B (2:38)

Yeah. I learned a valuable lesson with when this happened and this is why I'm going to be nice to you today. Because it's important to know influential and powerful people. And Joe Burrow has a lot of influence on the Bengals. He wanted Chase sign Higgins signed the tight end sign and Hendrickson, they all got signed. That's what he wanted. So the Bengals did the right thing. They're clearly going for it this year. They can franchise tag Hendrickson after the season, but the number might be at 38 million. So I think you're right. So that's probably not going to happen. But you got on me yesterday for not giving enough stats. Here's that with a defense and he's outstanding. I get it. But last year the Bengals, you know, only five teams scored more points than they did, but they allowed more points than just five other teams. So I get it. He's a terrific defensive player. But is their defense good enough? And the other issue with Cincinnati, they scored 33 or more points six times last year. They were 2 and 4 in those games. They scored. They don't stop anybody. I gave you stats today. You wanted them. I gave them to you.

C (3:41)

Honestly, they're pretty good stats. And they also are indicative of how I feel about this defense, which is Trey Hendrickson doesn't fix their problems at him last year. They were terrible last year.

B (3:50)

That's right.

C (3:50)

He also, for all of his pass rush prowess is not a great run defender, Frank. And in the preseason that is what concerned me the most. When they played their starters against Washington, they just got gashed on the ground and I don't see that getting better this year even with Trey Hendrickson in the lineup which could keep that all star offense off the field altogether.

B (4:09)

Yeah. And Zach Taylor said this in January, we have to be better at the start of this season. Said everyone signed. Seems that everyone is healthy. This team under, under their head coach in the first two weeks of the season are a combined one and 11. Mina. I mean it's just they're constantly playing from behind. Right. You can't win like that in the NFL always being 02 or last year. Oh and three. Right.

C (4:32)

That is a wild stat given that Joe Burrow has played in many of those games. He's been hurt a little bit in the past, but yeah, that is not something you Want to see them continue?

B (4:40)

You're right. All right. Elsewhere in the afc, the Raiders picked up two notable names. First, the teams traded with the Browns for quarterback Kenny Pickett. That's pretty interesting. Then they brought back free agent wideout Amari Cooper. This as the team's top pass catcher, Jacoby Myers has requested a trade. So Mina, what do these changes do for Las Vegas?

C (5:02)

The Picket trade is more about Aiden o' Connell being injured. I'm surprised actually that the Browns got a draft pick back for him. It's a good piece of business for them given how many quarterbacks they had on their roster. The Cooper one I think is valuable Veter for an offense that Frank, I think is going to take a lot of people by surprise this year. First of all, they have I believe the single biggest upgrade at the quarterback position in the NFL. Geno Smith, despite being under loads of pressure last year and yes, throwing some interceptions, finished second in on target rate behind Joe Burrow. We were just talking about fifth league wide completion percentage over expected. You pair him with Ashton Genty and hopefully an improved run game. Perhaps the best tight end in football in Brock Bowers and Chip Kelly who has changed a lot since he was last in the NFL. I do hope that they get the Jacoby Meyer situation resolved because I think he is needed on this offense. But I'm telling you, this Raiders offense, they could put up a lot of points.

B (6:00)

You know, it's. I like what Pete Carroll said, you know, having a guy that has experience is huge for me. So that's. He's talking about Pickett and you're like you mentioned Geno Smith and I think about the team that Kenny Pickett just left and they have a 40 year old quarterback, Joe Flacco and now Kevin Stefanski just announced within the last couple of hours that Dylan Gabriel is going to be the number two quarterback. And then obviously Shador Sanders moves up on the depth chart. He's now number three. And you know, if you're on Cleveland, I understand. I think for the Raiders it's a smart move for them because they're going with at least a guy that has some experience. But when you look at it from the Cleveland standpoint, can you at least admit they're taking some huge risks? And we, we mentioned it yesterday. There's going to come a point where Dylan Gabriel's going to play and there's going to come a point this year where Shador Sanders is going to play as well.

C (6:48)

Yeah, Pickett leaving certainly makes it more likely that we'll see Sanders because previously he would have been fourth in line. I like the fact that it gives both of those young quarterbacks more reps, honestly, because Joe Flacco is going to start to nobody's surprise. But more likely than not, they're going to move on from him at some point, whether it's because of injury or poor play. And the fact that they now have three quarterbacks instead of four, which was quite a bit, frankly and very unusual in the NFL. To me, that seems like better team building. But Frank, I go back to what I said yesterday. I do not think the Browns 2026 quarterback is on their roster. Yeah, so they'll see what they have in Gabriel and Sanders, but I'm skeptical.

