9/23/26 -- The Mo Egger Show: No, the Bengals Should Not Trade Joe Flacco to the Giants.

00:00:00
Speaker 1: This is Dan Hoard.
00:00:01
Speaker 2: Join Wayne Boxmiller and me for Bengals game plan tonight, starting at 6 on the official home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:00:09
Speaker 3: All right, Dan, we'll do that. What's up? I'm Mo Egger. This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening today. Look, I hope you're having an awesome Wednesday. I am looking through the cubbyhole window I have here in studio. I know I discuss the weather more than I should, but those of us who love summer have to spend a lot of it hearing from people who just pretend they want fall to get here. Dude, look at it outside. It looks awful. It's gloomy. It's gnarly looking. I don't like it. Nobody really likes this weather. Nobody really loves, you know, red and yellow and orange leaves all that much. But anyway, we've got to deal with it. Thank you for joining us. Show preview is available right now. Go watch it on Twitter at Mo Egger. Thanks to Sharefax Credit Union. By the way, I think there are still spots available in the Sharefax Credit Union golf outing, which is happening this Monday at the Heritage Club in Mason. And it benefits Cincinnati Children's Charities, which what a cause. That is awesome. So hope to see you there this Monday. Go to ShareFacts.org and learn more about it. And I believe that there are still a handful of spots available. So go check that out at ShareFacts.org. We got a lot to do today. And I'm going to just shoot something down before it even really takes off. And this is based on something that I heard recently. on a national sports talk radio show this morning, and it's Bengals related. We're going to shoot it down. Speaking of the Bengals, which we do every day, Joe Burrow is expected to talk at 315. Now, I say expected because so far, not so good when it comes to him showing up on time for his regularly scheduled Wednesday press conference, but maybe with a 2-0 start, Maybe there'll be, I don't know, he'll be on time today, which would be nice because, you know, believe it or not, we do plan these shows out. Now, we've planned around Joe Burrow showing up at 315, and we love Joe. How do you not love Joe Burrow? But we would love him a lot more if he would, you know, do his press conferences on time. So we'll have that for you coming up, we think, in about eight minutes. The Reds are getting a D from ESPN. Why so generous? Yeah. Kelsey Conway from the inquire a little bit later on, we'll go to Pittsburgh. Steelers look like a mess, you know, and there's, there's something in, there's something in life about branding.
00:02:33
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:02:33
Speaker 3: The Bengals have these issues with players who, you know, want contract extensions, but don't get them. And they request trades and they hold in or they hold out and it's cheap, cheap, cheap Bengals. See Bengals are dysfunctional. They have a few bad seasons and it's, but Bengals are a disaster. I have said for years that, and I think most are starting to come around on this, that there are more similarities between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers than a lot of people would be willing to admit. And, you know, you look at what's happening in Pittsburgh, where they've been in quarterback purgatory for close to a decade, where the roster is usually pretty underwhelming, and where they've got a guy in Joey Porter Jr. who may play, may not play, may be hurt, may not be hurt.
00:03:21
Speaker 5: I just.
00:03:22
Speaker 3: If that's the Bengals, oh boy, we're hearing about it. But in Pittsburgh, it's the Roonies. And hey, they were good back in the 70s. And they won a Super Bowl 16 years ago. And so they're kind of untouchable, right? We'll find out when we go to Pittsburgh coming up in the 5 o'clock hour. We also have a poll question we have to get to. And there's going to be some irony in the poll question, which I will explain later. a little bit later on, some college football stuff as well. So it's coming up on nine minutes after three o'clock. I'll take you behind the scenes. I'll pull the curtain back, so to speak. Typically we break at like 3.15, 3.16, but Joe Burrow talks at 3.15, or he's supposed to. So we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is going to be on time and break here in a second so that we can carry Joe on time. So, Joe, if you're listening right before you take the podium, if you can, A, show up on time. B, let's not talk for 45 minutes. Bengals and Steelers coming up on Sunday. The game live on ESPN 1530 kickoff at 1 p.m. and pregame coverage starts at 9 o'clock. On Sunday morning. We've got a lot to get to between now and 6 o'clock. I'm Mo Egger. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll hear, hopefully, from Joe Burrow when we come back on ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:04:51
Speaker 6: Cincinnati.
00:04:52
Speaker 7: Why Cincinnati? An iHeart Radio station. Guaranteed human. ESPN 1530. iHeart Radio. If you miss anything on this show, you can listen to it. on the iHeartRadio app. You can listen to it as it's happening. Like, you can listen to this show live on the iHeartRadio app. Maybe you're doing that right now.
00:05:14
Speaker 3: But we also take this show and we put it in its recorded form. We call them podcasts. Revolutionary term on the iHeartRadio app. And yesterday, Paul Daner Jr., as always, just outstanding on the Bengals. We talked extensively about Cassius Howe. who has, he has been so refreshing because it's so much fun to watch the Bengals get like instant, an instant impact from one of their rookies. And he was, you know, in many respects, effectively their first round pick because, you know, the Dexter Lawrence trade. So we talked Dexter Lawrence, we talked Cassius Howell, we talked Tee Higgins, we talked Orlando Brown. And so much more yesterday, if you missed that conversation. Or if Monday you didn't hear the Tony and Moe football show. I'm a little offended that you didn't, but that's cool. We're good. We're covered. You're covered. It's on the iHeartRadio app. Go there now. Podcast of this show. Our service of Long Neck Sports Grill. Three locations in Northern Kentucky. Each one of them with awesome game day specials. Pro and college football. Wilder, Hebron, Richwood. Long Neck Sports Grill. Stay long and come often. So it's 3.16. Joe Burrow scheduled to talk at 3.15. So we are now in what is referred to as a holding pattern to hear from the quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals. And there is Bengals news today that if you, for whatever reason, didn't catch it, Andre Yoshavas is going to miss at least four games. He's got damaged ligaments in his thumb, had to have surgeries. Excuse me. So Bengals obviously... Have a fair amount of depth at wide receiver, but that has been cut into just a little bit. Bad, tough break for Andre. This is a big year for him because it's a contract year for him. Hopefully he gets through everything. It is okay. Can come back and contribute. But I'm interested in this rib thing. And like, there's a very real possibility. Joe Burrow was dealing with a rib problem. He was caught on a hot mic, caught while wired up, referring to during the game on Sunday against the Texans, and maybe he's trolling everybody. I do not know. Neither outcome, I guess, would be surprising, but it would be neat if some light was shed on whether or not Joe, on top of the back discomfort, was dealing with and is dealing with some sort of rib problem. I'm sure he's going to be asked about it the moment he steps to the podium, which should happen any second now. Joe Flacco is an awesome insurance policy, and you don't want to have to use it. And if something were to happen to Joe Burrow that would require Joe Flacco to play the rest of the season and be the guy, well, I don't think any of us would plan on the Bengals winning a championship. But that's not why you have a backup quarterback. Obviously, that's the guy you turn to if the quarterback can't play for the rest of the season, which may be the case with Jackson Dart and the New York Giants. But it's great to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can put a guy like Joe Burrow or Joe Flacco in the game. And maybe that's for a half. Maybe that's just for a series. Maybe it's for a week. Maybe it's for a stretch of games. There's peace of mind in knowing you have somebody like that who's going to be prepared, who has seen everything that the NFL could possibly throw at a quarterback. He understands the system. He's been here for a little bit less than a year. He is an awesome insurance policy. Having an awesome insurance policy is important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is peace of mind. If in this game on Sunday, and I will say this because I don't believe in jinxes because jinxes aren't real, but if in this game on Sunday, Joe Burrow had to go in the tent and maybe he goes into the protocol or maybe there's something that requires him to miss the rest of the game, the Bengals should still be able to function on offense. Part of that is because they have elite weaponry. Part of that is also having a backup quarterback that you can have faith in. Peace of mind is you can't put a price tag on it. So I bring this up because it has been suggested. I was listening to a national sports talk radio show this morning where in the wake of like the Jackson Dart news in New York, taking a turn and a turn for the not so good, you know, the Giants have a quarterback problem and they're going to turn to Jameis Winston right now, but it has been suggested. And I've seen this on the internet. I even retweeted one of the tweets about this that, well, the Giants should call the Bengals and ask about Joe Flacco. And there's a connection there, obviously. John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco in 2012. Joe Flacco was the MVP of that Super Bowl. Bowl. And so maybe it would make sense. And yeah, man, if I were a Giants fan, OK, like, let's let's see if we can get Joe Flacco and add him to our room and maybe not make him the starting quarterback or maybe make him the starting quarterback. But you know what? I'm not a Giants fan. I'm a fan of the team that Joe Flacco plays for. I love the fact that he's on this team. And I hope he doesn't play a meaningful snap this season. Why? Because I like peace of mind. I like comfort. I like knowing that if they have to turn to the other guy, the other guy can be counted on. Now, he's not going to be as good as the main guy. And I will admit, you know, we used to feel this way about Jake Browning. We felt this way a year ago, exactly a year ago about Jake Browning. And that kind of blew up in everybody's face. unfortunately for Jake and unfortunately for the Bengals. Why on earth would you give up the peace of mind that comes with having a guy like Joe Flacco? No, no, you don't trade him to the New York Giants. You did not. I'm like, again, nobody is untouchable. I'll take the phone call and you could try to overwhelm me, but you would have to overwhelm me. And I'll acknowledge the guy may never play. may never take a snap for you. That is okay. That's what we want. Like ideally Joe Flacco only takes snaps in games where the Bengals are up by 25, 28 points and he's handing the ball off and they're ending the game. And maybe he takes some victory formation snaps. I love having the peace of mind and knowing that if something happens to a guy that I think I don't think right now is the best quarterback in the NFL, but certainly one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. If something happens, I can put that guy in the game and things are going to be okay. Are they going to be great? No, but can they still win with him? Yes. Maybe not a championship, but give me a backup in the league that you go. Yeah, that guy can win us a championship. I don't have Joe Flacco on the team because I think he could win a championship. I have him on the team because if something happens to the guy who is the most important person who earns a paycheck from this franchise, And now the other guy has to come in in the interim. In the interim, we're fine. I am not relinquishing that peace of mind. If I'm Duke Tobin, if I'm Katie Blackburn, Mike Brown, Zach Taylor, or anybody else. Now, would the Giants represent a better opportunity for Joe Flacco to maybe play?
00:12:17
Speaker 1: Sure.
00:12:18
Speaker 3: Would he have some interest in reuniting with the guy that he won the title with? I don't know. 14 years ago? Maybe. But no, I'm not giving up the peace of mind. We do have Joe Burrow. Here he is talking to the pro football media down at Paycor Stadium.
00:12:33
Speaker 8: Pretty sore.
00:12:33
Speaker 9: How did you feel out of practice today?
00:12:35
Speaker 8: I felt good. I felt good. Still getting better, but I'm feeling good. Sore just from taking hits from back away?
00:12:41
Speaker 10: All of the above.
00:12:44
Speaker 9: Have you pioneered a new technique for rib repairs?
00:12:48
Speaker 3: Maybe.
00:12:48
Speaker 10: I don't know.
00:12:50
Speaker 11: Maybe.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: How much does that bother you at the end of the game?
00:12:54
Speaker 8: Depends on the day.
00:12:58
Speaker 3: What?
00:12:58
Speaker 8: You never know. You never know. Yeah, we're just trying to be 1-0 this week.
00:13:06
Speaker 3: Obviously, being 3-0 would be great, but.
00:13:08
Speaker 8: We're just trying to be 1-0 this week. Beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. How different are they defensively without Tomlin?
