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00:00It's time to go around the AFC North. All those guests appear on the Wise Heart Right. We Make It
00:03Right. Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:05There's three other teams in the AFC North, so obviously we have three of them.
00:08And we start our odyssey in Baltimore. 105.7 The Fan, Bob Haney.
00:13As the Ravens, there's some dissension in the ranks with the fans.
00:18And Baltimore has to go to Buffalo after two straight losses. A 1 p.m. kickoff.
00:25Bob, I saw the Baltimore Sun video where the fans are getting antsy and the pantsy about Lamar Jackson
00:32and saying he can't play with an injury.
00:34Is that something you've been getting calls about the first two days of the week?
00:38He's been getting roasted with that accusation by Ravens fans because there's a loud minority of fans.
00:46And as you guys know, most people who listen to sports talk don't call.
00:50But the people who do either criticize Lamar for being unable to win in the playoffs
00:55and he's a regular season quarterback and he won't play unless he's 100%.
01:01He was limping around at Owings Mills last week when he met with the media.
01:05A video was posted, which was surprising for a lot of us.
01:09And why would they show him kind of laboring somewhat?
01:12But the expectation started to grow that he was going to play.
01:17And they announced on Saturday that he wasn't.
01:21And then Tracy Wolfson's comment or tweet, whether he was shocked,
01:27and Jim Nance saying that the ankle had increased swelling when he woke up,
01:31all of which was disputed by Jesse Minter a couple of days ago, just added fuel to the fire.
01:36So the first two days of the week is questioning Lamar's toughness and his commitment to the team.
01:41Fun times. Good times.
01:44It's so weird because we all know how unbelievably good he is.
01:49Two-time MVP.
01:50There's always going to be the playoff questions until he gets over the hurdles.
01:53So I think people may have thought this was just something with Harbaugh,
01:57but now you've got it with a different coach.
01:59Is that adding more fuel to the fire?
02:02Well, and it's also, he's due to get extended this year.
02:07He's signed through the next couple of seasons,
02:09but his cap hit's going to be astronomical.
02:11Over $70 million.
02:13And Steve Bishotti had even said earlier in the calendar year,
02:16the plan was to get him done so they could concentrate on other areas of the team financially.
02:23But 2021, he had the knee.
02:25He was expected to come back.
02:27Never did.
02:2822, I believe it was another knee injury.
02:30One of those was against the Browns, if I'm not mistaken.
02:32He was expected to come back.
02:34Never did.
02:35Last year had a hamstring injury, which cost him a couple of days.
02:38And my retort to those who are saying, well, he doesn't want to play because he's worried
02:43about his money.
02:44Would it behoove him to be on the field against Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, proving that he
02:50is, in fact, one of the elites and, you know, he'll do anything it takes to help his team
02:54win games?
02:55There was another report where he wouldn't play if he was 100% because it would be detrimental
02:59to the team's chance at success.
03:02But the narrative really hasn't changed much.
03:05But, yeah, back to your question, is it a Harbs thing?
03:09No.
03:10Just like the defense blow and double-digit leads.
03:12Can't blame him on Zach Orr and John Harbaugh anymore.
03:15They're not here.
03:15Is there some fans, are there some fans, who have started to contemplate a life without
03:24Lamar Jackson on the Ravens?
03:26There are some fans that would like a life without Lamar Jackson to begin with, but it's
03:31still the minority of Ravens fans who want to see that reality.
03:35You have a franchise quarterback, a guy who's close to getting a gold jacket, who's 29 years
03:41old.
03:41If teams are searching for franchise quarterbacks throughout the National Football League, you
03:46have one in the building.
03:47In what alternate universe would you want to get rid of one?
03:51And let's draft a quarterback.
03:53Okay.
03:53Name that quarterback you want to draft in 2027 that's going to come in and take the
03:59Ravens to where they need to get to, which is the promise.
04:02Is all forgiven if they beat the Bills on Sunday?
04:05Eh, it'll back off a little bit.
04:07But, you know, you still have Jacksonville.
04:09You've got the Chargers, which wasn't as, doesn't seem as formidable as it was when
04:14the schedule came out.
04:15But yet, you know, Houston again, Carolina.
04:18I mean, there's still some teams coming up.
04:19They don't play another division game until mid-December.
04:22But if they beat Buffalo, people will shut up for at least a week out of this.
04:26Bob Haney, 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore.
04:28As the Ravens get set to travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills 1 p.m. on Sunday.
04:31We go to Cincinnati.
04:32Senior writer, Bengals.com, Jeff Hobson.
04:35They get ready to host the Tennessee Titans at 1 p.m.
04:38How much did you learn about the guts that Cincinnati has with the way that they were
04:43able to drive around the Ravens last Sunday, Jeff?
04:46Well, they were staring at, you know, they were staring at the end of their season in
04:50the last 30 minutes.
04:52And so, both sides of the ball responded.
04:55I mean, that's a tough place.