B (7:25)

I got to ask you this. What do you think the dynamic will be between Pete Carroll and Tom Brady? Because, you know, I saw the way the dynamic was with Tom Brady and Wayne Rooney. You know, as it relates to Birmingham, over in England, the soccer club, it looked Tom Brady to me is going to be pretty hands on. I wonder how Pete Carroll. What do you think about that?

C (7:42)

I think it's going to go well and I like their decision making thus far because I think the two of them both wanted Geno Smith, Tom Brady. That guy knows a thing or two about quarterbacking. All right, let's move to the nfc where the Saints have finally made a decision at quarterback. First year coach Kellen Moore chose Spencer Rattler as New Orleans Week one starter over rookie second rounder Tyler Schuck. Frank, was Rattler the right choice?

B (8:05)

I thought for sure you were going to say, oh shucks, I thought for sure you were going to say that if depending on who you talk to, a lot of people think the quarterback competition was pretty even during the preseason. What this tells me is that the rookie who was the 40th pick overall, by the way, that is the highest quarterback selected by New Orleans in the common draft since Archie Manning. And that's in the 70s. That is a long, long time ago. So I think we know that this team's not going to be very good. So I think they're figuring at some point Chuck will get in there, but they don't want to do it in week one. And I know you and I fight all the time about quarterback records and I get it, it's not a starting pitcher. But poor Spencer Rattler last year started six games and they went.06 in those games. He had five touchdown passes, four interceptions. New Orleans right now is stuck where both these guys are going to get a chance to play this season. They were also the last team to announce their starting quarterback, which also kind of tells you where they are right now as a franchise.

C (9:06)

You're right about that. I will say this. In defense of Rattler, having watched those games in which he played last year, he was not put in a great position to succeed. I mean, half of the offensive line was injured. Chris Olave played in, I believe, only one of those games. Starters were out. And in the preseason, while he didn't run away with the job, he did look better to me than Tyler Schuck. I think if you're a Saints fan, you know, normally with a rookie quarterback, you say, all right, it's fine, we'll wait, look at the Giants. There's a plan to sit Jackson dart for a while, find Wilson. It makes sense, we all agree with it. But the entire premise behind drafting Tyler Schuck was that he was more pro ready than everyone else. He's older than Saints and Cutler.

B (9:46)

Good point.

C (9:47)

He has experience in different offenses. He's played under center. So if I'm a Saints fan, I'm a little apprehensive that he didn't win this job outright, especially given that the competition wasn't the strongest.

B (9:57)

Yeah. What about Kellen Moore? What kind of job you think he'll do there? Because we walk into a situation like this where, let's face it, you don't have a franchise quarterback, you're going to have to develop one. It's not going to be easy for him.

C (10:09)

I think that Kellen Moore, you're not going to be watching a lot of the college quarterbacks this year, but he's going to be thinking about them. Because I'll say what I said for the Browns. More likely than not, the 2026 quarterback is not on the roster, which is going to make the end of the season for all of these teams very interesting.

B (10:25)

And it was all thrown into flux when Derek Carr announced in May that he was retiring because of the shoulder injury. All right, let's do this. Let's take a break. But coming up, Cal Raleigh hits his 50th homer. So Mina, of course, forces us to talk about it again.

C (10:40)

And Venus Williams makes a memorable return to the court at the US Open. It's about time we talk some Mariners on espn.

B (10:47)

Come on. Yeah, well, we can't talk other Seattle sports, so we'll talk Mariners.

C (10:55)

Pardon the interruption is brought to you by Popeyes. Love that chicken from Popeye's Popeyes.

A (11:02)

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B (12:46)

It's time for Mina and I to choose our words carefully. What's first? Wilson Contreras outburst last night was blank. All right, I'm going to tell you fortunate and here's why. I'll back up. He was called out looking at a third strike. He was not upset with that pitch as the Cardinals catcher. He was upset the way the game was being called all night. So when he walks away, says a couple of magic words, gets thrown out, upset that he's thrown out, and now you see here, has to be restrained. On his way to the dugout, he tosses his bat in the direction of the umpires, hits the batting coach. Now if that had hit the umpire, he'd be in big trouble. He still might be in trouble. But to do something like that, completely out of line. So. But he's fortunate he didn't hit the umpire.

C (13:32)

My word is suspendable. Which would imply that good fortune goes away at some point. It's all about the bad throw. You're right. Who knows what words were said? That's the he said he said. But when you look at him when he throws the bat. He is looking straight at the umpire. He said later, oh, I don't know. I wasn't looking at it. No, you were looking at him. And afterwards, their manager, Oliver Marmold, was asked about it, and he didn't even address the bat part right. He was saying, well, you go back and look at the tape and what words were exchanged. That is a classic deflection technique when you don't want to discuss the true matter at hand, which is you can't throw a bat at an umpire. And I can't believe that. I'm on with you, Frank, and I am siding with an officiant. Usually your thing.