00:13:24
Speaker 12: Yeah, they did what they do for a long time, and they're doing some different things. They're, you know, same personnel for the most part, a couple new guys here and there, but same front. So, you know, we know what kind of front they have. You have to be aware of them at all times. They're good at batting balls down. They're good in their rush lanes. If you give them too many one-on-ones, they're going to win. You've got to be aware for them and not let them win the game.
00:13:51
Speaker 10: How are they?
00:13:53
Speaker 11: I mean, their cover structure is different.
00:13:56
Speaker 2: It's what they like calling on first and second down, third down.
00:14:02
Speaker 8: It'll all be different from before.
00:14:19
Speaker 12: There's only so many different things that you can run, so there will be some overlap, but it's certainly different.
00:14:24
Speaker 13: With Andre out, how do you all go about retooling the offense? Is it plug and play, or are you really.
00:14:33
Speaker 8: Having to retool some things? It'll be by committee.
00:14:35
Speaker 12: Andre did a lot for us in the run game. He was a dependable, really good third receiver, so you can't just replace him with one guy. It'll be by committee for sure.
00:14:46
Speaker 13: How much work goes into that at this part of the week?
00:14:50
Speaker 3: A lot, a lot.
00:14:52
Speaker 8: You know, you put plays in the game plan that.
00:14:55
Speaker 12: You have certain guys in mind for, and, you know, that's for them to do upstairs, and, you know, we'll have our opinions here and there, but, you know, they all have to know everything.
00:15:07
Speaker 8: For the most part because you never know who's going to get thrown in there.
00:15:09
Speaker 14: You have six years of....
00:15:11
Speaker 2: Reps banked against TJ Watt in terms of knowing how important taking.
00:15:16
Speaker 9: Care of the ball is and his ability to make plays.
00:15:19
Speaker 12: On the ball.
00:15:19
Speaker 14: What have you learned is key with him specifically in his ability to pass down and make plays on the ball?
00:15:28
Speaker 8: Yeah, you have to be aware for it for sure.
00:15:33
Speaker 12: It's hard to do that as a quarterback, to be aware of batted.
00:15:36
Speaker 8: Balls at the line of scrimmage.
00:15:40
Speaker 12: If you're too aware of it, I think that gets you into a little more negative than positive. So you try to minimize his chances to do that, mix up the looks on him up front, lick him, chip him, screen him, try to do a lot of different things to him.
00:15:58
Speaker 8: How insane was that pick he had against him? Yeah, that was crazy.
00:16:04
Speaker 12: He just does it over and over and over again, so it's certainly not lucky.
00:16:08
Speaker 8: He's done it for years and years.
00:16:10
Speaker 1: Have you been trying to find maybe the right footwear for you this season? What's that process kind of been like?
00:16:15
Speaker 8: Yeah, I have a lot of different ones that I feel good about. You feel like you're in a good spot now? Yeah, for sure.
00:16:21
Speaker 11: With the injury to Yoshi, what kind of opportunity is this for Dante and the rest of the room for that matter?
00:16:28
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's a big opportunity. Whenever anybody goes down, there's a lot of opportunity to be seized. And I think this.
00:16:38
Speaker 12: Is the deepest we've been in that room for a while and I think we've been deep in years past too, but we have so many guys that we feel good about putting out there.
00:16:46
Speaker 8: Dante, Colby, Keyshawn.
00:16:49
Speaker 12: I feel good about all those guys going in there and performing and then the tight end room will handle some of that as well with Tanner, Eric, Mike, Jack.
00:17:01
Speaker 8: Got a lot of different guys we can put in a lot of different spots.
00:17:03
Speaker 9: What's the number one thing to earn your trust as a receiver?
00:17:06
Speaker 8: What does a receiver have to do to earn your Know what you're doing.
00:17:11
Speaker 4: Work hard.
00:17:12
Speaker 12: Make plays. Don't let the defender catch the ball. I throw it up in a 50-50 situation. We talk about that a lot too. There's a lot of different ways.
00:17:24
Speaker 10: To do it.
00:17:25
Speaker 8: We have a lot of different.
00:17:38
Speaker 12: Personnel packages, so there'll be constant communication in the huddle about what position a guy is, what route does he have, what's his.
00:17:45
Speaker 8: Responsibility on this play. We'll talk through a lot of different.
00:17:50
Speaker 12: Situations in practice that'll come up, more so than with Yosh, because we have a lot of reps banked together, but those guys are smart, capable, and have some unique skill sets. That position, there's a lot of different things that we can do with those guys.
00:18:08
Speaker 1: You've been seeing him together for seven years.
00:18:10
Speaker 9: He's had a really good start to the season.
00:18:12
Speaker 3: How does that manifest itself in that specific relationship, especially in key moments?
00:18:17
Speaker 8: Just constant communication, positive feedback.
00:18:23
Speaker 12: Quarterback and receiver is all about a feedback loop and constant communication about, hey, what did you see here? What were you thinking here? Here's what I was thinking. Where do you want this ball? Here's where I think I can throw this ball. And we've had all those conversations and continue to have them and.
00:18:37
Speaker 3: It's just about constant dialogue.
00:18:41
Speaker 12: For sure, for sure.
00:18:43
Speaker 14: With where you guys want to go this season, how important is it to set the tone in the division with your.
00:18:49
Speaker 8: First division game?
00:18:50
Speaker 12: Yeah, it's always critical. You want to start out strong in the division. These games are worth a lot. So love that it's against Pittsburgh. Decided to go there and try to perform. That's always a tough place to play against a tough team.
00:19:08
Speaker 2: When you practiced against this defense, were you eager to see them in games and eager for the rest of the league to see them in games?
00:19:15
Speaker 8: For sure.
00:19:16
Speaker 12: I was talking about it all training camp. I was just excited to get out there and watch them. They've lived up to the hype through two weeks. But just as we've talked about in our meetings and in here, it's two weeks.
00:19:27
Speaker 8: We're still in September.
00:19:28
Speaker 12: We're not even close to where we want to be, nor is anybody.
00:19:34
Speaker 8: 2-0 is not going to get anything done in this league, so we just got to keep going.
00:19:38
Speaker 13: How much different does the prep feel going into a divisional game, or does it feel different?
00:19:42
Speaker 8: It doesn't feel any different. It doesn't feel any different. Usually, you kind of know.
00:19:49
Speaker 12: What to expect since you play these guys so many times, but it's a little different this year with three new head coaches in the division. You're probably a little more prepped than typical for a divisional game just because you're not quite sure what to expect from these guys. We've played this D coordinator before, and So you can draw from that, you can draw from the first two games, and go from there.
00:20:14
Speaker 3: You've played with Orlando now for a few years.
00:20:17
Speaker 14: How have you seen him respond after a game that maybe wasn't up to his standard?
00:20:23
Speaker 12: Look, I think Orlando was pretty good on Saturday. There were a couple of sacks that weren't in his control at.
00:20:30
Speaker 8: The end of the day.
00:20:32
Speaker 12: There's a lot of different things that go into pass protection that's not just on the offensive line.
00:20:38
Speaker 8: And that's what you don't see in, in the media.
00:20:42
Speaker 12: There's very intricate details of past protection and guy expecting help here, a guy expecting help from a different spot, a lot of different things that go into it that, um, we would never explain to you guys.
00:20:57
Speaker 8: And then it's left up to interpretation. And that's, that's how football works.
00:21:03
Speaker 12: And that's the one position at the end of the day that is, uh, a thankless job from the exterior.
00:21:09
Speaker 8: So you try to pump those guys up as much as you.
00:21:11
Speaker 12: Can in the building. But I really think they were pretty, they were pretty good on Sunday. You know, I could have been better in a spot, in a couple spots. They certainly could have been.
00:21:22
Speaker 8: Better in a couple spots. And the guys helping them could have been better in a couple spots.
00:21:27
Speaker 12: It seems like you've kind of cut down on your, you know, the tip passes don't seem to come, you know, as much. I mean, now with Hayward and Watt, I mean, I guess you said you can't think about it. Yeah, there's not much you can do at quarterback about those.
00:21:45
Speaker 8: You're looking through those guys, trying to see what's down the field.
00:21:48
Speaker 12: The quarterback position is trying to ignore the people in front of you as much as you can and feel the space around them and manipulate the pocket.
00:21:59
Speaker 8: They'll get one or two.
00:22:00
Speaker 12: They always do. Cam is really good at it. TJ is really good at it. You can tell all those guys are coached up well for it. And, I mean, I think Cam has three already this season. So they're always aware for it. They'll get one or two. You just try not to let them be big plays.
00:22:20
Speaker 13: It looks like you all stayed outside the full practice today through the rain. Is that you welcome a, you know, rainy, sloppy Mother Nature.
00:22:29
Speaker 8: Practice every now and then? For sure.
00:22:31
Speaker 14: That's great.
00:22:32
Speaker 12: You get one or two of those a year, you never know when it's going to pop up on Sunday. So to get one like that, it's valuable for us.
00:22:38
Speaker 8: You say you feel like you didn't play that great on Sunday.
00:22:40
Speaker 13: What do you feel like, you know, from one, what do you feel like the kind.
00:22:43
Speaker 8: Of tweet going into this? Yeah, I missed two throws that I normally make.
00:22:47
Speaker 12: You know, there were a couple plays early I thought I could have manipulated and left the pocket a little faster than I did. And that's part of, you know, early season, you know, in training camp you're not, You're not thinking that way, getting out of pocket and trying to make plays.
00:23:03
Speaker 8: You're just executing the play as it's called.
00:23:05
Speaker 12: There's not too many extended plays in training camp, and that's a challenge that I've always had early in the season is getting back to that playmaking mentality. And so they're certainly going to have to do that this week with the front that they have.
00:23:21
Speaker 8: I had a couple nice ones in the second half, but I was able to break that back out, so got to keep that going.
00:23:27
Speaker 3: Do you feel like you're close to finding that game feel that you usually have?
00:23:31
Speaker 8: For sure, for sure. Second half, I thought it was pretty dang good. Like I said, I missed a couple in the first half.
00:23:37
Speaker 12: One or two sacks that I'd like to have back, but I thought second half was pretty good.
00:23:43
Speaker 2: After the pitch, we're both talking about the challenge that the Sealy defense presents, and they both used the word that it'd be fun for you guys to try to.
00:23:52
Speaker 8: Rise to that challenge. Is fun a word you would use to describe facing this game? Man, football's fun.
00:23:58
Speaker 12: It doesn't matter who you're going against, you know. Going out there and testing yourself against some of the best in the world to do it, that's what this is all about. It's what sport is all about in general. It's testing yourself against the opponent. You see a ring matchup. We'll see on Sunday. Do you have an AFC North part of your brain clicking through?
00:24:22
Speaker 8: This is totally different than any other game, any other venue? It's certainly different. It's certainly different.
00:24:32
Speaker 12: You know, you certainly have that more when you have a lot of continuity from the coaching staffs in the North. You know, this year, like I said, three new head coaches, so It's kind of a different feel, a different mindset going into this one where you're not sure how a team sees you and wants to attack you. So we've got to be able to adapt on the fly and see how they've done it in the past, but be ready to change things quickly.
00:25:03
Speaker 2: Similar to your fun comment, what about taking the field at a rival's hostile environment?
00:25:09
Speaker 8: I've always loved playing on the road.
00:25:11
Speaker 12: I've always enjoyed that almost more than playing at home. Just like you can feed off of your home crowd's energy, you can feed off of an away crowd's energy too, positively and negatively. There's no better feeling than scoring a big touchdown on the road and it getting really quiet, but you can still hear a couple of the Bengals fans in the stands.
00:25:31
Speaker 8: So hopefully we have a couple of those. What was the most hostile spot when on the road? What was.
00:25:39
Speaker 3: The most hostile?
