Has Joe Flacco Saved this Season for the Bengals?!

Has Joe Flacco Saved this Season for the Bengals?!

unfiltered. I’m not sold. I’m sorry. Unapologetic. I’m not trying to talk about them. Unlike anyone else, but knowing y’all, y’all will probably make me. This is the Steven A. Smith Show. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show coming at you over the air with the SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. as I usually love to do every weekday from 1 to 3 pm Eastern Standard Time, reairing at 6:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, leading in the Mad Dog Russo’s radio show, coming out of Mad Dog Russo’s radio show every weekday right here on SiriusXM Madog Sports Radio. The number to call up as always is 88 Madog 6. That’s8 Madog68863 6233646. That’s the number to call up. And if you don’t want to wait to talk to me directly and instead you prefer to leave a voicemail message so I can hear one of your rants, you can always go to sirusxm.com/getserious. That’s sirusxm.com/getserious. I don’t sound good because I don’t feel good. Because as wonderful as my life has been, and it has been wonderful, one of the worst things for me in modern history as a sports fan has been looking forward to watching my Steelers on a Thursday night. It almost never pans out well. Last night, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to Cincinnati to play against the Cincinnati Bengals. And I thought that a 41y old and Joe Flacco was supposed to be showing up. I didn’t know Tom Brady came out of retirement. I didn’t know. I didn’t know. And then I watched Joe Flacco just sit up there and say, “Yo, dog, this ain’t Jerry Judy I’m throwing a football to. This Jamal Chase.” And courtesy of 16 receptions, an individual that he targeted 23 times in one game. The Cincinnati Bengals had a field day against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don’t put that picture of Aaron Rogers up. He didn’t do anything wrong. 23 of 34 for 249 yards, four touchdown passes, the two interceptions. I understand it. But Aaron Rogers wasn’t at fault for the Steelers losing this football game. This is on that damn defense. The same defense that has TJ Watt on it. The same defense that has Cam Hayward on it. The same defense that has I almost don’t even want to say his name. I really don’t because I watched Jaylen Ramsey get torched last night. Everywhere you turn, this brother, I mean, every highlight footage you could think of when it was a spectacular catch or productive catch by the Cincinnati Bengals, Jaylen Ramsey was in the photo or was in a picture was in a footage getting up, getting burnt. Was not his night. It was a bad night for Jaylen Ramsey. Just one game. The brothers elite. We all know that. Started his career out as elite in Jacksonville. Ultimately was doing his thing in Miami. Even though I love the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired him before this season began, I would have much rather they did so without having to give up Mecca Fitzpatrick, but that’s a story for another day. In the end, it was not his night. They had Jaylen Ramsey all over the field. And none of it looked good for him. So, it’s hard for me to sit up there and think about what to say when I’m experiencing the level of frustration that I’m feeling right now. But all my all my bravado about the Steelers winning the AFC North, finally winning a playoff game for the first time since 2016, all of that stuff is going out of the window because this team looks eerily similar to a team that has a bad night at the office during the regular season, make amends for it long well enough to to get to the postseason, but then stinks up the joint come the postseason again. That’s how this Steelers team looked. And the reason why I’m feeling so down about it is because it would be one thing if you just scored 10 points or something. But when Aaron Rogers gets you 31 points, you’re supposed to win the football game if you’re a Pittsburgh Steeler. That is not what happened last night. That is not what happened. Just to throw out some of the numbers, Steelers fell at two and 10 in Thursday night road games under Mike Tomlin. 0 and7 versus AFC North rivals. By the way, remember that Joe Flacco was traded to the Bengals and given a playbook just nine days before Thursday’s game. He finishes 31 of 47, 342 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers, and a 108.6 passer rating. By the way, that 31 of 47 has completed 66 66% of his passes. After the first two drives ended in punts, Flaco led the Bengals to scores on seven of their last eight drives. Three touchdowns, four field goals. How am I supposed to feel? How am I supposed to feel? And I’m looking at the Steelers right now, and this is what really, really bothers me because as I scour the Pittsburgh Steelers, Warren ran for over a 100 yards. Aaron Rogers threw for four touchdowns. Fri Muth had over 100 receivers yards and he had a long touchdown. What are you going to do when you’re going up against a team like the Cincinnati Bengals and you got a cat like Jamar Chase and Higgins to deal with? See, now you got to start thinking about dynamic duels all over the NFL. And how formidable is that? How formidable is Dallas going to be now that CD Lamb is coming back this Sunday and CD Lamb and and and George Pickers are going to be together? Because you see CD CD Lamb got his bag. So he ain’t got to hate on George Pickers at all. He can root for George Pickkins to get his money because George Pickers is in a contract year. These are the kind of things that I’m thinking about. And I got to tell you something right now. It’s really vexing me, man. It’s really problematic. I cannot say enough about how bothered I am by the Steelers losing this game. And the flip side to all of this, however, is that I don’t want to take any credit away from the Cincinnati Bengals. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m ready to tell you that I believe that Jamar Chase is the best receiver in football, even better than Justin Jefferson, who I think is elite and an absolute stud. I think that Justin Jefferson is big time. Jamar Chase is next level. He’s next level. He just is. And when I look at this brother right here, I’m like, how you going to deal with him if the Bengals get any kind of defense? Any kind of defense whatsoever. Could you imagine what these brothers would do? I’m just looking at them and I’m saying to myself, how you going to deal with them? How you going to defend against this? The Bengals are big time offensively because of Jamar Chase. All they needed was somebody to throw the deep ball. And I don’t know if y’all heard that rant from the radio. And Sean, let me know if we have that from a radio host in Cleveland who went the who went the hell off on Andrew Barry, the general manager for the Cleveland Browns because of Joe Flacco. Let’s hear what he has to say to put everything in its proper perspective. Let’s listen to this. Go ahead. How could you do that, Andrew? How could you do it? Why on earth did you feel the need to trade this guy to a division opponent for a fifth round draft pick? Fireable offense. That is a fireable offense. I want to know how much longer the owner’s going to watch this crap because the fans have had it. We deserve better. You’re just worried more about your stadium than you are your football team. That’s the perception, Jimmy. And you allow these people to do this. You have the worst offense in the league. Your GM screwed this quarterback thing up like I’ve never seen in my life. I’ve never seen anything like it. Kids that play Madden could have done a better job. Truly, that’s not hyperbole. It’s a joke. It’s a joke. This franchise has become a joke and I’m sick of it. I understand this point. That’s Tony Rizzo, radio host in Cleveland, ESPN radio in Cleveland. Um, ladies and gentlemen, I thought that was an outstanding take on his part. I don’t know if it was 100% accurate, but I I feel his passion. I feel his fervor. And he has a right to feel the way that he feels because Cleveland has been morbid for quite some time. They’ve been arguably the worst franchise in all of football. All of football. They just don’t get it done. I’m looking at the Cleveland Browns right now since they’ve had two playoff appearances since 2002. Two two playoff appearances since 2002. Two playoff appearances in 23 years. They deserve better. No doubt. Now, when you bring up Andrew Bry and the and and and the Cleveland Browns, okay, we got to call it like we see it, okay? And we got to be honest with because Kev Kevin Stfansky coach and we can’t act like we suddenly don’t remember that, okay? Andrew Barry, listen, I’m rooting for the brother. Please don’t get me wrong, but the worst offense in the league in terms of points, okay? You’re 27th against the pass. You’re 29th against the rush. You’re 28th in yards allowed. And then looking at the Cleveland Browns, I I’m just I’m just saying to myself, I get the fact that Joe Flacco can fling that damn football. And having Jamal Chasing T. Higgins out there is a is a very good problem to have. You can’t expect Joe Flacco to look like he did last night looking like it’s second coming to Tom Brady. When your receivers are Harold Fannon, Jerry Judy, Isaiah Bond, Cedric Tillman, James Thrash, Gage Laredane. Come on, y’all. I mean, what’s Joe Flacco? I I mean, Andrew Barry, you you don’t need Joe Flacco at that point because what are the other guys going to do? They’re not going to do anything. You have nobody to throw the football to. I don’t mean nobody. I’m not trying to disrespect these brothers, but they are not Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Joe Flacker could fling that football. Cincinnati was in desperate need of a deep ball thrower because they know that if that happens, you got to fight his chance because of what Jamar Chase can do and to a lesser degree what T. Higgins could do. So, I get it. But the take by Tony Rizzo was profound enough for us to pay attention to. because he’s saying Joe Flacco, Joe Flacco, how could you do that? Simple. I told you how and why Andrew Barry could do it because he didn’t have the weapons that Cincinnati has. But now that you know what Joe Flacco could do with weapons like Jamar Chase and T Higgins, it’s worth wondering, okay, what does that mean for the Dallas Cowboys and how their offense and their team is going to look moving forward when it comes to CD Lamb and George Pickkins? How about the Steelers? How desperately do they need to go out and get a secondary option? Because DK Metav by himself ain’t gonna cut it. Do you go out and get Crystal L? Do you go out and get somebody else? A Jaylen Wadd. What do you do if you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers? Because you clearly need a number two. You clearly need a number two. But the kind of stuff that we’ve been seeing from the Steelers, I’m very concerned about that defense. Can y’all stop somebody? Minnesota almost came back and beat y’all in Dublin, Ireland when y’all had a very so a very comfortable cushion. You go on a road to Cincinnati, how you losing that game? My man RC said it best. This particular loss is on Mike Tomlin. He didn’t have the team to play prepared prepared to win a game. They absolutely positively had to win. And oh, by the way, now that all of this has happened, who the hell is going to win the AFC North? It’s very frustrating. Very frustrating. AAA Mad Dog 6 number to call up this 888623 3646. Forest in Ohio, you’re live with Stephen A. Talk to me. Yes, Mr. Stephen A. Go ahead, man. You’re live on the air. Go ahead. I want to talk about last night’s game. Uh uh I just want to say if you look back to 2021 in the Super Bowl when Jamar Chase was just a rookie, he was cooking uh Jaylen Ramsay even before last night. So when you were talking on uh first take this morning cuz I watch first take. Absolutely. I got to watch it. Uh you said when he was younger you wouldn’t see this but we definitely saw it in the Super Bowl. What do you say about that? when saw what in the Super Bowl from who? Uh Jamar Chase cooking Jaylen Ramsay in the Super Bowl. No, no, no. I didn’t say anything about him cooking uh Jaylen Ramsey in the Super Bowl. You talking about when Cincinnati went against the Rams? Yeah. Yeah. The only thing The only thing that I ever said was that had Odell Beckham Jr. not gotten hurt, he looked like he was going to be the MVP. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That’s what I said. I didn’t say anything about Jaylen Ramsey against Jamar Chase. Jamar Chase is all world. Jamar Chase is all world. Let me tell you something right now. Jamar Chase, this brother is a stud. He might be the best in the world. We need We might need to be talking about the best wide receiver on the planet resides in Cincinnati. This brother is unstoppable. It’s unstoppable. It’s fascinating to watch him. It’s scary to watch him if you’re rooting for your team and they ain’t the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s scary to watch what he can do to an opponent if you can get the football to him. Gary, appreciate the call for us. Gary in West Virginia, you’re live with Stephen A. What’s up, Gary? How are you? I’m good, sir. Thank you. Uh, all that being said, uh, what do you take out of this, Stephen A? Does that tell you more about Flaco? Does it tell you more about the Cincinnati Bengals? Or does it tell you more about the AFC North in general? Um, it tells me a lot about It tells me, honestly speaking, a lot about the Cincinnati Bengals. Could you imagine if Joe Burrow was healthy what this offense would look like? Remember, they were two and0 when he went down. Yes, sir. Could you imagine? Like we talk about the importance of defense and certainly that is important but the point is we can’t escape the fact and can’t ignore the fact that when you have a prolific offense sometimes that is a form at least a form if not a formula for a better defense because you put up points and you make the other and you make the opposition nervous and that can serve profoundly in your favor. you can make the opposition nervous and I think that’s something that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and it ain’t them alone but at the very least them I think that’s the kind of stuff they’re capable of doing. So I just think that’s something that we need to pay attention to and we simply cannot sumearily dismiss. They’re just that special. There’s no way around it. I say one can I say one more thing? Go ahead real quick. Uh uh this morning when I was listening to the first tape and y’all were discussing the salary of the Indiana coach. Yes. Why did Paul Why did Paul want to throw your name in there about your salary on the air when that’s apples and oranges, brother? I agree. But everybody talks everybody. It’s just it it was harmless, my man. It’s just an analogy. First of all, nobody knows my specific salary because I never discuss it. Okay? You can read the news reports all you want to. Nobody knows specifically what my money is, what my guaranteed dollars is, and all of that other stuff. Secondly, like he was making the point that Kurt Signetti uh the the the money that he’s getting paid from Indiana is after being there for a year and a half and he was already under contract and you didn’t have to do it because it wasn’t like Penn State or anybody else could come get him. You understand? Whereas for me, he was like, “If nobody’s going to question it for you because you’ve been at ESPN for over 20 years. You’ve been in this business for over 30 years. And so the work that I have done has withtood the test of time and speaks for itself. So the comparison that he was drawing wasn’t necessarily about the money. It was about the fact that you had somebody like me that’s been doing what I’ve been doing for many many years and a guy like Signetti who just arrived in Indiana a year and a half ago albeit has accumulated a 17-2 record in his time there thus far. That’s what you’re looking at and that’s what you’re judging. You understand? I guess you do. TripleA Mad Dog 6 that’s 8886233646. You’re listening live to the Stephen A show Siri 6X Mad Dog Sports Radio. Got the LA Thursday night football game to get into the Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati Bengals. You know, you look at a dynamic duo like Jamar Chase and and and and T. Higgins though. What does that mean for an offense like Dallas? What does that mean once Chris Gwyn and Mike Evans come back to join the Bua in Tampa Bay? What does that mean or what should that mean for a Pittsburgh Steelers squad that should be desperate for a number two receiver? who should they go out and get, you know, to to to really make them better. All of that and more are topics of discussion that we absolutely positively will get into. Plus, the caller brought up Signetti at Indiana because of the whole Penn State situation involving James Franklin. We’ll touch on that. Plus, we’ll get into little Major League Baseball playoffs as well because it looks like the Dodgers are bringing their brooms. They’re bringing their brooms because it’s a mess. Meaning the NLCS and the series and how it has unfolded. Dodgers are up three nothing about the sweep the Milwaukee Brewers. We’ll get into all of that as well. So stick around. You’re listening live to the Stephen A. Smith Show SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Back with your calls, your voicemails and more in a

Is the AFC North up for grabs now that Joe Flacco is with the Bengals?

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