to the Ravens Passrush. Seven pressures for Matabuike today, his best game of the season. Three sacks. Owe with seven pressures, Van Noy with five, Travis Jones with five, a couple more players with two a piece. And a lot of those were quick pressures. So they were ultimately better on the line. They missed Orlando Brown in this game. And yet they were incredible. Burrow, the first drive of the game, hits a bunch of third and longs in a row before setting up what was the first of the long touch downs to Jamar Chase. Let's listen to that. Burrow will look to throw, moving to his Nice.

Now he throws over the middle, and he's caught on the run. Chase at the 45, angling toward the Far Island at 30, 20, 15, 10, 5. Boom. Boom. Touchdown. Jamar Chase does it again. He's dancing in the back of the end zone, turning a short pass over the middle into a 67-yard highlight.

Okay, that was not the first drive of the game. That's my fault, of course, setting that up. But that was the first long Chase touch passing. That dude is just so special. He has the vision of a running back. It's just crazy how he weaves and he sees it all before it happens. While we're here, let's just listen to both long, throws to Chase. Let's listen to the first play of the Bengals' offense in the second half.

Burrow back to throw. Guns in deep downfield. Chase is open. Catches at the 30. Middle of the field, 10, 5. Touchdown. 70 yards as Jamar Chase is putting on one of the great shows in Bengals history. How What the heck did the Ravens let Jamar Chase run right past him?

Here's how. Marcus Williams has been killing the Ravens all season. He bites and doubles Mike Gassicki, thinks Burrow's going to Gassicki over the middle and let's Chase get over the top. What did you think of Chase stretching that play out for about 10 seconds? Like Chris's old favorite player, Steve Smith, used to do back in the day?

I think I mean, yeah, talk about an all-timer there. Anyway, I think it was in response to Lamar doing his little dipsy-doo into the end zone on the previous thing. He stuck the ball out and then pulled it back and then whipped it into the stands. I think it was just in response to that. I don't know. You could just jog into the end zone at that point, or you can show off a little bit, whatever you want to do. I mean, if you're the world-class athlete, you get to make those decisions. I don't.

I like it. I mean, I like it. They're a little spicy. I saw Burro and Lamar with a great exchange after the game. I mean, the mutual respect is off the chart. So if you can add a little spice and a little back and forth, it's fantastic. Yeah, you mentioned that was the two-point conversion that Lamar Jackson, I believe you're talking about, went in on, which was a huge play in the game, too, because otherwise, that Tucker missed extra point would have been massive. And there's a lot of differences you can come up with in this game. But the fact that the Ravens hit their two and they have that ability of Lamar to run on a night where Derrick Henry was fine. But one of his quietest games of the season, 16 for 68. Early in the game, they were really hugging the line of scrimage. A lot of defenders up there. And that's the thing. The Bingo's offense, the defense was pretty tough and did get the Ravens a little discombobulated for a while.

They did. They did a good job. Even in the first game, they did a very good job against Henry until that long run in overtime. That got it for the Ravens. I think at that point, they had only had 40 or 45 yards before that big run in that first game. And you saw something similar. I mean, they're not afraid, and that defensive line isn't afraid to play the run. Again, they didn't get enough pressure when Lamar dropped back, but they did contain Henry well. I don't even know why they were bringing Hill into the game. Every time he got the ball, he got tackled for a loss. So just beat it to Derek Henry all game long. I don't know why. Every third down, he would go out, and I get it that he's a better receiver and all that, but I don't know. I'm not afraid of that guy. I'm afraid of Derek Henry.

Right. Before we go, and I appreciate you, nick. One of my favorite people on Earth. What a week this has been for me, personally. I have your favorite, LaKisha Jackson, wrestling at the house last weekend and got to see her at work a couple of days. This week, which is such an amazing treat, something special. When she's in town, it was so great catching up. And we were talking about Chris and just catching up on old times and everything. And now seeing you in a typical, not so typical, a bengals loss, but a heartbreaking bangles loss. I wish Chris could have seen more of Joe Burrow because I think he would have gotten- Yeah, he knew it.

Yeah, Chris knew it. Even before that Super Bowl run there, he talked about it early in that season. And he was just built different. So, yeah, I wish he would have, too.

Yeah. And he did know that things were changing. Just a couple of just little notes here. Emptying out the notebook here before we go. Kyle Hamilton, unfortunately, left this game with an ankle injury in the first half. That would be devastating for a secondary that's not playing well. The fact that it was an ankle, if it is just an ankle, maybe that's It's good news that it's either a one-week injury or high ankle sprain. It's a three-week injury. Whatever it is, hopefully, it's not something more serious where they're going to have him back. They're seven and three now. They're fighting with the Steelers for first place in the AFC North. It's officially a two-team race now, and they're going to be going to the playoff. So as long as they can get Hamilton back at some point, that's going to be really important for them. They had another acquisition recently, Deontay Johnson. We'll see how this thing goes. It's off to It's a slow start. Do you remember that play right before the half where Deontay Johnson just is not urgent at all, getting out of bounds on a play on his only catch? And then another play where he's on a scramble drill and trying to make a big play.