00:25:40
Speaker 8: Nelsonville, York, for sure. For sure. We would have, we would have, You know, 10,000 people come to that game sometimes. Go Bulldogs.
00:25:50
Speaker 3: Burrow finishes up his weekly Wednesday press conference as he feels fine. Talks about how they'll go sort of by committee in replacing Andre Yoshibas as the team's number three wide receiver. A lot more tonight on Bengals Game Plan starring Dan Hoard and Wayne Boxmiller. I believe they're on the west side. Patrick Sports Bar, one of my favorite spots. Tonight at 6, ESPN 1530. And, of course, the game Sunday at 1 on ESPN 1530 as well. All right. We're guest-free until 430. That means I get to talk about sports. And you can chime in as well on any of the dumb things I say. We'll do a little bit more on the Flacco thing.
00:26:29
Speaker 5: No.
00:26:30
Speaker 1: No, no, no.
00:26:34
Speaker 3: No, don't trade Joe Flacco. And I don't believe the Bengals will. I think the Bengals, I think Duke Tobin, people that run the team are on the same page as most of us. But no, we might make that a poll question. We'll see. Sports headlines are coming up. ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:26:50
Speaker 6: ESPN 1530. Traffic. From the UC Health Traffic Center.
00:26:58
Speaker 3: Bengals!
00:26:59
Speaker 10: The Bengals storm into the Steel City looking to pitch Pittsburgh into the recycling bin. Just saying the word Pittsburgh makes me want to puke. The Bengals slug it up with the Steelers Sunday. Coverage begins at 9 a.m. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Steelers.
00:27:26
Speaker 3: Sports headlines, a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of Lifetime Powertrain, protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life. KelseyChev.com. Andre Yoshivas. Bengals wideout going to miss at least four games after undergoing surgery. What did I say? After undergoing? He had surgery. Nobody says undergoing in real life. If you had surgery, you wouldn't say, yeah, I have to undergo surgery. I'm going to miss a week of work after I had surgery. Andre Yochevas had surgery for damaged ligaments.
00:28:02
Speaker 1: What?
00:28:03
Speaker 3: Can we start this over again? Let's start this segment over again. Terran, play some music. Can you play the promo and the bumper? And then we'll restart. This will be like a recorded show, like a recorded podcast or something where we can just pretend that what we just did coming.
00:28:19
Speaker 2: Out of the break.
00:28:19
Speaker 1: Thank you.
00:28:21
Speaker 3: Bengals!
00:28:22
Speaker 10: The Bengals storm into the Steel City, looking to pitch Pittsburgh into the recycling bin. Just saying the word Pittsburgh makes me want to puke. The Bengals slug it up with the Steelers.
00:28:35
Speaker 3: Sunday, coverage begins at 9 a.m.
00:28:38
Speaker 10: Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Steelers.
00:28:49
Speaker 3: Sports headlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, home of lifetime powertrain protection. Taryn, don't make me do this a third time. Home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life, KelseyChev.com. Andre Yoshibas had surgery for damaged ligaments in his thumb. He's going to miss at least four games. He's on IR, Bengals and Steelers on Sunday. Joey Porter Jr., who has been involved in this long, protracted, is he really hurt, is he not really hurt, contract issue situation. with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the sort of thing Pittsburgh will get a pass for, but other teams like the Bengals would get criticized for. Joey Porter Jr. today at the portion of the practice that the media in Pittsburgh could watch was seen in uniform, and he went through some light individual drills and he played catch. There's still a lot of mystery as to whether or not he's going to play. If I was a Steelers fan. And I'm thinking about the Bengals and Higgins and Chase. I would really like it if Joey Porter Jr. would play. More tonight, Bengals game planned at 6, ESPN 1530. And of course, the game live from Pittsburgh at 1 o'clock Sunday on ESPN 1530 with pregame coverage starting with Ken Brew at 9 a.m. Tonight, Fox Sports 1360 has the Will Stein Show. I guess that is a Wednesday night program now. Will Stein coming off a signature victory for Kentucky on the road against Texas A & M. Meanwhile, Reds and Braves again tonight in Atlanta. Can Ellie De La Cruz this evening join the 30-30 club? Becoming the first Reds player since Brandon Phillips nearly two decades ago to reach that milestone, so to speak. We'll find out tonight on 700 WLW. First pitch, 715. Andrew Abbott against future Hall of Famer Chris Sale. I'm going to do this. Because, well, the Reds have five games remaining. By the way, there are three games behind St. Louis for fourth place in the National League Central. So don't let anybody tell you these games don't mean anything. Because summer is now over, go outside, look at it. It doesn't look or feel like summer. And because, you know, I only have, I have this show and tomorrow's show to do this. I don't have a show on Friday. I'm going to read for you the Reds starting lineup tonight. Chances are you'll have a good chuckle once I do. Here we go. Brito is in right field leading off. Ellie De La Cruz at short. Sal Stewart plays first. Dane Myers is the cleanup batter. He's hitting fourth. Homer last night. Suarez DHs. Matt McClain plays second base. Cabrera's in left. Banfield catches. Key Brian Hayes plays third base. And bats ninth. That is the lineup of a team that has five games to go and has been out of contention since the 4th of July. 7.15 tonight from Atlanta on 700 WLW. Poll questions on Twitter. Thanks to United Heartland Insurance. You know, we're getting to the end. We're getting to the fourth quarter. Q4, as we say in the corporate world. Q4. Nobody in the real world says Q4, right? But in the corporate world, Q4. But as you get to the end of the year, you start thinking about insurance for 2027. Don't think about insurance without reaching out to the folks at United Heartland Insurance. Go to uhins.com. They sponsor our poll question. Should the Bengals trade possibly the most reliable backup quarterback in the league to the Giants to reunite him with one of his old head coaches? And the reason I bring this up. It has been suggested in a few places that with the Giants, possibly without Jackson Dart for the rest of the season, that maybe they should pick up the phone. You know, there's a pipeline, Bengals-Giants pipeline, because of the Dexter Lawrence deal, that maybe the Giants should pick up the phone or reach out to the Bengals and say, hey, we have a quarterback issue. There's familiarity, Joe Flacco with John Harbaugh, though it's not like it's John Harbaugh's system. He was a special teams coach. And so, you know, hey, the Giants could go and get Joe Flacco. I read NFL rumors at NFL Rums. Joe Flacco mentioned as a Giants option with the injury to Jackson Dart. Should this be something that happens? Vote now at Mo Egger. The overwhelming majority very early in the voting says no. I agree with no. There's lots of different reasons for this. Not the least of which is the Bengals have played two games. Going into the last game, we talked about Joe Burrow dealing with a sore back. We've seen him on the injury report. There's weirdness with his rib. He's also always hurt. If there is a team in the NFL that needs a really good backup quarterback, especially after watching Orlando Brown, and Joe said some really nice things about Orlando Brown a few minutes ago, and that's good. He's sticking up for his teammate. I appreciate the hell out of that. But if there is a team in the NFL that should understand the value in having a good backup, it's the Bengals, a good insurance policy. It's ironic that this poll question is brought to you by United Heartland Insurance. They sell good insurance policies. I want a good insurance policy. I want good car insurance. I want good health insurance. I want good homeowner's insurance. I don't want Steve's insurance. I got rear-ended once. on Lynn street downtown, this dude like just bangs the back of my car. He was on his phone and I get out and I, you know, he gets his insurance card out and like stuff's misspelled. And I'm like my guy, I don't recognize that company. And it took forever for me to get the money that he owed me for rear ending me because he was with an awful insurance company. I want good insurance. Joe Flacco is good insurance. I'm trying to win a title this year. Like that's I'm trying to win a title. And so, well, you know, you can get some draft picks. I just did a deal with the Giants where I gave up the 10th overall pick. Now I care about draft picks. Couldn't care less trying to win a title this year. And that might involve having to play games where Joe has to miss time. I hate to go down that road. We already got like an eighth of the league starting quarterbacks either going to miss significant time or the entire season. I don't know that I would call it an epidemic. It's sort of an anomaly, so to speak. Hell no, I'm not giving up Joe Flacco. And I understand like fans love storylines. And look, I root for a New York team because I'm a Knicks fan. I know how New York sports fans and New York media think. They think here in flyover country, like we should just be a feeder system to every New York team. So if New York needs something, we're just supposed to give it to them. I look, I hear it. I hear it with Ellie Dela Cruz. I'm already hearing it with Sal Stewart. You'll hear it with Joe Flacco. They should just make the deal. Send them to New York. Harbaugh can. Dude, I'm trying to win a title here. I want good insurance. I need good insurance.
00:35:54
Speaker 2: Why?
00:35:55
Speaker 3: Because my quarterback's always hurt. I watched him get sacked five times and hit what felt like 50 times on Sunday. I got a left tackle who looks like he might be a liability. Hard pass on taking away my insurance policy. Nope, uh-uh, not happening. Now, if this is, you know, right before the trade deadline and the Bengals have two wins and they're going nowhere, okay, because now we're turning the page to next year. I'm 2-0. I'm trying to win a title this year. I have a great insurance policy. I have, on what looks like a really good roster, the best quarterback room in the league. By the way, yes, Josh Johnson is a part of that. I have what might be the best quarterback room in the league. Why is it the best quarterback room? Primarily Joe Burrow. Also Joe Flacco. I've seen what he can do in this offense. Just stop. You cannot convince me this would make any sense. I was I'll just say what it was. I was listening to Adam Shine, who does a national sports talk radio show. It was between breaks of unsportsmanlike. And he was like banging on the table for the Giants to go get Joe Flacco. And I like Adam Shine like somebody I'd love to have on this show one day. Like, oh, man, not happening like this. This this isn't a team that's rebuilding. There's not a guy behind Joe Flacco who represents like, you know, a possible future solution pass. The New York Giants just made a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals back in April that, among many things, sort of told you what they're trying to do this year. And they gave up a hefty price in order to get Dexter Lawrence. Prime long-term consideration. Now I want to trade Joe Flacco for something that's a long-term consideration. Absolutely not happening. Vote now at Moe Egger.
00:37:54
Speaker 9: 513-749-1530.
00:37:57
Speaker 3: Reds got a D from ESPN. A D. They graded every team in the regular season. Regular season has five games left. Reds get a D. We'll spend some time on the D coming up. Also, it's my breakup day with the Columbus Blue Jackets. So we'll put a bow in my relationship with them. UC is playing a game at 11 o'clock next Saturday night. Some fans don't like it. And the Bengals aren't going to have one of their wide receiver options, though not one of their primary wide receiver options. We have that to get to as well. Kelsey Conway from the Enquirer 320. We are way late, seven from four. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:38:34
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic from the UC. The Gullix, tomorrow at 10 a.m.
00:38:44
Speaker 15: On the official home of the Bengals, ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:38:50
Speaker 3: That's right, six after four. This is ESPN 1530. I'm Mo Egger. The folks watching just saw me take off my readers. I've got readers now. You can watch the show on YouTube and Twitter. I've got to do a better job of mentioning that our show has a YouTube channel. We put clips on it. Now we put entire shows on it. It's fun. And every once in a while, you got to read the chat.
00:39:14
Speaker 10: Yes.
00:39:15
Speaker 3: Taryn, thank you. I don't know that today is going to be a day that I have a ton of time to do that. But we will make a point of, I don't know, once or twice a week. Tomorrow's show is very busy. It's Thursday. We always have a lot of stuff.
00:39:29
Speaker 10: We'll do.
00:39:30
Speaker 3: We'll dedicate some time tomorrow to reading. Is there anything good going on in the chat? No chat today. Nothing in the chat today. I know Monday's show with you and Tony was entertaining. Because? What was going.
