After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one house of the dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon writers.

I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control. Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one house of the dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon writers. I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control.

Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Halfway through our second show of the work week, this is officially when we can exhale because the NFL weekend is done. Another overtime game featuring the Denver Broncos. I know, I know, you could barely contain your excitement. Now that we are through week six, I am relatively entertained, intrigued, fascinated by the words or the phrases you're using to fill in the blank.

We're looking for your responses on either Twitter or Facebook. Through week six, the offense around the NFL this season is what? Fill in the blank. Now coming up this hour, we'll look ahead to the NLCS which begins on Tuesday regardless of the fact that the ALDS between the Yankees and the Guardians is not done. I got to tell you that it was a lot of rain. For those of you who didn't turn on the broadcast or weren't really paying attention to the weather, that same system came over my neighborhood and we got a lot more rain than what I was expecting.

I thought it was going to last for a short time, be a short burst. Oh, no, it was a lot of rain. It rained hard for over an hour and then that same system kind of moved off toward the Bronx.

And so it was definitely a lot of rain. I know it could be frustrating when it feels like the radar should show very simply how much rain and when and when it ends. But we don't always get it right in meteorology or in sports or anything else.

Really, the news can be wrong sometimes and frustrating, yes. But keeping in mind, of course, this was MLB's decision. This was, I mean, I don't know if it was Rob Manfred specifically, though I'm sure he was consulted. This was a league decision.

This was not Yankees or Guardians and what they preferred or didn't want to do. And if you ask the teams, of course, they want to get the game in because neither one of them would want to turn around and travel to Houston and have to play the very next day. They'd rather have an opportunity to take a breath. But Monday, their opportunity to take a breath. They decided to do it at the ballpark while they were waiting for the game to be called.

And it took about two and a half hours. So we will have a doubleheader coming up on Tuesday, one from the American League, the Division Series, and then the NLCS will get underway in San Diego. I still love it. I love the fact that it's the very last teams to get into the playoffs in the National League. Those are the two that are still standing. And fresh blood, one team that hasn't been there since 2010, the other since 1998. Just put yourself in that position as a fan, or maybe you have a team that recently experienced some success after going through a very long drought. The Mariners, they got into the playoffs.

I do believe they'll be back. But even teams that have never won a championship before, getting to experience that in recent years. So the Philadelphia Eagles, a great example.

Oh, heavens to Betsy. The Chicago Cubs, another really good example. Go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers and their NBA title. How about the St. Louis Blues? Just a lot of good stories around Major League Baseball. That's just a few pro examples.

They're obviously great examples in college as well. And so to have fresh blood, to be one of the now four remaining teams that have a shot to win the World Series is phenomenal. The Nationals a couple of years ago. What a great story that was. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Yes, we will get to not only a preview of what's to come. Oh, man. And Tito Francona, funny as heck.

He is funny without even trying. But also, we'll get to your QB news in 15 minutes here on CBS Sports Radio. But on Twitter, ALawRadio or our show Twitter, After Hours CBS, because we want you to fill in the blank. After six weeks, the offense in the NFL is what?

And then also, if you haven't yet voted for most miserable and mortified on a Monday, I think that poll is still live as well. So we've talked a little bit about Monday Night Football will, of course, circle around. We've given you some of Tom Brady and Kevin Durant together on his Let's Go podcast and the big trade on Monday that shipped Robbie Anderson from the Cardinals.

Nope. Other way from the Panthers, from Carolina to the Cardinals. How about that?

It's both C.A.R. But there's more to come because it was a Monday. And so there's always a lot of info and intel coming out of the NFL. We think, Producer J, are we good? We think that we have come up with your candidates for TD of the week.

So fire when ready. It's a touchdown Tuesday on After Hours. Firing for the end zone.

Come on! Touchdown! Touchdown! Takes it himself to the parline. Touchdown!

One man to beat ten. He's gone. They throw in the end zone. Touchdown!

