In this review, Cincinnati Football earned a hard fought power five win. Takeaways from the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 2 loss in Chicago. Plus, the Cincinnati Reds’ series losing streaks continues.

The football review

No.8 Cincinnati Football beat Indiana Football 38-24 in Bloomington, IN last Saturday. Cincinnati roared back after trailing 14-0 at one point in the second quarter. Getting the win in the Cincinnati Bearcats grittiest game of this season to date. Facing a tough test from a power five conference team. The Bearcats will have a bye week this week. Their next game will be perhaps their most anticipated non-conference game in program history. Taking on No.12 Notre Dame Football on October 2nd; kicking off at 2:30 PM Eastern on NBC.

This will be a reunion for Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. Taking on the team he left to take on the Notre Dame head coaching job. Kelly tied Knute Rockne’s record for the most head coaching wins with Notre Dame last Saturday. Winning his 105th game with Notre Dame; through their 27-13 home win against Purdue Football. All part of a big day of College Football in the Hoosier State.

Elsewhere, the Cincinnati Bengals lost their road opener last Sunday. Losing 20-17 to the Chicago Bears, giving both teams 1-1 records. The Bengals were never really out of this game; though they never led it. Cincinnati trailed by seven or less for most of the game. That’s one of several takeaways from last Sunday’s game.

Another takeaway was the tale of two Chicago quarterbacks. Former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and Bears rookie Justin Fields. Chicago’s taking the approach with their QB’s Cincinnati didn’t take with Dalton and Joe Burrow. Having the veteran Dalton help Fields ease into the first string quarterback role. That approach came in handy for Chicago; when Dalton left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. Fields finished out the game and came through in the clutch. With a run that helped seal the victory for Chicago in the last drive of the game.

Third, Evan McPherson keeps nailing long range field goals. He was responsible for the Bengals first points. Through a 53 yard field goal in the third quarter. 53 is turning out to be a commonly used number regarding McPherson. He made a 53 yard field goal in Cincinnati’s Week 1 win against the Minnesota Vikings.

Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins had a rough game until the fourth quarter. Higgins had passes slip through his fingers and had a pass thrown his way picked off. He wrapped up Sunday on a good note through a late fourth quarter touchdown. Coming a play after an interception by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson. Which put the Bengals in first and goal territory. Higgins’ touchdown was the second of back-to-back passes resulting in a touchdown for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. The first was a reception from Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase earlier in the fourth.

After never leading in their Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Chicago Bears defense helped ensure the Bengals never led in Week 2. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked by Bears defenders four times. In one of the worst performances in Burrow’s young NFL career. Roquan Smith, Angelo Blackson and Jaylon Johnson were the recipients of three-consecutive Burrow interceptions. Smith took his interception 53 yards for a touchdown. Snapping a streak of 199 consecutive unintercepted pass attempts by Burrow.

Next up for the Bengals, their first AFC North divisional clash of the season. Coming on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 PM Eastern on CBS.

Cincinnati Reds struggle to keep MLB Postseason hopes alive

The Cincinnati Reds’ continue to struggle with a late slide. They lost two out of three against the cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates to start off last week. Then lost two out of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the weekend. As the Reds began their final homestand of the season. Likely leaving some Reds fans looking for some stiff drinks at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati nearby. Even All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker’s return from the injured list last Friday wasn’t enough. To fully snap the Reds out of their September funk in the Dodgers series.

Cincinnati’s series losing streak stands at eight going into today. After several weeks in second place in the National League Central. The Reds are now in third place in the division. The St. Louis Cardinals are now in second place; thanks to their eight-game winning streak. Cincinnati trails St. Louis by three games in the race for the last NL Wild Card spot.

The Reds are half a game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. All of this comes as teams are starting to clinch postseason berths. As the window for a postseason berth begins to close on them. The San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers and the Dodgers have all clinched berths. The Brewers magic number to win the NL Central is three going into today.

Cincinnati’s final homestand of the regular season will conclude this week. With a three-game series against the Pirates starting tonight. Tonight and Tuesday’s games are set to start at 6:40 PM Eastern. Wednesday’s finale is set to start at 12:35 PM Eastern. Cincinnati will wrap up the week and the homestand taking on the Washington Nationals. In a four-game series starting Thursday at 6:40 PM Eastern. Friday and Saturday’s first pitches are set for 7:10 PM and Sunday’s is set for 1:10 PM Eastern.

Florence Y’alls season ends in the playoffs

While the Reds are struggling to maintain their postseason hopes. The Frontier League’s Florence Y’alls wrapped up their season in the playoffs last Saturday. Falling three games to one in the Divisional Series to the Schaumburg Boomers. Florence qualified as the Frontier League West Division champions. Being the top seed among the four division champions with a 57-38 record.

FC Cincinnati lose back-to-back matches

After getting their first win at their home TQL Stadium on September 11th. FC Cincinnati lost both of their matches last week. Enduring a 4-0 drubbing on the road against Atlanta United last Wednesday. Along with a 2-1 home loss against New York City FC last Saturday. Brenner put FC Cincinnati on the board first through his goal in the 4th minute. If not for an offsides call, he would’ve had a two-goal night.

NYCFC’s Keaton Parks scored the equalizer in the 37th minute. Valentin Castellanos (no relation to Reds player Nick Castellanos) scored the winning goal. With a penalty kick goal in the 60th minute. FC Cincinnati’s penalty problems continued as things got chippy in the second half. Alvaro Barreal and Isaac Atanga were handed red cards in the last ten minutes of the match.

Next up for FCC, a Saturday road match against DC United. That match at Audi Field is set to start at 7:30 PM Eastern on WSTR-TV 64. Meanwhile, TQL Stadium will host it’s first international friendly this Tuesday. Featuring Cincinnati native Rose Lavelle and her U.S. women’s national teammates taking on Paraguay. Lavelle and her teammates attended FC Cincinnati’s match last Saturday. The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team walloped Paraguay 9-0 in Cleveland last Thursday. Tuesday’s match is set to kickoff at 7:30 PM Eastern on FS1 and TUDN.