00:39:43
Speaker 1: On in the chat.
00:39:44
Speaker 3: What was going on in the chat?
00:39:45
Speaker 10: A lot of discussion.
00:39:47
Speaker 5: Of?
00:39:48
Speaker 3: Interesting discussion. Of? A lot of different things. Mainly Bengals, but some other discussions. Other discussions about what? So now my interest is peaked. Why are you just telling me this now? You can go back and watch that. Okay. I got to bring a light to Twin Peaks because we look like shadows against the light. That's not anybody's fault. I just got to bring a light. So were folks commenting on that they couldn't see Tony's face or my face? There was one comment about that.
00:40:16
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:40:16
Speaker 3: I mean, trust me, anything where you can't see my face is probably for the better. Well, all right, so we'll devote some time tomorrow to what's happening in the chat for those who are watching the show either on Twitter or on YouTube. And if you are, thank you. Or if you're just listening, like say via the iHeartRadio app, thank you. However you're consuming this show, we thank you. We don't say thank you enough. I was talking last hour about the idea that Bengals should trade Joe Flacco to the Giants, which I laugh because it's, to me, a laughable concept. I've seen opposition to this from this perspective. Hey, they have Josh Johnson. Now, this summer, during the preseason, during training camp, I became a huge fan of Josh Johnson because I think there was a level of professionalism that is admirable. Here is a guy who Josh Johnson's 40 years old. He is not going to be a starter. He came here understanding best case. He's the third guy, which means he's going to be on the practice squad. And I thought at least to me, he took seriously the role that he had on this team during the preseason, which was, I've got to give guys like Dante Myers and some of these other dudes, I've got to give them the best chance possible to, for them to make plays to show what they could do. And that's no knock on Sean Clifford at all. It's just Josh Johnson. There was a, just a level of professionalism there that I really like, but Joe Flacco is better. They're both in their forties. So it's not like one guy's in his athletic prime. I think we're all more than cool with like, if Josh Johnson had to play, there's a level of comfort you have there, but Joe Flacco is better. He's a better player. He's had a better career. He's done more in this league. He's more experienced. He's played a ton of football. He has started in this league. Had success in this offense last year. I'm not making the position group weaker. The theme was set back in April.
00:42:36
Speaker 1: It's 2026.
00:42:36
Speaker 3: Now, I don't love... You know, the suggestion that it's 2026 or bust, Joe Burrow will be the Bengals quarterback in 2027. And I think as long as you have him, the contention window is at least somewhat open. But they did sacrifice a long-term asset and cheaper labor in exchange for a shorter-term asset who's older and who's going to cost a lot more money. And when you do that, you're pointing the arrow very, very specifically at right now, plus all the other conditions, all the other acquisitions, the relative ease of the schedule, the dynamics involved in the AFC North right now. Like it's now. Maybe it's not now or never, but it's now. And if not now, then they did sacrifice some things in the long term to try to go for it now. So the only sort of trades we should be talking about, like, Can they find a swing tackle somewhere? The chances are they're not going to swing a trade in September, but like, you know, as we get closer to the trade deadline, and by the way, the Bengals made a trade last October for Joe Flacco. If they're making any trades, it's to make the team better right now. If I trade Flacco, it's for long-term assets. It's for draft. I don't care. Like, I think you would agree. I've never been less interested or concerned with 2027 or 2028 draft picks. Draft picks for next year, the year after that, or the year after that. Don't care. I'm trying to win right now. And I think they have the sort of team that is worth sacrificing something long-term in order to win right now. I'm not using Joe Flacco to recoup some sort of long-term asset that's going to be limited in value anyway. So if we're talking trades for the Bengals, like, hey, if the Giants want Joe Flacco, okay, what do you got at tackle? And that's not to replace Orlando Brown, but part of the Orlando Brown discussion revolves around the fact that the secondary options, the backups, are very uninspiring. If I'm Duke Tobin, and part of me wishes I was, that'd be fun. But if I was Duke Tobin, I'm playing catch up at tackle. Because if there's, and there's probably more than one, but amid all the moves he made that seem to be really good moves, the one thing a lot of us wondered is, okay, should they be doing a little bit more at tackle? Well, when we ask that all offseason and the early returns involving the starter at left tackle aren't very good, then, okay, at some point, you know, you kind of kick the conversations on the hyperdrive. about what they need at that position they need more they need help they need a possible short-term answer to Orlando Brown continuing to play poorly and this is not an overreaction to this past Sunday it's a statement about the end of last year the preseason where he is in his career years-long regression and it's been kicked in the hyperdrive because of Sunday So, yeah, man, Duke Tobin should be talking to other teams, but what he should be talking to other teams about isn't, hey, we'll fill your needed quarterback with our guy who we like. It's, how do I get a tackle? Now, if the other team says, well, let's talk about your backup quarterback, okay, I guess. But again, like, I've heard it and seen it in a lot of different places. Other Giants should just call the Bengals. It's like, well, what are they going to offer them? Is there a tackle option there? Because then, okay, but... Again, just the idea that you're going to rush to the table to try to trade Joe Flacco to the Giants or anybody else. I'm trying to win a title this year. That is what matters the most. 14 minutes after four o'clock. Chad Brendel's on the show tomorrow. We'll talk some UC football. We'll also talk some college basketball because Friday is going to be an interesting day if you follow UC or Xavier basketball. And I'm not on the air. I kind of wish I was. Because Josh Tyson, four-star point guard, who played last year at Lakota West, top 60 player, according to a lot of evaluators, is going to make a pick between UC or Xavier on Friday. And we'll see if Chad has any intel. I'm going to ask Chad, if we had a show on Friday, who would I be having on? Who am I more likely to be having on? Rick Boring? Or Chad Brendel. That's going to be interesting. And we'll talk football as well. You know, I said before UC played Boston College, it was the earliest must-win game ever, week one. They needed to beat Boston College, and they did. For a lot of different reasons. One, favorites at home against a team that was awful last year with even more transfers than you. When you have a tougher Big 12 schedule this year than you did last year, got to win that football game. They've won their first three. We're all aware of the difficulty they had in beating Miami. Saturday, they get Kansas State and Avery Johnson in town. Prototypical dual threat quarterback. By the way, Nate Woody, UC's defensive coordinator, coached against last year when he was at Army. And that was an interesting game because it was a masterclass in keeping the ball away from a good quarterback. Kansas State offensively had the football for less than four minutes in the second half of that game last year. But the Bearcats are going to be six and a half point dogs against K-State. And I think we're, I know there are those among us who no matter what they do this year, it's just, are they going to remove Scott Satterfield as the head coach and who's the guy going to be? I'm not there. I'm hopeful that this team can sort of have a record at the end of the season that makes us feel like this particular season was a success. And if we feel that way, the coach is going to keep his job. But let's be honest, they're going to be pretty significant underdogs next week at Arizona. Probably underdogs, in fact, I'm pretty sure underdogs, on the road after the bye at West Virginia. They'll be home dogs against Texas Tech, home dogs against Utah, road dogs at Houston. Could maybe be favored at Iowa State, should be favored against Colorado, but They'll be dogs against BYU. There are maybe two games the rest of the year that Vegas will say they should win. Vegas doesn't. not believe the Bearcats are going to win on Saturday. They're six and a half point underdogs. But you're at home. You are 3-0. Reasonably healthy, so it seems. Kind of got to win this one. I mean, like if we're The over-under for the team is five and a half, and so I don't know if six wins is going to make anybody feel great about the season, great about where things are. But if they have any realistic shot at having the sort of season that exceeds everybody's expectations, and I could not find one person who thought this team was going to win more than five or six games, they have to win on Saturday. Snip it night. They have won each of their first three games. Kansas State has won each of its first three games. They've beaten Washington State. They've beaten Tulane. Avery Johnson has improved as a passer, but he makes his money, so to speak, with his legs. I don't know. Given what they have coming up October and also understanding their track record in November, this feels like a must-win. If they're hopeful to get to seven, they're hopeful to get to eight, which Might be a stretch. If they're hopeful to get to seven. Or at least have the sort of season that everybody looks at and goes, feel pretty good about that. Successful year. Now what's next? I think they've got to win this one on Saturday. And again, six and a half point home underdogs against Kansas State. So Vegas is telling you that's not the expectation. We'll see. But, you know, as the Miami game was unfolding and as they're down by 21 points, I think we're all thinking of You know, oh boy, how bad might this get? Fortunately, they win the game. But I think that's where a lot of us are going to go mentally if they lose on Saturday. Like, oh boy, how bad might this get? Because Arizona, at Arizona, at West Virginia, Texas Tech, Utah, at Houston, the next five. And not going to be favored in any of those games. They're not favored in this one. But this one on Saturday may be their best chance of the next six. We'll see. 19 after 4. 513-749-1530. Why was ESPN so generous to the Reds? We'll get to that next ESPN 1530.
00:51:48
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
00:51:54
Speaker 3: From the UC Health.
00:51:55
Speaker 2: Join Wayne Boxmiller and me for Bengals game plan. Tonight, starting at 6, on the official home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
00:52:05
Speaker 6: This is Football in the Natty. Brought to you by.