Pay the guy a miss. He's inside the five. He's to the three, two, one. Tom's the center-solving into the end zone. Touchdown! To cast your vote for the TD of the week, head to at After HoursCBS on Twitter.

Or give us a call at 855-212-4227. The Buffalo Bills. Takes. Josh. Looks to throw. Looks in the end zone. Fires a strike into the end zone. It is caught for the touchdown! It is Dawson Knox two yards deep in the end zone. Touchdown Buffalo! An amazing strike thrown by Josh Allen to Dawson Knox for the score. 1-0-4 left on the clock.

The Cincinnati Bengals. Burrowing the gun. Mixing to his left. Joe drops back to throw. His pass caught by Chase at the 50. Runs through an arm tackle. Down the sideline.

He's going to take it to the house. Jamar Chase. A 60-yard touchdown. And the Bengals have the lead with 1.57 to go.

Unbelievable. The Pittsburgh Steelers. Long count. Gets the snap. He's back. Fires for the end zone. Touchdown! He takes the play pull!

Wow! Oh, a little stop, Rob. Into some zone coverage.

What a great job. Mitch seen it. He just seen it, man. And he let it go.

He sees it that he does it. The Indianapolis Colts. Three receivers to the left. Ryan throws down the near sideline.

Looking for Alec Pierce. He's got it! Touchdown! Touchdown! Alec Pierce spikes it into the end zone. Touchdown!

I-N-D-Y! A 32-yard grab. Over the shoulder snag. Alec Pierce. With 17 seconds to go, no less.

You want to talk about drama. The Colts deserve to be in our TD of the Week poll. Because Alec Pierce hauled in that 32-yard strike from Matt Ryan.

With 17 seconds left. And they were trailing by a point against the Jacksonville Jaguars until they put together what was essentially a super-sized 2-minute drill. So you can vote for the Colts. That's Matt Taylor on Colts Radio. Or, going back to the beginning, John Murphy on Bills Radio. And that great game that we saw between the Bills and the Chiefs. The Dawson-Knox touchdown about a minute ago. That put the Bills in front. It was such a game that I think belies all of what we're hearing from you about the offense.

And I get it. The Chiefs missed opportunities. They had a couple of interceptions from Patrick Mahomes. But the fact that we saw those two teams duel to the finish, I still think, is great for football. And on that Dawson-Knox touchdown drive, there were four first downs, including a Josh Allen hurdle.

So that certainly could whet your appetite for what's to come in the rest of the NFL. Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham then on Bengals Radio. Jamar Chase catching the game winner from... Oh, heavens. Joe Burrow. Sorry. I don't know where my brain went for a second there.

I was thinking Louisiana. Joe Burrow in the Superdome against the Saints. That was also a game winner. And Mitch Trubisky returning. And Fuego for the Steelers as they come up with the big shocker of Sunday. You hear Bill Hillgrove on Steelers Radio taking out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So those are your four candidates. And while you're answering our question tonight or filling in the blank tonight, you can take our poll on either Twitter or Facebook and our phone number 855-212-4227. If you missed hearing Kurt Warner last hour here on CBS Sports Radio, it was great to be able to catch up with him. Monday Night Football being in L.A. once he was out of the booth and they had packed up and had left this stadium, SoFi Stadium, he was able to call in for a few minutes, which was awesome.

We had him a couple of years ago in 2020. So in the midst of the pandemic for the first time and to be able to connect with him again was really cool. And to hear his thoughts on what the offense has looked like in the NFL the first six weeks, his word was choppy.

I asked him, how do you fix it? And it's a lot of talk about communication, a lot of talk about coaches and offensive coordinators getting on the same page and finding systems and schemes that fit the personnel. And too often there is a disconnect there, right, where in theory the schemes, the systems work. But if you don't have the personnel to be able to fit and carry out those schemes and to run those plays successfully, well then it's all for naught. I know one of the things that Bill Belichick has done really well over the course of his Hall of Fame career is that he finds guys who are versatile, who can get out there on the field, even if they are listed at one position, they can step into another role or they can fill another spot on the field, whether it's a defensive lineman, whether it's a linebacker. He likes to line people up in places that you don't expect them.