04:56That's a tough building to score in.
04:58I mean, teams have, they're the lowest, they've given up the lowest amount of points on a
05:05home field in this century, Baltimore.
05:07And Burrow leads them to five straight touchdown drives.
05:11So, I mean, if you look at it historically, it's pretty impressive.
05:15Yeah, it absolutely was impressive.
05:18And, again, you know, they're doing it without much from the running game whatsoever.
05:23I mean, Chase Brown at 39 yards.
05:25P. Ryan at 16.
05:27So, is that sustainable?
05:29We're always talking about what's sustainable in Cleveland.
05:31Is that sustainable for Joe Burrow and that passing game if they can't get the running game
05:35going?
05:36Well, listen, I'm a big purveyor of the run game.
05:39But I think, you know, Marvin Lewis called this last week.
05:42He said if the Bengals can move the chain, they don't, if they can move the chains on
05:48first and second down, they don't have to go crazy on first and second down if they can
05:53just be economical.
05:54If they can get four yards to carry.
05:58And you put this offense in a third and five, third and four situation, you know, as they
06:03showed, you know, the other day, that's hard to stop.
06:07But I think the Bengals' identity offensively is their familians.
06:13They go week to week, opponent to opponent, and they feel like they're versatile enough
06:18they can respond.
06:20And certainly they did in Baltimore.
06:22Is there any conversation about trading for Jonathan Taylor there?
06:27Well, you know, I mean, there's always conversations about potential trades.
06:31You know, they're floating all over cyberspace.
06:33But, you know, you know, you just got through saying, you know, the Bengals, you know, just
06:40look at the attempts.
06:41This is a joke.
06:42Burrow, Jemite, Chase, T. Higgins' team.
06:46To bring in a guy like Taylor, you know, I mean, are you going to suddenly run the ball?
06:51Are you suddenly going to give the ball to that guy 15 times a game?
06:54I think not.
06:57Jeff Hobson, senior writer, Bengals.com.
07:01They get ready to take on the Titans on Sunday.
07:04Hey, real quick.
07:04Are the Steelers a measuring stick for the Browns on Sunday?
07:10You know, this division every week is a measuring stick.
07:14I mean, it is.
07:15It is a division.
07:17It's a one-of-one division.
07:20So you cannot make any declarations.
07:23You just can't because you talk about this division today and a week from today, it's
07:29a completely different universe.
07:31Jeff Hobson, senior writer, Bengals.com.
07:34We can now go to Pittsburgh where they're going to be hosting us 1 p.m.
07:37on Sunday.
07:3793, some of the fans.
07:39Chris Muller over there in Pittsburgh.
07:41Do you believe that the Steelers are a measuring stick still for the Cleveland Browns?
07:47In one sense, I believe that they are in the sense that the Browns haven't, I think, swept
07:52a season series over the Steelers since 1988.
07:55So if the Browns want to be treated more seriously as a going concern in this division, they would
08:00accomplish that or take a big step towards being that if they, in fact, did win this game.
08:05Because I think Steelers fans look at it as, yeah, when we play the Browns in Cleveland,
08:10we're going to somehow stub our toe and end up losing that game.
08:13But don't worry, when the return match happens or if the return match happens before that
08:17game, we're going to have already racked up a win in Pittsburgh.
08:19So you want to be treated differently.
08:21You want to be treated as something other than a nice story at 5-2 where the fourth quarter
08:26has been the Browns' friend and you win this game.
08:28So in that sense, I do think it could be a measuring stick for them.
08:31It has not been murderer's row in the three wins, really all four wins for your team this
08:37year.
08:37But when you get three straight wins, does that reinvigorate a fan base that seem to be kind
08:44of bracing themselves for another just ho-hum year?
08:49I would say there are some still, there's a lot of holdouts still.
08:53Like I sort of agreed with Kurt Warner saying that they needed more explosive passing plays
08:59to be considered a more serious contender.
09:02And I thought I was going to get roasted for that.
09:04And at first I did.
09:05But then the people came out of the woodwork saying, how can you guys even treat this team
09:08seriously?
09:09They're the same group last year that we saw that got killed in the playoffs.
09:13So it's still kind of a scarred fan base.
09:15I will say, I think something that is objectively different is they're starting to get legitimately
09:19better offensive line play.
09:21Iconichor looks like a happy accident on draft night.
09:24The main concern is Troy Fautonu, who isn't, you know, he's having like an NHL goalie kind
09:30of thing where he'll have like 55 good reps out of 60 plays, but the five bad ones look
09:35horrible.
09:35Like, you know, a couple of yackers in there.
09:38But their offensive line's better.
09:40I think they have an identity, which is our best player is our running back and we're going
09:44to give him the ball a lot.
09:45And one of our other best players is his backup.
09:47So we're going to give him the ball some too.
09:49So I think it's a little bit different, even if the opponents are not great in there.
09:54Have you guys ever thought about doing a segment called One Trick Pony?