00:52:08
Speaker 15: Modern Office Methods on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:52:15
Speaker 3: Andre Yoshavas on IR will miss at least four games, had surgery. You're not getting pulled over, by the way, just FYI. Had surgery on ligaments in his thumb. Not good. Not good for Andre. big year for him Bengals and Steelers Sunday at one live on ESPN 1530 I have not yet seen a full-blown uh complete Bengals injury report Joe Burrow earlier said feels fine feels okay he's good to go he's fine he's fine he also said Orlando Brown was good on Saturday which maybe he was referring to the uh the the walkthrough I don't know but he he took up for his guy Orlando Brown which I could appreciate. Wise Money Sports in 10 minutes. Are we getting another professional sports team in Cincinnati? Would it work? Will it work? Could it work? We'll find out. Plus, Brenneman and Jones on baseball. Kelsey Conway from the Enquirer in about an hour. And we'll go to Pittsburgh in the 5 o'clock. Not literally, but we're going to call a guy in Pittsburgh who knows a lot about the Steelers. Hey, the Reds won last night. Eli Delacruz now has 29 homers and 29 stolen bases. He's... Probably going to be the latest member of the 30-30 club, which is cool. Now, he also got in the way of a pop-up and called off or bumped out of the way Eugenio Suarez. Didn't love that, to be completely honest with you, but I'm a body of work guy. Eli Dela Cruz has a chance. And we'll see what voters do with Shohei Ohtani. And we'll see what voters do with the fact that Eli is on a bad team. Pete Crow Armstrong will win the NL MVP award and it won't be close and good for him. He deserves it. But there are second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place votes. There is a chance, might not be a likelihood, that Ellie Dela Cruz will finish in second place in the NL MVP voting. Which means there is a chance the Reds will have both the National League Rookie of the Year, which by the way, That action is off the board. Sal Stewart's winning the award. You can't even wager on it. You can't wager on NL MVP because everybody knows it's going to be PCA. But there is a chance the Reds will have the player who finishes second in the NL MVP voting and the National League Rookie of the Year. And then we'll see where like Chase Burns does in the Cy Young balloting. But what a waste. What a waste. ESPN has graded every team's regular season. ESPN has given the Reds a D. Now, I know why it's not an F. The reason it's not an F is Sal Stewart, Ellie De La Cruz, and Chase Burns. But shouldn't it be an F? D seems generous. When you are at the stage the Reds are in years after this rebuild started and you made the postseason last year, anything that's not getting back to the playoffs... And frankly, getting back to the playoffs with more wins is failure. This season has been a robust failure. Here is the blurb. on the reds after making the playoffs in 2025 only the a's and rockies are going to end up with a worse run differential than the reds somehow they have ellie de la cruz probable nl rookie of the year sal stewart and chase burns who went 15 and 3 we just referenced a pitcher's win loss total dollar into the fine cup with a 286 era and 185 strikeouts yet still ended up as a dreary watch Especially disappointing considering they were 20-11 at the end of April. Blame the rotation. After ranking 16th in the majors in rotation ERA in 2024 and an impressive 9th in 2025, the Reds fell to 28th in 2026 despite Burns' excellence. The blurb continues. David Schoenfeld wrote this. It feels like the Reds need an identity. They're not a pitching and defense team. Parentheses, the defense was bad. They have the veneer of a power-hitting team, at least in 2026, but the park helps inflate their power totals. They don't hit for average, last in the majors. If they're going to build around pitching, maybe it makes sense to change the dimensions of the park and get some better defenders to surround De La Cruz and Stewart. No paragraph has ever been more accurate. By the way, before everybody else got on the change the dimensions of the park bandwagon, I wrote about that for The Athletic nine years ago. It's not a very good piece because I sucked as a writer, but I wrote about it for The Athletic nine years ago. It feels like the Reds need an identity. If there is one thing I have spent the most amount of time discussing in this room, during this baseball season. It is exactly that. Now, that is a criticism of the team, but it's also a criticism of the organization. I don't know what the Reds' identity is. Now, Nick Kroll will tell you we're leaning into pitching and defense. Well, I see better than I hear because what I see is we're trying second baseman in center field and third baseman in right field and We were leaning into defense, but we really don't commit to actual outfielders playing the outfield. But organizationally, there's no identity. And I have done this topic probably a half dozen or so times since early June. I don't know organizationally what the Reds are good at. I'm not sure what they're trying to be good at. Obviously, the answer is, well, they're trying to win baseball games, but like, what are they good at? Why? What, what is, what is the thing that they consistently do well as an organization? Finding hidden gems, getting maximum value in trades, finding great value, free agents, development, getting international players and developing them. Like what, what, what is it? And the answer is there is nothing. The answer to all those questions is no. And so that's the most damning indictment against the current baseball operations. They're not good at anything. Which is why it's hard to swallow when you hear that they're going to maintain the status quo. This criticism, on top of what Barry Larkin had to say on Sunday, this criticism to me is the most pointed. It feels like the Reds need an identity. I hear what they say it's supposed to be, I watch what it's not, I'm not sure what it is. I'm not sure what it's going to be. 513-749-1530. Kelsey Conway from the Enquirer and the Bengals coming up in 20 minutes. Wise Money Sports. Are we getting a new sports team coming up? ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
00:59:29
Speaker 15: You've been listening to Football in the Natty, brought to you by Red Key Express on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
00:59:41
Speaker 3: Down, Bengals!
00:59:43
Speaker 10: The Bengals storm into the Steel City, looking to pitch Pittsburgh into the recycling bin. Just saying the word Pittsburgh makes me want to puke. The Bengals slug it up with the Steelers.
00:59:56
Speaker 3: Sunday, coverage begins at 9 a.m.
00:59:59
Speaker 10: Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app or on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the Bengals and Steelers.
01:00:13
Speaker 3: Wednesdays mean Wise Money Sports.
01:00:15
Speaker 1: Wait, wait, wait.
01:00:16
Speaker 3: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hump Day. Hump Day. You want to do the whole Geico Hump Day thing? You want to do that?
01:00:22
Speaker 10: Okay, good.
01:00:23
Speaker 3: Not a bad effort.
01:00:24
Speaker 1: Give it your shot.
01:00:25
Speaker 3: Absolutely not. No, absolutely not.
01:00:27
Speaker 1: That's right.
01:00:28
Speaker 3: I embarrass myself enough. It's Wise Money Sports with our guy Joe Wilson from Omega Wealth Private Capital. What is going on?
01:00:34
Speaker 1: Not much, buddy. Good to be with you another week. My God, we're staring October in the face.
01:00:40
Speaker 3: Yes. Yes.
01:00:42
Speaker 1: Fourth quarter quickly approaching.
01:00:43
Speaker 3: Q4, as they say in the business world. Are we going to get another professional sports team? So I saw this.
01:00:51
Speaker 1: What's your thought?
01:00:54
Speaker 3: You know what? I like anything that adds entertainment options. I like anything that makes the sports environment more competitive. We might get a professional women's soccer team. Might steal it from Louisville.
01:01:05
Speaker 1: I think it's a possibility.
01:01:06
Speaker 3: Seems like it.
01:01:07
Speaker 1: Soccer, football. I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow, and so I think they call it the old football.
01:01:13
Speaker 3: Going to London? I am. Going to go to a game?
01:01:16
Speaker 1: Negative.
01:01:16
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:01:17
Speaker 1: I don't think they're playing right now, are they?
01:01:19
Speaker 3: Well, I went in October 2019. I saw West Ham play. Bengals were there.
01:01:24
Speaker 1: Maybe I get on my phone when we're done.
01:01:26
Speaker 3: Go to a West Ham game.
01:01:28
Speaker 1: I've got some time. My wife would love that, I'm sure.
01:01:31
Speaker 2: Go over there.
01:01:32
Speaker 1: I can say I'm scouting for you.
01:01:34
Speaker 3: Sure thing. I'm not a huge soccer guy, but I went to a West Ham game, and it's my favorite team gear ever. So buy me some West Ham gear.
01:01:41
Speaker 1: If I see West Ham, I don't even know where that is. Do you realize how many teams? All right, let's talk about this because this game falls in line. I was over there this summer at the British Am. There are so many soccer stadiums in the same town. I was blown away. We think it's a lot to have New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the White Sox, the Cubs. Bro, they are like everywhere over there.
01:02:04
Speaker 3: One day, I will tell you my entire story of attending a West Ham game because it's the most unique sports experience I've ever had.
01:02:12
Speaker 1: Do you watch, well, I just went brain dead.
01:02:15
Speaker 3: Ted Lasso?
01:02:15
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you. So is that why you came up with this women's soccer conversation?
01:02:20
Speaker 3: No, I came up with it because I think it's cool if we can get another sports team.
01:02:24
Speaker 1: That's awesome.
01:02:24
Speaker 3: But I have questions. So one is this. Franchise values are going up everywhere, including in the National Women's Soccer League, right?
01:02:31
Speaker 1: Yes, sports. We are a nation of spots.
01:02:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, Louisville is struggling.
01:02:35
Speaker 2: Why?
01:02:36
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, they have— it' s a different market. I love Louisville, by the way. You've got the Louisville Bats down there, and that's a cool little vibe. And their soccer team is pretty swaggy, but that's it. We are a pro, and we've been pro, right? Houdet, the beloved Treads. Other than basketball that we lost, FC is rocking and rolling. I can see this becoming a reality. The question is, the bar is low.
01:03:05
Speaker 14: Mm-hmm.
01:03:06
Speaker 1: Did you know they're only averaging like 5,500 people a game down there?
01:03:09
Speaker 3: Not a lot of folks. But that doesn't, for professional women's soccer in a market like Louisville, 5,500 doesn't seem awful.
01:03:19
Speaker 1: Well, I would say from the finance side it does.
01:03:21
Speaker 4: Okay.
01:03:21
Speaker 3: All right.
01:03:22
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a reason they're talking about moving it out of there, right? I mean, it was the second lowest in the league.
01:03:27
Speaker 3: That's okay. That's a problem.
01:03:28
Speaker 1: So, I mean, I get it, 5,500, but when you're comparing it to the peers— It's the second lowest, and I think that's the nice thing about what we have here, right? I mean, it could be a business platform, Mo. We've got shared operations with FC, an existing sales pipeline. I mean, FC, you know how hard it is to get a good seat there. More sellable inventory, which we'll have here. Funding capacity. I think we are a bigger city. I think there's more hospitals, and even though Louisville's booming, I think there's more money that could come into it. And obviously the venue, I mean, TQL is incredible. I think there's a lot to coming here versus starting from scratch.
01:04:11
Speaker 3: Could Cincinnati, and I remember when we got FC Cincinnati, which at the time was a USL franchise, there were really smart people who said Cincinnati is not big enough to support another major pro sports team. I don't think that was true then. it is proven to not be true now, but could they have, could, could we support another one? Although it would be on a smaller scale, I guess then.
01:04:34
Speaker 1: Well, it's a smaller scale now. I think I absolutely, I think we could. And I think the fact is, is it's, it's, it's, it's women. And I think that would be fascinating. I mean, women's soccer is unbelievable to watch. Yes. Um, and I think that would be something, I mean, I would be interested in that. I think my company Omega wealth, I'd be open to, to getting, see, I think that would be a cool thing to be a part of on the ground level.
01:04:55
Speaker 3: Would you get a suite?
01:04:57
Speaker 1: You know, I am a slightly plus-sized male. Okay. I do like the amenities of a cushion and a hot dog within an arm's reach.
01:05:07
Speaker 3: Okay. We're on the same page. I'm just wondering, you're a business guy, corporate guy.
01:05:11
Speaker 1: Come hang out with me.
01:05:12
Speaker 10: You know?
01:05:13
Speaker 1: Yeah. Sweets spoil you. They are expensive, though, and because valuations. It'd be nice because you can go to a game. I don't think they'd be the same price, obviously, as FCs. So, yeah, sure.
01:05:21
Speaker 10: Yes.
01:05:22
Speaker 4: Okay.
01:05:22
Speaker 10: Okay.
01:05:23
Speaker 3: The NFL season has started. So obviously it's been a good start here. Influx of cash to sports books and prediction markets. And, you know, it's interesting. I like to make a wager occasionally, right? I will go to some of the websites that I use to look at lines and stuff like that. And it's all about prediction markets.
01:05:41
Speaker 1: Can you mention what you like the most?
01:05:43
Speaker 3: Like the wagers I like the most.
01:05:44
Speaker 1: Do you have an account with all of them? Are you like FanDuel?
01:05:46
Speaker 3: I'm a FanDuel guy. FanDuel.com. I'm a FanDuel guy. But there's so much chatter about prediction markets. Here's what I want to know. A, are prediction markets starting to, I don't know, threaten sports books? And is there going to be like with prediction markets and all the sports books, is there going to be a sports wagering bubble that eventually bursts?
01:06:07
Speaker 1: Man, that's a really big question for me to answer. Um, I do think it's popular. I think it's growing in popularity. I do think it's also becoming problematic. And I'm seeing this, right? I'm seeing a lot of my peers that have very little money saved for retirement, but throw some serious cabbage.
01:06:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, serious.
01:06:27
Speaker 1: That's a problem.
01:06:28
Speaker 3: It is a problem.
01:06:31
Speaker 1: I think because of that, it is growing. And I think you're going to predict your markets. Yeah, I think it makes sense. I still think that you're going to hold true in sports to... Um, the, the draft Kings and the fan duels, I think they've got a good cornerstone. However, um, they're still a business and they gotta be cautious as well because they still got a bottom line. That's, what's going to be interesting to me. Can, can a prediction market be able to do it cheaper?
01:06:57
Speaker 3: What's interesting about the prediction markets, and maybe there's lessons for business owners here, is they've exploited a loophole, or they have gone into states where, you know, quote, traditional gambling is not legal, but the prediction markets are so unregulated that in a state like, let's say, California, where you can't use FanDuel or DraftKings, you could use Kalshi, you could use PolyMarket, they've exploited a loophole. Businesses need to exploit loopholes.
01:07:21
Speaker 1: Until this very moment, I did not realize that if you're in California, you cannot sports bet.
01:07:25
Speaker 10: Correct.
01:07:25
Speaker 3: Correct.