Sometimes he puts offensive linemen out there as receivers, eligible receivers, and we get the big men touchdown, so he enjoys finding athletic guys, guys who may be able to use their skills in a different way to help the team win. That's been one of his calling cards as the architect of the Patriots for 20-plus years. But certainly in these first six weeks, other than Buffalo, and we've seen Buffalo also struggle in stretches, but I would say there's more consistency with the Bills. Other than the Chiefs, again, we're not talking about six perfect games.

We're talking about more consistent, more rhythm, more flow than naught. So the Bills, the Chiefs, I don't think I would put the Vikings in that category, though they are one of the top records in the NFL, the Eagles definitely. There are times when I think Kirk Cousins is mercilessly criticized and it's not his fault. But when he doesn't turn the ball over, when he makes solid throws and allows his weapons, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, when he allows them to do what they do best, when he puts them in the positions to do what they do best, it's going to be a very competent offense.

So right now they're averaging 23.2 points per game, which is middle of the pack. And you look at their schedule, look at the teams that they've beaten to this point, the Green Bay game as the season opener, I want to say that's an aberration, but for the Packers, clearly it was not. We've seen more droughts and long stretches where the Packers looked inept on offense than we have seen them really locked in. I can remember one or two quarters, really, with the Packers. They beat the Packers in that season opener. They lost to the Eagles and that was a Monday night, wasn't that a Monday night game? I think it was a Monday night game because I was doing my show in Green Bay still on Monday night and we were talking about that game and how, oh, it was actually part of a double header on Monday night. We were talking about that game and how it looked so completely the opposite from what we saw in week one against the Packers. They beat Detroit by four.

Remember Detroit at that point was one of the top scoring offenses in the NFL. They beat the Saints by three points. They beat the Bears by a touchdown and they just were able to catch the Miami Dolphins in South Florida using two different quarterbacks but starting a rookie and he didn't make it all the way through the game. So they've got some competent wins, for sure. But right now, if you look at the schedule, I think the way that they're winning is not blowing teams out, it's doing just enough. I give them credit for winning. It's just not a juggernaut on offense, right?

Of the other teams, the Rams at times, but it's been more dependent upon who they're playing. We're asking you to fill in the blank. Some of you are using emojis like Brian who uses a toilet.

I got you. Kenneth uses a waste paper basket. Do people say waste paper basket anymore? Is that an old school thing?

I feel like I hear it every now and then, but I never feel like I'd say that in regular conversation. I just say garbage can. Right. Well, in my office, it's a waste paper basket because I don't put garbage in there. I put paper in there.

Makes sense. Makes sense if you use it just for paper, but then it's just a recycling bin at that point, kind of. And a lot of times I emptied out and put it in with a box of papers when I put my recycles out.

Yeah, I don't want smelly trash in my office trash can. So yeah, it doesn't have a bag in it. It's just a waste paper basket. Right.

Maybe that's the differentiator. No bag makes it a waste paper basket. A bag makes it a garbage.

I like that. Or I just don't put garbage in it, so it's not a garbage can. Nor that. It could be a trash can, I suppose. Anyway, Kenneth uses one of those.

Actually, if you look at it quickly, it could almost look like the net on a basketball hoop. Anyway, it's not that. Adam says confounding.

I like that word. The teams can't decide whether they're good or not. Yeah, I don't think many of them would tell you that they were good.

In fact, they tell you they want to be good. Peter goes with pathetic, to fill in the blanks. Let's see, Lee, atrocious. Aaron, it looks like they don't practice football. Kevin, consistently inconsistent.