B (14:14)

See, you're learning. You're learning. Just to be clear, Contreras was the dh, but he. But he is a catcher in his previous life. But he was just upset over a lot of things. And this season has been a disaster. That was. He became the first Cardinals player this season to get ejected from a game. But last night, they drew 18,000 people at Busch Stadium. That is the. That is the smallest crowd they've had at the new Bush Stadium in their history. And this is a franchise, Mina, that for years was always drawing 3 million fans. Last year, they fell under 3 million. Right now they're at 1.8. So they'll get to 2 million. But what has happened to baseball in St. Louis? That used to be one of the best baseball towns in the country. They're not going anywhere.

C (14:55)

I know this whole incident feels indicative of this season being a disaster for them.

B (14:59)

Exactly. All right, what's next? It's blank that we're only talking about Cal Raleigh for a second straight day because Mina is on the show. That would be correct. Amundo. Of course. That's why we're talking about. No, no, no. Come on. Mina is a Seattle gal. And Cal Raleigh has had an unbelievable year. Last night, you see him here. Look at this. The other day, we talked about home runs 48 and 49. This was home run number 50. Only Cal Raleigh and Mickey Mantle, folks. He only switch hitters to at least 50 home runs. He's the second Seattle player in history, he. To hit that mark to get 50. Obviously, Junior Griffey hit 56. So the floor is yours, Mina.

C (15:45)

Well, my word was incorrect because we would be talking about it regardless of whether I'm not here. And it's honestly good that we're talking about it, because until recently, I honestly think what Cal Raleigh has done this season has been undercovered, maybe until the home Run derby. He surpassed another record, by the way. He's going to be a lot of them. Obviously, you talked about Mantle and Griffey. He became the first hitter ever to hit 20 from both sides. That has never happened. 20 home runs. And it's a great story because it represents what he did to improve, you know, going into this season, Cal Raleigh was not good at hitting from the right side. He was a career.214 hitter. But he altered his stance, worked on his swing. And it's those improvements that have led to the kind of production we're seeing now. It's an amazing story of player development and one that we should really be talking about more often, quite frankly. And I'm unbiased. I'm just saying.

B (16:36)

All right, I promise you, if he gets one tonight, we'll definitely talk about him again tomorrow. Because that would be home run number 51. And you look at those numbers, they keep going up the last three years, and he's become really the breakout star of baseball. And right now he's on pace to get to 61, maybe 62 with Aaron Judge did just a couple of years ago. And more importantly, even than the home runs, believe it or not, with the win last night, they're a game and a half behind the Houston Astros. So they're catching up. Good for you.

C (17:04)

Didn't want to jinx it. Didn't want to jinx it, but you know, we need those home runs.

B (17:08)

All right, what's next? Venus Williams performance at the US Open last night was blank for me. Nostalgic. Here she is at 45 years old, the oldest player since 1981 singles player at the US Open. Yes, she did lose to Katalin Mohova in three sets. But Venus did win the second set. The crowd loved it. As obnoxious as the crowd was for the Medvedev match, this is why the New York crowd is great. They got behind Venus Williams. The fact that she still wants to be out there at 45 playing says a lot. And I'll tell you something about history. She's won two US Opens. One of them was against Serena, and That was on September 8, 2001. The world was different, tennis was different. And the fact that Venus is still out there playing, bravo to her.

C (17:56)

Agree. My word was inspiring. Venus Williams has nothing left to prove. She's so accomplished with the championships and the medals, and she was number one. She's just playing right now for love of the game. And I think that's so cool. But it's not just a feel good Story. Right. She goes into this game against Mahova, who's ranked 11th. I did not think it would be nearly as close as it was. And she looked good. Her serve hit 114mph. So you're watching that and you're thinking, this isn't just, oh, good for Venus. She's going out there. She is competing out there against a player who was in the semis the last two years.

B (18:30)

Yeah. And by the way, seven time major champion, two at the U.S. open. And you think about what's going on in sports the last couple years. Tom Brady winning a Super bowl in his 40s. Look, look at LeBron. Still one of the top players in the league at 40. I get it. Venus isn't one of the top tennis players. But the fact that she's still out there, this will become more and more commonplace. A the athletes take better care of themselves. And also there's a lot of this involved with continuing to play. That's for sure. All right, that's going to feel good. That's going to do it for us. That's the final word. Let's take one last break. But still to come, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift announced that they're taking the next step. How about that?

C (19:08)

And is it time to stick a fork in? The Cleveland Guardians.