01:07:26
Speaker 1: Shock me, bleh.
01:07:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, correct.
01:07:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting, right?
01:07:29
Speaker 3: The states.
01:07:30
Speaker 1: I mean, we're used to the United States, but in many situations, it's not. That's wild. I didn't know it. Yeah, and I think you're right. And the thing is, there's a lot of people that live in California, and I do think that's where you're getting some of this popularity. And it is a threat. I think it's a challenge. I do think they could coexist. Okay.
01:07:45
Speaker 3: Now, you're an investment guy.
01:07:47
Speaker 1: Yes.
01:07:47
Speaker 3: Sportsbooks, most of them, are publicly traded. Would you advise one of your clients to buy stock in a sportsbook?
01:07:56
Speaker 1: Well, I can't answer that. I think that, come on, Mo.
01:08:00
Speaker 3: Right.
01:08:00
Speaker 1: Uh, I will tell, let me answer it this way. I'm not, I can't give that. I think, I think you have to understand the financials. It's like any other stock. Now you're looking at a company. What's the valuation? What's the risk? What is someone willing, um, to, to invest in? Are you investing? Are you gambling? Now you're getting me on my soapbox. I think the challenge right now is you could put money on the Bengals, uh, And have one game. It goes Houston and it's over. You won, you lost.
01:08:28
Speaker 10: Right.
01:08:29
Speaker 1: That's trading. People can buy a stock today and get out of it tomorrow. That's not investing.
01:08:35
Speaker 10: Right.
01:08:35
Speaker 1: They're very, very different things.
01:08:38
Speaker 3: Okay.
01:08:39
Speaker 1: So my issue would be if you're treating DraftKings as a buy, are you doing it for a 10-year hold? Are you doing it for a quick buy and rip out later? That's not investing. That's sports betting.
01:08:54
Speaker 3: That's gambling.
01:08:54
Speaker 4: Yeah.
01:08:55
Speaker 3: And there's a difference.
01:08:56
Speaker 1: Well, it's, yeah.
01:08:59
Speaker 3: Stay in California. We're UCLA. So they've got a new athletics director who is their CEO. He has been appointed director of athletics, but they have charged him through partnerships and stuff like that to grow the brand, to get out of this huge financial deficit, $ 241 million. And they're sort of going to this entertainment-based model where it's about monetization of content. It's about branding. It's less about the traditional college athletes model, student-athletes. graduating players mentoring them that sort of thing from a business perspective what do you make of this.
01:09:34
Speaker 1: Well i'm so loyal to the bigs i i i think this is a challenge and i think this is nothing more than what we're seeing in every single sport i think it's just it's amazing to me when you look at ucla and the brand that they had i'm not gonna say have right and the reason they don't have it is because they're not the team that they that they were um And I think every college in America, you're, you have a seat ball in your chest right now.
01:09:59
Speaker 8: I do.
01:10:00
Speaker 1: They're going through that. Um, this current landscape is changing and who knows if this is the right model for them.
01:10:08
Speaker 3: Yeah.
01:10:09
Speaker 1: It's pretty interesting to look at the model of, of the Ohio state university. Um, but you're going to need some serious money and donors to get it there.
01:10:17
Speaker 3: Um, Consistent money. That's the thing. Like, year after a year after a year after a year.
01:10:23
Speaker 1: And then next thing you know, there's a Chase emblem sitting on the Ohio State Buckeyes golf team. All the teams. Did you know that, by the way, we're sidebarred. Did you know NCAA just came out and said none of those logos could be worn in the postseason?
01:10:37
Speaker 3: Wow, really?
01:10:37
Speaker 1: How idiotic is that?
01:10:40
Speaker 3: I understand it.
01:10:40
Speaker 1: Why do you want to wait time out?
01:10:43
Speaker 3: I understand it because for years watching the NCAA tournament, if you go to an NCAA tournament basketball game, you will not see a logo. All the signage in the arena is turned off. You will not see a logo in the arena. I've been to NCAA tournament games and sat on press row where if you have a Coca-Cola, they will say you got to pour it in this NCAA cup. You will not see a logo unless it's like one of their three or four Like NCAAs, they call them corporate champions. So I get that. That is not surprising to.
01:11:13
Speaker 10: Me at all.
01:11:13
Speaker 1: It's OK that they can literally. But to get into that tournament, you have to play a season or you have to win a conference championship. But it's okay to take the money in that, but you can't take the money in that. I think it's hypocritical.
01:11:27
Speaker 3: It's very hypocritical.
01:11:27
Speaker 1: I personally have a huge detest for the NCAA.
01:11:30
Speaker 3: You, me, and everybody else both.
01:11:32
Speaker 1: I could love for that to go away.
01:11:35
Speaker 3: So how does a national brand like UCLA, how are they in the red to the tune of 241 mil? Is that not mind-boggling?
01:11:42
Speaker 1: It's insane. All right, here's some context. 25 revenue, 151 million. Expenses, 173.4 million. Shock me, that's a deficit of 21.6. Well, we keep adding that up. Guess what? It's the national debt, right? You're going to have to have better budgeting and accounting. The problem is, it's not hard. If it's UCLA and you already said it, go find a consistent donor. Go find something that is getting the integrity of building up the brand and get them in there year after year to help fund the gap. If not, this is not going to go away.
01:12:15
Speaker 3: Talk about a mega wealth private capital.
01:12:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
01:12:17
Speaker 3: You ever heard of them?
01:12:19
Speaker 1: Maybe. Man, we help folks plan for retirement to be and stay retirement ready. You can find a lot about us at OWPrivateCapital.com. And you know what? It is the fourth quarter, end of the year. I think it's important for everyone to understand there are tax opportunities that you can make right now in this year that we have left in 2025. If you're not talking about that with your advisor, you need to reach out to us. And if you have Taxable accounts that you're sitting on, this is the time to do a good look at Roth conversions. Go to wisetaxbill.com, wisetaxbill.com. See if you're sitting on some hidden tax debt. You only got three months left. Tick-tock, tick-tock.
01:12:58
Speaker 3: All right, there. Thank you very much. Our guy, that's Joe Wilson, Omega Wealth Private Capital, OWPrivateCapital.com. Kelsey Conway in 30 minutes. Andrei Yoshivas is going to miss the next four weeks because of surgery on his thumb. Charlie Goldsmith reports that Spencer Steer is going to have wrist surgery. Is there anybody who follows this franchise who's not surprised? Correct me if I'm wrong. Spencer Steer got injured. It was the Sunday after the All-Star game, right? So two months ago. Gets injured in July. They screw around for the next two months. Going to have surgery anyway. Who among us didn't know deep down inside that was going to be the outcome? Not the first time this has happened either. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. So he's two months behind Tito. Tito the Magnificent says they don't think this is going to impact his availability for spring training because spring training is probably going to start in June. That's the part that I added. Brenneman and Jones on baseball is next.
01:14:06
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
01:14:10
Speaker 2: Join Wayne Boxmiller and me for Bengals game plan tonight starting at 6 on the official home of the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:14:19
Speaker 3: Thank you, Dan. What's up? Six after five. Minute late. This is ESPN 1530. Thank you for listening. Hope you're having an awesome Wednesday afternoon. A lot going on. Our friend Kelsey Conway from the Enquirer and Cincinnati.com at 520. We'll go to Pittsburgh at 535. See if they know if Joey Porter Jr. is going to play. See if they can find a quarterback who's not a thousand years old at any point. A long history of like recently washed up quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. Plus the contractually obligated airing of Zach Taylor's press conference coming up at 545 right before Bengals game plan at six o'clock. We got a lot of injury news today and none of it is great. So we'll start with the Bengals. Andre Yoshavas had surgery to repair. busted ligaments in his thumb. And so he's going to miss at least four games. They have put them on IR and the Bengals, I think are deeper at wide receiver. And I think certainly deeper at the skill spots, but specifically deeper at wide receiver. Then we talked about them being back when the off season began, but Andre Yoshavas is a trusted Joe Burrow target and, You kind of know what he is. He has proven his value over the course of the last three years. Andre Yoshibas has turned out to be a terrific draft pick. Sixth rounder from Princeton. Are you kidding me? Now in his fourth season? So their depth is cut into just a little bit. The good news is they have our hero, Dante Myers. So that is the latest on the Bengals injury news. Although Joe Burrow did talk today, says he feels fine. Good to go for Sunday Bengals and Steelers. More on Cincinnati, more on the Bengals here in just a second. We found out just a few minutes ago, and this is neither here nor there as it relates to the rest of the season, because we weren't anticipating Spencer Steer playing at all the rest of the way. The Reds are obviously simply playing out the string. But Spencer Steer is going to have surgery, going to have surgery in a week in Arizona. Tony Santeon's going to have hip surgery on Thursday in Nashville. Now, the Santeon thing went down this week. Spencer Steer got injured in July. And look, one of the things I detest doing is criticizing a medical staff or talking about what a medical staff should or shouldn't have done. I don't love doing that. I like criticizing play calling more than I like criticizing a medical staff. Like, I think it's the thing that we are quickest to do and least qualified to do. Instantly leap to conclusions about why the medical staff screwed it up. But doesn't it seem to you that there is a fairly long track record of situations like this unfolding with this team? Guy gets hurt. And they do the procedure weeks or months after he gets hurt. The name that first jumps to mind is Christian Encarnacion Strand, who, by the way, has been a revelation for the Baltimore Orioles. Orioles aren't going to make the postseason this year. But, you know, he has found a major league home and good for him. But just who among us? And this is maybe a little bit too much of a jaded way of looking at it. Who among us back in July when we saw this? didn't expect there to be a procedure done and maybe it's no big deal maybe and i among the the very few players you want to see back with the reds next year spencer steer is on that list he's obviously not in the big three and the reds have a big three it's it's burns stewart and ellie de la cruz but spencer steer has value you can play a thousand different positions kind of know what he's going to be like sign me up for spencer steer being a 2027 red and and maybe maybe he doesn't miss the start of spring training, though we have no idea when spring training is actually going to start. It just, it feels like, and I say this off the top of my head, so maybe it's unfair because I don't have a documented list of other examples in front of me, but back in July, which is when he originally suffered the injury, this was back during a series in Colorado, right after the All-Star break. Who didn't expect there to be long period of time where Spencer was trying to come back and let the thing just heal and then inevitably surgery. So there you go with that Reds and Braves tonight. Cincinnati is playing out the string five games to go. We spent some time on this today. One of our poll questions is about Joe Flacco. Now I bring this up though it is probably not even a realistic possibility. But, you know, there's been a lot of quarterbacks here in the first two weeks that have gotten hurt, going to miss a lot of time. One of them is Jackson Dart now, after what felt like originally a pretty optimistic prognosis for him after the Monday night game. Now they're talking about him maybe missing the entire season for the New York Giants. which, you know, it stinks for him because he's a pretty interesting, promising player. The expectation right now, according to a number of reports, including by Mike Garofalo of ESPN, is expected to have season-ending surgery. He's got damage to his meniscus and his MCL. The ACL is intact. We're going to have surgery and the season. And so now it's Jameis Winston, but, you know, could there be another option at quarterback? And some have suggested that it would make sense for the New York Giants to reach out and see if the Bengals would part with Joe Flacco. There is an obvious Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh connection. Joe Flacco was the Super Bowl MVP 14 years ago. John Harbaugh was the head coach. I understand it. If I needed a quarterback, I would want Joe Flacco. Let's just hear, shoot this down. Joe Flacco is awesome. And the reason he is awesome is he provides something that's awesome. And the thing that he provides that's awesome is peace of mind. I think we all understand if Joe Burrow were to suffer some sort of catastrophic injury and have to miss like the whole year, they're not winning a title. I hate to say that, but that's not the correct lens through which to look at a backup quarterback. The correct lens, I believe, through which to look at a backup quarterback is, can you rely on them to make sure the offense operates and functions if the quarterback, the starting quarterback has to miss the rest of a game or a series or a few weeks. And I think we saw with Joe Flacco last year, you know, the connection he had with Jamar Chase. And I think based on what we saw from him, there is this sense of, you know, comfort and peace of mind that if you have to use your insurance policy and in life, it's good to have a good insurance policy. It gives you peace of mind with Joe Flacco. Like none of us want to see anything happen to Joe Burrow, but like, If Joe had to limp off or go into the tent or go into the protocol or you found out, you know what, Burrow's got something. He's going to be fine, but he's not going to play this week. You would feel comfortable with Joe Flacco playing. I've got a starting quarterback. He's already dealt with a back issue, maybe a rib issue. He's always hurt. They've had to use the backup quarterback a lot here. Why on earth would anybody be open to the idea of trading the one they have now, especially in a year where they're 2-0 and the only thing that matters is winning in 2026? I have a poll question about this on Twitter. Thanks to Speaking of Insurance, United Heartland Insurance. All right, Kelsey Conway from Cincinnati.com. At the venue originally known as Paul Brown Stadium on the Bengals, the day... That was with the Bengals and more coming up next. ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:22:33
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530. Traffic.