Yeah, as much as that's cutesy and all, that's definitely the case. Neil has been extremely upsetting in the National Football League. Do you think it's upsetting? I think we're still watching. Regardless, we're still watching.

So fill in the blank. The offense around the NFL through six weeks is what? On Twitter, ALawRadio. And you can also vote for our TD of the Week.

Right? Soon? I think James is talking to himself, so that means soon. And then you'll get it on our Facebook page, too.

We've got your QB news coming up. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. In depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one House of the Dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon riders.

I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control. Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month, where you'll find out what's going on in the news. Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number five hundred sixty eight million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one House of the Dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon riders. I can't lose sleep over that over worrying about things that are beyond my control.

Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Back to throw, and it is is it lost? Oh my goodness, DeAndre Hopkins called it! Back from under center, steps back, throws to fake. Cooper cuts, touchdown L.A. Holmes fires for the end zone, caught, touchdown Kansas City. No, Herbert keeps it, end zone, touchdown.

Herbert with his second of the day. Here's the snap, Josh going to keep it himself and run it again inside the five, into the end zone, touchdown Buffalo. Josh Allen, nine yard touchdown run.

The Bills respond and then some. It's time for QB news on After Hours. We're going to jam it all in here, coming off of Monday Night Football in overtime to wrap up week number six. And we'll get to that game in its entirety at the top of the hour. But Justin Herbert likes the growth he's seeing from the Chargers overall as they move to four and two and they're tied for first place in the AFC West.

Two years ago, maybe that's a different story. And for us to go out and close and finish and to get that turnover on special teams like that is huge for us. And just to stay in the fight, come back from Tenno early on, you know, it says a lot about our team. Victory brisket this week? We'll see. It's a quick week.

So, you know, we'll have to watch the film tomorrow and get after it. But if there's time, I like it. Something I didn't realize until after the game. Russell Wilson apparently tweaked a hammy. So to hear him talk about an injury, obviously adding injury to the insult of yet another loss for Broncos fans. And just this rough start after six weeks. Sounds like he was able to play through it initially.

But... I got my hammy. I kind of scrambled to move it around on one.

I had to throw it away. Just kind of, it got me pretty good on the fourth quarter. But, you know, just tried to play through it and all that stuff.

I felt good moving around, running around, throwing it and everything else, especially early on when that happened. That was a little unfortunate. But, you know, trying to find a way to win the game. As it turns out, it turned into a field goal fest. And it was ultimately Dustin Hopkins who was able to get the last kick after the Broncos muffed a punt deep in their own territory.

Russell Wilson started out like a house on fire. In fact, he connected on his first ten passes. And the Broncos were able to get the first touchdown on the board. Ultimately finished 15 of 28.

Not even 200 yards. He did have the touchdown pass, but the Broncos were over in the red zone. I thought we started off great. I mean, everybody was catching the ball.

Guys were making plays. We looked like how I feel like we should look like. We kept our tempo up and everything else. Dolchers made a great touchdown.

The energy was high early on. It's a good football team out there. We were just as good, if not better, and we feel like. We got to answer the call.

Adversity is challenging us right now, but the only way I know through it all is just continue to work hard. We don't have division in our locker room. You guys saw how hard we played for each other tonight. I mean, everybody, it didn't go our way, but everybody's fighting their butts off every day. The guys up front on the line, receivers, tight ends, running backs, the defense, the defensive line, linebackers. I mean, our safeties and corners. I mean, everybody's playing for each other. We felt like we could have won the game.

Okay. I guess there's optimism, and you need optimism when things get difficult and challenging. But still, not what Denver Broncos management or even the team fans were hoping for or expecting. And if you missed our conversation with Kurt Warner, who did this game on Westwood 1 along with Kevin Hartland, we had some interesting thoughts, I think, about why it's so uncomfortable for Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense right now.