He slips and falls and isn't on the same page as Lamar Jackson. So we'll see. But Deontay Johnson, I was excited for this pickup. They didn't give up anything for it and give it some time. But he's also been an up and down player. There's a reason why I think the Steelers didn't want him around. So we'll see how that turns out. It did not turn out well tonight.

Yeah, the Kyle Hamilton, when you saw it happen live, you couldn't see the contact originally, and I thought it was one of those noncontact injuries, and I was really worried. And then they share the replay and you see him step on, I think, Logan Wilson's foot there and turn his ankle. So, yeah, that was a little bit of a relief. I mean, we'll say, I have to wait. I'm not a doctor, but we'll have to wait to see what happens.

He had a walking boot, they said. He actually returned to the sideline with a walking boot. I saw him in the boot, but... A good It's a sign that it's some version of a sprain. Of course, a high ankle sprain would be very serious. So we'll see what he is. And then, yeah, it was interesting. Jermaine Burton has been more of a headline newsmaker in your neck of the woods than nationally. But it has been quite a story in Cincinnati, how he didn't show up for practice after they were going to really feature him in the game plan. And I thought, doesn't that mean they should just not not activate him this week? How can you count on a dude like this at all? And instead, they activate him, play him a ton, throw him five targets in key spots, and it didn't go great.

Yeah. You saw this stuff in college, the rumors that were coming out of his schools that he didn't try that hard or he wasn't engaged very much, or he wasn't interested in learning the playbook. And I don't know what's true and what's not. But yeah, in town, there's some people that are up in arms saying they should be playing playing him more because you can see some of the talent you could in preseason. But I don't know. I didn't see much separation at all except the one completion he had. That was more Burrow just launching it. As soon as he turned around, it hit him in the numbers, and he had no choice but to catch it on that one, I'm not seeing the explosiveness that everyone else is apparently seeing. He's okay. We'll see what happens. But yeah, is he worth the headache? I don't know. I'm not inside the inside the room. But yeah, to not show up on a walk through on Saturday when it's your first chance to shine in a game plan all year. I just don't understand it. Obviously, I don't know what's going on with them, but we'll see.

We'll see if I hear anything else, I'll let you know.

Yeah. And the Ravens, they came into this game, they knew it was a big game. I didn't love that Harba set this tight. I'm a little nervous because it's a big game, not really playing Being a calm coach early with this terrible challenge and then a really stupid time out when they had 12 men on the field, when the penalty there would have only moved them like a yard anyways. Some bizarre... It was reminding me of a Ravens' playoff game. We're not to bring back bad memories, where just everyone seemed a little tight in that first half, and obviously, they got on track. And now they are seven and three. And man, their schedule coming up is fascinating. They're at Pittsburgh in week 11. And so That is for first place. And then they're at the Chargers in week 12. That's a Monday night game. And then they're home for the Eagles in week 13 before their buy. So get ready. To me, the Ravens with that schedule, they are in the very center of the NFL. I do like how the schedule shapes up for the lions and the Ravens coming up where they're all in a bunch of really big games against big teams.

And this was a big pass. They've been the opposite of the bangles. They're coming through these close games when they're in them this year.

Yeah, except for the couple they didn't. But yeah, they- That's a great point.

Right when I said that, I was like, was that a stupid It's interesting to say because the Raiders and the Chiefs game to start the year, especially, were not in the Browns game recently. You're right, they could have just been losing two out of three games if they had lost. So shut up.

You see chatter on Twitter and things like that. I don't know how serious it is that people don't like Harbaugh. I think he does a good job of featuring his best players. When you have Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, it's probably pretty easy to coach, I would imagine. But yeah, he does a good job of featuring his players. Now, the defense hasn't been great this year, especially against the past. But I think they'll be fine. And the people that are saying that he needs to go or he's not as good as people are acting like he is. They're crazy. They're crazy.

Yeah, they are crazy. They're crazy. Todd Munket is doing a great job. This actually was the least I've seen the receiver's open in a while. So the Bengals did something right. The route distribution was a little weird. But they're doing a great coaching staff. And They're a coaching job. They're a team that usually improves as the season goes along, especially defensively in December. So that's something to watch. I've kept you up late enough, nick. Appreciate you. Hope to reconvene at At some point, again, on NFL Daily this season. And in the meantime, hope all the Westalings in Cincinnati and Columbus, although you don't seem as nice to the Columbus crew. You got to be nice to your brother Phil, nick.

I mean, I'm always nice to Phil. Me and him are bros. No, I'm not nice to him. And he's a big Columbus crew fan, and they got tossed from the playoffs early this year. So they can go somewhere else.

I'm on the Wesleyan Brothers text thread, and we're getting Columbus crew trash talk. I was like, I don't even know. You're speaking a different language. It sounded like you might have had a couple. You had thrown back a couple at the bar that day, judging by the tone.

You never know with me. I don't remember. But, yeah, I Probably something like that.

I appreciate you, nick, for hanging out. We will be back on Friday on NFL Daily. And Cynthia Freeland joins me to make some pics. I was hot last week with three and oh with my pics against the spread. You want to throw out a pick just last second? On the spot, you have 2 seconds, nick.

I don't even know who's playing this week.

Okay, so tune in Friday. When nick can come up with a pick, you know football is back.