01:22:37
Speaker 11: From the UC Health Traffic Center, blood can.
01:22:40
Speaker 15: This is Football in the Natty.
01:22:42
Speaker 3: Sure is.
01:22:43
Speaker 6: Football in the Natty. Brought to you in part by Skyline Chili.
01:22:46
Speaker 3: Yeah.
01:22:46
Speaker 15: On ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:22:51
Speaker 3: Hey, we're going to go to Pittsburgh in 15 minutes and talk with a guy who calls himself Donnie Football. We're talking about the Steelers because that's who the Bengals play on Sunday. The Bengals are the team that Kelsey Conway covers for Cincinnati.com and the Enquirer. She's also the host of the Beyond Sunday podcast. Do you want to be called Kelsey football since we have a guy named Donnie football on?
01:23:13
Speaker 14: No, absolutely not.
01:23:15
Speaker 3: Okay. Write that down. Do not call Kelsey, Kelsey football. How serious is this Andre Yoshiba's thumb injury?
01:23:24
Speaker 14: Think it's noteworthy but through the first two games he's really not been a focal point of the offense so I think if there was ever an injury that the team could withstand It is at the wide receiver spot. And when you go through the options that they have, whether it be Dante Myers, Tanner Hudson, you know, Colby Young, I think that the Bengals are going to be just fine without Andre Yostavos. And it seems like it's going to be a week by week thing. Obviously, with him going on IR, it will at least be four weeks. But Zach Taylor said it's not a season-ending injury, and I think that they can get by without him for the next month, and I think they'll be completely fine.
01:24:11
Speaker 3: I'm looking at the injury report. I see did not participate. Jonathan Allen, knee, BJ Hill, Achilles. Should I worry about those guys?
01:24:20
Speaker 14: No, Zach Taylor said it was a workload type of day for Jonathan Allen. They're going to try and manage him. I would imagine at some point this year he becomes a regular DNP on Wednesday simply just for management. The B.J. Hill one is the one that seems a little bit more serious, and that's really just because he missed so much time during training camp for him to be back on the injury report just a few weeks later. I think that's a little bit of a red flag. But other than wide receiver, the other position that the Bengals are deepest at is defensive line. And through two weeks, you haven't said DJ Hill's name much because they've got so much talent everywhere else. So I think if they don't have DJ for the next couple of weeks, I think they're going to be able to get by. But they need him to get back and get him ramped up. by October and really be able to use him when they need to if Jonathan Allen or Chris Jenkins or one of those players can't go.
01:25:21
Speaker 3: Do the Bengals have an Orlando Brown problem?
01:25:26
Speaker 14: They do not have an Orlando Brown problem, according to Joe Burrow. So I asked Joe Burrow, what is Orlando like in terms of how does he respond after a game in which he doesn't think he played his best? And Joe Burrow gave a really... spicy answer and just essentially said, you know, basically relax everyone. It wasn't as bad as you thought it was. And that when you are trying to evaluate offensive line, then, you know, in the media, he said that it's, it's almost impossible because the media doesn't know all of what goes into, you don't know what protection is called. So he really came to the defense of Orlando Brown and said that the offensive lineman, you know, play a thankless position. And so I think that, you know, He, A, is doing that to make sure that Orlando still knows he has a ton of confidence in him and the rest of the team. He's making sure he... lets everyone know I still believe he can play at a really high level. So I think there's an element of that. So it seems like Joe Burrow still believes he can get the job done. And we talked to offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, and it's just been very blunt that they didn't think that Orlando played his best game, but they fully expect him to rebound in a positive way. And I think that if he struggles against P.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, and it looks kind of like it did last week. I think, Ben, you're maybe starting to think about, okay, is this becoming a reoccurring issue? But at the same time, they don't have an option behind him that would be any better. So I think it's just going to be one of those things where they've got to figure out how to give him some more help, got to be able to run the ball more so they're not still relying upon the pass and putting him in those drop-back situations. But it seems like everybody right now expects– him to play better against the Steelers. And history will tell you, he knows, he knows what the Steelers are going to try to do to him. It's an AFC North rival when he was in Baltimore. And now he's been a few years here in Pittsburgh. So we'll see if he can play better. And they're certainly hoping that that happens.
01:27:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I look, I've, I've spent my life listening to people say things to me just to be nice. And I know they don't mean them. So, you know, I took everything Joe Burrow said about Orlando Brown with a grain of salt. That's just me being skeptic. But, you know, like Orlando has a chance to prove people like me wrong on Sunday.
01:27:55
Speaker 14: Well, and also think of this. Burrow has dealt with people. so many tackles that have been far worse than Orlando Brown that I truly think he, I think he does like keep that in mind. So like, he's like, I have, I have seen way worse than Orlando Brown at his worst. So I think that he keeps, I think he keeps that perspective in mind. And I really do think that he thinks if he can just get, you know, average play out of Orlando Brown, that they're going to be able to be an offense that can put up a ton of points.
01:28:28
Speaker 3: Kelsey Conway from The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com. Should I make a wager on Cassius Howell being the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year?
01:28:38
Speaker 6: I don't know.
01:28:38
Speaker 14: I think you could. can make a pretty good argument that that would be a smart decision by you. And I'm going to plug myself here. At Paul Daner's podcast before the start of the season, we all had to give one big prediction. And my prediction was that I thought that the Bengals were going to have 50 sacks or more. And I'm feeling pretty good about my prediction because of a player like Cassius Howell. And I thought what was really interesting and what I said on that podcast is I thought it was really telling how high everyone in the locker room thought of Cassius Howell when a player told me when I asked for like a comp, they said Nick Benito in Denver. And when you look at how well he's played for Denver and how much he's made an impact, I thought for him to be drawing that type of comparison in just his first couple of months on the job, I think really, really speaks to what people think he can be. And Jonathan Allen gave me some really great quotes about him just being made of the right stuff and his motor just being something that they think he's going to be able to be a player again. that can make an impact for a long time. So it really seems like the early returns on that pick are going well for the Bengals. And it's going to be exciting to see how his role continues to evolve as the games go on, because I know heading into week one, he kind of thought he'd be playing more of a reserve role, not get a ton of snaps. And it feels like in the next couple of weeks, we could really start to see him increase his snaps and really make an impact on defense.
01:30:14
Speaker 10: All right.
01:30:14
Speaker 3: Now, while you're patting yourself on the back for your great predictions, I'm going to give you the three predictions I gave Paul on his podcast that same week. Are you ready? Because two of them look good. Okay. All right. One was going to be Amarius Mims will be an all pro. So far, so good.
01:30:31
Speaker 14: I think you're on to something there.
01:30:33
Speaker 3: I'm on to something, yes. Now, the other was that Evan McPherson will break the NFL's record for longest field goal. Obviously, circumstances have to be right, but he's off to a great start. The other was Chase Brown will set the record for most yards from scrimmage, which the record is 40 years old, set by James Brooks, 1773. Chase is not off to a bad start, but he's got some work to do to get on that pace. What do you think of my predictions? One of them looks good. One of them could happen, and the other, we'll see.
01:31:01
Speaker 14: Yeah, I think the prediction about Evan McPherson, I think that's a really good one. And I mean, we don't even talk about how good Evan McPherson is. And there's just so many stars on the Bengals. But if you've seen the way he's played since his down year, I mean, he's just really been lights out and has been so consistent for them. So I think that one might actually happen for you. I definitely think that Marius Mims... Prediction is going to happen. He's been excellent through the first two seasons. And if he continues to have that type of production against some of these all pro type edge rushers, like he did against Will Anderson. And if he does so against TJ Watt against this week, I think that that could absolutely happen. I just think the Chase Brown one is, is tough because he, They told us they felt really good about their run game all offseason, and they just really haven't. Zach Taylor said we're this close to being able to hit on more explosive runs. I just don't know if they're going to give Chase Brown enough carries for that to be something that can happen. So we'll see, but I think you're good on two of the three.
01:32:11
Speaker 3: Okay, I'll take that. We have a guy named Donnie Football on next. Do you have a nickname?
01:32:17
Speaker 14: I do not have a nickname.
01:32:18
Speaker 3: All right, well, this season we're going to come up with one.
01:32:21
Speaker 9: Okay.
01:32:23
Speaker 14: We'll see what you can do there. You can give me some of the examples you have, and I'll see if I like any of them.
01:32:30
Speaker 3: We're crossing Kelsey football off the list, so you have to whittle it down. That's all right. We have a lot of season in front of us to come up with something. Thank you, as always.
01:32:40
Speaker 14: Thanks for having me on, Mel.
01:32:41
Speaker 3: You're the best. Kelsey Conway covering the Bengals for the Inquirer and Cincinnati.com and listen to her podcast with the significant others of Bengals players. Beyond Sunday, Donnie Football from Pittsburgh next.
01:32:54
Speaker 15: You've been listening to Football in the Natty on ESPN 1530, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
01:33:04
Speaker 6: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:33:06
Speaker 2: Traffic.
01:33:09
Speaker 11: From the UC Health Traffic Center, blood cancer patients deserve every option under one roof. Find the region's experts at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center.
01:33:17
Speaker 10: Call 513-585-UCCC.
01:33:18
Speaker 3: Traffic God.
01:33:23
Speaker 15: ESPN 1530, Cincinnati Sports Station.
01:33:27
Speaker 3: All right, sports headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolet, home of Lifetime Powertrain Protection and Guarantee Credit Approval. From their family to yours for life, kelseyshev.com. Andre Josivas is going to miss at least four weeks. The Bengals wide receiver having surgery, had surgery for damaged ligaments in his thumb. Not good. Joe Burrow says they'll sort of distribute by committee the role of number three wide receiver. A lot more tonight. Bengals game plan starting at six on ESPN 1530. And of course, the game Sunday at one on ESPN 1530 as well. We have the Will Stein show down the hall at six on Fox Sports 1360. If you're looking for that, Will Stein's team, Kentucky going on the road. Impressive win. Signature win. Kentucky football seems like it's going in the right direction. Beat Texas A & M. You can talk about the game and hear the coach talk about it at 6. Fox Sports, 1360. Reds in Atlanta tonight. Second of three with the Braves. Andrew Abbott and future Hall of Famer Chris Sale. 715 tonight. 700 WLW. Spencer Steer, according to our guy Charlie Goldsmith. Terry Francona passes along. Spencer Steer is going to have surgery on that wrist. An injury that he first suffered in July. Tito says they don't expect Spencer to miss the start of spring training. Whenever that is, might not be in February. Bengals and Steelers on Sunday. Let's go to Pittsburgh and chat with Donnie Football, Don Chedwick. Donnie Football, pregame show host, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. Donnie, Steelers have played two games. They won the first one against Atlanta. Kind of felt like the performance was meh. And then they got beaten by the Patriots in Foxborough, and it felt like the performance was blech. Those are sound effects. Give me a 30,000 foot assessment of Pittsburgh's first two games. It feels a lot like it's the same, Mo.