It's on our podcast after hours, AmyLawrence.com, or we will replay part of that conversation coming up next hour. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense looks pretty uncomfortable, too. Right now, they're barely averaging 20 points per game, which is 20th in the NFL.

And it's been hit or miss, which he talks about on his Let's Go podcast. We're not scoring enough points. We're not playing well in the red area.

We've been very inconsistent on third down. The game is about points. You know, it's not about yard, time, possession, all those things factor in. But the deciding factor in every game, and this is to point out the complete obvious, is points.

Did you score more points than the other team? And in three games we have, another three games we haven't. Even in the three games we won, we haven't played the way we're capable, certainly offensively. So, you know, we've all are kind of licking our wounds, looking at the last six weeks and trying to do a lot better, having more communication about things that we think we need to do moving forward. And it's going to be a big challenge. You know, we have a big challenge ahead of us. They don't, things don't magically just solve themselves. You know, things have to become solved.

You have to put the right time and emphasis into the things in order to improve them. And we got a lot of work to do. Except this is not what people expected with the Buccaneers. And Brady balks at that idea that because it's the Buccaneers, they should have it all figured out. Should we carry over just because we're the Bucs?

No, you carry over because of people. You know, people are the ones that are wearing those jerseys. It's not a bunch of robots. So we're not all programmed. We're all humans and we're trying to learn each other. And, you know, you go through training camps and you go through OTAs and you try to make as many improvements as you can over the course of a season, too. So there's no time, you know, to feel sorry for ourselves. This is the time to really knuckle down, bear down and put our best foot forward and to attack it with more urgency than the week before.

Because, again, these problems don't solve themselves. What we haven't been good in, like the red area, like third down, like short yardage, you know, our run game needs to be improved. You know, all those things, we've got to go out there and practice with a sense of urgency to make them better. Tom Brady always opens up and expounds on the issues, even the ones that are frustrating on his Let's Go podcast. And he had Kevin Durant as a guest along with him, which was interesting. We'll use some of that audio as we head through the rest of the show.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. People have been asking Todd Bowles routinely over the course of not just the last six weeks, but going back to preseason when Brady was away from the team for 11 days. Whether or not he's getting special treatment. He works as hard as anybody, you know, special treatment. There's been a few guys that missed some meetings and some practices for some special thing that just doesn't get publicized because they're not him. So it kind of comes with the territory.

You don't worry about it too much. I love that Todd Bowles is so no nonsense. Last week when people were asking him about coaching opposite Mike Tomlin, he didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to talk about it.

He's football nuts and bolts and doesn't have time for the flowery stories or the stories that might become clickbait like Tom Brady getting special treatment. Not sure if you heard it, but Dak Prescott said he's ready to go and declares himself able and willing and healed for week seven. As the Cowboys see the end of their four-game losing streak against the Eagles on Sunday, Dak, he was fired up about returning to the field.

Obviously something was healing. I had plans. Bowen obviously didn't have the same plan, so as you said, that got pushed back. But that was just me being eager. That was nothing different than what Dak's plans, the trainer's plans.

As I said, the plan now is just to go next week and let's see if I can do that. Dak is going to be cleared here officially. I think I haven't spoken to the medical group yet, but the anticipation is for Dak to be cleared today to Lamar. And then he'll be returned to practice on Wednesday. It's good to know. And for those of you who actually bought into the idea there might be a quarterback controversy, the joke's on you.

Stop it. I can't wait to see Dak back on the field. I do hope that they're not rushing him.

It sounds like the doctors have been very careful recognizing that it's a very long season. And right as he gets set to return, we have another injury to a starting quarterback in the NFC East. This time it's Carson Wentz who had surgery Monday because he had a broken finger on his throwing hand.

Here's the latest with Ian Rapoport. Carson Wentz faces a four to six week recovery time. Four to six weeks. Injured reserve is described to me as a possibility. So that might be something where we see Wentz go on IRM, remember it's just four weeks this year, and come back after that. There's also a possibility of surgery.