B (19:12)

The worlds of football and pop culture are colliding and you're not a part of it. Who would have thought that would ever happen?

C (19:18)

We waited this long to mention Taylor Swift.

A (19:20)

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B (19:54)

Get in the zone. AutoZone.

A (19:56)

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B (20:20)

Get in the zone.

A (20:21)

Autozone restrictions apply.

B (20:29)

Happy time, people. Happy 25th birthday. Kyron Williams. The Rams running back is coming off a whale of a season. Nearly 1300 yards rushing with 14 touchdowns. The only two Rams running back with more touchdowns in a season this century. Marshall Baulk, Todd Gurley. Pretty good for a fifth round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Rams signed Williams to with the three year extension earlier this month worth 23 million guaranteed. Head coach Sean McVay saying Williams quote epitomizes everything we want to be about.

C (21:03)

So Kyron Williams Frank led all running backs in the league in snap percentage this year, 86% of the snaps he was on the field. That was higher than last year's leader who had 83% who was also Kyron Williams. The Rams use him a lot. That's why they rewarded him with with that paycheck. That's why Sean McVay loves him.

B (21:20)

In a previous century, Eric Dickerson had 18 and 14 touchdowns in a season for the Rams. Happy anniversary, Lionel Messi. On this day two years ago, Messi made his MLS debut for Inter Miami, scoring a goal late and a two nil win over the New York Red Bulls. Wait for it. I was there at the game and recording that goal on my camera when at this critical moment, it was obscured by the ball guy in front of me. Come on, buddy. Messi has hamstring issues and it's currently unknown whether he'll play in tomorrow night's Leagues cup semi against Orlando City.

C (21:53)

Oh, man. Incredible. Exclusive footage there. Yeah. You know, Frank, usually when famous international stars join the mls, people think, ah, they're in the downturn of their career. But Messi joined and was immediately amazing right away. Led the league in combined goals and assists last year. This year he is second in goals. So his impact has been incredible. And that's not even getting to the business side of it.

B (22:13)

Yeah, forget about him. Did I remind you of Fellini or wore Scorsese one or the other with that camera?

C (22:18)

The Blair Witch Project.

B (22:20)

You're probably right. Happy trails to Carlos Alcaraz's hair. The second seed in the US Open had a different look during his opening round win last night. Look at him. He explained after the match that his brother had botched his haircut, so they decided to shave it all off. Friend Francis Tiafo called the look horrible, terrible and horrendous, but did admit that it might make Alcaraz more aerodynamic. Said Alcaraz, quote hair grows in a few days, it's going to be Okay, I guess.

C (22:50)

Okay. So when I first saw this image, I thought, why would a player who's like the best in the world or close to it, who's made more than $40 million, let his brother cut his hair? But then I remembered Carlos Alcaraz is 22 years old and lives with his parents. And it kind of made sense once you put those two things together.

B (23:07)

Think I'm letting my brother touch my hair? I don't let anybody touch my hair. Come on now. Come on. You know what? He is kind of a fighter on the court. There is a little MMA look to it, though. It kind of fits his personality and the way that he plays. All right, no errors today. Let's go on to the big finish. The big news, of course. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are engaged. Mina, will you be invited? What are your thoughts?

C (23:28)

Not yet. Football angle here. Travis Kelsey has looked really fast and athletic and comfortable in the preseason. Maybe the knowledge that he was getting married is going to give him a credible season. I don't know. We'll see. The Giants Release quarterback Tommy DeVito. Makes sense.

B (23:43)

You know, I like Jameis Winston, but Tommy Cutlitz was kind of a cult hero. And you think, I'm not going to be. I'm going to be happy when an Italian guy from New Jersey gets cut from the Giants? Are you kidding me? The packers, they've weighed McColl Hardman. Are you surprised?

C (23:58)

No, not really. Hardman wasn't projected to be a big contributor for them. They need downfield speed and it appears they have gotten it. Their first round draft pick, Matthew golden looked excellent in the preseason, very optimistic for his role in Green Bay. The Guardians lost their sixth in a row last night.

B (24:13)

Cause for 12 and a half games out of the division, six out of the wild card. Bye bye to Cleveland. Last one. Third seeded Coco Gauff has her first round match tonight at the US Open. Are you excited?

C (24:26)

I am. Obviously she's the heavy favorite this early on, but as you know, Coco's had her ups and downs this year. She fired her coach, replaced him. So I'm curious to see if that pays off.

B (24:35)

And at Wimbledon, she was bounced in the first round. All right, we're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Eisel.

C (24:42)

And I'm Mina Kimes. PTI is on ESPN2 again tomorrow.

A (24:45)

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