01:35:22
Speaker 4: It really does feel to people like we are going through the same exact thing, and it might hit a boiling point quicker than what it did in the two decades of Mike Tomlin, just because of how the games went. It was a slog against the Falcons where the defense had to make a play.
01:35:41
Speaker 3: T.J.
01:35:42
Speaker 10: Watt made.
01:35:44
Speaker 3: A terrific play.
01:35:45
Speaker 4: That was the difference. And then against the Patriots, it was a typical Steelers go to Foxborough and get whooped. The offense in both games, just completely no-showing. Just such little offense that it already has people feeling like, hey, this is way too similar to what we just went through. I thought Mike McCarthy was Mr. Offensive Genius.
01:36:10
Speaker 3: Is that because Aaron Rodgers is washed? I think so.
01:36:14
Speaker 4: I think that people will find that Aaron Rodgers is the root of the issue here. Listen, we all know the accolades. We know he's an upper room Hall of Famer. But the fact is, the only quarterback that was able to do this at this age was Tom Brady. And there's a reason why Tom Brady is considered the greatest of all time. It is so difficult for somebody that age to not only get caught up with other players in the league, but father time. It just doesn't seem like he has it anymore. I know that he'll occasionally have a zinger and occasionally be able to find his fastball, but it just feels like it is going to be very few and far between. Not to mention, already I feel some cracks in the relationship with Mike McCarthy that we were.
01:37:03
Speaker 3: Told, oh, don't worry, they patch things up. How much of the frustration with Aaron Rodgers has to do with the fact that for years now, going back to Ben Roethlisberger's last couple of seasons, that the Steelers have just been in quarterback no-man's land?
01:37:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's mostly it. I don't think it is just all about Aaron Rodgers. I think it's just since we have been on this road now for half a decade. I mean, hard to believe, but it has been five years now, five seasons that we have seen the Steelers– since Ben Roethlisberger retired. And it's just been a mess from Mitch Trubisky to Kenny Pickett to Mason Rudolph saving their season, who happens to still be on the roster. And then you have Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, and then Aaron Rodgers in his second year.
01:37:52
Speaker 3: I think that is.
01:37:54
Speaker 4: More of why people have a short fuse about it. Just the fact that they have continued to swing and miss at the position. And then not only swing and miss, they are doing it with guys who are old. Guys who don't provide them a future. It was one thing to swing and miss on Kenny Pickett, first round pick. or uh justin fields who they benched after six games who was only in his mid-20s now they're doing it with russell wilson and aaron rogers and you just know that there's no future with these guys and i think that's what builds up the frustration.
01:38:28
Speaker 3: I totally forgot that russell wilson played for the Steelers. So thanks for the reminder. How would you explain the Joey Porter situation to somebody who hasn't been paying attention?
01:38:38
Speaker 4: A lot messier than maybe what we're hearing on a national level. I know that the Schefter and Rappaport reports came out before week one, and it seemed like that was kept really quiet up until we got to real games because the Steelers love to kind of boast.
01:38:58
Speaker 3: That they will not negotiate in.
01:39:04
Speaker 4: That I think it's a little bit silly and archaic because it sets a you know a deadline on you and then you kind of look foolish if you get pushed beyond that uh I mean it's basically a waiting game uh Mike McCarthy holds down things at the facility like it's Fort Knox uh so I'm guessing that that all week Mo we're going to see limited and then conditioning slash back next to Joey Porter Jr., and if he doesn't practice on Friday or on Saturday, because they actually do a private practice, too, away from the media and everything else, he may sit out his third game. And I feel like this is the point where it's going to be rubber meets the road, because the Steelers are going to realize when Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins are out on the field and Joe Burrow is at quarterback for the other team, We probably need this guy out there.
01:39:59
Speaker 3: Donnie Football, Don Chedwick, 93-7 the fan in Pittsburgh Steelers pregame host. The contractually obligated airing of Zach Taylor's press conference is next on ESPN 1530.
01:40:11
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN 1530.
01:40:14
Speaker 6: Traffic.
01:40:17
Speaker 11: From the UC Health Traffic Center.
01:40:18
Speaker 3: A stick around coming up at six. It's Bengals game plan starring Dan Hoard. and Wayne Boxmiller. They're at Patrick's on the west side, one of my favorite places. You get a good burger and fries combination for lunch there at Patrick's, and I might do that this week. But before we have that, it's time. Every Wednesday, the contractually obligated airing of Zach Taylor's weekly Wednesday press conference. Here is the head coach of the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals chatting with the local professional football media.
01:40:50
Speaker 16: All right, first I'll start with injuries. Andre Josevas tore a ligament in his thumb, had surgery this morning. He'll be on IR. It'll be a week's issue. It's not a season-long issue, but it'll definitely be the IR window, plus maybe a little bit more, but don't have a timeline on that yet.
01:41:05
Speaker 9: So unfortunate for him.
01:41:09
Speaker 16: And then otherwise, Vijay Hill, we'll continue to work him through the week and see where he ends up for this game. Um, as we manage him, Jonathan Allen will be out today, load management. And, um, I think that was it. If there's any other questions.
01:41:25
Speaker 9: On guys, you can let me know.
01:41:26
Speaker 8: When did that occur?
01:41:28
Speaker 9: At some point in the game.
01:41:30
Speaker 1: Yeah.
01:41:32
Speaker 9: We'll see. I have nothing. I'll say today, but, um, we'll be able to.
01:41:38
Speaker 2: Manage through that.
01:41:41
Speaker 9: He's sore. So we'll see how he gets through practice today. Um, But we'll see what he gets out there, what he can do.
01:41:47
Speaker 8: Is it the soreness related to the back?
01:41:48
Speaker 9: I don't know. I think it's just overall soreness.
01:41:54
Speaker 3: How is that competition like early in the week in terms of what his load behind the strings is going to.
01:41:58
Speaker 8: Be like on Wednesday?
01:41:59
Speaker 3: When are you all going to have that conversation on what he can and can't do?
01:42:03
Speaker 9: For the D lineman? No, for Pearl. Oh, we'll just see how he feels.
01:42:07
Speaker 8: It's the opportunity with Yoshi being down. That presents it for the other guys.
01:42:12
Speaker 9: Who can step in here.
01:42:13
Speaker 16: Yeah, several guys that can step up, whether it's in the receiver room, tight end room. There's a lot of ways we're going to fill that. But we have guys that will step up, and they're going to be given more opportunity and expect those guys to step up and fill those shoes. When you look at Pittsburgh and this defense, what kind of jobs have you guys.
01:42:31
Speaker 8: Played for so long?
01:42:32
Speaker 16: Yeah, tremendous front. They've really invested a lot in the front. Those guys are playing at a really high level, all of them. Sometimes you're waiting on those guys to– descend in their career, and they've never done that. They just keep seeming like getting better. So that's where your eyes start. They got a lot of talent behind them, at the linebacker and DB position as well. So nobody you take for granted. Got a lot of respect for Patrick Graham. I think he does a great job as a coordinator, so makes the defense really challenging. Played them a couple years ago when he was in the Raiders. So really good unit, obviously a lot of talent on offense as well. work cut out for us on defense and then specialists, you know, the kicker made a, I think 57 yarder last week and he's always been great. So, um, really challenges in all three phases that our guys got to be ready for.
01:43:17
Speaker 11: How does the defense difference first time under, you know, they haven't been under.
01:43:24
Speaker 8: Colin for 40 years.
01:43:25
Speaker 10: Yeah.
01:43:25
Speaker 9: I mean, I think overall it's, it's a different scheme. It's Patrick Graham scheme.
01:43:29
Speaker 16: There are some of the same trademarks that have always shown up with the, with the Steelers defense and particularly up front. Um, So there's things you have to manage, you know, with the tape that's available to you from their time this year and time from past years. So we're doing our best to sort through that and have a great plan.
01:43:46
Speaker 12: Is it going to be weird looking across the sideline and not seeing Mike Tomlin?
01:43:50
Speaker 16: It's a little strange, you know. I think this is the first time I'll have to deal with that. He had such a tremendous run there, and he's doing a great job on TV. He's entertaining to watch, too, you know, and so... It's a little bit different without him being over there, but coached against Mike McCarthy in the past too, so that won't be anything new.
01:44:08
Speaker 8: You talked to Graham pretty seriously when the DC job was open.
01:44:11
Speaker 9: Yeah, Patrick Graham.
01:44:14
Speaker 8: What impressed you about him?
01:44:16
Speaker 16: Well, I didn't know him as a person. Obviously, you remember him because you're impressed with the scheme and the problems you face when you're against him. I think when you meet him, incredibly personable. a lot of confidence, a lot of respect for the game, a lot of respect for the offenses, you know, and kind of the waves of offenses that are coming through and some of the tendencies people develop and scheme patterns that show up.
01:44:39
Speaker 9: And so really enjoyed my time with him.
01:44:42
Speaker 16: Thought highly of him before, thought even probably highly of him even more so afterwards.
01:44:46
Speaker 9: And he's in our division now, so. That's what we've got in front of us.
01:44:51
Speaker 4: T.J.
01:44:51
Speaker 8: Wyatt was going to be 32 in a couple weeks.
01:44:53
Speaker 9: I guess they were in Miami together.
01:44:54
Speaker 16: Yeah, some tenants really threw me off with that one right.
01:45:00
Speaker 12: There.
01:45:00
Speaker 16: Yeah, I mean, I guess we played fours last year. I'm just going to skip that question because I totally got thrown off there.
01:45:07
Speaker 8: On film, does T.J.
01:45:08
Speaker 12: Wyatt look like he's tweaked the way he goes about things or does things, or does he still look like 25-year-old T.J.
01:45:13
Speaker 13: Wyatt?
01:45:14
Speaker 9: He still looks like he's right in his prime.
01:45:18
Speaker 16: So again, he's, I think what he's got four sacks this year, four or five sacks this year, a lot of pressures, a lot of hits, affects the quarterback, affects the run game. So I mean, that's the part I think where tip balls, and there's obviously stat for them, but how much they affect that part of the game. So it's not just the sacks, it's not just the hits, it's the tip balls, the interception for the touchdown against Atlanta. And we've seen him do that before to us as well. So, and then just the run game is really challenging over there as well, whether he's on the front side or the backside, just the physicality he plays with and the pursuit on the backside. So he shows up in every area of the game. And so you certainly got to be aware of him, but he's not the only one. They got a lot of guys that are really good. And so again, our guys are going to be up for the challenge and it'll be a fun opportunity for them.
01:46:05
Speaker 3: Boy, wasn't that exciting. Zach Taylor's weekly Wednesday press conference aired out of contractual obligation. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's ensuring that I meet all of my contractual obligations. We're done. You're obligated, though, to stick around and listen to a horde and box. Bengals game plan is coming up next. Don't forget tomorrow, Cincy 360 at noon, and we are back tomorrow at 305. Anything you may have missed, go listen to on the iHeartRadio app. Have a great night. Thank you for listening. Thanks to Taryn Bland, of course, for producing. We'll talk to you tomorrow. This is ESPN 1530 Cincinnati Sports Station.