Do not know for sure, but certainly that is something that is possible. Which means for the Washington commanders, Taylor Heinecke likely steps in there at starting quarterback. You know, it has been a struggle offensively. It does seem like there's some opportunities. Perhaps Taylor Heinecke really has thrived in the system of Scott Turner.

We'll have some opportunities now and we'll see if the Washington commanders can turn it around. Alright, so my apologies. I didn't realize that Ian mentioned the surgery. He did have surgery, obviously, so the rest of it all applies. But he, at that point that he was delivering his update on NFL Network, maybe Carson hadn't had the surgery. But yes, Taylor Heinecke resurfacing again in the NFC East.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. In the AFC East, we know Tua will be back on the field in week seven for the Dolphins. The plan is for him to approach the game as the starter.

You know, so he'll be able to get those reps in on Wednesday. Tua getting ready for Sunday night's game against the Steelers. And so we won't have the rookie quarterback in Skylar Thompson against the rookie quarterback in Kenny Pickett on the opposite sidelines staring each other down instead. I'm so happy that we'll see Tua back on the field. At least that's the plan right now with Mike McDaniel. And still waiting to see whether or not Mac Jones will be ready to return for the Patriots. Had a text from a family member on Sunday. Looks like Bailey Zappi has taken Mac Jones' job or something to the effect of looks like Bailey Zappi is going to be the new starter in New England.

And I just wrote back, I don't think so. But I do find it amusing that Bill Belichick refuses to confirm or deny or give any information because why would he? Why would he want other teams to know who to plan for coming up in week number seven, which by the way, they take on these Chicago Bears.

So people keep asking, but he's not giving you anything. Well, we'll see how that process is. Mac still wasn't able to play yesterday, so, you know, we'll continue to evaluate him and, you know, see how he's doing physically.

Hey, bye. Remember Mac is dealing with a high ankle sprain. So if I could imagine that it might take a couple of more weeks just because they can be very, very annoying and they can take a long time to heal.

And you really can't do a whole lot. Now, he was on the field actually before Sunday's game against the Browns and he was moving around. And so it's good to see him out there. But he was not warming up. He wasn't practicing, obviously. So I can, like I said, I can imagine that it might take a couple more weeks for him to be completely comfortable on it.

High ankle sprains are finicky and they really do vary from one athlete to the next. You think I'm going to read the MRI? That's not my job. He's so prickly. But it does provide us with great amusement. And obviously Aaron Rodgers, too, who thinks he's brilliant at his press conferences.

We don't have time for that. I know Aaron Rodgers wishes that he were like Bill Belichick or wishes that he could approach his press conferences like Bill Belichick. So that's the latest edition of QB news.

I'm sorry. I'm still thinking about Bill Belichick and the fact that he gives us no news. It's been a mixed bag. I would agree with those of you who have responded. It's a mixed bag on offense.

It's, I think, befuddling, confusing, hard to understand. Where are all these teams that were juggernauts on offense a year ago? Is it really the fact that very few offenses played together in the preseason?

Is it more about the fact that you've got new coaches, new coordinators? But what about those QBs and offenses who have a lot of the same people? Not every team is going through a situation like Cleveland, where they change their entire quarterback room.

And now they're waiting for another guy to return. Or Miami, where they use three different QBs. That's not the norm around the league. I keep a list of the number of teams that use multiple quarterbacks because of injuries or ineptitude. And it's not even a quarter of them yet. Russell Wilson, okay.

I know a lot of people had higher expectations. But at least it's new, and you can kind of blame the fact that it's new for the disjointed nature of the offense. But what about the Chargers? Or the Buccaneers? Now they're missing a couple of pieces, and Gronk obviously retired. I don't know, maybe he'll change his mind now. Except I did hear he's back on, I think it's Fox, as an analyst now.