09:59No, but that could be a good one.
10:02I was going to ask if you guys were taking a trip around the AFC North with Joe.
10:05I think Magellan's been on shorter voyages than Matt.
10:12This is a lengthy journey.
10:15You got to have all four seasons covered.
10:17You know, someone's going to play this for that guy and you're going to have a really
10:19awkward situation when you go into the radio station.
10:23His trip around the AFC North takes you through the rough seas of the Drake Passage.
10:29Ken, we want you to come on and do 25 minutes on Odrick Estimate.
10:32No, no thanks.
10:33Can't do it.
10:34Sorry.
10:34Ken, I was wondering what you thought of Webster Slaughter back in the day.
10:38Awesome.
10:39And we move on to the next question.
10:41I do got to get back to business here.
10:43All right, I said we did like a – I always do like – I'd take Deshaun Watson right
10:49now over 11, 12 quarterbacks.
10:51Aaron Rodgers is one of them.
10:53Am I a dirty, drunken buffoon or am I telling the truth to myself?
10:58I mean, my honest appraisal of that statement is Watson's made a couple of throws downfield.
11:04I do really like, objectively, Boston, Concepcion, and Fannin.
11:07I'm jealous.
11:08I think that's a very good trio of pass catchers.
11:10I think Judkins with a better O-line would be a very good running back.
11:14But, man, in all seriousness, you guys are going to get all mad at me now that I've just
11:18made you laugh.
11:19Now I'm going to make you cry.
11:20It's fine.
11:20Do you not – I mean, I feel like I can say this as an honest broker because I was
11:24calling
11:25it out in the moment here and not getting that excited.
11:27Don't you feel like that this is a Steelers 2022 or 2023 offense where, like, Kenny Pickett
11:34would look pretty awful, like almost unplayable for three quarters, and then somehow the team
11:39would still be close in the game, and he would have, like, something happen in the fourth
11:44quarter that allowed him to get a win?
11:46Because that's how I look at the Browns.
11:48Like, their EPA and all the fancy stats for the first three quarters are so bad, and then
11:53you've got this fourth quarter that just looks like it's a complete outlier.
11:56That's kind of how I view them.
11:57And so, no, even though I'm not, like, super high on Rodgers, I think he's a steadier performer
12:02on, like, a quarter-to-quarter play-to-play basis than Watson.
12:05I don't think that's crazy just because – and the reason I ask the question, it's
12:09like, yeah, you look at history, obviously.
12:11I mean, Rodgers is a Hall of Famer.
12:13I don't know.
12:14I just – this team is so young, I think that he would be unbearable.
12:17I think he would smother the rest of this team if he were having to be a Cleveland Brown.
12:23If the question is take him, like, over Rodgers, yes.
12:26I don't think Rodgers in that context is the right player for you guys because, say,
12:32Concepcion ran two wrong routes in training camp on, like, a drill or something while
12:36you were doing installs, then Rodgers just might not throw him the ball or, like, might
12:40freeze him out for the next six weeks.
12:42Like, that weird stuff you have to, like, consider.
12:46So, in that way, I get it.
12:47I just think on the field still, there's way too much down followed by, oh, okay, wow,
12:53this guy got it together for, like, two drives when they absolutely needed it for
12:56me to feel – if I were a Browns fan, for me to feel comfortable with, like, how
12:59that's going.
13:00Chris, thank you very much for the time.
13:02Chris Muller, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
13:04As they get ready to host us, the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, 1 p.m.
13:09I've still never been to a Browns-Steelers game in Pittsburgh, and I don't think I ever
13:11will.
13:12I don't think there's a chance in hell.
13:13I have zero interest in ever doing that.
13:15I'll give Pony and Muller a lot of credit.
13:17They came here, I'm like, nah, nah.
13:18I've been to Ann Arbor three times for Ohio State Michigan.
13:21Michigan, I have zero interest in going to Pittsburgh for Browns-Pittsburgh.
13:24Can I tell you that?
13:25It's not as much about the fans as I don't trust Pony and Muller.
13:29Because you – of course, you bailed.
13:32Like, I did.
13:34Like, when people are like, is this Pony and Muller?
13:35I'm like, they're cool.
13:36They're cool guys.
13:37Don't – let's not get crazy.
13:39They're fine.
13:40I don't think they'd do that for me.
13:41No.
13:42I don't think they'd go, hey, it's Ken.
13:43He's fine.
13:44No, I think they'd go, yeah.
13:46Yeah, go ahead.
13:47Do whatever you got to do.
13:48There's three rivers over there.
13:49Dump them in one of them.
13:49I don't care.
13:50I think they would do that.
13:51You get some beers thrown at you to start out.
13:53Yeah, I think that they would do that.
13:53And that's before opening kickoff.
13:55Mm-hmm.
13:57Should I take that as a disrespect what Muller just said about our offense,
13:59or did he just tell the truth?
14:01Do you want to ask that question in five minutes on the –