His day job. What about the Packers? They lose Devante Adamson. They bring in some different people, but still have Aaron Rodgers. And why the heck aren't you running the ball? I wasn't expecting it because we came off of a playoff run.

Certainly the end of last season where the offense was up, it was elevated, it was chucking and ducking. So it is confusing. Head scratching. We're asking you to fill in the blank. Kurt Warner's word, chuppie. But on Twitter after our CBS, the offense around the NFL this season is what?

That's what we're asking you. And Jay, I'm sorry I don't see it. Is the poll going up soon? Okay, so TD of the Week poll is going up soon. Also on Twitter after our CBS and on our Facebook page.

Got some doozies. In fact, we had to even eliminate game winners from our poll because that's the... We have moments. We have fleeting moments. Connecting across the room, across a crowded room. Eye contact. We've got fleeting moments.

We just haven't seen a whole lot of consistency. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Pod... Hey, I'm Thamy Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. Hey, I'm Amy Lawrence, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month. to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Thamie Redwood, host of the podcast Beyond Black History Month.

Here's reason number 568 million of why you should be listening. From in-depth reporting on the shortage of black sperm to how one house of the dragon star is dealing with online trolls who don't love seeing black dragon riders. I can't lose sleep over that, over worrying about things that are beyond my control.

Listen and subscribe to Beyond Black History Month on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake. I'm gonna leak ocular fluid down my cheeks.

It's gonna go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I wanna talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Cast. Gonzalez awaiting the one-two pitch. Here it comes.

A swing and a liner back up the middle base, hit into center. Here comes Kwon. Here comes Rosario. The Guardians win!

He's done it again! Oscar Gonzalez, a two out, two strike, two run single to center. A mob scene in right. A three run ninth inning. And for the 13th time this year, Cleveland trailing after seven innings has come from behind to win it. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. We thought we'd have another game by now, but alas, we wait to find out whether it will be the Guardians or the Yankees who advance to the ALCS, which begins in Houston on Wednesday.

Ready or not, they are waiting for you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio, Tom Hamilton, one of the great play-by-play voices in the country and certainly one of the best in Major League Baseball. And that's the walk off from game number three. Now we know the Yankees sent the series back to New York, back to the Bronx by winning game four on Sunday night. It feels like forever ago, four to two was the final score. If I remember correctly, the Yankees were able to put those runs on the board relatively quickly.

And then Garrett Cole made it all stand up, made it all stand up. We didn't get game five on Monday. By now, you know this, and it was a very long delay. So I actually started out looking for updates on Twitter and saw that there were supposed to be a meeting of the minds right before the first pitch was to have been thrown. They knew they weren't going to get that first pitch on time but there was a meeting, Yankees, Guardians, baseball officials, all that jazz.

And then there just weren't many updates. People were hanging out, max and relax and theoretically hoping that they would still get the game in. Now players, managers, coaches, they have no choice.

Baseball officials, they have no choice. I understand that they wanted desperately to get this game played because if you look ahead to the schedule, it's not optimal for either team, whether it's the Guardians or whether it's the Yankees, it's not optimal for either team to play on Tuesday, even though they have move start time up, and then travel, get off the plane Tuesday night, you hope there are no travel issues, turn around and play on Wednesday. Now the good news, I guess, is that the Astros and their opponent won't play in the opener until the second half of that double header on Wednesday. So you've also got the NLCS, they will play the early game on Wednesday. So it doesn't start until 6.37 Houston time, but still it's a quick turnaround. Houston swept, so the Astros, they earned this time and they also earned the home field advantage in being able to sleep in their own beds while they're waiting to find out their opponent.

Brian Cashman, not his choice, not his decision, but he was trying to explain why it took two and a half hours for the official announcement. We expected to play, it was supposed to be not a window, it was supposed to clear. And then a new system popped up, I'd say for the last call we were at, once the things started taking a little longer to clear, and we were actually wrestling with a first pitch time, and then a new system popped up. Weather is tricky, it's very unpredictable, but the full intention was and expectation every step of the way was we were playing the game tonight, both teams wanted to play tonight, and then unfortunately weather took us down.

Weather took us down, weather clobbered us. So you don't get a game, but you do get Terry Francona pregame who was asked about the Guardians' opponent, the opposing pitcher, who they were facing in game number five. Now I'm not gonna tell you if you remember who the starter was supposed to be, but I don't wanna spoil this exchange. With Talion, you guys haven't faced him much. Who? I know, I screwed that name up. I don't. Talion, the guy. Oh! I'm like the Italian guy, I'm like, who? You get me once a day, Hornzy.

Go ahead, man. I love Terry Francona. He is literally one of my favorite people in all of baseball. So that's the ALDS.

They've gotta finish that up on Tuesday afternoon. Houston is waiting, but the NLCS is about to get underway. The three-two, swing and a miss. He got him, and the ballgame, and the series are over. And the Phillies are headed to the National League Championship Series as they have taken out the world champs. An eight to three win. The Phillies celebrate on the mound.

Haters set and ready. Oh, and two, swing and a miss. Freeman went after a slider in the dirt, and the ballgame is over. The series is over, and the Padres have slayed the dragon. They defeat the Dodgers in four games to advance to the National League Championship Series.

They will play for the pennant beginning on Tuesday night here at home against the Phillies. Padres, Jesse Agler, and before that, Scott Fransky on Phillies radio. And I dig this. After doing this job for so long, 20 years, at the network level, let me see, when did I break into network radio? Oh gosh, it's been 17, 18 years now. It feels sometimes like there's nothing new under the sun. Now, I tell you all the time, one of the reasons I love this job is because it's not the same every night, but in general, the rhythm, the flow, the schedule, the calendar, it's a lot. It's a lot of repetition. But the fact that we get fresh blood when it comes to the postseason, when it comes to championships, that keeps me excited.

It's new stories, stories that have never been told before or haven't been told in a very long time. And that's the NLCS. The Padres have not been to the championship series since 1998. The Phillies haven't been there since 2010.

There are probably a lot of fans out there that don't even remember the fact that they were a juggernaut. And that was obviously before Bryce Harper was part of the Phillies. There's nothing like Philly when it's winning, right? That's what it's all about. When you see the alumni that come back and they all talk about it from the 80 and 93 team, they all talk about what this city does and how they get behind you and how fiery they are and how passionate they are. And I think every single night we see that. Been so much fun.

I said it yesterday. I kind of just sat there and was like, whoa, like this is incredible. This is insane.

It's electric. We do have the best fans in baseball. I mean, I've never heard a stadium louder than that. And it's incredible to see.

I'm just excited for the opportunity to do this. And hopefully Friday we get back. I know it's going to be jamming again and it's going to be rocking and hopefully we're right where we need to be.

Bryce Harper, remember that introductory press conference that he did with the Phillies when he said something about bringing a championship to DC? It was obviously a slip of the tongue, a little bit like me when I filled in for Maggie and Perloff on their show. And we got to the top of the hour.

And what I said was it's after hours with Amy Lawrence. Oh no, old habits die hard. I was mortified. I felt terrible. And then I did it again in the second hour. Oh my gosh.

Just you kick into that mode. So I forgive Bryce Harper because I've said far dumber stuff, but now he is all in all about Philly and Phillies have a lot of reason to smile. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake. I'm going to leak ocular fluid down my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake. I'm going to leak ocular fluid down my cheeks.

It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears. Whatever scares you, I want to talk about it. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. Is there something really absurd that skeeves you out? Getting a paper cut on my eyeball. A fear you can't shake. I'm going to leak ocular fluid down my cheeks. It's going to go into my mouth and I will perish. Join me, Larry Mullins, on my new podcast, Your Weirdest Fears. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from.